Pay-per-view justice: The advocacy group People for the American Way sued the Department of Justice--and won--to turn over secret documents pertaining to the detention of suspected terrorists after September 11. Now the government says the group must pay $373,000 or more--a cost they say is deliberately high to "forclose access to this kind of information"--for doing the search. But that fee doesn't guarantee that whatever files are unearthed will be turned over, says the DoJ. It's a sad state of affairs in a supposedly open, democratic society. Lucy Dalglishy of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press says, "If that's what it takes to track down secrecy in our court system, things are worse than I thought. They think if they put a really big price on it, maybe the group will back off." (Thanks, Jim.)

The Word of Dob: Dr. James Dobson of Focus on the Family is continuing his intolerance campaign (you know, the SpongeBob thing). His website includes a whiny article about how his views on the use of SpongeBob SquarePants in a video that promotes diversity and unity are distorted. To set the record straight, here's what Dobson and the purportedly Christian Focus on the Family believe:

While words like "diversity" and "unity" sound harmless — even noble — enough, the reality is they are often used by gay activists as cover for teaching children that homosexuality is the moral and biological equivalent to heterosexuality. And there is ample evidence that the We Are Family Foundation shares — and promotes — that view.

"Unfortunately," Dobson explained, "the We Are Family foundation has very strong homosexual advocacy roots and biases."

For example, a tolerance pledge, which the foundation says it is "pleased to provide" on its Web site, reads in part: "I pledge to have respect for people whose abilities, beliefs, culture, race, sexual identity or other characteristics are different from my own."

Apparently, we're no longer directed to love the sinner and hate the sin, we're supposed to be outright intolerant. Dobson provides a way to gripe to journalists who've wronged him deeply--an online letter-writing tool that can just as easily register your praise for said journalists as register complaints. Give 'er a go.

Keith Olberman of MSNBC, one of the targeted journos, writes on the spam attack:

A correspondent, unhappy that I did not simply agree with her fire-and-brimstone forecast for me, wrote “I showed respect even though I disagreed with you and yet you have the audacity to call me intelligent.”

Well, you have me there, Ma’am. My mistake.

Read more at Metafilter.

Zombie bin Laden: The caption on this CNN screen grab reads: "Experts agree: Al Qaeda leader is dead or alive." Thank you, media experts!

Auschwitz arrogance: Europeans, and Poles in particular, weren't as insulted by Dick Cheney's glaringly inappopriate outerwear at last week's commemoration of the liberation of Auschwitz 60 years ago as they were by the fact that the US president didn't bother to show up in person. On top of that, Cheney didn't even write an original speech: sections of his address were lifted virtually unchanged from the speech Bush gave during a brief stop at the camp 18 months ago. "Cheney, like Bush before him, came to Auschwitz with one purpose in mind: to twist and exploit the atrocities of Hitlerite fascism to justify Washington’s own acts of aggression and inhumanity," WSWS writes, adding that the VP is a bad choice for representing the US: as a senator, Cheney opposed a resolution calling for an end to the quarter-century imprisonment of Nelson Mandela, he voted against a measure to make Martin Luther King's birhday an official holiday, and he was the "principal organizer of the illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq." (Via Cursor.)

The Blasphemator! Web fun for the piously (in)correct! Lin sends a link to churchsigngenerator.com.

American apparel: The Washington Post reports that, at yesterday's Holocaust memorial event, Dick Cheney was dressed in "the kind of attire one typically wears to operate a snow blower." (Via Cursor.)

The Imperial I: I cringed when the president, speaking about Iraq, broke into the first person the other day: "I firmly planted the flag of liberty, for all to see that the United States of America hears their concerns and believes in their aspirations." From the guy who still can't account for his absence from his National Guard service 30 years ago, the guy who launched a war on shoddy intelligence, a guy who hasn't personally planted any flags in war-torn soil, a guy who can't seem to get a flight-suit on correctly, it's a bit galling to hear such an overt, Iwo Jima-style metaphor. If any freedom flag has been planted in Iraq--a dubious argument, at this point--perhaps it might be more appropriate to give credit for it to the 1,425 military men and women who died there rather than to a president that can't seem to grasp the notion of the communal "we"?

[Illustration by Craig Foster, from Joshua Berger's gallery of artist statements against the war, Anti-war.us. ]

A9 and Big Brother: As Amazon's cool A9 search engine adds a yellow pages function that includes photos of storefronts, this flash animation seems a bit more ominous: it starts with the birth of the internet and covers technological developments real and imagined, from Google, Amazon, Blogger, and TiVo, to GoogleGrid and, ultimately, somethiing called epic [8 minute animation]. (Thanks, Don.) And: Speaking of search capabilities, Ben points out a great mapping tool, MusicPlasma, that offers a cartographic representation of musical interests. A clever way to find new music you might like from bands you don't yet know.

