Bob Morris @ Jan 30th 2005 09:41 - Category: Unfiled ;
Billionaire investor George Soros — who spent $26 million in the failed effort to defeat President Bush — said challenger John Kerry was “a flawed candidate,” Bloomberg reports.
Said Soros: “Kerry did not, actually, offer a credible and coherent alternative.”
Bob Morris @ Jan 30th 2005 00:24 - Category: Unfiled ;
DAVOS, Switzerland — The danger from global warming is the biggest ever threat the earth is facing, scientific, government and industry experts said in sessions at the World Economic Forum the past three days.
This, mind you, comes from the World Economic Forum, hardly a bunch of tree-hugging alarmist Greenies.
They said the longer the delay in meaningful action on climate change, the more costly would be its economic and human impact.
Sen. John McCain (Rep., Arizona) said Tuesday he considered the danger to be “the greatest threat to our globe that we’ve ever experienced.”
Yippie! A senator is finally saying this!
One solution, he said, might be to explore the use of nuclear power, the technology of which has advanced considerably in the last few years.
Aarrgh. But he believes the best solution is nuclear power. Sigh. How about we give up SUVs and the gasoline engine, that’d make a good start.
David King, chief scientific adviser of the Office of Science and Technology of the United Kingdom, said Thursday global warming was the biggest threat of this century, even bigger than terrorism.
Shhh, you talk like that, Dubya will declare war on global terrorism and decide to invade yet another country. No, global warming won’t be solved by silly ideas like comparing it to terrorism, but by realizing we’re all on this same ship together, and that when it comes to global warming, we all sink or swim together. And that the ’enemies’ here are ignorance. and short-sighted greed.
Bob Morris @ Jan 30th 2005 00:21 - Category: Unfiled ;
President Bush proudly invites eligible Arabiacs to download and complete the official ballot for Iraq’s explosively joyous foray into gunpoint democracy.
Bob Morris @ Jan 30th 2005 00:20 - Category: Unfiled ;
Bill Gates, the world’s richest person with a net worth of $46.6 billion, is betting against the U.S. dollar.
“I’m short the dollar,” Gates, chairman of Microsoft Corp., told Charlie Rose in an interview late yesterday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “The ol’ dollar, it’s gonna go down.”
“A capitalist is someone who sells rope on Monday for a revolution on Tuesday in which he gets hung on Wednesday.” If the dollar tanks, Gates, Microsoft, and the country will be hurt badly.
Gates’s concern that widening U.S. budget and trade deficits are undermining the dollar was echoed in Davos by policymakers including European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.
The dollar fell 21 percent against a basket of six major currencies from the start of 2002 to the end of last year.
Thank you Dubya, for your lunatic wars fueled by lunatic spending which are destroying the dollar while lining the pockets of a tiny few.
Warren Buffet continues to short the dollar
Gates reflected the views of his friend Warren Buffett, the billionaire investor who has bet against the dollar since 2002. Buffett said last week that the U.S. trade gap will probably further weaken the currency.
“Unless we have a major change in trade policies, I don’t see how the dollar avoids going down,” Buffett said in an interview with CNBC Jan. 19.
A 60 year old Workers Comp lawyer friend emailed me about this story, adding
How do you suppose I deal with this in my retirement account, which allows me choices of mutual funds? I am at a convention of WC attorneys and Barbara Boxer (whose husband is a wc atty) spoke to over a thousand of us. She got an enourmous standing , hooting, cheering ovation which lasted so long she seemed genuinely embarrassed. She thinks the D’s will stand up on Social Security. Let’s hope, especially if my retirement dollars get wiped out.
Bob Morris @ Jan 30th 2005 00:03 - Category: Unfiled ;
WNYC in New York City is one of the first American radio stations to participate in the relatively new technological movement called podcasting.
Podcasting brings news and talk radio to an mp3 player.
“People definitely like the shorthand of ‘TiVo for the radio,’” said Mikel Ellcessor, WNYC’s director of programming. “It’s the chance to have radio when you want it, especially when you’re stuck in the subway or at the Laundromat or walking the dog. You can have the exact radio show you want when you want it.”
