From the GREAT STATE OF MAINE...

Quit Whining, It's Just Your Money

Newsweek's Larry Kaplow visited the newly-opened U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. Sounds like a weekend at Club Med:

I'm a mere layman when it comes to architecture, but the place struck me as dismal and defeatist. Maybe I'm missing something, like a new trend in rectangles, sharp corners and cheap metal sheeting. There are plenty other fortresslike embassies, some of which have caused debate in the past. But they at least tried to add an architectural flourish or two. This embassy, visible from large swaths of the capital, evokes rigidity and fear. Many compare it to a prison.

At least there's no raw sewage coming out the of the light fixtures, and the automatic fire-extinguishing system no longer starts fires.

The new embassy is a collection of more than 20 boxy buildings in burnt orange and beige, plopped down on about 100 acres of walled land by the Tigris River. One of the largest office buildings has gray, bladelike horizontal metal sunscreens on the top half supported on naked girders. It's like the venting on some industrial furnace or maybe the world's largest, meanest cheese grater. Or a giant, multiedged razor. I kept my distance.

And here's the hilarious punchline: 740 million dollars.

Is hurtling through space on a rock populated by idiots a gas or what??! Wheee!!!

Cheers and Jeers starts in There's Moreville... [Swoosh!!] RIGHTNOW! [Gong!!]

Wednesday, and the weather sucks in the northeast. Here's a winter mix of the pundits.  

Maureen Dowd:

And believe me, she talks a whole lot better than the former junior senator from New York, Al D’Amato, who once wailed that he was "up to my earballs" in some mess, and another time complained to me that those "little Jappies" bring over boats full of cars and then take the boats back empty.

Ich bin ein, you know, New Yorker.

Tom Friedman:

That is, Gaza is a mini-version of three great struggles that have been playing out since 1948: 1) Who is going to be the regional superpower — Egypt? Saudi Arabia? Iran? 2) Should there be a Jewish state in the Middle East and, if so, on what Palestinian terms? And 3) Who is going to dominate Arab society — Islamists who are intolerant of other faiths and want to choke off modernity or modernists who want to embrace the future, with an Arab-Muslim face? Let’s look at each.

Walter Dellinger: On seating Burris.

A similar situation arose in 1967, when the House of Representatives refused to seat Adam Clayton Powell Jr., the outspoken congressman from Harlem accused of personal misconduct involving public funds. I was clerking for Justice Hugo Black two years later when he joined in the Supreme Court decision that the House lacked the power to deal with Powell’s conduct by refusing to seat him.

WaPo: A smorgasbord of Minnesota and Franken v Coleman (now with lutefisk.)

David Ignatius: Leon Panetta? Hey, Langley, the joke's on you. And this Villager approves.

Michael Gerson:

During the campaign, I sometimes criticized Obama for lacking specificity and ambition. But as the specifics emerge, the ambitions of his campaign pledges are ever more clear.

I've been wrong about a tremendous number of things, come to think of it. Luckily, I'm a pundit now, so no one keeps track.  Anyway, if Obama pulls this stuff off, Republicans are screwed.

Jay Cost & Sean Trende:

Today's essay is the first in a series analyzing the results of the 2008 presidential election. Our goal here is not to describe every minute detail, but rather to highlight significant trends that emerged on Election Day.

One significant trend is that the President doesn't have a South Central accent.

Ever wonder about the definition of "region" in the polls?

While it can be said that excerpts sometimes fail to capture the full favor of many political writers, choosing to spotlight only a few paragraphs of the work of digby often feels like a crime. This is so in the current instance because digby has two interrelated major points to make, and I'm only focusing on one. So, as usual, I highly recommend you click on through to read the whole piece, from which I have extracted this:

Rendition, secret prisons, torture, outrageous tribunals. Yeah, these recruiting posters for terrorists sure make me feel safer. The incoming Obama administration has nothing to replace them with? Puhleez. How about we replace them with the kind of policies and approaches to the rule of law that people like Scheuer are supposed to be defending instead of denigrating?

• • •

The Overnight News Digest is posted and includes the story Wealth of U.S. millionaires down 30 percent: survey

Tonight's Rescue Rangers are YatPundit, a synthetic cubist, HansScholl, Elise, mem from somerville, jlms qkw, and taylormattd as editor.

