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

A huge thank you to all who voted for Best of the Top 250 Blogs Results will be final Monday, but these are the votes as of the time voting ended:

Talk Left 25.15 (3495)
Feministe 24.44 (3396)

Stop The ACLU 15.35 (2133)

Bump and Update: Voting has ended. Thanks to each and every one of you who voted. The official results will be announced by Monday. I think that when voting ended, TalkLeft was in first place. We'll know soon.

Now back to regular blogging.

Bump and Update: We've pulled into first place, but just by a nod. Your vote is still needed. And thanks to all of you.

Home Depot is running an ad this month (click on "Pulled Over Santa") where Santa Claus is pulled over by an officer who asks for his license and registration.  Santa can't find the registration, and he sits back looking resigned to the fact that something bad may be in the offing. The elf nervously waves to the officer. The officer then asks: "What's in the bag?"

So, if kids, or even the general public, see this ad, are they supposed to believe that it is legally permissible for a police officer during a traffic stop to ask "What's in the bag?"  

Atrios points out how Lieberman lied again:

In July he said:

So I am confident that the situation is improving enough on the ground that by the end of this year, we will begin to draw down significant numbers of American troops, and by the end of the next year more than half of the troops who are there now will be home.

Lieberman, visiting Iraq today with Republicans McCain, Graham and Collins, reportedly said today:

"We need more, not less, troops," Lieberman said.

There really is no less principled person in politics today than Joe Lieberman.