Gotta Make the Call: White House considers whether a military request for another 40,000 troops in Afghanistan—a surge, if you will—makes sense. Several lawmakers and Obama Administration officials say we need to focus on the place where al Qaeda lives, Pakistan.

The Huff: Arianna says Joe Biden should resign if Obama escalates war in Afghanistan. "If Biden truly believes that what we're doing in Afghanistan is not in the best interests of our national security — and what issue is more important than that? — it's simply not enough to claim retroactive righteousness in his memoirs."

Dow Jones: Primary economic barometer hits 10,000 points for the first time since the financial system nearly collapsed a year ago.

Jails Words: In shared press conference, Sheriff Sue Rahr gives tacit endorsement to King County Executive candidate Susan Hutchison, who proposes letting the sheriff's office run the jails. But King County Council budget chairman Larry Gossett says, "There's no local or national policy example that automatically shows having the jail under a county sheriff is the wisest, least expensive and most accountable way to run jails."

Court Challenge in 3, 2, 1... Mayor's gun ban in public property where kids hang out goes into effect on December 1. State Attorney General says the plan's not legal.

Maria Shriver: California's First Lady grovels for using a cell phone while driving.

New Money: Bill Gates calls for global philanthropic support for agriculture to feed the world's one billion people going hungry.

Old Money: Obama proposes a $250 check for 57 million people on social security; the money, framed as a stimulus, is in lieu of a cost-of-living increase, which not expected this year due to the lack of inflation.

Cool: App in the works for iPhone will play FM radio.

Tough: Democrats fight back against health insurance companies, attempting to remove long-established anti-trust exemptions.

• Via the Seattle Municipal Archives on Flickr

Mayor Allan Pomeroy: Held the office from 1952 to 1956. The internet provides little detail about Pomeroy, other than this excellent photo of him, hard at work. Some interesting facts about the mayor's office: Seattle's charter in 1875 gave the mayor a vote on the city council. In 1890, however, the mayor lost that power. The mayor only served two-year terms until 1946, when the new charter set mayoral terms at four years.