It's another beautiful day in Colorado.

For those of you online, here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

A new poll shows the conservative tea-party favored Senate candidate, prosecutor Ken Buck, is leading among independents in Colorado.

In the state's highest profile race, Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck (R-Colorado) leads Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colorado) 48 to 43 percent with eight percent going to another candidate and one percent undecided. Of the polling sample, Buck leads among self-described independents, 53 to 34 percent. He also leads decidedly among male voters, 52 to 37 percent, and among younger voters ages 18 to 34, 54 to 33 percent.

Where Sen. Michael Bennet is leading: Among women and older voters. Why? Because of Buck's positions against abortion and conflicting position on birth control and social security.

So Dems need to get out the female and older voters. Another reason it matters: The Personhood Amendment is on the ballot. If the anti-choice crowd comes out in greater numbers, the amendment, which grants constitutional rights from the moment of conception, has a greater chance of passing. [More...]

The State Department has issued a terror travel alert for Americans in Europe. It represents less of a threat than a "travel warning."

The United States travel alert does not discourage Americans from visiting Europe, a step American officials rejected in part because of concerns about the impact on tourism and student travel. A “travel alert” of the kind issued Sunday is considered to be far less disruptive than a “travel warning” that would advise Americans to stay away from certain high-threat areas.

We're finally getting some fall weather.

I'm watching "The Blind Side." It's not as cheesy as I thought it would be. What are you doing or thinking about tonight?

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

The accusations flew in the Meg Whitman-Jerry Brown California gubernatorial debate today.

Here are some excerpts. Whitman:

"The real tragedy here is Nicky. After Nov. 2, no one's going to be watching out for Nicky Diaz. And Jerry, you know you should be ashamed, you and your surrogates ... put her deportation at risk. You put it out there and you should be ashamed for sacrificing Nicky Diaz on the altar of your political ambitions."

Brown:

"You have blamed her, blamed me, blamed the left, blamed the unions, but you don't take accountability and you can't be a leader unless you're willing to stand on your own two feet and say 'Yep, I made a mistake.'"

[More...]

Greta takes on Gloria Allred over the Meg Whitman housekeeper allegations. Pretty funny.

The San Francisco Chronicle interviewed immigration lawyers who say Whitman acted appropriately: [More...]

After a 7-6 week, my season record now stands at 29-24-1 (.547). Here are this weeks picks:

Vandy (+7.5) over UConn; Northwestern (-6) over Minn [3 units]; Army (+7) over Temple; Ohio State (-17) over Illini; UVA (+7) over FSU; Clemson (+3.5) over The U; Kentucky (+3) over Ole Miss; Navy (+10) over Air Force; Okla (-4) over Texas [5 units]; Wisconsin (-2) over Mich State; NC State (+3.5) over Va Tech; Georgia (-4) over Colorado; BC (+3) over Notre Dame; Iowa (-7) over Penn St.; USC (-10) over Washington; Oregon (-7) over Stanford; and Nevada (-21) over UNLV.

In EPL action, I'm riding Chelsea again, this time over Arsenal. 5 units.

Go Gators!

Reprehensible news article of the day:

From 1946 to 1948, American public health doctors deliberately infected nearly 700 Guatemalans — prison inmates, mental patients and soldiers — with venereal diseases in what was meant as an effort to test the effectiveness of penicillin.

American tax dollars, through the National Institutes of Health, even paid for syphilis-infected prostitutes to sleep with prisoners, since Guatemalan prisons allowed such visits. When the prostitutes did not succeed in infecting the men, some prisoners had the bacteria poured onto scrapes made on their penises, faces or arms, and in some cases it was injected by spinal puncture.

If the victims came down with the disease, they were treated with antibiotics.

The U.S. officially apologized today. The President of Guatamala appropriately expressed his outrage, calling the tests "crimes against humanity."

Mahsa Saeidi-Azcuy, the bullying prosecutor on this season's Apprentice, has quit her job after being moved to a non-courtroom position.

Most of the articles I've read say she was forced out. Why? Saeidi-Azcuy, who has had her law degree for a year, who portrayed herself as a justice-seeker, and who the show portrayed as a tough-as-nails tour-de-force in the courtroom, never told the DA's office why she sought a two month leave of absence, that she intended to appear on the show, seeking a job working for Trump. Had they known, they wouldn't have granted her request.

Even Ivanka Trump noticed her negative personality: [More..]

CNN wasted no time in firing Rick Sanchez after he ran his mouth on Pete Dominick's Sirius radio show, calling Jon Stewart a "bigot" and suggesting CNN is run by Jews.

Dominick pointed out that as a Jew, Stewart was also a minority - to which Sanchez responded, snickering, "Please, what are you kidding?.. Yeah, a very powerless people."

"I'm telling you that everybody who runs CNN is a lot like Stewart, and a lot of people who run all the other networks are a lot like Stewart," Sanchez said. "To imply that somehow they, the people in this country who are Jewish, are an oppressed minority? Yeah."

[More...]

At the airport. Talk to y'all tomorrow morning with my college picks.

Go Gators!

Open Thread.

I was busy in Gainesville helping Urban Meyer scheme for the Alabama game . . .

Open Thread.