Karaoke Rage and Blogging

If you like to either (a) hog microphones or (b) blog, read on...

'A 23-year-old Malaysian man was killed on Thursday night after reportedly enraging other customers who felt that he "hogged the microphone" at what Malaysia’s Star Online described as "a coffeeshop-cum-karaoke outlet" in the town of Sandakan, on the island of Borneo. ...

'Last year, Bernama reported that Malaysia’s information minister, Datuk Seri Zainuddin Maidin, had issued a public put-down of karaoke singers by likening them to another group of social misfits: bloggers. Both groups, Mr. Zainuddin said, "take pleasure in their own singing but have no influence." '

Thought Police, Part 2

AT&T is one of the big telecom companies that has been cooperating with the FBI (and perhaps other agencies) to in response to requests to spy on average citizens. Keep in mind that most subjects are likely to be innocent citizens with indirect connections to actual criminal/terrorist suspects.

A recent article on the WIRED site describes how AT&T has developed and patented technology to help in these efforts:

"According to a letter from Verizon to a congressional committee earlier this month, the FBI has been asking Verizon for 'community of interest' records on some of its customers out to two generations -- i.e., not just the people that communicated with an FBI target, but also those who talked to people who talked to an FBI target. Verizon, though, doesn't create those records and couldn't comply. Now it appears that AT&T invented the concept and the technology."

Bush Lies

It's official: Bush lied, lied, and lied some more during the lead-up to the Iraq war -- at least 935 times according to this study:

See report by The Center for Public Integrity


In Bush's 2008 State of the Union address a few days ago, the President spoke about Iran using rhetoric frighteningly similar to that in speeches before attacking Iraq.

We need to stop Bush and the neo-cons, who still show up routinely on the national TV and radio news and talk shows, from leading into another disastrous war without provocation.

Best Careers 2008

US News and World Report recently published an informative article on the Best Careers for 2008. Most or all of it was written by Marty Nemko, who might be familiar to radio listeners in the SF Bay area -- he has a radio show on KALW.

Thought Police, Part 1

Today I heard an interesting and disturbing segment on NPR's media criticism show, On the Media.

Perhaps you saw the Tom Cruise (ugh!) movie Minority Report? There's a scene in which his character is in a shopping mall, and ads are being targeted to him as he walks around. The mall has his identity and displays messages and ads related to past buying history.

Pretty creepy, eh? Well various companies (see this one) can now beam ads right at you using something called hypersonic sound projection.

And there are lie-detector technologies being developed that can essentially read your mind at a distance of up 10 feet, using infrared technology.

Thankfully an organization named The Center for Cognitive Liberty & Ethics (CCLE) is on the case.

What can you do? Of course you can donate money to organizations such as CCLE. Also, keep your eyes and ears open for legislative issues in the U.S. Congress so you can write to your representatives. In many cases your faxes, phone calls, and emails are counted by legislative staffers, so the rep has sense of pro and con votes from the citizenry.

You've been warned...

U.S. Prepares to Attack Iran in 2007

According to several new sources, the White House and the Pentagon are planning a massive military attack against Iran.


How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Bombing Iran

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/howard-a-rodman/how-i-learned-to-stop-wor_b_62830.html


Pentagon ‘three-day blitz’ plan for Iran

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article2369001.ece


Write Your Representative


... or Senator




Sample Note:

I am concerned about recent news stories describing plans by the White House and the Pentagon to launch a massive military attack against the sovereign nation of Iran.

Pre-emptive strikes are unlawful under international law unless there is an imminent threat posed by a country. Iran is not directly threatening to attack the US, so our war planning must cease immediately.

Please use your power as our elected official to stop the increase of hostilities outside our borders.

