So the big loser today was Joe Biden, who was cut out of the deal by Harry Reid - my Politico parody.

Open Thread.

In case you haven't heard, the United States of America is shutting down in the next few days, as a bunch of lunatic morons, enabled by "serious people," refuse to allow the paying of bills by the government.

It was a nice country for a while anyway.

Open Thread.

This is moving week for me. I haven't seen the news in a week, so I won't even try to blog. I will put up open threads. Thanks to those of you sending emails pointing out new spammers, I deleted the last 40. My life and blogging should be back to normal next week. (My actual move out/move in date is Thursday.)

Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

This week's Amato (John Amato of Crooks and Liars) and Armando Show (our You Tube Channel is here:

Our NFL picks (J is John, A is Armando (disagreements in BOLD): San Francisco 49ers -11 over Arizona Cardinals, St. Louis Rams +9 (A), Houston Texans (-9) (J), Minnesota Vikings -3 (J), Carolina Panthers (+3) (A), Washington Redskins +6 over Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles -1� over Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tennessee Titans +14 (A), Seattle Seahawks (-14) (J), Buffalo Bills +7 (A), Cincinnati Bengals (-7) (J), Pittsburgh Steelers +1 ((J), New York Jets (-1) (A), Green Bay Packers -3 over Baltimore Ravens, Detroit Lions (-3) over Cleveland Browns, Denver Broncos (-27) over Jacksonville Jaguars, New Orleans Saints (+2) over New England Patriots, San Diego Chargers (-3) (A), Indy Colts (+3) (J).

Open Thread.

The picks (all 2 units unless otherwise indicated): Colorado +25 over Arizona State, Boise State -7 (3 units) over Utah State, Middle Tenn State +7 over North Texas, Washington State -1 over Oregon State, UNLV -10 over over Hawaii, California +25 (3 units) over UCLA, Tulsa -10 over Texas-El Paso, Bowling Green +10� over Mississippi State, Texas A&M; -6 (3 units) over Mississippi, Nebraska -14 (3 units) over Purdue, Maryland -7 (4 units) over Virginia, Northwestern +10 over Wisconsin, TCU -25 (3 units) over Kansas, Missouri +8 over Georgia, Clemson -24� over Boston College, Florida Atlantic +13 over Marshall, Michigan -3 over Penn State, Kentucky +27� over Alabama, South Carolina -6 over Arkansas, Utah +9 over Stanford, Georgia Tech +7 over BYU, Navy +3 over Duke, Virginia Tech -9 (3 units) over Pittsburgh, Texas Tech -14� (3 units) over Iowa State, Michigan State -10 over Indiana, Oklahoma -14 (3 units) over Texas, Oregon (-13) (4 units) over Washington.

For the season 54-40-2 (.574) ATS, +30 units.

Go Gators!

Open Thread.

Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

Former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick gets sentenced today. He's expecting to get hammered with a double digit sentence.

Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan was kidnapped at gunpoint from the posh five star Corinthia Hotel in Tripoli just before dawn. As the photo shows, he's not wearing his glasses and appears to be in his jammies.

The Group claiming responsibility for the kidnapping is The Operations Cell of Libyan Revolutionaries, which along with other former rebel groups, have been providing security to the military.The rebel groups which kidnapped Zeiden have been providing security to the military. One claimed credit on Facebook.

According to the AP, the kidnapping is in retaliation for the U.S. kidnapping of suspected al-Qaida suspect al-Libi,last week. [More...]

Open Thread.

Watch here.

I give him an A- so far in these negotiations. Doing quite well imo.

I thought President Obama was A+ in this presser today.

It's that time of year again, what to do in the face of Republican threats to push the country into default! Oh, and this time, Republicans have a primer on How To Stop Worrying And Love Default:

Q: [T]he Treasury Department came out with [a report] that said that if the US does not raise the debt ceiling in time that there would be a catastrophic effect on the economy[.]

[Sen. RON JOHNSON (Tea Party Republican Wiscosin]: I think that�s � I think that�s highly irresponsible for the Treasury Department to be issuing those kinds of, I mean scare-mongering reports. The Treasury Department, I think the Secretary of the Treasury, I think the President of the United States ought to be trying to calm the markets, rather than scare them. The President really ought to be leading here. [. . .] There is absolutely no reason at all for this type of government to default even if we don�t increase the debt ceiling. So I think it�s highly irresponsible of this Administration to be doing the type of scare-mongering they�re doing on this issue.

Wall Street is sanguine and thinks the absurdities of Ron Johnson and Ted Yoho do not matter, but I think they may be wrong, and I worry that President Obama is not setting the stage for the actions he may have to take in response.

The issues are practical, default would be catastrophic for the nation, and constitutional, the 14th Amendment prohibits federal government default. But the President's men have taken the unusual (and imo, wrong) position that his hands are tied. I'l explain why they are wrong on the flip.

It's another week of moving preparations for me, as well as getting all my tax info to the accountant and my regular work.

Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

Amato (J) and Armando (A) Show NFL picks (disagreements in bold): Miami Dolphins -3(J, A) over Baltimore Ravens, St. Louis Rams -11� (J, A) over Jacksonville Jaguars, Detroit Lions +7 (J,A) over Green Bay Packers, New York Jets +10 (A), Atlanta Falcons (-10) ((J), Arizona Cardinals +1� (A), Carolina Panthers -11/2 (J), Oakland Raiders +5 (A), San Diego Chargers -5 (J), Tennessee Titans +3 (A), Kansas City Chiefs -3 (J), Denver Broncos -8 over Dallas Cowboys (J, A), Indianapolis Colts +3 (A), Seattle Seahawks -3 (J), Chicago Bears +1 (A), New Orleans Saints -1 (J),San Francisco 49ers -7 (J, A) over Houston Texans, Philadelphia Eagles +3 (J, A) over New York Giants.

Open Thread.

I'm even more swamped than I thought I'd be. For every project I finish, there are another three waiting.

Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

The picks (2 units unless otherwise indicated): Kentucky +21, Competitor: South Carolina, Baylor -28, Competitor: West Virginia, Florida Atlantic +4, Competitor: Ala Birmingham, Notre Dame +6, Competitor: Arizona State, Fresno State -27�, Competitor: Idaho, Washington +8, Competitor: Stanford, Tulsa -3, Competitor: Rice, Ohio State -7, Competitor: Northwestern, Virginia Tech -7 (4 units), Competitor: North Carolina, Texas Tech -16, Competitor: Kansas, Georgia Tech +6, Competitor: Miami (Florida), Michigan State +1, Competitor: Iowa, Minnesota +19, Competitor: Michigan, Clemson -14, Competitor: Syracuse, Oklahoma State -14, Competitor: Kansas State, TCU +10, Competitor: Oklahoma, Maryland +17 (4 units) , Competitor: Florida State, Mississippi State +10, Competitor: LSU, Washington State -1�, Competitor: California, Georgia -11 (5 units), Competitor: Tennessee, Navy -12, Competitor: Air Force, Army +12 (3 units), Competitor: Boston College, Middle Tenn State +7�, Competitor: East Carolina, Illinois +9, Competitor: Nebraska.

For the season - 36-32-2 ATS, + 18 units.

UPDATE for the day - 15-9 ATS, +8 units. For the season - 51-40-2 ATS, +26 units.

Go Gators!

Open Thread.