With Al Gore's global warming movie, An Inconvenient Truth, about to open, there's a lot of buzz about whether he will decide to run for President in 2008. I'm skeptical. Here's what he has been up to the past few years:

Since conceding to Mr. Bush, he has taught at several universities and written two books with his wife. He is on Apple Computer Inc.'s board and is senior adviser to Google Inc. He has founded Current, a youth-oriented, interactive cable network, and Generation Investment Management, which invests in companies deemed environmentally and socially responsible.

It's hard to see him giving all that up. Then again,

Duke University released its report today on the rape allegation lodged against Duke lacrosse players. The accuser's varying accounts led them to discount her allegations. Here are some excerpts:

After the victim of the alleged assaults was taken to the Emergency Room of the Duke Hospital in the early morning hours of March 14, having earlier told Durham police that she was raped and sexually assaulted by approximately 20 white members of a Duke team (a charge later modified to allege an attack by three individuals in a bathroom), the official report of the Duke Police Department was submitted and reviewed by the Duke Police Director, Robert Dean, at 7:30 a.m. on March 14."

"There are reports from several sources that members of the Durham police force initially (March 14) made comments to Duke police officers and others to the effect that the complainant 'kept changing her story and was not credible;' that 'if any charges were brought, they would be no more than misdemeanors;' and that 'this will blow over.'"

Raw Story has the transcript of MSNBC Reporter David Shuster on Countdown tonight:

....I am convinced that Karl Rove will, in fact, be indicted. And there are a couple of reasons why. First of all, you don't put somebody in front of a grand jury at the end of an investigation or for the fifth time, as Karl Rove testified a couple, a week and a half ago, unless you feel that's your only chance of avoiding indictment. So in other words, the burden starts with Karl Rove to stop the charges.

Secondly, it's now been 13 days since Rove testified. After testifying for three and a half hours, prosecutors refused to give him any indication that he was clear. He has not gotten any indication since then. And the lawyers that I've spoken with outside of this case say that if Rove had gotten himself out of the jam, he would have heard something by now.

May 15 is the final day to sign up for Medicare drug enrollment. The article lists four primary groups of people who have not enrolled:

At the top of the list are those who have no drug expenses now. "They don't think they need a plan. But that's not right. You should enroll so you preserve your options for the future," he said. "The second group just thinks it's for low-income citizens. That's not true either," he said. Procrastinators make up the third group. Finally, some people just do not want to sign up for a government program, he said.

Unless I'm totally missing something, and I hope I'm not because I have not signed up my mother for the plan, there is another group for whom it does not make sense to sign up: Those with health insurance that pays prescription drug benefits. So long as the insurance company has sent you a letter saying that your current plan provides equal or better benefits than Medicare (called "creditable coverage"), there is no reason for you to enroll. The letter will be sent annually, and if the coverage goes below Medicare levels, you will be able to enroll in Medicare at that time without paying higher premiums for late enrollment. Here's the pertinent paragraph:

Zacarias Moussaoui filed a motion to withdraw his guilty plea (pdf) today. He said that he did not trust his lawyers or the American jury system so he pleaded guilty to being a member of al Qaeda . He maintains he was not a part of the 9/11 conspiracy, didn't know the the details, and was to be part of a later plot against the U.S. This is what he has maintained all along, even on the day he pleaded guilty. The AP reports on the motion here.

Now that he has reviewed the jury's verdict, Moussaoui says he understands that he can receive a fair trial by American jurors, that they are able to put aside their disgust for him and their emotions and judge his case fairly.

Judge Lonnie Brinkema has already denied the motion (pdf) on procedural grounds:

Defendant's Motion to Withdraw must be summarily denied on the basis of Fed. R. Crim. P. 11(e) which provides that "[a]fter the court imposes sentence, the defendant may not withdraw a plea of guilty or nolo contendere, and the plea may be set aside only on direct appeal or collateral attack." Because defendant was
sentenced on May 4, 2006, his motion is too late and must be denied.

Here is the statement of facts which Moussaoui agreed to during his guilty plea hearing.

by TChris

Kyle "Dusty" Foggo, the executive director and number three official at the CIA, emailed his resignation today. As this story confirms, the FBI is investigating Foggo's connection to the Cunningham scandal, hookers and all.

This article provides a nice summary of recent stories that explore the possible connection between the corruption investigation and the resignation of Porter Goss. This is Wonkette's latest take on the story.

TalkLeft's view of Goss' replacement, Michael Hayden, is here.

Nat Hentoff's new Liberty Beat column in the Village Voice addresses the CIA's secret prisons. Why isn't Congress demanding an explanation from the President?

The cover has long ago been blown on these dungeons by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Human Rights First, and the ceaseless researchers at NYU law school's Center for Human Rights and Global Justice. And in the Voice, I've been writing on what I can find out about them since the end of 2002.

But the CIA, the president, Alberto Gonzales, Condoleezza Rice, and Donald Rumsfeld have nothing to say about these gulags, which are wholly removed from American law and the international treaties we have signed.

The recently released Amnesty International report "Below the Radar: Secret Flights to Torture and 'Disappearance' " contains testimony from three men who were released from CIA secret prisons.

by TChris

We've been hearing these reports for some time now, but UPI reports today that "Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald reportedly is close to deciding whether to indict White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove for lying about a CIA leak."

An indictment of Rove could happen this month.

TalkLeft's most recent analysis of the charges that might be filed is here.

by Last Night in Little Rock

A search that was a virtual replica of a search of the person in the first episode of FX's "The Shield" (official site; academic review), an officer's reaching into a suspect's pants on the street to seize drugs hidden under his testicles was suppressed as unreasonable by the U.S. District Court for Minnesota. United States v. Williams, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 26410 (D. Minn. May 4, 2006).

The problem here was that the search precinct house parking lot and not in the building, a few feet away. At least the search in "The Shield" happened in an alley where others were less likely to see it, which was the point: No witnesses, no harm, no foul. Maybe the officers use "The Shield" as a training video.

From the case:

larger version

The Washington Post has an article today comparing the immigration debate today with that of a century ago. It nicely puts the lie to the claim that in the old days, people came to to the U.S., particularly Ellis Island legally, with permission. There was no permission necessary until 1918.

Until 1918, the United States did not require passports; the term "illegal immigrant" had no meaning. New arrivals were required only to prove their identity and find a relative or friend who could vouch for them.

Customs agents kept an eye out for lunatics and the infirm (and after 1905, for anarchists). Ninety-eight percent of the immigrants who arrived at Ellis Island were admitted to the United States, and 78 percent spent less than eight hours on the island. (The Mexico-United States border then was unguarded and freely crossed in either direction.) "

Another excellent read is this letter to the editor in the Aspen Daily News. Jordan E. Mollersten reminds us of the simple laws of supply and demand when it comes to the labor force. His argument makes a lot of sense to me.

There have not been any new developments this weekend in the Duke lacrosse players' alleged rape case, but there are over 200 comments on the last post, so I'm starting a new thread here.

I'll keep them coming as long as readers have an interest in discussing the case.

Tonight's Soprano's episode is "The Ride," described as:

Christopher makes a surprise announcement; Paulie pays a price for cutting costs at an Italian Street Fair; Tony embraces the "old school."

There's a big photo of Bobby on the episode page, so he probably plays a big part. I hope there's not too much of Janice, she's like fingernails on a blackboard.

I can't believe we're already on Show 9 of the new and almost last season. I'm not feeling like a lot has happened -- Other than Tony being shot, Vito sticks out in my mind as the one major development. Maybe his "embracing the old school" means he agrees to order Vito taken out. Or he hooks up with the real estate agent.