What's on your mind today? I'm making my way through thousands of pages of discovery, and later, once the snow has melted, going out to do some jail visits.

I see an arrest is imminent in the Chandra Levy case.

All topics welcome here.

Leonard Cohen played Manhattan last night -- his first U.S. concert in 15 years. He's 74 years old. I love so many of his songs, particularly Democracy (clip above), Everybody Knows and Closing Time.

The New York Times gave him a great review: [More...]

In response to some, in my view, unfortunate remarks by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Amnesty International levelled some harsh but appropriate criticism:

[Secretary] Clinton said the United States would continue to press China on long-standing US concerns over human rights such as its rule over Tibet. "But our pressing on those issues can't interfere on the global economic crisis, the global climate change crisis and the security crisis," Clinton told reporters in Seoul just before leaving for Beijing.

More . . .

While I personally support President Obama's Afghanistan policy, I accept that reasonable minds can disagree on this complex and difficult issue. I thus endorse Meteor Blades' view that we must avoid:

a kind of rebranding . . . to separate "reasonable progressives" from "the crazies."

This was the type of New McCarthyism that Andrew Sullivan popularized earlier this decade. We must reject such an offensive and harmful approach out of hand.

Speaking for me only

The two child actors in Slum Dog Millionaire are en route to Hollywood where they will appear at the Oscars and on the Red Carpet Sunday.

Check out this BBC video interview with them today and watch the squalor that exists in the Mumbai slums.

Slumdog is a shoe-in for Best Picture. Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight.com has put his political skills to the Oscars and comes up with these predictions.

Sgt Michael Leahy Jr, a 28 year old army medic, was found guilty of the murder of four Iraqis at a courts-martial trial in Germany today. He faces up to life in prison and a dishonorable discharge.

Leahy was one of a group of soldiers who took detainees away after it was decided there was not enough evidence to charge them. Blindfolded and gagged, the four were then shot and dumped in a canal.

Leahy admitted killing one of the Iraqis. His lawyer's argument:

His lawyers argued that the stress of being in a conflict zone for so long meant he was unable to reason properly. ...His lawyer, Frank Spinner, argued that Leahy went along with the killings because he was dazed from a lack of sleep.

"The tragedy resulted not so much by design but rather the working of fear, danger and madness attendant on many combat operations," Mr Spinner said in his closing arguments.

Good news for Barry Bonds today: The UA's and doping calendars won't be allowed at trial.

U.S. District Judge Susan Illston said the urine samples that tested positive for steroids are inadmissible because prosecutors cannot prove conclusively that they belong to Bonds. The judge also barred prosecutors from showing jurors so-called doping calendars that Bonds' personal trainer, Greg Anderson, allegedly maintained for the slugger.

The judge said prosecutors need direct testimony from Anderson to introduce such evidence. Anderson's attorney said the trainer will refuse to testify at Bonds' trial even though he is likely to be sent to prison on contempt of court charges.

What's changed since the Stimulus bill came along? Stocks have sunk even lower. The Dow Jones Industrial Average today sank to a level not seen since October, 2002.

Worst of all, analysts say today's drop means it's going to go even lower. [More...]

This came by e-mail today. See if it makes you laugh. If not, what do you find funny these days?

A DEA officer stops at a ranch in Montana , and talks with an old rancher. He tells the rancher, 'I need to inspect your ranch for illegally grown drugs.'

The old rancher says, 'Okay, but do not go in that field over there' as he points out the location.

The DEA officer verbally explodes saying, 'Mister, I have the authority of the Federal Government with me.' Reaching into his rear pants pocket, he removes his badge and proudly displays it to the farmer. 'See this badge? This badge means I am allowed to go wherever I wish ...on any land. No questions asked or answers given. Have I made myself clear? Do you understand?'

[More...]

Guantanamo detainee Binyam Mohamed is being released to Great Britain.

Mohammed's case was a source of tension between the United States and Britain. Britain's High Court said this month that it was reluctantly sealing information related to Mohammed's allegation that he was tortured in Morocco, adding that the United States had threatened to withhold intelligence cooperation with Britain if the information was made public.

....Officials in Britain have said Mohammed faces no charges there and will be released upon his return.

Binyam was arrested in Pakistan in 2002. In 2004, he was flown to Gitmo. Where was he in between? He says Morocco, where he was tortured. The U.S. still refuses to confirm it had him flown to Morocco. Our prior coverage of his case and his torture allegations is accessible here.

The nine year old boy accused of murdering his father and his father's boarder has admitted the killings in juvenile court.

"Did you, on November 5 of last year, do something really dangerous or risky and, as a result, did somebody die?" Roca asked in Apache County Juvenile Court. Yes," responded the boy, who was accused of killing his father and another man.

The plea agreement is here (pdf).

As to why the DA backed off earlier plans to charge the child in adult court: [More...]

One of the more interesting exchanges in today's press conference with President Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Harper was the discussion of trade, NAFTA and the Buy American provisions in the stimulus. On the flip is the pertinent excerpts: