Singer Chris Brown is on 5 years of supervised probation for his felony plea to assault stemming from a 2009 incident in which he hit his then-girlfriend Rhianna. His probation was transferred under the Interstate Compact Act to Virginia where he lives. Virginia filed a petition to revoke his probation, recommending that the judge then reimpose probation with added terms.

Yesterday, a hearing was held. While there are multiple media headlines that he violated probation because he used marijuana, that is misleading.

The terms of his California probation did not require drug testing or prohibit him from using marijuana. Brown has a medicinal marijuana license in California. He smoked marijuana in California and then traveled to Virginia. [More...]

John Edward Smith, imprisoned for the past 19 years for a murder he did not commit, walked out of court a free man yesterday.

It was not DNA evidence that freed him, but perjured testimony at his trial. The sole eyewitness at his trial admitted lying.

Prosecutors told the judge they were convinced that the lone eyewitness to the 1993 shooting had lied at Smith’s trial, naming him as the gunman. Smith maintained he was at his grandmother’s house when the shooting occurred several blocks away.

The witness said said he was pressured by police to identify Smith as the shooter. [More...]

I don't watch football, but my Twitter feed is filled with tweets about a bad call during Monday night football that cost the Green Bay Packers the game against the Seattle Seahawks. Sounds like it might be the final straw, as the bad calls have become routine with this season's use of stand-in referees for the usual ones, who have been locked out in a labor dispute.

Everyone seems to agree the stand-in refs, who come from college and minor league teams are unqualified (I see lots of comparisons being made to substitute teachers).

This recap by an LA Times sports writer seems typical of the post-game ranting going on in MediaLand.

If I understand what happened correctly (and I probably don't, since the articles are all filled with game terms that are so completely foreign to me, I might as well be reading Greek) it boils down to this: It was the end of the game. Someone threw something called a "desperation pass" , which others call a Hail Mary Pass, to the end zone. The pass was caught by two people, one from each team. Many people thought the Packers' guy intercepted the pass, but when the refs came out, one called it a touchdown for Seattle. Another ref saw it differently and called it a "touchback", and there was a review. The review, which took 10 minutes, concluded the ref calling a touchdown for Seattle was right. Both teams were called back so Seattle could kick for the extra point. Seattle won the game. Even haters of Green Bay are saying Green Bay got robbed. [More..]

The States Attorney's office in Pinellas County, FL today announced an off-duty security guard who followed someone he believed was driving erratically which led to a confrontation and the guard fatally shooting the man he followed will not face charges because the shooting was justified under the state's stand your ground law.

The shooting occurred a week after Trayvon Martin was shot in a different county. The case generated a lot of local attention with calls for an arrest but no national attention. Race was not an issue, as both the shooter and victim were white. The victim's family says this was not a case of Stand Your Ground. [More...]

I'll be flying solo on Daily Kos Radio from 11 to noon Eastern today. I'll be discussing the notion that a pure progressive should not vote for Obama. Hint: drones.

How to Listen to Daily Kos Radio:

Can't see the Flash player? Click here to download the stream directly.

Open Thread.

Via Reuters:

New polling by Reuters/Ipsos indicates that during the past two weeks - since just after the Democratic National Convention - support for Romney among Americans age 60 and older has crumbled, from a 20-point lead over Democratic President Barack Obama to less than 4 points.

Paul Ryan got booed at an AARP convention in New Orleans last week. Analysts say if Romney doesn't win seniors, he can't win the election.

He's not doing well with middle-aged voters either: [More...]

New Zealand's national security agency illegally intercepted communications of Kim Dotcom when providing assistance to the U.S. with its request for his arrest and extradition to the U.S. A formal inquiry was announced today. Via Press Release From the Prime Minister of New Zealand:

Prime Minister John Key today announced he has requested an inquiry by the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security into the circumstances of unlawful interception of communications of certain individuals by the Government Communications Security Bureau.

Mr Key says the Crown has filed a memorandum in the High Court in the Megaupload case advising the Court and affected parties that the GCSB had acted unlawfully while assisting the Police to locate certain individuals subject to arrest warrants issued in the case. The Bureau had acquired communications in some instances without statutory authority.

The Security Bureau informed the Prime Minister of the illegal interceptions on Sept. 17. The Prime Minister wouldn't say what effect it will have on the extradition request, but it sounds like he expects the High Court to consider it:[More...]

Bruce Springsteen celebrated his 63rd birthday last night with a concert in New Jersey. His daughter Jessica is in Europe. She just bought the horse that won Great Britain an Olympic gold medal in show jumping. She didn't make the US team for London, but is going to try again for 2016.

The Emmys are early tonight, I already missed the first hour. I hope Breaking Bad wins some. (Update: Aaron Paul just won best supporting actor for Jesse! I wish there were two awards, so Gus could win too. Hopefully this bodes well for Bryan Cranston. )

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

Disaster struck me last week (I'll calculate the details for you later.) But today is a new day. Much more reliant on Sagarin, the picks:

Kansas State +5 over Oklahoma, Hawaii +9 over Nevada, Clemson +15 over Florida State (2 units), Fresno State +6½ over Tulsa, Arizona +23 over Oregon (5 units), Vanderbilt +16 over Georgia, Missouri +11 over South Carolina, Notre Dame -5 over Michigan (5 units), LSU -21 over Auburn, California +16 over USC, Oregon State +7½ over UCLA, Temple +7½ over Penn State, Colorado +20 over Washington State, Miami (Florida) +14 over Georgia Tech (2 units), Wisconsin -17½ over Texas-El Paso, Army +7 over Wake Forest,Mississippi -19 over Tulane, Bowling Green +17 over Virginia Tech (3 units), Maryland +25½ over West Virginia , Western Michigan +1 over Connecticut, TCU -18 over Virginia, Kentucky +23 over Florida, Iowa -14 over Central Michigan (2 units).

For the season, 6 games under .500. Minus 14 units.

Open Thread.

Really busy day. Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

More stars are born...Will Jones and Jeffrey Alan Gutt on the X Factor.

So far this season, I'm liking the X Factor better than The Voice.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

What will they think of next? Via ABC News (no video)

The New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission has cracked down on drivers smiling in their driver's license photos because their smiles could interfere with new facial recognition software.

Maybe next year they will come up with a tooth recognition system and made smiling mandatory.