LA Weekly reports on SonyGate:

L.A. Weekly has learned that CBS, NBC and ABC all refused Fahrenheit 9/11 DVD advertising during any of the networks’ news programming. Executives at Sony Pictures, the distributor of the movie for the home-entertainment market, were stunned. And even more shocked when the three networks explained why.

“They said explicitly they were reluctant because of the closeness of the release to the election. All three networks said no,” one Sony insider explains. “It was certainly a judgment that Sony disagrees with and is in the process of protesting.”

Sony protested, with limited success:

The ACLU won an important victory in federal court in New York today.

U.S. District Judge Victor Marreo ruled in favor of the American Civil Liberties Union, which challenged the power the FBI has to demand confidential financial records from companies as part of terrorism investigations.

The ACLU sued the Department of Justice, arguing that part of the Patriot legislation violated the constitution because it authorizes the FBI to force disclosure of sensitive information without adequate safeguards. The judge agreed, stating that the provision "effectively bars or substantially deters any judicial challenge." Under the provision, the FBI did not have to show a judge a compelling need for the records and it did not have to specify any process that would allow a recipient to fight the demand for confidential information.

[hat tip to TL reader Mike S.]

Update: the ACLU's statement on the decision is here.

The students on Colorado college campuses are taking the threat of a reinstatement of the draft seriously. They should. Many people think that if they or their kids get drafted, they will go to Canada. But as of 2001, Canada is not an option. In 2001, the U.S. and Canada signed the Smart Border Declaration. A news article on the agreement is here.

Project Uncensored said at the time:

Dodging the draft will be more difficult than those from the Vietnam era remember. College and Canada will no longer be options. In December 2001, Canada and the US signed a “Smart Border Declaration,” which could be used to contain would-be draft dodgers. The declaration involves a 30-point plan which implements, among other things, a “pre-clearance agreement” of people entering and departing each country. Reforms aimed at making the draft more equitable along gender and class lines also eliminate higher education as a shelter. Underclassmen would only be able to postpone service until the end of their current semester. Seniors would have until the end of the academic year.

Martha Stewart has been designated to the federal prison camp in Alderson, West Virginia. My clients have hated the place. Martha is putting a good face on it, more power to her.

"While I had hoped to be designated to a facility closer to my family and more accessible to my appellate attorneys, I am pleased that the Bureau of Prisons has designated me so quickly to FPC Alderson, the first Federal prison camp for women in the United States," Stewart said in a statement. "I look forward to getting this behind me and to vigorously pursuing my appeal," she added.

Why didn't she get Danbury or Coleman, as the Judge recommended? First off, judicial recommendations are not binding on the Bureau of Prisons. But take note of the "unnamed source" below:

As if there weren't enough problems with the new anti-terror bill Congress is considering under the guise of implementing the 9/11 Commission Report, Obsidian Wings finds another one--and it's chilling. In plain English, Kathryn says, it would legalize torture--and she's asked us to reprint the salient features:

The Republican leadership of Congress is attempting to legalize extraordinary rendition. "Extraordinary rendition" is the euphemism we use for sending terrorism suspects to countries that practice torture for interrogation. As one intelligence official described it in the Washington Post, "We don't kick the sh*t out of them. We send them to other countries so they can kick the sh*t out of them.”

Two new endorsements for John Kerry: one from The Lone Star Iconoclast, Bush's hometown newspaper in Crawford Texas, which endorsed Bush in 2000, and one from former President Dwight D. Eisenhower's son. First, John Eisenhower:

As son of a Republican President, Dwight D. Eisenhower, it is automatically expected by many that I am a Republican. For 50 years, through the election of 2000, I was. With the current administration’s decision to invade Iraq unilaterally, however, I changed my voter registration to independent, and barring some utterly unforeseen development, I intend to vote for the Democratic Presidential candidate, Sen. John Kerry.

This may get ugly. The Department of Justice is charging that a New York Times reporter, Philip Shenon, warned a Islamic charity group under investigation for funding terrorist-related activity of an impending raid on its offices. To prove the allegation, DOJ is seeking telephone and email records of reporters Philip Shenon and Judith Miller for the 20 days after 9/11.

