Leslie's Omnibus

Drive-Bys

It's been a crazy week and I'm glad to see the tail end of it. I'm riding off into the weekend sunset. See you Monday?
Leslie

Busman's Holiday

Sorry I've been so long in posting. I've been off visiting the Princess Mom.

This photo?

It's sunset over Tallahassee.

More later...
Leslie

PSA

As you're tucking into your dinner and giving thanks on Thursday, give a moment to chew on this little tidbit, too.

If what Kevin has to say moves you at all, then go here, and consider putting together and distributing gift bags for the homeless in your area this holiday season.
Leslie

Tootin' the Horn


My pal from the North Woods is having a birthday. Hope your day is wonderful, Livey!
Leslie

The End of the Line



Blogger Rachel Lucas has lost her dear canine companion, Digger. Heartfelt condolences from me and my own aging Traveling Companion.
Leslie

PSA

Received today from the American Cancer Society:

The American Cancer Society has an extraordinary opportunity to help the millions of people battling cancer.

Novartis, a leading pharmaceutical company, has teamed up with the American Cancer Society to match any donations we receive by December 15, dollar-for-dollar, up to $100,000. This means that Novartis can double any gift you make.

Your doubled gift will be used to support American Cancer Society-funded researchers and others so they can continue their promising work. You'll also help give the American Cancer Society more resources to offer important patient services, cancer education programs, and support for local and nationwide advocacy efforts.

Please help us take advantage of this opportunity by clicking here to give a gift to the Novartis Matching Gift Challenge today. Thank you!

Sincerely,

Debra Cohen
Chairman of the Board
Illinois Division
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Please give generously. This one is near and dear to my heart.
Leslie

Drive-Bys

Pamibe goes out of her way to squick me out today. Yick.

Becky also serves up stomach-turning information.

Between the two of them, they're rapidly turning me into Adrian Monk.
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Drew Peterson and missing wife Stacy are getting a lot of media attention here in Chicago, and rightly so. However, I find this news very alarming, and can't understand why it's not getting nearly as much attention as the Peterson mess.

Frightening times, people. Frightening times.
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Here's another survey to help you see which candidate you are most aligned with on policy issues. My closest result was 75% like Rudy Giuliani. My problem is, I can't vote simply on policy issues; I have to really like and trust the candidate, as well. And I just don't like Rudy. Ah, well. I really am not nuts about any of the candidates -- right or left -- at the moment.
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I see Governor Blago is working hard on getting our transportation mess straightened out. Whatta guy.
Leslie

Bus Fumes

Here's more insight into how the Catholic Church has historically guarded against the possibility of pedophiles entering the priesthood:
Mundelein officials learned in 1992 about sexual accusations against McCormack involving two adult males and a minor. The incidents began in 1988 when McCormack was at a seminary school known as Niles College, according to archdiocesan reports.

"There was a sense that his activity was part of the developmental process and that he had learned from the experience," Kicanas said. "I was more concerned about his drinking. We sent him to counseling for that."
Great. Not only was this seminarian a pervert, he was a drunk and a pervert. So how did the then rector of the seminary react?

He offered up a daily smorgasboard of altar boys and sacremental wine and trusted that McCormack wouldn't give in to temptation. And they put him in a position of power and sacred trust in doing so.
"It would have been grossly unfair not to have ordained him," said Kicanas, now bishop of Tucson, Ariz., who was interviewed Tuesday after his election to vice president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Right. And now the bastard is in jail for molesting five little boys.
The archdiocese's vicar general, the Rev. John Canary, also worked at Mundelein at the time. He recently told the Sun-Times that McCormack should have never been ordained.

Kicanas disagrees, saying there was no "credible" allegation against McCormack.

"I don't think there was anything I could have done differently," Kicanas said.
If Kicanas really believes that, he has no business being a bishop. A shepherd is supposed to guard his flock, not knowingly set a wolf among them.
Leslie

Bus Fumes

Cardinal Francis George and one of his top bishops are stirring up controversy because of statements they recently made criticizing lawsuits from victims of priest sexual abuse.

In a letter obtained by the Sun-Times, the cardinal earlier this year wrote to the parents of a victim and apologized "for the terrible abuse suffered by your son at the hands of Ken Ruge and Robert Becker," two Chicago area priests who are now dead.

The cardinal also wrote that money was the motivation for proposed state legislation that would allow adults who were abused by priests as children to sue their perpetrators in cases where statutes of limitation have expired.

"This is irresponsible, is not about the safety of children as the sponsor claims, and is clearly, to me at least, about money," he wrote.
Wrap your head around that for a moment.

