Grand Old Christmas Party 2010

Stephen Harper performs rock show at party event
Stevie Harper and the Herringbones rocked the Conservative Party Christmas Party Wednesday night, to raucous applause from what was, admittedly, a friendly house. Sweet Caroline started the show, with the Prime Minister in a grey shirt and playing an electric piano, assisted by local musicians Richard Linke on guitar and bass, Phil Nolan on drums and Andre Van Schyndel playing bass and accordion. The show continued with I’m On My Way by The Proclaimers, The Who’s The Seekers and a f...

Stephen Harper shows Tory faithful his rock star side
Stevie Harper and the Herringbones rocked the Conservative Party Christmas Party Wednesday night, to raucous applause from what was, admittedly, a friendly house. Sweet Caroline started the show, with the Prime Minister in a grey shirt and playing an electric piano, assisted by local musicians Richard Linke on guitar and bass, Phil Nolan on drums and Andre Van Schyndel playing bass and accordion. The show continued with I’m On My Way by The Proclaimers, The Who’s The Seekers and a f...

Judge Delays Roger Clemens Trial For 3 Months
WASHINGTON — A judge on Wednesday postponed the trial of Baseball star Roger Clemens for three months until July so his attorneys can review the voluminous evidence generated during a 2 1/2-year investigation into whether he lied about using Performance Enhancing Drugs. At a hearing in Washington Federal Court, prosecutors said the case has produced some 54,000 pages of evidence. They are required to turn over to the defense any material that might tend to clear the former major league p...

Judge: Pinnacol Must Release "Golf Junket" Records
DENVER -- A Denver District Judge has ordered Pinnacol Assurance to immediately turn over documents requested by 7News under state open records laws, but Pinnacol is asking the appeals court to stay that order pending the company's appeal. Judge Morris B. Hoffman, who in August ruled that Pinnacol is subject to open records law as a political subdivision, wrote last week that the damage would be greater for 7News to not immediately receive the documents. “I recognize that in the absence of ...

Judge Delays Trial Until July For Ex-Yankee Clemens
WASHINGTON (WFAN/AP) — A judge on Wednesday postponed the trial of ex-Yankee Roger Clemens for three months until July so his attorneys can review the voluminous evidence generated during a 2½-year investigation into whether he lied about using Performance Enhancing Drugs. At a hearing in Washington federal court, prosecutors said the case has produced some 54,000 pages of evidence. They are required to turn over to the defense any material that might tend to clear the former major le...

Judge upholds California's affirmative action ban
A Federal Judge on Wednesday dismissed a Lawsuit challenging California's voter-approved ban on Affirmative Action in public university admissions. U.S. District Judge Samuel Conti ruled against the challenge to Proposition 209, which barred racial, ethnic or gender preferences in public education, employment and contracting. The plaintiffs argued that the law violated the Civil Rights of black, Latino and Native American Students whose numbers have been reduced at the University of California's...

Texas blog roundup for the week of December 6
The Texas Progressive Alliance is gathering up boughs of holly in anticipation of future hall-decking as it brings you this week’s blog roundup. Off the Kuff takes a look at the HHSC report on the effects of dropping Medicaid. Short answer: It would be bad, but what they really have in mind to do may be even worse. Bay Area Houston has some interesting comments on the criminal Probe of State Representative Joe Driver. Capitol Annex takes a look at a dangerous proposal by incoming State R...

Reinventing Opting Out
If Texas were to opt out of Medicaid, as Gov. Rick Perry and other politicians have suggested, medical providers would lose about $15 billion in federal money, and the state would be hard-pressed to provide Health Care for poor people, according to a new report Friday. As the report circulated, Perry backtracked on his earlier suggestions, and he and other officials talked about hopes of reinventing the federal-state Health Care program for 3.2 million mostly poor, young and disabled Texans. Tex...

