] The Cybercrime Convention does three major things:
]
] It includes a list of crimes that each member country
] must have on its books. The treaty requires
] criminalization of offenses such as hacking, the
] production, sale or distribution of hacking tools, and an
] expansion of criminal liability for intellectual property
] violations (Articles 2-11).
]
] It requires each participating nation to grant new powers
] of search and seizure to its law enforcement authorities.
] They include the power to force an Internet Service
] Provider (ISP) to preserve a citizen%u2019s internet
] usage records or other data, and the power to monitor a
] citizen%u2019s online activities in real time (Articles
] 16-22).
]
] It requires law enforcement in every participating
] country to assist police from other participating
] countries. US police would be required to cooperate
] %u201Cmutual assistance requests%u201D from police in
] other participating nations %u201Cto the widest extent
] possible%u201D (Articles 23-35).

American Civil Liberties Union : Seven Reasons the US Should Reject the International Cybercrime Treaty

] "The allegation that the kingdom is manipulating the
] price of oil for political purposes or to affect
] elections is erroneous and has no basis in fact," Saudi
] Foreign Policy Adviser Adel al-Jubeir said in a
] statement.

Yea right.

CNN.com - White House, Saudis: No election deal on oil - Apr 19, 2004

] Kevin Hipp of Nashville has a DVD player in his car and
] entertains his two kids with titles such as Teletubbies,
] The Wiggles and The Little Mermaid.
]
] While he said he doesn't care what people watch in
] private, Hipp wouldn't want his kids to look into a
] passing vehicle and see a movie such as Debbie Does
] Dallas.
]
] Tennessee would become the first state in the country
] to ban the viewing of obscene movies in cars if the
] House passes the bill, which was approved by the Senate last year.

'Drive-by porn' bill taken up by House in TN

] A shadow government of 75 to 150 government officials is
] ready to take control if there's a devastating attack on
] the capital.
]
] Under plans established by President Bush, the officials
] would be drawn from every Cabinet department and some
] independent agencies. They would work out of two
] fortified locations away from Washington, would rotate in
] and out and would be forbidden to say where they are and
] why.

The Bush Way: A Shadow Government

] The military tribunals which will try the "alien
] combatants" held by the US military at Guantanamo Bay in
] Cuba form one such legal black hole. In November a senior
] British judge, Lord Steyn, of the House of Lords,
] referred to the trial arrangements for the detainees at
] Guantanamo Bay as a "kangaroo court" and a "black hole".
]
] The phrase also was used at the end of last year by a
] federal appeals court in the United States which found
] that the holding and trial of aliens by the military
] without charge in an offshore location amounted to a
] legal "black hole" and as such was unconstitutional.
]
] And there were the words again, just this week, in the
] mouths of the Pentagon's own lawyers who have been
] appointed as defence counsel for the alien combatants.
] They said that it amounts to a "legal black hole" if
] there is no possibility of a civilian court review of the
] determinations of the US military commissions which will
] try David Hicks and others.

A legal black hole in Cuba threatens to suck in some precious rights - www.smh.com.au

] President Bush "was like a blind man in a roomful of deaf
] people" during Cabinet meetings, his former Treasury
] secretary, Paul O'Neill, told CBS News' "60 Minutes" in
] what the network said was his first interview about his
] work for the administration.

CNN.com - O'Neill: Bush 'like a blind man' - Jan. 9, 2004

] Social Security privatization is one fascinating
] political game that's about to resurface. Special
] interests on Wall Street and in the fund industry can
] make huge fees if they can increase their assets under
] management. Privatization does that: As more assets shift
] into private hands, Wall Street and the funds pocket more
] fees.
] So mark Jan. 20 on your calendar. That's when the sales
] job begins, in the President's State of The Union
] message. Historically Social Security has been the
] Democrat's baby. And a political third rail, a dangerous
] area Republicans especially avoid for fear of getting
] zapped.

Privatized Social Security just a push for asset fees

] WASHINGTON, D.C. (AMP) %u2013 The U.S. government said
] it will seek to block the airing of a video found by Navy
] rescuers in Antarctica that purportedly reveals that a
] massive archeological dig is underway two miles beneath
] the ice. The @lantisTV production crew that shot the
] video is still missing. Attorneys for Beverly
] Hills-based @lantisTV stressed that the companys
] primary concern is for the safety and welfare of its
] crew. But they stated they will vigorously
] oppose any attempts to Ccensor material that
] is clearly in the public interest and public
] domain. The ice continent of Antarctica, they point
] out, belongs to no nation. The U.S. has no jurisdiction
] there. That video is the property... (read more)

Para-Normal.com - U.S. Denies Spectacular Ruinsin Antarctica Captured on Video

A poll released Saturday finds that more registered voters want to see President Bush voted out than kept in office in the next election, but his job approval rating has remained constant.

In the Newsweek poll, 50 percent of registered voters who were queried said they do not want to see Bush re-elected, while 44 percent said they do.

------

Good.

CNN.com - Poll: Majority of voters would not re-elect Bush - Nov. 8, 2003

An Oklahoma man arrested on suspicion of beating his wife faced year in prison and a fine. But when he spit in an arresting officer's face, he got a life sentence instead, officials said Wednesday.

John Carl Marquez, 36, was convicted of "placing bodily fluid upon a government employee," a felony that can carry a life sentence because of the possibility of transmitting a potentially deadly disease.

CNN.com - Man gets life in prison for spitting