Thoughts on Governor Moonbeam

The SFF.NET political forum brought up former California governor, now Attorney General Jerry Brown, for comments and these thoughts came to mind for my part.

A couple of the things I still remember about Brown is his development of the California wind farms and the Office of Appropriate Technology (OAT).  The wind farms helped propel the Danish wind manufacturers into the technology leaders of our day (Vestas, Windmatic, etc.) because subsequent political "leaders" dropped the ball locally and nationally.

A couple historic links regarding Brown's positions of the time and OAT:

Interview On Energy With Governor Brown: The Path Now Taken?
Who Owns "Appropriate Technology?"
The Rise and Fall of the Appropriate Technology Movement in the United States, 1965-1985

Then there is also Brown's flip-flop on the aptly named anti-tax Proposition 13 and his poor political choice of Rose Bird for Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court - a move which, in the view of some historians, may have sparked the greater conservative counter-revolution.

"Bye, Bye Birdie" - National Review
Framed: The New Right Attack on Chief Justice Rose Bird and the Courts
Rose Bird Memorial Award - California Women Lawyers

"After a campaign led by prosecutors and funded by businesses and insurance interests, voters in 1986 refused to confirm her for a second term, and also unseated two other liberal justices in a cataclysm widely viewed as a serious setback for judicial independence."

One of the other forum members noted their memory of Brown was more tied to his one time girlfriend and the cover of her album "Hasten Down the Wind".   As Jerry Brown had presidential aspirations, many speculated at the time on how Linda Ronstadt would have made a great First Lady.

Thoughts on Governor Moonbeam

The SFF.NET political forum brought up former California governor, now Attorney General Jerry Brown, for comments and these thoughts came to mind for my part.

A couple of the things I still remember about Brown is his development of the California wind farms and the Office of Appropriate Technology (OAT).  The wind farms helped propel the Danish wind manufacturers into the technology leaders of our day (Vestas, Windmatic, etc.) because subsequent political "leaders" dropped the ball locally and nationally.

A couple historic links regarding Brown's positions of the time and OAT:

Interview On Energy With Governor Brown: The Path Now Taken?
Who Owns "Appropriate Technology?"
The Rise and Fall of the Appropriate Technology Movement in the United States, 1965-1985

Then there is also Brown's flip-flop on the aptly named anti-tax Proposition 13 and his poor political choice of Rose Bird for Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court - a move which, in the view of some historians, may have sparked the greater conservative counter-revolution.

"Bye, Bye Birdie" - National Review
Framed: The New Right Attack on Chief Justice Rose Bird and the Courts
Rose Bird Memorial Award - California Women Lawyers

"After a campaign led by prosecutors and funded by businesses and insurance interests, voters in 1986 refused to confirm her for a second term, and also unseated two other liberal justices in a cataclysm widely viewed as a serious setback for judicial independence."

One of the other forum members noted their memory of Brown was more tied to his one time girlfriend and the cover of her album "Hasten Down the Wind".   As Jerry Brown had presidential aspirations, many speculated at the time on how Linda Ronstadt would have made a great First Lady.

Earth-Like Planet Discovered

An earth-like planet has recently been discovered by astronomers.  The Onion asks, "What do you think?"

Earth-Like Planet Discovered

An earth-like planet has recently been discovered by astronomers.  The Onion asks, "What do you think?"

Riverbend Leaving Iraq

Baghdad Burning blogger, Riverbend, is leaving Iraq.  Thanks to markmc03 for yet another sad report from the carnage of Bush's Folly.

"On the one hand, I know that leaving the country and starting a new life somewhere else- as yet unknown- is such a huge thing that it should dwarf every trivial concern. The funny thing is that it’s the trivial that seems to occupy our lives. We discuss whether to take photo albums or leave them behind.

Can I bring along a stuffed animal I've had since the age of four? Is there room for E.'s guitar? What clothes do we take? Summer clothes? The winter clothes too? What about my books? What about the CDs, the baby pictures?

The problem is that we don't even know if we'll ever see this stuff again. We don't know if whatever we leave, including the house, will be available when and if we come back.

There are moments when the injustice of having to leave your country, simply because an imbecile got it into his head to invade it, is overwhelming. It is unfair that in order to survive and live normally, we have to leave our home and what remains of family and friends… And to what?

It's difficult to decide which is more frightening- car bombs and militias, or having to leave everything you know and love, to some unspecified place for a future where nothing is certain."

Riverbend Leaving Iraq

Baghdad Burning blogger, Riverbend, is leaving Iraq.  Thanks to markmc03 for yet another sad report from the carnage of Bush's Folly.

"On the one hand, I know that leaving the country and starting a new life somewhere else- as yet unknown- is such a huge thing that it should dwarf every trivial concern. The funny thing is that it’s the trivial that seems to occupy our lives. We discuss whether to take photo albums or leave them behind.

Can I bring along a stuffed animal I've had since the age of four? Is there room for E.'s guitar? What clothes do we take? Summer clothes? The winter clothes too? What about my books? What about the CDs, the baby pictures?

The problem is that we don't even know if we'll ever see this stuff again. We don't know if whatever we leave, including the house, will be available when and if we come back.

There are moments when the injustice of having to leave your country, simply because an imbecile got it into his head to invade it, is overwhelming. It is unfair that in order to survive and live normally, we have to leave our home and what remains of family and friends… And to what?

It's difficult to decide which is more frightening- car bombs and militias, or having to leave everything you know and love, to some unspecified place for a future where nothing is certain."