The silliest stories of 2010

Where to begin?

The Quran burning. After every media person in America dumped on Florida pastor Terry Jones for being a dangerous clown, and after two Quran-loving protesters died in Afghanistan, Jones didn't deliver on his threat to burn a Quran on the anniversary of 9/11. Yet a Nexis database search on "Terry Jones" and "Quran" shows the non-event generated more than 2,900 articles.

Any story about Sarah Palin. She's not Alaska's governor anymore. She's not a declared candidate. She is a genius at getting on cable TV.

Palin understands the trigger words - for instance, when she told supporters in April, "don't retreat, reload" - that can turn a Facebook post into a three-day, 24-hour debate. If she tweets, it's national news. When it became apparent her daughter Bristol couldn't dance, "Dancing with the Stars" became a news story.

If the right person dishes Palin - be it Oprah, Joy Behar, Andrew Sullivan or any other lib whom you'd expect to sneer at Palin - somehow that's news, too.

Few expect Palin to run for president. But all she has to do is tease the press with the possibility that she might run in 2012, and she is rewarded with priceless book-promoting publicity. If she does run, only amateurs think she has a snowball's chance in Florida of winning the GOP nod. But it seems TV news producers - and Palin haters eager for another fix - just can't help themselves. It's like an addiction.

The incestuous relationship between "The View" and Fox News' Bill O'Reilly. "The View" ladies regularly scold O'Reilly; he airs video of what they said. Sometimes he invites a she-critic on his show; they bicker, then make nice. Both sides manage to come across as preachy, insincere and smarmy.

Larry King's retirement. How can you tell?

Note to CNN execs: King's ratings were in the toilet before he announced in June he was retiring. So why did you devote hours of air time covering the exit of a talk show host - whom Americans stopped watching because he was boring - surrounded by the usual sycophants who made the show so irritating? Why treat his retirement as if it were (a) important and (b) tragic? CNN's indulgent send-off to King wasn't news. It was self-promotion, and wrong-headed self-promotion at that. Any ratings gain from the last night is more than offset by the news network's nosedive in the credibility department.

Delaware Tea Party candidate Christine O'Donnell. She never had a chance to win Veep Joe Biden's former Senate seat. But national news outlets were desperate for any hook to justify their excessive post-primary coverage of the gaffe-prone "I am not a witch" Republican, so they tried to make it look as if O'Donnell had a shot. When she was "just 10 points behind" Democrat Chris Coons in the polls, National Public Radio reported a "surge" of voter support, with O'Donnell closing the gap.

Glenn Beck's "Restoring Honor" rally and Comedy Central's counter-rally. Attendees from both sides told TV news crews that they showed up to prove they're not crackpots or extremists. Didn't work.

Stories about Twitter. Anything over 140 characters is too long.

TSA pat downs. Or, as I like to call them, freedom fondles. (Just kidding.)

Start with an absurd premise that TSA screeners want to get up close and personal with your average airline passenger.

Then add the new national desire of partisans to paint themselves as victims. You just knew some camera-phone-toting wannabe-oppressed person would pick a fight and start talking up his "junk." Presto: The sound bite that made Monica Lewinsky jokes seem quaint.

Also predictably, some guy on the Internet urged the flying public to refuse body scans, which would subject them to time-consuming pat downs and thereby jam security lines on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. He proclaimed his stunt "National Opt Out Day." Huge story that never happened. The flying public opted for security.

The Obama comeback. I'm not saying it won't happen; it well may. But can't the pundits who wrote about the Dems' shellacking a month ago at least wait until the next Congress convenes before they declare President Obama this year's political winner? Can't the chattering class wait until major polls show that Obama's approval rating is above 50 percent? Are we boardwalk fortune-tellers, or can we wait for something to happen, or at least appear likely to happen?

You know the answer, and it's not pretty.

