Unfortunately, the Senate is scheduled to vote Monday or Tuesday on the 2012 Defense Authorization bill with the horrible detainee provisions. The bill is a primer for indefinite military detention until the end of time, considering it encompasses more than al Qaida and the war on terror is endless. It gives the military total control over detainees.

Sen. Levin and McCain are pushing for a vote on new Amendments for Monday evening. The bill is S. 1867, introduced on Nov. 15. You can read or skim the 682 pages here. The detainee matters are in Subtitle D, starting on page 359 with Section 1031. They go through page 378 and Section 1037. The Congressional Record for Nov. 18 has the most recent events, including a statement by Sen. Levin as to why he thinks the Levin/McCain Amendment is more than fair and the Administration's objections are unfounded.

There are dozens of pending amendments, including the most important one by Colorado Sen. Mark Udall, who explains his amendment here [More...]

That is all.

As this long holiday weekend comes to a close, here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

Denver's federal money for the homeless has dried up, as has grant money. In 2005, then Mayor John Hickenlooper introduced Denver's Road Home project, to help the homeless find shelter and programs addressing drug addiction, alcoholism and mental illness, believed to contribute to homelessness.

But we have more homeless than ever -- more than 11,000 in downtown Denver. Many like to sleep on the 16th st Mall where it's well-lit and police are usually nearby. There's no law preventing sleeping on the street.

Now, with the increased numbers of homeless persons. the shelters are full, the temporary house is full, and the social programs have waiting lists.

Sirhan Sirhan, who has been incarcerated since 1968 for assassinating Robert F. Kennedy, is seeking immediate release or a new trial. The request for a new trial is based on "formidable evidence" asserting his innocence and "horrendous violations" of his rights.

It's really a fascinating story. His lawyers claim (1) there were 2 guns fired, not just Sirhan's, and Sirhan's probably didn't kill Kennedy, (2) there was fraud at the trial when the court allowed prosecutors to introduce a substitute bullet as evidence of the actual bullet removed from Kennedy's neck, and (3) Sirhan was hyno-programmed as a diversionary tactic and thus an involuntary participant:

Sirhan "was an involuntary participant in the crimes being committed because he was subjected to sophisticated hypno programming and memory implantation techniques which rendered him unable to consciously control his thoughts and actions at the time the crimes were being committed," court papers said.

[More...]

Update: Sofitel responds, via The Daily Beast. It says the video celebration lasted only 8 seconds and might have been about sports. It says the guest in 2820 checked out at 11:36 am and Diallo cleaned the room shortly thereafter.

Investigative journalist Edward Epstein provides new details in the case of Dominique Strauss-Kahn and the Sofitel hotel maid in the New York Review of Books. Epstein says he had access to the hotel's electronic key swipe records and time-stamped hotel security camera videotapes. He also reviewed cell phone records for a phone used on May 14 by Accor security employee John Sheehan. Accor owns the Sofitel.

The Guardian details Epstein's findings if you don't want to take the time to read his entire report.

The picks:

SMU -14 over Rice, Ohio State over Michigan (+300), Texas Tech +14 over Baylor (2 units), Oregon -28 over Oregon State (2 units), Marshall -3 over East Carolina, Mississippi +17 over Mississippi State, Wisconsin -14½ over Penn State (2 units), Missouri -26 over Kansas (2 units), Connecticut 0ver Rutgers (+175), Clemson (+155) over South Carolina, Oklahoma -28½ over Iowa State (2 units) Alabama (-21) over Auburn, Georgia -6 over Georgia Tech, Vanderbilt -1½ over Wake Forest.

Best bet - Stanford -7 over Notre Dame (5 units.)

Go Gators!

Open Thread.

The Superior Court of Lima has set Joran Van der Sloot's trial on charges relating to the death of Stephany Flores for January 6.

The Court rejected the Flores family's request to increase the charges. He will be tried only on charges of qualified murder and simple robbery, carrying a maximum penalty of 30 years.

If convicted and sentenced to 30 years, he is expected to serve about 10 years. He's served 18 months to date. [More...]

Radley Balko has a new feature article at Huffington Post on law enforcment's misplaced priorities in the War on Drugs.

"The availability of huge federal anti-drug grants incentivizes departments to pay for SWAT team armor and weapons, and leads our police officers to abandon real crime victims in our communities in favor of ratcheting up their drug arrest stats," said former Los Angeles Deputy Chief of Police Stephen Downing. Downing is now a member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, an advocacy group of cops and prosecutors who are calling for an end to the drug war.

"When our cops are focused on executing large-scale, constitutionally questionable raids at the slightest hint that a small-time pot dealer is at work, real police work preventing and investigating crimes like robberies and rapes falls by the wayside," Downing said.

[More...]

A judge in Bali has sentenced the 14 year old Bali Boy caught purchasing $25 of marijuana to two months in prison. With the 7 weeks he has already served since October, he can return to Australia on Dec. 4. (Background here.)

He will not go to notorious Kerobokan prison, but stay in the "immigration facility" he's been held at since his transfer there from the police jail.

...the judge gave the boy's legal team a week to decide whether or not to appeal. That cut-off comes, conveniently, next Friday. The lawyers will wait until the last moment and then inform the court they will not appeal.

The youth will then have two days left to serve in prison but, because it will be the weekend, he won't be moved from the immigration centre where he has stayed with his parents for more than a month. It is understood prosecutors will not appeal the verdict and the boy will fly home next Sunday.

[More...]

You better shop around.

Tell us all the great deals you got today. And anything else that's on your mind. This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

More than 2 million inmates are spending Thanksgiving in our nations' jails and prisons. This week there are 216,762 federal inmates. Here's Sheriff Joe Arapaio last year bragging he got the cost of the prisoner's thanksgiving meal down to 8 cents. (Yes, it's his real Twitter account.)

Contrast with the Wyoming Medium Correctional Institution where the Warden recruits volunteers from the community to help make the day as pleasant as possible: [More...]