It's been very clear for a long time that the Cardinal is loyal to the Vatican, and the Vatican is now rewarding him richly for it:
Cardinal Francis George, a staunch Vatican loyalist, was elected president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops today.

This elevates George’s profile in the American church. But the position is more symbolic than powerful since the Vatican approves all major decisions.

The conference is the organization by which U.S. bishops conduct business, such as implementing Vatican guidelines for liturgy or developing sexual abuse policies.
Yes, indeedy -- the same man who says it's all about the money is leading the body that develops sexual abuse policies for the Catholic Church in the U.S.
In the wake of the explosion of clergy abuse scandals in 2002, George often served as national spokesman for the bishops. But he initially argued for a less stringent policy than the “zero tolerance” measure eventually adopted by the bishops. [Emphasis mine]
Never has a candidate been as widely protested by clergy victims, who point to his handling of cases.
Is it any wonder?

The Vatican looks out for the Vatican, and not for the Catholic Church itself (see definition 3).

It's actions like this that lead me to practice my own faith outside the confines of organized religion. The hypocrisy is stunning.
Leslie

Rubber-Necking

Quote of the Day:
Then he does it. He stops right in front of me and to my horror he pulls up his gown as he yells, "AND WHEN ARE THEY GONNA COME AND FIX THIS! THIS SHIT IS GONNA FALL OFF!"
Who says med blogs are boring?
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2007 Darwin Award candidate No. 1 found here. (via J-Walk)
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2007 Darwin Award candidate No. 2 found here. Karma is a beautiful thing to behold.
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Future Darwin Award candidate? (And you thought texting and driving was distracting enough!)
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I don't know why, but this article gives me the giggles.
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Best title for a short story: "Porn and Donuts"
Leslie

Drive-Bys

Quote of the Day:
Meanwhile, it only took Jesse Jackson three days to get his canned-ham-for-a-face in a picture on the strike line. Of course he showed up at 5:00 just as the march was ending. The man can find a photo-op like a pig can find truffles.
Yup. That's why I love Ken Levine.
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You Are a Kinetic Learner

You learn best by doing, and you have a talent for complicated, physical tasks.

You excel at athletics, drama, and fixing things.

You would be an excellent Olympic athlete - or a Broadway star!


(A tip of the cap to LL.)
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Erica and Jimbo got me curious:

What American accent do you have? (Best version so far)

Neutral

You're not Northern, Southern, or Western, you're just plain -American-. Your national identity is more important than your local identity, because you don't really have a local identity. You might be from the region in that map, which is defined by this kind of accent, but you could easily not be. Or maybe you just moved around a lot growing up.

Personality Test Results

Click Here to Take This Quiz
Brought to you by YouThink.com quizzes and personality tests.

Born in Boston. Moved to Cleveland. Moved to Chicago. Moved to New Hampshire. Moved back to Chicago. Yep. That explains everything.
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If nothing else, my ongoing boycott of imported Chinese goods seems to have gotten my URL banned in China. Figures.
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For my Straight White friend, so he'll know where the very first zombie can be found. For instance, did you know...
Recent work at Hierakonpolis has, however, revealed compelling evidence that zombies may have been problematic already in Predynastic Egypt (ca. 3500 B.C.).
Zounds!

(A tip of the cap to the Instapundit.)
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I agree with Da Mayor. The RTA really does need at least 30 days to make preparation for Doomsday, Part III.

I don't know how the Gov can keep dinking around with legislation to allow two more casinos in the state of Illinois and say that it will fix the 2008 RTA budget. Right. Casinos that haven't even had ground broken for construction. It will be years before these things are operational. And, guess what? At least the Chicago casino will likely be served by the RTA, both for employee and patron transportation.

In the meantime, the CTA has more financial issues than just the daily operating costs.

Lets' face facts. We haven't had a fare increase in a good long time, and we're due. If Springfield is going to get hit for more money, those of us who use the service day in and day out should be paying our fair share, too. My daily one-way fare on Metra is less than $3, and takes me about 45 minutes from the time I walk out the door until the time I walk into my office. If I drove, I'd be looking at a minimum of an hour to ninety minutes in traffic, and at least $17 per day in parking fees. Add gas and increased insurance fees, and I'm sure you can see why I'm a big proponent of the RTA and why I'd be willing to pay an increase to keep the services running smoothly.

Chicago certainly doesn't have enough parking space for all those people who'd be affected by route cuts, even if they could afford the parking -- and most can't.

