] Hundreds of thousands of people in white shirts poured
] onto the streets of Hong Kong on Thursday to vent their
] frustration at Chinese rule and challenge Beijing's
] refusal to allow them to elect their own leaders.

Choosing stories this morning for their pictures. This is Victoria Park full of protesters. I usually stayed in a hotel in Hong Kong which had this same view. If its possible to feel homesick for a place you only worked in over the course of a few months this picture does it.

Hong Kong Democracy Protest

] WASHINGTON -- The government needs to establish
] guidelines for canceling or rescheduling elections if
] terrorists strike the United States again, says the
] chairman of a new federal voting commission.
]
] Such guidelines do not currently exist.

Government needs guidlines for handling election day terrorist attacks

] "They didn't really have a specific plan for what to do,
] case by case, if we lost," a senior Department of Defense
] official said on condition of anonymity. "The Justice
] Department didn't have a plan. State didn't have a plan.
] This wasn't a unilateral mistake on Department of Defense's
] part. It's astounding to me that these cases have been pending
] for so long and nobody came up with a contingency plan."

Yahoo! News - Detainees May Be Moved Off Cuba Base

] In Portland's Victorian heyday in the second half of the
] 19th century, the neighborhoods near the waterfront saw
] the seedier side of the city's activities, with saloons,
] bordellos, and boardinghouses catering to the sailors and
] other working folk who passed through Portland looking
] for a night of relaxation after a day or month of hard
] labor. But a night of drinking turned into an ongoing
] nightmare for thousands of unsuspecting young men, when
] they woke up the next morning on a ship bound for Asia.
] They had been Shanghaied.

History of sailor slavery in Portland

] The Electronic Frontier Foundation is spoiling for a
] fight, and on Wednesday it named the top 10 patents it
] wants killed, or at least redefined.
]
] The EFF said all 10 patents are in some way illegitimate
] and are being used to limit free expression.

Wired News: EFF Publishes Patent Hit List

] The court refused to endorse a central claim of the White
] House since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001: that
] the government has authority to seize and detain terror
] suspects or their protectors and indefinitely deny access
] to courts or lawyers while interrogating them.

This is one of the most important things going on around you right now. Read these decisions.

Yahoo! News - Enemy Combatants Win Right to U.S. Courts

] We strongly encourage members of the general public and
] non-commercial communities, etc. to submit comments on
] each Report. The outcome of the WHOIS Policy Development
] Process will have a significant impact on privacy, civil
] liberties, and freedom of expression for Internet users.

If any of you have taken an interest in my comments to ICANN, pro or con, you should submit your own comments. Its important that ICANN hear from you.

Submit your comments to ICANN

] ICANN should see DNS Whois for what it is, a relic of a
] simpler time, and focus instead on the IP address Whois
] systems, where their efforts might reap meaningful
] results.

After the drama I stirred up last week (see the politech list) Circle ID offered to feature an article from me about the DNS Whois issue. Here it is.

DNS WHOIS: Barking Up the Wrong Tree

] The CIA has suspended the use of extraordinary
] interrogation techniques approved by the White House
] pending a review by Justice Department and other
] administration lawyers, intelligence officials said.

The NYT version of this story was very spinny.

CIA Puts Harsh Tactics On Hold (washingtonpost.com)

In a low-key secret ceremony, the U.S. handed over power in Iraq two days early.

US hands over sovereignty in Iraq