What rough beast is this?

Joe Mathews, formerly of the LA Times and now with the New America Foundation, takes a stab at interpreting the logic behind Sarah Palin's resignation as governor of Alaska and finds it shows a hyper awareness that America has entered the age of hyper politics. Mathews goes so far as to call the move brilliant, at least when compared with the sad displays Mark Sanford and Bobby Jindal made in their respective 2012 presidential campaigns. By contrast, Palin will be able to fortify herself financially and politically, unburdened from the distraction of governing, as the campaign drags into 2010.

Four in the afternoon

1. A different kind of grunion run near Long Beach. Paul Oberjuerge reports on the swarm of resumes that landed on the desk of Harry Saltzgaver, executive editor of the Grunion and Downtown gazettes, a pair of small weekly newspapers in the South Bay, when he advertised an entry level features job. Oberjuerge writes:

Lots and lots and lots of us out there. Former print people, out of the business, willing to get back in for a weekly most of us wouldn’t have looked at (except perhaps to run or buy) just a few months ago. And “entry level” is what, $9 an hour? Benefits? Not sure, but maybe not. And the new “kid” likely will be doing all the drudge work, too.

2. Huffington Post goes Big Apple. On Monday, the site launched its New York edition:

We are also teaming up the Gotham Gazette and the Brooklyn Rail to combine their local reporting experience with our citizen journalism outreach to dig deep into important local stories. And we'll be working with the Mayor's office to highlight and help in its efforts to encourage and facilitate service among New Yorkers.

3. Nieman Lab examines why a spike in online traffic rarely equates to spikes in revenue from the accompanying ads (which is, perhaps, a good thing). (h/t Bloggasm)

4. Another bad day for South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford. Several media sites report that $11,000 in taxpayer money was used to cover a trip to Argentina in June of last year. Sanford said he'd repay the state.This should certainly turn up the volume on those calling for him to resign. From the Wall Street Journal:

In a statement released after inquiries by The Wall Street Journal Thursday, the South Carolina state Department of Commerce said more than $11,000 in state funds were spent to cover the cost of Mr. Sanford and another state employee to travel to Argentina in June 2008. There is no indication that state funds were spent on Mr. Sanford's most recent six-day trip to Argentina, during which time his staff said he was hiking the Appalachian Trail.

Four in the morning*

1. Gov. Mark Sanford of South Carolina wasn't hiking the Appalachian Trail on Father's Day weekend, as his office staff claimed. Instead, he was caught in Atlanta by a reporter from The State getting off a plane from Argentina. Sanford told the reporter he'd wanted to do something "exotic." Needless to say, there's still plenty of skepticism about the governor's story. He's scheduled to hold a press conference at 2 p.m. Eastern today. The State

*Updated: In his presser, Sanford admits to having an affair with an Argentinian woman, says he'll resign as head of the Republican Governors Association. Calls for his resignation as governor will inevitably follow.

2. Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez has some more bad news for Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Lopez writes:

I hate to be the bearer of more bad news, but I've been gathering up the results of polling at the 10 schools that for the last year have been under the mayor's wing, and there's no way to sugarcoat this.

At eight of the 10 campuses, the mayor's Partnership for Los Angeles Schools got a resounding thumbs down from teachers.

3. First Lady Michelle Obama makes her first visit to California since becoming First Lady... again. LA Observed

4. Rainey vs. Stewart, round 3. LA Weekly (via LA Observed)

Four in the afternoon*

1. Borzou Daragahi of the Los Angeles Times profiles Neda Agha-Soltan, the 26-year-old philosophy student who was shot and killed Saturday during the Iranian protests:

Neda Agha-Soltan, 26, was shot dead Saturday evening near the scene of clashes between pro-government militias and demonstrators who allege rampant vote-count fraud in the reelection of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The jittery cellphone video footage of her bleeding on the street has turned "Neda" into an international symbol of the protest movement that ignited in the aftermath of the June 12 voting. To those who knew and loved Neda, she was far more than an icon.

The video of her death can be seen here. Be warned that it is extremely graphic.

*Updated, 6/23: Kevin Roderick at LA Observed makes a good point about promoting Daragahi's work with the people who pay the bills (or don't) at the top of the Tribune Co. chain. He writes:

Somebody should also get word to Lee Abrams and Sam Zell that Daragahi is over there and this is why. Zell, notoriously, has ridiculed foreign news in the LAT as just something "journalists like to cover" and Abrams is the idiot aide-de-camp who didn't realize reporters actually go to the places they write about and dodge bullets.

2. No surprise here: Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa bows out of the 2010 race for governor. He chose CNN as the venue to announce his decision. LAT

3. Speaking of governors, South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford likes to disappear every once in a while. The State

4. Today's "To The Point" is about Iran and what happens next. TTP