Please enjoy reading these outstanding, ranger-selected diaries:

• In a report that may surprise you, Schoenke tells us that In 2008, NRA Shot Blanks. American Hunters and Shooters Hit the Target. (mem from somerville)
• In an excellent first-diary, CentristandProud discusses Common sense or the lack thereof regarding drugs(war on) and the mentally ill. (YatPundit)
• Frank Cocozzelli spells out how the Religious Right Turns a Blind Eye to a Real Life Issue with a personal perspective on crucial research. (mem from somerville)
• it really is that important shares the why and how of coping techniques in Uncertainty, Fear, Anger....and Healing. (jlms qkw)
• Avenging Angel reminds us that the merry-go-round is still spinning with Yoo, Bolton, Saltsman and the GOP Irony Machine. (mem from somerville)
• Mrs W explains Why I won't teach without my union. (HansScholl)
• ItsJessMe reminds us that personal actions can have downstream consequences in You never know when you make a difference. (mem from somerville)

jotter has High Impact Diaries: January 5, 2009.

brillig has Top Comments- 01/06/09 Tug Edition.

Please feel free to promote your favorite diaries in this open thread.

Funny how we hardly even blink anymore.

From President-elect Obama's transition team:

In keeping with his commitment to make this inaugural celebration open and accessible to all Americans, President-elect Barack Obama will host the first-ever "Neighborhood Inaugural Ball" during this year's inaugural celebration.  The ball will be the premier event of inauguration evening on January 20th and will take place at the Washington Convention Center.

With tickets available free or at an affordable price, it is the first official inaugural ball of its kind to be held during a presidential inauguration. A portion of tickets for this event will be set aside for District of Columbia residents. The ball will also feature a robust interactive component, including webcasting and text messaging, to link neighborhoods across the country with the new President and this premier event.   The PIC will release more details soon about using technology to allow Americans who are attending neighborhood balls across the country to participate actively in this celebration.

"This is an Inauguration for all Americans," said President-elect Obama.  "I wanted to make sure that we had an event that would be open to our new neighborhood here in Washington, D.C., and also neighborhoods across the country.  Michelle and I look forward to joining our fellow Americans across the country during this very special event."

Nice touch!

And then there's the:

... Youth Inaugural Ball, five Regional Inaugural balls, and a ball for his Home States - Illinois and Hawaii.  Vice President-elect Joe Biden will host a ball for his Home States as well: Delaware and Pennsylvania. These balls round out the list of official inaugural balls to be held on Tuesday, January 20, along with the previously announced Neighborhood Inaugural Ball and Commander in Chief's Ball.  The President-elect and the Vice President-elect will appear at each of the ten inaugural balls.

The Youth Ball will be a celebration of young Americans' role in community service, while the Regional Balls will have guests from the Midwest, the West, the East, the South, and the Mid-Atlantic. The final events will have Obama and Biden celebrating with family, friends and supporters from their home states.

In other inauguration-related news, if you're going to be in Washington on the 20th, text, don't talk:

Wireless carriers are expecting an explosion of cellphone traffic on Jan. 20, when millions of visitors pour into Washington to welcome the new president. So many calls, text messages, photos and video clips hitting the airwaves at the same time can choke communication networks and result in delayed messages and dropped calls.

While carriers are erecting extra cell sites to boost capacity, two local companies are also trying to help traffic move along. Wireless operators are urging people to avoid making calls and instead send text messages because they take up less bandwidth.

Of course, before you can have your calls dropped and your messages delayed, you have to get there:

The Washington area's transit system is telling passengers to expect extraordinarily long lines for trains and buses. Airports will be bustling with extra flights. Traffic could be at a standstill as motorists cope with street and bridge closings. Those who do manage to arrive in Washington will find limited parking.

"Pack your patience" is the advice from Corinne Geller, a Virginia State Police spokeswoman.

But if you live in Washington? This inauguration is being described as:

"... less like hosting a visiting official and more like throwing a homecoming party for a family member. This time it feels like the city has taken ownership of what is becoming a people’s party."

