RELIGIOUS WRONG
" I think we are teetering on the brink of theocracy and the Christian Right could conceivably use the battle over the judiciary and weakening support for reproductive rights to push us over the edge."
(SMIRKING CHIMP, unearthed by Joe Paul)

SPAM MUNCHIES!
Dealing with e-mail, instant messages, and other messaging interruptions throughout the day is more damaging to one’s IQ than either lack of sleep, or using marijuana, according to a recent study of more than 1,000 Brits conducted on behalf of Hewlett Packard.
(Aunty Spam's Net Patrol, unearthed by LockerGnome)

DRACONIAN DRUG BILL INTRODUCED BY SENSENBRENNER

The full House Judiciary Committee is set to vote as early as next week on H.R. 1528, which creates a new group of mandatory miniumum penalties for non-violent drug offenses, including a five year penalty for passing a joint to someone who's been in drug treatment.

The "Defending America's Most Vulnerable: Safe Access to Drug Treatment and Child Protection Act of 2005" (H.R. 1528) was introduced by House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) on April 6, and it has already passed out of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security.

The bill would also create a 10-year mandatory minimum sentence for a first-time conviction of distributing a small amount of marijuana to a person under 18 years of age ... and a 10-year sentence for a second offense of distributing marijuana to a person under 21.

Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM) also has an action alert on this bill:

MAKES THE FEDERAL SENSENCING GUIDELINES MANDATORY

CREATES NEW MANDATORY MINIMUMS

ELIMINATES THE SAFETY VALVE FOR LOW-LEVEL COURIERS.

PUNISHES DEFENDANTS FOR "RELEVANT CONDUCT" COMMITED BEFORE THEY JOINED A CONSPIRACY

AND THERE'S MORE!
(Suggested by Joe Paul)

BEWARE, THE UNITARIAN JIHAD!
Beware! Unless you people shut up and begin acting like grown-ups with brains enough to understand the difference between political belief and personal faith, the Unitarian Jihad will begin a series of terrorist-like actions. We will take over television studios, kidnap so-called commentators and broadcast calm, well-reasoned discussions of the issues of the day. We will not try for "balance" by hiring fruitcakes; we will try for balance by hiring non-ideologues who have carefully thought through the issues.
(SF CHRONICLE, unearthed by Joe Paul)
P.S.

My Unitarian Jihad Name is: Sibling Katana of Enlightenment.

Get yours.

THE UNDOING OF AMERICA
"Gore Vidal on war for oil, politics-free elections, and the late, great U.S. Constitution"
(CITY PAGES)

SOCIAL INSECURITY
How will you fare under Bush's privatization plan? Here's a nifty site that helps you calculate the actual differences between the plan and the status quo.
(Suggested by Patti Martin)

CUBA TRAVEL GROUP SEEKS ACADEMICS FOR PETITION SIGNATURE
ECDET, a group that is organizing to confront the restrictions on academic travel to Cuba, is putting together a petition to get the US government to change the guidelines back to what they were before June 2004. There is an effort to collect faculty names across the country. The names of the faculty will be submitted to the Congress on April 25th. They are trying to get individual faculty members, departments, colleges and faculty senates to join in this effort.
At this point all they need is for people to submit their names and their university. "ECDET, coordinated by Wayne Smith of Johns Hopkins University and Les McCabe of the Institute of Shipboard Education, is working to confront and rescind these regulations. So, if you are an academic, join ECDET today. It is free; all you need to do it reply to tiana@ciponline.org with your contact information and your wish to join ECDET. Help them repel the attack on academic freedom.

HISTORY OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT
When killing was routine
(NEW YORK TIMES, unearthed by Sentencing Law and Policy)

THERE'S ALWAYS BEEN MONEY IN SLAVERY
Six weeks after Cuban refugees were ordered released, many remain locked up. For some wardens that's good, because housing them means big bucks.
(TIMES-PICAYUNE)

DON'T YOU DON NO GAY APPAREL
"Leigh Clemons, an assistant professor at Louisiana State University, had watched one of her former pupils, Patriots defensive back Randall Gay, play a key role in New England's 24-21 win against Philadelphia in Super Bowl XXXIX.
When Clemons entered the last name of the Patriots cornerback, her request was rejected by NFLshop.com, the league's official online merchandise center. The Web site accompanied the rejection with a message that said, "This field should not contain a naughty word."
(TIMES-PICAYUNE)

DON'T MOAN, ORGANIZE!
One of the problems we working class Southerners have is that educated progressive Americans see us as a bunch of obese, heavily armed nose pickers. This problem is compounded by the fact that so many of us are pretty much that. Call it the “Dumb-crackers-lordee-I-reckon” syndrome. But liberals err in thinking this armed and drunken laboring species is an exclusively Southern breed. No matter where you live in this nation you will find us. We are the folks in front of you at the Wal-Mart checkout lugging a case of motor oil while having nicotine fits. But even in such democratic venues as shopping, our encounters are limited because we do not buy designer beer and you do not buy ammo or motor oil by the case.
(DISSIDENT VOICE, unearthed by Joe Paul)

MUSICIANS BREAK RANKS WITH RIAA
"Musicians are not universally united in opposition to peer-to-peer file sharing" as the major records companies claim," a prominent group of musicians and artists, urged the Supreme Court not to hold online file-sharing services responsible for the acts of users who illegally trade songs, movies and software. Many musicians find peer-to-peer technology . . . allows them easily to reach a worldwide online audience, they said.
(WASHINGTON POST)

NIXON/REAGAN SHADOW CABINET
"News stories about Elliot Abrams, John Negroponte and Otto Reich have largely relied on past reporting and he-said, she-said soundbites by the usual supporters and critics, rather than in-depth investigations into their complicity in one of the bloodiest scandals of the past 20 years. And their guilt is based not on speculation or gossip, but on hard evidence that they aided torturers and death squads,circumvented Congress and the Constitution, and deceived the American people.
(FAIR)

CUBA TRAVEL MEMORANDUM
"An explanation of current U.S. restrictions on professional research and educational activities in Cuba."
(MICHAEL KRINSKY, unearthed by Cuba News Digest)

TORTURE VICTIM BELIES BUSH'S ASSURANCES
"On January 27th, Two and a half years ago, American officials, suspecting Maher Arar, a Canadian engineer born in Syria, of being a terrorist, stopped him while he was changing planes in New York and sent him back to Syria, where he endured months of brutal interrogation, including torture. "
(NEW YORKER, unearthed by Progresso Weekly)