Pocket Full of Notes

And yes, I have been collecting them.

Re: guns

Yes, the criminals will always have them until they are busted and put away a very long time. Others still on the loose will continue to have guns however but it is not our gun laws that are a problem. Since people kill people, whether it be with cars or knives or baseball bats, or whatever, we need to correct societal ills first. Unfortunately there is a large segment of our population who are beyond hope in my book. I would venture to bet that if the police were allowed to conduct random spot checks of certain types of young people wandering our streets, they would turn up a whole slew of weapons. They should start with those with baggy pants worn down around their knees.

Re: wet news

Some people complain about San Francisco's ban on plastic bags which will lead to their newspapers getting wet in rainy weather when delivered on their doorsteps. Well, I have a better idea. Buy a computer and read the Examiner or Chronicle on-line. It doesn't get wet no matter what the weather and you avoid the wrinkles so common in the Chronicle's newsprint.

Re: cyclists

Whoever the brain dead person was who, in an attempt to promote more bicycle use, proposed that people on bicycles should not obey the same laws as people who drive cars, you gotta be nuts. Traffic accidents in this very crowded city are already too numerous and allowing some people to sail right on through red lights after an all too brief stop, is asking for more trouble than we have already. One set of city streets - one set of traffic laws. Anything else is plain stupid.

Re: hackers, National Security, China, etc.

There is so much to decry here. One thing was the sale of American technology from IBM to China.
That was dumb-dumb-dumb. Cyber attackers have now been traced to mainland China and Chinese militants are now able to get into the e-mail of such people as Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Rep. Frank Wolf of Virginia. Then the U.S. can't even figure out how to shut down Osama bin Laden's propaganda network as his operatives were busy hardening security to the point that U.S. security can't penetrate it. Now that is dangerous and embarrassing.

Well, I have always felt that if the U.S. Government needed a good security team they should hire Israeli intelligence as the U.S. version can't cut the mustard.

Well, that is my rant for today. No wonder Herb Caen and other newspaper men like to drink so much. See ya next time around...