Bump and Update:

• The New York Times: Eve of Trial : Jackson Begs for Fair Trial
• The Guardian: About a Boy
• I'll be doing a live chat for the Washington Post Monday at 3pm ET. If you have any questions, you can submit them in advance. [Transcript of chat available here.]

DA Sneddon is getting his wish. Over 1,000 journalists have decamped at Santa Barbara for the trial.

Announcing the prosecution in November 2003, he smiled into the assembled cameras, and declared: "I hope that you all stay long and spend lots of money because we need your sales tax to support our offices."

As we said back then, he's a man on a mission. For all of our news and analysis of the Michael Jackson news, go here.

Lest the cheerleaders overtake the conversation, here is some balance:

• Juan Cole
• James Wolcott
• Lenin's Tomb
• Raed in the Middle
• Needlenose

[hat tip to Unfair Witness]

• Voting Irregularities in North (ABC News)
• Bombs Keep Sunnis Away (Times OnLine)
• Kurds to Demand Key Iraq Post
• Outlook Brightens, No Quick Fix (LA Times)
• Uncertainty Reigns (LA Times)
• Elections are Not Democracy (Newsweek)

This is not to say I agree with all of the content in these posts and articles--I am just trying to encourage everyone to read both sides, before buying into the freedom and democracy or elections=success memes. Simply stated, we are still a long way from Kansas.

The New York Times Magazine today has a lengthy article on whether ecstasy, reputedly a mind-altering drug, can help those suffering from cancer or post-traumatic stress disorder. We wrote about the new studies into the subject that the FDA has authorized here and here.

The Independent has an interview with exonerated death row inmate and Scottish citizen Ken Richey.

A Briton who faced the death sentence for 18 years in an American jail has spoken for the first time of his harrowing ordeal, saying he was "treated like an animal" for a crime he did not commit.

In an exclusive interview with The Independent on Sunday, Kenneth Richey, whose sentence was finally quashed last week after a campaign backed by the Pope, Hollywood stars and Tony Blair, revealed he had been shackled and handcuffed for 23 hours a day as he faced death by lethal injection.

Richey is 40 years old and was imprisoned since he was 22. Not only did he not commit the crime, it is likely there was no crime, and that the fire he was accused of setting was accidentally started. When he is released, he plans to return to the Scottish Highlands.

On January 24, Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold introduced a bill to abolish the federal death penalty. He did the same in 2003 and before that in 1999. While the bill is just as unlikely to pass this year, his remarks are well worth reading. Here's a portion.

Mr. President, today I introduce the Federal Death Penalty Abolition Act of 2005. This bill would abolish the death penalty at the Federal level. It would put an immediate halt to executions and forbid the imposition of the death penalty as a sentence for violations of Federal law.

Since 1976, when the death penalty was reinstated by the Supreme Court, there have been almost 1,000 executions across the country, including three at the Federal level. At the same time, over 100 people on death row were later found innocent and released from death row. Exonerated inmates are not only removed from death row, but they are usually released from prison altogether. Apparently, these people never should have been convicted in the first place. While death penalty proponents claim that the death penalty is fair, efficient, and a deterrent, he fact remains that our criminal justice system has failed and has resulted in at least 117 very grave mistakes.

The ACLU wants Alberto Gonzales, if confirmed, to appoint a special counsel to investigate torture abuses:

The American Civil Liberties Union today called upon senators to insist - prior to voting on the nomination of Alberto Gonzales as attorney general - that he commit to immediately appoint an outside special counsel to investigate and prosecute any criminal acts by civilians in the torture or abuse of detainees by the U.S. Government.

The right-wing blogosphere, like President Bush, considers the elections a triumph for democracy. The top liberal bloggers, Daily Kos, Atrios, Josh Marshall, knowing better, are either ignoring the elections or have moved on.

Other liberal bloggers express their criticism: Oliver Willis, Talking Dog; Maxspeak; Jerome Armstrong of MyDD; Armando at Daily Kos; Juan Cole.

For the most part, Iraqi bloggers are jubilant. Raed in the Middle is not. If you're reading news coverage, don't forget to read reports from the Arab world to get both sides.

If you've commented on TalkLeft about the elections, tune into MSNBC between 5:30 and 6:00 pm. I'll be discussing blogger reaction opposite Jeff Jarvis on Ron Reagan and Monica Crowley's new show, and they intend to read a few of your comments on the air.

Journalist Chris Allbritton writes on his blog, Back to Iraq:

9:34:37 AM So far, not as much violence as everybody feared. The question is why? Is the insurgency taking a pass on this one? (It's possible. Our sources in the insurgency say the election will make no difference to them, so why expend a lot of energy?) Is the insurgency much weaker than previously thought? Or is the level of security sufficient to keep it in check? If that's the case, then that is discouraging, too, because the measures that have kept today safe (so far) are truly draconian. No driving, dusk to dawn curfews, states of emergency. If that's what it takes to provide security in Iraq, why erase one police state only to replace it with another?

Here's a Reuters photo from Mosul:

Polls have now been open for three hours. There has been a steady flow of voters in some parts of Baghdad--and a steady round of explosions and gunfire. 14 million Iraqis are eligible to vote. How many will actually vote is still unknown.

This should be contrasted with Ramadi where Jim Maceda, MSNBC's reporter, says the election has been a "total failure." With 600,000 residents, only 150 people have voted. Only one voter showed up at Maceda's polling place. He says the intimidation worked. Ramadi is considered a litmus test because of the large number of moderate Sunnis.

Then there's this: An unscientific poll from the new issue of Time Magazine on Americans' views on the future of Iraq.

[edited to delete graphic, it skewed the site.]

[via Baghdad Dweller.]

Dear Mr. Fantasy. Paper Sun. The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys...

Jim Capaldi, drummer for Traffic, has died of cancer at 60.

Steve Winwood on Capaldi's death:

Via television, Reuters has reported explosions around polling places. A suicide car bomber blew up a car at a security checkpoint. One policeman was killed and two soldiers were wounded. One reporter says the frequency of explosions has increased in the past five to ten minutes. The reporter counted seven to eight explosions in the past 45 minutes. He can't tell if they are mortar shells or car bombs.

In a nutshell, the media, while reporting "loud explosions," is downplaying the significance at this point, saying it was expected.

Update: The cable news channels are taking different approaches. Fox has Geraldo who is absolutely gleeful with the success of the elections. MSNBC is doing news reporting with experts. For the first hour, CNN showed taped videos of past death and destruction. There's been a shortage of live shots so far at polling places. Geraldo said people were turning out in droves, and the reason you didn't see them when they showed the polling places was because they were all inside voting. "An amazing, wonderful, inspiring turnout. The terrorists are going to lose." He did, at least, caution that he was only speaking from his location between Baghdad and Fallujah, not for the whole country.

The polls have been open for an hour. Things are slow, but it's only 8 am in Iraq. What to look for?

• What kind of turnout will there be?
• Will the Sunnis vote?
• Will the anticipated violence be significant enough to disrupt the elections?

The media is speculating that Iraqis are at home watching tv to see whether its safe to go vote.

As to the significance of elections in establishing a democracy, check out Columbia Law Professor Samuel Issacharoff's Washington Post op-ed, Democracy Isn't Built on One Election Alone.

Update: Iraq Voting on Uncertain Future (LA Times.)