Coyote Gulch

Tuesday, November 30, 2004

Flora
Mrs. Gulch still had Wind Flowers blooming in the garden on Thanksgiving.
6:47:53 PM

Governing By Network
Taegan Goddard: "In Governing By Network: The New Shape of the Public Sector, authors Stephen Goldsmith and William Eggers say 'that federal executives spend too much time managing inside their own agencies, when they should be nurturing networks beyond their immediate purview. Executives and other federal employees need a new set of skills, closer to those found in business schools than in public policy schools.'"
6:26:51 PM

Yahoo!: "'Blog' Tops Dictionary's Words of the Year." Thanks to TalkLeft for the link.
6:18:32 PM

Exurbs, Democrats, Incumbancy
Western Democrat: "Kerry lost in Jefferson County, pretty handedly, 52 to 46 percent. But, Ken Salazar won over Pete Coors, 51 to 48, and Congressman Mark Udall beat the Republican 58 to 40 percent."
Coyote Gulch has relatives in Jefferson County that he has not seen since during the Vietnam War. We were so far apart back then that I guess none of us ever wanted to see how much work it'd take to be a family again. I bet I know how they voted.
Colorado Luis: "Johnson blames her loss on wealthy activists who targeted her with negative mailings. But she wasn't talking about the folks at Forward Colorado. She was referring to right wing activists who attacked her for failing to toe the party line on school vouchers. Really, you could not come up with a better example of how the state GOP's increasing ideological rigidity cost them dearly in this year's election."
Steve V. and Cokie Roberts: "Look at this year's election. Outside of Texas, only three incumbents lost their seats, a re-election rate of 99 percent. (Four Texas Democrats were defeated after being thrown into difficult new districts.) In California, with 53 House members, not a single race was even close." Thanks to the Daily Kos for the link.
6:08:09 PM

Stem Cell Research
Slashdot: "It's been promised for years, but it's just become a reality. Stem cells taken from cord blood have enabled a paralysed woman in South Korea to walk again for the first time in 20 years. The details are on the Sydney Morning Herald Site which requires registration, but can also be seen on the World Peace Herald. Too late for Christopher Reeve, but not for the thousands of new injuries worldwide each year or the millions of paralysed people from other diseases in the world."
Wired: "Swiss voters endorsed restrictive legislation on stem cell research Sunday that forbids the cloning of human embryos and put Switzerland on a par with some other continental European countries. With all Swiss regions reporting, 66.4 percent of those voting had approved measures that allow scientists to extract stem cells from unwanted embryos to use in research into diseases, as in the Netherlands and Spain. But the rules, which were approved in one of the country's regular referendums, are not as liberal as those in Britain or Belgium, where cloning to extract cells is allowed."
6:40:52 AM

2004 Presidential Transition
Here's an article about President Bush's nominee for Commerce Secretary, Carlos Gutierrez, from the Denver Post [November 30, 2004, "Bush picks Cuba-born CEO to be commerce secretary"]. From the article, "At Commerce, Gutierrez would be charged with improving the fortunes of America's struggling manufacturing sector, which has seen the loss of 2.7 million jobs over the past four years as the country's trade deficit has soared to record levels. Gutierrez, 51, has been credited with overhauling Kellogg's operations and providing new life for such brands as Special K. Since he became CEO in 1999, Kellogg's sales have risen 43 percent, helping to boost earnings per share by 131 percent. The nomination added to Bush's diversification of his Cabinet with Hispanics, women and blacks. While Gutierrez is not a Bush loyalist like other nominees, he emphasized that he shares the president's philosophy."
AP via Newsday.com: "Former Denver Mayor Wellington Webb has sent videos to the state chairmen promoting his interest in the job (Chairman of the DNC)." Thanks to Taegan Goddard for the link.
Taegan Goddard: "Joe Trippi argues that the 'staggering defeat of the Democratic Party and its ever-accelerating death spiral weren't obvious from the election results. Two factors masked the extent of the party's trouble. Without the innovation of Internet-driven small-donor fund-raising and a corresponding surge in support from the youngest voters, John Kerry would have suffered a dramatically larger defeat.'"
Update: TalkLeft: "Tis the Season. Tom Ridge resigns as Chief of Homeland Security. Kwesi Mfume resigns as head of the NAACP. Mr. Mfume's departure is a loss."
5:23:08 AM

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