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)

ENEMA MINE
Investigators say a Texas woman caused her husband's death by giving him a sherry enema, leading to alcohol poisoning. The enema caused his blood alcohol level to soar to 0.47 percent — almost six times the legal intoxication limit, a toxicology report showed.
(HOUSTON CHRONICLE, unearthed by Bill Messick)

BASKETBRAWL
Alabama police say more arrests will be made following a savage brawl that erupted at a girls' basketball game.
(IVILLAGE)

DR. ECSTASY: HE COULD HAVE DANCED ALL NIGHT
"in 1976, Shulgin fished an obscure chemical called MDMA out of the depths of the chemical literature and introduced it to the wider world, where it came to be known as Ecstasy."
(NYT)

TALIBAMA DREAMIN'
"The other night I dreamed that Roy Moore was elected governor."
(ANNISTON STAR, unearthed by Joe Paul)

IRAQ REALITY CHECK
What if the war in Iraq were happening in New York State? What would it be like? In reality, the numbers are roughly comparable. The state has 19 million people. Iraq has 25 million. Baghdad's population is about 6 million. New York City's is 8 million.
(VILLAGE VOICE)
FOR A BEAUTIFUL TRIBUTE TO THE GUYS AND GALS WHO ARE OVER THERE CLICK HERE
(Suggested by Marsh Acker)

SPONGEBOB SEEN WITH UNDERAGE TELETUBBY, PINK POWERRANGER IS JEALOUS
First it was the spate of the SpongeBob rob jobs from local Burger Kings. Now the little yellow guy who lives in a pineapple under the sea is at the center of a far grimmer controversy, again not of his own making. Two conservative Christian groups attacking the cartoon character for allegedly being part of, as one of them put it, a "pro-homosexual video." CLICK HERE FOR OTHER COMMENTARY
CLICK HERE FOR AN EXAMPLE OF THE 'DEBATE' AMONGST THESE 'CHRISTIANS' or CLICK HERE FOR A LINK TO JUST GOOD OLE REACTIONARIES(MSNBC, unearthed by Joel Sogol)

MOBILE BUSH PROTEST
While hundreds of Alabamians were in Washington celebrating the second term of President Bush, a few of their fellow citizens staged a shadow inauguration Thursday in Mobile with a different take on the nation's leader. CLICK HERE FOR OTHER PROTESTS

(MOBILE RESITER and COMMON DREAMS)