Required reading: in which the national anthem gets remixed in Spanish, the Smithy code gets cracked, Suffolk County gets wireless, ESB parachuter gets nabbed, and big oil gets big flack for big profits

Spanish Version of 'Star-Spangled Banner' Draws Strong Reactions (Wash Post)

Broken: The Code in the 'Da Vinci Code' Ruling (NY Times)

Suffolk County Plans to Offer Free Wireless Internet Access (NY Times)

Daredevil nabbed at Empire State Building (Newsday)

Profits, Prices Spur Oil Outrage (Wash Post)

Posted by Seamus at 08:47 AM

You might have cracked the Da Vinci code after the first few pages, but have you heard of the Smithy code? The British judge overseeing the recent plagiarism case involving the author Dan Brown thought he’d try his hand at the code game himself by burying a surprise mystery in his 71-page ruling. The judge might have taken the crack, not to mention knowledge of the code itself, to the grave if he hadn’t tipped off a New York Times reporter to the story. Unfortunately the reporter failed to figure it out. Maybe the judge should keep his day job.

Posted by Seamus at 05:02 PM

Copyright on!

Posted by Seamus at 03:55 PM

In which: parents protest cell phone “umbilical cord” ban, report calls for dismantling of FEMA, European panel says CIA flew secret prisoners, and British judge takes on Dan Brown with “Smithy Code”

Cell phone crackdown in schools worries parents (Newsday)

Puzzle Embedded in 'Da Vinci Code' Ruling (NY Times)

Report Urges Dismantling FEMA (Wash Post)

Probe of Detainee Transfers Finds Many CIA Flights (Wash Post)

Posted by Seamus at 12:58 PM

BLS staff caught an advance screening of the 9/11 film that opened the Tribeca Film Festival

Ilya: U there? What did you think of utd 93?
jim: hey, oh my god, it was so hard to watch
but a very well-made film
Ilya: I thought it was really well done....And that we could post our thoughts on the blog
jim: i agree
would you recommend it to someone?
Ilya: DEFINITELY. But my friend who I saw it with asked me the question with the expectation that I'd say, Probably not.....interesting
jim: i'm torn. it was so draining to watch, but I'd be very reluctant to tell someone they just have to see it
Ilya: It's true, and what's so disturbing is that it wasn't extraordinarily violent, it was really the commandeering of the plane by the terrorists, and their craziness, that made it horrifying.
jim: thought it the simple details that took up so much of the film before the action on the plane was the most tense.
it was so mundane and with that faux-documentary handheld camera and with no music for a good 20 minutes or so
Ilya:and I really liked the fact that they didn't focus too closely on any particular characters, whether passengers, hijackers, or air traffic controllers. So restrained.
jim: yes, and the military. and the officials all seemed competent in their own right, but the fact that they were acting in isolation was damning
Ilya: it definitely seemed like an understated condemnation of the admin, and the bureaucracy that couldn't swing into action fast enough.
gonna step away to get some brecko....you could post our IMs even if you're looking for something....talk to you soon!

Posted by leboheme at 12:38 PM

In which Rice and Rumsfeld surprise Iraq's new Prime Minister, Karl Rove will testify again, Bush responds to rising gas prices, Transit workers threaten action, and United 93 premiere provokes somber response

Rice, Rumsfeld Drop In on Iraq (LA Times)

Rove to testify again (AP)

Bush Calls For Probe Of Rising Gas Prices (Wash Post)

More Transit Worker Action? (Daily News)

Somber Night for “United 93” Premier (Variety)

Posted by leboheme at 11:35 AM

/>
The Guru has spoken

Posted by leboheme at 03:04 PM

In which: CIA officer says she wasn’t the reason Dana Priest got a Pulitzer, Mayor Bloomberg thinks on-the-job web surfing is bad, a Harvard undergrad novelist says she didn’t mean to copy from another book, and 141 Gitmo detainees are freed.

Dismissed CIA Officer Denies Leak Role (Wash Post)

Web and work don't mix, Mike sniffs (Daily News)

Harvard Novelist Says Copying Was Unintentional (NY Times)

U.S. to Free 141 Terror Suspects (LA Times)

Bomb targets Sri Lanka army chief (BBC)

30 Are Killed in Sinai as Bombs Rock Egyptian Resort City (NY Times)

Posted by leboheme at 10:37 AM

If you happened to be browsing the New York Times website and happened to click on the "Week in Review" page and then happened to look at the bottom right side of the page for a lonely link labeled "editor's note," you'd notice this clarification. The paper of record followed-up on an article in last week's paper about quotes attributed to Hillary Clinton. The correction said it neglected to say some quotes attributed to the New York Senator were from dubious sources, but the note went on to clarify some more arcane details in the article:

The article also noted that on the cover of the quotation book -- "'I've Always Been a Yankees Fan': Hillary Clinton in Her Own Words'" -- Mrs. Clinton is shown wearing a Cubs cap. But because of an editing error, this explanation was omitted: As early as 1994, Mrs. Clinton was on record explaining that growing up in the Midwest, she had both her hometown favorite, the Cubs, who are in the National League, and also an American League favorite, the Yankees."

And does anyone really notice the difference between these two sentences?

"I knew that Bill respected military service, that he would have served had he been called"

and

"I knew that Bill respected military service, that he would have served had he been called"

Posted by leboheme at 04:13 PM

Brian's back
And so is another episode of required reading, in which: Chuck Schumer's weekly Sunday press conference makes headlines beyond one day, OBL discovers YouTube, a CIA Inspector General gets inspected, and record label lawyers seeking file sharing charges target a little girl and a family that doesn't own a computer.

Chuck: Let troops hunt 9/11 remains (NY Daily News)

Bin Laden takes to the airwaves again (AP)

CIA Inspector general gets (NYT)

Court throws out RIAA attempt to sue little girl (P2P.net)

RIAA case problem: target doesn’t own a computer (Mywebpal, via TheDrudgeReport)

Posted by leboheme at 09:59 AM

We want to hear from you today about a new Pragmatic Progressive wrinkle in the abortion debate. Check out this Op-Ed by Hillary Clinton and Harry Reid who are comming together on the abortion debate,

"Abortion debate shuns prevention" (Albany Times Union)

Posted by leboheme at 09:08 AM

Today's host, Siddhartha Mitter

Posted by leboheme at 02:25 PM

The guest host madness continues today with Siddhartha Mitter (Brian's back on Monday, we promise!).

Required reading, TTLAIFF, in which: Nepal's king makes an offer to rebels, the FDA kills the high on 4/20, Harriet Miers may face the ax a second time, feds sweep a wood co. and net over 1,000 illegals and 7 managers, and Kerik's papers find no buyers on eBay.

"Nepal's King Gyanendra agrees to hand over power" (Times of India)

"F.D.A. Dismisses Medical Benefit From Marijuana" (NY Times)

"Nationwide Raids Intensify Focus on the Employment of Illegal Immigrants" (LA Times)

"Bush Counsel May Be Next in Shake-Up" (NY Times)

"Kerik's papers cheap on eBay" (NY Daily News)

Posted by leboheme at 10:18 AM

Author Flanagan: Housework becomes her

Posted by leboheme at 05:10 PM

Subject: happy housewife
No wonder Brian took the day off! I'd say Ms. Flanagan may be channeling her inner housewife, but she sure isn't a happy housewife.

Did she forget to take her meds? I've never heard such anger from a guest! Has her pandering to the right failed to produce the book sales she'd anticipated?
-KC

Subject: Hurrah for Caitlin Flanagan
I am an unabashed liberal, and more positively disposed to the Democrats than the Republicans (who I think lack the milk of human kindness).

As a father of a 23 year old daughter Alana and a 33 year old
step-daughter Ann, we made do for a number of years on a single income
so my wife, Mary, could be at home and focus on raising our children.
When they were old enough, she went back to work. The family should never take second place to work. Hurrah for Caitlin Flanagan for reminding us of this.
-AvdM

Subject: Caitlin Flnagan
This woman had to be one of the most arrogant, pushy and annoying
guests I have ever heard on The Brian Lehrer Show and it's unfortunate
that she is a spokesperson for this very important and fascinating
issue. Congratulations to Sri for maintaining his composure!
-JD

Subject: Your guest isn't a stay at home mom . . .
she's a WORK at home mom, like I am, which is totally different. Not
everyone has a career that lends itself to staying home with kids and
working at the same time (I am a graphic artist.) She is very lucky
that she could switch careers, but there's no denying that she's a
working mom--writing columns and a book must certainly take some time
from her children. My husband is a work at home dad. There are trade-
offs here as well. Does she agree?
-P & N

Subject: caitlin Flanagan
while she had a few good things to say, i'd much rather read caitlin flanagan than listen to her.
she was loud and rude and abrasive.
-H

Posted by leboheme at 12:12 PM

In which...Slate's Dickerson declares "the generals aimed at Donald Rumsfeld and hit Scott McClellan", New York sheds residents fastest in the nation, the Iraq & Afghan war bills double over three years, the PA tells Silverstein to choose option A or option B, Spitzer says curbing development will boost the upstate economy, and Julia Roberts gets two encores in her B'way debut.

Happy 4-20, by the way! (this is no way constitutes an endorsement by WNYC of the use of illegal drugs).

"Rummy's Body Count" (Slate)

"New York Is Losing People at Fastest Pace in America" (NY Sun)

"Unforeseen Spending on Materiel Pumps Up Iraq War Bill" (Washington Post)

"PA builds up offer to Larry on WTC site" (NY Daily News)

"Spitzer Calls for Limits on Sprawl To Help Upstate Economy" (NY Sun)

"Julia soaks up 'Rain' cheer: Two opening night curtain calls for Roberts and cast" (NY Daily News)

Posted by leboheme at 11:02 AM

On this day when so much attention is focused on the departure of a much-mocked press secretary and Karl Rove's re-assignment, it's worth having a look in at the ever-thoughtful Washington Note, where Steve Clemons dissects a dinner talk given by Condoleezza' Rice's legal advisor, John Bellinger.

A highlight from his comments:

There are a lot of things out there that are just simply wrong. And so I have gone out to Europe to meet with people, to answer questions, to explain the legal framework that we're applying. And I'll just give you one or two examples so you get a sense of the generalities I'm talking about.

[cont'd. - more from "John Bellinger Argues Case for International Law" on The Washington Note]

You know, every one of you all knows and probably most of you all believe that we in fact made up this term "unlawful combatants" and it fits people's theories that, of course, the Bush administration is just making up rules, throwing the established legal framework out the window and sort of made up its own terms. And it's just not true at all.

The term unlawful combatant is a term that's been around for about 40 or 50 years, clearly accepted in all of the international law textbooks. It applies to the category of people who are fighting you in a war, but are doing so in an unlawful way, i.e they're fighting your civilians rather than you or their otherwise not following the rules. And so therefore they're not entitled to the normal protections of the Geneva conventions. So they're called unlawful combatants.

Posted by leboheme at 04:20 PM

Pushy, sure, but inappropriate? Irish journo Carole Coleman

Tom Friedman, high priest of "glocalization" and hybrid cars

[Listen to Coleman on the BL Show today. Or to Tom Friedman]

Posted by leboheme at 03:49 PM

In which (holy moley!) Rove shrinks and McClellan disappears, Bush plans a petro-tussle with Hu, the FBI demands a dead man's papers, airports spurn express lanes for frequent travelers, NYC offers new teachers 15k incentive, police lineups look more unreliable, and The Voice sheds writers.

"McClellan Out as White House Press Secretary
Karl Rove Gives Up Policy Oversight to Focus on 2006 Elections" (Washington Post)

"China's Oil Needs Are High on U.S. Agenda" (NY Times)

"F.B.I. Is Seeking to Search Papers of Dead Reporter" (NY Times)

"Airports leery on traveler registry" (USA Today)

"New York Offers Housing Subsidy as Teacher Lure" (NY Times)

"Study Fuels a Growing Debate Over Police Lineups" (NY Times)

"Can Village Voice Make It
Without Its Lefty Zetz?" (NY Observer)

Posted by leboheme at 11:48 AM

Over at his new DN digs, Ben Smith is hosting a caption contest for a photo of Eliot Spitzer crouching down to chin level with a young constituent.

Let me tell you about stem cells, little boy.

Posted by leboheme at 04:42 PM

WNYC's Beth Fertig

Fearless first-time guest host Carolina Gonzalez

Posted by leboheme at 11:59 AM

In which pilots demand the reopen of Rockaway crash file, the City Council weighs two new stadia, legislators ignore employers in immigration debate, gay families hunt eggs on the White House lawn, even Rumsfeld's boosters admit he made mistakes, and a New Yorker wins the rights to fallwell.com.

"Reopen probe of Flight 587" (NY Daily News)

"Council plays ball: City set to hear pitches for two new stadiums" (NY Daily News)

"Employers risk little in hiring illegal labor" (CS Monitor)

"Gay parents denied early entry to White House Egg Roll" (Washington Blade)

"Pessimism About Iraq Is a Common Thread Among Rumsfeld's Critics and Defenders" (LA Times)

"Gay man wins Internet fight vs. Falwell" (NY Daily News)

Posted by leboheme at 11:52 AM

Listen to our show on Wednesday

and, right after the show:

12:30 PM to 1:30 PM
Borders Books
461 Park Avenue
212.823.9774

Posted by leboheme at 05:14 PM

Gone to the dogs...

Posted by leboheme at 03:32 PM

Aids diary-keeper Thembi Ngubane

Posted by leboheme at 03:26 PM

In which Bloomberg tells illegals not to strike, taxes flatten, MoMA devises tours for the memory-impaired, and Karl Lagerfeld launches his own label...

"Bloomberg Warns Against Strike by Illegal Immigrants"

"Taxes Flatten but Deep Pockets Still Bulge" (LA Times)

"MoMA offers art experience to Alzheimer's sufferers" (USA Today)

"Hot Under the Collar: Always His Own Man, Karl Lagerfeld Is Now Aiming to Be His Own Brand" (Washington Post)

Posted by leboheme at 08:34 AM

Thanks to Passover and Easter, these are s l o w news days! And BL blogger has been getting slow (we did have a guest host, the precocious, baritone Errol Cockfield) in getting up this motley assortment of leftovers, one-weres, and finally-rans, in which Bloomy grumbles about crime in schools, Hillary rakes in campaign cash, white Republicans gravitate towards white Democrats over black Republicans, Teresa Heinz Kerry tries to literally upstage John Edwards at the '04 DNC, and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad flips out over a text message.

"Bloomberg: 'The Days of Anything Goes Are Over'" (NY Sun)

"$19.7 mil for Hil stuffs war chest" (NY Daily News)

"Whites Take Flight on Election Day" (Washington Post)

"Past Heinz sights are revealing" (NY Daily News)

"Heard the one about the president?" (The Guardian)

Posted by leboheme at 02:27 PM

Weisberg in Slate: the literal-minded left has McCain all wrong. He's trying to win over enough of his party's conservative base to win, for sure. But this is a stratagem—the only one, in fact, that gives him a shot at surviving a Republican presidential primary. Discount his repositioning a bit, and McCain looks like the same unconventional character who emerged during the Clinton years: a social progressive, a fiscal conservative, and a military hawk. Should he triumph in the primaries, we can expect this more appealing John McCain to come roaring back.

David Lightman in the Hartford Courant: What may have been seen as feistiness and a penchant for sardonic humor six years ago when he vaulted into national political prominence, is now sometimes regarded as a tendency to be testy and arrogant.

Liasson on NPR: Nobody has helped sell the Bush Administration's war in Iraq better than John McCain. But the Arizona senator has had an up and down relationship with the president ever since their bitter 2000 Republican primary battle. If McCain runs for president in 2008, he will have to win over Bush supporters to win.

Thomas Beaumont in the Des Moines Register: A closer-to-home issue for Iowa voters is McCain's well-publicized opposition to federal subsidies for ethanol.
Iowa is the nation's top producer of the corn-based fuel additive, which has taken on new political cache in light of spiking oil prices. Mark Leonard of Holstein, a Republican candidate for Iowa agriculture secretary, said McCain must come around on the issue to get traction in Iowa.

Posted by leboheme at 11:27 AM

In which the scary transcripts of United flight 93 are released, Schumer and Clinton call for benefits for Ground Zero workers' families, New Yorkers say they want Bloomberg, but not Corzine or Pataki, involved in rebuilding Ground Zero, more generals call for Rumsfeld's ouster, Democrats struggle to retake the House, and Boldface is definitively deleted.

"United Airlines Flight #93 Cockpit Voice Recorder Transcript" (Washington Post-pdf)

"Pols call for 9/11 benefits" (NY Daily News)

"Poll: Most New Yorkers Say Corzine Should Not Get Involved in Ground Zero" (NY Sun)

"Rumsfeld Rebuked By Retired Generals" (Washington Post)

"Democrats Face Uphill Battle to Retake House" (Washington Post)

"Lenient Rule Set for Rebuilding in New Orleans" (NY Times)

"NYT kills Boldface Names" (Romenesko)

Posted by leboheme at 08:48 AM

Posted by leboheme at 04:40 PM

Posted by leboheme at 04:26 PM

In his zeal to proclaim gay culture dead, Andrew Sullivan has decided that incoming Out editor Aaron Hicklin is straight. BL Blogger has it from a good source that this isn't true. Another hetero milestone deferred.

Posted by leboheme at 01:56 PM

Gawker reports that the Times is killing Boldface, the column written by Campbell Robertson (who, it must be said, seemed a little dismissive of his own beat when he spoke with us yesterday). But the link provided, to FishbowlNY, simply suggests Robertson is merely moving on to the theater desk (more drama, less theatrics). And the original source, an article in Variety, implies that Robertson's departure signals the end of The Times' amusing but anemic gossip column, but doesn't state it definitively.

Cam, why didn't you pre-empt all that rumor and innuendo and tell us yourself yesterday?

[listen to Campbell Robertson on yesterday's show]

Posted by leboheme at 08:33 AM

Is it just us, or does Sy Hersh always go one or three steps further in his interviews from what he's prepared to say in print?

On today's show: "in 03, in May, [the Iranians] came to us and they proffered up not only recognition of Israel, but let's start talking about dismantling what we had. And we [the US] won't talk, and there's not public pressure on this president to talk, which is amazing."

[listen to Sy Hersh on the show today]
["The Iran Plans: Would President Bush go to war to stop Tehran from getting the bomb?" by Seymour Hersh in The New Yorker]

Email us!

Posted by leboheme at 02:50 PM

Taibbi: I'm not a lobbyist, I just play one on TV

[listen to Matt Taibbi from today's show]

Posted by leboheme at 02:21 PM

In which the city plans a single emergency radio frequency by 2008, Randy Daniels throws his support to John Faso for gov, The ACLU comes under fire for supporting Moloney bill limiting deceptive abortion speech, Bush's approval rating hits a new low, a Westchester man inherits Dracula's castle, and Dick Cheney is revealed to have been accidentally shot in the 1990s ('You guys watch where you're shooting!')

"The Errors of 9/11 Have City at Work On Radio System" (NY Sun)

"Dropout Daniels Eyes Open Primary" (NY Post)

"Maloney May Lose ACLU in Fight on Abortion" (NY Sun)

"Poll Finds Bush Job Rating at New Low" (Washington Post)

"Westchester Man To Take Possession Of Dracula's Castle" (NY Sun)

"Cheney Once on Receiving End of Shotgun" (LA Times)

Posted by leboheme at 08:39 AM

BL Blogger is strangely preoccupied with the magazine biz today, in particular with the peculiar resemblance of this week's New Yorker to this month's Vanity Fair:

Who's the white chicken: Roberts or Clooney?

What's your obsession? Email us!

Posted by leboheme at 03:19 PM

Page Six (we only quote sources who are willing to resort to blackmail) reports that Bonnie Fuller may be out at the AMI media group (publisher of Star and the National Enquirer). We'll ask her ourself when Fuller joins us this Friday for her new book, The Joys of Much Too Much.

Posted by leboheme at 03:08 PM

Christine Quinn: not a vampire

Posted by leboheme at 02:59 PM

In which Pataki taps his buds to fill top agency posts, the US military puffs up Zarqawi's reputation, the Christian Coalition may be a victim of its own success, a bump in film production in NYC angers the neighbors, and The Daily News is in clover over a Page Six Scandal.

"Pataki Races To Install Cronies In Top Jobs at State Agencies" (NY Sun)

"Military Plays Up Role of Zarqawi: Jordanian Painted As Foreign Threat To Iraq's Stability" (Washington Post)

"Christian Coalition Shrinks as Debt Grows" (Washington Post)

"In N.Y., Lights, Cameras Get Unfriendly Reaction" (LA Times)

"All play, no pay for Page Fix" (NY Daily News)

Posted by leboheme at 08:24 AM

Gosh, it's past noon and we're just back from our "Cities at Risk" event.

Since it's Friday, and since everyone needs to chew on some candy sometime, BL Blogger suggests this reading:

"The billionaire, the Post and the $220G shakedown: Page Six writer wanted $$$ to stop inaccurate coverage" (NY Daily News)

BL Blogger knows a lot that BL Blogger perhaps shouldn't know, but we in the nonprofit world would never do something like that!

Posted by leboheme at 12:38 PM

Brian (l) and James Lee Witt

Clark Kent Ervin (l) and Michael Brown

James Lee Witt (l), Martin O'Malley (center), and Bob Kerry

Posted by leboheme at 11:42 AM

2 recent gems from the WH press office:

Got thoughts to share? Email us!

Posted by leboheme at 04:24 PM

BL Blogger thinks it must be true if the New York Sun is reporting this (and exclusively)...And it hasn't even hit Drudge yet!

Posted by leboheme at 08:42 AM

In which Scooter Libby fingers President Bush in testimony, Bush plans to resume production of nuclear weapons, federally-funded scientists feel muzzled over climate change, inspired by LA demos, Latino activists plan new rallies across the country, NYC welfare rolls reach a 40-year low, Jeffrey Canada accept's Bloomberg's assignment to bust poverty in poor neighborhoods, and US parents send their tots to day care in Canada.

"Bush Said to Have Cleared Early Release of Iraq Intelligence to Times" (NY Sun)

"U.S. Rolls Out Nuclear Plan" (LA Times)

"Climate Researchers Feeling Heat From White House" (Washington Post)

"Immigration Debate Wakes A 'Sleeping Latino Giant'" (Washington Post)

"Welfare cases at 40-yr. low in city" (NY Daily News)

"Deadline Pending for a 'Realistic' Plan on Poverty" (NY Sun)

"Want cheap day care? Consider Canada" (CS Monitor)

Posted by leboheme at 08:35 AM

The view from Brian's office

Posted by leboheme at 11:25 AM

We recorded the interview earlier this morning with gubernatorial candidate and ex-MA gov. William Weld. When BL pressed Weld on his plans for healthcare in NY, he said:

"The combination of incentives and penalties in the Massachusetts bill is very intriguing. I think it's worth studying with an eye to adapting a number of those elements, yes"

"Massachusetts Sets Health Plan for Nearly All" (NY Times)

Tune in at 10 to hear the entire interview.

