One hour and twenty-one minutes, fifty seconds.
Dedicated to the lives we lost on 9-11
This man had had an interesting career. I remember watching him go through the whole cartoon version in a NOVA episode. Some interesting letters followed.
He designed the WTC complex
..Current Projects
Mr. Robertson is currently working with I.M. Pei on the Museum for Islamic Art in Doha, Qatar, and the Macao Science Center in Macao, China. He is also working with Kohn Pedersen Fox on the Shanghai World Financial Center...
(Can you hear it? Unt you vill be revarded for your cooperation een zees matter)
Go ahead, call me a conspiracy theorist. It would be one of the nicer things I've been called.
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Monday, February 27, 2006
Chimp in Charge
You still think that corporate puppet in charge won the 2004 election fairly? I have two words for you: FUCK YOU. And here's more for you: Pull your head out of your ass, and shut the fuck up because I don't want shit spewed all over me about how dumb Americans are. Let me say it again, FUCK YOU. Do your homework and quit bashing average Americans. I've had it with that noise.
Whistleblower Hero is Threatened with Prison for Exposing Diebold
Lyn Davis Lear 02.27.06
And San Diego's Registrar Of Voters was thrilled at the re-certification of un-certifiable voting machines because it means he won't have to go to jail.
Someone accessed 40 Palm Beach County voting machines Nov 2004
2-23-06:
The internal logs of at least 40 Sequoia touch-screen voting machines reveal that votes were time and date-stamped as cast two weeks before the election, sometimes in the middle of the night.
Black Box Voting successfully sued former Palm Beach County (FL) Supervisor of Elections Theresa LePore to get the audit records for the 2004 presidential election.
After investing over $7,000 and waiting nine months for the records, Black Box Voting discovered that the voting machine logs contained approximately 100,000 errors. According to voting machine assignment logs, Palm Beach County used 4,313 machines in the Nov. 2004 election. During election day, 1,475 voting system calibrations were performed while the polls were open, providing documentation to substantiate reports from citizens indicating the wrong candidate was selected when they tried to vote.
Another disturbing find was several dozen voting machines with votes for the Nov. 2, 2004 election cast on dates like Oct. 16, 15, 19, 13, 25, 28 2004 and one tape dated in 2010. These machines did not contain any votes date-stamped on Nov. 2, 2004.
You can find the complete set of raw voting machine event logs for Palm Beach County here: http://www.bbvforums.org/forums/messages/2197/6628.html
Note that some items were not provided to us and are omitted from the logs.
The logs rule out the possibility that these were Logic & Accuracy (L&A) test results, and verified that these results did appear in the final totals. In addition to the date discrepancies, most had incorrect polling times, with votes appearing throughout the wee hours of the night. These machines were L&A tested, and the L&A test activities appeared in the logs with the correct date and time.
According to the voting machine assignment log, these machines were not assigned to early voting locations. The number of votes on each machine also corresponds with the numbers typical of polling place machines rather than early voting.
Many of these machines showed unexplained log activity after the L&A test but before Election Day. In addition, many more machines without date anomalies showed this log activity, which revealed someone powering up the machine, opening the program, then powering it down again. In one instance, the date discrepancy appeared when someone accessed the machine two minutes after the L&A test was completed.
Voting machines are computers, and computers have batteries that can cause date and time discrepancies, but it does not appear that these particular discrepancies could have been caused by battery problems.
The evidence indicates that someone accessed the computers after the L&A and before the election, and that this access caused a change in the machine's reporting functions, at least for date and time. Such access would take a high degree of inside access. It is not known whether any other changes were introduced into the voting machines at this time. As learned in the Hursti experiments, it is possible for an insider to access the machines and leave no trace, but sometimes a hasty or clumsy access (such as forgetting to enter a correct date/time value when altering a record) will leave telltale tracks.
For another example of time discrepancies, see the Volusia County poll tapes
Approximately 4,000 votes were cast on these machines. The vote pattern and activity pattern appears to be identical to typical patterns found on Election Day -- All votes on the discrepant machines were spread over a 12-hour period, the length of time the Florida polls are open.
A member of the Palm Beach County electronic voting technical committee asked for the names of the technicians for Palm Beach who had access to the machines during that time, but the IT person, Jeff Darter, remained silent and never answered the question.
The Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections, Arthur Anderson, said that his staff had looked into the problem and that the votes were normal, it's just that the dates somehow changed.
Other anomalies
http://www.bbvforums.org/forums/messages/2197/6627.html (Anomaly info)
• "Card Stuck" erroroccurredd at least 70,000 times.
The logs show that these cards were placed in the machine (which normally "swallows" the card like old-fashioned ATM machines, holding the card inside until thevoting activitiess are complete, then ejecting it). The logs show that the card was authenticated, indicating that the machine believed the card was valid and had retrieved the appropriate ballot. Just before the vote was cast, the "card stuck" error appeared.
According to Michelle Shafer, who is now the spokesperson for Sequoia Voting Systems, a card stuck error stuck error appears "any time an activation card makes contact with the activator in the electronic voting unit and comes back out. This happens for the following reasons:
• A voter does not push the card all the way in so it comes back out
• A voter inserts the card again after having already used it to vote once...
• A voter inserts the card backwards
• The card actually gets stuck in the machine (not typicalpreviously Sequoiaquioa rep attributed the card stuck error to jiggling the card while it is inserted, however that doesn't seem to hold up since it would take a pair of tweezers and considerable manual dexterity to jiggle it.
As to putting the card in backwards or upside down, the message that normally appears is probably the "invalid card insertion" message. Because of the high number of these errors, and because no reports were produced indicating that any voters had reported the card popping out while they were trying to vote, Black Box Voting recommended to Palm Beach that testing should be done to replicate the error, making sure that the explanation holds water and that there is no adverse impact on the vote.
A member of the Committee asked whether a testing day could be set up, but Jeff Darter again sat silent, and despite some prodding, no such testing appears to be on the horizon.
• AC Power Off Incidents Any of us who use computers know that it is not a good idea to yank the power from your machine while you are entering mission-critical data, especially without a backup. (The Palm Beach voting machines lack voter verified paper trails.)
Dozens of voting machines were turned off during the middle of the election while the polls were open. Machine # 6359 in precinct 1036 was powered down 128 times during the election.
Other power-related issues included "Main Battery not charging" and "backup battery too low".
• "Unknown event" messages
A handful of machines showed "unknown event" messages, apparently of different kinds. This is an interesting error message, since the FEC guidelines frown on undefined exceptions. What is the point of having an error message if you don't reveal anything about what the error is?
Machine number 5875 in Precinct 1077 showed two different "unknown errors," listing them as "unknown error 219" and "unknown error 220."
• auto-act election info bad and "auto-acveryrite ver fail" messages also show up in the logs, with the "election info bad" message appearing hundreds of times.
• Card encryption bad and Card read fail errors also appeared, with the encryption error message the more frequent of the two.
• Polls closed and results report messages would be expected to appear on every voting machine at the end of the voting cycle, but these revealed problems with poll worker training and procedures at the administrative/training level. Some logs reported one report printed, some two, three, four or five, and several not only had no results tape printed but showed no closing of the polls. (Closing the polls tells the voting machine not to accept any more votes).
• Simulation not sim task was a message that offered no ready explanation, and another that left us wondering was the "Maint Official AT Report" error. Call a maintenance official? Maintain an official AT report?
• SyErr 23: RC/AT Verify
and Sys Err 31: Vote Not Rec 1 imply a system error of some type, at least one of which would affect the vote.
• EEPROM failure
Now this is a message you don't want to see on a voting machine. It happened a couple dozen times. It is somewhat akin to seeing a "hard disk failure" message on your computer -- not a good thing at all if you are in the process of entering critical time-sensitive data.
The logs indicate that poll workers used significantly different operating procedures from one place to another. One of the least desirable actions some poll workers were taking was to perform multiple calibrations on the machines during the day, every few hours.
Hundreds of records were simply missing, not provided at all, making it impossible to complete a formal audit.
After meeting with the authorities to determine protocols about releasing the detailed report, Black Box Voting plans to publish a detail report giving full log details on the 40 machines accessed by an insider.
