Saturday, November 15, 2008

Tonight on WGN

[Saturday 11/15 @ 9p]
Bob Schwartz stops by the Showcase Studio to discuss Chicago's rich history in encased meats... as detailed in his book Never Put Ketchup on a Hot Dog.

Check here later for the podcast.
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A Nation Unhinged

Election spurs 'hundreds' of race threats, crimes

Cross burnings. Schoolchildren chanting "Assassinate Obama." Black figures hung from nooses. Racial epithets scrawled on homes and cars. Incidents around the country referring to President-elect Barack Obama are dampening the postelection glow of racial progress and harmony, highlighting the stubborn racism that remains in America.

From California to Maine, police have documented a range of alleged crimes, from vandalism and vague threats to at least one physical attack. Insults and taunts have been delivered by adults, college students and second-graders. There have been "hundreds" of incidents since the election, many more than usual, said Mark Potok, director of the Intelligence Project at the Southern Poverty Law Center, which monitors hate crimes....
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Friday, November 14, 2008

thanks for the link go to LoC reader Ken L.

Frank Rich slams the bailout:

Republicans from George W. Bush to John Boehner want to grant immortality to Washington Mutual, Wachovia and AIG. They have decided to follow an earlier $25 billion loan with a $50 billion bailout, which would inevitably be followed by more billions later, because if these companies are not permitted to go bankrupt now, they never will be.

Oh wait...that was David Brooks, talking about what Democrats from Barack Obama to Nancy Pelosi want, with regard to General Motors, Chrysler, and Ford. But by all means, if it helps you get your outrage on, imagine that it were Republicans and banks...

Fung with an Amstel Light...yeah, dude, sure we believe it was Photoshopped...

Eagles rookie Jack Ikegwuonu was identified in a photo on Facebook with what appears to be a "bong" and other possible drug-related items. The photo has since been removed from Facebook, but Profootballtalk has it. Ikegwuonu, who is spending his rookie year on IR, also appears to have a straw and white powder is visible on a glass table in front of him. The photo was on Ikewguonu's sister's Facebook page. She says she Photoshopped it.
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You know your tournament sucks when...

...you have to invite the Huskies.

Great Alaska Shootout struggles to attract elite teams
Years ago, the Great Alaska Shootout was one of the country's premier Thanksgiving basketball tournaments, attracting many of the nation's best teams.

Today, it's struggling to stay afloat.

High-profile teams earning more and more to play at a ballooning number of similar tournaments threaten the 30-year-old Shootout like never before. Since 2004, the number of exempt tournaments has nearly tripled from 28 to 82.

It's why UAF's Top of the World Classic folded last month. And it's why this year's Shootout has its weakest field ever, with San Diego State, Portland State, Hampton, Northern Illinois, Louisiana Tech and Western Carolina joining UAA...
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Yes We're Nosy

For a Washington Job, Be Prepared to Tell All

Methinks this rules all dose posting here out...

dis figgers

Bring back QT

I have missed QT for the past several days and now find that the column has been discontinued.

QT was one of the highlights of my morning read, and it is inconceivable that your readership will let this pass without comment.

Bring back this wonderful feature!

Kathryn Vanden Berk,
Highland Park

Answer in the print edition: "Thanks for writing."*


*Now go phokk yourself

You know the MAC sucks when...

...Buffalo is leading one of the divisions.

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Thursday, November 13, 2008

jealous Iranians in the news

News item: A Tehran news weekly that featured a smiling photograph of the American President-elect on its front cover last week and asked "Why doesn't Iran have an Obama?" has been closed down.

the end of capitalism

Headline: Bush to Defend U.S. Capitalism

The Bush effect

Like many others who have served in President George W. Bush's administration -- among them former Secretary of State Colin Powell and former Treasury chief Paul O'Neill -- Paulson, 62, will leave office casting a smaller shadow than when he arrived.

Seeya in Hell, old farts

If nobody over the age of 65 had voted, Prop 8 would have failed by a point or two...

The good news for supporters of marriage equity is that -- and there's no polite way to put this -- the older voters aren't going to be around for all that much longer...

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Sucking Never Sleeps


Cent. Michigan 3 20 7 0 3 33 Final
Northern Illinois 0 3 11 16 0 30 OT
This after coming back from a 30-6 deficit.

