Like others here, I've been prompted by the hype to take a look at the circumstances of Mumia Abu-Jamal's sentance. So far, I haven't read anything that convinces me that he is not guilty of the charges against him.

But I have also read enough to convince me that he should have a new trial. I hope that happens, and I hope the verdict will be satisfactory to most reasonable people. And I hope at least the unrelenting on both sides will have their numbers significantly diminished.

The first question that comes to my mind is: How are you going to identfy the habits and patterns of terrorists unless you have a large sample of known terrorists to observe? And how are you going to have a large amount of known terrorists in the US unless you have had a large amount of terrorist acts?

Does this thing only become effective a dozen or so terrorist attackes doen the road? Maybe I'm completly on the wrong track, If so, can someone explain it to me?

But there are so many other things that would appear to be so much easier to do with this capability. Consider the K-Street project, where Delay and company were making it almost impossible to get an effective lobbiing position unless you were a Republican. With that kind of mind set in the seats of power, it seems to me to be a fairly small step to the place this data is used for similar purposes. It seems to me that a steady record of visits to Salon, Liberal Oasis,and the like, a couple of subscriptions to similarly minded publications, maybe even a notable preference for organic produce or independent films, and definately writing postings like this could get you profiled pretty quickly which in well-connected hands could effect any government employment, if not private employment with well-connected companies. Then there's loan consideration, international travel, maybe even civil court judgements.

To me this misuse of the kink of data mining your talking about is much easier to achive than some kind of vague terrorist tracking ability.

I agree completely with the "Credibility" posting above. I don't doubt the substance of what he is saying, but it doesn't take away from the fact that he was completely unqualified for, and thus had no business accepting a position of such responsibility.

Unfortunately, I think this testimony will help rather than harm this administration. "Brownie" was an imperfect fall guy because plenty of blame went rightfully past him to the administration for putting him there in the first place. Suddenly word "crony" and "cronyism" were part of in every Katrina article.

But now he has committed the unforgivable sin and turned on the great powers. Before he was an embarrassment the GOP just wanted to disappear from the news. Now he is an evil turncoat and thus a prime target for the full force of the Republican character assassination machine. Rather than be embarrassed, the Repubs will now simply blame anything remotely related to Katrina on Brown and pat themselves on the back for dumping him so promptly. Brown won't stand a chance, because the left like myself will find him a very difficult figure to defend.

You know? It wasn't that long ago that I wasn't anywhere near this jaded and cynical.

No doubt about it, this is an incredibly pathetic piece. Still, having seen it the best part seems to be that even the female reporter sounds completely bored with the whole thing. Unless she always sound like that, if so she must be pretty well Republican-connected to get that gig. I wouldn't tip a waitress with that kind of delivery.

That's what he uses to shoot a quail? Man that must be real tough to shoot a small farm-raised bird with spread wide enough to hit the bird and anything else within a couple square yard of it. What does he use to go sport fishing? A trawler with a 200 foot net? I guess the bar for being "manly" in Republican circles isn't quite as high as I thought.

Someone from my hometown of Spring TX, gets national exposure and it has to be this ditz. OK, her thinking isn't exactly unheard of in Spring, but it isn't the norm. Should Spring TX ever come befor you again, please don't think of Dani. Think of Lyle Lovett. OK, technically he came from the adjacent town of Klein, but that's close enough. Think of Lyle.

For the Lyrics:

Political Science (Lets dro the big one, now) - Randy Newman

Dumb All Over (and a Little Ugly on the Side)- Frank Zappa

I Me Mine - Beatles

Heavy Fuel - Dire Straits

Ray Wiley Hubbard: Chocktaw Bingo

(Track it down, listen, you won't be dissappointed)

Just for the title:

Friend of the Devil - Grateful Dead

New Orleans is Sinking - Tragically Hip

Helplessly Hoping - CSNY

I Don't Get it - Cowboy Junkies

Its Different for Girls - Joe Jackson

It Never Entered My Mind - Miles Davis

Kneel Before Your God - Elbow

Mighty Crazy - Lightnin' Hopkins

Paranoid - Black Sabbath or Garbage

Pay the Price - Buffalo Springfield