I'm a little late getting this up today, but I'm busy at work and so awash in paper I might drown. I need one of these, badly. [Update: A huge thank you to the generous reader that just contributed the money to buy the scanner. TalkLeft readers never cease to amaze me. This is so appreciated.]

In case I miss the news about whether Jack Abramoff has a plea deal, please fill us in. Also of note:

• Raw Story: Abramoff's firm knew of the payments he received from ex-DeLay aide before the story broke.

• Va. Gov. Mark Warner has two weeks left to order DNA testing in the case of Roger Coleman, executed in 1992. If he does, and if it turns out he was innocent, he will be the first known case of wrongful execution in the country.

• Atrios on 2005 being the year of the President who believes he can break the law.

• Crooks and Liars has some great Daily Show clips up.

• Reddhedd at Firedoglake reviews the Patriot Act debate and the Fruit of the Poisonous Tree Doctrine as applied to Bush's warrantless NSA surveillance. Also read Judd at Think Progress on how the NSA plan put us all at risk.

Congratulations to Steve and Melissa. Preston Davis Green has arrived on the planet earth. Another example of beautiful people making beautiful babies. And check out the hair!

Happy New Year to all, from Jeralyn, TChris and Last Night in Little Rock. We hope it rings in justice and peace.

For those of you who will be online, this is an open thread.

Update: Here's a live streaming thread of the gathering in Times Square, including music, courtesy of Crooks and Liars.

Here's a smattering of what I've found interesting today:

• RJ Eskow on today's WaPo Alito article
• Avedon Carol's always excellent round-up.
• Glenn Greenewald on threatening Administration critics with prosecution
• Digby on Constitutional Thuggery
• TBogg's soccer post about his daughter Casey
• Norgwegianity leads us to Separated at Birth, for anti-Cheneyites everywhere.

Huffington Post bloggers have their end of year blog posts up. Mine is a top ten list of the Villains of 2005. You can add your own in the comments.

Arianna has some resolutions she'd like George Bush to make:

• "Next time the mother of a slain soldier camps out in a ditch outside my ranch, I'll meet with her right away";
• "Next time a Cat 5 storm destroys a major American city, and my point man is more worried about the way his clothes look than helping the victims, I won't say he's doing a 'heck of a job'"; and
• "No more equating loyalty with competence. Sorry, Harriet."

Nora Ephron has a one line resolution for the President, and yes, it's funny.

Bill Maher writes his thoughts on 2005.

Maybe next election, people will start to think, who gives a damn if I want to have a beer with this guy?

Predictions? Bob Cesca has very funny ones, that leave you wondering if maybe they could happen. That's a scary thought, here are just two:

I haven't had time to read the news today. Is anything happening? This thread's for you. I'll be back here tonight.

There are a million New Years' Resolutions I could make. But, I don't believe in them, unless I make them during Christmas week to get a head start. Who wants to be the person huffing and puffing at the gym on Jan. 2? At least if I start Dec. 26, I'll feel like an old-timer by the time the newbies roll in.

I've decided to forego all of the traditional resolutions this year. I lift however many pounds I can lift. I weigh what I weigh. No matter what resolution I make, I'll never have more money in the bank.

So, this year I'm making a resolution for TalkLeft. Last year I promised myself I would redesign the site, whether I could afford it or not. I'm very proud that I did it, albeit in December, with my own funds and without asking readers for help.

For 2006, I have a new goal. Again, it's one I will do without asking for contributions. It is learning graphic design, and I started the day after Christmas. Like most analytical lawyers, I am very left-brain and very right-brain challenged. Yet, I cringe with envy every time I visit Jane and Reddhedd at Firedoglake and see how they begin every post with an awesome graphic.

I have had Adobe Photoshop 6 for years but no one to teach me how to use it. This week I shelled out the bucks for Adobe CS-2 which comes with a video tutorial, and I promise, that by December 31, 2006, I will be able to make my own graphics.

It's that time of the year to organize and close up files and work on the books. If there's something going on in the world today, here's a place to discuss it. In the meantime,

• Manassas, VA wants to redefine the family for housing limit purposes, a move many call racist and anti-immigrant. [hat tip Patriot Daily]

• Journalism prof Jay Rosen is back on the case of Bill Keller and the New York Times.

