What if in 2000, during the whole presidential election crisis, Bill Clinton acted before the Supreme Court did and issued an order declaring Al Gore the winner in Florida and the election? Everyone would scream bloody murder. (Well, they did anyway, but that's not the point.) The point being is that's happened on a smaller scale in Berkeley.

I keep track of the old university once in a while and this caught my eye. The student government, ASUC, has always been a ridiculous organization, pissing away money every chance they get and holding long meetings to discuss pretty much nothing. Yet every spring, it manages attract 100 or so people to run for office, spouting off grand ideas to improve student life. After 4 years, I hadn't seen much except tons of flyers in the trash. This year, the dominant party of the last few years, Student Action, swept the executive offices but its party leader and the candidates were charged with obstruction of justice and perjury and stripped of their wins by the Judicial Council.

In his haste to settle the matter, the outgoing president, a member of Student Action, issued an executive order declaring the Student Action candidates the winners of their respective offices and that they assume their positions immediately.

Of course the entire thing smells fishy. It's probably illegal and it most likely will get worse before it gets better.

Side note: you didn't have time to hang out with us, but still I'll wish you a happy b-day Ak.

Hey ya. Travel plans this summer haven't gone my way. Korea + the Philippines required too much of a commitment. And the planning for New York and Baltimore wasn't quite there. So I've got to settle for smaller trips in the area. So if you're in Vegas the first week of August, Reno the last week of August, or L.A. the first week of October, lemme know since that's where I'll be.

Work experienced a few layoffs last week (6-10 out of 600 plus a couple of retirements ain't bad) but don't worry, my job wasn't affected. I'm still able to surf the Internet 8 hours a day and get paid for it. The overall health of the company is actually pretty good, but there's a bunch of people not doing much and real measurable work to do isn't coming in for another few months.

Went go-karting for the first time in years. But let's put it this way, I'll stick with regular cars for the time being. Thanks Di for the time out.

Fiona Apple this Friday and it's my grandpa's 80th birthday this weekend. Happy Birthday!

Finally, does this really count as TV? Maury Povich interviews a waitress who is terrified of pickles. Pickles!

One thing not reflected in these pictures is the location of the thermostat. Even the Facilities Department doesn't have a clue. They pointed me to one was down the hall, but it was busted. My solution? I lowered the thermostat on all the ones I could find. Now everything seems to be the right temperature. As for my co-workers: yeah, right.



My office is nothing impressive. Look...desk, computer, corkboard, chair, and tons of papers.

The Simpsons are there. So is Stewie. No window to stare out though. Gotta go around the corner for that.

Taylor Hicks and Snoop Dogg sang "Gin and Juice" together in Alabama. PLEASE! Make it stop!

Happy belated Father's Day to everyone. My 3-year-old cousin was so excited about this day that she ran up to her mom and wished her a happy Father's day even though Dad was right next to her.

Nestle is buying Jenny Craig. Watch out for that next diet fad: chocolate diets.

As Alex likes to point out, I am a registered Republican in a district where Dems outnumber Reps 2-1. But judging by the reaction of poll workers last week on Election Day, you'd think I was the only one. The lady asked my name to look up and when she pointed to the word REP to the person giving out the ballot, she whispered to her, "I guess I can't say that anymore today."

The boss of one of my co-workers proudly proclaimed he was able to delete columns on an Excel spreadsheet. Baby steps...

My parents are back from Vietnam with t-shirts galore. My dad actually went back to work last Friday. There, he found out the company asked for 3 volunteers to move to Fremont to work there (they're in San Jose now). Well, they got two volunteers. So management had to choose the other one and it was my dad since he was out-of-town and wasn't able to decline.

This Tuesday is Election Day so those registered to vote should go out and do so. The ballot for this primary election doesn't look all too interesting but it sets the stage for the big November battles that'll be played out.

