Travis In Austin

No, ours lives in TX and HI. He probably hasn't seen snow in 20 years.

Pretty darn funny. Never lived in a snow area like that. He mentions he is having to push back snow that people moved out from their driverway, back into their driveway. Are people supposed to park their cars on the street when it snows" Or in in the driverway? That much snow has got to just suck. It ices up here, like maybe one or two times a year, and everybody just stays home.

I was a few years young too. Although I remember being in the Haight being drug around by my parents, who would take all out of town visitors by there. The concert was the Be-In in Golden Gate Park, it was in 1967, I was 7. I very distinctly remember Grace and Carlos, and this crazy white man playing the harmonica. Volunteers was the 3rd lp I ever bought, actually a reel to reel, still have it. We did live in the City then, in Noe Valleyarea, on top of a hill, where you could see all the way across the bay. I guess there was an earthquake and I think made my Dad move us out of the City back to the "country" which would have been Saratoga. Then Los Altos. Close to Redwood City, which is where Ampex was. Than LA for Ampex, and then back to South Bay Area for Memorex, Ampex started to die. Then he went over to Atari, and on and on

I want one, wow

I don't think it does. Just the issues and the amount of money involved. Zoning is big, who is going to get the porn shop, liquor store, bar, in their neighborhood. Where apartments can go, and not go. Whether the citizens of a city should build a stadium to get a sports team, if tax subsidies should be given to attract an employer with good jobs. Whether to raise power, water rates. Whether the police and fire should get a raise, how much, a pension. Whether they should have civil service protection, collective bargining. Who gave what to whose campaign, how is it disclosed, if it is. I deal with it every day.

Agree.The standard "story" issued by cities, counties and states is this: "We're out of money!" I first heard this sometime around 1978. Local communities being "out of money." We first thought it was a temporary effect of a recession, or the oil crisis. But the out of money cry just kept increasing at all levels of local and then federal government. Do the math. 1. The USA is the wealthiest nation on earth - bar none - and has been so since WWII. 2. The private wealth is growing in fantastic double digit annual increases, at least for the past 30 years. 3. If the total wealth is PUBLIC + PRIVATE = TOTAL. Then, the problem seems to have an obvious solution, doesn't it? '78? They would have been blaming it on Prop 13.You are talking tax policy and budgetary items, in other words politics? I'm pretty sure most people on here can add and subtract the numbers and can decide for themselves what the alternatives are in approaches. It just seems to me to be a topic that is inextricably intertwined with national politics. I think it could probably be discussed historically without politics, i.e., what certain administrations had done, but as soon as someone mentions a particular era or Executive, the whole conversation instantally switches to how that relates to today, and what his or her flavor of the week would do about infrastructure. And which infrastructure, local, state or federal. I don't find it necessary to insert politics into that discussion. The "public v. private split" has political dimensions, of course, but the guiding philosophic questions are on a layer ABOVE POLITICS. It would be a huge mistake for anyone to think politics is the basic motivator of public policy. Politics is always a slave to economic actors, and in the last thousand years, that means banking interests, which come in a few flavors. Politics is merely the visible veneer, or capped teeth of public policy. You have to peel it back to find what's underneath. Who are the national policy makers in a representative democracy bounded by a constitutional framework? Let's pick a policy that isn't too controversial, that has support on both sides. Cigarette smoking is bad, and should be eliminated. How government achieves that goal, or not, is public policy. Tobacco reacted initially by trying to contest that issue. Mainstream medicine was positive it was harmful. So they developed the Tobacco Institute to put out propoganda and fund junk science studies. Then they upped lobbying. Everyone knows the story from there. Political battles for the next 30 to 40 years. By the way, it still hasn't been eliminated. In fact, we have a new hightech form, probably more dangerous than cigs. The process of identifying a problem, and solving a public issue, even one that 95 percent of people completely agree on, is public policy. It usualky, not always starts with a government official or legislator. So many, but not all, public issues are born a political birth. The process of solving a public policy issue, whether it needs solving, and if so how, is entirely political, regardless of the reasoning behind it. What you keep going back to, in nearly all threads, centers on tax policy and budget issues. It is true that there are ideological issues behind tax policy and the budgetary process, but you keep asking the question "how you solve" this or that problem. (Which you never seem to answer). The process of going about solving any public policy issue is POLITICAL, especially if it involes taxation, and the manner in which you tax, and budget issues. Taxation and budget are both constitutional by the way. The power to spend, and tax, derives only from the constitution. There is a reason for that. Because they are POLITICAL. If we were a country of socialists we would approach an issue one way, or pure capitalists another, or under a monarchy another, or under a despot, well I we wouldn't approach a problem under a despot. So our system is representative democracy constrained by a constitution, and problems get solved a certain way in that system, it's called politics. Now, if you are saying that the answer to a particular problem, or set of problems,can be solved better if a majority of the people had a different philosophical ideology, that is something different entirely. We should talk about what the philosophy is, and why it would make a difference.

