From comments in Gay South Florida.

Why is it always the Republicans who like the underage kids? At least Monica was an adult.

The closet sure can be stifling. This also is a classic case of a repressed gay man going through “male menopause” where he longs to live out his fantasies of “the good ol’ days” hanging out with young studs. Very, very sad.

From the Miami Herald

As somebody who has met Mark Foley personally and has mutual friends, I am sad for Mark and I hope he doesn’t go to jail. The last time I saw Mark, he was 19 years into a relationship. That was sad that it had to be hidden. I hope the Republican Party continues to evolve so it’s not so difficult to be an openly gay Republican. Will this play into the fears that all gay people are pedophiles? I hope not. There are heterosexual situations as well. Everybody decries this kind of situation. Even Mark Foley did, but he couldn’t control it.

Finance writer Andrew Tobias, treasurer of the Democratic National Committee.

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This is what the neocons are defending as ‘not torture.’

As predicted, the Democrats didn’t put up much of a fight. They are too complicit for that. This is torture we’re talking about. It should be opposed totally and completely. If the Dems really want to convince they are opposed to torture, then they should shut down Congress with filibusters and protests. They should take it to the people. Call for millions in the streets. But they aren’t, are they?

Too many progressives are sleepwalking now, waiting for the election, hoping for a Democratic takeover of one or both houses. They’ve deluded themselves into thinking that somehow a Dem victory will make everything right. Ain’t going to happen. These are the same Democrats who voted for the war, erosion of civil rights, and didn’t block torture.

The neocon and the Bush agendas are crumbling. Imperialism is gasping. It’s all gone quite wrong for them, hasn’t it? Now is the time to increase the pressure and the protests, while they are crumbling, and not wait for someone else (quite unreliable) to do it for you.

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She’s much improved, but still has a ways to go. Save Dassi.

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The new version of Google Reader is one of the best RSS readers I’ve seen, online or desktop. The previous version was kludgy, this one is intuitive and powerful. They’ve done a stellar job on this, check it out.

Me, I prefer to use bookmarks to read blogs, with the bookmarks open in the left side. I’ve got about 50 blogs there and scan through them a couple of times a day. No RSS reader can give you the same look and feel as being on the actual site. Plus, bookmarks are faster. I use Foxmarks to keep my bookmarks in sync across computers. Thus, changing a bookmark on one of my desktop computers automatically gets updated  on the laptop. Plus, you can log onto FoxMarks when using someone else’s computer and access all your bookmarks there. So, in a way, this works like an RSS reader.

But I will be using Google Reader more, and look forward to what they will be doing next version.

[tags]Google Reader[/tags]

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The new move by George W Bush to turn the US (and the clock) back to nuclear energy has placed the energy debate center stage. Under guise of self sufficiency in a world awash, apparently, with terrorists meant for killing or incarcerating this is an exercise in zenophobia.

There’s a similar debate here in Australia as the federal government has flagged the option that Australia should go nuclear for its energy needs. With almost 40% of the word’s urnanium in the dry earth within its borders the logic of a nuclear driven Australia has a rationale perhaps?

But it won’t happen. It won’t happen because the debate is a stalking horse not for the construction of nuclear power stations but for more uranium mines. Essentially the point of this ‘debate’ is to increase the allowed number of uranium mines in the country and to get the population to agree to the principle that since ‘we’ sell the ore we should also take back the waste.

Selling the option that Australia should become a nuclear dumping ground is a very hard call but it does underscore a major problem any fuel cycle argument has to contend with — even Bush’s. Australian working people have a proud tradition of opposition to uranium mining and the key debate today is whether the Labor Party will junk its ‘three mines policy’ at its next conference.

Back in 1984 when the ‘three mines policy’ was adopted by the ALP there was a groundswell away from the ALP and within a few weeks the Nuclear Disarmament Party was born. This was a major watershed in Australian politics as the NDP’s initial electoral success kicked started the process that later led to the formation of the Green Party here.

The irony is for those who think that left is genetically different from the green, is that the driving force in the NDP’s reach out was the Democratic Socialist Perspective — now a key component in the Socialist Alliance here.
So the issue of uranium is so hot here that it altered the direction of Australian politics irrevocably as it not only fostered the later formation of the Greens but it kick started a major political trend toward left (and green) regroupment in this country.

And strangely, that relates to California — as the discussion we had, flowing on from the 1984 break out included Peter Camejo as the rethinking and the discussion was being driven not only by the experience here but also the example of the FMLN of El Salvador and the Nicaraguan Sandinistas. And consideration of it’s electoral ramifications were being formatted by the success of the German Green Party at the time.

That was the crucible. So while it may be de rigueur to act locally the sort of politics that was pursued has very rich international roots buoyed up by an open ended discussion about what is to be done?

That’s the sort of discussion that needs to be rebooted today.

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Not only was Foley, who is 52, preying on underage boys, he was apparently stupid enough to think Instant Messaging is somehow private.

For him to resign from the House immediately means that must be lots more damaging stuff out there. This is not about being gay, this is about being a predator.

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From a post about the Scottish Socialist Party.

The reality is, as the SSP argues, that you need to be red to be green. In other words, only a challenge to planet-trashing corporate power can lay the basis for green collective solutions on issues such as energy supply, public transport, health and housing.

Precisely. The underlying economic structures are what need to change. Then environmental issues can be seriously dealt with and fixed. As long as short-sighted corporate greed (backed by governmental power) is allowed to be the primary economic force, then attempts at remediating environmental problems like global warming will be piecemeal and mostly ineffective.

The self-interest of private corporations should not be allowed to trump the interests of the population as a whole. In a socialist system, corporations do not dominate the agenda and the short-term focus on profit is absent. Once that happens, then you really can work towards reversing global warming. Global problems require global solutions.

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Several have commented on our post about the Thailand coup saying that things were corrupt there, the people do not appear to be opposing the coup, and this is an internal matter and no business of the US government or anyone else.

The comments were thoughtful and hopeful. Sadly though, they neglect the obvious. The primary issue is, when will the military release its increasing grip on power? Sure, the military will appoint a puppet to be PM, but that person obviously serves at their pleasure and is beholden to them. They appointed him, they can replace him. And here’s a surprise, the frontrunner for the post is ex-military.

The new draft constitution gives the military the power to fire the PM and Cabinet, plus they will “advise” on security matters. Uh huh. Look, militaries who take power in a coup do not generally relinquish power gracefully, and there’s no reason to believe it will be any different in Thailand. Nor is there much reason to believe a military dictatorship will end corruption rather than line their own pockets instead.

UN: Thailand’s coup leaders violate human rights

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Sales of Hummers are plummenting, so their solution is - release more models. Yeah, a gargantuan Hummer pickup that gets 5 mpg is sure be a big seller…

Now, a hybrid or EV Hummer might be interesting.

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Ehren Watada’s father, Bob Watada, will speak.

Tues, Oct. 3, 7pm
ANSWER L.A.
1800 Argyle Ave, #400, LA
(1 bl. N. of Hollywood, 1 bl. E. of Vine)

Ehren Watada is the first commissioned officer in the US military to refuse to serve in Iraq, saying that to do so would be a war crime. He is now facing a court martial, including the unusual charge of being disrespectful to the moral cripple who inhabits the White House.

From Wikipedia

On these charges, Watada’s lawyer, Eric Seitz, comments:

“Well, we expected him to be charged with missing movement or violating an order to get on a bus to accompany his unit to Iraq. We did not really anticipate that they would charge him with additional offenses based upon the comments and the remarks that he’s made. And that opens up a whole new chapter in this proceeding, because what the Army has clearly tried to do by the nature of these charges is send out a message to people in the military, that if you criticize the war and if you criticize the decisions that were made to bring the United States into this war, that you, too, could be charged with disloyalty, contemptuous remarks and disrespect for higher officers, and in this case, specifically in this charge, the President.”

His father, Bob Watada, was a draft resister during the Vietnam War, and will speak at an ANSWER LA Forum this coming Tuesday at 7 pm.

ThankYouLt.org was created by his mother, Carolyn Ho, in support her son.

If you’re in L.A., don’t miss this forum, all part of the ever-increasing dissent against the insane wars of the imperialists. Congress may be complicit, the people are not.

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Hillary fries Rice, is how Drudge Retort titled their link to this Yahoo story.

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Some MacBooks have a bizarre problem where they shut down and reboot at random. It happens enough that there’s a blog about it. My tech blog has details.

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600 marched in DC on Saturday in support of the Cuban Five. The Five were unjustly imprisoned here because they infiltrated right-wing Cuban exile groups in Miami, groups whose members have bragged about committing serious violence, including murder, in Cuba.

This was an important demo. It drew people from 30 cities. The ANSWER Coalition was one of the primary organizers.

Building a movement isn’t just about big demonstrations and protests, it’s about the smaller ones too. You need to organize on multiple issues. People start to see the linkages between the issues, they join forces, and then the movement gets bigger. When ANSWER started organizing against the then impeding Iraq invasion, the protests were small. But they grew. Some of them have drawn hundreds of thousands of protestors. Before the war started, an antiwar stance was considered radical, now it’s mainstream. ANSWER hasn’t changed, the rest of the country did.

Would it be the Democrats understood this. The way to build opposition is by opposing, not by being tepid clones of those you pretend to oppose. But then, except for a few social issues, there is little difference between the parties. Certainly not on the war(s), Democrats, with few exceptions, have cheerleaded for war, torture and spying as much as any right-wing Republican. That they are out of touch with an increasingly antiwar populace shows their class arrogance and complicity with imperialist warmongering.

