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News From Silicon Valley's Neighborhoods Rod to Ruin The unstoppable Rod Diridon has been ratted out by the academic community, where not everyone appreciates his 'politics as usual' style. Speak Easy San Jose--Years ago, queasy mothers could send away to Kotex for a little pink booklet that absolved them of having to talk about s-e-x with their daughters. Now queasy mothers can simply direct their kids to any one of 10 billboards around San Jose placed by Project Action, the folks who brought us the condom vending machines downtown. The billboards cut to the chase in a way moms rarely do. "Sperm happens," they read. "Carry a condom." The Straight Poop Saratoga--Environmental attorney Claudia Polsky predicted this week that the city's motion to dismiss a case brought by two local environmental groups will fail. The greens charge that Saratoga violated the Clean Water Act by allowing unacceptable levels of sewage to flow into the creek. The city maintains that the creek is only as polluted as other urban creeks. Y2K$$ Approved Willow Glen--Imagine the utter embarrassment if, amid flying champagne corks and bellowing noise blowers, air conditioning systems and traffic signals across the capital of Silicon Valley whirred to a stop at the stroke of midnight that begins the year 2000. One year ago, San Jose City Councilmembers foresaw this potentially awkward mishap and approved $1.1 million to rewrite date-sensitive code in all the city's computer systems. At their Sept. 15 meeting, the City Council eagerly handed an additional $578,618 to Year 2000 Project Manager Deborah Barker to finish the job. Political Cybersex World Wide Web--U.S. Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-San Jose) is hoping that some of the millions of Websurfers who log on to view the Starr Report will also check out her site, which features excerpts from the 1974 Watergate impeachment hearings, to gain some historical perspective. Lofgren has posted a report drawn up by the 1974 House Judiciary Committee outlining the legal and Constitutional grounds for impeachment, which had not been officially studied since Andrew Jackson was impeached in 1866. Lofgren is herself a member of the Judiciary Committee, which is charged with reviewing Kenneth Starr's report to Congress. [ Metro | Metroactive Central | Archives ]