There is now a blog about blogging the Republican Convention at The Tank. Apparently, this is about a $10,000.00 project. One of the sponsors just backed out and secondary sponsors are needed.

We had our funding source pull out unexpectedly about two weeks ago, and have been scrambling since then to come up with the $10,000 necessary to make all this happen. The Tank is letting us rent the space at-cost for the entire week for only $4,000, plus we need to print up signs, flyers, etc. starting next week. We're looking for sponsors who can underwrite part or all of the cost.

Organizations can sponsor one or two of the events (the Progressive Tourism Bureau, Blogger Alley, or the evening social events), or help with as little as $1,000. We'll give sponsors placement on the flyers, signs, etc. and they can put informational materials on tables at the event, though if we can cover the costs without doing that it'd be even better. If you have ideas for who might be interested, comment or email alpert@gmail.com.

Here's what will be happening at The Tank during RNC week, and it's much more than just a blogger alley. And read Zoe on what blogs will bring to the coverage-- using one of her own experiences with media coverage of an Iraq war protest in New York last year as an example.

Say hello to the Campaign Tracking Dashboard.

We use our text analysis technology to analyze Bush and Kerry press releases, speeches and official blogs on a daily basis. Our analysis depicts the most influential words over the last week, Image Nets which show how Bush and Kerry are portayed on their own and their competitor's sites, the Mud Meter, and measures (and trends) of tone, focus, and intensity.

The grandmother of Amber Frey's toddler said Amber lied in her court testimony--about the child's father not being interested in being with the child and about whether she ever left the child alone with Scott Peterson. Fodder for cross-examination? Grounds for widening the allowed scope of Geragos's cross-examination of Amber? Or is it too tangential to the issues?

Here's some stuff we think won't come into evidence:

Frey, 29, posed nude a few years ago, had a second baby out of wedlock 14 weeks ago.

The transcripts of Amber's and Scott's phone conversations are available here.

Update: What's in store for next week? From On the Record (guest host Claudia Cowan, Defense Attorney Mickey Sherman):

Dick Cheney, power broker or handmaiden?

In such moments, we sense in full relief the pathetic handmaid's role that
Dick Cheney has played his entire adult life. He is, if not an errand boy
sent by grocery clerks, a bag man all the same, covered in flop-sweat; our
disgust quickly turns to contempt. We hate him not because he's too
powerful, but quite the opposite."

The dumbest White House Press Release ever

Remarks by the President Mrs. Reagan and Mrs. Bush in a Photo Opportunity, The Reagan Home,Bel Air, California

2:37 P.M. PDT

THE PRESIDENT: Laura and I are honored to come by and pay our respects to Mrs. Reagan. We really admire Mrs. Reagan's strength and her love of a great President, and her friendship. We really thank you for the tour of your beautiful backyard. (Laughter.)

MRS. REAGAN: I'm so glad you came -- so glad you came. Thanks so much.

PRESIDENT BUSH: Thank you.

MRS. BUSH: Thanks so much.

MRS. REAGAN: I'm always happy to see you.

MRS. BUSH: Thank you very much.

MRS. REAGAN: And you met Duchess.

THE PRESIDENT: And I met Duchess.

MRS. REAGAN: You met Duchess.

MRS. BUSH: That's right.

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all.

MRS. BUSH: Thanks, everybody.

END 2:38 P.M. PDT

Wasn't that informative?

The New York Times reports on the toll the Kobe Bryant case is taking on Judge Terry Ruckriegle.

...its burdens have taken a toll on the judge, say acquaintances and lawyers who have worked in his courtroom over the years. Usually by this point in the summer, they say, the 56-year-old judge - an avid biker, hiker, camper and hunter in the mountains around his home in Breckenridge - would be at his lean and tan fittest. This summer, they say, he has been a shadow, often seen working at his office late at night and on weekends, or commuting to the courthouse in Eagle, 90 minutes away, where the Bryant case has unfolded.

"I haven't seen him on his bicycle once all summer, and he is as pale as I've ever seen him," said Dave Drawbert, a friend and local lawyer in Breckenridge. "I told him this case wouldn't be good for his health or his family, but his sense of duty prevailed."

But what a difference a day makes.

Attorneys for so-called "American Taliban" John Walker Lindh, who received a 20 year sentence, are requesting a review of his sentence, based upon recent disclosures that the U.S. is negotiating with, and considering releasing, so-called "enemy combatant" Yaser Hamdi. Both Lindh and Hamdi are U.S. citizens:

A lawyer for Mr. Lindh, James J. Brosnahan, said in an interview that a decision to release Mr. Hamdi should prompt discussions in the Justice Department over whether Mr. Lindh deserved similar treatment. "We're not today saying exactly what we're going to do,'' Mr. Brosnahan said, "but this is a situation in which there's an enormous disparity, and basic fairness would conclude that the department ought to take a look at this."

He said Mr. Lindh had received especially harsh treatment because of the timing of his capture, which occurred within three months of the Sept. 11 attacks. "It was sort of a ferocious reaction to him, which in human terms is understandable but in terms of fairness is not understandable," the lawyer said.

