Bob Morris @ Dec 31st 2002 11:34 - Category: Unfiled ;
Israel bribery crisis deepens.
“Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon dismisses a deputy minister implicated in a scandal in his governing Likud party.” [BBC News | World | UK Edition]
Bob Morris @ Dec 31st 2002 00:14 - Category: Unfiled ;
Hybrid car rendezvous at upcoming L. A. Auto Show, Fri Jan 3.
This should be fun. Dozens of hybrid cars outside the L. A. Convention Center, lots of reporters, with the event sponsored by the Union of Concerned Scientists. Check their webpage for info both on the event and about hybrids.
My green (of course) Toyota Prius and I will be participating.
Hybrids are dual-powered, with gas and electric engines. The gas engine recharges the electric motor battery. Thus, they do not need to be plugged in and recharged like all-electric vehicles.
The Toyota Prius can run both engines at once,or just one at a time. A computer chooses which engine to use, and does so effortlessly, and a digital readout tells you what the engines are doing.
Driving a Prius is like driving any other car, including handling and acceleration. Except, of course, when you stop at a traffic light. Then you have silence, because the gas engine automatically shuts off when the car stops - and starts automatically when you hit the gas pedal.
In L.A., driving in the city during the summer with the air conditioning on, I get 45 mpg. The tank holds 12 gallons, so that’s 540 miles on a tank of gas!
Bob Morris @ Dec 31st 2002 00:08 - Category: Unfiled ;
Well put
“The United States remains the great conundrum of the planet. Americans have been so traumatised by a single large terrorist attack on their own soil that they have effectively handed the country over to an administration with a radical right-wing agenda for domestic change and foreign expansion, though fewer than a quarter of them actually voted for it. The question is whether the American people can recover their balance without having to go through some painful and expensive, though ultimately instructive experiences in the Middle East. The answer, at the moment, appears to be no, so a great deal of the rest of the world’s business is being put on hold.”,
Gwynne Dyer on Global Business Network, via the Viridian mailing list.
Bob Morris @ Dec 31st 2002 00:04 - Category: Unfiled ;
The spirit of Philip Berrigan lives on…
“You cannot wash the blood away”. Protestors pour blood on the Pentagon and near the White House.
Audio feed from Democracy Now.
From dc.indymedia.org
“At 7 am this morning over 50 people gathered at a brand new Metro entrance to the Pentagon. Three people were able to pour the symbol of blood on the Pentagon walls, columns, and doors before being arrested. the group stood vigil holding signs and banners for about half an hour before ordered to leave by military police and the defense protective service, and others. chants included: “this is the blood of the innocents, you cannot wash the blood away,” “no more war, no more terror,” and “thou shalt not kill–leave the military.” Workers streamed past on the way in and out of the building. The soliders grabbed the camera of a 16 year old trying to take a picture of the blood on the wall. Almost everyone was pushed back but around 10 stayed and were arrested along with the three who had poured blood. They are still in custody.
On Saturday December 28th at the White House, over 75 gathered and 16 people were arrested protesting the war on Iraq. Four people poured blood around the bodies of people dying-in on the sidewalk in the no protest zone in front of the White House. At this writing, two are still locked up and waiting arraignment for a possible felon charge for pouring blood. These actions were part of an annual Faith and Resistance Retreat of the Atlantic Life Community celebrating the Feast of the Holy Innocents.”
Bob Morris @ Dec 30th 2002 09:52 - Category: Unfiled ;
“In the midterm elections, rural voters supported Republican congressional candidates by a 60 percent to 36 percent margin — “the third straight election in which the GOP has carried rural America by at least 59 percent,” the Chicago Sun Times reports….” [Taegan Goddard’s Political Wire]
Bob Morris @ Dec 30th 2002 09:48 - Category: Unfiled ;
Bob Morris @ Dec 30th 2002 09:47 - Category: Unfiled ;
A grieving dad tracks down those who murdered his son
“After his <innocent bystander> son was beaten to death by white supremacists, a Phoenix man is hunting down the alleged killers. He has police support.
He’s a hunter, stalking the suspects in his son’s killing, one by one.
Ten days ago, he caught his first. After two months of working the phones, huddling with private investigators, directing his squad of ex-Marines and security guards from the Arizona nightclubs he owns, Cole Sr. tracked down Chris Whitley, a 24-year-old white supremacist.”
Bob Morris @ Dec 30th 2002 00:33 - Category: Unfiled ;
Neighbors for Justice & Peace
This grassroots organization in the Silverlake area of Los Angeles is doing lots of neat stuff, including;
Holding weekly peace vigils in multiple neighborhoods.
Authoring a handy online guide; How to do a demo which is getting linked to by other peace groups.
Proposing that the L.A. City Council pass a resolution opposing an Iraq War.
