This was inevitable. Former graduate assistant, now assistant coach Mike McGeary has been placed on administrative leave. He will be paid during the leave term.

Some are asking why he wasn't fired outright, given that he didn't stop the assault or call police. Neither the school nor the police are saying.

Via CBS:

Asked if McQueary would be fired, [Penn State's new president, Rod] Erickson said "there are complexities to that issue that I am not prepared to go into at this point." Asked about the status of athletic director Tim Curley, Erickson said, "That's an ongoing topic of discussion. We'll return to that next week."

[More..]

The cause of the helicopter crash today that killed Mexico Interior Minister Francisco Blake Mora, the most visible force behind President Calderon's War on Drugs and Mexico's second most important officical, is unknown and under investigation. Some will speculate drug gangs may be responsible, as they did after a similar crash of another Minister a few years ago. The pilots were air force pilots with 20 years experience. This was the first crash of this kind of helicopter, a Super Puma TPH-06 in 6 years. The Mexican Government has six of them.

I saw conflicting reports as to whether Blake Mora was en route to a judicial meeting or a prosecutor's meeting. The answer isn't hard to find. He was headed to a meeting on judicial reform attended by judges and prosecutors.

President Obama today at Arlington National Cemetary:

"My fellow Americans, our troops are coming home..."After a decade of war, the nation we now need to build is our own."

..."the 9/11 Generation will play a pivotal role in rebuilding America...On this Veterans Day, I ask every American: recruit our veterans."

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

Billy Crystal is going to host the Academy Awards. He was my favorite host ever.

Who's going home on the X-Factor? I didn't think Stacy Francis was good last night, poor choice of song but I hope she makes it through. Rachel Crow was terrific as was Astro. I really like Josh Krajek. I also hope Chris Rene stays. And Marcus. I think it's time for Stereo Hogz or Lakoda Rayne to go home. Like last week, the bottom two will do a sing-off and the judges will make the final call.

Does anyone have a Vita-Mix? What do you make in it? I got one yesterday and just set it up and now have no idea what to make with it. It's so much bigger and heavier than I thought it would be.

I'm sure there's other news, so here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

5280 Magazine has an in-depth report on how events unfolded in the "home grown" terrorism case of Najibullah Zazi. Zazi's first lawyer, who allowed the FBI to extensively question Zazi, discusses his strategy. Zazi, who has pleaded guilty and cooperated but not been sentenced, apparently is in the witness protection program and hoping for a sentence to less than life and a new identity when he's released. [More...]

I don't follow college sports. I never heard of Joe Paterno or Jerry Sandusky before last night, and I didn't click through the myriad of headlines to see who they are until this morning. Now, having read the grand jury report and several articles and opinion pieces, here's what I see.

An 84 year old coach with an unblemished record, who devoted his life to coaching a football team, has been abruptly fired because in 2002, a graduate student told him about witnessing what he perceived to be a former assistant coach's sexual assault on a young boy in a school shower. The assistant coach, Jerry Sandusky, retired in 1999, but retained many school privileges as part of his severance package.

Paterno timely reported the allegation to his superiors. They handled the allegation internally and didn't take it to the police. Sandusky was told he could no longer bring minors on campus. The graduate student, Mike McQueary, also told his father about what he observed, but not the police. Nor did he intervene to stop the perceived assault. He's now a coach for the team. [More..]

I've been busy. Be back next week with regular posting.

Open Thread.

The Military Commission's website last night posted the transcript of yesterday's four hour hearing for al-Nashiri. (Go here, click on second al-Nashiri link, it's the top document. There is no direct link.)

It wasn't just an arraignment. The judge heard argument on and granted the defense motion to prevent Gitmo and prosecutors from reading his legal mail (with some exceptions.) The Court also heard argument on al-Nashiri's motion seeking to have the military jury advised at the start of trial if an acquittal won't result in his release (see my earlier post on this here.) The Court addressed an issue of potential conflict of interest for one of the defense lawyers, Michael Paradis who represented al Bahlul in appealing his conviction by military commission and life sentence. Al-Bahlul is named as a co-conspirator of al-Nashiri's in Charge V. [More...]

Another Republican debate? I'm not watching. Better Fare: Survivor, The X-Factor, Harry's Law, Restaurant Impossible or even America's Next Top Model.

Human Rights Watch has a new report on abuses by Mexican police and military in the war on drugs. Shorter version: Mexico's war on drugs is a failure that only serves to increase the violence and fear:

Mexico’s military and police have committed widespread human rights violations in efforts to combat organized crime, virtually none of which are being adequately investigated, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.

[More...]

Don't fall for the new book on Australian Schapelle Corby, sentenced to 20 years in an Indonesian prison for bringing 4 kilos of pot into Bali. The book claims Schapelle's now deceased father put the pot in her boogie board .

While the book doesn't go so far as to claim there is evidence that Schapelle knew the pot was in her board (its premise seems merely to be that after she was busted, she took the fall for her father, who died in 2008,) multiple media outlets are leading with incendiary headlines that Schapelle's guilt is now established. The author, Journalist Eamonn Duff, who works for the Sydney Morning Herald, has been coming up with these Corby family guilt scenarios for years. [More...]

Herman Cain yesterday said he doesn't recognize Sharon Bialek or know her. But Bialak and witnesses say differently, since a month ago at a function, Bialak was seen approaching him, hugging him and talking to him. One of the witnesses is WIND radio co-host Amy Jacobson.

As Guantanamo detainee Abd al-Rahim Hussein Muhammed Abdu Al-Nashiri is arraigned on capital charges of masterminding al Qaida's 2000 bombing of the U.S.S. Cole, lawyers are also arguing some important motions. Chief among them is: If al-Nashiri is acquitted, will he be released? Miami Herald Reporter Carol Rosenberg is live-tweeting the proceedings. Here's a handy twitter link to many of the reporters' live tweets in one place.

What are the possible outcomes of al-Nashiri's trial? If there are only 3, guilty and a death sentence, guilty and a sentence less than death, acquittal followed by indefinite detention, probably for life, why bother with a trial? A trial with no possibility of release is nothing but a show trial.

The defense argues that the military jury that will decide al-Nashiri's fate should be told that an acquittal means continued incarceration, if that's the case. Its motion is here. [More...]