While the idiotic "oppo research" (no actual research involved) from David Brock and his Correct the Record organization (FTR - it was despicable and idiotic imo, which, unfortunately for Clinton, is too common in her "allies" see Davis, Lanny) has been the lead takeaway from this brouhaha, I'd like to note the Sanders response (really smart imo). From McClatchey:

“They suggested I’d be friendly with Middle East terrorist organizations, and even tried to link me to a dead communist dictator,” Sanders said in a fundraising email that criticized a super political action committee called Correct the Record, which supports Hillary Clinton. [My emphasis]

Sanders is referring to the late Hugo Chavez. Strictly speaking, Chavez was NOT a dictator, he was duly elected multiple times. But he was an authoritarian, and, imo, bad for Venezuela.

More

Not in a million years could I have anticipated what happened during my move last Thursday. To make a long story short, one of the movers set my new home on fire during the move-in.

This was no little fire. It was more like a big bonfire. It started in the second bedroom and spread to the living room, and burned through the hardwood floors down to the core. The entire place was covered in ash. The smell got into everything -- couch, bed, rugs, and more.

The place is now uninhabitable and the fire restoration experts say it will take a month to repair. [More...]

One of these days, I'll dive in to the politics thing again, as opposed to just eGhazi. But today is not that day.

Open thread.

Also too, I ranted about Iowa/NH going first on Daily Kos Radio. I start at about the 47 minute mark.

Daily Kos Radio's KITM podcast (AUDIO): Kagro in the Morning, Tuesday, September 15, 2015 http://t.co/7OAMkHFt2J via @dailykos

— Armando (@armandodkos) September 15, 2015

Classified emails passed through commercial email services like Google and AOL on their path to or from a private server maintained by Hillary Clinton when she was secretary of state, but so far, the government appears to have done little to retrieve or secure the messages.

Also too, the FBI appears to have done nothing to capture the "classified info" sitting in the State Department's unsecured system. It's as if no one really gives a sh*t about the "classified info" that isn't on Hilary Clinton's server. Gerstein writes:

Tough first week - I stand at 7-9 (-5 units) ATS. Today I turn it around. The picks (in bold):

Wake Forest vs. @ Syracuse -4; Army +7 vs @ Connecticut; Houston vs @ Louisville -13; Temple +7 vs @ Cincinnati; Fresno State vs @ Mississippi -30(3 units);East Carolina +21 vs @ Florida; LSU -4 (5 units) vs @ Mississippi State; Hawaii vs @ Ohio State -41 (3 units); South Florida +29 vs @ Florida State; UCLA vs @ UNLV +30; Oregon vs @ Michigan State -4 (3 units); Boise State vs @ BYU +3; Kentucky vs @ South Carolina -7 (3 units) ; Toledo vs @ Arkansas -23 (3 units); Notre Dame vs @ Virginia -13; Minnesota vs @ Colorado State +5 (3 units); Georgia -21 (4 units) vs @ Vanderbilt;Miami Ohio +31 vs @ Wisconsin; Buffalo + 17 vs @ Penn State; Bowling Green +8 vs @ Maryland; Oregon State +15 vs @ Michigan

Go Gators!

Open Thread.

Tough first week - I stand at 7-9 (-5 units) ATS. Today I turn it around. The picks (in bold):

Wake Forest vs. @ Syracuse -4; Army +7 vs @ Connecticut; Houston vs @ Louisville -13; Temple +7 vs @ Cincinnati; Fresno State vs @ Mississippi -30(3 units);East Carolina +21 vs @ Florida; LSU -4 (5 units) vs @ Mississippi State; Hawaii vs @ Ohio State -41 (3 units); South Florida +29 vs @ Florida State; UCLA vs @ UNLV +30; Oregon vs @ Michigan State -4 (3 units); Boise State vs @ BYU +3; Kentucky vs @ South Carolina -7 (3 units) ; Toledo vs @ Arkansas -23 (3 units); Notre Dame vs @ Virginia -13; Minnesota vs @ Colorado State +5 (3 units); Georgia -21 (4 units) vs @ Vanderbilt;Miami Ohio +31 vs @ Wisconsin; Buffalo + 17 vs @ Penn State; Bowling Green +8 vs @ Maryland; Oregon State +15 vs @ Michigan

Go Gators!

Open Thread.

Bon Jovi was scheduled to play its first concerts in China next week -- in Shanghai and Bejing. Yesterday, the band announced the concerts were cancelled for "unforeseen reasons." The Financial Times reports it was because the backdrop to one of the band's songs at a 2010 concert included the image of the Dalai Lama.

Seriously? That has to be the song "We Weren't Born to Follow", which as I've written several times (see here for one), is one of my favorite all time videos. I've probably watched it 100 times and I've seen the band perform it twice, in 2010 and 2013. It is both inspirational and empowering.

While Dalai Lama is not shown in the official video, the band did include his image when performing the song live during its 2010 Circle Tour. Here is an image from the performance in Tokyo. [More...]

Today is packing day. Four movers, 8 hours.

Tomorrow is moving day -- another four movers for 8 hours. I'm nowhere near ready, even though I've been doing little else for almost a month. And I'm only moving less than a mile away from where I am now.

Here's an open thread, all topics welcome. I

Open Thread.

The final verdict in Italy's longstanding prosecution of Amanda Knox was delivered orally in March by the Court of Cassation, Italy's top criminal court. By law, the court has to follow up with a written ruling. The opinion has now been released. It says the case against Knox was very weak, there was no biological evidence linking her to the bedroom where her roommate was killed, prosecutors should have known the case was shaky early on.

Italy’s top criminal court has scathingly faulted prosecutors for presenting a flawed and hastily constructed case against Amanda Knox and her former Italian boyfriend, saying Monday it threw out their convictions for the 2007 murder of her British roommate in part because there was no proof they were in the bedroom where the woman was fatally stabbed.

[More...]

Moving is so hard. And time is going so fast. This is my fourth downsize in 11 years, and each time I have more stuff than will fit in the next place.

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

Inauspicious start last night as Boise ad Mich St screwed the pooch for me (1-2 ATS). But today is the day I jumpstart my season. Here are the picks (all 2 units unless otherwise indicated):

Southern Mississippi +21 (3 units) over Mississippi State

Wisconsin +14 over Bama

Georgia Southern +18 (3 units) over West Virginia

New Mexico State @ Florida - Over 55

Texas +10 (3 units) over Notre Dame

Texas A&m -3 over Ariz State

Akron +34 over Oklahoma

Bowling Green +22 (3 units) over Tennessee

Penn State -7 over Temple

Louisville +11 1/2 (3 units) over Auburn

Nebraska -7 over BYU

Virginia +20 over UCLA

Stanford -10 (3 units) over Northwestern

Go Gators!

Open Thread