Here is video of the "Flash, Bang and Mass Arrests"

Here is the protester-side of the story and here is the police-side that maintains they were certain the protesters were going to "use arson to disrupt the convention, to take out parts of downtown St. Paul..."

A final link is to a story trying to make sense of "Is this security or repression?" The final quote sums up the importance of deciphering the situation:

Bruce Nestor of the National Lawyers Guild, one of the attorneys representing the eight in the initial phase, called it, "overcharging what at most was an expressed intention to block traffic. My concern is they are going to convict people for their political beliefs."

And now there is another interesting phone that has a Linux kernel that can be anything you want it to be...OpenMoko. It will be cheaper, more flexible--if you want a more complicated platform than a simple cellphone. h/t JohnC...

It is certainly a nice change from the lockdown of the iPhone that makes it unusable where we live. Gotta brush up on Linux. For a discussion with the developer of OpenMoko and a non-tech-guy interviewer, see the Full Story....

Look at it here. And there are lots of links once you get there.

i'm breathing new life into the past using old digitized photographs from the new york public library. i've spent hours rekindling these moments. & they will not be the last. i'm so so deep on these funny little things... it's like the past has rediscovered a dimension!

please note:
these are made from old stereographs. while i'm happy this series has somehow reached every corner of the internet, i'm concerned about some misconceptions i've encountered. the actual process is very simple. it's the effect that floors me. the entire series is a product of my own curiosities, completely... having no thoughts that you, lovely stranger, would be reading these words & seeing those photographs. still. i'm glad you came.

And so the past in 3D, and my personal favorite is the chickens.

Brewery Pottery (276 Shake Rag Street - 608-987-3669) presents "Glenn Donovan Tribute." Join Brewery Pottery in paying tribute to creative genius and dear friend Glenn Donovan who passed away on January 21, 2008. Glenn's kinetic welded metal sculptures have brought smiles and hands on playfulness to people for the past 30 years. His final work will go on sale Saturday August 2, 2008 beginning at 3 p.m. with a opening reception during gallery night, from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.

His website.

The pattern here is a bit difficult to read with any certainty. But the comments after the above linked-to stories show a distinct pattern. A familiar culture war that plays out in this rural part of Wisconsin as it does across the nation.

More in the full story...