] "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.'

] Letters from hometown soldiers describing their successes
] rebuilding Iraq have been appearing in newspapers in
] Montana and across the country as U.S. public opinion on
] the mission sours.
]
] And all the letters are the same.

I am recommending this version of the story because it is more complete. The Army ran an astroturf campaign. They somehow managed to not get everyone's permission before submitting letters to the editors of their hometown papers on their behalf.

Form letter signed by U.S. troops a mystery - greatfallstribune.com

] ATLANTA -- Here's a way to really target a consumer.
]
] Next summer, Coca-Cola plans to use satellites to find
] U.S. buyers who happen to purchase special cans of Coke
] products.
]
] They will be winners in a giveaway that will feature
] Hummer H2 sport-utility vehicles. The giant vehicles will
] be presented in person, using satellites to locate the
] recipients. And in a promotion tied to the Summer
] Olympics, Coke's prize is likely to be $1 million in
] gold, again awarded on the spot.

neat

GPS will pinpoint Coke prize winners

] Commentator Rush Limbaugh resigned Wednesday night from
] ESPN's Sunday NFL Countdown amid a firestorm that erupted
] over the controversial statements he made this past
] weekend about Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan
] McNabb.
]
] Later Wednesday, the National Enquirer and New York Daily
] News reported that Limbaugh was under investigation in
] Florida for illegally buying and abusing prescription
] painkillers.

LMAO!!!

] "My comments this past Sunday were directed at the media
] and were not racially motivated. I offered an opinion,"
] Limbaugh said in a statement released by ESPN. "This
] opinion has caused discomfort to the crew, which I
] regret.
]
] "I love NFL Sunday Countdown and do not want to be a
] distraction ... Therefore, I have decided to resign," he
] said.
]
] "We accept his resignation and regret the circumstances
] surrounding this," said George Bodenheimer, president of
] ESPN and ABC Sports.
]
] Limbaugh said Sunday that McNabb received undeserved
] credit for his team's success that came from media
] outlets with "social concern" and "very desirous that a
] black quarterback do well."

Who the hell at ESPN woke up one day and decided "Ya know, America isn't subjected to enough of this blow-hard on the airwaves as it is. Lets expand his soap box and make him a sports commentator."

Weird.

LB

Limbaugh quits NFL show amid race flap

] In a hotly contested lawsuit before a federal appeals
] court, two peer-to-peer companies are about to gain a
] vast army of allies: America's librarians.
]
] The five major U.S. library associations are planning to
] file a legal brief Friday siding with Streamcast Networks
] and Grokster in the California suit, brought by the major
] record labels and Hollywood studios. The development
] could complicate the Recording Industry Association of
] America's efforts to portray file-swapping services as
] rife with spam and illegal pornography.
]
] According to an attorney who has seen the document, the
] brief argues that Streamcast--distributor of the Morpheus
] software--and Grokster should not be shut down. It asks
] the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to uphold the April
] decision by a Los Angeles judge that dismissed much of
] the entertainment industry's suit against the two
] peer-to-peer companies.
]
] Among the groups signing the brief are the American
] Library Association (ALA), the Association of Research
] Libraries, the American Association of Law Libraries, the
] Medical Library Association and the Special Libraries
] Association. The American Civil Liberties Union, in one
] of the group's first forays into copyright law, has
] drafted the brief opposing the Motion Picture Association
] of America (MPAA) and the Recording Industry Association
] of America (RIAA).

Librarians to the rescue!

BusinessWeek Online: News from C|Net.com

] A federal judge in Oklahoma has ruled that the Federal
] Trade Commission overstepped its authority in creating a
] national do-not-call list against telemarketers.
]
] The ruling came in a lawsuit brought by telemarketers who
] challenged the list, comprised of names of people who do
] not want to receive business solicitation calls. The
] immediate impact of Tuesday's ruling was not clear.
]
] U.S. District Judge Lee West sided in favor of the
] plaintiffs, U.S. Security, Chartered Benefit Services
] Inc., Global Contact Services Inc., InfoCision Management
] Corp. and Direct Marketing Association Inc.
]
] The telemarketing industry estimates that the do-not-call
] list could cut its business in half, costing it up to $50
] billion in sales each year.

Tough shit if they lose money. Its an iffy business model anyway - call huge volumes of phone numbers until you find a sucker who will buy your crap? Ummm... doesn't that sound an awful lot like SPAMMING? And I'd think this list would actually HELP their business - weeds out the people who do not want these calls.

I wonder how much this judge was paid off by the telemarketing industry?

LB

Court blocks 'do not call' list

SNIP
] When the pair reunited Wednesday, the cat "rubbed his
] face on my hand, climbed right up and started purring,"
] Inglis said. "It's pretty monumental. It's almost
] surreal."

Yeah, but what about the privacy of the cat? ;)

Chip helps reunite cat with Calif. man after 10-year separation

] LONDON, England (CNN) -- Rock singer Robert Palmer has
] died in Paris of a heart attack at the age of 54, his
] manager said.
]
] The British star, whose chart hits in the 1980s included
] Addicted to Love, suffered the attack in the early hours
] of this morning, Mick Cater said.
]
] Palmer, who lived in Switzerland, was staying in the
] French capital with his partner, Mary Ambrose, after
] recording a TV appearance in the UK.
]
] "I can't say anything else at this point, I'm just in
] shock," Cater of What Management in England told CNN.

Bob Hope, Jonny Cash, John Ritter, Charles Bronson, now Robert. Its been a rough summer for the entertainment industry - and I don't mean from illegal downloads.

LB

Singer Robert Palmer dies at 54

] NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S.-led invasion and occupation
] of Iraq was "a perfect example" of military domination
] while failing to achieve victory, retired general and
] Democratic presidential hopeful Wesley Clark wrote in a
] new book.
]
] Clark, who joined the 2004 race last week, also said he
] learned in November 2001 that the Bush administration's
] plan for invading Iraq and ousting President Saddam
] Hussein had been part of a broader five-year military
] campaign in seven countries that Washington accused of
] supporting terrorism.
]
] He believed that would be a mistake, Clark wrote in
] "Winning Modern Wars. Iraq, Terrorism and the American
] Empire" to be published by Public Affairs next month.
]
] Clark wrote that a senior military officer told him on a
] visit to the Pentagon in November 2001 that the U.S. was
] planning to go against Iraq but there was more to it.
] After Iraq, the plan called for targeting Syria, Lebanon,
] Libya, Iran, Somalia and Sudan.

I have realized from being out in the 'working' world for a few years that it's very easy to create a mandate if the creator isn't the one who has to go do the work.

Something tells me that after a couple years in Iraq the morale of the armed forces is going to be low enough that any further invasions will inevitably fail.

Reuters | Latest Financial News / Full News Coverage

grand. but, no man, we're totally doing a great job in iraq.

Telegraph | News | US troops ignored pleas as they cut down Iraqi police