Archive for October 19th, 2005


Whoopee, we’re all gonna die

Bob Morris @ Oct 19th 2005 13:38 - Category: Unfiled ;

If global warming doesn’t get us, then bird flu might. Yikes. Then’s
there’s the current rash of tsunamis, earthquakes, and killer
hurricanes striking worldwide. Sue says, I can’t take it any more, I’m
going to stop reading the news.

Get ready for the coming train wreck in DC. Once the indictments start
coming then business as usual in DC will grind to a halt, and nothing
will get done. Yes, that’s right, the US will be fighting two insane
wars abroad and attempting to resurrect a battered Gulf Coast as the
White House becomes totally preoccupied with trying to stay out of jail.

True, seeing Karl Rove do the frog-walk will be grisly fun for anyone
to the left of Atilla the Hun, but at a time when the country could
benefit from actual leadership, we are instead going into a void where
there will be none at all.

And bird flu isn’t waiting.

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Moron Nation: Nuke ‘em all

Bob Morris @ Oct 19th 2005 10:17 - Category: Podcasts ;

I’d heard about this video, but never watched it until a friend sent it.

Geographically challenged US citizens interviewed on the street say,
let’s invade everywhere. Except they can’t even find the countries on a
world map.

Windows Media 2.9 MB.

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L.A. skid row

Bob Morris @ Oct 19th 2005 09:39 - Category: Unfiled ;

From Steve Lopez’s current 5-part series in the LA Times on skid row.

While
I’m talking to her, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa appears. He had called
me earlier about a young heroin addict I wrote about in the first part
of this series. She died with no veins left for the paramedics to tap.
He was also shocked by our story about the Porta-Potties being used as
a brothel, just a block away from an LAPD station. He said he wanted to
hit the streets with us Monday night.



How could I object? The whole point
is to get some attention for the abomination we call skid row. It’s
like the set of a Third World refugee camp, backlit by the L.A. skyline.

…

I had been telling Villaraigosa that
if you spend any time on skid row, you’ll see people lighting crack
pipes and shooting up right in front of you. And now a man sitting on
the street sticks a needle into the crease of his arm, looking for a
vein he hasn’t already worn out. A few feet away, a man in a wheelchair
lights a crack pipe.



Some of these folks are aware this is the mayor of Los Angeles standing here. To the junkies, it doesn’t matter who he is.



It’s the first time I’ve seen Villaraigosa speechless.

Many of those on skid row are mentally ill. If mental illness
precipitated their fall to skid row, then living there homeless can
only make it worse. Obviously there’s huge drug problems too. But
people can come back from addiction. I know people who were on skid row, got clean and sober, and now have
homes and jobs. It can happen. It does happen. But not if we throw them
away and ignore them, letting them rot in Third World conditions in one
of the wealthiest cities in the world.

An overwhelming number of those on skid row are people of color. Would
there be such little help available if they were mainly white?
Sometimes, racism is implicit, rather than explicit. But it’s still
racism.

I wonder, do European countries have skid rows this ugly, or do their
socialized health systems and safety nets provide better care?

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Bush prepares to cut Rove loose?

Bob Morris @ Oct 19th 2005 09:03 - Category: Unfiled ;

An angry President Bush rebuked chief political guru Karl Rove two years ago for his role in the Valerie Plame affair, sources told the Daily News.

Why is this being leaked now? Is Bush is about to toss Rove to the
wolves in a desperate attempt to save his own sorry ass, claiming he
was shocked, just shocked, to learn of such nefarious deeds being done
by out of control staff without his knowledge. Which is precisely what
Nixon did before his fall.

However, if Bush knew two years ago, does that make him culpable?

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L.A. Event. War and Racism Forum. Oct. 29

Bob Morris @ Oct 19th 2005 08:40 - Category: Unfiled ;


A.N.S.W.E.R. LA Public Forum
The Struggle Against War & Racism: After Hurricanes Katrina & Rita

Eyewitness Reports from New Orleans & Texas

Sat. Oct. 29, 2 pm
Southern California Library for Social Studies & Research
6120 S Vermont Ave, L.A.

Topics include

Racism and Hurricanes Katrina and Rita - Eyewitness reports
Fighting Police terror and brutality
Defending immigrant rights
Standing against U.S. war, occupation & aggression: Iraq, Palestine, Cuba, Venezuela, Haiti…
How to defeat the Bush agenda: building an independent people’s movement

Featured speakers

Gloria La Riva: A.N.S.W.E.R.
leader from San Francisco, award-winning filmmaker, recently traveled
to New Orleans, Baton Rouge and Texas
Derrick Williams: Hurricane Katrina survivor from New Orleans
Keishia Brunston: relative of Deandre Brunston, murdered by Compton Sheriffs in 2003
Carlos Alvarez: Youth and Student A.N.S.W.E.R., El Camino College student

Entertainment

Hip-Hop artist Creó from New Orleans will perform an original song about Katrina and the government’s criminal response
Special film screening: “Heroes, Not Looters: Eyewitness New Orleans and Houston” by Gloria La Riva
Photo display on fighting racism: see photos on the struggle from Iraq to New Orleans to Los Angeles

Food and drinks provided - Donation requested - No one turned away for lack of funds.

For more info call 323-464-1636 or ANSWERLA.org

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How the neocons have screwed up the oil business

Bob Morris @ Oct 19th 2005 08:35 - Category: Unfiled ;

From the Oil Drum, discussing how difficult it is for oil companies to find qualified engineers now.

Our
insider comments that in an office where the  median age is now
around  55 for the majority of drilling engineers and production
engineers, there are now a significant number of contract engineers
(also in the same age bracket).  Only about 10% of the engineering
staff can be defined as young. And the reason?


Ten. That’s all we could find on the market. We are getting a few from other countries, but many don’t want to leave their homes and come here due to the political climate. And their home countries are offering them really good packages to stay, matching or exceeding what we can offer. America is not regarded as friendly across the world any longer.

Emphasis added. Of course, if the coming indictments bring down BushCo, then the climate will change (one assumes.)

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Reason 764 to be paranoid

Bob Morris @ Oct 19th 2005 08:13 - Category: Unfiled ;


Secret code in color printers lets government track you



A research team led by the Electronic
Frontier Foundation (EFF) recently broke the code behind tiny tracking
dots that some color laser printers secretly hide in every document.

Rumors that cell phones have secret GPS finders that constantly report your location are untrue ( but may not be soon.)

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Wilma now a Cat 5

Bob Morris @ Oct 19th 2005 08:05 - Category: Unfiled ;

Estimated minimum central pressure is 882 mb…26.05 inches.

There has never been a hurricane like Wilma before.
With an unbelievable round of intensification that saw the pressure
drop 87 mb in just 12 hours, Wilma smashed the all-time record for
lowest pressure in an Atlantic hurricane this morning. The 4 am
hurricane hunter report put the pressure at 882 mb, easily besting the
previous record of 888 mb set in Hurricane Gilbert of 1988.

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