Here's a new open thread, all topics welcome.

Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman-Loera returned to court today. A trial date was set for April, 2018. A "Cuercio" hearing was held about a potential conflict of interest due to the federal defenders having briefly represented some of the witnesses against El Chapo. He waived any potential conflict and said he is happy with his federal defenders. His wife, whom he has not been permitted to visit with, was in court.

Yesterday the Judge ruled on his challenge to the conditions of his confinement (the 18 page order is available here).

Essentially, the order upholds the Government's SAMS. One exception is that El Chapo will be allowed to send pre-screened messages to his wife, both about his choice of counsel and any assets from which lawyers can be paid, and about personal matters. The messages will be screened by a variety of agencies, from Homeland Security to the DEA to "firewall counsel" (prosecutors not on the current prosecution team.) [More...]

Republican House Members today passed a health care bill that betrays every promise Republicans made. It will "cover fewer people, charge higher premiums, raise copayments, and raise deductibles."

It takes money allotted for health insurance for the poor and converts it into tax cuts for the rich. [More...]

Republicans say they have enough votes to pass their nightmare health care bill. No one seems to think the Senate will pass it -- without modifications.

Whatever you do, if you have health care now, don't let it lapse. Millions of people, including children, will be disadvantaged by this bill.

Jimmy Kimmel explains in this powerful and emotional segment describing his new born son's heart surgery last week. [More...]

I have never seen so many ugly, bizarre, poorly fitting fashion designs as those worn at last night's Met Gala. Here is the NY Times slideshow of 84 photos. Even the severe hairstyles and pointy ears were unflattering. I can't even pick out the worst because they are all horrible.

Rhianna looks like she's being swallowed by rose petals . This one made me laugh out loud. Julianne Moore looks like she's wearing confetti. Here's the Wicked Witch of the West feigning boredom. I have no words for this look or whoever is wearing them, they both look terrible.

P. Diddy looks like a Windows screensaver. (I saw that description on Twitter.) Katy Perry played Little Red Riding Hood while this woman played Snow White. [More...]

Democrats and Republicans in Congress reached an agreement for a $1 trillion funding authorization that will keep the Government running until September. The agreement covers funds for the remainder of the 2017 budget year, until October 1, 2017, when the 2018 budget kicks in. What's in it and what's not:

• No money for Trump's border wall
• $61 million to reimburse local law enforcement agencies for the cost of protecting Trump's trips to his homes in Florida and New York
• $1.5 billion for border security measures including additional detention beds.
• $15 billion "down payment" on defense
• No language on withholding grant money from "sanctuary cities"
• No defunding of Planned Parenthood
• No cuts for "medical research and infrastructure grants."
• $295 million to help Puerto Rico continue making payments to Medicaid,
• $100  million to combat opioid addiction.

The entire 1,665 page document is available here. [More...]

TalkLeft is moving to a different server tonight. The site should only be inaccessible a few minutes while the DNS changes over. You can always check our backup site and I'll put something there when the site has finished moving.

Busy work day, this is an open thread, all topics welcome.

Update: Winter storm is here, 6 to 12 inches of snow expected.

Koi, the sushi restaurant in the TrumpSoho hotel, is closing. It used to be filled with celebrities. Business has tanked since the election. (Koi's other New York Restaurant in Bryant Park is reportedly doing very well.)

The success of Koi in the Trump Soho is of little interest meanwhile to the president, as he does not actually own the hotel and is instead paid to manage the property, which bears his name.

A similar decline in dining attendance was reported by the Michelin-starred restaurant Sixteen, which is located in Chicago's Trump Tower.

And that's not all. Grub Street says it's collateral damage from the rise of Trump: [More...]

The agencies in Donald Trump's Administration continue to resemble a kid who leaves for school looking like he was dressed by different mothers.

The latest example: ICE jails a Venezuelan intending to detain him pending a final order of removal (deportation) even though he was tortured in a Venezuelan prison for opposition to the government and has a pending petition for asylum, while the State Department asks Venezuela to return an American jailed there and awaiting trial on weapons charges, citing humanitarian concerns.

Why is it okay for the U.S. to deport someone to Venezuela where they have been tortured in the past and likely will be in the future, but it is not okay for Venezuela to jail an American it believes has committed a serious crime? Apparently, in a Trump administration, humanitarian grounds only apply to Americans. The backstory: [More....]

The latest appalling action by ICE: Check out its "Voice Program", announced yesterday. It stands for "Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement Office." There's even a VINE feature to help anyone track find and track undocumented persons who have been convicted of a crime.

ICE also says this is just a beginning. It is going to be also expanding services to allow the agency "to collect metrics and information." On whom? The victims or the perpetrators? Or both?

It uses deprecated terms like "illegal" to refer to undocumented persons.

My view: This program is an unacceptable use of federal resources that highlights the shameful bigotry in the Trump Administration's agenda.

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

The Washington Post reports Trump is not nominating people to important positions:

The Senate has confirmed 26 of Trump’s picks for his Cabinet and other top posts. But for 530 other vacant senior-level jobs requiring Senate confirmation, [Trump] has advanced just 37 nominees, according to data tracked by The Washington Post and the nonpartisan Partnership for Public Service’s Center for Presidential Transition.

Despite Trump's camp's attempt to spin this into how rigorous their requirements are, I don't take this as a sign Trump is not offering people jobs. I take it as an indicator that his overtures are being rejected because no one wants to work for his Administration.