POST-MORTEM
Sadam Hussein's final hour began about 5 a.m., when American troops handed him over to Iraqi authorities. CLICK HERE FOR AN UPDATE TO THIS STORY
(NEW YORK TIMES)

WPMI-TV 15 PLACES 2nd
Congrats to the folks at channel 15 for placing 2 on VH-1s "VH-1 Webjunk" annual awards show. Their telecast on the Crichton Leprechaun just added another facet to the ever-burgeoning mystique of Alabama.

MAD'S DUMMIES' LIST
Mad Magazine has released it's annual dummy list which includes: "The Iraq War — Mish-mosh Accomplished." An obvious choice, Mad writes. "The only question remaining is whether or not it proves to be the dumbest thing of the century."
"Bode Miller at the Olympics" — depicting the partying skier on the cover of "Sports Inebriated."
"Richard Hatch Vs. the I.R.S." The tubby naked guy from "Survivor" in the clink for tax evasion.
"Zinedine Zidane — A Butthead's Headbutt," featuring the angry French soccer star as a violent jack-in-the-box.
"Ann Coulter — Queen of the Vile."
"Mel Gibson — The Passion of the Anti-Semite."
"Tainted Spinach."
"YouTube — A Streaming Pile..."
"Floyd Landis — Peddling Dope."
"North Korea Tests the Bomb."
"The Muhammad Cartoon Controversy — A Real Laugh Riot."
"Barry Bonds, Home Run King — The Sultan of Squat."
"Isaac Hayes Quits South Park."
"K-Fed Raps."
"Congressman Mark Foley — The Louse of Representatives."
"Paris Hilton's Vow of Celibacy — Just Say Ho."
"John Mark Karr's Extradition — Fake on a Plane."
"Star Jones Gets Sacked" (from "The View"). And finally,
"Bush's Assault on Civil Liberties — The Kill of Rights," featuring Bush, Cheney and Condi in seafaring drag on a poster for "Pirates of the Constitution, Head Man's Mess."
(Seattle Times)

GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER?
Call it a sign of the times for Louisiana's embattled governor: A chance to dine with Gov. Kathleen Blanco fetched a winning bid of $1 at a recent fundraising auction hosted by a group of business leaders.
(NOLA.COM)

HUMAN RIGHTS' FATHER
Former Massachusetts congressman Father Robert Drinan, still teaches classes in legal ethics and human rights at Georgetown University Law Center and has had much to celebrate of late: the Democratic midterm election victories, his 86th birthday and the establishment of an endowed chair in human rights in his name at Georgetown.
(LAW.COM)

ON FILMING FIDEL
In May 1968, Saul Landau received a call in San Francisco that Fidel Castro was ready to cooperate on a film portrait for public television. Landau and crew arrived shortly thereafter and waited for seven weeks. Then, the phone rang and a voice said “Be in the lobby at 6 a.m. Bring the whole crew and all your film equipment." Three hours after receiving the curt message, two uniformed men walked into the Hotel Habana Libre and helped him and the crew load cameras, lights, tripods and a hundred rolls of film and audio tape stock into two 1958 Mercedes Benz en route to meet Castro.
(PROGRESO WEEKLY)

"JUSTICE" WORKING OVERTIME
A record 7 million people - one in every 32 American adults - were behind bars, on probation or on parole by the end of last year, according to the Justice Department.
(MSNBC)

SELF-SERVING NEWS ITEM
Make sure you click on "OJ Simpson's Book Reaction" video link.
(WALA-TV FOX 10)

DRUNKEN ELK TERRORIZES SCHOOLCHILDREN
A drunken elk has been terrorizing children at a school in southern Sweden. 'That could be the problem. We could be dealing with a boozy elk,' Jan Caiman, a police officer in Molndal, told the national news agency TT. The elk was probably eating fermented apples in a garden and had become inebriated," he said.
(HOUSTON CHRONICLE, unearthed by Bill Messick)

LIMBAUGH GREETS DEMOCRATS AS "LIBERATORS"
On the November 8 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Rush Limbaugh claimed to "feel liberated" by Democratic victories in the House and Senate because he is "no longer going to have to carry the water for people who I don't think deserve having their water carried." (Although he'd probably still carry a bucket of pain pills for them.)
(MEDIA MATTERS)

SEATTLE VOTERS REJECT BAN ON STIP CLUBS
Like many of her fellow dancers, Asia was planning to leave town, if voters endorsed a city ordinance that would bleach much of the lust and most of the lucre out of lap dancing. Rest easy, Asia, Seattle voters decided overwhelmingly (YES: 36% to NO: 64%)CLICK HERE FOR NEWS STORY that guys (and girls) can continue to stuff $20 bills in the G-strings of hot young women.
(WASHINGTON POST AND SEATTLE TIMES, unearthed by Paul Whitehurst)

BECAUSE FREEDOM ISN'T DUMB
I can't tell if these folks are really nonpartisan or if they have some sort of agenda, but if you're looking for a great site this "national library of factual information" covers the candidates and elected officials in five basic categories: biographical information, issue positions, voting records, campaign finances and interest group ratings.

YOU'VE BEEN TUBED!
Although better known as the home of TV-show snippets, music videos and goofy amateur clips, file-sharing sites such as YouTube and Google Video have matured this year into powerful tools of political ambush, enabling almost anyone to post recordings of slips that the mighty would rather forget. This new twist on the old game of gotcha has rapidly become known as 'YouTube politics.'
(WASHINGTON POST)

BLUE STATE, RED SENATOR
Amid the furious debate over Iraq and the speculation that George Bush may be a lame duck after next Tuesday's mid-term elections, an extraordinary political milestone is approaching: a cantankerous 65-year-old called Bernie looks set to become the first socialist senator in US history.
(COMMON DREAMS)

THERE'S SOMETHING HAPPENING HERE
A new protest movement inside the military,including active-duty soldiers back from Iraq, is calling on Congress to end the war immediately.
(SALON)

FROM THE FOLKS WHO HATE BIG GUV'MENT
Bush's outrage has extended from homos playing house and kids having sex to hetero adults. The federal government's 'no sex without marriage' message will begin to target unmarried adults who are having - uh!, well, you know ( Unlawful Carnal Knowledge). This program is part of the government's abstinence-only programs, which include millions of dollars in federal money that will be available to the states under revised federal grant guidelines for 2007. It will be just a matter of time before our Talibama signs us up for this one.
(APOPHENIA, unearthed by David Lowe)

AIR AMERICA BLACK-LISTED
An internal ABC Radio Networks memo obtained by Media Matters for America, indicates that nearly 100 ABC advertisers insist that their commercials be blacked out on Air America Radio affiliates. According to the memo, the advertisers insist that "NONE of their commercials air during AIR AMERICA programming." Among the advertisers listed are Bank of America, Exxon Mobil, Federal Express, General Electric, McDonald's, Microsoft, Wal-Mart, and the U.S. Navy.
(MEDIA MATTERS)

DO-IT-YOURSELF-STRIPPER KIT
With your own dance pole the possibilities are endless!! You can boogie on down in the living room, spice things up in the bedroom or even liven up a friend's party!!
(Suggested by John "Pimp Daddy" Sharbrough)

OH NO! HE DIDN'T?!?
"Much like supernut Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh is such an offensive clown on a regular basis that it takes something pretty special from him these days before non-wingers bother to pay attention to, much less get riled over, his inflammatory gasbagging. But accusing former teen hearthrob Michael J. Fox of faking his Parkinson's symptoms in an ad the actor taped for Missouri Senate candidate and stem-cell-research proponent Claire McCaskill pretty much did the trick. Faster than you can say 'big fat idiot,' the Internet was abuzz over what a moronic bastard Limbaugh is, with the mainstream media seizing the story and spreading it far beyond online chatter.
(NEW REPUBLIC)

ALABAMA ARREST FOR BLOCKING TRAFFIC
This falls into the "why does a dog lick his balls?" category, but it is still funny as hell.
(Suggested by Bill Pfeiffer)

LIBERTARIAN WRITE-IN CANDIDATE'S "PLATFORM"
Well, here's a candidate that has me pondering my decision to just pull one lever this November. You can order a T-Shirt with her picture on it that has her catchphrase on it: "Better These Boobs, Than These Boobs" (pictures of the other candidates displayed) on her website.
(Suggested by JOE PAUL)

MORE SHI'ITE
Alabama's U.S. Rep. Terry Everett (Rep. Dothan),was asked recently if he knew the difference between the two Muslim sects. Everett, vice chairman of the House intelligence subcommittee on technical and tactical intelligence, responded that he didn't know. "I thought it was differences in their religion, different families or something."
(TUSCALOOSA NEWS, unearthed by Ernie Laird)

NOT IN KANSAS ANY MORE?
In a state that voted nearly 2 to 1 for President Bush in 2004, nine former Republicans will be on the November ballot as Democrats. Among them is Mark Parkinson, a former chairman of the Kansas Republican Party, who changed parties to run for lieutenant governor with the popular Democratic governor, Kathleen Sebelius.
(WASHINGTON POST)

GETTING YOUR SHI'TE STRAIGHT
No story has been more confusing than the distinction between Shias and Sunnis. Click on the red headline above for a discussion of the Shias in Iraq and CLICK HERE for a discussion about their differences.
(ABOUT.COM)

A SPACE "MONROE DOCTRINE"
President Bush has signed a new National Space Policy that rejects future arms-control agreements that might limit U.S. flexibility in space and asserts a right to deny access to space to anyone "hostile to U.S. interests.
(WASHINGTON POST)

PELOSI'S MOMENT
If Representative Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic minority leader, becomes Speaker of the House, that is a big deal in itself. She will have reached the highest position of power (third in the line of presidential succession) ever achieved by a woman. The right demonizes her and the media occasionally make light of her skills (CLICK HERE FOR AN EXAMPLE), but Pelosi is stronger and tougher than her reputation.
(NATION, unearthed by Wythe Holt)

IS THIS JUST SOME SORT OF RECRUITMENT PLOY?
Canadian troops fighting Taliban militants in Afghanistan have stumbled across an unexpected and potent enemy - almost impenetrable forests of 10-feet-high marijuana plants.
(HERALD SUN, unearthed by Free Republic)

"ENEMY COMBATANT" GOAT HERDER RELEASED
Taj Mohammad is a shepherd -- a member of the Gudjer Tribe, nomads who herd goats in the border mountains between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Taj, who was arrested at his home in Afghanistan as a result of an argument and fight he had with his cousin, was released yesterday thanks to the effort of his Federal Defenders in Miami.
(Suggested by Paul Whitehurst)

LIBERTARIAN DEMOCRATS?
In 1970, according to the Harris Poll, fully 49 percent of U.S. adults considered themselves Democrats. By 1989, that number had shrunk to 40 percent, and, as of 2004 (the last year for which data are available), it stood at a measly 34 percent. By contrast, affiliation with the GOP has never topped 33 percent (a high point reached in '89 and '90); as of 2004, the figure was 31 percent. The Democrats plainly need new blood — and new ideas. Not at the state level, really, where politics and governance tend to be less ideological and more pragmatic (and where Democrats are doing pretty well), but at the national level, where they haven't had an overarching, coherent ideological narrative to offer since at least before the Reagan years.
(CATO)

BIG BROTHER BLUES
More than a year has passed since the Real ID Act of 2005 became law. And in a little over 18 months, the first new driver's licenses mandated by the legislation are supposed to debut. It might have to wait. Why? Government is having a problem getting it together. Go figure.
(WASHINGTON POST)

SUPREME COURT VOTER'S GUIDE
Who are the candidates running for election to your Alabama Supreme Court? What are their judicial philosophies, and what do they think is the greatest area of need in the Alabama judicial system? The candidates were recently asked to provide their background information, campaign contact information, and answers to seven nonpartisan questions. Read their responses.
(LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF ALABAMA)

SUGGESTED READING: FIVE GERMANYS I HAVE KNOWN
Emeritus professor of European history at Columbia University Fritz Stern has compared the similarities between the path taken by Germany in the years leading up to Hitler and the path being taken by the United States today. While not suggesting an equivalence between President Bush and Hitler, Stern's more subtle critique is that contemporary American politics exhibit something like the strident militancy and political ineptitude of the Kaiser’s pre-1914 imperial Germany.
(NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW)

DEM DEMS DEM DEMS DEM DAM DEMS
Faster than a Swift boat, the race is on to make getting caught with their pants down a nefarious Democratic plot. While The Hill report states that the source who revealed Foley's suspect e-mails to the former House page "says the documents came to him from a House GOP aide" and that the "aide has been a registered Republican since becoming eligible to vote," conservative media figures and outlets are perpetuating the notion that Democrats are behind the scandal involving former Rep. Mark Foley (R-FL).
(MEDIA MATTERS)

FIELD OF QUEENS
Eric Merfalen tried to combine the boy he had been with the gay man he had become. He found rugby.
(VILLAGE VOICE)

"MARK FOLEY BREAKS THE EDWIN EDWARDS CANON
It's always so juicy to see the mighty fall but when you add to that that it's the Prig Party, it - as we say in Alabama - don't get no better than that. Former Governor (and felon) Edwin Edwards once bragged that the only way he could lose an election in Louisiana was to get caught in bed with a dead girl or a live boy, something GOP Rep Mark Foley should have kept in mind. The leaks, denial, and corrections in the Republican text-message sex scandal have become so convoluted in their elaborations and contradictions that Greg Sargent at TMP Cafe is maintaining a flow chart of events HERE
(TRM CAFE, unearthed by David Lowe)

"MARK FOLEY BREAKS THE EDWIN EDWARDS CANON It's always so juicy to see the mighty fall but when you add to that that it's the Prig Party, it - as we say in Alabama - don't get no better than that. Former Governor (and felon) Edwin Edwards once bragged that the only way he could lose an election in Louisiana was to get caught in bed with a dead girl or a live boy, something GOP Rep Mark Foley should have kept in mind. The leaks, denial, and corrections in the Republican text-message sex scandal have become so convoluted in their elaborations and contradictions that Greg Sargent at TMP Cafe is maintaining a flow chart of events HERE
(TRM CAFE, unearthed by David Lowe)

"COMPROMISE" ON TRIBUNALS MAKES THEM EVEN MORE DRACONIAN
Three months ago, when the U.S. Supreme Court said the way we're prosecuting terrorism suspects is illegal, the Seattle lawyers who helped bring that case were jubilant. To them, the ruling meant no less than that we are still a civilized country, willing to give a fair trial to anyone — even the enemy. 'It reaffirms your faith in the system,' Joe McMillan, one of four Perkins Coie attorneys who worked on the case, said then.
(SEATTLE TIMES)

HELP STOP THIS BILL!
This week Congress will vote on The Military Commissions Act, a bill that would let the President and the Secretary of Defense label anyone - even a U.S. citizen inside the United States - an "unlawful enemy combatant" and detain them without charge or trial. Republican Senator Arlen Specter called this provision "inexplicable." It is also unconstitutional and un-American. Why should Congress reject the Military Commissions Act? Here are just a few reasons:

It strips courts of jurisdiction to hear claims of unlawful detention and detainee abuses.

It sets up an inferior system of justice that the world is likely to reject.

It risks endangering Americans abroad who our enemies could now designate as “combatants.”

It prevents courts from reviewing the government’s compliance with the Geneva Conventions and provides immunity to those who engaged in abuse in the past.

CLICK THIS LINK TO SEND A MESSAGE TO CONGRESS

DAVID TRIMMIER EXHIBITION SLATED
Apparitions a display of photographic images by David Trimmier will be showing at the Mobile Arts Council, 318 Dauphin Street from October 2 to 31, Mondays through Fridays, 9 am - 5 pm. There will be an artist reception on Friday, October 13 from 6-9 PM. Or, you can meet attend the Meet The Artist Discussion & Demonstration on October 16 at noon. For more info call 432.9796 or go their website at www.mobilearts.org or David's website at www.davidtrimmier.com

SISTINE CHAPEL FRESCO TRANSLATED INTO GRAFFITI
Lying on industrial scaffolding, his legs dangling high above the ground, graffiti artist Paco Rosic reaches for a can of Leather Brown paint. With a quick, rattling shake, he squeezes the nozzle and adds subtle highlights to the hand of God reaching for Adam, as he attempts to recreate Michelangelo's famous Sistine Chapel frescoes in his own street style.
(From a Seattle Times Story)

INSULTED TURKEYS
All caught up in issues like rendition, wiretaps and secret tribunals, we tend to forget that things are really screwed up elsewhere. Turkish novelist Elif Shafak has been acquitted in the case against her which was for, get this, "insulting Turkishness", a case stemming from remarks in her latest novel. She had faced up to three years imprisonment. Here's the best part of this: Shafak, who gave birth to her first child on Saturday, was unable to attend the trial and it was not postponed."
(CIHAN NEWS AGENCY, unearthed by Zaman Online)

RENTAL FEES FOR ROTARY PHONE WERE $14,000
Relatives of an elderly woman in Ohio are outraged. They say that over the past 42 years she has paid approximately $14,000 U.S. in rental fees for her two landline rotary dial phones.
(NEWS.COM, unearthed by infopackets)

"SORRY" SEEMS TO BE THE HARDEST WORD
"A government commission on Monday exonerated a Canadian computer engineer of any ties to terrorism and issued a scathing report that faulted Canada and the United States for his deportation four years ago to Syria, where he was imprisoned and tortured.

The report on the engineer, Maher Arar, said American officials had apparently acted on inaccurate information from Canadian investigators and then misled Canadian authorities about their plans for Mr. Arar before transporting him to Syria.
(NEW YORK TIMES)

14,000 ARABS IN LIMBO
In the few short years since the first shackled Afghan shuffled off to Guantanamo, the U.S. military has created a global network of overseas prisons, its islands of high security keeping 14,000 detainees beyond the reach of established law. Defenders of the system say it's an unfortunate necessity in the battles to pacify Iraq and Afghanistan, and to keep suspected terrorists out of action. But many say that the detention system often is unjust and hurts the war on terror by inflaming anti-Americanism in Iraq and elsewhere.
(AP, unearthed by Common Dreams)

POWELL LETTER TO MCCAIN
"Here is a link to a letter sent by former Secretary of Defense and General Colin L. Powell to Senator John McCain expressing opposition to President Bush's expressed interest in having Congress pass legislation to circumvent the Geneva Convention.

SEE ALSO THIS LETTER FROM 29 RETIRED MILITARY LEADERS URGING CONGRESS TO REJECT THE PROPOSAL
(FINDLAW)

I SPY WITH MY LITTLE EYE
Internet geeks have been unearthing some remarkable China secrets. Using Internet programs like Google Earth to view satellite and aerial images of the world they have spotted an underwater submarine tunnel off China's Hainan Island, a mock-up of a Taiwanese air base in China's remote western desert, and a huge and startlingly accurate terrain model in northwest China that replicates a sensitive border area with India.
(COMMON DREAMS)

ABU GHRAIB FILES
"279 photographs and 19 videos from the Army's internal investigation record a harrowing three months of detainee abuse inside the notorious prison -- and make clear that many of those responsible have yet to be held accountable.
(SALON)

YOU'VE GOT MAIL: YOU'RE FIRED!
Radio Shack executives defended their impersonal approach of sending termination notices to 400 employees by email. They said it was more merciful than face-to-face interaction because it was quicker and gave workers more privacy.
The workforce reduction notification is currently in progress,' the bloodless message Read. 'Unfortunately, your position is one that has been eliminated.
(OREGONIAN)

STING NABS ILLEGAL TRADERS
"It began with a tip. A phone call from a concerned woman to a federal agency that an illegal trade was about to take place. That was in August 2004. A small player was arrested, but the call set investigators on a trail that led them from coast to coast, and they eventually arrested nine persons and accused them of illegal trading.
(WASHINGTON POST)

WTF!?!
"An Ohio grandmother fought for and won the right to keep her personalized license plate after allegations that they were profane.
(MSNBC, unearthed by Thomas DiGiulan)

PORN BOOB-BOOB
"Sweden's state broadcaster SVT on Monday faced ridicule for their porn boo-boo. They mistakenly showed a porn movie in the background of a news broadcast over the weekend. Viewers of a five-minute news update at midnight on Saturday could see explicit scenes from a Czech porn movie on a TV screen behind news anchor Peter Dahlgren.
(AP, unearthed by Kate Varner)

BIN LADEN'S DREAM GIRL
Although he claimed music was evil, Bin Laden spoke of spending vast amounts of money to go to America and try and arrange a meeting with her.
(ATLANTA JOURNAL CONSTITUTION)

ALABAMA CHURCH GROUP FINED FOR CUBAN TRAVEL
"U.S. Treasury officials have fined an Alabama church group $34,000, accusing members of Baptist Church of the Covenant in Birmingham and several other churches of engaging in prohibited tourist activities while in Cuba last year for religious purposes.
(BIRMINGHAM NEWS, unearthed by Jack Zylman)

DUTY TO DO JUSTICE
The problem is that lawyers' often considerable skills can be harnessed to extraordinarily undemocratic and troubling ends. To be sure, it is sometimes the advocate's job to make weak arguments look strong, and vice-versa. But government lawyers have a different calling. They have a duty to argue what is right, not just what is convenient. Their motto is, 'The government wins when justice is done' - not, 'The government wins when it gets to do whatever it wants.'
(FINDLAW, unearthed by Paul Whitehurst)

HOW TO GIVE NOTICE
This link automatically downloads an mp3 file. It's a hysterical resignation speech by a Mobile Alabama Radio disc jockey who has decided to move on to greener pastures and uses a novel way to give her notice to her bosses at WBLX.
(Suggested by Matt McCarthy)

JILL CARROLL'S STORY
"'You're my brother, you're truly my brother,' I said in Arabic. 'Promise me you will use this gun to kill me by your own hand. I don't want that knife, I don't want the knife. Use the gun.'
(THE FOURTH PART OF THIS SEQUEL WAS PUBLISHED TODAY. FOLLOW THE LINKS)
(SEATTLE TIMES)

WONDERFUL PICTURES OF HAVANA
I'm not quite clear how to get around all of the flashy web mechanisms on this site. So, I've just posted the main site and trust that, if you want to see some truly amazing photography, especially some real street scenes of Havana, you can follow the links to his portfolio. Truly impressive.

DOUBLE SET OF BOOKS
"The Chimera is primarily known as a creature of Greek legend - a fire-breathing monster with parts of a goat and a lion with a serpent for a tail. In biology the term has come to refer to any organism that contains more than one set of genes."
(DAMN INTERESTING, unearthed by Brent Gourley)

HE'S A HOLE MAN
From the outside, William Lyttle's house in Hackney, east London, looks no different. But since the early 1960s,Lyttle has been digging a network of burrows underneath and noone knows how far they stretch. But according to the authorities, which used ultrasound scanners to ascertain the extent of the problem, almost half a century of nibbling dirt with a shovel and homemade pulley has hollowed out a web of tunnels and caverns, some 8m (26ft) deep, spreading up to 20m in every direction from his house.
(GUARDIAN, unearthed by Matt McCarthy)

9/11 TRANSCRIPTS RELEASED
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) this week released full transcripts of the air traffic control recordings from the four flights hijacked on September 11, 2001, and meticulous Flight Path Studies for three of the flights, in response to a Freedom of Information request by the National Security Archive. The studies, posted on the Web today by the National Security Archive, provide the most detailed technical information available to date related to the hijackings, and the transcripts of the aircraft-to-ground communications are the first complete government disclosure of each flight's air traffic control recordings.

The transcripts provide additional details to the information summarized in the 9/11 Commission Report. For example, the NTSB transcript differs slightly from the Commission's text of the warning that United Airlines Flight 93 received only minutes before the hijackers attacked. At 9:23am, the Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS) shows a text message to Flight 93 reading: "BEWARE OF ANY COCKPIT INTROUSION [sic]. TWO AIRCRAFT IN NY, HIT TRADE CNTER BUILDS [sic]." Five minutes later at 9:28am Flight 93 was sending the message "***(mayday)*** (hey get out of here) ***" as it was being hijacked.
(NATIONAL SECURITY ARCHIVES)

HERE COMES CHICKEN JOHN!
"If all goes as planned, and that is no sure bet, an unlikely crew on an improbable craft will amble the Mississippi for the next month, spreading culture and chaos downriver."
(NEW YORK TIMES ARTS SECTION, unearthed by John Furman)

MOLLY THOMAS PLAYS WITH TODD SNIDER BAND ON LENO THIS WEDNESDAY!
Good friend and accomplished violinist (she "got trained" as we like to say around here) will be appearing Wednesday, August 9 on the Jay Leno Show as one of Todd Snider's musicians. Originally from Mississippi, we here in Mobile consider her a homie.

She played and sang for a group called Slow Moses and was a bartender at The Bike Shop, a local watering hole. In addition to being a wonderful musician,
she is a good friend and lovely person. She left us a few years ago for the bright lights and potential of Nashville.

I don't know who Todd Snider is but he must have great taste as he utilizes, not only Molly, but Mobile's Will Kimbrough
another wonderfully talented local guy who has also migrated to Nashville and is making waves in that orbit
.
(THANKS TO MICHAEL SMITH FOR HELP WITH THE WILL KIMBROUGH LINK)

COMUNISMO A LO CUBANO!
Everyone comes looking for their own version of Cuba. Revolutionaries find revolutions. Capitalists find dictatorship. Tourists find the perfect beach. Yet, nobody wants to see Cuba through Cuban eyes. It is a dynamic country that was not frozen in time since the Revolution of 1959, but is evolving and continually changing. There were debates on every street corner, both strong affirmations and deep criticisms of the president, Fidel Castro. And yet there is one consensus: like all citizens, Cubans passionately love their country."
(TORONTO STAR)

POT DEALERS SELL WEED ON CRAIGSLIST
The classified-advertising Web site craigslist has become popular in recent years with young, tech-savvy city dwellers seeking apartments, jobs and for-sale items. But it's also being used as an Information Age black market for some Seattle-area marijuana dealers.
(SEATTLE TIMES)

FAITH-BASED VOLUNTEERS INDICTED
Prosecutors have charged two volunteers who say they tried to save the lives of three sick migrants stranded in the desert. Daniel Strauss and Shanti Sellz are facing up to 15 years in federal prison and a half-million-dollar fine. The Border Patrol maintains that the work of the faith-based group No More Deaths was encouraging migrants to cross illegally into the United States. Part of the gravamen, the government maintains, is that the group's leaders were warned that volunteers could be arrested but that the warnings were dismissed by the group as absurd.
(NEWSDAY, unearthed by Paul Whitehurst)

PATDOWNS ALLOWED ONLY BETWEEN CONSENTING PLAYERS
Florida's courts - and now a federal district court - have sided with Valrico civics teacher Gordon Johnston, a Tampa Bay Buccaneers season ticket holder who challenged the practice of pre-game security patdowns outside the Bucs' stadium.
(ST PETERSBURG TIMES, unearthed by Paul Whitehurst)

WORLD IS GOING TO END - YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST!
"Continuing the yellow journalism trend of marketing scary ideas, Paula Zahn Now featured a segment on whether the crisis in the Middle East is actually a prelude to the end of the world, marking the third time in nine days that CNN has devoted airtime to those claiming that the ongoing Mideast violence signals the coming of the Apocalypse.
(MEDIA MATTERS)

MERCHANDISING THE "NEW ARMAGEDDON"
Continuing the recent right wing media trend of packaging the problems in the middle east as some sort of "new apocalypse", Michael Savage irresponsibly predicted Israel is 'going to lose in Lebanon' unless it wins a 'devastating, catastrophic, overwhelming victory' in which 'nothing is left living in southern Lebanon, south of the Litani River.' Later in the program, Savage chastised the Israeli government for displaying a 'Holocaust mentality' by shying away from his proposed course for victory, adding that Israel cannot continue to 'live' unless it 'frees itself of the men who are acting as though they are still hiding in the sewers of Warsaw' and 'act[ing] like Holocaust Jews hiding in the sewer.'"
(MEDIA MATTERS)

DON'T BLOW THEIR COVER?!?
"In what has to be the biggest Barney Fife operation every conducted by the federal government, a Hartselle minister and a former Alabama State Bar President were among many people cited for alleged acts of public indecency and lewdness at Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge in Limestone and Morgan counties. The offense? Peeing in the woods."
(DECATUR DAILY NEWS)

RABBIS CONFRONT BUSH ON TORTURE
Invoking centuries of Jewish law, hundreds of American rabbis confront Bush."Many Muslims have left countries where dictators used torture, and for that reason came to America. We don't want America to torture as well.

SIDEBAR:

Muhammad also warns against inhumane behavior. Captives were very important to him. 'Don't torture the creation of God' - Muhammad said this three times. No event or situation should warrant torture."
(VILLAGE VOICE)

BUSH BLOCKED PROBE
"Bush refused to grant security clearances for investigators who were looking into the role lawyers representing the Justice Department played in crafting the program, under which the National Security Agency listens to telephone calls and reads e-mail without court approval, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales told the Senate Judiciary Committee."
(DETROIT FREE PRESS)

FINGER'S OWNER IDENTIFIED
"Police have released the identity of the man who mailed a severed finger to his girlfriend here in Corpus Christi. Authorities said Robert Hanna is the man who is believed to have cut off one his own fingers and then mailed to it to his former girlfriend.The finger was sent in a small, gift box with a love letter that read: "I want to let you know, this is how much pain I'm going through because of the pain I've caused you. I want you to know this is my last attempt to reach out and touch you." "
(MSNBC, unearthed by M Prince)

FEDS FUND ABORTION MISINFORMATION
"A new study released by Rep. Henry A. Waxman finds that federally funded pregnancy resource centers often mislead pregnant teens about the medical risks of abortion, telling investigators who posed as pregnant 17-year-olds that abortion leads to breast cancer, infertility, and mental illness."
(HOUSE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT REFORM, unearthed by Common Dreams)

THE ISRAELI/ARAB DOUBLE-BIND
"The extremists on both sides of the Arab/Israeli conflict have always formed a kind of tacit alliance, with the supporters of 'greater Israel' and 'no Israel' understanding their joint interest in preventing any moves towards a peace compromise. That is the main reason why Israel encouraged the growth of Hamas as it emerged in the 1980s. Unwilling to negotiate with the secular nationalists of Fatah, even as they were moving towards support for a two-state solution, the Israeli authorities thought it would be a clever idea to promote their Islamist rivals."
(GUARDIAN, unearthed by Common Dreams)

IMMIGRATION LOVES A VACUUM
The mass migration of Latinos to northwest Georgia to Dalton, which is known as the carpet capital of the world, has changed the character of everything from factory floors to schools to superstores. On this night, Wal-Mart's ubiquitous TV monitors alternately promoted arroz and rice, aparatos and electronics.
(WASHINGTON POST)

A KINKY KAMPAIGN
"In a state known for its cast of larger-than-life political personalities, Kinky Friedman may be the most eccentric Texan ever to throw his Stetson into the political ring. At the very least, he's the first Jewish cowboy to seek the governor's mansion and probably the only gubernatorial candidate in the country who boasts about never having held a real job. His campaign slogans: 'Why the Hell Not?' and 'How Hard Can It Be?' Wherever he goes, he spouts corny, populist one-liners that can make him seem like a thawed relic from another era - which, truth be told, he kind of is. 'I'm for the little fellers,' he exclaims, 'not the Rockefellers!'"
(NEWSWEEK, unearthed by Brent Gourley)

UBERPOWER:AMERICA'S IMPERIAL TEMPTATION
"Uberpower,' as the menacing neologism suggests, is a book about American overreach. But it is not an anti-imperialist tract of a by-now familiar kind. Rather, it represents the pained thinking of an Atlanticist convinced that American diplomacy is at its best when 'building an order that would advance American interests by serving those of others.'"
(NYT BOOKS SECTION)

COORS EXEC GETS DUI
"Beer baron Peter Coors' driver's license has been revoked after his arrest for drunken driving following a wedding celebration."
(MSNBC, unearthed by Joel Sogol)

RELIGIOUS OUTREACH TO CUBA LIMITED BY NEW POLICY
"The ties between Christian communities in Cuba and the United States are currently being threatened by proposed limitations on religious interchange, including stringent restrictions on travel and humanitarian aid. During the past year, major U.S. church denominations and religious organizations have experienced a number of unprecedented obstacles that impede their relationships with partner churches in Cuba. Administration actions have restricted their religious travel to Cuba and limited their ability to bring Cuban religious leaders to the United States, thus hindering their capacity to exchange, encourage, and commune with their faith partners in Cuba."
(LATIN AMERICAN WORKING GROUP)

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND LUNACY
The Department of Homeland Security has classified 77,000 businesses as part of the "critical infrastructure," a terrorist target that is vital to the operations of the U.S. and, thus, eligible for a $50,000 grant. On that list of national assets are ... 1,305 casinos, 234 restaurants, a tackle shop, a flea market and an Amish popcorn factory."
(SEATTLE TIMES)

FREEDOM FIGHTER OR VICTIM OF PLOT?
"Scholars regard Denmark Vessey as a precursor both to the Civil War and the civil rights movement, but he is among the most divisive Southern figures. In Charleston, S.C., many blacks exalt him as a freedom fighter, while some whites condemn him as a terrorist."
(ATLANTA JOURNAL CONSTITUTION)

HEAD BUTT
"Italy grabbed the trophy, slid and dashed and danced as fireworks soared above.

Zidane was nowhere to be found. He had used his big head for stupidity, instead of for genius."
(SEATTLE TIMES)

ANN COULTER'S FLATULENT FIXATION
"Though she stops short of saying that the earth is 6,000 years old and Adam and Eve rode through the Garden of Eden on the backs of dinosaurs, in her quest to disprove evolutionary theory, Coulter echoes the arguments of the creationists from whom even many religious conservatives distanced themselves long ago. "
(MEDIA MATTERS)

WHAT, ME WORRY?
"From deteriorating security in Afghanistan and Somalia to mayhem in the Middle East, confrontation with Iran and eroding relations with Russia, the White House suddenly sees crisis in every direction."
(WASHINGTON POST, GRAPHIC COURTESY OF THOSE LOVABLE RED BASTARDS AT THE NATION)

DISSIN' THE DEAD
"At the Veterans Memorial Cemetery in the small town of Fernley, Nevada, there is a wall of brass plaques for local heroes. But one space is blank. There is no memorial for Sgt. Patrick D. Stewart. That's because Stewart was a Wiccan, and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has refused to allow a symbol of the Wicca religion -- a five-pointed star within a circle, called a pentacle -- to be inscribed on U.S. military memorials or grave markers."
(WASHINGTON POST)

SO, WHAT'S IN A NAME?
These are the three little tiny pieces of paper that are each contained in tiny ornamental Chinese brocade boxes, proofs of the ink stones that I brought back for Zack, Carlos and me. The notations on them were written by Chris. (I'm "ba".) It seems that those little red seals that you see on all things Chinese are actually signatures of the author or artist and that each is, like our signatures, unique to its owner.

We stopped at a bookstore and had them made right there. We could have gotten them in English but I opted for a really Chinese motif. We then got involved in what it would say. This was a bookstore and the lady that was assisting us was very concerned that we should have our ink stones correctly made as they were our very first ink stones and they were for the whole family.

It is a common practice for Westerners to adopt Chinese names and you'll hear "That's my Chinese name" quite frequently. (How they got there is quite often a mystery to me.) Instead, I chose the Chinese character for "forest" because that is what Soto means. (I don't know who makes that stuff up. It doesn't mean that in Spanish any more than "Hart" means "deer" in English. It's one of the few things that stuck with me from college poetry classes.) She was pleased with that (probably thinking to herself, "Damn, I'm glad I don't have to interpret Zachary AND Carlos into Mandarin.")

"No, that's all I want," I told her when she asked about the first names. Our conversation was catapulted out of the mundane. She and Chris and the stone cutter, the security guard and the other owner of the store were now all involved in an animated and -to me - mysterious conversation about something that was obviously very wrong.

"They can't all be the same," Chris explained rather sheepishly. "They're your signatures. How about we give them some Chinese names?" I could tell it had become a matter of grave delicacy but, really, folks, it's just a souvernir. We were at an impasse because, well, my kids don't NEED Chinese names! CLICK HERE She reluctantly accepted that that was all that I wanted. Did I want them, she asked, all to be identical or would I, at least, like them different as they had them in all of the archaic styles. I told here that, yes, that would be lovely. Could she make them in three styles: the oldest would be mine, the next oldest Zack's, and the youngest Carlos'. She seemed, if not pleased, at least a bit appeased by that.

NO EXCUSE TO STEAMROLL PRESS
"The Bush administration's booming rhetoric leaves the impression that all this nation needs is a strongman at its head. That is dangerous talk for a country at war, the temptation to bend rules intense. The administration needs to stop its tired attack on the press for reporting on secret programs used in the war on terror. The debate should not be about the role of the press, but about the alarming lack of oversight of the executive.
(SEATTLE TIMES)

SEE MY CHINA PICTURES
Here are some low res photos of my trip to china.

FLYING UNDER THE INFLUENCE
"The driver was sober. The bird that crashed through the windshield of his car might have been flying under the influence."
(ATLANTA JOURNAL CONSTITUTION)

SOME PHOTOS OF THE TRIP!

Chris shot these two photos. I'm not sure why some of these photos have such a bluish tint to them (it's either my photo editing or the monitor I'm using), but I thought I would post at least a few of the 1000+ photos that we took.

Here are a few links to some more photos.

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2

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BEIJING, SUNDAY MORN

Friday we went to see the Beijing Martial Arts Team practice. Before that our hostess treated us to dinner in a nearby neighborhood. Ate my first duck head. (I preferred the pig ears from the other night's Beijing Duck dinner.) Chris tasted it so as not to be rude but didn't go very far with it. It really makes sense that the Olympics would be held here. I don't know if its just because Chris and his friends are all into it or not, but it seems to me that Beijing is obsessed with sports. As Chris explains it, the educational slots are limited and highly sought. Like the minorities in our country, sports is seen as a way out for many families and the kids start very young. The practice was at a local martial arts school (About the size and status of Spring Hill College) and it was really impressive. What was also impressive was that, like the little girls at the gym the other day, there were many little kids and teenagers (on a Friday night) who had come out to cheer the guys on. They oohed and aahed at everything these guys did and keep exhorting them to "pour oil on it".

Sunday, woke up late as we have been really pushing it. Went to the Forbidden City yesterday, probably the most impressive (along with Summer Palace) of the things I've seen here. Came back and decided to try the restaurant across the street from the hostel as it looked pretty decent. They did not disapoint. Had some Beijing Duck and were treated like royalty.

Went to the Chinese Opera and it did disappoint. Instead of the staid and opulent classic old theatres, they had booked us into an opera that was in a luxury hotel. The theatre was cavernous and from our nosebleed seats we could hardly see anything. It also didn't help set a good mood that a tour group of Koreans came in late and made a commotion while they were being accomodated (jumping over seats so as not to inconvenience the persons near the aisles) and having their headsets being handed out to them. Their little antennae were such a ridiculous foreground silhouette framing the opera below. Add to that the cacaphony of Chinese music and vocals blended with the Korean translations blarring out of the headsets and, well, suffice it to say we left early.

Beijing has a booming prostitution "industry" which caters to European men. So, literally thousands of times a day I get asked if i'm interested in going to a "lady bar". I asked one of Chris' friends to "suppose" for me what might happen If I were to say yes. He "guessed" that I would be taken either to a trailer or mobile home or maybe a flat (which makes it not a lady "bar" but who knows what) and then I could pick from among 30 lady bar patrons and take her somewhere. "You would be taken to a dingy little place with a dingy little bed................," he supposed.

Chris had an employment interview so I tagged along. The disco isn't my bag (or cup of tea, after all, I am in China) so I went to the Hard Rock Cafe. After a week in China you come to expect that the service will be top notch and gracious. That is not the case with Hard Rock Beijing. It's just as big a tourist trap as any that I've ever been in - from the 100RMB "first drink cover" to the staff attitudes. They have managed to import all that is wrong with the American service industry. Serves me right for even going there.

Went to Sanlitun area (Bourbon Street times ten) and cruised around. By now we've hooked up with all of Chris' friends and they know where the local cool places are. It was very nice expat bar and, of course, the main topic of conversation was the World Cup. Ran into drugs, which surprised me. Watched Portugal beat Iran in an open air area that had a huge screen against a very modern building whose lighting kept changing. Was really nice expat and Chinese folks all rooting for their teams. Again, stayed out until 4:00 am and this morning we have decided to "chill".

REPORT FROM BEIJING

The scale of Beijing is very surprising, kind of a cross between Paris, Moscow and Havana. Quickly liberated of notion that this was some sort of third world backwater joint. (It's probably a combination of third, second and first world). This has been kind of like being on the set of a Bob Hope "road" movie with a twist of Star Trek thrown in. I have taken millions of photos. We spent last night downloading them into Chris' computer and he's put a few of them on www.myspace.com/cmlovell.

The night life is amazingly sophisticated and then you just as quickly fall into a class sinkhole with horrific sights of beggars without arms and shit like that. There's obviously big money, big economy in swing here but the size of the population is humbling. Went out the first night but didn't last too long. Hadn't had the energy to go out at night as we had been going from sun up till late at night.

World Cup fever is rampant. Our first sojourn into the nightlife was at an expat bar called Brown's and it looked like Heroes. Everywhere we go there are giant (I'm talking billboard size) TV screens set up with throngs of folks looking on.

Have done more walking than I have ever done. There must be hundreds of univerities here. Visited a few. The food is tremendous with choices that are just astounding. Went yesterday to a Korean barbeque joint and cooked our own meal at a hibachi built into our table. Came back Thursday night exhausted. Then we went to the Summer Palace, rented a boat after walking around the tremendous grounds and just lazed for awhile. Rode another boat home and then a power boat through the channels in Beijing, way cool.

Avoid shopping at the Silk Market. What a nightmare. Tons and tons of knockoffs but through a gauntlet of aggressive Chinese salespeople. Didn't last too long, wasn't worth it. Noone expects to pay the price asked and they think you're a fool if you don't haggle. Makes for a pretty long time to buy an item and it's just too stressful and wasteful a price to pay for worthless crap. This really is the World Cup of barter. I can't stand it. The hostel is situated in a little area just below Tienemen and has plenty of shops so you can avoid that crap at Silk Market completely.

Went out for Peiking Duck that night with a Chinese friend of Chris'and it was really spectacular. This reminds me of my honeymoon trip to Paris, no bad meals. Get the pig ears.

Thursday (could this really be only our second day here?) was quite a day. Got up early and moved our stuff to a hostel as it was way cheaper. Went from a Holiday Inn type hotel to (CLICK HERE): 365 Inn (A hostel that is very close to Tienemen. Highly recommended.). It is in your classic Chinatown. Talk about a "road movie". Very very cool. Walked down the hutongs, ate, bickered with the locals. (film at eleven).

We went to see Chris' friends practice their martial arts and saw the damndest little 9-12 year old girls practicing gymnastics. so cute and accomplished. went to the Tienemen square as well as the Forbidden City and fooled around in a hutong eating dinner and looking at knickknacks.

Went to the high class mall that is on par with anything anywhere. Bought me a fancy designer chinese made shirt. China is a study in contradictions. (Even Mao said that all one can do is hope to minimize the contradictions.) Went from a glamorous mall to a "cd store" in someone's home in the hutong on the way back to the hostel and got a glimpse of working class chinese living arrangements.

Thursday we did very little but walk and gawk. Helped Chris look for an apartment (which he found) and just did a little shopping. Went out that night and ate at The Banana Leaf in the club district (near The Loft) a Thai place that was wonderful. The food has been such a heavenly surprise. It's like France, haven't had a shabby meal yet. Went to a Salsa bar and then to Passion one of the fanciest discos that I have ever seen. (lasers, computerized multi-media, hd tvs at the urinals, etc. saw an electronic billboard in a subway tunnel today, same thing, very high tech stuff I've never seen. went to an internet cafe and it was super modern with about 300 work areas, filled to the max.It seems that everyone in China is internet connected. Even this hostel has DSL.)

Since Passion really wasn't our bag, we ended up at a pickup bar where I was introduced (not in the literal sense) to the concept of Mongolian Whores. Stayed out way too late and ended up walking arm-in-arm with Chris down our little ghetto street at 4:30 next am, made for a late and sluggish start. Stayed in that night.

Today we went to the rental office to finish signing the contract and just spent the day doing that kind of crap. Big news, Beijing has a Wal-Mart so we stopped in there. Funny what you miss.

WHY DO YOU THINK THEY'RE CALLED "DEADHEADS"?
The latest danger in going to a Phil Lesh and Friends concert is the prospect of having some jerk fall on you from the balcony, something that has happened at two San Francisco shows. Ever nonconventional, deadheads have found two sides to the issue.Some people think the jumper should be arrested and jailed to learn his lesson. Others say life is but a dream and he should be forgiven for not realizing he was in another level of consciousness.
(TRIBE, unearthed by A&E INTERACTIVE)

DIXIE CHICKS NOW "NUMERO UNO"
For the "crime" of expressing disapproval of the President, the Dixie Chicks were hit with a full-frontal right-wing attack. Three years and a lot of hullabaloo later, their new release - Taking the Long Way - has shot to Number 1 on Billboard's country music chart and the overall Billboard 200 chart. In its first full week of availability, the latest release from the Dixie Chicks sold 526, 000 units.
(THE NATION, unearthed by Common Dreams)

I IN 136 CITIZENS NOW BEHIND BARS
"Prisons and jails added more than 1,000 inmates each week for a year, putting almost 2.2 million people, or one in every 136 U.S. residents, behind bars by last summer."
(AP, unearthed by Common Dreams)

RELIGION'S SLIPPERY SLOPE
"Not unlike families who choose the Jewish Star of David, the Christian cross and the Islamic crescent and star to honor their loved ones on headstones and markers, Sgt. Patrick Stewart's family's symbol of choice for his memorial plaque also was from his religion: the Wiccan pentacle. But of all the symbols and faiths recognized by the Department of Veterans Affairs, Wicca and its emblem -- a circle around a five-pointed star -- are not among them."
(WASHINGTON POST)

FEDERAL MARRIAGE AMENDMENT?
Next week the Senate is expected to vote on the proposed Federal Marriage Amendment (FMA), which would prohibit federal recognition of gay marriages even when approved by a state government. According to a study by the Cato Institute, the FMA is "Unnecessary, Anti-federalist, and Anti-democratic," and an unprecedented intrusion on our nation's historic commitment to federalism. It is unlike any other constitutional amendment in that it limits the ability of the democratic process to expand individual rights.
(CATO)

FAMILY ASKS FOR RETURN OF GERONIMO'S REMAINS
"The great grandson of the Apache leader Geronimo has appealed to the big chief in the White House to help recover the remains of his famous relative - purportedly stolen more than 90 years ago by a group of students - including the President's grandfather."
(COMMON DREAMS)

CHARITY'S BARRIER ISLAND
"The longstanding U.S. embargo against the island, designed to bring down Fidel Castro's government, has created a maze of rules limiting who can enter the country, how long they can stay, and the goods they can bring in."
(CHRONICLE OF PHILANTROPY, unearthed by LAWG)

WE'VE SEEN THIS HORROR MOVIE BEFORE: THE RETURN OF THE NIXON CLONES
"When he was asked about the National Security Agency's controversial domestic surveillance program last Monday, U.S. intelligence chief John D. Negroponte objected to the question and said the government was 'absolutely not' monitoring domestic calls without warrants."
(WASHINGTON POST)

WHO WOULD JESUS VOTE FOR?
"We have had small-scale theocracies in North America before - in Puritan New England and later in Mormon Utah. Today, a leading power such as the United States approaches theocracy when it meets the conditions currently on display: an elected leader who believes himself to speak for the Almighty, a ruling political party that represents religious true believers, the certainty of many Republican voters that government should be guided by religion and, on top of it all, a White House that adopts agendas seemingly animated by biblical worldviews."
(SEATTLE TIMES op/ed piece by Kevin Phillips)

BAD A BING
Continuing a string of off-screen run-ins with the law, two more fringe characters from 'The Sopranos' - the television mob boss's favorite chef and his muscle-bound bodyguard - have been charged in separate criminal cases.
(ATLANTA JOURNAL)

MEXICAN DRUG LAWS LIBERALIZED
"Mexico's Congress on Friday approved a bill decriminalizing possession of small quantities of marijuana, ecstasy, cocaine and even heroin for personal use.
(CNN, unearthed by Brent Gourley)

STUCK IN THE MOMENT WITH (A) FLUE
Police arrested a man who spent five hours naked and stuck in the chimney of his stepmother's California home.
(MSN, unearthed by Joel Sogol)

HEY, YOU! GET OFF OF MY CLOUD!
PRESIDENT George Bush can't get no satisfaction after Mick Jagger grabbed his hotel room.
(THE SUN, unearthed by AI Blitz)

COMPUTER GANG SLANG
Cyberbanging' -- gang members openly bragging about affiliations, skipping school, getting high and battling rival gangs."
(WASHINGTON POST)

WHETHER OR NOT BUSH HAD AUTHORITY TO LEAK IS SIDE ISSUE
"The pundits are arguing over whether Bush had the legal right to leak national security information. But, that's a fake debate. Even if its true that releasing the information was no crime, the leakers have committed a bigger crime."
(BUZZFLASH, unearthed by Progreso Weekly)

TRAILERS OF MASS DISTRACTION
"50 days after the fall of Baghdad, Bush proclaimed 'We have found the weapons of mass destruction,'a claim repeated by top administration officials for months afterward and hailed as a vindication of the decision to go to war. But even as Bush spoke, U.S. intelligence officials possessed powerful evidence that it was not true."
(WASHINGTON POST)

WHAT BUSH LEAKED
"Only 14 of the full 93 pages of the National Intelligence Estimate that President Bush authorized Vice President Cheney's chief of staff, I. Lewis 'Scooter' Libby, to disclose to New York Times reporter Judith Miller has actually been officially declassified, according to a posting today on the Web site of the National Security Archive at George Washington University.

The estimate has apparently been released in four forms:

one, a white paper that purportedly represented the substance of the estimate but actually left out most of the dissents and caveats;

second, an abstract that Mr. Libby apparently used to brief New York Times reporter Judith Miller on July 8, 2003;

third, the July 18, 2003, release by the White House of the 'key judgments' section and parts of the dissents;

and fourth, a Freedom of Information Act release to the National Security Archive on June 1, 2004, that included two additional pages but left the vast majority of the estimate whited out.
(NATIONAL SECURITY ARCHIVES)

"FINGER POINTER" TAKES AIM AT JURORS
A Texas prosecutor's angry reaction to losing a case is drawing criticism from some jurors, who say he accused them of breaking the law after they found the defendant not guilty."
(HOUSTON CHRONICLE, unearthed by Bill Messick)

TARGETTING THIEVES
"Police departments and government offices (Customs, NASA, even the FBI) rely on state-of-the-art investigation support from Target (department stores). According to a January Washington Post report, Target's world-class forensics lab in Minneapolis is the first choice by many departments for examination of surveillance tapes and other evidence, and it was Target in the mid-1990s that finally moved agencies to coordinate previously incompatible databases of criminals (treating the felon population as a nationwide "inventory control" problem). A Target executive said he works for "a high-tech company masquerading as a retailer."
(NEWS OF THE WEIRD, unearthed by Joel Sogol)

BLUE BOOK ON BUSH
If President Bush were a stock, his chart would look less like that of Texas-based oil giant Exxon-Mobil and more like that of Wal-Mart—a spike in 2001 followed by a downward slide.
(SLATE)

CHRISTIAN INTIFADISTS WAGING WAR ON CORPORATE AMERICA
"The culture war that heated up over gay marriage and roiled the 2004 presidential campaign is now expanding on the corporate front. In recent months, conservative Christians have waged campaigns against Ford Motor Co. and Microsoft Corp. for their support of gay and lesbian causes.
(LAW.COM)"

YOU'VE GOT TO CHANGE YOUR EVIL WAYS, BABY!
a wrongful termination suit in San Francisco by a former personal assistant to Carlos Santana and his wife, claims the couple made him see a chiropractor to be tested for his 'closeness to God.' Bruce Kuhlman claims he was subjected to "Neuro Emotional Technique" testing to improve his consciousness or awareness level and make him a better worker.
(LAW.COM)

CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?
Supermodel Naomi Campbell's felony assault charges filed after she allegedly threw a phone at a housekeeper in her Park Avenue New York City condo.
(FINDLAW)

DRIVER TICKETED FOR BUMPER STICKER FIGHTS BACK
A Georgia driver ticketed for having an anti-Bush bumper sticker under a lewdness ordinance has vowed to have her day in court.
(ATLANTA JOURNAL CONSTITUTION)

HOW DO I LOVE THEE? LET ME COUNT THE WAYS!
"Smith v. City and County of San Francisco, an unpublished ruling out of California's 1st District Court of Appeal goes to great lengths to define a word which, as noted in the decision, is a '"four-letter verb for 'copulate,' of possible Scandinavian origin...[which] appears frequently in the record along with its gerundive and a related noun involving the maternal parent.'
A quick search of the text of reveals 19 uses of 'f#&k,' nine of 'f#&king' and three of 'motherf#&ker.' There's also one 'F up' -- as in 'shut the F up' -- and three instances of 'a$$hole.' "
(LAW.COM)

TONY BLAIR CALLS FOR GUANTANAMO GULAG'S CLOSURE
"British Prime Minister Tony Blair joined the growing calls for the US detention camp at Guantanamo Bay to be closed after he was questioned about the claims of torture by two British residents held there."
(THE INDEPENDENT, unearthed by CubaNews Digest)

CELL PHONE TRICK
Looking for an address? Send a text message to 46645 (GOOGL) on your cell phone with a query like "Barnes and Noble, Campbell, CA" and it would send you back the address and phone number of the business. Totally free (unless you get charged for TXT). This has a lot of other uses: you can look up phone numbers, translate words, find out the population of Japan and sports scores. For say, basketball games. Text message the words "Seton Hall" and you'll instantly find out that Witchita State won that game 86-66. Try it out yourself, or check out the demo for Google SMS (short message service).
(MERCURY NEWS)

JUDGE DISMISSES EXTRAORDINARY RENDITION CASE
Maher Arar became one of the best-known victims of the CIA's practice of "extraordinary rendition", the sending of suspected terrorists to countries known for torturing their prisoners. "In a startling, ominous decision, a Federal District Judge has dismissed a lawsuit by Arar, who, during a stopover at Kennedy Airport on the way home to Canada after vacation, was kidnapped by CIA agents and flown to Syria where he was tortured for nearly a year in solitary confinement in a three-by-six-foot cell."
(VILLAGE VOICE)

THE DEPTHS OF DESPAIR
Just before Jumah al-Dossari tried to kill himself by fashioning a makeshift noose and opening a gash in his right arm, the Guantanamo Bay detainee handed his lawyer an envelope containing pages of tidily handwritten Arabic, some stained with dried blood:

"The detainees are suffering from the bitterness of despair, the detention humiliation and the vanquish of slavery and suppression," Dossari wrote, according to a translation. "I hope you will always remember that you met and sat with a 'human being' called 'Jumah' who suffered too much and was abused in his belief, self, dignity and also in his humanity. He was imprisoned, tortured and deprived from his homeland, his family and his young daughter who is in the most need of him for four years . . . with no reason or crime committed."
(WASHINGTON POST)

