Until the next Matrix movie comes out, we'll all have to make do with Elmer Fudd in 'The Matwix'. One note, it appears that the whole red pill, blue pill thing is mixed up at their site.

Also, here are four new pictures from Matrix: Reloaded [Neo in mid-air, Morpheus ready, Morpheus & Trinity, Neo enters]

This is what counts as good news in the fight against zero tolerance policies: Former student gets suspension reduced to 45 days for wearing his hat backwards at a baseball game (and what about the catcher wearing a helmet backwards under his helmet?). He was initially suspended for 6 months after the principal because a backwards hat is "gang related". The reason for the "rule" is a real kicker:

"We've always had a school policy to address patrons wearing backwards hats, because of an incident that occurred several years ago involving some of our athletes on a road trip," Byrum told the hearing committee. On this road trip, several Calvin players were verbally and physically accosted by a group of adolescents wearing backwards ball caps.

So if that incident had been skinheads messing w/ their students - they would have banned shaved heads? Or if they had been accosted by a group of Latinos - would they have banned Latinos from the baseball field?

I made it back from the tropical storm infested New Orleans late last night. As it turns out, most of that city over-reacted to the threat of the storm. We got alot of rain - something like 14 inches at my hotel, and the streets were flooded from about 4PM on Wednesday until the early morning hours of Thursday. But, by the time I rolled out of bed and got checked out of the hotel, it wasn't raining, wasn't flooded, there wasn't debris all over the place - and yet dang near everything was still closed down.

I had 7 hours from the time I checked out of the hotel until my plane left, and the movie theatres were closed, the mall near me was closed - so I went to the airport figuring I'd just read a book and eat there. Nice idea except that the food places in the airport were all closed too - except for the ice cream stand.

And now that I'm home it looks like its going to rain today. I feel like Charlie Brown.

Maybe they should change the nickname of New Orleans to The Big Hungry. I'm currently stuck in my hotel with nothing to eat except sodas and candy bars. I'd go out to eat - but there is a foot of water covering all the roads leading away from the hotel. Its rained something in the neighborhood of 9 inches since I arrived here on Tuesday morning. My scheduled flight out of here tomorrow evening will likely get delayed or perhaps even cancelled meaning that I'll be stuck here an extra day. And that extra day still won't get me caught up because this city has basically been shut down since noon today and likely won't get back to normal until next week. Oh what fun.

Google News just received a major face-lift this weekend. Anything was a visual improvement over the previous version of the site, but this may be a bit too busy. The little disclaimer at the bottom of the page was worth a chuckle: No humans were harmed or even used in the creation of this page.

I head out tomorrow for 3 days in New Orleans again. I'd be a bit more excited if it wasn't all work related, and if that pesky hurricane Isidore wasn't supposed to smack the Louisiana coast on Thursday morning.

Some of the most interesting talk about what may happen if we invade Iraq: In the long run, we're going to win the hearts and minds of greater Arabia not just with Barbie, but also with the other things we do better than they do, like have fun. Like actually date who we want. Like making up our own minds about things, like going where we want, when we want, with whoever we want, without fear of being beaten by roving groups of thought police carrying canes. Like reading what we want, and saying what we feel like. These are yearnings all individuals feel, but they're violently repressed in the Arab nations. If we give young Arabs the chance to try these things, they're going to like them and not want to go back.

In the long run thats probably true, but the invasion of Iraq will vastly affect what happens in the short term. I think its highly likely that we'll end up with an increase in hostility towards America from Middle East (and not just talk, but backed up with actions) should we invade Iraq. The only way I don't see that happening is if we roll over them in a week or two.

Despite all I've said here previously about Iraq, I remain unconvinced that we must invade to accomplish what we're after (safety). However, I do think that the invasion would speed up the timetable of Barbie scenerio described above; and I think the dangers associated with not invading outweigh the risk we take by going in.

Almost forgot to mention that Chuck Palahniuk's new book Lullaby was released today. All of Palahniuk's stuff is worth buying if you don't already have it. Also, Irvine Welsh's Porno - the sequel to Trainspotting - was released yesterday. Both will be making their way into my hands shortly via the magic that is UPS.

I'm heading to Kansas City this weekend for MiniEd's wedding. Free liquor at the reception - it ought to be a hoot.

A female sophmore honor student who found a baggie of over-the-counter and prescription pills and didn't turn them into teachers because she was afraid they'd claim the drugs were hers has been suspended and recommended for expulsion. "I know I didn't handle the situation the way I should've, but I was so scared," she said. "I thought about giving it to a teacher, but then I thought: `What would stop them from saying it was mine?"'

The irony here is that this is the same school who was unable to fire a teacher who showed up to class high on cocaine. Aren't teacher's unions great?

I like propaganda posters. It seems that the style they were done in is largely dead, so maybe thats why I enjoyed the stuff over at Art Politic so much. Good looking stuff.

Anybody looking for further action by Iraq that could be considered provocation - how about direct military action against US & British military jets enforcing the northern & southern no-fly zones in Iraq. Attacks and counterattacks in the no-fly zones have been ongoing for several years. The Pentagon says there is no particular increase now. Iraq considers the patrols a violation of its sovereignty and frequently shoots at the planes with anti-aircraft artillery and surface-to-air missiles. In response, coalition pilots try to bomb Iraqi air-defense systems. More info in this article

At least it didn't happen in America. A man who had an epileptic fit while driving and was helped out by some passers-by has been ordered by a judge to pay �6,000 to a woman who claims to have been so frightened by the incident that she suffers from mild post-traumatic stress. Apparently, the look on the epileptic man's face was too much for the woman to deal with. [via Overlawyered]

OK, who do you believe. Kofi Annan: "I can confirm to you that I have received a letter from the Iraqi authorities conveying its decision to allow the return of the inspectors, without conditions, to continue their work," Annan said in announcing the news.

Or Ali Muhsen Hamid: ... gave the first indication that the inspectors might not be allowed the unfettered access required when he said they could inspect only "military sites".

Rush Limbaugh is reporting that the 'conditions' of this 'unconditional' offer were in an attachment - so perhaps Kofi is being technically accurate without revealing the entire truth. Somehow, that doesn't make me think very highly of him.

Its amazing that whenever talk of war starts, the opposition almost reflexively start complaints of war proponents being 'reactionary' or 'racist' - but its been a long time since I've heard accusations of groupthink. Karen Alter's op-ed in the Boston Globe is just chock full of wild assertations though.

Unfortunately, Bush has surrounded himself with advisers sharing ideological cohesiveness and radical views. Imagine that - Bush hired advisers that share his basic worldview. What a devious guy!

How could the president decide not to go to war when his most trusted advisers - National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, and Vice President Dick Cheney (himself a former secretary of defense) - all say that the threat of nuclear proliferation makes removing Saddam Hussein unavoidable? Yep, Bush is too weak-minded to form his own opinions - he'll just do whatever those advisors tell him. And those advisers are worried about the threat of nuclear proliferation - so obviously they are radical wackjob groupthinkers with blood in their eyes. Obviously.

It is time for those who are still thinking critically to ratchet up the rhetoric. An unprovoked preventive war with Iraq is insane. Doves - to the Batcave! Apparently Karen thinks that its not possible to be thinking critically and still support a preemptive strike on Iraq. She'd rather wait until Iraq 'provokes' us - presumably with some chemical weapons or nukes passed to a terrorists organization to be detonated here in the US. Good idea Karen, lets wait for that to happen.

Red Auerbach is pissed off about how the US played in the recent basketball World Championships. I hope someone of his stature in the game can make a difference, but I doubt it. We don't seem to understand what this means to the rest of the world. We don't seem to care how other nations will use this against us, not only in basketball, but in other ways. This is a terrible blow to our game.''

That argument is fine, as long as nobody comes telling me that I'm supposed to care about soccer just because the rest of the world does. :)

Oh, and you can add Jerry Seinfeld to the list of folks writing children's books. I saw his Halloween book at Target yesterday and read about 1/3 of it - pretty funny stuff.

I'm pretty sure that Jesse Jackson has completely given up even trying to be accurate when he makes his monthly/weekly/daily accusations. "But Mr. Bush says, 'All right, I'll go to the U.N.,' then he tells them that unless you follow me, I'll call off trade with your country," said Mr. Jackson, a frequent critic of the administration.

I'm a bit suprised that Jackson thinks this type of arrangement is a problem - considering it is the exact same tactic he uses against corporations such as Toyota. For those that don't remember, Jesse told Toyota basically to do what I ask, or I'll arrange a boycott of your products. Pot, kettle, black.

