Travel day for me. Maybe posting tonight.

Open Thread.

I hope everyone enjoyed Father's Day.

It's down to the wire for the gay marriage vote in New York. Reuters says the bill is one vote short in the senate. If passed, New York would join Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, New Hampshire, Vermont and the District of Columbia in allowing gay marriage. 39 states ban it and 4 states recognize civil unions.

On TV: The season finale of AMC's The Killing. I liked the show a lot, even though I thought it got bogged down at times. It's been renewed for another season.

On the grill: Apricot-glazed scallops and corn on the cob.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates shares his thoughts on the U.S. and war in an interview Friday:

“If we were about to be attacked or had been attacked or something happened that threatened a vital U.S. national interest, I would be the first in line to say, ‘Let’s go,’ ” Mr. Gates said. “I will always be an advocate in terms of wars of necessity. I am just much more cautious on wars of choice.”

He also had some thoughts on how to make it Washington, particularly when, as he did, you have to serve under different Presidents from different parties: [More...]

Sad news: Legendary saxophonist, Clarence Clemons, who delighted everyone at Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band concerts for decades, has passed away at 69, following complications from a stroke suffered a week ago.

He was always one of the highlights of the concerts for me. When he started playing, everything seemed to kick up a notch. This clip is from Hyde Park in London in 2009. Clarence comes in around the two minute mark.

R.I.P. Clarence.

India has released the world's oldest prison inmate, Brij Bihari Pandey, a Hindu Priest who began serving a life sentence for murder at 84.

He is now 108. He can't walk so his relatives carried him from the prison. But he had a broad smile, and hugged his fellow inmates goodbye, as he was presented with a wreath. He said,

God is great. Thank you."

India said his medical care was becoming too costly, so they freed him on humanitarian grounds. What a great Fathers Day gift for his children and grandchildren.

Rep. Ron Wyden and others have introduced the Geolocation Privacy and Surveillance Act (H.R. 2168, available here) requiring cops to get a warrant based on probable cause to track your location via your cell phone or other device.

The ACLU explains:

The danger that unregulated location tracking poses to American’s privacy is real, immediate and universal. Because of the prevalence of mobile phones in modern society, every American is carrying a portable tracking device, one that can be used to reveal their current and past location. These devices store our every move. Whether it is a visit to a therapist or liquor store, church or gun range, many individuals’ locations will be available either in real time or months later.

Because of the sensitivity and invasiveness of these records, law enforcement agents should always be required to obtain a warrant and show probable cause, no matter the technology employed or the age of the records.

The bill needs additional sponsors, so please contact your Representatives in Congress and ask them to sign on. [More...]

Five inmates testified in for Amanda Knox today at an appeals court hearing in Italy.

Prosecutors are doing everything they can to say these witnesses are hardened criminals who can't be trusted.

Whatever happened to "what's good for the goose is good for the gander?" Prosecutors never say that when they call criminals as snitches to prove someone guilty. Then they say things like "you have to lay down with dogs to catch the fleas" or that the criminal may be a bad person but he's telling the jury the truth. [More...]

The Florida Gators start their College World Series campaign today. Go Gators!

Today is the 40th anniversary of America's War on Drugs. On June 17, 1971, then-President Richard Milhouse Nixon officially declared drug abuse as the nation's Public Enemy Number One. Here's his address to the country on June 17, 1971.

America's public enemy number one in the United States is drug abuse. In order to fight and defeat this enemy, it is necessary to wage a new, all-out offensive.

I have asked the Congress to provide the legislative authority and the funds to fuel this kind of an offensive. This will be a worldwide offensive dealing with the problems of sources of supply, as well as Americans who may be stationed abroad, wherever they are in the world. It will be government wide, pulling together the nine different fragmented areas within the government in which this problem is now being handled, and it will be nationwide in terms of a new educational program that we trust will result from the discussions that we have had.

What an utter failure, just like Nixon.

Anyone here remember what they were doing in June, 1971? This is an open thread, all topics welcome

By the Constitution, Congress alone has the power to declare a national or foreign war. [. . .T]he President [. . .] has no power to initiate or declare a war either against a foreign nation or a domestic State. - The Prize Cases

One of the more bizarre aspects of the Obama Administration's arguments regarding the non-applicability of the War Powers Resolution to American involvement in the Libya conflict is the blithe dismissal of the fact that the Constitution does not authorize the President to engage the Nation in war at all. Consider Jack Goldsmith's reaction to the Administration's arguments:

The administration’s theory implies that the president can wage war with drones and all manner of offshore missiles without having to bother with the War Powers Resolution’s time limits[.]

How about without regard to the Constitution? Of course, this is not new, see (in recent history, see Panama, Grenada.) But it is sad that no seems to even give a passing thought about the Constitution on this issue. More . . .

How long did police hold Dominique Strauss-Kahn at the office of a detectives' unit before formally arresting him, Mirandizing him and bringing him before a Judge? Why wasn't he brought to a jail to await the judge? Why did they wait until late Sunday afternoon to bring the accuser in for a lineup -- so they could make sure she had enough time to see his face plastered all over TV (which she did?)

Here's the Disclosure Statement the District Attorney filed today.

May 14:

• 4:40 pm: Police remove him from jetway
• 5:00 pm: Arrive at JFK Port Authority Precinct. He's handcuffed (in custody, not free to leave.)
• 5:15 pm: En route to Manhattan Special Victims Squad
• 5:40 pm: At Manhattan Special Victims Squad, still hasn't been able to call the consulate or a lawyer
• 9:00 pm: Still at Manhattan Special Victims Squad and still hasn't been able to call a lawyer. He asks them if he needs a lawyer. They answer, it's his right in this country. They add they don't know if he has any kind of diplomatic status. He says:

  No, No, No, I'm not trying to use that. I just want to know if I need a lawyer

  Answer: That's up to you.

• 10:55 pm: Still at the Manhattan Special Victims Squad, has talked to his lawyer, they still are asking him if he wants to talk, he says no.
• 11:20 pm: Still at Manhattan Special Victims Squad, they offer him something to eat.

TalkLeft turned 9 years old yesterday. Independent bloggers seem to be fewer and far between these days. I'm not entirely convinced blogging remains relevant, but not everything can be said in 140 characters or less, and not everyone wants to carry on conversations on Facebook. So I think we'll soldier on a bit longer.

Thanks to every one of you who have read a page, posted a comment, given us a news tip, linked to TalkLeft, donated dollars and befriended us. You've made it all worthwhile.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.