| Let's not forget about the election next Tuesday... it's incredibly
important to keep the checks and balances in our government by having split control of the
branches of governement... for the Democrats that at least means retaining control of the
Senate. AS Bill Clinton said today, the party that wins elections like these are the
parties that show up... meaning, those who get their friends to go to the polls in record
numbers... Let's make sure this election has a huge turnout by reminding friends and
relatives to get out and vote... Speaking of the elections...
 Mondale accepts nomination for Senate
CNN
MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota (CNN) -- Former Vice President Walter Mondale accepted the
Minnesota Democratic Party's nomination Wednesday and will run a five-day race to hold on
to the Senate seat of Paul Wellstone, who died in a plane crash last week.
"Tonight, our campaign begins," said Mondale at a meeting in Minneapolis of
the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, as the Democrats are known in Minnesota. "I will
be your voice and I will be Paul Wellstone's voice for decency and hope and better
lives."
When four delegates put Mondale's name forward, the crowd seconded the motion with a
standing ovation and chanting, "We want Fritz."
"I understand that by a close vote, you have nominated me to run for the U.S.
Senate, and I want you to know I gladly accept the nomination," Mondale said to
thunderous applause.
Just before Mondale took the podium, the crowd chanted, "We will win! We will
win!"
------------------------
MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota (CNN) -- The partisan tone of the memorial service for the late
Sen. Paul Wellstone stirred anger Wednesday in some Republicans, political consultants and
radio talk show hosts who say some of the comments and behavior were inappropriate.
Democrats defended the nature of the service, but they also apologized to anyone who
might have been offended.
Minority Leader Trent Lott, R-Mississippi, was booed Tuesday night when he entered
Williams Arena at the University of Minnesota for the service. Scattered boos also greeted
independent Gov. Jesse Ventura, who Wednesday lashed out at Democrats for what he called a
"political rally."
The crowd cheered loudly for former Vice President Walter Mondale, who announced in a
letter Wednesday that he would run for Wellstone's seat.
Some Republicans in Minnesota demanded equal time from the local television stations
that carried last night's memorial, attended by a crowd of more than 20,000. But officials
at local television stations pointed out that they will cover President Bush's expected
trip to Minnesota this weekend, when he will campaign for Republican Norm Coleman.
------------------------------------------------
Personally, I hope that when I die, people honor me with a celebration like that.
They may have gotten a little carried away... but... when you compare that to
George Bush using the White House for political gain by giving interviews to the press on
the white house lawn today... well, how can you fault the Democrats for wht actually was a
spontaneous event.. though I will agree, booing people at such an occasion was
inappropriate...
Never thought I'd see the day when another country, let alone Canada, would issue a
travel advisory for it's citizens traveling to the United States... but they did...
Canada issues U.S. travel warning
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Canada issued a travel advisory this week urging Canadian citizens
born in Iran, Iraq, Libya, Sudan and Syria to consider avoiding travel to the United
States.
The advisory, released by the Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday, was in
response to U.S. legislation passed after the September 11 attacks authorizing the
Immigration and Naturalization Service to monitor the entry and exit of citizens from
those countries.
Such monitoring allows those individuals to be photographed and fingerprinted.
Canada considers the regulations "discriminatory" and "unfriendly,"
a Canadian official told CNN.
The government of Canada warned "Canadians who were born in the above countries or
who may be citizens of these countries to consider carefully whether they should attempt
to enter the United States for any reason, including transit to or from third
countries," the advisory said.
It also warned Canadians that the increased activity may lead to delays at U.S.
immigration checkpoints.
An amendment to the United States National Security Entry Exit Registration System, or
NSEERS, adds Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Yemen as countries whose citizens could
"attract special attention," the advisory warns.
A spokesman for the Canadian Foreign Ministry told CNN his government feels the law is
"discriminatory"
"These people should not be singled out by their country of birth," said
spokesman Reynald Foiron in a telephone interview Wednesday.
"If the United States doesn't have a reasonable doubt about someone's activities,
country of birth should not be taken into account."
The measure is "contrary to American and Canadian principles" as well as
against Canadian laws governing nondiscrimination," Foiron said. "It chastises
the rights of freedom."
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Trouble and apartheid seem to be showing up in South Africa again. Most people
don't know it, but Apartheid was part of the Original Hitler Nazi Plot to seize control of
South Africa. It comes from a basic superiority complex mixed with religious
beliefs, that was part of the Dutch heritage from hundreds of years ago. I actually
come from Dutch Heritage.. royalty, actually as does my distant relative Chief Justice
Rehnquist... dating back about 400 years... you might want to give that some thought in
light of current human rights conditions in the United States.. anyway..
Blasts rip through Soweto
Wednesday, October 30, 2002 Posted: 1:45 PM EST (1845
GMT)
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -- Nine bombs have exploded in South Africa's Soweto
township killing one woman and critically injuring her husband.
Government officials urged residents not to panic as police began following up what was
described as "concrete leads" and forensic experts combed the bomb sites
The bombs exploded at a series of different targets including a garage, temples and
railway stations in 10 hours from about midnight Tuesday local time.
A 10th device was defused at a petrol station and an 11th exploded at a Buddhist temple
110km (70 miles) northeast of Soweto.
President Thabo Mbeki blamed the explosions on white right-wing extremists saying they
were plotting to overthrow his majority-rule government, which came to power after the end
of apartheid in 1994.
He told a news conference: "These are criminal actions that seek to introduce a
terrorist campaign in the country. They will certainly fail."
"The information the government has had for some time ... indicates that the right
wing have the intention to conduct a campaign of this type to destabilise the country and
create a political climate that would enable them to take ... actions for the removal of
the government and the installation of some other government."
Is South Africa's right-wing reviving?
Wednesday, October 30, 2002 Posted: 5:23 PM EST (2223
GMT)
The right wingers are mainly white, rural Afrikaners, descended from Dutch and French
settlers who came to the southern tip of Africa more than 300 years ago.
The hardline Afrikaner Resistance Movement (AWB), led by charismatic leader Eugene
Terreblanche, was prominent during the early 1990s in its often violent opposition to the
prospect of multiracial elections.
But its support faded after a botched invasion of a black homeland before the country's
first democratic elections. Terreblanche was imprisoned in 2001 for beating a black man
almost to death.
It was only this year that the extreme right seemed to have resurfaced. Earlier this
year police said they had uncovered a plot by right-wing whites to topple the government
and force out blacks from parts of the country.
----------------------------
I keep forgetting to mention that the Global Democratic Citizens Union, a project we're
working on to Unite the World... a little thing.. it's confirmed that we'll be sponsoring
a trip to Africa next April to do a number of humanitarian tasks... that in
association with Jubilee 2000 and The Globall Aids Alliance and a few other I can't
remember right now... we'll be posting that info next week... so keep an eye out for
that... we had some people there for the Earth summit, and then to visit some of the
orphanages... the government wouldn't allow us to take pictures.... Part of this
trip will include a visit to the Apartheid Museum...
Coming up this weekend on what I call my apocalypse report, I'll be talking about
numerous unusual weather, environmental and other events occurring in the world that
demonstrate the need for us to take charge and do something about global warming, a
multitude of animal species on the verge of extinction... fish kills... all the kinds of
things that suggest we need to stop ignoring the problem before it's too late. And
yes, volcanoes are part of the symtoms of the problems...
Etna lava burns through forests
LINGUAGLOSSA, Italy (Reuters) -- Boiling lava from Mount Etna has swallowed swathes of
Sicilian forest, but towns sitting in the shadow of Europe's largest volcano are not at
risk of being engulfed, officials said.
Etna, jolted awake by a series of earthquakes, has been coughing fire for three days.
Planes continued dumping gallons of water on the red-hot lava streams and flaming trees on
Tuesday.
About 50 people in Linguaglossa, a popular ski town about eight miles (12 km) from the
lava river, spent Monday night praying in the town's main church and schools have remained
closed.
