Washington, DC

There were 116 total delegates at stake in the Republican presidential race tonight, and John McCain has apparently won all of them—terrific news for a candidate who began the day about 400 delegates shy of the magic number needed to clinch the nomination.

And two of his primary wins were by convincing margins—in Maryland, where he led Mike Huckabee by a two-to-one margin, and in the District of Columbia, where he was the overwhelming choice of the approximately 4,000 voters who took Republican ballots.

And now the bad news: McCain got a serious scare in Virginia, finally pulling out a high single-digit victory after trailing Huckabee in the early returns. McCain had been the runaway leader—by about 30 points—in polls taken just last week in Virginia.  read more »

The losing streak has hit eight for Hillary Clinton, but that's hardly the worst news to come out of Chesapeake Tuesday for the former first lady.

Nor is the fact that she now trails in most every independent delegate count—even the counts that include the non-binding pledges of superdelegates. And nor, for that matter, is the likelihood that her skid will reach double-digits a week from tonight, when Wisconsin and Hawaii vote.

No, the most troubling development for Hillary Clinton is that—for the first time—Barack Obama has demonstrated an ability to eat significantly into her base of support while retaining his, creating the possibility that the Democratic race is shifting decisively in his favor and that it is no longer a clash between opposing and immovable coalitions.  read more »

ALEXANDRIA, Va.—John McCain just rounded off his victory speech here by cheekily appropriating one of Barack Obama's signature lines.

"I promise you I am fired up and ready to go," he told a cheering crowd.

The Arizona senator's speech seemed to target Obama more than Clinton, in yet another sign of the shifting dynamics of the Democratic race.

At one point he suggested that Obama's candidacy offered "not a promise of hope but a platitude."  read more »

Signs point to a very long night for Hillary Clinton. Polls are still open in Maryland and in the District of Columbia, but they have just closed in Virginia—and news outlets have already declared Barack Obama the winner by a wide margin.

Virginia was Clinton's best chance of scoring an upset victory, or at least keeping the race close enough to declare a moral victory. If she has lost lopsidedly in Virginia, it points to even worse defeats for her in Maryland and D.C.  read more »

Here’s what’s at stake in today's primary contests:

Democrats

Barack Obama is supposed to go three-for-three on the day. Short of engineering an upset victory—which would represent a campaign-changing development—Hillary Clinton’s best hope lies in containing her opponent’s victory margins and keeping the delegate race close, possibly positioning her to declare some kind of moral victory. On the heels of her weekend drubbings—and the news that she is replacing her campaign manager—the risk for Clinton tomorrow is obvious: Three more unspinnably lopsided defeats could create the impression that her campaign is in a tailspin, and that Obama is beginning to pull away.

Maryland:  read more »

OK, it's a rough day for New York society gossip. Park Avenue Peerage is off to India; A Socialite's Life has posted a Thanksgiving message that reminds us of a bad drag queen joke, and we've already visited David Patrick Columbia.

   read more »

A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to  read more »

Need more proof the Manhattan housing market's unique?

While inventory here dropped in the first quarter of 2007, inventory in markets like Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., increased. In the quarter ending March 31 in Manhattan, the inventory of unsold homes on the market was down 0.2 percent from the quarter before, according to appraisal firm Miller Samuel. (It was also down more than 14 percent from the first quarter of 2006.)

In other markets, though, inventory went up--sometimes by a lot--during recent months. The Wall Street Journal reports that inventory in Los Angeles was up 12.8 percent from February through March, and, in the San Francisco Bay Area, it was up 12.2 percent. In fact, the inventories of unsold homes in 18 major metropolitan areas, not including New York, was up 6.5 percent in March from a month earlier.

- Tom Acitelli

Two New York critics of the taxpayer-subsidized Yankee Stadium have been invited by Congressman (and presidential hopeful) Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, to appear before a House subcommittee on Thursday in Washington, D.C. The panel will hear testimony from Save Our Parks member Joyce Hogi and Village Voice writer Neil deMause. It's an oversight hearing, which means there is no pending legislation.

The hearing is called: "Build It and They Will Come: Do Tax Payer-Financed Sports Stadiums, Convention Centers and Hotels Deliver as Promised for America's Cities?"