E-mail Debra J. Saunders at dsaunders@sfchronicle.com. You can catch her "Token Conservative" blog at sfgate.com/blogs/debra-saunders.

This article appeared on page G - 3 of the San Francisco Chronicle

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UC regents brace for more bad news on budget

"I think the emphasis is much more on making cuts," said Blum, who chaired the board until recently. "I think the last thing we want to do is touch student fees, but that depends on what they do to us."

Blum said most of the newly approved 8 percent tuition hike will be used to cover the system's massive pension bill - about $175 million for this year alone.

Blum said he had spoken to his friend Jerry Brown recently, but the governor-elect didn't tip his hand about what he'll be announcing in the coming weeks to deal with the state's $28 billion deficit.

The big question for UC is whether the state will, as promised, restore the $450 million it stripped from this year's budget.

As for what options UC has if Sacramento pulls the financial rug?

"Try to run the place more efficiently," Blum said.

Judged: Nobody wants to talk about it, but privately, colleagues of U.S. District Judge James Ware express some uneasiness over his promotion to be the court's chief judge in San Francisco next month - not because of any misconduct on the bench, but because he once lied about his past.

In 1997, Ware made headlines when he asked President Bill Clinton to withdraw his nomination to the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco because Ware stated in interviews, as well as during speaking appearances, that a group of white teenagers had chased down and killed his teenage brother at the height of the civil rights movement. Ware is African American.

As it turned out, 13-year-old Virgil Lamar Ware was shot and killed in Birmingham, Ala., on Sept. 15, 1963 - but he was the brother of another James Ware, not the judge.

"It was a mistake, and I don't choose to revisit it," Ware told us the other day.

"I'm hoping people will judge me on my performance as chief judge, as they have on my performance as a district judge."

By virtue of his age and seniority, Ware is scheduled to take over Jan. 1 for retiring Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker, who grabbed headlines in August when he struck down California's voter-approved ban on same-sex marriages.

Some colleagues privately say Ware's big fib damages the court's reputation, and the issue is only accentuated by his pending promotion.

"Of course we are sensitive to that, but there isn't anything that can be done about it," said one fellow judge, who asked not to be named in the interest of court harmony. "It's up to him, and no one talks about it."

Ticket tax: The state is adding another $3 charge to parking fines.

For Oakland, that means starting Jan. 3 the average fine for overstaying a meter will go up to $58.

"It's depressing, but we have no choice," Oakland City Councilwoman Pat Kernighan said. "The state already takes $10 for every ticket."

The hike was part of the latest budget passed by state lawmakers. It's up to cities whether to pass on the extra charge to drivers who receive parking fines.

"If we don't pay, then we have to come up with something like $900,000 a year, which would pay for about five cops," Kernighan said.

San Francisco, on the other hand, has decided not to hike ticket prices, opting instead to just pay the fee.

"Over the years we've been raising fines and were trying our best to avoid raising them again," said Metropolitan Transportation spokesman Paul Rose.

But then, S.F. tickets are already $65.

And finally: Word that the new Clipper Card allows some passengers to exit BART stations without paying their full fare prompted a sharp critique from BART board President James Fang.

"Maybe what we should do is encourage more people to do this, so they fix it," Fang said.

He's angry at the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, which put out the fare card that riders can use on a number of Bay Area public transit systems.

Scott Haggerty, chairman of the commission and an Alameda County supervisor, shot back a letter calling Fang's comment "grandstanding."

He reminded Fang of the commission's bailouts for BART extension projects to Antioch and Warm Springs, plus "our thoroughly enjoyable experience with the Oakland Airport Connector."

"I suggest that you consult a dictionary for the meaning of a word entirely missing from BART's interactions with MTC," Haggerty wrote. "That word is: gratitude."

EXTRA! Catch our blog at www.sfgate.com/matierandross.

