In These Times published The People's Business: Controlling corporations and restoring democracy, an article in which characterizes the problem with corporations

is at root one of design. Corporations are not structured to be benevolent institutions; they are structured to make money. In the pursuit of this one goal, they will freely cast aside concerns about the societies and ecological systems in which they operate.

The SD Union-Trib has this article on Paul Westerberg.

Paul says he'll consider a major label again if they would allow him to do what he's doing now -- recording from his basement. Hmmmm. I don' t think so, at least in this age of corporate bean counting. (But ya never know.)


Westerberg is performing at Belly Up in Solana Beach this Sunday.

I intend to attend.

George W. Bush utters "um" when he speaks more than any other president in our history, according to my calculations. The guy isn't really more than a talking head, and the technicality of his speech is quite poor.

Mr. Bush, when he visits other countries, reminds me of an embarrassing cousin who shames me in the presence of guest.

Freakin' idiot.

My first day of substitute teaching is NOW!

I'm teaching computer education today - computer graphics. I have my iPod playing music for the students. I'm glad I have hip-hop.

Gonzo journalist kills self. [[[ speechless ]]]

Ted Caplow hates "The Gates," and what is stands for.

The San Diego Union-Tribune reported: "She said her 24-year-old boyfriend had become upset with his 3-month-old puppy, raised it over his head and threw it to the floor. The dog's left front leg was broken, police Lt. Howard Carpenter said."

Dude... get yourself some counseling.

I must get to sleep bc wakeup time is in 5 hours

--

Mobile Email from a Cingular Wireless Customer http://www.cingular.com

San Diego has been drenched with rain this season (June 04 - July 05). Over three times the average amount of rain for this time of year. The entire state has been drenched.

There has been drought conditions in San Diego for around seven years and the rain is definitely needed, but still we haven't received enough rain to make-up for the drought years.

It's my wish that we not catch up on the drought in one year.

The forecast is for rain, and lots of it, for the three-day weekend.

I officially became a teacher for the San Diego City Schools today. (It's been a long wait)

Officially because I received my employee ID and Pin and I now can bid for work using the online and the phone-based job placement system.

I'm a substitute teacher, which there are many opportunities to work as many days as I want. I can still do my digital marketing communications work, too.

I let some recent professional marketing opportunities slide by because I was pursuing teaching, and now that I have achieved my goal of becoming an educator it doesn't bother me one bit.

Since May of 2004 I've worked as a marketing communications manager, webmaster, web designer, bartender, server, floral delivery, and now teacher.

A New Jersey psychiatrist who was attempting to catch a flight from Phoenix to San Diego became upset after Phoenix-based TSA officials requested a second screening of her baggage. The doctor complied, but made condescending remarks to the effect that if she did in fact have a weapon security wouldn't be able to find it. Thats all it took.

TSA officials took her in for questioning, but meanwhile her luggage was on the plane in flight to San Diego. The doc missed her flight.

When the plane landed in San Diego, TSA officials on the ground were instructed by the FAA to treat the doctor's luggage as if it contained a weapon. The bag and its contents were eventually destroyed.

I wonder if the doctor, who specializes in crisis intervention, is satisfied that she got a few choice words in.

Full article from SD Union-Tribune is here.

The LA Times has an article on how scientists are working on a better roach trap. Fascinating

Rancho San Diego, not to be mistaken for Ranch Santa Fe, resident Robert Wilcox said the store would be the closest Wal-Mart to the (Mexican) border crossing at Tecate.

"It's going to draw a lot of people from Mexico into our community, and do we want that?" he said.

The SD Union-Trib published an online article on Wal-Mart's plan to build a store in Rancho San Diego, and Mr. Robert Wilcox's comments struck me as racist.

Doug Mills/The New York Times

It's a straight to-the-point kinda letter to Hallmark customers, and the best part: the company actually takes the blame... 100% of it for the fuck-up. I like its method of not attempting to say a "supplier malfunction" (versus bad planning) caused their problem.

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Hallmark Cards, one of the world's best-known makers of greetings cards, apologized to its clients on Wednesday for problems they experienced trying to access its Web site on Valentine's Day.

An army of love-struck Internet users seeking to pick up or send Hallmark electronic cards on Feb. 14 was turned away from the company's site, which was off-line for a large part of the day.

"We thought we were ready to handle a huge amount of traffic on Valentine's Day. Obviously, we thought wrong," Hallmark wrote in an email to clients, saying the Web site was flooded by double the expected traffic.

"We cringe at the disappointment we caused to some of you," the company said.

Hallmark's staple greetings cards business has in recent years had to fight off a challenge from the increasingly popular electronic cards.

Hallmark, which also produces Crayola crayons and markers, publishes its cards in 30 languages and distributes them in more than 100 countries.

courtesy of yahoo! news

Rantoul mayor Joe Brown stands in front of the Rantoul welcome sign at the West entrance to the village Wednesday, Dec. 1, 1999. Ten years ago, when the Pentagon announced it would close Chanute Air Force Base, some feared Rantoul would effectively close, too. But those fears have not materialized. Chanute has been gone since September 1993, but Rantoul is thriving. "When we first heard 10 years ago that Chanute was closing, many people thought the whole community would go down the drain," Brown said. "But I would say that, overall, I think we are better off now than we were back then." (AP Photo/News-Gazette, John Dixon)

The 2005 GRAMMY® Celebration, the after-broadcast party, took place last sunday at the Los Angeles Convention Center, and I worked for the catering company that produced the event.

The Black Eyed Peas, Paul Oakenfold and Chic performed, but other than the performances, the affair wasn't attended by any of the music industry's bigs. Those who attended seem more interested in the parting gifts than they were with staying and being entertained without the company of the big industry stars.

It was another long, arduous four-and-a-half-hour circuit on the 5 Freeway that ended at around 2:30 A.M. in SD.

from yahoo! news:

"I voted Republican, but it looks like things are going downhill," said Kenny Sproull of Lexington, Ga., who works in construction. "I'm a self-employed contractor and a lot of Mexicans are moving into the state. We can't compete with them price-wise."

"I agree with almost everything President Bush says," said Beverly Bowman, a nurse who lives near Phoenix. "I think the Social Security thing has to be fixed."

thanks, a lot, kenny & beverly. it's because 51% of the electorate, like yourselves -- wal-mart-buying, bought-and-sold republicans, the-terrorist-are-gonna-get-me fear bags -- that have placed this country into its downward spiral. it's because of idiot americans like you, kenny & beverly, that have put bush back into office; you are so to blame for all the harm that bush does to this country.

“A third of the population of the U.S. is illiterate, effectively. Another third can read but does not. Thirty-six percent of U.S. adults haven’t read a book in the last six months. So there I see cause for concern. On the other hand I think the language itself is in great shape."

mr. elster has an awesome mini-biography piece available here.

i looked up elster today because over the weekend i heard another pbs episode of A With Words and he wasn't on. elster may have been replaced.

Iowa, like other middle states, is losing its young educated class to cities with warmer temperatures.

With very few long-term career opportunities and a serious lack of entertainment options, Iowa's young are taking off as soon as they can.

Jenifer Weidt, 17, said: "I'd like to see what else is out there."

Iowa's legislature is considering whether to end taxes for anyone under 30, but few think it will reverse the exodus.

LA Times article here.

States and how they fare with young people moving away

North Dakota: -28%

Montana: -16%

South Dakota: -22%

Iowa: -22%

West Virginia: -20%

Arizona: +11%

Oregon: +10%

Colorado: +16%

Georgia: +15%

Nevada: +28%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau