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Due to the volumes of documentation available, BART is the longest section in the book "Great Planning Disasters". But the failures are human and the disaster started with the initial lies. After authorization of the new district and system failed a couple times at the polls, it was finally approved at the ballot as a system that was promised to be fully funded by fare-box revenue. It was designed with the idea of maintaining San Francisco as the economic core of the Bay Area. And almost everything was non-standard. They assumed people would drive to nearby stations then transfer to BART. That didn't happen at the rates expected and they *still* have a severe lack of parking. They claim they are getting over 20-times the customers they originally predicted and they *still* can't cover costs.

When it couldn't be built on budget, a temporary 0.5% sales-tax was imposed throughout the district. When it couldn't even come close to covering costs from the fare-box, the tax became permanent. I now pay for BART through sales-tax, property-tax and various federal and state subsidies. Despite this, a couple years ago the BART directors claimed they had a "surplus" and reduced fares. This when the tracks howl due to insufficient maintenance and, obviously, things are falling apart.

BART has had 40 years to save and plan for maintenance and upgrades and has utterly and completely failed to do so. Now that they have suddenly figured out that stuff wears out, they want 3.5 billion more.

Answering critics of the California high-speed-rail projects a state politician responded, "they said that about BART in the beginning, too." I fear he is all too correct.

Donuts and a radar gun? Have you ever been to Oakland? Fix this:

http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_22622926/an-oakland-murder-trial-against-teenager-that-sadly

http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_23890186/oakland-12-people-shot-less-than-24-hours

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=d6b_1364321154&comments=1

http://www.monitor.net/monitor/0708a/copyright/snitch.html

http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/Oakland-snitch-killing-brings-65-to-life-term-2414713.php

This is far beyond smoking pot and speeding. This is a culture that actively celebrates murder and beats or kills those that cooperate with the police. You can't fix this by hiring new cops that ignore people smoking pot and breaking the speeding limit. Until you fix the culture Oakland will continue to be a hell hole for the residents that live there.

You know what, how about a few more.

http://www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_21326939/lathrop-man-accused-killing-wife-screwdriver

Mentally handicapped individual still figured out how to kill with a screwdriver.

Or how about a doctor who killed babies with scissors?

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/philadelphia-abortion-doctor-accused-killing-babies-scissors-charged/story?id=12649868#.UeVhjY2miUQ

Or how about this guy who killd another man with a basebal bat. Too bad the 62-year-old didn't have a gun to aid him when he was trying to defend the woman.

http://www.news10.net/news/article/247702/2/Deputies-Man-coming-to-wifes-aid-killed-in-baseball-bat-attack

And then of course there's this guy, who killed with his bare hands.

http://www.news10.net/news/article/196580/5/Father-beats-man-to-death-with-bare-hands-for-sexually-abusing-daughter

So if we really want to be safe, we need to add to the list of dangerous weapons to be banned:

- Knives
- Screwdrivers
- Scissors
- Baseball bats
- Bare hands

This list could go on for pages.

Via drudge:
http://www.contracostatimes.com/politics-government/ci_21672132/supreme-court-wont-hear-cases-body-scanners-gay?source=rss
  The Supreme Court won't hear a Michigan man's attempt to challenge the use of full body scanners at airports.

The high court on Monday refused to hear an appeal by Jonathan Corbett, who wanted to challenge the Transportation Security Administration's use of full body scanners and/or enhanced pat downs at airport security lines. Federal courts in Florida refused to hear his lawsuit, saying it could only be filed with the federal appeals court in Washington, D.C. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the dismissal, and the Supreme Court refused to reopen the case.

The TSA started allowing the use of the advanced imaging technology in October 2010.

http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_20417444/flying-world-from-his-own-garage?source=most_viewed

To be exact- miss the target, punch through a cinder block wall, THEN skip off the hill, fly 1/3rd of a mile, through a door, skip UP the stairs, through an adobe and plaster wall, hit the neighbor's roof, before rolling off the roof onto a minivan windshield, bounced of the dashboard into the back seats floorboards.

