(they do have a problem with R's and L's)
Have at it.

The rate per month is increasing. This situation is still getting worse.

h/t Mark Nickolas

Gov. Sarah Palin on Thursday threw her support behind a controversial bill that would generally require parental consent before girls under age 17 could get an abortion.

She called a press conference Thursday and surrounded by a dozen lawmakers including state Rep. John Coghill, R-North Pole, and Sen. Donny Olson, D-Nome, said:

"Wherever you fall on the abortion issue, right or left, this legislation is about family, and it's about parents' rights and protecting our children, and it's supported by legislators on both sides of the aisle."

The measure may have trouble in the state Senate, where Senate President Gary Stevens said months ago that "far left and far right issues" would be off the table for his coalition of Democrats and Republicans. Anchorage Daily News

Pa. passed stricter parental consent legislation years ago. I was against it then, I'm against it now. Obviously parents helping their kids in a time of tough choices like dealing with teenage pregnancy is desirable, but to require it puts kids in danger. The ones who don't want to get consent, many of them have a good reason. The states where this is the law have story after story of young girls thrown out on the street after talking to the parent's about getting an abortion. There are stories of abuse that ensued, or young women forced to go across state lines far from home and support to avoid the issue of discussing with strict conservative parents what they should and can do with their own bodies.

This law is nothing more than an effort to force teens to have unwanted babies. And would also increase right wing nuttery like denying a young woman access to abortion in the case of rape or incest. Young women need to be able to make choices, and one of those choices that comes with puberty is what you do and don't have to tell your parents. These young women are human beings and they have a fundamental right over their own bodies.

PS I wonder if Bristol would have been given consent if she expressed a desire to end her pregnancy?

Apparently in a new study "Red Light States: Who Buys Online Adult Entertainment?", that tracks online purchasing including the purchase of porn or adult content on the internet-- it's the red states take the lead. More evidence of self-hatred, fake outrage finger pointing and hypocrisy.

According to Ewen Callaway for New Scientist;

there are some trends to be seen in the data. Those states that do consume the most porn tend to be more conservative and religious than states with lower levels of consumption, the study finds. "Some of the people who are most outraged turn out to be consumers of the very things they claimed to be outraged by," Edelman says.

In fact, Utah leads the porn download average with those pesky Prop-Hate values voting mormons apparently leading the way. How does that break down in the electoral math?

Eight of the top 10 pornography consuming states gave their electoral votes to John McCain in last year's presidential election – Florida and Hawaii were the exceptions. While six out of the lowest 10 favored Barack Obama.

Not that I have a strong anti-porn streak, But I do have a big old hatred of hypocrisy. Spare me the red state values please.

somebody should get this on Rahm's ipod toot-sweet.

One of the things that was said about the Rahm appointment was that he would be a attack dog for Obama and wouldn't just be a channel distributor for bluedog's inc in the white house. When is the attacking going to begin? Rove has been flipping congress the bird for months now. There are tons of targets out there, so when are we going to see some action? All he has seemed to do so far is give away things for nothing. I know we dems are supposed to be the nicer ones, but that's not why Rahm was hired.

First lady Michelle Obama's official portrait was released Friday by the White House, a month after her husband's came out. The first lady is wearing a black sleeveless dress, white pearls -- and a smile. The photo was taken by White House photographer Joyce N. Boghosian. AP

See the slideshow of other presidential and first lady portraits.

If you are a Cake Wrecks regular, you know that the baby shower cakes are by far the worst, I mean even the idea of cutting into a representation of a pregnant stomach is so over the top disgusting... but then they always do them with no head... often with no arms, though in this case we have the creepy huge hand with acrylic nails.

My eyes, they burn from the disgusting and stupid. Yes this is filed under "things I wish I hadn't seen" which is why of course I had to share it with you. Misery loves company after all.

Read the great commentary on this one over at the wreck.

From the Bagnews twitter.

Sign of the Times.
Economy Open Thread;
Has the crisis effected you?
Recently getting better or worse in your view?
What do you think should be done in the short, medium and long term?

Do tell...

As CPAC kicks off this weekend, Media Matters is keeping a close eye on them and reporting all the freak show craziness that is likely to ensue. Here's a great kick off-- and remember folks, this guy is a congressman.


from media matters

My theory is that one of the reasons that the GOP keeps getting ahead of us on framing the issues is that it is hard for sane people to predict and prepare for the ravings of lunatics. We just aren't wired (unhinged) that way. I will soon unveil a plan to deal with that issue. (stay tuned)

New Bush residence, 8000 sq. digs in Richy-rich Preston Hollow, Dallas.

Barely one month out from their move from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, with the country in the worst crisis in 50 years--largely of the Bush's making, But Laura could care less about the state of the union or the struggles of the new administration to clean up her husband's mess. When asked what she thought of the speech President Obama gave to the joint session of congress this week... Mrs. Bush said she didn't watch it, largely because she totally forgot it was going to be happening.

In fact, so suddenly and thoroughly has Mrs. Bush settled into her post-White House life back home in Texas that she missed President Obama's speech to Congress the other night.

"The next day I thought it was so ironic," Mrs. Bush told Karl, "that for eight years I would be a nervous wreck before the State of the Union, and for days before, as George would be preparing his speech, worried about it and thinking about what was going to be in the speech. And this time it came and went and I didn't even think about it."-- LA Times

I guess I should welcome the Bush's apathy, it is much less dangerous for the world as a whole. But I think decorum should mandate that you don't so thoughtlessly show your disdain for the country that is largely in ruins because of you. Maybe that's just me. feh.

John Moore/Getty Images. caption: Mary Ann Smith collects some belongings after an eviction team removed the furniture from her foreclosed house on February 2, 2009 in Adams County, Colorado.

Grayson is at it again, as are local officials, and groups like Acorn. We need to attack the foreclosure crisis from the top and the bottom. These stories are encouraging.

A chief judge for the ninth circuit in Orange County, Florida -- an epicenter of the foreclosure crisis -- ruled Wednesday that mortgage providers must negotiate with borrowers before foreclosing on their homes. On the same day, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) told reporters that two-thirds of the nation's mortgage servicers -- the ones associated with major banks who have taken bailout funds -- have voluntarily agreed, during negotiations with Treasury officials, to work to refinance loans for borrowers who are under water. Schumer said that the agreement had not yet been made public.

