I saw this Ta-Nehisi Coates post linked at Daily Kos and was struck by this quote Coates mentions from an anonymous WaPo reporter given to Jeffrey Goldberg:

It makes me crazy when I see these guys referred to as reporters. They're anything but. And they hurt the newspaper when they claim to be reporters. Ezra Klein is a talented guy, but he's just an absolute partisan. If this is where journalism has to go, so be it, but I don't want to go there.

(Emphasis supplied.) It seems to me that these Beltway reporters know less about their business than almost anyone. Forget for a moment that the history of journalism demonstrates that it began as nothing but partisan operations. Let's stick to the "modern" era where "nonpartisan" journalism was supposedly born. Perhaps the anonymous WaPo reporter remembers the late Robert Novak:

According to the DEA and Coast Guard, the cartels have a new method of transporting large amounts of cocaine -- Narcosubs. The evolution from the 1980's has gone from flying cocaine into the U.S. via planes and landing at clandestine air strips, to dropping it from planes, to "go fast" boats, to narcosubs.

In the film above, it's explained that a narcosub is really just a go fast boat with a cover. The top 1/4 is above water. Vents are put in for the crew to breathe. There's a drop hatch so if they get caught, the load will fall to the floor of the ocean. At the time the film was made, 36 narcosubs had been seized.

Authorities are concerned that if drugs can be transported this way, so can weapons and explosives.

England was robbed of an equalizer goal by Lampard in its game with Germany. Germany leads at half 2-1. It's been a wide open game. Should be a great second half.

Argentina-Mexico. Mexico will shock the world.

I watched with some amusement a rehash of the Impotent President debate of last year during the health bill debate. This time it was the New Beltway (the former JournOListers) repeating their arguments in response to Glenn Greenwald's complaints about President Obama's performance regarding civil liberties. The not so new mantra emanated from Jonathan Bernstein:

The Presidency Is Weak. Really.

[Greenwald's piece [. . .] is ignorant nonsense that betrays a deep lack of understanding of how the government of the United States works. Is the idea of an "Impotent, Helpless President" a joke? No, it's basic American politics.

(Emphasis supplied.) One of Glenn's responses here. I always thought this line of defense would have a short shelf life because, honestly, calling Obama weak and impotent is not a very good political strategy for Democrats, even of the Beltway variety. And lo and behold, not a week later Obama is now FDR. In this recommended dkos diary, Rachel Maddow is toasted for finally seeing the light. And this morning, dkos' DemfromCt favorably links to this Economic Times piece:

Via DougJ, CEO of the Peter J. Peterson Foundation (Broder's favorite) pining for the return of debtors prisons:

Listening to to the elites in our country makes me pine for a return of Bastille Day - and not just because the Tour de France starts in a week.

See also Digby on the Peterson Foundation's crusade to destroy Social Security and Medicare. Speaking for me only

Bill Clinton and Mick Jagger at the World Cup. Also having a good time with Bill: Katie Couric and Wolf Blitzer.

More photos here.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

The Portland Police Department has put the audio of the Massuese's interview online. Part 1 is here and part 2 is here. Again, she's reading from a statement prepared by her lawyer which he sent her for editing, but she does ad-lib and there is some q and a during and afterwards.

So far no one has taken her up on her $1 million offer for the story, but a source tells Page Six she's preparing to come forward and identify herself.

A source told us, "She's ready to come forward and sell the story with even more salacious details. But she wants $1 million. Her attorney is shopping for a deal, and while there are many media outlets interested, there are negotiations going on because the price tag is way too high."

Meanwhile, the Portland Oregonian's editor explains why they didn't print the story when the accuser first contacted her. [More....]

The New York Times reports President Obama has put closing Guantanamo on the back burner due to opposition, and may not make any real effort to close it before his term ends in 2012.

Another example of "change you can believe in"?

Whatever happened to the decision on where to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and the other four detainees the Administration decided to try in federal court until conservatives and New Yorkers objected? Months ago, Attorney General Eric Holder said it was "weeks away." Is that going on the back burner too? Why give them a trial anywhere when you can hold them indefinitely at Gitmo? It's not like anyone cares, right?

Before we get to the preview of the USA's knockout game in the Round of 16 with Ghana, let's take one last moment to savor Landon Donovan's stoppage time goal against Algeria that got the USA through.

Here is a link to the video. And here is a link to Andres Cantor's classic call.

On the flip, a preview of today's 2:30 p.m. game.

The 20th Criminal Court of Lima, in a decision by Judge Wilder Casique Alvizuri, rejected Joran Van der Sloot's habeas petition today. (Miserable google translation is here.)

Another spanish version is here, google translation here. A Dutch article on the ruling is here, translation here.

Joran's lawyer has said if the petition is rejected, he will appeal to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in Costa Rica. Here is the Court's website.

Christopher "Dudus" Coke has waived extradition and arrived in New York to face drug charges.

He was on his way to the U.S. Embassy in Jamaica yesterday, accompanied by a religious leader, Al Miller, when police stopped their car and arrested Dudus.

Dudus issued this statement: [More...]

The government lowered its estimate of 1st quarter GDP growth:

The government lowered its estimate of how much the economy grew in the first quarter of the year, noting that consumers spent less than it previously thought.Gross domestic product rose by an annual rate of 2.7 percent in the January-to-March period, the Commerce Department said Friday. That was less than the 3 percent estimate for the quarter that the government released last month. It was also much slower than the 5.6 percent pace in the previous quarter.

[. . . Going forward . . .] inventory restocking will provide less of a boost to GDP. Another factor inhibiting growth will be a reduction in government spending. The impact of the federal stimulus program is expected to fade toward the end of the year. Economists also warn that state and local governments are likely to rein in spending and raise taxes as they struggle to close budget gaps. That was apparent in the latest GDP estimate, which showed state and local governments reducing their outlays by about 4 percent.

Will we have a second dip? Krugman thinks we will have a lost decade: