Wednesday, December 31, 2003
Holding the Line for Healthcare and Fair Wages.
The above pictures were taken early Tues morning at the Vons Distrobution Center located in El Monte, Ca. I got an email the night before requesting members of the community to show up at 6AM at the picket lines held by the local UFCW. I got there around 6:30am, and was suprised at the number of people that showed up, which was probably around 50 or so. The only media that showed up was van and reporter Channel 52, and reporter from KFWB 980am.
While listening to a striker talking to the reporter from KFWB, I was shocked to hear that all the strikers could go back to work tomorrow with the same pay and the same benefits if they wanted too. It seems that they all have received letters from Von's, saying the pay and benefits would be the same for the striking workers, (if they went back to work) UNTIL a new contract with the union was agreed upon. This same striker said, they are not out here just fighting for themselves, but for all the future workers of Vons/Albertsons/Ralphs. He said the stores want a new two-tiered pay structure for new hires that would inlclude reduced wages and benefits. Finally he said, the reason why there is no striking and picketing in No. Calif. is because their union contract is not up till Sept. next year; which will be followed by more lock-outs, strikes and picketing.
I left the scene around 12PM. Members of the Socialist Workers party showed up a few hours earlier to show their support for the strikers, while at the same time passing out their own socialst propoganda; they were soon asked to leave by the local UFCW.
More pictures from Tues morning, in El Monte can be found here on page 1, page 2 and page 3.
Friday, December 26, 2003
Guardian Unlimited | New theory for Iraq's missing WMD: Saddam was fooled into thinking he had them:
British officials are circulating a story that Saddam Hussein may have been hoodwinked into believing that Iraq really did possess weapons of mass destruction.
The theory, which is doing the rounds in the upper reaches of Whitehall, is the result of an attempt to find what one official source called a "logical reason" why no chemical and biological weapons had been found in Iraq.
According to the theory, Saddam and his senior advisers and commanders were told by lower-ranking Iraqi officers that his forces were equipped with usable chemical and biological weapons.
The officers did not want to tell their superiors that the weapons were either destroyed or no longer usable.
The hypothesis, which is being spread privately by officials, is open to the interpretation that the government is searching for an excuse, however implausible, for failure to discover any WMD in Iraq.
Monday, December 29, 2003 - Canada.com | Feed is key to mad cow case:
EDMONTON - A key question is driving the investigation into the first case of mad cow disease in the United States: how did the Holstein in Washington state get sick?
U.S. agriculture officials suspect the infected animal ate contaminated feed which led to the brain-wasting disease.
WHY THE COW'S EARLY DIET IS IMPORTANT
- Investigators are tracing what the diseased cow ate in its early years because the incubation period for mad cow disease is at least three years. Since the animal arrived in Washington state about two years ago, the animal must have eaten contaminated feed elsewhere, perhaps on the Alberta farm where it's believed it originated.
- Scientists believe that cattle contract the disease by eating feed containing parts of other infected cattle. Canada banned cattle-to-cattle feeding practices in August 1997, but if the cow's Alberta link is true, it was born in April 1997.
- There is no connection between the current U.S. case and the case found in May in northern Alberta. The Washington state animal is a Holstein dairy cow, while the sick cow in May was an Angus beef cow. Beef and dairy cows rarely mix on farms.
- The disease cannot be passed to humans (as variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease) through cow milk. Scientists don't believe it can be transmitted through any parts other than the central nervous tissue -- such as the brain, spinal column and lower intestine. These tissues were removed from the sick U.S. cow at slaughter, before it was processed as ground beef.
- Despite the low public safety risk, the U.S. is recalling all meat products which may have come from the sick animal. The beef may have made its way to eight states, as well as the U.S. territory of Guam.
Tuesday, December 23, 2003
Aljazeera.Net - Hiroshima survivors face Enola Gay In New Exhibit Unveiled this Week
Grief stricken Hiroshima survivors have confronted the US warplane which unleashed the world's first atomic bomb in 1945 on an unsuspecting city.
The Japanese survivors on Monday visited a museum exhibiting the aircraft, named the Enola Gay, on a trip that has jarred raw US emotions over Japan's wartime role.
