USA Today, via AP, reported on the military's announcement that the four recent U.S. helicopter crashes in Iraq were brought down by gunfire:

BAGHDAD (AP) - All four U.S. helicopters which have crashed in Iraq since Jan. 20 appear to have been brought down by "some kind" of ground fire but it is unclear whether this represents any new threat to U. ( Read more... )

From what is currently posted to the Houston Chronicle online front page:

Houston among cities targeted for crime study
The government selected 18 cities and sprawling suburban regions today -- including Houston -- to study for clues on why homicides and other violent crimes are on the rise nationally.
Economy, i.e., poor people becoming more ( Read more... )

An excerpt of my ballot:

District Judge‎, ‎257‎th Judicial District ( Read more... )

The Austin American Statesman series on state habeas practice in Texas:

Main page:
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/interactive/10/102906_habeas.html

Texas is going to kill a man tomorrow. That man's kids spent halloween day talking to him today through glass.

My external hard drive has begun humming and is hot to the touch. Does this mean failure is imminent? (I've had it for well over a year now, and I don't remember it ever humming before. As far as heat, I don't recall ever checking it.)

I call this one depression.

( photography )

"We're going to build a trench around Baghdad so we can control the exits and entrances so people will be searched properly." -- BRIG. GEN. ABDUL KARIM KHALAF, a spokesman for the Iraqi Defense Ministry ( Read more... )

This news won't reach most people, but it should. Justin Fuller, a Texas death row inmate, was executed last week. He had a court-appointed lawyer represent him in his state habeas corpus proceedings. Habeas corpus is the mechanism by which one challenges the legality of their confinement or sentence and involves, generally, making challenges to ( Read more... )

Ann Althouse, a conservative law professor from the University of Wisconsin, had an opinion piece published in the New York Times this morning complaining about Judge Anna Diggs Taylor and her opinion finding Bush's warrantless domestic spying program illegal.

So often, we’ve heard complaints about “activist” judges. They’re suspected of deciding ( Read more... )