And, of course, they continue to raise money for their billboard, which is at the highly visible intersection of Sunset & Hollywood.
It’s inspirational what an active grassroots group can do!
Bob Morris @ Dec 30th 2002 00:21 - Category: Unfiled ;
Yet another shocker…
U.S. had key role in Iraq buildup
“Rumsfeld helped open door to trade in weapons that is now deplored.”
I’m cheered to see the Washington Post finally report what weblogs have been saying for months.
Bob Morris @ Dec 30th 2002 00:19 - Category: Unfiled ;
Hail Kalmykia - the oddest country on the planet?
“In Kalmykia, “you are safely ensconced in the Russian Federation’s most secure extra-sensory field, where ethnoplanetary thinking is at its most advanced and didactic units have been generously enlarged, much to the benefit of Diego Maradona, who will join the soccer team any day now.
Perhaps it is time to explain.”
Bob Morris @ Dec 29th 2002 19:03 - Category: Unfiled ;
Israeli troops shoot dead second child in two days.
“Israeli troops killed an 11-year-old boy in the West Bank town of Tulkarem yesterday, the second fatal shooting of Palestinian children in two days.”
The child was in a crowd, some of whom were throwing rocks at Israeli army vehicles. Seems like there should be a better way to deal with child rock throwers than killing them.
And does anyone think Ariel Sharon will not use the imminent Iraq War as cover for bulldozing Palestinians out of Israel and into other countries?
Bob Morris @ Dec 29th 2002 12:10 - Category: Unfiled ;
How Iranians in L.A. mobilized to protest the mass arrests
“L.A. Persian station KIRN serves as a forum for immigrants upset by Dec. 16 detentions.
The station, KIRN-AM (670), canceled its programming to focus on the registration, which some callers likened to the internment of people of Japanese ancestry during World War II. The station spearheaded a protest rally outside the Federal Building in Los Angeles. It took calls from jailed immigrants.
Station representatives said they preempted programming to talk about the detention of certain Middle Eastern immigrants because they wanted to be the prime source of news for the Iranian community. “
Notably, KIRN turned out 3,000 to protest at the Federal Building the day after the mass detentions by the INS - an impressive mobilization done very quickly.
Bob Morris @ Dec 29th 2002 12:02 - Category: Unfiled ;
Lottery for free Rolling Stones concert tickets
To be held in L.A. in Feb. as a benefit to end global warming
Bob Morris @ Dec 29th 2002 01:08 - Category: Unfiled ;
Important paranoia alert!
The FBI has a new way of tracking terrorists. Requires JavaScript.
[Privacy Digest]
Bob Morris @ Dec 29th 2002 00:59 - Category: Unfiled ;
People get ready
Saudi Arabia said to assure U.S. on use of bases.
Air, land, sea troops being sent to Gulf.
We’ll be war by the end of Jan. or early Feb. So - “don’t mourn, organize”
And some, of course, are doing just that!
“A convoy of anti-war activists, likely to include dozens of British volunteers, will leave London next month to act as human shields protecting strategic sites in Iraq.
The convoy to Baghdad is being organised by former US marine Kenneth Nichols, who served in the first Gulf war and won a combat medal but has now become a vociferous opponent of another Gulf conflict.”
Bob Morris @ Dec 28th 2002 11:23 - Category: Unfiled ;
Air, Land, Sea Troops Being Sent to Gulf
“Those deployed will join 57,000 now in position for a strike on Iraq. One Pentagon official calls the move ‘saber-rattling’ to buttress U.N. efforts.”
“Saber-rattling” implies a bluff. This isn’t a bluff. I expect war by late Jan. - early Feb.
Bob Morris @ Dec 28th 2002 00:38 - Category: Unfiled ;
Goodness, what a SURPRISE!
“ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan: Dec 28 (PNS) ‑ Pakistan, Afghanistan and Turkmenistan on Friday signed here a framework agreement for a US $ 3.2 billion gas pipeline project passing through the three countries.
A pipeline going through Afghanistan, of all places! Who woulda thunk it…
Bob Morris @ Dec 28th 2002 00:16 - Category: Unfiled ;
Bon appetit!
California Destroys 100,000 Chickens, Imposes Quarantine to Fight Disease
And how DOES one destroy 100,000 chickens???
Bob Morris @ Dec 28th 2002 00:06 - Category: Unfiled ;
Gasoline
Venezuelan oil strike continues
“The shutdown has crippled the nation’s vital oil output and shipments and stoked fears of violence”
Republican urges release of stockpiled oil
“Two large U.S. refineries will run out of crude oil supplies by the end of the month unless some stockpiled crude was released to make up for the lack of Venezuelan supplies, Louisiana Rep. Billy Tauzin said in a letter to Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham.”
California gas prices could spike due to ethanol switch
This increase is NOT due to Venezuela, but due to California switching from MTBE to ethanol as a gasoline additive in the next few weeks.
I wonder what the coming Iraq war will do to gas prices. I drive a gas-sipping gas / electric Toyota Prius hybrid that gets 46 mpg in the city. A great little car. Among other features, it is self-recharging (no plugging in needed) and has an all-digital dashboard readout. Toyota plans to have all their cars be hybrids by 2012.
Bob Morris @ Dec 27th 2002 15:29 - Category: Unfiled ;
Twisted Sister is reuniting.
AND … proof positive that their lead singer Dee Snyder IS Christina Aguilera.
Bob Morris @ Dec 27th 2002 10:07 - Category: Unfiled ;
Jan 18 mass demonstration and ANSWER revealed!
ANSWER is the lead organizer for the next big antiwar rally. This one will be on Jan 18., and will be held simultaneously in D.C. & S.F., as was recent successful Oct. 26 action. Organizing for Jan 18 has already surpassed that of Oct 26, with active organizing now going on in 43 states and 140+ cities.
And that’s just where ANSWER is organizing! They are one coalition, and many more groups and coalitions are also organizing for Jan 18.
I’m an active Green, and have also been working with ANSWER in L.A., where four coalitions, ANSWER included, are also organizing for a mass rally on Jan. 11 in downtown Los Angeles, with tens of thousands expected.
Now, ANSWER is a bit controversial because of, uh, the “lefist sectarian nature” (yeah, that’s it…) of some of their organizers. And Lordy, have I heard stories about what goes on in their meetings.
So, here it is, your worst fears realized - the agenda of a typical ANSWER meeting.
Pledge of Alliegance to Karl Marx
Join hands and sing “God Curse America”.
Mass indoctrination of the kidnapped Republican children into Socialism.
Discussion:
Have we successfully infiltrated and destroyed enough other Leftie groups?
How can we be more radical and less humorous?
Marc Cooper: Twit or double-agent?
How many FBI agents are here and can we spot them?
Saddam Hussein: Saint or merely Perfect Human Being?
Close with a homage to Pol Pot.
At least that’s what some believe happens in ANSWER meetings (ditto for Not In Our Name). Not that they’ve ever actually been to a meeting of course. Well, I’ve been to many ANSWER & NION meetings. The meetings are fun, with no hidden agendas. People from many groups are involved, all working to end this war before it starts. Or should I say “wars”, as the Bushies now appear to be aching to invade North Korea.
These are coalitions. We don’t have to agree with everything all the coalition members believe. Hey, Pat Buchanan opposes the war too. Doesn’t mean I have to agree with all his other views before deigning to work with him. Ideological litmus tests are not required.
So, find a peace group you like, and volunteer!
Bob Morris @ Dec 27th 2002 09:09 - Category: Unfiled ;
Corporations as persons. Are Corporations Legally Persons?
“Orthodoxy has it the Supreme Court decided in 1886, in a case called Santa Clara County v. the Southern Pacific Railroad, that corporations were indeed legal persons. I express that view myself, in a recent book. So do many others. So do many law schools. We are all wrong.
Mr. Hartmann undertook instead a conscientious search. He finally found the contemporary casebook, published in 1886, blew the dust away, and read Santa Clara County in the original, so to speak. Nowhere in the formal, written decision of the Court did he find corporate personhood mentioned. Not a word. The Supreme Court did NOT establish corporate personhood in Santa Clara County.
Pardon me while I go to the bookstore. This looks to be a book well worth reading. Imagine the US government controlled by the best interests of real people instead of corporations.” [MetaFilter]
Bob Morris @ Dec 27th 2002 09:07 - Category: Unfiled ;
At least 35 dead in Grozny blast.
“Powerful truck bombs rip through <the pro-Russian> Chechen government compound in regional capital Grozny, Russian media reports.” [Guardian Unlimited]
Bob Morris @ Dec 27th 2002 00:50 - Category: Unfiled ;
We’re not in Kansas anymore…
Human clone born: Raelians
“A baby has been born through cloning, French scientist and member of the Raelian sect Brigitte Boisselier told AFP.
The baby, a girl, was born Thursday by cesarean section. The birth “went very well,” said Boisselier, president of the human cloning society Clonaid, on the telephone.
As the effort by the Raelians to achieve the first human birth by cloning was carried out in the secrecy, it was not immediately possible to obtain any independent scientific confirmation that the baby was in fact a clone.”
Dolly, the sheep that was cloned, has old DNA and got arthritis sooner than expected.
“The scientists who created Dolly, the world’s first cloned mammal, said Wednesday that the 3-year-old sheep has DNA in her cells typical of a much older animal.
“How old is Dolly the sheep?” mused Dr. Stephen Jones of London’s University College. “Is she as old as her body age … or is she as old as her genes?”
So, hmm, now someone is doing this with humans?
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