[Updates below] Mayor Bloomberg's deep, sacred bond with the First Amendment will be tested today at 2 p.m. when Occupy Wall Street's drummers will begin a 24-hour "JAM SESSION" outside his townhouse mansion on East 79th Street. A release proclaims, "Tie-dye, didgeridoo, hackeysack welcome! No shirt, no shoes, no problem! And if you don't have talent, don't worry: FREE DRUM LESSONS offered! Also on offer: collaborative drumming with the police!" Nothing makes that bass drum boom like a baton. more ›

Everyone's favorite Mark Twain-hating city councilman Charles Barron is upset that Libyan despot Moammer Gadhafi was killed at the hands of his own countrymen last month. "One person's horrible person can be another person's hero," he told the Daily News. Barron spoke at a memorial service for Gadhafi last week, presumably attended by representatives from Just for Men Gel and the treasurer of the Condi Rice Fan Club. more ›

As the protests against corporate greed and the "occupation" of the Financial District continues for a third day, at least seven demonstrators have been arrested. According to Bloomberg News, two were arrested for trying to enter a Bank of America building, another for jumping a police barrier, and four more for "wearing masks in violation of a law that bars two or more participants from doing so." This law dates back to 1845 in the Anti-Rent era—a time when a wealthy few owned feudal-esque leases to maintain control of tenants. Absolutely nothing like today! more ›

A federal panel says the Department of Education discriminated against the principal of a Brooklyn dual-language school by forcing her to resign, when critics accused the institution of indoctrinating students into service for jihad. According to the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission the DOE “succumbed to the very bias that creation of the school was intended to dispel and a small segment of the public succeeded in imposing its prejudices on D.O.E. as an employer.” more ›

Yesterday, the city was filled with parades and events paying tribute to the members of military who have given their lives or continue to fight on our behalf. more ›

Debbie Almontaser, the erstwhile head and founder of Brooklyn's Khalil Gibran International Academy, will sue the city for violating her freedom of speech. She also claims Mayor Bloomberg and Schools Chancellor Joel Klein forced her to resign as principal under threat of closing the dual-language school. more ›

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is getting a lot of ink in our newspapers today after it was revealed that (A) he had requested a visit to Ground Zero - to lay a wreath, no less - and then shortly later that (B) the city had denied the request. Way to work fast, city agencies! more ›

This week ended with the launch of the seventh and final Harry Potter installation. But while the world was consumed with Pottermania, it's important to remember that there were more serious things going on in the world, too - two of them in -Ist cities. more ›

The Smashing Pumpkins have officially made their return. The comeback (yeah, we're gonna call it a comeback) appears to be met with little fanfare. The new album, Zeitgeist, came out Tuesday - and was met with a lack of good reviews. The cover art is what we're concerned about here though. more ›

3) "It's a shame that someone would spend $70 to be so crass - when you can do it for $20 at Neighborhoodies.com."Acknowledgment of tackiness - check. Implicit praise of the Post - check. Shamless self-promotion - check check! And our suggestion about a good graphic: Derek Jeter's head - there are tons of possibilities with his Kid 'n Play hair. more ›

On Tuesday "The Oprah Winfrey Show" became a platform for the Hip-Hop community to respond to the Don Imus controversy with a panel discussion featuring Russell Simmons, Dr. Benjamin Chavis, Kevin Liles, Common and more. more ›

Gothamist posts on the capture of a NYC perv thanks to Little Brother and a camera phone. They also scour the city for vodka martinis and Shamrock shakes and spot the friend from the Wonder Years at a city law firm. New York police think that Littlejohn is their man. more ›

The NY Press's editorial staff quit over the paper's decision not to publish the controversial Mohammed cartoon from the conservative Danish paper/tinderbox. The Politicker broke the news and printed editor-in-chief Harry Siegel's memo; here's part of it:

New York Press, like so many other publications, has suborned its own professed principles. For all the talk of freedom of speech, only the New York Sun locally and two other papers nationally have mustered the minimal courage needed to print simple and not especially offensive editorial cartoons that have been used as a pretext for great and greatly menacing violence directed against journalists, cartoonists, humanitarian aid workers, diplomats and others who represent the basic values and obligations of Western civilization. Having been ordered at the 11th hour to pull the now-infamous Danish cartoons from an issue dedicated to them, the editorial group—consisting of myself, managing editor Tim Marchman, arts editorJonathan Leaf and one-man city hall bureau Azi Paybarah, chose instead to resign our positions... more ›

Sylka and John, Flag Makers more ›

Sometimes you just want to say what's on your mind. But how about in public, to complete strangers? Now you can. more ›

Reverend Billy, Street Preacher, The Church of Stop Shopping more ›

Clay Shirky more ›

"The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last Tuesday that Web loggers, website operators and e-mail list editors can't be held responsible for libel for information they republish, extending crucial First Amendment protections to do-it-yourself online publishers... more ›