Prop 13 in California didn't really begin affecting these "we're broke" discussions until I would say, late in the 80s. And mostly, the effect was on schools. I need not point out that California went from first in the nation in 1965 to second last* in the nation by 1999. And today, it might be worst in the developed world, or close to it. *estimated It was my first election, they had every local breaucrat in the Bay Area speaking at every local club they could about how they were on a thin budget as it was, and if Prop 13 passed it would be the end of civilization as we knew it. I heard from a guy at Department of Weights and Measures, General Aviation Services, Parks and Rec, Extension Agent, and on and on. It was the same talk, over and over again. All of those agencies started cutting the year it went into effect because they had to, and in the Bay Area it was a bit deal because the property tax base was cut back the most compared to other parts of the state. Didn't sales tax go from 5.0 to 6.0 and in the Bay Area another .5 for BART. They blamed it on 13 for as long as govt thought they had a kind ear listening, which wasn't long. I do remember my parents, and all of their friends, talking about how much they were saving every month in taxes when the house payment was readjusted. In the 80s they started closing schools, and blamed ot all on 13 which wasn't really true. Grass roots tax revolt, Prop 13. So the solution to infrastructure, if your state and/or local govt allows for voter lead referendums, is to start one that addresses that issue. For the federal govt there needs to be a constitutional amendment to allow the people to pass a referendum. Wait, that won't work, that would lead to anarchy. It is pretty simple. 1. Get a majority of legislators to agree that infrastructure needs to be replaced and is a priority. Define what infrastructure is, and what needs replacing, and in what order. Do this at same time that you have an Executive branch who is on board with the majority. 2. Determine how to fund it. On national level, you can raise taxes, borrow more, or shift money from one budget to another such as cut military to pay for it, or education. You can try to get states to chip in. You can put use fees on bridges, federal tax on water consumption. Block grants, a million ways to distribute money. 3. Once you figure out how to raise, or redistribute the money in No. 2, you pick the locations and the projects, and you hire people to do it. I have heard "infrastructure" being a top ten topic in, at least, the last six election cycles. By everyone. Nobody goes in and fixes it. Instead they blame it on EPA, "too many regs." "They are allliberals over there." I can't count the number of times I have had to point out who started EPA, Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, etc. on this forum. You know who got those agencies started? Pissed off moms. It takes angry mothers to get anything done. When they learned that their tuna fish sandwich they made for little Jenny or Tommy had mercury in it, and where mercury came from, you got the Clean Air Act. When their kids were eating lead paint they got that eliminated. When their kids were breathing in lead all day, they got rid of leaded gas. When mothers decide infrastructure needs to be changed, and now, it will happen. Until then, you are never going to get past step one above.

Now your talking! But vinyl or CD?

That is very sad. I saw them once when they were Airplane, and many, many times as Starship, Hot Tuna and Purple Sage

Did you get it on DVD, Netflix? I grew up on Tower records in SF on Columbus, and San Jose, I think on Bascom, near the Pruneyard, and Berkeley.

Agree. The standard "story" issued by cities, counties and states is this: "We're out of money!" I first heard this sometime around 1978. Local communities being "out of money." We first thought it was a temporary effect of a recession, or the oil crisis. But the out of money cry just kept increasing at all levels of local and then federal government. Do the math. 1. The USA is the wealthiest nation on earth - bar none - and has been so since WWII. 2. The private wealth is growing in fantastic double digit annual increases, at least for the past 30 years. 3. If the total wealth is PUBLIC + PRIVATE = TOTAL. Then, the problem seems to have an obvious solution, doesn't it? '78? They would have been blaming it on Prop 13. You are talking tax policy and budgetary items, in other words politics? I'm pretty sure most people on here can add and subtract the numbers and can decide for themselves what the alternatives are in approaches. It just seems to me to be a topic that is inextricably intertwined with national politics. I think it could probably be discussed historically without politics, i.e., what certain administrations had done, but as soon as someone mentions a particular era or Executive, the whole conversation instantally switches to how that relates to today, and what his or her flavor of the week would do about infrastructure. And which infrastructure, local, state or federal.

