memeorandum: “Erin Brockovich” Town Shows No Cancer Cluster (Tim Cavanaugh/Hit & Run)

4:05 PM ET, December 14, 2010

Top Items:

Michael Moore / Open Mike:

Why I'm Posting Bail Money for Julian Assange — Yesterday, in the Westminster Magistrates Court in London, the lawyers for WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange presented to the judge a document from me stating that I have put up $20,000 of my own money to help bail Mr. Assange out of jail.

Matthew Weaver / News: News blog:

Julian Assange granted bail: live updates — • Assange granted bail to cheers from supporters — • He remains in custody as Sweden says it will appeal — • Assange criticises Visa, MasterCard and Paypal from cell — • Police worked case against Madeleine McCann's parents

Ezra Klein:

Why the tax deal might fail — I listed some of the conservative critics of the tax deal in Wonkbook today (Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin, the Tea Party Patriots, Charles Krauthammer), but Playbook shows their ranks are growing: Mitt Romney has an op-ed in USA Today saying the tax deal gives “President Obama ... reason to celebrate.

Discussion: TalkLeft, The New Republic, The Daily Dish, A plain blog about politics, Hot Air, TPMDC and ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*

Rajiv Chandrasekaran / Washington Post:

Richard Holbrooke dies: Veteran U.S. diplomat brokered Dayton peace accords — Longtime U.S. diplomat Richard C. Holbrooke, whose relentless prodding and deft maneuvering yielded the 1995 Dayton peace accords that ended the war in Bosnia - a success he hoped to repeat as President Obama's chief envoy …

New York Times:

Release on Bail of WikiLeaks Founder Is Delayed by Appeal — LONDON — After a week in detention facing possible extradition, Julian Assange, the founder of the WikiLeaks antisecrecy group, was ordered released on $310,000 bail by a court on Tuesday as he challenges a Swedish prosecutor's demand …

Discussion: Hot Air, Washington Post, The Lede, Firedoglake, Wonkette, FrumForum and Salon

Mike In / Michael Moore:

WITNESS STATEMENT OF MICHAEL MOORE — WITNESS STATEMENT — (CJ Act 1967, s.9 MC Act 1980, ss.5A(3)(a) and 5B; — Criminal Procedure Rules 2010, Rule 27) — This statement (consisting of 2 pages each signed by me) is true to the best of my knowledge and belief and I make it knowing that …

Discussion: newsfeed.time.com, Vanity Fair, Guardian, Foreign Policy, Weasel Zippers, AOL News, The American Independent, The Gateway Pundit and FrumForum

Alexis Madrigal / The Atlantic Online:

Photos: Here's The Manor Where Julian Assange Will Be Staying — So, this is where Julian Assange will be vacationing from prison. It's Ellingham Hall in Suffolk, England, an estate owned by the independently wealthy journalist Vaughan Smith (and his parents, according to the UK title).

Discussion: Little Green Footballs

Mike Allen / The Politico:
STEELE STUNS, RUNS: ‘The job is fun’ …

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

Huge Senate majority votes to advance $858B tax package — President Obama's $858 billion tax package won a huge bipartisan majority in the Senate Monday evening, setting it up for a contentious debate in the House. — In a 83-15 vote, the Senate quashed a filibuster by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Va.).

Discussion: CNN, The Politico, Firedoglake, New York Times, Hot Air, Wake up America, Indecision Forever, The Reaction, The Other McCain, The Nation, Booman Tribune, Political Punch, Shakesville, Reuters, The Sundries Shack, The Democratic Daily, FrumForum and The Plum Line

Jonathan Weisman / Washington Wire:
Senate Looks at After-Christmas Votes

Discussion: Michelle Malkin

The Hill:
Liberals giving up tax fight

Discussion: National Review

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Reid, Senate Dems plan to move START arms treaty as soon as Wednesday

Discussion: FrumForum

Simmi Aujla / The Politico:
Steny Hoyer: Estate tax a ‘great concern’

Discussion: Ezra Klein

Igor Volsky / Wonk Room:
Hoyer And Murphy Introduce DADT Measure In The House

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Plum Line, The Politico, TPMDC, AOL News, Salon and Daily Kos

The Politico:
New 'don't ask' House vote building

Discussion: CNN and USA Today

Washington Post:
Tax-cut package clears procedural hurdle in Senate

Discussion: Federal Eye, The Fix, Online NewsHour, Sweet Home Potomac, msnbc.com, The Caucus, Blue Virginia and Outside the Beltway

Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
House Dems introduce stand-alone measure to repeal 'Don't ask'

Discussion: The Plum Line and FrumForum

Brian Beutler / TPMDC:

Amateur Hour: VA Judge Makes Elementary Error In Health Care Ruling — The Virginia federal district court judge who ruled yesterday that the individual mandate in the health care bill is unconstitutional is catching a lot of flack — and not just for having a financial interest in an anti-health care reform consulting firm.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Mother Jones, Concurring Opinions, TPMMuckraker, The Volokh Conspiracy, TPM LiveWire, Right Wing Watch, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Prairie Weather and Blue Virginia

Washington Post:

Health reform will survive its legal fight — In March, New Hampshire preschool teacher Gail O'Brien, who was unable to obtain health insurance through her employer, was diagnosed with an aggressive form of lymphoma. Her subsequent applications for health insurance were rejected because of her condition.

