When Mark O'Mara was interviewed by Fox 35 in Orlando the other day about his motion to continue George Zimmerman's trial, he said (3 min. 30 sec mark) the defense fund was down to $5,000. and he might have to ask that the Court declare George indigent so that the state would pick up some expenses. In the 24 hours after the interview, Zimmerman's attorneys say 160 people have donated $5,200.00. They would like the contributions to keep coming. [More...]

George Zimmerman's attorneys have filed a motion to delay George Zimmerman's trial until November. The motion to continue is here.There is quite a bit of new information in it.

I think the biggest revelation is about Trayvon Martin’s cell phone and mysteriously missing data. Even if you have no interest in the George Zimmerman case, you should read this to see the extent to which information stored in your phone is capable of being retrieved and provided to law enforcement (or anyone else who gets their hands on your phone and wants to know what’s on it.) It's a new dawn in the age of the Tele-Rat. [More....]

I'm just catching up with the day's news and I haven't even started to read my e-mail. Until I get caught up, here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

Update: I just read that Geraldo Rivera may run for the Senate in New Jersey -- as a Republican. New Jersey hasn't elected a Republican senator since the 1970's.

How popular is Hillary Clinton? Public Policy Polling says she could win Texas.

An unnamed government agency has been secretly monitoring court proceedings in the pre-trial hearings of the 9/11 defendants at Guantanamo and pushing the censor button. The judge today ordered it to stop.

Army Col James Pohl ordered an unnamed government agency to remove censorship equipment, as a second round of pretrial hearings finished on Thursday....The judge said in his ruling that he had sole authority to decide when to close a hearing or stop spectators - including journalists and relatives of the victims - from listening to testimony.

From the transcript [Unofficial/Unauthenticated Transcript of the KSM et al. (2) Hearing Dated 1/31/2013 from 9:01 AM to 9:22 AM, accessible here.) [More...]

The Senate is holding a hearing on guns today. Here's a recap from The Atlantic.

Here's who is speaking and their positions.

David Koppel of Colorado is one of the speakers. He is the Research Director for the Independence Institute in Golden, Colorado, an Associate Policy Analyst for the Cato Institute, and an Adjunct Professor of Advanced Constitutional Law at the Univ. of Denver Law School. I recommend his prepared testimony, available here. (All of the prepared statements are accessible here.

Morning! Bad GDP number for the 4th quarter. Reason? Drastic drop in government spending. But, but, but Fix the Debt! Idiots.

My own budget policies now include a sizable investment on the 49ers (-4) over the Ravens. Geithner Lew should take a look at that. (I kid.)

Open Thread.

The Colorado Sheriff's Association, which represents Colorado's 62 elected County Sheriffs, has come out swinging against President Obama's executive orders on gun control. The Sheriffs also oppose assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazine bans. Their position paper is here.

The Sheriff's say (and I agree) the tragedies of Sandy Hook and Aurora, Colorado should not be used as a "backdrop" for gun control laws.

CSOC will not waver on our defense of the Constitution, and will stand to preserve every constituent's right to possess a firearm. We believe the Second Amendment is no less important than the other nine Amendments contained in the Bill of Rights.[More...]

Via Wired, Congressmen Darryl Issa and Elijah Cummings have written this letter to the Department of Justice asking for information on the Aaron Swartz prosecution.

Among other things, the letter inquires as to whether the prosecution's decisions were influenced by Aaron's opposition to SOPA or his association with other advocacy groups. It also asks if the investigation uncovered other hacking attempts by Aaron. Why not ask if it was influenced by the FBI's prior investigation into his downloading of PACER documents. In 2009, Aaron posted the FBI documents on the investigation, which he received via an FOIA request.

I'd have more confidence if someone other than Issa was leading this inquiry. But at least someone is asking.

Speaking in Las Vegas today, President Obama outlined his new immigration plan, including a path to citizenship for most of the 11 million undocumented residents currently present in the U.S.

The White House has issued this fact sheet on the plan.

Immigrants living here illegally must be held responsible for their actions by passing national security and criminal background checks, paying taxes and a penalty, going to the back of the line, and learning English before they can earn their citizenship. There will be no uncertainty about their ability to become U.S. citizens if they meet these eligibility criteria. The proposal will also stop punishing innocent young people brought to the country through no fault of their own by their parents and give them a chance to earn their citizenship more quickly if they serve in the military or pursue higher education. [More...]

It's official. The Senate voted today 94 to 3 to confirm John Kerry as Secretary of State.

When British matron Lindsay Sandiford was sentenced to death in Bali last week, I said my sympathies weren't all with her because it appeared after she got busted, she worked with police to set up four innocent people up to take the fall as her suppliers in the syndicate, by claiming they orchestrated her smuggle. She knew if charged, they be facing the same penalty: death. And she did it anyway. Luckily for the others, the cops seem to have figured out she wasn't telling the truth.

The reasons I doubted her story are here.

Three of the four were sentenced before her to relatively light terms -- 5 years, 4 years and 1 year -- all for possession of minor amounts of drugs they had in their homes at the time of arrest. They were cleared of being involved in Lindsay's smuggling deal. [More...]

Mondays always seem to be busy around here. Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.