Squirrels Spies Caught by Iranian Border

As reported by the Washington Post (requires subscription):

Each Wore a Tiny Trench Coat

"A few weeks ago, 14 squirrels equipped with espionage systems of foreign intelligence services were captured by [Iranian] intelligence forces along the country's borders. These trained squirrels, each of which weighed just over 700 grams, were released on the borders of the country for intelligence and espionage purposes. According to the announcement made by Iranian intelligence officials, alert police officials caught these squirrels before they could carry out any task.

"Fixing GPS devices, bugging instruments and advanced cameras in the bodies of trained animals like squirrels, mice, hamsters, etc, are among modern methods of collecting intelligence. Given the fast speed and the special physical features of these animals, they provide special capabilities for spying operations. Once the animals return to their place of origin, the intelligence gathered by them is then offloaded. . . ."

See also

http://blog.wired.com/defense/2007/07/squirrel-spies-.html

The Orange Lights

Heard The Orange Lights recently on XM Satellite radio and really liked them.

They're from Newcastle, England and members of the group played with the bands Spiritualized and ?? (sorry lost the other name!).

http://www.myspace.com/theorangelights

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/entertainment/music-gigs/reviews/article2602301.ece

http://www.bbc.co.uk/nottingham/content/articles/2007/04/24/the_orange_lights_interview_feature.shtml


Kind of hard to find samples online to listen to, but here's one:

http://www.sonicx.com/The_Orange_Lights/

Best and Worst Cities 2007, American Lung Association

Thankfully Boston is not in the "worst" city list... also not in the "best" list either.

For those of you in California the news isn't as good unfortunately.

click to see article

Iraq War Body Count again

The study from October 2006 by the British medical journal The Lancet stirred up a huge amount of controversy.

It was dismissed out of hand by the Bush Administration (of course!), and bashed by many political commentators in the MSM as well. Fortunately other researchers came to the defense of the study, supporting claims that the methodology was sound.

If the numbers are correct, and we may never know, they are truly appalling:

"We estimate that as of July, 2006, there have been 654,965 excess Iraqi deaths as a consequence of the war, which corresponds to 2·5% of the population in the study area. Of post-invasion deaths, 601,027 ... were due to violence, the most common cause being gunfire."

To put this in perspective:

If you accept the 2.5% estimate, imagine that a similar portion of US citizens were killed. There were roughly 300 million (300,000,000) people in the US in 2006. If you multiply those numbers you get

7,500,000

as the US equivalent of that excess death calculation. 7.5 million people. It's almost beyond comprehension.

Try to imagine our country suffering such losses under any circumstances, much less under false pretenses.

link to study abstract (free registration required)

Ex-Ohio Congressman Ney Gets 30 Months

Bob Ney, pal of Jack Abramoff, is going to jail...

read article


woo hoo!

What kids like

I saw this list on "The Daily Show" recently, poll of kids under 10 yrs old.

'Children under 10 think being a celebrity is the "very best thing in the world" but do not think quite as much of God, a survey has revealed.'

1. Being a Celebrity
2. Good Looks
3. Being Rich
4. Being Healthy
5. Pop Music
6. Families
7. Friends
8. Nice Food
9. Watching Films
10. Heaven/God


Daily Mail story


Daily Show video clip

The 50 Best Robots Ever (so far)

From my favorite magazine, WIRED, January 2006:

The 50 Best Robots Ever

"They're exploring the deep sea and distant planets. They're saving lives in the operating room and on the battlefield. They're transforming factory floors and filmmaking. They're - oh c'mon, they're just plain cool! From Qrio to the Terminator, here are our absolute favorites (at least for now)."

By Robert Capps

Yawning gap remains between assets of rich and poor

Truly disturbing and frightening... read this article from the the International Herald Tribune:

(emphasis below added)

The Associated Press

"LONDON: The richest 2 percent of adults still own more than half of the world's household wealth, perpetuating a yawning global gap between rich and poor, according to research published Tuesday.

"The report from the Helsinki-based World Institute for Development Economics Research shows that in 2000 the richest 1 percent of adults — most of whom live in Europe or the United States — owned 40 percent of global assets.

