From the Times of London:

They have endured taunts from male colleagues and abuse from passengers, but the army of women drivers recruited by the London Underground have proved that they are better than men at making Tube trains run on time.

The number of women driving Tube trains has almost doubled in the past year, and managers believe that their influence has helped to end a culture of absenteeism and militancy in the workforce.

For the first time last month, London Underground recorded a week in which none of its 5,000 peak trains were cancelled because a driver had failed to turn up for work.

An artist who amuses me, Eric Doeringer, got a mention (and photo) in Artnet for his bootlegs project. His show at Caren Golden opens June 14. A visitor to my apartment today mistook my bootleg Rob Pruitt for the real thing.

Can someone explain to me why I should even consider voting for one of the 2 major parties at this point? The people in charge are too stupid to figure out how to make the world safer. They’re doing everything they can to destroy what good will we had from the rest of the world after 9/11.

Gephardt Backs War on Terror

House Minority Leader Richard A. Gephardt (D-Mo.) said yesterday he supports military action “to terminate the threat” from Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, but said he is “deeply concerned” that the administration has moved too slowly to improve homeland defenses.</p>

Gephardt, a prospective 2004 Democratic presidential candidate, offered broad support for President Bush’s war on terrorism. He endorsed views outlined in the president’s commencement speech at West Point on Saturday, saying that, with the new threat of global terrorism, the United States must be “ready to strike, not just deter.”</blockquote>

The latest “Get Your War On” episode was published on May 22 and I hadn’t even noticed until today.

Juan Gonzalez has a column in today’s Daily News about what happened to the only independent Palestinian public television station in the West Bank during Israel’s recent invasion of Ramallah. The head of it, Daoud Kuttab is a respected figure and the first Palestinian journalist allowed exclusive interviews with top Israeli leaders, among them former Prime Ministers Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres. He has also been imprisoned in the past by Arafat for covering corruption investigations involving the Palestinian Authority.

Al Quds specializes in children’s programming. Its most acclaimed effort, created with Israeli educational television, is a Middle East version of “Sesame Street.”

In the series, Israeli and Palestinian children learn to respect and appreciate each other’s culture while playing on two sides of a divided street.

…

When the soldiers left, station employees immediately returned. What they found, according to Kuttab, was heartbreaking. Six digital broadcast cameras, VCRs and computers had been stolen. Bullet holes were found in computer monitors. Hard drives, fax machines, video equipment and laser printers had been destroyed. Doors were smashed, furniture overturned.

Then there was the graffiti. “Instructions: 1. Eat, 2. Drink, 3. Destroy” wason one wall. Other graffiti included, “Palestine, Never” and “Death to Arabs.”

Tom Tomorrow’s blog has a story on Bush’s visit with Brazil’s President, in which he asked, “Do you have blacks too?”

The original story is in Der Spiegel. I’m not surprised this one didn’t make it into the U.S. papers.

I suppose this could be an urban legend, but the point of the story is that with Bush we’re not sure. I don’t think we could imagine Clinton or Carter or even G. Bush I asking such a thing. With Bush II, it seems possible.

I’ve been reading this essay: The Bush 9/11 Scandal for Dummies, by Bernard Weiner, on the always useful Common Dreams web site. While I don’t subscribe to the full conspiracy theory aspect of this, I think there are some things worth considering.

My take on this is that the Bush administration knew that something was likely to happen, and decided to take a calculated risk that it wouldn’t be too bad. Their other alternative was to panic the U.S. and possibly bring our already shaky economy into a deep recession. Perhaps they feared that if they had warned us and nothing happened, they would have been roundly criticized for “crying wolf”.

The problematic aspect of this: Apparently administration officials thought the risk was high enough that they changed their behavior over the summer to avoid the risk to themselves of commercial airline-based terrorism:

• Ashcroft stopped using commercial flights in July
  
• Bush, despite criticism over the amount of time he had spent on vacation (42% of his presidency), spent all of August in Crawford, Texas
  
• Newsweek reported that on September 10, “a group of top Pentagon officials suddenly canceled travel plans for the next morning, apparently because of security concerns”</p>

  </ul>It seems they weren’t the only people with advance warning:
  

  • San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown was warned by “an airport security man” on September 10 to rethink his flight to New York for the next day
    
  • Many members of a Bronx mosque were warned to stay out of lower Manhattan on September 11</p>

    </ul>It would be easier to brush the author off as just another “conspiracy theorist” if the Bush administration hadn’t refused to allow any serious investigation of the intelligence failings that led to September 11. If administration officials felt that the warnings they had were enough to warrant changes in travel plans for the President and members of the cabinet, and failed to warn the American people, I think it’s fair to say their behavior was treasonous.

We went to Jackson Heights for Queens Pride today – photos here (automated slide show here). I think the thing that moved me the most was Colega. Colega (Colombian Lesbian and Gay Association) had people dressed as angels, marching in memory of Edgar Garzon.

The noise level of the crowd was less than I expected, and I think it was because it was the straightest crowd I’ve ever seen at a queer parade – a lot of Latin families out with the kids to see the parade, plus a smattering of South Asians (Pakastani, India, and Bangladeshi). It was cool to see people of all kinds mixing in the crowds for the parade and the festival stages and booths.

We had a late lunch/early dinner afterward at Jackson Diner. It was quite the crowd, thanks to the parade — including Douglas Crimp. As we told Penny Arcade when we talked with her and Chris Real, I don’t think I’ve ever been to a restaurant where she and Crimp were both present!

After picking up a few Hindi CDs and DVDs, we headed back home to rest for a few minutes hopping back on the subway to see Tom Donaghy’s new play boys and girls at Playwrights Horizons’ fabulous new space. I like his plays — I’ve seen Minutes from Blue Route and The Beginning of August. I’m too tired to write more right now, but I recommend going to see it. Good play, great cast, and great direction.

Paul Davis, from ACT UP Philadelphia, has a good interview in the Philadelphia Inquirer.

A letter by James made the NY Daily News’ Voice of the People section.