I think I'll just put up music all day, songs that make us think of where we were, and where we are now, and how much work there is left to do to move this country towards freedom, especially when it comes to privacy rights.

Happy July 4th Everyone, This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

If you're grilling something great, please share!

The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts has released its annual report on the use of federal and state wiretaps and electronic surveillance. It's available here.

In 2010, wiretaps were up 34% from 2009. There were 1,207 federal wiretaps and 1,287 state wiretaps. On average, each wiretap intercepted the communications of 118 people. The average number of incriminating calls intercepted was 26%.

A whopping 84% of the wiretaps were for drug investigations. The average cost of a federal wiretap was $63,000. [More...]

[Note: This is so long that it's likely to interest only those closely following the developing details of the Dominique Strauss-Kahn case.]

One of the details not adding up in the Dominique Strauss-Kahn case, which I don't believe will be a case much longer, is the phone call the accuser had with her jailed friend (also described as her boyfriend or fiance) 28 hours after she reported her encounter at the Sofitel with DSK.

When the conversation was translated — a job completed only this Wednesday — investigators were alarmed: “She says words to the effect of, ‘Don’t worry, this guy has a lot of money. I know what I’m doing,’ ” the official said.

....Suspicions of the woman’s associations arose relatively quickly: within a week of Mr. Strauss-Kahn’s arrest, the authorities learned of a recorded conversation between the subject of a drug investigation and another man, who said his companion was the woman involved in the Strauss-Kahn matter, according to another law enforcement official.

Reportedly, he was arrested when attempting to obtain 400 pounds of marijuana in exchange for counterfeit designer goods from Chinatown somewhere in the Southwest. The Times reported: [More...]

Update: I think the defense caught a break when the Judge recessed the trial after the defense closing until tomorrow, forcing the prosecutors to wait to give their closing rebuttal. Now the jury gets to go home and consider the arguments of both sides equally, without the prosecution having the advantage of two bites at the apple. Even though they aren't supposed to, some may make up their minds today, and any leaning towards the defense, may be listening with a closed mind by the time the rebuttal comes tomorrow. The prosecutor's laughing during the defense closing may have backfired big time. Also, isn't it a bit disrespectful for the Court to hold trial on the 4th of July?

*****

Original Post

If you liked the old days of Court TV, tune in to Headline News where Vinnie Politan, Jean Casarez and Janie Velez-Mitchell are dissecting the closing arguments in the Casey Anthony trial. It's not quite like the old Court TV, it's more like Court TV on speed, with a surreal intensity. Every word is enunciated with such emphasis and varied tone inflection, you see their lips form every word. It's more like listening to sports announcers at the Superbowl than legal analysts, as they continue to hype this so-called "trial of the century." They keep talking about the passion of the prosecutor in closing, but when they play clips, in comparison to them, he's sounds like he's speaking in a monotone. Put another way, the old Court TV was like watching a golf match, while this is like watching an Xtreme Sports or snowboarding competition. [More...]

The Djoker is blasting Rafa. Tdf TTT today. Lots of crashes yesterday with race implications.

Yanks going for the sweep against the Mets.

Open Thread.

I'm done with DSK for a while. It's time to start enjoying the weekend. I'll leave you with the artist whose face I never get tired of looking at -- best face in rock and roll.

Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

Alpha Condé , the President of Guinea addressed the Dominique-Strauss Kahn case today:

We are both [himself and Strauss-Kahn] members of the Socialist Party, the French Socialist Party is a member of the Socialist International, so I am very happy for him and I hope his sufferings will not have a lasting effect,” Condé told RFI at the African Union summit in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, after the latest twist in the sexual assault case.

He said his country will do what they can to help the accuser.

“Obviously, the lady is Guinean. It is the duty of the head of state to defend all Guinean citizens. We will see how we can come to her aid, because Guinea has to defend its children wherever they are. We will see how we can help her.”

A cynical person might ask whether, given that statement, she really still needs asylum in the U.S. (in the event she is prosecuted and convicted of fraud for her original application. Here's one example of such a prosecution.)

Update (7/5): The accuser has sued the New York Post for libel over the article.

Is anyone surprised by today's New York Post article alleging that Dominique Strauss-Kahn's accuser was a "working girl"? I opined last night,

The only remaining viable theories are: (1) It was a set-up (2) He paid her for the sex or (3) She consented, thinking she was going to paid, and got angry when he didn't offer money, didn't pay enough or refused to pay. While normally, paying for sex would be a crime, in this case, just like the rape claim, if he denied it, proving it would require believing her, and that's out of the question now.

Of course, a prostitute can be sexually assaulted and no one is saying she shouldn't be believed on that ground. [More...]

I've been waiting all day to learn the story behind the phone call with the incarcerated boyfriend of Dominique Strauss-Kahn's accuser, and here it is.

He was in an immigration jail in Arizona, the call was recorded, it took place 28 hours after she claimed to be raped, and the DA's office finally got around to having it translated from a dialect of Fulani to English. The money quote:

When the conversation was translated — a job completed only this Wednesday — investigators were alarmed: “She says words to the effect of, ‘Don’t worry, this guy has a lot of money. I know what I’m doing,’ ” the official said.

This case is toast. It's not illegal to have sex with a hotel maid. The only remaining viable theories are: (1) It was a set-up (2) He paid her for the sex or (3) She consented, thinking she was going to paid, and got angry when he didn't offer money, didn't pay enough or refused to pay. While normally, paying for sex would be a crime, in this case, just like the rape claim, if he denied it, proving it would require believing her, and that's out of the question now. [More...]

As expected, Dominique Strauss-Kahn's bail was modified today to a personal recognizance bond as the DA's office told the Judge about the problems with the accuser's credibility. In a letter to Strauss-Kahn's lawyers, the DA's office didn't mince words. The accuser repeatedly lied to prosecutors and investigators -- about a prior gang rape that never happened, about details of the incident with DSK, and more -- lies she later acknowledged. [More...]

Out of pocket for the rest of the day.

Tomorrow, the Tour de France kicks of in, erm, France. I like clen boy to win his fourth, and then have his 3rd stripped in August (when the Tribunal of Arbitration of Sport hears the WADA/UCI appeal of the Spanish Federation's non-suspension of Contador despite a finding of trace amounts of clenbuterol in his system during the 2001 TdF.)

Wimbledon winds up this weekend as well. Go Rafa! (Sharapova is the favorite on the women's side.)

Open Thread.

Paul Krugman discusses debt limit strategy:

Failure to reach a debt deal would have very bad consequences. But here’s the thing: Mr. Obama must be prepared to face those consequences if he wants his presidency to survive. [. . . W]hat’s really going on is extortion pure and simple. [. . .] And the reason Republicans are doing this is because they must believe that it will work: Mr. Obama caved in over tax cuts, and they expect him to cave again. [. . .] Republicans believe, in short, that they’ve got Mr. Obama’s number, that he may still live in the White House but that for practical purposes his presidency is already over. It’s time — indeed, long past time — for him to prove them wrong.