What's news?

A quick rundown of the people and events making news that matters to you:

California / the West

The Los Angeles Times endorses San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom over L.A. City council member Janice Hahn on the Democratic side for lieutenant governor, saying "whoever fills the job must be ready to become governor at a moment's notice. Newsom, for all his cockiness, is a dynamic leader — one who is more suited than Hahn to guide the state." LAT editorial

Meg Whitman is coming off an extraordinary successful quarter – at least when it comes to adding money for her campaign. California Watch. Plus: Her tax return for 2008 shows Carly Fiorina and her husband had income of more than $2.75 million. LAT

Tom Campbell: Arizona immigration law is constitutional

Poizner's tilt right is in keeping with record

Building sell-off slammed - Report says guv's plan to unload buildings would lose state $1.5 billion...

CA gov backs health overhaul...

Franken to raise money with SNL alums at LA event...

Weren’t we supposed to be boycotting California for its homophobia?...

Tourism chief opposes Arizona boycott - SF's Joe D'Alessandro says it could hurt the very people it is trying to support...

Newsom edging toward the boycott bandwagon...

SF's Proposed Arizona Boycott Threatens Job Program...

‘Little decisions’ could have big impact - The bad news we already know: San Francisco has a $483 million budget deficit that must be resolved before June 1.


Gavin - he was against the post of Lt. Gov. before he was for it...

The Economy / Wall Street

Volatile Jobs Data Point To Uneven Recovery...

Goldman's Gift to Democrats - "Lawmakers have been haggling over financial reform for 18 months, but it took Goldman Sachs just one day to get it done," the Washington Post reports. "Of course, the Wall Street giant wasn't intending to get the financial legislation done. Quite the opposite: Like most in the investment world, Goldman would generally prefer that regulators leave it and its billions of dollars of profits alone. But when Goldman executives faced a Senate panel on Tuesday, their performance was so obnoxious, their contempt for lawmakers so palpable, that their appearance had the effect of dissolving the Republican resistance to what Democrats are now calling 'Wall Street reform.'"

U.S. / Politics

Bush Was Right - Obama’s predecessor would have passed immigration reform if not for 9/11. He was correct to shift focus then—and Obama shouldn’t let the Arizona debacle force him to push for a new law during an election year...

Senate Dems will move campaign finance legislation before July 4...

Republicans Eye Three Symbolic Senate Seats - Washington Post: ""Every now and then, there comes a congressional race so fraught with history and symbolism that it becomes as much about sending a message as winning a seat. This year, Republicans are looking to hit the trifecta in the Senate. As things stand now, they are well within striking distance of winning President Obama's old seat in Illinois and Vice President Biden's former perch in Delaware, and of toppling Majority Leader Harry M. Reid in Nevada."

Senate Democrats to unveil immigration plan

Reid Still Trails Badly - A new Rasmussen survey in Nevada finds Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) still struggling against his possible Republican challengers. Sue Lowden (R) is ahead 52% to 39%, Danny Tarkanian (R) leads 51% to 41%, and Sharron Angle (R) is in front 48% to 40%.

Al Gore buys $8.8 million ocean-view villa...

The Most Polarized Congress in Modern History - William Galston: "The current Congress -- the 111th -- is the most ideologically polarized in modern history. In both the House and the Senate, the most conservative Democrat is more liberal than is the most liberal Republican. If one defines the congressional 'center' as the overlap between the two parties, the center has disappeared."

Motor City Madman Backs Palin - Rock star Ted Nugent endorses Sarah Palin: "We who are driven to be assets to our families, communities and our beloved country connect with the principles that Sarah Palin embodies. We know that bureaucrats and, even more, Fedzilla, are not the solution; they are the problem. I'd be proud to share a moose-barbecue campfire with the Palin family anytime, so long as I can shoot the moose."

McCain Holds Double-Digit Lead Over Hayworth - A new Public Policy Polling survey in Arizona finds the Republican U.S. Senate primary much closer than a Rocky Mountain poll released yesterday. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) leads challenger J.D. Hayworth (R), 46% to 35%, though a majority of Republicans think "he's too lenient on immigration" and a plurality feel that "he's too liberal in general." Hayworth actually leads McCain 46% to 38% with conservative voters. But McCain's 60% to 15% advantage with moderates is so overwhelming that it allows him the double digit lead...


Al Gore - feeling the heat over his new digs...

International

Tribal elders refuse to return to former Pakistani Taliban base, jeopardizing military gains...

Saddam's loyalists in Syria blast US...

Gordon Brown's Disastrous Day - The British prime minister’s spectacular gaffe has further imperiled his faltering campaign. Alex Massie on how upstart Nick Clegg is taking advantage—and what he wants...

All hail the success of Hugo Chavez's bolivarian socialism: "What we're seeing in Venezuela is a phenomenon where productivity, private activity and private business is falling"...

Latin America Will Expand In 2010...

AHMADINEJAD TO ATTEND CONFERENCE AT UN NEXT WEEK...

US Navy has encounter with Iranian jet...

US gives $2.5 million more to help pay for Charles Taylor war crimes trial...

Iran's Ahmadinejad - coming soon to a UN near you...

Defense / Terrorism-related

Could drone pilots be tried for war crimes?...

Navy to allow women to serve on subs...

Health/tech/science/Environment

APPLE WANTED A “PUBLIC EXECUTION” in the iPhone case?...

Steve Jobs' scathing bash of Flash - Apple CEO lays out 6 reasons why he won't support the Adobe technology on the iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch...

Water Ice and Organic Material Found for First Time on Asteroid...

