President Obama will be speaking in Boulder today at the University of Colorado. Both Obama and Mitt Romney have addressed the rising cost of college and student loans. Obama's plan:

Obama would let the current $5,550 per year maximum Pell grant increase to $5,635 next year, as scheduled under current law. That figure has grown by more than $900 since 2008 for a program that is the largest source of federal aid for students, serving more than 9 million of them.

• make the American Opportunity tax credit permanent (it was created as part of his 2009 economic stimulus program.) The credit provides up to $2,500 a year per student for college costs but is due to expire Jan. 1.

• Tie some federal aid, including Perkins loans and subsidies for students' work-study jobs, to schools' abilities to curb tuition increases.

Romney says Obama's plans haven't worked. What is his advice? Get a better loan and shop around."

Romney replied that while it might be popular for him to answer that he would provide students with government money, "what I'm going to tell you is shop around."

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Is a motion by George Zimmerman's lawyers for a gag order on trial witnesses on the horizon?

George Zimmerman's friends, Mark and Sondra Osterman, thought they would help George out by writing a book about his good qualities. The book is scheduled to be released shortly, and the Ostermans are going to be on Dr. Phil the week of September 10 discussing it.

Mark Osterman has been listed as a potential state witness. He accompanied Shellie Zimmerman to the police station the night of the shooting of Trayvon Martin to pick George up when the police were done questioning him. He also drove George to the site of the shooting the next day where police filmed George doing a video re-enactment of his encounter with Trayvon. Osterman, a federal air marshal who used to be a Seminole County deputy sheriff, is featured in the promos for the Dr. Phil appearance as Zimmerman's best friend. [More...]

Lots and lots of games today. Of particular note, Penn State gets a glimpse of the future under Bill O'Brien, the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame are in Ireland to play Navy. And the destruction of Michigan by Alabama tonight in Texas. The picks (3-0 yesterday (told you it would be better, 4-3 for the year.):

Navy +14 1/2 over Notre Dame, Marshall +26 over WVa, Ohio +7 over Penn State, Northwestern Pick over Syracuse, Ohio State -25 over Miami of Ohio, Western Michigan +10 over Illinois, Tulsa -1½ over Iowa State, Southern Mississippi +20 over Nebraska, Colorado -6 over Colo St., Auburn +3 over Clemson, North Texas +44 over LSU and last, but not least, Alabama -14 over Michigan (5 units).

Open Thread.

R.I.P., Richard Flor, a 68 year old medical marijuana dispensary owner who has died in federal prison. The story will make you sick.

US District Court Judge Charles Lovell sentenced Flor to to 5 years in federal prison despite testimony that he was suffering from a variety of illnesses, including dementia, diabetes, hepatitis C, and osteoporosis. Lovell did recommend that Flor "be designated for incarceration at a federal medical center" where his "numerous physical and mental diseases and conditions can be evaluated and treated."

Months after beginning his sentence, he still hadn't been transferred to a medical facility. His lawyer described his condition in a brief:

On multiple occasions while in custody, Flor had fallen out of bed breaking his ribs, his clavicle and his cervical bones as well as injuring vertebrae in his spine. Flor also suffered from dementia, diabetes and kidney failure among other ailments,.

Here's what the Judge had to say: [More..]

3 college picks tonight: Boise (+71/2), Tennessee (-3) and San Jose State (+25).

Started off terribly last night, 1-3. Tonight will be better!

Open Thread.

So who had the worse night? Mitt Romney? Clint Eastwood? Or me? My wallet is lighter (1 of 4 yesterday with my college picks (thank gawd the BiG is turrible.) Mitt Romney was stiff. But I got to go with Clint Eastwood. He became a national punchline. Pains me to write that. Love Clint Eastwood. But it is what it is.

Open Thread.

So Mitt Romney and Clint Eastwood will speak tonight. Is anyone here watching? (Heads up: I am not.)

In other news: The Justice Dept. gives the Bush-era CIA interrogators of detainees a pass- no criminal charges.

George Zimmerman's new judge is Debra Nelson.

Aurora shooting news: CU psychiatrist Lynn Fenton testified today at a hearing that she had only met with James Holmes once, five weeks before the shootings, and that he could not be considered her patient after he dropped out of school. Prosecutors want access to whatever it was Holmes mailed her, saying the privilege didn't apply. The defense countered the package contents are privileged and informed the court Holmes had tried to call Fenton 9 minutes before the shootings. [More...]

You know what today is right? The first day of the college football season! Hallelujah!! You folks watch Romney. I'll be watching some SEC football!

Here are my picks today: Vanderbilt +220 over South Carolina. (Vandy to win!), Washington State +12 over BYU (what will be the big viewing event in Utah tonight?), UNLV +9 over Minnesota (the BiG is turrible as Charles Barkley might say), and finally, Rice (+17) over UCLA (UCLA has been consistently awful at the beginning of the season.)

Open Thread.

Kim Dotcom scores again in the New Zealand High Court. The Court has agreed to allow him to pay his lawyers $5 million using a bond that was seized during the illegal raid of his Mansion. He also got money for living expenses:

The money comes from a $10m government bond which was seized by the government on behalf of the United States as part of its internet piracy case against Dotcom and those involved in his Megaupload filesharing company. The United States position is that all the money and assets of Dotcom were gained through criminal copyright violation by internet piracy.

The ruling from Justice Judith Potter has also allowed Dotcom to sell some of the cars which were seized during the January raid.

[More...]

The militarization of the war on drugs is officially underway.

A team of 200 U.S. Marines began patrolling Guatemala's western coast this week in an unprecedented operation to beat drug traffickers in the Central America region, a U.S. military spokesman said Wednesday.

The Marines are deployed as part of Operation Martillo, a broader effort started last Jan. 15 to stop drug trafficking along the Central American coast. Focused exclusively on drug dealers in airplanes or boats, the U.S.-led operation involves troops or law enforcement agents from Belize, Britain, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, France, Guatemala, Honduras, the Netherlands, Nicaragua, Panama and Spain.

Wired has more here.

Here is today's opinion by the 5th District Court of Appeals in Florida granting George Zimmerman's Writ of Prohibition and removing Judge Kenneth Lester from the case.

"A motion is legally sufficient if it alleges facts that would create in a reasonably prudent person a wellfounded fear of not receiving a fair and impartial trial."

Although many of the allegations in Zimmerman's motion, standing alone, do not meet the legal sufficiency test,1 and while this is admittedly a close call, upon careful review we find that the allegations, taken together, meet the threshold test of legal sufficiency. Accordingly, we direct the trial judge to enter an order of disqualification which requests the chief circuit judge to appoint a successor judge.

This is good news for George Zimmerman. And, in my view, the right decision. But who will be the new judge? Do they call retired judges in to serve in Florida?

Bmaz at Empty Wheel has more.

More legal documents to review. You folks enjoy the GOP Convention. I'll enjoy my legal documents.

Tomorrow though, all college football all the time.

Open Thread.