Not too exact. House is not likely made of adobe, California has advanced in it's building construction just a little since the Spanish owned the place. The house doesn't show up in satellite photos from 2000, so it would be of modern construction.

The ball appears to have crashed through a side window of the minivan, not the windshield based on the picture here:
http://www.contracostatimes.com/portlet/article/html/render_gallery.jsp?articleId=19483521&siteId=571&startImage=4

The problem is that news stories are very often wrong. Then someone quotes it wrong. Then someone makes wrong comments on a website wrong and they get quoted wrong.

I've yet to see a significant news story where I had some direct knowledge get it all right. It's happened enough that I NEVER believe a story I read is all correct, and I really wouldn't ever expect someone's recounting of a story they read to be all correct.

There hasn't been any report of the huge radiation cloud hitting the West Coast of the US on Friday, either.

Article. I ran across a map, but have lost the link. Of course the results from the lab are secret and hidden from the public or we might all want to move to Indiana for a few weeks.

Remember the book/movie On the Beach where all the people in Australia waited patiently for the radioactive cloud to come there from the war that wiped out the rest of the world? Of course, nothing like that could possibly be happening, could it?

It is the public employee unions that keep the incompetent civil service managers--such as the ones who started this whole fiasco--in power. Terry Childs is a contractor, and thus is not represented by a union, and from what I observe of unions and their tactics, they are far more likely to commit criminal acts than he would ever be.

Public employee unions are driving cities, counties and states into bankruptcy with benefits packages and retirement plans that are so wildly out of proportion to anything offered in the private sector that it is not sustainable in our current economic crisis. Indeed, there are economists who claim labor unions are the primary cause of these problems. Before it filed for bankruptcy, General Motors was paying more money to their retired workforce than they paid to their active employees on the assembly lines. The City of Vallejo, California filed for bankruptcy in 2008 when a dozen of its senior police officers and fire chiefs all retired at once, and their benefits packages were so lucrative that the city treasurer regretfully informed the mayor that they could not pay the benefits and the salaries of current staff at the same time they paid their obligations to the retirees. The County of San Diego is in a similar predicament, and is trying to re-negotiate all their union contracts to avoid the same fate. For an even more egregious example, see what's happening with the newly-retired fire chief in Contra Costa County http://www.contracostatimes.com/opinion/ci_13030932.

Unions are not the answer, they are a huge part of the problem.

Oh, and last but not least:
http://www.contracostatimes.com/nationandworld/ci_ 6487976

So please, don't pretend to be an expert, if you cannot bother to use google news.

Remember, the 270,000 do not include Sunday.

Richmond is statistically the second most dangerous city in California, surpassing Oakland in 2004, and was named the 8th most dangerous city in the country. For every 100,000 people there were 38.3 murders, 50.4 rapes, 485.8 robberies, 512 assaults, 1110.7 burglaries, 3497.4 counts or larceny and 2471.4 thefts of vehicles. Richmond had 40 murders in 2006. The record of 62 homicides occurred in 1991.

Richmond is statistically the second most dangerous city in California, surpassing Oakland in 2004, and was named the 8th most dangerous city in the country. For every 100,000 people there were 38.3 murders, 50.4 rapes, 485.8 robberies, 512 assaults, 1110.7 burglaries, 3497.4 counts or larceny and 2471.4 thefts of vehicles. Richmond had 40 murders in 2006. The record of 62 homicides occurred in 1991.

From this article it appears there was a real battle over the useability of the systems, and the district
did try and get the machines sent back.

Former school board member Frank Calton said he remembers the deal with IBM being touted by Marks as a mutually beneficial partnership.

"This was submitted to us as kind of a joint venture where IBM could showcase computers as learning tools for students," Calton said. "It was supposed to have a PR angle for IBM."

When asked by the Times last week, the district could not track down invoices for the purchases, so it is unclear how many and what type of computers were ordered. But administrators agree the computers already were outdated when the district got them.

"I think they were out of date before (Marks) even decided to buy them," Basalto said. "Every one of them was obsolete; they were absolutely useless."