Holding pictures of hideously burned victims of the blast, six survivors and about 50 peace activists visited the new museum in Chantilly, Virginia, where the shiny, four-engined Boeing B-29 Superfortress has just gone on display.
Two men were arrested after a bottle of red paint, meant to symbolise blood, was thrown, denting a panel on one side of the plane, which is parked in the new annex to the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum.
December 23, 2003 | Washington Post | Nader Rejects Green Party Backing
Ralph Nader, whose 2000 campaign many Democrats believe cost former vice president Al Gore the presidency, has decided not to run for president next year as the candidate of the Green Party but is still contemplating a presidential race as an independent, a Nader associate said yesterday.
Ben Manski, a co-chairman and spokesman for the Green Party, confirmed last night that Nader will not seek the party's presidential nomination. Manski said it was not clear to him why Nader had made that decision.
"What is clear is that the nomination of the Green Party was certainly something he had an excellent chance of securing, and I think this is a serious mistake on his part," he said. "If he does choose to run as an independent, his candidacy will be seriously weakened from what it would have been had he chosen to seek the Green Party nomination."
The divisions within the party were evident at a national meeting in July. The meeting was closed to the news media, but participants said it centered on party strategy in 2004.
Those present divided themselves into three groups: Those who wanted to run the strongest possible campaign throughout the country, those who wanted to run only in those areas where the Green Party candidate would not be a threat to cost the Democratic Party nominee electoral votes in the contest with Bush, and those who wanted to skip the 2004 campaign entirely and throw Green Party support behind the Democratic nominee.
Ralph Nader, whose 2000 campaign many Democrats believe cost former vice president Al Gore the presidency, has decided not to run for president next year as the candidate of the Green Party but is still contemplating a presidential race as an independent, a Nader associate said yesterday.
Ben Manski, a co-chairman and spokesman for the Green Party, confirmed last night that Nader will not seek the party's presidential nomination. Manski said it was not clear to him why Nader had made that decision.
"What is clear is that the nomination of the Green Party was certainly something he had an excellent chance of securing, and I think this is a serious mistake on his part," he said. "If he does choose to run as an independent, his candidacy will be seriously weakened from what it would have been had he chosen to seek the Green Party nomination."
The divisions within the party were evident at a national meeting in July. The meeting was closed to the news media, but participants said it centered on party strategy in 2004.
Those present divided themselves into three groups: Those who wanted to run the strongest possible campaign throughout the country, those who wanted to run only in those areas where the Green Party candidate would not be a threat to cost the Democratic Party nominee electoral votes in the contest with Bush, and those who wanted to skip the 2004 campaign entirely and throw Green Party support behind the Democratic nominee.
Friday, December 19, 2003
Boston.com / News / Nation / Talk of resignation as pace of search slows:
CAMP SLAYER, Iraq -- Weapons hunters are spending more time on base, intelligence experts have been reassigned to work on the counterinsurgency, and the man leading a search for chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons that has been fruitless so far is thinking of stepping down.
A nine-month search for the weapons of mass destruction President Bush said he went to war to destroy has been conducted by a succession of US teams that have failed to find any chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons.
The lack of evidence has led critics to suggest the Bush administration either mishandled or exaggerated its knowledge of Iraq's arsenal. White House officials at times have said that weapons were found, or that evidence of programs, rather than actual weapons, would be enough for them.
Still, nothing substantive has materialized and after an exhaustive search, the weapons hunt appears to have slowed.
Sunday, December 14, 2003
Hi,
Just in case anyone seems to notice, I posted some new links of pictures (under "my photos") I just got back from Ofoto.com. These were taken on my Canon Elph 35mm, more than a year ago. The pictures include: my trip to the Sierra Nevada's that I took with my family, my old '02 Nissan Sentra SER Spec V (that I used to own, but had to give back once the finance company learned I got laid off from sprintpcs), the Kartboy Mazda Protege 5 (these guys bought my old Protege 5 that I totaled last year), Corrina playing with chalk at my parents house and pictures of my best friend's sister's wedding ("Dina's Big Day").
Ofoto.com service is great. Only $2.99 for film developing (which they post on the web for you), then you decide which prints to want to print at $.29 each, and finally shipping to and from Ofoto.com is free (which includes the negatives they send back to you).
