Rose Cantine

From Salon: This news comes by way of Politico’s Meredith Shiner and Jonathan Allen, who appropriately point out the obvious conflict here: “The party’s own platform calls [abortion] ‘a fundamental assault on innocent human life.’” The RNC didn’t opt out of abortion coverage, though, even though that is allowed by Cigna, its insurer. Worse yet, though, is the fact that 176 House Republicans voted for the Stupak amendment, which restricts federal funds from going toward insurance plans that cover abortion. God forbid the government help you to get an insurance plan just like the one enjoyed by the RNC.

Lovely day in the city, I am about to work on my Mac Book.

“American companies are not seeing much lasting benefit from their country’s investment in Iraq. Some American businesses have calculated that the high security costs and fear of violence make Iraq a business no-go area. Even those who are interested and want to come are hampered by American companies’ reputation here for overcharging and shoddy workmanship, an outgrowth of the first years of the occupation, and a lasting and widespread anti-Americanism.”

(read more at The New York Times)

Are you surprised? The Financial Times reports that senior officials from the Bush administration are now leading reconstruction projects in Iraq.

Senior Bush administration figures including Zalmay Khalilzad, former US ambassador to Baghdad, and Jay Garner, the retired general who led reconstruction efforts immediately after the war, are leading a new business push into Iraq. The two one-time senior officials are among a raft of former US soldiers and diplomats either leveraging their war experience helping foreign companies to enter the Iraqi market or starting businesses there themselves.

Read more on the Financial Times (may need subscription).

Is this what the war in Afghanistan will be about? Lots of dead people, billions of dollars spent, just like in Iraq, lots of cruelty so that in the end, a few well-connected people can make billions of dollars. This is obscene. At home, millions of Americans can’t afford health care because the Congress and the Senate can barely pass a health care reform bill that’s humane. They’re too busy pandering to the insurance and pharmaceutical industries. I am so disgusted.

The latest on Shopplr in case you’ve missed it:

Pierre Marcolini: my favorite chocolatier

Apple opens store (finally) in Paris

Look cool, get warm in this cozy Vivienne Westwood Anglomania coat

From The Spirituality of Art:

Imagination draws its energy from a confrontation with desire. It feeds off desire, transmuting and magnifying reality through desire’s power. Fantasy does the opposite; it avoids desire by fleeing into a crude sort of wish-fulfillment that seems much safer. Fantasy might be teddy bears, lollipops, sexual delights, or superhero adventures; it also might be voices in one’s head urging acts of outrage and mayhem. Or it might be the confused world of separation and fear we routinely live in, a threatening yet seductive world that promises us the happiness we seek when our fantasies finally become real. Imagination confronts desire directly, in all its discomfort and intensity, deepening the world right where we are. Fantasy and reality are opposing forces, but imagination and reality are not in opposition: imagination goes toward reality, shapes and evokes it.

The best time to visit Rome is NOT in the summer, but in the early fall or in the spring. October is a perfect because the churches and museums are not as crowded, the restaurants are serving classic autumn dishes such as tagliolini with black truffel, and the air has a cool crispness that encourages walking and exploration.

Most people, myself included, have visited Rome in the sweltering heat of July when walking up the Palatine Hill feels like a death sentence handed down by Caesar Augustus. When you finally make it down from the Palatine Hill to the Forum to marvel at the columns of the Temple of Saturn and the Arch of Septimus Severus, you find yourself drenched in sweat and in such a foul mood that instead of spending the time to make out the details of the carvings on the Arch of Titus, notably, Roman soldiers carrying off loot taken from the Temple in Jerusalem, including the only concrete proof that there was a menorah in the Temple, all you want to do is seek shelter from the sun. Alas, this is the Forum and there are no trees. So you find yourself crouching behind one of the columns, together with hundreds of other tourists. Therefore, Rule no. 1 is do not visit Rome in July or August.

My visit to Rome in October of this year was simply marvelous. The weather couldn’t have been better: in the evenings, one needs a light jacket, but during the day, it is warm enough to walk around in summer clothes. Romans are already outfitted in their best fall clothes, including knit jackets with fur trim, gorgeous lightweight cashmere coats and boots. I find people-watching in Rome as entertaining and informative as a walk through the Pantheon.

I have begun posting reviews of restaurants and boutique hotels on Mapplr and will finish this week with a short guide to my favorite shops and restaurants in the city, as well as practical tips on getting around, finding Wi-Fi and more.

I posted my Rome photos in two sets on Flickr: one shows the Forum and Palatine Hill (above), and the other has shots of Rome’s neighborhoods and the Pantheon (below).

Check out my recent posts on Mapplr (with more to come):

Kame Hall: modern boutique hotel in the heart of Rome

Al Pompiere: traditional Roman cuisine in an old palazzo

Il Buco: excellent Tuscan food near the Pantheon in Rome

Mapplr’s favorite restaurants and cafes in Rome

Mapplr’s favorite hotels in Rome

The quality of life in San Francisco’s South of Market neighborhood, around the Embarcadero and South Beach, has improved dramatically since the closure of the Bay Bridge. Traffic is non-existent and for people who live near the bridge, hanging out on the balcony and opening windows means not having to listen to the constant buzz of traffic.

At first, the silence is eerie, then it becomes a sheer delight. Walking around SOMA is no longer such a frightful experience. There are no traffic jams, no hurried obnoxious drivers texting, talking on their phone and trying to get onto the bridge at the same time, in a big hurry. The streets are quiet and suddenly this part of San Francisco has become so much more livable.

Unfortunately the bridge may open even as soon as today. I am wishing it remains closed indefinitely. Perhaps they can close the bridge one day a week.

Find more videos like this on ProjectExplorer.org’s Good Global Citizen

I posted this video because I share the same feelings about travel. In my visits to developing countries I’m always humbled by this: that people who have much less than I do are much gentler, kinder, generous and thankful. So now when I’m feeling resentful about things in my life, or sorry for myself, I immediately catch the thoughts and feelings crossing my mind and I ask, “How can that be?”