GOV PROPOSES NEW BUDGET FOR NEW YORK - New York Post

GOV PROPOSES NEW BUDGET FOR NEW YORK - New York Post: “Gov. Paterson's proposed $121.1 billion budget includes wacky taxes on items ranging from luxury goods to downloaded music, movies and games from the Internet.

The plan also calls a massive 14 percent hike to public college tuition, slashing school aid by 3.3 percent, layoffs, higher fees for motor vehicles and fishing and allowing wine to be sold in grocery stores.”

-- NO! How is the Internet tax to be enforced? What if one blocks their IP address?

TIME Lists Cons of Caroline Kennedy's Senatorial Interest - TIME

Swampland - TIME.com » Blog Archive Caroline Kennedy, Nine Enemies and One Ingrate «: “Then we can look at all the reasons that Caroline Kennedy (Schlossberg now, apparently, optional) may not be ideal. For starters, she is much less well known in New York Democratic circles than either her late brother, John Jr., or her cousin Robert F. Kennedy Jr. As Judith Hope, the former state Democratic chair told me last week, "Recognizing her obvious qualities, I think Caroline is just an unknown quantity to many of us, and to the general public." Her other hazards: She has scant professional experience outside of book writing and fundraising, has yet to demonstrate the workaholic grit of the seat's current occupant, Hillary Clinton, and has shown herself at several occasions to be an underwhelming speaker. Finally, as Joe points out, we are entering an age of relative meritocracy and anti-dynasty, a trend that is only highlighted by the Blagojevich scandal.”

-- TIME makes good points, but the one matter -- fundraising -- sticks out as an advantage she brings to the table. Plus she has a wealth of contacts in and out of government. It's good to survey the field, however.

Pat Quinn: The Man Who Would Replace Blagojevich - TIME

Pat Quinn: The Man Who Would Replace Blagojevich - TIME: “In a state so plagued by cronyism and shady self-dealing that the head of the FBI here didn't hesitate to call Illinois one of the — if not the — most corrupt states in the nation, Lieut. Governor Pat Quinn is considered something of a Goody Two-Shoes. Responsible for slashing the size of the state legislature, he has been booed by legislators on the capitol floor. He keeps a minimal staff and is said to charge $75 a ticket for fundraisers — at a time when entry to most is well into the hundreds if not thousands of dollar”

-- Lets hope Quinn lives up to his billing.

Arne Duncan: Obama's Education Secretary - Huff Post

Arne Duncan: Obama's Education Secretary - Huff Post: “CHICAGO — President-elect Barack Obama announced Arne Duncan, the head of the Chicago school system, as education secretary Tuesday and declared that failing to improve classroom instruction is "morally unacceptable for our children."

"When it comes to school reform, Arne is the most hands-on of hands-on practitioners," Obama said, making the announcement at a school that he said has made remarkable progress under Duncan's leadership.

"He's not beholden to any one ideology, and he's worked tirelessly to improve teacher quality," Obama said.”

President-elect Obama Announces Stephen Chu, Carol Browner, and Lisa Jackson

President-Elect Barack Obama continues to introduce members of his cabinet, today officially bring in Dr. Stephen Chu, Lisa Jackson, and Carol Browner. Dr. Chu is a legend in the halls of Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory and known for his leadership and knoweldge. Ms. Jackson is a policy-driven public official who reportedly improved the formerly politicized New Jersey EPA Department. And Carol Browner is a well-known environmental public official having served as the head of the EPA under both Clinton Administrations, the longest serving head of the EPA in history. Nancy Sutley, Los Angeles's deputy mayor for energy and environment, will chair Obama's White House's Council on Environmental Quality.

If you're keeping score, Obama has introduced three women and one man today. I also have to add that I think Obama's appointing more Asians and women to top posts that ever before, but they're also trail-blazers in their fields.

Laure Manaudou - Internet Star Swimmer Beats Her Own World Record At French Short Course Nationals

Remember Laure Manaudou, who famously quit this year's Summer Olympics because of the stress of making a comeback after the tripple story of the breakup with Luca Martin, her boyfriend who may have posted nude photos of her on the Internet, then the appearance of Martin at the Olympics with Italian swimming star Frederica Pellegrini, and the added need to break the World records she set in 2006, has broke her record in the women's 50 backstroke at the French Short Course Nationals, posting a time of 27:30, which just shaved her previous time of 27:46, a meet record set in 2006.

This is a sort of comeback for Manaudou, as her Olympic trip was a total disaster. Here's my video explaining what happened:

Charles Barkley says Auburn's Choice of Gene Chizik Over Turner Gill Was Racism - ESPN

ESPN - Charles Barkley outraged by Auburn Tigers' hiring of Gene Chizik: “Former Auburn and NBA star Charles Barkley ripped his alma mater on Monday, saying the only reason the Tigers did not hire Buffalo's Turner Gill as the school's new football coach is because Gill is black.

Auburn on Saturday hired Iowa State's Gene Chizik, who had a 5-19 record in two seasons with the Cyclones. Chizik was the defensive coordinator at Auburn in 2004, when the Tigers finished 13-0 and ranked No. 2 in the country.

Chizik replaces former Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville, who won 85 games in 10 seasons but was forced to resign earlier this month.

"I think race was the No. 1 factor," said Barkley, who played basketball for three seasons at Auburn during the early 1980s. "You can say it's not about race, but you can't compare the two resumes and say [Chizik] deserved the job. Out of all the coaches they interviewed, Chizik probably had the worst resume."”

--- Charles is correct. Auburn hired a person who's record shows he's not competent over Turner Gill, who's performance shows he is competent. That could only happen in a racist environment. Just because President-Elect Barack Obama is America's first Black President does not mean racism suddenly ended, it just stopped as we knew it. Now, it's marginalized to specific areas of America. But it's also now seen as a mental illness.