The twin developments get at the mortgage crisis from both ends and give major momentum to the movement to refinance mortgages for troubled homeowners. The Florida judge's order was requested by Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.)...

..."Thank God!" Grayson said in response to the ruling. "The American dream is to own a home. The American nightmare is to lose one. I am glad I could help keep families in their homes."

The city of Philadelphia earlier enacted a similar policy. Connecticut and Ohio are pursuing mitigation policies, as well.-- the Huffington Post

As an aside, If you wonder why it is so important to not just get more democrats in the congress but more progressive democrats there, this story is a prime example. You can be a DFH and be effective, we demonstrate that time and time again.

This story is a great indicator that the momentum is building, finally, to make it a priority to keep people in their homes and stem the destructive tide of foreclosures that are distressing families, and devaluing communities all over our country.

Anyone who needs a reminder (the entire senate for example) of what this crisis looks like, needs to go back to the Bagnews pics here and here. (and at the top of this post) and see how this economic disaster is turning families inside out. Anything that can help keep this from happening is a move in the right direction.

The doggie drama takes new twists and turns.

The first lady's press secretary, Katie Lelyveld, threw cold water on the report. She suggested a decision has not been made.

"They have not selected a breed," Lelyveld said. "Mrs. Obama likes the Portuguese water dog, but she is only one of four votes."

Of course living with 3 ladies in the house... I don't believe for a minute that the president has an equal vote. It will be up to Sasha, Malia and Michelle to fight this one out.

And Boom goes the dynamite. This is the first real threat I think that the Obama administration is facing. The GOP keystone kop attempts to stop the stimulus bill were laughable.

This is much more dangerous, watch the house and senate dems start to squirm as the pressure is applied.

Big banks, scrambling to prevent the government from forcing them to rewrite mortgages for struggling homeowners, are using their lobbying clout to press the Obama administration and Congress to scale back a key measure to rescue borrowers from foreclosures.

The legislation, expected to pass the House on Thursday, would let bankruptcy judges reduce the principal and interest rate on a home loan. That essentially would require mortgage companies to let debt-strapped homeowners reduce their monthly payments rather than lose their main residences. read more at TalkingPointsMemo.com

So, there were NO strings attached when "the people" bailed these fuckers out to the tune of hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars, but when we are talking about letting people reset the value of the mortgage to meet the real value of the house these guys launch Operation Lobbyist-Thunder. There are going to be hundreds of these suited thugs crawling all over the capital strong-arming democrats to change the language of the goals the President set out the other night.

And considering the democrats we are talking about all it is going to take is for them to stare hard.

In a moment of weakness Credit Suisse stated last month that John Coyners' bill would reduce foreclosures by:

20%

And gosh we wouldn't want that now would we...

First Lady Michelle Obama told People magazine that her family has decided to adopt a Portuguese water dog, pointing to the breed’s medium-sized and good-natured reputation. The breed is also hypoallergenic — a must, given daughter Malia’s allergy to dogs.

The first lady said her daughters will have to wait until the end of April to get the dog, since her family is planning on going away for Spring Break.

The only thing left to pick is the name, and Mrs. Obama said she is not a fan of her daughters’ choices.

“There are names floating around and they're bad," Mrs. Obama said in the interview. "You listen and you go – like, I think, Frank was one of them. Frank! Moose was another one of them. Moose. I said, well, what if the dog isn't a moose? Moose. I'm like, no, come on, let's work with the names a little bit." from CNN

I don't know...problem is, whatever they name the presidential pooch now, he/she will always be Moose to me! And they couldn't invite Sarah Palin to the Whitehouse with the other governors anymore. (given her reputation with Moose and Moose chili-- she might get confused and for sure we'd have an 'incident' on our hands)

What are you eating these days? and whatever else you crazy kids wanna talk about.
do tell...

Approval for the Plan laid out in the President's Speech.

CBS Poll: 79% Approve of Plans for Economic Crisis After Speech. CBS News Conducted a Poll of 500 respondents during the speech and they found that before the speech 62% of respondents approved of the President’s plans for the Economic Crisis. After the speech the number rose to 79%. CBS News Special Report, 2/24/09.

And Neck of State has all the Tie News related to the week so far, and particularly to the Speech Tie. :-)

It's a good start.

This part of the speech;

I think about Ty'Sheoma Bethea, the young girl from that school I visited in Dillon, South Carolina, a place where the ceilings leak, the paint peels off the walls, and they have to stop teaching six times a day because the train barrels by their classroom.

She had been told that her school is hopeless. But the other day after class, she went to the public library and typed up a letter to the people sitting in this chamber. She even asked her principal for the money to buy a stamp.

The letter asks us for help and says, "We are just students trying to become lawyers, doctors, congressmen like yourself, and one day president, so we can make a change to not just the state of South Carolina, but also the world. We are not quitters."

That's what she said: "We are not quitters."

These words and these stories tell us something about the spirit of the people who sent us here. They tell us that, even in the most trying times, amid the most difficult circumstances, there is a generosity, a resilience, a decency, and a determination that perseveres, a willingness to take responsibility for our future and for posterity.

Was about this girl (guest of the Obama's at the event tonight)



But it was also about all our kids, and our future. It was about the promise of our country that has been squandered by people who would not give this brave, smart, determined girl the time of day.

If they won't... it is time that we do. And I know that President Obama will.
I was so relieved and excited to hear our three priorities.
Energy, Health and Education.
IF we really fix those things-- then so many other things will be healed as well.

Transcript Here.
What did you like? Hate? Appreciate?
Do tell...

Deficit.

We inherited it, but we need to bring it down. We need priorities. We will go line by line and eliminate wasteful programs. Already indentified 2 trillion dollars of savings in the next decade. Ending mercenary contracts, uneeded subsidies, and wasteful spending. Ooooh Cutting defense spending.

Ending tax breaks for off shoring! Ending tax breaks for wealthiest 2% of Americans. Tax cut for 95% of working families.

Medicare and SS. how do we this? nervous... doesn't sound good to me.

No more gimmicks in the budget, we will report the full cost of wars and spending. Not hide things like the bushies.

Ending the war. New and comprehensive strat. for Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Typical Support the troops comment ( pay the stop loss money as a start)

Increases # of soldiers, and we will raise pay, and expanded health care, better benefits. (Hear that DoD)

Next no torture. Order closing of Gitmo.
Living our values makes us safer and stronger, not weaker.
WE DO NOT TORTURE. (f-u Cheney)

Middle east, Terrorism, talking to allies, and forge new alliances, work with G20, no protectionism, spur demand, the world is depending on us as we depend on the world.

