I love technology -- here are some photos from this morning's Faneuil Hall protest of Darth Ashcroft and his "Patriot" Act Roadshow. If you look closely, in the lower left corner of the fourth photo you can see a woman with grey hair sporting one of Marc & Sharon's custom made Pirate Patriot Paperhats! A good time was had by all, even those without hats -- several hundred people surrounded the "cradle of liberty" and made plenty of ruckus while a sea of state troopers filed inside to hear all kinds of nonsense from the AG. I caught the noon newscast at home, and Ashcroft apparently took a page from the W. playbook: "Lie. Smile. Repeat." Somehow phrases like "We are winning the war on terror" and "We will finish the work begun on September 11th" (?!!?) take on a particularly Orwellian tone when the public is literally shouting outside the doors to be heard...note that later, in the Govt. Center T stop, I spotted a castoff protest sign with this on it...definitely the order of the day. There was a pretty jolly mood throughout the morning, even after some of the grownups had to head off to work and the late-sleeping anarchist youth showed up with their black hoodies and free-floating hostility (I was a little concerned when the police decided to cordon them off right in front of the Abercrombie & Fitch...wait, did I say "concerned"?). Amid the chestnut protest chants (I hereby vote to retire "Hey Hey, Ho Ho" forevermore) and a few rambling speakers, there were some very clever signs, slogans, and a peppering of presidential candidate material, namely from Kucinich and Dean. A highlight was Congressman Michael Capuano, former mayor of Somerville, speaking out on the Act alongside local firebrand Chuck Turner, a pretty bold move when you think about it. All things considered, it was a great turnout for such short notice, with a diverse crowd, and people seemed truly fired up about this...I like Marc's idea of sporting our little tricornered hats in solidarity...though they don't stay on in the wind too well.