Despite its proximity to the oil-rich Arabian peninsula, Djibouti has no fossil fuel sources of its own.  Lack of resources in general has led to high unemployment, almost no industry, and a huge national debt. 

I miss my bicycle.  Years ago, I lived in Gainesville, Florida, and as a poor graduate student, a car was out of the question.  I had just moved from Baltimore, where I got by without a car because downtown was compact enough to walk around, and when venturing out, I could take water taxis to [...]

Africa is the continent Westerners most misunderstand.  An experience my classmate, who was born in Zimbabwe, had a couple years ago here in LA sums up the knowledge many Americans share about this continent.  While the local cable guy (who was black) wired up her apartment, he asked her where she was from, and she [...]

The La Canada Flintridge fire, along with the other fires consuming California, has been devastating.  Here are some pictures I took yesterday along CA-2. (more…)

We’ve been teasing ourselves about solar since the 1970s, when Jimmy Carter installed solar panels on the White House roof.  With oil prices skyrocketing last year, and their creeping rise this year, there’s much talk about solar power being the wave (or ray?) of the future.  Recently I’ve been to several solar conferences, and the [...]

California’s budget mess is a topic that I’d rather leave to the political chattering class:  it’s way beyond the scope of this site.  But if I may briefly step up on my soapbox, I will say that as long as the two major political parties are ideologically polarized, we should consider a constitutional convention to [...]

With all the news about Ted Kennedy’s passing, I had no idea that we were starting another wildfire season, until I stepped outside to water the garden.  As it turns out, 600 acres of the Angeles National Forest are consumed with flames. And then I smelled it, that sick scent of embers mixed with dust. [...]

I have to admit I’m a little emotional over the passing of Senator Ted Kennedy. The youngest of nine, he was almost an afterthought in an overachieving family (his father named Edward Moore Kennedy after his closest aide), he rose to become a giant of the Senate, joining the ranks of Webster, Clay, Johnson, and [...]

Last year I worked for a company that sent me all over North America for really no good reason.  On one hand, it was a fascinating experience listening to energy executives talk about their corporate strategy when oil was hovering at US$150 a barrel.  But when you are flying halfway across the country spewing out [...]

Invasive species are difficult to eliminate once you plant them.  I admit I was eco-punked once:  I went to a trusted nursery and asked for good ground cover, and after I planted these shrubs where I was living at the time.  Later, I found out that I planted . . . an invasive species from New Zealand. [...]

When one thinks of Los Angeles, palm trees immediately come to mind.  Hardly a city block lacks a business with Palm in its name, and whether you’re in affluent Brentwood or the effluent neighborhoods near downtown, palms line the streets.  When visitors send postcards home, most likely they’re showing off palm trees.  We’ve got a [...]

The weekend before last we had a couple over for dinner:  he’s vegan, she’s vegetarian, and I wanted to be a gracious host.  But as a proud omnivore, I was wondering what the heck I could cook that didn’t have cheese or eggs.  Well, it turned out to be pretty simple:  the trick is to [...]