Reason to hope as Franken-Coleman split narrows and hand count of populous urban counties starts. There are still 6000 contested absentee ballots of which another report said about 5000 may be bogus.

Not only can't local agencies in medical marijuana states not enforce the federal ban, but this report also makes it sound like they can't call in Federal agents. This should be a big relief to all the people who use medical marijuana. BTW, only 4 justices would be needed to grant cert (a hearing) on the case.

The main problem seems to be that an anonymous Republican Senator has blocked confirmation of the Inspector General for the TARP program. I thought the Senate did away with anonymous blocks after Matthew Murray killed 4 (if memory serves) people in CO last December after someone blocked the assault weapons bill. I guess not.

Home and family call, and that albatross named "Bushie" hangs heavy around his neck.

Mostly they want to determine their own destiny they say. Indian government plans (now defunct) to transfer Muslim land to a Hindu group shows why.

That's a relief.

And this guy was said to have an AK. Listen gun nuts you can only shoot in one direction at a time and with enough brave people you will be stopped and possibly beaten to within a inch... A news story today said of the only survivor of the militants that he is severely injured apparently from this beating. Another episode in which some loser gun nut started shooting in a Unitarian Church the perp was grabbed from behind. I hope the next time this is done in the US, the man is subdued and the weapon secured and then his pants pulled off so he can walk to the police car in all his overweight glory.

News media and retailers built the buying frenzies they have been tutting about since the Black Friday death of Jdimytai Damour. David Carr 'spains it to us.

Out source news to India. Wow, what a concept. It could happen. Could they be more incompetent/sold out than the US mainstream? Even more interesting check out this excerpt: Dean Singleton, The Associated Press’s chairman and the head of the MediaNews Group — which counts The Pasadena Star-News, The Denver Post and The Detroit News in its stable of 54 daily newspapers — told the Southern Newspaper Publishers Association that his company was looking into outsourcing almost every aspect of publishing, including possibly having one news desk for all of his papers, “maybe even offshore.” Talk about media consolidation. Technically two different enterprises-- one huge and one moderate in scope, but run by one man. Does the FCC know about this?

This could be an a reply to an LA Times analysis that ran this weekend whining about the deficit that Obama will have to run up. The article didn't mention the 2 trillion dollar war, or even the Wall Street and Bank lending meltdowns that helped created the crisis and add to the debt.

Mumbai's police were using WW1 era rifles against the terrorists with AKs. That's just one of the reasons that last week's terrorist attack was so effective. Massive corrupt from top to bottom. It will sicken you, but also explain why 11 insurgents were able terrorize a city for over 2.5 days. There are some things wrong with the analysis as it seems to indicate that Indian Muslims are too coddled. LA Times picks its enemies and make sure they look bad. But, of course, one must protect the people. CAn't the new burgeoning business sector ante up more for their own protection and that of everyone else in the nation?

Neal Gabler notices that Joe McCarthy not Barry Goldwater is the real inspiration to today's GOP. I think he fails to add that what McCarthy did was teach the GOP to use fear or social and religious issues (often backed by fear) to override the basic reticence of middle and working class Americans to vote away their money and safety on the job to fat cats.

Krugman quite rightly asserts that even with the busy agenda of the new administration, financial reform should be worked on from the beginning.

Sight appears to shock visiting Iraqi. Now that's bad. I know that sounds like a joke, but I'm not trying to be funny.

That's easy for her to say. But we wish her well. Yes, we do, because we are so giddy that he will soon finally be out of the White House..

Part of the last line of this analysis is what the title of this piece is what the title should be "why the Fed is now in the credit card business". This helped me understand what Bernanke is doing and maybe what Paulson is doing. I guess we just have to hope it works.

I heard this on Ron Reagan today. They were going down the list making fun of it with a faux Bush. The picks were so ridiculous that I thought it was an absurd skit at that time. Now i can only wonder "What was he thinking?" It's like he was intent on forgiving crimes he thinks he might commit some day. Heck everyone convicted of a drug or alcohol crime should apply today! And probably everyone convicted of desertion or being AWOL. Heck all those guys hiding in Canada should put their papers in, see if they can hit on Bush's heartstrings. Surely he can understand what it's like to feel one needs to skip out on their military service.

Colmes apparently thinks he can contribute to fox in other ways. I hope his contract is air tight. I'm not sure Fox has a use for a liberal or even a moderate except as a punching bag for one of their right winger ranters.

Detriot local and famous columnist lets Congress have an earful over their self righteous attacks on the big three automakers.

This is one of those reports that makes you wonder if it was actually worth it in any way at all.

Many of the worst of those GOP operative who went to Florida in 2000 went to Minnesota this year. It could get ugly.

Okay, this makes me feel a bit better, and not just because I have Hispanics in the family.

This news is all over the Middle East and even the UK even though it supposedly happened in Los Angeles. I don't know if it's bogus or the lack of uptake by the American press is just because they don't work much on weekends. Well, we Christians, as a whole haven't treated him very well. Before you say he's guilty of crimes he for which he was never convicted, let me tell you that the same District Attorney destroyed the lives of other people under his venue with multiple trials which he wasn't able to win. So its kind of a ploy from a grand inquisitor type guy was using whenever he needed some kind of popularity boost. BTW, anyone who wants to proclaim Islam as a religion of violence based on verses in the Koran should go take a look in the Old Testsament. Or just look what we did in Iraq.

This article has the usual advice about managing your 401k like avoiding risk near retirement which is better to make people feel guilty that for actuality, but is also says it is likely the government will need to help supplement pensions based on the plans. That, of course means that the government will have to take on another function that should be done by the employer.

Caution is the New Risky Behavior according to Nobel Winner Paul Krugman. It seems to me though that it might be hard to face the massive amounts of deficit spending needed for a successful recovery, after Paulson and the Bushies have wasted so much (even after years of debilitating war) by throwing it at fat cats who then just keep the money and don't seem to plow it back into our economy. Krugman seems to be optimistic, as long as the government spends c. 600 billion more dollars. I bet Rush Limbaugh and the rest will be wailing all the way about all the money they are spending though (forgetting the 2 trillion for war and the big bailout boondoggle that their president spent).

Paulson is going to do something about credit card debt that is clogging the economic system. Does that mean he will send money to our debtors and leave us still owing tens of thousands of dollars for the average family, or is he a reformed "Bumble" and will do things in a more populist way now? Is he vying to stay on with the Obamas? In his dreams. (We hope.)

Excerpt: In a move that could be seen as a benefit to Democrat Al Franken, a Minnesota judge Saturday denied a request from incumbent Republican Sen. Norm Coleman's campaign to block certain uncounted absentee ballots from being counted in a race separated by–at latest tally–just over 200 votes, in Coleman's favor. That margin has narrowed since the first tallies earlier in the week. Almost 3 million ballots were cast.

The title makes this piece sound like a dull lecture on being a good kid. Luckily, I clicked on the link because of Ms. Collin's name and arriving at the site decided to read the first paragraph to justify the time it took to open the page. It's a delightful romp, but did manage to teach me not to make promises based on voting outcomes.