Here's the DOJ announcement about Obama's most recent sentence commutations with names and case details.

Here is Obama's statistical record on pardons and commutations, from the Office of the Pardon Attorney, updated through Dec. 4, 2015.

Here is the list of all pardons granted by Obama from 2009 through 2015.

Here is the list of all commutations granted by Obama from 2009 to 2015.

How has he compared to GW Bush? The Bush list of pardons is here, and list of commutations here.

Argue about data theft here.

I've been doing it on twitter - @armandodkos .

Open Thread.

Here's a new open thread, all topics welcome. I may not be back online until sometime next week. Hopefully you find the open threads useful in my absence.

More thread.

Thread.

I like Army +22 versus Navy.

Open Thread

I'll be gone for several days. Here's an open thread. Hopefully BTD can put up a new one if it gets full.

I have had little interest in Planned Parenthood shooting suspect Robert Lewis Dear from the get-go, as it was apparent the main legal issue in his case would be his competency and mental health, while the issue for the media would be gun control.

Today in court Dear declared himself guilty, complained his lawyer (a highly respected, experienced and dedicated public defender who was one of the two main lawyers for Aurora shooter James Holmes) was out to drug him and was conspiring with Planned Parenthood, and called himself a "warrior for babies." Facing 179 criminal counts, he told the judge he wanted more charges, saying more babies had been killed that day by Planned Parenthood.

According to observers in the courtroom, he had about 20 outbursts during the hearing. I thought this one was interesting: [More...]

Time's person of the year is Angela Merkel (no link, autoplay audio/video.) You can read a summary of her career here.

Donald Trump is threatening to run as an Independent if Republicans don't treat him fairly. He cites some poll that says 68% of his Republican followers would vote for him as an Independent. (no link due to auto-playing videos on all links I could find.) [More....]

35 years ago tonight, in the middle of Monday Night Football, Howard Cosell announced there had been an "unspeakable tragedy in New York City." John Lennon had been shot twice in the back outside his apartment building in New York City. He was declared dead upon arrival at the hospital. (Video here.)

There are millions of people in this world whose lives were enriched by John Lennon, his persona and his music. He told his truth and it was the truth of an entire generation. His death was a tragedy, but his life was an inspiration. His legacy is timeless. [More...]

Your turn. All topics welcome.

Al Baghdadi and Donald Trump are on Time Magazine's shortlist for Person of the Year.

They are two peas in a pod in some ways -- one insists everyone practice his preferred brand of Islam, while the other finds any kind of Muslim entering the U.S. to be unacceptable.

As for Person of the Year, since all Trump has done is talk about himself on the campaign trail, I'd give it to al Baghdadi, who has actually done something even if it's a negative: He's instilled fear in the heart of every Western Government and many civilians in his neck of the woods, which includes great swathes of Iraq, Syria, and soon to include Libya. He took on al Qaida and beat them to the Caliph punch, leaving them way behind in second place. Al Baghdadi has also created a governing state in many provinces --Trump has no such governing experience.