Chronicle columnists Phillip Matier and Andrew Ross appear Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays. Matier can be seen on the KPIX-TV morning and evening news. He can also be heard on KCBS radio Monday through Friday at 7:50 a.m. and 5:50 p.m. Got a tip? Call (415) 777-8815, or e-mail matierandross@sfchronicle.com.

This article appeared on page C - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle

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GOP takeover of House to shift immigration debate

In a matter of weeks, Congress will go from trying to help young, illegal immigrants become legal citizens to debating whether children born to parents who are in the country illegally should continue to enjoy automatic U.S. citizenship.

Such a hardened approach - and the rhetoric certain to accompany it - should resonate with the GOP faithful who helped swing the House in Republicans' favor. But it also could further hurt the GOP in its effort to win a large enough share of the growing Latino vote to win the White House and the Senate majority in 2012.

Democrats ended the year failing for a second time to win passage of the Dream Act, which would have given hundreds of thousands of young illegal immigrants a chance at legal status.

House Republicans will try to fill the immigration reform vacuum left by Democrats with legislation designed to send illegal immigrants packing and deter others from trying to come to the United States.

Legislation to test interpretations of the 14th Amendment as granting citizenship to children of illegal immigrants will emerge early next session. That is likely to be followed by attempts to force employers to use a still-developing Web system, dubbed E-Verify, to check that all of their employees are in the United States legally.

Democrats, who will still control the Senate, will be playing defense against harsh immigration enforcement measures, mindful of their need to keep on good footing with Latino voters. But a slimmer majority and an eye on 2012 may prevent Senate Democrats from bringing to the floor any sweeping immigration bill, or even a limited one that hints at providing legal status to people in the country illegally.

President Obama could be a wild card. He'll have at his disposal his veto power should a bill denying citizenship to children of illegal immigrants make it to his desk. But Obama also has made cracking down on employers a key part of his administration's immigration enforcement tactics.

Latino voters and their allies will look for Obama to broker a deal on immigration as he did on tax cuts and health care. After the Dream Act failed in the Senate this month, Obama said his administration would not give up on the measure. "At a minimum we should be able to get Dream done. So I'm going to go back at it," he said.

This article appeared on page A - 5 of the San Francisco Chronicle

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Sen. Lisa Murkowski foe won't block certification

Miller's announcement late Sunday paves the way for Murkowski - a write-in candidate after losing the Republican nomination to Miller - to eventually be declared winner of the race.

Election officials determined Murkowski had the most votes in the November election but were barred from certifying a victory by a federal judge, who issued a stay to give the courts time to rule on Miller's claims the vote count was mishandled. Sunday's decision means Miller won't file any motions to stop the court from lifting the stay.

Miller said he wants to ensure Alaska has full representation when senators are sworn in for the new term of Congress on Jan. 5.

U.S. District Judge Ralph Beistline, who is hearing Miller's federal court challenge, must still decide whether to lift his stay before the state can move ahead with certification. There was no immediate word on when that might occur.

Unofficial results showed Murkowski leading Miller by 10,328 votes, or 2,169 if ballots challenged by Miller observers during a weeklong hand count were excluded. She has declared victory, and called on Miller to concede.

The law calls for write-in ballots to have the ovals filled and the candidate's last name or name as it appears on the declaration of candidacy written in. Miller believes the state should be held to a strict reading of that law, and his attorneys argued that spelling mattered.

The state, pointing to precedent, used discretion in determining voter intent and allowed for ballots with misspellings to be counted toward Murkowski's tally.

For more election-related news and information, visit our California Elections 2010 page.

This article appeared on page A - 8 of the San Francisco Chronicle

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New GOP majorities could repeal fresh legislation

In January, the statutes will kick in just as freshly elected governors and legislators arrive for work. And if new GOP majorities succeed in getting legislation repealed, the result may be sudden U-turns on issues that were only recently debated.

Before the November election, Democrats controlled legislatures in 27 states, with Republicans in charge of just 14. But after the nationwide Republican sweep, the GOP will soon control 26, the Democrats only 17. Control of others is split between the parties. The election also increased the number of Republican governors from 23 to 26.

