Trump finally takes the stage, 40 minutes late. Christie opens for him, saying nothing of import. Trump begins with it's so good to be at Mar a Lago again. He congratulates Ted Cruz for Texas (but doesn't mention Oklahoma, which was also called for Cruz before he took the stage.) He says it was a tough night for Rubio. Trump says he will spend a lot of time in Florida, and reminds us how many employees he has there. He goes into Henny Penny mode, America is falling apart. (Christie, now standing behind him, grins like a little kid when Trump mentions his name three times. He looked genuinely happy for five seconds.) [More...]

Final Update 10:00 pm: Fox calls Vermont for Donald Trump. Kasich was two points behind. Why is this the final update? Results are apparently over. Even Fox just switched from analysts to clueless pundits.

Update: 9:30 pm: Hillary wins Massachusetts. Bernie wins Minnesota. Trump won MA on the Republican side, with Rubio coming in a pretty close second. Alaska's polls close in 30 minutes. Vermont is still too close to call, but with 80% of the vote in, Trump is now ahead of Kasich by 2 points.

Fox says Rubio fell short of Cruz in the delegate count tonight. Rubio got shut out of delegates in Texas and Alabama because he didn't get 20% of the vote. But, Rubio got only one delegate less than Trump in Virginia. Fox's number cruncher (think John King on CNN) takes a looks forward to the next two weeks. Florida is 99 delegates, winner take all. Ohio has 66 delegates. Kasich is a threat there. He won 86 of 88 counties in his last election. He won in Ohio's heavily Democratic counties.

Update 9:00 pm: Bernie Sanders wins Colorado, where he spent over a million dollars on ads. He's well ahead of Hillary in Minnesota. Marco Rubio wins Minnesota -- his first victory. Cruz came in second, and Trump third. [More...]

Here's a thread for all topics related to Super Tuesday.

The Republican party is imploding at the realization that it's been hijacked by Donald Trump. So many news articles are leading with the question of whether it's too late to stop him, or how he has turned the presidential primaries into a reality show, and how debased the conversation has become, as he's managed to drag his opponents with him into the mud. Others are questioning whether Republican legislators will be able to back him or work with him.

I'm not sure it matters whether Trump is the ultimate nominee. It seems like he's already shot the party through its heart. [More...]

Justice Clarence Thomas asked questions of a government lawyer during oral arguments yesterday. It was the first time in 10 years he's asked a question. What was the case? A gun rights case.

"Ms. Eisenstein, one question," Thomas said. "This is a misdemeanor violation. It suspends a constitutional right. Can you give me another area where a misdemeanor violation suspends a constitutional right?"

What misdemeanor is that? The federal law that prohibits someone convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence in state court from owning a firearm.The case is Voisine v. United States.

A new season of The Voice begins. The Bachelor is close to wrapping up. James Corden should have some funny commentary on the Oscars tonight.

In more important news, U.S. Magistrate Judge James Orenstein ruled Apple does not have to decrypt an iPhone (not really a surprise.) [More...]

For those not watching the Oscars, or tuning in afterwards, here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

(If you're not into the Oscars, Season 2 of La Viuda Negra (about Griselda Blanco) begins tonight on Unimas, with English subtitles. A 2 hour recap of the first season is starting right now.)

Final Update: Here is a transcript of Chris Rock's opening monologue.

The Oscars are about to begin. Who looked great on the Red Carpet? Lady Gaga and Charlize Theron are getting lots of press. I agree, they both looked terrific.

Will Leonard DiCaprio take home Best Actor?

I haven't seen most of the films, but that won't stop me from commenting on the show.

This is a thread for all things Oscar and movie related. Updates below: [More...]

Hillary Clinton won South Carolina in a landslide. She did especially well among African Americans.

About 6 in 10 voters in South Carolina's Democratic primary were black, by far the largest proportion of African-Americans in any of the contests so far. And nearly 9 in 10 black voters supported Clinton.

As one African-American voter told the L.A. Times, "It's Hillary's turn now."[More...]

Last week it was former Mexican President Vicente Fox who said he wasn't to pay for Trump's F*cking Border Wall." Today it was former Mexican President Felipe Calderon complaining about Trump and his "white supremacism."

Trump’s political rhetoric was “racist” and evocative of the Nazi dictator.

“This logic of praising the white supremacy is not just anti-immigration,” Calderon said. “He is acting and speaking out against immigrants that have a different skin color than he does, it is frankly racist and [he is] exploiting feelings like Hitler did in his time,” Calderon said.

[More...]

It's not easy to find a list of the Oscar nominees in text format -- who wants to watch a video to see the list of nominees, or view a list in photospread format? Not me. I want text. I know how to read. Whoever designed this year's Oscars site should be fired. It's horrible. Here's a list of the nominees in the major categories.

Best Picture

• The Big Short
• Bridge of Spies
• Brooklyn
• Mad Max: Fury Road
• The Martian
• The Revenant
• Room
• Spotlight

Best Actor

• Bryan Cranston, Trumbo
• Matt Damon, The Martian
• Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant
• Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs
• Eddie Redmayne, The Danish Girl

[More...]

Shepherds and Butchers premiered this month at the Berlin Film Festival. It's about the death penalty in South Africa, and the country's notorious Pretoria Prison, which houses its Death Row. The film is adapted from the book by a former South African defense lawyer, Chris Marnewick, who moved to New Zealand. Marnewick says the film's message isn't the same as the one he wanted to portray. He may not want to see it. The book earned several awards. You can get it here or read the first chapter here. [More...]