U.S. Escalates Oil Spill Response...

Microsoft Tablet Project Shelved...

Google to Show TV Software in May...

Boss Jobs...

China / Asia

South Korea ship sinking may be perfect crime for North...

The U.S. and China are locked in a kind of mutually assured economic destruction that will force cooperation even as security disputes simmer...

Japan Forces Bureaucrats to Defend Spending...

So, Ready for War With North Korea?...

Thai Political Tussle Intensifies...

The start of something bad?

Hat tip (sources): Los Angeles Times, NY Times, LA Observed, SF Chronicle/SFGate, SF Examiner, The Hill, Legal Insurrection, KCBS, Forbes.com, the Wall Street Journal/Online WSJ, the Drudge Report, Taegan Goddard’s Political Wire, Gawker, Instapundit, Philly.com, BBC, PopSci.com, AP News/MyWay, Boing Boing, Breitbart.com, The Daily Beast, Comcast.net, Korea Times, the Washington Post, Reuters, California Watch, TIME, Rheilworldview.com, Telegraph UK, Big Journalism, Moonbattery.com

Dead Air...

News item: Air America noses in...

From its very beginning – yes, from its concept in some loony brainstorming session where “well-meaning” folks were discussing how they’d take down Rush Limbaugh/talk radio and the ascending Fox News – Air America was in a flat spin. A death spiral.

I’m sure it was a smashing idea...at the time (probably made all the more edible with the help of a few drinks…maybe some other “agents of enhancement”). “We’ll fight fire with fire!” no doubt was the battle cry. “If Limbaugh can steal make empty headed voters pull the lever for those guys with an “R” next to their name, I’m sure we can come up with a host or two – NO! A WHOLE RADIO NETWORK! – dedicated to presenting the other side. And once they hear our arguments, there’s no way they won’t buy it. There’s no way they can resist! I mean, look at the way we suck ‘em in with movies and TV.”

Yep. It was a great idea…just like that time we thought about putting screen doors on all our submarines!

Well, Air America finally landed...today…with a resounding thud.

"Ladies and gentlemen…the pilot has some bad news. Um, yeah. We’re going to be making an unplanned landing here. And, um, well, return your seats to their upright positions lock your trays up and kiss your backsides goodbye. We’re going in – hard. Oh, and thank you for flying Air America."

On Thursday, the all-liberal content/host radio network announced that due to “very difficult economic environment,” it was kaput.

From the start, it was only a matter of time before Air America experienced “Controlled flight into terrain.” The economic model was weak, the entertainment was all but missing and programming/content was so predictable that it was nearly possible to turn off any given show, come back several hours later and know exactly what would be airing. In short, it wasn’t worth listening to unless you were driven by an incessant need to constantly hear someone attack (pick one or more): the GOP, big business, the GOP, the Pentagon, the GOP, America’s history of (fill in your favorite reason to loathe the U.S.)…oh, and the GOP.

“It is with the greatest regret, on behalf of our board, that we must announce that Air America Media is ceasing its live programming operations as of this afternoon, and that the company will file soon under Chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code to carry out an orderly winding down of the business,” the chairman of Air America Media, Charlie Kireker, said in a memorandum. His statement was published on AirAmerica.com.

You could hear the schadenfreude as far away as Dick Cheney’s house.

“The company, which was founded in 2004, never found a substantial audience or sound financial footing. It filed for bankruptcy protection in 2006, but managed to stay on the air at that time. The network churned through several owners and several attempted reinventions, with little to show for it.” (h/t: NY Times)

The network – founded in 2004, made a point of positioning itself as a liberal alternative to conservative talk radio host Limbaugh and the multitude of others who have worked to follow in his footsteps. At one time, the network was carried nationally on approximately 100 stations, but early on it experienced money woes. It filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2006 and in 2007, a group of new investors bought a one-way ticket to nowheresville on Air America for $4.25 million.

United States Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn) – who had previously built a career on “Saturday Night Live,” – hosted an Air America show from 2004 to 2007 before running for office. Rachel Maddow, who also hosted on Air America, has since gone on to a lucrative career with her own prime-time show on MSNBC. In addition to those two, Air America had a list of hosts that included Ron Reagan Jr., musician Steve Earle, comedian/actress Janeane Garofalo and rapper Chuck D.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we know you have a choice when you pick your radio station…so we thank you for…wait – they’re still listening to conservative talk radio? Oh, no…we’re going in!”


I'm sorry I couldn't do anything about the Minnesota U.S. Senate race, but I like to think I did my part to bring Air America down...

A little infighting never hurt anyone, right?

Just another day at DNC headquarters?

Al Franken (D-Minn) shuts down Joe Lieberman (D-Conn). Nothing like a little in-house squabbling, eh?


The esteemed U.S. Senator from Minnesota...




The guy who is taking all the heat these days...

Who was White House spokeshole Robert Gibbs talking about when he said this? – “I don't think any rational person would say killing the bill makes a whole lot of sense at this point." Was it, a.) the GOP leadership; b.) Rush Limbaugh; c.) Dick Cheney; or, d.) the former head of the Democratic National Committee and former Dem presidential candidate Howard Dean…? (If you picked d. Howard Dean, you win.)


The Scream Machine unleashed - again...

I can’t believe those dolts are attacking the president, again! Wait – what?...They’re liberals?
This is interesting – a Democrat lauding George W. Bush’s leadership and decrying his own party’s lack of such...and the U.S. Americans...

What if they held a fight and only one side showed? Well, now they’re fighting...each other.


Here's to the winners...