Anita Ramasastry, a professor from the University of Washington School of Law, has a commentary on the Domestic Security Enhancement Act (aka Patriot II), Patriot II:
The Sequel Why It's Even Scarier than the First Patriot Act. There are a lot of scary things highlighted in this article, too many to even know which to select as an excerpt. But do note two things: this document wasn't publically released, it was leaked, and apparently Congress has played little to no part in its drafting. [via Dan]

There's an article in the Guardian stating the opponents of war on Iraq are not the appeasers and points out the fallacy in comparing Iraq to Nazi Germany and this era to the 1930's.

Oh right, right, Colin Farrell. I misread this and thought it said Colin Powell. Given my heightened state of alert, I suppose that's to be expected.

The New York City City Council has overridden Mayor Bloomberg's veto of a cell phone ban at public performances. Says City Council Speaker Gifford Miller of the ban that will fine violators $50 per incidence, "I don't expect the police to spend any time enforcing it." What does he expect, a rash of citizens' arrests in Times Square?

France's refusal to hop aboard the war-monger train is angering Republicans. Now some congressmen are are suggesting the United States impose trade sanctions on France. Other people are calling for a boycott of French wine. My hope? That the reduction in demand for these products will drop their prices. And that there will be less annoying American tourists in Paris next time I go there.

Speaking of France's hesitation, is France the funeral-parlor owning Bonasera and the US some sort of Godfather?

Cue FDR + 50 lbs., in white suit, Charles de Gaulle kisses his hand, etc.

Some day, and that day may never come, I'll call upon you to do a service for me.

Some think that day's arrived.

There's a book available in the UK which examines Abortion in the Ancient World by University of Floriday classics professor Konstantinos Kapparis. There's a UFL review here.

David Weinberger's reposted Questions for Conversations about Iraq, questions designed to start a real conversation about the Iraq issue. They also seem useful as an individual exercise to help you figure out why you feel and believe what you do.

Two Shoshone sisters in Nevada refuse to pay grazing fees for their horses and cattle on public land because they say the land was never ceded to the US government by the Shoshone.

[T]he Ruby Valley Treaty, reached by the government and the Western bands of the Shoshone Nation in 1863…granted white settlers access to Shoshone lands, but not title.

The federal Indian Claims Commission, however, decided in the 1970's that the Shoshones had lost the land through 'gradual encroachment' of the settlers. The commission awarded the Shoshones $26 million in compensation, and the Supreme Court ruled in 1985 that the tribe lost title when that money was deposited as payment, even though the Shoshones have never accepted it.

Senator Harry Reid, Democrat of Nevada, introduced legislation last year that would distribute $20,000 to each member of the tribe, thus ending the matter as far as the government is concerned.

They have been fined $3 million "for willful trespass", had 232 head of cattle taken by armed federal agents and sold auction, and now ~800 horses have been rounded up by the federal Bureau of Land Management. The sisters say they will never pay.

First Trent Lott pines for the days of segregation, now North Carolina's Republican congressman Howard Coble is saying he believes Roosevelt made the right decision to intern Japanese-Americans during WWII. Mr. Coble is chairman of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security and made his remarks on a radio call-in program. Tons of detail about Coblegate over at IsThatLegal?. Apparently Coble doesn't feel he's said anything that warrants an apology.