Sunday night TV is back. Tonight, the new season of Downton Abbey begins, as does Celebrity Apprentice. The Good Wife is also back tonight.

Tomorrow night, the Bachelor returns.

Showtime is running last season's Shameless all night, which means a new season will begin soon. [More...]

Both Alan Dershowitz and Prince Andrew emphatically deny the allegations of sexual activity made by victims rights lawyers for "Jane Does 3 and 4" in a long-pending civil lawsuit against the U.S. arising from DOJ's handling of an investigation of sexual misconduct claims against billionaire Jeffrey Epstein. Espstein pleaded guilty in state court and has long finished serving his sentence. By agreement, he was not charged in federal court. Dershowitz was one of Epstein's many lawyers.

The suit was originally brought by Jane Doe 1 and 2 in 2008 as an action to enforce their rights under the Crime Victims Rights Act. Jane Does 3 and 4 sought to join the case last week. The new allegations referencing Dershowitz and Prince Andrew are contained in Jane Doe 3 and 4's motion to join the suit (Available here.)

The suit is not against Epstein. All four have settled civil claims against Epstein and received payouts. It is a suit against the United States. The Jane Does claim the Government violated the federal Crime Victims Act by not informing them it had entered a non-prosecution agreement with Epstein. It advised them of other things, just not that such an agreement had been made or was in the works. [More...]

Just before New Years, I wondered what happened to John Cantlie.

We have the answer. He's still alive. Here is his latest video giving a tour of Mosul, Iraq, which he says is the "absolute heartland" of the Caliphate and home to 2 million people." He says he sees millions of people going about their daily business after years of oppression.

Towards the end, he is driving an ISIS police motorcycle through the streets of Mosul, with a big grin and an ISIS member sitting behind him: [More...]

Update: It should be pointed out that the only thing happening Monday is that those summoned for jury duty will fill out a questionnaire. The court and lawyers will review them for a week or so. The jurors will be given a phone number to call which will tell them whether they have been excused or should appear on a certain date for further participation, or should call back at some other time. What most people think of as the trial (opening statements, testimony, etc) is not expected to begin before the end of January according to pleadings filed in the case.

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Jury selection will begin Monday as scheduled in the trial of Dzhokhar (Jahar) Tsarnaev. The First Circuit Court of Appeals today denied his Petition for a Writ of Mandamus which sought a change of venue, or an order compelling the trial judge to stay jury selection and hold an evidentiary hearing on his request for a change of venue. (Background here.) The four page decision is here. One judge dissented, and would have granted the application. [More....]

A new Jeep for the New Year. My last three Jeeps have been black, charcoal and granite. Time for a change. I'll probably spend the rest of the weekend learning all its new features.

V-8 engines are getting scarcer, and despite the promotions, I don't think V-6 engines come close in power when you're heading up a big hill (like I-70 from Golden to the mountains.) This one makes it a breeze. It's also much quieter than the V-6. Since I drive less than 5,000 miles a year, the reduced gas mileage isn't a big issue for me.

One thing I've learned my lesson on: When you're buying rather than leasing, get the extended warranty. After 3 years, my old jeep had only 10,000 miles, but the warranty ended in July and the cost of everything, from diagnosis to actual repairs is really high. [More...]

U2's Bono writes he may never play guitar again, due to the severity of his injuries from a bike accident in Central Park last November.

"Recovery has been more difficult than I thought. As I write this, it is not clear that I will ever play guitar again. The band have reminded me that neither they nor western civilization are depending on this.

He published his letter, A to Z, on the band's blog. [More...]

Shami Witness, the tweeter from India who posted ISIS news updates with favorable comments, went to court yesterday. His police detention is over, and he has been remanded to judicial custody until Jan. 15.

Bengaluru City Police Commissioner M.N. Reddi told reporters: "During interrogation, we figured that he (Biswas) was in direct touch with ISIS fighters. We have gathered evidence to show that he supported IS. Apart from proactively tweeting for the group, his messages prove that he encouraged youths to join the organisation."

The police also said that their investigation into his role in working as a propagandist was complete. "He cooperated during interrogation and never refused to share any information that we sought. We will seek his custody if required in the coming days based on inputs from the National Investigation Agency," a police source said.

Another police source says: [More...]

Former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo died today at age 82 of heart failure. The tributes are pouring in.

President Obama:

Obama said Cuomo was a "determined champion of progressive values, and an unflinching voice for tolerance, inclusiveness, fairness, dignity, and opportunity. His own story taught him that as Americans, we are bound together as one people, and our country’s success rests on the success of us all, not just a fortunate few."

Here is a letter Gov. Cuomo wrote to the New York Times in 2003 opposing the death penalty. [More...]

Jury selection is scheduled to begin Monday in the trial of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, accused of the Boston Marathon bombings. Yesterday, hours after the trial court refused its most recent request for a continuance, the defense filed a petition for writ of mandamus with the First Circuit Court of Appeals requesting a change of venue, or in the alternative, an order compelling the trial judge to hold an evidentiary hearing on its change of venue motion. You can read it here. It also filed a motion in the trial court requesting that jury selection be delayed until the appeals court has ruled.

The petition makes several references to the ruling of Judge Matsch in the OKC bombing case of Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols (available here.) Judge Matsch rejected the Government's arguments that a fair trial could be held outside of OKC, but still in Oklahoma. He ruled a fair trial was not possible anywhere in the state of Oklahoma, and moved the trial to Denver. [More...]

2014 is coming to an end. Are you glad or sorry?

For those of you heading out on the town, have a great time.

For those of you staying in, here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

Happy New Year everyone!

My new Spanish learning program, Fluenz, arrived yesterday. I'm going to try it out now, so I won't be blogging much today.

It is really cold here.

Forecasters say temperatures in Denver will top out at 4 degrees on Tuesday before dropping to as low as minus 9 at night with a wind chill of minus 15. A 70 percent chance of snow remains until this evening through which about an inch is expected to fall.

This is an open thread. All topics welcome.

(I also put up an open thread at the wordpress site. You can comment at either or both. Comments there will help me get the bugs out.)

ISIS is undoubtedly the story of the year, in my opinion. Taking a look back, I wonder, where are these ISIS newsmakers now?

"Jihadi John"

ISIS military superstar Abu Wahib

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