Al Franken's Great American Shoutout. The second Bush takes the stage at the RNC, everyone around the country yells "fuggedaboudit!" (or a regional variant if you're not from NYC). Sounds kinda like a...flashmob!?

Seattle: I stayed at work last night till 9pm, powered by a bag of cheetos and a really cool idea from eben. Then I went to the Knarr with Amy, Azure, Mike, and straight Colin (not gay Colin). They played shuffleboard. Mike gave me a really awesome mix he made.

Before that, Al Franken came to speak at work. I got there late (and by late, I mean five minutes early) and I had to stand up outside, craning my neck to see/hear. I had to leave early, but I got a co-worker to sign my copy of L&TLLWTT for me. I wish I could have thanked Al in person for his work in debunking the grody Right.

UN: Bush begs for help from "obsolete" UN. Delegates try their hardest to hold back laughter.

Alaska: GOP plans to privatize the air traffic control system, a move that shows how they feel about your safety taking a back seat to profit. Alaska Congressman Don Young, a key backer of the legislation, made a last-minute change to the list of airports to have privatized air traffic control — he removed the two airports from his home state.

Amazon: A new book called Persecution: How Liberals Are Waging War Against Christianity is racing its way up the bestseller charts. It's about how wrong it is that "school children are forbidden to pray before football games; nativity scenes are banned from municipal property; the media ridicule Christian politicians, and Hollywood caricatures Christians as Bible-thumping yahoos or axe-wielding fanatics." Have you ever met a bible thumper that wasn't wielding axe? I sure haven't. Here's a fun quiz about the separation of church and state.

Washington DC: Bush lied some more.

"Acting pursuant to the Constitution and Public Law 107-243 [congressional authorization for military force in Iraq] is consistent with the United States and other countries continuing to take the necessary actions against international terrorists and terrorist organizations, including those nations, organizations, or persons who planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001."

-- President Bush, March 18 letter to Congress.

"We've had no evidence that Saddam Hussein was involved with the September 11th."

-- President Bush, Sept. 17.

Judge throws out Fox's injunction against Franken.

"There are hard cases and there are easy cases. This is an easy case," said U.S. District Judge Denny Chin. "This case is wholly without merit both factually and legally."

"Parody is a form of artistic expression protected by the First Amendment. The keystone to parody is imitation. Mr. Franken is clearly mocking Fox," said Chin.

The judge said he thought it ironic that a media company that should be fighting to protect free speech would seek to undermine the First Amendment.

I love when stuff like this happens: Fox News is suing humorist Al Franken over his use of the phrase "fair and balanced" in his latest book, Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right.

Under IP law, Fox must prove that the phrase is unambiguously associated with Fox News Channel in the mind of the public. In other words, not only do they need to prove (via surveys, as the courts usually require) that people associate "fair and balanced" with FNC, but they also have to prove that the phrase is associated only with Fox. I can just see the survey question: When you hear the phrase "fair and balanced," do you think of: a) Fox News only, b) Fox News and other news stations, or c) most news stations other than Fox news.

BTW, there's a great rundown of IP laws on Daily Kos.