Devious Democrats in Jersey

It’s official. Toricelli is out. This is starting to look increasingly like a brilliant tactical move by the NJ dems. Here’s how it works:

1) Toricelli announces he will serve out his term, but kill his reelection effort.

2) The Democratic Party names a succesor, then requests a ballot change. Even though the law required such a change by September 16, the Democratic State Attorney General grants a waiver.

3) The state GOP can’t win on Forrester’s strength alone. His entire election strategy was based on “I’m not Toricelli”. So, the state GOP files suit to prevent the ballot change.

4) If the GOP loses, then the election proceeds with the Democrats’ chances greatly improved.

5) If the GOP wins, then Toricelli resigns his Senate seat, now within the 30-day window, and by law, there’s no election. Toricelli’s replacement (a Democrat!) serves two years before a special election in 2004.

Well that’s all admirably Machiavellian and deeply cynical, but I got just one question.  Do the VOTERS get to choose their Senator, or are they just some kind of irrelevant afterthought after the power thugs manipulate the system? 

Let’s see, we got a crooked Senator forced to drop out, so now his pals will pull barely (if that) legal tricks to make sure another Democrat follows him into office.  Screw the voters!  What an inspiring message for the youth of America.

I tell ya, the ethics of these folks would make a crack whore blush with embarassment.  Whoops, there I go, wheezing about quaint old concepts like “ethics”, I don’t know what got into me…

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Rio shuts down for a day, by order of drug gang

You read the headline correctly…

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N.J. Democratic Sen Torricelli drops reelection bid

New Jersey Democratic Sen. Robert Torricelli quit his bid for re-election on Monday amid an onslaught of corruption allegations and a drastic drop in his poll numbers.

Yet only a week ago, AP was reporting the race as a statistical dead heat. Today he resigns because he’s down 13 points. Talk about a hemmoraging campaign. But why quit so close to the end when you know it will torpedo your partys chance to hold an crucial seat?  I’m guessing “smoking gun” evidence was about to be released linking him to more corruption.

This could cost the Democrats the Senate. My own opinion?  Good riddance to a corrupt Senator.

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Striking on the dock of the bay

West Coast cargo ports were shut down indefinitely Sunday night after a chaotic day on the waterfront that dashed hopes for a truce between dockworkers and shipping lines, now in their fifth month of troubled contract talks.

Hundreds of cargo-laden ships from San Diego to Seattle were stranded when the Pacific Maritime Assn., which represents international shipping lines and U.S.-based terminal operators, locked out union workers at the start of the 6 p.m. shift.

This strike isn’t solely about money, it’s more about who controls the docks.

Negotiations have bogged down over the association’s desire to introduce new technology such as scanners, sensors and remote cameras, which will cost union jobs. In exchange, the union wants to expand its jurisdiction, set minimum staffing levels, and control the flow of all information through the terminals.

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Something’s happening here…

When the Afghanistan bombing was about to start, a friend and I argued so vehemently about it that our friendship nearly ended.  She was adamant in her defense of Bush.  And yes, I can be a teensy bit partisan myself.

Just called her up, and during the conversation gingerly mentioned I was helping organize the anti-war demonstration on this coming Sunday in L.A., and that her politics might well be different than mine.  She startled me by launching into a rant against Bush, saying how scary things are now.  I was dumbfounded.  And she will be going to her first demonstration ever this Sunday!

My father too.  Same thing.  Supported the Afghanistan bombing, but is uncertain, at best, about Iraq.  When I mentioned the anti-war demonstrations he said “well, just don’t get arrested by Ashcroft”, meaning, of course, by the federal apparatus.

Two people, once Bush supporters, now fearful of what’s happening in the country.  Other people I’ve talked to have said they are afraid of speaking out.  What is it with this climate of fear?  Even Congress seems cowed, although -finally- some Democrats are starting to speak out.

Well, I think the emperor has no clothes. The Bushies have lots of bluster and bully-boy tactics, but their blunders outnumber their wins.  They’re just not particularly competent are they?  Poppy Bush would have made sure he had the UN lined up before he charged ahead.  These bozos charge ahead with little apparent thought or planning.  Now most the world thinks we’re nuts.  Sharp thinking guys…

They do not have the country behind them on Iraq.  Most people oppose an Iraq War.  Something in the country is shifting.  Certainly a huge protest movement is being born.  And even mainstream political people are getting leery of Bush.

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The MC5 get some recognition

The MC5 were among the best, most powerful rock bands ever. Their Kick Out The Jams LP, recorded live in ‘68, remains a wondrous, politicized, take-no-prisoners sonic barrage.  And political they were. Upfront revolutionaries, in fact.

They were the only band to play to the crowds of protesters at the ‘68 Chicago Democratic Convention - just before the ”police riot” (those are the words of the commission that investigated what happened, not mine). No other band, I think it’s safe to say, was crazy enough to play there.

Their music was overtly political, and they pissed off the powers-that-be to the point where their manager, John Sinclair, got 7 1/2 years for two joints. Mostly though, they were a rock and roll band who took things to whole new levels.  Not unlike another Michigan band of the time, Iggy and the Stooges.

The MC5 influenced many bands, especially punks. And still do. Their music was garage punk (before punk, that is), with sometimes incendiary lyrics and massive amounts of energy, passion and talent.  William Burroughs meets Sun Ra in Detroit back alley and glorious rock and roll is the result.

They broke up in the early 70’s amid bad blood and too much junkie business.  Guiitarist Wayne Kramer did a couple of years on drug sale charges that seem like entrapment to me.  Fred Smith married punk poetess/singer Patti Smith (which made her Patti Smith Smith, I guess…).  Some rare cuts, etc. have been released on various labels, notably Alive/Total-Energy, but it seemed like it was over, except for long time fans and punk bands. 

Now, all these years later, the MC5 has been nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003.  Plus a movie about them, MC5 * A True Testimonial, is near release.  They’re finally getting long overdue recognition (and if the movie does well, money too - something they never saw much of in the MC5 days).  Sadly, there can never be a reunion tour, as two members, Fred Smith and Rob Tyner are dead (from natural causes).

Wayne Kramer has released four excellent solo CDs over the past several years, as well as doing collaborations with others.  His latest, Adult World, was just released on his own label.  He calls his current stuff “rock and roll for adults”.  His guitar work is still ferocious, and the lyrics tends towards street level slice-of-life vignettes, with heart.  Adult world indeed.

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Stealware: Kazaa et al Stealing Link Commissions.

“We all heard about spyware, well now Kazaa, Morpheus and LimeWire are sneaking a new type of nastiness onto your computer, software that - without you even knowing it - redirects commissions for online purchases you make from other vendors you make back to them. For example, if you buy a CD from an affiliate of Amazon.com, say some charity, the software fools Amazon into crediting the commission to Morpheus, not the charity! The story quotes a LimeWire Developer who admits ‘While I agree that this is really a bit of a scam, it is a way for us to pay salaries while not adversely affecting our users.’ The insidious part is the stealware program remains even if you delete the original P2P software. And you supposedly gave your permission when you clicked through the EULA.” Via [Privacy Digest]

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Let one hundred browsers bloom

Mozilla is open source browser software.  With open source, anyone can build their own browser.  Netscape 7 is a notable example.

Different strokes for different folks. The browser features you need may not be ones I want at all.  So, instead of having one ponderously bloated browser <Hi Internet Explorer!>, why not have browsers with specific feature sets aimed at specific audiences.  All built around common (and free) software.

There are many Mozilla-based browsers now, with more coming.  I’m currently using Phoenix, a stripped-down version of Mozilla built for speed.

… the several different browser development projects that are currently under way are one of the Mozilla community’s greatest assets. The simple reason for this is that one browser can’t be all things to all people. Each new browser built is filling a need that’s not being met by any other existing option and has the potential to appeal to a whole new audience, which in turn will help expand Mozilla’s adoption.

AOL to use Mozilla?

One of the most interesting possibilities for future browser development comes from AOL, the same company that owns Netscape and which is the main sponsor of the Mozilla community. Currently, the Windows version of the AOL client software uses Internet Explorer as the core of its browser, but there are indications that this may soon change. If AOL were to switch and use Mozilla in a new version of their software, tens of millions of people would be exposed to Mozilla.

Don’t forget, Mozilla ain’t Netscape!

Mozilla.org is the developer community for Mozilla developers, many of whom work for Netscape. (Ah, here’s where some folks get confused … and rightly so.) Netscape, in this instance, is the corporate entity behind the Mozilla project, providing overall direction, funding, and a sense of purpose and control. At the same time, Netscape uses mozilla.org and the developer community around it to leverage their development of Netscape 6, which is a commercial web browser built on top of the Mozilla codebase.

Netscape 6 can be thought of as a branded version of Mozilla with some extra functionality and software components thrown in. For instance, Netscape is a wholly owned subsidiary of AOL, so AOL has funded the development of a Mozilla-based AOL Instant Messenger client, which is included in the default installation of Netscape 6. This is an example of software that isn’t available in the default Mozilla installation, and serves as an important distinction between the two.

Hmmm

…the reason that IE is so fast on modern computers running Windows 98 or Windows 2000 is that IE is actually loaded into the system memory upon startup. This is an example of how Microsoft is taking advantage of their monopoly in the desktop computer market.

