Our last open thread is just about full.

Today's latest: Chief Judge James Boasberg has issued a lengthy order keeping his ban on Trump's use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport people.

In a 37-page order, the judge, James E. Boasberg, said the order should remain in place so that the Venezuelan immigrants could have the opportunity to challenge accusations that they belong to the gang, Tren de Aragua, before the Trump administration can fly them out of the country under the wartime law known as the Alien Enemies Act.

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NBC and Peacock tonight are airing a three-hour special Saturday Night Live Show for its 50th birthday. It starts at 8:00 pm ET and 5:00 pm PT. "Its stars are calling the "greatest reunion show" in TV history." The "red carpet" starts at 7 pm ET.

There will be a slew of SNL "alums".Paul McCartney is the musical guest, and Bad Bunny, Sabrina Carpenter and others will perform.

If you missed the “Ladies and Gentlemen... 50 Years of SNL Music" show, it was pretty awesome. Here is a list of the musical guests it featured. It is still streaming on Peacock.

Long live SNL, with special thanks to Lorne Michaels.

This is an open thread for all things related to TV, movies, streaming and the like. (I just put up another open thread for politics).

Happy New Year to all! It is going to be a rough ride as long as Donald Trump has a desk in the oval office. But he doesn't affect everything.

My interests have moved well beyond Donald Trump. In 2025, I'll be focusing more on news and cultural topics I find interesting or curious from outside the U.S. [More...]

I'm sorry I am so late with this new open thread. I had to get a few stitches in my eyebrow (don't ask!). Anyway, I haven't seen the news other than a headline Joe Biden granted 1,500 pardons. I not only support them, whoever they are, I support Hunter Biden's pardon.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

Please don't forget to vote. In addition to voting for President, there are votes for members of Congress, state officials, including legislators and judges, and local ordinances. All are important. Colorado's ballot was the longest I can remember. If I wasn't sure about a particular issue, I read the booklet the state sent with the pros and cons, and if I still wasn't sure, or I didn't care, I skipped that question. But on the big stuff, I voted.

Good luck Kamala, Good luck Diana DeGette, and good luck to Denver County Court Judge Kelly Cherry. You all deserve much more than votes. You have invested years of your lives to trying to make all of our lives better. You have given your hearts and souls to provide us with the best governance you can.

We get the government we elect. You snooze, you lose. As I say about Donald Trump every year: "It's time to scrape his sh*t right off our shoes". (Sweet Virginia, below) [more...]

Our last open thread is full. Here's a new one. All topics welcome.

I've mostly been following the arrests of El Mayo (Ismael Zambada-Garcia) and El Chapo's Son #3, Joaquin Guzman-Lopez. So far it seems the competing versions of how the pair came to end up in U.S. custody have some truthful details and some inconsistent or implausible details. Too many cooks spoil the broth. (Or, in this case, it's too many unidentified sous-chefs, most of whom are unnamed agents of non-identified government agencies and unnamed current or former cartel members, talking to their favorite journalists). The U.S. Government does not seem inclined at this point to deconstruct the mess for us.

Also of interest: The killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh. [More...]

Our last open thread is full. Here's a new one, all topics welcome.

Run Lola Run is back in theaters Friday, on the 25th anniversary of its 1999 release. It has been restored and upgraded to 4k. If you still go to movie theaters, this is one to see there. As director/writer Tom Tykwer says during a recent interview in the linked article, the reaction of people watching the film has been a "sheer joy to watch". A very basic plot summary from the article:

In the film, Lola (Franka Potente) has 20 minutes to come up with enough money to get her boyfriend, Manni (Moritz Bliebtreu), out of debt with a gangster. The film portrays three attempts by Lola to find a solution on foot.

Every time she is unsuccessful, the film rewinds to the beginning and Lola tries again. The film's presentation of three different realities qualifies as an early depiction of the multiverse, where infinite universes exist simultaneously.

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I am not writing about the Israel-Hamas war, or as of yet, the protests on college campuses. But I know everyone has strong feelings about the protests. And many readers do want to discuss them. So here's an open thread for those of you who do want to discuss these topics.

Keep in mind TalkLeft is not the government and what you consider free speech may differ from my interpretation of acceptable speech. And since this is my site, my interpretation prevails. [More...]

For much of the world, this was not a good year.

In welcoming 2024, let's hope it brings peace to the Middle East and the Ukraine. And hope that we finally can put the corona-virus and all its mutations behind us.

And last but not least, can disaffected and marginalized Americans, as well the rest of the Republican party, please shake off their bitterness and discontent long enough to realize that Donald Trump is nothing more than a dulled and failed artifact of the past.

With that, TalkLeft wishes everyone everywhere a happy, healthy and prosperous new year.

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..]

We get the Government we elect.