Bob Morris @ May 16th 2003 11:37 - Category: Unfiled ;
I’m gone!
I’ll be at the national ANSWER conference this weekend in New York City. Hopefully I’ll be able to post to this weblog remotely from there. If not, postings will resume Monday afternoon.
Bob Morris @ May 16th 2003 11:35 - Category: Unfiled ;
Remains of Toxic Bullets Litter Iraq. 
The following is a brave article in many ways — Scott Peterson defied military orders and risked his own health to check out the radiation from depleted uranium sites in Iraq for himself. What he found confirms wholesale what DU scientists and activists have been saying for years and makes the military’s domestic claim that “its safe and necessary” seem quite bogus indeed. It also makes the military seem bumbling and irresponsible, yet again, by pointing out that in many cases he saw signs left saying “Danger” due to depleted uranium — but the signs were all in English and hardly anyone could understand them. Even so, he did see one in Arabic, only highlighting further that while DU is safe for media consumption here, its radioactive and toxic there. The article must be taken to task for whimping out at the end, however. It intimates that much less DU may have been used in this war, putting the reported military figure at 75 tons of bulletage. I’ve heard 97 as the figure myself, but regardless — even if this figure is accurate (which I question) — it represents only the DU from A-10 Warthog anti-tank planes. What about all the missles of Shock and Awe ladies and gentlemen? What about anti-tank panzer and ground troop weaponry — all of which greatly exceeded Gulf War I. What about the Apache helicopters? In disagreement with this article, then, I see no reason whatsoever to move from the conservative estimate of twice the amount of DU used in this war — but some have it as high as 1000 tons.
By Scott Peterson | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
BAGHDAD - At a roadside produce stand on the outskirts of Baghdad, business is brisk for Latifa Khalaf Hamid. Iraqi drivers pull up and snap up fresh bunches of parsley, mint leaves, dill, and onion stalks.
But Ms. Hamid’s stand is just four paces away from a burnt-out Iraqi tank, destroyed by - and contaminated with - controversial American depleted-uranium (DU) bullets. Local children play “throughout the day” on the tank, Hamid says, and on another one across the road.
No one has warned the vendor in the faded, threadbare black gown to keep the toxic and radioactive dust off her produce. The children haven’t been told not to play with the radioactive debris. They gather around as a Geiger counter carried by a visiting reporter starts singing when it nears a DU bullet fragment no bigger than a pencil eraser. It registers nearly 1,000 times normal background radiation levels on the digital readout.
The Monitor visited four sites in the city - including two randomly chosen destroyed Iraqi armored vehicles, a clutch of burned American ammunition trucks, and the downtown planning ministry - and found significant levels of radioactive contamination from the US battle for Baghdad.
In the first partial Pentagon disclosure of the amount of DU used in Iraq, a US Central Command spokesman told the Monitor that A-10 Warthog aircraft - the same planes that shot at the Iraqi planning ministry - fired 300,000 bullets. The normal combat mix for these 30-mm rounds is five DU bullets to 1 - a mix that would have left about 75 tons of DU in Iraq.
The Monitor saw only one site where US troops had put up handwritten warnings in Arabic for Iraqis to stay away. There, a 3-foot-long DU dart from a 120 mm tank shell, was found producing radiation at more than 1,300 times background levels. It made the instrument’s staccato bursts turn into a steady whine.
Read the full article. [Vegan Blog: The (Eco) Logical Weblog]
Bob Morris @ May 16th 2003 11:31 - Category: Unfiled ;
Alternative voting systems
Kevin McKeown, a friend, Mayor pro tem of Santa Monica and Green Party compatriot, testifed yesterday in Sacramento at the Secretary of State’s HAVA (Help Americans Vote Act) hearings in Sacramento. He says “I focused on voting technology and opportunities for Instant runoff voting (IRV) and other alternative voting systems”.
A transcript of his comments follows:
“Good afternoon, Chair, Committeemembers. I¹m pleased to see there are so many of you. That was an early issue for our Los Angeles Voter Empowerment Circle. We wanted a Commission that fully represented the rich diversity of California, and it looks like Secretary of State Shelley appointed one.
My name is Kevin McKeown. I am Mayor pro tem of the City of Santa Monica, and a member of the coordinating committee of the Green Party of California.
With the short time lines for this hearing, it wasn¹t possible to gain official authorization for any specific position, so I offer those identifications for that purpose only, identification.
The City of Santa Monica has been a progressive leader in exploring ways to empower voters and increase voter turnout. In 1999 we held a two day, weekend election, Saturday and Sunday instead of just Tuesday.
This past winter, we conducted an all-postal election. In both cases, turnout was significantly improved over comparable single issue special elections.
Looking to further improve voter involvement, Santa Monica has also participated in experiments with touchscreens, or Direct Recording Electronic voting, DREs. According to our City Clerk, Maria Stewart, quote, ³The feedback from the November ¹02 election was positive. I recall comments about it being ³fun² to use as well as easy.²
It¹s intriguing to think of making voting fun, but to comply with HAVA, California must more importantly make voting easy, and make voting ACCURATELY easy. Touchscreens, for instance, can eliminate voided ballots that now happen when citizens accidentally OVERvote in a race. Other options available don¹t prevent overvoting with such simple certainty.
I mentioned that besides being Santa Monica¹s Mayor pro tem, I am an elected Green Party official.
Just as does the City of Santa Monica, the Green Party has committed considerable effort to empowering underrepresented voters, with particular attention to minorities, those requiring languages other than English, and persons with disabilities. We share the belief of many of the other organizations represented here today that those populations are better served by DREs, by touchscreens, than by optical scan or other voting methods.
Further, it is no secret that the Green Party is greatly discomfited by the label of ’spoiler’ in some recent elections, a label the Green Party feels is entirely unwarranted. Voters must be free to vote for candidates and issues in which they believe, if our democracy is to maintain its purpose. That is not ’spoiling.’ The ’spoiler’, if there is one, is an outdated electoral system unable to fairly and appropriately accommodate third parties, and the healthy surge of new ideas and electoral energy third parties represent.
Proven voting systems used in other countries, and in other parts of this country, remove the ’spoiler’ effect. Instant Runoff Voting, IRV, is about to be used by the voters¹ choice in San Francisco. Choice voting and proportional representation likewise represent the future of democracy in a multicultural, multi-partisan California. ALL these voting methods are more effectively handled with touchscreens, or DREs. Settling for optical scan systems in California would mean losing these exciting options, perhaps for many years.
Conversations about touchscreens often lead to the issue of voter verification. Voters absolutely insist on an auditable system they can trust, and that¹s a demand I¹ve heard from virtually everyone with whom I¹ve discussed the issue. This does not necessarily mean a contemporaneously produced paper trail, which is one solution often mentioned, and there are many brilliant minds in California just waiting to work on other solutions.
In closing, I would strongly urge you to recommend DREs, touchscreens, as the technology of choice for California voters. I¹m pleased the Secretary of State has wisely appointed a special task force to examine voter verification options. I¹d suggest deferring a decision on paper trails for now, and making a commitment to Direct Recording Electronic voting, or touchscreens, for many compelling reasons.”
Bob Morris @ May 16th 2003 00:22 - Category: Unfiled ;
Was Jessica Lynch rescue staged for TV?
The Guardian writes about a special BBC report, “The truth about Jessica,” which strongly suggests that the heroic rescue of the American soldier was little more than reality television — a staged event.
What gives the British newspaper’s report credence is the unwillingness of U.S. officials to respond or make clear what actually happened. The reporter says:
“I asked the Pentagon spokesman in Washington, Bryan Whitman, to release the full tape of the rescue, rather than its edited version, to clear up any discrepancies. He declined. Whitman would not talk about what kind of Iraqi resistance the American forces faced. Nor would he comment on the injuries Lynch actually sustained.”
It would be shameful if Lynch’s real bravery was turned into a cheap publicity trick by the Pentagon, to score points with the American public.
If it’s true it’s a scandal. If not, we need to know so we can discredit the slander.
So you have to ask, once again: Where are the U.S. media in covering this story? AWOL, again.
