Al Jazeera reports on a video received in connection with a claim that an Iraqi militant group shot down the British plane that crashed Sunday, killing 10 soldiers.

The video, issued by the military wing of the 1920 Revolution Brigades, also showed an explosion at a distance and what appeared to be the debris of a plane on the ground. Aljazeera said on Monday it had received a copy of the tape from the group.

British Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon said in a statement: "We are aware of reports that the aircraft may have been shot down, but we are not in a position to come to any conclusions until the investigation is complete."

More from The Guardian here and here.

Update: It appears to be a hoax and the photo on the website appears to be that of an action figure.

Bad news to report. A U.S. Soldier reportedly has been captured by Iraqi miltants and they are threatening to behead him.

The posting, on a Web site that frequently carried militants' statements, included a photo of what appeared to be an American soldier in desert fatigues seated with his hands tied behind his back. A gun barrel was pointed at his head, and he is seated in front of a black banner emblazoned with the Islamic profession of faith, "There is no god but God and Muhammad is His prophet."

The website suggests the group has killed other soldiers and currently is holding more.

“Our mujahedeen heroes of Iraq’s Jihadi Battalion were able to capture American military man John Adam after killing a number of his comrades and capturing the rest,” said the statement, signed by the “Mujahedeen Brigades.”

How many soliers are missing and for how long?

Drug War warriors are running rampant across the land. Check out these billboards at DrugWar Rant. Grits for Breakfast exposes the overhyping of the new meth law craze as evidenced by a rush by states to ban psueduoephedrine.

Newspaper editorials like this one show mainstream media is going along.

Not to beat a dead horse, but it 's worth pondering that in 1967, the U.S. crowed about the good turnout in the Vietnam election. As we mentioned yesterday in our open thread post, there's an eerie similarity between the two.

Martini Republic has some thoughts on who will control the new Iraqi Government. Abdul Aziz al-Hakim , a Shi'ite leader, already is calling the election a victory for the United Iraqi Alliance. And, big surprise, Iraq's President today said he wants U.S. troops to stay in Iraq.

"It's only complete nonsense to ask the troops to leave in this chaos and this vacuum of power," al-Yawer, a Sunni Arab, said.

Bump and Update: This is still a big story:

• New York Times
• Washington Post
• Analysis from CBS's Andrew Cohen
• Text of Opinion (pdf)

by TChris

Federal Judge Joyce Hens Green is unimpressed with the tribunals devised by the Bush administration to decide whether prisoners at Guantanamo should continue to be held as enemy combatants. Judge Green rejected the administration's claim that the tribunals satisfied last year's Supreme Court decisions permitting Guantanamo detainees to challenge their detentions. (TalkLeft background on the tribunals can be found here and here. TalkLeft background on the proceeding before Judge Green is here.)

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger takes a step in the right direction and implements a plan for a softer approach for juvenile offenders:

Marking a sharp turn in philosophy, the Schwarzenegger administration agreed Monday to put therapy and positive reinforcement at the heart of California's youth prison system, rejecting today's more punitive approaches in favor of models that have been successful in other states.

Leaders of the California Youth Authority called the action historic, and said that while the reforms would cost an undetermined amount of money up front, they would save dollars in the long run by helping more young lawbreakers go straight.

Gov. Arnold is getting praise from both sides on this one:

A year ago former Ill. Governor George Ryan was at Sundance for the premier of the movie Deadline, about his granting of clemency to Illinois's death row inmates. The movie has a weblog, which we wrote about here.

The film's recent screening in Urbana was a sellout. Here's more. And even more from Crim Prof Blog .

by TChris

How scary is it that one in three high school students surveyed by the University of Connecticut failed to appreciate the rights and freedoms associated with the First Amendment?

The survey of 112,003 students finds that 36% believe newspapers should get "government approval" of stories before publishing .... Asked whether the press enjoys "too much freedom," not enough or about the right amount, 32% say "too much," and 37% say it has the right amount.

Jack Dvorak, director of the High School Journalism Institute at Indiana University in Bloomington, has a point:

The survey "confirms what a lot of people who are interested in this area have known for a long time," he says: Kids aren't learning enough about the First Amendment in history, civics or English classes.

by TChris

An audit has raised questions about the $8.8 billion disbursed by the American occupation authority that governed Iraq until the middle of last year. Much of the money was transferred to Iraqi ministries with no budget or procedures to account for its use.

The report does not cite direct evidence of corruption with the Iraqi ministries but notes, among other examples, that one ministry received money to pay 8,206 guards while the presence of only 602 guards in that ministry could be verified.

Oops.

Via Human Rights First:

On January 26, in the name of our so-called security, Representative Sensenbrenner introduced the REAL ID Act (H.R. 418). Yet the bill does absolutely nothing to enhance our nation’s security, instead it targets the world’s most vulnerable group—refugees fleeing persecution, including torture, rape and other horrific atrocities.

The REAL ID Act has direct life and death consequences for genuine refugees. The bill places many refugees, including those fleeing religious and political persecution, at risk of being returned to their torturers or to death. Our nation’s time honored commitment to providing safe haven for individuals fleeing persecution will be severely undermined if Sensenbrenner’s bill is enacted.

To take action to oppose these harmful provisions, go here.

Fox News (tv) is reporting that Hillary Clinton collapsed during a speech in Buffalo. Right before she began, she mentioned she had been suffering from a stomach ailment.

Update: She's fine, 24 hour stomach bug.

Bump and Update: Condemned Connecticut prisoner Michael Ross, scheduled for execution Monday night, now seeks a competency exam . Since he had previously waived his appeals, seeking execution, his request almost certainly will be granted. Another execution avoided, for now.

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Original Post(1/30):

The planned Connecticut execution of Michael Ross is back on for Monday night, following his lawyer's announcement today he will not drop out of the case. Background here.