U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald of Chicago charged in court papers that Shenon blew the cover on the Dec. 14, 2001, raid of the Global Relief Foundation — the first charges of their kind under broad new investigatory powers given to the feds under the Patriot Act. "It has been conclusively established that Global Relief Foundation learned of the search from reporter Philip Shenon of The New York Times," Fitzgerald said in an Aug. 7, 2002, letter to the Times' legal department.

The Times denies the allegation and is mightily resisting the subpoena. The paper sued in federal court yesterday to stop DOJ from getting access to the records saying the turnover would reveal the identity of confidential sources.

The lawsuit said the scope of the government's demand for telephone records meant that the records would expose the identities of dozens of confidential sources used by the reporters for an array of articles about Sept. 11, the government's handling of continued threats from al-Qaida and the war in Iraq.

A new John Kerry ad is being released in conjunction with Thursday's first debate. You can view it here. It begins with the narrator saying:

“Why did George Bush go to war in Iraq? The reason keeps changing. First, it was weapons of mass destruction. [Not true] Later, Iraq's links to al Queda. [Not true] One reason after another-a new one offered every time the facts crumble. Now Americans are being kidnapped, held hostage, even beheaded. Over 1,000 U.S. soldiers have died. Maybe George Bush can't tell us why he went to Iraq... But it’s time he tells us how he's going to fix it.”

A new video was released today in which British hostage Ken Bigley, chained and behind bars, pleaded for his life:

In the footage, a sobbing Bigley - his legs and hands chained - was seen talking from behind the bars of what appeared to be a prison cell. He was dressed in a orange jump suit and kneeling on the floor, and at one point he cradled his head in one of his hands.

"He doesn't care about me, I'm just one person," he was heard saying, referring to Blair. "Please, please, help me. I'm begging you (Blair), I'm begging you to speak, to push." The announcer, translating Bigley's comments into Arabic in a voiceover, said Bigley asserted that Blair was lying when he said there were negotations being carried out to save his life.

The benefit tonight for Colorado Democrat Ken Salazar, running against Pete Coors for the U.S. Senate, was the best concert ever. If you are not a concert-goer, or an Eagles or Henley or Frey fan, stop reading here and go do something else. This will bore you no end. There was little to no politics involved, just a great, great show.

First off, the venue was perfect. The Fillmore on Colfax and Clarkson in Denver. It's more like a huge nightclub than a concert hall. There are no seats on the main floor which means you can dance to the music. First up was Leo Kottke. Then Big Head Todd and the Monsters. Then Ken Salazar came on stage to introduce Don Henley. By now the place was packed and ready to party.

John Walker Lindh, referred to as "The American Taliban" has filed a request with the Pardon Office asking President Bush to commute and reduce his 20 year sentence. Lindh's lawyer argues that Lindh should be treated similarly to Yaser Hamdi who was released and deported last week, after spending three years in custody.

Lindh, a 23-year-old Northern California native, pleaded guilty in civilian court to supplying services to the now-defunct Taliban government and carrying explosives for them. He and Hamdi were both captured in late 2001. Brosnahan said he negotiated the 20-year sentence during a time when a "highest state of fear" was affecting U.S. juries and he thought it was the best deal he could get at the time. He could have gotten life in prison if convicted.

Both are American-born. Both were captured in Afghanistan and brought to the U.S. Hamdi was held in detention and never charged. Lindh was charged in civilian court.

What justifies their different treatment?

George Soros is a wealthy man. The 24th richest person in the U.S., he has spent $18 million of his own money so far to see that Bush is defeated in November. Why? Here's a portion of the speech he gave Tuesday at the National Press Club in Washington criticizing President Bush's policies on Iraq and the war on terror. (received via e-mail.)

President Bush inadvertently played right into the hands of bin Laden. The invasion of Afghanistan was justified: that was where bin Laden lived and al Qaeda had its training camps. The invasion of Iraq was not similarly justified. It was President Bush's unintended gift to bin Laden.

War and occupation create innocent victims. We count the body bags of American soldiers; there have been more than 1000 in Iraq. The rest of the world also looks at the Iraqis who get killed daily. There have been 20 times more. Some were trying to kill our soldiers; far too many were totally innocent, including many women and children. Every innocent death helps the terrorists' cause by stirring anger against America and bringing them potential recruits.

Mr. Soros is not stopping there. He is now embarking on a multi-city tour and investing in a website and ads designed to elicit debate on Iraq and the War on Terror in his continued effort to see that Bush is defeated in November. Joining him for the campaign kick-off is General Wesley Clark.