Update: Jordan has executed Sajida al-Rishawi and another al Qaida prisoner, Ziad al-Karbouli (aka Abu Houthiyfah), who was also sentenced to death. Are more coming executions coming?

There are reports a Jordanian member of al-Qaida, Muammar Ahmad Yusuf Al-Jaghbir, was also moved to the execution facility. Al-Jaghbir was initially sentenced to death, but in 2009, his sentenced was changed to 15 years. On December 25, when reports first surfaced of an exchange of al Qaida prisoners with Jordan, al-Jahbir was mentioned, along with al-Rashawi and al-Karouli as those who could be released.

Would Jordan execute a prisoner (and Jordanian citizen) whose death sentence was commuted? That doesn't sit right, especially when al-Jaqhbir is not a member of ISIS. [More...]

Did you know the vaccine debate we are now in the middle of was an issue decided by the Supreme Court? In 1905! From the first Justice Harlan's opinion for the Court in Jacobson v. Massachusetts:

Here's a new open thread, all topics welcome.

I'm on a break from court and see that the Jordanian pilot was burned alive. The photos are horrific, the video is worse. No links here please.

The Associated Press has an interesting article on Mexico's recent surge of poppy growing and production of heroin.

The heroin trade is a losing prospect for everyone except the Mexican cartels, who have found a new way to make money in the face of falling cocaine consumption and marijuana legalization in the United States. Once smaller-scale producers of low-grade black tar, Mexican drug traffickers are now refining opium paste into high-grade white heroin and flooding the world's largest market for illegal drugs, using the distribution routes they built for marijuana and cocaine.

Heroin use in the U.S. has risen alongside the crackdown on pain pills. With the pills becoming so controlled and expensive, people have turned to heroin. The U.S. has fewer meth labs since the restrictions on pseudoephedrine were ushered in. But people didn't stop using meth, the production just shifted to Mexico, and the finished product is now shipped here in larger quantities to accommodate demand. [More...]

Trial has begun in France for Dominique Strauss-Kahn and more than a dozen others on organized pandering charges (technically called "proxénétisme aggravé," which translates as aggravated procuring for the purposes of prostitution.) The charges result from a long-term financial investigation dubbed the Carlton Affair, into whether DSK knew that prostitutes who attended various business functions were part of an organized solicitation effort by businessmen and hotels using unlawful corporate funds. Background here and here.

Prostitution is legal in France. Profiting from prostitution (supplying them to others) is not. The issue is whether DSK was "complicit" in the acts of the businessmen who supplied the prostitutes or knew the businessmen were using corporate funds to pay the prostitutes. DSK has said he attended the parties but did not know the women were prostitutes. Other defendants include a senior police chief and businessmen. DSK is represented by the Henri Le Clerc, now 84. His view: [More...]

Or more properly Super Bowl Investment Open Thread. In the main event, I like the East Coast Cheaters (-1) (5 units) (as opposed to the West Coast Cheaters (a word for you Hawks fans - adderall). I also like Tails in the Coin Toss.

Before we get to the fun exotic bets on the flip side, query - does it seem to you people are talking less about Super Bowl ads this year? (Other than the ridiculous tortoise v Hare thing.) I hope so. It was too much. Now on to the fun!

Another scandal at Kerobokan prison in Bali. Julian Ponder, serving 6 years for possession, while his partner and the mother of his child got one year and is back in Britain, fell in love with the British diplomat assigned to console and meet with Lindsay Sandiford, the grandmotherly woman sentenced to death. She tried to say Julian and Rachel were the ringleaders, but her proof fell way short and the Indonesians didn't believe her. They thought she took them on a wild goose chase. When she didn't deliver, she got a death sentence. [More....]

ISIS released its official video today in which "Jihadi John", the black-clad ISIS executioner, beheads Japanese journalist Kenji Goto. (I'm not linking to the video and please do not post link in comments.)

The video does not show the actual moment of beheading, but it does show Goto's head laying on his body afterwards.

There is no mention of the Jordanian pilot in the video.

Tomorrow is the Super Bowl. I'll have my pick for you then, but you may remember I love the Super Bowl prop bets so I'll give you a sneak peek:

SPECIAL (NE @ SEA) - What will Katy Perry be wearing when she begins the Halftime show?

(6016) Pants (below knees) +250

We'll also have the traditional props like coin clip, length of national anthem, etc. Oh, and the game of course. I think I'm going with the East Coast Cheaters.

Open Thread.

Neither of these women hinder or help the Emerging Democratic Majority.

Egberto Willes in arguing that the "Obama Coalition" is not truly a Democratic coalition, wrote: [More...]

Another busy day. Our last open thread is full, here's another one, all topics welcome.

Canada is unwisely following in the footsteps of the United States and about to pass legislation increasing surveillance authority for intelligence purposes in the name of the War on Terror.

Under the new law, which will be presented in Parliament, CSIS will be able to block financial transactions, stop people from traveling abroad to join extremist groups and intercept material that can be used in an attack. It would need to obtain a judicial warrant first.

...The new law will also let police detain potential terror suspects for longer periods without charge, the reports said, and make it easier to track and monitor suspects.

Act in haste, repent at leisure. Once you give power to the Government, it rarely gives it back.
[More...]