Bump and Update: al-Jazeera reports Lebanon has rejected the proposed U.N. resolution. Lebanon's foreign minister said the only proposal it will accept is one that calls for every member of the Israeli military to leave Lebanon.

"We [will] abide by it on condition that no Israeli soldier remains inside Lebanese land. If they stay, we will not abide by it" Mohammed Fneish, Hezbollah minister in Lebanese cabinet

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Original Post 12:22 pm
U.N. to Vote on Resolution on Israel and Lebanon

After 25 days of war between Israel and Lebanon, France and the U.S. have agreed on a U.N. Security Council resolution.

Writing in Huffington Post today, former Senator Gary Hart predicts Bush will announce an exit strategy from Iraq in October -- in time for the November elections.

Since, with precious few exceptions, political careers trump principle, and since the cabal of neoconservatives and the religious right intend to govern forever, the genius Karl Rove will concoct a patently phony Iraq exit strategy.

Sounds right to me.

Congrats to my pal Joe Tacopina who represents Joran van Der Sloot in the New York civil lawsuit filed against him by Natalee Holloways' parents. The Judge, quite properly in my view, has dismissed the lawsuit, finding no reason for it to have been filed in New York.

Cuba is taking no chances. It doesn't trust the U.S. one bit.

Former revolutionaries promised to keep fighting for Cuba on Saturday as the island beefed up security, saying it fears a U.S. attack during Fidel Castro's health crisis. The government, under the control of Castro's brother, Defense Minister Raul Castro, has mobilized citizen defense militias and asked military reservists to check in daily.

The White House has insisted no such threat exists, with press secretary Tony Snow dismissing the suggestion that the United States would attack the island as "absurd."

It's over for bicycling champ Floyd Landis.

Floyd Landis was fired by his team and the Tour de France no longer considered him its champion Saturday after his second doping sample tested positive for higher-than-allowed levels of testosterone.The head of France's anti-doping commission said the samples contained synthetic testosterone, indicating that it came from an outside source.

The Swiss-based team Phonak immediately severed ties with Landis and the UCI said it would ask USA Cycling to open disciplinary proceedings against him. "Landis will be dismissed without notice for violating the teams internal Code of Ethics," Phonak said in a statement. "Landis will continue to have legal options to contest the findings. However, this will be his personal affair, and the Phonak team will no longer be involved in that."

by TChris

The answer to the question posed in this post -- How Many Laws Has the Adminstration Broken? -- can be found (at least in part) in the 350 page Final Investigative Report of the House Judiciary Committee Democratic Staff (available here). Section I of the Report, dealing with "The Downing Street Minutes and Deception, Manipulation, Torture, Retribution and Coverups in the Iraq War," was released in December. Section II, addressing "Unlawful Domestic Surveillance and the Decline of Civil Liberties Under the Administration of George W. Bush," was released in June, while an addendum brings the investigation up to date.

A summary of the report is available here (pdf). From the summary:

by TChris

Update: The ACLU's response is here.

original post:

Should the United States help a foreign country investigate conduct -- political activism, for instance -- that wouldn't be illegal in the U.S.? That's one of the controversies surrounding an international treaty to combat cybercrime that the Senate ratified yesterday.

It says Internet providers must cooperate with electronic searches and seizures without reimbursement; the FBI must conduct electronic surveillance "in real time" on behalf of another government; that U.S. businesses can be slapped with "expedited preservation" orders preventing them from routinely deleting logs or other data.

What's controversial about those requirements is that they don't require "dual criminality"--in other words, Russian security services investigating democracy activists could ask for the FBI's help in uncovering the contents of their Yahoo Mail or Hotmail accounts, or even conducting live wiretaps.

by TChris

Having heard the evidence, a military investigating officer must decide whether to recommend that four U.S. soldiers be court-martialed for murdering three Iraqi detainees. The defense attorneys argued that the soldiers were within their rights to kill the detainees as they tried to escape. Prosecutors countered that the soldiers cut the plastic straps that were binding the hands of the detainees in a deliberate plot to kill them, using a staged escape as an excuse for murder.

One witness testified the men were shot while running blindfolded.

In his closing argument, Capt. Joseph Mackey called the soldiers "war criminals."

I've got court today, here's some prison news and sundry items and an open thread, all topics are welcome. And thanks to all of you for your donations this week, I'll be sending personalized thank you's this weekend.

• Prison Disciplines Inmate Who Paints With M&M's

• Lost in Translation -- immigrant kept in local jail two months after his case was closed.

• Bush Grants Self Permission To Grant More Power To Self (The Onion)

Update: Lieberman, fearing a loss, shifts his strategy:

Facing a likely defeat, Lieberman has scrapped plans for a massive and costly get-out-the-vote operation on primary day, according to several Democratic sources. Instead, he will shift some of his resources into more television commercials designed to highlight his accomplishments for the state, in hopes of boosting his battered image....a landslide loss to Lamont could complicate Lieberman's hopes of winning a fourth term in a three-way general election contest.

Lieberman's internal polls show him losing:

Another campaign adviser, who spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to discuss strategy, said the public poll tracked internal campaign surveys. "The race has been headed in that direction for a while," the adviser said. "It's a fairly accurate reflection of where the race is."

Liebermnan's strategy changed at the last minute, fearing a big loss:

The Lieberman campaign, fearing that low voter turnout in the primary would favor Lamont, had plans to build a get-out-the-vote operation bigger than any seen in a state race in Connecticut. But in the face of discouraging polls, campaign officials concluded this week that the money likely would be wasted.

Why are we so focused on the Lieberman-Lamont race?

Lieberman's struggle has drawn national attention because it illustrates the power of antiwar activism in the Democratic Party and because of its potential implications for other races in the November midterm elections.

Update: The Lieberkidz try a thug strategy against Lamont.

Hillary Clinton laced into Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld at an Armed Services Committee hearing today.

Like a prizefighter, Clinton smiled and shook hands with Rumsfeld before attacking his policies. "You did not go into Iraq with enough troops," said Clinton, ticking off her grievances. "You disbanded the entire Iraqi army ... You underestimated the nature and strength of the insurgency, the sectarian violence and the spread of Iranian influence."

" . . . You are presiding over a failed policy," she said. "Given your track record, Secretary Rumsfeld, why should we believe your assurances now?"

Afterwards, Hillary said Rumsfeld should quit.

by TChris

Abdel-Jabbar Hamdan was a fundraiser for Holy Land Foundation, an Islamic charity. The government shut down HLF, contending it was a front for Hamas. It then detained Hamdan -- for two years -- because it viewed him as a threat to national security.

The government has never been able to produce evidence that Hamdan is a threat to anyone. While the government claims that Hamdan is deportable because he overstayed a student visa that was issued 27 years ago, Hamdan appealed the deportation order, and most immigrants in his shoes would be released pending the outcome of that appeal. It took two years for Hamdan to finally win his release, over the government's objection.

Why was Hamdan treated differently?