IN THE MAIL: Sin in the Second City. A story of rampant debauchery among the Chicago elite.

NEW DECISION: Supreme Court Lets Guantanamo Prisoners Challenge Detention in U.S. Courts. More at Scotusblog.

UPDATE: More, including a quick summary, from Jonathan Adler: “As I (super-quickly) skim Justice Kennedy’s opinion for the Court, it appears to hold that Guantanamo detainees have habeas rights, that these rights can only be denied through a valid suspension of habeas rights (under the Suspension Clause of the Constitution), that the procedures created by the Detainee Treatment Act were not an adequate substitute for habeas, and therefore Section 7 of the Military Commission Act is an unconstitutional suspension of the detainees’ habeas rights.”

ANOTHER UPDATE: Further thoughts from Professor Bainbridge, including this: “One legal issue that I have not seen adequately dealt with is why the jurisdiction-stripping provisions of the relevant statutes do not have the effect of foreclosing these sort of law suits.” A cynical answer is that with a Democratic Congress, they know there will be no consequences.

MORE: Big roundup from Hot Air. And Bruce Kesler calls it a victory of lawfare.

FLDS: The other polygamous religion of peace: “The home of the San Angelo judge who ordered the removal of 440 children from a polygamist ranch is under guard after Utah and Arizona authorities warned of ‘enforcers’ from the sect, a newspaper reported Wednesday.” Of course, it does appear that the authorities are far more solicitous of religous freedom on the part of people they’re afraid of, so this might be a rational response.

UPDATE: Reader Chuck Herrick emails:

Please note that this may very well be entirely histrionics on the part of the judge and the law enforcement agencies in San Angelo in an attempt to deflect attention from the grotesque abuse of justice perpetrated by these authorities in Texas.

I know you’ve been following this incident somewhat so I won’t belabor the obvious, but Texas CPS (Child Protective Services), the state and regional law enforcement agencies and the judge have behaved incredibly poorly. This has done much to further damage the reputation of an already desperate CPS. In short, the raid was an outrage and the Texas appeal courts, including the Texas Supreme Court have been having none of it.

These people are scoundrels. I don’t put it past them to self-generate these kind of scare publicity. Anything to distract, as it were.

Sad to think that this might be the case.

SPACE ADVENTURES CHARTERS ENTIRE RUSSIAN SPACECRAFT: Space Tourism really does seem to be, er, taking off.

PHOTO-WEATHERBLOGGING, from Brendan Loy.

DEFENDING ASHLEY DUPRE’S latin grammar.

JOHN TIERNEY: When do post-humans show up? Including thoughts from Ray Kurzweil and Vernor Vinge.

WALL STREET JOURNAL:

Anyone wondering why U.S. energy policy is so dysfunctional need only review Congress’s recent antics. Members have debated ideas ranging from suing OPEC to the Senate’s carbon tax-and-regulation monstrosity, to a windfall profits tax on oil companies, to new punishments for “price gouging” – everything except expanding domestic energy supplies.

Amid $135 oil, it ought to be an easy, bipartisan victory to lift the political restrictions on energy exploration and production. Record-high fuel costs are hitting consumers and business like a huge tax increase. Yet the U.S. remains one of the only countries in the world that chooses as a matter of policy to lock up its natural resources. The Chinese think we’re insane and self-destructive, while the Saudis laugh all the way to the bank.

Indeed. Plus this: “At present, it is charitable to call Mr. McCain’s energy ideas incoherent, and it may cost him the election.”

OBAMA AND GUN OWNERS: Reader Shawn Snyder sends this:

This photo is of the outside of The Gun Store Las Vegas. The good news is that gun owners aren’t buying into any of the “sensible gun control” nonsense anymore. The bad news is, there is probably very little incentive for Obama to go duck hunting to shore up support from sportsmen, and we’ll miss out on all of the great photos of the Senator in blaze orange.

Well, darn.

COVERING THE BILDERBERG CONSPIRACY . . . at Slate?

MICKEY KAUS: “If Johnson is so honorable, shouldn’t he have vetted himself? Obama has now pulled off the Johnson Band-Aid, but not before Johnson cost him a few days of bad news and tarnished his image. And not before other juicy Johnson stories came out.”

MEGAN MCARDLE: “‘Is it just me,’ asks my friend, ‘or is Dow Jones advertising for someone whose job will be to steal blog posts?’ Quick answer: yes. Only please to call it ‘research’.”

DON SURBER: Republican Sen. John McCain needs a better speechwriter. Working on his delivery wouldn’t hurt, either.

DIRT-CHEAP HD video recording.

AT REASON: Is Obama tacking too far to the left on the economy?

A REPORT ON THE NEW VTOL Joint Strike Fighter.

A FOOL’S ERRAND: Trying to make sense of Madeleine Albright’s foreign policy principles.

DOG BITES MAN: “Even Juan Cole (Juan Cole!) says Kerry has no idea what he’s talking about.”

And a common Kerry epitaph: “It’s a not a hugely significant error, of course, except perhaps in the context of a deliberate display of erudition.” Ah, doesn’t that bring back memories . . . .

THE UPDSIDE OF ALZHEIMER’S: She was 82. He was 95. They had dementia. They fell in love. And then they started having sex. On the other hand, if it weren’t for the dementia he might have told his son to butt out, which would have been appropriate, I think. What was he worried about, an unplanned pregnancy? Nope: “Dorothy’s son-in-law, who is a doctor, suspects Bob’s son of fearing for his inheritance.”

BILL ROGGIO: “Iraqi police have captured three Iranian-backed Special Groups operatives behind the kidnapping and murder of five US soldiers at the Karbala Provincial Joint Coordination Center in January 2007. Meanwhile, US troops captured another Special Groups leader in the Al Kut region.”

Related item here: “The United States is seeing a sharp drop in the number of foreigners entering Iraq to become al Qaeda suicide bombers, according to intelligence and Bush administration sources. An administration official and a military adviser to Iraqi commanders attribute the decline to a fairly new phenomenon: Al Qaeda’s call for mass killings in the name of Islam is losing some of its appeal with young Arabs in North Africa and Saudi Arabia.”

KATIE COURIC: “However you feel about her politics, I feel that Sen. Clinton received some of the most unfair, hostile coverage I’ve ever seen.”

THIS IS GOOD NEWS: Life Expectancy Reaches New Record.

Plus, this: “Life expectancy in 2006 is about four months longer than it was in 2005, according to the CDC.” At this rate, Aubrey de Grey’s actuarial “escape velocity” for life extension may start looking more plausible . . . (Via Don Surber).

STEPHEN GREEN: “It’s far more likely that Rep. Dennis Kucinich will see another UFO than see his new impeachment effort succeed.”

THE FUSION REACTOR OF THE FUTURE? I’d rather see a fusion reactor of the present.