With the moderating, centrist voice of Sandra Day O'Connor now gone from the Supreme Court, a conservative counterrevolution that had been stymied for 20 years has now begun.

So says Jeffrey Toobin in his new book The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court. His book is about how this counterrevolution developed. It's also a behind-the-scenes look at the court, its recent decisions and the personalities of the justices behind them.

The Nine is based on interviews with justices and their law clerks that were given on a not-for-attribution basis — meaning, in plain language, that Toobin heard stories, opinions and analyses directly from the horses' mouths, but isn't allowed to reveal who said what.

Toobin is senior legal analyst for CNN, staff writer at The New Yorker and a former Assistant U.S. Attorney.

this is a heavy listen!

spicy meatball

Liver Flush #3

Started the apple juice and vegan food diet Sunday, I am looking forward to #3 as I feel that I am ready to really purge the toxin's......
#1 was better than #2 to me, but my body feels ready to get let go....

Liver Flush #4 will be 4 weeks after followed by 2 Master Clease's #3/4 (as my last one failed so I will not count that) in Nov/Dec....

So 8 programs in 2007, maybe I will meet my grandkids.....

The Flexitarian Table @ 171 East Broadway

Ron Castellano and Joel Barkley’s new restaurant inspired from chef Peter Berley’s “The Flexitarian Table” cookbook. The dishes from the book appeal to a sophisticated palate that may or may not want a meat free dinner (think mix and match meat). Slated to open October 2007

Just returned from a picnic gathering of friends to watch the Vaux Swifts enter the chimney of Chapman School tonight

The Audobon Society of Portland claims that Chapman School houses the largest known roost of migrating swifts in the world.

brewpubs and pa

the rains and flloods of august 2007 will impact wisconsin and minnesota organic produce farmers for quite some time.

via adman

linda is prob rite but i hope not.....
can woman play in MLB, or is mens only?

McCain in South Carolina: I'm a B-word!

Perpetual State of Emergency

Notice: Continuation of the National Emergency with Respect to Certain Terrorist Attacks

Consistent with section 202(d) of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1622(d)), I am continuing for 1 year the national emergency I declared on September 14, 2001, in Proclamation 7463, with respect to the terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center, New York, New York, the Pentagon, and aboard United Airlines flight 93, and the continuing and immediate threat of further attacks on the United States.

Because the terrorist threat continues, the national emergency declared on September 14, 2001, last extended on September 5, 2006, and the powers and authorities adopted to deal with that emergency, must continue in effect beyond September 14, 2007. Therefore, I am continuing in effect for an additional year the national emergency I declared on September 14, 2001, with respect to the terrorist threat.

This notice shall be published in the Federal Register and transmitted to the Congress.

GEORGE W. BUSH

via daai tou lam

I guess this is a couple months old, but I just saw a story on CNN and that's the first I heard of it: Grant Achatz diagnosed with cancer of the tongue. Traditional surgical methods would most likely result in the loss of his palette, so he's trying some other things first. Achatz founded the Chicago molecular gastronomic restaurant Alinea, often named as the top restaurant in the U.S.

Greenspan Book
Criticizes Bush
And Republicans
'They Deserved to Lose';
Former Fed Chief Defends
Pre-Bubble Rate Cuts

Why Rudy might win

25 more minutes of Katrina

'Monk' raised in the Garden State

yum

web urbanist

alex the parrot

longest tasting menu ever served at wd50 was last nite, and I was one of the lucky guests.......lost count so rumor is a printed copy will be produced........it was stunning, probably the best meal there ever, but maybe not as some others have been increadable, anyway who cares......it was a preview of great treats to come for the fall.....wd50 rules!!!

dark night of the cole.

Hagel to step down. I'm thinking this means a Romney/Hagel ticket. But who for Clinton? Less confidently I'm thinking Biden, although the idea of having to listen to that guy even more than I do now is kind of sickening.

Worst answer ever. Almost seems like he did it on purpose. Like he's a good soldier, and he'll do what he's told by his commander, including weeks of shameless political pandering, but he's not going to take all the blame - he's just the military genius in charge of Iraq.

In any case, that answer isn't going to fly. Or, worse for the Republicans, it really will fly but just not in the way they wanted. Chris Matthews has almost had three heart attacks today blasting Petraeus over it. "How can we send our sons and daughters off to war when their commanding officer doesn't even know if it is making us safer?" That's so obvious even a pundit can get it.

Still, yeah, I know it won't change anything. Except maybe to make it a little more uncomfortable for Bush while he's doing what he wants to anyway. But that's something at least.

How long before the wingnuts start to trot out the "I never liked Petraeus and his PHD Ivy League staff anyway - they're just a bunch of east coast elites who don't have the guts to do the job?"

Don't want to kill an animal in Reno, just to eat it up? Pneumatic Diner, 501 W. First at Ralston St., near the Truckee River walk. For those who crave animal protein, they serve eggs all day. I recommend the huevos rancheros. The tofu parmigian was good too.

Dog walking: good for you, good for your pet.


Not so good for birds, apparently.

Australian researchers have found that walking leashed dogs along woodland paths leads to a significant reduction in the number and diversity of birds in the area, at least over the short term.

Peter B. Banks and Jessica V. Bryant of the University of New South Wales surveyed birds along woodland trails near Sydney shortly after dogs were walked on them or after people walked alone. All kinds of dogs were involved, big and small, purebred and mutt. As a control, they also surveyed birds on trails that no one, human or canine, had recently walked on.

Dr. Banks said the study was an outgrowth of his interest in predator-prey interactions. “Here you have a predator that is being walked through the bush quite regularly,” he said.

The researchers chose trails in places where dogs were banned and in other areas where dog walking was common, expecting different results in each. “We thought that where there was regular dog walking birds would get used to it,” Dr. Banks said. “Well, they didn’t.”

Regardless of the type of area, dog walking led to a 35 percent reduction in the number of bird species and a 41 percent reduction in overall bird numbers, compared with the control. (People walking alone caused some disturbance, but less than half that caused by people with dogs.)

msnbc running original 9/11 nbc show in realtime.