Check this out about U.S. officials' treatment of Nour al-Khalm an Iraqi translator/fixer who almost lost her life trying to protect that of American journalist, Steven Vincent, who was kidnapped, beaten, and killed by insurgents in Basra in August 2005. The journalist's widow, Lisa Ramaci-Vincent,testified about it in the Senate hearings today.

If Nour's story spreads maybe she will be granted refugee status protections in the U.S. She sounds like she's deserved it.

A key line of testimony: When Vincent's widow lobbied American bureaucrats to extend refugee status to Nour, she says,

"I have been told she does not qualify for refugee or asylum status because Iraq is now a democracy, hence there should be no reason she would need to flee."

Jane Hamsher, of Firedoglake, is not only an unbelievable blogger who has put together one of the best, brightest and most thoughtful blog communities on the Internets, she's an incredibly humble human being.

Please go give her some blog love as she reveals today she is about to undergo surgery for her third bout with breast cancer. And don't forget to read the 500 comments posted so far. What a community the blogosphere is.

No one has covered the Valerie Plame and Scooter Libby investigations more than Jane. Her insights and writing ability on all Plame topics have been unparalleled in the blogosphere.

How cruel that she worked for months to secure the only in courtroom press pass awarded to a blogger in the Libby trial, as well as a media courtroom pass, arranged for the FDL crew to have a house in D.C. while covering the trial, and now she can't be there because she's going in for surgery.

The only good news is that she expects to fully recover, and get this because it's pure Jane, anticipates being in D.C. to cover the trial beginning Feb. 4.

You go, Jane. You're not only a survivor, but a winner. My hat is off to you. Take care of yourself, listen to your doctors, and I hope to see you in D.C. in February.

Say what you want about glitzy celebs, some of them put their money where their mouth is.

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have moved their family to New Orleans. Their kids will attend school there. Angelina has put out a request to participate in volunteer activities. Pitt is following through with plans announced a few years ago join forces with Global Green USA and build 20 environment-friendly homes.

Jolie is also hanging out at local spots and mingling. We need more like them. [hat tip Scribe.]

It's official. Barack Obama has formed an exploratory commitee to run for President.

MSNBC runs down his record on the environment, the death penalty and judges, concluding he's in the center.

Update: Colorado Republican Tom Tancredo announced the formation of his Presidential exploratory committee today.

Jury selection has begun in the trial of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby. Pachacutec from Firedoglake is in the media courtroom, blogging away (make sure you read the comments where's he is posting continual updates.)

The Judge has read the jurors the list of potential witnesses. Here they are:

Update: It looks even worse.

The end may be near for Fidel Castro. A Spanish newspaper is reporting he has had three failed surgeries.

The newspaper El Pais cited two unnamed sources from the Gregorio Maranon hospital in the Spanish capital of Madrid. The facility employs surgeon Jose Luis Garcia Sabrido, who flew to Cuba in December to treat the 80-year-old Castro.

Here's a graphic description:

CNN's Situation Room Monday ran this segment on bloggers covering the Scooter Libby trial. [Via Raw Story.] TalkLeft is prominently mentioned, with some quotes by me, as to what readers can expect from our coverage, namely, a fresh perspective and gut reactions, from those of us who have followed and written about the case from Day 1.

Thanks to the Media Bloggers Association, I will go to Washington after Feb. 15 (hopefully to cover some of the defense portion, assuming the trial, which is expected to last six weeks, is still going on.) Crooks and Liars will cover a week in early February.

Jane and Christy of Firedoglake have their own press passes, in conjunction with Huffington Post, and are already on the scene in D.C. Marcy Wheeler, whose book on the case, Anatomy of Deceit, will be published in February, who writes as Empty Wheel at the Next Hurrah and used to write for Daily Kos, is also covering the trial.

Via Raw Story, the Detroit Free Press has this unsettling report:

Michigan's second-highest court says that anyone involved in an extramarital fling can be prosecuted for first-degree criminal sexual conduct, a felony punishable by up to life in prison.

"We cannot help but question whether the Legislature actually intended the result we reach here today," Judge William Murphy wrote in November for a unanimous Court of Appeals panel, "but we are curtailed by the language of the statute from reaching any other conclusion."

Every now and then a lawyer gets arrested for raising a voice against injustice. Faya Rose Toure tells her story to The Selma Times:

According to Toure, a Selma officer - whom she referred to as Jim Crow - arrested her for attempting to defend her client Roosevelt Cleveland. Toure claims Selma Municipal Judge Valerie Chittom "found this young man guilty without any opportunity to present any evidence."

When voicing her opinion, Toure said she was found in contempt of court, arrested, manhandled and charged with disorderly conduct and failure to obey. She was later released on a signature bond.

Toure, who is the wife of Sen. Hank Sanders, D-Selma, added both the Selma Police Department and the mayor's office are blind to the injustice taking place in Selma courtrooms and "it's our job to shed light," saying she was stripped of her right to free speech.

And now for something different. The Golden Globes are about to begin. The dresses and hairstyles are the best part for me. If you watch tonight, let us know who you admired and who you thought was a dud.

I also love that it covers both tv shows and movies, and takes place in such a different setting than the Oscars.

Update: Pretty boring so far. As I expected, the best part is the dresses. Very few faux pas so far. Most of my favorites for the awards didn't win, but the night is still young.

Update: Excellent tribute by Tom Hanks to Warren Beatty. Annette just glowed. I wondered why no one mentioned the Parallax View, though.

Colorado Senator Wayne Allard, a Republican, announced today he will keep his term-limits pledge made before the 2002 election and step down in 2008. He said it's a matter of integrity.

"The people of Colorado placed their trust in me based on a promise I made to them and I am honoring that promise. In an age when promises are cast away as quickly as yesterday’s newspaper, I believe a promise made should be a promise kept."

Rep. Tom Tancredo, who in the past indicated his interest in the seat, should Allard retire, has repeatedly breached a similar term-limits pledge to Colorado voters. What does that say about his integrity?

It probably doesn't matter much, as Tancredo is off to Iowa to gauge interest in Presidential run which his spokesman admits would not be launched for the intent of winning, just to raise attention to what seems to be his main purpose as a politician, kicking undocumented residents out of the U.S. Today he said he's not interested in the Senate seat.

The Justice Department is out for blood in Brooklyn's federal courthouse, where three death penalty trials are underway.

A fourth capital trial involving a triple-murder defendant has opened in Manhattan federal court as well.

"It's totally unprecedented to have two, let alone four cases going on at one time in one city," said Kevin McNally, a death penalty expert.

Even as states back away from the death penalty, federal capital prosecutions have increased. The US Attorneys who favor capital punishment find support in the Bush administration's Justice Department.

Death penalty opponents have complained that starting with President Bush's first attorney general, John Ashcroft, officials in Washington began rubber-stamping the pursuit of the death penalty in federal cases, particularly in states with no capital punishment laws of their own.

How about a little congressional oversight of the Justice Department's increasing reliance on death as a punishment?