by Last Night in Little Rock

The weapons of mass destruction have been found, and they were right under our noses all the time:

George W. Bush and each member of his mal-administration, the Federal Emergency Mismanagement Agency, and the Congress that passed Bush's budget that gutted the NOLA levee project in favor of pork barrel spending, tax cuts for the rich that gutted the economy, and the War in Iraq.

A Wisconsin jury has rejected hunter and Hmong immigrant Chai Vang's self-defense arguments in his trial for shooting six hunters. He was convicted of first degree murder and faces life in prison.

The crime rocked the north woods in part because four of the victims were shot in the back and all but one were unarmed, according to testimony. The slayings exposed racial tension between the predominantly white north woods and immigrants from the Hmong ethnic group of Southeast Asia.

Some background here.

Update: Smoking Gun has the arrest warrant.

The Jeb Bush household is experiencing parenting problems again.

John Ellis Bush, the youngest son of Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, was arrested early Friday and charged with public intoxication and resisting arrest, law enforcement officials in Texas said.

The 21-year-old nephew of President Bush was arrested by the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission at 2:30 a.m. Friday on a corner of Austin's Sixth Street bar district, said spokesman Roger Wade.

More news coverage here. Our coverage of Noelle Bush's drug arrest is accessible here. [via Buzzflash]

by Last Night in Little Rock

NYC Mayor Micheal Bloomberg has become the first [noted] Republican to oppose the confirmation of John Roberts to the Supreme Court, primarily over the right to choose under Roe v. Wade, not that it matters. [More...]

by Last Night in Little Rock

Friday's funnies, for those who liked Wednesday's on Roe v. Wade:

How many members of the Bush Administration are needed to change a light bulb?

by TChris

Daily Kos has a story that's sure to get your dander up. After the administration spread its dual talking point strategy -- blame state and local governments for the failure to protect the poor from Hurricane Katrina, all the while decrying the "blame game" -- the Justice Department started looking for evidence that would allow the administration to blame environmentalists.

by TChris

Two men accused of terrorism have been ordered held in solitary confinement for fear that they might persuade other prisoners in the detention facility’s general population to join the terrorist cause. The notion that other inmates are susceptible to terrorism recruitment seems far-fetched, but the government persuaded a court to go along with its desire to isolate the suspects.

U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke denied motions by Adhan Amin Hassoun and Kifah Wael Jayyousi to be moved out of the special housing unit at Miami's downtown federal detention center. But Cooke also said she will insist that the U.S. Bureau of Prisons provide them with greater access to their lawyers to prepare for what will be a lengthy, complex trial in fall 2006.

TalkLeft background on the case is here.

by TChris

Don't try this at home:

A man from Sri Lanka on Friday broke the Guinness world record for the longest time spent watching TV. He finished with 69 hours and 48 minutes.

by TChris

A columnist at The Daily Tar Heel, the student newspaper at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, who started a column with the words "I want all Arabs to be stripped naked and cavity-searched if they get within 100 yards of an airport," has been fired -- not for expressing her repellent views, but for misleading her sources.

Columnist Jillian Bandes told three campus sources - two Arab students and a professor who teaches a course on Arabic - she was writing an article about Arab-American relations, Daily Tar Heel opinion editor Chris Coletta wrote in an article published Thursday.

Bandes lied to her sources. She was actually writing a column about her desire for racial profiling at airports. Her column gave the false impression that the sources she interviewed endorsed her views.

by TChris

In a story that could have been entitled "Stupid Arrest of the Year," TalkLeft reported the plight of a 73-year-old diabetic grandmother and church elder who was arrested for allegedly looting sausages in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. In defiance of the Constitution's prohibition of excessive bail, the woman's bail was set at $50,000. Her long overdue release from custody speaks to the power of the press:

Despite intervention from the nation's largest senior lobby, volunteer lawyers from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and even a private attorney, the family fought a futile battle for 16 days to get her freed.

Then, hours after her plight was featured in an Associated Press story, a local judge on Thursday ordered Maten freed on her own recognizance, setting up a sweet reunion with her daughter, grandchildren and 80-year-old husband.

Look for this prosecution to disappear quietly. A witness attests that the charge is bogus.

by TChris

The Innocence Project at Illinois State University hopes that a documentary will arouse interest in the 1993 murder conviction of Dale Helmig.

Missouri newspapers have begun to re-examine the case since the Innocence Project produced "A Matter of Innocence: The Story of Dale Helmig" that will be shown Tuesday at ISU.

There is ample reason to question Helmig's guilt. Helmig's supporters argue that police and prosecutors built a circumstantial case against Helmig while ignoring evidence pointing to two other suspects.

by Last Night in Little Rock

The NY Times reports today that G.O.P. Split Over Big Plans for Storm Spending. I wrote here that the federal government had a moral obligation to pay for the damage and reconstruction.

Suddenly, the big spenders become misers.