Peace,
Reuben.
Just in case anyone seems to notice, I posted some new links of pictures (under "my photos") I just got back from Ofoto.com. These were taken on my Canon Elph 35mm, more than a year ago. The pictures include: my trip to the Sierra Nevada's that I took with my family, my old '02 Nissan Sentra SER Spec V (that I used to own, but had to give back once the finance company learned I got laid off from sprintpcs), the Kartboy Mazda Protege 5 (these guys bought my old Protege 5 that I totaled last year), Corrina playing with chalk at my parents house and pictures of my best friend's sister's wedding ("Dina's Big Day").
Ofoto.com service is great. Only $2.99 for film developing (which they post on the web for you), then you decide which prints to want to print at $.29 each, and finally shipping to and from Ofoto.com is free (which includes the negatives they send back to you).
Peace,
Reuben.
Saturday, December 13, 2003
Aljazeera.Net - US soldier in Iraq found guilty of assault:
A senior US officer was relieved of his command and fined $5000 after being found guilty of assaulting and threatening an Iraqi detainee.
During a hearing last month Lieutenant-Colonel Allen West admitted to firing a gun near the man's head, allowing soldiers to beat the detainee, and threatening him but said he did so for the safety of the troops he commanded.
A senior US officer was relieved of his command and fined $5000 after being found guilty of assaulting and threatening an Iraqi detainee.
During a hearing last month Lieutenant-Colonel Allen West admitted to firing a gun near the man's head, allowing soldiers to beat the detainee, and threatening him but said he did so for the safety of the troops he commanded.
Thursday, December 11, 2003
ABCNEWS.com : Pentagon: Halliburton Overcharged Millions: "WASHINGTON Dec. 11 — Pentagon auditors found that Vice President Dick Cheney's former company overcharged by possibly as much as $61 million for gasoline in Iraq, senior defense officials said Thursday.
Halliburton's subsidiary, Kellogg Brown & Root, also submitted a proposal for cafeteria services that was $67 million too high, the officials said speaking on the condition of anonymity. The officials said the Pentagon rejected that proposal."
Halliburton's subsidiary, Kellogg Brown & Root, also submitted a proposal for cafeteria services that was $67 million too high, the officials said speaking on the condition of anonymity. The officials said the Pentagon rejected that proposal."
Wednesday, December 10, 2003
ArnoldWatch Web Log: December 8, 2003 - 3:00 PM
For the second time, ArnoldWatch told the Capitol press that we would attempt to buy our way into an Arnold fundraiser in Sacramento with a different kind of green -- 21,200 green jelly beans. And for the second time the Sacramento soiree was canceled.
A tipster tell us that tonight's fundraiser will be rescheduled for December 17th -- when ArnoldWatch will again see how much access jelly beans can buy when they're offered by real people with real problems who don't have the money but want to see their governor.
ArnoldWatch suspects that the real reason for delaying tonight’s affair has nothing to do with Arnold’s schedule and everything to do with location. It's just two blocks from the Capitol and the media bureaus. The Governor did find time in the middle of budget negotiations last week to get down to a fundraiser in La Jolla. And he has not rescheduled two other fundraisers this week, one in an exclusive country club in Orange County and the other in a luxury sky box at a Lakers basketball game.
Schwarzenegger Retreats on Key Campaign Vows:
(12-09) 19:26 PST SACRAMENTO (AP) --
In what may prove a dramatic reversal of a key campaign promise, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Tuesday he is considering suspending Proposition 98, the landmark school funding guarantee.
"We're working with, you know, the education community to see how we can work together, for them to help with us this budget crisis," Schwarzenegger said during an interview on CNN that aired Tuesday.
"To maybe have a suspension or to have some relief there so we can pull out of these next two years and then pay bay it back, maybe," Schwarzenegger said.
Despite facing a budget shortfall he estimates as much as $25 billion, Schwarzenegger has repeatedly said he would protect schools from budget cuts that undoubtedly would be faced by other departments -- a vow that helped win him support during the recall election among educators and parents.
