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.

A new Wall St. Journal/NBC/Marist poll is out today.

President Barack Obama has opened an eight percentage-point lead in Iowa and maintains a five-point edge in Colorado and Wisconsin, according to Wall Street Journal/NBC News/Marist Poll surveys of the three presidential battlegrounds.

The WSJ says Romney is counting on these states for his electoral college votes, especially since he's been slipping in Ohio and Virginia.

I'll be flying solo on Daily Kos Radio from 11 to noon Eastern today.

How to Listen to Daily Kos Radio:

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

Open Thread.

The Office of Inspector General released a 451 page report today on Fast and Furious. It specifically clears Attorney General Eric Holder of wrongdoing.

We determined that Attorney General Holder did not learn about Operation Fast and Furious until late January or early February 2011 and was not aware of allegations of “gun walking” in the investigation until February. We found no evidence that Department or ATF staff informed the Attorney General about Operation Wide Receiver or Operation Fast and Furious prior to 2011. We concluded that the Attorney General’s Deputy Chief of Staff, the Acting Deputy Attorney General, and the leadership of the Criminal Division failed to alert the Attorney General to significant information about or flaws in those investigations.

Holder's public statement on the report is here.

Some others didn't fare so well. [More....]

The state released some of its 6th and 7th round of discovery in the George Zimmerman case to the media today. The material was released about a month ago to the defense. Not everything released to the defense is included.

Of interest to those following the timeline of events the night of the shooting is the release of the event reports with times of the 911 calls. The primary one is here.

The conclusions in the DNA reports of the gun, holster, trigger and slide are pretty much a retread of previously released reports. Contrary to what some news outlets are reporting, they don't hurt Zimmerman's case since Zimmerman never said Trayvon Martin grabbed or even touched his holster or gun. He said he sensed or felt Trayvon reaching towards his gun after it became exposed while they were struggling on the ground, and that he grabbed Trayvon's hand to prevent him from getting to his gun. Obviously, Martin's DNA would not be on the holster or gun if Zimmerman stopped his hand from reaching them. [More...]