What are the chances of an asteroid striking the earth? Well, according to Representative Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach), they're the same as getting a royal flush in Las Vegas (which he says he has). So last year he introduced House Resolution 4917, a bill calling for the creation of a comprehensive program to "eliminate and mitigate the serious and credible threats to humankind posed by potentially hazardous near-Earth asteroids and comets."

Now I'm not about to dispute the odds Mr. Rohrabacher cites, though my gut tells me there's a little bit of statistical trickery there. I see that the odds of a royal flush are 1 in 649,740. And depending on your source, the chances of a good sized asteroid hitting the earth in the next year are 1 in 100,000. Still, I think I'll try my luck in Vegas before digging my bomb shelter.

It's been ten months now since YearlyKos '07 inspired me to find and join a local CSA. I'm fortunate that living in Southern California allows me to receive fresh produce year-round, but at this time of year most every CSA in the northern hemisphere is in full swing.

The experience has changed the way I eat. I no longer keep meat in the house and usually pass it up when dining out. There is no taste that compares to that of a fresh berry just plucked from the vine that morning, or of fresh-picked salad greens with mustard-herb dressing. With the spotlight on crude oil, both for its soaring price and its CO2 by-products, I feel good that I’m doing a little something to reduce its use. My produce travels under 80 miles from farm to my fork, rather than the 200 miles from the Central Valley or the 1500 mile average our other food travels to reach us. When produce is recalled, I don't worry because I know where mine comes from and how it was grown. Eating lower on the food chain allows the vegetables to be used for my direct benefit, rather than serve as feed for animal meat, saving both farm land and the animals. And because the produce is organic, it hasn’t seen any oil-based fertilizers.

I begin this diary with a photo of a "handsome man".

Oops, not that one, yikes!

(Cross-posted at Calitics. Although this deals with the upcoming California primary in particular, election of judicial candidates happens in other places. Perhaps you also know someone in California to inform)

Lost in all the presidential primary news is the fact that California has another important primary coming up on June 3rd. Many of us are boning up on Prop 98 and 99 and understanding the importance of our votes on those measures.

But most of us are woefully unprepared for decisions in other contests, especially those for the office of Superior Court judge. And with turnout expected to be light, we could wind up with some very scary judges if people don't pay attention and vote.

A few weeks ago, a friend sent me an e-mail raving about a book she had just finished.  That book was Greg Mortenson's Three Cups of Tea. I had just seen that this book was the first one chosen for my city's new "Huntington Beach Reads One Book" program. So I took the hints, got myself a copy and started reading this fascinating tale.

I won't go into all the details, as gmoke has some excellent diaries on the book here and here. In short, though, it covers the story of a man who unintentionally wound up in a remote Pakistani village, and found himself committing to building a school for the children there. From that small beginning, he grew to know the people of the region and went on to build dozens of schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan, with a specific focus on the education of girls. As he notes, when you educate a boy, you educate an individual. But when you educate a girl, you educate a community.

Eight weeks ago, inspired by the "Forging Links to An Alternative Food Chain" panel at YearlyKos, I subscribed to a local CSA and wrote about that experience. Several folks have wondered how that experience has gone so I thought it was time for an update.

I'll start by saying that the Japanese word for Community Supported Agriculture, teikei hits the nail squarely on the head when it translates as "food with the farmer's face on it". Of all the characteristics of a CSA subscription, this one has had the most impact on me. I know who grows my food, and where it comes from. Ironically, I haven't yet met my farmer, but I feel like I've known her for years through our correspondence, and through the very real connection of food baskets each week. This personal connection took on a new significance this past week when I learned that her farm was right in the path of the Rice fires in Northern San Diego County.

Earlier this year, I wrote about a film my friends had helped to support: "For The Bible Tells Me So". It's a documentary about 5 families of faith and they journeys they've taken upon learning that their child was gay. Yesterday I finally had the opportunity to view the film, and then attend a Q&A session with its director, Daniel Karslake.

I left with one thought to share with you all: See This Film.

It seems only fitting that a panel at YearlyKos regarding food and agriculture would be responsible for sowing seeds of change in my daily life.

I've already written about how helpful I found the Forging Links to An Alternative Food Chain panel. I'm now in the middle of reading The Omnivore's Dilemma, and What To Eat is waiting in the wings. Both of these books do a great service in raising awareness of where our food comes from. Tom Philpott's portion of the panel was a fitting complement to these books, in that he explained how factory farming is dismantling our agricultural infrastructure, poisoning our environment and leading to an increased dependence on an unsustainable model.

