Breaking: Tiger Woods to take 'indefinite' leave from golf

By GottaLaff

E-mail alert from the L.A. Times:

Tiger Woods to take 'indefinite' leave from golf

Tiger Woods is taking an indefinite leave from professional golf to work on saving his family, using the word "infidelity" for the first time in a statement posted on his Web site.

Woods says he is aware of the disappointment that "my infidelity" has caused to his wife and children. He says he might not be able to repair the damage, but he wants to try.

He did not disclose Friday evening how long of a break he would take from the PGA Tour. He again asked for privacy, saying his family would need a "safe haven" to try to heal.

More soon at: http://www.latimes.com

If he wanted privacy, he might have thought the better of sending revealing text messages and voice mails to his extramarital lovers.

BREAKING: Dems have FINAL deal to drop public option

By GottaLaff

UPDATE: PER KEITH, HARRY REID SAYS THEY HAVE A FINAL DEAL. SEE DETAILS BELOW, although none of these have been confirmed yet. (Please note, blog title edited to reflect this update)

Keith Olbermann just announced that Democratic Senators are saying they've reached a tentative deal to drop the public option.

The new darling of the debate is the Medicare buy-in proposal for those 55 and over.

UPDATE (liveblogging Keith):
Stupak (Nelson's was already given the thumbs down) Amendment wouldn't be part of a Senate plan, would never make it to Obama's desk.

Melissa Harris Lacewell's response:

(click to enlarge)

UPDATE, via Keith:

AP reporting that Medicare would be open to 55-year-olds and up, and it will be in the final bill.

And here is my e-mail alert from the L.A. Times:

Senators strike tentative deal to drop public option for health insurance

Democratic senators say they have a tentative deal to drop a government-run insurance option from healthcare legislation.

But liberals and moderates have been discussing an alternative, including a private insurance arrangement to be supervised by the federal agency that oversees the system through which lawmakers purchase coverage.

Additionally, talks centered on opening up Medicare to uninsured Americans beginning at age 55, a significant expansion of the large government health care program that currently serves the over-65 population.

UPDATE, per Keith:

Harry Reid says, "More choice for consumers, more competition for insurance companies."

Via Firedoglake (please go to their site for details) (h/t: smassing ):

For starters, the Medicaid expansion has completely been dropped, even though it would have been a big money saver for the government [...]

Now we are getting reports that the Medicare buy-in is not really a buy-in. . . or really Medicare. Senators are looking at restricting the Medicare buy-in so completely that it will be an option for almost no one. It will likely only be for a very tiny segment of poor and very unhealthy 55-64 year-olds [...]

Adding insult to injury, the “Medicare” this tiny fraction of people could buy in to might end up not even really being Medicare:

[Kent] Conrad said that he’d propose having the Medicare buy-in be treated as “a separate pool” that could have negotiated rates, rather than those set by the existing Medicare program. [...]

This very expensive non-Medicare that almost no one could buy in to might only be a temporary stopgap for just three years if a handful of conservatives get their way

Everything is still in flux, but this is not making many people happy. Understatement.

BREAKING NEWS: Troops to start leaving Afghanistan ‘well before’ end of Obama's term, official tells AP

By GottaLaff

UPDATE: Not so fast...? (h/t: Plutoniumpage) Every network is reporting this, but:

President Obama will not announce a three year time frame for withdrawing U.S. Troops from Afghanistan, despite a CNN report to the contrary.

"That's wrong. The time frame of 3 years is nowhere in the speech," White House spokesman Tommy Vietor told The Cable. He added that Gibbs' statement was accurate but did not elaborate.

Screen shot of MSNBC banner:

Waiting for more, which may not be available until President Obama's speech. I'll update if and when I find more.

Breaking news! It might rain in Simi Valley!

By GottaLaff

Before I start digging for real stories, I have to share one of the most ludicrous experiences I've had in awhile. I was driving a couple of my students home yesterday when we spotted two sizable ABC news vans sporting those giant, wedge-shaped antennae on their roofs.

The boys got all frothed up, I was curious, and allowed my nose for "real news" to propel us out of our way and over to the vans. I was secretly hoping to have something of worth to post, and the boys were up for some good fodder for text messages.

We drove up and I flagged down one of the techies. The big news story? The reason not one, but two vans with outsized antennae were stationed in a mall parking lot at 5:30 p.m. on a Wednesday afternoon? The weather.

The weather.

FYI, at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday afternoon, it was sunny with a few clouds.

They were waiting for rain. No, I'm not kidding. The techie told me that with a straight face. I thought he was kidding, so I pressed him. He was a sweet guy who insisted that they were, indeed, there to report rain. Rain that wasn't due for at least 5 hours or so. "I wouldn't lie about this," he said, adding, "I like the way you approached me. It's important to be honest." He smiled broadly and we shook hands through the car window.

Two vans, costing the station money and time, were anticipating... waiting... so that they, ABC News, could report that first drop. Breaking News! It's winter in Simi Valley!

It is now nearly 9 a.m. It still hasn't rained.

Shallow Thoughts: Breaking news edition

By GottaLaff

Today's Shallow Thought:

Some time within the last couple of months, the cable news [sic] stations began repeating the attention-grabbing "Breaking News!" graphic long after the "Breaking News!" ceased breaking.

And I keep getting sucked in.

That was today's Shallow Thought. Thank you for wading in.