TalkLeft went down for a few hours apparently while I was out today....the hosting service is having trouble ..thanks for your patience. Here's what their site says:

We are currently seeing issues at both AT&T and TWTelecom in traces from various locations. If your routes travel along those networks, you may experience high latency and/or complete failure to reach your site or other services. We’ve sent a note to the main NOC at P10, asking them for a status, since no doubt they are already aware of the issue, and we’ll post whatever we get back from them.

President Bush is cutting his vacation short by two days to monitor the hurricane damage...from Washington. Americablog says it's too little too late, but here's the real complaint.

Martial law has been imposed in New Orleans:

New Orleans CBS affiliate WWL-TV is reporting that martial law has been declared in New Orleans and Jefferson Parish after levee breaks caused major flooding in the city Tuesday morning, sending waves of water through the downtown and French Quarter. Mayor Ray Nagin is estimating that 80% of the city has been flooded. WWL-TV provides continuing updates on its Katrina Blog.

12:02 PM ET - WWL-TV says that a break in 17th Street Canal Levee is 200 feet wide and water from it is gradually inundating the city.

12:16 PM ET - WWL-TV reports that martial law is now in effect in Plaquemines Parish southwest of New Orleans, where 60% of homes are said to be flooded; persons found on the streets there will be arrested. WWL-TV is broadcasting live video via KHOU in Houston. Some looting has begun in New Orleans, according to AP.

[hat tip Patriot Daily] More on martial law here.

Cingular and Apple have teamed up - a new motorola cell phone with iTunes is coming. I really want one. I never cared about having a blackberry or a Treo, but a phone with built in iTunes....definitely.

It was detailed in this Motoroloa user manual. [via Gizmodo]

Due to the problems with Typekey, comment registration is turned off. Anyone can comment. I'm rebuilding all the individual entries now so it works on older entries. I have to leave for court soon, so here's an open thread for you.

Great reads: Digby on "judy in da skies" and Actor Tim Russert . Arianna's latest on The Judy Tsunami.

The ACLU reports:

The American Civil Liberties Union and the New York Civil Liberties Union will again appear before a federal judge Tuesday, August 30, to seek the release of Defense Department photographs and videotapes depicting the abuse of prisoners held by the United States at Abu Ghraib.

The ACLU today also released previously redacted government documents, including declarations by General Richard Myers, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Ronald Schlicher, former Deputy Assistant Secretary and Coordinator for Iraq in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs of the Department of State, in which they argue that the photographs and videos should not be made public. General Myers also argues that "the democratic idea of public accountability... is misunderstood in other parts of the world."

Released documents are available here.

Several people e-mailed today to let me know they are having problems logging in to post comments. If you are also having problems, please let me know here or by e-mail. We're trying to fix it.

Update: I have no idea what is wrong with the TypeKey - everyone is getting "validation" errors - I just turned off the registration requirement. Hopefully, we won't get a flood of trolls and it will be fixed soon.

The New York Times today endorsed Leslie Crocker-Snyder for District Attorney over Robert Morganthau.

There are some aspects of Ms. Snyder's record that give us pause. Unlike Mr. Morgenthau, she supports the death penalty.

Robert Morganthau, now 85, has been the District Attorney in Manhattan since 1975. In May, former state supreme court justice and current NBC legal analyst Leslie Crocker Snyder announced she would run against Morganthau in the Democratic Primary this November.

Excellent news for medical marijuana patients in California:

The new policy, by the California Highway Patrol, states that an "individual is to be released and the marijuana is not to be seized" if the person qualifies under state law to possess marijuana for medicinal purposes. It also says that officers "shall not conduct traffic enforcement stops for the primary purpose of drug interdiction" involving the authorized use of medical marijuana.

A similar policy seems to be underway in Denver where police have agreed not to charge a medical pot patient on whom marijuana was found - and to return the pot to him.

GOP uber-lobbyist Jack Abramoff, through his Miami lawyer Neal Sonnett, pleaded not guilty on Monday to fraud charges in federal court in Miami:

"I'm not going to summarize my defense strategy now," Sonnett told reporters outside the courtroom. "I can't summarize it. He committed no fraud. His case has been fairly stated in the civil cases, and that position is not going to change. Any defense theories or motions will be made in court."

In previous civil cases arising out of the SunCruz purchase, Abramoff has placed the blame for the phony wire transfer on his partner, Kidan. He has said in court filings that he believed Kidan had provided funds to the seller, Konstantinos "Gus" Boulis, who was later killed in a gangland-style shooting.

Since Kidan also is indicted, it appears that the Government isn't buying Abramoff's defense. Otherwise, one would think, they would offer him a deal to testify against Kidan, which it appears from the above statement, he is more than willing to do.

Background on the case is here.

The Arizona Star today announced:

...we've decided that syndicated columnist Ann Coulter has worn out her welcome. Many readers find her shrill, bombastic and mean-spirited. And those are the words used by readers who identified themselves as conservatives.

Taking her place on Saturdays will be Tony Snow, host of "The Tony Snow Show," syndicated nationally on Fox News Radio, and "Weekend Live with Tony Snow" on Fox News Channel. He has worked at a number of daily newspapers and is a former speechwriter for former President George H.W. Bush.

by TChris

Violating the law is virtually stress-free when your buddy is the governor. No need to hire a lawyer or confront charges or contend with a trial that might expose messy facts to public scrutiny. Just ask your pal for a pardon.

Claiming that criminal charges against his appointees were "paralyzing their ability to serve," Kentucky Gov. Ernie Fletcher declared an "amnesty" for appointees accused of illegally replacing state employees with Republican loyalists. At this point, at least, the governor hasn't pardoned himself, but he proudly announced that he'll take the Fifth when he's called before a grand jury on Tuesday.