Diane emailed this morning to ask us to send "don't get arrested" vibes eastward, so everyone please chant a mantra or two. As I type, she's out on the streets of NYC, getting news to air later on WORT. I'm watching the coverage of the protests live on C-SPAN, and they're doing a good job talking to individuals and showing the crowd. (Wouldn't it be cool if I saw Diane? They had an interview with a Code Pink crew, but I didn't see her. D'oh!)

Speaking of Code Pink, they have launched the most excellent response to Bloomberg's "Peaceful Protest" gimmick ever. If you don't know, Mayor Bloomberg offered a silly perk package for people willing to wear an equally silly "Peaceful Activist" pin. But aren't the cops sometimes responsible for starting trouble?

“Ours is not a fight with the police; it’s a deeply felt opposition to the Bush administration’s policies,” said Andrea Buffa of CODEPINK, who was arrested last week during an attempted banner hang during Mayor Bloomberg’s press conference “welcoming” peaceful protesters to New York. “We thought we could ease the tension before the demonstrations begin by asking New York police officers to help us exercise our First Amendment rights by remaining peaceful during the protests.”

Police officers who choose to wear the buttons can receive discounts from such businesses as ABC Homes and Carpets (20 % off); Axis Gallery (10 % of art work); The Culture Project (50 % off on any performance); Angelica’s Kitchen (5 % off on meals); and screenings of the movie “Uncovered” at the Angelica Theater (10 % off).

Slammin. Go Pink!

Watching on the teevee makes me feel really stupid for not going. I'm sure I'll look back on this protest like I do on Seattle '99: Shoulda been there. (Photo at top is from a decent article at CBS News.)


So far things seem pretty calm, but the cops busted Bikes Against Bush founder Joshua Kinberg yesterday, according to NYC IndyMedia.

His bicycle is a high-tech graffiti writer, using chalk to print anti-Bush political messages sent by people via the internet. Apparently there was a question of whether or not the sprayed messages were a defacement of property.

When Kinberg showed the police sergeant how the bicycle used a non-permanent spray chalk, the sergeant seemed to agree that it wasn't defacement, at which point Kinberg asked, "am I free to go?" After conferring about it, officers decided to call superiors, then came back moments later to place Kinberg under arrest and confiscate the bicycle.

Kinberg cooperated fully with the officers as he was being handcuffed, only asking, "can I ask what I'm being arrested for?" to which no one provided an answer. As of 11:00 PM Saturday evening, he was still in custody without being charged with anything.

How bogus! You can see a video of Kinberg's supercool bike at WiredNews.

Not much other news so far; MSNBC had a report not long ago, but it was pretty dull. The Times has an article today about how the GOP plans to blame the Dems for anything that goes wrong (and the Dems' disavowing of same). Yawn. I guess we'll have to wait for some exciting news.

Local

Meanwhile, things are pretty darned exciting here at home. I bought some new coasters yesterday! I previously had some crappy plastic ones, and I was fed up with the way condensation from my drinks would pool in the coaster and drip all over me (and my keyboard). So I went looking for some absorbent stone dealies, which I found on sale (woo) at ShopKo. I was skeptical about their absorbency, since they have lovely full-color designs -- but they work pretty dang well.

Conimar has a variety of cool designs (I like the poorly-named Oriental set), but ShopKo had a pretty crummy selection, even among those not on sale. I thought about getting the Eagle/Flag set, but I decided the cheesiness would overpower the kitsch value; I ended up with the less-cheesey-but-not-by-much In the Woods set.

Yeah, I'm grabbing wildly for those extreme thrills in these last days of summer vacation. YEEHAA! I'm a Mad Dog! (Four plunks in a half hour, baby!)

Someone asked in a comment what I'm up to getting ready for school. Pff, I'm ready now. The room's all set, and I even have the cards ready to go. (I quit having that dream -- Woo!) So there's not much to tell. Sorry!

TimeWaster™

The Knight Problem is interesting. Get the knight to every spot on the board in as few moves as possible. (I did it in 81).

Today I'm listening to: C-SPAN!