Proposed flag desecration amendment again stopped in the Senate:

“…two Senators switched their positions

to join 35 of their colleagues in resoundingly

defeating a proposed constitutional amendment to

ban desecration of the flag. The amendment, which

fell four votes shy of the two-thirds majority was

stopped by a flood of constituent letters and calls to

Congress.” [ACLU]

`Wonderland’: Wrung Out, Strung Out in Bedlam: my profession, with its chaos uncensored, debuts on television tonight. “Because the patients in “Wonderland” are psychiatric cases,

the series has a surreal aura, sparing and effectively used.

Here a patient behind barred windows looks down at his

slippers and sees a tiny rhino step around them. Because

these shots from the patient’s perspective are rare,

watching the show is not like existing in some mad state of

mind. The effect is more jolting, as if the sanity of the

doctors and the illness of the patients were present in the

air, at times colliding with a physical force.

What saves the series from total bleakness is the shaky order

the doctors impose. They are played by a spectacular cast.” [New York Times] Update: I’m hooked.

[Slate]:Disrobed:

The Supreme Court upheld a ban on nude dancing. The

court ruled 6-3 that an Erie, Pa., law banning public nudity,

including that of nightclub dancers, does not violate the

First Amendment. Requiring pasties and G-strings “leaves

ample capacity to convey the dancer’s erotic message.”

Justice O’Connor’s majority spin: “Being ‘in a state of

nudity’ is not an inherently expressive condition.” Justice

Scalia and Justice Thomas’ concurrent spin: What’s more, a

community should be able to declare public nudity

immoral.

”Potter” planted: Chris Columbus (Home Alone, Mrs. Doubtfire, Bicentennial Man) selected by Warner Bros. to direct screen adaptation of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, the first installment of an anticipated long-running and lucrative “Potter” franchise.

Harry Potter’s Wizardry Banned From School

Harry Potter, the fictional young wizard who captured children’s imagination all over the world, has been banished

from one English school because his magical powers go against the teachings of the Bible.

A rogue wave smashed into a Navy destroyer seven miles west of the Golden Gate, leaving crewman with two broken legs.

Ben may freeze Jerry out of impending deal

Study Links Agent Orange, Diabetes

“A U.S. Air Force study released on Wednesday showed a

significant link between Agent Orange and diabetes in veterans who took part in

spraying the dioxin-laced jungle defoliant in the Vietnam War.”

Mayor Giuliani has given up his ill-advised assault on the First Amendment at the Brooklyn Museum [New York Times editorial]

Planet hunters find new worlds smaller than Saturn

“Planet-hunting

astronomers have crossed an

important threshold in planet

detection with the discovery of two

planets that may be smaller in mass

than Saturn.”