My Oregon ballot is sitting on my dining room table, about to be marked for Barack.  You thought that the Oregon primary was May 20?  No, that's not when we vote.  That's when we count the ballots.  Election Day in Oregon is today.

George W. Bush's EPA today announced it is turning down the State of California's request for a "waiver" that would have forced the automobile industry to take new steps to limit greenhouse gas emissions.

California's Attorney General Jerry Brown and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced they will "sue at the earlier possible moment" to try to force the E.P.A. to allow the state to set emissions standards.

How successful are they likely to be?  

The disappointing results of my assessment of the state of pandemic flu planning in Oregon and in my little corner of Oregon -- see my Diary a week ago "Ready or not . . . (for pandemic flu in Oregon)" -- is leading me to conclude that moving the fat elephant of state or even county bureaucracy and officialdom is beyond the redemptive efforts of a part-time flubie.  So is there another path, or are we left with nothing except home preparation and opting out of society during a pandemic?

"Ready or not . . . (A flu pandemic is a real possibility, and local officials have done almost nothing to plan for it)"

Anyone concerned with pandemic flu planning (or the lack thereof) might document the lack of planning and transparency in his or her city, as I did here.  I sent copies of this draft to all state and local officials for corrections.  Some were helpful.  Some were ticked off that it was going to be published.

If Dennis Hastert had stepped down as House Speaker, this question would not register on the political geiger-counter:  how radioactive has Dennis Hastert become?  But now we can perhaps start tracking his radioactivity on a daily basis -- click, click, CLICK, CLICK, C-L-I-C-K!  Will Hastert's inactions on Predator-Gate blow up this election?  And what about Boehner?

Republicans are canceling Hastert and Boehner fundraisers.
Republicans are calling for Hastert to resign.

Let's start compiling the data below the fold and in comments.  You can call it a scorecard if you want.  I call it our political geiger-counter.

Republican candidates cancelling Hastert or Boehner fundraisers.