Bob Morris @ May 16th 2003 00:17 - Category: Unfiled ;
Baghdad homicide rate soars
“The city’s morgue has seen a 60 percent rise in gunshot killings over the past 10 days.
Five weeks after US troops entered Iraq’s capital, reconstruction has taken a backseat to security. “There are a number of problems, in particular the problem of law and order in Baghdad,” L. Paul Bremer, the new chief civilian administrator for Iraq, said yesterday.”
Wow, such a stunningly penetrating insight coming from this “terrorism expert” and new Big U.S. Dog in Baghdad. I can’t help wonder though, is he an expert in inflicting terrorism or in stopping it? Or maybe I’m just too jaded, huh?
No matter, he plans to kick some serious booty, and them Eye-Rack-Ees will be feeling the taste of Merkin Justice. Shoot to Kill! That’ll win their hearts and minds, eh?
Bob Morris @ May 16th 2003 00:15 - Category: Unfiled ;
We’re messing up the land, we’re messing up the sea
The above title is a lyric from a long ago Manfred Mann song. Which sadly appears to be coming true. Most of the big fish are now gone from the oceans, they’ve all been killed.
Large predatory fish — marlin, tuna and swordfish — are disappearing from the world’s oceans, with their numbers down by 90 percent in the past 50 years, Canadian scientists said on Wednesday.
“From giant blue marlin to mighty blue fin tuna, and from tropical groupers to Antarctic cod, industrial fishing has scoured the global ocean,” said Ransom Myers, a biologist at Dalhousie University in Canada.
“There is no blue frontier left.”
Bob Morris @ May 16th 2003 00:14 - Category: Unfiled ;
The ruling class defends its own
From Talion:
Bush consigliere to defend Saudis against 9-11 victims
“The law firm of Baker Botts LLP, headed by James Baker II, who has worked for George W. Bush and acted as counsel for the Carlyle Group, will be defending the Saudis against 9-11 victims. Widows and children victimized by Saudi pilots on 9-11 are seeking $1 trillion in damages for the terror attacks. The White House has made no comment about appearance of impropriety; Baker Botts has remained mute about conflict of interest.
Bob Morris @ May 16th 2003 00:13 - Category: Unfiled ;
Attention: Anyone named David Nelson.
Change your name!
“If your name is David Nelson you can expect to be hassled, delayed, questioned and searched before being allowed to board aircraft anywhere in the United States for the foreseeable future.
Since the horrific attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, the federal Transportation Security Administration has, without any public announcement, created a two-tiered list of names “to protect our aviation system,” says Nico Melendez, the agency spokesman for the West Coast, who is based in Los Angeles.
The name David Nelson apparently is on one of those lists”
Ah the wonders of the encroaching inept surveillance state. In the computer world, we call it GIGO. Garbage In, Garbage Out. If the data you feed in the system is junk, the results will also be junk.
Bob Morris @ May 16th 2003 00:10 - Category: Unfiled ;
New England Journal of Medicine publishes all-SARS issue
From the excellent new SARSwatch comes:
“The New England Journal of Medicine published an issue today devoted to SARS. As the editors of the journal document in their editorial, SARS, the Internet, and the Journal, all the articles were prepublished on internet, and made freely available, in the interest of getting the information out as fast as possible (and I have written about all the articles previously). The NEMJ is to be commended for its willingness to break with tradition and to forswear the economic rewards of charging for publication of breaking news in the interest of public health.
The issue does have nice eulogy for Dr. Carlo Urbani, one of the many heroes of this epidemic, and a capsule description of how SARS was contained, then eradicated, in Vietnam.”
Ooo-kay…
Chinese couple name their baby son Saddam SARS
“A couple in China have named their baby son Saddam SARS to mark the two important events taking place at the time of his birth, a news report said today. The boy was born on March 20, the day the Iraq war broke out and at a time when alarm over the SARS outbreak was spreading across China. His parents, from Hubei, have named the boy Saddam Deng SARS, the South China Morning Post reported. Deng is the parent’s family name.” (via SARSwatch)
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