The eyes of the world are upon us. Watching and waiting.
we have been called to govern. It is a burden but a privilege. In our Hands lies the ability to shape the WORLD.

Inspiration is regular American people doing extraordinary things.

Pointed out cool miami bank guy who gave away his bonus to his employees.

Dillon, School girl. He met in a bad falling down school. Girl wrote a letter to congress asking them for help. We are not quitters, help us have a decent school to learn in. Help us.

Even in the most trying times, there is a generosity and determination in Americans. Their resolve must be our inspiration.

I know, that we don't agree... thus far... we will part ways... but every American in this room loves this country and wants it to succeed. I know that.

That is the starting point for every debate we will have. That is the foundation.
If we do that... Someday our kids can tell their kids, this was the time we performed Something worthy to be remembered.

Thank you!

NICE JOB MR. PRESIDENT

Let's speak candidly, no fear, no panic. But we need to restart lending etc. So we need to help the banks, and we need to keep the flow of credit going. This is how the economy moves. Credit has stopped flowing, and so we need to rebuild confidence. When there is no lending, everyone suffers more. This admin. is moving swiftly to break this cycle.

Big lending fund, serious accountability. no more no-strings money for the banks.

We will need to spend more money on the banks. We will need to be agressive to fix this. No more corp. ceo money, no fancy drapes etc. etc.

No more mismanagement, I was outraged too, I know it is unpopular to help banks, I get it. But We need to do this. we can't govern out of anger. Our Job is to SOLVE THE PROBLEM.

This is not about helping banks but it is about helping people. our economy WILL recover.

Asking the congress to join him to do what is necessary. AND we must move quickly on legislation that will reform the regulatory system. SO we don't have to do this again!

We need these immediate steps, BUT we need to make LONG TERM investments.

FINALLY~!

The budget in the next few days will be a vision and a blue print. Not just numbers. It will be real, but it will be forward thinking. Everyone will have to sacrifice, but we cannot afford to avoid our long term challenges.

We need to lay the foundation.
History reminds us that we have responding with BOLD action.

Praise for the GI Bill.

Government can help and catalyze private enterprise. We must be that nation again!

DEMOCRATS!!!!! are in power again!

Energy
Heathcare
Education

That is our priority list.

Energy first, time for America to lead again. Double supply of renewables, largest investment in research, new discoveries, thousands of power lines, put americans to work. 15 billion to dev. technology. (boo no clean coal and biofuels, the boo is from me) Can't walk away and let the auto industry fail, but we need to change it.

#2 Healthcare
Bankrupcy every 30 seconds because of heathcare costs
Effects small and large businesses
huge costs

we can't afford to wait any more. We can't afford to do it. IT IS TIME.

SCHIP! Nancy Bounded up! She has a lot to be proud of of that! Gonna try to cure cancer. New investment in preventative care.
Budget builds on these reforms
We need to make a downpayment on the principal, WE MUST HAVE quality healthcare for every american.

Gonna be lots of opinions on this.

But we cannot wait another year! (wow going for it this year)

#3 Education
we cannot wait on this either. Every child must have access to a complete and quality education. We have to make that promise. The countries that out teach us now will out perform us in the future.

Americans need to commit to going to a higher education themselves. Don't drop out. Don't quit on yourself or your country. Everyone should seek to improve their own education. (that was a nice surprise) We will provide the support for people to finish school. by 2020 we will again have the highest proportion of college grads in the world. (bold) If you will volunteer or serve your country we will make sure you can afford a higher education. Encourage a new spirit of national spirit-- pass the bill from Hatch and Kennedy.

Calling on parents to do more too.

We are almost to start time...

There is much milling and glad handing going on right now.

by the way, did anyone see the substitute Rachel Maddow lady. Wow I thought she was horrible. Sorry, but she really was. Rachel better get her butt back from VK Asap.

Eric Holder will be the guy NOT at the speech tonight in case the building get's blown up. Or as they say in nice euphemisms, for the continuity of transfer of power.

Here we go... the supremes just came in. Including Ruth.

By the way, I am a terrible speller, so I need to be forgiven in advance during live blogging.

Lots of clapping now sit down.

Did he just shake hands with Shelby-- the no birth certificate guy!!! no way.

The Necks Of State people better get ready to comment-- the tie appears to be red.

Michelle in now.

And the Cabinet on the way in... well the ones who are confirmed anyway...

Jesse Jackson Jr. got to hug Hillary-- my he is a handsome fella.

So now pretty much everyone in the political world but Eric Holder is in the building... let's get started already...
Here we go.

And again.

And so we begin...with a standing O for Michelle

Starting out reminding every member of congress and the gov. in the room just who SENT them there. Who they work for. Recognizing the problems and pain we are feeling right now. The impact is real and everywhere.

Bring the Hope- baby!

We need to understand how we got here. The fact is this did not happen over night, reminder that he is not to blame, we got here through neglect and delay of reform. He is blaming the gov. and us for not paying attention to what we knew the problems were but we didn't do anything.

The Day of Reckoning has arrived NOW.
(He sounds a bit nervous.)

Fix things and reduce the Deficit.
Mid term and long term
begins with Jobs.

I pushed for quick action, and thanks for delivering the recovery act. clapping for themselves. No repubs were clapping. or standing.

Nice call out to the Minneapolis police still on the job because of passing the stim.
Go over the benefits of the plan that passed and reminding us why it was so important.

I understand why some are skeptical, that is why we are having a tough oversight effort. Biden leading because no body messes with Joe! Big clap.

By a vote of 80-17, Hilda Solis was confirmed as the next Labor Secretary of the United States. This is very good news. She is definitely going to make a difference in the Employee Free Choice Act and in other key fights over the next 4 years that will effect American workers in every sector.

This little tidbit will be the news of the day in Asia...

Japan logged a record trade deficit of 952.6 billion yen (9.9 billion dollars) in January as exports plunged 45.7 percent. from BNO

Yippee! sigh.

Now back to your regularly scheduled American Economic Disaster programming.

