It sure is cold outside, but the view from my living room was very pretty today.

I've been mostly reading news from Mexico today. The papers there have been filled the past few days with revelations that the DEA made deals with top Sinaloa cartel members to provide information about rival cartels in exchange for immunity and the freedom to continue their illegal activities. This is about the case of Jesus Vincent Zambada-Niebla, awaiting trial in Chicago. I'm not sure why the Mexican papers are just picking it up now -- it was news in the U.S. in 2011. Here's a long post I wrote about the case and the DEA's "snitch and carry on" policy. It's an interesting question whether Humberto Loya-Castro, the Sinaloa lawyer who became a DEA informant and provided information about rival cartels for years to the DEA, and who set up a meeting in Mexico City between the DEA and Zambada-Niebla, at which Zambada-Niebla claimed the DEA offered him the same deal as Loya (become a snitch against rivals and continue on without fear of busts) was not so much an informant as an agent of the Cartel.

Snitch and receive a get out of jail free card pales in comparison to snitch, stay in business and be free from arrest. The DEA used the same strategy in Colombia when targeting Pablo Escobar. It's called "Divide and Conquer."[More...]

[Bump and Update from Friday. Thanks to those of you who donated over the weekend, I'll be sending thank you e-mails later this week.]

New Years is always the time I re-assess blogging. Should I continue? Have I been doing this too long? (TalkLeft has been publishing daily for 11 1/2 years.) Should I keep paying hundreds of dollars a month for a dedicated server? Should I pay thousands on a professionally done site overhaul to get it off Scoop and onto Wordpress or another blogging platform? Should I go back to taking ads or start charging for full, premium access? Should I keep the site as is but invest in making a mobile version of the site, compatible with mobile devices?

I've finally made a few tentative decisions. I want to keep blogging. I don't want to charge people for reading the site or clutter the site with ads. I want to be done with Scoop and move to Wordpress. I want to be able to write using easy to read Google-type fonts. I want to stop having to check for spammer registrations every few days. I don't want to keep paying hundreds of dollars a month to keep the site going.

So changes are coming, here's what's in store: [More....]

Busy work day. Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

Happy New Year's Eve everyone.

7 hours to go and it's legal to buy pot in Colorado.

Here's NORML Colorado's new webpage -- and a list of "Doobie DOs" (and Don'ts.)

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

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.)

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

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.