President Obama has made a surprise trip to Afghanistan. I wonder if he'll be back in time for the White House Seder.

The New York Times has an editorial supporting 9th Circuit Appeals Court nominee Goodwin Liu, calling him exceptional.

Some convicted drug defendants in Mass. are likely to get new trials following the state's Supreme Court decision this week retroactively applying the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Commonwealth v. Melendez-Diaz, holding that chemists must appear in person at trial and be subject to cross-examination.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

Four of the Elite 8 teams are in action this afternoon and evening, seeking a berth in the Final Four.

In the afternoon game, 2 seed Kansas State is a 4 1/2 point favorite over 5 seed Butler, the conqueror of 1 seed Syracuse. Butler plays good defense and will want to control pace. K-State appears to have better athletes. But K-State also plays great defense. K-State beat a very good Xavier team in 2OT in the Sweet 16, after blowing a big 1st half lead. Both teams seem plenty tough mentally. I like K-State (-4.5).

In the evening game, 1 seed Kentucky boasts the likely top 2 picks in the upcoming NBA draft (John Wall and Demarcus Cousins) and seems the best team in the tournament. But 2 seed West Virginia is physical and tough. Expect a rough game. I like Kentucky (-5) to tough it out in the second half.

This is an Open Thread.

It just started snowing again here. I'm making a brisket with mashed potatoes and carrots, steamed asparagus and an arugula salad with cucumbers, strawberries, avocado and mozzarella cheese.

What's on your agenda or mind tonight? Is anyone excited about the new foreclosure program?

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

Tonight the second set of four Sweet Sixteen games will be played. Yesterday, I correctly picked Kentucky and West Virginia to beat the spread, pushed with Xavier (+5) in a 2OT loss to K-State and missed the Butler upset of Syracuse.

Tonight is Big Ten night, as 3 Big Ten teams play. As for betting propositions, I like Tennessee (+5) over Ohio State, Baylor (-5) over St. Mary's, Mich St (-1) over N. Iowa and Purdue (+9) over Duke.

This is an Open Thread.

Now that the health care bill is passed, what does it do?

• Here's are the immediate benefits
• Here's how it impacts the insurance marketplace

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

March Madness resumes tonight with the first four of the Sweet Sixteen games. the other four are tomorrow night.

My picks: Syracuse (-7) over Butler, West Virginia (-4) over Washington, Xavier (+5) over K-State, and in the ultimate of David v. Goliath games, Kentucky (-9) over Cinderella Cornell (this line looks ridiculously short. Kentucky should be at least a 12 point fav in this game. Trap line? We'll find out.)

This is an Open Thread.

Busy. Open Thread.

Still busy. So is Jeralyn apparently.

More Open Thread.

Busy today. More from me tonight. Not sure about Jeralyn's schedule.

This is an Open Thread.

One last thing - Kevin Drum is right that the health bill's most progressive element is the income distribution implicit in it. The permanence of this distribution is arguable though, and I will argue about it tonight.

I'm glad to see news unrelated to health care today. The media was getting awfully one-dimensional.

Tonight the top 11 on American Idol sing Billboard's top songs. Can't wait to see Crystal, hope she has a good night. Casey too.

We're in the midst of a whopper of snow storm. It began with thundersnow around 3 pm and will continue until tomorrow.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

Your turn.

This is an Open Thread.

A new season of Dancing With the Stars begins tonight. An odd assortment of "celebrities" -- seems really a "B list" this year. I wish they gave the co-host job to Melissa instead of Brooke. "24" is also on.

"Nurse Jackie" is back with its second season tonight on Showtime. Edie Falco (formerly of the Sopranos)is just great, as is the whole show.

10 states are going to sue to prevent implementation of the Health Care bill. Colorado will be one of them, according to our ultra-conservative Attorney General. Their primary objection (ostensibly): the provision requiring people to buy insurance: [More...]