The McCain campaign will announce his choice for Vice President via airplane banner that the candidate plans to fly himself.  The flight plan will take the "Straight Talk Bi-Plane" from Hawaii to Puerto Rico.

Refusing to be outdone by the Obama campaign and their plans to announce via Instant Message, Senator McCain stands to, "exemplify his bold leadership by doing what no other candidate has ever done before," said a spokesman.

In a stunning new development, there have not been breaking news stories on the daily kos for over 5 hours now.

Mississippi Highway Patrol spokesperson Ben Williams said Freeman and a female passenger were traveling eastbound on Mississippi Highway 32 in Tallahatchie County when his vehicle went off the edge of the road.  Freeman overcorrected, flipping his 1997 Nissan Maxima several times before coming to a rest.

Emergency crews extracted Freeman and his passenger from their vehicle using the jaws of life.  According to Williams, they were both airlifted to the Regional Medical Center in Memphis, where Freeman was listed in serious condition Monday morning.

http://www.wmctv.com/...

Say a prayer, or whatever you may do to help things work out.

A great man, and a great actor. He MUST pull through. Even at 71 its too soon for this great man.

CNN is firing on all blasters with this story:
McCain camp rips Obama for cutting troop visit

Sen. John McCain's campaign Saturday lashed out at Sen. Barack Obama for canceling a visit to a U.S. military base in Germany on Thursday. Obama failed to fulfill a "responsibility to the men and women who serve this country," a McCain campaign spokesman said

Youth Today, the publication that scooped ABC News and broke the story in December about sketchy grant-making at the Department of Justice's Juvenile Justice office, reports on an advanced copy of J. Robert Flores’ congressional testimony tomorrow in which he attributes criticism to those "biased against the wealthy" and against the Bush administration in general.

Youth Today, a D.C.-based national trade publication for the youth work field, received advanced copy of Flores’ testimony, to be delivered June 19 at 9:30 a.m. before the U.S. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, chaired by Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.).

More after the jump.

This is going to be quick because I may need to run to the basement anytime and I am not sure how the net connection is going to be.

Omaha has at least two tornadoes on the ground and a massive storm lingering over the city.

UPDATE:  If you are in the area and are trained for first aid etc.  The camp in Little Sioux got hit HARD and they are calling for volunteers to help clear the entrances and exits as they are having trouble getting emergency vehicles in.

At least four dead at the scout camp and over 40 injured are known and they REALLY need help in rescue as the camp covers over 1800 acres.

Moorehead IA also has been hit, both Little Sioux and Moorehead are tiny towns that FEMA should by rights be helping..

The local NBC affiliate had a storm chaser out in this and their car got hit directly live on air.

UPDATE:  Looks like there is a tornado on the ground near Offutt AFB moving NE at 40MPH

Going to call the Ex and make damn sure that she is in a bunker with the baby....

Great, just fucking god damn great, her apartment does NOT have a bunker.

Tonight, with the surge of important information coming from the primaries and the Clinton and Obama campaigns, I predict a plethora of "Breaking" diaries.

Please don't.

California DNC Member Crystal Strait endorses Obama
Press Release
Today, Young Democrats of America Board Member and Former California Young Democrats President Crystal Strait pledged to vote for Barack Obama for president, citing Barack's ability to bring young people into the political process:

   While representing the Young Democrats of America at the DNC, my number one priority is to ensure that young people are fully represented at the polls and in the Party. Barack Obama has shown a real commitment to young voters in his campaign and in response young people have overwhelmingly voted and caucused for Obama in these primary contests. We know that if a young person votes three times in a row for a Party, they become a Party voter for life. We know that because of high youth turnout in 2004 and 2006, 2008 is the third and critical election for young voters. And that's why I know I want to pledge my delegate vote to Barack Obama.

Strait is the 276th superdelegate to endorse Obama. Barack is now 155 delegates away from securing the Democratic nomination.

Sorry for the short diary, but there isn't much to say about it. Congressman  Vito Fossella was arrested for Drunk Driving. Details below.