I remember for years during the now disgraced, Alan Greenspan's reign, he was viewed as something of a god, and wall street types and media mavens would try to surmise what Alan was going to say from his lofty perch at the Fed by seeing how thick his briefcase was as he headed to the office on any given day. If the briefcase was thick-- it must be filled with new reports and evidence that action must-needs be taken. If it was thin then nothing was going to be announced. I never saw any statistical analysis to see how accurate this prognostication was-- but I was reminded of the brief-case-watch when I headed over to Neck of State Today.



The premise of the wonderful NoS analysts is to make note of and chronicle the messages being sent by the President through his choice of neckware. If you were late to discovering this wonderful blog account of the 44th President's ties including the comprehensive tie gallery-- then by all means head over there and enjoy today.

The NoS writers put it best;

Mr. President, we look forward watching you carry your message out this term in your eloquent speeches, carefully planned budgeting and legislation, generous funding of education and science, liberal application of that whole ‘everybody’s equal’ concept, and your meticulously selected neckwear.

I for one will eagerly await the viewing of and post speech commentary about the tie worn for today's Speech to the joint session. And if you want your neck tie updates faster, you can now follow NoS on twitter.

First, A anti-marijuana public service announcement.


(That had to hurt)

California State Legislator: Pot Can Fix the Budget Mess

Tom Ammiano wants to effectively legalize-- and tax -- California's trade in cannabis.

AB 390 "would remove all penalties in California law on cultivation, transportation, sale, purchase, possession, or use of marijuana, natural THC, or paraphernalia for persons over the age of 21," Ammiano's press secretary Quintin Mecke told the San Francisco Weekly.

Ammiano, a rookie state legislator and former San Francisco supervisor, may have a unique opportunity to win support for the bill in the wake of the state's budget debacle.

"California has the opportunity to be the first state in the nation to enact a smart, responsible public policy for the control and regulation of marijuana," he said.

Mecke suggested taxes on the trade could amount to $1 billion according to advocates.

And I'd bet that's a conservative estimate. read the rest MSNBC

It would be easy to crack a few tokes jokes about this but honestly many cops support legalization and they do need revenue in California in fact they are jonesing for it. The tax he proposes isn't that high.

Listen to a podcast with Law Enforcement Against Prohibition Spokesman Tony Ryan.

In case you missed, Japan was a big winner at the Acadamy Awards, scoring two Oscars. one for Foreign Film for "Departures" and a seond for short animation went to "Tsumiki no Ie" ("The House of Small Cubes") FYI pronunciation Sue-me-key No ee-eh

You can read about both these fine films today at the Japan Times. We are understandably proud of these directors over here in the land of the rising sun. Japan has not had much Oscar attention in the last decade. So this is kind of a big deal.

Turns out that the biggest risk to the new President's health may be a fella named Bill.

It turns out President Obama is particularly keen on Sunday night's scallops dish and the huckleberry cobbler is a family favorite too. The First Lady says her husband has developed a quick admiration for White House Pastry Chef William Yosses.

"The President calls Bill 'The Crust Master' because he's a big pie guy and he has some of the best pies and tarts that come out of this place," she said. "And the fillings are just perfection which is a problem when you have delicious desserts available."

This could be a big threat! cause ya know, apparently the President likes pie, quite a bit.


On demand perfect pies? Danger-Will-Robinson!

With 24 hours to think on this year's Oscars; I think the best speech and moment of the evening belongs to Mr. Sean Penn. A more gracious, serious, wonderful statement could not be imagined.

And the Winner for Best Actor, for his portrayal in MILK...
Sean Penn

Come out and play with me
And bring your dollies three.
Climb up my apple tree,
Look down my rain barrel
Slide down my cellar door
And we'll be jolly friends
Forever more.


OK, Prime Minister Obama's Questions today really was quite remarkable.

From the NYT:

...
MR. BIDEN: Mr. President. I want to begin by thanking all of you for being here today.

Represented in this room -- with notable exceptions of some of my old friends -- represented here in this room the finest minds in the country, representing a wide range of views across the political, ideological and academic spectrum.

And today we're asking you to help us begin to tackle the challenges of our nation's long-term fiscal situation. We explore -- we are going to explore how we got where we are and begin to debate where we need to head. And we hope this summit will help generate a healthy debate, because we truly believe that the best course is -- to arrive at the best answers -- is to have that debate.

It won't be easy, to state the obvious. I think we all know that we've inherited unprecedented budget deficits, and this has made all the more difficult the nearly unprecedented economic challenges the country is facing today.

So the problem will not be solved overnight. That's news to no one in this room.

But we want to be clear: As we take the steps that we must to get through the crisis we're in now, we will not lose sight of the long term. We will not lose sight of the need to tackle unmet needs for health care reform, to deal with the energy policy that we need, and so many others challenges that are going to determine what the 21 century looks like.

We must be direct with the American people about the budget difficulties and the choices we have to make, and we should be straightforward with them throughout this whole process.

I've always believed that in the toughest moments we are presented with the greatest opportunities as a nation. There is no question this is a very tough moment. But it's also a real opportunity to both put our economy back on track and restore fiscal responsibility. That's why we need all of you.
...

When the video becomes available you can judge for yourself, but this business of calling on opposition members on-camera and in real-time and letting them say whatever they wish? Starting with your bitterest rival? Taking the time to e-x-p-l-a-i-n things? Making sure the process was open, all the stakeholders had a place at the table, and afterward the spotlight was available to anyone who wanted to speak up?

Amazing.

Of course if you've been to any sort of corporate or policy "summit" before (and I have attended far more than my fair share of both), the trappings and methodology looked very familiar, but as a tool of governance and public dialogue, I haven't seen anything like it since I don't know when. And using it as a lead-in to his joint session of Congress national address tomorrow night -- where the President can now point out individual participants by face, name and comment to underscore the serious with which he takes the business of presiding over a democracy -- was especially inspired.

So a pretty damned good, substantive exercise in its own right, but when viewed against the backdrop of the kinds of preening, smirky, mumblefuck antics that passed for discourse during the previous Administration

it was positively masterful.

And so moving forward...

1. Because it has become metabolically incapable of processing real news and genuine discussions about policy, look for the the Mainstream Press to hype the event using its typical stock of Word Wrestling Federation-inflected descriptors.
2. Look for the wingnut media to describe it as everything from a "stunt" to a "failure".
3. Look for lot more of this from this White House over the next eight years.

What's up with you?
do tell...

the kids from Slum Dog Millionaire on the red carpet.