Interesting observation by Richard Wolffe last night on Countdown: he suspects (presumably from background conversations) that by the second-half of this year, there will be a second round of stimulus spending.

Of course, this could just be a notion floated to ease concerns among some that the current stimulus package isn't large enough. On the other hand, six months from now, if the situation hasn't turned around, there will be demand for additional stimulus spending.

Ha!

Well, I guess McConnell is going to have to get used to calling him "Mr. President" soon enough anyway!

The dust-up caused by Feinstein's and Rockefeller's pique over the selection spilled over today into the press availability Obama and his stimulus team held today.

After pointing out that the official announcement has yet to be made, here's what Obama said about Panetta:

...He brings extraordinary management skills, great political savvy, an impeccable record of integrity. As chief of staff to the president he is somebody who obviously was fully versed in international affairs crisis management, and had to evaluate intelligence consistently on a day-to-day basis.

Having said all that, I have not made an announcement. When we make the announcement, I think what people will see is that we are putting together a top-notch intelligence team that is not only going to ensure that I get the best possible intelligence--unvarnished--that the intelligence community is no longer geared towards telling the president what they think the president wants to hear, but instead are going to be delivering the information the president needs to make critical decisions to keep the American people safe.

I think what you're also going to see is a team that is committed to breaking with some of the past practices and concerns that have, I think, tarnished the reputation of the agencies, the intelligence agencies as well as U.S. foreign policy....

That's the best answer possible to Panetta's would-be detractors, and an important message that there will be change in how intelligence and foreign policy are conducted in the Obama administration.

The pick has gotten the full-throated support of a few Intelligence Committee members: Ron Wyden, who was apparently tipped off to the nomination before Feinstein (that will make things a little awkward at the committee table); and Russ Feingold, who released this statement:

"I am pleased by reports of the nomination of Leon Panetta to be the next CIA Director. These reports indicate that President-elect Obama recognizes the need for fresh leadership for the intelligence community. Leon Panetta has a long and distinguished career in public service and there are few people of whom I have a higher opinion. He has been a strong voice opposing the interrogation practices authorized by the Bush Administration and he is well-equipped to restore our national security, which has been undermined by the current administration’s policies. I look forward to closely examining his record, hearing his plans for protecting our nation against al Qaeda and other threats, and learning how he will help restore the rule of law after years of lawlessness that have undermined our national security."

Panetta can also plan on the support of the former Intelligence Committee chair Republican Pat Roberts:

"On the one hand, I think it's good to take a fresh look with a new director" at CIA, Roberts told me. "On the other hand, it's not on-the-job training [at the agency]. But Leon is a fast study."
...

"I know this job entails protection of civil liberties as well as protecting America," Roberts told me, seeming to acknowledge Panetta's staunch criticism of the Bush intelligence record. "Leon's the kind of guy who's very pragmatic. He'll do what's best for the country."

Everybody is getting on board the change wagon. Now that Obama has sent the unequivocal message that he will end the abuses of the Bush administration, all Congressional Dems need to join in.

A short time ago, Norm Coleman announced his intention to file a legal challenge to Al Franken's victory in Minnesota's U.S. Senate race.

Yes, this is the same Norm Coleman who two months ago -- when he was leading the vote count process -- said that if he were in Al Franken's shoes, he'd step aside.

Now, two months, several lawsuits, and painstakingly comprehensive recount later, Norm Coleman has changed his mind and has decided all he wants to do is sue.

The thing is, Coleman doesn't stand a chance of winning the election, whatever the outcome of his legal battle. The only reason he's pressing his case is to curry favor with DC Republicans who want to do anything possible to obstruct the Democratic agenda in the Senate.

One of the top Democratic targets for the 2010 midterm elections is recapturing the Governorship of the nation's largest state, held for nearly two terms by term-limited action-film star Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The pool of Democrats lining up to seek the seat is near limitless (although perhaps the biggest name in the rumor pool, senior Senator Dianne Feinstein, apparently won't seek the office). It is likely that Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi (who is in), Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, possibly Attorney General (and former Governor and Presidential candidate) Jerry Brown, and a cast of thousands.

