MIT announced it will conduct an internal probe of its role in the events that led to Aaron Swartz' suicide. MIT President Raul Reif writes:

I have asked Professor Hal Abelson to lead a thorough analysis of MIT's involvement from the time that we first perceived unusual activity on our network in fall 2010 up to the present. I have asked that this analysis describe the options MIT had and the decisions MIT made, in order to understand and to learn from the actions MIT took. I will share the report with the MIT community when I receive it.

Also Sunday, Anonymous hacked MIT's website, posting a tribute to Aaron and calling for reform. [More...]

Photos of the red carpet here. Truly some big misses tonight.

The Nominations list here.

Maggie Smith wins best supporting actress for Downton Abbey Season 2. Game Change won best tv movies or miniseries. Juliane Moore wins best actree in TV miniseries or movie for Game Change.

Damian Lewis wins best actor for Homeland. He lists a slew of people he wants to share the award with, and thanks everyone under the sun, but never mentions Claire Danes. An oversight? Homeland also won best tv series.

Adele hypventilates as she wins best song. I think Bon Jovi should have won for Not Running Anymore. [More...]

Don't forget to disable Java (not javascript) from your browsers. Here's how. I also uninstalled the program from my computers. Here's why. Here's the Government alert.

A federal judge in California has struck down Prop 35, passed by voters in November, as overbroad.

Proposition 35, which passed with 81 percent of the vote in November, would have required anyone who is a registered sex offender — including people with misdemeanor offenses such as indecent exposure and whose offenses were not related to activity on the internet — to turn over to law enforcement a list of all identifiers they use online as well as a list of service providers they use.

It's the coldest post-season home game in Denver Bronco history. Go Broncos!

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

Via the Washington Post: The District of Columbia has spared David Gregory. Here is the letter from the DC Attorney General to Gregory's attorney saying it was a close call, but he will not be prosecuted for displaying a 30-round ammunition magazine on Meet the Press. A key factor:

Gregory ‘s “intent of the temporary possession and short display of the magazine was to promote the First Amendment purpose of informing an ongoing public debate about firearms policy in the United States.”

The letter also states that the offense is a strict liability crime that does not require a specific intent -- ignorance or confusion about the law is no defense.

Denver has a snowstorm on the way that's supposed to last all weekend. Which means, lots of errands to get out of the way in the next few hours.

Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

The latest in the explosives bust of the rich heroin users in Greenwich Village a few weeks ago: Police say Aaron Greene planned to blow up the Washington Square arch.

This is such an odd story. [More...]

Update 1/11/13: The Judge continued the arraignment until March.

Update: The Judge has written a 62 page order finding probable cause and stating tomorrow's hearing, which previously was set to be a status hearing or arraignment, is now procedurally an arraignment, even though the defense is unlikely to enter a plea.

The hearing scheduled for January 11, 2013, at 9:00a.m. is HEREBY converted to an arraignment. This Court recognizes that the defense, in their Objection to Expanded Media Coverage (D-25), is requesting that the matter be set for a status hearing. This Court believes that procedurally it should be an arraignment, but notes, based on D-25, that the defense is likely to request a continuance of this arraignment and that the People should be on notice for Victims' Bill of Rights purposes.

VP Joe Biden met with the NRA today. The NRA is not happy.

Biden sat down for about an hour and a half of talks with an NRA representative and officials from other gun owners' groups after telling reporters he is likely to recommend background checks for all gun buyers and a ban on high-capacity ammunition clips.

"It is unfortunate that this administration continues to insist on pushing failed solutions to our nation's most pressing problems. We will not allow law-abiding gun owners to be blamed for the acts of criminals and madmen," the NRA said in a statement after the meeting.

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper also called for universal background checks today. Colorado has background checks for commercial sales and gun shows, but not private transactions. [More...]

A new report produced for the European Union finds Europeans face a significant threat to individual privacy from the ability of the U.S. Government to spy on material stored in the cloud without a warrant, as a result of the renewed FISA Act amendments.

The report, by the Centre for the Study of Conflicts, Liberty and Security, says that FISA allows “purely political surveillance on foreigners' data” if it is stored using U.S. cloud services like those provided by Google, Microsoft and Facebook.

The full report is here. [More...]

Here is the SAMSA's latest "State Estimates of Nonmedical Use of Prescription Pain Relievers."

The Denver Post hyperventilates:

Six percent of Coloradans said they used prescription painkillers — such as Percocet or Oxycontin — for nonmedical purposes in 2010 and 2011, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. That was second only to Oregon, where the rate was 6.37 percent.

How about reading the fine print? [More...]

Joe Biden today:

"There are executive orders, executive action that can be taken. We haven't decided what that is yet," Biden said, adding that Obama is conferring with Attorney General Eric Holder on potential action.

U.S. Defense Contractor, Engility Holdings, whose subsidiary L3 Services supplied translators to Abu Ghraib and other U.S. prisons in Iraq, settled its lawsuit over the torture and abuse suffered by the Iraqi detainees. 71 detainees will equally share $5 million for abuse that occurred between 2003 and 2007. The Associated Press uncovered the document, available here. As for the guards:

Eleven soldiers were convicted of breaking military laws, but many received sentences of a just a few years. The last remaining soldier in prison convicted in the case was released in August 2011.

Bradley Manning's judge says he will receive 118 days off his eventual sentence if convicted due to the harsh conditions of his pre-trial confinement. The ruling, which took the judge an hour to read, has not been published. Considering he's facing a life sentence, that's hardly going to dissuade the military from similarly mistreating others.

The season premiere of Justified is tonight, on FX. This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

I'm flying tonight, with trial prep to the 13th and trial scheduled to start the next day.

So here is the last thing you'll hear from me for a while - I'm playing a reverse middle tonight - Notre Dame (+310) (9 units) and Bama (-9 1/2) (15 units.)

As long as Bama wins in a blowout or Notre Dame wins outright, I win (either 12 units if ND wins or 6 units if Bama wins.) Disaster is a close Bama win.

Between the 2, I think Bama blowout, but an ND win is better for me.

Open Thread.

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