Whirlwind in Sonoma and Marin

A few months ago, I was lying in bed enjoying the morning sunrise over the mountain range. Out my winddow I can see the coastal fog had settled upon the open field next to the apple orchard. A gentle breeze was blowing in from the Pacific Ocean. From a distance, I heard an unusual sound. […]

Teacher Inactivist Man vs. Achievement Gap Woman: Double speak as idiot wind

  Teacher’s wages, student poverty, cuts in educational funds, leaving ‘children behind’, ‘failure to close the ‘achievement gap’ and more sophistry in education all combine to frame the Sophocles tragedy we call ‘educational theatre’.  As you listen to the YouTube tragic-humor found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FOmnG721qo pay close to attention to the language employed, not to mention […]

200 miles an hour, really?

I designed my new house to withstand a category 5 hurricane.  If a Hurricane Andrew came through I would probably survive.  But a Tuscaloosa or a Joplin tornado, how do you design for that?  I know my house can take gusts and perhaps sustained 155 mph wind, but 200 mph wind? There was a governmental […]

An Open letter to the White House,

I have received repeated letters asking me to contribute to beat the Republicans/Tea Party/Koch Brothers/Corporate America, all of whom are richer than God and certainly richer than I and everyone I know collectively.  And, I know a few, very comfortable people.  While I am not a fan of pissing into the wind, that is NOT […]