You've Gone Inside!

Palm IIIc, Vegan Clothes & the GOP

by David Boles

March 1, 2000

As the world spins faster, information is created and killed faster than we can pause to ruminate on its meaning.  I will create a series of quick-update articles for you as the world progresses.  These updates will deal with every topic under the sun.  These "Go Inside Flashes" will give you a fresh update of changing issues as they happen.

Palmtops
I've been a maniac for handheld computing for many years now. Windows CE was always a bit troubling:  An exciting idea marred by a sluggish OS experience.  Sticky Menus on a Windows CE machine slowed everything down to a benevolent crawl.  I think the Nino and the Casio Windows CE machines are quite beautiful from a hardware standpoint, but if the spirit is slow, the rest of the body follows.

The Casio E100 is a lovely color device, but it's a bit big and heavy to tote around all day. I'm presently using the Palm Vx: It's tiny, sweet, sexy and fast! The screen is hard to read under indirect incandescent light.  Under direct sunlight and overhead fluorescent light, the screen is really great.  I confess to being tempted by the new color Palm IIIc.  Color is paramount on a handheld device because it instantly makes the machine real and alive. We live and process the world around us in color and when we use a color handheld device, we make the handheld a living color extension of our dreams. 

I haven't heard any rumors of a color Palm in the "V" form factor, but it has to be on the horizon because anyone who uses a Palm V or Vx is going to have a hard time giving up the small wonder of size and convenience for a bigger, chunkier first incarnation of color.  I think I'll let my money burn in my pocket a bit longer.

Vegan Clothes
As you may know, I write the Virgin Vegan column in GO INSIDE Magazine.  My wife and I have been Vegan for over a year now and we've found it to be quite easy.  We don't eat or wear or use anything made from something that once had a mother. My cholesterol has dropped from a pre-Vegan high of 250 to 169. My cholesterol ratio has dropped from 5.7 to 4.0. My blood pressure dropped from 160/114 to 127/77. 
I do half an hour of aerobics five times a week and I do a little light weightlifting and power walking as well. 

It's hard to find non-leather Vegan shoes. Where's the best place to buy manmade shoes that look and feel great? Payless Shoe Stores! Average price for a nice pair of shoes is ~$12 and the shoes look professional and beautiful and they do, in fact, let your feet breathe and smell "normal" after wearing them all day.  K-Mart makes great manmade shoes under their Route 66 line as well. Nike has also moved into the "synthetic leather" domain for many of their new shoes!  As manufacturing costs rise, it is cheaper for the shoemakers to not have to slaughter cows or other animals for their hides when synthetics are cheaper, more durable and better for the soul!

Sharp looking clothes can also be hard to find.  Silk and wool seem to be everywhere!  Tencel is a new wonder fabric made from trees that is soft and durable.  Look for it!  Micro-fiber is also a Godsend!  Micro-fiber is a silky-smooth micro-polyester entity.  It's cheap, too!  If you haven't felt a Micro-fiber pair of pants, suit, coat, dress or jacket, I urge you to do so now!  Check out the Haggar Black Label line and also the Levi's Slates line of pants that are both made of Micro-fiber.  You can find those brands at J.C. Penney, Stern's and Macy's.  I'm sure there are other good stores out there that carry fine Micro-fiber lines as well.  I have a Micro-fiber "sueded" sport coat.  Oh, my!  It feels like animal suede, but it isn't.  It's simply delicious micro-fiber!  The head of J.C. Penney said last year, "Our future is in Micro-fiber.  Micro-fiber will be everywhere and we will lead them there."

The GOP
The Republicans are in trouble.  South Carolina is, was, and shall be their Waterloo.  The Hard Right appears to be mugging (and mugging for!) the election again with their hatred and intolerance of those who do not believe what they believe and that can only mean a loss of the Presidency and House and Senate seats in the November election.  

The only way the Republicans can re-capture America's hearts and minds is by leaving us alone!  

Don't press your morals into our soul.  

The GOP should fight for universal Healthcare instead of dividing the world into believers and non-believers.  The GOP should drop their Tax Cut plan.  The GOP should let Freedom Ring by wringing their hands over things in the world that displease them instead of trying to wring the necks of those who don't believe as they do.  

The GOP should support less government intervention, not more!  The GOP also needs to drop the crusade that they're more "moral" than Democrats.  A moral person doesn't need to publicize that fact.  The GOP needs to realize we don't look to a President for moral leadership.  The President's role is to look out for the best interests of the United States at home and in the world abroad no matter what origin of nationality or religious belief comes into play.  

For moral leadership, we should turn to our Ministers, Priests and Rabbis, not the Oval Office.

Closing Note to the GOP:  Keep your noses, laws, morals and hands out of our women's pants!  

 

 

GO back Inside



Copyright ©
2000