Update: I think Jimmy Kimmel is doing a terrific job.

I loved the part with his mother making PB&J; sandwiches for everyone. Great delivery on line about how people who are allergic to peanuts are out of luck, they could only afford one epi-pen. I also liked his asking Marcia Clark if she was rooting for OJ tonight. And the Trump bashing -- by everyone. [More...]

A new CBS poll on the battleground states says Hillary and Trump are now about equal. The poll is conducted on the internet. It's not really a poll by CBS, but for CBS, by an online polling company.

The CBS News 2016 Battleground Tracker is a panel study based on interviews conducted on the internetof registered voters in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Michigan, North Carolina, New Hampshire,Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Wisconsin, California, Illinois, Indiana, New Jersey, New York, South Carolina, and Texas. The poll was conducted by YouGov, an online polling organization.

More significant, I think, is this new poll in Pennsylvania, which has Hillary at a 9 point lead in the state:

Democrat Hillary Clinton has a 9-point lead among likely Pennsylvania voters as Republican Donald Trump continues to struggle among groups key to winning the state, according to a Morning Call/Muhlenberg College poll released Saturday.

[More...]

Update: A tumbler account has claimed credit in the name of gay rights.The post has since been removed.

Officials do not think the pipe bomb found in a garbage can at Seaside Park on the Jersey Shore is linked to last night's pipe bomb explosions in Chelsea.

Officials said there’s no evidence currently linking the explosion to terrorism, and said the incident appeared to be unrelated to a pipe bomb explosion earlier Saturday in Seaside Park, New Jersey near the start line of a charity run.

“We know from everything we’ve seen so far that this was an intentional act. Again we do not know the nature of it, we do not know the motivation,” de Blasio said

A source told CBS News "both the Chelsea bombs and the Seaside Park bombs used cell phones as triggers." The Chelsea device may have utilized a pressure cooker. [More...]

Amaq News Agency (associated with ISIS) claims an ISIS supporter is responsible for the knife attacks at a Minnesota mall:

Local news in Minnesota is identifying the attacker, who was killed, as Dahir Adan:

(no link due to auto-play video.) He is reportedly a Somali-American. His family has issued an apology. He was a college student with (as far as they know) no history of violence. He told his family he was going to the mall to buy an iPhone, and they don't know what happened after that. 8 or 9 people were injured at the mall, none with life-threatening injuries, and Adan was killed outside Macy's by an off-duty police officer. [More...]

I really don't like writing about Donald Trump, he just leaves such a bad taste. In my opinion, he's a sour, dour, spoiled, arrogant, and uninspiring individual, lacking in any identifiable talent and I don't trust a word he says. I have no idea what he really believes. Electing him would really be like buying the proverbial pig in a poke.

Trump's had a bad week. I still don't believe he will win -- I think people are bemused by him, and curious as to what outlandish thing he will do or say next. I doubt his supporters will turn out in big numbers to vote.[More...]

Hillary Clinton's doctor has provided this letter with additional details of her medical condition.

Shorter version: She's fit to be President.

Hillary's doctor is a board certified diplomat in internal medicine. Trump's doctor is a gastroenterologist named Harold Bornstein. More here. Who is Bornstein? Here's a photo of Bornstein on the day he wrote the letter attesting to Donald's health, which he later said he wrote in 5 minutes while waiting for a limo. Is anyone surprised Donald Trump announced today he recently had another physical with Dr. Bornstein, who gave him a one page summary which he shared with Dr. Oz, saying he's in good health?

According to various media sources, Trump told Dr. Oz he wants to lose 15 pounds. That's not surprising, given his reported eating habits. [More...]

It's a court day for me. Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

Dr. Jen Gunter at The Hill writes an article, "Yes, Hillary almost fainted: I'm a doctor and it's really OK."

The medical term for fainting is syncope. Syncope is the temporary loss of consciousness and posture, due to a temporary insufficient flow of blood (and hence oxygen) to the brain. If the feeling of faintness and light-headedness and weakness comes but there is no loss of consciousness, the event is called near-syncope.

...The Journal of Geriatric Cardiology published a pretty definitive list of potential syncope causes in this useful review article about older adults.

[More...]

Bump and Update 9/12/16: Hillary has been diagnosed with pneumonia. She's taking antibiotics and her doctor says she is recovering nicely.

