The Nightowl Newswrap - a roundup of news you might have missed

One Hensley sister is voting for Obama Not Cindy - the one who only owns one house.

The ACLU is charging the Denver police with violating the Constitutional rights of persons arrested for protesting outside the Democratic convention. Some of the stuff the ACLU alleges the police managed to get away with is unbelievable. I read the article linked and I have to ask...who the fuck takes part in a street protest and is so ignorant of their rights that they don't stifle a laugh and demand their rights when Roscoe P. Coltrain makes an enpty threat? WTF?

You gotta be kidding me...Prosecutors - not defense attorneys, but prosecutors are asking a panel of judges to knock years off of Jack Abramoff's prison sentences. If the judges go along, he could be free in 2011.

Swift-boat funder T. Boone Pickens touts Iran in a commercial for alternative energy. In the 15-second ad entitled "Iran," Pickens breaks a taboo when he says: "Get this one, Iran is changing its cars to run on natural gas and we're not doing a thing here. They're doing this to use less oil and sell it for a $120 a barrel. We can switch our cars to natural gas and stop sending our dollars to foreign countries."


Not just prickly, but downright delusional, too Did you know that Iraq is a "peaceful and stable" country now? That's what John "a noun, a verb and POW" McSame-as-bu$h says. Along with dozens of Iraqis we beg to differ.

Russia gets an international rebuke The six-member Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which in addition to Russia includes China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, failed to throw their support behind Russia's invasion of Georgia and instead took a neutral stance, urging the two nations to resolve their differences peacefully.

Longevity hinges on location "Between countries we have life expectancy differences of more than 40 years. A woman in Botswana can expect to live 43 years, in Japan 86 years." That is just one of the findings of a UN report compiled by the World Health Organization.

Eight killed in bombing of police bus in Pakistan A car bomb planted by Taliban rebels blew up a police bus in northwestern Pakistan today, killing at least eight people, security officials said. The bomb exploded as the police bus was passing it on a crowded bridge in the town of Bannu as the bus traveled from the town’s central police station to the jail to pick up prisoners.

Noted without comment That rally McCain can't get butts in the seats for tomorrow? It is taking place at Nutter Center. Seriously, you can't make this stuff up.

More mercy than they deserve: Two of the worst oppressors during Argentina's military rule - known as the Dirty War - have been sentenced to life imprisonment. Antonio Bussi, 82, and Luciano Benjamin Menendez, 81, were sent to prison for the kidnapping and disappearance of a former senator in April 1976. The two generals were senior members of the military government that ruled the country during the 1970s and 1980s. During that time tens of thousands of people were tortured and killed. It took 32 years to bring those terrorists to the bar of justice.

Detroit's mayor simply has to go: Kwame Kilpatrick has been a master salesman, bargaining to bring improvements to Detroit and to prove to skeptics that the struggling city is worth the investment. But now the two-term mayor could be forced to negotiate a more personal deal, one that exchanges a dimming political future for his freedom. Experts say Kilpatrick has little choice but to work out a plea in two criminal cases before Michigan's governor has the potential of forcing him from office. A formal removal hearing is scheduled to start Sept. 3.

Tough times for Dell: Computer maker Dell Inc. said Thursday its fiscal second-quarter profit fell 17 percent, hurt in part by PC price cuts. Both earnings and margins fell short of Wall Street estimates, and Dell shares plunged. For the three-month period that ended Aug. 1, Dell's earnings dropped to $616 million, or 31 cents per share, from $746 million, or 32 cents per share in the same period last year.

Is the Ukraine next? The British Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, has travelled to Ukraine to discuss what he termed "a coalition against Russian aggression". Meanwhile, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner has warned that Moscow may indeed set its sights on Ukraine - a situation he described as "very dangerous". Ukraine's leadership currently pursues pro-Western policies.