Where the computers ended up also is a mystery. Basalto recalls that some were installed in schools, but some sat in warehouses, possibly never turned on.

The district tried to return some of the computers, said Ruth Vedovelli, West Contra Costa school district's current finance chief. IBM refused to take them back, leading to a years-long fight that also included battles over the actual cost.

Negotiations often got ugly, with Fred Stewart, the state trustee appointed to oversee the district's finances after it went into debt in 1990, often getting into shouting matches with IBM representatives, says Herb Cole, Marks' successor.

"He said, 'We can't pay you, so if you want them, come and get them,'" Cole said, adding that Stewart threatened to put the computers on the curb. "He was tough as nails with them at the time."

Stewart, who recently retired as the state trustee, declined to comment.

In late 1993 -- four years after the district agreed to buy the computers -- the parties reached a settlement that called for deferring the first major payment until 2008. That was the year the district, under its previous loan structure, was scheduled to be finished paying back $28.5 million it owed the state.

Since everyone is asking if there is proof that CC even had the computers: ----------------- http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_5727158 "I think they were out of date before (Marks) even decided to buy them," Basalto said. "Every one of them was obsolete; they were absolutely useless." Where the computers ended up also is a mystery. Basalto recalls that some were installed in schools, but some sat in warehouses, possibly never turned on. The district tried to return some of the computers, said Ruth Vedovelli, West Contra Costa school district's current finance chief. IBM refused to take them back, leading to a years-long fight that also included battles over the actual cost. Negotiations often got ugly, with Fred Stewart, the state trustee appointed to oversee the district's finances after it went into debt in 1990, often getting into shouting matches with IBM representatives, says Herb Cole, Marks' successor. "He said, 'We can't pay you, so if you want them, come and get them,'" Cole said, adding that Stewart threatened to put the computers on the curb. "He was tough as nails with them at the time." ----------------- So the computers were received. Judging from the timing, its no surprise that the computers were obsolete with a few years. How many schools bought top of the line machines trying to stay on par with obsolecense back in the late 80s? Figure 2 or more years of bickering back and forth with IBM, hitting bankruptcy, the systems taking up needed space in a warehouse, begging for money from the state, etc. The computers were probably put up for auction when they went into bankruptcy. Or donated to take a deduction / contribution somewhere. Or just flat out disposed / gotten rid of to get rid of the storage cost.

Read Debt mounts for school district from back in April. It mentions the superintendent that made the purchasing decision.

Here you go:

Walter Marks.

"Eighteen years ago, computers were just emerging as classroom learning tools promising improved instruction.

So when Walter Marks, then superintendent of the former Richmond Unified School District, ordered hundreds of IBM computers costing millions, he received praise from all corners.

But few knew the district was sinking deep into debt and didn't have the money to pay for the machines.

Now those computers -- like other poor financial decisions made by administrators in the late 1980s -- are coming back to haunt the West Contra Costa Unified School District."

And:

"Whether Marks, who made several questionable budget decisions as superintendent, actually had the authority to buy the machines remains unclear, said Fred Basalto, then the associate superintendent of business services. Marks did not return calls for comment."

http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_5727158

Now what?

as well as budget shortfalls, were the main reasons the district spiraled into debt and eventually became the first school district in the state to file for bankruptcy.

In addition to ordering the computers it could not pay for, the district used certificates of participation -- bonds designated for use on capital improvement projects -- for operating expenses. It also authorized a 17 percent raise for teachers even though there was no money to fund it. And schools were converted to "System for Choice" magnet programs, a costly endeavor, and state integration funds were used to pay for that program -- a move later determined to be an improper use of funds; the district is still repaying the state.

The state bailed the district out in 1990 with a $9.5 million loan and again in 1991 with a $19.5 million loan. Neither was enough to prevent the district from filing for bankruptcy in 1991.

To date, West Contra Costa school district has paid back more than $31 million and is making $1.4 million in annual interest payments through 2018.

The district also makes almost $800,000 in annual payments on the certificates of participation debt it defaulted on during the budget crisis and $300,000 in annual payments to the state for misusing integration funds. In all, the district's current annual debt payments are more than $2.5 million -- the equivalent of about 10 teachers' salaries, including health and retirement benefits.