Gordon Brown 'Getting It on With Michelle' -- How U.S. Planned to Show the Special Relationship Was Alive and Well
One of Barack Obama's aides jokingly suggested that his wife Michelle should be photographed kissing Gordon Brown in the White House to disprove claims that the president had killed off the ‘special relationship' between Britain and the US. The remark was made by Rahm Emanuel, Mr Obama's Chief of Staff, when the president was accused of snubbing no less than five requests by Mr. Brown for a face-to-face meeting during a visit to the US last year. The then PM was reduced to grabbing a 15-mi...

Prop 8 Debate Covers All Bases as California Awaits Gay-Marriage Ruling
What you thought of Monday's appeals court argument over the fate of same-sex marriage in California likely depends upon what you think of the merits of the issue. If you support Proposition 8, and therefore oppose same-sex marriage, you likely considered the oral argument before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals an annoying roadblock on the way to the conservative U.S. Supreme Court. But if you oppose the 2008 state ballot initiative, and therefore support same-sex marriage, you likely cons...

Federal Court Overrules FDA Regulation Of Electric Cigarettes
E-cigarttes, which produce a nicotine-laced vapor, must be regulated as though they were regular Cigarettes. Which is still undoubtedly to much Regulation, but this is still a victory against additional regulation: Today the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled that the FDA may not ban electronic cigarettes as an unapproved “drug/device combination.” The appeals court agreed with U.S. District Judge Richard Leon that the battery-powered e-cigarettes, which generate a smok...

In Warwick, events, charm boost local shops
WARWICK — Faced with formidable competition from national chains and large shopping centers, small Retailers in downtown areas across the state have had to make their own Christmas magic to attract holiday shoppers. And many are finding that a combination of folksy charm and friendly Customer Service gives them a chance against the Goliaths. Main Street business districts across the state are also working to put forth the message that Christmas Shopping can be fun rather than frantic. Cas...

You Better Watch Out: Santacon Set for This Weekend
If you wake up Saturday morning, look out your window and see a bunch of drunk Santa’s wandering the streets of New York City, don’t be alarmed. It’s just Santacon 2010. SantaconNYC, which describes itself as “a non-denominational, non-commercial, non-political and non-sensical Santa Claus convention,” hosts Santacons all over the country, and there’s only one rule: make sure you wear a Santa suit. Starting at 10 a.m. at a secret location somewhere in the city...

Senate Convicts New Orleans District Judge
The Senate voted Wednesday to remove U.S. District Judge G. Thomas Porteous Jr. from the bench, making him the 19th person tried by the Senate and just the eighth Federal Judge to be impeached. Not a Subscriber? To continue reading, sign up for a free trial. Senate Sets 2011 Schedule; Reconvenes Jan. 5 Senate Sets 2011 Schedule; Reconvenes Jan. 5 Sens. John Barrasso (left) and Ron Wyden arrive in the Capitol on Dec. 7 for the Impeachment trial of Judge G. Thomas Porteous. A vote is expected D...

Syngergy Brass Qunitet brings a rocking Christmas sound to GMU
When: 8 p.m. Saturday. Pre-performance discussion starts at 7:15 on the Center's Grand Tier III. Synergy evokes raves of the rock idol variety wherever the dynamic brass quintet performs. Their "Christmas in Brass" concert at GMU's Center for the Arts will impart a unique flavor to Bach choral works, Handel's "Messiah," classic Christmas carols and seasonal favorites. Trombonist Jordan Witt from bluegrass country in Big Stone Gap, Va., emphasizes that he and his four colleagues were trained as ...

Gross Overload
Sorry to hear you’re in the suckage…kinda been there myself. Christmas Party this Friday, I intend to wash away some Headaches with some cold Bombay and tonic water. Any law says we can’t start now? "Sign on, young man, and sail with me. The stature of our homeland is no more than the measure of ourselves. Our job is to keep her free. Our will is to keep the torch of freedom burning for all. To this solemn purpose we call on the young, the brave, the strong, and the free. Heed ...

