I'm going to weigh in here with Roxanne and Begging to Differ over the strange Washington Monthly post supporting Time Reporter Matthew Cooper and not mentioning Judith Miller.

The Washington Monthly could have, but didn't, distinguish between Cooper and Miller's cases. There is a factual difference between the two: This was Cooper's second subpoena and he complied with the first one. Also, Miller never actually wrote an article about Valerie Plame. She may have just been researching the story. Or, maybe, as I posited here, she wasn't really researching or working on a story, and just got the info gratis as gossip.

Even though it was a losing argument legally, it could be a reason to suggest that only Cooper doesn't deserve to go to jail. But the Washington Monthly doesn't say anything to distinguish the cases to justify its support for only one reporter.

So you thought what drugs you take should be up to you and your doctor? Forget it. The White House has other plans for elderly and disabled citizens. Drugs it finds addictive or habit forming will not be covered under the White House drug plan.

When the federal government's new prescription drug benefit kicks in next year, it will not cover a category of drugs commonly used to treat anxiety, insomnia and seizures.

That means those disabled and elderly people on Medicare who take Xanax, Valium, Ativan and other types of the drug benzodiazepine will have to look elsewhere for coverage or switch to a different, less addictive medication.

I wonder if Colin Powell's Ambien will be covered. This is the worst White House and the Worst President Ever.

Apparently believing we can never have enough prisons, the U.S. plans to expand the number of prisons throughout Iraq.

The U.S. military said Monday it plans to expand its prisons across Iraq to hold as many as 16,000 detainees, as the relentless insurgency shows no sign of letup one year after the transfer of sovereignty to Iraqi authorities.

The plans were announced on a day three U.S. Army soldiers were killed - two pilots whose helicopter crashed north of Baghdad and a soldier who was shot in the capital. At least four Iraqis died in a car bomb attack in the capital.

As if the U.S. military didn't have enough scandals going between Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo and the ghost detainees, now we learn it is abusing its own recruits:

The recruits of Echo Company stumbled off the bus for basic training at Fort Knox to the screams of red-faced drill instructors. That much was expected. But it got worse from there.

Echo Company's top drill instructor seized a recruit by the back of the neck and threw him to the ground. Other soldiers were poked, grabbed or cursed. Once inside the barracks, Pvt. Jason Steenberger says, he was struck in the chest by the top D.I. and kicked "like a football." Andrew Soper, who has since left the Army, says he was slapped and punched in the chest by another drill instructor. Pvt. Adam Roster says he was hit in the back and slammed into a wall locker.

Eventually, four Army drill instructors and the company commander would be brought up on charges. Four have been convicted so far.

Via Scotus Blog:

The Supreme Court recessed for the summer Monday morning, with no announcement from Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist of his plans to retire or to remain on the Court. The day's session ended after the announcement of six final rulings. Final orders of the Term will be issued at 10 a.m. Tuesday.

Via Scotus Blog: The Court rules against Grokster and StreamCast:

The Supreme Court ruled unanimously that developers of software violate federal copyright law when they provide computer users with the means to share music and movie files downloaded from the internet.

News coverage of decision here.

File-sharing services shouldn't get a free pass on bad behavior, justices said.

"We hold that one who distributes a device with the object of promoting its use to infringe copyright, as shown by the clear expression or other affirmative steps taken to foster infringement, is liable for the resulting acts of infringement by third parties," Justice David H. Souter wrote for the court.

The text of the decision is here. (pdf)

Update: The Wall St. Journal has an ongoing discussion on the decision by several legal experts. The free link to the discussion is here.

Via Scotus Blog:

The Supreme Court on Monday turned aside pleas by two reporters and a magazine urging the Justices to create, for the first time, a right not to be forced to reveal to the government their confidential news sources. The action means that, at least for the time being, the Constitution and federal common law do not recognize a “reporter’s privilege” of confidentiality. (The Court denied review in Miller v. U.S., 04-1507, Cooper and Time Magazine v. U.S., 04-1508.)

News coverage here.

by TChris

Bump and Update: The report is here. The ACLU's statement is here.
........

The Bush administration used "material witness" warrants to detain at least 70 individuals suspected of terrorism, a statistic leading two groups to conclude that the administration has been misusing its power to seek material witness detentions.

Only 28 of the suspects were eventually charged with a crime, according to the American Civil Liberties Union and Human Rights Watch, and most of those charges were not related to terrorism. ... At least 30 detainees were never called to testify before a court or grand jury, the advocacy groups said in a report [to be released Monday]. All but one of those detained are Muslim, they said.

The most publicized abuse was the detention of Brandon Mayfield, but the report accuses the administration of twisting the material witness law "beyond recognition."

Update: You can access the opinions in today's court decisions here.

Update: Ruling in one Ten Comandments Case, via Scotus Blog:

Splitting 5-4 in the first of two rulings on government displays of the Ten Commandments, the Supreme Court on Monday upheld a federal court order against a display of the religious document on the wall of a courthouse in Kentucky.

AP coverage here.

Ruling in second Ten Commandments case goes the other way:

If you have a subscription to the Wall St. Journal, you will find this article interesting - about the background and ascendancy of Sen. Bill Frist:

Mr. Frist is the youngest Senate majority leader since Lyndon Johnson and one of the most powerful leaders in Washington. Yet just as he was on that night in Nashville, he remains a work in progress. He came to power without a natural political base, a rarity in the modern Senate, and also lacks Mr. Johnson's famed instincts and ruthlessness.

That presents risks for President George W. Bush, who wants Mr. Frist to advance an ambitious second-term agenda. It's also a danger for Mr. Frist, especially if he runs for president in 2008. His restless nature and supreme confidence have led him into waters over his head. Just this spring, on the Terri Schiavo right-to-die controversy and the fight over judicial nominations, Mr. Frist pushed the Senate into unknown territory, and, in the latter case, into a battle he couldn't easily win.

Bono was on Meet the Press today to discuss the upcoming Live 8 efforts to end poverty in Africa. The transcript is here. A few highlights:

One billions dollars is all it would take to save a million lives from malaria, with bed nets, etc., $1 billion. Four billion dollars, you could change the world. From the United States, an extra commitment of $4 billion.....there's a tsunami happening every month in Africa, but it's an avoidable catastrophe. It is not a natural calamity.

On the issue of whether he and Bob Geldof are being used by Blair, Bush and others in power:

One would think that Tony Blair's son could have his choice of Congresspersons for whom to intern. Why would he choose conservative Republican David Dreier?

THE Prime Minister's son, Euan Blair, has beaten around 100,000 hopefuls to secure an internship with a Republican congressman who is accused by gay rights campaigners of leading a double life. Euan is to work for David Dreier on Capitol Hill in Washington.

The coveted intern posts often go to the most academically gifted, but connections are equally important.