Louis XIV didn't exactly have a good rap as king of France. Is Newsom in danger of becoming Louis' SF equivalent?
Text by Sarah Phelan
‘We may have a strong-mayor system of government, but it is not a monarchy,” writes Sup. David Campos in a Dec. 10 letter to City Attorney Dennis Herrera, sent the day that the Board’s veto-proof civil rights legislation to restore due process to undocumented kids is supposed to kick in—except Mayor Gavin Newsom has said he intendsSource: SFBG Politics RSS Feed
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The Moonie-run Washington Times recently announced it was laying off 40 percent of its workforce, and shifting to free distribution.
Pretty soon it will have all the reach and influence of a nickel shopper. Which is only slightly less than its reach and influence now -- outside of Planet Wingnuttia, of course.
One can't help wonder if the Times' chief problem has been that its subscription base -- mostly Republican congressmen Source: Crooks and Liars RSS Feed
Mike Mount and Larry Shaughnessy
CNN Pentagon Unit
President Obama is expected to announce Tuesday that he's sending more than 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan and discuss the U.S. strategy there.
Here are some frequently asked questions about the U.S. involvement there:
Q: How many troops are in Afghanistan and how many more are going?
A: More than 100,000 U.S. and NATO troops are in Afghanistan, and the president is expected to announceSource: AC360 RSS Feed
Like most problems his administration faces, Obama inherited the the war in Afghanistan from his predecessor, George W. Bush. And, like most of these Bush legacies, it's the result of incompetence, neglect, and an obsession with neoconservative ideology. Afghanistan is a big pile of military blunders and foreign policy mistakes. Let's look at the military side and just focus on the obvious for a moment.
Afghanistan is well-known as the "graveyard of empires," an impossible terrain in a Source: Griper Blade RSS Feed
What a coward, I guess his head is still smarting from the tail whooping he took from that woman scorned known as his wife ....lololol since he's been able to blow off the Florida State Police for 4 days now and 3 canceled meetings....
I know I've been ripping him, and I think the man is definitely one of the best golfer's the world has seen, which is great, and he's probably a great guy to hang with, but he's jivin' and jukin' on this one..and just like his good buddy and fellow golfSource: Chicagoray RSS Feed
Donny Deutsch is host of The Entrepreneurs, a primetime special profiling the success stories of America’s entrepreneurs on CNBC. I thought I would introduce him to you because I didn’t know who he was until he appeared on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” today, and I assume you haven’t heard of him before either.
As said, despite him being an absolute nobody, hosts Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough invited Deutsch to appear on their show nonetheless. ‘Why?’ I wondered, ‘why Source: PoliGazette RSS Feed
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has a message for Pakistan: you’ve taken some measures against Al Qaeda but you need to get tougher on it and Osama bin Laden:
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has called on Pakistan to take tougher action against al Qaeda and step up its efforts to track down the group’s leader Osama bin Laden.
Brown said the efforts of British and coalition forces in Afghanistan to tackle the Taliban insurgency needed to be matched by more effectiveSource: The Moderate Voice RSS Feed
Playing semi-contemporaneously with The Alchemist (reviewed below), is Maria Aitken's take on As You Like It.
Her staging attempts to take the play's most famous line, "All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players," absolutely literally by envisioning the play as a movie in production, the forest of Arden as America, and setting each separate scene of the play in later and later periods of American history, echoing the Westward expansion.
The exiles areSource: Wheat Weeds RSS Feed
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Happy holidays from Glenn Beck everybody! Beck in another one of his phony populist rants asks his audience to imagine a terrorist attack on the United States where we’re as lucky as we were when the World Trade Center was hit. Just when I think this clown can't get much worse, he manages to one up himself again. I will be thankful when he finally is no longer polluting our airways.
