Baltimore-area experiences
current favorite: Aldi
not as good as before: Giant
anticipated mega-supermarket: Wegmans (early 2005 in Hunt Valley)
recently noted Asian in Sun: Han Ah Reum (Catonsville)
intend to visit Asian: Lotte (Ellicott City)
other Asian shopped, besides HAR: Sing Fy (Columbia)
tend to avoid: Super Fresh, Safeway
good hours, but mediocre: Food Lion (Columbia)
most recent out-of-state: Shoppers Food Warehouse (Alexandria, Va)
warehouse club: BJ's
others visited: La Guadalupana, Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, Mars, Klein's
(more explanation in a future entry)
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Where do you shop?
Likes? dislikes?
Which one(s) would you like to try?
The other day, Ralph Nader announced his presidential campaign and then held a press conference.
Classic nader. I recently finished reading a biography about him (published in 2002). Running for president is one of the remaining ways which he can publicize his causes and try to influence the government.
I read his speech from yesterday's press briefing, and found the eloquence of his prose to be so high that I think he was trying to appeal to the literary intelligentsia.
Until you see him kissing babies, I don't think Democrats ought to have much to fear from his campaign. Most Dems seem to be rallying around opposition to Bush.
But if you think about it, suppose they win the White House. How much could they advance their philosophy or policies given a Republican-majority legislature?
some further commentary:
James Ridgeway in the Village Voice sez:
"Somewhat...surprising... are the lefties huffing and puffing about what a horrible thing Nader has done to them. But they ought to remember that the left, especially the New Left, never cared for Nader. He actually comes out of the conservative, small-town, family-values world that politicians love to talk about. Nader has this in common with Edwards, another lawyer with whom he shows some affinity, and Kucinich."
Antonia Zerbisias of the Toronto Star thinks that a Canadian documentary called The Corporation will publicize an anti-corporate message very similar to Nader's. The film, currently playing in Canadian theatres and cable tv, will be distributed in the U.S. in June.
It's described as "a visually arresting montage of interviews, archival footage and animation, demontrating how corporations, which have the legal right of persons, exhibit all the clinical signs of psychopaths..."
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meanwhile...
I heard on C-SPAN radio this morning that former Congressman Robert Dornan is running against incumbent Dana Rohrabacher for the Republican primary in the 46th Congressional District in California.
The district is one of those oddly-shaped gerrymandered ones. It's long and skinny, hugging the Southern Calif. coast from PV to Newport Bch. It was designed by Calif. Democrats to segregate Republican voters away from other districts.
What you have in the 2 Republicans are candidates on the kooky side. Rohrabacher was a disciple of Reagan, who did some surfing. (... as in pre-internet. When and how much, I don't know.) He's been regarded as a nutty libertarian.
Dornan has been out of office for 7 years, and is a staunch supporter of Ariel Sharon. He's generally regarded as a hard right bombast.
[My interest in these guys is 'cause I have family in the area. Plus I remember seeing Dornan and his wife host an L.A. tv talk show when I was a kid. I also understand that Rohrabacher graduated from to my high school. (Before my time.)]
Glad not to live there, no more. The politics are often too wacky. (Pretty soon the Governator will be able to run for President.) Better to live in humdrum central Maryland.
As a mass transit passenger away from home (having ridden on various systems like Mexico City, Berlin, Bay area, etc.), I've a keen interest in upcoming and potential systems.
Recently, a few things caught my attention:
A couple days ago, I received a CD-ROM that I'd requested from the BW Maglev office. It's their DEIS (Draft Environmental Impact Statement). 2-binder copies had been available at various public libraries near the proposed route for public review and comment, but they were picked up at the end of January. (I'd found that out when I visited the Linthicum library, a cozy neighborhood branch of the Anne Arundel system near BWI airport.)
I'm not sure whether magnetic levitation is affordable, but I've been interested in researching this technology. I've indulged my curiousity by visiting maglev publicity exhibits when I've traveled to Germany. Maybe I oughta visit Shanghai and ride the first and only public transit line operating in the world. (There's a test track in NW Germany, that the public could ride. (About $20+ for 10 minutes.) It's currently closed for maintenance and upgrade.)
This past week there've been reports about proposals for the state and nation about highway and mass transit budgets and funding. In Maryland, they might raise title fees and fines. (Gov. Ehrlich's proposal did not suggest raising the gas tax, which some legislators say would be fairer, since that would affect out-of-state drivers who use Maryland roads.)
At the national level, there's a certain amount of bipartisan support for an increased budget for this line item since legislators see road repair as a jobs program.
In the latest issue of Radio World, there's an article about a privately funded monorail in Las Vegas, that will open in March. It's an extension of a much shorter line that shuttles between 2 hotels. There's not much of an apparent relevance to broadcasting matters (as far as I can remember from the article), except that the expanded line will open in time for a broadcasting industry conference in Vegas.
Finally, in the Taiwan Journal, there's an article about the unveiling of a train for the Taiwan high-speed railway. 30 trains are being made in Japan and the railway is slated to open in Oct. 2005. Not sure what the top speed will be, but the 345 km route between Taipei and Kaohsiung should only take 90 minutes, instead of the current 4 hours.
[Ironically, despite all this interest in mass transit, I've never ridden the light rail nor subway in Baltimore. (Nor the light rail in Los Angeles, where I've visited many times.)]
I had tuned in to CSPAN radio last Sat., and heard Tricky Dicky talking to someone about football. I gradually realized that he was talking to George Allen, the Redskins coach in the early 70s, who took 'em to the Superbowl.
It must've been one of those secretly-taped calls, which are released to the public in batches every couple years.
It was interesting to hear them talk, mostly about football. Apparently, Pres. Nixon had called Allen (probably to congratulate about something). The call was dated 8 Oct. 72.
It was interesting to hear Nixon comment about Allen's denying the press access. (Not sure what the circumstances were.) Nixon wholeheartedly agreed with Allen's decision and criticized the press with some rough language. (what would you expect?)
I can't remember the last time I'd heard Allen's voice. Before coaching the Redskins, he coached the L.A. Rams. In fact, his eldest son, George Allen, Jr. went to my h.s. in SoCal and was the Q-back of the football team. (Jr. is now a senator for Va.)
Coach Allen eventually moved back to SoCal. (Don't know if they kept their Calif. house when they lived in Va.) He liked living in Palos Verdes.
I think he died while coaching a small school somewhere (in Pa.?). I guess he was of retirement age, but could never step away from coaching. (Of course these days, old coaches can make NFL comebacks.)
A couple years back, his daughter wrote a memoir about growing up in a football coach's family. I read an excerpt in the NYT magazine, and based on that I felt kinda sorry for her since she didn't seem much into football. I'm not sure what her interests were, as an adolescent, but it seems that she didn't get much support from her folks. It seems that everything revolved around her father and the team, especially its weekly fate during football season.