Update [2008-7-19 18:18:24 by Big Tent Democrat]: A classic example of the "Creative Class" in action. Truly a funny panel, not intentionally of course.

Here is an interesting panel discussion at Netroots Nation:

Meta

Saturday, July 19th 4:30 PM - 5:45 PM

In this blogosphere-focused panel, moderator Chris Bowers will pose two questions—one about the Obama/Clinton conflict in the blogosphere community and the second looking at how blogs compare with other forms of social media. After a panel discussion, audience members will be given a chance to ask additional questions.

More . .

Schapelle Corby redux in Singapore....

Austrialian ABC Foreign Correspondent Peter Lloyd was busted in Sinagpore with one gram of meth. He faces 20 years in prison plus 15 whacks of the infamous cane.

He's charged with trafficking:

The ABC's South Asia correspondent was allegedly in possession of 0.8 grams of methamphetamine, or ice, a smoking pipe and six syringes when he was arrested by Singapore police on Wednesday. His urine tested positive to amphetamines.

More...

An amusing 60 seconds to brighten your weekend.

It's customary for criminal defense lawyers to tell new clients, "Don't do anything stupid while these charges are pending." The advice isn't always heeded. Now it seems necessary to be more specific: "If you're going to do something stupid, don't publicize it on your MySpace or Facebook page."

Two weeks after Joshua Lipton was charged in a drunken driving crash that seriously injured a woman, the 20-year-old college junior attended a Halloween party dressed as a prisoner. Pictures from the party showed him in a black-and-white striped shirt and an orange jumpsuit labeled "Jail Bird."

In the age of the Internet, it might not be hard to guess what happened to those pictures: Someone posted them on the social networking site Facebook. And that offered remarkable evidence for Jay Sullivan, the prosecutor handling Lipton's drunken-driving case.

Sullivan used the pictures to paint Lipton as an unrepentant partier who lived it up while his victim recovered in the hospital. A judge agreed, calling the pictures depraved when sentencing Lipton to two years in prison.

Of course, social networking sites hold some benefit for defense lawyers as well. Young people who claim to be distraught victims of crimes have trouble explaining why they're posting pictures of their drunken parties, taken just days after they were supposedly traumatized by a criminal act. It's great evidence when you find it, and it's surprising how often you do.

Denver Post editor Stephen Keating is in Austin for Netroots Nation, one of a few hundred mainstream media observers on scene. From his live-blog this morning:

Nancy Pelosi talked about reaching out to evangelicals:

Speaker Pelosi describes global warming as an issue of the environment, the economy, national security - and as a moral issue. “It is a moral responsibility. We work with the evangelicals to protect God’s creation.”

Code Pink anti-war protesters showed up for Pelosi's speech. NN organizer Gina Cooper laid down the rules:[More...]

Open threads are where you can post comments not germane to posts on particular topics. We delete off topic comments. Please keep it civil.

The is an Open Thread.

Some folks are beginning to notice that Cass Sunstein is no defender of the rule of law. Via Glenn Greenwald, Ari Melber writes:

Cass Sunstein, an adviser to Barack Obama from the University of Chicago Law School, cautioned against prosecuting criminal conduct from the current Administration. Prosecuting government officials risks a "cycle" of criminalizing public service, he argued, and Democrats should avoid replicating retributive efforts like the impeachment of President Clinton--or even the "slight appearance" of it.

What people do not realize is Cass Sunstein has been defending the Bush Administration's illegal actions and the Bush Administration's preposterous claims for many many years now. This is who he is. I think that any connection he has to Barack Obama is extremely troubling.

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

Barack Obama is in Afghanistan but the big political news imo is that Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki told the German magazine Der Speigel that he agrees with Barack Obama's plan for Iraq:

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki told a German magazine he supported prospective U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's proposal that U.S. troops should leave Iraq within 16 months. In an interview with Der Spiegel released on Saturday, Maliki said he wanted U.S. troops to withdraw from Iraq as soon as possible.

"U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama talks about 16 months. That, we think, would be the right timeframe for a withdrawal, with the possibility of slight changes."

Perhaps Maliki will start referring to it as a "time horizon." I believe this is devastating to John McCain.

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

Say goodbye to Phil Gramm. The man was always good for a laugh. He'll be missed.

Former Sen. Phil Gramm stepped down today as co-chairman of his friend John McCain’s campaign, eight days after he went seriously off message to say that the nation is in a “mental recession.”

Gramm's departure avoids further missteps by a guy who can be counted on for embarrassment, but it doesn't make John McCain any the wiser on economic policy. Advantage Obama:

“The question for John McCain isn’t whether Phil Gramm will continue as chairman of his campaign, but whether he will continue to keep the economic plan that Gramm authored and that represents a continuation of the polices that have failed American families for the last eight years,” said Obama spokesman Hari Sevugan.

Nailed it.

If you get arrested protesting at the Democratic National Convention in August, have no fear, the DNC People's Law Project will have your back.

The People's Law Project will provide pro-bono attorneys to help jailed protesters during the convention. The group will also staff a hotline where protesters can call for help and will field teams of neutral legal observers who will attend rallies and videotape protesters' interaction with police.

60 lawyers willing to volunteer their services met at the University of Denver today for a training session on how to defend arrested protesters.

Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper has said the police have undergone training to help diffuse violence. Denver civil rights attorney David Lane, speaking at today's session, said police reaction to the protesters is key.

President Bush and Iraq Prime Minister Maliki have agreed to set a "time horizon" rather than a timeline for troop withdrawal from Iraq. The White House released this statement today:

"In the area of security cooperation, the president and the prime minister agreed that improving conditions should allow for the agreements now under negotiation to include a general time horizon for meeting aspirational goals," the statement said. It said those goals include turning over more control to Iraqi security forces and "the further reduction of U.S. combat forces from Iraq."

.... "The president and prime minister agreed that the goals would be based on continued improving conditions on the ground and not an arbitrary date for withdrawal."

It sounds like an aspirational plan rather than an action plan. It's also vague and certainly not binding. I'm not impressed.

Meanwhile, in other Iraq news, it looks like John McCain spilled some beans on Sen. Barack Obama's weekend travel plans to Iraq.

Robert Novak writes:

[T]he private Republican view is that the focus must be on Obama in the coming campaign for McCain to win. A positive campaign will lose, and the spotlight on Obama must be harsher for McCain to have a chance.

Thanks for the insight Bob.