• Crooks and Liars is seeking nominations for the best video clips of the year.

• Roger Ailes has an end of the year quiz.

It's Colorado's warmest holiday on record and not a day to spend inside. For anyone wanting a place to chat, this space is for you.

If you're looking for something new to read, check out the 2005 Blawg Review Awards for the best law blogs. Sentencing Law and Policy wins best blog by a law professor, Scotus Blog is named best blog by a law firm; Howard Bashman of How Appealing is the blog for legal breaking news; I get an Award of Merit for TalkLeft. There's many, many more.

The awards were judged by Themis, and the accompanying artwork of She-Hulk by Greg Horn depicting Lady Justice is very cool.

Here's a little song you can all join in on. Jane at Firedoglake reminds bloggers to give the gift of Christmas traffic: Click through each link and spread some blogger joy.

• Skippy writes a song, Blue Xanax
• Digby writes about the radioactive Muslims
• War and Piece gives no holiday break to the White House
• World O' Crap says Santa was a cokehead.
• Vodkapundit has an awesome picture of Colorado today.
• Athenae's ferrets are the best.
• Mike Ditto has some advice for the Harlem Choir, which is getting kicked out of its rehearsal space
• Heretik has moved, update your bookmarks.
• Public Defender Dude says Death Row Defender is worth reading. Law and Order, watch out.

Now I'm going to download Dear Mr. Fantasy, Paper Sun and the Low Spark of High Heeled Boys. We've made it through another Christmas. On to New Years.

The meme is spreading fast. I got it too. Here's my answers, and I pass it to Avedon Carol at Sideshow.

Four jobs you’ve had in your life: health spa instructor, record store salesclerk , switchboard operator (all in college), lawyer

Four movies you could watch over and over: Who'll Stop the Rain, And Justice for All, Panic in Needle Park, The Wanderers

Four places you’ve lived: New Rochelle, NY; Cleveland, Ohio; Ann Arbor, MI, Denver.

Four TV shows you love to watch: Sex and the City, Sopranos, Six Feet Under, Commander in Chief

Four places you’ve been on vacation: Rio and the Amazon; Hong Kong, Bangkok and Phuket, Hawaii and Bora Bora; Italy, France, and London; Shanghai; Mexico and the Caribbean.

Four websites you visit daily: Atrios, Daily Kos, Crooks and Liars, Firedoglake

Four of your favorite foods: Vietnamese pho, soft-shelled crabs, ny strip steaks, coffee gelato

Four places you’d rather be: New York Citry, London, Shanghai, the Golden Door

Feel free to take the test in the comments or pass them around your blog.

Washington Monthly has a long profile of Markos of Daily Kos in its upcoming issue. Writer Benjamin Wallace-Wells traveled to Berkely to do an in-depth article. Is it favorable? Yes and no, but mostly yes. It's more like Wells is still scratching his head, trying to figure out both Markos and bloggers. It's not a puff piece, but it does give Markos his due for being the world's largest political blogger, for being committed and smart and for remaining down to earth. And it does capture that left-right ideology is not his focus. His goal is for the Democrats to win.

There are a few laudable quotes:

The DCCC's executive director, John Lapp, says that Moulitsas's model is “a signal event in political history, like the Kennedy-Nixon debates, in how it gets people involved.” And Simon Rosenberg, the president of the centrist New Democratic Network (NDN), says that “frankly I don't think there's anyone who's had the potential to revolutionize the Democratic Party that Markos does.”

Lots of off-line activity for me today means an open thread for you. In the news today.

• The New York Police Department planted spies at protests and videotaped protesters.

• FISA Court judges will get a briefing on what the Administration has been doing.

Several members of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court said in interviews that they want to know why the administration believed secretly listening in on telephone calls and reading e-mails of U.S. citizens without court authorization was legal. Some of the judges said they are particularly concerned that information gleaned from the president's eavesdropping program may have been improperly used to gain authorized wiretaps from their court.

Check out the Martini Republic's Christmas Time Magazine cover, particularly the top right.