I can't believe it's not a democracy!

Supreme Court Rejects Appeal on

Ban of Sex Toys. The article states: The U.S. Supreme Court rejected on Tuesday a constitutional challenge to an Alabama law that makes it a crime to sell sex toys.
The high court refused to hear an appeal by a group of individuals who regularly use sexual devices and by two vendors who argued the case raised important issues about the scope of the constitutional right to sexual privacy.
The law prohibited the distribution of "any device designed or marketed as useful primarily for the stimulation of human genital organs." First-time violators can face a fine of up to $10,000 and as much as one year in jail.
The law, adopted in 1998, allowed the sale of ordinary vibrators and body massagers that are not designed or marketed primarily as sexual aids. [The law] exempted sales of sexual devices "for a bona fide medical, scientific, educational, legislative, judicial or law enforcement purpose."
A bona fide law enforcement purpose. Abu Ghraib really did change things. These people are sick.

One

down, too many fucking others to go. I may waiver in my longheld embrace of atheism if Falwell and Robertson enter nothingness on the same day. And if Cheney and Helms go within days of those two evil motherfuckers, christ I may just have to pop into a church to give thanks. Do any of the major denominations allow drinking during mass?

With a headline like this:

I wipe my ass with H. Kurtz's white flag, you just have to click and read.

Today is

Free Mojtaba and Arash Day. The global web blog community is being called into action to lend support to two imprisoned Iranian bloggers. The month-old Committee to Protect Bloggers' is asking those with blogs to dedicate their sites on 22 February to the "Free Mojtaba and Arash Day." Arash Sigarchi and Mojtaba Saminejad are both in prison in Iran.

Go to the Kos diary linked above to read more about these two bloggers who were arrested and imprisoned in Iran because of their blogging activities. And be grateful that W can't pull this one off here, yet. Public attention and calls for their release can make a difference.

Another must read from

James Howard Kunstler, who has written extensively about suburban sprawl and its adverse effects on human relations. His entry for February 21 is excellent.

Speaking of tweaking.

Billmon revisits a classic. Link via TBogg. Brilliant.

I'm still playing with

the layout. The link lists are getting tweaked, so some things may move around.

Representative Slaughter goes in

for the kill. Congresswoman Slaughter has sent two letters to the White House asking for an investigation into how James Guckert/Jeff Gannon managed to get a pass for the White House press room for the past two years. Some posters at Kos said that they were going to try to get an account set up at ActBlue so that folks can send some cash to Slaughter's campaign fund as a way of saying "thank you" for doing the people's work. Good for her. I'm in for a few bucks.

It's not often that I say this: Go read

Maureen Dowd's op-ed column. Dowd writes about the Guckert/Gannon story in a way that is both fact-filled and entertaining (go figure, facts can be fun). Example: "Who knew that a hotmilitarystud wanting to meetlocalmen could so easily get to be face2face with the commander in chief?" After going through the administration's tactics for controlling the press, Dowd states "[e]ven the Nixon White House didn't do anything this creepy." I think comparisons of W's administration to Nixon's White House are going to be a lot more common in the next months. ALERT: For those of you who don't have cable (hell, I no longer have a tv), go to Atrios and click on the link to The Daily Show's take on the Jeff Gannon, man for hire story. The link takes you to a Quicktime segment that is about 5-6 minutes of pure delight. The only thing I miss about not having tv/cable is regular viewing of "The Daily Show." Earth to Comedy Central, let me pay you to stream it, ok?

Is Heaven Populated with

Blastulae? Another diary by firedoglake (an apparently new diarist) at Kos. He has a blog that I am going to check out. Is it me, or are you also scratching your head and wondering why the hell (at least some) of the diarists at Kos haven't been hired by the "traditional media" (for lack of a better term)?
And for a daily dose of fun, remember to check out a Kos regular: Bill in Portland's "Cheers & Jeers" (no link because he has not yet posted for today).