Woman Attacked on Bus by Four Men and Onlookers Said it Was Her Fault

Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine:

Name Game

A state lawmaker in Georgia wants to strip the name of Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney from a major highway in suburban Atlanta. Republican Len Walker says Democrat McKinney "has brought embarrassment to the state of Georgia" — and cites her run-in earlier this year with a Capitol Hill police officer and her recent bill to impeach President Bush. Walker has introduced a resolution in the state assembly to change the name of "Cynthia McKinney Parkway" to its original name — Memorial Drive — in honor of 9/11 victims.

Former McKinney campaign manager John Evans calls Walker "an idiot" and says of Walker's claim that McKinney has embarrassed Georgians: "He must be talking about white folks or uppity black folks."

McKinney lost her bid for another term when she was defeated in a primary runoff last summer.

"Modesty Patrol"

A 50-year-old American-Israeli woman says she was viciously attacked by an ad-hoc "modesty patrol" because she refused to go to the back of a bus in Jerusalem. Miriam Shear tells the Israeli newspaper Haaretz that she was in Israel on vacation and riding a bus to the old city to pray at sunrise. Jerusalem does have some sex-segregated buses, but she was not on one. Yet a man demanded she give up her seat — and when she refused — a group of four attacked her.

Shear says she got in a few good licks of her own, however, including a punch to the face of one and a kick to the privates of another, saying, "I will never forget the look on his face." She also lost her hair covering in the attack — so she grabbed one of the men's hats and threw it down the aisle. She says the bus driver did nothing and the passengers actually said the whole thing was her fault.

Labor Problems

Labor union problems in Denver are part of what forced the Democrats to delay their decision on which city will host their 2008 convention. The leader of Denver's Theatrical Stage Employees Union is refusing to sign a no-strike pledge. The head of the city's host committee says a lack of full union support is "probably a deal-breaker." Denver's City Council president says — "the irony is we are wanting to pay hundreds of union people and pay them union salaries, and we would think that's what they want."

Human Rights?

And a report commissioned by the British government's chief scientist says that robots may have to be given human rights one day. The report called "Robo-Rights — Utopian Dream or Rise of the Machines?" says that if machines are given artificial intelligence, they could provide a tremendous boost to productivity — and might eventually pay taxes and serve in the military.

But they also may end up wanting rights of their own — such as voting, welfare, and "robo-healthcare to fix the machines over time." And it says these rights would invariably clash with the property rights of their owners.

—FOX News Channel's Martin Hill contributed to this report.