Happy Labor Day. (Version with Axl Rose here.)

Lets drink to the hard working people
Lets drink to the lowly of birth
Raise your glass to the good and the evil
Lets drink to the salt of the earth

[More...]

It's the last weekend of summer. Sure went by fast.

President Obama visited Westchester, NY today and the Secret Service reported they are investigating a threat against him and searching for a 2014 Volkswagon Jetta. Obama then went to Rhode Island and is expected to leave there tonight. Some news reports say the person is armed. Some say the car is blue, others say it is silver.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

Our last open thread is full, here's a new one. All topics welcome.

On James Foley's kidnappers: Before "the Beatles", there were the Belgians. Lots of dots to connect.

The latest victim of police "walking while black" syndrome: Hollywood producer Charles Belk, who was stopped while walking from a Beverly Hills restaurant to his car to feed the parking meter. He was stopped by police who thought he might be a bank robber, arrested and held for 6 hours. After viewing the robbery tape, police determined he looked nothing like the robber and released him, with a half-hearted apology. In his own words, on FB.

Ferguson seems to have died down. The grand jury isn't expected to finish work until October.

In other cases: Joran van der Sloot allegedly threatened to kill the warden at Piedras Gordos prison and has been transferred to the hinterland: Challapalca prison in the Andres, near the border with Bolivia. It's one of Peru's roughest prisons, with most of the inmates sent there after disciplinary problems in other prisons. Human Rights groups have cited it for violations. There is no running water or electricity. The water for human consumpstion isn't treated, which causes gastric distress. The hygience is inadequate. There is no opportunity to go outdoors at all for recreation. Joran is on a hunger strike in protest of the transfer.

I'll be back to blogging this evening. In the meantime, here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

Busy day. Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

I'll be in court the rest of the day. Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

It's been days since our last open thread. I've been focused on ISIS and Iraq, and readers seem focused on Ferguson. Here's some space to talk about other things, all topics welcome.

Bump and Update: Thanks to everyone who has made a donation to TalkLeft this week. If you haven't yet, and you value the site and the time and effort that goes into it, I'd really appreciate your contribution, in any amount you can afford. After 12 years of daily blogging, I know it's easy to take us for granted, and just assume we'll be continue to be here day after day, but without support, that's unlikely to be the case. Costs are rising and I do not intend to resort to advertising or a paywall. I'll be taking this down Sunday evening, so please give it some thought. And thanks again to those of you who have already donated. I will send individual thank you notes soon. (Original Post below.)

Update: Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey has joined the protests in Ferguson. He grew up in St. Louis. Here's his verified Twitter feed.

Check out #ISIS Movies, it's trending on Twitter. Some of them are really funny. Both ISIS supporters and haters are participating, as are journalists and analysts.

ISIS (official, not supporters)have given up on Twitter which keeps deleting its accounts. They are now on joindiaspora (list of accounts here.) Don't just get your news from their enemies.

Also check out the new Top 100 Crime Experts to follow on Twitter (and yes, Talkleft is on it.)

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.