SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- California GOP Senate challenger Carly Fiorina was admitted to a hospital Tuesday to be treated for an infection associated with her reconstructive surgery after breast cancer. HuffPo

Interesting too that one of the oldest Lincoln scholars still around and publishing, Wm Hanchett, someone one might assume would defend the old paradigm, is also now on board with the new view.  Together with Harvard prof Stauffer, and with respected biographer Jean Baker already on record as inclined to accept it, we have the beginning of a possible paradigm shift.

Something similarly controversial, though slower to develop and still a work in progress, has happened with a few Lincoln historians coming to view the assassination as not a simple but a grand conspiracy involving planning and direction from the Confederate gov't.

Ray Allen's  pregame routine never changes. A nap from 11:30am to 1:00pm, chicken and white rice for lunch at 2:30, a stretch in the gym at 3:45, a quick head shave, then practice shots at 4:30. The same amount of shots must be made from the same spots every day - the baselines and elbows of the court, ending with the top of the key. Similar examples of peculiar rituals and regimented routines in athletics abound. Jason Giambi would wear a golden thong if he found himself in a slump at the plate, and Moises Alou, concerned about losing his dexterous touch with the bat, would frequently urinate on his hands. This type of superstitious behavior can veer from the eccentric to the pathological, and though many coaches, teammates and fans snicker and shake their heads, a new study headed by Lysann Damisch at the University of Cologne and recently published in the journal Psychological Science suggests that we should all stop smirking and start rubbing our rabbit's foot.

Taken together, Barack Obama's achievements are not only historic in their sweep but unabashedly liberal. By contrast, President Clinton's top legislative victories -- NAFTA and welfare reform -- catered to the right wing's faith in free markets and its loathing of big government. "When you add them all together, it's clear that Obama's accomplishments have been underrated," says Brinkley. "Saving the auto industry, health care, getting out of Iraq -- these are big things for the progressive movement."

There does not appear to be any sound after the first few seconds.

Perhaps it is my computer, but if not, would it be possible to repost this video.

See Big Orange.

There really are people like that?....and who would write that?  

President Obama was briefed this morning on a power failure at F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming that took 50 nuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), one-ninth of the U.S. missile stockpile, temporarily offline on Saturday.
...
On Saturday morning, according to people briefed on what happened, a squadron of ICBMs suddenly dropped down into what's known as "LF Down" status, meaning that the missileers in their bunkers could no longer communicate with the missiles themselves. LF Down status also means that various security protocols built into the missile delivery system, like intrusion alarms and warhead separation alarms, were offline. link

FDL Okay, I know it's a Rasmussen poll, so take it with a pretty huge grain of salt.  But even if it's off by, say, 10%, it still has some pretty interesting results.  Aside from the fact that almost half the Republicans in a traditionally pro-Republican poll agree that the GOP is not "the party of the American people" (and are apparently okay with that), belief in the viability of a third-party presidential candidate was far stronger than the actual historical performance of third-party presidential candidates:

   38% think Republicans and Democrats are so much alike that an entirely new party is needed to represent the American people....

    38% also think it is at least somewhat likely that a third party candidate will be elected president of the United States within the next 10 years, with 11% who say it is Very Likely.

... a series of pre-emptive capitulations, after which the Republicans will demand the repeal of the healthcare act (or maybe abolition of Social Security). When/if that is refused, the Repugs will shut down the government, and this time they will hold their nerve until Obama folds.

Miniskirts ban planned by Italian resort

The mayor of a southern Italian beach town has ordered police officers to fine women who wear short miniskirts or show too much cleavage, as part of a battle to raise what he describes as the level of public decorum.

At a council meeting last night, Luigi Bobbio, who was elected on Silvio Berlusconi's People of Freedom party ticket, won a vote to ban clothing considered "very short" from the town of Castellammare di Stabia, south of Naples. Police will get the power to hand out €300 (£265) fines to offenders.

"By equating women's clothing with urban decorum, this measure implies women are no more than benches or hedges," said councillor Angela Cortese.