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Wednesday, July 16, 2003
Close to home 
| | We need a symbol that does for "blog" what a heart does for love. |
| | This occured to me after spotting the "I (heart) L.A." t-shirt shot at the top of Tony Pierce's blog. |
| | Whatever that symbol/verb is, Tony's doing it. So is everybody whose voice adds value and context to what the mainsteam press provide. |
| | As you may have heard, the current news around L.A. is as horrifying as a bus bomb. Or worse, considering the number of potential terrorists that drive amongst (and, occasionally, over) us. |
| | Yesterday an old man in a runaway Buick plowed through a farmer's market in Santa Monica, killing nine people and sending another fifty to the hospital. Says the L.A. Times, |
| | Police said it appeared that Weller had lost control of his car. |
| | "His statement is, he possibly hit the gas instead of the brake," said Santa Monica Police Chief James T. Butts Jr. "He said he tried to brake and he couldn't stop the vehicle." Tests conducted immediately afterward showed that Weller was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Investigators said they did not believe he had any medical problem that might have caused the crash. |
| | Police released Weller after questioning but said he could still be charged. |
| | Witnesses at the market, which attracts about 9,000 people every Wednesday, said Weller appeared to be in a trance-like state as he drove his maroon Buick LeSabre sedan west along Arizona Avenue between 4th and 2nd streets. |
| | Bodies bounced off the hood; produce stands collapsed, sending tables and umbrellas flying; boxes of fruit and vegetables tumbled in his wake. Those who weren't hit could only watch in horror. |
| | That's your mainstream story. Now here's Tony: |
| | im going to retire in santa monica. know why? because if i decided to drive two and a half blocks through people at the farmer's market killing men women and children at 2pm, i will be able to get released by the cops and go home in time for dinner. ... |
| | according to a witness who spoke to tv reporters after the melee mr. weller might not be all that kindly after all. |
| | "he said after he got out of his car, 'if you heard me coming, why didnt you get out of the way.'" a woman told the nbc local news. |
| | my buddy os saw the whole beginning of the tragedy. |
| | he said he heard a crash. it was the old man vs. a mercedes sedan. the sedan lost. the then old man rammed it again and pushed it out of the way. |
| | os thought he was witnessing a simple hit and run. until he saw a man get tossed into the air and then a woman get crushed while the old mans car continued to accelerate. |
| | he and i wondered if perhaps the old man's cane got stuck underneath the brake and atop the accelerator, meaning every time he hit the brake the gas was pressed down further. |
| | who got mad at people after he killed them. |
| | but dont you think if you begin to realize that your brake isnt working, that infact youre going faster each time you hit your brake, that you steer into a building or a tree or anything other than people and people and people and children? |
| | why is it that the tv news didnt ask the question that i keep asking here: how can you be released from custody within hours after you drive down a blocked off street at high speeds and kill people? |
| | according to the la times, the santa monica police chief said that he was released for three reasons: |
| | "One, he's a licensed driver. Two, he's a city resident; And three, he's not a flight risk," the times reported the chief of saying. |
| | ok so i can drive over people as long as i have a license and i hit the people who live in my town, that part im cool with. |
| | but how does the chief know he's not a flight risk? whats keeping mr. weller from running over people on his way to mexico. or taking a plane to canada and running people over there? |
| | what makes someone not a flight risk? are his wings clipped? |
| | all i know is mexico is four hours away. three the way bro was driving. and if i was him and i wanted to see my 87th birthday i would head south and say adios, cuz unless the cops are going to pin this on oj, the old man is gonna get it. |
| | i just want to know why he gets to sit at home and wait this out while his victims are either being measured for pine boxes or are being treated in one of the ten local hospitals. |
| | Short answer: Because he doesn't fit the profile. |
Beyond the pain
| | I'll fess to knowing too little about Howard Dean. But what little I do know has approximately zero overlap with what I read a few minutes ago in the latest Newsweek. The piece is Feeling Dean's Pain, by Howard Fineman. What it tells me is (interesting test — I'll rely on memory here): 1) He's still torn up about his brother's disappearance (and presumed death) in Laos thirty years ago; 2) He's blunt and argumentative; 3) He likes to be in charge; 4) Like Dubya, he comes from old blood and money, partied hard at Yale and quit drinking a long time ago; and 5) He's short. |
| | There's almost nothing about the three central facts concerning his character and qualifications: 1) He's an M.D.; 2) He's a state governor; and 3) He's apparently pretty good at both jobs. |
| | When this campaign starts spending those Net-earned millions on spinnage and TV ads, two simple messages need to be hammered home: 1) He's about caring; and 2) He's about governing. |
| | The Democratic party seems to have lost touch with those two core values. Meanwhile, the roads need paving, the health care system needs fixing, the budgets need balancing, and ideologues at both extremes are losing grip on the middle ground where compromise happens and governing gets done. |
| | History is getting networked a whole new way. From where I sit, Howard Dean is less the right man for the job than the only set of qualifications supported by natural selection in the new environment. |
| | Right now the doctor seems to be in diagnostic mode. Here's how that bluntness sounds in Dean's polylogue on the Lessig blog: |
| | Someone asked which parts of the Patriot Act I thought were unconstitutional. I have real problems authorizing the FBI to obtain library and bookstore and video store records simply by claiming the information is ³sought for² an investigation against international terrorism. It¹s also clearly unconstitutional to detain indivduals and deny them access to a lawyer. |
| | As to Digitial Millenium Copyright Act and other copyright issues, we¹re still developing a policy on these items. I appreciate everything you have had to say on these issues, and encourage you to continue to tell my campaign how you feel we should best address these complex issues. |
| | Finally, one of you asked if there would be a White House blog. Why not? |
| | If you care about the DMCA, copyright and patent reform, or any of the other tech world issues about which few politicians seem to have open minds, you need to help the doctor with his diagnosis. |
| | Because, pretty soon, he'll start getting prescriptive. |
| | [Later...] Here's Joy with a response that provides both factual correction an d interesting details about Dean's record as Governor of Vermont. |
MoveUp
| | Went to a Dean MeetUp yesterday evening at the park across from Mission Santa Barbara. In the spirit of (MeetUp founder) Scott Heiferman's Fotolog, I've photoblogged the event with the picture of fellow Santa Barbara newcomer Lorna Moore. (See, Lorna? Like I promised...) |
| | The main attraction for the event, from what I gathered from a few conversations, was a pitch passed among friends by email and phone: Maybe Dean has the best chance of dumping Dubya. The assumption seemed to be that Dean was the one Democrat who was not only taking clue train deliveries, but laying as much track as possible. This, of course, is why I'm so interested in what the man and his campaign are up to. |
| | To me they serve the larger trends Joi lays out in Emergent Democracy. I think we're finally on the cusp this thing, thanks to processes that look a lot like this. Which is why, in the spirit of viral democracy, I'd like to see some Dubya MeetUps too. |
Reconstructive idea
| | I've been thinking... Why not combine cemeteries and golf courses? Bury the right people the right way and you can score an asshole-in-one. |
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