On March 31, the quarter ends, and the Kerry campaign must report its fundraising totals to the FEC. Those numbers will be scrutinized by opponents and the press, and Kerry must have a strong finish to the First Quarter of 2004 to show he is a serious threat to Bush.

They must reach their goal of $200,000 in the door by midnight, March 31. Please chip in.

Update: TalkLeft readers have contributed $925 this quarter --can we make it $1,000?

Janet Jackson discusses her Super Bowl breast-baring incident with David Letterman tonight. She says it was an accident, and CBS told her not to go to the Grammy's. CBS used its censor power for Janet's Letterman appearance, and censored she got. Her offensive word? "Jesus."

She'll also appear Wednesday on "Good Morning America" on ABC, which has instituted a five second tape delay of her performance.

Bush's criticism of John Kerry for quoting the scriptures was "predictably shrill and ridiculous." So says Kevin at Lean Left , who has an eloquent post on this. A snippet:

As usual, when faced with a criticism, the Bush Administration runs from the substance and attempts to smear the critic. Anyone who says their favorite political philosopher is Jesus Christ had best be prepared to defend his actions in the light of Jesus' teachings.

And that, of course, is the real rub. For far too long, the right wing has gulled the media and the country into thinking that its religion was the only acceptable face of Christianity. It has used the respect for all religions on the left as evidence of the left's irreligiosity. That has never been the case. The teachings of Jesus Christ are at the core of how millions define their support for liberal causes, myself included. John Kerry, with one small statement, has reminded the nation of that fact. Millions of us are liberal because of our religion. Millions of us are not represented by Opus Dei, Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, James Dobson, or any of the other right wing talking heads the media turns to when it wants to "discuss" religion in this country. Antonin Scalia does not speak for all Catholics. And Kerry's statement is also a very Catholic statement.

by TChris

Since 1982, stockbroker Irvin Rosenfeld has had the federal government's permission to use marijuana to treat pain from a chronic bone condition. In 2001, Delta Airlines refused to allow Rosenfeld to board a flight from Florida to Washington, D.C. because he wanted to take his marijuana with him. Rosenfeld complained to the Department of Transportation that Delta was discriminating against him by failing to accommodate his disability.

In a victory for advocates of medical marijuana, the DOT agreed that Delta should have allowed Rosenfeld to board the plane. The DOT dismissed Rosenfeld's claim, however, ruling that Delta had reason to doubt Rosenfeld's entitlement to use the drug since so few people are allowed to possess marijuana. Rosenfeld plans to appeal the denial of a remedy.

Say hello to The White House Props Department--it's new and clever.

The House of Commons today endorsed a sweeping change for law enforcement in Great Britain by approving the creation of a new crime-fighting agency, similar to our F.B.I. It sounds just awful:

The creation of a new "British FBI" to combat organised crime, with informants being offered reduced sentences to snitch on their gangland bosses, was given unanimous support in the Commons today - despite a controversial raft of new powers. The home secretary, David Blunkett, told MPs he was in favour of allowing intercept material - bugged phone calls and emails - to be used as evidence, pending a review which would report back in June.

And he would also, for the first time, force professionals such as lawyers and solicitors to cooperate with police enquiries into organised crime, even if it meant betraying client confidentiality.

The new agency will be called SOCA, which stands for the Serious and Organised Crime Agency. Copying a page from the U.S., there will now be benefits for turning "Queen's Evidence."

by TChris

Is Richard Clarke credible? Not if you believe the Bush administration and its supporters.

In an extraordinary assault last week, they portrayed him as a disgruntled job seeker, a self-promoter looking to sell books, a hidden Democratic partisan (who somehow concealed his loyalties while working for presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush), and an unreliable witness whose past praise of President George W. Bush undermined his current criticism.

Here's a different view, from former intelligence professional Larry Johnson. He thinks Clarke is arrogant, but he believes Clarke is a dedicated professional who is justly criticizing both the Clinton and Bush administrations. Johnson happens to be a Republican who supported Bush in 2000.

[comments now closed]

According to a new AP article, Saddam is not only not talking to authorities, he is amused and having fun.

He doesn't have a lawyer in the room, but Saddam Hussein apparently is practicing what most attorneys would advise: Don't talk. Diplomatic and military officials say the former Iraqi leader has provided little useful information in interrogations so far - and may even be having fun....In a recent interview, Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said he occasionally sees the interrogation briefing reports. "He's a pretty wily guy, and he's not giving much information that I've seen. But he seems to be enjoying the debate," Armitage told WPHT-AM radio in Philadelphia.

There are signs the intelligence phase of Saddam's capture is coming to an end. The investigation is now a joint effort by the CIA and FBI:

The Supreme Court heard oral argument today in the case of Alabama death row inmate Larry David Nelson. Our most recent background on the lethal injection controversy is here and here. From the AP article:

Because of the condition of his veins - damaged by drug use - it may be impossible to insert an intravenous line without a type of surgery, Stevenson said. Justices peppered Stevenson and Alabama's lawyer with questions about how his death sentence would be carried out, with the possibility of prison staff cutting into his neck or thigh to get to a good vein. The court is deciding a technical question of whether last-minute appeals from death row inmates should be allowed in federal courts.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution recently published a series of articles on punishing juvenile offenders as adults. They are included in Throwing Away the Key , which begins with a description of the transition from juvenile facility to adult prison and its devastating consequences for the juveniles.

Check out this graph, which shows that of the more than 600 juveniles sentenced as adults under Georgia's Senate Bill 440 since 1994, nearly 83 percent were black, according to state records.

Here's the story of one more juvenile offender the system failed at first, but thanks to a caring deputy district attorney, was allowed to withdraw his plea and be sentenced as a juvenile. He stayed in juvenile detention until age 21. He recently completed his GED, with honors.