Maybe not the catchiest campaign slogan, but Mr. Kucinich may end up picking up a few votes in the Bronx nonetheless.

The full media advisory is after the jump.  read more »

- Matthew Schuerman

10 a.m. Sen. Hillary Clinton attends a HELP Committee Hearing into 9/11 health effects in Washington, D.C.

11:30 a.m. The state's Committee on Corporations, Authorities and Commissions will hold a public hearing on cable franchise agreements at the State Education Building, 80 Washington Avenue, in Albany.  read more »

5:30 a.m. Buses will be departing from the Staten Island Mall, the Brooklyn Museum and the Jamaica LIRR stop to reach Washington, D.C. by 11 a.m. to participate in the Climate Crisis Action Day rally. Some members of Congress will speak with constituents about global warming.

9:30 a.m. Sen. Hillary Clinton attends an Armed Services Committee Hearing to receive testimony on the U.S. Air Force in review of the Defense Authorization Request for fiscal year 2008 and the future years Defense Program in Washington, D.C.  read more »

9:30 a.m. The Zoning and Franchises subcommittee, chaired by Tony Avella, will discuss 38 Carroll Street in Brooklyn and West 145th Street and Powell J. Boulevard rezoning in Manhattan at City Hall.

Attendees at a raucous event organized by Irish advocates of immigration reform in Washington DC yesterday were treated to the unusual sight of Senator Charles Schumer leading a chant closely identified with the Irish Republican Army.

"Tiocfaidh Ar La!" Mr. Schumer bellowed several times from the stage at the Washington Court Hotel, his right hand 'conducting' the crowd to join in. The Gaelic slogan (pronounced "Chucky Are Law") translates as "Our Day Will Come". Often seen adorning gable walls in nationalist areas of Belfast during the darkest days of Northern Ireland's Troubles, it became so associated with the IRA that it entered popular slang - a "Chuck" or "Chucky" was a person known to support the guerilla group's armed struggle.

Senator Hillary Clinton, like Mr. Schumer, was greeted with thunderous applause when she arrived to speak at the event, organized by the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform. Perhaps wisely, she abjured the more controversial chants. She did, however, gently mock the organizers for presenting her with a 'Legalize the Irish' T-Shirt that, as she held it up before her, revealed itself to be several sizes too big. "I didn't know whether to laugh or cry," Mrs. Clinton said to laughter and applause. "But it doesn't matter because I'm going to be proud to pass it to my husband."

Rep. Joe Crowley was the other member of the New York congressional delegation to address the meeting. Other speakers declaring their support for comprehensive immigration reform included Senator Edward Kennedy, Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-FL), Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) and former Congressman Bruce Morrison (D-CT).

IRA chants aside, the senior New York senator -- a proud winner of the Briscoe Award for Jewish supporters of the American Irish community -- wandered a number of times onto unfamiliar trans-Atlantic cultural terrain. At one point, he mentioned an unnamed "great song" associated with the Glasgow Celtic soccer team. (Which Mr. Schumer pronounced, jarringly, "Glas-gau Kell-tic.")

After a half-second of perplexed silence, the crowd erupted into a Mexican-style 'ole, ole, ole' chorus which was eventually quieted by a slightly uncomfortable Mr. Schumer. He explained that he had intended his words to be taken as a reference to the anthem "You'll Never Walk Alone."

-- Niall Stanage

You know something’s wrong when a work of art appeals solely on a prurient basis.    read more »

"We face a real challenge on health care that we must confront head on. This is exactly the wrong approach."

She's talking about the president's cuts. But -- and this is just a personal guess -- I'm betting certain unions will be looking to draw comparisons here with the health care spending cuts in Eliot Spitzer's proposed budget.  read more »

Hillary's full statement after the jump.

-- Azi Paybarah

Oct. 24, 2006 9:55 p.m. 6 pounds, 13 ounces Pascack Valley Hospital    read more »

Tomorrow, an anti-war rally will be held in Washington, DC, with several members of congress scheduled to attend. Screening Liberally, IAVA, and Focus Features host a screening of The Ground Truth. Rudy Giuliani delivers the keynote address to the New Hampshire Republican Convention in Manchester. Assemblyman Mike Gianaris will be featured at the Stonewall Democratic Club's brunch series at the Brick Cafe in Astoria.

On Sunday, councilmembers Weprin, Gioia, and Gennaro will announce legislation and call for the end of self-certification for construction projects on the steps of City Hall.

At 12:30, Planned Parenthood of Nassau County Action Fund will join others in endorsing Democrat Craig Johnson for state Senate, at Harbor Links Golf Course Club House in Port Washington.

Also on Sunday, at 3 p.m., Congresswoman Yvette Clarke will announce her endorsement of Dr. Mathieu Eugene for the 40th City Council District, on the steps of City Hall. [added]

On Monday, Geraldine Ferraro will receive a commemorative rose at Fordham Law School to benefit the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation, to advance research and treatment of the disease that she survived.

NPR will have an exclusive interview with President Bush.

Hillary Clinton will attend the dedication ceremony for The Center for the Intrepid- a state-of-the-art physical rehabilitation center and two new 21-room residences for hospitalized soldiers' families.

The Siena College Research Institute will release the results of its January poll of registered voters.

—Nicole Brydson

New York tops Washington, D.C., survey says! Well, at least among very rich foreign investors and their preference to invest in commercial real estate here.

The survey was conducted by the Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate, based in--of all places--Madison, Wis.

L.A., San Francisco and Seattle round out the top-five.

The full release after the jump.  read more »

- John Koblin

• Developer Herb Miller listed his Washington, D.C., home last spring for $28 million--the highest asking price in our nation's fair capital--and now he's sold the place. Is that as good as the Washingtonians can do? Manhattan can beat $28 million with its left arm tied behind its back. [WSJ]
• London is entirely another story. In hip neighborhoods like Knightsbridge, 77-square-foot storage rooms are $335,000 apartments. There's no electricity, which would cost another $59,000--bringing price per square foot to $5,116.88. [AP via Drudge]
• The opulent real estate fans at Luxist admire the Upper East Side's Woolworth Mansion [above], on the market with Sotheby's for $23.45 million. They advise that prospective buyers "look up while eating in the dining room." [Lux]
• Staring at photographs of "every ad in Times Square all on one page" proves that even Renzo Piano's NYT headquarters can't save the neighborhood from eternal damnation. [Ironic Sans, via Gothamist]
- Max Abelson
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Turn on the television today and you see conservative blacks talking about dealing with the problems in their community. Maryland's Lt. Gov., Republican Michael Steele, talks about 130 kids aged 13-16 in the Baltimore Detention Center, waiting to go to jail, when they should be waiting to go to school. We can fix this, Steele says, it doesn't have to be this way. He grew up with a single mother making $1.50 an hour in the most segregated city in the world, Washington D.C. His dad was a drunk, died at 36.

Some day I want to turn on the TV and see a panel of progressive Jews talking about the issues in their community. How the entire culture was captured by a nationalist ideology that, deriving its worldview from Israel's problems with its neighbors, promulgated a view of Arabs as degraded bigoted violent people whose lands ought to be occupied. An ideology that caused a lot of suffering. One of them will lean to the mike like Steele and say, We can fix this, we don't have to be this way...

... for the Dems in 2008. Should we really be that surprised?

Full release after the jump.  read more »

- Matthew Schuerman

In some ways, the Yards, a $2 billion, 6-million-square foot development in southeastern Washington, D.C., sounds a lot like the all-too-familiar Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn. Each is being undertaken by a branch of the same company, Forest City Enterprises, but in the District of Columbia, the Washington Post reports,

Its plans call for preserving the historic buildings and turning a boilermaker shop into a retail area, creating apartments from a former carpentry building and converting an old gun mount factory into condominiums.

(Via NoLandGrab.)

- Matthew Schuerman

Two national Washington, D.C.-based organizations, the National Trust for Historic Preservation and Scenic America, will announce on Tuesday that they are joining BrooklynSpeaks.Net in its opposition of Atlantic Yards. - Matthew Schuerman

Joke’s on You   To the Editor:    read more »

Joke’s on You   To the Editor:    read more »

Joke’s on You

To the Editor:  read more »

Joke’s on You   To the Editor:    read more »

As anyone under the age of 52 can attest, the era of e-mail is over.  read more »

Mark Green has a new book entitled Losing Our Democracy: How Bush, the Far Right and Big Business Are Betraying Americans For Power and Profit. And even if Mark doesn't necessarily have John Kerry's endorsement in his campaign for attorney general, his book does.