Sequoia machines - locations
Sequoia touch-screens are also used in Pinellas County (FL), Riverside, San Bernardino andcountiesClara countis (CA), New Mexico, New Jersey, and formerly in Snohomish County (WA).
A sampling of Palm Beach precincts with votes appearing on wrong date/time
Precinct 3066 machine #8438 counted Oct. 15
Precinct 3068 machine #8490 Counted Oct. 28
Precinct 3086 machine #8316 counted Oct 14
Precinct 2132 machine #7441 counted Oct. 15
Precinct 6006 machine #7914 counted Oct. 14
Precinct 6018 machine #7877 counted Oct. 14
Precinct 4068 machine #8997 counted Oct. 16
Precinct 5142 machine #9724 counted Oct 18
Precinct 2072 machine #6848 counted Oct. 15
Precinct 4140 machine #9289 counted Oct. 17
Precinct 4084 machine #8101 counted Oct. 17
PERMISSION TO REPRINT GRANTED, WITH LINK TO http://www.blackboxvoting.org/
Bev Harris
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 3750
Registered: 12-2004
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?)
Posted on Friday, February 24, 2006 - 07:15 am:
Whistleblower Hero is Threatened with Prison for Exposing Diebold
Lyn Davis Lear 02.27.06
And San Diego's Registrar Of Voters was thrilled at the re-certification of un-certifiable voting machines because it means he won't have to go to jail.
Someone accessed 40 Palm Beach County voting machines Nov 2004
2-23-06:
The internal logs of at least 40 Sequoia touch-screen voting machines reveal that votes were time and date-stamped as cast two weeks before the election, sometimes in the middle of the night.
Black Box Voting successfully sued former Palm Beach County (FL) Supervisor of Elections Theresa LePore to get the audit records for the 2004 presidential election.
After investing over $7,000 and waiting nine months for the records, Black Box Voting discovered that the voting machine logs contained approximately 100,000 errors. According to voting machine assignment logs, Palm Beach County used 4,313 machines in the Nov. 2004 election. During election day, 1,475 voting system calibrations were performed while the polls were open, providing documentation to substantiate reports from citizens indicating the wrong candidate was selected when they tried to vote.
Another disturbing find was several dozen voting machines with votes for the Nov. 2, 2004 election cast on dates like Oct. 16, 15, 19, 13, 25, 28 2004 and one tape dated in 2010. These machines did not contain any votes date-stamped on Nov. 2, 2004.
You can find the complete set of raw voting machine event logs for Palm Beach County here: http://www.bbvforums.org/forums/messages/2197/6628.html
Note that some items were not provided to us and are omitted from the logs.
The logs rule out the possibility that these were Logic & Accuracy (L&A) test results, and verified that these results did appear in the final totals. In addition to the date discrepancies, most had incorrect polling times, with votes appearing throughout the wee hours of the night. These machines were L&A tested, and the L&A test activities appeared in the logs with the correct date and time.
According to the voting machine assignment log, these machines were not assigned to early voting locations. The number of votes on each machine also corresponds with the numbers typical of polling place machines rather than early voting.
Many of these machines showed unexplained log activity after the L&A test but before Election Day. In addition, many more machines without date anomalies showed this log activity, which revealed someone powering up the machine, opening the program, then powering it down again. In one instance, the date discrepancy appeared when someone accessed the machine two minutes after the L&A test was completed.
Voting machines are computers, and computers have batteries that can cause date and time discrepancies, but it does not appear that these particular discrepancies could have been caused by battery problems.
The evidence indicates that someone accessed the computers after the L&A and before the election, and that this access caused a change in the machine's reporting functions, at least for date and time. Such access would take a high degree of inside access. It is not known whether any other changes were introduced into the voting machines at this time. As learned in the Hursti experiments, it is possible for an insider to access the machines and leave no trace, but sometimes a hasty or clumsy access (such as forgetting to enter a correct date/time value when altering a record) will leave telltale tracks.
For another example of time discrepancies, see the Volusia County poll tapes
Approximately 4,000 votes were cast on these machines. The vote pattern and activity pattern appears to be identical to typical patterns found on Election Day -- All votes on the discrepant machines were spread over a 12-hour period, the length of time the Florida polls are open.
A member of the Palm Beach County electronic voting technical committee asked for the names of the technicians for Palm Beach who had access to the machines during that time, but the IT person, Jeff Darter, remained silent and never answered the question.
The Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections, Arthur Anderson, said that his staff had looked into the problem and that the votes were normal, it's just that the dates somehow changed.
Other anomalies
http://www.bbvforums.org/forums/messages/2197/6627.html (Anomaly info)
• "Card Stuck" erroroccurredd at least 70,000 times.
The logs show that these cards were placed in the machine (which normally "swallows" the card like old-fashioned ATM machines, holding the card inside until thevoting activitiess are complete, then ejecting it). The logs show that the card was authenticated, indicating that the machine believed the card was valid and had retrieved the appropriate ballot. Just before the vote was cast, the "card stuck" error appeared.
According to Michelle Shafer, who is now the spokesperson for Sequoia Voting Systems, a card stuck error stuck error appears "any time an activation card makes contact with the activator in the electronic voting unit and comes back out. This happens for the following reasons:
• A voter does not push the card all the way in so it comes back out
• A voter inserts the card again after having already used it to vote once...
• A voter inserts the card backwards
• The card actually gets stuck in the machine (not typicalpreviously Sequoiaquioa rep attributed the card stuck error to jiggling the card while it is inserted, however that doesn't seem to hold up since it would take a pair of tweezers and considerable manual dexterity to jiggle it.
As to putting the card in backwards or upside down, the message that normally appears is probably the "invalid card insertion" message. Because of the high number of these errors, and because no reports were produced indicating that any voters had reported the card popping out while they were trying to vote, Black Box Voting recommended to Palm Beach that testing should be done to replicate the error, making sure that the explanation holds water and that there is no adverse impact on the vote.
A member of the Committee asked whether a testing day could be set up, but Jeff Darter again sat silent, and despite some prodding, no such testing appears to be on the horizon.
• AC Power Off Incidents Any of us who use computers know that it is not a good idea to yank the power from your machine while you are entering mission-critical data, especially without a backup. (The Palm Beach voting machines lack voter verified paper trails.)
Dozens of voting machines were turned off during the middle of the election while the polls were open. Machine # 6359 in precinct 1036 was powered down 128 times during the election.
Other power-related issues included "Main Battery not charging" and "backup battery too low".
• "Unknown event" messages
A handful of machines showed "unknown event" messages, apparently of different kinds. This is an interesting error message, since the FEC guidelines frown on undefined exceptions. What is the point of having an error message if you don't reveal anything about what the error is?
Machine number 5875 in Precinct 1077 showed two different "unknown errors," listing them as "unknown error 219" and "unknown error 220."
• auto-act election info bad and "auto-acveryrite ver fail" messages also show up in the logs, with the "election info bad" message appearing hundreds of times.
• Card encryption bad and Card read fail errors also appeared, with the encryption error message the more frequent of the two.
• Polls closed and results report messages would be expected to appear on every voting machine at the end of the voting cycle, but these revealed problems with poll worker training and procedures at the administrative/training level. Some logs reported one report printed, some two, three, four or five, and several not only had no results tape printed but showed no closing of the polls. (Closing the polls tells the voting machine not to accept any more votes).
• Simulation not sim task was a message that offered no ready explanation, and another that left us wondering was the "Maint Official AT Report" error. Call a maintenance official? Maintain an official AT report?
• SyErr 23: RC/AT Verify
and Sys Err 31: Vote Not Rec 1 imply a system error of some type, at least one of which would affect the vote.
• EEPROM failure
Now this is a message you don't want to see on a voting machine. It happened a couple dozen times. It is somewhat akin to seeing a "hard disk failure" message on your computer -- not a good thing at all if you are in the process of entering critical time-sensitive data.
The logs indicate that poll workers used significantly different operating procedures from one place to another. One of the least desirable actions some poll workers were taking was to perform multiple calibrations on the machines during the day, every few hours.
Hundreds of records were simply missing, not provided at all, making it impossible to complete a formal audit.