Beck: You know everything is too big to fail, butSource: Crooks and Liars RSS Feed
From the Daily News:
Master builder Robert Moses was in high gear in 1936, effortlessly spending truckloads of federal money as fast as he could, not only finishing up the enormous Triborough Bridge project but also installing splendid new public swimming pools all over town for the pleasure of the good people of New York - nearly a dozen of them, one a week all summer long. Most splendid of them all was the Astoria Pool, on the Queens side of the big bridge, right down in its verySource: Queens Crap RSS Feed
Lou and Vaclav
One of the "big" news stories yesterday was the State Dinner President Obama gave in honor of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who, like CNN's Sanji Gupta-- a guest-- is a doctor. 400 people were invited-- probably 200 + 1 each, but I'm not certain-- and it was in a heated tent on the lawn. I have a half-baked reason for telling the story of the state dinner I went to in September, 1998 but if it's too boring just skip to the bottom for the politically relevantSource: DownWithTyranny! RSS Feed
Friday night, my wife and I attended an event at the headquarters branch of the St. Louis County Library, featuring David Plouffe, the manager of Obama’s campaign for the White House. Plouffe was in town for the second to last stop of a tour promoting his book, The Audacity to Win, released earlier this month.
Of course, by the time Plouffe reached our area, much of the public’s attention had shifted to another author and her book, prompting a not-unexpected series of quips andSource: The Moderate Voice RSS Feed
I dropped my camera while covering the annual Pumpkinfest in Franklin last month, and I've been waiting for just the right deal to come along...hoping that either Black Friday or Cyber Monday would serve some low hanging fruit that would fit my wallet.
I've been watching the Interwebs for signs that my targeted model, the Kodak Z1015 IS, would see a cut in price. So far, nothing, nada, zilch, or as my poor Canadian friends would say, Zed.
Photography Bay has an excellent run Source: Thunder Pig RSS Feed
The teabaggers around Albany, NY, are an energetic lot.
Almost every weekend, they are doing something to promote their Beck/Paul-inspired anti-Obama/Democrats agenda.
Saturday, there was another of their sign-waving, please-honk events at the busy intersection of Wolf Road, Central Avenue, and Northway Exit 2E.
Twenty or so of the usual suspects showed up with "Kill the bill" and other signs that showed they just love murder-by-spreadsheet health care.
Remember the Tedisco-Murphy showdown over the right of second home owners to cast absentee ballots?
The ever-changing mind of Poughkeepsie's vote-denying Pizza Stain Judge Brands? The literally hamfisted legal tactics of John Ciampoli? The barely-veiled threats to sic private investigators on voters, many of them happening to have Jewish-sounding last names?
Do you remember? Sure 'ya do!
And if you don't, and somehow missed all the fun, never fear: The drama is playingSource: The Albany Project RSS Feed
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Back when Bill O'Reilly was semi-defending Lou Dobbs for promoting the "birther" conspiracy theories, he invited on Richard Cohen of the Southern Poverty Law Center -- which had called for Dobbs' firing -- to defend their campaign. And he made a bet with Cohen, kinda sorta:
O'Reilly: CNN is never going to fire him, you know that ...
Cohen: I'm not quite as cynical as you are, Bill. I think that if enough people speak out, CNNSource: Crooks and Liars RSS Feed
From the White House’s official website:
Looking at the Big Picture on the Recovery Act
Posted by G. Edward DeSeve on November 17, 2009
Last month, in a first-ever effort by the federal government recipients that received Recovery Act funds had to file a report saying how much they had received, what they had done with it, and how many jobs these funds had saved or created. The reports were due just 10 days after the end of the federal fiscal year on September 30th, Source: Sweetness Light RSS Feed
St. Paul- Republican Party of Minnesota Deputy Chairman Michael Brodkorb today issued the following statement regarding DFL Secretary of State Mark Ritchie’s decision to lead a hyper partisan DFL Party training this weekend in Rochester.
“After his utter failure to properly train local election officials resulted in appalling absentee ballot disparities across the state in 2008, it’s sadly not a surprise that Secretary of State Mark Ritchie is now leading hyper partisan trainingsSource: Minnesota Democrats Exposed RSS Feed
I dunno know about you all but Obama and his wife remind me of two people who won the lotto and live extraordinarily beyond their means and end up bankrupt in a year..except the money they're spending at near will is not theirs, it's yours and mine....He's by far the most extravagant president this country has ever placed in office ....mistakenly as in this case or otherwise..
He sure is doing pretty good for a man who never ran a business in his life, barely sat down in the Senate long Source: Chicagoray RSS Feed
Fast on the heels of the hottest June to September on record*, NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies reports that last month was tied for the second hottest September on record (after 2005).