When the IBM debt is added to the mix next year, the district will pay $3.75 million annually, a price that many say the students can't afford.

Now I'm not necessarily advocating that IBM back down -- but enough the self-sactimonious comments about how children who weren't born when the computers were purchased should pay for the (likely) criminal ineptitude (or just plain criminal behavior) by the adults who were supposedly in charge.

The fact is, corrupt/incompetent leadership can happen anywhere. Isn't that what the social safety net is supposed to safeguard against? Which works the greater injustice -- requiring each school child in Contra Costra to pay $10 to pay back ancient computers? On requiring each Californian to pay $0.10? Or having IBM make a "voluntary" tax deductible contribution to the school district?

IBM's hands do not appear to be entirely clean here either. It is clear that it knew or should have known at the time that there was a problem with this deal and the School's ability to handle these computers. The article even says that it isn't clear whether the then-current Superintendant had the authority to enter into the deal and that IBM refused to take the computers back:

"This was submitted to us as kind of a joint venture where IBM could showcase computers as learning tools for students," Calton said. "It was supposed to have a PR angle for IBM."

When asked by the Times last week, the district could not track down invoices for the purchases, so it is unclear how many and what type of computers were ordered. But administrators agree the computers already were outdated when the district got them.

"I think they were out of date before (Marks) even decided to buy them," Basalto said. "Every one of them was obsolete; they were absolutely useless."

Where the computers ended up also is a mystery. Basalto recalls that

More likely the delivery was received by the staff, and then immediately returned.

The office I worked in as a intern had the exact same problem. They made out an order for 50 IBM PC's for a training room. Instead, they received 50 IBM PS/2's that came
in huge palette sized boxes of 25 each. These had to be dismantled inside the container before we could take them out. As soon as our boss found out what they were, they were immediately returned.

This article seems to suggest a similar thing happened.

Nobody seems to know how many or what type of computers Marks ordered, or even whether they ended up being used. Several former district officials called them "obsolete" and "useless."

I don't know what ACMENEWSLLC means so I can't say whether I am or am not.

But I am curious. Were you a registered Republican in 2004? Did you vote in the primaries? For whom?

Since the first tyme I registered to vote I've registered as independent or no party affiliation. I prefer to do my own thinking and not what some party wants. I've voted for candidates from 5 different parties, Democrats, Green, Libertarian, Reform, and Republican. And as I've only been registered in two states and both require party affiliation to vote in primaries I've never voted in them. However if come next year Ron Paul is in the Republican primary I will change my affliation to Republican just to vote for him, of course afterwards I'll change it back to no party affiliation. I've already voted for him once, in 1988 he ran for president as the Libertarian Party candidate and voted for him then. Actually it during that election that I heard of and learned about the LP, and been a supporter since.

Did you support Badnarik's lawsuit challenging the Ohio results?

I don't ever recall hearing about a lawsuit Badnarik filed. I would support such a lawsuit though, especially after Deibold's CEO pledged to deliver Ohio's vote to Bush after the state bought Deibold voting machines.

That's not true. Sometimes it misses, and will come back at you again and again. It's the telemarketer that won't take no for an answer.

I'm surprised I don't see a link to the original story yet, so here it is:

http://www.mydd.com/story/2006/10/24/122153/98

From the story:

--AZ-Sen: Jon Kyl, --AZ-01: Rick Renzi, --AZ-05: J.D. Hayworth, --CA-04: John Doolittle, --CA-11: Richard Pombo, --CA-50: Brian Bilbray, --CO-04: Marilyn Musgrave, --CO-05: Doug Lamborn, --CO-07: Rick O'Donnell, --CT-04: Christopher Shays, --FL-13: Vernon Buchanan, --FL-16: Joe Negron, --FL-22: Clay Shaw, --ID-01: Bill Sali, --IL-06: Peter Roskam, --IL-10: Mark Kirk, --IL-14: Dennis Hastert, --IN-02: Chris Chocola, --IN-08: John Hostettler, --IA-01: Mike Whalen, --KS-02: Jim Ryun, --KY-03: Anne Northup, --KY-04: Geoff Davis, --MD-Sen: Michael Steele, --MN-01: Gil Gutknecht, --MN-06: Michele Bachmann, --MO-Sen: Jim Talent, --MT-Sen: Conrad Burns, --NV-03: Jon Porter, --NH-02: Charlie Bass, --NJ-07: Mike Ferguson, --NM-01: Heather Wilson, --NY-03: Peter King, --NY-20: John Sweeney, --NY-26: Tom Reynolds, --NY-29:

--AZ-Sen: Jon Kyl --AZ-01: Rick Renzi --AZ-05: J.D. Hayworth --CA-04: John Doolittle --CA-11: Richard Pombo --CA-50: Brian Bilbray --CO-04: Marilyn Musgrave --CO-05: Doug Lamborn --CO-07: Rick O'Donnell --CT-04: Christopher Shays --FL-13: Vernon Buchanan --FL-16: Joe Negron --FL-22: Clay Shaw --ID-01: Bill Sali --IL-06: Peter Roskam --IL-10: Mark Kirk --IL-14: Dennis Hastert --IN-02: Chris Chocola --IN-08: John Hostettler --IA-01: Mike Whalen --KS-02: Jim Ryun --KY-03: Anne Northup --KY-04: Geoff Davis --MD-Sen: Michael Steele --MN-01: Gil Gutknecht --MN-06: Michele Bachmann --MO-Sen: Jim Talent --MT-Sen: Conrad Burns --NV-03: Jon Porter --NH-02: Charlie Bass --NJ-07: Mike Ferguson --NM-01: Heather Wilson --NY-03: Peter King --NY-20: John Sweeney --NY-26: Tom Reynolds --NY-29: Randy Kuhl --NC-08: Robin Hayes --NC-11: Charles Taylor --OH-01:

Some articles to think about in the upcoming election:

Jon Kyl Rick Renzi J.D. Hayworth John Doolittle Richard Pombo Brian Bilbray Marilyn Musgrave Doug Lamborn Rick O'Donnell Christopher Shays Vernon Buchanan Joe Negron Clay Shaw Bill Sali Peter Roskam Mark Kirk Dennis Hastert Chris Chocola John Hostettler Mike Whalen Jim Ryun Anne Northup Geoff Davis Michael Steele Gil Gutknecht Michele Bachmann Jim Talent Conrad Burns Jon Porter Charlie Bass Mike Ferguson Heather Wilson Peter King John Sweeney Tom Reynolds Randy Kuhl Robin Hayes Charles Taylor Steve Chabot Jean Schmidt Deborah Pryce

And allow me to speak freely when I say that anyone wishing (albeit minor) financial support for a coup of my state or federal government, I'd be overjoyed to contribute. I'm positively sure that this is inciting violence under some reading of your laws, but under mine the only exception to the first amendment is falsely presenting a clear and imminent danger in order to severely disturb the peace.

Under his laws? How about under our laws too? Providing material support to an organization that is engaged in hostilities against the United States earns you the designation of enemy combatant. Have fun in Gitmo!
http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/o pinion/15702856.htm
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=1451512006

I can't believe these cockmonglers at Next Generation have the balls to bitch at a company for recognizing that it's unable to compete with the BILLION dollar likes of Sony and Microsoft.

God damn it. Nintendo is a company that keeps billions of dollars in cash. They are famous for it. The last figure I read, they had over $7 billion completely liquid. That is nearly twice as much than Microsoft lost on the XBOX. They have enough money to play the same game as Microsoft and Sony; they choose not to.

Why? Profit.

The arms race between Sony and MS may yield no net profit for either company. Nintendo is a well run company. They will not invest billions in a venture that is so high risk.

I'm sure the poster is speaking about Sony's and Microsoft's game divisions. Let me put it to you this way. Microsoft has lost so much money on the Xbox that I have made more money than Sony's and Microsoft's game divisions combined over the past four years.