*****

Hillary got overheated at a 911 Memorial today. She left, went to Chelsea's apartment, and emerged later saying she felt great.

Temperatures on Sunday morning in New York hovered around 80 degrees most of the morning. At the start of the ceremony, the dew point was around 72 degrees — which produces oppressive humidity, according to meteorologists. The humidity declined sharply during the ceremony, and by 11 a.m., the air was drier and pleasant.

[More...]

In 1981, at age 25, John Hinckley shot and wounded former President Ronald Reagan, his press secretary James Brady, a police officer and a member of the secret service. In 1982, after an 8 week trial, a jury found Hinckley not guilty by reason of insanity. He was placed in a mental hospital.

In 2003, after 19 years in the mental hospital, the Judge granted him unsupervised visits with his parents. He was then 48 years old.

In 2005, at age 50, he was allowed overnight visits at his parents' home .

In July, 2016, after 35 years at the mental hospital, the Court ordered him released on full-time convalescent leave (outpatient placement.) (The 103 page opinion is here.)

Today, John Hinckley went home for good to live with his now 90 year old mother in Williamsburg, VA. Hopefully, someone will give him a job, and someone will offer to be his friend. [More...]

The Justice Department has released an in depth report, Bringing Calm to Chaos, (available here) on the December, 2015 San Bernardino shootings. Shooters Syed Farook and his wife Tashfeen Malik died in a shootout with police.

The report addresses first responder and law enforcement response to the attack. It is not a critique, and calls the response to the shootings "exemplary." Its purpose is to "critically assess the decisions made and the actions taken in response to the terrorist attacks- not in judgment but in careful study." It hopes to be a lesson for future attacks. [More...]

Colombia is mulling over whether to allow companies to put coca in their products.

Lawmakers are working on a proposal that would allow anyone — not just indigenous groups — to harvest coca crops for traditional and medical uses. According to the project’s sponsor, Sen. Juan Manuel Galán, tens of thousands of coca farmers currently locked in the drug trade could be selling their crops to a thriving industry making products like the ones Coca Nasa has pioneered.

Sen. Juan Manuel Galán is the son of former Liberal party presidential candidate Luis Carlos Galan Sarmiento, who was killed in August 1989 by the Medellin cartel. In May, he announced his candidacy for President of Colombia in 2018.

Someone besides me takes issue with the series Narcos and its "reliance on doctored history."

Time for a new open thread. All topics welcome.

Photo courtesy of Aftenposten

Facebook censored the iconic "Napalm Girl" photo of 9 year old Phan Thi Kim Phúc. If you are not familiar with the photo or the story behind it:

In June 1972, when she was just 9 years old, Phuk suffered burns on over 65 percent of her body when American forces mistakenly dropped napalm bombs on the South Vietnamese temple where she and her family had taken refuge.

Associated Press photographer Nick Ut's photograph of her running naked and screaming from the flames became an iconic image of the Vietnam War – and earned him a Pulitzer.

The Pulitzer prize winning photo has been reprinted everywhere, including family friendly People Magazine. The photo is largely credited with turning public opinion against the Vietnam War.

About two weeks ago, a Norwegian writer named Tom Egeland posted the photo on Facebook in an article about 7 photos that changed the face of war. Facebook censored and removed it, causing a media uproar in Norway. [More..]

ISIS's official media arm, al Hayat, has released the first issue of a new magazine called Rumiyah. Here is an English version. (There is also a Turkish, Russian and Arabic version.) In the Foreward, it praises ISIS fighters who died for the cause. The magazine tells its readers to be like these dead fighters: Stand and Die.

This is the way of the muwahhidin in every time and place. Whenever a generation of them passes, another generation follows, holding the banner of tawhid overhead while plunging anew into the battle for Islam, which continues to be waged against shirk and its people. The slogan of each of them is, “Stand and die upon that for which your brothers in faith before you have died.”

The Magazine says the dead fighters aren't really dead at all, but enjoying life in paradise.[More...]

I have written three absurdly long posts on all the things wrong with season 2 of Narcos. I may ditch them altogether, or I may publish them in pieces. In any event, Narcos is confirmed for Seasons 3 and 4, and they are now on track to butcher the story of the Cali Cartel the way they did the Medellin cartel. For Narcos' acknowledgements of which characters are made up or composites, and which events didn't happen, go here. I've got a lot more to add to the list.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.