Bob Morris @ Nov 8th 2005 23:20 - Category: Unfiled ;
Prop 75 just went into the NO column. That means ALL the California propositions are now losing.
75, the anti-union measure, started out way down, like 42 no to 58 yes, but this reversed as votes from the Big Dog urban counties began to be tallied.
Things could change, but right now it looks like a clean sweep, all NO’s.
Bob Morris @ Nov 8th 2005 20:44 - Category: Unfiled ;
France declared a state of emergency Tuesday to quell the country’s worst unrest since the student uprisings of 1968 that toppled a government.
Rioters ignored the extraordinary security measures, which began Wednesday, as they looted and burned two superstores, set fire to a newspaper office and paralyzed France’s second largest city’s subway system with a gasoline bomb.
I think it’s fair to call this an insurrection now, not "riots."
Bob Morris @ Nov 8th 2005 19:09 - Category: Unfiled ;
UN casts record vote against US embargo on CubaNearly every country in the U.N. General Assembly told the United States on Tuesday to lift its four-decade old economic embargo against Cuba in a record vote of 182 to 4 with 1 abstention.
"But Cuba is Communist!" So is China… "Cuba is a threat!" Nonsense. "Cuba has a terrible human rights record!" Assuming that was true - which it isn’t - the US routinely deals with thug nations like Myanmar (Burma) with little hesitation. Besides, um, the US record on human rights isn’t exactly something to brag about, what with jailing people indefinitely without being charged, running gulags throughout the world, and, oh yes, let’s not forget Abu Gharib.
One more time, the US stands alone, isolated by actions which make a mockery of their words.
Bob Morris @ Nov 8th 2005 17:00 - Category: Unfiled ;
The devolution will be televised
Here’s a great idea for your kid’s next birthday party.
Via Doc Searls
Bob Morris @ Nov 8th 2005 13:23 - Category: Unfiled ;
Dahr Jamail, speaking on Democracy Now!
"I have interviewed many refugees over the last week coming out of Fallujah at different times from different locations within the city. The consistent stories that I have been getting have been refugees describing phosphorus weapons, horribly burned bodies, fires that burn on people when they touch these weapons, and they are unable to extinguish the fires even after dumping large amounts of water on the people. Many people are reporting cluster bombs, as well. And these are coming from the camps that I have been to, different people who have emerged from Fallujah anywhere from one week ago up to on through up toward near the very beginning of the siege."
Sounds like torture to me…
Download the full documentary, "Fallujah: The Hidden Massacre" (keep trying, their servers are getting pounded)
Bob Morris @ Nov 8th 2005 12:12 - Category: Unfiled ;
Assuming all the propositions Gov. Schwarzenegger is backing lose today at the polls (a fairly safe bet), then let me be the first with headlines bloggers and news media will be using.
The most obvious ones are
The Terminator gets terminated.
The Terminator won’t be back.
and all the variations thereof.
There might be riffs on bodybuilding
Schwarzenegger has no muscle.
Arnold needs supplements!
And, should Arnold get grumpy about the defeats, then
Gov. whines like girly man
Bob Morris @ Nov 8th 2005 07:42 - Category: Anti-war ;
Conservative evangelicals are also concerned by the IRS threat to revoke the tax-exempt status of a liberal church in Pasadena because a retired minister who is active in the peace movement gave an anti-war sermon.
When Ted Haggard, head of the 30-million-member National Assn. of Evangelicals, heard about the All Saints case Monday, he told his staff to contact the National Council of Churches, a more liberal group.Haggard said he personally supports the war in Iraq and probably would not agree with much in the Rev. George Regas’ 2004 sermon at All Saints, which was cited by the IRS as the basis for its investigation. But Haggard said he wants to work with the council of churches "in doing whatever it takes to get the IRS to stop" such actions.
Edgar, a United Methodist minister, former Democratic congressman from Pennsylvania and ex-president of the Claremont School of Theology, said the IRS move against All Saints appeared to be "a political witch hunt on George Regas and progressive ideology. It’s got to stop." He stressed that Regas did not endorse a candidate in the sermon.
Regas is a frequent speaker at ANSWER LA anti-war rallies and founded Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace in L.A.
Bob Morris @ Nov 8th 2005 07:17 - Category: Unfiled ;
French riots continue despite curfew threat
Ignoring the government’s threat of a curfew, youths rioted for the 12th night in France, torching more than 800 vehicles around the country and injuring four police, the Interior Ministry said on Tuesday.
The nightly protests against racism and unemployment dropped markedly in the greater Paris region, where violence had escalated to the point of shooting at police, but continued unabated in other parts of France, a ministry statement showed.
Global Guerrillas sees this as the embryo stage with serious escalation coming at some future point regardless of what the government does. Or maybe because of what the government does.
Will the violence continue? Probably, despite indications that it has subsided. <written Monday> The open source war is moving under its own momentum now (the participants in Paris are likely just dead tired and the collective thinking of the community was to rest). This means that Prime Minister Villepin’s attempt to extend an olive branch will not restore any measure of lasting calm. Nor will the extra police since the guerrillas will continue to evade their patrols and overwhelm them when they engage. The only solution, egged on by many, will be the broad use of the military to restore order.
The use of the military, when taken, will shut down the insurgency for now. However, the presence of troops in the banlieue will be a source of provocation that will continue to fuel future efforts. Mass arrests will only make things worse. During the period of military enforced calm, France’s open source guerrillas will radically improve their methods. The next time violence emerges, it won’t be just cars that are torched.
Emphasis added. This new insurgency is just a pup. Like many networked organizations, it’ll be learning fast, morphing, splitting, creating new structures and tactics.
It will be the very infrastructure that France relies upon for modern life (via swarms much like we see today and new methods of cascading network failures). Given the efficacy of these techniques, the economic pain of this future conflict will be many times worse than the current one and will be shared by all of Europe. This conflict’s long term impact on the future of French prosperity is hard to measure at this time, but it certainly is going to be severe.
Blowback: The unintended consequences of actions. Mistreat a dog, one day it’ll probably bite you.
From Al-Jazeera
"In their behaviour, they surely seem like savages, as is usually the case in revolutions," said an editorial in Asharq Al-Awsat.
"But unfortunately these are the voices of a community that has no voice on the political scene"
Technorati tag: Paris riots
Bob Morris @ Nov 8th 2005 07:16 - Category: Water ;
In early April the often-forgot country of Bolivia, tucked away in he Andes, grabbed the world’s attention when the city of Cochabamba erupted in a public uprising over water prices. In 1999, following World Bank advice, Bolivia granted a 40 year privatization lease to a subsidiary of the Bechtel Corporation, giving it control over the water on which more than half a million people survive. Immediately the company doubled and tripled water rates for some of South America’s poorest families.
The people fought back and in a landmark battle defeated Bechtel, drove them out of the country, and took back control of the water. Their successful struggle has been an inspiration worldwide for those fighting for clean, low-priced water for all.
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