Random Thoughts, Notes, & Incidents

Back from vacation... three-and-a-half days in Portland... driving up the historic highway through the Columbia Gorge... visiting with J.D. Chandler, author of Mud Bay and member of the Morro Four.

In the news on our return: FBI Monitored Web Sites for 2004 Protests [washingtonpost.com]. The agents doing the "monitoring" weren't just any agents; they were members of the Bureau's coutnerterrorism unit.

When did peaceful protest, once allowed under the 1st ammendment to our constitution, become a terrorist act? Oh, yeah, that's right: when the Patriot Act became law.

"It's one thing to monitor protests and protest organizers," said Leslie Cagan, national coordinator for United for Peace and Justice. "But quite another thing to refer them to your counterterrorism unit."

(As always, if you need a password to get into washingtonpost.com, or any other site, please visit BugMeNot.com)