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The skateboard car

Last January, Larry Burns, General Motors’ vice president for research and development and planning, unveiled the company’s plans for the car of the future. It wasn’t exactly a car but the underpinnings of one, sort of a 16-foot-long, two-dimensional wine carafe on wheels — what Burns called the ‘’skateboard.” The car would come in two parts, Burns explained. The car’s power and control system would be encased in the skateboard, which could be kept for decades while customers shuffled car bodies as tastes changed. And the bodies, too, would be radically different from what we know, with the windshield extending all the way down to the floor because the car’s essential systems are kept underfoot. The first working prototype, dubbed Hy-wire, made its debut at the Paris Motor Show last week.

Hy-wire represents a merging of technologies: the hydrogen fuel cell, a power system that creates electrical current from chemical reactions and drive-by-wire, which replaces mechanical linkages between parts with electronic ones. Taken together, the technologies would move the automobile from the machine age to the digital age and result in a car that emits only water vapor. … automakers have been focused on fuel cells for less than a decade, compared with a century of dead ends on batteries, and are quickly closing the gap.

Via [Synergic Earth News]

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It’s not just Lefties who have circular firing squads

California GOP convenes and, as usual, devotes itself to fratricidal feuding

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War with Iraq?

Steve Lopez, L.A. Times columnist, on the consequences of an Iraq War.

Imagine Los Angeles if you were to get rid of all official authority and turn the city over to the Crips and Bloods. That’s what we’d be looking at in Iraq, only worse, and American troops would be caught in the middle of it.

The Crips in this case are the Shiites, and the Bloods are the Sunnis, who currently rule the country. They don’t much like each other, and it’ll be a race to see who gets to the Sunnis first–the Shiites or the equally vengeful Kurds, who have been gassed, and persecuted for years, by Saddam’s people.

I happen to have spent some time in Iraq’s Kurdish reaches, and I can tell you firsthand that they don’t even get along with each other. And one faction has been particularly close to Iran, which arguably is more dangerous than Iraq, and could conceivably get drawn into this mess. If so, <authority on international terrorism> Dekmejian says, Russia could follow.

Given the long, complex histories of these conflicts, and the depth of hatred that exists, Dekmejian has a neat summary of any expectation for democracy to triumph in Iraq.

“It’s completely insane.”

“First of all,” Dekmejian explains, “you need some precedent for democracy, some cultural inclination and homogeneity, and the fellows opposing Saddam don’t even run their own organizations democratically.

“We’ll need a massive military force to occupy the place and keep people from killing each other, so it will mean a long-term commitment financially and militarily.”

And that, believe it or not, could be the least of our concerns. Bombing Iraq could work wonders for the recruiting efforts of the world’s anti-American terrorist organizations, says Dekmejian, who fears the radicalization of untold thousands of Muslims.

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250,0000 marched against war in London on Saturday

Demonstrators bring the streets of London to a standstill with a message of peace.

Next Sunday Oct 6, it’s our turn.

Not in Our Name, nationwide anti-war protests in the US.

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Brokerage assistant flipped, may testify against Martha Stewart

An assistant at Merrill Lynch has reportedly agreed to plead guilty to a misdemeanor and testify against Martha Stewart in the federal probe of ImClone stock sales.

Martha’s goose is cooked, no question, however

An upstate New York congressman says regulators and lawmakers have been paying too much attention to possible wrongdoing by Martha Stewart.

Maurice Hinchey said not enough scrutiny is being given to corporate executives who may have been involved in far more serious business dealings.

Good point…

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Mozilla

I’ve been using the open source Mozilla browser for a few weeks now.  It’s at least the equal of Internet Explorer - but without gaping security holes requiring endless updates.

Open source is software written and supported by an avid community of users.  Generally it is free and cross-platform, which means it can run on multiple operating systems, in this case PC’s, Mac’s, and Sun. 

Open source allows anyone to jump in, create add-ons, contribute ideas, tweak the code, and help make the software better.

There’s an entire community supporting Mozilla now.

MozDev.  Free project hosting for Mozilla projects, over 80 currently in progress.

MozillaZine Online Online zine / newsletter about Mozilla.

O’Reilly Mozilla DevCenter O’Reiily is a book publisher specializing in open source software books.

Phoenix A excellent example of why open source is so cool.  You want to tweak Mozilla to make it better / faster / whatever?  Do it!  Phoenix, just released in a 0.1 version, is a souped-up, faster version of Mozilla, with new and improved features, like better bookmark handling.  I’m using Phoenix, and it’s quite stable (and fast).

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Congress overwhelmed with anti-war calls from “The Silenced Majority”

Republican and Democratic Senate offices report “overwhelming” opposition from their constituents to war with Iraq. This comes as Congress prepares to pass a war resolution granting President Bush sweeping powers to invade Iraq.

The national news radio show Democracy Now! conducted an informal survey on Thursday of 70 Republican and Democratic Senate offices.

Of the 26 offices which responded to our inquires, 22 reported an overwhelming majority – in some cases up to 99 percent — of constituents opposed war in Iraq; three said the response was split and just one office reported a majority called backing the war.