In related news, American Express is asking da gumbint for a few billion dollars... which financial institution will K-Mad try to destroy next?
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BRING IT ON

5 million people to rehearse for California's big earthquake

At exactly 10 a.m. tomorrow, about 5 million people in Southern California will drop to the ground, take cover under a sturdy piece of furniture and hold on at the same time. Radio stations and school p.a. systems will play a sound track of rumbling and crashing, along with a man's voice declaring, "If this were the magnitude 7.8 earthquake we're practicing for today, you would be experiencing sudden and intense back-and-forth motions of up to 6 ft. per second. The floor or the ground would jerk sideways out from under you. Look around and imagine."....
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[insert own joke here] (cont'd)

With the 2008 election season over, Rep. Jerry Moran wasted little time taking the next step in his likely bid for higher office.

The western Kansas Republican filed paperwork Friday that allows him to accept contributions for a U.S. Senate campaign.

Moran, of Hays, has been telling constituents for months that he plans to seek the seat being vacated in 2010 by Republican Sam Brownback.
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Nationwide Bush Disaster

Did anyone else notice that the backwards Bush clock counts down to midnight? I'm almost certain the handover happens later in the day. Perhaps morning, perhaps afternoon. But it's certainly not at midnight. Anyone want to tackle fixing that? The clock is ticking...

Is she still here?

Palin says she'd be honored to help Obama
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin told CNN today that she would be honored to help President-elect Barack Obama in his new administration if asked, even if he did once hang around with an "unrepentant domestic terrorist."

That's a tasty cupcake

Huskies getting pummeled on national tv - the weekly series

Central Michigan coach wary of NIU's defense


Football matchup: Central Michigan at Northern Illinois

Woops, I totally fucked everything up for eight years--and you only know the half of it--anyway, sorry! In my defense, I'm a fucking moron...

...i thought i would just be on vacation and cutting brush most of the time...

Bush reveals key moments he regrets

Looks like we'll have to wait for more "insights" as there isn't a publisher that wants to publish his steaming pile of memoirs right now, if you can believe that...
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this is probably nothing to worry about (cont'd)

Obama win triggers run on guns
Buyers said to fear crackdown on their rights, civil unrest, darky

HOUSTON — A week after the election of Barack Obama, gun buyers across the country are voting with their feet, flocking to gun stores to stock up on assault rifles, handguns and ammunition.

Some say they are worried that the incoming Obama administration will attempt to reimpose the ban on assault weapons that expired in 2004. Others fear the loss of their right to own handguns. A few say they are preparing to protect themselves in the event of a race war.

But whatever the reason, gun dealers in red and blue states alike say they've never seen anything like the run on weaponry they've been experiencing since Election Day— surpassing even the panic buying in the days after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.


The Massively Brain-Dead:



Gun sales and the paranoid right: A sucker born every minute
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Why didn't Count Dickula think of this while there was still time?

Constitutional amendment could allow Vladimir Putin to stay in power for decades

MOSCOW -- As if to counter the mood of democratic change in the United States, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev yesterday launched a constitutional amendment that would allow him and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to remain the legal leaders of Russia, with little chance for challenge, through the next two decades.

The change, introduced in the State Duma, raises the presidential term of office to six years from four, beginning with the next president. It would allow Mr. Putin, who stepped down from the presidency this year after he reached the constitutional two-consecutive-term limit, to run again in 2012 or 2016 for two more terms totalling 12 years. Officials close to Mr. Putin say he will likely do so.

That change, along with other proposals that would make it extremely difficult for political parties other than Mr. Putin's United Russia to put up top-level candidates in elections, virtually guarantees the reign of Mr. Putin - widely considered to be the true leader behind Mr. Medvedev's presidency - either as prime minister or president for a period that could last as long as 22 more years.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

The Barracuda calls out K-Mad

News Item: Ms. Palin directed most of her media criticism at liberal bloggers, whom she twice called, "those bloggers in their parents’ basement just talkin’ garbage."
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Mac vs PC (cont)


Mom and Dad and Grandma and Grandpa have been drinking again, but on the plus side, the kid was apparently sober...

even though the article states that "her 1-year-old son also had... been drinking."

Sober driver tough to find in this family: cops

And how can it be that we didn't have a "brain-dead Hoosiers" label until today?

Survey: nearly a quarter of the people you meet exhibit almost no brain activity and are unresponsive to any external stimuli

News item: Seventy-six percent of those questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Monday disapprove of how George W. Bush is handling his job as President. That's an all-time high in CNN polling, or in Gallup polling dating back to World War II.