However, according to Sourcebooks, Inc., his publisher:

This is not, however, just another Bush-bashing book, this is a call-to-arms to all the people in America who cherish our freedom and who are sick and tired of seeing rich, born-again, politicians line their pockets so that special interests can have whatever they want at the America people's expense. Subjects include voter suppression, religious, corporate, and legislative tyranny, so-called tort reform, the problem of purchased politicians and the far right's Stone-Age approach to race and civil rights.

It seems Mark will be taking his book campaign to the streets, starting tomorrow with a stop at the Barnes & Noble on 86th and Broadway, and then next week in Washington, DC, at the Politics and Prose bookstore.  read more »

—Nicole Brydson

America’s young drivers are a problem as old as the Christmas gift of a new La Salle given to  read more »

America’s young drivers are a problem as old as the Christmas gift of a new La Salle given to an e  read more »

The Council on Foreign Relations will hold a conversation with Hoshyar Zebari, Iraq's minister of foreign affairs.

John Jay College holds a forum on felon disenfranchisement.

Ted Kennedy, joined by his dog, Splash, read from "My Senator and Me: A Dog's Eye View of Washington, D.C." at P.S. 11.

Keith Wright and others hold a press conference urging JP Morgan Chase to keep local branches open on West 125th Street.

Members of the black, Hispanic, Puerto Rican and Asian Legislative caucus will urge the state Senate to override George Pataki's veto of legislation allowing day care providers to unionize at the UFT headquarters.

—Nicole Brydson

With the onset of the hot, gummy months in Washington, D.C., Atlantic staffers are apparently still adjusting to their new home. So on May 31, the magazine's human-resources department sent out a post-Memorial Day memo to remind everyone of the company's "neat and professional" dress code.

"Our policy is intentionally vague and does not specifically exclude certain articles of clothing or types of shoes," Susan Lavigne, Atlantic director of benefits and compensation wrote. Lavigne then went on to specifically exclude certain articles of clothing and types of shoes: "Flip-flops, crop tops, tank tops, spaghetti-strap tops, and shorts (to name a few) are not appropriate." The full memo follows below: --Gabriel Sherman  read more »

Two Presidents Do Not Make a Right

To the Editor:  read more »

Here's this years wall-to-wall, flood-the-zone Mets' Costume Gala coverage!

And here's everyone talking love with Kathy Freston at the Core Club, which costs at least $100K to join. We do so enjoy a private club.

Hey, have you ever been to this weird place called... "Washington, D.C."? We can explain it to you in three stages: the styles of their times, the houseparties of their post-Harvard neo-neo-cons; and the night that George Bush didn't have to care that he was being made fun of because— what the fuck does he care? His approval rating is in the crapper!

Seriously, If that guy spent his time worrying about what you thought about him, he'd never have time to kill all those children.

The Affect Effect

To the Editor:  read more »

The Affect Effect   To the Editor:    read more »

I don't have a really good explanation for this, but it's striking that New York City hasn't seen one of the massive immigration demonstrations that have swept Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and other cities.

People who follow these things say that New York's immigration politics are simply different: More fragnmented, fewer Mexicans, a Hispanic politics dominated by Puerto Ricans, who are citizens.

We'll see if this changes Saturday, when Ruben Diaz, Sr. plans to lead a march across the Brooklyn Bridge. Historically, one analyst points out, the Hispanic church has not engaged in this kind of mass politics; that could be changing too, though.

A good friend just moved to New York from Washington, D.C.  read more »

Instead of another 20,000-word article on foreign policy, the new issue of the Atlantic Monthly includes a lengthy piece on the shelter-lit universe.

Professor Terry Castle--herself an addict--rambles on for about 13 pages. Unfortunately, those Washington D.C. eggheads keep their articles for subscribers only.

So here's what you're missing.

