The Grammys are live on the East Coast but don't begin here until 7:00 pm, 20 minutes to go. The West Coast doesn't air until an hour after that. I'd say no spoilers, except everything is broadcast all over the internet and Twitter, and being watched on live feeds, so spoilers are fine. If you don't want to know, don't read the comments.

Bruce Springsteen opens with "We Take Care of Our Own." Jennifer Hudson will do a tribute to Whitney Houston. Most of the awards were given out before the show, only 10 awards will be live during tonight's show. Here's the list of nominees with live up-dating of winners. Adele and Taylor Swift and the Foo Fighters were winners this afternoon.

As for the red carpet, the fashion is never as good as it is for the movie awards shows, and always a little bizarre. Here's some that stood out to me below (Photo links will come down at the end of the show, so look now): [More...]

I'm still focused on the Grammy Awards show and Whitney Houston. The latest: Her daughter, 19 year old Bobbi Kristina, has been taken by ambulance from the Beverly Hilton to the hospital, for issues reportedly related to her emotional distraught over her mother's death.

Check out Big Tent Democrat's post at Daily Kos, E.J. Dionne Breaks Faith With Progressive Values.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

The Hutaree Militia members trial begins Monday. They've been picking the jury for weeks. 48 have been approved and Monday morning both sides will exercise their challenges to end up with a jury of 12 and 4 alternates. The defense says their clients were all talk and their speech is protected under the First Amendment. Most of the evidence comes from two informants who infiltrated the group and made secret recordings. The defense says:

"The recordings tendered thus far make it eminently clear that the group's objectives, even in their darkest light, included (1) exercising their First Amendment rights to free speech ... and (2) training to survive and defend themselves and their families in the event of chaos or an invasion by anti-American forces."

[More...]

In the wake of Whitney Houston's death, at Clive Davis'pre-grammy party last night, singer Tony Bennett urged the U.S. to legalize drugs.

"First it was Michael Jackson, then Amy Winehouse, now, the magnificent Whitney Houston," he began. "I'd like every person in this room to campaign to legalize drugs."

"Let's legalize drugs like they did in Amsterdam," he continued. "No one's hiding or sneaking around corners to get it. They go to a doctor to get it."

There's still no indication of cause of death. TMZ has reported she drowned in the bathtub. [More...]

Whitney Houston has died at age 48. She was in Los Angeles for the Grammys, preparing a tribute to Clive Davis. Cause of death is not yet known. Medics tried CPR for 20 minutes this afternoon at the Beverly Hilton Hotel where she was staying, to no avail. The New York Times has more on her life and career.

The Beverly Hills Police gave this interview, saying she was a guest at the hotel, her friends and co-workers were also there and identified her, and there were no obvious signs of criminal intent or drugs but the death is being investigated.

R.I.P. Whitney.

Bruce Springsteen will open the Grammys tomorrow night with "We Take Care Of Our Own", a single from his new album "Wrecking Ball." People are wondering whether it is a patriotic sequel to Born in the USA or a critique of America for failing to live up to its ideals? The song's hook (catchy, repetitive refrain) is:

Wherever this flag's flown
We take care of our own

But the somber visages of the everyday working people in the video and the remainder of the lyrics give the opposite message:

There ain't no help, the Cavalry stayed home
There ain't no one hearing the bugle blowin'
...Where's the work that will set my hands, my soul free
Where's the promise from sea to shining sea
Where's the promise from sea to shining sea

So what gives? Is he being ironic or sarcastic? [More...]

Guatemala's new President, Otto Perez Molina, said today he will propose that Central America legalize drugs at an upcoming meeting of leaders in the region.

"I want to bring this discussion to the table," he said. "It wouldn't be a crime to transport, to move drugs. It would all have to be regulated."

Does he mean it? Or is he only attempting to start a dialogue? A former military general who ran on a law and order platform promising an "iron fist" policy against organized crime, he authorized the army to join the fight against the drug cartels just one day after his inauguration..

In its February newsletter, the New Zealand Police again attempt to justify the raid on the Kim DotCom mansion and takedown of MegaUpload for the FBI. They say the raid was the culmination of several months of planning.

An OFCANZ (Organised & Financial Crime Agency New Zealand)team of five picked up the case last September and worked intently to meet their goal of a mid-January termination... Termination phases were simultaneously carried out in nine countries: New Zealand, Australia, Philippines, Hong Kong, Germany, Canada, Netherlands, United Kingdom and the United States.