The BBC is also podcasting. Lemme tell you, I think podcasting will be huge.
One thing though, with large podcast files being sent in massive quantities, many more hosting companies will need to appear to handle the downloading for podcasters. Adam Curry’s Daily Source Code podcast has 50,000 listeners. Each of his daily podcast files is about 17 MB. If only 10,000 actually download the file each day from him (then, say, send it to friends) that’s a mindnumbing 170 GB of data transfer daily, which is way way more than most websites could handle without melting down. He hosts his files on mac.com, and I’m sure pays serious money for that kind of bandwidth.
Audio and video hosting services. If podcasting gets huge, so will they. I know of two, Streamload.com and Filehosting.com. Anyone know of others?
Update: Globat offers web hosting with an incredible 75 GB a month data transfer for $7.95 a month. Thanks to PodcastTools for the info!
Bob Morris @ Jan 29th 2005 09:37 - Category: Unfiled ;
Lucrative new sources from across the U.S. would help fund a fight over California’s voting districts and pension system, he says.
And who might those lucrative sources be and why would they give millions to Arnie?
Wall Street has an enormous stake in how Schwarzenegger proposes to transform California’s pension systems for teachers and state workers, now worth nearly $300 billion in combined assets.
Schwarzenegger’s plan would move new state employees into individual 401(k) investment plans by mid-2007. That means Wall Street investment houses would be able to work with tens of thousands of clients instead of just the handful of expert investors at CalPERS and CalSTRS, the two public pension systems. The windfall could be huge.
These very same Wall Street investment banks are such experts at managing pension funds that they bankrupted the Central States Teamsters Fund. Or perhaps “looted it” would be a more apt description.
This is the same crap that Bush is trying with Social Security “privatization.” Do you trust Wall Street to manage your retirement money? Well, of course you don’t.
Bob Morris @ Jan 29th 2005 09:15 - Category: Unfiled ;
Bob Morris @ Jan 29th 2005 00:48 - Category: Unfiled ;
Richard Becker is a member of the National Steering Committee of ANSWER. He spoke last night at ANSWER LA about the neocons, the Bush agenda, and what we can do to stop them.
Link (mp3, 22 MB)
This is also my very first podcast, as anyone receiving the Polizeros RSS feed will be able to grab the file automatically!
Bob Morris @ Jan 29th 2005 00:40 - Category: Unfiled ;
The 2004 Toyota Prius can be tweaked to a) run completely on electric and b) to be plugged in and recharged.
“One guy I know plugs his Honda hybrid into a windmill for power,” Kroushl says. “It costs him practically nothing to drive.”
I have a 2001 Prius, and unfortunately, it can’t be tweaked. Dang.
Bob Morris @ Jan 29th 2005 00:39 - Category: Unfiled ;
At yesterday’s gathering of world leaders in southern Poland to mark the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, the United States was represented by Vice President Cheney. The ceremony at the Nazi death camp was outdoors, so those in attendance, such as French President Jacques Chirac and Russian President Vladimir Putin, were wearing dark, formal overcoats and dress shoes or boots. Because it was cold and snowing, they were also wearing gentlemen’s hats. In short, they were dressed for the inclement weather as well as the sobriety and dignity of the event.
The vice president, however, was dressed in the kind of attire one typically wears to operate a snow blower.
This had to be deliberate… Lordy, what a boorish unthinking pig our VP is.
Bob Morris @ Jan 28th 2005 09:41 - Category: Unfiled ;
A.N.S.W.E.R. Political Forum
How To Fight The Bush Agenda
With original film footage from Venezuela of Hugo Chavez!
This Fri, Jan 28, 7:30 pm
1800 Argyle Ave, #410, LA 90028
Free and secure parking - enter on Yucca)
Featuring - Richard Becker: lead organizer of ANSWER mass antiwar protests in San Francisco. Recently traveled to Venezuela for an international solidarity conference.
Come to a political forum to discuss strategies to unite and fight against the right wing’s racism, sexism and anti-LGBT bigotry. Find out what’s really behind Social Security and pension cuts. Discuss how to build international solidarity worldwide!
I’m going to record Dick’s talk on my just-arrived iRiver mp3 player, and if all goes well, will post it tomorrow in my very first podcast.
Bob Morris @ Jan 28th 2005 09:38 - Category: Unfiled ;
Kennedy calls for a phased withdrawal from Iraq
U.S. military presence has become part of the problem, senator says. His speech could fuel a growing movement to bring troops home.
A day before Kennedy’s address, a group of 23 House Democrats introduced a resolution calling on President Bush to begin the immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.
“Our very presence in Iraq is the cause of much of the violence,” said Rep. Lynn C. Woolsey (D-Petaluma), one of the sponsors. “We have a moral responsibility to leave in order to stem the violence.”
Yeah, it’s way overdue, and yeah, the dissent, right now, is coming from the most liberal of congresscritters. But it IS there, and that is a sea change indeed.
Bob Morris @ Jan 28th 2005 09:22 - Category: Unfiled ;
Socialist Steve has a podcast with a leftie tilt. He emails
As you can see I’m having a lot of fun with it, and it’s a great outlet. Podcast411.com has the best tutorial on podcasting that I’ve seen.
BTW, you don’t need an mp3 player to receive and play podcasts -just listen to them on your PC. An mp3 player allows you play them anywhere, including on car radios, via a $40 attachment that broadcasts the mp3 to an unused frequency on the radio.
Bob Morris @ Jan 28th 2005 09:21 - Category: Unfiled ;
BBC Radio’s downloading trial (using mp3) has been a success with more than 70,000 downloads of Radio 4’s In Our Time in November and the latest ‘podcasting’ service proving popular with technology-savvy listeners.
‘Podcasting’ is an extension of downloading, whereby listeners can have new programmes automatically delivered to their computer as soon as they are posted on the web.
Bob Morris @ Jan 28th 2005 09:17 - Category: Unfiled ;
From Miss Monica’s Certified Fraud Examiner training textbook, emphasis added.
McCaghy says profit pressure is “the single most compelling factor behind deviance by industry, whether it be price fixing, the destruction of competition or the misrepresentation of a product,” such as making a shoddy product that will wear out and need to be replaced. Clinard and Yeager say certain industries, such as the drug and chemical businesses, have such severe competition and strong profit drives due to demands for continual development of new products that they may feel pressured to falsify test data, market new products before their full effects are known, or engage in unethical sales techniques that can have disastrous effects on human beings and the environment.
In their study of corporate criminality, Clinard and Yeager found that large corporations were far more likely to commit violations than small corporations. Large corporations also bear a disproportionate share of sanctions for serious or moderate violation.
Check this out - the poor and well-educated whites tend to view the police negatively.
Bahram Haghighi and Jon Sorensen cite numerous studies showing that: (1) people with low incomes, and (2) whites with advanced schooling view police departments negatively. These two types of people go against the general grain in their disapproval of police. It’s intriguing, then, to note that the people most likely to commit fraud in the workplace are white men with executive status and advanced college degrees. This suggests that the willingness to commit fraud-like the willingness to hold up a Quicky Picky-has a great deal to do with the perpetrator’s attitude toward the law. Simply put, those with the most negative attitudes about law enforcement are more likely to commit crimes. (This may seem axiomatic, but consider how useful this knowledge could be in evaluating and distinguishing among several suspects.)
Bob Morris @ Jan 28th 2005 09:13 - Category: Unfiled ;
Cell phone virus infects Lexus cars
Lexus cars may be vulnerable to viruses that infect them via mobile phones.
It is understood the virus could affect the navigation system of the Lexus models, it transfers onto them via a Bluetooth mobile phone connection.
“I’ve even seen screenshots of major commercial aeroplanes with Windows 2000-based operating systems,” said Mikko Hypponen, director of anti-virus research at Finnish firm F-Secure. “Cars are an obvious target for viruses. It’s okay if you don’t use the operating system for the engine and the brakes, but when you do…”
Bob Morris @ Jan 27th 2005 14:01 - Category: Unfiled ;
Eating At fast-food restaurants more than twice per week is associated with more weight gain and insulin resistance in otherwise healthy young adults.
Young adults who eat frequently at fast-food restaurants gain more weight and have a greater increase in insulin resistance in early middle age, according to a large multi-center study funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) and published in the January 1 issue of The Lancet.
Bob Morris @ Jan 27th 2005 09:00 - Category: Unfiled ;
From Fortune magazine, no less
Pocasting. From MTV to MP3.
In the ’80s ponytailed heartthrob Adam Curry broke ground as one of MTV’s first veejays. Two decades later Curry, 40, has popped up at the intersection of blogs and radio.
In 2004 he and partner Dave Winer (the man many credit with inventing blogs) launched a site called iPodder.org, which allows listeners to automatically download podcasts—essentially bloggers’ webcasts—to MP3 players. About 2,500 podcasts are listed on the site, from sports shows to indie bands. Curry even hosts one about the podcasting world that has 50,000 subscribers.
Later this winter Curry and partners plan to launch a podcasting network, offering an edited selection of the web’s best dispatches and tools for neophytes to create their own casts. Just as blogs have challenged mainstream media, Curry predicts that podcasts will take on radio and satellite. “With podcasting, people can tune out the world and listen to whatever they choose,” says Curry. “In a way we’re really looking at the dismantling of the monoculture,” he says. Guess it’s a good thing he’s not at MTV anymore.
Dave Winer was instrumental in creating Radio Userland, the software this blog runs on, and in creating RSS, which is the bedrock upon which blogs exist.
Functionally, RSS is a web syndication protocol primarily used by news websites and weblogs. A program known as an RSS aggregator or feed reader can check RSS-enabled webpages on behalf of a user and display any updated articles that it finds. RSS saves users from having to repeatedly visit favorite websites to check for new content or be notified of updates via e-mail.
This blog subscribes to about 90 RSS news feeds. I read them in Radio, and can post any article from them onto Polizeros, adding my own thoughts. This is where the power is! It is how I read most of my news. It’s news when I want to read it and from the sources I want to read it from. Small blogs have RSS feeds which can be subscribed to for free, so do the NY Times and the BBC.
The XML button on this home page allows people to subscribe to the Polizeros news feed, which is everything that I post. Yahoo, as do most major media, also has XML feeds. You can read RSS feeds in a News Aggregator like Radio or in the Mozilla Firefox browser.
RSS also supports enclosures, which is attaching a file to a post so it can be downloaded. Adam Curry took the sending-MP3s-via-RSS-enclosure idea, which had been floating around, and with Winer, created iPodder, which allows RSS to send MP3s directly into your MP3 player, no human intervention needed.
Geek-to-English translation: Get iPodder, subscribe to the feeds you like. In the morning all the new MP3s will be waiting for you on your computer and in your MP3 player. You don’t have to check the site for the latest files, they are sent to you automatically. (This requires a broadband connection, Adam Curry’s Daily Source Code show, for example, is usually about 17 mb.)
Curry’s show starts with a maniacal voice screeching, “Transmitters, we don’t need no stinkin’ transmitters”, and that about sums it up! This is DIY broadcasting, no corporate intervention needed or required. Niche podcasts are popping up all over. Not only can you podcast about any topic you want, you can listen anytime you want, anywhere you want.
It really is about dismantling the monoculture, and that can only be good.
There’s not much out there yet in the way of Leftie podcasting. Air America podcasts all their shows, and Socialist Steve has a podcast. But there could be much more.
So, let’s start an antiwar podcast network of leftie blogs! Between all the leftie blogs, I bet there’s some excellent audio files already out there, just waiting to be podcasted, not to mention podcast interviews, clips from speeches at demonstrations and events, and lots more.
Podcasting is going to be huge, already major corporations are sniffing around, and it’s only six months old. The Left needs to establish a major podcast presence and to do it now. Leave comments if interested, let’s start something!
Some podcast directories
iPodder.org (click “Categories”)
Podcast.net
Podcasting News
Podcast Alley 50 top rated podcasts
Podcast Bunker. “We’re about podcast quality, not quantity!”
(Check my previous post for more on podcasting.)
Bob Morris @ Jan 27th 2005 08:40 - Category: Unfiled ;
U.S. apparently underestimated size of insurgency, top commander says
“Apparently?”
