Earlier today Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera reported that Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora criticized Hezbollah:

Saniora reportedly told Milan-based newspaper Corriere della Sera that the Shiite militia has been doing the bidding of Syria and Iran, and that it could only be disarmed with the help of the international community and once a cease-fire had been achieved in the current Middle East fighting.

"Hezbollah has become a state within a state. We know it well," Saniora was quoted as saying, for the first time leveling such an accusation against guerrillas that effectively control southern Lebanon. "It's not a mystery that Hezbollah answers to the political agendas of Tehran and Damascus," Saniora was quoted as saying. "The entire world must help us disarm Hezbollah. But first we need to reach a cease-fire."

But Saniora's office says he was misquoted and his words got lost in translation:

by TChris

Is Dr. Anna Pou a hero or a criminal? Some physicians think Louisiana's attorney general is on shaky ground charging Dr. Pou and two nurses with murdering patients who were stuck at New Orleans' Memorial Medical Center during Hurricane Katrina.

By all accounts, Dr. Pou is a skilled and dedicated physician. She chose to stay at the hospital for days after the hurricane passed, hampered by heat, the absence of electricity, and dwindling supplies of medicine. The prosecution claims that Dr. Pou and two nurses "went from room to room with a set of syringes and vials, injecting at least four patients with a combination of drugs intended to kill those who could not easily be evacuated from the hospital."

The state's forensic pathologist found traces of both morphine and a central nervous system sedative in the tissue samples of several patients who died, drugs that they were not supposed to have in their bodies.

But what does this prove? That a doctor in desperate circumstances engaged in mercy killings, or that she used whatever drugs she had at hand to ease the suffering of patients while awaiting rescue?

The Cato Insitute has an interactive map of dozens of botched drug and paramilitary raids in which civilians and officers were unnecessarily killed. While you're there, check out the 100 page "white paper" by Radley Balko, a dogged critic of the militarization of police.

From the executive summary:

Americans have long maintained that a man's home is his castle and that he has the right to defend it from unlawful intruders. Unfortunately, that right may be disappearing. Over the last 25 years, America has seen a disturbing militarization of its civilian law enforcement, along with a dramatic and unsettling rise in the use of paramilitary police units (most commonly called Special Weapons and Tactics, or SWAT) for routine police work. The most common use of SWAT teams today is to serve narcotics warrants, usually with forced, unannounced entry into the home.

Lewis "Scooter" Libby's lawyers have notified the Court and Patrick Fitzgerald that they intend to call a memory expert at Libby's trial. While it's long been known they intended to rely on a memory defense and that they have been consulting with a pre-eminent memory expert, they were mum on whether they would call an expert at trial.

In their July 17 filing (pdf), Libby's lawers said they have provided the expert's name and qualifications to Fitzgerald. They sought (and received) an extension until July 31 to outline the specific details of the expert's testimony and to file a motion requesting the admission of the expert's testimony at trial.

Libby has long maintained that memory lapses were the cause of any misstatements in his grand jury testimony and interviews with FBI agents. He says that he was too preoccupied with important national security matters to remember the details of his conversations with FBI investigators, the grand jury and reporters about Valerie Plame Wilson.

In March, Libby's team confirmed that it had retained Daniel L. Schachter of Harvard to consult with the case.

The House of Representatives today failed to overide Bush's veto of the stem cell research bill. The bill is now dead for the year.

....Within hours of the East Room ceremony, the House hurriedly took up a measure to override the veto, but the vote, 235 to 193, fell 51 short of the two-thirds majority required. Fifty-one Republicans, 183 Democrats and 1 independent voted to override, while 4 Democrats joined 179 Republicans in voting to keep the veto intact.

The Pitkin County (Aspen) Sheriff's office has released Ken Lay's autopsy report (pdf). The Sheriff's office states in its press release:

On July 19th 2006 The Pitkin County Sheriff's Office received the full autopsy results of Mr. Kenneth Lay from Dr. Robert Kurtzman. The manner of death has not changed, and is classified as natural. The immediate cause of death was classified as arteriosclerotic cardio vascular disease. Based on these findings this case is now closed, there is no evidence of any criminal activity. The post mortem report is available on www.aspenpitkin.com.

Shorter version: Lay had clogged arteries. The Aspen Daily News reports:

by TChris

While ducking the question of whether Karl Bullock's federal sentence of 100 years for distributing heroin is reasonable, the Seventh Circuit, vacating the sentence and remanding for a new sentencing hearing before a different judge, had this to say (pdf) about the sentence:

One hundred years is a long time--one year longer, in fact, than the standard lyrical shorthand for an unimaginably long sentence.¹

[1]See, e.g., Bruce Springsteen, "Johnny 99" ("Well the evidence is clear, gonna let the sentence, son, fit the crime / Prison for 98 and a year and we'll call it even, Johnny 99."); Bob Dylan, "Percy's Song" ("It may be true he's got a sentence to serve / But ninetynine years, he just don't deserve."); Johnny Cash, "Cocaine Blues" ("The judge he smiled as he picked up his pen / Ninety-nine years in the Folsom pen / Ninety-nine years underneath that ground / I can't forget the day I shot that bad bitch down."); Ed Bruce, "Ninety-Seven More To Go" ("Ninety-nine years go so slow / When you still got ninety-seven more to go."); Bill Anderson, "Ninety-Nine" ("The picture's still in front of my eyes, the echo in my ears / When the jury said he's guilty and the judge said ninety-nine years."); Chloe Bain, "Ninety-Nine Years" ("The sentence was sharp, folks, it cut like a knife / For ninety-nine years, folks, is almost for life."); Guy Mitchell, "Ninety-Nine Years" ("Ninety-nine years in the penitentiary, baby, baby, wait for me, around twentyfifty-five we'll get together dead or alive.").

Continuing the discussion on Israel, Lebanon, Hezbollah and the U.S. from here and here.

Bump and Update(TL): Bush has vetoed the stem cell research bill, exercising the first veto of his presidency.

Action Alert: Sign this petition by Progress Now .

Override the President's veto of HR 810, Stem cell research support

More than one year ago, the House of Representatives passed the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act (H.R. 810). This bill would override President Bush's 2001 decision to limit federal funding of embryonic stem cell research and take the first step toward providing potential cures for many debilitating diseases including Parkinson's and diabetes.

Unfortunately, despite the support of 72% of Americans and overwhelming bipartisan support in Congress, President Bush used the first veto of his term against this life saving research. We urge the US Congress to step in and override the President's veto. Doing so would truly demonstrate compassion for the largest number of Americans.

A federal judge has ordered the state of Missouri to provide transportation to a female inmate who wants an abortion.

The judge held that prisoners have a constitutional right to abortion, just like everyone else. How Appealing has posted the opinion here. The Kansas City Star has more.

"The right to abortion survives incarceration," Rothert said.

From the opinion:

(TalkLeft Guest Commentary by Big Tent Democrat)

In an interview with Baltimore Group Blog, highlighted by majekthise, George Lakoff says:

AE: Let's talk about the underlying debate that is happening. There is always debate in Congress between Democrats and Republicans, but let's talk about them in terms of frames. Are there major opposing frames that you see at work in today's debates?

GL: Well, I do, but what has happened in a lot of cases is that a lot of the frames that determine how progressives come down on a particular issue are unconscious. What happens in Congress very often is that the Democrats go on the defensive and accept the other side's frames.

This seems unquestionable to me. It is the principal political flaw of the Democratic Party. Interestingly, when asked about Barack Obama, Lakoff says:

Barak Obama: Star pupil

AE: You're a professor. Thinking about the Democratic Party as your class, who's your star pupil? Where are you seeing success on the Democratic side in speaking in the proper frames?

GL: I think the person who best understands this is Barak Obama. There are a number of reasons for this.