...Detective Superintendent Mike Pannett, New Zealand Police Liaison Officer in Washington, monitored termination activities around the world from the FBI’s Multi Agency Command Centre.

[More...]

Not much news today so far.

The southern border fence in Arizona doesn't seem to be working too well. Borderland Beat has a video of some guys using a lift jack to raise the fence off the ground and walk right under it with their duffle bags of (presumably) drugs. How much did we pay for that fence? $3 million per mile.

Federal estimates put the cost of building a mile of solid border fence at $3 million – meaning a border fence running the length of Arizona would cost about $1 billion. But Smith says the state will use inmate labor and donated supplies to cut expenses and meet his initial $50 million budget, though fundraising is expected to continue even after that point if it is reached.

President Obama is ready to send his 2013 budget plan to Congress. It proposes higher taxes on the wealthy, but what will be cut?

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

The Government filed its sentencing statement today in the case of Detroit Underwear Bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab.

Abudulmutallab is set for sentencing Feb. 16. Some of the counts he pleaded guilty to carry a mandatory life sentence. The Government says a life sentence is also warranted because he remains committed to martyrdom. It attached the report of Dr. Simon Perry, a criminologist and professor from Hebrew University in Jerusalem and former Israeli police officer/official (for 30 years) to support its position. Interestingly, Perry never interviewed Abdulmutallab. He's based his opinion on FBI debriefings he was not present at, Umar's statements to the court at sentencing, interviews with various people and his knowledge of terrorism and martyrs. [More...]

The cooperation (called "mutual assistance") between U.S. law enforcement and New Zealand is not just one sided. While New Zealand has been doing the bidding of the FBI in the MegaUplad case, it's been a two way street.

New Zealand has a murder case it's been working on for a while(despite the fact that the suspect was killed by a train hours afters after being released from custodial questioning.) It thought the suspect and the dead man may have shared information with "friends" on Facebook. So it asked the U.S. to file court orders getting access to the Facebook messages of the dead man and "suspects" (plural) and "people of interest" in his death.

"Through the assistance of the American Government we went to Facebook and, through their legal processes, we got access to all the Facebook information – which is what helped us. It was of great assistance."

The U.S. did the same for Microsoft hotmail accounts so New Zealand could track down individuals who had contacted the dead man on internet dating sites. [More...]

CNBC has a slideshow of the 12 best federal prisons to do time, as compiled by Alan Ellis, criminal defense attorney and co-author of the “Federal Prison Guidebook.”

The slideshow takes forever to click through, so I'll just list them, along with any unique features Alan notes. CNBC says the list is not in any particular order. For the uninitiated, FPC means Federal Prison Camp (least restrictive), FCI is Federal Correctional Institution and USP is US Prison (most restrictive, except for SuperMax.) [More...]

Mohammed Zazi, father of Najibullah Zazi, the Colorado resident convicted in New York of planning a subway terror attack, was sentenced to 4 1/2 years in prison today for obstruction of justice (lying to the FBI), conspiring to destroy his son's chemicals, goggles and paper masks (stored at his brother-in-law's house) and visa fraud. The visa fraud pertained to his falsely stating on on a visa application for his nephew that his nephew was his son. (Zazi came to the U.S. in 1990 and in 2007 became a naturalized U.S. Citizen.)

Prosecutors asked for 30 years, seeking to have him sentenced as a terrorist under the Sentencing Guidelines. The probation department agreed and concluded his guidelines were 360 months to life. Zazi asked for probation.

The judge rejected the request to sentence him as a terrorist. While he told Zazi his lies could have cost a lot of lives, he concluded "He wanted to keep his kid out of jail." [More...]

President Obama's announced accommodation" looks ok to me - women get the contraceptive coverage that good science and public policy require. The perceived need to offer a fig leaf to religions (the insurance companies pay) is grating, but the substance is what matters most.

Planned Parenthood and Catholic Health Association both approve. The bishops are formulating what their objections are. Surely having to pay for contraceptive coverage is not the problem.

Appeasing folks who will never support you seems a fool's errand to me, but I can't object in this case as the substance stays intact. As a larger issue of chasing fool's gold, well, my views on that are a matter of record.

Sorry about the dearth of posting. Really busy time for me.

If I can squeeze some time, I'll write about the reported Obama "accommodation" on contraceptives. My Sunday Daily Kos piece will be on the issue.

Open Thread.