Music for January 24: Lin, responding to my gloomy birthday post, suggests I take a listen to a musician described thusly:

He is F.M. Cornog, a low fi solo artist who was homeless and then got an apartment in Queens, NY, found a Tascam mixer and guitar and released 5 albums of some of the most sad music, but pleasant sounding stuff I've heard since the Velvet Underground.

Think the more acoustic stuff by the Cure crossed with a folky dude who likes skating park organs, singing about hookers, pimps and abandoned theme parks. yep, that's F. M. - or Fred.

We emailed a bit back in the 90s, he's still at though, just put out his 5th record. I told him his music reminded me of my year in Brooklyn, looking out the window at a sea of tv antennas, sun shining through alleys, the odd bum shuffling through garbage cans, etc.

he said, "yes, Lin, that's what I'm going for"....

Definitely worth a listen.

The most depressing day of the year: Yesterday I turned 34. I bought myself a steak and ate it alone, save for my begging dog. Then I drank some wine and talked on the phone with my girlfriend who’s 3,000 miles away. I forgot to eat my cake.

But that’s not why yesterday was such a bummer. According to British doctors, misery peaks on my birthday every year. By January 24, the glow of Christmas has worn off, but the debts linger. New year’s resolutions have been chucked, daylight shines on us for fewer hours than any other time, and the weather’s near it’s coldest (at least around here). How depressing is it? The BBC quantifies it scientifically:

The formula for the day of misery reads 1/8W+(D-d) 3/8xTQ MxNA.

Where W is weather, D is debt - minus the money (d) due on January's pay day - and T is the time since Christmas.

Q is the period since the failure to quit a bad habit, M stands for general motivational levels and NA is the need to take action and do something about it.

In the absence of a PayPal account, sympathetic readers can inquire via email about arranging a donation; just put “January 24 Fund” in the subject line.

(Thanks, Cameron.)

Global art: For the past decade I've collected globes; I've got maybe a dozen of various sizes. I'm always fascinated by the fact that, despite ever-changing borders, they're never dated or visibly copyrighted, and I appreciate the visual reminder that we're all really in this together. Eyebeam's reBlog points out Ingo Gunther's "World Processor" project, in which he altered some 200 globes to show different realities of modern "geopolitics." This one compares the number of daily TV deaths to the number of people owning TV sets, showing that "Most nations would disappear on a daily basis" if those deaths actually occurred. More on Gunther's work at republik.com.

Monday... by Glasgow artist David Shrigley.

Blackspot 2.0: Adbusters has prototyped a second generation of Blackspot sneakers: high-top, rubber toe, Fluevog-designed, with a recycled tire for a sole. Of the design, one apparently baked commenter writes, "They look like geese." Weigh in on what you think of the design.

Bush beckons Satan: This explains a lot:

President Bush's "Hook 'em, 'horns" salute got lost in translation in Norway, where shocked people interpreted his hand gesture during his inauguration as a salute to Satan.

That's what it means in the Nordics when you throw up the right hand with the index and pinky fingers raised, a gesture popular among heavy metal groups and their fans in the region.

"Shock greeting from Bush daughter," a headline in the Norwegian Internet newspaper Nettavisen said above a photograph of Bush's daughter Jenna, smiling and showing the sign.

For Texans, the gesture is a sign of love for the University of Texas Longhorns, whose fans are known to shout out "Hook 'em, 'horns!" at sporting events.

Bush, a former Texas governor, and his family made the sign to greet the Longhorn marching band as it passed during the inaugural parade through Washington during Thursday's festivities, Norway's largest newspaper, Verdens Gang, explained to its readers.

Powell sitcom cancelled: We still have to endure Rummy's bluster, and Condi is being rewarded with a promotion for her blunders, but there is some good news: FCC chair Michael Powell is resigning! It remains to be seen which media company's front stoop the revolving door will spit him out at. Stay, um, tuned. (Thanks, Kemi.)

The Hummer Mentality: When a Boston meter maid gave Francois Youhanna a $55 parking ticket for illegally parking his Hummer in front of a Starbucks, the enraged FUV-driver shouted, "I don't accept this ticket!" and splashed his "Venti-sized" coffee in her face. "I went down, I was panicking. It hurt so bad, I thought my face was falling off,'' she said. "It was in my eyes, I was screaming.'' Now Youhanna, a 6'2" 220-lb. bodyguard, faces felony charges for assault and battery. And: "People who feel small inside need something big."

