Notes from the Surf

Death Star over San Francisco
http://current.com/items/89204971_death_star_over_san_francisco
Will anyone ever trust "video proof" ever again?

Lethal Star Trek blade seized in knives amnesty
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-387680/Lethal-Star-Trek-blade-seized-knives-amnesty.html
I don't know about your neighborhood, but those roving gangs of Klingon wanna-be trekkies have been menacing my neighborhood for far too long =)

Grandmother arrested after refusing to delete JetBlue fight video
http://www.elliott.org/blog/grandmother-arrested-after-refusing-to-delete-jetblue-fight-video/
Apparently a fight broke out on the flight and the airline didn't want to look bad.

Pope warns Italy in danger of returning to fascism
http://www.guardian.co.uk/global/2008/aug/18/italy
When the pope himself has to personally step in and remind people to fight racism, intolerance, and exclusion, you know something is rotten in the state of Denmark.

When the bottom line overrides the Hippocratic oath
http://www.salon.com/mwt/vital_signs/2008/07/16/residents/index.html
...his first question was: "What's their insurance?" ...I can't remember if the child was underinsured, uninsured or was insured by the state, but it didn't matter. When I called the surgeon back, he refused to come in. His group didn't cover "those kinds" of patients.

Obama and McCain Tax Proposals
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2008/06/09/ST2008060900950.html
Over 60% of Americans would get a bigger tax cut with Obama. Apparently those claiming McCain would lower taxes "more", think the average American rakes in over $111K a year.

The Georgia-Ossetia situation only repeats the Russia-Chechnya situation 9 years ago
http://www.ainfos.ca/en/ainfos21246.html
"Do not obey the orders of your commanders! Turn your weapon against those who sent you to war!"

The Plot Against Liberal America
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/08/17/11040/
"...democracy cannot work when wealth is distributed as lopsidedly as theirs was-and as ours is. The inevitable consequence of plutocracy, then and now, is bought government."

Bolivia: An Election Post-Mortem
http://www.democracyctr.org/blog/2008/08/bolivia-election-post-mortem.html
"the faces you see in the news sections of the paper are no more representative of Bolivia than all those smiling faces at the quincineras of the wealthy that you see on the society pages"

Nepal: Workers Assume Control of Factories, Gardens and Restart Tea Production
http://neilsnepal.wordpress.com/2008/08/03/somewhere-lenin-is-smiling/
Who needs to strike when you can go to work on your own terms?