I hope Richie keeps the pressure on Rod. This is just ridiculous.
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This is why you should never buy a puppy or kitten from a pet store. Especially unimaginable:
In negotiations with county officials, Horton will keep 200 dogs and will secure the proper licensing and comply with federal laws for dog breeders, Larrowe said.

He could eventually face charges that include animal cruelty, but he has cooperated as authorities work to remove the dogs from his farm, treat them and send them on to shelters.
I'm gob-smacked here. They remove 1,000 puppies and the authorities still let him keep 200 dogs??? There is no way you could possibly obtain a healthy, well-socialized puppy from a breeding operation like this.
Leslie

Rubber-Necking

Holy moley! I went from Flappy Birdhood to Large Mammal-ness in 24 hours.

(I'll enjoy it for the 30 seconds it lasts. Geeze. All I had really aspired to was to get back to being an Adorable Rodent again.)
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Update: I was right about that 30 seconds. Less than 12 hours later I embraced Wiggly Wormness. Sheesh.
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Update 2: It looks like there's a schism in the Ecosystem. All the inbound links appear to have gone kaflooey.
Leslie

Drive-Bys

See this test? I'll never know the answer to that question, as every time I type in my URL I get this message:
Something went wrong.
WTF?
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The latest round of good things for your child to ingest have arrived from China. And, by golly, the Chinese will make that all our fault, too.
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I would have thought this might be a pretty damned good deterrent if I hadn't discovered that Jenkem stuff. Now, I'd believe some people will pollute their bodies with just about anything....
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Be glad you don't live in the Chicagoland area and rely on mass transit. It's going to get uglier, folks. (Is it any wonder that the Governor's approval rating is lower than Dubya's?)
Leslie

Tootin' the Horn

In honor of my late father's service in the Army Air Corps during the Korean War, I've joined Project Valor-IT's Air Force Team. This wonderful program provides voice-activated laptops for severely wounded soldiers.

It's not often to find an organization that takes 100% of your donation and puts it where it's intended. I'm proud to join the team and support the cause!







Leslie

Drive-Bys



Your Inner European is Dutch!



Open minded and tolerant.


You're up for just about anything.




(Because lots of cool bloggers are doing it.)
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True Mom Confessions. I am certain the Princess Mom would have made use of this site on a daily basis when I was growing up. (Not because of my own antics, mind you; it was all my siblings' fault.)
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My giggle for the day can be found here.
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Leslie

Drive-Bys

Hey, Erica! I think you should enter this contest next year. You'd stand a good shot at making the top 10, at least!
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Pay Attention: This next link is not for the weak of stomach. Really.

The mind simply boggles at this. That is quite possibly the grossest thing I've ever read.

Uck. My tummy is still roiling.
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For all my male bloggity buds, the Quote of the Day:
Bad winter expected for tits in UK
Sorry. Just couldn't resist.
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There are some crimes for which the only penalty would be for the perpetrator to have the same thing done to them as they have done to their victim. Nothing else comes close in this case.
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Yes, the Gov managed to pull another rob-Peter-to-pay-Paul rabbit out from under his wig. That buys us until the end of December before panic sets in again. What's wrong with these people?
Leslie

Drive-Bys

I got an email with a subject line of Applebee's - enjoy! ($50.00!!):

Have a great lunch!

Hope you enjoy your lunch on Applebee's!

My name is Bill Palmer, founder of Applebee's. In an attempt to get our name out to more people in the rural communities where we are not currently located, we are offering a! $50 gift certificate to anyone who forwards this email to 9 of their friends. Just send this email to them and you will receive an email back with a confirmation number to claim your gift certificate.

Sincerely

Bill Palmer

Founder of Applebee's Visit us at: www.applebees.com
Followed by:
Hey guys,

It really works, I tried it and got my Gift certificate confirmation number in 3 minutes.
Remember -- you never get something for nothing.

Update: If you found your way here from Google, please stick around and read a little bit more. Start here. You're always welcome!
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It seems Jay and I have managed to piss off a Chicago late night talk radio host.

I listen to Nick Digilio on the radio on Sunday nights as I'm headed off to sleep -- mostly because I have a sleep button on the radio that turns itself off after an hour, and I'm usually awake enough to catch the beginning of Brian Noonan's gig, which I enjoy. Plus, when I hit the sleep button in the morning, I wake up to Spike O'Dell, who I really enjoy.