Racist Radio: How low can New York hip hop radio station Hot 97 go? Much lower than its Whitney Houston slam "Is it Whitney or a tsunami victim?" According to HipHopMusic.com, the station has produced a racist song about the tsunami victims (link to the mp3 is down at the moment). Some lyrics:

All at once you could hear the screaming ch*nks and no one was safe from the wave. There were Africans drowning, little Chinamen swept away. You could hear God laughing, "Swim you b*tches swim."

So now you're screwed, it's the Tsunami. You better run or kiss your ass away, go find your mommy. I just saw her float by, a tree went through her head, and now the children will be sold to child slavery...

Not to get preachy, but Hot 97, like all radio stations, is here to serve the public interest. It's what the station agreed to when it signed on for its (free) license to use the publicly owned airwaves. If you disagree with how they're serving our interest let them and the FCC know.

Write, call or email the station:

395 Hudson St. 7th Floor
New York, NY 10014

(212) 229-9797

hot97@hot97.com

File a complaint with the FCC.

Priceless: A few facts from The Progress Report's breakdown of Bush's $40 million party today:

$2,000: Amount FDR spent on the inaugural in 1945…about $20,000 in today's dollars.

200: Number of Humvees outfitted with top-of-the-line armor for troops in Iraq that could have been purchased with the amount of money blown on the inauguration.

400: Pounds of lobster provided for "inaugural feeding frenzy" at the exclusive Mandarin Oriental hotel.

22 million: Number of children in regions devastated by the tsunami who could have received vaccinations and preventive health care with the amount of money spent on the inauguration.

26,000: Number of Kevlar vests for U.S. soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan that could be purchased for $40 million.

9: Percentage of D.C. residents who voted for Bush in 2004.

Here's the full, citation-rich list. Enjoy. (Thanks, Witt.)

SpongeDob: Christian over-reactor James Dobson, having stirred up a hornet's nest on the gay-marriage debate (not to mention this divisive doozy making the email rounds again), is setting his sights on cartoon critter SpongeBob SquarePants as a chief proponent of homosexuality. But apparently some confusion abounds (and not, as you might guess, because the combination of "sponge" and "pants" might've made Dobson think of contraception):

Dr. Dobson said SpongeBob's creators had enlisted himin a "pro-homosexual video," in which he appeared alongside children's television colleagues like Barney and Jimmy Neutron, among many others. The makers of the video, he said, planned to mail it to thousands of elementary schools to promote a "tolerance pledge" that includes tolerance for differences of "sexual identity."

The video's creator, Nile Rodgers, who wrote the disco hit "We Are Family," said Mr. Dobson's objection stemmed from a misunderstanding. Mr. Rodgers said he founded the We Are Family Foundation after the Sept. 11 attacks to create a music video to teach children about multiculturalism. The video has appeared on television networks, and nothing in it or its accompanying materials refers to sexual identity. The pledge, borrowed from the Southern Poverty Law Center, is not mentioned on the video and is available only on the group's Web site.

Mr. Rodgers suggested that Dr. Dobson and the American Family Association, the conservative Christian group that first sounded the alarm, might have been confused because of an unrelated Web site belonging to another group called "We Are Family," which supports gay youth.

"The fact that some people may be upset with each other peoples' lifestyles, that is O.K.," Mr. Rodgers said. "We are just talking about respect."

Mark Barondess, the foundation's lawyer, said the critics "need medication."

(Thanks, Reid.))

Screw bran: New Scientist reports that a mystery compound in beer may fight cancer. Thank you, science. (And thanks Reggie for the link.)

Kristof on Cambodia's sex trade: In the first of two columns on sexual slavery in Cambodia (the second appears this Saturday), the New York Times' Nicholas D. Kristof writes:

A year ago, a pimp handed me a quivering teenage girl. Her name was Srey Neth [pictured], and she was one of the hundreds of thousands of teenagers who are enslaved by the sex trafficking industry worldwide.

Then I did something dreadfully unjournalistic: I bought her.

I purchased Srey Neth for $150 and another teenager, Srey Mom, for $203, receiving receipts from the brothel owners. As readers may remember, I then freed the girls and took them back to their villages.

Now I've come back to find out how they coped with freedom.

Read the full story here. And hear Kristof narrate an amazing multimedia presentation on the story here.