Weather Link

National Grid's Storm Center:
https://www1.nationalgridus.com/niagaramohawk/storm/OutagesByCounty.aspx

"Mom, I will never take bribes"

From HuffPo...

She said son, now that you won, whatever you do, be honest. And I told her, oh Mom, of course I'll be honest because that's how you raised me," Blagojevich says.

Then, he recalled, she said, "Promise me, son, that you will never take bribes and I said, of course I'll never take bribes. Not only would that be dishonest, it would be illegal, and I would never do anything to dishonor the memory of my father."

Referenced on last nights Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC

Wonkette : George Bush Won’t Let Obama Into White House Early, Because WTF?

Wonkette : George Bush Won’t Let Obama Into White House Early, Because WTF?

It remained unclear who on Bushes guest list outranked the incoming President.

Sometimes the NYT can bring the snark quite well.

Snow and Ice Part 1

Snow and Ice Part 3

Snow, ice, power | All Over Albany

Snow, ice, power | All Over Albany

AoA links to a search of Twitter feeds based on the storm.

Snow and Ice Part 2

Snow and Ice

A happy tree that was minding her own business until she was brutally attacked by Mother Nature

Widespread destruction, nearly 200,000 without power -- Page 1 -- Times Union - Albany NY

Widespread destruction, nearly 200,000 without power -- Page 1 -- Times Union - Albany NY

It is awful.

I will be posting some video later.

Really, Coleman is a douche?

In Other News: FBI Investigating Norm Coleman's Suit-Buyer

Norm Coleman picked the right week to be a midwestern politician investigated for corruption

While part of me wants to see this, part of me aches for the Republic

Fran Drescher Serious About Senate Run (Gawker)

Everyone is entitled to run, and I can't see how she would really be worse than Caroline Kennedy, but...

Does anyone else see this as a really bad idea?

Or is this just a pitch of an E! Network Documentary?

"I'm Running For Senate, America"

Hah!

Gothamist: Rookie Cops With Machine Guns Ready for 2009!

Here rookie, have a machine gun. NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly is making sure 1,000 rookie police officers assigned to Times Square on New Year's Eve are ready to rock with M4 automatic machine guns. Recruits at the academy will get three days of training to familiarize them with the weapon...isn't it a comfort to know that Ryan Seacrest, Taylor Swift, and The Jonas Brothers could all go down simultaneously in a blaze of Barney Fife automatic gunfire

Oh. It's worse.

Crime: A Senate Seat "Is a F****** Valuable Thing"

I'm going to keep this Senate option for me a real possibility, you know, and therefore I can drive a hard bargain...And if I don't get what I want...then I'll just take the Senate seat myself."

The Smoking Gun: Obama Senate Seat for Sale?

Feds take Gov. Blagojevich into custody - Chicago Breaking News

Feds take Gov. Blagojevich into custody - Chicago Breaking News

On the issue of the U.S. Senate selection, federal prosecutors alleged Blagojevich sought appointment as Secretary of Health and Human Services in the new Obama administration, or a lucrative job with a union in exchange for appointing a union-preferred candidate. An Obama spokesman had no immediate comment.

Oh. This isn't good.

Illinois Governor Arrested for Corruption - NYTimes.com

Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was arrested Tuesday on charges of conspiring to get financial benefits through his authority to appoint a U.S. senator to fill the vacancy left by Barack Obama's election as president

.

I knew that someone from Chicago would bite the party in the ass.

Dozens hurt as riots rage across Greece

http://m.cnn.com/cnn/ne/world/detail/209454;.live5ib

So...

(And I will admit about asking my Greek expert about this yesterday, and she couldn't help...)

Teen throws a BOMB at a police car.

Police shoot anarchist teen, who threw a BOMB at them.

People riot in support of the anarchist teen.

Maybe I am being culturally insensitive, but that seems a little f'ed up to me.

Not that believe that anyone should be shot, but...bomb throwing seems to me to be a reasonably good reason to shoot someone.

If I were to stop throwing bombs, I ask all of you, please don't riot.

That seems...

Odd.

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

The Menu

Clinton to Dine With Condoleezza Rice - The Caucus Blog - NYTimes.com

I don't know what the entree will be, but fava beans will be one of the sides, and Sec. Rice will serve a nice Chianti.

For the Radiohead Fans Out There

Radiohead - 12 Cameras - Create Your Rainbow

Radiohead's "15 Step" as performed recently in Japan, with 12 camera angles from you to choose from

(Via Green Plastic Radiohead)


Edit:

And the "new" video for the track...

Radiohead - 15 Step - by Kota Totori


(Via Pitchfork Media)

There are no words

Why Daddy is a Republican

(via Wonkette)

My Plan to Save New York

While New Yorkers don't drink a lot of coffee per capita there are a lot of us, so here is my plan to SAVE NEW YORK...

A $0.10 tax per coffee or tea drink.

$0.10 isn't a lot of money.  However, I buy a cup of coffee every day, so...that represents an additional $36.00 in taxes that New York can collect.

The estimated population for New York was 19306183 in 2006.

Let's play around and say that one fifth of those are dedication coffee drinkers, buying at least 4 coffees per week.

That's $80 million in additional revenue for the state.

I know that $80 million is a drop in the bucket compared to the $47 billion deficit over the next four years, but...

I really want the skating rink in the Empire State Plaza to open up...

On that for a second...

Gov. Patterson called the legislature back for a special session...which accomplished nothing and cost the tax payers of New York "hundreds of thousands of dollars" when the operating cost of the Skate Rink would be $150 k.


Edit:
Apparently, I missed a "protest" on Saturday night. (Via All Over Albany)

Please...this needs to be a joke...

Fran Drescher Wants to Replace Hillary Clinton in the Senate -- New York Magazine

This may be the worst idea I have heard in a long time.