Unlike NOAA, which announced its October global analysis with a major “State of the Climate” monthly update, NASA just quietly updates its data set (here). So you have to do a little math to see that for the June through October period, 2009 now tops both 1998 (easily) and 2005 (justSource: Climate Progress RSS Feed
Round table Fox Sunday discussing the boneheaded move by Eric Holder and Hussein Obama turning the city into a heightened terror magnet now and we can all rest assured if there are attack plans in the deployed sleeper cells' ovens they're gonna try and pull 'em off now..thanks Obama and Holder...any blood spills we know who to blame ...
Watch the latest business video at <aSource: Chicagoray RSS Feed
Not unless the White House is making up its own “protocol” as Obama cruises through his latest road trip.
For the past 24 hours, a lot of eyebrows have been raised around the world about this photo of the President of the United States bowing low — very low — before the Emperor of Japan, one Mr. Akihito, and his lovely wife, the Empress Michiko. Akihito is the son of the guy known as Hirohito who led Japan during its risky escapade in attacking China, the United States and mostSource: Donklephant RSS Feed
Cropped and enlarged “Boa” photo
Despite the “internet sensation” claim, Ananova is really the only news source on this one.
A photograph purporting to show a 55ft snake found in a forest in China has become an internet sensation.
It was originally posted in a thread on the website of the People’s Daily, the official Communist Party newspaper in China.
The thread claimed the snake was one of two enormous boas found by workers clearingSource: Never Yet Melted RSS Feed
From an elated Associated Press:
GOP chairman ends abortion insurance for employees
By CHRISTINE SIMMONS (AP)
WASHINGTON — A chagrined GOP Chairman Michael Steele has told Republican National Committee staff to immediately stop providing RNC employees with insurance for elective abortions — an option that Republicans strongly oppose as Democrats try to pass a health care overhaul bill.
"Money from our loyal donors should not be used for this purpose,"Source: Sweetness Light RSS Feed
Dick Durbin says:
Last month Majority Leader Harry Reid introduced a merged Senate health care bill -- a bill that includes a public option. And last weekend, the House of Representatives passed an historic health care reform bill that included a robust public option as well.
The question is no longer if we will have some sort of public option in the final health care reform bill, but instead what form it will take.
He has a poll. It looks like this, and if you Source: 2008 Democratic Convention Watch RSS Feed
Barack Obama has demanded the inclusion of an exit plan in the new US strategy for Afghanistan.
Telegraph.co.uk
White House officials said that in a meeting with Pentagon chiefs Mr Obama had made clear he wants his decision on troop reinforcements to offer a strong suggestion of when and how responsibility for security would be turned over to the Afghans.
After two months of discussions with his advisers he rejectedSource: Theodore's World RSS Feed
Hold on to your hats! As if there wasn’t enough conflict occurring at the present time, the war of words between Colombia and Venezuela seems to be escalating – along with the paranoia. And just as Washington has won permission to open seven military bases in Colombia.
This somewhat hair-raising article from Venezuela’s El Universal shows just how thorny such a war would be – and warns of ‘the enemy within’ in the case of a ‘Colombia-U.S.’ attack.
Sometimes change can happen much faster than people expect. If we pass a domestic climate bill, as Sen. Baucus (D-MT) and other key swing Senators now believe is likely, and that enables an international climate deal, then I do think that will usher in a much more rapid decarbonization than most people expect. Continuing the Veterans Day theme, I’m going to repost this Huffpost piece from my friend Joe Cirincione, President of Ploughshares Fund, about a signature event in the end of theSource: Climate Progress RSS Feed
The New York Times and The Washington Post both reported on former president Bill Clinton's pep talk with Senate Democrats on Tuesday. But both skipped over what the folks at Politico recounted:
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) said Clinton described the ongoing tea party protests against the Democratic agenda as a sign their party was making progress.
Whitehouse quoted Clinton arguing: "The reason the tea-baggers are so inflamed is because we are winning."
PerhapsSource: NewsBusters RSS Feed
Updates Below!
We are all trying to understand what happened with the Ft Hood Terrorist Massacre, and how our streak of successfully defending this nation since 9-11 from enemies within and without suddenly and tragically ended last week. But what we see in the news media is disturbing and gross. 13 Americans died, over 30 wounded and what we see in DC is finger pointing and cover up.
