It's still raining hard here in Colorado. Latest numbers: 19,000 homes have been damaged or destroyed, 11,700 people have been evacuated and 1,200 people are unaccounted for.

It looks like Bob Dylan has joined the copyright crowd -- There are very few live performances still on You Tube. I couldn't find a good one for Shelter From the Storm, so here's one from somewhere with a nice rainy graphic of NYC and with good sound. If you move your mouse or pointer past the right border, the distracting social media links go away.

Shelter from the Storm - Hurricane Irene New York City

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The picks: Vanderbilt +14 Competitor: South Carolina; Alabama -8½ Competitor: Texas A&M (3 units); Oklahoma -24 Competitor: Tulsa; UCLA +3 Competitor: Nebraska; Georgia Tech -9 Competitor: Duke Mississippi State +6 Competitor: Auburn, Army +30 Competitor: Stanford; Utah -3 Competitor: Oregon State; Purdue +19 Competitor: Notre Dame; Kentucky +15 Competitor: Louisville; Oregon -28 Competitor: Tennessee (3 units); Bowling Green +3 Competitor: Indiana; Washington -10 Competitor: Illinois; Mississippi +3 Competitor: Texas.

Open thread.

Below, John Amato of Crooks and Liars and I talking sports and various sundry things. Also to be broadcast on Netroots Radio tomorrow morning at 9 am EST (noon PST):

Saturday College Football Open Thread tomorrow morning.

Open Thread.

The rains are expected to continue. Denver was spared for the most part, but Boulder, Lyons, Estes Park, Fort Collins, and some areas of Jefferson County are a mess. And we're not out of the woods. The latest alert has lots of counties including Denver under a flash flood warning until tomorrow morning.

Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Clear Creek, Denver, Douglas, Gilpin, Jefferson, Larimer, Park, Weld

Live Boulder Press Conference (4:00 pm MT): Boulder is reminding people to stay out of the water -- it's filled with sewage. Evacuation orders are not being lifted because more rain is on the way. 80 people are unaccounted for, and another death was confirmed today. For those with flooded basements, the city can't help, they need to call a recovery company. Here's how to find a reputable one. [More...]

Al Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri yesterday called for more lone wolf and other small scale attacks against the U.S. His reasoning is that even small attacks cause us to overreact with security, which is expensive and contributes to diminishing our economy.

In an audio speech released online a day after the 12th anniversary of the 9/11 strikes, Zawahri said attacks "by one brother or a few of the brothers" would weaken the U.S. economy by triggering big spending on security, SITE reported.

..."We should bleed America economically by provoking it to continue in its massive expenditure on its security, for the weak point of America is its economy, which has already begun to stagger due to the military and security expenditure," he said.

He also wants to see big strikes -- the kind that that take ten years to plan -- against the U.S.

Somewhere between where I parked my car at the courthouse and the courtroom today, I dropped my wallet with all my credit cards. Since I keep my ID in a separate card folder, I had no idea it was missing. When I got to my office after court to get the mail, the receptionist handed me my wallet and said a man in a sports coat dropped it off and didn't leave his name.

On a blustery, rainy day, this person drove or walked a half mile from federal court to my office to return a wallet I had no idea was missing. What an incredibly nice thing to do.

Since I have no idea who he is, all I can do is thank him here and hope he sees it. Thanks, stranger!

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

Open thread.

Update: The voters of El Paso and Pueblo have spoken. Senate President John Morse and Senator Angela Giron are out. They will both be replaced by Republicans.

Today was voting day on the efforts to recall two Colorado legislators over their support for new gun control laws.

For Senate President John Morse: El Paso County Clerk and Recorder live update results here. For State Senator Angela Giron: Pueblo County Clerk and Recorder live update of Senate District 3 results here. [More...]

President Obama is about to address the nation on Syria. Here's a thread to discuss.

Update: Shorter version is Obama is asking Congress to delay a vote.

Obama lays out the evidence Assad's regime used chemical weapons. He says if we don't act, Assad will not hesitate to do it again. Other dictators will try to obtain chemical weapons, as will terrorist groups. Turkey Jordan and Israel are at risk.

He determined in the national security interest of the U.S. to respond by a targeted military strike. He knows it won't be popular, after a decade of war in Iraq and Afghanistan. The purpose is deterring and degrading Assad's chemical capability.

Even though he has the authority to order the strike himself, he took the debate to Congress. [More...]

Now that the entire world is following my advice on Syria, my work is done. (snark) Here is an open thread to comment on that and other important issues, like how the Oregon Ducks beat the Washington Redskins last night.

Open thread.

At downtown Denver's Civic Park yesterday, there were long lines for public marijuana giveaway. Police were on hand, but all went smoothly.

Shouting "Free the weed!" scores of marijuana lovers stood in line Monday for free joints offered by opponents of tax issues on the statewide and Denver ballots in November.

"It is legal to hand out marijuana to people in Colorado and it is legal to do it without paying a penny in taxes!" shouted [attorney]Rob Corry, who helped organize the event at Denver's Civic Center.

The giveaway was organized to protest a measure on this year's ballot, Proposition AA, which sets sales and excise taxes on marijuana. I support the tax and urge Coloradans to vote for it. [More...]

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi requested an execution be continued to accommodate her re-election campaign. She was scheduled to attend a fundraiser kicking off her re-election campaign. Gov. Scott accommodated her request, not knowing the reason.

[Marshall Lee]Gore was initially scheduled for execution in June, but the date was twice delayed because of legal skirmishes over Gore's sanity.

After Gov. Scott last month rescheduled the execution for Sept. 10, the date of Bondi's "hometown campaign kickoff" at her South Tampa home, Bondi's office asked that it be postponed. The new date is Oct. 1.

The relatives of the victims were not pleased. Also, as AG, Bondi has been fighting challenges to Florida's 2013 "Timely Justice Act" to speed up executions.

After much just criticism, Bondi apologized today, calling the request a mistake. [More...]