I'll be on Daily Kos radio with Jesse LaGreca this morning at 11 Eastern.

Listen here.

See this:

Open Thread.

What a nightmare. In 1996, Kristin Bunch was 21, pregnant and living in a mobile home with her three year old. A sudden fire engulfed the trailer, killing her three year old. The police said it was arson and claimed she went into her son's bedroom, doused it with a liquid accelerant like kerosene or diesel fuel and set it on fire. She was charged and convicted of felony murder and arson and sentenced to 60 years in prison. Arson investigators testified at her trial that burn patterns indicated the fire was arson.

After 16 years in prison, she was released on bond today pending a retrial, and went home with her jubilant mother and now 16 year old son (whom she gave birth to in prison.) In March, the Indiana Court of Appeals set aside her conviction, finding it was based on invalid, outdated science and the prosecutor had withheld critical evidence at her trial. (Great work by Kristin's post-conviction team, including the Center on Wrongful Convictions.)[More..}

An egg with two yolks. Twin yolks, no less. They are reported to occur in 1 of 1,000 eggs, so they aren't that rare, but today is the first time I've ever cracked an egg and seen them. It didn't taste any different than a regular egg but it was very strange to look at and contemplate how that happens. It used to be considered a good omen -- either of plenitude or that twins are in one's future. Since twins are definitely not in my future, I'll hope it signifies a plenitude of something good is on its way.

I'm less surprised about Prince Harry's nekked pix than am I that he flies commercial.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

Mark O'Mara announced today on GZLegalCase he is shuttering the Facebook page the legal team created in April. In part, it's served its purpose. In other respects, the discussion in comments on the FB page have been a hindrance.

One of our published goals is Discouraging Speculation, and Facebook, by its nature, does not help us with this goal. Every post made on Facebook becomes an open thread where anyone on the site can comment, and comments inevitably lead to conversations about evidence and speculation about guilt or innocence. This type of conversation is a natural part of discourse, and there are plenty of places on the Internet where it is appropriate for this to happen, but it need not happen on a page hosted by the defense.

[More...]

Stormy weather resulted in the cancellation of six days of hearings for the 911 defendants at Guantanamo, which scheduled to begin yesterday and first postponed until tomorrow.

he U.S. National Hurricane Center’s tracking map shows Tropical Storm Isaac crossing Haiti as a hurricane on Aug. 24 and striking Cuba before arriving at the Florida coast below Cape Coral on Aug. 27.

The hearings have not yet been rescheduled. 25 pretrial motions were on the agenda, including some by the media.

Defense lawyers, journalists and representatives of non- governmental organizations including Human Rights Watch were on hand to watch the proceedings.

The last hearing was in May. One of the defense lawyers said today trial is unlikely to occur until four years from now, due to the hundreds of motions that will be need to be resolved.

I'll be on Daily Kos radio with Jesse LaGreca this morning at 11 Eastern.

Listen here.

One of the topics - what did Akin mean by forcible rape? And what does Romney endorser John Willke have to do with it?

Also too, Oklahoma bans wearing University of Michigan gear. While I agree with the sentiment, I can not support this law. See also Oklahoma principal denies valedictorian diploma for saying the word "hell".

Open thread.

Mitt Romney changes course from yesterday:

"As I said yesterday, Todd Akin's comments were offensive and wrong and he should very seriously consider what course would be in the best interest of our country," Romney said in a statement. "Today, his fellow Missourians urged him to step aside, and I think he should accept their counsel and exit the Senate race."

Reuters reports Akin is staying in the race.

A new WSJ-NBC poll finds Romney's selection of Paul Ryan doesn't have much impact: 22% of voters are more likely to vote for Romney, 23 percent are less likely to vote for Romney, and 54 percent say it won't affect them one way or the other.

Akin's apology:

I'll be on Daily Kos radio with Jesse LaGreca this morning at 11 Eastern.

Listen here.

Open thread.

President Obama today called GOP Senate Candidate Todd Akin's statement about rape and pregnancy offensive. So did Mitt Romney, but he wouldn't join other Republicans in calling for Akin should step down.

What he said (in response to a question about his opposition to abortion, even in the case of rape resulting in pregnancy:)

“From what I understand from doctors, that’s really rare,” Akin said. “If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down. But let’s assume that maybe that didn’t work or something, I think there should be some punishment, but the punishment ought to be of the rapist, and not attacking the child.”

The RNC Chair called his comments "bizzare" and "biologically stupid" and suggested he forego attending the convention. Missouri Republicans can still select a replacement candidate if Akin drops out by tomorrow at 6 p.m.

Here's the reaction of medical experts to his woefully misinformed view of pregnancy and rape. [More....]

If you missed the Ministry of Truth show on Daily Kos Radio, you can listen to the podcast here:

MoT Show 08.20.2012 by Blue Skies Radio

MP3 available here.

Open Thread.

Erick son of Erick speaks:

Todd Akin will withdraw from the MO Senate race.

Todd Akin, GOP candidate for Senate from Missouri, clarifies that he meant "forcible rape", not "legitimate rape." Akin is saying his views are exactly those of Paul Ryan, and that happens to be true:

Paul Ryan also co-sponsored HR 3, the "No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion" bill in which Republicans tried to redefine rape so that it only applied to "forcible" rape so those fake rape victims would stop exploiting loopholes to cash in on fabulous gifts and prizes.

This is the real story - Todd Akin's views on this are mainstream Republican - which is to say extreme and radical.