According to Associated Press reporter Rukmini Callimachi in Mali, it appears al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) is very focused on accounting.

The convoy of cars bearing the black al Qaeda flag came at high speed, and the manager of the modest grocery store thought he was about to get robbed.

Mohamed Djitteye rushed to lock his till and cowered behind the counter. He was dumbfounded when instead, the al Qaeda commander gently opened the grocery’s glass door and asked for a pot of mustard. Then he asked for a receipt.

Confused and scared, Djitteye didn’t understand. So the jihadist repeated his request. Could he please have a receipt for the $1.60 purchase?

The AP found a treasure trove of documents, including receipts for things like a single light bulb and bar of soap. [More...]

President Obama signed the NDAA (National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014) in Hawaii today.

He also released this signing statement criticizing Congress for its restrictions on transferring Gitmo detainees to the U.S. and preventing federal trials.

Obama needs to step up the pressure on closing Gitmo. One of his first acts in office in 2009 was to issue an executive order promising the closure of Gitmo in a year. It will not be good for his legacy if Gitmo is still up and running when he leaves office 8 years later. Then again, he also released a similar statement last year, so who knows what his intentions are. [More...]

The City and County of Denver has a new website on marijuana. Not surprisingly, it concentrates on what is not legal. The six things it wants you to know:

• It is illegal to consume marijuana in public.
• It is illegal to take marijuana out of state.
• Only licensed establishments can sell retail marijuana products.
• It is illegal for retail establishments to give or sell marijuana to minors.
• You must be over 21 to possess or use "retail marijuana.
• It is illegal to "drive high".

Some other things Denver would like you to know [More...]:

Merry Christmas Eve to all. Who's cooking tonight? Please share the menus.

Christmas Music? Some Darlene Love.

Here's Bruce (here too.) And of course, Bon Jovi.

You can track Santa here (He's in Europe right now.)

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

Happy Holidays to all.

Update: Deadline extended until Friday for Colorado, no excuses needed, and on the national exchange until Thursday for those who had trouble logging on today (Official notice here.).

Midnight is the deadline to sign up for a health insurance plan under the Affordable Care Act for coverage beginning Jan. 1.

I spent a good part of the day checking out the plans and talking to a very helpful Colorado Health Exchange adviser. (Yes, I was on hold for 40 minutes, I was 86th in line, but it was worth it. He spent 40 minutes with me reviewing the best plans for the benefits I wanted.)

There are some great deals available on the Exchange and a ton of plan options. The website for Colorado is fast and easy to navigate. You can also access the details of each plan's coverage so you aren't buying a pig in a poke.[More....]

Christmas comes early to Colorado....The Denver Post reports the state made history yesterday when it became the first state to issue businesses licenses to sell marijuana for recreational use. So far, 136 licenses were issued. The licensed stores can begin selling pot to adults on January 1.

In addition to the retail licenses, the Post reports Colorado issued licenses for "178 marijuana-cultivation facilities" and "31 marijuana-infused products makers."

Here's a map of the stores that received licenses. Here's an article about one Colorado pot bakery whose business is already booming.

Meanwhile, tickets for pot consumption are up sharply from 2012. The new laws do not allow people to smoke pot in public.

Merry Christmas from the NSA ACLU

They're making a list
They're checking it twice
They're watching almost every electronic device
The NSA is coming to town

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

The Obamacare deadline has been extended to Christmas Eve.

The jailed Pussy Riot members are free. One expressed her criticism of Putin, calling the amnesty a publicity stunt.

Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 24, shouted "Russia without Putin" following her release from a Siberian prison, hours after band mate Maria Alyokhina, 25, was freed from jail in the Volga River city of Nizhny Novgorod.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

R.I.P. Ken Gordon, former long-time State legislator, Senate majority and minority leader, adjunct law professor and public defender. He really was one of the good guys.

Ken, age 63, was on his way to work out Sunday but drove to the emergency room instead. He collapsed outside his car, and was pronounced dead a few hours later, apparently of a massive heart attack.
His son Ben says:

...[I]t was completely unexpected; his father was extremely fit, ate a healthy diet and worked out daily. "I thought he was going to outlive us all....He was the most fit person I knew. He was so strong."

More on Ken's life and legacy here and here.

While I didn't have any contact with Ken in recent years, I remember him well from his time as a public defender and in private practice, and his early years as a legislator. He was dedicated, caring and principled -- always fighting the good fight. You can read his bio in his own words here. [More...]

There is a fascinating report in today's Washington Post about the U.S. providing Colombia with smart bombs to kill FARC members. The program, which of course includes major NSA surveillance and the CIA and JSOC, began under George W. Bush and has continued under Obama. It is funded by a "multi-billion dollar black budget." ($52 billion to be exact, here's a related report on the numbers.)

The covert program in Colombia provides two essential services to the nation’s battle against the FARC and a smaller insurgent group, the National Liberation Army (ELN): Real-time intelligence that allows Colombian forces to hunt down individual FARC leaders and, beginning in 2006, one particularly effective tool with which to kill them.

That weapon is a $30,000 GPS guidance kit that transforms a less-than-accurate 500-pound gravity bomb into a highly accurate smart bomb. Smart bombs, also called precision-guided munitions or PGMs, are capable of killing an individual in triple-canopy jungle if his exact location can be determined and geo-coordinates are programmed into the bomb’s small computer brain.

It all began as part of the War on Drugs. Similar programs exist in other countries where "violent drug cartels have caused instability." Examples: Mexico and West Africa.

The Office of Legal Counsel signed off on the targeted assassinations/killings. [More...]

The Obama Administration has released new documents to justify its increased NSA warrantless surveillance.

The DNI announcement is here. The released documents are available here.

Arapahoe high school student Claire Davis has died of her shooting injuries. Her family released this statement:

"It is with heavy hearts that we share that a 4:29 p.m. this afternoon, Claire Davis passed away, with her family at her side. Despite the best efforts of our physicians and nursing staff, and Claire's fighting spirit, her injuries were too severe and the most advanced medical treatments could not prevent this tragic loss of life. Claire's death is immensely heartbreaking for our entire community, our staff and our families.

[More...]