  NYT has a hilarious story on some of the urlLink goofballs that will be protesting the GOP convention this summer. First there's the "Bellman": Mr. Herold has ordered hundreds of one-inch, gold-plated bells - the kind that could easily adorn a Christmas tree - that he plans to distribute to any takers. He will call participants in his Ring Out project to surround ground zero - as close as they can - and raise a cacophony to "ring out the Republicans" shortly before the convention opens on Aug. 30.
"The bell stands for different emotions - anger, alarm - and it's emblematic of the Liberty Bell," Mr. Herold, 47, said the other night as he and three companions readied dozens of bells to show at a meeting of protest groups. There's Luke, an aspiring Sauron: Luke Kuhn, 38, a self-described radical who lives near Washington, has sent out e-mail pleas seeking a suitable kiln to melt a brass ring, about the size of a large wedding band, inscribed with Bush Über Alles, at the start of the convention. And the Thong-Squad: Axis of Eve, a protest group formed in January to focus on women's rights, is selling underwear adorned with anti-Bush slogans and is organizing 100 women to flash them during the convention (The underwear will be worn over body suits or leotards to keep it legal.
) Zoe, who's something of a low budget urlLink Christo : Zoe Strauss, a Philadelphia photographer, is urging people to wear red bandannas en masse as a symbol of protest and plans to bring 10,000 to the convention to hand out. Then there's the puker: Wendy Tremayne, a performance artist, is recruiting volunteers for a Vomitorium, a re-enactment of a Roman orgy that she plans to stage as a protest against imperialism, consumerism and gluttony. And lest we think this is a high-tech affair--let's revisit Luke, our unemployed bike messenger kiln seeker: Inspired by the "Lord of the Rings," the ring "makes a point that Bush is a dark lord," Mr. Kuhn said.
Therefore, it must be destroyed, as in the book and movies, but Mr. Kuhn is not sure how to do it: maybe using a barbecue grill with coals fanned by a hair dryer. "I can make a bellows, if nobody has a hair dryer, from salvaged wood that day, if necessary," he wrote on an electronic bulletin board. "I can easily rig the grill to be an improvised 'forge,' as a blacksmith would know it, and that will easily handle the destruction. '' I kinda do hope the networks cover the protests now--this sounds awesome. 