After meeting with the authorities to determine protocols about releasing the detailed report, Black Box Voting plans to publish a detail report giving full log details on the 40 machines accessed by an insider.
Sequoia machines - locations
Sequoia touch-screens are also used in Pinellas County (FL), Riverside, San Bernardino andcountiesClara countis (CA), New Mexico, New Jersey, and formerly in Snohomish County (WA).
A sampling of Palm Beach precincts with votes appearing on wrong date/time
Precinct 3066 machine #8438 counted Oct. 15
Precinct 3068 machine #8490 Counted Oct. 28
Precinct 3086 machine #8316 counted Oct 14
Precinct 2132 machine #7441 counted Oct. 15
Precinct 6006 machine #7914 counted Oct. 14
Precinct 6018 machine #7877 counted Oct. 14
Precinct 4068 machine #8997 counted Oct. 16
Precinct 5142 machine #9724 counted Oct 18
Precinct 2072 machine #6848 counted Oct. 15
Precinct 4140 machine #9289 counted Oct. 17
Precinct 4084 machine #8101 counted Oct. 17
PERMISSION TO REPRINT GRANTED, WITH LINK TO http://www.blackboxvoting.org/
Bev Harris
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 3750
Registered: 12-2004
Best of Black Box? N/A
Votes: 0 (A keeper?)
Posted on Friday, February 24, 2006 - 07:15 am:
Saturday, February 25, 2006
Port Deal
David Sirota covered this on the 23rd and 24th.
Pen and Sword has some interesting information also.
And totally unrelated, but something that has bothered me about the abortion ban in South Dakota. Just watching some of these people in their absolute belief that all abortions should be banned makes me sick. The only explanation that I could fathom about their attitude is that they are just insulated from certain realities. Here is a reality from Zimbabwe that may never enter their minds, and is not likely to show up in their neighborhoods any time soon. Yes, I know that this is not Zimbabwe, but I also wonder how many of these absolutist types would adopt babies, once they managed to shove their religious bullshit down everyone else's throats, by making it law.
And since I'm in total gross out mode, here's another icky:
Four Indicted in N.Y. Human Tissue Thefts
By TOM HAYS Associated Press Writer
Pen and Sword has some interesting information also.
And totally unrelated, but something that has bothered me about the abortion ban in South Dakota. Just watching some of these people in their absolute belief that all abortions should be banned makes me sick. The only explanation that I could fathom about their attitude is that they are just insulated from certain realities. Here is a reality from Zimbabwe that may never enter their minds, and is not likely to show up in their neighborhoods any time soon. Yes, I know that this is not Zimbabwe, but I also wonder how many of these absolutist types would adopt babies, once they managed to shove their religious bullshit down everyone else's throats, by making it law.
And since I'm in total gross out mode, here's another icky:
Four Indicted in N.Y. Human Tissue Thefts
By TOM HAYS Associated Press Writer
Friday, February 24, 2006
CorpWatch�:�Ports of Profit
CorpWatch�:�Ports of Profit
Dubai Does Brisk War Businessby Pratap Chatterjee, Special
to CorpWatchFebruary 24th, 2006
And more on UAE # 1
And more on UAE # 2
Dubai Does Brisk War Businessby Pratap Chatterjee, Special
to CorpWatchFebruary 24th, 2006
And more on UAE # 1
And more on UAE # 2
Suicide bombers attack Saudi oil facility
Reports of explosion at key Saudi oil facility pushes oil price over $62
By Finfacts Team
Feb 24, 2006, 14:04
Reports of explosion at key Saudi oil facility pushes oil price over $62
Anybody else smell a rat here? This follows very quickly on the heels of the horrible Shiite mosque bombing in Iraq. You know the one right before this:Sunni Party Quits Iraq Government Talks After Mosque Bombing
Why the hell did we step into a sectarian problem that has been brewing since around 680 ?
Oh, yeah, gas and oil.
Oil Prices Soar After Saudi Explosion
Associated Press
Update 7: 02.24.2006, 09:02 AM
Going just swimmingly, that attempt to stabilize the area of the world where our energy sources are, isn't it? I have a question for men, since I don't know a whole lot of women who want to do this when they grow up: Who the fuck benefits when shit gets blown up?
And...um...looks like it's 21 instead of 6 ports, hmmmm....
"The security of port terminal operations is a key concern. More than 7 million cargo containers come through 361 American ports annually, half of the containers through New York-New Jersey, Los Angeles and Long Beach, Calif. Only a small percentage are physically searched and just 37 percent currently screened for radiation, an indication of an attempt to smuggle in nuclear material that could be used for a "dirty bomb."
Why only 37% are screened? bananas, kitty litter and toilets
but maybe it's not so bad, after all...
"Since the terrorist attacks, it has cut ties with the Taliban, frozen just over $1 million in alleged terrorist funding, and given the United States key military basing and over-flight rights. At any given time, there are 77,000 U.S. service members on leave in the United Arab Emirates, according to the Pentagon. "...
UAE terminal takeover extends to 21 ports
By PAMELA HESS
UPI Pentagon Correspondent
WASHINGTON, Feb. 24 (UPI)
By Finfacts Team
Feb 24, 2006, 14:04
Reports of explosion at key Saudi oil facility pushes oil price over $62
Anybody else smell a rat here? This follows very quickly on the heels of the horrible Shiite mosque bombing in Iraq. You know the one right before this:Sunni Party Quits Iraq Government Talks After Mosque Bombing
Why the hell did we step into a sectarian problem that has been brewing since around 680 ?
Oh, yeah, gas and oil.
Oil Prices Soar After Saudi Explosion
Associated Press
Update 7: 02.24.2006, 09:02 AM
Going just swimmingly, that attempt to stabilize the area of the world where our energy sources are, isn't it? I have a question for men, since I don't know a whole lot of women who want to do this when they grow up: Who the fuck benefits when shit gets blown up?
And...um...looks like it's 21 instead of 6 ports, hmmmm....
"The security of port terminal operations is a key concern. More than 7 million cargo containers come through 361 American ports annually, half of the containers through New York-New Jersey, Los Angeles and Long Beach, Calif. Only a small percentage are physically searched and just 37 percent currently screened for radiation, an indication of an attempt to smuggle in nuclear material that could be used for a "dirty bomb."
Why only 37% are screened? bananas, kitty litter and toilets
but maybe it's not so bad, after all...
"Since the terrorist attacks, it has cut ties with the Taliban, frozen just over $1 million in alleged terrorist funding, and given the United States key military basing and over-flight rights. At any given time, there are 77,000 U.S. service members on leave in the United Arab Emirates, according to the Pentagon. "...
UAE terminal takeover extends to 21 ports
By PAMELA HESS
UPI Pentagon Correspondent
WASHINGTON, Feb. 24 (UPI)
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
What happens next?
What happens on March 2nd has me very nervous. Will the port transaction go through? Will Iran start selling it's oil in Euros?
Bourse and Petrodollar Wars
Iran Oil Feb 15, 2006
Bahman Aghai Diba PhD International Law
Persian Journal
bourse (definition)
Things I found iteresting today:
Iran was not referred to the Security Council for Noncompliance
By Mike Whitney
The public should not be worried about Iran, rather, it should
be concerned about the implications of allowing one nation to
arbitrarily repeal internationally-accepted treaties and dictate
how the world will be run.
Sudan rejects UN troops for Darfur
By Opheera McDoom 1 hour, 51 minutes ago
KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan rejects U.S.-backed efforts to have U.N. peacekeeping troops take over from African Union troops in the country's troubled Darfur region, Foreign Minister Lam Akol said on Wednesday.
Ex-Malaysia PM: Abramoff Was Paid $1.2M
By PAULINE JASUDASON Associated Press Writer
(AP) - KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia-Former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said disgraced U.S. lobbyist Jack Abramoff was paid $1.2 million to organize a meeting between him and President Bush in 2002, but denied the money came from the Malaysian government.
Interview with Robert Baer, ex-CIA, author of See no Evil, which Syriana was loosly based on.
Seeing Only Evil
Bourse and Petrodollar Wars
Iran Oil Feb 15, 2006
Bahman Aghai Diba PhD International Law
Persian Journal
bourse (definition)
Things I found iteresting today:
Iran was not referred to the Security Council for Noncompliance
By Mike Whitney
The public should not be worried about Iran, rather, it should
be concerned about the implications of allowing one nation to
arbitrarily repeal internationally-accepted treaties and dictate
how the world will be run.
Sudan rejects UN troops for Darfur
By Opheera McDoom 1 hour, 51 minutes ago
KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan rejects U.S.-backed efforts to have U.N. peacekeeping troops take over from African Union troops in the country's troubled Darfur region, Foreign Minister Lam Akol said on Wednesday.
Ex-Malaysia PM: Abramoff Was Paid $1.2M
By PAULINE JASUDASON Associated Press Writer
(AP) - KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia-Former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said disgraced U.S. lobbyist Jack Abramoff was paid $1.2 million to organize a meeting between him and President Bush in 2002, but denied the money came from the Malaysian government.
Interview with Robert Baer, ex-CIA, author of See no Evil, which Syriana was loosly based on.
Seeing Only Evil
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
Dubai Ports
DUBAI FIRM TIED TO WHITE HOUSE
Tuesday, February 21, 2006 - FreeMarketNews.com
The Dubai firm that won Bush administration backing to run six U.S. ports has at least two ties to the White House. One is Treasury Secretary John Snow, whose department heads the federal panel that signed off on the $6.8 billion sale of an English company to government-owned Dubai Ports World - giving it control of Manhattan's cruise ship terminal and Newark's container port. Snow was chairman of the CSX rail firm that sold its own international port operations to DP World for $1.15 billion in 2004, the year after Snow left for President Bush's cabinet.
The other connection is David Sanborn, who runs DP World's European and Latin American operations and who was tapped by Bush last month to head the U.S. Maritime Administration...
Uh yeah, like I said
Happy Valentines Day from Homeland Security Sold, to the highest bidder
Treasury Secretary John Snow last week informed Congress that he would begin borrowing from the federal employees’ retirement fund to avoid exceeding the nation’s statutory debt limit of $8.184 trillion
GOP, once noisy over debt limit hikes, zips its lip on this one
Repukes, what you gonna do?
Bush Shrugs Off Objections to Port Deal-
WASHINGTON - Brushing aside objections from Republicans and Democrats alike,
President Bush endorsed the takeover of shipping operations at six major U.S. seaports by a state-owned business in the United Arab Emirates. He pledged to veto any bill Congress might approve to block the agreement
Monday, February 20, 2006
Stop the voting machine fraud
BOWEN ON SECRETARY OF STATE’S DECISION TO RE-CERTIFY DIEBOLD MACHINES FOR USE IN CALIFORNIA
California Political Desk
February 17, 2006
State OKs flawed voting machines
Article Last Updated: 02/20/2006 3:48 AM PST
'Daily Voting News' - Top 5 Stories from the Past Week! Bradblog.
Black Box Voting homework
This is a very important news post, with national implications because -- with YOUR help: you must send five specific e-mails -- today's miscarriage of democracy will give you the first good shot at subpoena-induced sworn testimony from voting machine makers and testing labs. Vendors and voting machine examiners: Enjoy the reprieve that McPherson just handed you, because the American citizenry -- with the help of some California senators -- is about to make sure it stops right now.
Citizens: Instructions are provided in this article.
Black Box Voting homework
Posted on Friday, February 17, 2006 - 05:40 pm:
California Political Desk
February 17, 2006
State OKs flawed voting machines
Article Last Updated: 02/20/2006 3:48 AM PST
'Daily Voting News' - Top 5 Stories from the Past Week! Bradblog.
Black Box Voting homework
This is a very important news post, with national implications because -- with YOUR help: you must send five specific e-mails -- today's miscarriage of democracy will give you the first good shot at subpoena-induced sworn testimony from voting machine makers and testing labs. Vendors and voting machine examiners: Enjoy the reprieve that McPherson just handed you, because the American citizenry -- with the help of some California senators -- is about to make sure it stops right now.
Citizens: Instructions are provided in this article.
Black Box Voting homework
Posted on Friday, February 17, 2006 - 05:40 pm:
Sunday, February 19, 2006
okee dokee smokee
Democrats plan bill to block Dubai port deal
Reuters/ABC
Feb 17, 2006 — By Jeremy Pelofsky and Caroline Drees
Dubai Ports World seeks 6.5 bln usd loan to fund P&O acquisition
AFX News Limited
02.19.2006, 03:24 AM
White House defends ports takeover stance
FT.com
By Stephanie Kirchgaessner in Washington
Published: February 19 2006 19:20 Last updated: February 19 2006 19:20
Reuters/ABC
Feb 17, 2006 — By Jeremy Pelofsky and Caroline Drees
Dubai Ports World seeks 6.5 bln usd loan to fund P&O acquisition
AFX News Limited
02.19.2006, 03:24 AM
White House defends ports takeover stance
FT.com
By Stephanie Kirchgaessner in Washington
Published: February 19 2006 19:20 Last updated: February 19 2006 19:20
Saturday, February 18, 2006
Holy Crap
15 dead in Nigeria as protesters attack Christians
Updated Sat. Feb. 18 2006 4:55 PM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
9 foreign oil workers seized in Nigeria
OSMOND CHIDI
Associated Press
Posted on Sat, Feb. 18, 2006
Seminar on Suicide Bombings Held in Iran
By NASSER KARIMI, Associated Press Writer 22 minutes ago
TEHRAN, Iran - An Iranian group that claims its members are dedicated to becoming suicide bombers warned the United States and Britain on Saturday that they will strike coalition military bases in Iraq if Iran's nuclear facilities are attacked
This is getting tedious, but fubar over at Needlenose has done more homework than I'm willing to again and again and and again .
Updated Sat. Feb. 18 2006 4:55 PM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
9 foreign oil workers seized in Nigeria
OSMOND CHIDI
Associated Press
Posted on Sat, Feb. 18, 2006
Seminar on Suicide Bombings Held in Iran
By NASSER KARIMI, Associated Press Writer 22 minutes ago
TEHRAN, Iran - An Iranian group that claims its members are dedicated to becoming suicide bombers warned the United States and Britain on Saturday that they will strike coalition military bases in Iraq if Iran's nuclear facilities are attacked
This is getting tedious, but fubar over at Needlenose has done more homework than I'm willing to again and again and and again .
Friday, February 17, 2006
Musica
This is how I feel today.
Maybe music will help
Always on the Run - Lenny Kravitz
St Elmo's Fire - Michael Franks
Thing Called Love - Bonnie Raitt
Buffalo River Home - John Hiatt
Have a Heart - Bonnie Raitt
Satellites - Rickie Lee Jones
Change It - Stevie Ray Vaughan
Tell Somebody - Rickie Lee Jones
Ghost Train - Rickie Lee Jones
(Sweet Sweet Baby) Since You've Been Gone - Aretha Franklin
Tell Somebody (Repeal The Patriot Acts Now) Lyrics (c 2003)
Not long ago it was alright
There were no bad dreams that kept me up at night
It was not brother against brother
Mother against mother
So tell somebody,You've got to tell somebody
Tell somebody what happened in the USA
Now they want us to just get in line
Behind a president
When you know they spent milions of dollars
Condemning and accusing
The last one from the other side
Tell somebody, tell somebody
Tell somebody What's happening in the USA?
Tell somebody, tell somebody
Tell somebody
What happened in the USA
Tell somebody, tell somebody, tell somebody...
I want to know how far you will go
To protect our right of free speech?
Because it only took a moment
Before it faded out of reach...
Oh, tell somebody, tell sombody right now
Tell somebody
What happened in the USA?
I wanna read about it in the news
I wanna hear about it on tv, yeah
What happened in the USA?
When they ask you
What happened in the USA?
Tell somebody.
They'll wanna know, oh people
The depth of our democracy
Is only as good as the voices of protest she protects
Voices of protest - rise!
Better, anyway.... but later I find this:
Baaaaahhh No Shame
Thursday, February 16, 2006
I find this amusing
Housing Construction Soars in January--
Looks good, right?
The American dream of home ownership. Built by Americans, right?
Um...no
Well, we're energy independent, so that's all American, right?
