Update: Teddy Ebersol did not suffer. He was ejected from his seat and killed instantly.

Update, 11/29, 7pm: Local authorities say they are 99% sure they have found the body of 14 year old Edward "Teddy" Ebersol. They are waiting for dental records to confirm.

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Sad update: Teddy Ebersol, the 14 year old son of Dick Ebersole and Susan St. James, is presumed dead. Our heartfelt condolences to the family and best wishes for a speedy recovery for Dick and Charlie.

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Bump and update: Dick Ebersol's two sons were on the plane. One, Teddy Ebersol, is missing. The other, Charlie Ebersol, a senior at Notre Dame, was unhurt and is being credited with pulling his dad out of the plane and to safety. [Via local tv news.]

Update: Dick Ebersol and his son Charlie have been transported by air to a hospital in Grand Junction. It's unclear whether Charlie was accompanying his father or injured himself.

The New York Times quotes an eyewitness to the crash in the Montrose Daily Press:

The Daily Oklahoman has obtained a copy of a statement Terry Nichols and his lawyers gave to prosecutors last year during plea negotioations that could have but didn't result in a deal to save his life, that outlines his role in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. He said he knows of no other co-conspirators, did not know Michael Fortier was involved, and did not know what building McVeigh intended to bomb until he heard it on the news. Nichols went to trial and was sentenced to life by the jury.

Here's the text of the statement:

Were you present during the purchase of: ammonium nitrate, nitromethane, barrels and where was each purchased?

Ammonium nitrate: Yes, for the majority of the purchases. It is my understanding that McVeigh bought some additional bags of ammonium nitrate (approximately 12 or more) on his own. I was not involved in those purchases. The ones I was involved in were purchased from the McPherson, Kansas Coop. I do not know where McVeigh purchased the additional 12 or so bags.

There's not much print coverage yet of the press conference held this afternoon by lawyers for Chai Soua Vang, the 36 year old Hmung man from Minnesota being held in the shooting deaths of six hunters. The only news article I've seen so far is this one which doesn't mention the lawyers statements, only that of Mr. Vang's daughter who stated she was shocked that her father would be involved in such an incident.

I watched the conference live and commented on it for Fox News today. Here's a recap: Mr. Vang has three retained lawyers. A fourth lawyer, representing leaders of the Hmong community, was also present. All provided information on different aspects of the case.

The lead lawyer, Steven Kohn, began by acknowledging the tragedy and the families, friends and community of those killed. He said he did not want to shift the focus of attention from them. He would not be trying the case in the media but in the courtroom. The press inquiries have become so numerous, they figured the best way to respond was by press conference.

The Independent reports that street prices have dropped so low for drugs in Britain that a line of cocaine is less expensive than a glass of wine. [link via Raw Story.]

The figures show widespread falls in the price of heroin, ecstasy, cannabis and cocaine....Ecstasy prices have dropped from £14 a tablet to just £4, although it costs as little as £1 in some parts of the country.

The figures are expected to embarrass the Government, which just last week relaunched its war on drugs. Hey, Prime Minister Blair, maybe war is not the answer. Why not increase the treatment options and reduce the demand? Why not declassify and remove penalties for minor user offenses and decrease the profit margin for sellers? Increasing penalties doesn't work, just look at the U.S. Do you want 1 of every 140 British residents in jail? It gets pretty expensive. Especially when you're fighting a war in Iraq.

by TChris

Bobby Frank Cherry recently died of cancer, ending a life sentence that was imposed two-and-a-half years ago, after he was convicted of participating in the 1963 bombing of Montgomery's Sixteenth Street Baptist Church.

The violence of that explosion injured 20 people and ended the lives of four black children -- 14-year-olds Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson and Addie Mae Collins and 11-year-old Denise McNair. ... Though we did not call it so at the time, the act that killed them was an act of terrorism as brutal in its callousness as the Mideast terrorism we now condemn.

Nancy Grape finds in Cherry's death "a timely chance this Thanksgiving weekend to remember that long before this country was set off in blocs of red and blue states, it had been shriven by a far deeper conflict, this one in colors of black and white." She asks a timely question: is the Bush administration's Justice Department committed to the struggle for civil rights? (TalkLeft's background coverage of the Department's lessened attention to the enforcement of civil rights laws is here.)

by TChris

Kevin Winson called the police when his 16-year-old daughter came home drunk. His attempt to teach her a lesson backfired when she returned the favor, leading police to his hidden stash of drugs and guns.

by TChris

The filibuster protects the minority party from the tyranny of the majority party, and Republicans did not hesitate to use it (most famously, to keep Abe Fortas off the Supreme Court) when they were out of power.