But rescue workers stressed on Tuesday that the town, which lies 500 metres (1,650
feet) up the 3,350-metre volcano and whose name means "tongue of lava," would
not be eaten up.
"The fact that the people of Linguaglossa are very worried is reasonable and
justified, but at the moment I can exclude any danger for the town," rescue
coordinator Vincenzo Crimi told Reuters.
Nonetheless Linguaglossa's faithful plan to take a statue of their patron saint onto
the streets in the hopes of stopping the lava flow. When they did this 23 years ago, the
lava halted, they said.
Higher up the mountain, bulldozers moved in to build barricades to direct the lava flow
away from ski resorts and restaurants nestled in the woods.
Etna, which had its last major eruption in 1992, began rumbling on Sunday after more
than 100 small earthquakes shook the eastern edge of Sicily and parts of mainland Italy.
------------------
Entertainment News
Being 47, I have to admit I haven't kept up on music as much as when I was a disk
jockey... let's see, last time I did it part-time for fun was 5 or 6 years ago...
anyway, I became a fan of N Sync just a couple months ago... so.. to start off the
entertainment news, I'd like to recommend you check out ABC's 20/20 wit Barbara Walters...
as well as one of my favorite reporters John Stossel on Monday night at 8pm... Justin
Timberlake will be on with what is supposed to be an excellent in-depth interview... he
just released a new solo album.. and he'll be playing a tune they say has never been
recorded or performed in public before.. can't wait..
Jerry Seinfeld has been up for a challenge for a while... he'll be on Letterman
Thursday night witha brand new stand-up routine. When asked why he's doing stand-up
again instead of tv or movies, he said "Because it's harder".
Of course, I'm a big Letterman fan.. have been since about 1978 when he had a morning
show of all things.. kind of goofy, and sometimes even well intended.. my favorite bit he
used to do was stupid pet tricks... he was trying to get a highway in Indiana named after
himself not too long ago.. glad you got a street, Dave..
I keep talking about synchronicity.. and I joke about the Peter Gabriel UP album being
like a prediction of the various things I'm going through in my life these days... it's
strange... and I mentioned the other day that I believed the Santana Shaman album would
likely be the next oracle of that sort... it debuted at #1 this week... the First time
Santana has released an album that debuted at #1... Carlos, say hi to Ronnie for me...
loved him at the Ford Theatre...
Jon Stewart on The Daily Show and Comedy Central.. they're doing a hilarious week
of election reports.. they're on at 11pm et... they'll be doing their own brand of
election coverage as well... as Jon puts it... It's the most important election, since the
last one. I love that line.
And, somehow, Larry
King always gets my attention.. with some incredible interviews. This
time it was with Heather Mills McCartney, who recently married Paul McCartney of the
Beatles... what a story.. raised in a pretty rough homelife, becoming homeless because of
it, making her way finally to becoming a top model and then being involved in a life
threatening accident in which she lost her leg... and still... she went on to start an
organization that does a number of things, including working against the use of land
mines, and helping other people locate prosthetic devices... Her website is www.heathermills.org That said,
check out the transcript of the show... what a story. She also has a book out called
One Single Step... I highly recommend it...
By the way.. Thursday Night on Larry King... the Legendary Carol Burnett.. whose comedy
I really love... interestingly enough, I used to work with her daughter at a radio station
in Los Angeles.
And, with all the hard news in the air these days, I turn to Lou Dobbs, the anchor of CNN, to bring you a
truly important story of the new Dilbert Book... called
DOBBS:
"The Way of the Weasel." What provoked this book?
SCOTT ADAMS: Well it seemed like a few years ago we thought there was
this big stock bubble. And everybody knew that was a bubble because the cab drivers are
giving you stock tips.
But you know you're in a weasel bubble when you look around and suddenly movie studios are
making up their own movie reviews and historians are being outed for making up history and
you've got figure skating judges who are fixing the results and the priests are having a
better sex life than you are. There's like total weasel infestation, it wasn't just the
CEOs any more.
DOBBS: Give us your definition of a weasel and this weasel zone.
