Byron Calame, Public Editor for the New York Times, retraces the Times' misteps in the Judith Miller - Scooter Libby mess. He ends with this paragraph about her future prospects at the Times, that includes a quote from Times Publisher Arther Sulzberger:

What does the future hold for Ms. Miller? She told me Thursday that she hopes to return to the paper after taking some time off. Mr. Sulzberger offered this measured response: "She and I have acknowledged that there are new limits on what she can do next." It seems to me that whatever the limits put on her, the problems facing her inside and outside the newsroom will make it difficult for her to return to the paper as a reporter.

Arianna predicted this yesterday when writing about Keller's memo:

I’m assuming that neither this memo -- nor Calame’s critique -- will put this story to bed. Not by a long shot. I’m assuming, as I’ve been saying for months, that this ends up going all the way to Sulzberger.

Another excellent read on the Times and Miller: NYU journalism professor Jay Rosen.

Here's a free link to Maureen Dowd's Sunday column that ever so politely blasts Judith Miller. It begins with Dowd acknowledging she likes Judy. It then turns devastating and ends with this:

Judy told The Times that she plans to write a book and intends to return to the newsroom, hoping to cover "the same thing I've always covered - threats to our country." If that were to happen, the institution most in danger would be the newspaper in your hands.

Via Atrios: Steve Gilliard translates the Dowd column.

by TChris

The Big Brothers in Washington are perturbed that it's so difficult to spy on your email. By means of an unfunded mandate, they're working to make it easier.

The federal government, vastly extending the reach of an 11-year-old law, is requiring hundreds of universities, online communications companies and cities to overhaul their Internet computer networks to make it easier for law enforcement authorities to monitor e-mail and other online communications.

...

The 1994 law, the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, requires telephone carriers to engineer their switching systems at their own cost so that federal agents can obtain easy surveillance access.

An FCC order, instigated by the Justice Department, extends the law's reach "not only to universities, but also to libraries, airports providing wireless service and commercial Internet access providers."

It doesn't sound like Vice President Dick Cheney is very concerned about being indicted. He'll be fundraising in Denver Monday evening for a Republican candidate.

Vice President Dick Cheney will be in Denver Monday to attend a reception for congressional candidate Rick O'Donnell -- who's running for the seat being vacated by fellow Republican Bob Beauprez.

Cheney will speak at a gathering at Invesco Field at Mile High Stadium. O-Donnell is executive director of the Colorado Commission on Higher Education. He's seeking the Republican nomination in the Seventh Congressional District.

Colorado Pols and the Rocky Mountain News reports the event is in the evening. The Washington Daybook listed the appearance on Friday.

Are you ready for the White Separatist Twins?.

Thirteen-year-old twins Lamb and Lynx Gaede have one album out, another on the way, a music video, and lots of fans....Known as "Prussian Blue" — a nod to their German heritage and bright blue eyes — the girls from Bakersfield, Calif., have been performing songs about white nationalism before all-white crowds since they were nine.

"We're proud of being white, we want to keep being white," said Lynx. "We want our people to stay white … we don't want to just be, you know, a big muddle. We just want to preserve our race."

Not only is their song "Sacrifice" a tribute to Hitler Deputy Rudolf Hess, but they model and promote Happy Hitler t-shirts.

The video's producer is Michael Murrey. They have a weblog, forums and have been hired as models for Aryan Wear . If you'd like them to know what you think of them, why not send them an e-mail.

You can read an interview with the twins here.

Via Raw Story, the Sunday New York Times has Judith Miller's response to Bill Keller's e-mail.

Ms. Miller said in an interview that Mr. Keller's statements were "seriously inaccurate." She also provided The Times with a copy of a memorandum she had sent to Mr. Keller in response. "I certainly never meant to mislead Phil, nor did I mislead him," she wrote to Mr. Keller, referring to Mr. Taubman.

...She added, "As for your reference to my 'entanglement' with Mr. Libby, I had no personal, social, or other relationship with him except as a source."

I think the Times should publish Ms. Miller's entire response to Keller, rather than just a few sentences. Perhaps someone else will.

by TChris

TalkLeft reported here the manslaughter charge against Bryan Conroy, a New York police officer who shot an unarmed African immigrant he suspected of smuggling counterfeit CD's. The victim, Ousmane Zongo, wasn't involved in that crime. Zongo was apparently frightened of the officer, who was wearing plain clothes and pointing a gun. Zongo, who spoke little English, tried to flee. Conroy gave chase. Conroy claims Zongo lunged at him before he shot Zongo four times.

Conroy's first trial ended in a hung jury, 10-2 in favor of a manslaughter conviction. Conroy, undoubtedly worried that his defense wasn't playing well to jurors, waived a jury for his second trial. That gamble paid off, as the judge acquitted Conroy of manslaughter. He found Conroy guilty of negligent homicide, a lesser crime that exposes Conroy to a maximum prison term of four years.

Via Discourse.Net, I found this net blog worth calculator. How much is your blog worth?

TalkLeft is worth $901,570.38. (Yes, I will sell it for $1 million)

That may sound like a lot. But consider:

• Daily Kos: $5,689,434.12
• Atrios: $2,118,154.08
• Crooks and Liars: $2,611,562.04

From Dan Abrams' blog (scroll down):

As some of you may know, the son of famed attorney Robert Shapiro died last week from a drug over-dose in California. I consider Bob a good friend.

His son Brent was a graduate of the University of Southern California who spent several semesters on the Deans list. Bob tells us Brent had turned his life around. He was engaged to be married and he had been sober for a one year and a half before he died last week.

I wrote Bob telling him how sorry I was for his loss and asked if there was anything I could do to help. He informed me that his family is starting a foundation to educate children and parents about drug awareness. It’s an effort to eliminate the stigma associated with drug abuse. Their goal is to change perceptions and to get parents and kids talking about it.

This is America? I realize that the 24/7 cable news industry has turned sex offenders into the latest pariahs, but this is over-the-top:

Child-welfare authorities seized a newborn from a hospital Friday and placed the baby in a foster home because his father is a convicted sex offender. A judge granted the mother supervised visitation rights but prohibited visits from the father.

The baby was born Tuesday and the agency obtained an emergency court order Wednesday authorizing it to take the infant after arguing that his safety is in jeopardy because the father pleaded guilty to rape and sodomy two decades ago in New York. The agency also cited concerns about the mother's alleged history of drug abuse, the mother's lawyer said.

The parents did not live together. Where is the evidence that he is a repeat offender or a risk to his child? How old was the victim in his first offense? What's next? A parent with a marijuana conviction stands to lose their kids because authorities think he or she might still be using in the home?

Reuters reports two of Fitzgerald's lead prosecutors, lugging giant legal briefcases, met with the grand jury today.

The grand jury, which expires on October 28, convened on Friday with two of the lead prosecutors present, but it was unclear what issues they were working on since the panel appears to have completed hearing from witnesses....One of the lawyers said prosecutors were likely starting to present their final case to jurors, either for bringing indictments or to explain why there was insufficient evidence to do so.

This should not be unclear at all. The prosecutors draft up the charges they want the grand jury to indict on, there will be discussions and questions and then the grand jury will vote on each charge presented to them.

This is usually TChris's department, but I can't resist.

A rapist was captured after he forced his victim to write him a check and then tried to cash it, police said.

Anthony R. Roberts, 25, was arrested Wednesday night outside a check cashing store, minutes after he left the woman's apartment, police said. Police said Roberts forced his way into her apartment at gunpoint, bound her with tape and raped her. But first he forced her to make out a $1,400 check in his name, and told her to write on it that it was for electrical work, authorities said.