I'll be back soon, hopefully by tomorrow. Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

On December 29, 2009, President Obama issued Executive Order 13526. In the preamble, this EO is described as:

Our democratic principles require that the American people be informed of the activities of their Government. Also, our Nation's progress depends on the free flow of information both within the Government and to the American people. Nevertheless, throughout our history, the national defense has required that certain information be maintained in confidence in order to protect our citizens, our democratic institutions, our homeland security, and our interactions with foreign nations. Protecting information critical to our Nation's security and demonstrating our commitment to open Government through accurate and accountable application of classification standards and routine, secure, and effective declassification are equally important priorities.

Is the Intelligence Community (IC) acting consistently with the principles of this Executive Order? We have many reasons to doubt it. The Hillary Clinton e-mail brouhaha is a great illustration of this. Richard Lempert, a fellow at Brookings and a former DHS official, writes:

In an AP Story sourced by Intelligence Community officials, the extreme weakness of the claims against Hillary Clinton are well explained. AP writes:

The two emails on Hillary Rodham Clinton's private server that an auditor deemed "top secret" include a discussion of a news article detailing a U.S. drone operation and a separate conversation that could point back to highly classified material in an improper manner or merely reflect information collected independently, U.S. officials who have reviewed the correspondence told The Associated Press. [My emphasis]

The idea that an email discussing a news article could be deemed "Top Secret" is ludicrous of course. But the IC is nothing if not ludicrous when it comes to classification issues. The story continues:

Looks like I'll be busy at jails and in court the rest of the week.

Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

Former President Jimmy Carter, 90, announced today that he has cancer. It was discovered after surgery for a mass on his liver. It has spread to other parts of his body.

He will be getting treatment at Emory Health Care in Atlanta. I'm sending good thoughts his way, and hope you do too.

A memorable Jimmy Carter quote: [More...]

While some will claim that:

. It is not in dispute that her cache of 30,000 e-mails contained classified documents from as many as five U.S. intelligence agencies.

This claim would be false. For one the State Department disputes it:

Our last open thread is full. I'm back to computer issues today -- I had to have the solid state hard drive replaced in my desktop and now I'm back to Windows 7 and reinstalling all my programs. I'm not sure if I will upgrade again to Windows 10. It is faster and prettier, but I don't like having everything linked to a Microsoft account or that my name shows in the browser.

All topics welcome.

Another court has upheld the protection order for Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman. More here. (Use google translate.)

From what I can understand, a three judge panel of the Collegiate Court has rejected the Mexican Attorney General's request to overturn a District Court Order granting a temporary order of protection to El Chapo against his being turned over to for extradition to the U.S. before he is given a hearing at which he can raise his defenses to extradition.

Carlos Lehder has written a letter to Colombia President Juan Manuel Santos, asking him to intervene with U.S. authorities so he go come home to Colombia to die. (Apparently he is not ill, he is just thinking of death since he is "close to 70." He's about to turn 66.) He ends his letter with (via google translate):

"With humility and the hope of the paisa arriero, expelled from Colombia, I have remained and survived 28 years in captivity... I am getting close to 70 years of age and deserve to die in Colombia."

Lehder was the first of the Medellin cartel leaders to be extradited to the U.S. In 1987, he was arrested, whisked onto a plane and brought to the U.S. At that time his net worth was estimated to be $2.5 billion. His trial lasted 7 months, he was convicted and sentenced to life without parole plus 135 years. (Here is the court opinion affirming his conviction and sentence. [More...]

There is no rest in Ferguson, MO on the anniversary of the death of Michael Brown. St. Louis Executive has declared a state of emergency.

Prosecutors announced they have filed charges against 18 year old Tyrone Harris, who was shot by police last night. Dozens of protesters have been arrested outside the federal courthouse in St. Louis and charged with trespassing.

Trump is in the doghouse again, this time due to reactions by fellow Republicans to comments he made about Fox News Host Megyn Kelly after the Republican debate. Trump told CNN Kelly "had “blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever.”

That comment resulted in Trump being axed from a Republican gathering hosted by the Red State Blog. Trump had been invited to be a "keynote speaker" at the event, which had a guest list of about 900 people. Red State is edited by Erick Erickson, who is also a Fox News Contributor. [More...]

What a long week! Here's a new open thread, all topics welcome.