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?

Another loss for Tom DeLay and Republicans....the appeals court has ruled he must stay on the November ballot.

Joe Lieberman went on the attack today against Firedoglake's Jane Hamsher, the blogosphere's most well-known, vocal supporter of Ned Lamont. The issue is this one.

Jane is not part of the campaign, she's working on her own as an unpaid activist. After her mother died, she decided to go to Connecticut to follow the Lamont campaign rather than return home right away. Lamont is lucky to have her and the publicity and support she brings via FDL. I hope she stays right where she is through primary day.

This is a Lieberman distraction. I hope CT Democrats will focus instead on whether they want a senator who is backed by Tom DeLay.

Tom DeLay, on Lieberman: "Lieberman is a liberal. ... He is a liberal on everything but the war, and he's very good on the war. He understands how dangerous fighting the Islamic terrorists, and he's going to fight that. And it just shows you how weak the Democrats are to take on Lieberman when he supports 90 percent of what they believe in" ("Hannity & Colmes," FNC, 8/2).

Crooks and Liars has the video.

Claude Allen, President Bush's top domestic policy advisor until he resigned in February, then accused in March of a theft by returning receipts sfor refunds cheme at Target and Hechts, will plead guilty to a misdemeanor in exchange for having felony charges dismissed and receiving no jail time.

Allen was arrested after Montgomery police accused him of stealing more than $5,000 in merchandise from Target and Hecht's stores through a refund scheme. Police said this is how the scheme worked: Allen would walk into a store, pick up items and pay for them. He would later return to the store, pick up identical items and seek a refund using the receipt from the purchase. Police said he did this at least 25 times from October to January, buying items including a Bose home theater system, clothes and merchandise worth as little as $2.50. Several of the transactions were recorded by store surveillance cameras.

As part of the deal, Allen will pay $850.00 in restitution. Background here and here.

The Florida federal terrorism case against Jose Padilla, the American-born so-called "dirty bomber" held for four years in a South Carolina military brig without charges or access to counsel, is floundering.

A federal judge has expressed doubts about the strength of the government's terror conspiracy case against Jose Padilla and others, ordering prosecutors to provide more evidence of alleged violent activities overseas. ....[The Judge] says the case against him appears ``very light on facts.''

Curiously, the Florida Sun Sentinel and the AP don't even mention this in their reports of yesterday's hearing.