"Quitters will find camaraderie and support on November 21 when thousands of Americans avoid tobacco use for the day or for good. For 25 years more smokers have kicked the habit during the Great American Smokeout than any other day of the year. We have what you need to plan, resist, and stay quit. Check the titles below or call 1-800-ACS-2345."

6.5 weeks of no cigarettes.  Yay!

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"Energy security "is an issue that has percolated very quickly to the top over the course of the past 15 months," says Jon Coifman, a spokesman for the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), an environmental group in Washington. "People are saying, 'We want to meet our needs for mobility and transportation and hauling the soccer team around, but we don't need to make ourselves dangerously dependent on foreign oil to do that.' "

In some ways, this message is old hat. During World War II, citizens eagerly answered the government's pleas to use less gasoline and other household items. In 1973, Americans sat endlessly in lines at the pump during the Arab oil embargo. And a few years later, President Carter spoke somberly to the American people, calling the battle for energy independence "the moral equivalent of war."

What is different this time, however, is that the calls for conservation are more bottom-up: Many come from ordinary citizens, hoping that if they speak loudly enough, their leaders will listen. And their disparate voices seem to be tapping into a very real - and unmet - need for some Americans to be asked to do their part in the war on terrorism.

"People are sensing that there are threats to this country, and they want to respond with something beyond going shopping - which was what we were asked to do after Sept. 11," says iconoclast columnist Arianna Huffington."

Good article from the Christian Science Monitor on the emerging grassroots efforts to save energy for America's sake.

"Attorney General John Ashcroft scored a major legal victory on Monday when a secret appeals court ruled that his Justice Department can spy on Americans -- by wiretapping, searching their homes and reading their e-mail, among other measures -- without first obtaining a warrant showing probable cause for criminal activity. The decision emboldens the government's war on terror at home but also raises fresh concerns about privacy and due process. "

Move along.  Nothing to see here.

"BMG, home to such acts as Carlos Santana, OutKast and Britney Spears, is the first major music company to scrap contract deductions that artists say obfuscate their earnings. The action comes as lawmakers in California and New York have begun to scrutinize complaints from pop stars about questionable accounting practices in the industry.

"One reason this industry has ended up with such a bad image is because we could not look a guy in the eye and tell him, as a partner, that the contract he was about to sign was fair," said BMG Chairman Rolf Schmidt-Holtz. "This is the first step in a larger plan by BMG to redefine our partnership with artists.""

Good to see at least one company paying attention to its disgruntled money-makers.

"Yet he enjoys complete immunity, for a simple, cynical reason. "War" is a political weapon that Republicans have been using against Democrats since Karl Rove openly declared this strategy last winter. Ideological enforcers like Horowitz are instruments of Rove's strategy, which succeeded brilliantly in the midterm election. Rove's aim is to destroy Democrats, not libertarians, whose support he will be seeking on domestic issues next year.

That's why Novak, Bandow and Cato -- usually allies rather than adversaries of the White House -- get a free pass no matter what they say about foreign policy. And that's also why the "patriotic" bullies of the right will angrily assault any liberal or leftist who dares to say exactly the same things. "

Good comments by Joe on why those on the left opposing the war are called traitors by right wing hawk, while those against the war on the right are ignored.

By James Sherman

(We take you now to the Oval Office.)

George: Condi! Nice to see you. What's happening?
Condi: Sir, I have the report here about the new leader of China.
George: Great. Lay it on me.
Condi: Hu is the new leader of China.
George: That's what I want to know.
Condi: That's what I'm telling you.
George: That's what I'm asking you. Who is the new leader of China?
Condi: Yes.
George: I mean the fellow's name.
Condi: Hu.
George: The guy in China.
Condi: Hu.
George: The new leader of China.
Condi: Hu.
George: The Chinaman!
Condi: Hu is leading China.
George: Now whaddya' asking me for?
Condi: I'm telling you Hu is leading China.
George: Well, I'm asking you. Who is leading China?
Condi: That's the man's name.
George: That's who's name?
Condi: Yes.
George: Will you or will you not tell me the name of the new leader of China?
Condi: Yes, sir.
George: Yassir? Yassir Arafat is in China? I thought he was in the Middle East
.
Condi: That's correct.
George: Then who is in China?
Condi: Yes, sir.
George: Yassir is in China?
Condi: No, sir.
George: Then who is?
Condi: Yes, sir.
George: Yassir?
Condi: No, sir.
George: Look, Condi. I need to know the name of the new leader of China. Get me the Secretary General of the U.N. on the phone.
Condi: Kofi?
George: No, thanks.
Condi: You want Kofi?
George: No.
Condi: You don't want Kofi.
George: No. But now that you mention it, I could use a glass of milk. And
then get me the U.N.
Condi: Yes, sir.
George: Not Yassir! The guy at the U.N.
Condi: Kofi?
George: Milk! Will you please make the call?
Condi: And call who?
George: Who is the guy at the U.N?
Condi: Hu is the guy in China.
George: Will you stay out of China?!
Condi: Yes, sir.
George: And stay out of the Middle East! Just get me the guy at the U.N.
Condi: Kofi.
George: All right! With cream and two sugars. Now get on the phone.
(Condi picks up the phone.)
Condi: Rice, here.
George: Rice? Good idea. And a couple of egg rolls, too. Maybe we should send some to the guy in China. And the  Middle East. Can you get Chinese food in the Middle East?