LATimes:

The founders of the three largest online poker sites were indicted by the FBI on Friday in what could serve as a death blow to the thriving industry. Eleven executives at PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, Absolute Poker and a number of their affiliates were charged with bank fraud and money laundering in an indictment unsealed in a Manhattan court.

Prosecutors are seeking to immediately shut down the sites and to eventually send the executives to jail and to recover $3 billion from the companies. By Friday afternoon Full Tilt Poker’s site displayed a message explaining that “this domain name has been seized by the F.B.I. pursuant to an Arrest Warrant.”

Back to old school settling once a week, if they still exist that is. Or moving to Vegas.

Speaking for me only

Earlier this week. Jed Lewison of daily kos wrote that the White House had called the GOP Bluff on the Debt Ceiling. Today, President Obama made Lewison look rather foolish:

[Obama] warned that anything less would undermine the solvency of the government, roil financial markets and potentially "plunge the world economy back into a recession." Yet when pressed on how the stalemate with House Speaker John Boehner would end, Obama said: "I think he's absolutely right that it's not going to happen without some spending cuts."

Speaking for me only

I've always wanted to use Atrios' line as a title and Roger Ebert's review of the new movie "Atlas Shrugged," yes based on the Ayn Rand work, gives me the excuse. From Ebert's review:

But you’re thinking, railroads? Yes, although airplanes exist in this future, trains are where it’s at. When I was 6, my Aunt Martha brought me to Chicago to attend the great Railroad Fair of 1948, at which the nation’s rail companies celebrated the wonders that were on the way. They didn’t quite foresee mass air transportation. "Atlas Shrugged" seems to buy into the fair’s glowing vision of the future of trains. Rarely, perhaps never, has television news covered the laying of new railroad track with the breathless urgency of the news channels shown in this movie.

Read the whole thing.

It's a jail day for me. I have two to visit, and they are 40 miles apart. At least it's a beautiful day for a long drive.

Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

ICE has announced the resumption of deportations to Haiti. The Center for Constitutional Rights reports:

On a conference call this morning, U.S. officials confirmed that they have received no assurances that the 19 individuals who were deported will be treated humanely upon their arrival in Haiti.

CCR says those being deported are likely to face jail and death. From a statement released by the Center for Constitutional Rights, University of Miami School of Law Human Rights Clinic and Immigration Clinic, FANM/Haitian Women of Miami, Alternative Chance, and Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center:

This morning, the United States deported a second group of Haitian men to face jail and death in post-earthquake Haiti. In January, a 34-year-old man, Wildrick Guerrier, died only 9 days after being deported to Haiti. Guerrier and 26 other men were jailed without being provided with clean water or food and were held in a cell covered with human feces and vomit. Guerrier and other men fell ill, exhibiting cholera-like symptoms, and were refused medical care.

[More...]

Two reactions to a David Brooks column from the progressive side remind me of the deep divide on policy regarding health insurance amongst progressives and Democrats; a divide that Ed Kilgore detailed back during the "public option/exchanges" debate. First Dean Baker:

The fourth [Ryan and Brooks'] belief assumes that there are no areas where the government can possibly do things better than the market. Ryan and Brooks may not understand this point, so I will explain.

If the government can provide a service like health care insurance or retirement pensions more efficiently than the private sector, as a vast body of evidence suggests [. . . then] Ryan['s] Medicare proposal would add more than $30 trillion to the country's health care costs over Medicare's 75-year planning period. This amount, which reflects the pure increase in costs, not the shift from the government to beneficiaries, is almost 6 times the projected shortfall in the Social Security program.

(Emphasis supplied.) Now read Ezra Klein:

The House Committee on Energy and Commerce held a hearing yesterday on the menace of prescription drug abuse. Who testified? Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske (written testimony here) and DEA chief Michelle Leonhart (testimony here.) What did they say? Aside from providing a bunch of questionable statistics, the Obama Administration, through the DEA, is planning on ratcheting up the war on pain medication. The plan will be unveiled as early as next week, as the 2011 National Drug Control Strategy. (You can get the gist from the proposed 2012 budget for drug control policy which the White House summarized here, here and here.)

Here's the 227 page, $15.5 billion 2011 Federal Drug Control budget, which covered Obama's 2010 National Drug Control Strategy. The DEA's 120 page proposed 2012 budget submission and justification is here. There's 2,044.7 million for domestic enforcement, $322 million for diversion, $433 million for international enforcement. [More...]

A Pennsylvania jury has convicted former U.N. weapons inspector Scott Ritter of engaging in an internet chat with a minor. The minor was a police officer pretending to be a 15 year old. Part of the evidence was a video chat in which Ritter performed a sex act on himself.

Ritter testified in his defense. He said he thought the officer was just pretending to be 15. His wife also testified at the trial.

The jury also heard evidence from a sealed, 2001 case against Ritter in which the charges were dismissed: [More...]

NBA playoffs start Saturday. Here are the current BoDog odds for who is gonna win the Golden Ball:

Los Angeles Lakers 11/4
Miami Heat 13/4
Chicago Bulls 7/2
San Antonio Spurs 7/1
Boston Celtics 15/2
Oklahoma City Thunder 12/1
Dallas Mavericks 18/1
Orlando Magic 18/1
Denver Nuggets 35/1
New York Knicks 45/1
Portland Trailblazers 50/1
Memphis Grizzlies 100/1

I'm rooting for the Bulls - they have Gator Boy Joakim Noah, plus who doesn't love Derrick Rose? I like the price on the Bulls too. In any event, the NBA playoffs are great theatre. And this year more than most, with the Heatles (who look like a strong threat to win.) It looks like it will be fun.

Open Thread.

A judge is Spain has dismissed the lawsuit against Bush administration officials for torture of detainees.

Judge Eloy Velasco said in a four-page ruling issued Wednesday that the United States has told Spain the U.S. government is holding investigations of its own. Velasco said for this reason, Spain cannot apply its doctrine of universal jurisdiction, which holds that, under some circumstances, crimes allegedly committed in other countries can be prosecuted in Spain's National Court.

Here is the letter the Justice Department submitted to Spain outlining its ongoing investigation into the Bush Administration actions. The Center for Constitutional Rights responds here. CCR's webpage on the lawsuit is here.

Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich has lost his bid to delay his retrial on corruption charges. Jury selection will be begin next Wednesday.

The Judge today also denied Blagojevich's motion seeking notes from the FBI interview of President Barack Obama when he was President-elect, saying the notes contained no information that could be used to impeach witnesses.

Also at issue: How much evidence the government can introduce about Blago's spending -- particularly on suits.

The House of Representatives is voting on the Budget legislation, H.R. 1473. You can watch live at C-Span here.

Update: The budget deal passed. 260 to 167. Two resolutions will now be voted on. One will be on repealing the Health Care bill, the other is on blocking funds to Planned Parenthood.