I’m off to the S.F. demonstration.

And will return late Saturday night. The bus leaves L.A. midnight tonight, Friday, and returns midnight Saturday.

The rally, which will go from 11 am to 2 pm EST, will be broadcast live on C-Span and will be rebroadcast during the weekend. The event will also be broadcast live on Pacifica radio. This event will receive national and international media attention and show new growth for the peace and anti-war movement as the Bush administration’s war and occupation are increasingly reviled by public opinion as illegal, immoral and justified by now-exposed lies and deceit.

Speakers at the October 25 demonstrations in Washington and San Francisco include Ramsey Clark, Cynthia McKinney, Rev. Martin Luther King III, Dennis Kucinich, Rev. Al Sharpton and others. Thousands of veterans and family members of soldiers will be participating in the demonstration. They will also be speaking from the platform.

Fernando de Solar Suarez, whose son was killed in the first days of the invasion, will be making a presentation. So will Kathleen Tinley, representing 9/11 Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, a group of family members who lost loved ones during the September 11 attacks and who are actively speaking out against Bush’s campaign of” endless war.”

I’ll have photos, etc. upon returning.

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Dean campaign becoming a juggernaut

Zogby’s latest poll out of NH is a stunner. (September results)

Dean 40 (30)
Undecided 19 (22)
Kerry 17 (20)
Clark 6 (10)
Edwards 6 (2)
Gephardt 4 (6)
Lieberman 3 (5)
Sharpton 1 (1)
Other 4 (4)

Dean is up 10% in one month!

Zogby says:

This is stunning. Dean leads 43-20 among Democrats and 35 to 11 among Independents. He hits 40 among all age groups, union and non-union voters. His lead is 57-17 among self-described progressives, 50-20 among liberals, and 34-14 among moderates. Married voters give him a 38-13 edge and singles a 45-21 point lead. He holds huge leads among all education groups, among investors and non-investors, men and women. This qualifies as juggernaut status. Can he be stopped?

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Big adventures with heat resistant window film (cont.)

This has been the hottest October ever recorded in L.A. In the area I live in it’s been over 100 degrees for most days this week. My home office is next to several large South-facing windows, so it can get hot during the day when I’m working, even with the central air on.

A while back I put heat resistant film on these windows. This helped enormously. However, this current heat wave is so extreme, I just replaced the old heat resistant film, which bloked about 55% of the heat, with new film that blocks 77%.

The difference is dramatic. It was 93 today. With the old heat film I would have pulled down the regular shades, closed the vertical blinds, and the air conditioning would still have kicked on by 10:30. By 3 pm it would be warm at my desk.

Instead, with the new film, I left the shades open (yes open!)and the air conditioning didn’t start until noon! By 3 pm it still quite pleasant by my desk. In fact I thought it must only be been 80 outside, rather than the actual temperature which was was 93.

Total cost $82!

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Now maybe they’ll actually fix the problems

Microsoft security flaws infecting its finances

Microsoft reported an unexpected dip in corporate contracts during the September quarter due to customer concerns over the security of its products, triggering on Friday the sharpest drop in Microsoft’s share price since Sept. 17, 2001, the day markets reopened after the World Trade Center attacks.

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California Attorney General thinks Arnold investigation justified

Gov.-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger calls the whole thing “old news,” but the sexual misconduct allegations leveled against him in the closing days of his campaign are not going away.

Activists are looking for more women to come forward. The California attorney general still thinks a criminal investigation is justified.

Everyone is so huggy-kissy right now in Sacramento about Arnold and pledging to work together that, well, I’m starting not to believe a word of it. We shall see.

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Iraq: the missing billions

A staggering US$ 4 billion in oil revenues and other Iraqi funds earmarked for the reconstruction of the country has disappeared into opaque bank accounts administered by the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), the US-controlled body that rules Iraq. By the end of the year, if nothing changes in the way this cash is accounted for, that figure will double.

$4 billion just up and vanished, huh? I believe if a US corporation reported 4 billion had vanished, someone would get indicted.

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From the the bitter shack of resentment

Trademarked, Baby.

I am seriously considering starting my own publishing company, Bitter Books. All titles will be cynical satires of popular pabulum. My first two titles will be “Somebody Moved My Chi” and “Chicken Soup for the Asshole.”

Don’t EVEN think of stealing my idea…

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Cool free font: Capitalis Pirata (corporate pirates)

Swelligant font set that mimics corporate logos. McD’s, Honda, Ford — all in there. Link

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Aa-ooga, aa-ooga!

Solar blast will hit earth.

Friday Terror! Solar blast expected to hit Earth at 3PM EST!!! Cell-phones, satellites, pagers and electrical grids may be disrupted!!! Could last 12-18 hours!!! Space martians land!!! Bad Friday Traffic!!! ACK!!!! *zap*

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Congress slaps down Bush on Cuba

The United States Senate has voted in favour of lifting a 40-year-old ban on Americans travelling to Cuba.

In a major rebuff to President George W Bush, Senators voted 59 to 36 to bar the use of government money to enforce the travel restrictions

Let’s see, the U.S. freely trades with three Communist countries; China, Vietnam, and Angola, and at least allows US citizens to travel to a fourth Communist country, North Korea. Yet we have still have decades old sanctions and restrictions against Cuba forbidding trade and travel. Why is this?

In case you think Bush might be suddenly struck sane, think again.

The White House has said Mr Bush will veto the bill if it is backed by Congress.

Translation: Without Florida, Bush has no chance of being re-elected. 

What’s really happening is the DC sharks smell blood in the water.

The Senate vote is a severe blow to the White House’s authority, forcing Mr Bush into a damaging public row with some of the most significant figures in his party.

Oh, Dubya brought a small army to Australia with him yesterday. I guess he’s scared the locals don’t like him. Actually, he’s correct.

An armed posse

Bush brought with him an entourage of about 650 people. Many of these people were armed. (Since the Port Arthur Massacre and its associated reaction, Australians have a deep revulsion against firearms outside of specific contexts, especially en masse.) I have heard reports that among the equipment brought over are included armored vehicles.

Oh yes, that’s our tax dollars paying for Bush to travel with 650 people.

But could Bush somehow get re-elected anyway?

Fox News declares Bush winner of 2004 election

Using exit poll data and statistical projections, Fox News Channel declared today that George W. Bush has won re-election as president of the United States in 2004.

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Bwa ha ha

Jesus actor struck by lightning

Actor Jim Caviezel has been struck by lightning while playing Jesus in Mel Gibson’s controversial film The Passion Of Christ.

It was the second time Michelini had been hit by lightning during the shoot.

It appears Someone is deeply honked off at Michelini, and maybe even Mel Gibson.

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Where do they find these white trash generals?

Jeez, first we get a right wing loony General who says, referring to Islam, “My God is bigger than your idol” –now this

A Senate panel approved yesterday the controversial promotion of an Army general who commanded a base where a gay soldier was bludgeoned to death with a baseball bat by other soldiers four years ago

Presidential candidate Howard Dean comments

Under Clark’s command, Private First Class Barry Winchell was brutally murdered by two of his comrades while he slept in his barracks because he was perceived to be gay. In the aftermath of this tragedy, MG Clark failed to take the necessary steps to curb the virulent anti-gay atmosphere that has been widespread throughout his tenure at Fort Campbell. Sadly, he has not even met with the parents of PFC Winchell, a young man who was trusted to his command.

Yet this general who apparently cared not at all that a gay man got beaten to death under his watch, just got promoted.

Howard Dean is the only candidate to my knowledge who has spoken out about this.

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