U.S. forces killed or captured about 15,000 suspected militants in Iraq last year, the top U.S. commander in the country said Wednesday, suggesting that the American military has underestimated the strength of the insurgency.
The new figures seemed to show that previous estimates of an insurgent force of 6,000 to 9,000 fighters were inaccurate, Army Gen. George W. Casey said in a rare meeting with the U.S. media here.
“Seemed to show?” Maybe someone should alert the good general that as 15,000 is indeed a bigger number than 9,000, and that since this is math and stuff, that “seemed” is no longer an applicable word to be using. Lordy, this dimbulb actually gets paid to spout such nonsense.
However, Casey described as inflated a recent estimate by Iraq’s intelligence chief that the insurgency numbered as many as 40,000 hard-core fighters
Uh huh, your estimate was way low before, so tell us, why should we believe you now? Itr’s clear you are clueless or in denial.
Bob Morris @ Jan 27th 2005 08:38 - Category: Unfiled ;
Reader Steve Betheil emailed us about his water secrets blog. Check it out. It covers “purification, filtering and the safety issues of bottled water, well water and municipal water supplies.”
Among his recent postings
Study: Bottled water no safer than tap water
ABC News, reporting on a study commissioned by the Switzerland-based World Wildlife Fund International says, that bottled water may be no safer than tap water, because of the absence of standards regulating bottled water.
There are far more regulations covering tap water in the US and Europe as compared to the bottled water industry.
The report also notes that the $22-billion-a-year bottled water industry uses 1.5 million tons of plastic annually to package water. The manufacture and disposal of plastic causes toxic chemicals to be released into the environment.
Bob Morris @ Jan 27th 2005 08:37 - Category: Unfiled ;
British Prime Minister Tony Blair and French President Jacques Chirac urged political and economic leaders Wednesday to take drastic action against poverty and global warming as the World Economic Forum began its annual meeting here.
And where were Dubya and the neocons?
In contrast to the major initiatives and strong turnout by European leaders, there were notably fewer high-level U.S. officials present than in previous years.
The US, under Dubya, stands alone (and ignorant) in its refusal to believe global warming is happening.*Every* other industrialized nation is actively working to stop global warming.
Global warming shrinking Everest
News reports from China yesterday said there was official concern that the top of the world’s tallest mountain is getting lower and melting glaciers caused by global warming may be to blame.
Nepalese Sherpas who often climb the peak have reported seeing widespread evidence of snowlines receding. And in 2002, a team of climbers sponsored by the United Nations Environment Programme found signs that the landscape of Mount Everest had changed significantly since Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay first conquered the peak in 1953.
Bob Morris @ Jan 26th 2005 10:09 - Category: Unfiled ;
As reported here, German protestors have been planting US flags in dog poo in parks.
Well, now the US version of this has appeared - planting a Bush flag in dog poo. Poo Protest has all the details. And they note:
But isn’t this illegal?
No this is not YET a violation of the Patriot Act … So far, it is completely legal to use dog feces as a flag stand for a Bush flag.
Update: From the comments, Luxomatic’s dog volunteered to aid in this important task.
Bob Morris @ Jan 26th 2005 09:43 - Category: Unfiled ;
White House officials said Tuesday that this year’s budget deficit would reach a high of $427 billion, propelled by President Bush’s request for an additional $80 billion for war costs in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Hospitals are closing. Schools are underfunded. It’s all linked to the endless wars of the Bushies, wars which are bankrupting the nation.
Bob Morris @ Jan 26th 2005 00:48 - Category: Unfiled ;
Bob Morris @ Jan 26th 2005 00:44 - Category: Unfiled ;
If you’re in L.A. this Friday
How to fight the Bush agenda
ANSWER Political Forum
Friday, Jan 28, 7:30 pm
1800 Argyle Ave, #410, LA 90028
Featuring Richard Becker, lead organizer of ANSWER mass antiwar protests in San Francisco
Come to a political forum to discuss strategies to unite and fight against the right wing’s racism, sexism and anti-gay bigotry. Find out what’s really behind Social Security and pension cuts.
Plus, premiere of film from Venezuela showing ANSWER activists in Caracas & President Hugo Chavez!
For more info call 323-464-1636.
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