] "He pointed out a relatively remote baseball diamond that
] was enclosed in a chain-link fence," Neel recalled in an
] interview with Salon. "I could see these people behind
] the fence, with their faces up against it, and their
] hands on the wire." (The ACLU posted photos of the
] demonstrators and supporters at that event on its Web
] site.) "It looked more like a concentration camp than a
] free speech area to me, so I said, 'I'm not going in
] there. I thought the whole country was a free speech
] area.'" The detective asked Neel, 66, to go to the area
] six or eight times, and when he politely refused, he
] handcuffed and arrested the retired steelworker on a
] charge of disorderly conduct. When Neel's sister argued
] against his arrest, she was cuffed and hauled off as
] well. The two spent the president's visit in a firehouse
] that was serving as Secret Service and police
] headquarters for the event.
]
] It appears that the Neels' experience is not unique. Late
] last month, on Sept. 23, the American Civil Liberties
] Union filed a lawsuit in a federal court in Philadelphia
] against the Secret Service, alleging that the agency, a
] unit of the new Homeland Security Department charged with
] protecting the president, vice president and other key
] government officials, instituted a policy in the months
] even before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks of instructing
] local police to cordon off protesters from the president
] and Vice President Dick Cheney. Plaintiffs include the
] National Organization for Women, ACORN, USA Action and
] United for Justice, and groups and individuals who have
] been penned up during presidential visits, or arrested
] for refusing to go into a "free speech area," in places
] ranging from California to New Mexico, Missouri,
] Connecticut, New Jersey, South Carolina and elsewhere in
] Pennsylvania.

'I thought the whole country was a free speech zone.'

TIME article explores the manner in which Iraqi agents recruited by the CIA assisted the war effort in Iraq.

Time | The Secret Collaborators

San Francisco's voting results, according to CNN:

Recall: 20% Yes, 80% No.
Candidate: Bustamante 63% (134k), Schwarzenegger 13% (40k)

558 people voted for Gary Coleman.

] Go to the Federal Election Commission homepage at
] www.fec.gov.
] On the left of their homepage is a link labeled
] "Campaign Finance Reports and Data", click it.
] Scroll down a ways to Image/Query System, under that
] choose "View Financial Reports"...
] Under the intro paragraph choose "Search the Report
] Image System"
] In the dialogue box type "Clinton" and click "Get
] Listing"
] 20 entries down you`ll see "CLINTON, HILLARY RODHAM",
] click on the blue number "P00003392" beside her name.
]
] Guess what? "Presidential Candidate 2004 ".
]
] Hillary Rodham Clinton filed late Friday, Oct 3rd, with
] the Federal Election Commission to run for President in
] 2004.

Instapundit.com: Hilllary Running?

This would be _so_ much better if they all were sitting in a big tic tac toe board like in Hollywood Squares. Statham is a great host.

Huffington and Schwarzenegger should get a Crossfire like talk show.

] The American Library Association (ALA) is investigating
] whether its relationship with law firm Jenner & Block is
] a conflict of interest, as the firm has represented the
] Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in its
] recent efforts to gather the names of those suspected of
] illegal file-sharing. In a letter to ALA executive
] director Keith Fiels, Emily Sheketoff, executive director
] of ALA's Washington Office, said that the office has
] grown "very uncomfortable" with Jenner & Block's legal
] activities on behalf of the RIAA. ALA is seeking a letter
] from the firm setting forth how it would handle any
] potential conflict.

This is an odd newsbite in that it only appears in one journal and isn't very detailed. No formal statements on the ALA's website.

ALA might toss their lawyers...

] A defiant North Korea told the United States and four
] other nations that it has nuclear weapons and will prove
] it by conducting a test unless the United States gives up
] its "hostile policy," Bush administration officials said
] Thursday.
]
] Such a test might occur around the 55th anniversary of
] the founding of the North Korean state on Sept. 9, said a
] U.S. official briefed on the talks in Beijing. "Their
] line is that they need to 'test' or 'display' their
] capabilities to act as a deterrent ... and they say it
] isn't a bluff."

