Amnesty International will be bringing its Experience Guantanamo Cell Tours to Denver for the Convention.

Visit a Replica of a Guantanamo Prison Cell in Denver, Aug 24 - 26, to coincide with the Democratic National Convention

Urge the U.S. government to do the right thing: stop torture, charge detainees and give them fair trials or release them, and close Guantánamo.

Where: City of Cuernavaca Park, 20th street and Little Raven (across from the skate park); Denver, CO

More about the cell tours here. You can also volunteer.[More...]

Via the Denver Post, Hillary Clinton supporters will have two days of events celebrating her achievements.

• Aug. 25: Clinton supporters will gather at Confluence Park
• August 26: The Clinton parade march from 11:45 to 12:30pm, along the convention center parade route.
• August 26: Afternoon and evening: Cheeseman Park

The organizers stress the events are intended to promote party unity. Also,

..... the events are meant to be positive, to acknowledge Clinton's achievements and to celebrate women's suffrage.

Statement from the Obama and Clinton Press Offices August 14, 2008

Since June, Senators Obama and Clinton have been working together to ensure a Democratic victory this November. They are both committed to winning back the White House and to to ensuring that the voices of all 35 million people who participated in this historic primary election are respected and heard in Denver. To honor and celebrate these voices and votes, both Senator Obama's and Senator Clinton's names will be placed in nomination.

Denver police officials have released more details on the warehouse detention facility that has been built to hold arrestees should there be mass protester arrests at the Democratic convention.

The arrest-processing center will operate from Aug. 24 to 31 and will be able to detain up to 400 people for short periods of time. The facility also will be able to process about 60 prisoners an hour.

It is expected that those arrested will only be held there for a few hours before being bused to their next stop: the courthouse.

There are a few wrinkles with this plan protesters should be forewarned about. [More...]

Ticket notification begins today for those who applied for "community credentials" to attend Sen. Barack Obama's acceptance speech Thursday night at Invesco Field.

Details for picking up your tickets are here.

If you offered to volunteer for the campaign and already put in your hours, you're a shoo-in:

Obama supporters who agreed to volunteer for the candidate when they signed up for credentials — and actually fulfilled their promises — can rest easier, knowing they are set to receive "all-star volunteer seats" closer than other spectators, the campaign announced Wednesday.

As to those who signed up online without clicking the volunteer box, it's first-come, first-serve. More than 80,000 applied for 30,000 slots.

First came the news came that Hillary Clinton would speak at the Democratic Convention Tuesday night. Yesterday came the news that the keynote speech, to be given by former VA. Governor Mark Warner, would also be Tuesday.

Now there's this: the Tuesday lineup will also include Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius, Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano, Governors Ted Strickland of Ohio and Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania, Senator Bob Casey, Jr. of Pennsylvania and Governor Deval Patrick of Massachusetts, Governor Brian Schweitzer of Montana and Federico Peña, former Mayor of Denver and Secretary of both Energy and Transportation.

That's 10 speakers for Tuesday night. By contrast, Monday night, there are 5 speakers, 3 of whom are Michelle Obama, her brother and Barack Obama's sister.[More...]

Welcome to Gitmo of the Rockies, or as Denver locals are calling it, Gitmo on the Platte (for the nearby Platte River.)

Denver's CBS4 News reporter Rick Salinger scores an exclusive on Denver's plans for arrested protesters in the event of mass arrests -- as proof, he and his camera people got inside and shot this video before being asked to leave.

The facility is a city owned warehouse.

Inside are dozens are metal cages. They are made out of chain link fence material and topped by rolls of barbed wire.

"This is a secured environment," Capt. Frank Gale of the Denver Sheriff's Department told CBS4. "We're concerned about how that's going to be utilized by people who will be potentially disruptive."

More....

Sen. Hillary Clinton will be one of four speakers on Tuesday night at the Democratic National Convention.

The convention keynote speaker, who will also be speaking Tuesday, has just been announced. It's former Governor Mark Warner.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, Obama's rival during the Democratic presidential primaries, is also scheduled to speak that night, Aug. 26. But Warner is being given the plum position, according to an e-mail that Obama campaign adviser Mike Henry sent to Virginia supporters late Tuesday.

Other newly announced speakers: Michelle Obama's brother will introduce her on Monday night. Nancy Pelosi, Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper and Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill, will also speak Monday.

Each night has a theme: [More...]

I get e-mails and press releases daily from protest groups asking me to "come to Denver" and join them. Here's the platform of one of them (I'll tell you which one at the end):

If you think no government should be allowed to do what the Bush regime has done the past 7 years, come to Denver and join others building a movement to that end.

If you are sickened by your government waging an endless, illegitimate, immoral war and occupation in Iraq, with ominous and immediate threats on Iran, and you demand U.S. aggression in the Middle East stop now, come to Denver and say it loudly!

More...

The Democratic National Convention Committee today released the final keynote speaker's list for the four nights of the convention:

Monday: Michelle Obama
Tuesday: Hillary Clinton
Wednesday: the Vice Presidential Candidate
Thursday: Barack Obama

Former President Bill Clinton will also speak on Wednesday night.

The Democratic Party Platform Committee agreed on a platform for the Convention. It comes closer to Hillary Clinton's view of health insurance than Sen. Barack Obama's but it does not mandate insurance coverage at government expense. The final version reads:

All Americans should have coverage they can afford; employers should have incentives to provide coverage to their workers; insurers and providers should ensure high quality affordable care; and the government should ensure that health insurance is affordable and provides meaningful coverage. As affordable coverage is made available, individuals should purchase health insurance and take steps to lead healthy lives.

On criminal justice, it's a bit disappointing. While it stresses prevention and drug treatment, including more drug courts, there's a lot of emphasis on more cops and nothing criticizing mandatory minimum sentences. See pages 48 and 49 (pdf).

[More...]

The Denver Post interviewed Hillary supporters on why they believe it's so important to be able to vote for Hillary at the convention. It's not that they are in denial. It's that they want their voices heard. [More...]