Uh, nope
LNG, What is that?
http://timrileylaw.com/LNG_film.htm (scroll down)
Well, the reason we have been so successful as a country is because we are the bread basket of the world, we have plenty of water for agriculture and we build new homes where the water is, right?
Oooops, look at Arizona's water level now
But there's government tax incentives for developers to build energy and water conserving devices, in the new homes right?
http://realtytimes.com/rtcpages/20010806_energy.htm
..Home builders and contractors also get a shot at tax relief under the new energy bill. When they install energy-efficient heating and cooling systems in a new home they're constructing, they may be able to qualify for up to a $2,000 credit per home, beginning next January 1. The systems will need to pass energy-rating or local certification muster....
Uh... yeah, they're gonna jump through a whole bunch of hoops to get a $2,000 tax credit on a $500,000 home. Pffffffft.
But if you already own a home and you make the improvements, the value of your home goes up, right?
Pffffffft
Looks good, right?
The American dream of home ownership. Built by Americans, right?
Um...no
Well, we're energy independent, so that's all American, right?
Uh, nope
LNG, What is that?
http://timrileylaw.com/LNG_film.htm (scroll down)
Well, the reason we have been so successful as a country is because we are the bread basket of the world, we have plenty of water for agriculture and we build new homes where the water is, right?
Oooops, look at Arizona's water level now
But there's government tax incentives for developers to build energy and water conserving devices, in the new homes right?
http://realtytimes.com/rtcpages/20010806_energy.htm
..Home builders and contractors also get a shot at tax relief under the new energy bill. When they install energy-efficient heating and cooling systems in a new home they're constructing, they may be able to qualify for up to a $2,000 credit per home, beginning next January 1. The systems will need to pass energy-rating or local certification muster....
Uh... yeah, they're gonna jump through a whole bunch of hoops to get a $2,000 tax credit on a $500,000 home. Pffffffft.
But if you already own a home and you make the improvements, the value of your home goes up, right?
Pffffffft
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
I don't think so
Iraqi Port Weathers Danish Storm
by Lotte Folke Kaarsholm, Charlotte Aagaard and Osama Al-Habahbeh,
Special to CorpWatch
January 31st, 2006
Shipping Giant Maersk, Denmark's largest company, had positioned itself well for that advantage. Starting in August 2002, Maersk's giant container ships had delivered a third of all U.S. military equipment to the region, in preparation for the invasion of Iraq.
Baghdad Embassy Bonanza
Kuwait Company’s Secret Contract & Low-Wage Labor
by David Phinney, Special to CorpWatch
February 12th, 2006
All this and more Abu Ghraib pictures. How long are the Iraqi's supposed to take this shit? Think the Muslim rage is really about cartoons?
I don't think so.
Think the MSM really thinks that Cheney's hunting accident is all that important?
I don't think so
Think the wars are really about whatever crap they are trying to feed us this week?.
I don't think so
by Lotte Folke Kaarsholm, Charlotte Aagaard and Osama Al-Habahbeh,
Special to CorpWatch
January 31st, 2006
Shipping Giant Maersk, Denmark's largest company, had positioned itself well for that advantage. Starting in August 2002, Maersk's giant container ships had delivered a third of all U.S. military equipment to the region, in preparation for the invasion of Iraq.
Baghdad Embassy Bonanza
Kuwait Company’s Secret Contract & Low-Wage Labor
by David Phinney, Special to CorpWatch
February 12th, 2006
All this and more Abu Ghraib pictures. How long are the Iraqi's supposed to take this shit? Think the Muslim rage is really about cartoons?
I don't think so.
Think the MSM really thinks that Cheney's hunting accident is all that important?
I don't think so
Think the wars are really about whatever crap they are trying to feed us this week?.
I don't think so
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Liberal Media
Oh really?
Happy Valentines Day from Homeland Security ...
P&O shareholders back $6.8bn Dubai Ports World bid Posted: Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Dubai
..Dubai and Singapore had wrestled for control of P&O's key container ports in Asia, Europe and the Americas, following a three-year boom in shipping on the back of growth in Chinese demand, expanding trade and a global economic recovery...
Wonder if they'll be able to unload imams that are a pain in the ass to those in power there?? No wait, they already did that in Denmark
Monday, February 13, 2006
Saturday, February 11, 2006
Selling the forests
Government wants to sell thousands of acres of National Forest land.
...listing 309,421 acres in more than 30 states
...The land sales are part of President Bush's new budget proposal, which seeks to pare the federal deficit....
....Forest Service officials say the sales are targeted to raise $800 million over the next five years
Gee, here's a thought, quit running up the deficit on wars, and a disgustingly bloated military budget, that does not benefit the active duty troops or the retired veterans, and quit subsidizing things like AK Sen Ted Steven's bridge to nowhere , and you may not have to sell the forests.
By the way, Bush, where are you and your war criminals going to hide after all the forests are clear cut?
Hiiiiiiiiiii skippy!
And skippy fans, welcome, come on in, have a look see, talk to me, agree or disagree, it's still a free country, right?
Friday, February 10, 2006
Mohammed Cartoons stoke the fire
Make no mistake, this is a political tool being used by leaders in Western Countries and leaders in the Middle East. It is being fueled by two very flammable sources---gas and oil This is economic, not religious. By leaders I mean business leaders, financiers and their purchased politicians. Including religious leaders in the West AND the Middle East. If you can't extrapolate that from only today's top world headlines, I can't help you.
But, if you happen to wander over to Google News and take a look, hum part of a song to yourself.
Come on everybody (to the tune of Old MacDonald's Farm, ok?)
Ok, I'm more angry than creative, so I'll simplify it and only go for the chorus line:
With a pipeline here
and a pipeline there
here a pipe, there a pipe, everywhere a pipe-line
eeeh-eye-eeeh-eye-oh .....
You know, when I started out 4 1/2 years ago, to become more informed about the real world & how it functions, you know, what life is like outside the US (well, I've always been curious about that) and what could possibly have motivated those "terrists", I really didn't know how much anger it would provoke in me, towards the sacred cow of capitalism, and the parasites who flourish inside that bloody sacred cow. I didn't know that I would be enraged at my government's hidden (from most of us, anyway) actions. I didn't know that I was living in an unsustainable, false, Pollyanna, Mickey Mouse, don't-look-beyond-next-quarter's-earnings kind of place. My world has changed. So has the real world.
But, if you happen to wander over to Google News and take a look, hum part of a song to yourself.
Come on everybody (to the tune of Old MacDonald's Farm, ok?)
Ok, I'm more angry than creative, so I'll simplify it and only go for the chorus line:
With a pipeline here
and a pipeline there
here a pipe, there a pipe, everywhere a pipe-line
eeeh-eye-eeeh-eye-oh .....
You know, when I started out 4 1/2 years ago, to become more informed about the real world & how it functions, you know, what life is like outside the US (well, I've always been curious about that) and what could possibly have motivated those "terrists", I really didn't know how much anger it would provoke in me, towards the sacred cow of capitalism, and the parasites who flourish inside that bloody sacred cow. I didn't know that I would be enraged at my government's hidden (from most of us, anyway) actions. I didn't know that I was living in an unsustainable, false, Pollyanna, Mickey Mouse, don't-look-beyond-next-quarter's-earnings kind of place. My world has changed. So has the real world.
Wednesday, February 08, 2006
Muslims say Western media hypocritical on cartoons
The western press never criticizes the precious Jews, right?
Brothers in arms - Israel's secret pact with Pretoria
"...Don Krausz, chairman of Johannesburg's Holocaust survivors association, arrived in South Africa a year after the war, having survived Hitler's camps at Ravensbrück and Sachsenhausen when much of his extended family did not. "The Nationalists had a strongly anti-semitic platform before 1948. The Afrikaans press was viciously anti-Jewish, much like Der Stürmer in Germany under Hitler. The Jew felt himself very much threatened by the Afrikaner. The Afrikaner supported Hitler," he says. "My wife comes from Potchefstroom [in what was then the Transvaal]. Every Jewish shop in that town was blown up by the Grey Shirts. In the communities that were predominantly Afrikaans, the Jews were absolutely victimised. Now the same crowd comes to power in 1948. The Jew was a very frightened person. There were cabinet ministers who openly supported the Nazis..."
