The Supreme Court held argument on the Voting Rights Act.

President Obama will meet with Congressional leaders about "the sequester."

NBC has responded to the George Zimmerman lawsuit seeking damages for its mangled editing of his call to non-emergency to report Trayvon Martin as a suspicious person. In other case news, the FBI is objecting to the court order (available here) to produce its records to the defense. The FBI's pleading is here.

Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

I'm off to court and then to the office to pick up my new iMac, which was delivered early this morning.

Update: I'm home from court and about to set up my new iMac. Thanks again to the very generous TL reader who bought it for me, and those who contributed back in December. The contributions will be great for the accessories I'm sure I'll want to add. If you are going to order one, I suggest you have it sent to wherever you are going to set it up. It weighs about 25 pounds and is an odd shape, larger on the bottom than the top, making it awkward to carry. (I had to use a dolly, which is not easy with all the ice and snow around, to get it to the car. But we both survived.)

Back to regular blogging tomorrow. Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

Best take on Seth McFarlane by Alex Pappademas:

Contempt

That too-long-by-about-three-halves Captain Kirk bit hinged on the idea that Seth MacFarlane cared about how he'd be remembered as an Oscar host, which meant it was the evening's best joke. Dude made Ted, dude makes hundreds of millions of dollars making Family Guy and was probably the richest person to host the Oscars since Johnny Carson; dude is long, long past the point where the opinions expressed by Entertainment Weekly (or in morning-after roundups like this one) will cost him a millisecond of editing-room-tanning-bed shut-eye. (Also he hates women, so that was 51 percent of the Oscar-opinion-having population factored out right there.) Really, honestly, and truly not giving a sh[*]t is life's cheat code; MacFarlane radiated confidence because he knew, probably from the moment he took the gig, that he wouldn't be invited back. Ricky Gervais's I'm–a–naughty–Golden Globe–host routine is the obvious comparison, but you always knew Gervais was negging Hollywood because he wanted its respect. MacFarlane was in this to offend, and therefore the only truly offensive thing about his performance was its cynicism.

Yes, I still exist. Busy busy. But not too busy for some "investing" fun today - Oscars Edition, on the flip:

I'm out for most of the day. Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

Frontline is airing a special on Adam Lanza. Reading the advance press releases, I didn't see anything that hasn't been published elsewhere, but for those who haven't followed much about him and his family, it could be interesting. Also, the CT state police say yesterday's CBS report that Lanza was copying the Norway killer is non-factual and inaccurate.

Showtime has added the 3 hour documentary on the History of the Eagles to On Demand. I've seen it twice now, and it is really good, especially the second part.

Oscar Pistorius' bail hearing continues at 9:00 a.m. South Africa time, which is midnight here. I'll probably post live updates again of the first few hours.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

Watching TV tonight: Shameless, the Good Wife and the finale of Downton Abbey.

There are new details in the Pistorius murder case.

Adam Lanza is back in the news, PBS's Frontline will run a show on Tuesday, Raising Adam Lanza.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

"Child's Pose" has won the Golden Bear award at the Berlin Film Festival.

Calin Peter Netzer's film is a tale of corruption and guilt in modern Romania. It follows a rich and controlling mother, played by Luminita Gheorghiu, as she bribes witnesses into giving false statements to save her son from jail after he accidentally runs down and kills a boy.

The film sounds like it's more about the unhealthy relationship between the mother and son than about the legal case or corruption. [More...]

I've got a busy day at work, here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

Oscar Pistorius has been charged with premeditated murder in South Africa.

Maureen O'Connor, former mayor of San Diego and widow of the founder of Jack in the Box, gambled over a billion dollars and has been charged in federal court with money laundering. The feds have agreed to a deferred prosecution, very unusual in federal court. She allegedly transferred more than $2 million from her late husband's foundation to her personal account to pay gambling debts, which bankrupted the charity. The money laundering charge includes only one $449,000. transfer. If she pays the charity back the money she took, the case will be dropped and no guilty plea will be required.[More....]

From our heart to yours, Happy Valentine's Day.

Now we need some Valentine's Day tunes - for love, and all the joy, despair, reckless abandon and hopefulness that comes along with it. A few that come to mind:

Bob Dylan: The Wedding Song (love the lyrics)

[More...}

President Obama is recalling 34,000 troops from Afghanistan.

He will deliver his State of the Union address tonight at 7pm ET.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

Are drones being used to find Christopher Dorner?

In Texas, updated reports show that since 1992, the state has paid $65 million to 89 wrongfully convicted persons.

The Navy Seal who killed Osama bin Laden is interviewed in Esquire. He says the government has failed "to help its most experienced and skilled warriors carry on with their lives.

This 60 Minutes report last night on how and why you are unlikely to succeed in getting credit reporting bureaus to rectify mistakes on your credit report was pretty shocking.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.