With the switch in party control could come changes in the way some states handle government regulation, privatization and other matters.

In Wisconsin, where power in the statehouse will shift wholesale from Democrats to Republicans, incoming Republican Gov. Scott Walker would like to head off a law that makes it tougher for payday loan companies and auto lenders to do business in the state.

Until Democrats pushed the law through the Senate and House in 2010, Wisconsin was the only state that did not regulate those industries, and consumer advocates complained that lenders were exploiting poor people by charging exorbitant interest rates.

Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle shepherded the bill into law. But Walker said that the new regulations go too far and that the outright ban on loans secured by an auto title isn't what many legislators want.

In New Hampshire, Republicans hope to shoot down a new gun law they say doesn't do enough to protect private property and gun owners' rights. The GOP won the legislative majority from Democrats in the midterm election.

For more election-related news and information, visit our California Elections 2010 page.

This article appeared on page A - 7 of the San Francisco Chronicle

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Russia to pay over 700 million euros for first Mistral helicopter carrier - source

Russia will pay France approximately 720 million euros for its first Mistral-class helicopter carrier for its Navy, a source close to the negotiations process told RIA Novosti on Thursday.

At the initial stage, two Mistral-class helicopter carriers will be built jointly by France and Russia at the STX shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France. Another two will be constructed later at the Admiralty Shipyards in St. Petersburg.

"The cost of the first ship will be 720 million euros, the second will cost 650 million euros," the source said.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev told his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy last week over the phone that France had won the tender to build amphibious assault ships for Russia. The winner is a consortium comprised of French DCNS and Russia's United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC), the Kremlin press service said.

The first Mistral-class ship is expected to be built within 36 months after Russia makes an advance payment scheduled for January 2011.

Russia had previously held talks with France on the purchase of Mistral-class warships on a 2+2 scheme whereby Russia would buy one or two French-built Mistrals and build another two under license at home.

A Mistral-class ship is capable of transporting and deploying 16 helicopters, four landing vessels, up to 70 armored vehicles including 13 battle tanks, and 450 personnel.

MOSCOW, December 30 (RIA Novosti)

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Online viewers prosecuted for not paying TV licence

As more viewers take to watching programmes through internet services such as the BBC’s iPlayer and the ITV Player, concern has grown that the new technology could be used as a loophole to avoid paying the licence fee of £145.50 a year.

According to TV Licensing, a licence is required to watch television “as it’s being broadcast” – even if the viewer is using a computer, laptop or mobile phone.

However no licence is required for viewers who are only using “catch-up” services online to watch programmes that have already been broadcast.

This fine distinction led to suspicions that it would be difficult to gather evidence to catch and punish online pirates.

However in response to questions from the House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport committee, BBC management has now said that prosecutions for online viewing have already started.

“There have been successful prosecutions of people watching online without a licence,” said the corporation’s written response to the MPs.

But the BBC poured cold water on suggestions that the increasing use of different gadgets to watch television would lead to the existing TV licensing regime becoming unfair and obsolete.

“The question of whether such viewing should result in a licence being levied on devices other than TV sets is a matter for the government,” said the corporation’s response.

“Given that only 0.3 per cent of people consume TV only via the internet in a week, and across a year that number is virtually zero, we think it unlikely that online and mobile television viewing is a significant threat to the licence fee at present.”

The BBC also pointed out that 97 per cent of households still own a television set.

In June the culture secretary, Jeremy Hunt, said that technological developments could eventually render the TV licence obsolete.

“We support the principle of the licence fee and always have done,” said Mr Hunt. “But we also recognise, as technology changes, we may need to adapt the way it’s collected. It is not going to be possible to have a tax every time anyone buys a computer.”

Watching TV without a valid licence is a criminal offence punishable by a fine of up to £1,000.

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