Here is more information about the Pope led boycott of a referendum in Italy. This is a follow-up to a previous post from yesterday.

A three day weekend (sic) comes to an end. Actually, one day is the same as the next for me but that is the burden of retirement. Ha! Anyway, I had heard nothing out of Rome since the overkills of the non-stop news of the death of one pope and the election and inauguration of another but today I read a story about the Pope Benedict XVI asking parishioners in Italy to reject a ballot initiative to roll back restrictions on fertility clinics. Why I am not surprised at that stance? Later in the year (August I think) he will be joined by Darth Vader II from San Francisco who will assume the post that Cardinal Ratzinger had prior to election as pope.

Having survived the weekend, especially Saturday night, today was a great day. The weather even warmed up. Yesterday was gray indoors and out but today made up for that.

I continue to lose weight and I am amazed and puzzled by this continuing loss of weight even though I have resumed a regular diet sans overly fat and sweet foods. I hope this is simply a result of my gym workouts and not something else. Today, even the scale in the locker room had me weighing slightly less than 130. When I started going to the gym in February I weighed 147 lbs. This is good, I think, but I thought that eating more would put a stop to that weight loss. So far that has not happened.

Only a little over seven months until my next journey to Thailand. That will be my fifth visit but will be a little different. On all other occasions I have gone to Bangkok and Chiang Mai. This time I will skip Bangkok and go to Pattaya instead. I will return to Chiang Mai however. One friend is already there and another is in Singapore. I want to go now but that is not possible but I think I can be patient. If the next six months go as rapidly as the previous six, I will do fine.

Caltrain "Baby Bullet" train at Diridon Transit Center in San Jose.

Today I decided to take one of my occasional visits to San Jose via train and local transit. Recent journeys have found me taking Caltrain to Mountain View and transferring there to VTA Light Rail. That is convenient for sure but today I wanted to ride one of the new "Baby Bullet" trains. I did that by taking the new 8:11 AM departure from San Francisco all the way to the Diridon Transit Center in San Jose at the old Southern Pacific Depot. It was a smoother ride than the older trains but something is still not right as frequently the train vibrated as if there were very small bumps or pits on the new welded rails. One problem I think is that the double decked equipment that American railroads are so enamored with does not give a very smooth ride. Even the French have not ordered anymore double deck TGV trains that I am aware of. I have ridden their single deck trains and the double deck ones and despite the silky smoothe ride of the French system, there is a definite difference in stability with the double deck trains. Anyway, I enjoyed the ride and was able to take some photos at the San Jose end of the line.

This was my first visit to that depot and I found the layout of the transit center to be very efficiient. I had no trouble finiding my bus to downtown San Jose (the free DASH shuttle) but could have walked it as downtown is much closer to the train depot than I thought. During my short stay there I did some photographyof buildings and the VTA light rail trains plus a couple of photos on the San Jose State campus. After returning to Diridon Transit Center I took some more photos while waiting for my return train.

Each time I go to San Jose it is interesting to see this city which is bigger than San Francisco but whose downtown is so quiet and laid back that it seems much smaller. There is almost not a there, there. There are some signs of improvements with some new cinemas. San Jose Rep is there in a new building and now the San Jose Opera and Symphony has a new home in the refurbished California Theatre thanks in large part to David Packard. The big problem with downtown San Jose is that there are virtually no stores, not even botique stores that one finds around the world. I didn't even see one of the ubiquitous Walgreen stores. They really need a large department store to anchor things and draw in other stores which would in turn bring in shoppers. Until people have a reason to go downtown and stay there for awhile, it will continue to be quiet and sleepy. On the plus side, I have always found the people in San Jose friendlier than in San Francisco. Also on the plus side, the streets are clean and I don't get panhandled as I do in San Francisco.

Now if Caltrain could just rid of the shimmy or vibrations in its trains. You would think that on welded rail everything would be better. It is on Amtrak from Oakland to Sacramento. Why not on Caltrain from San Francisco to San Jose?

I really wish Mr. Bush would take his head out of the sand, open his eyes, and see and admit to what is happening around us because of global warming. That is probably wishing for too much however.

Finally some action by Congress on the problem of computer spyware. Although this was a House vote, we can certainly hope the Senate does there part as well and that the Bush signs the legislation.

Well the Bay Area is not alone in having "cat ladies". This is really sick as you will see if you read this article. These people really need psychiatrict help.

Boo! British Happy Hours will not be so happy under new rules being put into effect to curb binge drinking.

I really hate to rain on your parade but this is something everyone needs to give some serious thought to before we end up in a world wide depression or war as our oil run outs sometime in the next few years.

I see that the season's first hurricane Adrian has struck El Salvador. I can't remember ever hearing of a hurricane hitting any country in May. Here in San Francisco winter is having a difficult time letting go while in the tropics, summer has started early. Maybe this will be the year that Mother Nature takes over and turns the world on its head with devasting storms and earthquakes. Perhaps the earthquake and tsunami off Sumatra in December was just a warning shot across the bow. Who knows. We could be in for a rough time in the months ahead.

Things are crazy all over. Locally the City and County of San Francisco has a new jail facility they can't use because many of the security locks do not work and other security systems within the building do not work. Apparently the builder claims they finished the job and departed, leaving the city and county stuck with an unusable facility which will cost millions to repair. I think a big lawsuit could be in the works on this one if the contractor does not do what is right.

In Iraq the situation does not improve but only gets worse and moves towards a possible civil war while Bush still has his head stuck in the sand. Then the photo in a London tabloid of Saddam Hussein in his underwear in a jail cell will only make the enemy (whoever they are) angrier at the west than they already are. What stupidity!

I saw a report on a U.S. military buildup at our base in Guam last night. Looks like they could be preparing for possible action against North Korea. Such a war would be difficult to contain given its proximity to China who we are already upset with over trade and monetary policies. Then there is China's growing consumption of rapidly depleting oil supplies. I once heard, many years ago, a prediction that WWIII would be fought over oil. Now it is looking more and more like that China and the U.S. would be the big players in such a scenario.

Uh-oh, I guess you better check under that Bishop's mitre to see who is really there. They are not all appointed by Rome according to a report on Reuters.
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"It's no wonder Bernardo Provenzano, the Sicilian Mafia's "boss of bosses," has eluded capture for more than four decades.

According to a Mafia godmother-turned-superinformer, the 72-year-old mobster turned up at a summit of Cosa Nostra leaders in 1992 disguised in a bishop's purple vestments.

"At first I didn't recognize him. It seemed strange that someone would show up at a meeting dressed as a bishop," Giuseppina Vitale told a court Monday, according to Ansa news agency.

"He was even wearing a violet hat."

Provenzano has been on the run for 42 years. The most recent photograph police have of him was taken nearly three decades ago."

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On a more serious note, we have more evidence of global warming coming out of China. [President Bush, please take note.]

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BEIJING - Global warming is shrinking glaciers on the Tibet side of Mount Everest faster than ever, putting world water supplies at risk, Xinhua news agency said on Tuesday.

Chinese scientists researching the world's tallest peak, which China refers to by its Tibetan name, "Qomolangma," had found clear evidence of increasing glacial melting, Xinhua said.
"Global warming has resulted in glaciers melting fast in the Mount Qomolangma area ... threatening the balance of global water resources," it said.

Around 75 percent of the world's fresh water is stored in glacial ice, much of it in mountain areas, allowing for heavy winter rain and snowfall to be released gradually into river networks throughout the summer or dry months. "The growing melting area means less fresh water reserves for the world in the future," Xinhua said.

The Chinese scientists had found the melting point of one Everest glacier had risen around 50 meters (165 ft) in just two years, more than twice as fast as normal, while a huge, high-altitude ice cliff seen in 2002 had apparently disappeared, it said.

Similar melting has been reported on Nepal's side of the mountain. The United Nations warned in 2002 that more than 40 Himalayan glacial lakes were dangerously close to bursting, endangering thousands of people, because of global warming.

Scientists say global warming could drive the average global temperature up by 1.4-5.8 degrees Celsius over the next 100 years, which would cause glaciers to retreat and oceans to rise and swamp low-lying areas around the world.

New Fourth Street Bridge in San Franacisco, a vital link in the Muni's Third Street Light Rail Line, is now in place with finishing touches being applied to the approaches from both shorelines. 

