I'll be in court today. Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

Open Thread.

Did I miss anything?

Today being Saturday, a few words about the resignation of Florida football coach Urban Meyer - he had a Leahyesque 5 year run unmatched in recent college football history (2 national championships, 3 BCS bowl game wins, 85% winning percentage in the toughest college football conference.) He was a great, great football coach. That said, he clearly was not at his best last year. It seems that Meyer can only work at full throttle. That leads to burnout. It was time for him to step down.

So who replaces him? I think Florida AD Jeremy Foley will settle on Dan Mullen, the former Gator offensive coordinator and current Mississippi State coach. I think if he could fulfill his own wish list, Oklahoma coach Bobby Stoops would be the next Gator coach. That's who I would want as well. Behind Stoops, I think Jon Gruden would do a tremendous job (but he is hanging out for the right NFL spot). I am also intrigued by Jim Harbaugh. I also think it would be intriguing to see what Kirk Ferentz could do at Florida. He's a great coach. Finally, while I think Boise's Chris Peterson is a great coach, I'm not sure he fits Southern college football. If he finds that Boise is not a big enough stage for him, I suspect he would go to the Pac 10, not the SEC.

Open Thread.

Here's an open thread, all topics welcome. I'll be back here this evening.

Busy day here. Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

I missed the news today and will start catching up soon. BTD is still in trial. Here's an open thread, all topics welcome. What did we miss?

The U.S. is considering extraditing Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. What would the charges be? Attorney General Eric Holder today said an investigation is underway and charges other than espionage are being considered. Like what?

Among them, law enforcement sources said, is charging Assange with receiving stolen property.

The Guardian has details of the sexual assault allegations against him. They seem pretty weak.

MADD is on the warpath again. This time they want Congress to pass a law requiring alcohol ignition interlocks for all first-time drunken-driving offenders.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

Big Tent Democrat is in trial this week. I've posted some news items, but will be busy the rest of the afternoon.

Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

Republicans torpedoed proposals to extend the Bush tax cuts to the middle class. Obama says he'll keep trying to work out a deal.

In the TV department, I just discovered the Canadian TV series Intelligence, set in Vancouver, with all my favorite themes: the War on Drugs, snitches, wiretaps and police corruption.

In Intelligence, [creator]Haddock posits that drugs are the crucial modern industry and that information, the buying and selling of “intel” on everything from heroin trafficking to international terrorism, is the most addictive and profitable drug of all...

...the writer’s overwhelming theme: in true crime as in true love, everyone is in bed together.

The drug kingpin at the center of the series, Jimmy Reardon, has good qualities as well as bad. In other words, he's portrayed as far more than the sum of his misdeeds. The crooked and overly personally ambitious cops and higher-ups have no redeeming qualities. I watched 6 episodes of the first season last night. It's available free on Netflix streaming.

We have beautiful, balmy weather today. Too nice to stay indoors. Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

If you enjoy good intelligent discussion of issues that looks at things from many ideological perspectives, I recommend Outside The Beltway. Here are 2 representative pieces - the first by James Joyner and the second by Prof. Steven Taylor - discussing the the Repeal Amendment and the role of States under the Constitution.

I'm on trial next week so I'll be going dark after today.

Open Thread.

Update: (TL): I'll be at the jail today, but should be around this weekend and next week while BTD is in trial. Good luck, BTD.

The World Cup is going to Qatar.

LeBron returns to Cleveland tonight.

Open Thread.

Tonight begins the 8 days celebration of Hanukkah. What's it about?

In 167 B.C.E. the Syrian-Greek emperor Antiochus made the observance of Judaism an offense punishable by death. He also ordered all Jews to worship Greek gods.

The year before, Syrian-Greek soldiers had seized the Jewish temple and dedicated it to the worship of the god Zeus. Enough was enough. Jewish resistance began in the village of Modiin, near Jerusalem when Greek soldiers demanded Jews bow down to an idol and eat a pig. Mattathias, a Jewish High Priest, refused to accede to the Greek soldiers' demands and he and his five sons killed the Greek soldiers. [More...]