It's the men's superpipe finals tonight at the X Games, live on ESPN. Shaun White just moved into second place and Scotty Lago is in the lead. Louie Vito is doing really well too. Actually, they all did great on their first run. The second runs are just starting.

The SAG awards are also on, and a there's a new episode of Shameless on Showtime.

Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

NYTimes:

CAIRO — The Egyptian military reinforced parts of the capital on Sunday with tanks, jets and helicopters as tens of thousands of protesters flooded central Cairo for the sixth day, defying yet again government orders of a nationwide curfew. The uprising, which began as a spontaneous grass-roots movement, appeared to coalesce, at least for the moment, as the largest opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood, threw its support behind a leading opposition figure, the Nobel laureate Mohamed ElBaradei, to negotiate on behalf of the protesters.

Mr. ElBaradei arrived in Liberation Square, the center of the protests, shortly after nightfall and addressed the crowd through a bullhorn. “We are beginning a new era in Egypt,” he said. “What we have begun cannot be reversed. “We have a key demand: for Mubarak to step down and to start a new era.”

Yong Vui Kong is on death row in Singapore, arrested at age 18 for carrying 1.5 ounces of heroin. Singapore's law provides the death penalty for anyone caught with more than 15 grams of heroin (Kong had 47) and provides no exceptions.

His dedicated family (particularly his brother and sister) and his attorney Madasamy Ravi, a Singapore human rights lawyer and member of the Anti-Death Penalty Asia Network, have done a herculean job so far of keeping the case in the courts. The end is now here, but he still could be saved.

Al Jazeera made the excellent video above telling the story, I hope you will all watch. [More...]

The Torture Career of Egypt's New Vice President: Omar Suleiman and the Rendition to Torture Program.

In non-Egypt news, it's women's night at the X-Games. Gretchen Bleiler took a bad tumble on her first run in the snowboard superpipe finals and a tiny one on her second run. Kelly Clark is in first place. The third runs will start soon, you can watch online here. Update: Gretchen takes another tumble on the third run and is out of contention. Kelly Clark wins with a great victory lap -- she does a 1080 with three full rotations and the other contestants jump on her with congratulations. The comraderie among the women contestants is great to watch. Even though they are competing, they are so supportive of each other.

Our earlier open thread is getting full, so here's another one, all topics welcome.

Traveling to warmer climes today.

Open thread.

All eyes seem to be on Egypt. The internet there disappeared today and police targeted journalists. President Obama describes his conversation with Egypt President Hosni Mubarak today. He told Mubarak to make good on his promises. Mubarak has dismissed his cabinet.

In less important news, Shaun White failed to qualify for the finals in the X Game's men's snowboard slopestyle. Charlie Sheen has finally checked into rehab and CBS has finally put his "Two and A Half Men" show (which I've never seen) on hiatus.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

The FBI explains the 40 search warrants it executed yesterday pertaining to "Anonymous", a group of hackers that engaged in Denial of Service (DDOS)attacks on MasterCard, Visa, Paypal and Amazon as retaliation for cutting off Wikileaks.

No one was arrested in the U.S. but the offenses, if charged, carry up to ten years in prison. The FBI says:

The FBI also is reminding the public that facilitating or conducting a DDoS attack is illegal, punishable by up to 10 years in prison, as well as exposing participants to significant civil liability.

The five people arrested in the U.K. after warrants were executed there have been released on bail. Anonymous issued this letter in response to the U.K. arrests, calling them a "Declaration of War." [More...]

Rep. Dennis Kucinich has settled his lawsuit over biting into an olive pit in a sandwich at a federal cafteria, breaking his tooth and requiring multiple dental procedures. While the amount is confidential, he says it covers his out-of-pocket expenses.

"I feel that the defendants have responded fairly and reasonably," Kucinich said. "I don't want to have to make another dental visit for a very long time and will be making no further comment on this matter."

After filing the lawsuit, Kucinich released the following details: [More...]

The much-publicized case of Colorado marijuana grower Chris Bartkowicz wrapped up this morning when a federal judge sentenced him to five years in prison.

Bartkowicz came to the attention of the DEA after giving 9News an on camera interview and tour of his residence with the grow. He thought he was in compliance with state law. The DEA raided the house and seized 224 plants, which was more than six plants per the number of patients for whom he was a caregiver.

Bartkowicz had two prior felony convictions and the feds decided to play hardball by filing a notice to enhance his sentence due to the prior convictions. He was facing a mandatory minimum of 60 years and possibly life in prison. [More...]

It's the afternoon in New York, but I follow Colorado time for TalkLeft.

Open Thread.

Bob Shrum:

Morning in Obama's America The president sounds like Reagan. His opponents have a bad case of malaise

State of the Union addresses are often a wash; the one Obama delivered this week was a watershed. The evening produced two visions, one hopeful, the other infused with fear; one delivered from high ground, the other emerging from a low bog of grievance, gloom, and doom. The events of the coming months and the direction of the 2012 campaign will be shaped by the terrain that each camp has claimed.

The American people get it. The Republicans don't. In their downbeat responses, the official one and the Tea Party artifact, Representative Paul Ryan and his Palindrone colleague Michele Bachmann in effect renounced Reagan's optimism and darkly warned that the country's best days may be behind us.

Does current reality intrude on this perception? Today, the Commerce Department announced that the economy grew at an annualized rate of 3.2% in the 4th quarter of 2010:

Obama picks Jay Carney for Press Secretary.

What else is going on? This is an open thread, all topics welcome.