News At the Democratic National Convention in Denver, credentials and status mean everything. As a lowly weekly reporter, I get less access than daily newspaper reporters, who are lower on the totem pole than TV reporters. But, as always, money is the credential that confers real access. Last night, while wandering around the Pepsi Center, I stumbled into a service entrance to the "Club Level" ...   More

News The massive police presence for the Democratic National Convention in Denver has so far been unnecessary. Major, disruptive protests remain only a rumor, leaving the cops bored and willing to step into even the most minor verbal conflict. Today, while wandering down 16th Avenue, Denver's equivalent to Portland's downtown transit mall, I saw a handful of people purporting to be Sen. Hillary Clinton ...   More

News There are a few types of Democratic National Convention attendees wandering around the Pepsi Center I feel as if I ought to recognize: attractive and well-dressed (probably a TV person); rumpled and contemplating imminent unemployment (newspaper reporter); fiercely determined (Obama supporter); or really pissed (Hillary backer). But being culturally clueless, I seem to recognize only semi-famous ...   More

News The Democratic national convention officially kicked off this afternoon, and anybody who doesn't have an official credential can forget about getting within a mile of the Pepsi Center, Denver's equivalent of the Rose Garden arena. The arena and its perimeter are enclosed in an extraordinary security cordon: Streets all around the arena are closed; the light rail service is truncated, and to ...   More

News There's value in being a blue state—in delivering the greatest single outpouring of support during the campaign of an eventual winner. But, in terms of the payback, the value is not much. At political party conventions, the national party assigns each state's delegation. And although the Democratic National Convention is in downtown Denver—which may not have captured the imagination ...   More

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News If you've been around long enough to remember to remember the last time the banks went kablooey , you've probably been wondering why John McCain hasn't been haunted more in recent weeks by the specter of convicted influence peddler Charles Keating, whom Sen. (then Rep.) McCain protected in the late 1980s as Keating looted the failing Lincoln Savings & Loan and left taxpayers holding the bag for ...   More

News Hey, all. How was the weekend? Are you feeling refreshed, excited and ready to go? Well it's a good thing you are, because the markets sure aren't . I t looks like stock prices are falling faster than the leaves on the trees. So does this mean we're officially fucked? Wait, what's that you say, Sean? [youtube QRvMU1K_AWU] Well, I'm glad we've got that cleared up. Though something tells me ...   More

News One Wednesday each month, the leaders of the metro region's small but fiesty conservative movement gather at the Airport Shiloh Inn. Known as the Executive Club and led by Don McIntire, best-known as the author of 1990's Measure 5, the group gathered last night to watch the Biden-Palin debate on a wall-sized projection television. After the debate, Wall Street Journal political columnist John ...   More

News Regardless of how you viewed tonight's vice-presidential debate between Democratic Sen. Joe Biden and Republican Gov. Sarah Palin, the data visualization site Many Eyes has a different way to look at it. Here's a ManyEyes visualization of the frequency of word use in Gov. Palin's side of the CNN transcript : (Wondering where "maverick" is? It's at about 10 o'clock, underneath the ...   More