The New Republic

Washington is full of entrepreneurs trying to cash in on Obama’s victory. Walk the streets downtown, and you’ll see vendors selling special editions of Election Day newspapers and bootleg hats, hokey t-shirts and commemorative buttons. But the biggest racket is on Craigslist, where DC residents are offering up their homes as lodging for the 4 million people expected to swarm the Mall on Inauguration Day. Many are offering nightly rates that would likely cover their rent for the month. READ MORE >>

It’s now perfectly clear that it was a fool’s errand for McCain to place all of his electoral hopes on winning the keystone state. Obama cleaned up last night with more than 10 percent of the vote, the largest margin of victory by a Democratic presidential candidate in the state since Lyndon Johnson beat Barry Goldwater in 1964. Much of that margin came from the suburbs around Philadelphia, which have been trending Democratic as an influx of minorities and young READ MORE >>

We asked a few politicos if they have any Election Day rituals or superstitions that they adhere to. Former Democratic presidential nominee Michael Dukakis didn’t so much answer that question. But he wrote this, which is super endearing.   READ MORE >>

DUNMORE, PENNSYLVANIA--With just two weeks left until the election, Democratic Representative Paul Kanjorski is in the back room of Ragnacci’s, a cozy sports bar just outside of Scranton, doing his best to fire up a crowd of mostly elderly voters. “Obama’s going to win big in northeastern Pennsylvania,” the 71-year-old lawmaker declares. “And I’m going to win”--here he pauses--“reasonably big in northeastern Pennsylvania!” READ MORE >>

I mean the $89 billion bailout of AIG (plus some out of other baskets here and there). READ MORE >>

The State of California, according to the Times online, is out of cash. Plain down in the ditch. It may have to borrow $7 billion from the U.S. government to pay its bills. Will Henry Paulson loan the terminator the cash? I suppose he will, if the Treasury still has it to loan. READ MORE >>

It turns out that the Somali pirates who hijacked a Ukrainian ship loaded with $30 million worth of weapons last Thursday are—like their compatriots who captured two boats earlier this year—environmentalists of a sort: READ MORE >>

As long as we're talking about meat consumption, I wanted to mention the (controversial) recommendation made a couple of weeks back by IPCC head Rajendra Pachauri, who suggested that everyone give up meat one day each week in an effort to curb the massive impact of livestock farming on global warming. READ MORE >>

According to a report issued by the Stockholm International Water Institute last week, as much as half of all the food produced globally is either wasted or lost as it makes its way through the food chain—a stunning figure given the 850 million people in the world who are malnourished. The causes vary: In developing nations, most of the waste occurs because of poor harvesting techniques or insufficient storage facilities that leave crops susceptible to READ MORE >>

I somehow missed the New York Times report that former vice president Al Gore will address the convention on its last night, and not in Pepsi Center (20,000 odd seats), where the hum drum of Democratic business will take place, but at Invesco Field (75,000 seats) where on the last night of the gathering Barack Obama will be anointed.My guess is that Bill Clinton is not happy about the arrangements. READ MORE >>