Burial services for former state Sen. Frank Madla will be at 1pm Friday at Texas State Cemetery. Madla, 69, died in a fire at his San Antonio home over the Thanksgiving weekend. Candles from a holiday display are believed to be the accidental cause of the blaze, which also claimed the lives of Madla’s elderly mother-in-law, Mary Cruz, and 5-year-old granddaughter, Aleena Jimenez. Madla’s wife Helen remains hospitalized with injuries suffered in the early morning fire Nov. 24. A Rosary Mass for the 33-year lawmaker was held this morning (Thursday) in Helotes.

While Rome Burns edition.

How Many Friedmans?

Ne plus ultra blogger Atrios shares his Friedman calendar with us. In Moustache of Understanding parlance, one Friedman is equal to six more months in Iraq to give it “one last push.” Unfortunately, Friedmans have a way of spawning and extending their life span – while doing the opposite for the troops.

Bombings push Iraq closer to abyss:

From Reuters: “Iraq is moving very fast toward the point of no return,” former prime minister Iyad Allawi warned. “The shadow of death and destruction is everywhere. We are all responsible, including me, for this situation.”

Potemkin Village, err, Iraq Study Group debate begins today:

Sez the Times, it urges “direct talks with Iran and Syria but sets no timetables for a military withdrawal.” As long as our leader thinks leaving means losing, well…

On Nov. 21, San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors voted (7-3) to make the majority of adult pot use and possession crimes the lowest priority for city police, reports the Marijuana Policy Project, which will make San Fran the largest city to, in essence, cease arresting pot users. On E-day, voters in three other Cali cities – Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz and Santa Monica – passed similar “lowest priority” initiatives meaning that in total, six California cities (including Oakland and West Hollywood) with a combined population of roughly 1.4 million, have eliminated most criminal penalties associated with adult pot use.

Under San Fran’s new ordinance, policing adult pot crimes will now be considered the lowest priority – excluding pot-related offenses that occur in public, involve minors, a threat of violence, or driving under the influence, reports the MPP. In addition, the ordinance requires that letters be sent to both state and federal elected officials announcing the new ordinance and noting that the city is in favor of taxing and regulating marijuana use by adults.

San Diego, Calif., Superior Court Judge William Nevitt has issued a tentative ruling that rejects a lawsuit brought by San Diego Co. supervisors – joined by officials in San Bernardino and Merced Cos. – arguing that the state’s medi-pot law is trumped by federal anti-pot law, thus exempting county officials from having to comply with the measure.

Contrary to the county officials’ position, Nevitt ruled that the state’s medi-mari law, which legalizes pot use and possession by seriously ill patients, does not run afoul of federal pot prohibition, as codified in the Controlled Substances Act, because the state law (Proposition 215, the Compassionate Use Act, passed in 1996) does not “require” Californians to engage in “conduct that violates federal law,” he wrote. Rather, the CUA declassifies the possession and use of marijuana by qualified medi-pot patients as a crime only under state law – thus barring police action under state law, but leaving open the ability of police to enforce federal pot law. If all the state medi-pot law does “is remove penalties for the medicinal use of marijuana from California’s drug laws,” Nevitt wrote, then “there is no ‘positive conflict’ between federal and ‘State law so that the two cannot consistently stand together,’” as county officials argued.

The child bride known in court records as Jane Doe No. 4, the alleged victim of a "spiritual marriage" arranged and presided over by polygamist prophet Warren Jeffs - leader of the breakaway Mormon sect the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - testified in a Utah court Nov. 22 that her forced marriage in 2001 to her first cousin was the "darkest time in my entire life." Doe's often tearful testimony Tuesday came on the first day of a preliminary hearing in state court that will determine whether the state has sufficient evidence to try 50-year-old Jeffs on charges of rape-as-accomplice for his role in arranging the marriage between Doe, then 14, and her 19-year-old cousin.

Jeffs was arrested this year after being on the lam for well over a year, dodging the Utah accomplice to rape charges, lesser state charges in Arizona also related to arranging polygamist unions, and finally, a federal charge of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution. Jeffs was added to the FBI's Most Wanted list in May and, eventually, had a $100K booty attached to his head. Until his arrest in August by a Nevada state trooper, Jeffs hadn't been seen in public since January 2004, when the prophet was spotted at the gated FLDS compound just outside the West Texas town of Eldorado, consecrating the site where the FLDS' first-ever temple now stands. If convicted of the Utah rape charges, Jeffs, leader of a 10,000-member flock of fundamentalist Mormons, could face up to life in prison.

Twenty-four organizations - an array including Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the National Organization for Women, along with the Union of Concerned Scientists - signed on to a letter sent Nov. 21 to Health and Human Services Secretary Michael O. Leavitt, urging him to reconsider the appointment of pro-life, anti-contraceptive doctor Eric Keroack to be deputy assistant secretary for population affairs, charged with oversight and administration of the nation's family planning program funds.

The federal fam-planning program provides reproductive health care - often the most comprehensive preventative care available to low income, uninsured women - administered with Title X welfare funding, which provides, on average, services to more than 5 million women each year. Instead of appointing a more mainstream health care expert to oversee the 35-plus-year-old program, President George W. Bush last week tapped Keroack - a proponent of abstinence-only education who is the medical director for the group, A Woman's Concern, which operates a handful of crisis pregnancy centers in the Boston area, and which, under Keroack's supervision, do not provide access to, or referrals for women seeking birth control. Indeed, according to AWC, "the crass commercialization and distribution of birth control is demeaning to women, degrading of human sexuality, and adverse to human health and happiness," reads the group's policy on birth control. "AWC also accepts evidence demonstrating that distribution of birth control, especially among adolescents, actually increases…out-of-wedlock pregnancy and abortion." Better than birth control, according to AWC, is the pursuit "sexual purity" - or, in AWC speak, "attaining self-mastery through sexual self-restraint."

Pappy Bush Jeered in Emirates:

Speaking at a leadership conference in the UAE, the crowd mixed it up with 41 over his son's blunders.

"We do honor Americans, and I believe that they are highly respected in our country. However, we do not respect your son, and we do not respect what you are doing all over the world," college student Nevine Al Rumeisi told the former President...

Her comment was roundly cheered by the business and political leaders gathered in once pro-American Abu Dhabi.

The elder Bush just looked stunned.

His speech had stressed how proud he is of both his sons, the President and Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, and how much it hurt him when they are criticized.

"It takes a lot of guts to tell a father what you said about his son when I just told you that the thing that matters to my heart is my family," he said."

He might want to stress the importance of family to these folks.

Houston Janitors Successfully Organize:

National blog Firedoglake has a good overview of the successful post-strike unionization of Houston janitors.

Mean Jean Schmidt Keeps Eye on Ball:

"Cowards cut and run," but Schmidt slithered back into her Ohio seat.

Quorum Report says that the runoff in the Congressional District 23 special election has been set for Dec. 12, with early voting beginning Dec. 4. (We have yet to confirm this info ourselves – no information could be found on the Secretary of State Web site as of this writing.) The CD 23 race offers a chance for the Democrats to add yet another seat to their new Congressional majority, but Texas Monthly's Paul Burka casts doubt on whether Ciro Rodriguez is up to the task, reporting that Rodriguez is a bit out of touch with reality – Rodriguez seems to think that he can knock off incumbent Republican Henry Bonilla without raising serious cash and without accepting help from the national or state parties. It will be a shame if Rodriguez's naivete/idealism blows this opportunity, because the first round of the special election on Nov. 7 indicated he should have a real chance in this district that runs from San Antonio almost to El Paso: Bonilla took 48.6% of the vote, while Rodriguez and the other five Democrats in the race combined for 48.7%. Given that Rodriguez got into the runoff with only 19.87%, he should realize what an uphill struggle he faces to convince all those other voters that he is the right Dem to represent the district.