Americans have it fairly easy when it comes to dumping trash and recycling. I wonder what would happen if everything had to be sorted out into 20 or 30 categories according to size or type as is now being done in some cities in Japan. I think most people in this country would fail miserably. We also have the problem of homeless scavenging from re-cycling containers.

As the Iraq war drags on, it's beginning to look a lot like Vietnam, at least to writer Robert Dreyfuss and I tend to agree.

I know I might be sticking my neck out on this one but would the appointment of Archbishop Levada of San Francisco by his buddy Benedict XVI to the same office that Cardinal Ratzinger held prior to his elevation to the papacy put Levada in line as a future candidate for pope? Apparently Levada's appointment is a "done deal" according to Time Magazine and Vatican sources. This is just a question, that is all. Just wild speculation on my part. Nothing more.

This society is really a very, very sick one. Now we have two more horror stories in today's news of multiple murders, two of which involved very young children.

I simply do not understand the people who are against the "Real ID" card bill. This apparently is a strengthened and updated or digitized Social Security Card which some people are calling a national ID and they object to that. WHY for heaven's sake? What is wrong with a uniform national ID card in the first place? Oh sure, I know that some people have things to hide and others are so hung up on constitutional issues and being so damned PC, that anything new rubs them the wrong way. Come on folks, get a life! The same people also seem to be against a digital passport. I wonder if these luddites would be willing to give up their TV sets, autos, cell phones, etc., etc.????

During the Cold War, the United States outspent the Soviet Union prior to its collapse but the story could have been different. In fact, this could be the tactic of Osama bin Laden and his followers. Americans are already running scared, some are even afraid of their own shadow, and as long as there is a perception of a threat, this country will continue to spend more and more money on skirmishes such as the one in Iraq or on Homeland Security with more and more expensive but not quite effective devices in an attempt to secure the borders. This action, carried on long enough, will have the effect of draining the resources of this country to the point where we can no longer do anything else. Our economy is turning into a Third World economy already and as long as we continue to spend so heavily on homeland security, there will come a time when we can spend on nothing else. The nation's infrastructure is already falling apart. What next!

I suppose we could consider some very real dangers at home and abroad, even in such bastions of tolerance such as the Netherlands. At the very least these sort of things get very depressing.

Each morning at seven o'clock when my clock radio wakes me up the first thing that I hear is that 10 - 20 - 30 or 40 more people have been killed in Iraq by suicide bombers. Some democracy that Bush & Co. are trying to force down those peoples throat. Sure, there are some good people there but apparently not enough to do something about the bad apples in the barrel.

Today, Bush's other partner in crime, is up for re-election. That is, his Labor party should win enough votes for Blair to retain his seat as PM.

Just what is it that high school cheerleaders in Texas are doing that some find so objectionable? Really folks...come on a get a life! Oh well, that is another reason to avoid Texas.

Anyway life goes on for better or worse. Many years ago I used to be a news junkie but these days I am almost afraid to turn on the radio or TV lest I get very depressed as a result. Man's inhumanity to man just continues to escalate in its many forms and the Christian Gestapo continues to attempt to ram their way of life down the throats of everyone else. I am realy sick and tired of the attitude "do as I say"... Where are the morally strong who will lead by example?

It is a beautiful sunny day but windy. Drats...that danged wind is still with us. The day would be so much nicer without the chill wind off the ocean. Won't it ever stop...PLEASE!!!!

I did my usual weekend routine at the gym today...treadmill only...followed by the steam room and Jacuzzi. While using the treadmill on a cardio program my heart rate would not go above 66. It should have gone up to at least 115 or higher. That was puzzling so when I got home and checked my blood pressure it was 129/104. Yikes...my diastolic have never been that high. Within a half hour however everything was back to normal but I need to keep an eye on that. Something was amiss even if only temporarily.

My weight continues is slide downward with the latest reading on the scales at the gym of 134-1/2. When I started my routine in February it was about 147. Hmm...is it my workouts or my change in diet or both?

What is going on in the world of interest these days? Well, I guess nothing as we stumble along in the fog of international misunderstanding. I somehow doubt that the human race will ever solve its problems to the degree that man's inhumanity to man will ever stop whether it be in warfare or just single acts of violence against a neighbor or relative.