Tennessee has become the first state in the union to honor women veterans with a license plate of their own. A one woman army, Laura Comas, made it possible.

Laura Comas is a wife, mother, and a former sergeant in the US Army.

She realized after she was honorably discharged that there were several veteran plates, but none that described her military service.

"So I went online, and when I did, I noticed that of the nearly 20 that were available at the time, none of them recognized women veterans," Comas said.

Four years ago, Comas started on a mission to pay tribute to women of the armed services.

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Sen. Evan Bayh is working to create a Blue Dog coalition in the Senate and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid --quelle surprise!-- is "upbeat" about the idea.

Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) is trying to mobilize moderate Democratic Senators to form a group based loosely on the House Blue Dog Coalition.

“I think we have a wonderful opportunity to break the gridlock that has existed in Washington for too long,” Bayh said in an interview. “We need to do that in practical ways that will solve problems. The place that will be most important in striking that right balance will be in the Senate.”

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And if it's not just Detroit then it can't really be the fault of the UAW now can it?

Europe's motor industry is in a panic. In boardrooms across the continent the talk is of the biggest emergency for 60 years -- or at least since the 1973 oil crisis.

As executives ask the European Union for a €40-billion bail-out to match or surpass the $25-billion sought by the American Big Three manufacturers -- General Motors, Ford and Chrysler thousands of staff are being laid off. Sales are collapsing as the recession bites, with vehicles stacking up at ports around the world.

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Her husband was at court fighting the foreclosure against their home. Police arrived early and waited across the street for the call to come in so they could serve eviction. Police heard a shot, entered the home early, and found her wounded. No one knew that the judge had granted her husband a 10-day extension.

Pamela Ross, age 57, is dead. Her husband is left a widower fighting foreclosure. He has 10 days to bury the dead and salvage what's left of his life.

There's no time left to study the problem.

Amidst all the gloomy news, there's finally something to celebrate. The Supreme Court of Tennessee is now composed of a female majority for the first time in the state's history! Given that Tennessee has never elected a female Governor or a female US Senator and that females still hold only about 20% of the state's judgeships, the news is all the sweeter.

Tennessee has joined the ranks of a small and progressive group: states with a female majority on their highest court, in a profession long dominated by men.

Wisconsin, New York and Washington, D.C., are the only other states that can boast the distinction of having a female majority, and those in the legal community say Tennessee can attribute its progress, in part, to Gov. Phil Bredesen.

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Wow. Go read, NOW!

Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, the last big independent investment banks on Wall Street, will transform themselves into bank holding companies subject to far greater regulation, the Federal Reserve said Sunday night, a move that fundamentally reshapes an era of high finance that defined the modern Gilded Age.

To understate things completely: this changes everything.

A Guide for Politburos, Good Ole Boys, and the Men and Women Who Love Them.

Step 1. If the winner of your democratic primary isn't the winner you'd prefer, all you need do is to claim that the primary outcome is http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080914/NEWS0206/809140400&s=d&page=4#pluckcomments">"incurably uncertain," or otherwise tainted. To do this, you need only invoke the possibility of GOP shenanigans and/or claim that a http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/03/19/obama_lawyer_questions_wisdom.html">revote to correct for alleged shenanigans would be tainted -- no actual evidence required and you wouldn't want those pesky voters making the same mistake again!

Step 2. Meet and

So it's Obiden. I think this sums up everything quite nicely:

Today a gunman opened fire at Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church in Knoxville during a children's play. He got off several shots killing two and critically injuring seven (details have been sketchy despite all the coverage) before being tackled by church members and bound until police arrived only minutes later. According to reports, there were several acts of heroism.

I'm not really sure what to say about this right now but I feel I have to write something. I know several people (mentors, friends, and colleagues) who attend this Church, my SO and I lectured a youth group at this Church, and at the moment we don't who's physically hurt and who isn't. We do know that no children were hurt -- well physically anyway.

Some interesting bits on the horse race....

Tennessee is now among 16 states that have received paperwork for independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader to be placed on their ballots.

Tennessee is one of the best states as far as Independents and/or third parties making it onto the ballot goes. It's a model that I would love to see other states implement.

Tennessee law requires the signatures of 275 registered voters to qualify. The Nader/Gonzalez campaign submitted 584 signatures.

Given how the primaries went down, it should be interesting to see what, if any, impact Nader has in Tennessee and elsewhere.

These two were seized and sold immediately. Otherwise, same drill as before.

WASHINGTON, July 25 (Reuters) - U.S. regulators took over two banks on Friday and sold them to Mutual of Omaha Bank, the sixth and seventh bank failures this year as financial institutions struggle with a housing bust and credit crunch.

Two weeks after the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp seized IndyMac Bancorp Inc (IDMC.PK: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said it closed First National Bank of Nevada and First Heritage Bank NA of California.

First National had total assets of $3.4 billion and $3 billion in deposits while First Heritage had assets of $254 million and $233 million in deposits, regulators said.

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If you're looking for new and exciting reasons to "get over it," Michael Kinsley’s recent piece in TIME is not to be missed.

Aside from the standard arguments and moans --and he deploys plenty-- Kinsley offers up a few "gems" that are worthy of both excerpt and comment. In the midst of a muddled plea that defies my best attempts at summarization, he informs democrats, particularly Hillary Democrats, of the steps that must be taken in order to guarantee a better America:

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According to Marc Ambinder, Obama's toying with giving his nomination speech at Invesco Field has moved from speculation to reality. The reason? Pretty pictures.

Showmanship and pretty pictures aside, what message does it send that Obama won't be accepting the nomination in the same room with the people that nominated him? You know, surrounded by real democrats, hardworking delegates even, and at the actual democratic convention...

With apologies to Eliphalet Oram Lyte:

Poll after poll tells us the country wants democrats to be in charge and when asked if this is a democratic year we've seen pundits and party leaders alike do their best impression of a Magic 8-Ball -- at times even shaking and turning blue with exasperation before telling us that, "[all] signs point to yes." But despite the bluster, Senator Obama is lagging behind the much vaunted and highly praised "generic" democrat.

So why is it that Senator Obama is performing below expectations? Why hasn't he opened up a much larger lead in most tracking polls?

There's a good reason for the recent Obamabot psyops, pundit declarations, general wailing and at times cajoling Clinton supporters have been subjected to since her recent Indiana victory was spun into a loss: Clinton still has a very good chance of securing the nomination.

What's more, the next few days are absolutely critical for her and her supporters. The end is only here if we allow the latest round to depress morale and turnout for the upcoming WV and KY primaries.

Jay Cost at RCP lays out why Clinton's down but not out. First some numbers and demographics:

Two things are holding me back: West Virginia and Kentucky.

--SNIP--

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