10.31.2009
OK Bunky, here's what I say
WASHINGTON – Citing faulty memory, former Vice President Dick Cheney told federal investigators in a 2004 interview he had no idea who revealed to reporters that Valerie Plame, the wife of a Bush administration critic, worked for the CIA.
link: Cheney to FBI: No idea who leaked Plame's identity - Yahoo! News
I say we give a freaking memory test to everybody who works in government freaking anywhere right now and anybody who flunks it damnit goes. Out. Now. Did I say now? This I-can't-remember stuff doesn't cut it.
And furthermore, any "investigator" who falls for it goes too.
Times change
Since the Witch School set up shop in tiny Rossville two years ago, some of the Christian flocks in this former factory town have protested and prayed that the pagans would pick up and leave. Some even sprinkled the wheels of their cars with holy water and cruised around town to ward off witches.
Their prayers will be answered Halloween weekend when the handful of teachers and staff from the school pull up stakes and move where they feel more welcome: Salem, Mass....
link: Witch School on move -- chicagotribune.com
Come to think of it, maybe next summer I'll trundle over to Salem and see if I can get a senior discount on tuition. Now that my car's quit working, a good broom might come in handy. Especially if I can find one with an iPod connector.
And if you think health care reform will be any different you just aren't paying attention, darlin'
NEW YORK – Have you checked the interest rates on your credit cards lately? Odds are they're going way up.
That's because credit-card companies are rushing to raise rates and tack on extra fees ahead of a law slated to take effect Feb. 22 that is supposed to limit such moves in the future. In some cases, rates are doubling to as high as 30 percent or more, even for people who pay their bills on time.
link: ALL BUSINESS: Credit-card rates up before new law - Yahoo! News
10.30.2009
USA! USA!
Politico - CBS' Mark Knoller - an unofficial documentarian and statistician of all things White House-related - wrote on his Twitter feed that, "Today - Obama ties Pres. Bush in the number of rounds of golf played in office: 24. Took Bush 2 yrs & 10 months."
link: UNDERNEWS: OBAMA BEATS BUSH AT GOLF
Brush hacking next!
The new economy
Right-wing women rock....
Left-wing drabs recycle. Right-wing women shop -- and the government measures how much they shop every month to find out whether we're still in a recession. Basically, the world economy depends on right-wing women buying shoes.
link: Right-wing women rock | Ian Robinson | Columnists | Comment | Calgary Sun
Or is it the old one?
No ruling on lima beans
“We’re balancing a tradition here with the times we live in,” said Tom Hernandez, a spokesman for District 202 in Plainfield, Ill., where costumes depicting animals and food (preferably carrots or pumpkins) are in favor.
link: Many Schools Are Setting Restrictions on Halloween Costumes - NYTimes.com
10.29.2009
Well, it sort of depends
LONDON – So you think London, population 8 million, is crowded with the living?...
Now the city's largest cemetery is trying to persuade Londoners to share a grave with a stranger.
link: UK cemetery: Share a grave with a stranger? - Yahoo! News
Nobody knows, of course, but it's possible, isn't it, your stranger could be Jack the Ripper himself. How cool would that be?
"I don't even want to think about it," said 29-year-old London receptionist Temi Oshinowo. "It's not showing respect. It doesn't matter whether or not the person has been buried for 25 years or 100 years, that is their space and you should give them respect."
I don't know. Given the choice, Jack sounds good to me.
So take the rest of the day off
The economy grew at a 3.5 percent pace in the third quarter, the best showing in two years, fueled by government-supported spending on cars and homes.
The Commerce Department's report Thursday delivered the strongest signal yet that the economy entered a new, though fragile, phase of recovery and that the worst recession since the 1930s has ended.
link: Economy grew 3.5 percent in third quarter | Raw Story
10.28.2009
Whoa! Babe!
Vincent Price stars as a scientist and last survivor on Earth...
link: Hulu - The Last Man On Earth
That, right there, all by itself, is one of the scariest things I've ever read.
Oh, the horror!
Mr. Mutty’s group has repeatedly warned voters that if same-sex marriage survives in Maine, public schools will most likely teach children about it.
link: Focus of Gay-Marriage Fight Is Maine - NYTimes.com
10.27.2009
If you insist on screwing around with the stock market, at least wear a shirt
SEC Seeks to Curb Naked Access, Expose Fast Trades
link: SEC Seeks to Curb Naked Access, Expose Fast Trades - NYTimes.com
And take your time.
On moderation
A major reason we have so many wars is because of pressure from former schoolyard bullies now at the Pentagon and from presidential advisers and journalists feeling insecure about their testosterone level. Stop pandering to these types and you not only save a lot of lives, but hundreds of billions of dollars as well.
link: UNDERNEWS: FLOTSAM & JETSAM: TIME FOR A LITTLE MODERATION
And much more from the inestimable Sam Smith.
10.26.2009
Gonna take a long time to live this down
MINNEAPOLIS (The Borowitz Report) - Trying to make the best of what could be a public relations disaster, Northwest Airlines today unveiled a new corporate slogan, "We'll Get You Within 150 Miles of There."...
In a related story, the two Northwest pilots who overshot Minneapolis said they were just trying to do publicity for the movie "Amelia."
link: Northwest's New Motto: "We'll Get You Within 150 Miles of There" - Borowitz Report
Riiiight
What does a woman want? The question that famously stumped Sigmund Freud—despite, he once complained to Marie Bonaparte, “my thirty years of research into the feminine soul”—has lately been answered by Michael Silverstein, a senior partner at the Boston Consulting Group, in Chicago: Women want to be Swedish....
link: Michael Silverstein and “Women Want More” : The New Yorker
Jobless recovery. Again.
Over the next year, economic activity in Massachusetts will increase more than 2 percent, slightly faster than in the nation as a whole, but employers here will still slice 37,000 more jobs, according to forecasts by Moody’s Economy.com, a research firm in West Chester, Pa. That job loss, while significant, is less than the projected rate nationwide.
link: Mass. facing a jobless recovery, even as key industries begin to rebound - The Boston Globe
Woohoo! Bengals beat Bears 45 to...wait a minute...forty freakin five??
CINCINNATI -- The way they lay down Sunday, the Bears didn't need to be seated for their flight home as much as they needed to be stacked.
link: How could Bears be so unprepared, so pathetic? -- chicagotribune.com
45. To 10. It's true.
Nifty idea
As we learned in last year’s presidential election, American polling sites can process more than 130 million people in a single day....
As millions of doses of H1N1 vaccine are shipped out, doctors’ offices may be overwhelmed. Polling places, until now largely overlooked, could be used for providing mass inoculations.
link: Op-Ed Contributor - One Person, One Dose - NYTimes.com
Of course the problem is getting 130 million doses of the vaccine on a single day, but still.
Oh no no, don't do that
If the parking meter deal put a bad taste in your mouth, try swallowing this: Chicago is considering leasing its water system to help fix the budget.
The new boss could charge whatever they want for water, CBS 2's Roseanne Tellez reports.
link: Mayor Daley May Be Considering A Sale Of Chicago's Water System - cbs2chicago.com
10.25.2009
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