Bob Morris @ Sep 18th 2003 10:38 - Category: Unfiled ;
Camblog of Hurricane Isabel
People are taking photos of the hurricane with their cell phones then emailing them to the camblog website where they are posted immediately. This, of course, assumes the cell phone network remains operational during the hurricane!
http://weather.textamerica.com/
Bob Morris @ Sep 18th 2003 10:27 - Category: Unfiled ;
ELF member claims role in SUV firebombings
Law enforcement sources said details of the attacks match previously unreported evidence.
The man said he contacted The Times after consulting with accomplices because “we all agreed that it was necessary…. Initially for the sake of rescuing Josh, although he’s out now, but more importantly to try and get some of the message across, and hopefully also to bring more people to our cause.”
Bob Morris @ Sep 18th 2003 00:27 - Category: Unfiled ;
Means vs. Ends
From Rules for Radicals by Saul Alinsky comes these practical rules about means vs. ends.
One’s concern with the ethics of means vs. ends varies inversely with one’s personal interest in the issue.
The judgment of the ethics of means is dependent upon the political position of those sitting in judgment.
In war, the ends justify almost any means.
Judgment must be made in the context of the times the action occurred and not from any other vantage point.
Concern with ethics increases with the number of means available.
The less important the end, the more concern there is with means.
Success or failure is a mighty determinant of ethics. (There is no such thing as a successful traitor, for if he wins he becomes a founding father.)
The morality of a means depends on whether it is being employed at a time of imminent success or imminent defeat.
Any effective means is automatically judged by the opposition as being unethical.
You do what you can with what you have and clothe it with moral garments.
A Palestinian whose home had just been bulldozed to rubble on five minutes notice by the Israeli Army may well have considerably different views on the use of violence to further political ends than someone sitting at home in a peaceful corner of the world.
For that matter, even calling it violence is a political judgment passed by someone depending on their viewpoint. Instruments of state power, armies, commit violence all the time, yet are seldom condemned for it. It’s only called “violence” when done by non-state actors with whom one disagrees.
And yes, of course an Israeli who was maimed in a suicide bombing will view things differently. That’s precisely what Alinsky is saying. And an organizer, to be effective, needs to view the world this way as it aids in understanding motivations and actions. This is the world as it is, not the world as we wish it to be.
The fear of soiling oneself by entering the context of history is not virtue but a way of escaping virtue, Jacques Maritain
Bob Morris @ Sep 18th 2003 00:12 - Category: Unfiled ;
eBay happy to give away all personal info
Israeli newspaper Haaretz has published extensive quotes taken from an eBay official during a private talk at Cyber Crime 2003. According to Haaretz, Joseph Sullivan of eBay was addressing senior officials of several law-enforcement agencies when he disclosed eBay’s considerable efforts to collect and relay personal data collected from its customers and the public. What follows is a brief summary of some of the disturbing revelations uttered by Sullivan. [Via kuro5hin.org]
Bob Morris @ Sep 18th 2003 00:09 - Category: Unfiled ;
What came first - MEChA or Cruz Bustamente?
“Bustamante is the only Democrat with the money and political machinery capable of keeping California under Democratic Party control. Connecting him to anything outside the ruling class interests is only a smoke screen - it is obvious that Bustamante is in no way a Mexican radical. In fact he is simply a darker and heavier version of Gray Davis.” [Via Latino Vote News]
Bob Morris @ Sep 18th 2003 00:05 - Category: Unfiled ;
Word pirates. Take back the language!
They’re our words, dammit!
Marketers, politicians and other short-sighted, self-interested, sticky-fingered people have been stealing our words. Not only do they take them for commercial purposes, but they misuse them entirely. They’re Word Pirates and we’re going to take back what’s rightfully ours.
They invite you to Take Back The Language, to restore words to what they actually mean. You can enter your words online. I just entered two words –
Misspoke: Used by politicians to imply they expressed themselves “imperfectly or incorrectly” (Websters) when in reality, they were lying through their teeth.
Neoliberal: Implies they are a new variant of Liberals, when, in fact, they aren’t liberal at all.
Everyone, join in the fun!
Bob Morris @ Sep 18th 2003 00:03 - Category: Unfiled ;
This just in
Neocons take note, you might learn something!
Monkeys show sense of fairness, study says
Bob Morris @ Sep 18th 2003 00:02 - Category: Unfiled ;
There they go again…
Syria, Libya listed as ‘rogue states’
The Bush administration named Syria and Libya yesterday as “rogue states” whose weapons of mass destruction must not just be controlled but must be eliminated by whatever means necessary.
Let’s make the coming worldwide antiwar demonstrations massive. (The weekend of Sept 27)
Bob Morris @ Sep 18th 2003 00:00 - Category: Unfiled ;
California water deal again in trouble
CA — The soap-opera saga of a crucial water deal for California took a step backward Sept. 11, when a top Interior Department official accused Imperial Valley leaders of backpedaling on key parts of the long-negotiated pact.
California water deals have been in trouble for the past, oh, seventy years or so… And with the recall circus lurching along, everything else is getting ignored.
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