John Walker Lindh was a trophy to the Justice Department. No way should he have received 20 years. At the time, with conservatives positing he should be charged with treason and receive the death penalty or at least a life sentence, his lawyers made the best deal they could.

But Lindh's lawyers are right: His sentence should be revisited. It was imposed at a time when emotional reaction to 9/11 were at a peak. Cooler heads should prevail now, and determine a sentence that reflects Lindh's actual criminal conduct, his ability to be rehabilitated, and the need to deter others. 20 years is excessive.

Thanks to Skippy and Richard Cranium of the All Spin Zone for supporting and asking their readers to contribute a few dollars towards our trip to NY to blog live during the RNC. Especially Skippy, because he hates it when bloggers seek donations. Today he writes:

good luck and god speed to our buddy talkleft, who has bought a plane ticket to go blog the repubbb national convention! we fear for her safety. not only will she be a liberal in the midst of thousands of gopers, she's also a defense lawyer! take some mace, talkleft! or at least some garlic and a copy of al franken's book! (just kidding! she will be not actually at the convention, but at a nearby performance space with live tv coverage. though if that's the case, we wonder why she can't just stay home, tune into c-span, and pretend to be there, saving the money. who would know?)

readers of this space know how we feel about bloggers and paypal. but we wouldn't kick your dog if you sent talkleft a little scratch to defray the costs of a ny vacation.

My response, which I posted in the comments to his blog:

The trial judge in the Kobe Bryant case denied the prosecution's request for a trial delay today. Jury selection is set to begin August 27. He also denied a defense request to admit evidence of the accuser's alleged suicide attempts and alcohol, drug and medication usage--or her mental health issues.

The timing is curious. The prosecution requests a trial delay based in part on the fact that the Judge hadn't ruled on the defense request to admit the mental health and medication evidence, saying it needed more time to prepare for trial if this evidence was going to come in. The Judge was able to refute the prosecution's need for a delay by ruling the evidence couldn't come in.

The prosecution's request was a bogus one. It didn't need more time to prepare its case if this evidence came in. It would have come in through defense witnesses after the prosecution rested. The prosecution is well aware of the defense witnesses on the topic and should have been prepared to cross-examine them at trial. Or to have its own experts ready in rebuttal.

Also, the prosecution made a lame argument that releasing the one-sided transripts of the accuser's alleged post-Kobe but pre-rape exam sexual activity prejudiced its case. What the district attorney avoids mentioning is that at that hearing, it had the opportunity to cross-examine the defense expert on the issue--and chose not to--despite having two of its own experts present in the courtroom (pdf). So the reason the transcript was one-sided is because that is the strategic choice made by the prosecution.

Bump and Update: Frequent TalkLeft commenter Roger is blogging live from Orlando in the comments with a first-hand account of the hurricane. He promises to keep it up as long as he has power and internet access. He says power is intermittent right now.

***********************

The Weather Channel and the National Weather Service are the place to be today as Hurricane Charlie hits Florida hard.

Robert X. Cringely writes a very powerful article about an important study that shows the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, which dramatically increased federal prison sentences, don't deter crime. Before the guidelines were enacted, the Government commissioned a study. DOJ didn't like the results. They didn't pay the authors, who later lost their business. One of the study's authors later committed suicide. The other became a law professor and original member of the U.S. Sentencing Commission.

Why should we care?

...we should care because I'm told the Block and Nold study, which was intended to economically validate the proposed sentencing guidelines, instead showed that the new guidelines would actually create more crime than they would deter. More crime, more drug use, more robbery, more murder would be the result, not less. Not only that, but these guidelines would lead to entire segments of the population entering a downward economic spiral, taking away their American dream.

There is no mention anywhere of this study, which was completely buried by the DoJ under then-secretary Edwin Meese. The proposed sentencing guidelines were accepted unaltered and the world we have today is the result. We spend tens of billions per year on prisons to house people who don't contribute in any way to our economy. We tear apart the black and latino communities. The cost to society is immense, and as Block and Nold showed, unnecessary. AND THE FEDS KNEW THIS AT THE TIME.

There's lots more, go read the whole thing.

If the drug war is of interest to you, do not miss "Bush's Born-Again Drug War" over at Alternet today. It's written by Paul Armentano, the senior policy analyst for The NORML Foundation in Washington, DC..

Listen to George Walker Bush speak about substance abuse and it's apparent that one is listening to a preacher, not a president. "There are faith-based organizations in drug treatment that work so well because they convince a
person to turn their life over to Christ," Bush divulged to the religious journal Christianity Today. "By doing so, they change a person's heart [and] a person with a changed heart is less likely to be addicted to drugs and alcohol."

Despite US Constitutional restrictions requiring a separation of church and
state, Bush's ardent Judeo-Christian faith ­ the President is a practicing Methodist who "accepted Jesus Christ into [his] life" in 1986 ­ remains the staple of his administration's anti-drug platform.

Bush, the Proselytzer. Even Nixon and Reagan kept their wars on drugs secular. Who's paying for Bush's faith-based programs? You, the taxpayer. And, the article informs us, faith-based drug programs are not particularly effective: