What's on your mind? Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

Merry Christmas Eve to all. Who's cooking tonight? Please share the menus.

Christmas Music? Some Darlene Love.

Here's Bruce (here too.) And of course, Bon Jovi.

You can track Santa here (He's in Europe right now.)

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Happy Holidays to all.

The Obamacare deadline has been extended to Christmas Eve.

The jailed Pussy Riot members are free. One expressed her criticism of Putin, calling the amnesty a publicity stunt.

Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 24, shouted "Russia without Putin" following her release from a Siberian prison, hours after band mate Maria Alyokhina, 25, was freed from jail in the Volga River city of Nizhny Novgorod.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

RIP actor Peter O'Toole, who has died at age 81.

Tonight on TV: 60 Minutes is doing a feature on the NSA surveillance. I wish someone other than John Miller was the correspondent.

Also tonight: Finales for Homeland, Survivor and Restaurant Express (food network.) I thought Homeland was too dark this year and the plot too convoluted. Some of the subplots were just completely uninteresting: Saul's marital life and Brody's daughter to name a few. Even the Iranian CIA worker went nowhere. I watched, but it wasn't enjoyable. Apparently, the Golden Globes nominators agree.

Restaurant Express had a good first season. I'm actually looking forward to seeing who wins tonight. I think it will be between Adam Goldgell and Seonkyoung Longest, with Jan Charles coming in third and getting eliminated first. Adam and Seonkyoung couldn't be more different in terms of personality or cooking experience, and they each have strengths and negatives. I think Adam will take it, even though Robert Irvine has given Seonkyoung every possible break and he doesn't seem to like Adam that much.

In real news: [More...]

I'm swamped at work. Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

Amato and Armando Show picks,(disagreements in BOLD): (A) New York Giants +3½, (J) San Diego Chargers -3½, (A) Minnesota Vikings +7, (J) Baltimore Ravens -7, (A) Pittsburgh Steelers -3½, (J) Miami Dolphins -3½, (A) Washington Redskins +3, (J) Kansas City Chiefs -3, (A) San Francisco 49ers -3, (J) Seattle Seahawks +3, Cincinnati Bengals -7 over Indianapolis Colts, Denver Broncos -13 over Tennessee Titans, (A) Dallas Cowboys PICK, (J) Chicago Bears PICK, New Orleans Saints -3½ over Carolina Panthers, (J) Atlanta Falcons +3, (A) Green Bay Packers -3, (A) St. Louis Rams +6, (J) Arizona Cardinals -6, Tampa Bay Buccaneers -3 over Buffalo Bills, (A) Philadelphia Eagles -3, (J) Detroit Lions +3, New England Patriots -10 over Cleveland Browns,

This week's Amato and Armando Show is here.

The picks: SEC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME - Georgia Dome - Atlanta, GA - Missouri +2 (3 units) over Auburn

PAC 12 CHAMPIONSHIP GAME - Sun Devil Stadium - Tempe AZ -Stanford +3 over Arizona State

BIG 10 CHAMPIONSHIP GAME - Lucas Oil Stadium - Indianapolis, IN - Michigan State +6 (5 units) over Ohio State.

MOUNTAIN WEST CHAMPIONSHIP GAME - Bulldog Stadium - Fresno, CA -Fresno State -3½ over Utah State.

CONFERENCE USA CHAMPIONSHIP GAME - Rice Stadium - Houston, TX - Marshall -5 (3 units) over Rice.

ACC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME - Bank America Stadium - Charlotte, NC -Florida State -29 (5 units) over Duke.

Others - Baylor -15 (3 units) over Texas; Rutgers -6 over South Florida; Connecticut Pick over Memphis; Oklahoma State -10 (EVEN) (4 units) over Oklahoma.

This week's Amato and Armando Show - Link.

Still snowing and really cold. I'm busy at work. Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

We broke a record temperature yesterday -15 degrees at 9 pm. The cold will be here for days. I'll be in court, so here's an open thread, all topics welcome. Stay civil please.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's legal team will have some restrictions eased for meeting with him and sharing information. Seems like crumbs to me, considering the exhaustive list of SAMS imposed by the Bureau of Prisons. The SAMS are here, and the Government's concessions are here. The defense motion seeking modifications is here.

Last week the judge denied most of the defense discovery requests (motion to compel disclosure is here, the court's order granting one request and denying the remainder is here.)

Denver is preparing for a big storm tonight, and the coldest temperatures in years. There could be 5 to 9 inches of snow by morning. Here's the latest advisory.

Thanks to readers who emailed me this morning to let me know the site was down.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.