U.S. and Great Britain officials say the British subjects being held at Guantanamo Bay will be sent home--by Christmas. Some will be released with no charges being filed, some may be charged, plead guilty here and then serve their sentences in Britain.

The agreement will end one of the most damaging conflicts between the White House and Downing Street, which has been pressing for fair trials for the Britons who have been held under military command at the US base in Cuba for two years.

Australia has announced a similar deal with its detained subjects.

British human rights lawyer Clive Stafford Smith, who is working with the suspects, said:

'The Americans just want these people to plead guilty so that it looks as if they have been telling the truth that these are all "bad dudes... 'We know that is nonsense. There is no evidence of any kind against them. In one man's case all he was doing was running a school.'

Legal eagle Sam Heldman, still on hiatus from Ignatz, writes in about a new Patriot Act boardgame:

"The Patriot Act Game", a Monopoly-like board game based on education about, and opposition to, the "Patriot Act" -- is available here. I just finished playing it at a friend's house, and it's kind of fun as well as informative. It seems to be pretty soundly researched, based on actual analysis of the Act and, more generally, some history of civil liberties issues.

Here's a sense of how it goes: the currency is "freedom fries," the "homeland security threat level" rises during the course of the game, the players whose game tokens are black or brown or yellow get screwed in comparison to those who have the red, white, or blue tokens -- stuff like that. Even if it doesn't make it into the board game hall of fame, it could be a good gift for the civil libertarians on your holiday gift list.

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Atrios expands on Matt Yglesias' review of incompetence within the Bush Administration concerning the War with Iraq. Atrios focuses on the failure of the Administration to make a legitimate case for war.

Matt uses the Administration's lame plan for Post-war Iraq as a starting point. He finishes here with this thought:

Being dishonest, immoral, and detached from reality isn't part of the essence of being a conservative or generally hawkish, but it is part of the essence of Bushism, and it clearly taints everything the president associates himself with.

Three teens remain in captivity at Guantanamo. Their release was recommended this past August, but they are still there. Two arrived in January, 2002 and one later.

Human rights advocates say the U.S. military should long ago have released the boys, between the ages of 13 and 15, but detention mission commander Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller said this week their freedom is being held up at higher levels.

Soldiers guard them day and night, never shutting their bedroom doors and monitoring them on wide-angle mirrors on the walls. The bathroom remains open, a small curtain covering part of the doorway for privacy.

....The teenagers are generally respectful, and are considering becoming a religious cleric and a doctor, Sgt. P said. The guard, a middle school teacher in civilian life, said he has never seen the boys cry.

....The teenagers have a refrigerator stocked with apples, oranges, pears and dates. Those who cooperate get snacks and extra movie time. Those who don't are sent to their rooms for "time out."

None have lawyers. No charges have been filed against them. But "they are still interrogated from time to time, officials said."

"We're concerned that a prolonged separation from their families may cause a deterioration in their mental health," said Jo Becker, of the New York-based group Human Rights Watch...."We were told six months ago that the U.S. government was aware that the detention of children was problematic," said Alistair Hodgett of Amnesty International. "Nothing has happened in their case."

"They are no longer a threat to U.S. interests," said Army Lt. Col. Pamela Hart, a spokeswoman.

Yet, they aren't the only teens at Guantanamo. Others are being housed with adult inmates. This is abominable. There should be total physical, sight and sound separation of juveniles from adult inmates. Studies show children confined or mixed with adults are five times more likely to be sexually assaulted, twice as likely to be beaten by staff, and twice as likely to be attacked with a weapon than when they are confined in a more appropriate, juvenile facility. In 1994 alone, 45 children reportedly died while in confinement in state adult prisons or detention facilities -- including 12 murders and 16 suicides.

Moreover, children who survive being mixed with an adult population are more likely to re-emerge much more hardened and dangerous. And most of these children will, at some point, be coming out of incarceration to be placed back into society. Without serious rehabilitation efforts, which are bound not to occur in a mixed facility, they will pose an even greater threat to society. Recidivism rates are much higher for children transferred to an adult system than they are for those retained in the juvenile justice system.

The Washington Post has the story of Benamar Benatta:

Jailed the night of the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, the Algerian air force lieutenant with an expired visa has spent the past 26 months in federal prisons, much of that time in solitary confinement -- even though the FBI formally concluded in November 2001 that he had no connection to terrorism.

Benatta has yet to have his deportation hearing, and he has been unable to post a $25,000.00 bond.

Benatta was among the 1,200 or so men detained by U.S. law enforcement agents in the frenzied weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. He had a most unfortunate résumé: He was an Algerian and a Muslim and an avionics technician, and -- like most of the others -- he lacked proper immigration papers.

It was as though Benatta became invisible. His name never appeared on lists of detainees. His family in Algeria believed he had vanished. No defense attorney knew of his existence until a federal defender in Buffalo was assigned his case in late April 2002.

The federal government has few explanations for what happened.....

According to the Defense Department, more U.S. troops died in Iraq in November than any month to date since the war began:

With November nearly over, the official death count yesterday stood at 79, surpassing March (65) and April (73), when the invasion was underway and fighting was most intense and widespread.

Here are the totals:

In all, 437 troops have died in Iraq since the war began, 2,094 have been listed as wounded in action and 2,464 have suffered noncombat-related injuries, ranging from accidental gunshots to broken bones and injuries in vehicle accidents. Since May 1, when President Bush declared the end of major combat operations in Iraq, 298 troops have died.

What was this woman thinking when she turned down a minimum four year plea deal on charges that she participated in the kidnapping and attempted castration of her ex-boyfriend? She was convicted Wednesday and now must get a minimum sentence of 18 years. The facts are horrendous:

Melissa French, 27, was convicted Wednesday and faces at least 18 years in prison -- more than any of the attackers, all of whom accepted plea deals with prosecutors.

