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.)

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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.

When it comes to the electoral vote, Colorado, like other states except Maine and Nebraska, has a winner-take-all policy. But a proposal to change that is on the ballot this fall. If it passes, it would affect the distribution of Colorado's electoral votes in the November election.

Election officials have announced that the November ballot will include a proposal to replace the state's winner-take-all system with one to divvy up its nine electoral votes in proportion to a candidate's popular vote. The plan would practically guarantee both President Bush and Democratic nominee John F. Kerry at least some of the state's electoral college votes.

If such a system had been in place during the 2000 election, Al Gore, who lost Colorado with 42 percent of the popular vote, would have received three of the eight electoral votes it then had. That would have given the former vice president -- who lost the electoral college, 271 to 266 -- one more electoral vote than Bush, 269 to 268.

Since George Bush is favored to win Colorado, it makes sense to vote for the change, so Kerry at least gets some votes. I think it's a fairer system. If Bush takes all the Colorado votes, it's like my vote didn't count. Under the new plan, my vote will morph into permanent Kerry electoral votes and increase his national total. It's a big difference.

Update: Dwight Meredith of Wampum thoughtfully analyzes the measure-- whether it would really apply this year, whether it would benefit Kerry and the effect on the election if other states had it.

If you were thinking about transporting contraband into the U.S. through Canada, you better think again. The borders are about to become increasingly populated with government agents:

....federal officials on Friday opened the first of five planned bases for regular flights to look for drug runners and others crossing illegally by air or land. The base of operations, called the Bellingham Air Marine Branch, is to have a staff of nearly 70, two helicopters, an airplane and a high-speed boat by year's end. Similar bases have policed the Mexican border for three decades, but the facility here is the first on the Canadian border.

Five new bases, which will dot the border from Washington to upstate New York, are a response to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks as well as smuggling of illegal immigrants and drugs, including British Columbia's potent strains of marijuana.

A response to terrorism? Bush and Ashcroft will do anything to avoid going after the real terrorists. That's why they are going to convince you that terrorists and drugs go hand in hand like milk and cookies. They want to fill you with dread of "narco-terrorists" who smuggle "narco-dollars" out of the country with which they will build biological and radioactive missiles and bombs and then launch unspeakable attacks on our cities and power plants and schools.

They are planning on creating new criminal laws punishing drug offenses as terrorist crimes. They think if they make you very afraid you will forget they haven't found Osama or cracked al-Qaeda.