Wikileak's founder Julian Assange is in jail in Great Britain. A judge has denied bond, ruling he is a flight risk, even though he voluntarily appeared at the police station this morning.

Five people, including journalist John Pilger, film director Ken Loach and Jemima Khan, the sister of Conservative MP Zac Goldsmith, stood up in court offering to put up sureties. But District Judge Howard Riddle refused bail for Australian Mr Assange and he was remanded in custody until 14 December.

Assange will appeal the decision. And his lawyer says Wikileaks will keep on publishing. ""We are on cable 301 and there are 250,000 secret cables."

The Swedish charges against him are based on the allegations of two women, "Ms A" and "Ms W": [More...]

Elizabeth Edwards is losing her battle with cancer. The family is gathered around her in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and released a statement saying that doctors have said further treatment would not be productive.

Edwards' estranged husband, former presidential candidate John Edwards, and their three children were at her side at the Chapel Hill home, the friend reported. Her sister, brother, nieces, nephews, former campaign advisers and other friends were also there. The friend said Elizabeth Edwards is not in pain and in good spirits despite the seriousness of her condition.

Elizabeth posted a message on Facebook that reads like a "goodbye" note: [More...]

President Obama announced today that the Administration and Republicans have reached an agreement on tax cuts.

Under the compromise agreement, the Bush-era tax cuts, including those for the wealthy, would be extended for two years. Unemployment benefits for those unemployed more than six months would be extended for 13 months. The employee payroll tax would be cut by 2% for 2011. The estate tax will apply only to those inheriting more than $5 million and would be capped at 35%. And the Earned Income Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit and American Opportunity Tax Credit will be extended.

Ezra Klein says the deal is imperfect but not that bad.

Is this another compromise where no one is happy?

Big Tent Democrat is in trial this week. I've posted some news items, but will be busy the rest of the afternoon.

Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

The Justice Department announced the indictment of more than 300 people today for investment fraud as part of Operation Broken Trust.

The operation was launched on August 16, 2009. Attorney General Holder said today that 343 people have been charged criminally, 189 face civil charges and 87 defendants have been sentenced to prison.

The DOJ press release is here.

The Supreme Court today agreed to hear the Walmart employee discrimination case, described as the largest case of its type in U.S. history.

The question before the court is not whether there was discrimination but rather whether the claims by the individual employees may be combined as a class action. The court’s decision on that issue will almost certainly affect all sorts of class-action suits, including ones asserting antitrust, securities and product liability, as well as other claims.

The case is Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Dukes, No. 10-277. Scotusblog has more.

The 9th Circuit's oral arguments on Prop 8 and gay marriage are being televised on C-Span. You can watch here.

The panel will first consider if the group that put the measure on the ballot is eligible to appeal since its members aren't responsible for enforcing marriage laws. Outgoing Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Attorney General Jerry Brown refused to challenge the ruling. The panel will then hear arguments on the proposition's constitutionality.

Howard Mintz of the San Jose Mercury News is live-blogging from the courtroom. So is Teddy at Firedoglake.

The UK has received an arrest warrant for Julian Assange of Wikileaks. Extradition is being sought by Sweden.

The warrant is being processed by the Serious Organised Crime Agency and will be sent to the Metropolitan Police as he is thought to be in the London area. Mr Assange is wanted in Sweden to face sex allegations which he denies.

The Swiss have closed his bank account, but no criminal charges will result and he will get the money.

If you didn't watch VH-1 Divas, catch it on the re-run. All of the performances, sets and costumes are awesome. This is a huge undertaking, there were 27,000 troops in attendance at Miramar in San Diego.

Kathy Griffin, who I don't usually like, is a terrific host. Her ammunition-topped bikini is a must-see.

The troops even laughed at her account of giving their commanding officer a topless lapdance backstage. [More...]

Newt Gingrich today said he's more inclined to run than not to run for President, and may decide around February or March. Among Republicans, Gingrich named Mitt Romney as the Republican front-runner and Mike Huckabee as the most popular.

It looks like there will be a deal to extend the tax cuts.

Tonight: VH1 Divas: Support the Troops. Hosted by Kathy Griffin and filmed earlier this week, the show has gotten rave reviews. Performances by:

Katy Perry, Nicki Minaj, Sugarland, Keri Hilson, Paramore, Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart, Grace Potter & The Nocturnals, as well as appearances by literally everyone from our First Lady Michelle Obama to "Snooki" and "The Situation" from "Jersey Shore," including comedian Jeffrey Ross, MC Lyte and Brandy.

If anyone is still watching Boardwalk Empire, tonight is the season finale. This is an open thread, all topics welcome

Roman Polanksi's "The Ghostwriter" has won the award for Best Picture and Best Director at the European Film Awards, held in Estonia. It won in six of its seven nominated categories.

Nominated in seven categories, the movie won the best director prize, best actor for Ewan McGregor, and best screenwriter went jointly to Robert Harris and Polanski.

Polanski gave an acceptance speech -- "through a Skype connection from an unknown location." Why?

[H]e still faces an Interpol warrant in 188 countries. Most European nations, including Estonia, have an extradition treaty with the United States.

[More...]

Wikileaks says the more people try to shut them down, the stronger they become. After Paypal shut them down, they mobilized their supporters on Twitter to create mirror sites and archive their published documents. For updated sites, use #imwikileaks. Here's Wikileaks' twitter page.

Here's a list of mirror sites. This one and this one are working as of now, and have a contribution page handled by someone other than Paypal.

The LA Times reports the Government's clampdown may be a blow to intelligence-sharing among agencies. I think that's a good thing. "The Wall" provided important safeguards and restricted end-runs around the Fourth Amendment. 9/11, Ashcroft and the Patriot Act changed that, and it should be restored, at least between intelligence-gathering agencies and crime-fighting agencies.