US intelligence agencies are now saying it has all backfired, with the US more in danger, not less, since the the invasion of Iraq. Well, duh. Blowback can be a bitch. Yet legislators continue to sleepwalk in D.C. isolated in their protective wealthy bubbles, clueless and uncaring about what is happening in the real world.

That’s why we need to build a movement. They can not and will not do the right thing. We the people must do it instead.

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Reader Tana comments on our post, Where’s Riverbend?

I am becoming increasingly concerned for Riverbend. I check her blog everyday, sometimes multiple times in a day, looking for reassurance that she is O.K. She is looked on by many as a friend and a living, breathing connection to what is really going on in Iraq. I have suspected for a while that she and her family might leave Iraq; I hope this is what happened and we will hear from her soon. God bless you Riverbend. You are in all of our prayers.

It’s now been seven weeks since Riverbend posted, by far her longest pause. This is what war does. Innocents and civilians have their lives disrupted and destroyed. Family members and friends are killed and maimed - all because a lunatic foreign power invaded their country based on lies with bloodlust for oil and dominance.

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In an incident of environmental racism on a global scale, at least 400 tons of extremely toxic waste was dumped from a Dutch-owned ship at 11 open air sites in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. The noxious fumes from the “slops” have sent 36,000 people to see doctors with symptoms including rashes, vomiting and fainting. Seven people have died.

Update: Estonia blocks tanker linked to Ivory Coast toxic waste from leaving port after Greenpeace activists chained themselves to the ship and urged authorities investigate.

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A judge has tossed Green Party Senate candidate Carl Romanelli off the ballot in Pennsylvania after ruling that nearly 40,000 of the 100,000 qualifying signatures were invalid.

Romanelli’s campaign to get signatures was funded entirely by supporters of Republican incumbent, extreme right winger Rick Santorum. Yes, entirely. Outside of comatose Green circles, many say this was a politically clueless move that doesn’t pass the smell test. Hey, Romanelli could have taken the money, then attacked Santorum for being a right wing ideologue. But he didn’t. Instead he babbled isn’t it wonderful that the other side respects my views. No they don’t you silly twit, they detest your views and you are too dumb or too compromised to realize you were just a pawn in their game.

Also, for 40% of sigs to be invalid means something was way wrong with the process being used (I’m being charitable here…)

The Democratic challenger, Bob Casey, is 14 points ahead now - this before Romanelli, who was polling 3%, was disqualified.

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While attempts by telcos to meter the Net are noxious and need to be opposed, technology advancements will neutralize them long term. Telcos want tiered service, charging more for top tier, but the proflieration of ever-faster and ever-cheaper bandwidth renders this a moot point.

Fiber optic is blindngly fast, cable modem companies keep ramping up speeds, and cell phone providers now offer city wide connections for laptops. In a few years we’ll look back at current conditions as way primitive. Kids will say, “gee grandpa, you mean you had to go somewhere to get a wireless connection?” They, of course, will be used to anytime, anywhere, ultra high speed connections.

Thus, it won’t matter if telcos charge more for top tier. Bandwidth will be ubitquitous, everywhere, and cheap. Nor should there be too much concern about the Net getting locked down. It’s become too much a part of business and commerce for that to happen.

We should absolutely be vigilant and fight any attempts to meter or lock down the Net, but long term, they won’t be able to do it anyway. It’ll become like the telephone. Always there, always on, and modern life would not be the same without it.

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Hi, I’m Daniel Rivera and I’ll be blogging mostly on issues regarding Puerto Rico, its relationship with the United States and the rest of the world, plus on any other issues. I also have a technology blog somewhere but that’s nowhere ready for prime-time.

Since being discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1493, Puerto Rico has been a colony of two empires, starting with Spain in 1493, and continuing with the United States of America coming into power on July 25th, 1898 with the promise of bringing prosperity to the island and giving us the lead when we’re ready to govern ourselves (sounds familiar?). Our people are United States citizens and we’ve fought on every major war since World War I. So far, around 53 Puerto Ricans have died in the Iraq War.

This colonial status dominates Puerto Rican politics to this very day, with all three major parties having their own status agenda, which includes keeping the current status quo, annexation to the United States and complete independence from the colonial power. In a future post I’ll delve a little bit on these parties and their agenda.

I saw posting on this blog as a great fit to the reality of Puerto Rican politics. The name, Politics on the Zeros, pretty much sums up our political system. From a tribe-like political culture that values party affiliation more than the actual value that a person might add to the well-being of society, to having a spineless governor with a circus-like state legislature composed of more leeches than what you will find at a lobbyist convention, our well-paid, do-nothing politicians can make some of the worst in the United States look like Winston Churchill.

Here’s a small example: during a recent fiscal crisis, in which thousands upon thousands of government employees were laid off, the governor and the legislature blaming each other for the debacle. You’d think that with so many people left without their paychecks the legislature would get to work. And they did! From January 2006 to June 2006 a total of 4,364 measures were approved with a whopping 62% of these going towards either congratulating or recognizing a few “outstanding” or launching investigations on issues with little relevance to the incoming crisis. That’s right! While entire families wondered when their next paycheck would come, while our children were denied their education, most of the BMW-driving, designer-clothing-wearing whores of our government were more concerned with congratulating businessmen than helping these people. That’s a zero anywhere.

By no means I want to disrespect our island. We’re a warm, (usually) happy culture with a (usually) very strong national identity. But sometimes awareness has to be raised on certain issues concerning one of the oldest colonies in the world, for we’ve been waiting over 500 years for an end to our colonial status, whatever that solution may be.

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Bill Paparian, former mayor of Pasadena CA, is running for the House as a Green. Something is happening. His campaign is getting major traction, interest from the media, and the buzz is definitely building. This will not be the usual Green campaign where the candidate gets 5% of the vote, rather Paparian will get considerably more votes than that - you read it here first.

He’s strongly antiwar, and this is the primary theme that is resonating among voters. The Pasadena / Glendale area has one of the largest Armenian populations anywhere (including Armenia) and as a bloc, is strongly antiwar. Yet, even Republicans can be antiwar too. The current issue of USA Armenian Life has a front page photo of Paparian with Bill Holderness, a notable Republican who now opposes the war and supports Paparian.

I was involved in the Green Party for a while. More than a few had been Republicans before becoming Greens, so it shouldn’t be surprising when a highly visible local Republican supports a Green candidate.

In the aftermath of the Armenian genocide, Arabs in the surrounding areas opened their hearts to Christian Armenians and aided them when they needed help the most, a generosity Armenians have not forgotten. Armenians thus see Arab culture as the highly developed civilization that it is (indeed, during the Dark Ages in Europe, it was Arab culture that kept civilization alive in the West.) Armenians, who live in many countries in the Middle East, tend to oppose imperialism there, whether it be U.S. or Zionist. Local Armenians, many who emigrated from Lebanon, have picked up on Paparian’s message, and he’s been appearing on Armenian cable TV virtually every night.

Bill Paparian, a friend (I’m his webmaster too), is the real deal. Strongly progressive, he opposes the Iran and Afghanistan wars, saying bring the troops home now, and stop the torture too. If you live in the area, this is the campaign to get involved with.

Paparian for Congress

[tags]Bill Paparian[/tags]

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The Army Chief of Staff says they can not continue at current levels in Iraq (and elsewhere) without billions more. This unprecedented move isn’t just a ploy for more money, it shows point-blank the insanity of the Bush agenda.

Then there’s that report by US intelligence agencies that say the Iraq invasion has increased, not decreased, the threat of terrorism.

Even former friends and allies of the neocons are now turning against them.

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All Saints Church is Pasadena CA is being attacked by the IRS for an antiwar sermon in 2004, yet Religious Right leaders are urging pastors to tell parishoners to vote Republican, a blatantly political move, way more than the mild sermon by All Saints.

So where is the IRS? Or do they only target the Left now and not even pretend to be impartial?

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The Labour Party was inside at a conference, with no debate on the war allowed. Outside, tens of thousands were protesting as Tony Blair deathwalks to his political grave.

BlairWatch and Lenin’s Tomb have commentary, photos, and video.

A young girl sits on her father’s shoulders and leads a huge crowd in some chanting. Stuff like “If you know that Blair’s a poodle, say woof woof!” And people actually said “woof woof!” Because you don’t say no to a sweet little girl who’s got control of the microphone, otherwise she might do something crazy.

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Welcome to Dave Riley, Quarsan, and Daniel Rivera-Franqui, who will be posting on Polizeros now.

Dave is from Australia, and has already started posting. He’s a long-time organizer, has a gaggle of blogs, and is active in Green Left Weekly.

Quarsan blogs at BlairWatch in Britain, where they’re doing their part to help Tony Bliar (no, that’s not spelled wrong) come a’tumbling down.

Daniel lives in Puerto Rico and will fill us in on what’s happening there and in the region.

Welcome!

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Cablevision gave backdated options to dead executive

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Padua’s Berlin Wall

The wall was created by city officials to isolate immigrants inside a housing project. Bizzarely, they claim the immigrants wanted it that way. Right, people do enjoy being virtual prisoners in their own homes.

This link is from Subtopia, “a Field Guide to Military Urbanism,” a fascinating blog about the intersection of urban architecture and Orwellian planning.

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