GOP SOLON TO SWITCH PARTIES
"Two-term Republican Rep. Rodney Tom of Bellevue Washington is quitting the Republican Party to run for the state Senate as a Democrat. 'I realized the far right has complete control of the party and for me to be effective for my constituents I need to be a Democrat,' Tom said."
(SEATTLE TIMES)

SANDRA DAY O'CONNOR BLASTS FAR RIGHT
"Sandra Day O'Connor, a Republican-appointed judge who retired last month after 24 years on the supreme court, has said the US is in danger of edging towards dictatorship if the party's rightwingers continue to attack the judiciary."
(COMMON DREAMS, unearthed by Paul Whitehurst)

GENE MIGHT PREDISPOSE YOU TO ADDICTION
The Institute of Psychiatry has identified a gene variation where cocaine would more markedly inhibit a protein that controls removal of key mood chemical dopamine in the brain leading them to the conclusion that the chances of becoming addicted to cocaine could depend on genes."
(BBC NEWS, unearthed by Paul Whitehurst)

JUSTICE BOUGHT AND PAID FOR
"The Columbian newspaper "Cambio" reports that the U.S. Justice Department received the last $1.3 million of an $83 million payment from the family of slain Colombian paramilitary boss and narco-trafficker Gonzalo "The Mexican" Rodriguez Gacha. In return for the massive payment, the family - Rodriguez' widow and seven of his "heirs" - received immunity from prosecution, which they were facing due to a federal indictment in Florida."
(NARCOSPHERE, unearthed by Skip Brutkiewicz)

HIGHWAY PATROL'S EVIDENCE GOES UP IN SMOKE
"Three 17-year-old boys, one of them the son of a Utah Highway Patrol trooper, have been arrested for investigation into the thefts of more than 23 pounds of marijuana from the UHP's evidence locker in Cedar City. The youth who was the son of a trooper purportedly filched his father's keys to get access to the building."
(KUTV, unearthed by Paul Whitehurst)

CANNIBAL UPSET ABOUT MOVIE
"For more than three years, the man known as the Cannibal of Rotenburg has held Germans in grisly thrall, with his lurid tale of killing and eating a willing victim he found through the Internet.
Now, as he stands trial for a second time on murder charges, the man, Armin Meiwes, has persuaded a German court to ban a horror film based on the notorious case, in part because it is, if possible, too lurid."
(NEW YORK TIMES)

HOW HIGH TIMES WOULD DESIGN A GROW ROOM
"This is how they grow it in Tennessee. This growroom was underneath a house in a cave. The entrance was through a secret hydraulic door in the garage that led to a concrete ramp that went about 50 yards into the ground. Inside the cave was living quarters and a secret escape hatch that led you through a tunnel that exited via another hydraulic door that opened up a rock on the outside. It was very elaborate. The set up allowed them to harvest every 60 days which resulted in multi-million dollar sales."
(PHISHHOOK, unearthed by Paul Whitehurst)

PHOTOS OF MOBILE'S MARDI GRAS 2006 POSTED
Just click on the red hyperlink to see some photos from this year's Mardi Gras in Mobile.

BILL WOULD BAN GOP PARENTS
"If an Ohio lawmaker's proposal becomes state law, Republicans would be barred from being adoptive parents.
The bill's proponent said his “tongue was planted firmly in cheek” when he drafted the proposed legislation. However, Hagan said that the point he is trying to make is nonetheless very serious.
(Lawrence Journal World, unearthed by Patti Martin)

MISSING LAWYER FOUND AFTER 7 MONTH HIATUS
A homeless man has been ID'd as Raymond Power Jr., 57, a New York lawyer who had been missing for almost seven months after suffering amnesia. Power somehow ended up at a Chicago homeless shelter and was assisted in finding out his identity by another shelter resident.
(AMERICA'S MOST WANTED, unearthed by Bill Messick)

USE OF HALLUCINOGENIC TEA UPHELD BY SUPREME COURT
In Gonzales v. O Centro Espirita Beneficiente Uniao Do Vegetal, No. 04-1084, Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr. delivered the opinion on behalf of a unanimous Court affirming the Tenth Circuit's ruling that the federal government failed to demonstrate, at the preliminary injunction stage, a compelling interest in barring respondent's sacramental use of the hallucinogenic tea known as hoasca.
(SCOTUS, unearthed by Paul Whitehurst)

AGREE WITH US OR WE'LL PUT YOU IN PRISON
"British historian David Irving was sentenced in Austria to three years in prison after pleading guilty on Monday to charges of denying the Holocaust, saying he erred in contending there were no Nazi gas chambers during the Second World War.
Irving could have received a 10-year prison term. Under Austrian law, it is a crime to publicly diminish, deny or justify the Holocaust."
(CBC)

INTERROGATION POLICY CAUSED INTERNAL CONFLICTS AT PENTAGON
"One of the military's top civilian lawyers, one of many dissenters inside the Pentagon,repeatedly challenged the Bush administration's policy on the coercive interrogation of terror suspects, arguing that such practices violated the law, verged on torture and could ultimately expose senior officials to prosecution, a newly disclosed document shows.
But Mr. Mora's campaign against what he viewed as an official policy of cruel treatment, detailed in a memorandum he wrote in July 2004 and recounted in an article in the Feb. 27 issue of The New Yorker magazine, made public yesterday, underscored again how contrary views were often brushed aside in administration debates on the subject.
(NEW YORK TIMES)

IN CHINA INTERNET HOLDS PROMISE OF BREAKING GOVERNMENT STRANGLEHOLD
"Eleven years after young Chinese returning from graduate study in the United States persuaded the party to offer Internet access to the public, China is home to one of the largest, fastest-growing and most active populations of Internet users in the world, according to several surveys. With more than 111 million people connected to the Web, China ranks second to the United States."
(WASHINGTON POST)

DOPEY LEGISLATORS PROPOSE DOPEY LAW
"Some Geogia lawmakers want "Potsuckers" - sweets being marketed with marijuana-themed names like Purple Erkle, Blue Haze and Rasta lollipops - off the shelves and away from kids. Bill 511, a measure that would ban the sale of marijuana- or hemp-flavored candy in Georgia. The Bill's sponsor argues that "dope candy" may lead to future marijuana and drug use by young people.
(ATLANTA JOURNAL CONSTITUTION)

ZACK SOTO FEATURED IN ARTICLE
Call him old school if you like. But at a time when the Frank Miller-chomping masses are tearing stand-alone graphic novels and Japanese manga off the shelves with fervor to spare, Baton Rouge artist Zack Soto holds an unwavering belief in the serial comic."
(225BATONROUGE.COM)

MEET THE .COMmunist
Columbia Law professor Eben Moglen believes "the bourgeoisie" -- namely, Microsoft, The Walt Disney Co., the WTO, the U.S. Congress and the European Commission -- form "an unholy alliance" controlling culture and information. And he advocates for the abolition of all IP laws. But he's no Marxist. This self-proclaimed "dotCommunist," who just happens to have some of the world's biggest tech companies paying his bills, sits at the forefront of a growing political technology movement. Its goal? Free software.
(LAW.COM)

WINNERS ANNOUNCED IN UNIQUE CONTEST TO BENEFIT HUNGRY
If you want to marvel at the creativity of some design firms go to this site for Canstruction. Trademarked by the Society for Design Administration (SDA) and held in conjunction with chapters of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and allied professional organizations, it is an annual charity competition where design firms test their mettle to see who can build the most astounding structure made entirely from full cans of food. At the close of the competition all of the food used in the structures is donated to local food banks to feed those most in need. Structures, ranging in size from 1,000 to 13,000 cans, are created by stacking a variety of can sizes and shapes using the product labels as the color pallet. Structurally self-supporting, the only other materials to be used are 1/4 leveling, cardboard, tape, rubber bands and wire. This past year competitions took place in 45 cities across North America. "
(unearthed by Tommy Bealle)