THE LONG HOT ROAD HOME
Hundreds of Iraqis civilians are being held in makeshift jails run by US troops - many without being charged or even questioned. And in these prisons are children whose parents have no way of locating them. Jonathan Steele reveals the grim reality of coalition justice in Baghdad.
(GUARDIAN, unearthed by Paul Whitehurst)

COINCIDENCE OR CONSPIRACY?
Conspiracy websites have been making these points for months. But Kleinberg, in citing them on the floor of Congress, studiously avoids the word 'conspiracy'. This is what creates the sense that the events she relates are astonishingly improbable.
(Pop Matters, unearthed by Lee Ann Waterss)

PANAM GAMES: CUBA AND US CLASH IN BASEBALL
The U.S. team had the lead for the first six innings with a score of one to nothing. Cuba got a base hit and the runner advanced to second. With another base hit, Cuba tied the score. The tie breaker came the next inning, when a base hit knocked in a runner from third base; a homerun in the 8th inning sealed the fate...
(Radio Habana Cuba, unearthed by Cuba News Digest)

GORBACHEV COMING TO MIAMI
The National Summit on Cuba announced that former Soviet leader President Mikhail Gorbachev is coming to Miami to discuss historic perspectives on U.S. policy toward the island at the upcoming Florida National Summit on Cuba Oct. 4 at the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables.
(TAMPA BAY BUSINESS JOURNAL, unearthed by Cuba News Digest)

THEY CAN DISH IT OUT BUT....
FOX NEWS NETWORKS, LLC v. PENGUIN GROUP (USA) INC. AND ALAN S. FRANKEN
Fox News sues comedian Al Franken for trademark infringement over the use of "Fair and Balanced" in his new book.
(FINDLAW)

GOP CUBANS THREATEN BUSH
On Monday, 13 Republican state legislators, including 10 Cuban-Americans, sent the president a warning. In a pointed letter, they wrote that if Mr. Bush did not make 'substantial progress' toward fulfilling four Cuban-American demands, 'we fear the historic and intense support from Cuban-American voters for Republican federal candidates, including yourself, will be jeopardized."
(NYT)

TAX PROTESTER WINS ACQUITAL
A woman who said she refused to pay federal income taxes because the IRS didn't respond to her inquiries about tax law has been acquitted of tax evasion.
The whole thing could have been resolved if the government had simply answered her questions,'' Becraft said. ``It didn't happen. I made an argument to the jury that an American has a right to ask the government for answers."
(Guardian, unearthed by beamonk)

HAVANA HIP HOP FEST TO INCLUDE ERYKAH BADU
The 9th edition of Havana's Rap Festival Hip-Hop'2003, scheduled for this month, will be attended by several foreign artists. According to sources from the organizing committee, artists from the United States, Mexico, Colombia, Great Britain, Brazil and Canada have confirmed participation in the event. Among the special guests is the US singer Erykah Badu, who has won several Grammy Awards and three Platinum Records in the United States and abroad.
According to experts, Badu is among the best performers of the so-called un-soul style, characterized by a fusion of hip-hop and soul, with some elements of jazz. Other special guests are the groups Trop 305 and Tomorrouz Weaponz, and the disc jockey Tony Touch, all from the United States.
Cuba will be represented by the groups Obsesion, Doble Filo, Cubanitos 20-02, Primera Base, Cubanos en la Red, Aninimo Consejo, Eddy K, Familia's Cuba Represent, Sexto Sentido, Alto Voltaje and Papo Record.
(Cuba News Digest)

WEED STRONGER THAN LSD
DEA has issued a nationwide warning about salvia divinorum, a legal hallucinogenic herb from Mexico that officials describe as stronger than LSD.
(NY Daily News, unearthed by Joel Sogol)

BLACKLISTING FEDERAL JUDGES
Ashcroft has ordered federal prosecutors to start collecting information on federal judges who give sentences that are lighter than those suggested by federal guidelines.
(NYT, unearthed by Kate Varner)

OYEZ, YEAH, YEAH!
Getting audio recordings of landmark legal arguments is becoming as easy as downloading the latest Snoop Dogg single.
For the first time, Internet users can download, edit and swap many of the U.S. Supreme Court's greatest hits.
(Washington Post, unearthed by mich248)

PICKERING A FIGHT
By Emily Bazelon
It's nice to see conservative lawmakers deferring to a judge's belief that some criminals deserve a second chance. Except these are the same lawmakers who spent their last term chipping away at the power of federal judges to reduce criminal sentences.
(Slate, unearthed by Kate Varner)

LAWYERS ATTACK BUSH TACTICS
A bipartisan group of prominent New York lawyers, former federal judges and former government officials has launched a fierce attack on the Bush administration’s conduct in the war on terror, charging that the detention of suspected terrorist Jose Padilla is unconstitutional.
(NY Observer, unearthed by Paul Whitehurst)

TEENAGE JACKASSES!
Four teenagers were charged Saturday with attacking homeless people with a stun gun as they slept and videotaping the assaults.
(Atlanta Journal Constitution, unearthed by Kate Varner)