Public Eye: County Supe Pete McHugh participates in a forum for minorities whose rights have been trampled in the post-Patriot Act era; San Joseans challenge the Patriot Act.

Biter: Sending robots to Mars to meet up with aliens just doesn't seem like a good idea.

Techsploits: High Entropy Week.

Beating Down Boundaries: It took a Senate bill to protect Japantown. It will take much more to preserve its favorite arts group, San Jose Taiko.

Recall Antidotes: A few suggestions for not thinking about next Tuesday's electoral obligation.

Two 'Woods Don't Make a Right: 'Bollywood/Hollywood' appropriates the least interesting parts of Indian cinema for Western consumption.

East to West: Arab Film Festival offers new perspective in eclectic programs.

Dead Man's Party: 'The Event': It's a comedy! It's a weeper! It's a must to avoid.

Kids in the House: 'Casa de Los Babys' crawls through the adoption cry-room.

Knife Fight: Shonen Knife--sisters Naoko and Atsuko Yamano--enters its third decade as Osaka's finest punk-pop export.

Aural Fixation: 'Want One' finds Rufus Wainwright in a New York state of mind.

Most Likely: Alan Jackson graduated from the 'Class of '89' to become one of country music's leading men.

Metro's Club of the Week: Splash/Club Furia.

Saratoga Via France: The reinvention of Sent Sovi sends taste buds on a bumpy ride toward succulent dessert.

Send in the Sondheim: TheatreWorks takes a second look at 'A Little Night Music.'

Wordplay: 'Don Juan in Chicago' confronts the great seducer with modern sexual mores.