(and yet)
...By the 1980s, Israel and South Africa echoed each other in justifying the domination of other peoples. Both said that their own peoples faced annihilation from external forces - in South Africa by black African governments and communism; in Israel, by Arab states and Islam. But each eventually faced popular uprisings - Soweto in 1976, the Palestinian intifada in 1987 - that were internal, spontaneous and radically altered the nature of the conflicts. "
But Hey, there was never any Nazi support in the Middle East, right?
bwwwaa haaaa haaaaa
Here is the insane leader of Iran's answer to the cartoon problem:
Iranian paper says it will hold contest for cartoons on the Holocaust
Hate to tell you Islamofascists this, but nobody's gonna care except maybe some whacked out militant Orthodox Jews, and most people who know about their ridiculous antics don't have time for them either. If you can read this you obviously have some grasp on the English language. Get your English dictionary and look up the word "secular". That would be us. It means separation of church and state, or in your case, separation of mosque and state. Then look up the word "obtuse", and try "arrogant" , "rigid" "intolerant". You see, you need to get your head around the fact that we don't obey Islamic law, and most of us don't need to understand it. I didn't even know that it was against Islamic law to make pictures of Mohammed the Prophet until last week. Religious extremism of any stripe sucks. To hell with anyone who wants to shove their religious bullshit down my throat, I'm not having it.
Brothers in arms - Israel's secret pact with Pretoria
"...Don Krausz, chairman of Johannesburg's Holocaust survivors association, arrived in South Africa a year after the war, having survived Hitler's camps at Ravensbrück and Sachsenhausen when much of his extended family did not. "The Nationalists had a strongly anti-semitic platform before 1948. The Afrikaans press was viciously anti-Jewish, much like Der Stürmer in Germany under Hitler. The Jew felt himself very much threatened by the Afrikaner. The Afrikaner supported Hitler," he says. "My wife comes from Potchefstroom [in what was then the Transvaal]. Every Jewish shop in that town was blown up by the Grey Shirts. In the communities that were predominantly Afrikaans, the Jews were absolutely victimised. Now the same crowd comes to power in 1948. The Jew was a very frightened person. There were cabinet ministers who openly supported the Nazis..."
(and yet)
...By the 1980s, Israel and South Africa echoed each other in justifying the domination of other peoples. Both said that their own peoples faced annihilation from external forces - in South Africa by black African governments and communism; in Israel, by Arab states and Islam. But each eventually faced popular uprisings - Soweto in 1976, the Palestinian intifada in 1987 - that were internal, spontaneous and radically altered the nature of the conflicts. "
But Hey, there was never any Nazi support in the Middle East, right?
bwwwaa haaaa haaaaa
Here is the insane leader of Iran's answer to the cartoon problem:
Iranian paper says it will hold contest for cartoons on the Holocaust
Hate to tell you Islamofascists this, but nobody's gonna care except maybe some whacked out militant Orthodox Jews, and most people who know about their ridiculous antics don't have time for them either. If you can read this you obviously have some grasp on the English language. Get your English dictionary and look up the word "secular". That would be us. It means separation of church and state, or in your case, separation of mosque and state. Then look up the word "obtuse", and try "arrogant" , "rigid" "intolerant". You see, you need to get your head around the fact that we don't obey Islamic law, and most of us don't need to understand it. I didn't even know that it was against Islamic law to make pictures of Mohammed the Prophet until last week. Religious extremism of any stripe sucks. To hell with anyone who wants to shove their religious bullshit down my throat, I'm not having it.
Monday, February 06, 2006
Accountability
yeah right
SPECTER: The question is should the ruling of the chair be upheld that Attorney General Gonzales not be sworn.
Specter wins the vote but concludes “this is really not a very good way to begin this hearing.”
So, like the oil company executives, it dosen't matter if they lie because they're not sworn in, is that how it works? And they won't get sworn in because they have the numbers to insure that they don't.
Um...yeah, they can do whatever the fuck they want to..neener neener neener, so there.
We are screwed. Have I mentioned that I hate Republicans? Especially this asshole
Oh, and Rude Pundit speaks on the crappy cartoons , the Christofacsists here, the Islamofascists there, etc. Yay Rude Pundit!
SPECTER: The question is should the ruling of the chair be upheld that Attorney General Gonzales not be sworn.
Specter wins the vote but concludes “this is really not a very good way to begin this hearing.”
So, like the oil company executives, it dosen't matter if they lie because they're not sworn in, is that how it works? And they won't get sworn in because they have the numbers to insure that they don't.
Um...yeah, they can do whatever the fuck they want to..neener neener neener, so there.
We are screwed. Have I mentioned that I hate Republicans? Especially this asshole
Oh, and Rude Pundit speaks on the crappy cartoons , the Christofacsists here, the Islamofascists there, etc. Yay Rude Pundit!
Muslims got baited, and they bit, but who's bait did they bite?
Muslim rage, spontaneous or political calculation?
By Anne-Beatrice Clasmann and Thomas Borchert
Feb 6, 2006,17:29 GMT
...Meanwhile, imams resident in Denmark were travelling around
Arab countries with the cartoons, showing them as well as other
unflattering caricatures of the Prophet circulating in Denmark that the newspaper had not published.... (in full
Copenhagen/Cairo - It took four months before Muslims around the world began protesting against 12 cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed that first appeared in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten.
These were four months in which Islamic preachers and diplomats spread the word from Copenhagen to the villages of Upper Egypt and Afghanistan that ‘the Prophet has been insulted.’
Some observers in Denmark see ‘agitation’ by Danish imams travelling in the Middle East as the spark that caused the conflagration of religious passions.
In the Arab world, there are those who suspect the increasingly violent demonstrations are the product of cynical political calculation by Arab regimes using anger for their own purposes.
The conflict is playing into the hands of Islamist groups. In some Islamic countries, a contest of sorts has broken out between the government and opposition to see which side is doing more ‘to defend the Prophet.’
When the cartoons were first published on September 30 in the Jyllands-Posten, Denmark’s biggest paper and sharply critical of Islam, it initially looked like just another skirmish in Denmark’s heated debate over immigration and the proper attitude towards Islam.
It took nearly three weeks before the ambassadors of 11 Islamic countries demanded that the Danish government intervene and asked to speak with Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen.
Rasmussen, citing press freedom, coolly refused, which critics now say was a big mistake in crisis management. Among those critics are 22 former Danish ambassadors who spoke out in December. They also faulted what they said was Denmark’s overly harsh tone towards Islamic immigrants.
Meanwhile, imams resident in Denmark were travelling around Arab countries with the cartoons, showing them as well as other unflattering caricatures of the Prophet circulating in Denmark that the newspaper had not published.
Many Danes believe this is what set off the huge wave of protests. Danish government sources said the imams reponsible may be deported.
The imams themselves say indignation spread in January during the hajj in Mecca. The ‘tsunami of protest’ then swept over Denmark at the end of January, when Saudi Arabia recalled its ambassador to Copenhagen and devout Saudis called for a boycott of Danish products.
Many Muslims have followed the call. In Cairo, the largest city in the Arab world, signs have gone up in supermarkets saying, ‘We don’t sell any Danish products.’
In the English-language Saudi newspaper Arab News, there was even a call on Monday for a total, long-term boycott of Western goods aimed at forcing Western countries to ‘apologize for having insulted our beloved Prophet.’ )
Deadly stampedes of the past 2 decades
The Philippine Star
02/06/2006
The following is a list of deadly stampedes of the past two decades, after 74 people were killed and more than 400 injured in a crush at the Philsports Arena (formerly Ultra) in Pasig City last Saturday:
March 12, 1988: Kathmandu. More than 100 people were killed and 300 injured in a stampede during a football match in Nepal’s National Stadium. The tragedy occurred when spectators rushed to find shelter from a powerful hailstorm, but found the doors locked.
April 15, 1989: Hillsborough Stadium, Sheffield, England. A total of 96 Liverpool supporters were crushed to death and around 300 injured during the semi-final of the FA Cup between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest. Police had opened the doors at one entrance to allow around 2,000 people without tickets to enter the stadium, crushing others in the stands.