Schwarzenegger's comments indicate the Republican governor is reevaluating that commitment. Also, the proposed spending cap he wanted lawmakers to place on the March ballot could have cost public education $2 billion a year, school officials said.
(12-09) 19:26 PST SACRAMENTO (AP) --
In what may prove a dramatic reversal of a key campaign promise, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Tuesday he is considering suspending Proposition 98, the landmark school funding guarantee.
"We're working with, you know, the education community to see how we can work together, for them to help with us this budget crisis," Schwarzenegger said during an interview on CNN that aired Tuesday.
"To maybe have a suspension or to have some relief there so we can pull out of these next two years and then pay bay it back, maybe," Schwarzenegger said.
Despite facing a budget shortfall he estimates as much as $25 billion, Schwarzenegger has repeatedly said he would protect schools from budget cuts that undoubtedly would be faced by other departments -- a vow that helped win him support during the recall election among educators and parents.
Schwarzenegger's comments indicate the Republican governor is reevaluating that commitment. Also, the proposed spending cap he wanted lawmakers to place on the March ballot could have cost public education $2 billion a year, school officials said.
Mercury News | 12/10/2003 | ABRUPT LOSS OF MILLIONS LEAVES CITIES STRUGGLING:
By Aaron C. Davis
Mercury News
When San Jose Budget Director Larry Lisenbee checks the city's bank account this morning it will be missing nearly $3 million. In Los Angeles, the accounts will be $13 million short. In tiny Parlier in the Central Valley, $52,000 -- nearly half the city's monthly budget -- won't be there, all from payments never deposited overnight by the state.
Today the rubber hits the road for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's reduction of the state's car tax. The monthly payments from vehicle license fees that cities and counties use to pay for police and firefighters' salaries, write welfare checks and keep library lights on will shrink by nearly $300 million, for a total loss of nearly $4 billion.
The missing money will immediately set in motion emergency measures to make sure government employees get their December paychecks. But within weeks, the losses could cascade into forced fire station closings, police cutbacks, reductions in recreation, garbage pickup and other core city services, officials warn.
By Aaron C. Davis
Mercury News
When San Jose Budget Director Larry Lisenbee checks the city's bank account this morning it will be missing nearly $3 million. In Los Angeles, the accounts will be $13 million short. In tiny Parlier in the Central Valley, $52,000 -- nearly half the city's monthly budget -- won't be there, all from payments never deposited overnight by the state.
Today the rubber hits the road for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's reduction of the state's car tax. The monthly payments from vehicle license fees that cities and counties use to pay for police and firefighters' salaries, write welfare checks and keep library lights on will shrink by nearly $300 million, for a total loss of nearly $4 billion.
The missing money will immediately set in motion emergency measures to make sure government employees get their December paychecks. But within weeks, the losses could cascade into forced fire station closings, police cutbacks, reductions in recreation, garbage pickup and other core city services, officials warn.
Sunday, December 07, 2003
Some pimped out folders from deviantART.com.
Yo Yo Yo this is Dj Corrupt Accident reminding you to get your own pimped out windows replacements icons here from d e v i a n t A R T. c o m
Peace, Yall!
Oh, and peep these dope IE 6.0 replacement Icons also available from deviantART.com
me and my bitches really go for the furry one...
Friday, December 05, 2003
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Thursday, December 04, 2003
Arnold Schwarzenegger and New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani.
Schwarzenegger Campaigns for $15 Billion Bond Measure: Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is on the campaign trail again, but this time he is trying to beat a Friday deadline to get his $15 billion bond measure on the March ballot.
State Treasurer Phil Angelides contends the bond would mortgage the future of California's children without truly ending the on-going budget crisis. He is hitting the road to try to persuade voters to oppose the bond measure. "If it is repaid over a 30-year period, it will cost every California household over $3,000," Angelides said. "It will be paid, ultimately, in higher taxes by our children."
Angelides said California needs to make fundamental structural reforms, not sell bonds, or cap spending, to make real progress on the state's budget crisis.
Forbes.com: Calif. Democrats offer up alternate bond plan: "As Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger campaigns across the state for his $15 billion bond, California Democrats on Wednesday unveiled an alternative proposal that would pay off the debt quicker using sales tax revenues."
