] The Israeli Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that a
] contentious section of the barrier being built by Israel
] in the West Bank violates the rights of thousands of
] Palestinian residents by separating them from their
] farmland in "a veritable chokehold, which will severely
] stifle daily life."

This story includes a pretty amazing photo of Israel's Berlin Wall.

[ That is a fantastic picture. I don't want to carry symbolism too far, but it's worth noting that the left and right sides look just the same... if only the people on both sides could see themselves in that way.

I look forward to the day when i can watch the people tear down this one too. -k]

Israeli Court Orders Changes in Barrier (washingtonpost.com)

] President Bush and everyone in Washington should screen
] Michael Moore's controversial anti-Bush film "Fahrenheit
] 9/11," a group of military and 9/11 families said
] Wednesday.

I would pay to see a documentary based around Bush and his cabinet watching this movie. The pressuring to get them to watch it, the reactions of their faces during the film, and so on.

[ Good call... that would be truly something. I bet you'd catch W asleep. -k]

1010 WINS: Families Call On Bush To See Moore Movie

"Do you boys have any idea what part of town you're in?"

Nice to see Phreaknic is returning to the land of hookers and drug dealers.

Remember You *must* deliver the package

Phreaknic: Ghetto Hotel part II.

] This quality-control breakdown has resulted in agencies
] classifying too much information and, in some cases,
] classifying information that by law shouldn't be stamped
] "secret" in the first place. Implying that the government
] classified the reports of prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib to
] cover up the scandal, Leonard says:
]
] [I]n no case can information be classified in order
] to conceal violations of law or to prevent embarrassment
] to a person, organization or agency. %u2026 Specifically,
] "exactly from whom are we keeping the information
] secret?" In the case of detainee abuse, we are obviously
] not keeping it secret from the detainees%u2014they
] experience the abuse and interrogation techniques first
] hand. And I assume we do not expect them to sign a
] nondisclosure agreement upon their release from custody
] based upon the premise that they had been exposed to
] classified information when they are subjected to abusive
] techniques.

Our Privacy Czar says the classified system is breaking down in both directions. Link to full speech: http://tinyurl.com/3d3jh

[ Interesting article...

I converted the link to the full speech to a tinyurl, because it was buggering the width of the page... tinyurl is your friend. -k]

Too Many Secrets, Says the Secrecy Czar - J. William Leonard frets about the breakdown of the classification system. By Jack Shafer

] FINK: When you're talking about politics, what do you and
] [your father] talk about?
]
] DUBYA: Pussy.
]
] -- Interview with David Fink of the Hartford Courant at
] the Republican Convention, 1988

Things I never want the leader of my country, who makes policies about what I can and can't do with my body, to have said.

This was apparently said two years AFTER Rev. Billy Graham helped him to "recommit his life to God".

[ I'm less concerned that he said it, as crass as it is, than that he said it to a REPORTER. In my home, with my friends, i can be crass, and that really doesn't reflect on how I might conduct myself elsewhere. To say something like that, in public, to a reporter, is really stupid, more than anything else. -k]

DubyaSpeak.com : Dubya on Himself

] The preparations for the possibility of an early transfer
] were started a week ago, according to a senior U.S.
] official.

To paraphase Jay Leno: "And if Fahrenheit 9/11 keeps doing well, Carl Rove said the Administration will push forward the bin Laden capture"

Iraq handover of sovereignty completed

] The baby, it turned out in the first such documented case
] in a human, had a double dose of a genetic mutation that
] causes immense strength in mice and cattle. Drugs are
] under development that, investigators hope, will use the
] same principle to help people whose muscles are wasting
] from muscular dystrophy or other illnesses. Experts say
] the little boy, now 4½ and still very strong, offers
] human evidence for the theory behind such drugs.

[ Huh. As always, potential problems loom... but this could be pretty important. -k]

A Very Muscular Baby Offers Hope Against Diseases

] Computer trade show Comdex, once the biggest event on the
] tech calendar, has been canceled this year, a victim of
] the growing interest in shows emphasizing consumer
] electronics and specialist IT gear.

[ Wow. -k]

Organizer cancels Comdex 2004 | CNET News.com

] In apparent defiance of color theory -- that dark
] surfaces absorb light and white surfaces reflect it --
] Sony Corp. has unveiled a black screen that allows a
] regular digital projector to vividly display TV images
] and business presentations in a brightly lit room.

[ Very very cool -k]

WSJ.com - Sony's Black Screens May Brighten Business

] Apple® today announced that music fans in the UK, France
] and Germany have purchased and downloaded more than
] 800,000 songs from the iTunes® Music Store since its
] launch one week ago, with more than 450,000 sold in the
] UK alone.

[ Werd. -k]

iTunes Music Store in Europe Sells 800,000 Songs in First Week