We supported the shah of Iran, and we drove the Islamic revolution into being," Mr. Jackson said. "They saw us as allies of oppression. Um, if this is true, and the US created the Islamic revolution that is now harming both us and many women and non-Muslims in the Middle East - don't we have a moral obligation to reverse the harm we've caused? It would seem to me that if we are somehow responsible for this mess, then we have an even greater responsibility to fix it than if we were just an outside observer trying to do the right thing.

We supported the Taliban we gave $6 million to the Taliban. The Taliban was our ally until September 11."

Actually, it was $43 million - and it was for famine relief. Here was Colin Powell's announcement when the grant was released: We distribute our assistance in Afghanistan through international agencies of the United Nations and non-governmental organizations, " Powell said. " We provide our relief to the people of Afghanistan, not to Afghanistan�s ruling factions. Our aid bypasses the Taliban, who have done little to alleviate the suffering of the Afghan people, and indeed have done much to exacerbate it. " Spoken like a true ally! Additionally, one of the Bush administration�s first actions upon taking office was to shut down the Taliban�s mission in New York, in compliance with UN sanctions.

UPDATE: Carey Gage is all over this as well.

If you were wanting to make a joke bomb threat at a school, doing it near the Sept 11th anniversary is probably a bad idea. Plenty of kids apparently didn't think so: 8th grader threatens to "Pull a Columbine" and gets suspended. 16 year old threatens to blow up his school on Sept 11th and gets a one day suspension. Junior high student suspended for 10 days for making bomb threat at school. Three students were suspended after a pipe bomb was found at a rural Nebraska school.

One potato, two potato, three potato, DUCK!

Teacher arrested after being caught filming "upskirt" video at Mall of America. He told investigators he had made such tapes occasionally over the past two years ... is a probationary teacher in his second year at Mounds View High School. Jobman also coached the school’s ninth-grade girls softball team last year. Huh huh ... he said mounds.

Michael Carneal, the then 14-year-old who shot up his Paducah, Kentucky high school, killing 3 girls and wounding 5 other students says he's sorry. He says he did it because his girlfriend broke up with him, and his sister and parents didn't love him. I'm still working on how he thought that killing off a few of his fellow students would fix that problem for him.

This is perhaps most detailed account of a zero tolerance expulsion case I've ever seen. From the 'crime', to the principals thought process as the expulsion was put into place to the pressure from the public and the media to recind it. An unbelievable story.

The kid was expelled for 1 year after a security guard found a bread knife (non-serated and with a rounded tip for safety) in the back of his truck. He'd helped his Grandma take boxes of stuff to Goodwill over the weekend, and it had fallen out.

What blows my mind are the school officials reactions to what they had to do to this kid under the rules. Still, Buinger had to admit zero-tolerance rules made (his) life easier. They eased the (his) burden. By applying consistency instead of subjective judgment, you had support for your actions rather than claims of discrimination. Deep down, despite his unease, Short agreed. He had to admit: He derived a certain comfort in not having discretion. He could lean on that. He could then say he followed the formula.

Consistency instead of subjective judgment. Thats what its come down to. Remove any trace of logic from the process of deciding punishment. In short, "Kill em all, and let God sort em out."

Is it really necessary to breathe a sigh of relief that you got your zero tolerance policy into place so that administrators don't have to do any serious thinking when a kid gets stabbed with a steak knife on the school bus by a female student? Are they afraid they'd have trouble expelling the student if they didn't have a specific rule against stabbing other students? If Karns Principal Diane Psihogios decides the student poses a danger to others, she won't be allowed to return to school until after a disciplinary hearing. That's when school leaders will determine the seriousness of the offense and give a punishment.

If the student poses a danger to others? Well, maybe they're right. Maybe this girl got her stabbing quote for the year taken care of and is no longer a danger.

Only one in nine school board members says school violence is a "major concern."

Even classic high school pranks aren't safe from the unthinking school administrators anymore. Cheerleaders receive detention for toilet papering some football players houses and cars. Couple of interesting things about this case. First, the 'hazing' (yes, thats what they are calling it) was done after school hours and off school property - I wonder why the school thinks it has jurisdiction over this. Second is that the cheerleaders were given a Saturday detention and were banned from the next two athletic events they were supposed to perform at.