Last Oct. a law was passed which would give bonuses to our troops who have been stop lossed, Or kept beyond their agreed upon tour of duty. The law was passed and the payments should have begun to roll out to these soldiers and their families. I am sure from my title you see where this is headed.

Well, 5 months later, not a dime has been paid AND the DoD has not even presented their plan for how the payments will be made. Nothing, Zip, Nadda.

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon has not started complying with a law requiring the payment of monthly bonuses of up to $500 to soldiers forced to remain on active duty beyond their enlistment period, military officials said.

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman acknowledged the five-month delay in paying the bonuses and said the Defense Department is working on a plan to start paying the almost 13,000 soldiers currently under the Army's stop-loss orders. Although Defense Secretary Robert Gates wants to end the policy, the number of soldiers affected has risen since the middle of 2007.

Congress added $72 million to pay for the bonuses in its plan for the budget year that started Oct. 1. The money was to be paid after the Pentagon submitted a plan outlining how the payments would be made.

But no plan has been provided, Rob Blumenthal, a spokesman for the Senate Appropriations Committee, said Friday.

"It is unacceptable that the Department (of Defense) has failed to construct a plan for issuing these payments," said Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., who chairs the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense. "Stop loss is nothing more than a backdoor draft, and … if the Defense Department is going to insist on holding service members under stop-loss orders, then they should be compensated for their service." -By Gregg Zoroya, USA TODAY

Murtha and other vets are raising hell, but this is something we all need to get behind. We all need to push this to happen and it needs to happen now. Hell, it needed to happen yesterday, or better yet 5 months ago when the money was allocated.

We can rush to doll out 350 Billion in Dec. to bailout failed wall street firms, but we can't get this money out to stop loss soldiers. I have an idea, if you can't figure out how to pay them. Then send them home. Now. All of them. Today.

h/t commenter Miki

My hometown paper is in trouble like so many others. The company that runs the Philadelphia Inquirer is filing for bankruptcy. This makes 5 major papers in as many weeks.

Feb. 22 (Bloomberg) -- The owner of the Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News filed for bankruptcy amid declining advertising sales, more than 2 years after a buyout led by local businessman Brian Tierney.

Philadelphia Newspapers LLC listed both assets and debt of as much as $500 million each in a Chapter 11 petition filed today in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Philadelphia. Seven other units also sought protection including Philadelphia Media, PMH Acquisition, Philly Online and PMH Holdings.

Even with my anger and frustration with the corporate media, I am not sure the death of all this papers will be a good thing in the long run. Yet another sound institution killed by greed and corporate deregulation.

The Inquirer is not famous like it's LA and NYC sisters-- but over my years living in the area they did some good work. And a local paper does wonders to bring a town/ city together. I think their demise cannot be totally filled by the toobz and the blogs. But we shall see what we see.

First off, while we wait for the winner... I think they did a great job on the show, and I like the changes with the presenters and the staging. I am happily impressed and pleased. There were wonderful nominees, and classy winners, and losers. AND I Loved Sean's plea for equal rights for everyone. Prop-hate be damned.

Now waiting to hear the big final wonderful winner...

There were some very good films nominated this year.
Nice montage of the nominees and past winners that give us inspiration.

And the winner is...
Slum Dog!!!

Totally deserves the win.

Are you watching the Oscars?
What do you think so far?
Do you have a favorite in any particular catagory?

I'd like to see Heath win for supporting actor, And Slum Dog for Best picture-- otherwise just interested to see who takes home the gold.

Update;
Slum Dog with two Oscars so far.
Adapted screen plan and cinematography

Update; The backstage tweets on NPR are funny.


Update: Heath Ledger wins for his Joker, in the Batman.
Nice. Very lovely acceptance from his family. too sad though.

Update: Will Smith showing action for visual effects.
I love this category. My bet is BenButton. and the winner is....
Yup. I was right.

Sound editing...
The Dark Knight.

Sound mixing...
SLUM DOG for win #3, so far
and now #4 for film editing.

Update:

WOW is this an ugly dress... Ms. Cyrus, what were you thinking?

and
Jerry Lewis gets the Hershfeld award for all his Humanitarian Work. Nice. He gave a really sweet speech.

this dress is pretty freaking awful too. Is it wrinkled? what the heck?


Update: best original score...
Slum dog with #5
and Best original song too. #6

Update: It is Best Foriegn film now
And a Japanese film is up for the oscar for Departures
my fingers are crossed.

the winner is JAPAN for Departures!!! yeah

We are winding down now. 4 to go.

This is the tribute to those we lost this year. Always gets me...
ended with Paul Newman. :-(

Update: Best Director...
drumrolling... I am totally guessing it will be Danny Boyle for slum dog.
AND the winner is...
SLUM DOG. for their 7th win! He is so sweet. And so proud of his team. You can tell he is a wonderful man and a genius director.

Best Actress is up next What a group of presenters...Standing o for the ladies... and sweeping scarlett o hara music, cute. Having the winners speak to the nominees directly as they did this time is so amazing. What an honor. It is like they all get a win at some level.
And the winner is...
Kate Winslet for the Reader! Her dad whistling was adorable.

Best Actor Next Another group of gracious wonderful presenters... to speak to these talented men.
I am kind of hoping for an upset, Frank to get it for doing Frost/Nixon
Sean deserves it for Milk as well... This is a super tough category. Amd Mickey was amazing.
And the winner is...
Sean Penn for Milk

Gov. Sarah Palin received a determination from the State that she had to pay taxes on her per diem. She now owes $18,000 in taxes on the per diem at issue. It was not illegal to collect the per diem staying in her own home-- though it does seem suspect for such a maverick and cost cutter (HA!) what is at issue is that she did not claim this as income and even more ironic during her race to get the governor's job she criticized the former governor for collecting a per deim when he was staying in his home.

Anyway, she owes the cash. But I don't hear the GOP screeching about her tax dodging the way they went after Daschle and others.

I know this is a few weeks old. But I keep running across people that say they haven't seen this guy.

This guy-- has THE BEST Obama voice out there. He doesn't look that much like the president but he has the pausing, the speech the whole thing. And he is damn funny too.

Here ya go.

Thank you, Mr. President, for talking to and with the American people.
Your thoughts? Do tell...

My friend tried to tell me yesterday that the wonderful "Where the Hell is Matt?" videos were a hoax. They are these wonderful videos of this cute crazy guy dancing (badly) all over the world.

I was crushed.

except... the HOAX was a HOAX

for more things on the wonderful Matt Harding and the un-hoaxing of the hoax-- watch this. It is 15 minutes long but it is a GREAT story.



And when you are done, if you haven't see the newest video from last year yet-- what are you waiting for?



Yeah! Matt rocks. even if he can't really dance.

There are a number of people online and in the MSM starting to trigger panics and bank runs. Here is one idiot in particular.

Citigroup (C) declined 61% from a peak of $4.10 to an intraday low of $1.61 over just 10 trading days. Bluntly put: Citigroup is dead.

Bank of America (BAC) declined 64% from a peak of $7.05 to an intraday low of $2.53 over just 10 trading days. Bluntly put: Bank of America is dead.

Dead actually means dead. It is unlikely they can survive the weekend... and if they do, they most definitely cannot survive the week.

It used to be that bank runs were very public affairs. Crowds would rush the PHYSICAL offices of a stricken bank and demand PHYSICAL withdrawal. The large, panicked and angry mobs would make instant newspaper headlines. More importantly, bank runs could not be covered up and kept secret. Unruly mobs demanding their money don't tend to go quietly into the night.

Today, things are much different. Bank runs occur with a phone call... nah... a click of the mouse. There is absolutely no need to show up at office and demand paper money. Now the bank run is electronic. Without the mob, without the noise and the rage a bank can be entirely drained of reserves almost INSTANTLY. Financial Ninja

This kind of self important fear mongering causes these bank runs and hurts the confidence in other banks in additional to the ones targeted. I don't know if it is true, but it would be irresponsible for me not to speculate, that this guy has put out a short-sell trade order and hopes to make a ton of money when everyone sells off their stock in these companies because there was a run on the banks.

All of these deposits, meaning every penny of every one's money is protected under the FDIC, the FDIC was created during the great depression to make sure that banks did not disappear with peoples money. If a bank fails the FDIC, backed by the Federal Government, pays people their money up to $250,000. It's possible you can get more but at least $250,000 is guaranteed.

So why would anyone panic? Your money is protected and it makes no difference is the bank is run by the government now. In this situations we have to ask ourselves; what is the point of this sort of panic inducing breathless writing?

This is absolutely crazy.

US NEWS, on their whispers page is running a poll asking who would be the best woman to run a daycare center. The choices in the poll?

The Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi
The governor of Alaska Sarah Palin
The First Lady and Lawyer Michelle Obama
or The Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

No joke. This sexist crap is so over the top there is almost too much to get my head around. But let's start with. wtf?

So instead of thinking about these women as professionals in some of the most important and critical jobs in the world... (yes even thought I don't like Palin-- governor of one of the 50 states is a big deal) We are supposed to ask ourselves who would be the better day care provider?! Not even school principal or something higher ranking? We are supposed to imagine who would be better at changing our kid's diapers while we go out and work real jobs. (not that I have anything against daycare workers-- but that is the way they are trying to make people think.)

THEN to add insult to injury. The picture they ran with this crap-ass poll-- further degrades and then objectifies these women. They show them as dolls. And not even attractive dolls, but bobble head types. Plastic, fake, hard and unattractive.

The wing nuts don't see any of this as a problem I guess-- as their darling Sarah is the highest ranked daycare worked as of right now on this disgustingly sexist poll.

(you can see the data without voting-- since I would NEVER vote in such a degrading bull shit piece.)

Outraged letter writing recommended. or even better, call the editorial offices at 202-955-2000.

h/t Media Matters

What are your thoughts on the First Lady's new-do? (she debuted the new look on Friday)



I love it.
Cute, and it makes her smile look that much more charming. And by the way, I don't feel that fashion commentary is sexist-- I talk about guys and gals, and I think fashion is and always has been a part of art and culture.

Washington, DC – The Democratic National Committee today announced the appointment of Clyde Williams as DNC political director. Williams -- who previously served as a senior policy advisor at the Clinton Foundation, Vice President of State and Local Government Affairs at the Center for American Progress, and deputy chief of staff at the U.S. Department of Agriculture -- brings a unique combination of policy and political background to the position.

“We’re thrilled that someone with Clyde’s immense skill and unique combination of experience with domestic policy issues and grassroots political organizing will be joining the DNC’s leadership team,” said DNC Executive Director Jen O’Malley Dillon. “Governor Kaine has stated his goals of helping advance the President’s agenda and promoting broader participation in the civic dialogue. Having Clyde serve as our political director is an important part of our effort to engage more Americans in our effort to implement practical solutions to the challenges facing our country.” From the DNC Press Office

I have to ask, Isn't there any one we can get who is NEW and not from an establishment that lost election after election until Dean took over the DNC and Obama crashed the gates at 1600 Pa. Ave.

I don't understand why Obama is choosing so many Clinton people, the voters chose him OVER the Clinton establisment? Or did I miss the message of the primaries completely?

this one at the request of M.D.H.S.

Japanese Psychology 101.
After living in Japan for a long time I can say with authority that the worst thing for Japanese people is feeling shame, being shamed, being embarrassed publicly. Not guilt-- they don't mind that-- But Shame. This is what it means about losing face.

So the recent slurred speech and rumpled appearance, subsequent resignation of the finance minister Nakagawa is creating a lot of bad feelings here in Japan.


The PM is now also apologizing. But there has been progress I guess because if this had happened 100 years ago-- it probably would have ended in Sepiku-- literally falling on your sword. As it is now, Prime Minister Aso, who is also unpopular will not be able to hold up his head much for a while. All this while Japan tries to pass their budget in the midst of the worst economy since WWII.

Aso told the committee he was shocked when he saw footage of Nakagawa's behavior at the news conference, which was aired repeatedly by national TV stations and picked up by overseas media as well.

"My first reaction was one of surprise — I couldn't grasp the situation," Aso said. "I was shocked and didn't understand what was happening" to Nakagawa.

"Maybe it had to do with health reasons, but people would normally assume Nakagawa was drunk after seeing those images," said committee member Yukio Edano of the Democratic Party of Japan. "Don't you know how ashamed the people felt over this incident?" -- Japan Times

So this scandal which would be small potatoes in other counties is a big deal here. NOT because Aso or Nakagawa fell guilty but because they fee shame and because they have been shamed the country has been shamed.

You'd think that if Japan lets someone go for being drunk at a summit, that maybe we needed a new VP in America after our former Vice Evil One shot some guy in the face. That would require feelings of both guilt and shame. So it was an impossible premise from the get go.

Anyway, bye bye Nakagawa san, and probably Aso rather soon as well.

One of my friends sent me this sushi, Made by a Japanese colleague. This is totally amazing (even if the ears being gone is a problem) I mean seriously-- I can make sushi rolls even pretty ones... but this is just fantastic.

So... Hitchens is walking around drunk in Beirut Lebanon, hanging around right wing jackass Michael Totten (best known for his demobloguery) and some other right wing hack and the bleary eyed Hitchens makes out a poster for the thug based Syrian Social Nationalist Party and decided to write "Fuck The SSNP" on the poster.

Unfortunately for our zerohero some members of the SSNP happened to be in that neigborhood shoe-shopping, (you can't make this stuff up.) The fellows take umbridge with Hitch's redesign and proceed to kick their asses.

Apparently he is battered, bruised and walking with a limp.

Between this story and the one about Cheney really pissed at Bush for not pardoning Libby, this is turning into a pretty good week.

Drinking Liberally tonight in Tokyo, wherein I intend to raise a glass to the members of the SSNP. And here I was all down on the Nazi's for the Malkin Swastika thing...

Heh, indeed.

source: huffpo

picture courtesy of the brokers with hands on their faces blog

There is a article on time.com called; Why the Stock Market Keeps Plummeting. It is full of numbers and quotes from serious people and such. I thought I would help you guys out and save you the time of having to read it, not that I did.

The Stock Market Keeps Plummeting because its overvalued. This has been an edition of simple answers to simple questions.

...and Jr. still wants to prove he is more manly than dad...

This about the George W. Bush Presidential Library and (neo-con)Policy Center

The overall structure has grown to an estimated 207,000 square feet – akin to an average Wal-Mart Super Center – making it more than twice as large as his father's, the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum at Texas A&M University.

Just last week, engineers for the younger Bush's library toured the A&M site, looking for design tips. And the National Archives, which has been meeting regularly with Bush architects, is preparing soon for its first major review of the library's preliminary plans.--Dallas News

They weren't looking for design tips-- they were keeping up with the Jones's. Also-- this story uses a new unit of measurement. One that I find appallingly tragic. How many Wal-mart Super Centers Squared? You're kidding right? No?

Well that is really too bad.

from Commenter ceabaird

In the South, you hear a lot about “Honor” – and how this defines the sterotypical “Southern Gentleman”. However, you never hear much about what this really means, and the Republicans, as a small regional party in the South-Southwest of the US, bang this drum incessantly. But what does this mean, “Honor”? I suggest, much like Diego Montoya, that “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it does.”

The definition – and personification – of honor is one that I think all Americans can agree on: represented by George Washington. George Washington was by no means a “man of the people,” and was definitely an aristocrat, with a very clear understanding of the prerequisites of President, General, and Landed Gentry. Even so, he had a very clearly developed sense of personal responsibility, and held himself to a stern and unyielding standard. This is what allowed him to maintain control of the Continental Army in the face of so many defeats, and specifically the low point of Valley Forge. The volunteers who served with him could clearly see and understand this – without General Washington having to hire a PR frim to advertise the fact. Even the British admired Gen. Washington’s personal integrity and attentiveness to the morale and welfare of his troops – virtues they recognized their own generals lacked. George Washington believed in the civic virtues of the old Roman Republic, where citizens, when called to serve the nation, did so to the utmost of their ability, and benefit to all, and then happily returned to private life in a rejection of power. As a matter of fact, George Washington was against the formation of political parties, fearing that they would lead to political stagnation and bitter partisanship. He felt that men should serve the nation, for the benefit of the nation as a whole. He was against religious persecution, ANY religion, based on his belief that as long as people remain good citizens, their faith (or lack of same) was of no consequence. The American people could see and understand this, the congresses created to reform our nation understood this, and his very presence allowed the Constitutional Convention achieve it’s goals without rancor.

It is easy to see how directly this contrasts with every action and word uttered by the Republican party and their accomplices. It is easy to see that, by the standards of George Washington, these people choose NOT to serve the nation, but rather their own small, limited agenda; they choose NOT put call to duty above even their own benefit, but measure all actions by whether or not they profit themselves and their camp-followers; they choose NOT to measure fellow Americans by value of their efforts to make America greater, but SOLELY by the color of their skin, the value of their bank account, and the church to which they belong.

All these things, and more, only condemn the Republican party, as it exists today, and by their OWN WORDS, to that group of people who would see America fail, her people ruined, her industry ravaged, her farmland wasted, her cities destroyed. In other times and places we would call this select group TRAITORS, but I leave that judgement for you to decide.

The Failure Frame
The new administration has been in place for less than one month. It is obvious on issues from the recovery plan to stem cells to Iraq, torture etc. etc. etc. that they are moving at a break neck pace with more accountability and transparency than we have EVER seen.

So imagine my shock (not) when I saw that the AP is currently running a story about how the Recovery.gov site to track the stimulus money is going to be a failure. They actually titled the piece, "Promises, Promises..." and before we even see a dime they are promoting the meme that there is no way that the President can succeed in his goals of responsibility and transparency.

You just wait and see-- this story will be everywhere by tomorrow.

And it will fit in with the long conga line of a-holes that are declaring the Presidency a failure before we even hit the 30 day mark.

Obama didn't fix everything on day 2? What a loser!

Forget that he has inherited the biggest economic mess in 50 + years

Forget that we are coming off the most secrecy oriented governance in our history.

Forget that these same critics in the press never peeped at illegal wire tapping, torture, the lies that sent us into Iraq. In fact they were the drum beat that kept the Bush administrations lies moving.

I hate them.
or as Rachel would say-- "Someone talk me down off the ledge."

Scholars say that a lot of what FDR did to start to get us out of the great depression was change public opinion and help people be hopeful again. What hope does HOPE have with this kind of reporting washing over the public in the 24/7 news cycle. F$#K.

One idea, we could write our fingers off this week, letters to the editor, and congress critters etc. speaking in praise of recovery.gov Also go use the site, read, respond, drive up their traffic and show public support. Cross post it everywhere. Someone make a web-banner we can all put on our sites to promote the site and the transparency.

Our liberal bloggers need to be out in force countering this meme. This kind of framing is going to kill any chance we have of rallying and coming together to solve our problems. And once again they are first out of the gate framing the issue.

F$#K. F$#K. F$#K. I am So frustrated!

Update from HS on the Writer of this piece of crap from the AP;
oh look the AP writer Philip Elliot is already famous...

He was one of the AP folks who pushed the bullshit "argula" line about Obama.. (9/2007)

http://mediamatters.org/items/200709240012

Shouldn't these people be attending garden parties in Princeton instead of "crafting" slam the democrats pieces for the AP?

Elderly New Yorkers angry as crisis hits poorest

I think of my Mom a lot in this economic crisis. She was a home-health worker in NYC. She would have been one of those seniors in trouble but for whatever I and my brother, when we could, could do.

City figures show that in 2006, one-fifth of New Yorkers age 65 and older lived in poverty, twice the national average. Advocacy groups say by now it is closer to one-third, and New York is second only to Detroit among major U.S. cities in its rate of poverty among the elderly.

Now, of course, elderly, lower-class economically: these are just paltry ways to describe her. She was also wry, whip-smart, yet afraid of computers; could squeeze a penny till the buffalo begged for mercy; had a tough upbringing (abusive Dad who nonetheless paid the bills by working his ass off; beloved older sister died young and unexpectedly; spent a year in an iron lung because of TB; lost beloved brother, my uncle Leon, whom I still miss; so much poverty and striving, so much sorrow, so very much to overcome, let alone the systemic racism that plagues America).

Moreover, the federal poverty guidelines for 2008, $10,400 for a single person and $14,000 for a couple, are so low that many who are in need do not qualify for most public benefits.

Yet, she taught me the joy of books and learning and telling stories, and the eternal value of each human and sentient life: not because she was a Christian, but because that shy, sweet fascination about beings was part of her nature. (However, it must be said that she was frightened of anything that hinted of rodent, leading to lots of hilarity at her expense when we visited rural cousins every summer. sorry Mamma).

Minorities tend to fare worst, with 30 percent of Hispanic, 29 percent of Asian and 20 percent of elderly blacks in poverty compared with 13 percent of elderly whites in New York City.

She was the light of our lives, especially when we lost Daddy, and she lived almost exactly 10 years after we lost him. She is worth a trillion Bernie Madoffs, untold numbers of Dick Cheneys and an infinity of GeeDubyas: except that she would tell me that her worth and theirs is exactly the same. She was a clearer soul than I am.

Now, some well-off people will say: it's your own fault for not saving, or not being responsible, or not working long enough at the right kind of job, or not doing something that I did. Look at me, I'm doing fine. Your choices in life have brought you to this. I have no reason to share what I worked for.

"We are outraged that the government, which has spent hundreds of billions of dollars to bail out financial institutions -- and they in turn have given $18 billion as bonuses to their top executives -- has no funds to support vital services for their senior citizens," said Muriel Beach, New York City head of the State Wide Senior Action Council.

If I'm able to refrain from an unaccustomed move to violence towards those people, I guess I can just walk away.

Or, maybe I can try to explain, again, the deeper truth that we are groping towards in the face of this crisis: that there needs to be a balance of thought & spirit and action, between you are responsible for everything that happens to you, and we are your community - we won't let you fall and will help you to rise.

A formidable crowd despite walkers, canes and wheelchairs, many at the forum vented rage at lavish bonuses being paid on Wall Street.

Life is hard enough. It is not okay to make it even harder, especially not for 'the least of these.

update: that 'writer' Jonah Goldberg (I will not link to him) tries again to convince us that the American majority consists of people who are irrevocably, ideologically divided:

I've met innumerable writers and editors who are scared, even terrified, of one or more of these groups: gays, blacks, Latinos, Asians, Jews, feminists, evangelical Christians and the handicapped...

I'd like to see these straw journalists he's 'met' interview that formidable crowd of rightfully pissed-off elderly New Yorkers. Even better, throw the Goldberg in the mix.

Give a whole new meaning to "have fun storming the castle!"

of course.

My Liberal Identity:

You are a Social Justice Crusader, also known as a rights activist. You believe in equality, fairness, and preventing neo-Confederate conservative troglodytes from rolling back fifty years of civil rights gains.

Take the quiz at www.FightConservatives.com

And you are?

h/t BG the Peace Patroller

As a food lover, and as a cupcake cafe aspiring owner-- I keep my ears and taste buds open to news from the underground cupcake junkies. This one was actually splashed all over the headlines and lucky Smithsonian visitors had a chance to taste the artistry.

That's right-- this massive installation...



is made entirely of cupcakes and was displayed for valentines and president's day at the Smithsonian-- and promptly consumed by visitors after.

Cupcake artist and baker Zilly Rosen made the foodie headlines back in the campaign days with another famous cupcake Obama piece. I think this newest one is even better though.

What's next I wonder? How about a cupcake version of the whole first family. Stay tuned, I am sure Zilly has more in store.

p.s. I would love to see better pics of this Lincoln-Obama creation, if you find any let me know.

Apparently after 9/11 as a sign of support Tony Blair and the British Parliament lent "W" a famous bust of Churchill that then stayed in the Oval until Jan of this year. It has now been returned.

The Brits offered President Obama an extension on the loan-- but the new President said no thanks, sent Churchill packing and replaced him with one of his political and historical heroes, Abraham Lincoln.

The UK telegraph has a surmise about the less than friendly reception given to Churchill from the new administration and a guess at what the British government might offer our new head of state instead;

Churchill has less happy connotations for Mr Obama than those American politicians who celebrate his wartime leadership. It was during Churchill's second premiership that Britain suppressed Kenya's Mau Mau rebellion. Among Kenyans allegedly tortured by the colonial regime included one Hussein Onyango Obama, the President's grandfather.

The rejection of the bust has left some British officials nervously reading the runes to see how much influence the UK can wield with the new regime in Washington...

...One suggestion, given Mr Obama's interest in the Lincoln era, is that Mr Brown should offer an artifact relating to the career of John Bright, the 19th Century MP and political reformer who became the most prominent British supporter of Lincoln's Union forces during the American Civil War.

Each President gets to redecorate the Oval office and much of the west wing with artifacts, paintings and furnishings from the National museum and from the vast array of gifts and loans given to the United states from friends and allies around the world. I would love to see a list of what President Obama has chosen so far and how the decor has changed since Bush left office.