  Using only linearly polarized light, we study the possibility of generating
spin-polarized photoelectrons from xenon atoms. No net spin polarization is
possible, since the xenon ground state is spin-less, but when the photoelectron
are measured in coincidence with the residual ion, spin polarization emerges.
Furthermore, we show that ultrafast dynamics of the recolliding photoelectrons
contribute to an apparent flipping of the spin of the photoelectron, a process
that has been completely neglected so far in all analyses of recollision-based
processes. We link this phenomenon to the ``spin--orbit clock'' of the
remaining ion. These effects arise already in dipole approximation.