Saturday detention? Anybody heard of this before? I'm supposed to go to school on a non-school day to sit in detention for something I did after school hours off of school property. You give me that juris-my-diction crap, you can shove it up your ass. - The Matrix

But it gets even better. The football team's head coach, Biz Keeny, said rolling was all right in the past but in today's world it could get out of hand. Just imagine, he said, an angry parent coming out of a house with a shotgun. Ah yes, crack down on those pesky kids in case one of the parents decides to go on a killin' spree. And, seeing as the parents in this case would be parents of football players, and the football coach is the one coming up with this bright idea ... well, it makes me wonder if he doesn't know a little something more about these parents than he's letting on.

I think President Bush's speech to the UN today may end up being the single most important speech of his presidency. He absolutely threw down the gauntlet for the UN and called their bluff. How they respond will shape the role of the UN in world politics for decades to come.

The United Nations was born in the hope that survived a world war--the hope of a world moving toward justice, escaping old patterns of conflict and fear. The founding members resolved that the peace of the world must never again be destroyed by the will and wickedness of any man. We created the United Nations Security Council, so that, unlike the League of Nations, our deliberations would be more than talk, our resolutions would be more than wishes. . . .

The conduct of the Iraqi regime is a threat to the authority of the United Nations, and a threat to peace. Iraq has answered a decade of U.N. demands with a decade of defiance. All the world now faces a test, and the United Nations a difficult and defining moment. Are Security Council resolutions to be honored and enforced, or cast aside without consequence? Will the United Nations serve the purpose of its founding, or will it be irrelevant?

UPDATE: Lileks had the same take on the speech as me.

For those of you like me who watched this 48 Hours special on Nick Nolte a few years back, the news that he's been arrested for DUI, and was drooling isn't much of a suprise. For those of you that didn't see the 48 Hours special - basically Nick was convinced that if he pumped enough vitamins and prescription drugs into his system he could extend his lifespan - taking some 60 pills a day. It was clear when I watched the special that Nolte wasn't just enthused about this process, he had simply replaced his drug/alcohol additiction with an addiction to the vitamins.

Nolte is most concerned about his brain. Nolte has had several doctors study his brain to help him understand the origin of his addiction to drugs and alcohol, and to try to repair some of the damage. During the checkup, Nolte underwent a high-tech test to see how his brain is doing. After several hours of tests, Dr. Renna tells Nolte that he is in good aerobic shape, and that he has the "brain composite" of a 45-year-old man. Nice diagnosis.

Can anyone explain the sudden influx of children's literature? Largely, I think its because of the success of the Harry Potter series. But not every new children's book is trying to create a Potter clone, so its more than just wizard-envy at work.

I tend to think that it has more to do with the huge segment of potential readers that don't always want their books to be thought-provoking or challenging. I count myself in that group, in fact, thought-provoking and challenging are just about the last thing I look for in a book.

I buy and read books because I like good stories. Good stories don't require a book to be intellectually complex - they require solid characters and an interesting plot line. Too much of recent serious fiction seems to suffer from ... well ... taking itself too seriously.

Writing children's fiction seems to free up the stylistic concerns of some writers - Clive Barker comes to mind - to where they seem to focus more on the story and the character development than on lavish descriptions of every setting a character finds themselves in. They get less wordy and more to the point. The plot is kept moving thru action, dialogue and occasional narrative from the main character, not setting descriptions and character reflection. The story is set up to keep the interest of readers with shorter attention spans (whether is be kids or adults that don't want to spend a month reading a book in the evenings). But instead of the stories feeling stripped-down, the reader ends up with a novel chock full of action and diolague. Less is more.

It'll be interesting to see how the group of children's literature books to be released this fall from big-time authors will fare. I'd wager money that Clive Barker's offering of Abarat will be good - he's pulled off good children's lit previously with The Thief of Always. Carl Hiaassen's Hoot ought to be solid because he largely already writes in the style I've described. Michael Chabon's Summerland is the complete unknow. His novel The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay was wonderful, but it is written in exactly the opposite style that I think is necessary for this genre.

I bought Artemis Fowl on the recommendation that it was on par with the Harry Potter stories. Its clearly not. Much like Potter, the book revolves around the adventures of a young pre-teen boy - but thats where the similiarities end. Fowl is effectively the villian in this book, and despite being the main character, much of the story is not told from his perspective. I found it very odd that in a book that is supposed to introduce Fowl as the main character of a series, so little attention is devoted to developing his character - very odd choice. Honestly, the most intesting thing about Fowl that I took away from the book was his name.

The plot involves Fowl kidnapping a fairy for ransom, and the ensuing rescue attempt by the fairy special forces. Its a good enough story to get started, but there just isn't much depth to it. It seems to be a much smaller story than any of the Potter series - less developed - and not enough to get me to buy the next book.

I'm heading back to Tallahassee again today and won't be back until late on Tuesday. I'll likely have something new up this evening, but tomorrow there will definately be nothing from me.

Its true what they say about nobody remembering who finishes in second place. Remember Jean Van de Velde's collapse on the last hole of the 1999 British Open? Neal Lancaster doesn't. After blowing a 2 stroke lead today from the middle of the fairway on the last hole and then losing in a playoff he had this to say: "I guess I know how Jean-Claude van Damme feels, or whatever his name is." Ouch.

And here I was thinking it couldn't get any worse for USA Basketball. Then they go and lose the 5th place game to Spain. Talk about mailing it in, even though coach George Karl won't admit it. "Quit is a very hard word,'' Karl said, disagreeing with that assessment. "They got frustrated, felt the pressure a little bit, didn't finish some plays that they would have completed on their own teams because of their familiarity with each other.''

Of course, he won't admit it because this is exactly the reaction that his NBA team, the Milwaukee Bucks, had to him this past season - times got a little rough and they quit. ESPN gets it right though: This year, George Karl had the talent to win the Eastern Conference and the gold medal in the Worlds, but he didn't get his teams to even the eighth seed, nor the medal round. Why did the Bucks blow up? Oh yes, right. The players were too selfish. Why did the U.S. implode at the Worlds? Of course, Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan stayed home. History remembers coaching roles in international basketball incidents far too kindly, with Karl the latest in a long line to pass responsibility to someone else -- in this case, the players who wouldn't wear red, white and blue for the Worlds. Now somebody just needs to fix it.

It amazes me that while there is no DVD for Seinfeld episodes (even though it has an Amazon product number and reviews written for it), there will be a DVD with every episode ever made of The Young Ones. I don't know how many of you will remember the TV show from the early-mid 80's; but I may just have to buy this one just for nostalgia sake.

Also, those of you who bought the special edition of Pulp Fiction last month are going to kick yourselves (I'm glad I held off), because they are releasing a boxed set on Sept 24th that will have a bunch more stuff from the movie. Interesting that the description says 2 disks while there are 3 in the photo. Not sure whats going on there.

Also getting released on the 24th, is a special edition of One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest with additional scenes, commentary track and a 'making of' documentary.

With school back in session, the ridiculous stories of school violence and zero tolerance are starting back up. Just keep in mind that school board members think violence is of mild concern.

This headline is easily the understatement of the year - Gun sets tone for hectic school day. Two 6th graders get arrested for having a loaded pistol at school. The school superintendent says it was more for show than for violence. His reason? The gun was loaded, but didn't have a round chambered (Gee, I'm sure that makes the students feel safer). At the same school earlier in the day a senior was arrested after getting into a fight and punching a teacher. Later in the day - at the same school a bomb threat was called in and classes were cancelled. Hectic indeed.

14 year old female student gets shoved in a closet and assaulted by two older students [alt-link]. A school janitor on trial for groping a female student. Elsewhere, a 7th grader is suspended for having a a pellet gun on the school bus.

Even the players are backing Augusta National in its battle with the NCWO. "I feel it would be great, and also keeping with the times, to have women members. But it's not easy for a man to be admitted either. It's a private club that should be able to have its own guidelines for membership." and another player ...defended Augusta National's right to remain private during an interview with ESPN Radio's Dan Patrick Did I mention those were LPGA players - women, for those of you with bad eyesight. And the reaction of the men on the PGA Tour is even more siding with Augusta.

I still haven't seen a name of a woman denied membership. I've written to two journalists about the issue and gotten on response so far. Maybe I should write to Charles Barkley and get his take on this issue

Two straight losses. The problem with having NBA players play in basketball World Championships? They don't give a rats ass if they win or not. And not just the guys on the team - I'm talking about the whole league as evidence by who did not bother to try and get on the team (Kobe, Tracy McGrady, Vince Carter, Tim Duncan, Steve Francis, Kevin Garnett, etc). Sure, they had won 58 straight games, but alot of those were in the Olympics (where I think the players do care), and the other wins were a result of superior talent, not desire.

I mentioned yesterday that airlines will likely be banning laptop computer use during flights within the next 2 years or so, and today I see that both American and Delta are going to start charging travelers $100 if they decide to fly stand-by on an earlier flight. They really don't care if we fly or not. Hell, why should they? If times turn from bad to worse for them because of the strict policies Congress will just bail them out again and they can put their policies back the way they were. There is no downside for the airlines here.

And they lie to us about it. "These policy changes will allow American to simplify its processes and lower its operating costs, while continuing to offer fares competitive with low-cost carriers," the company said in a statement. Whether passengers fly stand-by or not won't affect operating costs one bit. The same amount of planes will still fly to the same locations at the same times - some passengers will just be on different planes.

But it gets better. And beginning Oct. 1, unused nonrefundable tickets will become worthless unless passengers have called ahead and paid a $100 fee to change their itineraries, plus any difference in the fare for the new flight. Currently, unused tickets can be credited toward a future flight, minus the $100 change fee. Any difference in fare... You know what it costs to book a last minute flight on a walk-up fare? A few days in advance, I can book a ticket to New Orleans for $182 on Travelocity. I just looked up what that same flight would be if I booked it this morning, for departure today - $421.

So if I miss my flight, I'll forfeit the $182 that I already paid, plus I'll have to fork over the $421 ticket price if I still want to get home the same day. And, since my being late opened up a seat on my original flight, the airline may have been able to put a stand-by passenger into my seat and pocket an additional $100. What a joke.

Oh my. Britney Spears loves lesbian porn, and has become good buddies with Jenna Jameson. Jameson is famous for her sizzling lesbian scenes. A friend said: "Britney is a real fan and loves watching Jenna's videos. Jenna was really flattered, and she and Britney have become great pals." Jameson's fiancé, Jay Sterling, declared: "There is a definite attraction between them." He said his bride-to-be would love to perform with the pop star in a movie. Best story ever! Even though it has to be fake. Doesn't it? I mean, we couldn't get so lucky as to actually see Britney perform in a porn video ... could we?

Yikes! Kids in England are getting harassing messages via SMS on their cell phones. What to do? What to do? - How about turning off the fucking phone.

The new security regulations in airports expanded the radius around home to which I'd rather drive than fly. And if airlines ban laptop use on flights I just might go airplane free unless absolutely necessary.

CNNSI is running an blatently slanted poll about the controversy over Augusta National's membership policies right here. The very first question is:

Should the PGA allow a major to be played at a club that excludes women?

The problem is that this question has nothing to do w/ the current situation - or at best, it mis-states the issue. Augusta National does not have exclusionary membership policies based on sex. They simply happen to have no women members.

Now, draw whatever conclusion you will from that, but the existence of the second condition does not prove that the policies are exclusionary. Just as if there were no Wiccan members of Augusta (who the hell really knows), it would not necessarily mean that their policies exclude Wiccans.

If the women's group is going to make a serious argument about this case, they need to give us an example. They need to show us an actual case of a woman who was either denied membership thru a vote, or was unable to get a member to sponsor her bid for membership. This woman should also have: (1)the financial means to join the club and (2)some connection to at least one of the club's current members - a total outsider would likely not be accepted into any private club. Find me this woman and we can have a serious discussion about the issue.

I saw over at Drudge that Nelson Mandela is condemning the US for an action is hasn't yet taken - the invasion of Iraq. Thats not terribly interesting, but his choice of words was: We are really appalled by any country, whether a superpower or a small country, that goes outside the U.N. and attacks independent countries," Mandela said before meeting with French President Jacques Chirac at his Johannesburg home.

The idea that our talk of invasion has suddenly thrown the middle east into chaos is a joke. That region has been in perpetual turmoil since well before I was born. And perhaps we can forgive Mandela since he was only recently released from prison when Iraq went outside the UN and attacked Kuwait - the event that got us involved with Iraq in the first place.

And Mandela - who I don't doubt would love to be president of the UN one day - makes the very common mistake of arguing his point from the position that the UN cannot make errors. Rather than stating his case why the US shouldn't go in and clean out Iraq, he simply says that if the UN doesn't approve of it - it must be wrong.

My Lullaby street team package showed up in the mail on Saturday. It wasn't quite the treasure trove that I was expecting (some small pins, one sheet full of black and white stickers, and some postcards). But now I have to figure out where to put the stickers, and where to send the postcards. Any ideas?