Update: Our server was down for most of today and this evening. Thanks to Colin, our webmaster, for restoring it!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all.

If I had my choice of somewhere else to be this holiday season, I think it would be the Arctic Circle-- Finnish Lapland, maybe, home of Santa Village, to see the reindeer. Or on a cruise from the southernmost tip of Ushaia, Argentina, across the Drake Passage, to Antartica. Or maybe, to Tasmania, the Australian island that sits just below it. When I look at the photos of the ocean there, it seems like it is situated at the absolute edge of the world.

Those are pretty puzzling choices for me, since I hate winter and can't stand being cold. I think its because I want to be somewhere isolated and free from the opinions of under-informed, bitter, angry and marginalized Americans -- and especially from politics. [More..]

After eleven years of ups and downs in his legal travails for fatally shooting his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, former Paralympian champion Oscar Pistorius will be released on parole on January 5, 2024. The BBC's Top Ten Moments in Oscar's trial is a good summary. If you want to read the play-by-play as it happened, with legal analysis, check out my 40-plus posts covering the case from bail hearings, through trial, sentencings and first appeals. [More...]

24 Hamas hostages were released today. They include 13 Israelis, 10 Thais and one Filipino.

The Israeli hostages were all seized at the Nir Oz kibbutz on October 7. They are : Margalit Moses, Adina Moshe, Danielle Aloni and her daughter Emilia, Doron Asher and her daughters Raz and Aviv, Hanna Katzir, Keren Munder and her son Ohad, Ruti Munder, Yaffa Adar, and Hannah Perry.

200 trucks carrying humanitarian aid proceeded through the Rafah, Egypt crossing,where they transferring food, medicine, supplies and fuel to international organizations.

Israel's Prime Minister and the IDF spokespeople today said Israel remains committed not only to the release of all hostages, but to continuing its military battle to destroy Hamas forever when the humanitarian pause ends.

4:00 am MT (6 am ET): I've been glued to the news all evening about the Qatari-brokered deal between Israel and Hamas for a four day pause in fighting during which 50 women and child hostages seized by Hamas in Israel on October 7th will be exchanged for 150 women and teenage prisoners held in Israeli jails, and an Israeli promise to allow around 400 trucks of aid, including fuel, to enter Gaza from Egypt.

The terms of the deal have been reported over and over again. I guess once more won't hurt: [More...]

Rosalynn Carter has died at age 96, two days after she entered home hospice.

She and former President Jimmy Carter were married for 77 years. Here is the statement he issued today.

Our condolences to former President Carter and the entire Carter family.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

Donald Trump has finished his testimony. Ivanka is next, and last.

I suspect Ivanka either will claim a lack of knowledge or inability to recall to questions as to property values. Shorter version: Ivanka, like Don Jr., will claim "It's not my job". But Ivanka was involved in sales. There's the Ocean Club in Panama City.. There's Trump Soho.

Her own lawyer said, when Trump was first elected:

“She has the conflicts that derive from the ownership of this brand. We’re trying to minimize those to the extent possible."

Donald said Ivanka was going to be his "eyes and ears".

We get the Government we elect.

Please don't forget to vote.

Happy Halloween to all of you who just love, love, love this holiday. If you costumed up as a real person or character, please let us know who you chose.

For any of you who went trick or treating, let us know if you got your favorite candy and what it is. And if you put a "no candy here" sign on your front door, let us know that, too.

I think it's good to put a little merriment in the air for one night -- we could all use a night's relief from the horrible suffering, cruelty and death we're watching and reading about 24/7 in the Middle East. May the war be over soon.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

Former Trump legal advisor Jenna Ellis pleaded guilty in Georgia yesterday to a felony count of aiding and abetting false writings or statements. The RICO charge against her will be dismissed. She was sentenced, by agreement, to five years of probation. The Associated Press described Ellis' role in Trump's 2020 election campaign:

Ellis was a leading voice in the Trump campaign’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election, appearing frequently on television and conservative media to tell lies about widespread fraud that did not occur and spread misinformation and conspiracy theories.

More about the Georgia plea below. But first, Ellis also holds a Colorado law license. In March, 2023, she was publicly ensured by the Colorado Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel for promoting falsehoods about the validity of the 2020 election results. [More...]

Michael Cohen testified against Donald Trump today in the state AG civil fraud case. The complaint in the case is here.

As expected, Cohen testified Trump purposefully and arbitrarily inflated the worth of his assets. It reminds me of a "paint by numbers" art set, with Trump Org. assets as the painted objects.

“I was tasked by Mr. Trump to increase the total assets based upon a number that he arbitrarily elected,” Mr. Cohen testified, saying that it was his responsibility to “increase those assets in order to achieve the number.”

[More...]

CNN reports that Republicans have nominated LA Congressman Steve Scalise to replace McCarthy as Speaker of the House. His success is not guaranteed as a majority of the House will need to vote for him.

Hamas today launched the biggest strike against Israel since the 1973 Yom Kippur war -- and maybe since 1948. Israel has responded, saying "We are at War."

Some guests on CNN said this is a massive failure of intelligence by Israel. Others said because the Palestinians don't use cell phones and have gone off the electronic grid to avoid being tracked, Israel has never been able to conduct surveillance inside Gaza. That sounds like a weak explanation to me. What value is their intelligence if it can't detect imminent danger from its enemies?

Hamas must have been planning this strike for months, or even longer. It clearly wasn't a "fly by the seat of your pants" kind of attack. [More...]

Hamas sent 150 rockets just to Tel Aviv. CNN said 200 Israelis were killed in the Hamas strike.