One of these days I'll start writing about stuff again. Today is not that day.

In the meantime, read David Brooks. Seriously. An interesting, although not novel, premise. There is some truth in what he writes.

Open thread.

The ACLU today published this handy graphic after crunching the numbers on Guatanamo detainees.

Among the stats:

• 92% of the detainees were never al-Qaeda fighters. 86% were turned over to coalition forces for a bounty. Only 5% were captured by U.S. soldiers.
• Number of children detained at Gitmo: 21 (the youngest was 13.)
• The oldest detainee was 98.
• More than 200 FBI agents reported abusive treatment of detainees
• At least 16 were tortured in overseas secret prisons before getting to Gitmo
• 8 detainees have died. 6 were suicides, including a detainee who arrived at Gitmo at age 16 and killed himself at age 21.

There are 171 detainees still at Guantanamo. 89 have been cleared for release. The amount it costs per year to keep the 89 detained at Gitmo: $70 million.

You've all been waiting with bated breath for my pick in tonight's BCS championship game (wait, what?) featuring Alabama and LSU. I like Alabama (7 units). The line is pick.

I got some props as well - Trent Richardson to score the first TD (3/1 1 unit), Alabama QB McCarron under 15 1/2 completions (1 unit) and he throws a pick before he throws a TD (1 unit.)

Open Thread.

Update: The DEA has released a statement defending the money laundering stings.

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The New York Times details the extradition papers of Harold Mauricio Poveda-Ortega, presumably in an effort to show another example of how the DEA is involved in money laundering stings. So what else is new? If you want more details, check out the 15 page magazine article of the magazine that obtained the documents (it's in Spanish.)

What the Times doesn't mention is that Harold Mauricio Poveda-Ortega is charged in federal court with engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise under 21 USC 848, the "kingpin" statute, and facing a potential life sentence when he gets here. [More...]

Busy.

Open Thread.

Open Thread.

I've got a lot of errands to run before a big TV nite: the premiere of John Grisham's The Firm, the series finale of Desperate Housewives, the season premiere of Shameless and new episodes of Pan Am and The Good Wife.

For those of you watching football or with other things on your mind, here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

Guantanamo will turn 10 years old Wednesday -- it was January 11, 2002 that the first 20 detainees arrived. In the New York Times, Akhdar Boumediene, imprisoned there for 7 years, now living in Provence, France with his wife and children, tells his story.

Boumediene has left his mark on Supreme Court jurisprudence. In his case (opinion here), the Supreme Court ruled that those imprisoned at Gitmo are entitled to their day in court.

Petitioners have the constitutional privilege of habeas corpus. They are not barred from seeking the writ or invoking the Suspension Clause’s protections because they have been designated as enemy combatants or because of their presence at Guantanamo.

[More...]

The Supreme Court will decide if the individual mandate of the Affordable Care Act is constitutional. The Government yesterday filed its opening brief, available here.

Under the Affordable Care act, almost every American will have to obtain health insurance by 2014 or pay a financial penalty. The question the court will decide is whether the minimum coverage provision is a valid exercise of Congress’s powers under article I of the Constitution.

Analysis is provided by Scotus Blog and legal analyst Andrew Cohen at The Atlantic.

MOVE from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.

Via Mashable, check out these one minute videos of three guys traveling through 18 countries in 44 days. Move, Eat, Learn. All are pretty great, but I liked Learn the best. Terrific music too, by Kelsey James.

“Move” shows actor Andrew Lees strolling toward us in perfect sync, surrounded by a mind-boggling group of scenarios, all whizzing by so quickly you have to watch this quick clip a few times just to absorb it all.

[More...]

The New York Times has excerpts from the the book, "The Obamas." The book, which will be published Tuesday, devotes many pages to the role of Michelle Obama. Shorter version: She gets frustrated with her husband's staff at times and she is Obama's biggest supporter. So what else is new?

Glenn Greenwald's takeaway:

Reading this Jodi Kantor excerpt makes one think things may have been better if Michelle Obama had been Chief of Staff:

As required by Peru, Lori Berenson has returned to finish her parole. Her visit to the U.S. to see her family for the holidays will likely be her last until the end of her parole in 2015.

Angry about the court approval of her travel, the Peru legislature this week passed a bill preventing anyone convicted of terrorism from leaving the country while on parole.