After a long afternoon at the jail, it's another barbecue night here, along with belatedly watching the latest "Weeds." What are you up to?

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

The Wingnuts have been rolled out this afternoon in the Sotomayor hearings.

It should end shortly. Leahy announced that he will schedule a vote in the Judiciary Committee for July 21 (the GOP can impose a week delay on that vote) so the vote will be July 28. While it would be great for the Dems if every Republican voted against her but I suspect a few will vote for her. Her confirmation by the full Senate seems a foregone conclusion. She will be taking her seat on the Supreme Court on the first Monday in October.

This is an Open Thread.

Tom Watson leads the British Open at Turnberry. Stage 12 of the Tour de France was uneventful.

This is an Open Thread.

I finally decided to get an Amazon Kindle which arrived today. I think I'm going to like it (so far I've read the manual.) One thing that is very cool is if you buy it through your Amazon account, it comes pre-registered with your account information and not only don't you don't have to register it, the free wireless is already on it so you can immediately scroll the store for books and download them.

It has more bells and whistles than I'll probably use, but it's quite legible and fast. Also, you can read the first chapter of any book for free before you buy.

If you'd like to check out the Kindle, here's the link:

Since I'll most likely be looking for a good fiction book to download tonight, here's an open thread for you, all topics welcome.

The All Star Game is tonight.

I will be in and out this afternoon so my live blogging may be um, delayed.

Update (TL): Part 1 of the transcript of this morning's Sotomayor hearing is here. Part II is here. Many thanks to BTD for his excellent coverage of the hearings.

In any event, this is an Open Thread.

The LA Times has a roundup of legal analysis on the Sotmayor hearings (We, of course, have BTD, just scroll down through today's posts.)

Marcy Wheeler was on Shuster's MSNBC program tonight and used the word "bl*wjob". Here's the video. Please don't use the word in comments without asterisks as the censor software at law firms will block us. Howard Kurtz thinks she should have used another word. Go, Marcy!

President Obama's telemprompter crashed to floor and broke today during a speech. He finished using his notes and the remaining prompter.

I'm going to put these weighty topics aside for a while as I watch The Bachelorette go from three to two in Maui and Weeds.

Happy 7th Blogiversary to Skippy.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

Thousands showed up in Denver today to register to audition for American Idol. By 7am, the line extended 1/4 mile around the stadium. The process continues through Tuesday, when those selected today and Monday will get to sing for the judges.

I wonder how many of them have read the release (pdf)they must sign before going on. Or, in the case of the younger aspirants, if their parents have read and understand it. Why do these reality shows get away with these one-sided contracts filled with legalese only a legal expert could decipher? Compare it to their FAQ's for auditioning, and the Rules, which are in plain English.

What happened where you are today? This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

It's dinnertime here and we're under another severe thunderstorm watch. Do I take a chance on barbecuing steaks or order in? Saigon soft shell crabs sound pretty good.

What are you all doing tonight?

How's your weekend shaping up? I have work to do.

This is an Open Thread.

Stage 7 of the Tour de France is going on today, ending at the summit of Arcalis in the Pyrenees. You can watch online here. UPDATE - Contador proves he is the man of this Tour, even though he is not yet wearing the yellow jersey. He sprints away from Armstrong and all the other main contenders at the summit. With 2 more days in the Pyrenees, Contador will likely be the Maillot Jaune in the next days and at the end of the Tour.

In other news, the NYTimes endorses the BTD Plan (snark) for the Honduran crisis.

This is an Open Thread.

We're grilling tequila lime chicken and watching Weeds (tivo'd from Monday) tonight.

For the one or two readers who watch The Bachelorette, don't miss Reality Steve’s interview of Wes Hayden (podcast link here). He's not the villain ABC has portrayed him to be.

What are you all doing and thinking about? This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

Here is one of the funniest dkos diaries and threads I have read in some time. I think that most of the humor is unintentional. I admit to uncertainty on that point.

There has been a lot of "news" on the Sotomayor confirmation that I have not written about. I have chosen not to because well, they are pretty much just staged endorsement rollouts by the Obama Administration that, to me at least, add nothing to the story. I know they are doing their political job on this, and good for them, but I have no interest in writing about press releases on endorsements. I will return to the Sotomayor confirmation story when the confirmation hearings start and hope to see a real discussion about judicial philosophies. That would be of interest to me.

One last thing, the Tour de France begins in earnest tomorrow in Stage 7 with the first trip into the mountains. Can Armstrong or anyone stay with Contador? I say no. We'll see.

This is an Open Thread.