See? He just happens to pop up on the radio station I listen to the most, and is on at a time when I'm usually drifting off to sleep. In my opinion, he's a pushy, opinionated, pig-headed, overgrown adolescent who, I'm sure, gets paid a good buck by WGN to be just that. If you met him out and about in Andersonville, my guess is he'd be the know-it-all at the bar with an opinion on everything and perfectly willing to make sure everyone on this place knows what it is. He's the kind of guy most people either love or hate, and I just usually tune out. I'm sure he's a laugh riot to drink with. Or see a horror movie with. That doesn't make him a bad guy -- it just makes him the kind of guy I generally try to avoid, okay?

But, as his billing notes:
Now he hosts his own show on Friday, Saturday and Sunday Nights where he talks about pop culture, current events, hot topics...and of course, reviews the new films.
If you're going to style yourself knowledgeable on pop culture, wouldn't you think you'd want to sound knowledgeable?

Yes, my initial reaction (I emailed him the link the day I posted it, BTW; he never bothered to respond at the time) to his was probably a little over-the-top. But his response is just mocking and ridicule and only further exposes the "who cares" attitude that is why I don't consider him particularly professional. And just what I'd expect out of him. That's my opinion, and I'm entitled to it.

P.S. -- Thanks, Anonymous for letting me know about his little rant. I'm guessing you tipped him in the first place! If so, I'm alway grateful for new readers.

P.P.S. -- Nick, if you see this, there's actually one thing we do agree on. Bacon is one of nature's perfect foods. Just to show there's no hard feelings, here's a blog devoted entirely to bacon. Enjoy.
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Stunt breasts?
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Leslie

Bus Fumes

Clearly Governor Blago doesn't get it. Nor do any other members of our legislature, it seems. Hundreds of thousands of Chicagoans are going to be severely adversely affected by their inability to quit playing power games and taking care of the voting base for once.

No one can claim that the RTA's budgetary needs are a surprise. It's not like the organization just sprung up out of the ground overnight. One bailout in the form of robbing next year to pay for this year has already happened.

The folks are the RTA are right:
Regional Transportation Authority officials were more direct, saying they won't approve a short-term funding fix for the CTA, Metra and Pace that involves using transit subsidies from next year's budget to solve this year's budget woes.
This needs to be fixed right now, and with an eye to the future in not letting anything like this happen ever again with our public transportation services.

The boys and girls down in Springfield need to understand that the voters are watching all of them closely. We're watching who's actually trying to pry this thing out of the mud and put it back on the rails and those who are standing around just jawing about how awful everything is and how somebody ought to do something about it.

I predict big changes in the color of the voting in this state in our next election. Mark my words.

Big changes.
Leslie

Drive-Bys

Quote of the Day:
Parenthood and pet ownership, people. Two adventures that never get old.
Too funny!
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Last night I had a dream that took the form of a story told in one long blog post. Complete with scroll bars and publish post buttons. Too strange.
Leslie

Drive-Bys

Via John Walkenbach, I found the Color Sense Game.

Here's my primary color palatte:



In Italy, al fresco means "in the open air." Dining al fresco conjures up images of a splendid dinner with friends on a lush terrace, where nature's green brushstroke has painted every view.

The Al fresco Harmony Collection™ introduces welcoming and rejuvenating color harmonies inspired by nature's palette. It's a weekend in the countryside, the smell of freshly cut grass, or fresh basil growing on your kitchen windowsill. A friendly color, green symbolizes renewal and embodies our thoughts of springtime. It is the essence of your garden, luminous when the sun glimmers through after rain. The greens of Al fresco are inviting; they comfort, soothe, and restore. A simple solution for creating a peaceful retreat in any room, greens are especially good for serene bedrooms and living rooms where they promote tranquility and the sharing of confidences. If you are attracted to Al fresco, you are ready to bask in its healing palettes... where green is the color of relaxation.



And here's my secondary palette:



The palettes of Leather, Stone & Wood will balance hectic lives with a sense of strength, comfort, and security. It is a simple return at the end of each day to earth's precious gifts.

Wear-polished pebbles from last summer's beach stroll, a branch of silvery driftwood, a handful of golden sand, or the imprints of children etched into the time-honored leather of your grandfather's beloved chair. The classic and discriminating tones of the Leather, Stone & Wood Harmony Collection™ recapture the essence of earthen objects in tactile palettes destined to create restful backdrops for living.

These harmonies are particularly well-suited to open concept living where we rely on shade and nuance to divide space, or to enhance sophisticated interiors as the perfect partner for dark wood trims, leather furniture, and a library feel.


Pretty damned cool, huh? What's your best color palette?
Leslie