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MN-Senate: Counting Chaos! — The Minnesota Senate race could end up being decided by a few dozen votes. (Photo — Reuters/Eric Miller) — As the manual recount in the Minnesota Senate race between Republican Norm Coleman and Democrat Al Franken nears its conclusion, the identity of the winner is growing increasingly unclear.
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Minneapolis discovery costs Franken 46 votes — What Maplewood giveth, Minneapolis taketh away. — Elections officials in Minnesota's largest city today discovered that one precinct came up 133 ballots short of election day totals, resulting in a net loss for Democratic challenger Al Franken of 46 votes.


Not Every Vote Counts — THE lizard people have eaten a vote in Beltrami County. That's not so strange in a recount like the one underway in Minnesota — voters do all kinds of inexplicable things like inscribing “lizard people” in the write-in slot, as one did, invalidating his ballot.

Franken's campaign protests 133 mystery ballots from Minneapolis — By Franken's count, he leads by 22 votes. By another count, Coleman leads by 316. — An uproar Wednesday over 133 mystery ballots that may or may not have disappeared in Minneapolis became the newest controversy to roil the U.S. Senate recount.

Ros-Lehtinen hangs up on Obama. Twice. — Is Ileana Ros-Lehtinen a little paranoid? — Maybe. — On Wednesday, the Republican congresswoman got a call from President-elect Barack Obama, didn't believe it was him, and hung up on him. Twice. — According to Ros-Lehtinen's flack Alex Cruz …
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We need to stop using the bailouts to rebuild gigantic financial institutions. — Last month, as the financial crisis and the government rescue plan dominated headlines, almost everyone overlooked a news item that could have enormous long-term impact: GE Capital announced the acquisition …
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Silicon Alley Insider
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Meet Slate's New Columnist: Eliot Spitzer
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StephenBainbridge.com, City Room, Gawker, DealBook, Jobwire, Ben Smith's Blogs and Wonkette


U.S. Eyes Plan to Lift Home Sales — Treasury Considers Encouraging Banks to Offer Mortgages at Rates as Low as 4.5% — WASHINGTON — The Treasury Department is considering a plan to revitalize the U.S. home market that would push down interest rates for loans to purchase a home, according to people familiar with the matter.
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Treasury Weighs Action on Mortgage Rates — Intervention Would Aim to Buoy the Housing Market by Forcing Down the Cost of Loans — The Treasury Department is strongly considering a plan to intervene directly in the mortgage industry to dramatically force down rates and stimulate …

Medicine for the Job Market — A CENTRAL feature of Barack Obama's presidential campaign was an aggressive plan to expand health insurance coverage by subsidizing low-income Americans and preventing discrimination against the ill. In recent weeks, Senators Max Baucus and Ted Kennedy …


U.A.W. Makes Concessions in Bid to Help Automakers — WASHINGTON — The United Automobile Workers union said Wednesday that it would make major concessions in its contracts with the three Detroit auto companies to help them lobby Congress for $34 billion in federal aid.
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Matthews advised to quit MSNBC — Chris Matthews is dead serious about running for the Senate in Pennsylvania - and shopping for a house in the state and privately discussing quitting MSNBC as proof of his intense interest, according to NBC colleagues, political operatives and friends.


IDF preparing options for Iran strike — The IDF is drawing up options for a strike on Iranian nuclear facilities that do not include coordination with the United States, The Jerusalem Post has learned. — While its preference is to coordinate with the US, defense officials have said Israel …


Poll: Calif. gay marriage ban driven by religion — SAN FRANCISCO - Voters' economic status and religious convictions played a greater role than race and age in determining whether they supported the Nov. 4 ballot measure outlawing same-sex marriage in California, a new poll shows.
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NO TRANSITION FROM NONESENSE — Congressional Quarterly bemoans Obama's broken promise of a bipartisan cabinet since he's only appointed one Republican to one of the top three positions in government — State, Defense and Treasury ... I guess maybe it's a slow news period and there's not much to write about.
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TalkLeft
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As More Eat Meat, a Bid to Cut Emissions — STERKSEL, the Netherlands — The cows and pigs dotting these flat green plains in the southern Netherlands create a bucolic landscape. But looked at through the lens of greenhouse gas accounting, they are living smokestacks, spewing methane emissions into the air.
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Prairie Weather
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Holder pardon makes Dems squirm — Eric Holder's role in the pardon of Marc Rich is unlikely to derail his nomination as attorney general, but it will give Senate Republicans a chance to make their Democratic colleagues squirm. — With a confirmation hearing at least a month away …
Discussion:
The Corner

School cancels Christmas nativity in favour of Muslim Eid celebrations — A primary school has cancelled its Christmas nativity in favour of Muslim festival of Eid celebrations because it would be too much for the children to do both. — Greenwood Junior School sent out a letter …


Russian warship to cross Panama Canal … MOSCOW (AP) - A Russian warship will sail through the Panama Canal this week for the first time since World War II, the navy announced Wednesday, pushing ahead with a symbolic projection of Moscow's power in a traditional U.S. zone of influence.


Mumbai police to use truth serum on ‘baby-faced’ terrorist Azam Amir Kasab — Indian police interrogators are preparing to administer a “truth serum” on the sole Islamic militant captured during last week's terror attacks on Mumbai to settle once and for all the question of where he is from.
Discussion:
Scared Monkeys, Patterico's Pontifications, FP Passport, Flopping Aces, Mirror.co.uk, Gateway Pundit and New York Times