July 2, 1990: Saudi Arabia. A huge crush in a tunnel outside Mecca which leads to the holy sites of Mount Arafat killed 1,426 pilgrims, mostly Asians, of asphyxiation. The authorities said the tunnel’s ventilation system broke down.
May 24, 1994: Mina, Saudi Arabia. 270 pilgrims were killed as crowds surged forward during the "Stoning of Satan" ritual in Mina, the desert plain outside Mecca. Authorities blamed the record numbers of pilgrims attending the hajj.
Aug. 13, 1994: Brazzaville. At least 150 people, mostly children, were trampled to death or suffocated in a stampede following an evangelical session in a church.
Oct. 16, 1996: Mateo Flores Stadium, Guatemala. Ninety people were killed and 150 injured in a crush of spectators during a World Cup qualification match between Guatemala and Costa Rica. The stadium was built to accommodate 45,000 people, but held around 60,000.
Apr. 9, 1998: Mina, Saudi Arabia. At least 118 pilgrims died and more than 180 were injured during the Stoning of Satan ritual in Mina. The pilgrims, mostly from Indonesia and Malaysia, died when the parapet of a bridge gave way.
May 9, 2001: Accra. 126 people were killed in a stampede following a football match.
Feb. 1, 2004: Mina, Saudi Arabia. 251 pilgrims died during the Hajj pilgrimage.
Jan. 25, 2005: Satara, India. 257 people were killed in a stampede during a Hindu pilgrimage in Satara district, south of Bombay.
August 31, 2005: Iraq. More than 1,000 pilgrims were trampled to death or drowned after panic broke out on a bridge over the Tigris river in Baghdad, sparked by a rumor that two suicide bombers were among them.
Jan. 12, 2006: Mina, Saudi Arabia. At least 364 people were killed in a stampede during the annual Hajj ilgrimage.
Faith - Creating a safer hajj
Mecca pilgrimage has often led to trampling deaths
Survivors speak of horrific events leading to Egyptian ferry sinking
Date : 2006-02-06
By Chris Marsden – World Socialist Web Sites
The accounts of survivors of the sinking of the Egyptian ferry Al-Salam Boccaccio 98 in the Red Sea paint a terrible picture of criminal negligence by captain and crew as well as the ship’s owners.
http://www.islam-online.net/English/News/2006-02/06/article05.shtml (no mention of negligence, or shoddy business practices, or lousy enforcement of safety laws)
Up to 1,100 feared dead as Egyptian ferry sinks in minutes
By David Hardaker, in Cairo
Published: 04 February 2006
...A company spokesman said that the Al-Salaam '98 was certified until 2010 and that it had complied with maintenance regulations. He said that the ship was registered in Panama. While overcrowding is commonplace on vessels such as the Al-Salaam '95, Mr Mansour insisted that the Al-Salaam '98 was within its permitted limit of 1,400 passengers....Egyptian authorities declined an American offer to divert a US P3-Orion aircraft to the area. But, as investigations commence, there are questions being raised about why it took rescue authorities almost 10 hours to respond.
By Anne-Beatrice Clasmann and Thomas Borchert
Feb 6, 2006,17:29 GMT
...Meanwhile, imams resident in Denmark were travelling around
Arab countries with the cartoons, showing them as well as other
unflattering caricatures of the Prophet circulating in Denmark that the newspaper had not published.... (in full
Copenhagen/Cairo - It took four months before Muslims around the world began protesting against 12 cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed that first appeared in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten.
These were four months in which Islamic preachers and diplomats spread the word from Copenhagen to the villages of Upper Egypt and Afghanistan that ‘the Prophet has been insulted.’
Some observers in Denmark see ‘agitation’ by Danish imams travelling in the Middle East as the spark that caused the conflagration of religious passions.
In the Arab world, there are those who suspect the increasingly violent demonstrations are the product of cynical political calculation by Arab regimes using anger for their own purposes.
The conflict is playing into the hands of Islamist groups. In some Islamic countries, a contest of sorts has broken out between the government and opposition to see which side is doing more ‘to defend the Prophet.’
When the cartoons were first published on September 30 in the Jyllands-Posten, Denmark’s biggest paper and sharply critical of Islam, it initially looked like just another skirmish in Denmark’s heated debate over immigration and the proper attitude towards Islam.
It took nearly three weeks before the ambassadors of 11 Islamic countries demanded that the Danish government intervene and asked to speak with Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen.
Rasmussen, citing press freedom, coolly refused, which critics now say was a big mistake in crisis management. Among those critics are 22 former Danish ambassadors who spoke out in December. They also faulted what they said was Denmark’s overly harsh tone towards Islamic immigrants.
Meanwhile, imams resident in Denmark were travelling around Arab countries with the cartoons, showing them as well as other unflattering caricatures of the Prophet circulating in Denmark that the newspaper had not published.
Many Danes believe this is what set off the huge wave of protests. Danish government sources said the imams reponsible may be deported.
The imams themselves say indignation spread in January during the hajj in Mecca. The ‘tsunami of protest’ then swept over Denmark at the end of January, when Saudi Arabia recalled its ambassador to Copenhagen and devout Saudis called for a boycott of Danish products.
Many Muslims have followed the call. In Cairo, the largest city in the Arab world, signs have gone up in supermarkets saying, ‘We don’t sell any Danish products.’
In the English-language Saudi newspaper Arab News, there was even a call on Monday for a total, long-term boycott of Western goods aimed at forcing Western countries to ‘apologize for having insulted our beloved Prophet.’ )
Deadly stampedes of the past 2 decades
The Philippine Star
02/06/2006
The following is a list of deadly stampedes of the past two decades, after 74 people were killed and more than 400 injured in a crush at the Philsports Arena (formerly Ultra) in Pasig City last Saturday:
March 12, 1988: Kathmandu. More than 100 people were killed and 300 injured in a stampede during a football match in Nepal’s National Stadium. The tragedy occurred when spectators rushed to find shelter from a powerful hailstorm, but found the doors locked.
April 15, 1989: Hillsborough Stadium, Sheffield, England. A total of 96 Liverpool supporters were crushed to death and around 300 injured during the semi-final of the FA Cup between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest. Police had opened the doors at one entrance to allow around 2,000 people without tickets to enter the stadium, crushing others in the stands.
July 2, 1990: Saudi Arabia. A huge crush in a tunnel outside Mecca which leads to the holy sites of Mount Arafat killed 1,426 pilgrims, mostly Asians, of asphyxiation. The authorities said the tunnel’s ventilation system broke down.
May 24, 1994: Mina, Saudi Arabia. 270 pilgrims were killed as crowds surged forward during the "Stoning of Satan" ritual in Mina, the desert plain outside Mecca. Authorities blamed the record numbers of pilgrims attending the hajj.
Aug. 13, 1994: Brazzaville. At least 150 people, mostly children, were trampled to death or suffocated in a stampede following an evangelical session in a church.
Oct. 16, 1996: Mateo Flores Stadium, Guatemala. Ninety people were killed and 150 injured in a crush of spectators during a World Cup qualification match between Guatemala and Costa Rica. The stadium was built to accommodate 45,000 people, but held around 60,000.
Apr. 9, 1998: Mina, Saudi Arabia. At least 118 pilgrims died and more than 180 were injured during the Stoning of Satan ritual in Mina. The pilgrims, mostly from Indonesia and Malaysia, died when the parapet of a bridge gave way.
May 9, 2001: Accra. 126 people were killed in a stampede following a football match.
Feb. 1, 2004: Mina, Saudi Arabia. 251 pilgrims died during the Hajj pilgrimage.
Jan. 25, 2005: Satara, India. 257 people were killed in a stampede during a Hindu pilgrimage in Satara district, south of Bombay.
August 31, 2005: Iraq. More than 1,000 pilgrims were trampled to death or drowned after panic broke out on a bridge over the Tigris river in Baghdad, sparked by a rumor that two suicide bombers were among them.
Jan. 12, 2006: Mina, Saudi Arabia. At least 364 people were killed in a stampede during the annual Hajj ilgrimage.
