Let's get ready to ruuuuuuumble. It's finally upon us. The most hyped presidential debate in the modern era. You wish you didn't want to watch it so badly, or that your excitement was at least loosely tied to the candidate's opinions on key policies. Mostly, you wish you could turn away. But you can't. Yes, we all have campaign fatigue. Yes, it has poisoned every dinner party conversation for months. And yes, if stress is bad for our health, then election 2016 is taking years off our lives. But we're obsessed. And tonight our obsession will push the debate viewership numbers so high, the event planners will wish they hired a performer for a halftime show. It doesn't even matter that we sort of know that debates rarely decide elections (especially first debates). It's on like Donkey (and Elephant) Kong.

+ I don't believe much of the pregame punditry. Most think that Trump has lowered expectations (in a good way) for the debate. I don't buy it. He has raised the expectations that he'll be entertaining and bombastic. That's the whole reason behind the build up of anticipation.

+ I got so fed up with the conventional analysis leading up to the debate, I was driven to give some debate advice to Donald Trump. "Anyone who tells you that Trump needs to look presidential during the debate is making the same mistake pundits have been making all along." Why Donald Trump Must Be a Jerk. I also offered my advice to Clinton: "She should leave the lowbrow personal attacks and cheap shots where they belong. In my Twitter stream." The Matchup Hillary Can't Win.

+ FiveThirtyEight: Your Debate Briefing Book.

+ Quartz: How to protect children from election stress disorder. (I'm giving mine 90 minutes of unsupervised iPad use.)

+ And if you need an antidote to tonight's certain social media rage, take a took at this from the NYT: Michelle and George: The Embrace Seen Around the World.

America's murder rate rose 10% in 2015. Here's some perspective from The Guardian: "The increase, which follows a two-decade downward trend, put the number of murders back at 15,696, about the same number as in 2009. The national murder rate is still about half what it was in 1991, at the peak of the violent crime wave of the late 1980s and early 1990s."

"The British ambassador accused Russia and Syria of war crimes; the Russian ambassador said Syria's President Bashar al-Assad had showed 'admirable restraint'; and the U.S. ambassador left in protest." All of which leads us to a familiar and tragic storyline in Aleppo, where the situation has gone from horrific to worse.

+ WaPo: U.S. accuses Russia of ‘barbarism' and war crimes in Syria.

"3.5 million Americans ... were able to raise their chins above the poverty line last year, according to census data released this month." The NYT's Patricia Cohen looks at the numbers, and the key factors that drove the change.

Snapchat changed the game again. It used to be against the rules to hit a guy with glasses. Now it's required. From Dan Frommer in ReCode: Snapchat's camcorder goggles are creepy cool and kind of brilliant.

"To comprehend the scope of corporate consolidation, imagine a day in the life of a typical American and ask: How long does it take for her to interact with a market that isn't nearly monopolized." It turns out a few companies are living on Park Place while the rest of us are stuck on Mediterranean Avenue. The Atlantic's Derek Thompson on America's Monopoly Problem.

"Palmer strapped a moldy, staid game on his back and gave it new life. He ignited golf's popularity in the 1960s as he became the sport's first TV star." From NPR: Golfer Arnold Palmer, Who Gave New Life To A Staid Game, Dies At 87.

+ WaPo: Vin Scully's last game at Dodger Stadium provides another storybook ending. Why are stories about Palmer's death and Scully's retirement in the same section? Because I think in both cases we're losing something increasingly rare: Public voices of civility and decency.

According to the latest reports, Disney is one of the serious suitors considering an acquisition of Twitter. Interesting. Disney calls itself The Happiest Place on Earth. Twitter is a place for those who insist there are no happy places.

"San Francisco turned into this billionaire playground. Everything I identified with was being pushed out. The community that I loved was crumbling and disappearing." Everyone I know in the Bay Area is worried about artists (and many others) being forced out of the community because of the impossibly high cost of living. And the exodus is on. From The Guardian: Bohemians say goodbye San Francisco, hello LA. (San Franciscans have done the impossible. They made LA seem down to earth...)

Adele swept the headlines the other day when she dedicated a show to Brangelina. What very few entertainment reporters realized is that she was joking. I'll let her explain.

+ Popular Science: Riding a roller coaster could help you pass small kidney stones.

+ Vox: You are way more likely to be killed by deer than by sharks, bears, and gators combined.