Here we go again. The snow is expected to begin falling around noon. I'm off to get as much done as I can before the snow gets too heavy to drive in and the roads ice up. Just little things, like going to the office to get the mail, the grocery store to stock up on food and pick up some fresh flowers to brighten a gray day.

Here's an open thread for you.

Public defenders toil daily in the courtroom trenches protecting constitutional rights for very little money and even less glory.

Now there's a blog awards just for them. Sentencing Law and Policy explains here.

But don't take our word for it, head on over to the Inaugural 2006 Public Defender Blog Awards and check out the diverse and thoughtful blogs and cast a vote.

The 2006 Blawg Awards didn't include a category for public defenders, an oversight that will be remedied next year. But there are some good sites there, so mosey over there too and check out the winners. TalkLeft won the Best Politico Law Blog Award this year.

The TL kid is with friends watching the Bronco game. He'll be back soon, we've got fresh tamales and homemade chicken enchilladas and green chile for dinner, with margaritas to accompany them.

The fireplace is turned on, it just started snowing heavily (again) and I'm glad to be warm and safe in my humble abode.

Best wishes to all of you for a happy holiday and let's hope next year at this time, our soldiers will be home from Iraq.

We're about to head into what is likely the blogoshpere's lowest week of readership.

I'll be offline most of Saturday as the TL kid is flying in -- assuming the airport stays open.

Let's give the gift of links to other bloggers. Who are you reading? If you have a blog and have a post that you think TalkLeft readers would be interested in, link to it in the comments (just use the html buttons so the site doesn't get skewed.)

And if there's anything else you want to say, here's a place.

The original Eschaton has been restored. No need to go to the temporary site anymore.

Digby is having and end of year fundraiser and as usual, eloquently explains why bloggers need contributions to keep on trucking.

Digby is an absolutely essential daily read for progressives. Please keep it going.

As I wrote two weeks ago, bloggers need Christmas heart too.

It's time for the Tuesday open thread. What's happening in your world? What are you reading and concerned about today?

And if any of you readers are Scoop-tech, and know how to put the publication date into my rss feed ( which block I put the code in and what code I should put in), please let me know. Colin of Scoophost is out of town until the first of the year and I'd like to do it asap. Many thanks!

It's official. Thanks to you readers, TalkLeft not only beat Stop the ACLU in the Best of the Top 250 category of the 2006 Weblog Awards, we edged out Feministe by 100 votes and won the award.

Considering these awards were hosted by Wizbang, a conservative-leaning site, it's very cool how well the liberal blogs did. Some examples:

• Best Blog: DAILY KOS [Powerline came in 8th]
  

• Best Humor Blog: SADLY, NO!
  

• Best Liberal Blog: THINK PROGRESS
  

• Best Centrist Blog: THE MODERATE VOICE
  

• Best Media Blog: RAW STORY
  

• Best Educational Blog: MICHAEL BERUBE
  

• Best Science Blog: PHARYNGULA
  

• Best Video Blog: CROOKS AND LIARS (beating conservative Michelle Malkin's Hot Air.
  

Oricinus and Feministe made a really good showing in the Best of 250 category Best of the Top 250 Blogs.

Thanks to Kevin at Wizbang for hosting the awards.

The Weblog Awards are the world's largest blog competition, with over 525,000 votes cast in the 2006 edition for finalists in 45 categories.

You have until Monday to get two day shipping on the TalkLeft 4th Amendment Subway Tote -- it will arrive by December 22.

TalkLeft's 4th Amendment Subway Tote. (Larger version here.)

Let the 4th Amendment speak for you as you hand your bag over for a search by a subway or airline security guard. It's a silent protest and reminder to authorities that you consider searches without reasonable suspicion or probable cause to be an infringement of your privacy rights.

They make great gifts, especially for college kids. We've sold 13 so far this month.

• Christy at Firedoglake: And Justice Wept

• Perez Hilton blog Takes Their Best Shot: Gossip Blogger sued for $7.6 mil for posting paparazzi photos, fights back. Go Perez!

• Wanna be a judge? There's an opening for U.S. Magistrate Judge in Fort Lauderdale, the Southern District of Florida (Via SD Fla Blog)

• Sentencing Law and Policy on the lethal injection mess.

That ought to get you started. Feel free to add your own favorites.

I received this by e-mail, I don't know if it's real or satire, but it gets funnier as it goes along.

Date: Fri, 15 Dec 2006 09:49:07 -0800
Subject: FW: Party Announcement

RE: Christmas Party