Don’t believe the accounts of HBO's movie Game Change that say the film humanizes Sarah Palin. The story line is exactly the opposite. Sarah Palin, as we all knew, was a desperate Hail Mary Pass by John McCain, completely unvetted and incompetent for the job of Vice President. The film confirms this. It also portrays her as ignorant beyond our wildest imagination and verging on mental illness, veering between bouts of catatonia, manic behavior and paranoia, coupled with having mini-meltdowns.

By all means watch it. Even though it confirms much of what we already knew, it still produces chills. Had McCain, then 72 years old, won the election, this woman would have been next in line to be President. My review is below [More...]

It's Daylight Savings Day. Make sure you change all your clocks.

Here's an open thread for the news of the day, or whatever else is on your mind.

Don't forget to turn your clocks ahead tonight.

Via Mashable, this is the only clock you need.

Is anyone watching Game Change? I'm not sure I'm up for a humanizing take on Sarah Palin. (Update: I watched, and I'm glad I did. My review is here.) The new episode of Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony's Q'Viva: The Chosen might be more pleasant.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

Afghanistan sent a delegation to Guantanamo to convince 5 detainees to transfer to Qatar. They agreed.

The five, allegedly Taliban leaders, won't be freed but transferred to less restrictive custody and their families will move there to be with them.

One may be Mullah Norullah Noori. Here's his detainee assessment file. Others who may be among the five: Mullah Khair Khowa (reportedly a former interior minister) and Mullah Fazl Akhund (reportedly a former army commander.)

Via Think Progress, 98 Rush Limbaugh sponsors have now instructed Premiere Radio Networks not to put their ads on Rush's show. But now it's not just Rush. Their memo to to "Traffic Managers" said:

To all Traffic Managers: The information below applies to your Premiere Radio Networks commercial inventory...They’ve specifically asked that you schedule their commercials in dayparts or programs free of content that you know are deemed to be offensive or controversial (for example, Mark Levin, Rush Limbaugh, Tom Leykis, Michael Savage, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity).’

[More...]

The Associated Press has obtained two reports on the NYPD surveillance of Muslims. One is here and the other is here. The reports show widespread surveillance by the Intelligence Division's Demographics unit based on religion.

Gloria Allred apparently needs to get back in the limelight. She's sent a letter to Palm Beach prosecutors saying Rush Limbaugh should be prosecuted for his comments about Sandra Fluke. The basis: An 1883 statute: [More...]

Here's Sabu on December 25 taking credit for the Stratfor hack:

We did the hack under #antisec which is an operation within anonymous.... we are decentralized

Here's what was taken from Stratfor and released:

860,000 usernames, emails, and md5-hashed passwords; data from 75,000 credit cards, including security codes used for no card present transactions; and over 2.5 million Stratfor emails, internal Stratfor documents from the company’s intranet, and support tickets from it.stratfor.com.

While Sabu had his associates and followers thinking he was on the run, he was actually encouraging others to commit the same crimes he always had, except this time under the direction of the FBI. [More...]

At his change of plea hearing (transcript here) Anonymous/LulzSec hacker Hector Monsegur, aka Sabu, was asked to explain in his own words what he did wrong. The Government said Sabu would read from a statement. I think Sabu's explanation of the fraud counts is interesting to anyone concerned about identity theft.

Credit Card Fraud:

With the use of my computer I obtained dozens of credit card numbers of other people from an online site which provided stolen credit card numbers. I also hacked into the computers of two companies. I used these credit card numbers without authorization to pay my own bills as well as gave them to others to make fraudulent purchases. More than $1,000 in charges resulted from the use of these stolen numbers over the course of a one-year period. I knew my conduct was illegal.

[More...]

Thanks to Reuters legal correspondent Basil Katz for publishing the plea agreement and transcript of guilty plea hearing for Anonymous/LulzSec hacker-turned-informant Hector Monsegur, aka Sabu.

Sabu's plea agreement is "global", meaning it is binding on all 94 U.S. Attorney's offices. No other federal district can charge him with other crimes (excluding criminal tax violations, as are typically excluded.)

Sabu won't be federally charged for any other past crimes he voluntarily disclosed, although the court can consider them as relevant conduct at sentencing. These include attempts to sell pounds of pot, hooking up buyers of marijuana and prescription drugs to potential sellers from 2009 to 2011, racking up $15,000 worth of unauthorized charges on his employer's credit card, purchase of stolen jewelry and electronics, and possession of a handgun. And any other uncharged hacking offenses committed between 1999 and 2010. [More...]

I've got court this morning. Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

The Mississippi Supreme Court has upheld the pardons of former Governor Haley Barbour.

Via Sentencing Law and Policy, this factsheet from the Federal Defender's Office says the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) analysis of federal sentencing disparity released this week is flawed.

TRAC’s analysis fails to meet minimal academic standards and should not be a basis for policy making.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

Barrett Brown says it looks like he will be indicted. Yesterday he posted this statement about the FBI searches of his apartment and his mother's house. At least he's lawyered up. (Added: During a video chat today he said the feds wanted him to do 9 years.)

In Sabu news, the transcript of LulzSec informant Hector Xavier Monsegur's guilty plea hearing has been unsealed. From news sources quoting it, Assistant U.S. Attorney James Pastore told the judge: [More...]