Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me.
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.

125 years ago today the Statue of Liberty opened with that message. Starting today, via Earthcam, you can watch live feeds from the statue with stunning views.

The Statue of Liberty should not be treated as an artifact of the past. But the reality is: We build walls and fences to keep people out and when that doesn't work, we jail them. We deny social benefits to the undocumented, even when they've worked and paid taxes. We conduct raids at businesses and separate families. [More...]

It's the finale of Project Runway. The guest judge is L'Wren Scott (who is also the long-time girlfriend of Mick Jagger.)

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

The defense in the trial of Dr. Conrad Murray called its final witness today, propfol expert Dr. Paul White, who challenges the findings of the state's expert, Dr. Steven Shafer, as to the cause of Michael Jackson's death.

White is not finished testifying, but today he expressed perplexity at the findings by prosecution experts that propofol caused Jackson's death. The defense also called an addiction specialist today who had examined Dermatologist Arnie Klein's treatment records of Jackson. He testified Jackson was dependent on, and possibly withdrawing from from Demerol when he died. (Apparently, Jackson was getting the Demerol to help with pain from Botox and Restalyne.)He said one of the symptoms of Demerol withdrawal is insomnia. Jackson was getting shots of Demerol, and the last one was three days before he died. Murray was not aware Jackson was receiving Demerol. Klein has not been charged with wrong doing. [More..]

A federal judge in the Middle District of North Carolina has denied several of John Edwards' motions to dismiss the criminal charges against him. The motions were argued yesterday and the Judge asked the parties to return this morning. Asked for a statement after the hearing, Edwards said:

"What's important now is that I now get my day in court, after all these years I finally get my day in court," Edwards said. "What I know with complete and absolute certainty is I did not violate any campaign laws."

Some of the motions, according to the Judge, need to be resolved by the Jury. She did express "uncertainty" about whether venue was appropriate for some of the charges and whether legally, John Edwards could aid and abet himself. Edwards had argued that he can't be both a principal and accessory at the same time. Attorney Abbe Lowell said: [More...]

Another first for Colorado: The Medical Marijuana Enforcement Division of the Department of Revenue has issued its first licenses to medical marijuana businesses. 11 businesses received the licenses and 7 have been notified they are next. 467 are in the final application phase.

Colorado is the first state in the nation to license marijuana dispensaries and infused-product businesses.

Medical-marijuana advocates say Colorado's regulations for cannabis businesses are the most comprehensive in the nation, and they credit the rules' thoroughness with shielding the businesses from federal raids.

[More...]

Many thanks to the Fourth Wall and the Young Lawyers Division of the Colorado Bar Association, for hosting an "Atticus Finch Afternoon" today.

It began at 3:15 with a discussion on Race, Justice and Representing the Unpopular Client at Denver's Conservatory Theater at The Newman Center. It ended at 9:30, after we all got to attend the performance of "To Kill a Mockingbird" by the Denver Center Theatre Company. [More...]

It's a snowy, busy day here in Denver.

Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

The Patriot Act was signed into law 10 years ago today by then President George W. Bush. We've written 570 posts on the Patriot Act. The bottom line is it didn't make us safer, only less free.

Check out the ACLU's illustration of the law over the past decade.
And its report on the sections that most need revision.

Marcy at Empty Wheel considers whether the informant in the Iran case could be the informant in the Viktor Bout case, a question I raised last week.

After thinking more about this, I've concluded they aren't the same. Here's why: The testifying informant in the Viktor Bout case goes by the name Carlos Sagastume. He testified he is from Guatemala, is a former military officer turned drug dealer, and when his supplier in Guatemala got busted, Mexican police took him to Mexico, where he was freed after paying a $60,000 "ransom." He says he then contacted the U.S. embassy offering to be an informant for the DEA. The DEA brought him to the U.S. in 1998 and he's been working as a paid informant for them ever since. [More...]

Former Goldman Sachs director Rajat Gupta will surrender to the FBI tomorrow to face criminal charges related to Raj Rajaratnam. The charges are likely to pertain to allegations he gave Raj confidential information about Goldman Sachs, who then traded on the information:

Authorities said Mr. Gupta gave Mr. Rajaratnam advanced word of Warren E. Buffett’s $5 billion investment in Goldman Sachs during the darkest days of the financial crisis in addition to other sensitive information affecting the company’s share price.

Gary Naftalis, Gupta's lawyer, says:

Gupta's lawyer Gary P. Naftalis said Tuesday night that his client and Rajaratnam communicated for "legitimate reasons." He said his client didn't trade in any securities, didn't tip Rajaratnam so he could trade and didn't share in any profits.

[More...]

President Obama and Air Force One just landed in Denver. He'll attend two fundraisers and then speak tomorrow at the Auraria campus. He's just in time for the start of our first major snow storm. 6 to 12 inches will fall between tonight and tomorrow afternoon. It was 80 degrees yesterday.

Steven Tyler fell in the shower in Paraguay and lost two (false) teeth and had to postpone Aerosmith's concert until tomorrow night:

Tyler had been dehydrated and was suffering gastrointestinal problems. A man who identified himself as Gustavo Perez, a bellboy at the Bourbon hotel near Asuncion, told local radio that Tyler slipped when he was taking a shower and "had a nasty fall."

He was hospitalized, had emergency dental surgery and is now back at his hotel. I wonder if he slipped on one of those rubber mats.

The New York Times has a fairly uninformative article in which it refers to the DEA "infiltrating" Mexican drug cartels and using some of them as informants. It mentions the current case involving the Iranian accused of an assassination plot against the Saudi Ambassador and the Chicago federal case of Jesús Vicente Zambada-Niebla, son of Sinaloa co-leader Ismael Zambada-Niebla.

The Zambada-Niebla case is far more interesting. The gist is that Vicente says he was part of an immunity deal that encompassed not only Mexican lawyer/fugitive/indicted defendant Humberto Loya-Castro (Loya), who is an advisor to Chapo Guzman and Ismael Zambada-Niebla, and a participant in Sinaloa activity, but that all of them also had permission to carry on the cartel's drug trafficking activity. He also alleges that the DEA provided the same immunity from capture and prosecution, and permission to carry on Sinaloa business to Chapo Guzman and Ismael Zambada-Niebla, the two leaders of Sinaloa. [More...]

Busy again. Open Thread.

The judges on DWTS sure have had their favorites this year. Their judging has been completely inconsistent. Some who dance poorly get higher scores than deserved for their "effort" while others, also praised for their effort, get low scores.

Carrie Ann Inaba's undeserved high marks to Nancy Grace are a prime example. Could it be her eyesight?

You know, I'm legally blind. I'm 20/750, since I was in fifth grade. I wear glasses and contacts. But I won't even get LASIK."

Maybe she needs to wear those glasses on the show. One thing Grace's Mary Poppins-ish, amateur dance was not, was Inaba said, a "showstopper." The dancing devil has wooden piano legs and as much grace as a bull in a china shop. (pun intended.) [More...]

Supposedly, it was a routine traffic stop on I-94 near Ann Arbor, MI that resulted in the seizure of 228 pounds of cocaine in the back of 87 year old Leon Earl Sharp's pick-up truck. Sharp, who is from Indiana, was released on bond, but not before he told the judge he was worried about having a stroke, someone had stolen his passport and that he had been forced at gunpoint to transport the drugs. For some reason, everyone in the courtroom found this funny:

Someone snickered again. It was contagious, spreading through the gallery. Randon, the judge, tried to stifle a laugh by covering his mouth. Then, he shook his head and smiled.