Posted by leboheme at 09:20 AM

In which Sheldon Silver wades into the WTC rebuilding fracas, NY and NJ hospitals are rated the nation's worst, Massachusetts passes a plan for near-universal healthcare, foreign relief groups blast the Red Cross over Katrina response, Katie Couric says yes (really!) to CBS, a DHS spokesman is caught in a kiddie porn sting, and Jack Shafer cancels his Times subscription.

"Silver blasts mayor, gov" (NY Daily News)

"State's Hosps Second Worst" (NY Post)

"Massachusetts Sets Health Plan for Nearly All" (NY Times)

"Foreign Experts Critique U.S. Red Cross on Katrina" (NY Times)

"Katie Couric Leaving NBC's 'Today' for CBS" (AP)

"DHS spokesman arrested in child sex sting" (CNN)

"I'm Canceling My Times Subscription" (Slate)

Posted by leboheme at 08:31 AM

WhatISee, a photoblogger, spotted an SI ferry headed towards Albany. What's going on?

Posted by leboheme at 04:27 PM

In which the Supreme Court refuses to hear Padilla's case, NY legislators spend hidden Medicaid bucks, Mayor Bloomberg says "I've always thought guest worker programs are either a deliberate attempt just to hoodwink the public or that people that propose them are being naive,", Hal the coyote dies, NYC's cabaret laws are upheld, and conservative bloggers react to Tom Delay's resignation.

"Justices Decline Terror Case of a U.S. Citizen" (NY Times)

"N.Y. Spending Secret Cash on Medicaid" (NY Sun)

"Mayor Derides Guest Worker Programs, Touts Border Control" (NY Sun)

"Who or what killed Hal?" (NY Daily News)

"Life ain't a cabaret, judge rules" (NY Daily News)

Powerline: "DeLay was an effective leader, albeit too liberal in recent years. It's possible, of course, that he did something wrong along the way. But there is no evidence of that in the public domain"

Redstate: "it ends the GOP concern that DeLay might lose his own seat, which in addition to redistricting has undergone demographic changes with the influx of former New Orleans residents displaced by Hurricane Katrina."

Instapundit: "His 'no fat in the budget' remark lost me, and I was never much of a fan."

Posted by leboheme at 08:36 AM

The Andrew Cuomo people would give you every reason to think they've nearly locked up the Democratic nomination for AG (including the fact that Mark Green has already been on our show and Cuomo hasn't - we're working on it!)...Today The Politicker games out an alternative scenario, with some help from the Green campaign. How likely is it? The Politicker won't say.

Now what ever happened to the democratic process? It's the Democratic process with a capital D!

[listen to Mark Green on the BL Show 3/23/06]

Posted by leboheme at 04:12 PM

WNYC's Hennelly: The PA is an entity of its own, like the Vatican

Posted by leboheme at 02:48 PM

In his illuminating duh! moment in yesterday's Times (hey, have you heard of this guy Howard Dean?), Adam Nagourney conveniently leaves out what must have been the single biggest raison d'etre for this piece of gee-whizardry: adamnagourney.com, the fake secret diary of a Times correspondent.

What's your favorite phony blog? Email us!

Posted by leboheme at 12:30 PM

In which John McCain takes flak for speaking at a Falwell occasion, federal spending soars, the black population of New York sinks, clothing becomes cheaper to buy in NYC, a gossip queen shows how to jump the velvet rope, Arnold Schwarzenegger uses the b-word, and nytimes.com gets an overhaul.

"Dems blast McCain for Falwell flip-flop" (NY Daily News)

"How federal spending has climbed since 2001" (USA Today)

"New York City Losing Blacks, Census Shows" (NY Times)

"Clothing and Footwear Now Less Expensive for State Shoppers" (NY Sun)

"On Job With Empress of Celebrity Gossip" (NY Times)

"The Private Side of His Governance: Away from the public, Schwarzenegger is more freewheeling and hard to predict, aides say" (LA Times)

"NYT's New Online Look" (Fishbowl NY)

Posted by leboheme at 08:34 AM