Discussion: Hot Air, PostPartisan, National Review, The Atlantic Online, Pajamas Media, Left Coast Rebel, Right Turn, Weasel Zippers, The Plum Line, The Democratic Daily, Scared Monkeys, Right Wing Watch and The Page

Adam Serwer / American Prospect:

Hudson And Scalia, Ctd. — Like me, Jason Mazzone believes that Justice Antonin Scalia was Judge Henry E. Hudson's intended audience in his ruling striking down the individual mandate in the Affordable Care Act: … My personal belief is that Republicans hate the law and want to see it gone …

Discussion: Balkinization, Right Turn, A plain blog about politics, Hullabaloo and Washington Monthly

Jonathan H. Adler / The Volokh Conspiracy:
Further Thoughts on the Virginia Health Care Ruling and the Necessary …

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, New York Times, Balkinization, The Incidental Economist, The New Republic, Daily Kos, TalkLeft, Law Blog and Liberty Pundits Blog

Kevin Sack / New York Times:
Years of Wrangling Lie Ahead for Health Care Law

Discussion: Washington Post, Hot Air, The Volokh Conspiracy, Oliver Willis, The New Republic, The Note, Pirate's Cove, citizenvox.org, Online NewsHour, Law Blog, Associated Press, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, Israel Matzav, PostPartisan, Wonk Room and Maggie's Farm

James C. McKinley Jr / New York Times:

Atheist Ads on Buses Rattle Fort Worth — FORT WORTH — Stand on a corner in this city and you might get a case of theological whiplash. — A public bus rolls by with an atheist message on its side: “Millions of people are good without God.” Seconds later, a van follows bearing a riposte: “I still love you.

Discussion: Vox Popoli, Joe. My. God., Balloon Juice and American Power

Tim Cavanaugh / Hit & Run:

“Erin Brockovich” Town Shows No Cancer Cluster — Hinkley, California, the town made famous in the Oscar-winning Julia Roberts movie Erin Brockovich, does not show any evidence of an increased rate of cancers. — Pacific Gas and Electric, which released a toxic plume of hexavalent chromium 6 …

Discussion: Big Hollywood, Outside the Beltway, Associated Press and Overlawyered

Jeff Poor / The Daily Caller:

Scarborough blasts MSNBC's bias: They always will say ‘a George W. Bush-appointee,’ ‘a Reagan appointee’ — “Morning Joe” host Joe Scarborough doesn't let much slip by him - well not today, at least. — On his December 14 program, Scarborough pointed out the bias at his network, MSNBC, and even offered a particular example.

Discussion: Hot Air, Mediaite, Weasel Zippers and The Right Scoop

Michael O'Brien / The Hill:

Corker assembling bloc to demand reforms ahead of debt ceiling vote — Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) said Tuesday he's hoping to assemble a bloc of senators who will demand tax and spending reforms before agreeing to vote to raise the U.S. debt ceiling next year.

Discussion: Yglesias, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/* and FrumForum

Paul Waldman / American Prospect:

Some Tax Context. — As we move toward some kind of resolution of the tax debate, I thought it might be worthwhile to put some things in context, particularly the question of the top marginal tax rate. That's the one conservatives are so desperate to keep low, and part of the reason liberals …

Discussion: Yglesias

Abdon M. Pallasch / Chicago Sun Times:

Key questions surrounding the Rahm Emanuel residency case — As Rahm Emanuel prepares to testify in the residency case challenging his eligibility to run for mayor of Chicago, here are some questions and answers. — Q. Isn't this just a big joke? — A. No, this is serious business.

Discussion: Reuters, Politics Daily and Taegan Goddard's …

Matt Bai / New York Times:

As Electoral Ground Shifts, Bloomberg Could Skip the Party — On Sunday, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg flatly ruled out an independent run for president in 2012. On Monday, he appeared at the national unveiling in New York of No Labels, a group that aspires to build a grass-roots movement …

Discussion: The Politico, Hot Air, Washington Examiner, Outside the Beltway, Althouse, Wonkette, The Other McCain, Salon, The Confluence, A plain blog about politics, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Gateway Pundit, Ben Smith's Blog, Nice Deb and The Monkey Cage

Kat Stoeffel / New York Observer:

No Labels and Other Ripped Off Designs — Brooklyn-based artist Thomas Porostocky's friends and fans have been tipping off NY media that his art has been used without permission by the bi-partisan political group No Labels. — Porostocky designed star-spangled giraffes …

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, City Room, bjkeefe, TPMDC and The Daily Caller

Eric Boehlert / Media Matters for America:

Memo to the media: They're called “obstructionists” — That sore-loser phrase doesn't seem to get much use these days. Yet watching Senate Republicans in the minority essentially close down the chamber, not allowing any votes to proceed until their demands are met regarding tax cuts for the very wealthy …

Discussion: Yglesias, Crooks and Liars and Daily Kos

67.59.172.92:

Lifting gay ban could endanger US Marines: general — The chief of the US Marine Corps said Tuesday that ending a ban on openly gay troops in the military could jeopardize the lives of Marines in combat by undermining closely knit units. — General James Amos, commandant of the Marine Corps …

Discussion: ThinkProgress and AMERICAblog Gay

John Hooper / Guardian:

Riots as Berlusconi survives vote — Hooded protesters set up flaming barricades as police baton-charge demonstrators in several parts of capital's historic centre — Rioting today swept Rome after Silvio Berlusconi's rightwing government narrowly survived a censure motion in parliament amid claims …

Discussion: New York Times and The Lede

Ryan J. Reilly / TPMMuckraker:

Feds Say Va. Man Threatened Metro System On Facebook — A 26-year-old Virginia man is being held in federal custody after he allegedly threatened to set off bombs on the D.C. Metro system. The FBI was alerted to the threats, allegedly sent on Facebook's instant messaging system, by an informant before any plot was developed.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and The Powers That Be