Sir you are wrong about autumn in California. I lived in San Jose until 1999 then moved to El Dorado County. I agree with you that fall in the Bay Area is nothing but dead leaves but in late September come to El Dorado County for the three month Apple Hill festivities and you will see autumn like it is meant to be seen. The Sierra Foothills are as close to New England as you can get in autumn and still have great local wine. Come up and see for yourself how beautiful autumn can be and go to a winery and enjoy some wine while you enjoy some the most spectacular views of vineyards turning colors on earth.
Posted by PadrePol at March 26, 2009 06:38 AM"President Barack Obama plans to announce an escalation in Afghanistan in a speech at the White House on Friday morning, committing 4,200 more troops and hundreds more civilians, and embracing a new system of benchmarks to measure progress.
“He’s gone all in,” said an official briefed on the plan. “This is Obama’s war. He’s pushed all the chips to the center of the table.”" Politico's Mike Allen
...
"The "all in" approach, best exemplified by John McCain and Joe Lieberman's op-ed in the Washington Post, argues for "victory" through a full scale commitment of undetermined length at an undetermined cost. It is supported by hawks like McCain and Lieberman who generally believe that America must "win" any war no matter the cost. A more clear-eyed view, but still part of the "all in" school, is that of many in the counterinsurgency community who believe that the way forward in Afghanistan requires a population-centric counterinsurgency campaign that would likely take years. As John Nagl recently explained, "We have more fighting in front of us than behind us." The "all in" crowd also includes many in the development community, who are less focused on the military options, but have invested years working to improve the lives of the people of Afghanistan and do not want to see a reduced commitment." Ilan Goldenberg at the Huff Post
Yes Doxie, "Californians are least extremely grateful we have such a wise and earnest man to lead us in DC as a new Spring rolls in, the hope of new life implacably undeniable." It's great to have his leadership here. It's Obama's war now.
More than a month ago, SecTreas Geithner announced a new website: financialstability.gov. “The website will give Americans the transparency they deserve," he promised. As of today, however, the website is still under construction. Announced on February 11th and it's still being built! Phid, maybe you could help them out.
Posted by peter at March 26, 2009 08:37 PMWhat were you saying recently about a sane federal drug policy?
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/03/25/BA5B16N9LR.DTL
Sounds like Obama can't make up his mind.
Posted by Skeptic at March 26, 2009 10:41 PM