If you were on 15th at mid-day yesterday, you might have caught a little live comedy. On the corner outside Lladro, an earnest young man stood by a folding table with a picture of Al Gore sporting a Pinocchio nose. The fresh-faced lad was from the Larouche campaign and hoping to find sympathetic ears – and maybe dollars – for his cause. The issue – straight from his mouth as I walked by – “Human beings are essentially good! Global warming is not our fault!”

Another neighbor apparently had engaged the young Larouche booster in conversation. I could only hear the end of what he was saying as he stomped away in the crosswalk towards the Hopvine. “Are you saying it’s the sun’s fault? You’re out of your fucking mind! It’s SCIENCE, MAN! SCIENCE!”