I have to admit I have always had little confidence in this administration to take the threatSource: The Strata-Sphere RSS Feed
The Health Care Bill Americans Don’t Want
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet.
*****************************
The US House of Representatives passed a Health Care Bill over the weekend that will never see the light of day. Yes, it will go to the US Senate -- and that is as far as the House bill will go. The Senate Health Care bill will be a different animal, entirely.
Public Option must go. Public Option will not be a part of a Senate Health Care bill. That is a good Source: Faultline USA RSS Feed
This is the real Micheal Vick by the way...not the fake one we see today...
Well boo frigging freakin hoo.......
Because that's what he's turning out to be in his societal rehab chance number 2 at the NFL after doing prison time for being a dog killer, a whining dog....... you'd think he'd keep his multi-million dollar selfish a**ed mouth shut and be grateful to even be lucky enough to play a freaking game for a living for millions of dollars after prison life..
SoSource: Chicagoray RSS Feed
From Watt's Up With That:
Now, it seems to be, to my unsophisticated eye, that there are three sources of emissions, the US, the EU, and everyone else. A rough eyeballing of this looks like the US is twice that of the EU but they track fairly well - industrialized nations with advanced technological / energy needs tend to do that.
However, there's a "swamping" effect there too - the "everyone else". The takeaway is that even if we were to reduce our "emissions" by halfSource: GraniteGrok RSS Feed
We are only just beginning to scratch the surface of the power of a positive vision of an abundant future…
Rob Hopkins, “The Transition Handbook”
During his 10 months in office, President Barack Obama and his team have assembled an impressive list of accomplishments on energy and climate policy. Some might conclude the President has done about all he can do with the powers of his office.
One would be wrong. What energy and climate security require — what theSource: Climate Progress RSS Feed
Believe it. A named tropical storm -- Ida -- has been born off the Yucatan Peninsula and current forecasts have it becoming a hurricane later tonight, then entering the Gulf of Mexico and heading north. It is expected to make landfall somewhere along the central Gulf Coast on Tuesday.
As of early Saturday evening, Pensacola is the bulls-eye. That's the bad news.
The good news is the storm may encounter a "mid- to upper-level trough" of cold air that could weaken it.
King George V arriving at Westminster Abbey for the burial of the unknown soldier, the unknown British warrior who represents all the Fallen of World War One, 11 November 1920. On the second anniversary of the armistice, the Unknown Warrior was drawn in procession to the Cenotaph. This national war memorial on Whitehall was then unveiled by His Majesty. At 11.00am there was a two minutes silence and the body was subsequently taken to Westminster Abbey for burial. Queen Elizabeth TheSource: The Monarchist RSS Feed
From those defenders of the faith at the Associated Press:
The Quran and business card that Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan gave to his neighbor a day before going on a shooting spree at the Fort Hood Army Base. Details emerge about Fort Hood suspect background
By BRETT J. BLACKLEDGE (AP)
WASHINGTON — His name appears on radical Internet postings. A fellow officer says he fought his deployment to Iraq and argued with soldiers who supported U.S. wars. He required counselingSource: Sweetness Light RSS Feed
Army official says Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan was shot and is in custody after 12 people were killed and at least 30 others wounded at Fort Hood Army base in Texas. More
HasanColleague Describes Outlandish Comments
NY Times has more on the murderous Muslim terrorist
WASHINGTON — Born and reared in Virginia, the son of immigrant parents from a small Palestinian town near Jerusalem, he joined the Army right out of high school, against his parents’ wishes. The Army, in turn,Source: The Two Malcontents RSS Feed
With Republicans’ wins in the New York suburbs in local elections yesterday, some Republicans say it could help encourage former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Gov. George Pataki to run for statewide office next year.
Despite the widespread belief before Election Day that neither would run next year, both have not said what they will do—either Giuliani running for governor or U.S. Senate against Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, or Pataki against Gillibrand.
Source: Politics on the Hudson RSS Feed
We don’t normally scrutinize the meaning of municipal races for county and state races. But Rockville is no ordinary municipality. It is the county seat and home to some of Montgomery’s most prominent players. And Challenger Phyllis Marcuccio’s upset win over incumbent Mayor Susan Hoffmann is a noteworthy event. Is there some message here for the rest of us?