The Democrats were hurt when neither Rob Reiner nor Warren Beatty would run for governor to challenge the star power of Arnold Schwarzenegger. Instead, Treasurer Phil Angelides and Controller Steve Westly are vying for the nomination. If you look at the issues, these two have more in common than they do different. That's why after some background ads on themselves, they went directly to attack ads on each other's backgrounds (Angelides and his real estate background or Westly with his ties to business and Schwarzenegger) instead of criticizing the other on their stances on the issues. I can't vote in this race, but I'm leaning toward Westly, a former Silicon Valley exec at eBay who would be able to grow California and its economy. However, a vote for either will certainly embrace the values of the Democratic Party in its fight against Arnold, which will be tough.

The state only has two ballot propositions this time which is weird since that's an awfully low number. The first is a library bond which should be allowed to pass. The second is preschool education for all 4-year-olds. It's a nice idea, but its execution is bad. It taxes the rich, which is a very volatile source of revenue, especially in this state. Preschool programs already exist for most of the lower-income families this proposal is designed to reach. And it requires these pre-school teachers to get a Bachelor's degree, which is absurd and a waste of resources when regular schools are running out of qualified teachers.

Turning local toward the San Jose mayor's race...if the winner receives 50%+1 of the vote, he or she would be elected mayor. However, with 5 prominent front-runners and 5 others running, this race is more likely headed to a runoff with the top two facing off in November. The city has been rocked by scandal, back-room deals and some financial mismanagement in recent years, which is why all candidates are calling for open government and accountability. A vote for Cindy Chavez would be a vote of confidence for the Ron Gonzales' administration, which by all accounts has not been a stellar one. A smaller percentage of San Joseans approve of the job Gonzales is doing than Americans do of George W. Bush. With Chavez' fingerprints all over the council's actions in the last few years and her insistence to continue with these policies, this really can't continue. Chuck Reed has a lot of good ideas and is considering himself to be the only honest, open, and ethical candidate who will not be influenced by anyone. That's well-intentioned but on the issues, he's usually the one who goes against the council and if you can't work with the council, then nothing can get done. Michael Mulcahy certainly looks the part of a politician and he is an outsider, but a complete outsider would not be advisable. His previous experience in the city is limited and the Mercury News notes his lack of reaching out to different parts of the community. As a result, either of the Davids would be a wise choice to run in the runoff in November with me leaning toward Pandori due to his experience during the good (at least comparatively) years on the council and his clear plan to rebuild San Jose from within through a revitalization of the parks and fiscal responsibility. It doesn't hurt that he went to Cal. Cortese is currently a councilman who would be able to work with this council while calling for open practices in the city and focusing on neighborhoods.

I'm not sure what category this story would go under...it's just too odd.

A woman who fell in love with a snake has married the reptile at a traditional Hindu wedding celebrated by 2,000 guests in India's Orissa state, reports said. Bimbala Das wore a silk saree for the ceremony Wednesday at Atala village near the Orissa state capital Bhubaneswar. Priests chanted mantras to seal the union, but the snake failed to come out of a nearby ant hill where it lives, the Press Trust of India (PTI) said on Friday. A brass replica snake stood in for the hesitant groom. "Though snakes cannot speak nor understand, we communicate in a peculiar way," Das, 30, told the agency. "Whenever I put milk near the ant hill where the cobra lives, it always comes out to drink. "I always get to see it every time I go near the ant hill. It has never harmed me," she added. Villagers welcomed the wedding in the belief it would bring good fortune and laid on a feast for the big day. Snakes and particularly the King Cobra are venerated in India as religious symbols worn by Lord Shiva, the god of destruction. Das, from a lower caste, converted to the animal-loving vegetarian Vaishnav sect whose local elders gave her permission to marry the cobra, the world's largest venomous snake that can grow up to five metres. "I am happy," said her mother Dyuti Bhoi, who has two other daughters and two sons to marry off. "Bimbala was ill," Bhoi told local OTV channel. "We had no money to treat her. Then she started offering milk to the snake ... she was cured. That made her fall in love." Das has moved into a hut built close to the ant hill since the wedding. Earlier this year, a tribal girl was married off to a dog on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar.

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