Heard from some folks at the Oscars that there's an email/forward going around claiming an 9/11 connection with verse 9:11 in the Koran. I want you to just take s guess whether or not it's true.

The answer.

Come on, people. Looking for conspiracies is a fundimentally disempowering way to analyze reality. It's a cop-out. Yeah, the odds are stacked; but that's not exactly a fucking secret, now is it?

And also, while we're at it, although it's clear that there are some unanswered questions about what exactly happened on 9/11, the idea that those events were part of a deliberate plan which was orchestrated by the power-elite of this country is one without a factual basis. Making that accusation, even by inference, without some kind of real evidence is, in my opinion, the height of counterproductivity.

I understand the allure of drama and intrigue (fnord) but this isn't an ok thing to jerk around about. Even Oliver Stone realizes that, you dig?

So give the conspiracy a rest. If you need something to do, get to work on that biodesil algae pond.

The debate about Abortion is really about sex, generally. Especially when a core part of the anti-choice argument basically goes, "Don't want a baby? Close your legs, slut."

This is important stuff. I've previously linked to Net Freedom Now, which has some good background, but doesn't necessarily seem all that active. Common Cause has been a little iffy when it comes to the regulation of political blogging, but it looks like they're trying to make up for it by taking a stand here.

Check it out, get informed, spread the word. I'll be monitoring this and ramping things up.

Don't know why, but this just hit me as I whipped up my morning coffee.

There's a kind of ying-yang of rule-following and rule-breaking etched into the American soul. We have deep traditions and ingraned respect for both the straight-shooter and the outlaw. There's a good and bad side to both these traditions. Allow me to break it down:

You have good rule-breakers, from the original Revolutionary roots of the nation through Thereau and the latter-day heroes of civil disobedience. You have the essentially healthy mistrust of authority. You have the honesty of the outlaw, those who understand that living by your own law requires a higher standard. Clearly, this is where my heart lies.

And then you have the bad rule-breakers: criminals, thugs, and abusers of power. You have Sen. George McCarthy and a host of lesser figures (like Dick Cheney) who build their position in life by breaking the rules and breaking others down in doing so. These people are few and far between, but they're really destructive.

On the flip side, you have the good rule-followers. You've got a whole mess of right-thinking preachers, FDR, an honest sherrif, and all the other the collected stars of Law and Order. You've got the constitution and it's fans, Young Ralph Nader, and even some members of the Press. These folks are the bedrock of a stable society.

Finally, you have the bad rule-followers. These folks are the worst in my opinion. They break down into two sub-camps: people who are blindly authoritarian (the loyal base for the Daddy State) and people who use legalistic means to achieve what are ultimately immoral ends. For instance -- just gonna throw this out there -- using the Supreme Court to stop people from counting votes.

The problem we face right now is we have a bunch of bad people in positions of power, and a bunch of reflexively pro-authority people all around them. It's like when Nixon won by thundering on that the US was a country of Law and Order, while simultaniously ordering the illegal/inhumane bombing of Cambodia and using the FBI to compile damaging information about those he deemed his "enemies" here in the US. That he eventually went down for a botched burglery is tragicomic.

At some point soon there should be a backlash. I for one can't wait.