Physicist Stephen Hawkings has died. He was 76.

A former sheriff's deputy named Michael Hari who put in a bid to build Trump's border wall has been arrested on arson and illegal possession of firearms charges in relation to in a mosque bombing of in MN and an attempted bombing of a women's health clinic that provided abortions in Illinois.

The FBI alleges in the affidavit to the Complaint:

[Informants told the FBI] Hari said he would pay McWhorter and Morris $18,000 for their participation in the mosque bombing, according to the FBI affidavit. All three men allegedly drove up to Minnesota in a rented truck for the attack.

As to the mosque: m[More...]

Trump is considering the death penalty for drug dealers. Newt Gingrich once tried that.

Our last open thread is full, here is a new one.
All topics welcome.

Italy is holding elections today. I wonder who is paying for Steve Bannon to be there?

Donald Trump is running for President again in 2020. Jared made a big announcement that Brad Parscale, the former website builder turned digital strategist and Facebook ad expert who unearthed Trump's underinformed, margainalized rural voters, will chair the re-election committee. The Trump campaign's digital marketing effort is still being investigated by Mueller and congressional committees. Parscale was tapped by Kushner for his role in the 2016 campaign. Now, he's brought Lara Trump on board for the 2020 campaign.

Homeowners at a Trump-managed hotel/condo in Panama City are fighting to get him out, claiming the Trump Org. has mismanaged the property and driven down occupancy rates and the value of their units.

I still like this article on the buyers who got nothing from a planned Trump Org. hotel in Baja, that never got built. People bought in because they believed he was developing the project. Ivanka Trump refuted that Trump Org. claimed to develop the property as opposed to just licensing its name, and said the Trump Org. was also a victim. I think the buyer's quoted in the article are more convincing.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome. Vent at your own pace. I'll put up another one in a few hours for the Oscars.

Yes, I know that I have been absent from blogging for a week, with no open threads. I have no excuse besides work -- I was so inundated that I felt like if I even took a minute out to check on TalkLeft, it would turn into hours (as it so often does) and I'd fall hopelessly behind.

The deluge of deadlines ended today. That doesn't mean I'm in the clear, and can return to hours of reading news every night. But it does mean I won't be gone for days at a time.

For those of you that are still reading, I hope that's good news. I have caught up with events on all things Russia-related, and I did finally dump my new Android phone and switch back to an iPhone (I got the iphone X and and feel like I'm in back in control of my life, I will never understand why anyone chooses anything other than an iPhone )so all is good.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

I'm filming today and will be home late tomorrow night. The East coast weather sure is humid. No, I'm not in a fancy place like NY or Miami. I'll give details later, assuming I don't end up on the cutting room floor.

Here's a new open thread, all topics welcome.

It's a travel day for me, I'll be back Thursday.
Sorry for all the open threads, but it's all I have time for. I sure hope things settle down when I get back.

Again, open thread, all topics welcome.

Our last open thread is full. Here's a new one, all topics welcome.

My blogging hiatus is just about over. Now that my court schedule has returned to normal, it will just take me a few days to get my life back on track (groceries, laundry, bills paid, catch up on TV I've missed, and my Peloton, and maybe watch some Olympics, and then I'll resume a regular blogging schedule.

What's the biggest story I missed this week?

On another note, I'm done with this Android phone thing and going back to an iPhone as soon as I can, like today or tomorrow. I never adjusted to the difference and I just don't like the way it operates.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

Sorry for the lack of posting, but I'm in the middle of a two day sentencing hearing (which I worked on all weekend.) I won't be done until 5 pm tomorrow. Assuming I'm not totally exhausted, I will check the news then.

In the meantime, here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

You can read the Nunes memo here.

I'm swamped at work. Here's a new open thread, all topics welcome.

I'm trying to get some work done this weekend as I recuperate. I've been reading the news about every other day. For TV, I've watched only the Aspen X Games. The Women's Snowboard Super Pipe last night was terrific, one great performance after another. Here is Chloe Kim who won the gold. Arielle Gold's Silver run is here. Maddie Mastro got the Bronze. Women's Big Ski Air is on today at noon, MT.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

I'm not having much fun with Pneumonia. Last week I spent five days in the hospital (Monday until Friday) getting fluids administered intravenously. The antibiotics were brutal. They did the job, I'm pneumonia free, but they wiped me out. I also didn't have a computer with me, so I couldn't blog (or work.)

I've got a lot of work to catch up on, so this will probably be a week of open threads. Hopefully, I'll get things back to normal in the next week or two.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

My final two briefs are due today. Here's a new open thread, all topics welcome.