This afternoon brings the most anticipated game of the World Cup yet - Spain v. Germany.

Germany (3 time champions, 7 time Finalist) destroyed the rudderless Argentinians, who recklessly threw away their chances in the World Cup by naming Maradona as their coach. But all credit to Germany, which has been the best team in the World Cup. But 20 year old star forward Thomas Muller is unavailable today due to an unmerited yellow card (a handball that wasn't)in the game with Argentina. This is a huge loss for Germany.

Spain, as it has throughout its World Cup history (never been to a Final) has underachieved, dragged down by the poor performance of their center-forward Fernando Torres. Torres, clearly off form due to slow recovery from a serious injury, should have been benched a while ago. Spanish coach del Bosque won't do it. Thank God for David Villa - the best player in the tournament, who has put in all but one of Spain's goals so far.

On form, Germany should win - they have been the best team in the tournament. But Spain has the potential to reach higher than any other team. If they play their A game, they can win. History and current form points to Germany. Hard to go against that. I like Germany in this game (though I will be rooting for the mother country Spain.)

Manson follower Leslie Van Houten has been in prison with a blemish-free record for 41 years. She was denied parole Tuesday for the 19th time.

At the conclusion of the emotional three-hour hearing, the chairman of the parole board, Robert Doyle, said Van Houten was not yet suitable for parole because she had failed to gain complete insight into her crime and its motivation.

The parole board said she's still a threat to society. They had to say that, since the California Supreme Court last year said it's a requirement of denying parole: [More...]

The UK today announced a formal investigation into whether British security forces were complicit in the torture of Ethiopian-born UK resident Binyam Mohamed and others. Mohamed was tortured by foreign interrogators, who were allegedly fed questions via the CIA.

Mohamed was initially held in Pakistan in 2002, and then moved to Morocco and Afghanistan, where he alleges he was tortured. He was transferred to Guantanamo in 2004 and released in 2009. Our prior coverage of his case is assembled here. [More...]

Things did not go well for Lindsay Lohan in court today. At the end of a long hearing on a probation violation, she was sentenced to 90 days in jail, followed by 90 days of rehab. From a live blog:

Lindsay Lohan is now talking to the judge, she has begun to cry while she is defending herself. “This is my life, I’m taking this seriously, this is my life and my career that I have worked all my life for.”

- Judge Marsha Revel is now talking about the multiple times Lindsay has lied to both the court, police and others on past alcohol and cocaine use.

-Lindsay Lohan sentenced to 90 days in jail. Followed by 90 days in inpatient rehab. She’s crying like crazy.

She was given until July 20 to report and has to keep wearing her SCRAM bracelet until then. [More...]

Update: Via Politico, Here is a copy of the Complaint filed today.

The Department of Justice will file its legal challenge to Arizona's immigration law, SB 1070, as early as today. It will seek an injunction to prevent the law from going into effect.

The lawsuit will rely on pre-emption (through the Supremacy Clause) but it's also expected to contain a civil rights claim.

But the filing is likely to have a civil rights component as well, arguing that the Arizona law would lead to police harassment of U.S. citizens and foreigners, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the government has not announced its plans. President Obama has warned that the law could violate citizens' civil rights, and Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. has expressed concern that it could drive a wedge between police and immigrant communities.

[More...]

Paul Krugman:

I was on Good Morning America this not-so-good morning, doing what I could. But I was struck by something that George Stephanopoulos said: he claimed to have been speaking to an administration official who asserted that what we need to get businesses investing is for business to know that the government has stopped — presumably, that means no new spending, no new regulation, whatever.

GS is a careful guy, so this must be true. And it’s shocking — not that people are saying this, but that someone inside the administration is saying it. [. . .] We’ll never know what might have happened if Obama and [C]o. had actually had the courage of their convictions; what we do know is that they have undermined their own message at every turn.

Not clear what their convictions are regarding the economy. One thing seems clear though - the Obama Administration is a clear and imminent danger to the political fortunes of the Democratic Party in 2010 and 2012.