And no, Sony is not doing as well as you surmise. The GameCube sells a lot of software per console sold. Since they don't subsidize their console, software profit is actual profit. Sony has a 70% stake in the home console business and they regularly report quaterly losses. Nintendo has reported one quarterly loss in fifty years of public trading. The GameCube is profitable. Not super ultra mega profitable, but it makes them money.

Sony's business model is based on the assumption that they are the far-away leader. Ask yourself this, if Sony does not capture 70% of the market in the next generation, will they turn a profit?

Sony is the worlds 2nd largest electronics manufacturer. They have movie and music studios and are a major force in the traditional entertainment industry. Nintendo is almost solely a video game company, and they manage to make more than half the profits (overall) of the Sony behemoth.

Nintendo is a tightly run ship. They know how to make money, and they do it by the truckload.

Their attempts rebuild their image amongst hardcore gamers has fallen largely on deaf ears, and it's not financially feasible for them to battle it out head to head with the titans like Sony and Microsoft.

Nintendo keeps more money than Microsoft lost on the Xbox in its entirety liquid. That's right. They have more than 4 billion dollars cash on hand to invest quickly (7.5 billion is the number I could find). Nintendo could play the game that Sony and Microsoft has started, but what would be the point? Sony and Microsoft might both lose money in the next generation. Nintendo doesn't care to play a game that no one might win.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I always thought that the theater cut was relatively small, and that most of their money came from the incidentals (popcorn, etc.).

A quick bit of googling and this seems to suggest that that is at least partially true. It looks like the theater does get more of a chunk then I initially thought, but still.... Among other things:

"...from a $10 movie ticket, only about $4 goes to the theater."
and
"We'd sell more popcorn," he said. "That's where we make our money."

/.'s article here is the first I've heard of this Real ID plan...

Well, aside from the obvious fact that since the neo-con coup the network media hasn't covered anything except talking-dubya-points, the reason you haven't noticed this tidbit of legistlation (which apparently started back in Feburary) is because "liberal media" has painted it as an immagration issue - that is: the only people targeted by this legislation according to the to PTB and their media cheerleaders were illegal aliens - I heard it debated on Faux News as an immagration issue a least a month ago. I would have to say either a) you haven't been paying attention, or b) you are foolish enough to a ctually believe the that the motives these pseudo-news agencies put forward are the actual intent of the neo-con coup. Nothing could be further from the truth, of course...

Here is a list of articles about this legislation (trivially found using Google) from some touchy feely immagration rights outfit that no one will pay any attention to.

[ -- copied & pasted -- ]

The REAL ID Act in the Media

• "Jewish Groups Oppose US's Stricter Controls on Asylum," Jerusalem Post, March 9, 2005
• "Death Sentence?" Christianity Today, March 8, 2005
• "Republican Plan Would Tighten Laws for Asylum Cases," Hearst Newspapers, March 6, 2005
• "Keep the Doors Open," The Jewish Week editorial, February 25, 2005
• "Unwelcome Mat," The Boston Globe, February 25, 2005
• "Religious Asylum Assailed," Family News in Focus, February 22, 2005 (PDF - 51KB)
• "Proyecto de ley torpedea el derecho de asilo," El Nuevo Herald, February 22, 2005
• "Conservative camps split on tightening asylum," The Boston Globe, February 21, 2005
• "Not broke, don't fix," The Washington Times, February 20, 2005
• "National ID Party," The Wall Street Journal editorial, February 17, 2005 (subscription required)
• "On Guard, America," The New York Times editorial, February 15, 2005
• "Refugee Politics," The Baltimore Sun editorial, February 14, 2005
• "Real ID Act deserves defeat in the Senate," San Antonio Express-News editorial, February 18, 2005
• "Playing the terror card," Contra Costa Times, February 14, 2005
• "Ineffectual migrant policy," Milwaukee Journal Sentinel editorial

DTV is not dropping Tivo. DirecTV was purchased by NewsCorp which is owned by Rupert Murdoch as we know. One of his other companies happened to be working on a DVR already. So yes, they will be offering that as an option as well.

But... the NDS DVR isn't out yet and DTV is still actively promoting Tivo both on-air and through combo deals to sign up for service. DTV's contract with Tivo lasts through 2007, and even then they can't just drop Tivo overnight. By the end of January, Tivo had signed up 3 million subscribers, and approx 2/3 of those are DTV subscribers. DTV would be foolish to drop support for something that 2 million of their customers know and love, especially since even if the NDS box is free, if it has problems or just doesn't live up to Tivo, there will likely be a customer backlash.

Take for example Comcast's own foray into DVR land. Users were less than satisfied [login required] and as a result, Comcast recently struck a deal with Tivo to co-develop a DVR based on Tivo technology.

Meanwhile Tivo has released a SDK and encouraged Java programmers to develop applications to make Tivo even more useful. Imagine shows like Survivor! that auction off props at the end of the season for charity being able to send you directly to Ebay on your Tivo!

There are also rumors of a partnership or aquisition of Tivo by Google for an as yet announced Video search/play on-demand product. Tivo already has a partnertship with Netflix to explore and develop technology for on-demand movie downloads.

Tivo needs to work hard in the coming months, but overall I think rumors of Tivo's imminent demise have been greatly exaggerated.

http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/s pecial_packages/governor_schwarzenegger/10134904.h tm?1c

Enlightening quote from above article: lawmakers have borrowed more than $3.4 billion from transportation accounts the last three years.

In other words, it's not that they don't have enough money for the roads; rather, it's just that they just want to raise taxes, period.

--AC (who lives in California)

I'd say that a Hydrogen tank is no more likely to explode than gas one. Leaking might be a little more likely, but it is just......hydrogen......

Why doesn't anyone ever talk about all the jobs being insourced? The real "Benedict Arnold" companies are those that move their headquarters overseas -- in the form of a rented office in Bermuda -- to avoid paying US taxes, not US-based companies with manufacturing centers in other countries. Those are the real tax cheats.

I'm not sure how my statement that a large corrupt union in league with corrupt government is a bad thing makes you think that I am somehow in favor of communism, especially the soviet variety...

The job requirements for a prison guard are a high-school diploma and a 6 week training course. The problem is that by handing out political support, the union has gotten unreasonable levels of control over hiring and administration of the prisons...it is no longer under the control of the prison "ownership", the state of California. They even successfully 'fired' a state investigator who was looking into and had found evidence of corruption and bribery in the prisons, because the investigation was done without union permission...

Attempts to change this are met with "We'll vote you out of office" and "We'll contribute millions to your opponent in the next election", so the pansies in the government just keep licking the boots of the guard union, for their own personal good, rather than the good of the people of the state.

The point is that politicians and unions can be just as corrupt, if not moreso, than a corporation in protecting their individual interests at the expense of the public good.

Some links for your pleasure:
Contra Costa Times
Sacramento Bee
SFGate

It's also interesting to note that most other democracies require positive identification to vote. Yet here in the US, it's the Democrats who raise the specter of "RACISM!!!" if such any such proposal is made. Heck, solidly Democratic San Francisco is even going so far as trying to allow illegal aliens to vote...

Where are your references?

I'm using two pieces of information and putting them together. The first is Moore's claim that F911 is an "op-ed" piece.

Moore is quoted in this article as saying, "I would like to see Mr. Bush removed from the White House...It [the movie] is an op-ed piece. It's my opinion about the last four years of the Bush administration. I'm not trying to pretend that this is some sort of, you know, fair and balanced work of journalism."

The second, of course, is the definition of propaganda: "The spreading of ideas, information, or rumor for the purpose of helping or injuring an institution, a cause, or a person."

As you can see from the definition, even if the film contains nothing but fact, which is still being debated, it can, and is, be done in a way so as to be considered propaganda.

So, as you can see, I'm not spreading lies, I'm spreading Moore's own words and using common meanings of words to understand what he says.

The fact that you bring up a source where he claims that the film is not propaganda reveals either that he doesn't know what the word means (which makes him uneducated at best, stupid at worst), or that he is contradicting himself (which makes him inconsistent at best, or a liar at worst, or perhaps it means that he has changed his mind about his own work between the two interviews).

Belloc

This california paper says "At least 556 Iraqis, including 117 women and children, died in fighting between gunmen and the American-led coalition across Iraq in the last two weeks, according to figures compiled by the Iraqi Health Ministry."

I think that's more than died in a typical week fighting the previous regime.

Proof this is already happening:

Janet Jackson most watched moment among TiVo users

"OK. I'm not trying to belittle you; I'm trying to help you. Keep that in mind as you read this." ...
"As for the claims you make in another post . . . Those numbers were invented out of whole cloth as pure Iraqi propaganda, meant to convince gullible suckers who will believe anything that casts the U.S. in a bad light. Sound familiar?"

You have a funny way of not trying to "belittle" someone. *cough*

"No, they began interfering with inspections from day one. Ken Pollack's book, "The Threatening Storm," contains a good, readable chronology of all of Saddam's many, many, many efforts to delay, confuse and/or obstruct the inspection process. You really ought to read it."

I'll keep it in mind if I spot it. But, since I can't read it on the spot, I can't argue for, agains, or just agree.

"Let's ignore your stupidly patronizing "like most Americans" comment for a moment."

What, you think people in the US magically get the news? Few people know the names of politicians outside of the President, much less pay attention to news abroad. The media here is slow and extremely cautious in reporting anything negative of our current government because it is a great way to get figuratively lynched job wise. For instance, in the US it is reported that "we" captured Hussien, while the rest of the world reports that he was handed over by an unnamed iraqi group.

"I notice that somehow, despite the fact that half the administration was saying something, you somehow managed to avoid including a *single example*." etc...

Well, since I can't find info discrediting all links, I'll back off and say a link to Al-Qaida.

NYT reprint: Colon Powel covering his rear.
Didn't O'Neill mention something about the Al-Quida-Iraq thing? I'm too tired to hunt for that one. From what I have read so far tonight, looks like a hint at it. But, nothing direct.
Dick Cheney is still holding strong to his original assertions, though.
"Bush has since conceded there was no link between Saddam and the Sept. 11 attacks and there has been no proven ties between the deposed Iraqi leader and the Al Qaeda terrorist network." ...and thats all I can dig up at the moment.

"See here for a comprehensive overview of the "threat" surrounding depleted uranium."

Ok, despite the link initially not working and the fact this is from someone's personal blog ie: internet diary instead of a fact source, I did eventually get to reading it. The fact he starts up with accusations that these are scare tactics and lies dreamed up by the "anti-war left" without documentation doesn't help his or your cause.

Ok, first the claim that DU is not harmfully radioactive. Yes, it's primary decay is alpha. In fact, I looked it up and found a nice table and graph. Now, I'm not an expert in thermonuclear physics, but I do realize when something radioactive decays it turns into another isotope and/or another element. Potentially the new atoms can be much more radioactive and have different decays. Please note the different half lifes of the varying steps on the table. And because of the pricipal of half life, DU doesn't magically decay at 4.5 billion years, that is a measurement of rate. Some of it decays much faster than the rate, some slower. This passes down through the decay process. Notice on the graph how around 9th and tenth decays it lets off ~.2 MeV w/ a halflife of 26.8 minutes and ~1.5MeV of Gamma radiation respectively, with halflives of 26.8 minutes and 19.9 minutes respectively. Whereas, U-235 AKA

I realize all of your points, and agree with the majority of them. However, it's important to note that for whatever reason, in the local news here, several stories are about violence/gang activity at these cafes. These cameras/guards aren't about spying on you using the net, but about curtailing gang activity. Installing security cameras/personnel was the alternative to closing them all. We should be applauding this city for not having a knee-jerk reaction and shutting down all of them. Yes, I know. I've opened up an onslaught of +5, Funny's involving gangs and the internet. Enjoy.

This the only non-sub-required article I could find.

It was on the AP wire a while back.

• USA Today
• Contra Costa Times [presumably the rest of the Knight-Ridder chain has it]

Here