California Delta Breeze
The effect of the dry lightning storm that struck California last week that started some 800 wildfires is finally starting to wear down. Anyone who was in any part of California last week can attest to the terrible air.
The haze has finally started to go away as a good delta breeze kicked in to reveal some of that previous blue sky that Californians are accustomed to in the summer.
The air in Sacramento is only marginally better since our air sucks almost every day, except on holidays.
California Cell Phone Ban
Tomorrow July 1, 2008 is the official start of the ban on talking on cell phones while driving in California. There are similar laws in many other states, but the millions of Californians and their cars numerically are greatly more affected than those other states combined.
There isn’t much evidence that this law works, see North Carolina.
There is much criticism of the law, especially since there are tons of evidence that relate other distractions such as the radio, food, drinks, etc. as also being factors in car accidents. While not doing much research to support my soon-to-be-revealed theory to the law’s origins, I will suspect that MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) had much to do with the law, since they saw the numbers of how so many teen drivers were getting hurt and killed in accidents while talking on cell phones.
It would have been hard to justify a law specifically targeting them with cell phone bans, so the lawmakers simply made it an all-out ban. Also, enforcement would have been difficult for CHP and police officers to know who is a teen or not (hence discrimination issues). I will also not rule out the lobbying of bluetooth headset manufacturers in the law’s creation.
All I can say is citations and tickets will be issued a plenty…
Click here for a digital copy of the 2017 California Drivers Handbook.
Wimbledon 2008
[photo unavailable]
[photo unavailable]
[photos via Ryan Pierse/Getty + Ryan Pierse/Getty]
Nicole Vaidisova (18) beat Anna Chakvetadze (8) 4-6, 7-6, 6-3 to advance to the quarterfinals of Wimbledon 2008.
What’s wrong Anna?
UPDATE: Link fixed.