Out of necessity my own decorating style has long been fairly downmarket and bourgeois: your standard Academic-Shabby-Chic-Wood-Floors-
Vaguely-Ethnic-Somewhat-Cluttered-
Bohemian-Edith-Sitwell-Crossed-
With-Pottery-Barn-Squeaky-Dog-Toys-
Everywhere-Eccentric-Anglophile-Lesbian.

While we continue to wrap our heads around that one, try to grab the entire issue off some nerd to read the rest.  read more »

-Michael Calderone

David Lat, the blogger behind the dishy judicial gossip site Underneath Their Robes, is moving to Washington, D.C., to be a writer for Wonkette. Mr. Lat pens the Latin-laced blog under the pseudonym "Article III Groupie" (an homage to the section of the Constitution that established the federal judiciary). In November, in an article by Jeffrey Toobin in The New Yorker, the shoe-loving, diva-esque female narrator was unmasked as the cherubic, cardigan-wearing Filipino-American Mr. Lat, 30, an assistant U.S. attorney in Newark. The blog was immediately placed behind password-protection. "A3G" reemerged publicly on New Year's Eve, however, a day after Mr. Lat sent an email to colleagues informing them that he was leaving to pursue a job in Washington, D.C. Mr. Lat was out of the country—in India—and could not be reached for comment. —Anna Schneider-Mayerson  read more »

On the lips of a graceful speaker, repetitive phrasing can create a strong chorus. Screw it up, however, and your meaning is hopelessly mangled.

To wit, our President learned this lesson in rhtetoric last year, when he accidentally amplified the terror threat facing America:

"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we." (President George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Aug. 5, 2004)

Today in Albany, Jeanine Pirro followed his lead with this interesting take on her tangled campaign launch:  read more »

"I got to tell you, was it my best day? Absolutely not," she said. "Am I better than that? Absolutely not."

Sigh!

The New York Times keeps the staff updated on Judith Miller:

***

August 17, 2005

Update on Judy Miller

A visit with Judy last night found her in good spirits and looking pretty good, if a bit ethereal. What she most wanted was to thank you all for the wonderful mail you've been sending!

It's been her lifeline. After long and monotonous days, guards come after "lock-down" and bring her the cards and letters. Every time, there are delightful and moving surprises that keep her going through the long night on the unforgiving mattress pad and looking forward to the next evening.

Again, she feels very ill-mannered for not responding, but the circumstances do not allow it. Please know that she appreciates and is savoring every tidbit! (And keep it coming.)

Here is information on how to contact Judy:

Attn: Judith Miller Inmate Number 45570083 Alexandria Detention Center 2001 Mill Road Alexandria, Virginia 22314

If you are interested in sending books to Judy, please send your donation to the following address:  read more »

Barbara Brincefield Cahill, Gordon and Reindel Suite # 9501890 K Street, N. W.Washington, D.C. 20006

Please send new paperbacks only.

Having enchanted a growing list of celebrities and non-celebrities—and having shrugged off the  read more »

The Mexican Cultural Institute has been making the rounds of various community boards this summer, seeking approval for a massive, Manhattan-wide temporary art installation, which will project different Mexican-themed art pieces on notable buildings throughout the city sometime in October.

The project is an outgrowth of the award-winning ABCDF: Diccionario Grafico de la Ciudad de Mexico art book/CD-ROM that came out a couple of years ago, and several art shows held in Mexico City, Washington, D.C., and Paris.

While the folks in charge don't want to talk about it until they've gotten all the necessary approvals from the city, The Real Estate wants to give you a sneak peek at this remarkable project.

Here you see a rendering of the Maritime Hotel, at Ninth Avenue and 16th Street, and, above, 2 Columbus Circle (yep, the same building that the L.P.C. seems intent on "modernizing" into a generic eyesore).  read more »

- Matthew Grace

The first real test of Virginia's post-flap fund-raising ability comes Wednesday night at B. Smith's at Union Station in Washington, D.C., where former Clinton Labor Secretary Alexis Herman and former Gore campaign manager Donna Brazile host a $250-a-head fund-raiser for Fields.

Special Guest: Charlie Rangel.  read more »

No offense to those folks, but The Politicker will save on train fare and wait for Paul Mooney.

The Washingtonienne, by Jessica Cutler. Hyperion, 304 pages, $24.98"Sex: in America, an obsession.  read more »

"It's not about Bolivian politics," said Rachel Boynton sternly, speaking of her directorial debut,  read more »

The secession meme is back, courtesy, we suspect, of the president they're inaugurating today down in Washington D.C.

The idea takes various forms: that New York City secede from the state, or from the nation. Pro-slavery types pushed it in 1861; the Mailer-Breslin campaign embraced it in 1969. City Councilman Peter Vallone has been talking about it for a while, and is at it again. This summer, New York Magazine played around with it last summer (Defense? Mitchell Moss suggests we rent the Israeli Army.) and the doubly alternative New York Press has recently turned it into a deranged crusade.

But why dance around the point? We've already seceded.

How much attention are you paying to the inaugural festivities? Two New Yorkers, Rudy and George, are down in Washington with their aides. But we've begun to suspect that they're mostly practicing their accents, hoping to fit in.

Meanwhile, in the spirit of, say, an exiled monarchy, we've set up our own West Wing on the Hudson. Two Democrats of unequaled national stature, Spitzer and Hillary Clinton, occupy statewide office, and Mrs. Clinton is married to a third. Race for Attorney General looking a bit messy? Toss in a Kennedy. Meanwhile, our parochial little mayor's race -- which does not include a serious and genuine Republican candidate -- is absorbing local attention.

Some take the logic of turning inward one step further. New York has little to lose from a seriously conservative presidency, goes an argument we've heard more than once. Liberals can sip their wine and complain about the tax cuts while they count their money, as a Times op-ed suggests today. In the meantime, the consequences of sustained conservative control of Washington are much more likely to be felt in Mississippi than in New York. That's where most of the soldiers come from. That's where they send the taxes they've been cutting. And that's where they might outlaw abortion if Roe were overturned.  read more »

So we won't be down in Washington today. We were asked "Why go?" by our editor and couldn't think of a good reason.

One of the puzzlements of post-9/11 politics is that terrorism is a hot issue in the suburbs but not in the city. Before the election, for example, New Jersey voters told any reporter who'd listen, like noted Jersey expert Terry Golway, and even me, that this was because they were being afraid of being blown up, and that they'd vote for Bush as a result. The Bush campaign ran ad after ad reminding voters of 9/11.

Terror was a dominant issue in national politics this year, but has no place in city politics. They're obsessed in the red states. Here, we never talk about it. A friend notes that part of Mike Bloomberg's charm is how little he talks about it. The only time terror dominated the local conversation was when the Republicans were in town. It's not an issue here, where we're really at risk from nuclear terror. That's despite the fact that some experts, like Harvard's Matthew Bunn, argue that a nuclear attack is "likely enough that it significantly reduces the life expectancy of everyone who lives and works in downtown Washington D.C. or New York."

That may be because the mayor's rivals see him and Ray Kelly as politically invulnerable on this issue because they're doing a good job. And catching terrorists involves lots of sneaking around, apparently, so maybe they can't talk about that.

But that doesn't mean there's no policy to argue. This article in the latest edition of City Journal (no, not the one -- how many of these has Heather MacDonald written? -- about how we need more racial profiling; nor any of the four by a man named Theodore Dalrymple, though you see why they enjoy printing his byline) opens up a huge, scary front.

Peter Huber and Mark Mills say the problem is that the national grid that powers the city and everything else is both highly concentrated in a relatively small number of big power plants and, consequently, based on widely scattered sources. There's not much local backup, as we learned last August.

They cite a 2002 National Academy of Sciences report, which found that "a coordinated atack on a selected set of key points...could result in a long-term, multistate blackout. While power might be resotred in parts of teh region within a matter of days or weeks, acute shortages could mandate rolling blackouts for as long as several years."  read more »

Years? Wouldn't that be bad for business? Um, when we get a break from talking about the Olympics, shouldn't this be an issue? Somebody get Dan Doctoroff on his tri-band cellphone!

Huber and Mills say the solution is diesel generators, and they want to make them easier to site. I'd be interested in their response to the 7 World Trade problem, which is that diesel tanks are themselves explosive. As we headline in our own diesel-tank-madness story today, Kaboom!

Ken Loach's Sweet Sixteen , from a screenplay by Paul Laverty, could be disparagingly described as a  read more »