(warning: no naked chicks in this diary)

Dear OrangeClouds,

I'm sorry I didn't take the opportunity to tell you this in person at YearlyKos. But since I keep noticing ways in which your "Forging Links to An Alternative Food Chain" panel has influenced my daily choices, I thought I should let you know how much I appreciated the session.

"If we want to keep liberty, it is up to us to make government serve us and never let it become our master." - Robert R. McCormick

As I took in the panels, chatted with fellow attendees, and reveled in the great energy of YearlyKos at McCormick Center, I barely gave a second thought to the person who gave the venue its name: Robert R. McCormick. But some post-convention vacation gave me an opportunity to visit the McCormick-Tribune Freedom Museum, and there I had an opportunity to consider in greater depth the freedoms that are continually threatened and weakened by this administration.

Yesterday, I received some very sad news in my inbox from Susan Lerner, Executive Director of the California Clean Money Campaign:

We are deeply saddened that last week our friend and former colleague Eric Tang died in an accident at a waterfall outside of Mexico City. He was two months into a yearlong Latin American odyssey, an adventure fueled by all the wonder, joy and humanity that were Eric's.

Eric was an early member of the CCMC team. As a student at UCLA, he interned at CCMC and became so passionate about the issue that he continued as a volunteer until a staff position opened up. As CCMC's communications coordinator, Eric brought keen intelligence, ready wit, and infinite enthusiasm to advancing Clean Money throughout California.

(This diary has its origins in the comments of RichardR's diary, "An exhausted gay American".  I was heartened by several commenters who noted the disconnect between what the Bible says and the views of many on homosexuality, and I realized that many may not be aware of this project.)

Last week I bought the gun.
Yesterday I wrote the note.
Last night I happened to see your show on PBS
And just knowing someday, somewhere I can go back into a church with my head held high
I threw the gun into the river.
My mom never has to know.

Whoops, it appears I'm six years too late. Proposition 34 was approved in 2000 by 60.1 percent of the voters. Honestly, I don't even remember much about the initiative. If I recall, 2000 was the year I was just really waking up to what was going on around me politically. In early November 2000, President George W. Bush was still just a neocon dream.

So, when I saw many of those opposing Prop 89 claim that we already have campaign finance reform through Prop 34 I became curious...

I'm a proponent of California's Proposition 89, the Clean Money and Fair Elections Act. I like to keep tabs on what the other side is doing. It helps me understand what they're telling people, so I can counter it. So, I've been waiting for the Stop 89 people to come out with their TV ads. Well it appears they have. You can see one for yourself.

Here in California's 46th we had two opportunities yesterday to hear our candidates discuss the issues facing our country. For those of you who don't know, our district is the home of Dana "Let the Prisoners Pick The Fruit" Rohrabacher. He is being challenged by Jim Brandt, a businessman and veteran.

Rohrabacher is presumed to be a shoe-in, but no wonder - there's been no coverage of the discussions anywhere. If it weren't for the blogs, including ones by atdnext and opendna, you wouldn't be reading anything about it. I won't cover all the details because they both have done a great job.

Just a reminder that today is the debate double feature: Brandt vs. Rohrabacher. If you're in the LA area, you can still show your support for challenger Jim Brandt in person. There are 2 venues:

Cal State Long Beach, TODAY, 2:30 PM
Golden West College, Huntington Beach, TONIGHT, 7PM

Esquire Magazine has recently come out with their list of 2006 endorsements. While there are some surprises and some disappointments, in some cases they find just the right words for what we are feeling. Such is the case in their endorsement of Jim Brandt for California's 46th CD:

For kicking back and having a beer, going surfing, or maybe doing the swing shift for the Minutemen down on the border, Rohrabacher's your man. Otherwise, we are sad to say the act has worn thin.
Esquire endorses: Brandt

As I read the LA Times today, I was disappointed to see their endorsement of "No" on California's Proposition 89, the California Clean Money and Fair Elections Act. What bothered me further is that the majority of their argument is supportive of the initiative. They acknowledge that such reform allows candidates to spend more time with voters discussing issues. They note that legislators become free to say "no" to any interests who use campaign funding as leverage for special treatment. And they realize that special interests are now also turning to ballot measures to get their way with Sacramento.

Indeed, the main thrust of their argument seems to be one of fairness to corporations. And it struck me that this is another example of the boiling frog parable. In their view, corporations are akin to citizens. Prop 89 is "insulting" to corporations. We have to be just as "fair" to them as to people.