SPANISH LESSON
There's so much anti-Americanism now. That is Bush's achievement.
(NYT)

DOMINIONISTS?
(Good friend Joel Sogol just sent me a story on a piece of legislation that hasn't gotten much play. Did a Google search on "Dominionists" and the result is quite scary. Interestingly, some of the better arguments against this movement and this legislation, come, not from liberals but from rightwing extremists and religious groups who see them as false prophets. )
"The Constitution Restoration Act – drafted by a former minion of TV evangelist Pat Robertson – is the fruit of decades of work by a group of extremists known broadly as "Dominionists." Their openly expressed aim is to establish "biblical rule" over every aspect of society – placing "the state, the school, the arts and sciences, law, economics, and every other sphere under Christ the King." Or as Attorney General John Ashcroft – the nation's chief law enforcement officer – likes to say: "America has no king but Jesus!"
(SMIRKING CHIMP, unearthed by Joel Sogol)

US HELPED BRAZIL PLOTTERS
From 1964 to 1985, Brazil was ruled by a string of five colorless military presidents chosen by their fellow officers. The dictatorship ended in 1985 when a democracy movement swept the country. Newly declassified U.S. documents show the extent of American willingness to provide aid to Brazil's generals during the 1964 coup that ushered in 21 years of often bloody military rule.
(BILLINGS GAZETTE, unearthed by National Security Archives and Cuba News Digest)

TECH GUIDE: OPERATOR GUIDE TO WOMEN 1.0
"Learn how to maintain a woman distro. Includes secrets of flawless booting and file management, and solutions to frequently encountered errors."
(TECH TV)

FOURPLEX FIRE
Last Friday in my apartment I heard a loud noise. Couldn't tell if it was an explosion or airbrakes from the radio remote truck at Soul Kitchen or what. Turned out it was a fire at the fourplex where a lot of our friends live (and have lived). Then, a few days later I get an email from my friend Linda Touart telling me about some pictures her husband Rick had taken. The internet is a funny little animal. This site is a real trip. Be sure your sound is on.

RECIPE CAUSES MAGAZINE RECALL
"Southern Living magazine has recalled its April issue from newsstands because of an error in a recipe for dinner rolls that resulted in minor burns to at least five readers."
(AP, unearthed by Findlaw)

MORE BIG LIE?
"Donald Rumsfeld, argues that the inhumane incarceration, the secrecy and the abuse of any principles of justice are all justified by the fact that the Guantanamo prisoners are the hardest of hard cases. But given what we know of those who have been released, the refusal of the US to open the evidence to challenge, and the secrecy that surrounds the prison and all who languish there, the proposition that - like the weapons of mass destruction - maybe none of them are terrorists - is worth considering.
(GUARDIAN, unearthed by Common Dreams)

DEBRIEFING NOTES DISCOVERED AT COFFEE SHOP
Someone, obviously readying him/herself to prep Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld – left notes on the table of a local coffeeshop. Talking points, hand-written notes on spin tactics, and a hand-drawn map to the Secretary's house were found by a resident of DuPont Circle, who made them available to the Center for American Progress. The name of said resident is being withheld at his request, as he fears that he may be accused on national television of being "disgruntled." (Click on the headline to see the actual notes)
(AMERICAN PROGRESS, unearthed by Common Dreams)

YELLOW JOURNALISM
"Put 30 drug testing workers in a room together for a few hours and it isn't long before they start trading strange - and somewhat indelicate - tales of urine collection."
(MYWAY.COM, unearthed by Jim Jeffries)

MY DOG ATE MY BACON!
"A new study of how the media has covered the issue of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), released today, concludes, 'Many stories stenographically reported the incumbent administration's perspectives on WMD, giving too little critical examination of the way officials framed the events, issues, threats and policy options.' "
(COMMON DREAMS)

EVERY CHILD LEFT BEHIND
The federal No Child Left Behind law is threatening to wreck public education in Minnesota and elsewhere. That's what it was designed to do.
(CITY PAGES)

WATCHDOGS ARE SLEEPING
Partisan TV pundit participation in the RNC's attack on Kerry is perhaps to be expected, but they were not the only media figures to simply pass on the Republican allegations without examination....
Embarrassingly, Dicks had to explain to Woodruff that most of the weapons "votes" weren't individual votes at all, but a single vote on the Pentagon's 1991 appropriations bill. Woodruff responded with surprise to this information: "Are you saying that all these weapons systems were part of one defense appropriations bill in 1991?"...
Unfortunately, Hume failed to raise an important follow-up: Why was Cheney now criticizing Kerry for having essentially the same position Cheney advocated back in 1991?
(FAIR)

BYRD IN COOP
"Legendary rock artist David Crosby was arrested yesterday for possessing marijuana and a .45 caliber handgun. Crosby had checked out of a Times Square hotel but reportedly left behind a piece of luggage. A hotel employee searching the luggage for identification found the gun and the pot. Police arrested Crosby when he returned to the hotel to claim the luggage."
(TALKLEFT, unearthed by Paul Whitehurst)

STRICT RECONSTRUCTIONIST
"Lost amid the flurry of victory signs being waved by his most strident GOP backers is the fact that the president actually loves activist jurists, as long as they embrace his views on marriage, gay sex, civil liberty, reproductive rights and religion. "
(SF CHRONICLE, unearthed by Kathryn Varner)

FOOD FIGHT!
"A dispute at the salad bar turned into a food fracas at an upscale retirement home, with a man taking a bite out of another's arm and other residents suffering minor injuries."
(FINDLAW, unearthed by Bill Messick)