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Norwegians angry over Obama snub — Barack Obama's trip to Oslo to pick up his Nobel peace award is in danger of being overshadowed by a row over the cancellation of a series of events normally attended by the prizewinner. — Norwegians are incensed over what they view as his shabby response to the prize by cutting short his visit.
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Accepting Nobel Prize, Obama Evokes ‘Just War’ — OSLO — Nine days after announcing a major escalation in the war in Afghanistan, President Obama arrived at Norway's City Hall on Thursday to formally accept the Nobel Peace Prize, evoking the notion of a “just war” and robustly defending …

In Oslo, President Obama is Asked About His “Premature” Nobel Peace Prize — Jake Tapper and Sunlen Miller report: — OSLO, NORWAY — At his press conference in Oslo, Norway, with Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, President Obama was asked by a local reporter about criticism …

CNN Poll: Does Obama deserve the Nobel Peace Prize? — WASHINGTON (CNN) - Hours before Barack Obama is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, a new national poll indicates that fewer Americans than ever think the president deserves the award. But according to a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey …

Obama Snubs the King
Discussion:
Riehl World View, BuzzFlash.org, Hot Air, Confederate Yankee, Instapundit and Fausta's Blog

Gallup Daily: Obama Job Approval — Each result is based on a three-day rolling average — Gallup tracks daily the percentage of Americans who approve or disapprove of the job Barack Obama is doing as president. — Editorial note: Gallup did not conduct interviews Dec. 8 …
Discussion:
POWIP, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, NewsBusters.org, Donklephant, Think Progress and No Left Turns


Senate Democrats See Room for Hope on Health Care Bill — WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats said on Wednesday that they were not sure exactly what was in a deal that the majority leader said would surmount a disagreement over a proposed government-run health plan.
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, Washington Monthly, The Politico, Washington Post, The Huffington Post and Prairie Weather
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Obama FAIL — We just sent this email out: … Click here to sign the petition.


NYT Gift Guide Includes A Separate Section For “People Of Color.” White NYT Readers, You May Skip To The Next Page! — We don't like to throw around words like “racist” in the same sentence as the NYT's name, but there's no other word we can think of to describe this page …
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This Exists: NYT Holiday Gift Guide For People Of Color
Discussion:
iOwnTheWorld.com

NYT Creates Separate But Equal Holiday Gift Guide for People of Color

‘Client 9’ lust for '10 — Eliot eyes comptroller — Eliot Spitzer, who stepped down from the governor's office amid scandal, is now strongly considering a run for state comptroller, sources told The Post. — Spitzer has in recent weeks had discussions with some Democratic donors …
Discussion:
JammieWearingFool

Baird Retires; GOP Lands Solid Recruit — Rep. Brian Baird (D-WA) announced his retirement tonight, becoming the third Dem in a vulnerable seat to announce his departure in the last few weeks. “The time has now come to pursue other options, other ways of serving.
Discussion:
Scorecard's Blog, Swing State Project, The Atlantic Politics Channel and Politics Nation
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A Case Of Classic SwiftBoating: How The Right-Wing Noise Machine Manufactured ‘Climategate’ — In mid-November, thousands of emails from the University of East Anglia Climatic Research Unit webmail server — a top climate research center in the United Kingdom — were hacked and dumped on a Russian web server.
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Al Gore talks about global warming, those e-mails, and his new book.
Discussion:
Left Coast Rebel, NCTimes.com Blogs, NewsBusters.org, Hot Air, Andrew Bolt, Pajamas Media, Watts Up With That? and Facebook


Grayson To Cheney: ‘STFU’ — Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) appeared on Hardball this evening, and dispensed some of his signature wit against the Republicans: Telling former Vice President Dick Cheney to “STFU,” speculating that gasoline would only cost a dollar per gallon if former President George W. Bush …

Poll Finds Slim Majority Back More Afghanistan Troops — WASHINGTON — A bare majority of Americans support President Obama's plan to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan, but many are skeptical that the United States can count on Afghanistan as a partner in the fight or that the escalation …
Discussion:
The Fix, Bloomberg, Commentary, The Plum Line, The Page, No More Mister Nice Blog and Prairie Weather

Chris Cuomo Promoted to ‘20/20’ Anchor Desk — Chris Cuomo Ends Three-Year Run at ‘GMA’ News Desk, Promoted to ‘20/20’ — After three years with “Good Morning America,” news anchor Chris Cuomo announced today that he will leave the morning show. — Cuomo has been promoted to “20/20” …

Bank-Friendly Dems Shut Down House, Threaten To Kill Wall Street Reform — WHAT'S YOUR REACTION? — A group of Democrats friendly to Wall Street interests forced a delay in consideration of the landmark financial regulatory reform bill scheduled to hit the House floor on Wednesday …
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Bachmann: ACORN could regulate the financial sector
Discussion:
City Pages

Tea party conservatives gear up to affect 2010 elections with fundraising, PACs — 'It's time to take control,' say ‘tea party’ groups — The energized “tea party” movement, which upended this year's political debate with noisy anti-government protests, is preparing to shake up the 2010 elections …

HOUSE GOP IS PRO-CHRISTMAS.... It was just six weeks ago that House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) decided he was fed up with empty, meaningless congressional resolutions. These largely symbolic measures are taken up all the time — it's been routine fare for years …
Discussion:
Think Progress, The Moderate Voice, Wonkette, Indecision Forever, Prairie Weather and Daily Kos

Election 2010: Pennsylvania Democratic Senate Primary — 2010 Pennsylvania Senate Primary: Specter 48%, Sestak 35% — Longtime Senator Arlen Specter holds a 13-point lead over his Democratic Primary challenger Joe Sestak. — A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey …
Discussion:
pa2010.com


Dems to lift debt ceiling by $1.8 trillion, fear 2010 backlash — In a bold but risky year-end strategy, Democrats are preparing to raise the federal debt ceiling by as much as $1.8 trillion before New Year's rather than have to face the issue again prior to the 2010 elections. — “We've incurred this debt.

Hockey stick observed in NOAA ice core data — At the Foresight Institute, J. Storrs Hall had some interesting graphs made from NOAA ice core data (Alley, R.B. 2000. … It sure seems to mirror other hockey sticks this past century. Dr. Mann will be thrilled to see this I'm sure.

What Goldstein Said. — Patrick tries to get the Charles Johnson-ish charges of racism against Robert Stacy McCain to stick, and fails. — For the record, I do not buy Pat's argument that anyone who has hangups about interracial dating and marriage is racist.
Discussion:
protein wisdom, Villainous Company, American Power, The Other McCain, Riehl World View and South Texian

Illinois Limits Donations in Elections — CHICAGO — Gov. Patrick J. Quinn on Wednesday signed a law placing limits on campaign contributions in Illinois, a change that grew out of the arrest of Rod R. Blagojevich, the former governor, on corruption charges one year ago.

ClimateGate: Was Data Faked? — I am thoroughly unimpressed with the belief that global warming scientists have been engaging in some kind of massive conspiracy to conceal the truth. First, because we seem to be able to observe things like polar ice sheets melting, which point to warming.
Discussion:
Pajamas Media, Vox Popoli, theblogprof, Atlas Shrugs, Climate Skeptic and Conservatives4Palin.com

The Joys of Political Sex — It's time for political sex scandals to reclaim their rightful place in our national discourse. The way things have been going lately, you'd think extramarital sex only happened to professional athletes. — Consider the case of Senator Max Baucus of Montana.
Discussion:
Prairie Weather