On the Republican side, the default candidate was state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner. That is, until today, when another relatively high-profile candidate jumped in:

Meg Whitman, the former eBay executive and campaign aide to Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), is considering a bid for governor in California in 2010, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Whitman has stepped down from the boards of eBay, Procter & Gamble and Dreamworks SKG and may make an announcement within the next four to six weeks, a "person familiar with the matter" told the Journal.

During the 2008 presidential race, she was a national finance chairwoman for former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) and later served as a national co-chairman for McCain's general election campaign. She had been mentioned as a possible running mate for McCain.

Whitman, who had been tipped for Treasury Secretary in a McCain Administration (tee hee hee), certainly has plenty of money to spend on the race, and has a fairly high political profile from her tenure with the McCain campaign. Given the state's budget crisis, she'll undoubtedly push her business experience as making her uniquely qualified to lead California through a particulary bad economic period.

Still, she faces something of an uphill battle in a state which gave Obama 61% of the vote in November. She'll have a tough race in both the primary and the general, if she makes it that far, but she's a serious candidate whose money alone ensures she won't be taken lightly.

Whitman isn't the only big-name Republican signing on for Governor. In a move which has been expected ever since he dropped out of the Presidential race, Kansas Senator Sam Brownback has announced his intention to succeed term-limited Democrat Kathleen Sebelius as Governor:

Brownback filed documents with the Kansas Secretary of State disclosing that he had appointed a treasurer for a campaign for governor, the Associated Press reported, the first required filing step for state candidates before being able to accept contributions.

The 2010 race represents another pickup opportunities for Republicans in a traditionally-favorable state in which a Democratic governor is term-limited. Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D) is barred from seeking reelection.

Republican Secretary of State Ron Thornburgh is thought to be Brownback's major competition for the GOP nomination.

Democratic Lieutenant Governor Mark Parkinson (the former chair of the Kansas GOP, as it happens) has already announced he would not run, and even if he had, Brownback probably would have beaten him. So it's extremely likely that Sam Brownback is going to be the next Governor of Kansas.

This also raises the question of whether Brownback and Sebelius will essentially trade places; she'll have a good shot at becoming the state's first Democratic Senator in John McCain's lifetime if she runs for Brownback's seat.

Finally, in Virginia news, former DNC chairman and Clinton ally Terry McAuliffe appears set to make it official; he's running for Governor of Virginia.

He's hired quite an impressive staff, including campaign manager Mike Henry:

Former Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe announced his leadership team this morning. Many of them worked on the campaigns of Democrats Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, former governor Mark R. Warner and Sen. James Webb.

Mike Henry, who served as campaign manager for Kaine's gubernatorial campaign in 2005 and Warner's senate campaign in 2008, will be McAuliffe's camapign manager. He also has worked to elect Democrats statewide, to elect Democratic senators across the nation and served as deputy campaign manager for Sen. Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign.

"We're proud to have assembled an all-star team that has experience winning elections in Virginia," Henry said. "But we're even more proud to be working for a candidate who will bring the right kind of leadership to Richmond and get our economy back on track."

It's said that McAuliffe could spend anywhere from $30 to $80 million on the campaign, and with that kind of money, along with a particularly strong staff, McAuliffe would have to be considered a pretty serious contender for the Governorshipp.

Today is swearing-in day, as you know.

Here are the new faces in the 111th Congress, pending the confirmations of Hillary Clinton and Ken Salazar, the legal challenges in Minnesota, the whole Burris business.

In the House:

John Adler (D), NJ-03
Steve Austria (R), OH-07
John Boccieri (D), OH-16
Bobby Bright (D), AL-02
Bill Cassidy (R), LA-06
Jason Chaffetz (R), UT-03
Michael Coffman (R), CO-06
Gerry Connolly (D), VA-11
Kathy Dahlkemper (D), PA-03
Marcia Fudge (D), OH-11
Alan Grayson (D), FL-08
Parker Griffith (D), AL-05
Brett Guthrie (R), KY-02
Debbie Halvorson (D), IL-11
Gregg Harper (R), MS-03
Martin Heinrich (D), NM-01
Jim Himes (D), CT-04
Duncan D. Hunter (R), CA-52
Lynn Jenkins (R), KS-02
Mary Jo Kilroy (D), OH-15
Ann Kirkpatrick (D), AZ-01
Larry Kissell (D), NC-08
Suzanne Kosmas (D), FL-24
Frank Kratovil (D), MD-01
Leonard Lance (R), NJ-07
Christopher Lee (R), NY-26
Blaine Luetkemeyer (R), MO-09
Ben R. Lujan (D), NM-03
Cynthia Lummis (R), WY-AL
Dan Maffei (D), NY-25
Betsy Markey (D), CO-04
Tom McClintock (R), CA-04
Michael McMahon (D), NY-13
Glenn Nye (D), VA-02
Pete Olson (R), TX-22
Erik Paulsen (R), MN-03
Tom Perriello (D), VA-05
Gary Peters (D), MI-09
Chellie Pingree (D), ME-01
Jared Polis (D), CO-02
Bill Posey (R), FL-15
Phil Roe (R), TN-01
Tom Rooney (R), FL-16
Mark Schauer (D), MI-07
Aaron Schock (R), IL-18
Kurt Schrader (D), OR-05
Harry Teague (D), NM-02
Glenn Thompson (R), PA-05
Dina Titus (D), NV-03
Paul Tonko (D), NY-21

And in the Senate:

Mark Begich (D), Alaska
Michael Bennet (D), Colorado
Roland Burris (D), Illinois
Ted Kaufman (D), Delaware
Alan Franken (D), Minnesota
Kay Hagan (D), North Carolina
Mike Johanns (R), Nebraska
Jeff Merkley (D), Oregon
Jim Risch (R), Idaho
Jeanne Shaheen (D), New Hampshire
Mark Udall (D), Colorado
Tom Udall (D), New Mexico
Mark Warner (D), Virginia

It's awfully nice to see so many new Democratic faces in the 111th.

Another unconventional choice from President-Elect Obama, as Howard Kurtz reports that CNN's Sanjay Gupta appears on the road to be tapped as surgeon general:

President-elect Barack Obama has offered the job of surgeon general to Dr. Sanjay Gupta, the neurosurgeon and correspondent for CNN and CBS, according to two sources with knowledge of the situation.

Gupta has told administration officials that he wants the job, and the final vetting process is under way. He has asked for a few days to figure out the financial and logistical details of moving his family from Atlanta to Washington but is expected to accept the offer.

According to Kurtz, Gupta and Obama met to discuss the position in November. Gupta also spoke with Obama's HHS Secretary designee Tom Daschle.

During the 1990s, according to Kurtz, Gupta was a White House fellow who helped craft Hillary Clinton's speeches and policy recommendations.

There is discussion going on about the choice of Gupta in jamgirl86's diary.

• Scott Horton is very pleased with Obama's choices for director of the CIA (Leon Panetta) and national intelligence director (Admiral Dennis Blair). mcjoan notes that Mother Jones also has a positive take on Panetta. This looks like change we can believe in.
• Further evidence that the problems facing the American auto companies are caused by the economy and credit crunch more than anything else: Toyota will close every one of its Japanese production facilities for 11 days in February and March. -- DHinMI
• It looks like Yucca Mountain will "bleed real hard", indeed:

  The bleeding might soon begin.

  A few weeks after Sen. Harry Reid declared that the Yucca Mountain project was going to "bleed real hard" in the coming year, he said Monday the already reduced budget for the controversial nuclear waste plan will be cut "significantly" for the remainder of 2009, and that a 2010 White House spending request will contain "little if anything at all."

  The Nevada Democrat made the declaration after he brought up Yucca Mountain in a meeting with President-elect Barack Obama earlier in the day.

  [H/T Nuclear Reaction] -- Plutonium Page

• More nuclear power news comes from Joseph Romm:

  A new study [PDF] puts the generation costs for power from new nuclear plants at from 25 to 30 cents per kilowatt-hour -- triple current U.S. electricity rates!

  This staggering price is far higher than the cost of a variety of  carbon-free renewable power sources available today -- and 10 times the  cost of energy efficiency (see here).

  The new study, Business Risks and Costs of New Nuclear Power [PDF],  is one of the most detailed cost analyses publicly available on the  current generation of nuclear power plants being considered in this  country. It is by a leading expert in power plant costs, Craig A.  Severance. A practicing CPA, Severance is co-author of The Economics of Nuclear and Coal Power (Praeger 1976), and former Assistant to the Chairman and to Commerce Counsel, Iowa State Commerce Commission.

