Watch out, this one's for real. Don't open emails that say "hi" in the subject line.

The "Bagle" or "Beagle" worm arrives in an e-mail with the subject "hi" and the word "test" in the message body. If the accompanying attachment is executed, the worm is unleashed and tries to send itself to all e-mails listed in the user's address book.

We've had several TalkLeft expenses come due at the same time, depleting our paypal reserves. If any of you would like to contribute, we'd sure appreciate it. Amazon is anonymous, paypal lets us know who you are and send a thank you note. Thanks much.

Say hello to the new group political blog The American Street, brainchild of Kevin Hayden of Reach M High Cowboy. Guest bloggers include David Neiwert of Orcinus, skippy the bush kangaroo, Dave Johnson of Seeing the Forest, Luis Toro of Colorado Luis, Mary Ratcliff of Pacific Views, the left coaster and others. We'll be an occasional contributor, our first post is here--in which we agree with those who say the burden of proof in a death penalty case should be raised to beyond all doubt.

Also say hello to left i on the news and angry bear.

We are off to Vail, before continuing on to Eagle for court on Monday afternoon. We'll be back here Monday night. In the meantime, if you've got something to say, be our guest. Small favor, watch the language and try to be civil. You catch more bees with honey than vinegar.

Three good news stories from LA Weekly:

LAPD wants to ban ski masks from demonstrators’ wardrobes reports that the Los Angeles Police Department is seeking the fast track for new laws to ban face coverings, gas masks or even goggles at public demonstrations.

Second and Long about the retrial set to begin Monday for the Inglewood California cop who was videotaped slamming a teenagrer's head into a car. The last jury deadlocked when the prosecution's witness went south on them.

Exiled by Love about how the immigration laws discriminate against gay partners.

We'll be adding to this thread with posts from bloggers and other alternative news sources as the weekend progresses. Feel free to add your favorites in the comments, just use the html formatting instructions provided. Long urls not in html code skew the site and aren't hot linked.

What we're reading today:

Agonist:

UK Government to scale back emergency laws under pressure from civil liberties groups. The United Kingdom's plans to give the police and the Army sweeping emergency powers to ban street demonstrations and seize property were diluted by the Government yesterday in the face of a civil liberties outcry. The Civil Contingencies Bill, the biggest shake-up of emergency laws since early last century, will cover terrorist attack, natural disasters and epidemics. But the Government backed off from an earlier proposal that the powers could be triggered by an event that threatened "political, administrative or economic stability", which critics claimed could have been used to outlaw marches against the Iraq war or to combat the fuel protests of 2000. The text of said bill, courtesy the UK government.

Warblogging:

Mr. Ashcroft belongs to a sect of religious extremists that believe that dancing is immoral. Mr. Ashcroft is scared of calico cats because he feels they are associated with the devil. Mr. Ashcroft feels that gambling is the height of immorality, and that sex outside of marriage is evil. Mr. Ashcroft truly stands as the polar opposite of Las Vegas.

Pandagon:

They are ex-felons. In that they are free. In that they have served their time. In that whatever transgression, they made, they have paid their debt to society, and as such their very basic rights as American citizens are due them.

One can argue that ex-felons who committed violent crimes shouldn't be able to own guns. But what is the argument that those who aren't imprisoned any longer should no longer be allowed the franchise?

We're glad to see that a lot more readers are commenting on TalkLeft. We read every one of the 300 + comments a day. We also pay a lot for the bandwidth. Tips are appreciated--see the Amazon and (paypal) donation buttons on the left side of the site. Amazon is anonymous and paypal lets us know your email address so we can send a thank you note.

Media Horse is back--go over and vote on Media Whor! of the Year.

Update: Jim at Rittenhouse Review dissects the nominees.

Update: The nominees for best single issue blog are now up and we've been included. So we're proud to be semi-finalists in both this category and best blog. We hope to make it to the finals in at least one, so we hope you'll go over and vote!

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The list of semi-finalists for nominees for best blog are up at Wampum for the 2003 Koufax awards. Last year, TalkLeft won for being the best single-issue blog. While the nominees for best single issue blog have not yet been announced, this year we are a semi-finalist for a nominee for best blog. The competition is awesome. What does best blog encompass? According to Wampum,

The category seeks to recognize the best overall work across the entire year, in writing, focus, relevance, accessibility, etc. In other word, who do you consider indispensable?

Wampum is taking votes from among the following list of semi-finalists:

A major thanks to TChris who posted some great stuff on TalkLeft yesterday while we gave our wrist a rest. If you haven't read his stuff, please scroll down and do so now. He's smart, articulate, writes really well and shares our views on just about every issue. Leave some comments, so he'll want to come back and post some more!

Avedon Carol of Sideshow , one of our favorite blogs, had her laptop swiped. She has a paypal button on her main page, it you can help her out, please do.

Hamster's back. Now we're just waiting for Jeanne at Body and Soul.

Jim Capozzola of Rittenhouse Review adds some new bloggers to his blogroll. He also wants you to torture the American Family Association in its marriage poll.

Skippy is taking the "jobs will be plentiful in 2004" line with at least one pound of salt.

Demagogue on Joe Lieberman, with examples:

Time and time again, Lieberman has shown himself willing to compromise on the most fundamental social and economic issues that most progressives care about.

Warblogging has a story about his debit card that didn't work, his trip to the bank, civil liberties and the Patriot Act [link via Pacific Views, who also has a recap of the latest international news stories.]

Thanks to TChris who has agreed to post here on TalkLeft tomorrow. It's always nice to hear another voice.