The men attacked Donald Hamilton at his Santa Fe home in June 2002. A Russian assault rifle was placed in Hamilton's mouth and later fired between his legs, and the word "narc" was carved into his forehead with a pocketknife. He suffered separated shoulders, stab wounds and broken bones.

French was acquitted of kidnapping Hamilton, but convicted of kidnapping his roommate, who was held down during the attack.

Her lawyer said he is shocked by the jury's verdict:

He said French's 3-year-old daughter, who suffers from cancer, will be dead and her 10-year-old son will be grown by the time French is released.

Then why didn't she take the deal? Especially with the others, including her ex-husband, testifying against her that they were doing her bidding?

Transgenderites are organizing themselves into activists determined to protect their civil rights. They gathered yesterday in Washington for their annual "remembering our dead" ceremony, to commemorate transgender violence victims.

This emerging movement is a marked departure for a little-understood group that has long hovered in the shadows, largely ignored until a few years ago by even the gay rights campaigns.

For the first time, transgender people have a clear agenda: They are no longer going to deny who they are, they said. And they will not be denied their basic civil rights.

There is now a national organization, the National Center for Transgender Equality, headquartered in Washington to assist them.

"Transgender" is an umbrella term to describe people who do not conform to traditional notions of gender identity, appearance and expression. Within the group are heterosexual cross-dressers, men who identify as women, women who believe they really should have been born men. Some simply appear as the other gender; others may take hormones to obtain some of the desired characteristics; still others have surgery.

The organization will be lobbying for "health and social programs and legal protections against discrimination in employment and housing." If you'd like to learn more about transgender issues, visit here. For a list of transgender advocacy groups, go here.

Kinky Friedman is interviewed in Guess Who Wants to Be Governor--he's thinking about a 2006 challenge to Texas Governor Rick Perry.

His campaign slogan? "Why the Hell Not?"

Kinky says it's a no-lose proposition. ""I'll either come out of it with a book, a wife or be governor."

Politically and friendship-wise, he sounds a little too close to the Bushes (GW and Laura) for our taste, so from here on out you'll probably have to read about him elsewhere.

Rumors are re-surfacing that Ret. General Wesley Clark played a direct or indirect role in the Waco disaster because his army division supplied some military equipment to the siege effort and his deputy attended a high-level meeting five days prior to the fiery end. Response has been swift that the allegations of his playing a role are not true:

Federal law restricts the role of the military in civilian law enforcement operations and "we weren't involved in the planning or execution of the Waco operation in any way, shape, form or fashion," says retired Army Lt. Gen. Horace Grady "Pete" Taylor, who ran the Fort Hood military base 60 miles from the site of the Waco siege. Waco "was a civilian operation that the military provided some support to" and "any decisions about where the support came from were my decisions, not General Clark's," Taylor said this week.

"Clark's totally innocent in this regardless of what anybody thinks about him," says Taylor, Clark's former commander. "He played no direct role in this activity nor did any of us." Regarding Taylor's comments, Clark campaign spokeswoman Mary Jacoby said "this is exactly what we've said all along; Gen. Clark had no involvement."

Between August 1992 and April 1994, Clark was commander of the 1st Cavalry Division of the Army's III Corps at Fort Hood, Texas. We don't think Clark played a direct role. We say this even though, contrary to the Justice Department's conclusions from its official investigation headed by John Danforth (R-Mo), we don't believe the evidence shows the Branch Davidians started the fire, and we do think it shows the government shot weapons, used pyrotechnics and bad judgment and was otherwise at fault.

We agree with filmmaker Michael McNulty who says there are many unanswered questions about the deaths at Waco. We were fortunate to have worked with him some around that time (1997), and we've seen his award-winning movie, "Waco: The Rules of Engagement." It was very persuasive to us. The film earned an Emmy award for investigative journalism and an Academy Award nomination for best documentary.

In "Waco: A New Revelation", a 1999 film about Waco, McNulty presented evidence that federal agents used an explosive device to blast a huge hole in the roof of a bunker occupied by women and children. McNulty also alleged that on the final day of the siege, government agents fired bullets at the back of Mount Carmel as it burned, making it impossible for the residents to escape. As a result of McNulty finding a spent incendiary device in the Waco evidence room, the FBI and Justice eventually recanted their long-standing claim that only nonincendiary tear gas was used.

Regulation is on its way to Oakland through zoning laws:

Only in "Oaksterdam." Here, cafes sell marijuana for medicinal use with the studied casualness of a Starbucks offering double-shot, soy milk, no-foam lattes. The model, as the nickname indicates, is free-wheeling Amsterdam, where cafe patrons openly enjoy joints with their espressos or beers. But there is one big difference: Oakland doesn't have Amsterdam's clear-cut laws, which make such sales unquestionably legal.

...The City Council president has raised concerns over the clubs' proliferation and the lack of city enforcement powers over them. The council is considering new zoning or requiring permits for the cafes, which currently need only a general business license to open.

New crime statistics undercut support for the rash of Meagan's Laws enacted by states in recent years. The laws force sex offenders to register with the state and then provides their names and addresses to the public.

A recent Justice Department report suggests that state sex-offender laws may need revisiting. The study finds former sex offenders are much less likely to be rearrested than other former criminals after their release from prison.

The Justice report raises the question of whether these laws were overreactions to a few high-profile events, rather than reasoned legislation. At the least, the laws isolate and stigmatize those who have served time for a sex crime - a sort of excess punishment that may unfairly assume all sex offenders will tend toward the same behavior for life.