Return of the railroad nostalgia

Southern Pacific locomotive near Santa Monica in 1898

How many times have I wished the Los Angeles would be more (much more) accessible via public transport! And guess what. In the history of this car possessed metropolis there was a time when more local trains, trolley etc. were a natural part of daily life. About 1891 Southern Pacific built a line to the mouth of Santa Monica Canyon, just north of Santa Monica CA to their "Long Wharf," which they envisioned would be the beginning of a great harbor for the Los Angeles area. The line was an extension of the Santa Monica "Air Line" and ran from the Espee station near Ocean and Colorado, westerly in the ravine and through a right-curving tunnel to the beach, then north along the bottom of the high, unstable bluffs. The Pacific Electric eventually took over the route, electrified it and ran trolleys on it with decreasing frequency until the early 1930's. After abandonment, the state Division of Highways promptly took over the right-of-way and it has been part of the "Pacific Coast Highway" ever since. There still exists an original video from a train ride to Santa Monica - from the year 1898. Fascinating!
And there might be hope for a revitalisation: the city Santa Monica is planning to build a light rail system that will connect it to downtown Los Angeles. It may be a while before it gets here. The project is expected to be completed in 2010.

Striptease at GOP National Convention after-events

Funny how representatives of the 'morals and value party' really behave when they think they're out of the spotlight. An undercover journalist tracked debauchery at Republican National Convention after-events this year. An excerpt:
At a bowling party for [closeted] California Congressman David Dreier… a blonde in a fishnet body stocking hung from the ceiling on a turquoise scarf, twirling and contorting,” she notes. “Two nights later, at a honky-tonk salute to Texas Congressman Joe Barton, chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce… a little girl rode an electric bucking bull in an inflatable farm pen, and 20-foot black cowboy boots decorated in purple and gold stood over the room.

U.S. attorney: Swiss granny can become enemey combatant

It's good to see that the Bush administration is keeping a level head in the war on terrorism. The subject in federal court yesterday was the government's ability to detain any foreigner they wanted for any reason they wanted:
Could a "little old lady in Switzerland" who sent a check to an orphanage in Afghanistan be taken into custody if, unbeknownst to her, some of her donation was passed to Al Qaeda terrorists? asked U.S. District Judge Joyce Hens Green.
"She could," replied Deputy Associate Atty. Gen. Brian Boyle. "Someone's intention is clearly not a factor that would disable detention." It would be up to a newly established military review panel to decide whether to believe her and release her.

Success with self-published books

More and more author who can't get their book published make headlines by publishing it themselves. In England, a guy named George Coutauld celebrates an unexpected success with his first, self-published "Pocket Book of Patriotism". The 40 year old recruiter took 26,000 orders alone in the first week. His simple guide to historical facts of England is now into its fifth print run, and the website Courtauld set up to sell the book received 142,000 hits in one day alone.
Other self-published books like "Eats, Shots and Leaves" - a witty essay about punctuation - and "Schott's Original Miscellany" - a collection of essential trivia - already made it into England's bestseller lists.

Is your favorite brand blue or red?

Great database to find out which company donated to the Democrats and which to the Republicans. With superb brand search engine!

What do you want to do with you life?

7 people want to "fuck Britney Spears".
12 people want to "spend more time underwater".
19 people want to "write a science fiction novel".
29 people want to "get a life".
210 people want to "get a girl friend".
633 people want to "stop wasting time".
1121 people want to "be happy".
See Twinkler.

'The new normal': Nothing is secure

Just discovered a new book I will start to read. It's called "The New Normal: Great Opportunities In A Time Of Great Risks", and it's by Roger McNamee, a former Silicon Valley venture capitalist. One of his points is, because nothing is secure anymore - especially is today's job world - we have to fight for everything. The distinctions between corporate employment and self-employment are diminishing rapidly. The survivors are forced to be strategic about their time, more thoughtful about their decisions, and even more committed to work. His conclusion: The New Normal will reward the brave (...), and "the happiest people will be those that optimize their lives across multiple dimensions." Some more excerpts from the book description:

Back in the 40s, 50s, and 60s, it was fairly easy to plan for a secure future. People picked a career, a spouse, and a place to live, and those basic decisions put them on a predictable course for the rest of their lives. Especially if they were lucky enough to land at a big corporation with great benefits and smart enough to buy stocks. In the 70s, 80s, and 90s, technology and global competition transformed the world. An increasingly strong economy masked spiraling instability in the workplace and the world. A rising stock market lulled people into thinking they were in control of their lives.
But now we’ve entered a totally new era, which Roger McNamee calls the New Normal. It’s a time of great uncertainty - about terrorism, corporate scandals, the outsourcing of jobs overseas, and much more. The old safety nets aren’t coming back, even when the economy recovers. But the good news is that the New Normal also offers tremendous opportunities. In companies large and small, each person now matters more than ever before. The Internet has finally made it easy to launch and grow a real business. For entrepreneurs and managers, the global economy opens previously untapped sources of supply and demand, cost savings and innovation. McNamee explains how to make the most of your life, career, and money by embracing the future.

The message behind the PR schmooze: Life in the 21st century sucks - let's make the best out of it?!

World Aids Day

Some 6,000 candles are lit on the Federation Square in Bern, Switzerland.

The world reacts

After dozens of Americans posted their apologies on the website SorryEverbody for the outcome of the Presidential election, people from all over the world post their reactions on ApologiesAccepted.

Bush arrested in Canada?

A shocking headline on Google news.

It was quite a surprise this as the top story on Google News: "Canadians Authorities Arrest U.S. President Bush On War Charges." Don't bother looking for it, it's already gone. Too bad it was only a parody article from the website Axis of Logic.

Bush: $29 mio. for stealing the election?

Conspiracy theories about a forged Presidential election have been circulating on the web for several weeks. Wayne Madsen, a Washington-based investigative journalist who previously served in the National Security Agency published a especially juicy story that intertwines the Homeland Security, the FBI, $29,000,000 in payoffs, Enron, and the Saudi Royal Family. Here are some excerpts:

According to informed sources in Washington and Houston, the Bush campaign spent some $29 million to pay polling place operatives around the country to rig the election for Bush. The operatives were posing as Homeland Security and FBI agents but were actually technicians familiar with Diebold, Sequoia, ES&S, Triad, Unilect, and Danaher Controls voting machines. These technicians reportedly hacked the systems to skew the results in favor of Bush.(...)
The money reportedly came from an entity called Five Star Trust, largely based in Houston but a worldwide entity that is directly tied to the Saudi Royal Family. Five Star Trust was termed "a well-protected vehicle" that has been used to support both Bush and Osama bin Laden in the US and around the world.(...)
This reporter has obtained a copy of a bank check for $29,600,000 that was allegedly sent to cover the cost of the Texas-based vote rigging operation. The check is dated October 22, 2004, and was made payable to "Five Star Investment Ltd.," a trust said to have long connections to Saudi-funded operations in Texas and around the world. The payer is identified as "Equity Financial Trust," a Houston-based "brass plate" and post office box entity tied to offshore Cook Islands "folding tent" accounts used to hide away profits amassed by the former Enron as well as Saudi financiers.(...)
Other money used to fund the election rigging was from siphoned Enron money stored away in accounts in the Cook Islands, which was once the base of one of the more questionable and Saudi-linked BCCI subsidiaries. Cook Islands banks also handled some of the weapons smuggling financing of the Iran-Contra scandal. A former Justice Department attorney who helped prosecute the BCCI case said the use of the Cook Islands by the Bush reelection team indicates they wanted the bank arrangements to be a "quick folding tent" operation that would cease to exist when the election was over. He said the Cook Islands was notorious for not requiring any documentation for such operations.

Sounds spectacular - but it is true? Plus: Tons of links about election fraud.

Citizen journalist - reporter of the future?

Ohmynews, the South Korean citizen's media site,is bringing in almost $500,000 a month in advertising and makes a monthly profit of about $27,000, Asia Times Online reports. The site, which broke even last year, has a full-time staff of 53, including 38 professional reporters and editors, and more than 43,000 citizen journalists paid for their contribitions. Roughly 80 percent of the content is citizen produced. Against a backdrop on media reform in South Korea, the lengthy article explores the site's reasons for success, including the country's overwhelming adoption of the Internet as a primary source for news and its emphasis on interaction. (Via PaidContent)

Women are from Venus...

A technical illustration how men and women function differently.

The average woman would rather have beauty than brains, because the average man can see better than he can think. (Author Unknown)

It that what it comes down? One switcher for everthing on a man? A woman posted this picture on her blog - she must have her reasons...

Factoids of the day

1. U.S. lawmakers have directed the productivity of US people into a $524 billion budget for U.S. military and security in 2005.
2. The United States has given over $100 billion dollars to Israel during the 37-year armed Israeli occupation of Palestine, mostly for its military.

The evangelical revolution

It's exciting to live in the U.S. in these days. Now there is a Reverend called Jerry Fallwell who has a big plan for an "evangelical revolution". To carry it out, he has formed the "Faith and Values Coalition" a group whose mission is "to lobby for anti-abortion conservatives to fill openings on the Supreme Court and lower courts, a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, and the election of another "George Bush-type" conservative in 2008. He also wants Bush to have "the most successful second term of any American president".
Fabulous. Now please excuse me while I go throw up.

Big butts are hip

Here is the proof!

New directions in blogging

A new (and the first?) blog about dishes.

Republican Donors

A new ranking of to Political Money Line shows that over 50 American companies gave 80 percent and more of their political contributions to Republicans during the Presidential elections. An excerpt of the list with the top donators:
Phillips International (100%), Outback Steakhouse (96%), ExxonMobil (96%), Wendy's (93%), Halliburton (91%), Caterpillar (89%), J.C. Penney (89%), ChevronTexaco (87%), Ford Company (84%) and Home Depot (81%).