I'll never forget asking my grandfather (Italian immigrant) if he liked green olives. He'd make the same face and say the green ones aren't ripe. "Why woulda you eata those?" It depends on what part of the Boot he is from. He may have just been kidding his favorite grandson. Italians are the experts on olives. They range, when ripe, from black to green, yellow and even red. Like wine, every region has an olive that it is know for. Here are just a few: Baresane: These brine-cured olives from Puglia range in color from yellow to green to light purple. Delicate, fresh flavor. Bella di Cerignola: Also known as Cerignola olives, this brine-cured Puglian variety can be green, red or black. Large, mild and buttery. Castelvetrano: A vibrant green Sicilian olive also called Nocellara del Belice. Instead of brining or salt-curing, these are treated with lye before rinsing and storing. The result: very mild olives with a salty-sweet flavor and buttery texture. Gaeta: These popular black or dark purple table olives from the Lazio region are typically brined before storing in oil. Tart, citrusy flavor. Saracena: An ancient olive cultivar from Sicily, also called Minuta. These small black olives are brined or salt cured. Taggiasca: Grown on the rocky slopes along the sea in Liguria, these small, deep reddish-black olives have a sweet, fruity flavor.

This article, I previously posted above, talks about some of these issues. The new source had bacteria, they had to up chlorine levels, caused lead and OTHER chemicals to leach. They didn't use corrosion inhibitor that is apparently used all over the country. I am sure there are more technical and scientific aspects of this, but she at leasts touches on some of this. http://www.forbes.com/sites/judystone/2016/01/09/what-you-need-to-know-about-lead-poisoning-flint-edition/#7c2f0754212f

Here you go. https://www.cfgf.org/cfgf/GoodWork/FlintArea/WaterCrisis/tabid/855/Default.aspx Sent from my SM-T330NU using Tapatalk Are they legit? I assume you checked them out, if so that is good enough for me. This is best article I have read so far, from Forbes. What the results of high lead levels in children in Flint are. The Gov's office knew about this going back to at least July of 2015. It all could have been avoided with an additive that costs $100 a day?

I was going to ask if pb was absorbed through skin. What about copper pipes, pvc, cast iron, do these leach anything that is harmful like the plastic did on older water bottles?

Green or black? I've never heard of that before. Me neither, I bet the right green, in the right amount, could be good.

I can't agree on that. Put a dozen people in prison for conspiracy and at least you might save the next town from being poisoned. We can't always say, "no need to find blame." I think this is a crime, and ought to be prosecuted. As for the people, you'd think there would be a mass exodus. I realize many are poor, but you would imagine that anything or any place is better than staying. I agree, you make management individually criminally liable. Then you send in a federal team and federalize the water plant and get it running correctly, and you bill the state for full costs and let the state go after whoever it wants to on a local level. You also give all workers whistle-blower immunity for reporting violations. It would only take one time and you would never see it happen again. You would have state EPA's doing their jobs and monitoring. I have a couple of questions. Is the lead in the water right at the plant? Or does lead get picked up on old lead pipes. I saw a previous post where someone had mentioned water hardness being a factor. Is real time monitoring of lead in water possible, or do samples have to be taken and tested individually? If the lead is being picked up between the plant and homes/end users, then it is an infrastructure problem, and that is a whole nuther can of worms. It will be happening all over the US. How much lead in in Ozarka, the other popular drinking waters? How much lead is in the drinking water in the communities? A member six miles from Sebring, with high lead. Home depot used to sell kits where you mailed off your tap water to a certified lab to see what was in your water. They did this to sell water purifiers. Is the EPA limit too low, or is it too high, reached as a compromise to give communities a chance to catch up? Is fluoride no danger, or ad dangerous as 21 PPB of lead? I don't know near enough about this issue as I should.

Audio Xperts 2000 Blk of E. Charleston used to always have beautiful vintage Amps. There is a B&O store there, I am sure they will have their 80K system there

Glad to hear stress tests went ok, root canals and travels. I lived in Las Vegas for 10 years, it has completely changed but hope you are having fun just the same. There was a great Audio store at corner of W. Charleston and about Alta, next to Westgate drugs. It used to be the McIntosh audio store and then sold to private owners who had all the high end. Bought KG4s there. Travis

I have samsung Galaxy. How are you liking the Apple so far???

I concur with that, a great documentary. I enjoyed the one on Keef as well.

My favorite city. Don't tell my fellow Oaklanders; but, i love that city. Mine too, my home City.

I loved flying into Monterey. I probably have a 100 approachs and landings there. That used to be "over the hill" for me. Wish I was there for that.

Thank you so much, I am try all of those. It has been in the 40s, not too cold, but 20 mph winds. Sucks all the heat out of grill. But it will be in 70s this weekend I think so perfec for grilling. Shoveling to get to the grill, now that is a real pitmaster. Whereabouts is that?

I'm glad to hear you had a good time with family for a HAPPY BIRTHDAY