A high-level member of al-Qaeda, Taliban military commander Mullah Akhtar Usmani, was interviewed on Pakistani television today and said Osama is alive and well, as is fugitive Taliban chief Mullah Mohammed Omar.

The man said the Taliban are still organized and senior Taliban leaders hold regular consultations. "Our discipline is strong. We have regular meetings. We make programs," the man said. He said Omar does not attend the meetings but "decisions come from his side." He did not say where those meetings take place.

On a related note, 14 people were killed in Afghanistan today:

Fighting between about 90 suspected Taliban rebels and hundreds of Afghan soldiers and U.S.-led coalition troops left seven insurgents dead and 10 wounded, while a rebel attack on a medical clinic killed a doctor and six others, officials said Wednesday.

....Even though U.S. military commanders are upbeat about progress in making Afghanistan secure, there has been a sharp rise in violence since spring. President Hamid Karzai's administration has warned that Taliban-led rebels and al-Qaida militants are trying to subvert crucial legislative elections in September.

After the Michael Jackson acquittal, Tom Mesereau rises to the top of the "go to" list for celebrities in trouble.

Who else is on the list? Three of my very good friends, and I highly recommend them all: Roy Black of Miami, Joe Tacopina of New York and Mickey Sherman of Connecticut.

This just in from Marijuana Policy Project:

The U.S. House of Representatives today voted down an amendment that would have placed a one-year moratorium on federal raids against medical marijuana patients, but patients and their supporters were cheered by an all-time record vote in support of the proposal. The amendment, supported by a broad array of organizations, including the American Nurses Association and the United Methodist Church, was defeated 161-264, receiving 13 more votes than an identical proposal received last year.

The bipartisan amendment, introduced by U.S. Reps. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) and Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), sought to prohibit the U.S. Justice Department -- which includes the Drug Enforcement Administration -- from spending taxpayer money to arrest or prosecute medical marijuana patients in the 10 states where medical marijuana is legal: Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington.

The Bush Administration once again shows its disdain for states' rights and civil liberties:

The U.S. federal government is prosecuting four Catholic peace activists from Ithaca, N.Y., after a state court jury refused to convict them last year for their antiwar protest at a local U.S. military recruiting station. The federal charges made against the activists include “conspiracy to impede an officer of the United States,” a crime punishable by up to six years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

“The federal government is clearly trying to make an example of these people and to intimidate future nonviolent protestors by charging these folks with conspiracy,” said Bill Quigley, a law professor at Loyola University, New Orleans, and an advising attorney for the activists.

[hat tip Peter G.]

Sad. Facing a sentence of 5 years to life for the killing of his teammate Patrick Dennehy, Carleton Dotson, who at one time had been declared ncompetent to stand trial, and who earlier claimed self-defense for the shooting, suddenly pleaded guilty last week - without a plea agreement - and was sentenced today to 35 years in prison.

Backgound here and at Begging to Differ.

Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld says we paid $100 million to construct Gunatanamo and we will pay (indefinitely, apparently, since the war on terror will go on in perpetuity) $90 -$95 million a year to run it.

Senator Bill Frist:

``Let's not shut and run because of an image problem.''

Just an image problem? Jeanne D'Arc of Body and Soul has more on Guantanamo, and check out this video over at Crooks and Liars, of Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) refuting torture claims at Guantánamo Bay while displaying various foods, and saying "They've never eaten better."

Lots of alerts flying around the e-mail inbox for Thursday's hearing on the Downing Street Memo, which has been moved back to the Capitol and set for 2:30 pm. For the latest, go to After Downing Street.org. A one pager of talking points is here (pdf.)

Other Downing St. Reads: Big Media Matt over at American Prospect:

The Downing Street Memos don't just prove that the Bush administration lied the war into existence. They prove that nobody planned for the aftermath.

The autopsy results on Terri Schiavo are in: No abuse was shown. She was blind. No evidence of an eating disorder was shown. Crooks and Liars has a roundup of blogger reaction.

Think Progress notes Sen. Bill Frist's erroneous diagnosis.

Arianna Huffington lambasts Ed Klein and his slime book on Hillary.

God knows I’ve had plenty of disagreements with Hillary -- especially on Iraq. But what Klein is doing is disgusting. It has nothing to do with Hillary’s politics -- and everything to do with feeding the right-wing sleaze machine.

...But with the help of bloggers (and as you’ll see from the links below, they’ve been at it already), Klein’s book can be seen for what it is: a sordid, slimy attempt to make a buck while helping advance a sordid, slimy political agenda.

Freeway Blogger, our hero of the California Freeways, says "this is what happens when you take down my signs and replace them with a lame, inkjetted "Support our troops" sign...

Never fu*k with the freewayblogger.

Federal Judges rarely respond publicly to criticism. It makes this "letter to the editor" by U.S. District Court Judge Charles B. Kornmann of Aberdeen, S.D. even that much more compelling. Check it out. (Via My DD.)

Misunderstanding Alarming

To the Editor - A recent article by Professor Art Marmorstein displayed an alarming misunderstanding of the nature of our government. He stated that judges are either of the John Lennon school or the Bolshevik school. I know judges in South Dakota and most federal judges. The professor is badly mistaken.

He praised James Dobson's Family Policy Council. Dobson in Sioux Falls last year stated that Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy is "the most dangerous man in America." Does that sound like a rational statement? Outlandish statements by Dobson, Pat Robertson and others encourage deranged people to act violently against judges and relatives of judges.

We give the last word on the Michael Jackson verdict to Jon Stewart of the Daily Show, who hilariously takes apart the media and legal analysts covering the Michael Jackson trial. Crooks and Liars has the video.

Second to the last word- for the best take on the verdict by a legal analyst -- goes to CBS's Andrew Cohen, and his column You Just Had to Be There in Court.