] Another U.S. official briefed on the Beijing talks said the
] North Korean diplomats made the threats to Assistant
] Secretary of State James Kelly on Wednesday, then
] repeated them before envoys from China, Russia, Japan
] and South Korea. "The Chinese were visibly angry and the
] others were taken aback," the official said. Both U.S.
] officials asked not to be named.

] Meanwhile, U.S.-led naval exercises are scheduled in the
] Pacific on Sept. 13 to practice stopping North Korean ships
] and searching them for arms or drugs.

Thats some timing..

USATODAY | N. Korea threatens nuclear testing

] Working with experts at the Lawrence Livermore National
] Laboratory, the FBI traced trails of a broader
] reconnaissance. A forensic summary of the investigation,
] prepared in the Defense Department, said the bureau found
] "multiple casings of sites" nationwide. Routed through
] telecommunications switches in Saudi Arabia, Indonesia
] and Pakistan, the visitors studied emergency telephone
] systems, electrical generation and transmission, water
] storage and distribution, nuclear power plants and gas
] facilities.

] "We were underestimating the amount of attention [al
] Qaeda was] paying to the Internet," said Roger Cressey,
] a longtime counterterrorism official who became chief of
] staff of the President's Critical Infrastructure
] Protection Board in October. "Now we know they see it as
] a potential attack vehicle. Al Qaeda spent more time
] mapping our vulnerabilities in cyberspace than we
] previously thought. An attack is a question of when,
] not if."

] What they do know is that "Red Teams" of mock intruders
] from the Energy Department's four national laboratories
] have devised what one government document listed as
] "eight scenarios for SCADA attack on an electrical power
] grid" -- and all of them work. Eighteen such exercises
] have been conducted to date against large regional
] utilities, and Richard A. Clarke, Bush's cyber-security
] adviser, said the intruders "have always, always succeeded."

Cyber-Attacks by Al Qaeda Feared (TechNews.com)

] In an announcement that shook the California political
] establishment, actor Arnold Schwarzenegger said Wednesday
] he intends to run for governor.
]
] "I will pump up Sacramento," the former bodybuilder and
] "Terminator 3" star said on the "Tonight Show with Jay
] Leno."

sigh..

It wasn't a T3 publicity stunt

] ''Although Uday and Qusay are criminals, displaying their
] corpses like this is disgusting and repulsive. America
] claims it is civilised but is behaving like a thug,''
] Saudi civil servant Saad Brikan, 42, told Reuters in
] Riyadh.
] Another civil servant Hasan Hammoud, 35, said:
] ''America always spoils its own image by doing something
] like this. What is the advantage of showing these bodies?
] Didn't they think about the humanitarian aspect? About
] their mother and the rest of their family when they see
] these images?''

sigh.. Taking this seriously is going to make me angry, for reasons that should be obvious. I choose another route.

Can we get them stuffed? Put on display at one of the buildings on the Mall is DC? Keep the admission cheap, like under $5. A show maybe. Have some sword/fire swallowers or something.. The Smithsonian needs something like this, it being 2003 and all.. Clearly, the bar for surreal shit can be pushed a little higher, press conferences with putty'd and makeup'd bodies in Iraq being the norm these days.

Let some of the Hollywood people get their hands on the bodies before they rot.. Make sure to get good 3d models done. At some point or another, they are going to need some rockin' shows for Iraq's TV networks.. "Saddam and Sons" could be a hit.

Remember, if we want to rebuild Iraq and be on good terms with the people, we need to give them what they want.. If you have been paying attention, that's Demoraracy, Whiskey, and Sexy. We took this golden opportunity to win some mindshare with the Iraqi people, and completely botched it. You read what Salam Pax said, he wants a street party! You don't just apply some makeup and show the bodies, damnit. This is America here doing the liberating, and we are capable of so much _more_. There needed to be lights, laser beams, and animatronic dancing Qusay/Uday taxomy wonders dressed in red, white, and blue.. All with some kinda "Don't Mess with Texas" theme woven in. Something with a very festive feel.

I continue to be disappointed with this administration. In order to ridiclue them anymore, I'm forced to shove my tongue so far into my cheek, it comes out of my ass.. I don't like the taste. Therefore, I am voting for "Not Bush" in the next election.. Does anyone know who that is yet?

Arabs shocked by TV images of Saddam's sons