Faith - Creating a safer hajj
Mecca pilgrimage has often led to trampling deaths
Survivors speak of horrific events leading to Egyptian ferry sinking
Date : 2006-02-06
By Chris Marsden – World Socialist Web Sites
The accounts of survivors of the sinking of the Egyptian ferry Al-Salam Boccaccio 98 in the Red Sea paint a terrible picture of criminal negligence by captain and crew as well as the ship’s owners.
http://www.islam-online.net/English/News/2006-02/06/article05.shtml (no mention of negligence, or shoddy business practices, or lousy enforcement of safety laws)
Up to 1,100 feared dead as Egyptian ferry sinks in minutes
By David Hardaker, in Cairo
Published: 04 February 2006
...A company spokesman said that the Al-Salaam '98 was certified until 2010 and that it had complied with maintenance regulations. He said that the ship was registered in Panama. While overcrowding is commonplace on vessels such as the Al-Salaam '95, Mr Mansour insisted that the Al-Salaam '98 was within its permitted limit of 1,400 passengers....Egyptian authorities declined an American offer to divert a US P3-Orion aircraft to the area. But, as investigations commence, there are questions being raised about why it took rescue authorities almost 10 hours to respond.
Sunday, February 05, 2006
Muhammed cartoon & Saudi screw ups
The Arab world is experiencing the first tremors of a youthquake
No work, bad schools, restless youth — it's a recipe for disaster (nuff said)
Millions missing from PA coffers (crappy leadership)
Why did the Egyptian ferry sink? (crappy infrastructure)
USS Cole attack mastermind escapes (gonna piss off a few in the west with this one)
Danish consulate in Beirut ablaze in cartoon row (crappy sheeple overreacting)
Paul Comrie-Thomson: Why religion can be a laughing matter (if you choose to live in a western country, do yourself a favor and develop a sense of humor)
Some see gov't roles in cartoon protests (lashing out at the west sure takes the heat off of crappy government, right?)
And then there is this. Soooo, western gorvernments are supposed to take some heat while deflecting the well deserved heat off of the Saudi government fuckups?
What the media is not saying
No work, bad schools, restless youth — it's a recipe for disaster (nuff said)
Millions missing from PA coffers (crappy leadership)
Why did the Egyptian ferry sink? (crappy infrastructure)
USS Cole attack mastermind escapes (gonna piss off a few in the west with this one)
Danish consulate in Beirut ablaze in cartoon row (crappy sheeple overreacting)
Paul Comrie-Thomson: Why religion can be a laughing matter (if you choose to live in a western country, do yourself a favor and develop a sense of humor)
Some see gov't roles in cartoon protests (lashing out at the west sure takes the heat off of crappy government, right?)
And then there is this. Soooo, western gorvernments are supposed to take some heat while deflecting the well deserved heat off of the Saudi government fuckups?
What the media is not saying
Saturday, February 04, 2006
Mohammed cartoon brouhaha
This is ridiculous.
Protests Over Muhammad Cartoons Escalate
Why should people in modern, western countries have to know and follow Islamic law?
You want everything Islamic? Stay in predominately Islamic countries. Fucktards.
I know that blaming the West for your crappy leadership problems is probably safer than actually doing anything to fix it but, come on. Violently protesting something done in ignorance of laws that westerners don't follow, and have no reason to be informed of is retarded.
We have enough laws to navigate.
Protests Over Muhammad Cartoons Escalate
Why should people in modern, western countries have to know and follow Islamic law?
You want everything Islamic? Stay in predominately Islamic countries. Fucktards.
I know that blaming the West for your crappy leadership problems is probably safer than actually doing anything to fix it but, come on. Violently protesting something done in ignorance of laws that westerners don't follow, and have no reason to be informed of is retarded.
We have enough laws to navigate.
Jeff Chester The End of the Internet?
Telephone and cable companies are crafting strategies to
transform the free and open Internet into a privately run
service that would charge a fee for virtually everything we do
online. Jeff Chester asks, can we stop them?
Center for Digital Democracy
Telephone and cable companies are crafting strategies to
transform the free and open Internet into a privately run
service that would charge a fee for virtually everything we do
online. Jeff Chester asks, can we stop them?
Center for Digital Democracy
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Confessions of an Economic Hit Man by John Perkins
On Randi Rhodes today
, the author of this book. Fabulous.
I've been bugging everyone I know
to read this for quite a while. It's really
a good book.
, the author of this book. Fabulous.I've been bugging everyone I know
to read this for quite a while. It's really
a good book.
Monday, January 30, 2006
Republicans
SHUT THE FUCK UP. I've heard the Repugnant Thuglican talking points enough to vomit all over your silly, stupid asses a few times.
War on terra!
Nine eleven! Nine eleven! Nine eleven! Nine eleven!
Upperdown vote!
Judge Ah-leeeet-toh
and then there's my favorite:
Bird flu! Bird flu! Ack! Ack! Ack!
I really hate rich Repugnant thuglicans who blather on about how they represent the American people. They don't and they are proving it by voting out the debate on and because of numbers, voting in someone who dosen't give two shits about anyone who makes less than a couple million a year.
Ever notice the favorite phrase of repugs is "Absolutely!!." Have I said I hate these clueless, rich, corporate mouthpiece whores lately? These corporate puppets need to just shut up. there, was that Falafel Bill enough for you?
You got your upperdown, fucking happy? Fucking witless robotron assholes.
Saturday, January 28, 2006
Why We Fight
Why We Fight
I normally won't drive two hours to see a movie. I did today and it was worth it. There wasn't a whole lot of new information in it for me but I was intrigued by the change in Eisenhower's farewell speech before it was given.
His children suggest that in an earlier draft of the speech, he refered to the "military-industrial-congressional complex".
more on M-I-C
For more information on Eugene Jarecki .pbs.org/now
PS If you see it make sure to pay attention to Chalmers Johnson, he's a clever, clever man.
I normally won't drive two hours to see a movie. I did today and it was worth it. There wasn't a whole lot of new information in it for me but I was intrigued by the change in Eisenhower's farewell speech before it was given.
His children suggest that in an earlier draft of the speech, he refered to the "military-industrial-congressional complex".
more on M-I-C
For more information on Eugene Jarecki .pbs.org/now
PS If you see it make sure to pay attention to Chalmers Johnson, he's a clever, clever man.
Friday, January 27, 2006
Friday TV
1/27/2006
Embracing Humanity: Truth in a Time of War with Howard Zinn
Howard Zinn, playwright, activist and historian, is the author of the ground-breaking "A People's History of the United States." His influential writings and teaching give voice to factory workers, immigrant laborers, African Americans, Native Americans and the working poor. Zinn's talk explores the notion of "just" wars with his usual candor and critical understanding.
(An hour and a half lecture)
Watch it now using RealPlayer.
UCSD TV
Tonight on NOW
NOW gets perspective on the business of making war from award-winning filmmaker Eugene Jarecki. Jarecki's latest film WHY WE FIGHT examines the history of the politics and business of war and explores what it tells us about the war on terror and the war in Iraq.
http://www.pbs.org/now/
Embracing Humanity: Truth in a Time of War with Howard Zinn
Howard Zinn, playwright, activist and historian, is the author of the ground-breaking "A People's History of the United States." His influential writings and teaching give voice to factory workers, immigrant laborers, African Americans, Native Americans and the working poor. Zinn's talk explores the notion of "just" wars with his usual candor and critical understanding.
(An hour and a half lecture)
Watch it now using RealPlayer.
UCSD TV
Tonight on NOW
NOW gets perspective on the business of making war from award-winning filmmaker Eugene Jarecki. Jarecki's latest film WHY WE FIGHT examines the history of the politics and business of war and explores what it tells us about the war on terror and the war in Iraq.
http://www.pbs.org/now/
Thursday, January 26, 2006
Corporatacracy
Court tells Dow, Monsanto to pay (Agent Orange victims)
Will it affect profits?
Update 1: Dow Chemical 4Q Profit Up on Sales Increase
Have a look. I can't put it any more starkly.
Banksy
Will it affect profits?
Update 1: Dow Chemical 4Q Profit Up on Sales Increase
Have a look. I can't put it any more starkly.
Banksy
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