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), in presenting a comprehensive case against armed intervention, called for the United States to give U.N. inspectors a chance to find and disable Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction.

“The administration has not made a convincing case that we face such an imminent threat to our national security that a unilateral, preemptive American strike and an immediate war are necessary,”

A Feinstein aide said that the senator has received about 15,000 phone calls and 3,500 letters on the Iraq issue, with the overwhelming majority against a unilateral, preemptive U.S. strike.

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Stunned S.F. Valley residents cope with sub-100 degree heat

“What happened to the sun, Mommy”, asked little Jenny, age 6.  Her mother replied, “It went behind the clouds”.  Jenny then asked, “What are clouds?”.

“Dude, I may have to wear long pants, and shoes instead of sandals”, opined Jeffrey ‘Headbanger’ Hampton, ”if I can remember where I put them, that is.  Tuesday was 113, now it’s 66.  This is totally bogus.  I forget what to wear when it’s not at least 90 degrees.”

Yes, fall may have finally arrived to the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles. Shopkeepers report plunging sales of bottled water, and the eerie silence reported by many is due to air conditioners not being on constantly.

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Google search for this site added

You can now search this site using Google (use the Google icon under the calendar at the top of the home page)

Thanks to John Robb’s Radio Weblog for the code - which works on any website.

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London anti-war protest. 150,000-400,00 people show up!

Organizers were hoping for 100,000 people.  This turnout is way better than anyone dared hope for.

Tens of thousands of people are taking part in a protest against military action in Iraq which organisers say is one of Europe’s biggest anti-war rallies.

Police say they have so far counted more than 150,000 people and there have been two arrests for minor public order offences.

Mayor Livingstone <of London> told the BBC that he believed more than 400,000 people had taken part in the rally. 

“This is the largest march for peace I have seen in 30 years. This will have an electrifying effect on the Labour Party conference and on those MPs opposed to war.”

Tony Blair better be careful he isn’t out of a job soon.  If he keeps pushing for a war, his government could fall.

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Hardcore leftist next probable President of Brazil

He attended only primary school, went to work in a machine shop at 15 and was jailed as a firebrand leftist leader by the former military regime. But eight days before a landmark presidential election, opinion polls show Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is within a stone’s throw of sweeping to the highest political office in Brazil.

The World Bank / IMF / US do NOT want him to win as he will not be pliant on debt, privatization, and in letting them do as they please.

Although more Brazilians than ever appear ready for Lula (as he’s commonly known), both Brazilian and foreign investors are hedging their bets.
They pounded Brazil’s currency, stocks and bonds this week, fearing he represents a sharp break from the market-friendly policies of current President Fernando Henrique Cardoso, who leaves office in January after eight years.

Financial woes hit pre-election Brazil

As soon as the election is over, according to this hopeful argument, and Lula shows that he is no longer the radical he was and puts some market-friendly names in charge of the economy, then everything will go back to normal. <translation: If Lula will only pledge fealty to DC, then all will be safe for the World Bank>
But a growing number of voices express worry that Brazil’s problems may be more deep-seated. It is the size of the debt, they argue, which is crippling the economy, and they say Brazil should never have opened up so quickly to outside capital, which in a climate of global uncertainty is bound to take its money to safer shores.
They also warn that the market, by pushing down the currency and stocks to record lows, is creating a self-fulfilling prophecy. As the currency devalues, it gets harder and harder for the government and companies to pay debts based in dollars.
Fearing a debt default, international investors are creating the conditions to provoke one.

Will we be seeing coup attempts soon in Brazil - similar to what recently happened in Venezuela? Keep on eye on this. There are powerful forces that do not want a leftie as President of Brazil.

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We got a movement going on

100,000 expected in London today for anti-war protest

2,000 anti-war protesters greet Bush in Denver

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DC Police Chief accused of personally beating a non-protester

Government worker tells radio station WTOP that Chief Ramsey attacked his girlfriend who was bicycling to work.  Check the charming manner of the chief during the interview. 

What a thug.

http://prorev.com/ramsey.mp3

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Huge anti-war demonstration in UK planned for Sat.

The largest anti-war protest in decades will happen tomorrow in London.

Check UK Indymedia for details and news as it happens.

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DC protests - sleazy police tactics.  What a surprise.

KPFK reports that police in DC were deliberately arresting observers at the demonstrations.  This included lawyers from National Lawyers Guild who were there as observers only, as well as other groups of lawyer-observers.

National Lawyers Guild lawyers are present at many protests.  They are observers, not protesters.

For them to be arrested en masse at the start of the demonstrations shows a deliberate tactic on the part of police.  And the same D.C. police who ordered this move are still facing lawsuits from their previous illegal treatment of demonstrators.

There’s no better way to radicalize people than arresting them illegally.

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