Condi Rice is delaying her trip to the Middle East. A new U.S. plan emerges.

Officials said this week that they were at the beginning stages of a plan to encourage Saudi Arabia and Egypt to make the case to the Syrians that they must turn against Hezbollah. The effort begins Sunday afternoon in the Oval Office, where President Bush is scheduled to meet the Saudi foreign minister, Saud al-Faisal, and the chief of the Saudi national security council, Prince Bandar bin Sultan. Prince Bandar was the Saudi ambassador to Washington until late last year and often speaks of his deep connections to both the Bush family and Vice President Dick Cheney.

The Democratic National Committee has selected Nevada as an early caucus state, beating out Colorado and other states that had vied for the position. The Nevada primary will now take place in between those of Iowa and New Hampshire.

Sen. Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) had this to say (received by e-mail, no link yet):

"I am thrilled that the Democratic National Committee has selected Nevada as an early caucus state for the 2008 presidential election and I want to thank everyone who worked so hard to make this possible. Specifically, I want to thank co-chairs Alexis Herman and James Roosevelt, the members of the Rules and Bylaws Committee and the other states that competed in this process.

by TChris

Had these folks been wielding signs that supported the president, do you suppose they would have been arrested?

Christine Nelson showed up at the Cedar Rapids rally with a Kerry-Edwards button pinned on her T-shirt; Alice McCabe clutched a small, paper sign stating "No More War." What could be more American, they thought, than mixing a little dissent with the bunting and buzz of a get-out-the-vote rally headlined by the president?

Their reward: a pair of handcuffs and a strip search at the county jail.

Authorities say they were arrested because they refused to obey reasonable security restrictions, but the women disagree: "Because I had a dissenting opinion, they did what they needed to do to get me out of the way," said Nelson, who teaches history and government at one of this city's middle schools.

Suppressing dissent has become the standard practice during Bush's presidency.

The Judge in the Duke Lacrosse players' alleged rape case issued a split decision yesterday on the unindicted players' motion to prevent the DA from gaining access to their addresses and information stored on their key cards.

Judge Ken Titus decided that Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong can have the addresses of lacrosse players not charged in the case. However, Titus will not allow Nifong to have information that is contained in the same players' key cards.

Nifong said he needs the information because all of the players could be possible witnesses. Defense attorneys said it is an invasion of the players' privacy and some argue it could compromise their safety.

The judge's decision is here . He found:

Brandon Wayne Hedrick, age 27, was executed in Virginia this week. Afraid that the combo of lethal injection drugs could cause unbearable pain while paralyzing his body and rendering him incapable of communicating it, he chose the electric chair -- old sparky, as it came to be known. Via Sentencing Law and Policy, here's how one news article described his death.

He was ushered into the electric chair and a half-dozen execution team members secured him stiffly upright with leather and nylon straps on his limbs and torso before asking if he had any last words. A metal device holding a sea sponge soaked in brine was then attached to his right calf, and a wide strap with a hole for his nose but covering his eyes and mouth secured his head to the chair. A metal cap holding another brine-soaked sponge was strapped on the top of his head. Power cables were then connected to the head and leg.

An anti-war video put to the music of Jackson Browne's Lives in the Balance. It even has his endorsement.

There are lives in the balance
There are people under fire
There are children at the cannons
And there is blood on the wire

(Guest post by Big Tent Democrat)

Update: The person who interviewed Lakoff understands my point. I agree with his post.

My post of a few days ago on George Lakoff's comments on the 2006 election has set off a number of Lakoff supporters, who have argued that I have misread Lakoff. Curiously, Lakoff's defenders do not cite to the text of what Lakoff actually said, instead explaining to me what they believe Lakoff meant. I suppose it is possible that Lakoff did not say what he meant, and if that is the case, then perhaps Lakoff is not as inept on political advice as he appears from those comments. But I am a mere mortal and can only glean Lakoff's meaning from his actual words. Most importantly, Lakoff's defenders have no acceptable answer for my principal critique; Lakoff's rejection of the power of negatively branding the Republicans, for its own purposes and to assist in the definition of Democrats.

Three defense lawyers for accused "dirty bomber" Jose Padilla got stranded in Beirut where they were taking depositions in the case and doing research to prepare for Padilla's Miami trial. Happily, they are now safe and on Cyprus.

Miami Assistant Federal Public Defender Orlando do Campo and two private lawyers, William Swor of Detroit and Andrew Patel of New York, traveled to Lebanon about three weeks ago. They were there to do research and take depositions in preparation for the scheduled federal trial in September of accused dirty bomber Jose Padilla and four other defendants before U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke.

The lawyers were stuck at a Beirut hotel, according to Swor's secretary. They had departed for Beirut on July 2 and were supposed to return on July 14. But war broke out July 12 when Israel began its campaign to recover two kidnapped Israeli soldiers. Israel bombed the airport, trapping the lawyers and thousands of other Americans and Europeans in Lebanon. The lawyers had no choice but to stay on at the hotel while the U.S. and other governments made plans to evacuate their citizens....

by TChris

You know your campaign isn't going well when ...

Republican gubernatorial candidate Mark Albertini was arrested for public intoxication Thursday night in Knoxville, sheriff's officials said.

Albertini's top issues are "abortion, illegal immigration and the state pension system." Temperance must be farther down the list.

What an outrage! Las Vegas has made it a crime to give food to the homeless in city parks. Primarily aimed at soup kitchens, the law carries a penalty of up to six months in jail and a $1,000.00 fine.

In an effort to curb charity that is having unintended consequences, the City Council has made it illegal to give food to homeless people in city parks. Residents complained that the large numbers of homeless gathering in the parks make it impossible for others to use them, said city spokesman David Riggleman.

Not only that, but check out the definition of "homeless person."

by Last Night in Little Rock

Yesterday, the day after President Bush vetoed the federal stem cell research bill, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger ordered the state finance director to loan up to $150M to "the state's voter approved stem cell research institute, catapulting California into the lead as the nation's top public funder of the divisive research."

The California system is based on a $3B bond issue that is in litigation, but a state trial judge upheld the system in a "strongly worded ruling" that is subject to appeal. Schwarzenegger ordered the loan even though it is possible it might not get repaid.

In preparation for what may be a "large scale incursion" into Lebanon, Israel has called up reservists. Meanwhile, Hezbollah rockets continue to hit Haifa.

Correspondents in Jerusalem say it is understood the Israeli reservists being called up could fill in for troops in the West Bank and Gaza, releasing other soldiers to go up to the northern front. The move has widened speculation that Israel is preparing for a large ground offensive.

Israel is urging all civilians in Southern Lebanon to evacuate.

The call-up came as Israel dropped leaflets on southern Lebanon warning residents to immediately evacuate an area approximately 32km (20 miles) wide.