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

College pigskin is back!

And tomorrow the inaugural game choices.

Expecting to return to my 60% hit rate!

A little taste tonight - Boise State (-12) over Washington

Mich State (-16) over Western Michigan

Over 71 in the Baylor-SMU game.

Open Thread.

Here is a new open thread. All topics welcome.

I have a list of 50 or so things to do before I move. I'm on number 3.

Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

I dumped the spam from the last week. I'll try to check it every night.

Did anyone watch "Narcos?" I was not impressed. They should have named it "Narcs" -- it's the story of two U.S. drug agents helping Colombia nab Escobar. It's not the story of Esobar, it's the agents' story, and it's got some factual issues. If you want the real flavor of who these agents are, read some Congressional Hearing testimony from around 1993 or their description of their time in Colombia over at the DEA Museum where they gave a tour. [More...]

Sorry, doing lawyer things.

Open Thread.

College football just around the corner.

Open Thread.