Marcuccio, a two-term City Council Member, ran a populist campaign that knocked off freshman Mayor (and former three-termSource: Maryland Politics Watch RSS Feed
Story and photos by Steven T. Jones
Cops immediately shut down the street party outside the Ferry Building...
While there are some good things about the engaged style of new Police Chief George Gascon, it’s been a major disappointment to watch the SFPD take a zero tolerance approach to public partying in recent weeks, making San Francisco less hospitable to the fun, free, grassroots events that make this such a great city.
On Halloween night, the cops shut downSource: SFBG Politics RSS Feed
That's quite a nifty election Afghan President Hamid Karzai just won. He cheated in the first round. Got busted. His opponent withdrew. And now he gets "re-elected" without so much as a vote. Nice work if you can get it! Barack Obama, in what must be the understatement of the year, called this sordid little affair "messy."
Y'think?
Messier would be committing even more troops and treasure to defend what is now a completely discredited and virtually non-existent AfghanSource: Marc Cooper RSS Feed
In addition to Daily Kos, I also blog at the Arena, where the question was asked
Does the administration appear to have its act together on the flu? If not, how hazardous is it to Obama's political health?
My answer, in full, can be found here after a longish summary, but the salient point is this:
Everyone aware of the big picture, which mitigates but does not eliminate the frustration, and CDC and other health officials have been both visible and active from theSource: Daily Kos RSS Feed
Queue in Baltimore (Baltimore Sun photo)
Bill Kristol suggests, if you want to see ObamaCare in action, just look at how well the federal government is doing passing out Flu vaccine right now.
With Barack Obama as her front man, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi—the real power in the Democratic party—has gone Clinton and Gingrich one better. Clinton tried to hike taxes. Gingrich sought to cut Medicare. Pelosi wants to do both at once. This is quite a feat: She’sSource: Never Yet Melted RSS Feed
Scozzafava Endorses Democrat After Dropping Out of N.Y. Congressional Race
FOX News
Republican Dede Scozzafava endorsed her former Democratic opponent Sunday in the race for an upstate New York congressional seat, one day after Scozzafava dropped out of the contest.
Scozzafava dropped out after Conservative Party candidate Dough Hoffman experienced a late-in-the-game surge. But on Sunday, Scozzafava backed DemocratSource: Theodore's World RSS Feed
Is Barack Obama Anti-American?
American Thinker
Everything has a fundamental essence, a quality that makes it uniquely itself. Take an orange, for example. It's not only a citrus fruit -- it's an orange-colored citrus fruit. Horticulturists can alter its size, its texture, its sweetness, and even (to a limited extent) its color, but as long as its color is orange, the fruit remains "an orange" because that color is its definition. Change the color,Source: Theodore's World RSS Feed
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Looks like the Club for Growth/Sarah Palin wing of the Republican Party has prevailed in this race. DeDe Scozzafava suspends her campaign:
Dede Scozzafava, the Republican and Independence parties candidate, announced Saturday that she is suspending her campaign for the 23rd Congressional District and releasing all her supporters.
The state Assemblywoman has not thrown her support to either Doug Hoffman, the Conservative PartySource: Crooks and Liars RSS Feed
Performers at Thursday's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame benefit concert included John Fogerty, left, who joined Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band onstage to play tunes by Creedence Clearwater Revival and Roy Orbison.
Music Review
By JON PARELES
NYT
History lesson, star showcase, oldies singalong, canonization and romp — on Thursday night, the first of two Madison Square Garden celebrations and benefits for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was all of those.
From the Daily News:
No joke: visiting your mother-in-law can really pay off!
Just ask Pennsylvania resident Mi Hyun Moon, who bagged a $5 million jackpot while in Queens with her husband to see his mother.
She chose to receive a lump-sum payment of $2.8 million or $1.8 million after taxes.
So she gets less than half of what she won.
This state is so sad...
Obama unhappy with criticism of his NYC date night: "WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama says only once since Jan. 20 has White House life annoyed him.
It was the Saturday in May when, trying to be a good husband, he kept a campaign promise to take his wife, Michelle, to New York after the election for one of their 'date nights' - dinner and a Broadway play.
Conservative commentators and Republican officials criticized him for doing so.
'People made it into a political Source: Chicagoray RSS Feed
