"we cannot protect our borders if we do not protect our ideals." - Sen. Ed Kennedy

Alot happened today - the most significant I think was that today the senate voted against the reauthorization of the 16 provisions of the Patriot Act that are scheduled to expire on Dec. 31. WAHOOWA! The system is finally redeeming itself - the checks and balances are coming into play, first the judicial wipe out last week (or was it the week before) in Tampa, and now the Senate is getting into the action.

Supporters of Patriot Act Suffer a Stinging Defeat in Senate

NY Times, Friday Dec. 16

With barely a week left before Congress "goes on winter break", the next couple of days are gonna be very interesting.

Another interesting turn of events was the news of presidential authorization of a unwarranted, secret domestic spying after Sept. 11, 2001. NY Times.

I noticed that most of my posts over the last couple of weeks have been politically motivated. Hm, maybe I'm taking this soap box thing a little too far ... but in my defense, there's been alot of politcally and legally significant activity that has really caught my attention. And honestly, apart from exams (two down btw, and oh what drama!), there's really not alot happening in my life!

So, my apologies to my friends who aren't quite as enamored by this stuff as I am ... just bear w/me a little more and I promise, I'll get back to pointless blogging. Oh, I've found some REALLY awesome sites that I'm gonna link to the blog ... yes, only I would get excited about this. Just call me a Dweeb.