What do you make of this? President Bush will come to New York next week to make his speech Thursday night. But he won't be staying overnight.

But now it turns out that Mr. Bush may not spend a single night in the city that helped transform his presidency. At this point, the unofficial plan is for him to arrive in Manhattan sometime on Thursday, Sept. 2, the final day of the four-day convention, deliver his acceptance speech that night, then leave immediately for Pennsylvania. Campaign officials say that the schedule could still change, and that Mr. Bush may have a brief New York sleepover in the end. But either way, the incumbent president has no plans to visit ground zero, or to hang around in his room at the Waldorf-Astoria for days watching the party on television.

Not that he'll be missed, but still....if I were a Republican delegate, I'd be insulted.

Speaking of informants or "rats" as they are known in the trade, there's a very cool looking new website, Who's A Rat?, dedicated to outing them and the cops they work for:

Who's A Rat is a database driven website designed to assist attorneys and criminal defendants with few resources. The purpose of this website is for individuals and attorneys to post and share all exclusive information related to local, state and federal informants...

Here's a press release-- on the site.

[It] is the first site to allow users around the country to post local, state and federal agents' and informants' names, pictures and related information

Not suprisingly, law enforcement is not amused. The site, by Sean Bucci, made its debut last week. It takes paypal donations. While there, check out the "rat of the week" feature.

Update: At least one federal court has ruled a defendant has a right to maintain a website seeking information on rats in his case.

How often does this happen--over a cooperation deal, no less? Houston lawyer Michael Minns did a great job.

The law licenses of two former Internal Revenue Service lawyers have been suspended for two years after a federal court ruling last year that they defrauded the courts so that the I.R.S. could win 1,300 tax shelter cases. W. Kenneth McWade was suspended by the Oregon Supreme Court in an order dated Aug. 10 and released yesterday by the Oregon State Bar.

Four months ago Arkansas officials suspended the license of William A. Sims. The United States Tax Court has also suspended both lawyers for two years, and the I.R.S. director of practice has suspended them indefinitely.

Here's how it went down:

Bump and Update: Kidnapping hostage Micah Garen has been released, according to MSNBC (on tv.)

************
Original Post: Iraqi Militants Threaten to Kill U.S. Journalist
8/18/04

Iraqi militants are threatening to kill a U.S. journalist.

A group calling itself the Martyrs Brigades said they are holding the American journalist Micah Garen. The group threatened to kill the hostage after 48 hours if U.S. forces do not withdraw from Najaf," Al Jazeera said. Garen was kidnapped last week in the southern Iraqi city of Nassiriya. Garen works for New York-based media production company Four Corners Media.

The kidnapping may have been related to Garen's efforts to save cultural relics from being looted:

Reporters Without Borders said in a statement that Garen's disappearance "may have been a kidnapping for ransom, or that certain circles worried about looters of ancient relics may have been troubled by the journalist's work."

Garen's photographs and written accounts of the looting of Iraq's treasures have appeared in Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11," The New York Times and U.S. News and World Report. It was his determination to preserve history that kept Garen returning to Iraq and the Middle East for independent photography and writing assignments, said Marie-Helene Carleton, his fiancee and partner in Four Corners Media, the company he founded. "He has a passion for Sumerian archaeology," said Carleton, of the West Village. "That's why he spent a year of his life working to make sure it was safeguarded."

Reporters Without Borders has more, inlcuding a plea from the 36 year old's fiance for a safe return.

Holden at First Draft examines Bush nephew George P.'s statements made while campaigning for his uncle in Mexico and concludes he's just another clueless George. Check out George P's comments on Iraq:

The younger Bush, whose father is Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and mother, Columba, is originally from Mexico, acknowledged at a news conference that the war in Iraq is not popular in Mexico but defended the military action, saying "we're almost done with it."

What's on your mind? I'm finishing an article for the Denver Post on bloggers covering political conventions and preparing for some cable shows later today on Kobe Bryant and Scott Peterson. And I just put my house on the market and forgot how much time it takes to get it ready to be shown on a few hours notice. So, whatever topics strike your fancy, jump right in.

New Jersey Governor James McGreevey explains his decision to remain in office until November in an op-ed in today's New York Times.

First, there are immediate public policy considerations and actions, which need to be completed. Simply put, there are demands and projects which need to be addressed and put in place now.

....The second major reason is that our 1947 state constitution establishes the Senate president as the official who would succeed a governor in an unexpired term. I acknowledge that the constitution would permit a special election to occur if I were to resign at or about the first week of September. But the constitution does not outline provisions or state requirements for the timing of a resignation. While the constitution does provide the mechanism for an election, the decision of when to make that resignation effective is a personal one.

What did Alan Keyes hope to accomplish with his last-minute entry into the Illinois senate race? A new Chicago Tribune poll has him biting the dust--and bringing down local Republican candidates.

The nation's first Senate contest featuring two major party African-American candidates is beginning in lopsided fashion, with nearly two-thirds of voters indicating support for Democrat Barack Obama and less than one-quarter backing Keyes, according to a new Tribune/WGN-TV poll.

The poll suggests that Keyes' candidacy could hurt other Republicans in local and legislative races. Nearly three in ten voters said they were less likely to back GOP candidates because of the way party leaders went about settling on Keyes as their candidate, though 59 percent said it would make no difference. Although Keyes came late to the race, a sizable number of voters said they had heard of the former presidential candidate. However, more than twice as many said they viewed him with disfavor as said they viewed him favorably, the survey found.

It's enough to make you dizzy, but it has everything from where to find the best bathrooms to where the action is, courtesy of Theoria at Daily Kos.

Update: Skippy has some more tips for New York bound bloggers, inlcuding IndyMediaNyc, with almost one-stop shopping for protest news and activities.

Lots of bloggers are covering the Swift Boat liars. Atrios has been all over it. Skippy has a roundup of the other blog coverage. The latest news is the Chicago Tribune copy editor who comes out for Kerry's version. Not because he's for Kerry, but because he feels the liars are impugning the integrity of those who served. Feel free to share your thoughts on the controversy here.

Reading about Bush's plans for the convention in Sunday's New York Times, it was hard not to gag.

And after months in which Mr. Bush stressed issues of concern to conservative supporters - from restrictions on stem cell research to a constitutional amendment to bar gay marriage - the convention will offer its national television audience a decidedly more moderate face for the president and his party. If "strength" was the leitmotif of the Democratic convention in Boston, "compassion" will be the theme in New York, marking the return of a mainstay of Mr. Bush's 2000 campaign, party leaders said.

Bush and compassion. Go together like a horse and carriage, no?

How about his strategy for dealing with the protesters:

The first military tribunals are set to begin Tuesday for four Guantanamo detainees. Trials are still several months off, as Tuesday begins the pre-trial hearing phase. Since there has been a big problem with translators, the lawyers will need a lot more time with their clients before trials can begin.

Some of the defense lawyers have complained that problems with their translators, who have not been paid in a timely manner, hampered them in mounting their cases. Mr. Altenburg told reporters that the complaints had merit and he was moving quickly to address them. Commander Sundel said he expected to do little at the coming hearings beyond ask for more time to meet with his client. "We desperately need to speak with him," he said. "The hearing is Thursday and we were only given a new interpreter last week." The first translator was judged inadequate and dismissed in April.

Don't expect too much. It's hardly a real trial.

The rules, which in essence constitute a new body of law distinct from military and civilian law, allow, for example, witnesses to testify anonymously for the prosecution. Also, any information may be admitted into evidence if the presiding officer judges it to be "probative to a reasonable person," a new standard far more favorable to the prosecution than anything in civilian law.