  -- Plutonium Page

• Our Milky Way Galaxy may be much bigger than scientists previously thought -- it may be roughly the same size as the Andromeda Galaxy. Take that, Local Group!
• Vice-President Elect Joe Biden and his wife Jill were apparently turned away from a sold-out showing of "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button":

  There's been no confirmation from the Biden camp, but the theater employees say they are sure it was him.

  -- snip --

  Remarkably, none of the other moviegoers appeared to notice. Employees said nobody mobbed Biden or called his name or asked for an autograph.

  "It didn't seem many people recognized him," said employee Becky Gingrich, 21. "Honestly, I think people were just too wrapped up in themselves to notice."

  Luckily, one hears that the White House has its own screening room.

The Bush administration has had another defeat at the hands of Chief Judge Vaughn Walker in the U.S. District Court in San Francisco. Walker denied the administration's third motion to dismiss the case.

In reviving a suit filed by Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation, Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker said the group had enough publicly available evidence to show that it could reasonably believe it had been wiretapped....

Walker had dismissed the suit in July, saying the group could not use a classified document that the government had accidentally turned over to the foundation.

But later that month, the group produced nonsecret information - an October 2007 speech in which a deputy FBI director said that the agency "used ... surveillance" in an investigation into whether the organization was linked to terrorism. The speech was given at a conference of the American Bankers Association and American Bar Association on money laundering.

Now that the group has found that nonclassified evidence, Walker said he will examine the classified evidence and decide whether the group could proceed with its claims that Bush's program of conducting surveillance without a court warrant violated federal law or the U.S. Constitution.

EFF and Wired's Threat Level have more background information. From Wired:

The case tests whether a sitting U.S. president may bypass Congress — in this case whether President Bush abused his power by authorizing his secret spying program in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.

"I don't want President Obama to have that power any more than I do President Bush," said Jon Eisenberg, the attorney for the two lawyers who are suing the administration.

U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker said the lawyers' amended lawsuit, even absent the classified document, showed there was enough evidence for the case to continue. The amended lawsuit pieces together snippets of public statements from government investigations into Al-Haramain, the Islamic charity the lawyers were working for and, among other things, a speech about their case by an FBI official.

"The plaintiffs have alleged sufficient facts to withstand the government's motion to dismiss," Walker ruled in a 25-page opinion (.pdf). Walker said the nation's spy laws now demand that he view the classified document and others to decide whether the lawyers were spied on illegally and whether Bush's spy program was unlawful.

The case concerns lawyers Wendell Belew and Asim Ghafoor, whose case appears now the most likely to lead to a ruling on the legality of Bush's warrantless-wiretapping program. That program started after the Sept. 11 terror attacks and involved various initiatives that peered into Americans' phone and internet usage without court approval — a surveillance program ratified by Congress last year in legislation immunizing participating telecommunication companies.

Walker has a second spy case pending, EFF's lawsuit contending that the FISAAA passed by Congress last July unconstitutionally granted immunity to the telcos.

All this holds the possibility that we still might have a remedy in the courts on the issue, and provides an early test for the Obama Justice Department. Presuming the Bush administration appeals this decision, would the Obama team continue that fight? Given the legal team he's assembled, that doesn't seem likely. For more on that, and the interesting timing of this case, emptywheel has a great post

So it's very possible that we could finally have some light shed on the warrantless wiretapping program in this case. That should not, however, preclude Congress from finally conducting its own investigation in the form of a reconstituted Church Commission and the Obama administration from cooperating fully with that investigation. There really isn't a way for Congress to recover everything it lost in its myriad capitulations to a lawless administration. But a bright light shined on the whole affair might just keep it from happening yet again.

For more discussion, see drational's diary.

Harry Reid just delivered a message to Norm Coleman from the floor of the United States Senate, calling Al Franken the "Senator-elect" from the state of Minnesota, and saying it was time for Coleman to concede his defeat.

Update (11:01AM): Former Republican governor Arne Carlson, an independent who did not endorse in the Senate race, also calls on Coleman to concede.