"The richest 10 percent of adults accounted for 85 percent of assets, according to the report from the institute, which is part of the United Nations University.

"By contrast, the bottom 50 percent of the world's adult population owned barely 1 percent of the world's wealth. ... "

Most influential figures by Atlantic Monthly

Something for everyone to cheer or jeer, a list of the 100 most influential figures in American history

Link to article

remember it's "American" and "influential"

Oh, and JFK didn't make it.

Why There Almost Certainly Is No God

Richard Dawkins rocks!

Read the Huffington Post article

A Costly Addiction

Read Lawrence Lessig's recent article in WIRED Magazine about the Founding Fathers' notion of dependency.

"A citizen was considered dependent when he was not free to act in the public good because his own well-being depended on a particular result. "Nondependency" meant being able to choose what was right, without worrying about personal consequences – no agenda other than a democratic one."

Time for a New Constitutional Convention?

Just read an interesting article by Sanford Levinson (no relation, as far as I know) in last Sunday's Boston Globe

Get Me Rewrite

"George Washington didn't think the Constitution was sacrosanct -- why do we? It's time for a new constitutional convention."

I think the author makes some convincing arguments about problems in our government due to some legacies of the constitution. For example, he mentions the problem with the Electoral College -- that sometimes the presidential candidate with the most popular votes doesn't win the election.

Iraq War Body Count, October 11, 2006

A new study was just released by the respected British medical journal The Lancet:

"Study estimates 655 000 excess Iraqi deaths since start of war
An estimated 655 000 more Iraqis have died as a consequence of the March 2003 military invasion of Iraq than would have been expected in a non-conflict situation"

Download the PDF of the article

or

go to the web site

Also, here's an article on the CNN web site:

Study: War blamed for 655,000 Iraqi deaths

Your Vote Counts in November

20 Reasons to Go to the Polls

It's easy to be disenchanted with the political state of affairs in the United States. Voter turnout here has been poor for years, and is a downright embarrassment when compared to many other countries.

Instead of just throwing your hands up in frustration, I urge you to vote this year. It's the best chance we've had since 2000 to turn the tables on the Republicans. Yes, the Democrats have their problems too. But this year it's clear that the Republicans don't deserve your vote.

We won't loosen Republican control of Congress unless YOU VOTE. Don't depend on others to do it for you. All of our votes count. (Well, except perhaps in a few districts in Ohio and Florida.)

Sure, right now a lot of people are talking about the Mark Foley sex scandal. But here are 20 other reasons to get rid of the Republicans.

Remember, channel your outrage and vote!

International Blunders

1. Iraq War

The Iraq War has been a mistake and a disaster from the very beginning. I hardly need to expand on this, given the enormous amount of writing on the topic. Although Congressional Democrats are not blameless here (most went along with the President), this war was brought to you by George W. Bush and his Republican neocon cabal. These folks were foaming at the mouth since at least 1997, looking for an excuse to attack Iraq and depose Saddam Hussein. (As of October 2006, at least 44,000 civilians have died in Iraq, perhaps over a hundred thousand injured. Over 2700 U.S. military personnel have been killed and over 20,000 wounded.)

2. 9/11 and the so-called "War on Terror"

Recent disclosures indicate that prior to September 11th, 2001, Secretary of State Condi Rice received stern warnings from then-CIA chief George Tenet that we were at risk of a major terrorist attack on the mainland. We already know she ignored the memo entitled "Bin Laden Determined to Attack Within United States."

I'm not one who believes the conspiracy theories that the Republicans launched the attack themselves, but this catastrophe happened on their watch. And what have they done to improve our situation since? The Taliban are back on top in Afghanistan, and Al Qaeda has more members than ever before.

3. Iran and North Korea

Unable to reign in their obsession with Iraq, the Bush Administration has in the meantime ignored two powers within the so-called "Axis of Evil", Iran and North Korea. While our military was busy destroying Iraq in order to (supposedly) save it, Iran and North Korea have spent the last few years developing their nuclear capabilities. Now we find ourselves at serious standoffs with these nations, which both happen to be run by or influenced by fanatics who really don't like us.

4. The Kyoto Treaty

The Bush Administration has steadfastly refused to sign the Kyoto Treaty, even though our country is the worst offender when it comes to emitting greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide. The entire time he's been in office, Bush has tried to cast doubt on the overwhelming scientific consensus and physical evidence that human activity has led to unprecedented global warming. It's enough to make your blood boil, if it wasn't already from the higher temperatures on our endangered planet.

5. John Bolton

George W. and his people can't resist poking their fingers into the eyes of the world community. John Bolton was clearly not the right person to send to the United Nations – after all, he said it was fine by him if someone decided to blow up the UN. When Congress refused to confirm Bolton as our Ambassador to the United Nations, Bush circumvented the process and appointed him using his executive powers.

The Culture of Corruption

6. Jack Abramoff

The notorious former lobbyist, now in jail, helped put dirty money in the pockets of so many Republicans it's a wonder no one bumped him off before he sang to the authorities.

7. Grover Norquist, Ralph Reed, Michael Scanlon

These repugnant guys, part of Abramoff's web of deception and money laundering, wanted total Republican control of the U.S. -- forever. Yes, they're sharp, but did they really think they would get away with bilking the Indian tribes and selling invitations to meet the President in the White House for $25,000 apiece? Their arrogance is hard to measure.

8. Tom DeLay, Bob Ney, and Our Government for Hire

DeLay, formerly known as "The Hammer", was the powerful House Majority Leader until he was brought down by the Abramoff scandal. He sold his influence in Congress, using his power as Majority Leader to stifle bills he didn't like and fast-track others in exchange for political "contributions" and personal gain.

Bob Ney pled guilty to bribery and corruption earlier this year. Oh yeah, he's also the one who brought us "Freedom Fries".

9. The Dismantling of the Ethics Commission

The Republicans used their power to finally squeeze the life out of the House Ethics Commission, after both parties secretly agreed to refrain from allowing complaints to be filed against various members. Now the commission is virtually toothless, part of how all these scandals described here were allowed to happen in the first place.

10. Enron

Too bad former Enron CEO Ken Lay died before he could serve his sentence in prison. Even his Republican buddy George W. in the White House couldn't save him from being convicted. In fact, Bush seemed to forget his old pal during the Enron scandal, even though they were close enough for George to call him "Kenny Boy". Remarkable how poor George's memory could be, given that Lay was the co-chairman of Bush's re-election campaign! Oh the wicked webs they weaved...

Let's not forget that thousands of former Enron employees lost their retirement funds as a result of Lay and associates' deceptions and the collapse of the company.

11. WorldCom

The WorldCom case was the largest bankruptcy and accounting scandal in U.S. history. Thankfully former WorldCom CEO Bernie Ebbers is behind bars. But like many other corporate leaders, he and his company managed to give significant sums of money to Republican causes to help lubricate the wheels of government regulation. (Yes, they give to Democratic Party causes too, but if you add it all up much more goes to the GOP.)

12. Randy "Duke" Cunningham

In 2005 the former Republican congressman from California pled guilty to a multitude of charges including bribery, tax evasion, and fraud. Like the other pols described above, he was involved in various schemes to sell his influence in Congress. He took $2.4 million in bribes from defense contractors, who never seem to have enough friends in high places.

Government by the People, for the People?

13. The Demotion of FEMA and the Hurricane Katrina Response

Perhaps as part of the Republican "Starve the Beast" mentality to shrink the federal government, President Bush managed to demote FEMA from its cabinet-level status during his first term, and allowed it to be subsumed into the Dept. of Homeland Security.

