ISIS's official media arm, al Hayat, has released the first issue of a new magazine called Rumiyah. Here is an English version. (There is also a Turkish, Russian and Arabic version.) In the Foreward, it praises ISIS fighters who died for the cause. The magazine tells its readers to be like these dead fighters: Stand and Die.

This is the way of the muwahhidin in every time and place. Whenever a generation of them passes, another generation follows, holding the banner of tawhid overhead while plunging anew into the battle for Islam, which continues to be waged against shirk and its people. The slogan of each of them is, “Stand and die upon that for which your brothers in faith before you have died.”

The Magazine says the dead fighters aren't really dead at all, but enjoying life in paradise.[More...]

I have written three absurdly long posts on all the things wrong with season 2 of Narcos. I may ditch them altogether, or I may publish them in pieces. In any event, Narcos is confirmed for Seasons 3 and 4, and they are now on track to butcher the story of the Cali Cartel the way they did the Medellin cartel. For Narcos' acknowledgements of which characters are made up or composites, and which events didn't happen, go here. I've got a lot more to add to the list.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

The hosts for the presidential debates have been announced. They are: NBC's Lester Holt, ABC's Martha Raddatz, CNN's Anderson Cooper and Fox News's Chris Wallace.

Donald will find something to squawk about, I'm sure, but there's no way he can skip the debates. I think the drinking game will be how many times he says "email" and crook".

Journalist Wayne Barrett, who has written about Rudy Giuliani for decades, is back, with a scathing comparison of Rudy and Thump. He says the "the onetime comb-over twins just had too much in common" not to align with each other this time around.

The wife stuff is pretty funny. [More...]

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

Today is Donald Trump's impulsive last-minute trip to Mexico, to be followed by an immigration speech.

Here's a place to laugh at discuss it.

Mexicans in Mexico are not happy their President is meeting with Trump.

This is pretty big. ISIS Chief Spokesman Abu Muhammad al-Adnani has been killed in Aleppo Province. ISIS affiliated news agency Amaq has confirmed it and said he “was martyred while surveying the operations to repel the military campaigns against Aleppo.” Here is the official announcement from ISIS in Arabic.

Here is one of his speeches from 2014 calling for lone wolf attacks. The State Department added him to the Global terror list in 2014. Here is the notice. [More...]

Donald Trump's doctor is getting examined by the media, and it's not flattering. Either is this predecessor article.

Update: 8/30/16, 9:15 pm MT: Live stream started 1/2 hour ago here.

A New Zealand appeals court today began hearing the appeal of Kim Dotcom against extradition to the U.S. The hearing is expected to take six to eight weeks. Kim Dotcom has been requesting the hearing be live-streamed. Today, the court granted his request and live streaming begins tomorrow.

Justice Murray Gilbert granted the application, subject to agreement from Mr Dotcom and the other men that the case would only be livestreamed and any footage would be removed as soon as the six-week hearing was over. The footage would also be streamed with a 20 minute delay, to allow the court to prevent any suppressed material from being published.

Check Kim Dotcom's twitter feed, @kimdotcom, for the live stream link. Also check out Torrent Freak, which has been doing a good job of following the case all these years. [More...]

Anthony Weiner has gotten caught sexting again. His wife, Clinton aide Huma Abedin issued a statement saying she is leaving him.

"After long and painful consideration and work on my marriage, I have made the decision to separate from my husband. "Anthony and I remain devoted to doing what is best for our son, who is the light of our life. During this difficult time, I ask for respect for our privacy."

Trump issued a statement blaming Hillary. That's absurd. David Plouffe, Obama's 2008 campaign manager, yesterday called Trump a psychopath. I could do without the name-calling, but Trump does seem to just make stuff up, and uninformed and lazy people who can't be bothered to fact-check buy into it.

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform has requested Mylan CEO Heather Bresch to produce documents and communications about the price increase of Epi Pen.

Mylan today announced it will sell a $300.00 generic version.

Almost every news story has an auto-play video which I won't link to. It's taking more and more time to find articles without video. It is such a waste of time and it really takes a lot of the fun out of blogging.

I have nothing to write about. Trump has become boring and predictable. Only the ignorant and persons who can't manage their perceived anger will vote for him.

Things seem stable for the time being in Sinaloa. Yes, a nephew of Zambada-Garcia (Edgar Parra Juvanny Zambada, age 42) got killed, but he seemed like a straight arrow working for a seafood company. Maybe it was road rage? (Added: Probably not. His brother, Juan Jose Parra Zambada, alias "El Juanjo", was arrested with Jesus "El Rey" Zambada Garcia (El Mayo's brother) in 2008 and their father, Juan Jose Parra "El Diablo", was Zambada Garcia's brother in law, having married his sister Ana Maria Zambada Garcia. According to an interview El Mayo gave to the magazine Proceso, Juan Jose Parra "El Diablo" introduced Ismael Zambada-Garcia to drug trafficking when he was 16. [More...]