Republican senators, including Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania and Mike DeWine of Ohio, used a filibuster in 1995 to block President Bill Clinton's nominee for surgeon general. Bill Frist, now the Senate majority leader, supported a filibuster of a Clinton appeals court nomination.

But now that Republicans command a Senate majority, some of the same senators view the filibuster as antithetical to democracy. Frist now considers the filibuster of a judicial confirmation to be "intolerable." Apart from being a hypocrite, he's wrong.

The Republicans see the filibuster as an annoying obstacle. But it is actually one of the checks and balances that the founders, who worried greatly about concentration of power, built into our system of government. It is also, right now, the main means by which the 48 percent of Americans who voted for John Kerry can influence federal policy. People who call themselves conservatives should find a way of achieving their goals without declaring war on one of the oldest traditions in American democracy.

by TChris

Yesterday, TalkLeft discussed the potential consequences of the Supreme Court's decision in Ashcroft v. Raich, a case that will be argued tomorrow. For still more coverage of the interesting clash between two opposing, conservative views -- the desire to promote states' rights by restricting the federal government's ability to enact legislation that purports to regulate interstate commerce while having only an intrastate effect, and the desire to punish marijuana smokers -- The New York Times provides this background about Angel Raich and the issues that her case presents.

There is a lot riding on the outcome of Ashcroft v. Raich , which will be argued Monday in the Supreme Court. If the Court rules for the Government, lawful medicinal users in nine states may be out of luck. While it will still be lawful for them to use marijuana under state law, the feds will still be able to prosecute them. The Marijuana Policy Project is not giving up, no matter which way the court rules:

"The most important thing to know is that this case will not impact the right of states to enact their own medical marijuana laws," said Rob Kampia, executive director of MPP, which is based in Washington, D.C. "If the Supreme Court rules our way, the federal government's war on patients will come to an abrupt end in the 10 states with medical marijuana laws, On the other hand, if the Court rules against us, then we're back to where we started -- patients will be protected from arrest under state law, but not under federal law."

Many believe that Iraqis are worse off now than before the U.S. invasion. Jeanne at Body and Soul has the details, found at Juan Cole and Chris Bertram. Crime, for example, has skyrocketed in Baghdad.

“Our morgue was designed to cope with between five and ten bodies a day,” explained Kais Hassan, the harrassed statistician whose job it is to record the capital’s suspicious deaths. He gestured into the open door of a refrigeration unit at the stomach-turning sight of tangled corpses inside, male and female, shaded with the brown and green hues of death. “Now we’re getting 20 to 30 in here a day. It’s a disaster.”

Figures compiled at the central mortuary, on file and indisputable, shine a light through the murk of estimate and rumour surrounding casualty rates in Iraq. Of the 6,635 suspicious deaths in Baghdad recorded this year at the city’s Medical-Legal Institute, the complex incorporating the central mortuary, more than 75 per cent were killed by a bullet. Stabbing is the next most common cause of death.

Those that work in the mortuary are divided as to whether things are worse now than under Saddam. Jeanne notes perceptively:

Saving Iraqi lives is a noble cause. But to justify continued war, you need to show how the result can reasonably be attained. Without that, all you have is brutality wrapped up in nice words -- which, if I recall, was pretty much the way this war began.

San Diego has a court for the homeless where violators get a handshake intstead of jail time. The court is viewed as a model for the country and has been earning praise from all quarters.

Homeless court is now in session at the St. Vincent de Paul shelter. The bailiff is armed but the public defender tries to put everyone at ease: "There's one assurance," he tells them, "nobody goes into custody today."

Launched at the request of homeless veterans 15 years ago, the program has grown into a model for cities across California and beyond that want to help the homeless resolve misdemeanor offenses which can make them ineligible for government aid or drivers' licenses - a major barrier to normal life.

"We can just see the snowball effect of a warrant, a traffic ticket, a fine," says Superior Court Judge Gordon Baranco, who presides over a new homeless court in Northern California's Alameda County. "You can't pay a fine if you don't have any money; you can't give a probation officer an address if you don't have a home."

This is the feel-good article of the day. Enjoy it.

Meet your new big brother: The Department of Transportation. Along the same lines as the national ID card, the government is working on developing and implementing a nationwide system for tracking drivers of vehicles. This hit the news in September, but we've seen very little about it.

The agency is the Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office.

Most people have probably never heard of the agency, called the Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office. And they haven't heard of its plans to add another dimension to our national road system, one that uses tracking and sensor technology to erase the lines between cars, the road and the government transportation management centers from which every aspect of transportation will be observed and managed.