Upcoming L.A. events

Emergency Anti-War Conference
Saturday, May 10
11AM to 6PM. Registration begins at 10:00 AM

First Baptist Church of Los Angeles
760 S. Westmoreland Ave. Los Angeles
Suggested Donation $5-$10. No one turned away.

Sponsored by ANSWER LA 213-487-2368 www.answerla.org

Speakers, literature, break-out groups

Topics:
- Strategies and Tactics for the Anti-War Movement
- Palestine will be Free
- No War on the World
- Stop U.S. Intervention from Colombia to Zimbabwe.
- End the Economic War at Home
- Fighting Racism at Home
- Defend Immigrant Rights
- Defend Civil Rights
- Free the Cuban Five
- Building International Solidarity
- Organizing rank-and-file resistance in the U.S. military

Challenging Corporate Rule / Reclaiming Democracy
A seminar on corporate “personhood”
Sat May 17, 2003
1-4 PM

United Methodist Church
15435 Rayen
North Hills CA
(near Sepulveda & Roscoe. Westsiders: It won’t kill you to drive to the Valley!)
$3

Speakers
Marc Kasky, plantiff in Nike vs. Kasky
Ramona Ripston, Exc. Dir. ACLU SoCal
Margaret Strubel, Dir The Oaks project
Jamie Court, Exc. Dir. Foundation for Taxpayer & Consumer Rights
Robert Benson, Professor of Law, Loyola Law School

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U.S. struggles in quicksand of Iraq

From the L.A. Times

“Nearly a month after Baghdad fell to U.S. forces, the reconstruction effort is struggling to gain visibility and credibility, crime is a continuing problem, Iraqis desperate for jobs and security are becoming angry and the transition to democracy promised by President Bush seems rife with risk.

“The Americans and the British became obsessed with getting rid of Saddam; they thought he was responsible for all the catastrophes in Iraq,” said Wamid Nadmi, a political science professor at Baghdad University. “But they have opened a Pandora’s box.”

“One day, the Americans will have to hold elections, and it’s clear the Shiites will sweep the polls,” said Nadmi, the political scientist. “Americans are selective about the democracy they want. They want democracy that suits their interests and values.”

Which is no democracy at all, of course. Several friends in ANSWER - admittedly a biased bunch - of mid-East origin think an Intifada / Jihad/ Lebanon type civil war is a virtual certainty to occur in Iraq, and soon. Given that the U.S. appears to have had no plan for what to do after taking Baghdad, except for the obviously absurd belief that Iraqis would pour into the streets supporting them and do what they wanted. Well, they have been pouring into the streets - in protest. What did the chickenhawks expect?

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Hmmm

“Dean Wins Democratic Elite.

An interesting observation from the Washington Post: “Howard Dean, more than any of his competitors, has tapped into the new Democratic elite: affluent, well-educated professionals, the fastest-growing Democratic constituency.”

Yeah, I know. Dean has made some rather unsettling hawkish comments. However on social issues he’s a moderate, and I will always appreciate him for pounding on the podium at the California Democratic Convention recently saying, “I want my country back. I don’t want to listen to fundamentalist preachers anymore”. No other Democrat comes close to saying things like that, except maybe, in a different way, Al Sharpton.

I’ve heard Dennis Kucinich speak, and he’s a genuine fire-breathing progressive. I’m following him too. However, at least for the moment, Howard Dean has the Mo’.

Besides, Howard Dean has a weblog!

And, at this point, I would vote for Atilla the Hun over George Bush.

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Syria

Well, it’s obvious what’s coming, isn’t it? Colin Powell, the alleged “moderate” is threatening Syria, saying they must do as the U.S. says or else. How deeply moderate of him. Sanctions, which are just another kind of war, may be invoked. Or, if Syria doesn’t do exactly what the chickenhawks want, then what a handy excuse to invade, eh?

No matter that the balance of power would get more upset than it already is. No matter that an Intifada or Lebanon type situation will be happening soon in Iraq. No matter that most of the planet thinks the U.S. leadership is seriously insane.

They will have their war, because they want war. They wish to dominate the planet.

And they don’t know what blowback is or what long term consequences are.

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Handy new portable storage drives.

There’s some seriously useful, highly portable, hard disk / storage devices on the market now.
 
Iomega has a product line of portable hard drives, all hot-swappable, with USB or Firewire. I just got the 20 mg model, which comes with Norton Ghost for doing complete hard drives backups.

Translation for non-geeks: This is an easy way to back up selected files or your entire system.

Using my aging tape drive, it takes 6 hours to back up my main system. Using the Iomega and Norton Ghost, it took 8 minutes! Plus I can plug into any PC or Mac with a USB port and transfer files.

There are also truly tiny storage devices available now. They can backup anything from 20 mg to 1 gb, and literally fit on a keychain. Plus they are solid state with nothing to break, and are also USB/Firewire compatible.

The photo is of an EasyDisk 512 mb pocket device. It’s 3 1/2 inches long, with the 20-30mb models going for about $25.

Methinks the traditional hard disk is becoming obsolete.

EasyDisk, More info

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