Update: Worst and most boring Emmys I've ever seen. I'm switching to watch the new episode of Breaking Bad.

What a lame opening to the Emmys. I don't like Glee and I sure don't want to watch Jane Lynch for 2 hours. Did Julianne Margolies swallow too many Xanax? She's so subdued. And the top of her dress looks like a plastic cup.

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First, the biggest question about the Emmys: Why are there no nominations for AMC's Breaking Bad? Simple answer, according to AMC: It was not eligible for this year's competition because it wasn't telecast during the Jun. 1, 2010-May 31, 2011 awards year. The first three seasons, AMC aired Breaking Bad in the Spring, which made it eligible for Emmy nominations the same year in which it aired. Next year, Breaking Bad will be eligible again because the fourth season premiered July 17. Also missing for the same reason, not airing new episodes during the eligibility season: Damages.[More...]

Dominique Strauss-Kahn gave his first French interview today. He called the French writer's claim against him "imaginary", saying there was no act of aggression or violence.

For those of you not planning on watching the Emmy's Red Carpet or the Emmys, here's an open thread for all other topics.

Eleanor Mondale, daughter of former Vice President Walter Mondale, has died of brain cancer at age 51.

Eleanor was considered a "wild child" back in the day. I remember when she was dating Don Henley. According to news reports, she also dated Warren Zevon . Her friendship with Bill Clinton made Monica Lewinsky jealous.

In addition to her parents and brother, she is survived by her third husband, rock musician Chan Poling, whom she married in 2005. [More...]

The New York Times has the details of the economic plan President Obama will introduce on Monday. It's mostly about taxes -- a minimum tax for millionaires. But then there's this:

Mr. Obama, in his plan, will call for more than $300 billion in 10-year savings from Medicare and Medicaid but not for changes in Social Security.

The increased taxes may not pass be accepted by Republicans. So what's the point?

The Obama proposal has little chance of becoming law unless Republican lawmakers bend. But by focusing on the wealthiest Americans, the president is sharpening the contrast between Republicans and Democrats with a theme he can carry into his bid for re-election in 2012.

The Expendable Project has released "The Transit Report" with previously unreleased documents and new evidence, about Schapelle Corby, who continues to languish in an Indonesian prison due to a 20 year sentence for importing 4.2 kilos of marijuana into Bali, a charge she has always vehemently denied.

The movie and project, a global effort by Hidden World Research Group and Hidden World Films, was originally scheduled for release six months from now. On September 7, it announced it would start publishing now, because of credible information that Schapelle tried to commit suicide via a drug overdose just before her birthday in July. News reports say she's rapidly deteriorating. [More...]

Teddy Kennedy's daughter, Kara Kennedy, died yesterday at age 51. She suffered a heart attack while exercising at a health club in D.C.

Kara battled lung cancer in 2003. Her brother said it may have taken a toll on her heart, and she loved to exercise.

Kara and her husband Michael have two teenage children. Our condolences to the family.

College Football day. I'm pressed for time so I will just be able to give you a few of my picks in the bigger games - Oklahoma, Ohio State, Mich State.

Go Gators!

Open Thread.

I don't really care whether Sarah Palin used cocaine, had a pre-marital affair with Todd's business partner or a one night stand with an athlete she was interviewing for her college radio show, or is feuding with Bristol over her relationship with her DWTS costar, now roommate and reality show co-participant, Kyle Massey or Bristol's latest tattoo.

But I do think it's funny that Sarah Palin looked just like the caricature of the secretary from Staten Island portrayed by Melanie Griffith in the movie Working Girl -- an image Griffith spent the whole film working to shed. (Melanie succeeded at the end of the film.)

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

Back to work. Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

300 protest rallies around the world are being held today over the planned execution of Troy Davis.

The petition delivered to the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles had 638,000 signatures and support is growing daily.

Many say it's the most compelling case of innocence in decades. The Georgia Board has rejected clemency petitions for Troy before. It's also granted temporary stays of his execution.

There is simply too much doubt to execute Troy Davis. All of our coverage of his case is here. Listen to Troy in his own words in this interview from Death Row. [More...]

The New York Times reports the Obama Administrations' legal eagles are considering how far they can go in targeting and killing suspected terrorists in countries like Yeman and Somalia.

The debate, according to officials familiar with the deliberations, centers on whether the United States may take aim at only a handful of high-level leaders of militant groups who are personally linked to plots to attack the United States or whether it may also attack the thousands of low-level foot soldiers focused on parochial concerns: controlling the essentially ungoverned lands near the Gulf of Aden, which separates the countries.

[I]f a group has aligned itself with Al Qaeda against Americans, the United States can take aim at any of its combatants, especially in a country that is unable or unwilling to suppress them.

[More...]

Remember the big deal Attorney General Eric Holder made of the Administration's increased proposed funding for Prisoner Re-Entry programs? And Holder's touting the inauguratiion of a cabinet level "Reentry Council"? And how proud Obama and Holder were of the amounts in the 2012 proposed $28.2 billion Department of Justice Budget requested for Second Chance Act and reentry programs ?

The Budget provides $187 million in prisoner re-entry and jail diversion programs, including $100 million for the Second Chance Act programs and $57 million for drug, mental health, and other problem-solving courts.

Would you believe that yesterday, the Senate Appropriations Committee zapped the funding for prisoner reentry programs entirely, saying the money was needed for the Bureau of Prisons? It actually gave BOP an increase, to $6.6 billion. [More...]