Jim Leach to Head NEH

Jim Leach? This takes me back 20 or so years to the days of the (seemingly forgotten) S&L scandal. I remember Leach as a really good guy, an honest politician. Leach, a highly-independent Republican, has an impressive record, although he is implicated in the deregulation that led to the current financial crisis.

Looks like Prez Obama has tapped Leach as his nominee to head the NEH:

President Obama Nominates Jim Leach to Head NEH (Washington Post)

President Obama today said he would nominate former Republican congressman Jim Leach, who represented Iowa for 30 years, as the new chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

During his terms in the House of Representatives Leach founded and served as the co-chair of the Congressional Humanities Caucus and he was also the chairman of the House Committee on Banking and Financial Services. After he left Congress in 2007 Leach taught at Princeton University and was the interim director of the Institute of Politics at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government.

The endowment, created in 1965, supports the country's endeavors in scholarship and teaching, principally in the areas of history, literature and philosophy. In the fiscal 2010 budget the president sent to Congress last month, he requested $171. 3 million for the agency, an increase of $16 million over the last appropriation.

Perhaps you’ll recall that Leach founded “Republicans for Obama” during the last presidential race.

OC RESTAURANT CHAINS:

On a lighter note: The Reg reports on the OC restaurants making Consumer Reports’ “best” and “worst” lists. The review focuses on chains.

According to CR (according to the Reg), Mimi’s Café was #1 under the heading “Great meals for less than $20.”

Other top picks: Abuelo’s, Cheddar’s Casual Cafe, Elephant Bar Restaurant and Texas Roadhouse.

Best takeout food went to Famous Dave’s, Carraba’s Italian Grill, Olive Garden and P.F. Chang’s.

Restaurants that suffer “above average” complaints: BJ’s Restaurants, Bubba Gump Shrimp Co., and Johnny Rockets.

Long wait times: “The Cheesecake Factory, Rainforest Cafe, Texas Roadhouse, Houston’s, PF Chang’s, China Bistro and Outback Steakhouse.”

Gosh, I thought CR only reviewed cars and appliances! Just shows what I know.

You don't care, do you? Me neither.

30% rise in anti-Semitic incidents (here)

Orange County/Long Beach remain hotbed for hate
(OC Weekly)

Kevin O'Grady, [the Anti-Defamation League]'s regional director based in OC, says that there's "cause for great concern" because while anti-Semitic incidents declined nationwide, the number of documented attacks on Jews here rose 30 percent.
…
The ADL report … included these incidents:

• A student at Newport Beach high school was subjected to "virulent" anti-Semitic bullying;
• A South County high school athlete was taunted so much for being Jewish he quit the team;
• The director of a Long Beach temple received hate mail;
• The service manager at Orange County Country Club advised her staff not to provide decent service for a wedding because the family was Jewish;
• A client of a dating service was asked if she was Jewish when she asked for a discount.

UCI asks Obama for $150 million in stimulus money

(OC Register; “science dude”)

UC Irvine has asked the Obama Administration for about $150 million in money, most which is being sought for scientific research, health care and scholarship. Irvine, like schools across the country, is jockeying to get money through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the $787 billion in economic stimulus money approved by Congress and President Obama in February….