Good Morning FishbowlDC Readers
“One of my favorite pictures of my dad is him talking to Elizabeth Edwards in NH in early ’08. May she be risen.” — NBC’s Luke Russert in a Tuesday tweet accompanied by the above photograph. “I’d spent a little bit of time with Elizabeth Edwards in Iowa, she was unlike any other political spouse I’d ever met.” — Roll Call Editor Christina Bellantoni in a Tuesday night tweet. “As you might imagine, last night’s Christmas part...

Woman vanishes after crash that killed husband
A set of snowy footprints are the only trace of an Illinois mother who vanished from a car crash that killed her husband. Police continued a search Tuesday for Tanya Shannon, a mother of four who mysteriously vanished Sunday near Ransom, Ill., according to the LaSalle County Sheriff's Office. Shannon, 40, and husband Dale Shannon, 41, were last seen at a Christmas Party Saturday night until officers discovered the body of Dale inside the couple's vehicle, which reportedly slammed into a pole on ...

WikiLeaks chief Assange behind bars in Britain
WikiLeaks chief Julian Assange was refused bail by a British judge over alleged Sex Crimes in Sweden, dealing a fresh blow to the website which vowed to stay online and reveal more secrets. The elusive 39-year-old Australian said he would fight an Extradition request by Swedish authorities as he appeared in court in London just hours after he emerged from a month in hiding and surrendered to Police. Filmmaker Ken Loach, Socialite Jemima Khan and campaigning Journalist John Pilger each offered to...

Accused politician to testify
Ex-Rep. L. Harvey Smith was arrested in the Operation Bid Rig N.J. Corruption sting. Newark, N.J. - The government rested its Bribery and Extortion case against former Assemblyman L. Harvey Smith on Tuesday after jurors heard Testimony that Smith called state officials and a lawmaker on behalf of a developer-client. Smith, a Veteran political figure who served in the Assembly and ran unsuccessfully for Jersey City mayor last year, is accused of taking $15,000 from informant and disgraced real e...

Julian Assange Denied Bail, Stays in Gaol
The Wikileaks founder has been denied bail on the grounds that his ties to the community are weak and he has the means to flee the UK. Assange, who was arrested Monday by appointment in London, is wanted in Sweden on Sexual Assault charges that he categorically denies. The 39-year-old Australian, who denies the allegations, was driven away in a white Prison van after an extraordinary one-hour hearing at City of Westminster magistrates court. The District Judge, Howard Riddle, ruled there was a r...

WikiLeaks chief Assange behind bars in Britain
WikiLeaks chief Julian Assange began his first full day in Prison on Wednesday after he was refused bail by a British judge over alleged Sex Crimes in Sweden, but the website he founded continued to operate online and reveal more secrets. The elusive 39-year-old Australian said he would fight an Extradition request by Swedish authorities as he appeared in court in London just hours after he emerged from a month in hiding and surrendered to Police. Filmmaker Ken Loach, Socialite Jemima Khan and c...

Argument recap: Justices struggle with rules for resentencing after Booker
On Monday the Court heard oral arguments in Pepper v. United States. Pepper v. United States (No. 09-6822) requires the Court to further sort through the implications and consequences of its landmark ruling in United States v. Booker (2005).  Booker made the federal Sentencing Guidelines “effectively advisory” after ruling that judicial fact-finding within a mandatory guidelines system was Unconstitutional, and follow-up rulings have stressed that District Judges now possess bro...

Senate to decide fate of impeached Louisiana judge
WASHINGTON—The Senate is set to decide whether to convict a Louisiana judge of Corruption allegations brought by the House in the first Impeachment trial since the 1999 case against former President Bill Clinton. U.S. District Judge G. Thomas Porteous was unanimously impeached by the House in March on four articles alleging that he took money and favors, filed for Bankruptcy under a false name and lied to Congress during his judicial confirmation. Votes on each article are planned Wednesd...

No Just Bipartisan But Unanimous
The Senate today unanimously convicted federal District Judge Thomas Porteous of the Eastern District of Louisiana on all 4 Impeachment charges against him, making Porteous just the eighth Federal Judge to be removed from office via the Impeachment process. ...