by TChris

Army Sgt. Joshua Claus, a military intelligence interrogator, pleaded guilty today to assaulting one of two detainees in Afghanistan who died after being abused. TalkLeft background on the death is here.

Claus said the abuses were the result of frustrations during interrogations. He admitted to forcing water down the throat of a detainee known as Dilawar and twisting a hood over the man's head. Dilawar died at the detention center in 2002. No one has been charged with causing his death.

The timing is somewhat suspect, but hey, it's the thought that counts. President Bush issued 14 pardons today, including four to drug offenders:

• Adam Wade Graham, Salt Lake City, Utah
  Offense: Conspiracy to deliver 10 or more grams of LSD; 21 U.S.C. 841(a)(1), 841(b)(1)(A)(v), and 846.
  Sentence: Nov. 23, 1992; District of Wyoming; 30 months imprisonment, later reduced to 11 months and 21 days of imprisonment, and five years supervised release conditioned upon performance of 250 hours community service.

• Larry Paul Lenius, Moorhead, Minn.
  Offense: Conspiracy to distribute cocaine; 21 U.S.C. 846.
  Sentence: Sept. 29, 1989, District of North Dakota; 36 months probation conditioned upon three months service in community confinement and payment of $2,500 in restitution.

CNN keeps running DeLay's diatribe against Ronnie Earle in which DeLay says he's never violated a rule of the House. That's just demonstrably wrong. House rules prevent a member from accepting contributions to their legal defense funds from lobbyists. Public Citizen reported months ago that DeLay's legal defense fund likely violated this rule and only returned the money when the violation was brought to the trustee's attention by Public Citizen.

Much more information is available here and here.

by TChris

The president doesn’t think much of the prevailing science that warns of the threat of global warming, choosing to dismiss evidence that his own EPA found persuasive. But he may find it difficult to continue his recent studied silence on the issue in light of increasing hurricane activity and this ominous development:

The floating cap of sea ice on the Arctic Ocean shrank this summer to what is probably its smallest size in a century, continuing a trend toward less summer ice that is hard to explain without attributing it in part to human-caused global warming, various experts on the region said today.

The findings are consistent with recent computer simulations showing that a buildup of smokestack and tailpipe emissions of greenhouse gases could lead to a profoundly transformed Arctic later this century in which much of the once ice-locked ocean is routinely open water in summers.

Even more disturbing:

by TChris

Did the Bush administration learn from its disaster management mistakes? Having botched its response to Hurricane Katrina, FEMA's work after Hurricane Rita should have been nearly flawless. Should have been.

Saying they were caught off-guard by the number of people in need, FEMA officials closed a relief center early on Wednesday after some of the hundreds of hurricane victims in line began fainting in triple-digit heat.

The midday closing of the Houston disaster relief center came as officials in areas hit hardest by Hurricane Rita criticized FEMA's response to the storm, with one calling for a commission to examine the emergency response.

by TChris

Sources report that the SEC yesterday "authorized a formal order of investigation of [Sen. Bill] Frist's sale in June of HCA Inc. shares."

The order allows the agency's enforcement unit to subpoena documents and compel witnesses to testify, said the [sources], who asked not to be identified because the order hasn't been made public.

Whether or not Frist's suspiciously timed stock sale was based on an insider's knowledge (background here and here), this isn't a good development for a politician who plans to run for president.

by TChris

According to radio reports and the "Breaking News" banner on cnn.com, Tom DeLay (hold your applause) has been indicted by a Texas grand jury on one count of criminal conspiracy. (Applause is now appropriate.) Updates will be posted as details become available.

The indictment is here (pdf). The charge carries a maximum sentence of two years.

First update: Here's the AP story. Note: several additional updates follow.

A Texas grand jury on Wednesday charged Rep. Tom DeLay and two political associates with conspiracy in a campaign finance scheme, an indictment that could force him to step down as House majority leader.

DeLay attorney Steve Brittain said DeLay was accused of a criminal conspiracy along with two associates, John Colyandro, former executive director of a Texas political action committee formed by DeLay, and Jim Ellis, who heads DeLay's national political committee.

The calendar says it's my birthday, so I'm off to do something different, like work out at the gym and go shoe-shopping. Here's a space for you - what's on your mind today?

by Last Night in Little Rock

According to a prosecution motion filed Tuesday in Palm Beach, Rush Limbaugh's doctors are to be questioned in his "Doctor Shopping" case as reported here.

by Last Night in Little Rock

TChris noted yesterday the White House's conservation message. In an incredible piece of irony, Presidential Press Secretary Scott McClellan urged Americans to save fuel by eliminating unnecessary trips during the President's seventh day trip to the Gulf Coast for a photo op as noted in today's NY Times. He noted that the Presidential motorcade had fewer vehicles in it, all for a trip of a few hundred feet to meet with local officials. That was an example of the White House conserving.

by Last Night in Little Rock

In FEMA's haste to play catch-up and provide housing in New Orleans, it contracted with Carnival Cruise Lines for three ships for six months, and did the deal overnight, as reported in today's Washington Post.

The problem with the deal with Carnival was a $236M no-bid contract that effectively paid Carnival twice the per person cost of a cruise, with full crew and entertainment, and the ships never leave port. Yet, the ships are only half occupied, so Carnival reaps even greater profits. Do the math: that's four times the cost of a cruise. Without a full crew, the profit is even greater.

Makes me wonder if anybody at Carnival was a big Republican supporter, or were they just incredibly lucky?

by Last Night in Little Rock

The protestors arrested outside the White House, including Cindi Sheehan, were subjected to "catch and release," according to Raw Story.

Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) wrote to the Park Police Chief that the problem was that many were held in handcuffs for 12 hours, many were grandmothers and some were senior citizens, and they were released from a holding facility in Anacostia at 4:30 a.m., after the Metro stopped for the night, there were no taxicabs, and people were unfamiliar with the city to walk anywhere.