In the news this morning:

• Patrick Kennedy returns to rehab
• Madonna wins her adoption fight in the Malawi Supreme Court
• Chasity Bono is undergoing a sex change operation to become a man. According to TMZ, once her breasts are removed, she can petition the court to legally change her sex. At that point, she is a "he" and can legally marry. How awful, that a person must undergo radical surgery to be able to marry his or her partner of choice.

  At a point during the gender change -- typically when breasts are removed -- the subject can go to court and ask a judge to legally change his/her sex. It's discretionary on the part of the judge in determining when the person switches sex and is entitled to a legal change, but typically it's when the breasts are removed. Judges typically do not require a genitalia switch as a prerequisite to a sex change.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

What are you doing or thinking about tonight? Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

BTD is out of town for a few days. The TL Kid and I are about to grill some steaks. I'll be back here later tonight.

In the meantime, check out Nanci Griffith's new album. Howie Klein at Huffington Post has the details and notes her performance at the Grammy Museum in LA this week, which is part of a new program called "The Drop." She got a five minute standing ovation.

Her album is a must-have, as he explains here.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

I'm at the airport on my way out of town. I think J and TChris will be around.

This is an Open Thread.

Tiger shoots a final round 65 to win the Memorial. The Yanks rallied to beat the Rays. Federer ties Sampras with his 14th Grand Slam - winning at Roland Garros. Game 2 of the NBA Finals are tonight. Will Van Gundy mess up the Magic again?

This is an Open Thread.

If you are not watching Roger Federer at Roland Garros, you surely will be watching Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's appearance on ABC's This Week, where she will be interviewed by George Steph.

This is an Open Thread.

Post Script - a blogger was outed yesterday (his real identity was revealed.) I wish we could all hold to an ethic that would not allow such a thing to happen, but obviously that is not the case. There appears not to be a consensus on this issue. - Speaking for me only

It's a night fever night fever . . .

Not liking 1970s Travolta? An alternative on the flip.

Enjoy the weekend. This is an Open Thread.

Here is the President's weekly address:

The eagle flies on a Friday - or so BB King sang, but I'm feeling Kind of Blue:

But So what? It's your turn. This is an Open Thread.

Post Script - I would write something about the National Review cover of Sotomayor as . . . well I really do not know what the hell it is supposed to be representing, but it is so stupidly incoherent that I do not know what to say other than what everybody already knows - Rich Lowry is an idiot.

As regular readers know, I am a strong advocate of Jack Balkin's theories of constitutional interpretation. Here he writes on the related idea of judicial activism. Well worth the read. See also Heather Gerken's response. I think Gerken's piece gets to it a bit better frankly. Both worth reading.

Here's a video:

This is an Open Thread.

I'm off to Aspen for the 2009 NORML Legal Seminar (that's me giving my talk in 2006.) Sad to say, not too much has changed since then, but at least some changes to our country's draconian drug laws are in the works. My topic this year: "High Hopes and Modest Expectations: Drug Law Reform under President Obama and a Democratic Congress." [More...]

NBA Finals start tonight. Here's a video:

This is an Open Thread.