Does anyone else find it absurd that Iraqi President Abadi flew to the U.S. in a Boeing 777? It's such a huge plane, how many people could he have brought along that he needs such a monstrous size aircraft? Maybe he has Joe Biden's entourage with him. What a waste of money. I hope we didn't buy it for him.

Twitter cleaned house of ISIS accounts again yesterday. It took ISIS minutes to get back on line with new names. It took me 3 hours to find the ones I follow for news. It's really aggravating that this is turning into a daily event.

I've got the jail today, so here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

The penalty phase of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's trial doesn't begin until April 21. In the meantime, here's a photo I came across yesterday.

I think it effectively communicates more than the difference in age between the brothers. Tamerlan is just so dominant in the photo. Even the way he has his arm around Jahar seems controlling to me. Looking at it, it is hard to see how, even years later, Jahar would be his "equal partner" in anything.

Also, here's a letter Dzhokhar submitted to UMass Dartmouth in January, 2013 in an application to have his financial aid reinstated: [More....]

As the U.S. continues its air strikes, ISIS attacked the the Baiji oil refinery last night. It is Iraq's largest refinery. Control has gone back and forth between ISIS and the Iraqi forces several times over the past 9 months.

Iraq said today ISIS attacked the refinery on three sides but only reached the perimeter and launched a suicide attack. The ISIS photos and videos show they made it further. But more interesting, is this photo of an ISIS "command center" used during the attacks, where the action is displayed on multiple computer screens as the commanders sitting at them instruct the fighters by what looks like radio phones: [More...]

Hillary Clinton announced via video today she is running for President.

When I clicked on the video, I thought I was watching a You Tube type commercial and shut it down. On the third try, I realized this was her announcement, not a commercial. Not an auspicious start, in my view. I would much rather she have made a live appearance somewhere to make such a big announcement.

I'm also not crazy about the "middle class" theme. Obama uses that too much. Middle to me means middle America, middle of the road, neither here nor there. It doesn't sound progressive. It's tired. Do I have any better suggestions? [More...]

I've been offline for a few days. I'll be back soon. In the meantime, here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

The former First Lady, New York Senator and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will announce her bid for the presidency this Sunday via a video according to published reports.

The published reports indicate Clinton will immediately begin campaigning in Iowa and New Hampshire, but with a bent towards smaller events.

Other potential candidates on the Democratic side include Jim Webb, Martin O'Malley and just recently, Linc Chafee.

The ride officially begins Sunday it seems.

Busy day today. Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

The jury found Dzhokhar Tsarnaev guilty on all 30 counts today.

The Boston Globe, in an editorial, urges a life sentence.

For jurors who believe execution should be reserved for the worst criminals, the lawyers laid out a clear path to conclude Dzhokhar wasn’t even the worst of the Tsarnaevs.

....Tsarnaev was 19 at the time of the bombing; he was apparently a heavy drug user; he had no prior criminal record. By themselves, none of these would seem like a particularly good reason to spare him, but taken as a whole, and alongside evidence of his brother’s dominant role, they should plant seeds of doubt.

[More...]

Via USA Today:

For more than two decades, the Justice Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration amassed logs of virtually all telephone calls from the USA to as many as 116 countries linked to drug trafficking, current and former officials involved with the operation said. The targeted countries changed over time but included Canada, Mexico and most of Central and South America.

Federal investigators used the call records to track drug cartels' distribution networks in the USA, allowing agents to detect previously unknown trafficking rings and money handlers

The program began under Bush I and continued throught the terms of the next three Presidents. It was carried out by DEA's "intelligence arm" with little oversight. It was stopped by AG Eric Holder in 2013. [More..]

A South Carolina police officer has been charged with murder in the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man. The shooting was captured on video. The man was running away and the officer fired 8 shots, striking him in the back.

The officer, Michael T. Slager, 33, said he had feared for his life because the man had taken his stun gun in a scuffle after a traffic stop on Saturday. A video, however, shows the officer firing eight times as the man, Walter L. Scott, 50, fled.

...“When you’re wrong, you’re wrong,” Mayor Keith Summey said during the news conference. “And if you make a bad decision, don’t care if you’re behind the shield or just a citizen on the street, you have to live by that decision.”

[More...]

The federal judge presiding over the never ending victims rights lawsuit seeking to overturn a federal non-prosecution agreement against Jeffrey Epstein yesterday ruled Jane Doe #3, aka Virginia Roberts, and Jane Doe #4 cannot join Jane Does 1 and 2 as parties to the lawsuit. He also ruled that if called as witnesses for Jane Does 1 and 2, their evidence will have to be admissible, relevant and non-cumulative.

More importantly, the judge ordered all of Roberts' claims against Alan Dershowitz, Prince Andrew and others stricken from the record, finding her allegations amounted to "redundant, immaterial, impertinent, or scandalous matter.” In doing so, the Court said it was acting on its own accord, which made a ruling on Dershowitz' motion to intervene unnecessary. [More...]

Our last open thread is full. Here's a new one, all topics welcome.