MSNBC is reporting that a ceasefire proposal supported by the US and France will be put up to a vote within the hour. Israel has called the proposal "good."

MSNBC

I've decided that Illinois needs a new slogan. That whole "Land of Lincoln" thing is so 19th century. Today's newspaper gave me a new inspiration for a new state motto:

Illinois: Land Of Nepotism.

It has a nice ring doesn't it?

What brought this on, you may ask? This-

Stroger's son ready to step up - Chicago Tribune

The BBC is now reporting that the agreement between Hamas and Fatah does not include an implicit recognition of Israel as was previously reported.

Palestinian minister Abdel Rahman Zeidan told the BBC the Hamas-Fatah document did not in any way recognise the state of Israel.

"There is no agreement between the Palestinians on specifically this phrase. You will not find one word in the document clearly stating the recognition of Israel as a state. Nobody has agreed to this. This was not on the table. This was not in the dialogue," he said.

BBC

Gov. Blagojevich is at it again. He's latest funding scheme was officially announced yesterday. He's going to sell the state lottery, the proceeds of which have helped fund education. He says it's so he can better fund education.

Chicago Tribune

So he thinks he can sell the lottery for $10 billion. He says he's going to take $4 billion and spend it on the schools in the next 4 years. The other $6 billion he says he's going to invest to replace the lost income from the lottery to education through 2024.

More after the flip.

ABC has announced that Charles Gibson will take over as ABC World News Tonight new permanent anchor. Gibson is currently a co-host on Good Morning America.

Report

Once again the brains over at a major braodcast network have turned to the long time host of their morning news program to take over the evening news anchor slot.

As with Katie Couric, Gibson has in the past decade or more been less of a journalist and more of a TV personality. They've both proven to be accomplished at the "Happy Talk" style of presentation required for those Mornign news programs. They're journalistic skills are less in evidence.

With this second annoucement I think we can all acknowledge that the day when the network news anchor got the job because they were a respected serious journalist. It's all about personality and ratings.

Cheerul patter and toothy smiles are the order of the day.

Cameron Todd Willingham was executed by the State of Texas in 2004. He was accused of killing his three daughters by an act of arson. A new report shows that the scientific evidence used to convict him was false. The evidence that was shown to prove that the fire was arson was wholly consistant with an accidental fire. So not only was Willingham not guilty of the crime, there was no crime at all.

Chicago Tribune Article

Well, I guess we can look at it that Gov. Rod Blagojevich actually said something honest. A lawsuit was filed by some fired prison employees saying that Blago had broken his campaign promise not to fire necessary state employees who were doing their job well. In court, attorney's for the state said the the pledge was "classic political puffery". It worked. Case dismissed.

Chicago Tribune Article

Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich is set to propose that Keno be allowed in bars and lounges to help fund his new school construction proposals.

Chicago Tribune Story

Now, I realize Blago has never met a stupid funding scheme he hasn't liked, but, KENO? KENO? I personally enjoy gambling occasionally. I go to Vegas about once a year. But Keno is the biggest sucker bet in the casino. The odds of winning are just awful.

This is an interesting article that originated in the Los Angeles Times about Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. It goes beyond his inflamitory rhetoric and dicusses what's been going on in Iranian politics. To make a long story short, Ahmadinejad is struggling. He's having trouble getting his policies and ministerial appointments approved. He also offended some muslims by seeming to claim that he was divinely inspired during a speech, which ius a no-no.

I found as I was reading it, that much of it sounded familiar. Then it struck me. This guy sounds like Bush. He hides his incompetence behind a screen of religion. I get the feeling about Ahmadinejad, just as I have about Bush, that the religious rhetoric isn't a result of deeply held belief, but is a political posture.

Fundamentals of Politics Challenge Iranian Leader

Robert Mugabe called a U.N. envoy a "Hypocrite and a Liar" after the envoy said the humanitarian situation in Zimbabwe was near a meltdown.

CNN story

For a head of state I must admit Mugabe does do some interesting public insulting. Even the Norwegian envoy's english takes a hit.

But seriously, how completely is this guy willing to destroy his country? The farms weren't enough, so he has to go after the cities now? I have a sick feeling that Zimbabwe is working itself up to some truly horrific tragedy. If Zimbabwe goes up in flames, will any of it's neighbors go up with it?

While our friend Patrick Fitzgerald is making life very uncomfortable over at the White House, he's also finding time time to keep things hopping closer to home.

The hiring investigation at the Illinois Governor's office keeps moving forward. According to the Sun-Times today, Fitz has had someone in the Gov's office wired. Sun Times story

Have the Iranians completely lost it?

Iran defends Israel remark

What are they thinking? Now is not the time to stoke up already high emotions with this kind of talk. They're further isolating themselves, forcing so many countries and groups to isolate themselves from Iran, at a time when some allies might be helpful. Why are they continuing to push this? Are they really looking for a confrontation?

According to the Chicago Tribune the hiring probe is getting closer and closer to Blogo.link

My favorite part is the following,
"In a March 2004 interview with The State Journal-Register newspaper of Springfield, Cini disputed the concept that he was Blagojevich's "patronage chief," an informal title bestowed upon previous holders of the post in the governor's job office.
"We don't like to use `patronage chief,'" Cini told the newspaper. "Obviously, this is the governor of reform.""

These guys crack me up.

So who do the Dem's run for Govenor if blog's under indictment next year?

What can we do to bring about clean Government for the State of Illinois? The Democrats appear to be closing ranks behind Blogo. The Republicans are again in disarray, which probably means they're going to run someone who's batshit crazy again. Neither side has anything approaching a good record on corruption. It seems to me if either party could scare up a solid candidate at this point, it would be an easy victory.

What can we do? Who do we vote for?

Or are we just hopelessly screwed?