Speaking for me only

On paper, Netherlands is the clear favorite. For that reason, I am picking Uruguay.

In the Tour de France, the cobbles punished. Andy Schleck, with the strong assistance of Fabian Cancellara, rode his way back into strong contention, gaining 1 minute, 9 seconds on Contador (he was 40 second behind coming in), who did well today. Schelck's brother Frank broke his collarbone and is out. Cadel Evans also was at the front and leads Contador as well. Lance Armstrong was 2 minutes, 8 seconds behind Schleck and Evans and about a minute behind Contador.

Open Thread.

Sunday morning, Peruvian newspapers reported (Spanish here)that Joran Van der Sloot now has three lawyers, two of whom are not Peruvian, and all three will be going to Peru on Friday. (Another article here, translation here.)The articles named New York attorney Joe Tacopina as one of the lawyers. Joe successfully represented Joran in the Holloway's wrongful death lawsuit, getting it tossed on jurisidictional grounds. I didn't write it up yesterday because I thought it was false so why repeat it?

Now I see a CBS affiliate in Alabama has picked up story. Too bad they couldn't bother to pick up the phone. It's false.

Joe is not going to Peru this Friday. Nor does he have plans to go to Peru any time soon. How do I know? I asked him yesterday and he told me.

It doesn't mean this can't change, but it's not the case now. (If it changes, I'll be glad to confirm it. I think that would be great news for Joran.) How do these rumors get started? This is the second time the MSM (here and abroad) has falsely reported Joe Tacopina is going to Peru as part of Joran's defense team.

If the Peruvian papers are misreporting facts about Joran's lawyers, what else are they misreporting about the case? And just how much of the U.S. reporting on Joran Van der Sloot is an unverified regurgitation of what appears in the Peruvian (or Dutch)press? Does the U.S. media do this on other foreign topics as well? What a disturbing thought.

The Iman who pleaded guilty to lying to authorities about Najibullah Zazi has self-deported, as required by his plea agreement. He's headed to Saudi Arabia. His attorney says:

"Imam Afzali is did his best to assist authorities when they asked for his help," said Kuby, who claimed Afzali was the victim of a turf war between the New York Police Department and FBI over the terrorism investigation.

"For his part, he leaves the United States with great sadness and no bitterness," Kuby said. "The United States is the only home that he knows; this country remains home to his parents, his children, and his brothers."

The Swiss now won't say when a decision in Roman Polanski's case is due. Yesterday, news reports had a Swiss official saying it was imminent. The officials also note he can appeal an adverse decision.

Joran Van der Sloot will undergo psychological testing tomorrow to assist the Judge in determining his mental state at the time of the alleged murder of Stephany Flores.

Tourism is down in Arizona. The boycott is having an effect. [More...]

Open Thread.

We have a great country and a lot to be proud of. And despite the economy and the environment, I'm in a better mood to celebrate than I was in say, 2006.

But while you're celebrating today, take a moment and give some thought to those whose freedoms still need protecting and defending within our great nation. Today is not just for our law-abiding citizens. It's also for all who are living within our borders, including those who continue to be detained at Guantanamo, who are languishing in our prisons, and who live in fear of being separated from their families and deported.

What are you thinking about this Independence Day? And what's on your menus? I'll leave you with one more message, below:

Joran Van der Sloot has filed a lawsuit against the mysterious Peruvian lawyer who represented him during his murder confession to Peruvian police.

Maximo Altez told The Associated Press he filed suit Friday charging attorney Luz Romero Chinchay with misrepresentation, abuse of authority and conspiracy to commit a crime. Altez said the initial lawyer "pretended to be a public advocate when he is actually a private attorney."

"We have searched the name of Luz Romero Chinchay in the list of public defenders provided by the Ministry of Justice and his name was not on that list. We do not know why the police called this lawyer. We want to know who paid for him because my client did not," Altez said.

Also sued: Col. Miguel Canlla, chief of the police homicide squad, who conducted Joran's interrogation. [More...]