An al-Qaida group has claimed the capture of three U.S. soldiers.

Four other American soldiers and their Iraqi interpreter were killed in the pre-dawn attack on their patrol Saturday. The U.S. said 4,000 troops were searching for the three missing soldiers.

In a statement posted on an Islamic Web site, the Islamic State in Iraq claimed responsibility for the attack in Mahmoudiya on Saturday and said it held an unspecified number of U.S. soldiers. The group offered no proof to back up its claim.

"Mother's Day was originally designated as a day to inspire people to work for peace. It was conceived after wars at home and abroad by American abolitionist and suffragist Julia Ward Howe."  RediscoverMothersDay.org.

Besides initiating the tradition of Mother's Day, Howe is best known as the author of the words to "The Battle Hymn of the Republic". As a pacifist during the Civil War, she witnessed the devastating effects of the conflict through her work with widows and orphans. In 1870 she wrote the "Mother's Day Proclamation," a call to women to oppose war and to convene to promote peace and be the architects of their family's -- and their own -- political futures. She presented it at international peace conferences in London and Paris , where she lamented the atrocities of not only the American Civil War, but also the Franco-Prussian War.

Howe envisioned the first "Mother's Day" as a time for women to gather, grieve and determine a peaceful solution to war.

Howe's 1870 "Mother's Day Proclamation" reads:

Tommy Thompson's rescinded endorsement of an employer's ability to discriminate against gay employees has a new spin:

Tommy Thompson cited a dead hearing aid and an urgent need to use the bathroom in explaining on Saturday why he said at a GOP presidential debate that an employer should be allowed to fire a gay worker.

Memo to political debaters: visit the facilities before the debate starts so that you can give undivided attention to the questions you can't hear.

Within the next few weeks, Congress is expected to vote on a bill that would require your consent before spyware and adware programs are installed on your computer.

Meant to protect Internet users from unknowing transmission of their personal information via spyware programs, the Spy Act bans the most commonly known techniques used by malware and adware brokers, such as the use of keystroke-logging programs or installation of software without gaining approval via a clearly stated EULA (end user licensing agreement). The bill further establishes requirements for legitimate distributors of spyware-like programs to gain end user consent and build their applications such that they can be easily identified and removed from computers. ...

The bill specifically requires that consumers receive a "clear and conspicuous notice" prior to the installation of any tracking program and includes provisions to bar unfair or deceptive behavior such as computer hijacking, phishing, and the display of any browser ads that can't be closed.

If you value your privacy or your right to control the contents of your own computer, let your representative know you support this bill.

It's good to see a headline recognizing this reality:

Civilian Deaths Undermine Allies’ War on Taliban

From the story:

What angers Afghans are not just the bombings, but also the raids of homes, the shootings of civilians in the streets and at checkpoints, and the failure to address those issues over the five years of war. Afghan patience is wearing dangerously thin, officials warn.

Either oil thieves have "siphoned off" 100,000 to 300,000 barrels of oil a day in Iraq for the last four years (perhaps explaining Dick Cheney's recent visit -- was he checking the pilfered oil stash?), or Iraq has been substantially puffing its oil production reports. Neither explanation would be good news for an administration that expects us to embrace its vision of Iraq as a nation where oil profits will bring peace and prosperity to all.

The report by the accountability office is the most comprehensive look yet at faltering American efforts to rebuild Iraq’s oil and electricity sectors.... The report also contains the most comprehensive assessment yet of the billions of dollars the United States and Iraq spent on rebuilding the oil and electricity infrastructure, which is falling further and further behind its performance goals.

The final version of the GAO report is expected to be released next week. Look for it late Friday, after the press has gone to bed.

I'll be offline most of today so here's a space for you to hang out and discuss whatever is on your minds.

Some news I've been following:

• The Government is still pressing on with attempts to limit detainees' access to lawyers although it has withdrawn the most restrictive proposal of limiting the number of visits to three.

...the administration would continue to seek other limitations on the lawyers. These would include requests to permit only one visit for a detainee to authorize a lawyer to handle his case; to screen mail sent by lawyers; and to allow government officials, on their own, to deny lawyers access to secret evidence used against detainees by military panels.

• Equal and Splenda settled their lawsuit (background here)-- after the jury came in with a verdict but before it was announced. The jury had found for Equal and would have awarded substantial damages. How did the parties know to settle?

Settlement talks began after jurors asked the judge for a calculator and expert reports from both sides on how to determine damages. Lawyers rushed to the judge's office to try to delay the jury's announcement and then huddled in a courthouse meeting room.

More...

U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Hogan granted the House Judiciary Committee's request for immunity for Monica Goodling so she can be forced to testify at an upcoming hearing. I've uploaded the immunity application and order (pdf.)

The New York Times adds a new name to the mix:

Two years ago, Robin C. Ashton, a seasoned criminal prosecutor at the Department of Justice, learned from her boss that a promised promotion was no longer hers.

“You have a Monica problem,” Ms. Ashton was told, according to several Justice Department officials. Referring to Monica M. Goodling, a 31-year-old, relatively inexperienced lawyer who had only recently arrived in the office, the boss added, “She believes you’re a Democrat and doesn’t feel you can be trusted.”

The Times also reports details of the questions Goodling asked applicants, including whether they ever committed adultery:

Ms. Goodling would soon be quizzing applicants for civil service jobs at Justice Department headquarters with questions that several United States attorneys said were inappropriate, like who was their favorite president and Supreme Court justice. One department official said an applicant was even asked, “Have you ever cheated on your wife?”

More....

The She-Pundit With Long Blond Hair (I don't use her name on TalkLeft if I can help it) has been cleared of voting fraud charges in Palm Beach. They found no evidence she "willfully or deliberately'' violated any laws."

The Palm Beach Post reports on questions surrounding support she received from an FBI agent in the probe.

Reading between the lines, it sounds like Ms. C. didn't change her address because of a stalker, whom she had reported to the FBI, and the FBI agent called the voting fraud investigator to confirm the stalking incident, not to try and influence the investigation.

If that's the case, and she was trying to vote where her registration was, even though she knew it was no longer the correct address, but she didn't lie on her voting registration form for the purpose of defrauding the elections commission, I don't have a problem with this.

No doubt she feels she was unjustly accused, and I'm sure it's too much to hope for that she'll have more empathy for other putative criminal defendants, which is a shame. The only solace for those who would have liked to see her stand in the dock is that it probably cost her a bundle in legal fees.

Once again, that old adage, the man who defends himself has a fool for a client, comes to mind.

Last year I wrote about Boca Raton physician Rafiq Abdus Sabir who was arrested and charged with providing material support to terrorists.

The trial is taking place now in New York. The other co-defendants pleaded guilty but Dr. Sabir wanted to go to trial. He is representing himself.

He testified today, and things did not go well for him. Look what the prosecutor got into evidence:

Tony Blair has announced he will step down as Britain's Prime Minister on June 27.

Gordon Brown is expected to be his successor and launched his candidacy today.

Brown has Blair's support. Among Brown's positions:

He also denied he would move the government to the left, saying he would continue to "drive forward" New Labour reforms to the public services....in a speech in Knebworth, in Hertfordshire, Mr Brown promised to create a "new kind of politics" in which the government "gives power away so that people in the community can have more power".

As to Iraq:

Mr Brown said: "I accept that mistakes have been made."

Here is Brown's speech in full. So, is this a good thing or a bad thing?

33 years ago this week I was sworn into the Colorado Bar. Here's a picture a classmate e-mailed me today of the reception following that event, taken in the law school courtyard, in 1974. How silly we looked, kind of like a cross between the BeeGees and the Mod Squad.