Although George W. was convinced that Brownie (former FEMA director Michael Brown) was doing "a heckuva job" managing the Katrina response, we all know how that turned out. Sure, we can't blame the weather on the Republicans, but did you notice how different the hurricane planning and responses were in Florida (e.g. Hurricanes Frances and Charley)? It sure is nice to be governor when your brother is the president.

It's hard not to notice that most of the folks affected by Katrina were black, while those threatened by hurricanes in Florida were white. The death toll from Katrina was vastly higher than the tolls in Florida. Imagine how different it might have been if Republican leaders got the buses to New Orleans and Mississippi before the hurricane?

Over one year after Hurricane Katrina, fewer than half of the former residents have returned to New Orleans.

14. The End of Representative Government

Chalk another one up to Tom DeLay: not only was he hell-bent on getting as much money as possible for himself and his cronies, he also tried to rig the voting system to make sure Republicans would stay in office forever once elected. Through a series of highly questionable acts, he managed to redraw the districts in Texas to cause 5 Democrats to lose their seats in the House in 2004. The new lines make it nearly impossible for incumbents to be defeated in future elections.

15. Wealth Gap Widens

Since the Republicans have been running the show, the gap between rich and poor has grown even wider. They implement tax cuts for the rich, while real wages for many people have been declining for years. In particular, CEO pay has skyrocketed during the Bush years.

16. The Stolen 2000 Presidential Election

Republicans and Democrats have been monkeying with ballot boxes for a long time, but in 2000 the GOP wanted to be absolutely sure their boy George made it to the White House. In Florida they ditched tens of thousands of voters from the registration rolls, and in Ohio thousands of votes for Bush seemed to appear at the last minute.

17. Diebold and ES&S

The chairman of the board and chief executive of Diebold, Walden "Wally" O'Dell, proclaimed in 2003 that he would deliver the state of Ohio in the 2004 elections to the Republicans. Meanwhile he helped raise truckfulls of dollars for GOP candidates. Does this worry anyone?

Over and over again, Diebold's machines have been shown to be unsafe from tampering.

The principals behind ES&S, another prominent voting machine manufacturer, have delivered hundreds of millions of dollars to Republican and extreme-right causes.

Shouldn't we have laws saying that manufacturers of electronic voting machines must be politically neutral, and that all machines must be safe from tampering? Yes, but you can be sure a Republican-led government won't do that.

And Let's Not Forget...

18. Plamegate

It appears that the White House sought to discredit former Ambassador Joseph Wilson for openly criticizing the trumping-up of evidence on Iraq's WMDs. They put his wife, CIA employee Valerie Plame, in mortal danger by revealing her identity. This Administration will stoop so low it is willing to sacrifice its own intelligence agents in service of political goals.

[A friendly reader offered an addendum: recently Richard Armitage, former Deputy Secretary of State, claimed that he was the person who "outted" Plame to Robert Novak. (See Newsweek article.) Supposedly Armitage is known to be a gossip, and let the info slip inadvertantly during a conversation. So perhaps this was not a conspiracy after all.]

19. The Bridge to Nowhere

Republican Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska is one of the main supporters of "The Bridge to Nowhere", This boondoogle would cost taxpayers $320 million, and would link a town to another that has a population of 50 people. Oh yeah, he's also the guy who recently described the Internet as a "series of tubes". Ted Stevens is third in the line of succession to the President.

20. Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), an area of 19 million acres, has been threatened for years by those who would like to open part of it up for oil drilling. Approximately 1.5 million acres would be at risk of being spoiled by oil extraction, transportation, etc., while the amount of oil produced would probably barely make a dent on worldwide demand.

Still, President Bush and his allies keep pushing to open ANWR. Instead of arguing about drilling in wildlife refuges, shouldn't we be putting our resources into developing renewable energy?

By now you may be thoroughly depressed reading the recap of Republican misdeeds. That is not my intent. Let's vote these bastards out of office!