Hat tip to my fellow Daily Gotham writer, Bouldin:

This isn't much of a diary, really. CNN, Fox News, and the Associated Press are all reporting that Deborah Jeane Palfrey, known as the "DC Madam" in the national media, has been found dead in Florida in an apparent suicide. Palfrey had been awaiting sentencing after being convicted in April of Federal racketeering and money laundering charges.

Although I certainly don't mean to condone prostitution, Palfrey's death sounds like a terrible end and my deepest sympathies go out to her family. Rather than condemning those in the prostitution industry for being amoral and cash-driven individuals, I think we need to ask ourselves more about the cultural and economic conditions that give rise to prostitution in first place. There would not be a market for these sorts of services if people didn't feel the need to turn to them for sexual gratification.

I don't really have anything else to say.

From the The Chicago Sun-Times and Crain's Chicago Business News

Chicago congressman Dan Lipinski is backing U.S. Sen. Barack Obama's presidential bid.

Lipinski had been one of the two remaining holdouts among Democratic superdelegates in Illinois' congressional delegation. He says he's endorsed Obama because of the candidate's emphasis on overcoming partisanship and uniting the country.

It may not be entirely unexpected; it's also not yet included in Politico's Superdelegate Count either.

We all know the suspicious nature of the Bushies' relationship with the Saudi Royal Family, and now word is leaking out about what exactly Vice President Cheney and King Abdullah spoke about when they met today.

Source: ReallySeriousNews.com

Vice President Dick Cheney visited Saudi Arabia on Friday, holding talks with King Abdullah as the two brainstormed new, creative ways to fuck over the American people.

“I’ve been proud to call King Abdullah a friend for many years, and he and his family have been vital partners in the White House’s ongoing mission to make life as difficult and treacherous as possible for American citizens. This meeting today serves to reaffirm our partnership, and I look forward to working together to finding the best ways to cause as much hardship as possible to the lives of the average American.”

http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/...

Looks like the Michigan Primary will not happen.

Cross-posted from my blog.

Forget an Obama aide calling Hillary Clinton a monster.  As Kos reported, according to the Times Online, a Clinton aide has called the 27 states that Obama has won "boutique" and "latte-sipping."

"One Clinton aide yesterday derided Mr Obama’s victories in ’boutique’ caucus states rather than the hardscrabble terrain of the rustbelt, saying: ‘Obama has won the small caucus states with the latte-sipping crowd. They don’t need a president, they need a feeling.’"

Typical. So frickin' typical. Hillary always has two sets of rules: one that applies to her and one for her opponents.

After lecturing Barack Obama about denouncing and rejecting at the debate last night (Barack actually used the more appropriate term by the way) she changes her tune when she finds herself in a similar position less than 24 hours later.

She claimed at the debate that she rejected an endorsement in her New York run even though it could have been at her own peril.  I don't know about that but that's sure not what she did today.  Quotes after the fold.

Yeah, just rec it up so we can have four, yes FOUR, "BREAKING" diaries on the rec list.

I've resigned myself to the fact that mentioning Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton in one context or another will vault a diary to the recommended list faster than Bill in Portland ME can ask for Nebraska Senate candidate Scott Kleeb to appear in less clothing.

But could we at least keep the use of the word BREAKING to some newsworthy story - not one where some obscure state official has come out and endorsed your candidate.

It's nice information, but it isn't going to help me with the skyrocketing mortgage on my house. I'm sure it's important to you, but it isn't going to keep my nephew from having to do his third tour in Iraq. The endorsement might actually mean something in the home state of the individual, but it's not going to keep the seas from flooding my 7th floor condo in twenty years.

A few words before I write this:  THANK YOU WISCONSIN AND HAWAII!!!!

Now on to the news...forgive me if this has been posted already- I didn't see it and thought it was imporant to share.

NYC Mayor Bloomberg announced he believes there was fraud in the NYC vote tallies, in which Obama got **zero** votes in 80 districts (and counting).  The city tried to explain this away as simple human error, but pleeeeeeeeease! Obama gets zero votes in a Harlem district and no one notices???  No one suspects anything?  Not once or twice, but 80 times?!

Bloomberg: "If you want to call it significant undercounting, I guess that's a euphemism for fraud".  You tell 'em, Bloomberg!  This is BS.  More.....