The group "Vilayat Dagestan" which is part of the Caucasus Emirate, has claimed credit for the recent bomb attacks in Volgograd, Russia, and threatens more for the Olympics.

"We've prepared a present for you and all tourists who'll come over," the video says. "If you will hold the Olympics, you'll get a present from us for the Muslim blood that's been spilled."

The two men in the video, identified as Suleiman and Abdurakhman, claimed to be the suicide bombers from the recent bombings and showed pictures of themselves with explosives strapped to their bodies.

Doku Umarov, the leader of the Caucasus Emirate, initially called for attacks on the Olympics, but later rescinded them.

Here is the Google-translated version of their statement that accompanied the video. [More...]

The New Yorker has an extensive interview with President Obama, on a variety of topics.

On marijuana:

“As has been well documented, I smoked pot as a kid, and I view it as a bad habit and a vice, not very different from the cigarettes that I smoked as a young person up through a big chunk of my adult life. I don’t think it is more dangerous than alcohol.”

Is it less dangerous? I asked. Less dangerous, he said, “in terms of its impact on the individual consumer. It’s not something I encourage, and I’ve told my daughters I think it’s a bad idea, a waste of time, not very healthy.”

On Colorado and Washington's legalization laws: He said it's important "they go forward." [More...]

In case you are wondering, I like the Pats (+5 1/2) (and on the moneyline (+200)) and the Niners (+3) (+110) today.

In soccer, Chelsea, Athletico Madrid and Barcelona are my choices.

Open Thread.

Via Marty Lederman, the government's opening brief (PDF) in Hobby Lobby and the plaintiff's opening brief (PDF) in Conestoga. The government is the petitioner in Hobby Lobby and the Conestoga plaintiffs are the petitioners in their case.

Bone up as we will be discussing these issues during the week.

This terrific piece by Bart Gellman explains how President Obama's speech was woefully lacking in what I think of as one of the most important issues regarding NSA spying:

[T]he NSA is gathering hundreds of millions of e-mail address books, breaking into private networks that link the overseas data centers of Google and Yahoo, and building a database of trillions of location records transmitted by cellphones around the world.

Those operations are sweeping in a large but unknown number of Americans, beginning with the tens of millions who travel and communicate overseas each year. For at least as many Americans, and likely more, the structure of global networks carries their purely domestic communications across foreign switches.

[MORE . . .]

Hello all. While I haven't written a post in a year, I did rant about Benghazi and Bridgeghazi this morning on Daily Kos Radio. You can listen at this link. I start around the 41-42 minute mark. I rant for about 45 minutes.

Open Thread.

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear two cases on warrantless cell phone searches. One is a state case, the other is federal:

The court will hear an appeal from David Riley, a San Diego man who was stopped by the police, initially for having expired registration tags. A subsequent search of his cellphone tied him to a gang shooting. The California Supreme Court by a 5-2 decision upheld the search of cellphones in a related case.

The court will also hear the Justice Department’s appeal of a ruling that rejected the search of a cellphone that was taken from an alleged drug dealer.

[More...]

President Obama today released his reforms to the NSA's bulk data collection program.

ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero said the changes are welcome, but don't go far enough:

The president should end – not mend – the government’s collection and retention of all law-abiding Americans’ data. When the government collects and stores every American’s phone call data, it is engaging in a textbook example of an ‘unreasonable search’ that violates the Constitution. The president’s own review panel recommended that bulk data collection be ended, and the president should accept that recommendation in its entirety.”

Here is Obama's Policy Directive . The fact sheet is here. [More}

Ohio's experiment with a new execution cocktail didn't go very well:

Dennis McGuire struggled, repeatedly gasping loudly for air and making snorting and choking sounds, before succumbing to a new two-drug execution method today.

The 24-minute execution process was a “failed, agonizing experiment by the state of Ohio,” said one of the killer’s attorneys, Allen Bohnert, a federal public defender. “The people of the state of Ohio should be appalled by what was done in their name.”

Shorter version: You wouldn't do a dog this way. More here. In 2007, Amnesty International released a report on botched U.S. executions.

This is not Ohio's first botched execution. [More...]

I'm working on a long post about the DEA and Sinaloa cartel, which I reported on at length in 2011 in a post called "The DEA and Mexican Drug Cartels: The "Snitch and Carry On" Tactic."

I'm not sure there's anything really new in the El Universal report, but I managed to write a 4,000 word draft about it anyway. I'm definitely going to edit it down before posting.

In the meantime, here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

The Golden Globes: Breaking Bad wins Best TV Drama, Bryan Cranston wins Best Actor. In a surprise win, Robin Wright wins Best Actress for House of Cards over Julianna Margolies for Good Wife. Jared Leto won Best Supporting Actor in a movie (Dallas Buyers' Club) and Jon Voight won best supporting for TV (Ray Donovan.)

[Added:] Diane Keaton was absolutely stunning. She just lit up the screen as she gave a tribute to Woody Allen, who received the Cecil B. DeMille lifetime achievement award.

A new season of Shameless begins tonight on Showtime. Also on : Downton Abbey and the Good Wife.

More news: AMC announced Better Call Saul will start in November.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

On January 17, President Obama will present a plan for the reform of NSA surveillance practices.

The Pentagon now says Edward Snowden downloaded 1.7 million files.

In related news, the State Department has issued a new FAQ on terrorism classifications.