ADAMS: Well a weasel is anybody who's trying to get away with something. And specifically,
they're operating that vast gray area between things which are totally ethical and the
things which might actually send you to jail, which turns out to be most of business is in
that zone there.
DOBBS: And you talk about and depict the corporate America as a breeding ground for
scandalist behavior. Give us your cultural tour of corporate America in that regard.
ADAMS: Well, Lou, let me give you an example. Let's say there's a new guy coming to the
office. A good weasel trick would be to go immediately to your boss as soon as the new guy
starts and say, You know, the new guy, I think he's a pathological liar. Because whatever
your boss hears first about the new guy, he's going to remember forever. And sooner or
later, that guy's going to be talking trash about you. So you want to inoculate your boss.
And that anecdote kind of describes corporate America.
DOBBS: And weasels on Wall Street, in the marketplace. I can't imagine who you could be
thinking of.
ADAMS: They follow the money, of course. I'm convinced that if you took all the money on
Wall Street, sealed it in drums and dropped it to the bottom of the ocean, 100 million
people would drown just trying to stand next to it. That's why the New York Stock Exchange
is so busy. Just being near the money.
DOBBS: I think a there is a lot to that. A lot of people don't realize Scott Adams also is
an economist. Studies economics.
ADAMS: Absolutely.
DOBBS: Let's -- seriously, I'd love to hear, or not so seriously, either way. But I'd love
to hear your thoughts about the state -- you just heard three of the best on Wall Street.
ADAMS: Yes. Well I used the same method that some of them used. We had a National Weasel
Day last week where we took an actual live weasel, put him in a weasel habitat that was
half cubicle and half empty space, and we predicted that the if the weasel went into the
cubicle it would be good economic times ahead. And indeed, the weasel did go into the
cubicle, so I'm predicting good times ahead.
You reall y should check out that transcript.. he covers everything from the nomination of
Walter Mondale, the DC Sniper, FAA investigations into Flight 587, troops moved to
Djibouti, the stock market, veteran reproter William Schneider reporting on the
elections.. a great show... that was Tuesday's.. Wednesday was even better... check it
out.. it'll keep you off the streets.
Same goes with Wolf Blitzer's shows the last couple of days... here I go plugging CNN
again..
Oh, the other night I made fun of CNN and said it was part of a fantasy... the fantasy
had to do with a movie I saw... Kung Pow Fist.. which was pretty bizarre.. the sequel is
supposed to be on later this month I think...Symba.. this is CNN. Trust me, ya gotta
see it to understand...
I mentioned how I did a campaign years ago to change the music behind tv shows... why
did I mention that.. not to brag.. but to share how much fun it is to change things in
this world without a whole lot of effort... speaking of Synchronicity... Michael Moore,
the guy who's now put out that funny movie called "Bowling for Columbine" shares
the same opinion... even more... when he was in high school, he ran for the school
board... so did I... and we both got certain people fired or resigned in order to help the
schools. And he goes around saying his views are more like most citizens.. and so do I...
he and I will definitely talk one day... he knows about me, I know about him...
Why do I tell you stuff like that.. to encourage you to take on a project to change or
create the future... and to let you know you have the right to do so... and it works...
try it... that's kind of what America is about... committing to something, and
accomplishing it...
A little more... why do I point out synchronicity? Because it actually
happens all the time... and you should notice it. Albert Einstein said the biggest
mistake he made with his work was thinking he was coming up with the ideas, instead of
realizing it was somehow coming to him... You know those thoughts that come to you all of
a sudden and then just go away and you forget them... that's part of what I call
synchronicity. Musicians often talk about how the songs they write come through them as
opposed to them purposely creating it... not always... but folks like Michael Jackson and
a number of musicians I've talked to describe it as if there was a radio station in the
sky, and their job is to write it down.
Other examples: the other day, I played some Pink Floyd music on the broadcast, the
next day was the anniversay of the Dark Side of the Moon album setting the record in 1983
for the longest presence on the Billboard sales charts... I mentioned John Quincy Adams in
another article on Monday, yesterday was his birthday.. I don't know why I bring these
things up, the thought just comes to me, I use the thought, and the next day, it's
significant for some reason. I don't know why. Butit's kind of fun..I'll bet you
have the same thing happen some times. It's all part of the ESP thing
And, for example... I'm writing this.. mentioned N Sync.. I hear a song on the TV
around the corner, and it's Lance Bass in some movie... What can I say...
Speaking of cerebrally oriented information...
--------------------------
Marijuana: Just The Facts
Time.com: Is America Going to Pot?
Time.com has recently published a fairly interesting and complete series of articles
regarding the use, uses, effects and laws surrounding the use of marijuana recently...
I've found it fascinating... I offered a challenge a while back that the day someone
showed me some real evidence that marijuana is bad for you, I would quit recommending its
legalization. I'll repeat, as I have before, that I am not an advocate of marijuana
per se... and, personally, having come from a violent alcoholic family, I prefer it to
alcohol... but... all vices are bad.. they all have their perceived benefits and
downfalls... still...
One of the big issues I'll be presenting later next week has to do with the high
numbers of people being incarcerated for crimes related to marijuana... for political
purposes... even though some 78% of Americans believe it should not be criminal...
One of the notes I recently sent the Bush administration had to do with some things my
father taught me years ago.. having to do with how Joseph Stalin wrote in a book the three
main things that are required to topple the United States... 1) The Domino Theory, which I
won't go into right now... 2) By forcing us to spread our military forces around the
world... and 3) Drugs.. but he always said it wasn't the use of drugs that would be the
problem, he said it would be the delivery system. This was way back in 1962 or so...
So, I see the ads from antidrug.org and I have to admit they're accurate and very
compelling... they talk very much about the delivery system... smugglers, guns, children
getting killed... it's all true... but it does the ads based on the sale of marijuana,
which I believe is incredibly misleading... focusing it on marijuana... because marijuana
is not the big money drug that typically draws that kind of activity... heroine, cocaine,
crack... those are the drugs that normally attract the individuals with a bent on using
weapons...
Still... I think it's important to note that the ad is accurate.. but notice it says
nothing about the effects of the drug... it talks only about the delivery system...
smuggling... which is even more reason to legalize it and control it. 50% of kids
say they've tried marijuana by the time they're 12 years old... by controlling it, taxing
it and keepin git out of the hands of kids, it would allow responsible adults to use it,
it would allow for its medicinal uses, and it would reduce the load in prisons.
The prohibition of marijuana is just like the prohibition of alcohol... laws
will not stop the people from doing something they really want to do.. and those little
things God gives us to relax and to use as herbal remedies will never go away.
As for the other drugs... frankly, I say, lock 'em up. And I'll be glad to go
into that with you more another time.
Finally, I have to say that this is one of those times when the coverage on CNN has
been so incredible the last few days, I'd prefer to just grab their transcripts and read
them to you... but somehow, I think they'd probably prefer that you actually watch them...
not sure why.. anyway, Paula Zahn and the American Morning Crew.. Jack's really funny...
Judy Woodruff, Arthel Neville, Carol Costello, Miles O'Brien, Anderson Cooper, the
inimitable Larry King, Aaron Brown, James Carville, Paul Begala, Robert Novak, Tucker
Carlson... the Courageous Reporter Wolf Blitzer.. Connie Chung and I know there's someone
else I forgot.. oh yeah, that guy with the cute smile.. Lou Dobbs... the Blue Chip of the
poker table... I mean financial news :} So I mentioned almost everyone but not quite.. I
try to say 'em all so in case they read this, they won't feel left out.. you know how
stars are.. And their production staff is obviously incredible... anyway... that
said.. I'm just another guy on the street to them, but they do an incredible job on
delivering the news.. which is, of course, why I don't hesitate to recommend them..
Someday I'll send 'em a bill, which should make them laugh alot... but until then... ya
oughtta check 'em out... I like to think of them as giving intellectually honest news.
Bet I could bill 'em for a sixty for that one... I wonder how much they
charge...
With that, that's a wrap.
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