Monday, November 10, 2008

Meet the new Mayor of Silverton, Oregon



Meet Stu...or is it Loretta?

America's First Transgender Mayor: Stu Rasmussen

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Dang, dat URL is YOOOOGE

http://hugeurl.com/
Because bigger is better, right?
Enter a URL to make huge.

http://www.hugeurl.com/?YmFlNzc2NGNjOTZmNTVkYWU0OWM5YWIwMWUw
M2Q1MjYmMTEmVm0wd2QyUXlWa2hWV0doVVYwZG9jRlZ0TVZOWFZsbDNXa1JT
VjFac2JETlhhMk0xVjBaS2MySkVUbGhoTVhCUVZteFZlRll5VGtsalJtaG9U
V3N3ZUZadGNFdFRNVTVJVm10a1dHSkdjSEJXTUZwSFRURmFjVkZ0UmxSTmF6
RTFWVEowVjFaWFNrbFJiR2hYWWxob00xWldXbUZrUlRGWlkwZDRVMkpIZHpG
V2EyUXdZVEZrU0ZOclpHcFRSVXBZVkZWa1UyUnNjRmRYYlVacVlrWmFlVmRy
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Q1YxWXpVbkphVjNNMVZXeENWVTFFTUQwPQ==

Change we can't believe in

Palin says Republican ticket was too 'status quo'

Hi. I'm Barry. Codename: Renegade

First-family-to-be given code names

The Secret Service traditionally has given pithy, private names to those whose lives they protect. The monikers are a throwback to a time when electronic communications were not encrypted, and they no longer serve a security function. Still, they give an occasional peek at the players' personalities, in addition to serving as great trivia questions.

President-elect Barack Obama: Renegade
As in, how did Darky get in here? Or as in a change agent we can believe in? I can see it now: Dispatch, Renegade is causing a renaissance in Renaissance, I repeat, Renegade is causing a renaissance in Renaissance.

Ah, the random poetry of the Facebook Newsfeed...

Stella N. is alive......... yayy!!! 2 hours ago

Kinnier L. is not. 2 hours ago

Anya E. is glad to see scott did not get eaten by a shark. 15 minutes ago

annudder nitpicking, America-hating, smarty-pants elitist mouths off in the New York Times (of course)

Obama and the War on Brainzzz

We can’t solve our educational challenges when, according to polls, Americans are approximately as likely to believe in flying saucers* as in evolution, and when one-fifth of Americans believe that the sun orbits the Earth.


Oooooh, listen everyone, Mister Science is talking!

* Was dat a swipe at Da Elf?

Bill Pecota gets his name in the New York Times (sort of)

News item: There is a Facebook page named "There’s a 97.3 Percent Chance That Nate Silver Is Totally My Boyfriend."

In an election season of unlikely outcomes, Mr. Silver, 30, is perhaps the most unlikely media star to emerge.

Sunday, November 9, 2008

This guy had better not upset my fantasy team chemistry

Without his day job occupying the vast majority of his time, Gilbert Arenas paid a visit to his tattoo parlor in the last couple of days to celebrate the election of Barack Obama. On the fingers of his left hand, he got “Change We Believe In,” and “44″ on the outside of his pinky.

If Jesus came back today he would never stop throwing up...

Monks brawl at Christian holy site in Jerusalem

JERUSALEM (AP) -- Israeli police rushed into one of Christianity's holiest churches Sunday and arrested two clergyman after an argument between monks erupted into a brawl next to the site of Jesus' tomb.

The clash between Armenian and Greek Orthodox monks broke out in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, revered as the site of Jesus' crucifixion, burial and resurrection.

The brawling began during a procession of Armenian clergymen commemorating the 4th-century discovery of the cross believed to have been used to crucify Jesus....
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I heard there is a team in Australia offering a 12 year, 1 billion dollar contract...

Scott Boras claims that free agent Mark Teixeira has generated interest from more teams than the super-agent "can negotiate with." "I'm going to have to sit down with Mark and Leigh, his wife," Boras said. "I'm going to have to limit the number of teams that we can actually deal with because there's that kind of interest in him." The free agent signing period begins Friday. Expect Boras to drag this one out all winter.
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no cupcakes here


Syracuse jumps right into the college basketball season with a matchup against Indiana today. Then again, what would you expect from...

Wait... that's Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Not to be confused with Indiana University of Indiana, or Cal State LA. Never mind.

a glorious reign begins



Northern Illinois 76
Carthage 62