The Breakthrough?

The rezoning of the St. George waterfront area has been approved, opening it up to high rise apartments and office buildings. 

The City Planning Commission voted unanimously this morning to approve an ambitious rezoning of St. George, which is expected to allow for the construction of residential high-rise towers in the area and the conversion of office space to apartments.

The special zoning district was crafted by the City Planning Department and covers a 12-block area located within a five- to 10-minute walk of the St. George Ferry.

In response to concerns from local civic leaders, the commission modified the proposal to include tower exclusion zones, require more parking and additional landscaping for residential buildings.

The matter moves to the City Council next month for a final vote.

RP to McCain: Sit & Spin

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gj4×1Ijw4MDlWEadWey5y9c0GlhgD933TVRG7

Ron Paul, American Hero, announced that he is turning down McCain’s request for endorsement.

RP is on the ballot in Montana, where he lost to Romney in the primaries, but came in second, ahead of John McCain. This will provide some good diversion from McCain voters towards Obama in a western state. Go RP!

Letterman’s Top 10 9/9/08

Last night’s “Top Twelve” list was “Top Twelve Perks Of Being A NASCAR Driver.”  The list was presented on-stage by the 12 NASCAR drivers involved in the Chase for the Sprint Cup (“Late Show,” CBS, 9/9).

12)  “Crazy gas prices? I don’t care, I’m not payin’” (Matt Kenseth).

11)  “Bring your helmet to Taco Bell and they’ll fill it up with Guacamole, free” (Kevin Harvick).

10)  “Don’t have to shave your body like Olympic swimmers…although, why not?” (Jeff Gordon).

9)  “Hasselhoff promised me one of those talking cars” (Greg Biffle).

8)  “I use old checkered flags to make fabulous throw pillows” (Tony Stewart).

7)  “There’s nothing like going through a car wash at 190 miles per hour” (Jeff Burton).

6)  “GPS underpants” (Denny Hamlin).

5)  “Sorry, I forgot my joke — I was thinking about Jessica Alba– man, she’s hot” (Clint Bowyer).

4)  “Run out of olive oil?  A little Quaker State will spruce up any salad” (Dale Earnhardt, Jr.).

3) “Traveling to exotic locations like Martinsville, Virginia and Dover, Delaware” (Jimmie Johnson).

2) “At high school reunions, it’s fun to ask, ‘So what do you do for a living?’ (Carl Edwards).

1) “After a race, your ass vibrates for days” (Kyle Busch).

“Casting One’s Ballot Early” Sounds Like a Tacky Euphemism, no?

So, item 1: It is 7:46 AM as i begin to write this post. I have been at work for 45 minutes already and will be here (probably) for the next 11 hours. Bear with me (and give me something interesting to read in my down time!) – please.

Anyway, I thought this article featured today in the NYT/IHT, which focuses on the increasing trend of early voting allowed around the US, brought up some really interesting points not just about the changing schedules/budgets/strategies of both presidential campaigns, but also about the ever-increasing power the American electorate has in this election. The idea that a voter can use her trip to the polls as leverage in how a candidate woos her is really great, I think. Maybe we’ll see the Democrats finally fight to own the electoral college for once because they know they can’t afford to have anyone sway from Obama to McCain in the last minute.

Universe Ending, Science Marches On

No catastrophe yet, but they turned the LHC on.

Science rode a beam of subatomic particles and a river of champagne into the future on Wednesday.

After 14 years and $8 billion, scientists at the European Center for Nuclear Research, or CERN, outside Geneva, succeeded in turning on the most powerful microscope ever built for investigating the elemental particles and forces of nature.

At 4:27 a.m., Eastern time, the protons made their first circuit around a 17-mile-long racetrack known as the Large Hadron Collider, 300 feet underneath the Swiss French border, and then made a return journey.

You recall what one of the LHC proponents had to say about the nay-sayers. So shh, we’ll be fine.

Lehman Looking Bad

The already beleaguered investment bank appears to be fighting for its survival today, trying to spin off two of its major divisions within the company to raise capital in the face of a $3.9 billion loss. Unfortunately, it will be trying to spin off $32 billion of its commercial mortgage assets- which aren’t very popular at the moment.

Lehman’s announcement came a day after the bank’s shares plunged 45 percent to $7.79 a share following reports that its efforts to secure a strategic investment from Korea Development Bank had failed. Investors also feared that the federal government would not bail out Lehman as it has mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and investment bank Bear Stearns.

The investment bank has been struggling amid growing losses on its commercial and residential real estate holdings. It has been shopping its prized investment management division, which includes Neuberger Berman. People with knowledge of the auction say Lehman has asked for final bids to be submitted by this weekend.

Lehman has been under heavy pressure since the collapse of Bear Stearns, as investors believe its heavy reliance on mortgage-related underwriting and trading could lead it to suffer the same fate that forced Bear into an emergency sale to JPMorgan Chase.

Let’s hope they make it- though the “big news” would be if they don’t.

How can we trust Straniere when his own party couldn’t trust him 4 years ago?

Feud Among S.I. Republicans Spills Into Assembly Race

By JONATHAN P. HICKS
Published: July 25, 2004

For a time, not very many years ago, Staten Island Republicans seemed to operate as one big happy family. An oddity in an overwhelmingly Democratic city, they were nevertheless a fearsome power base, wielding considerable clout with the Giuliani administration largely because of the borough’s loyalty to him at the polls.

But the party that was lorded over by Guy V. Molinari is split by a bitter feud. And that feud is playing out in an Assembly race in the central and southern portions of the borough, the 62nd Assembly District, an area that is the Republican bedrock of New York City. There, the incumbent assemblyman, Robert A. Straniere, who is also the assistant minority leader, is facing two challengers, each of them backed by a different and prominent Republican leader.

One of Mr. Straniere’s challengers is backed by Mr. Molinari, a former Staten Island borough president and longtime paterfamilias of the island’s Republican Party. United States Representative Vito J. Fossella, one of the borough’s best-known politicians, supports the other.

*Everyone* Should Visit This Site

http://alchemytoday.com/obamataxcut/

That is all.