So I was gonna talk about the war in Iraq, but that's already everyone's sujet du jour. Let's check some of the recent headlines.

Bush Grabs New Power for FBI

While the nation was distracted last month by images of Saddam Hussein's spider hole and dental exam, President George W. Bush quietly signed into law a new bill that gives the FBI increased surveillance powers and dramatically expands the reach of the USA Patriot Act.

The Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004 grants the FBI unprecedented power to obtain records from financial institutions without requiring permission from a judge.

Under the law, the FBI does not need to seek a court order to access such records, nor does it need to prove just cause.

…

Bush signed the bill on Dec. 13, a Saturday, which was the same day the U.S. military captured Saddam Hussein.

Leave it to the ever-so-sneaky G-Dub to sign off on more idiocy to fuel the fires of his "war on terror" schtick. There's no telling what other legislation is sitting around with more Patriot Act II shards carefully embedded in it's political jargon. And y'all know G-Dub can't read right…get your ass to a poll and vote so he doesn't serve another term, 'k?

B2K Pulls a Destiny's Child

J-Boog shared that the group decided they no longer wanted to conduct business with Chris because of recent discoveries of unethical business practices and decisions. "We were 13 and 14 years old when we started and just wanted to sing. We weren't thinking longevity. Contracts were signed and things weren't done fairly. We didn't know anything about this business and as we got older, we started researching and things weren't matching up," he explained. "Chris holds a reputation that's not good, but we were loyal to him and didn't want to believe that. But we did research and found out about bad business and unfair business decisions. Without getting into specifics, things were being done under the table, and they were things we were unaware of. Now we refuse to do business with him or anyone involved with him."

And:

What's the relationship with Marques Houston?

J-Boog: "Marques is my cousin! But a lot of people don't know that he is part owner of T.U.G. Every decision goes through him too, and he has to okay things before they are done. So we can't deal with him either."

Sounds rather Immature, don't it? And why do they all have names that sound like Pokémon? I mean seriously…Omarion? Raz B? Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again….

And in local news: Sirens shoo bar-goers home

The patrol cars — lights flashing and sirens blaring — crawled up Bolling Way in the heart of Buckhead's nightlife district, pushing the lingering crowd away. As people tried to escape the noise, the patrol cars followed them. More patrol cars appeared at the intersections at Pharr Road, Buckhead Avenue and East Paces Ferry Road, surrounding the departing crowd.

The sirens helped Police Chief Richard Pennington's department get the signal out that closing time, as of Thursday, is now 3 a.m. instead of 4 a.m. The new law applies citywide.

Even the old standby last stop of the night — Backstreet in Midtown —
closed at 3 a.m. The club was traditionally open 24 hours. A Backstreet employee said Thursday the club will comply with the new closing time.

OK - I've got several problems with this. One, angry bar goers are only gonna take that anger to the street once they leave. Two, they will go into the surrounding neighborhoods, turn the music up in their cars, and have a club in the street. Three, why the hell is the city council punishing the whole city for the behavior in one neighborhood? Four, does the city council realize how much money in tourism they will lose? Atlanta won't be known as a party city any more - it'll be the kid that has a curfew and has to go home early.

So much on my mind that I just can't recline….