Huffington Post is expanding to several cities to focus on local news. Denver is one of the cities. The Washington Post reports that Ethan Axelrod, the 22 year old son of Obama advisor David Axlerod, will be running the Denver edition. David Axlerod was a reporter for the Chicago Tribune before beoming a political advisor.

The younger Axelrod started yesterday as editor of the Huffington Post's new local edition in Denver, the third of a dozen planned sites that have already launched in New York and Chicago and will next target Los Angeles. He applied for the job, was interviewed by Arianna Huffington along with other candidates, and was tapped after submitting a mockup of the Denver home page. The site goes live in September.

Welcome to Denver, Ethan. I think it's great we'll be getting a new quality news site, especially now that we're down to one local paper.

Very ugly reports are coming out about the treatment of detainees in Iran after the election.

Some prisoners say they watched fellow detainees being beaten to death by guards, in overcrowded, stinking holding pens. Others said they had their fingernails ripped off, or were forced to lick filthy toilet bowls.

....More bruised corpses have been returned to families in recent days, and some hospital officials told human rights workers they have seen evidence that well over 100 protesters have been killed since the elections.

The article contains links to the sites where you can read the personal stories. The Times says some of the sites have been reliable in the past.

The Gates arrest and its aftermath proves that the discussion of race and its impact on life in the United States continues to stir emotion. The discussion is nonetheless important. It's too easy for members of one racial or ethnic group to ignore or remain ignorant of the perceptions commonly held by members of other races and ethnicities.

Too rarely does the discussion include the nation's indigenous peoples. Brenda Golden provides this brief account of the injustices Native Americans have endured from the days of conquest to the present. She reminds us that the native leaders who resisted conquest or mistreatment "were branded an enemy and thrown in prison if not killed in battle."

Many of these leaders were imprisoned for long periods of time; Geronimo died a prisoner of the US at Fort Sill, Oklahoma on February 17, 1909.

This reminder is particularly timely given that Leonard Peltier's "first full parole hearing in 15 years" was held today. The results should be known in about three weeks. [more ... including a new addendum to the original post]

Scott Roeder, accused of murdering Kansas abortion doctor George Tiller, has entered pleas of not guilty following a preliminary hearing today.

The New York Times has more details of the witness testimony at the hearing.

Only one Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee voted in favor of Judge Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court. It was Sen. Lindsay Graham. The final vote was 13 to 6.

Judge Sotomayor will undoubtedly be confirmed when the full Senate votes.

Heeding Pat Buchanan's advice, the Republican Party is just saying No to Latinos, be they Sonia Sotomayor, the first Latina nominee for the Supreme Court, or La Raza:

The National Council of La Raza (NCLR), the nation’s largest Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization, has been holding its annual conference over the past few days in Chicago. Speakers have included Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett, CNN’s Soledad O’Brien, Rep. Luis Guitierrez (D-IL), and others.

Republicans are conspicuously absent from the line-up. Greg Sargent spoke with NCLR spokesperson Marie Watteau, who said that it wasn’t for lack of trying. In fact, the group invited RNC chairman Michael Steele, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, and Puerto Rico Gov. Luis Fortuno, but they all “declined the invitations through the RNC.”

Excellent.

Speaking for me only

Via Rolling Stone: Phil Spector ended up at Cocaran, in its Substance Abuse and Treatment Facility. Charles Manson is at the prison in Cocaran.

Apparently the proximity generated a creative spark: According to the New York Post’s Page Six, Manson reached out to the “Wall of Sound” producer seeking a behind-bars musical meet-up.

“A guard brought Philip a note from Manson, who said he wanted him to come over to his [lockup]. He said he considers Philip the greatest producer who ever lived,” Spector’s wife Rachelle — a colorful personality who often bickered with the judge during Phil’s murder trials — told Page Six. “It was creepy. Philip didn’t respond.” [More...]

The DEA searched the Las Vegas medical office and home of Michael Jackson physician Dr. Conrad Murray today.

"We are looking for documents" related to the death of Michael Jackson, said Michael Flanagan, assistant special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration office in Las Vegas.

Last week they searched his office and storage locker in Houston: [More...]

via John Cole, this is funny. YouTube clip is dead - try here.

The 911 caller who reported two men possibly breaking into the home of black Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. did not describe their race, acknowledged they might just be having a hard time with the door and said she saw two suitcases on the porch. . . . The officer who arrested Gates, Sgt. James Crowley, said in his police report that he talked to Whalen soon after he arrived at Gates' home. "She went on to tell me that she observed what appeared to be two black males with backpacks on the porch," Crowley, who's white, wrote in his report.

Whalen's attorney, Wendy Murphy, said her client never mentioned the men's race to Crowley and is upset by news reports she believes have unfairly depicted her as a racist.

Perhaps someone can ask Officer Crowley about that.

Speaking for me only

Judge Sonia Sotomayor's nomination for the Supreme Court will be approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee today. Only 1 Republican, Lindsay Graham, will vote in favor of confirmation. Republican senators Lugar, Snowe, Collins and Martinez have also announced their support for Sotomayor. I hope and predict there will be no other Republican votes for her. For two reasons - first, because it will firm up the new view that I have championed that the President is not due deference in his judicial appointments; and second, Latino support for Republicans will grow even smaller.

This is an Open Thread.

The tapes from Gates-gate are out (Transcripts here.) The 911 call makes Lucia Whalen, the person who called in, look good - she says she does not know what is going on. Does not mention "black men." In fact she said that they looked "kind of hispanic." The 911 dispatcher seems brusque.

The dispatch is pretty fuzzy too. Then Crowley seems to answer. Then a call in that "the gentleman says he resides here but it uncooperative." Then a call in to Harvard police. Then Gates is mentioned by name. Clearly he gave his name and identification to Crowley.

Then a call for "the wagon" to the location. This certainly is not helpful to Crowley's account. Update - for those who argue that Crowley's assertion in his police report that he spoke to Whalen at the scene may explain his reference to "two black men with backpacks" is belied by the fact that Whalen's attorney said "[Whalen n]ever once in any of her statements, conversations, and so forth did she ever use the word black. . . . But more importantly, when Sergeant Crowley got there, she didn’t have a conversation with him at all."

Speaking for me only

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