NYDN:  Prostitution has not suffered drop-off despite economic meltdown

At this rate, the world’s first profession will soon be the world’s only profession.

KSDK:  Isolationism And Protectionism Could Worsen Spreading Financial Crisis

Because free trade and globalism have worked out so well.

KSDK:  Biden Decries ‘Unbecoming Personal Attacks’

“Leave the hair plugs alone!!!”

KSDK:  Jonas Brothers to Play Cowboys’ Thanksgiving Game

Judging from yesterday, they should play on special teams.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution:  One in three recent Atlanta Police Academy graduates have criminal records

That may be, but at least they’re diverse.  And that’s the most important thing.

AP:  Yale celebrates Noah Webster’s 250th birthday

For the sesquibicentennial of Noah Webster’s birth, Yale introduced a graduate-level course entitled “Disestablishmentarianism in Anthropomorphic Androgynous Cultures.”

Business Week:  In Manhattan, $250,000 Isn’t Rich

In Manhattan, $250,000 isn’t even rent.

Yahoo Sports:  [Jose] Canseco detained at US border

One could hope that this means that Mexico didn’t want to let him in.

KSDK:  Youngsters Not Having Problems Understanding DTV Transition

This is kinda duh, when mom has hired her son as her professional iPhone operator.

AFP:  US nuns come home to discover ‘terrorist’ status

Insane, because the chances of them actually being terrorists are just about none.

AP:  Efforts on global warming chilled by economic woes

Be of good cheer, enviros:  In this economy, hardly anybody will be able to afford to have a big carbon footprint.

AP:  Jolie: Obama win would be ‘nice’ for family

Which family?  The Ayers family, or the Dohrn family, or the Manson family, or the Addams family?

AP:  Chief says Chicago police are supported, motivated

Maybe she means the military police onboard the USS Chicago.  She certainly can’t be referring to the major city in Illinois.

LiveScience:  Xenophobia Founded on Faulty Assumptions

Sorry, LiveScience.  They’re my people, not a treatise in Aristotelian logic.

KSDK: Investigators: Fire Intentionally Set at Beaumont High School

We now know that it was started in a science lab, meaning that the fire won’t hinder any actual education.

KSDK: Michigan Teen Excels at Football Despite Having No Legs

If any of his teammates are blind, they will one day make the ideal replacement for Ed Hochuli.

NY Post: GAY-PORN KINGPIN LINKED TO [OBAMA]

I highly doubt any gay porn kingpins would get too close to John McCain. Also note in the article that Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongowski is in this mix, and if his last name isn’t a good porn stage name, I don’t know what is.

WND: Farrakhan on Obama: ‘The Messiah is absolutely speaking’

For being The Messiah, and thus speaking in absolute terms, he could come up with something better than “uhhh” and “uhhhhh.”

CNN: Venezuela closes 100-plus McDonald’s for 2 days

They won’t be allowed to reopen until they ready their Hugo Value Meals.

AP: Schwarzenegger optimistic state can secure loans

Governor, credit isn’t going to be that easy anymore.

AP: Even Britney Spears wonders what she was thinking

Tomorrow, she’ll wonder what she was thinking when she wondered what she was thinking before.

All that’s waiting is for it formally to become a commune.

P-D :

CHICAGO (AP) — Deputies will no longer oust residents of foreclosed properties in Chicago and other parts of Cook County because Sheriff Tom Dart says those thrown out are too often unwitting renters who’ve done nothing wrong and don’t even know their homes have fallen into foreclosure.

“We will no longer be a party to something that’s so unjust,” a visibly angry Dart told a Thursday news conference.

“We have to be sure that when we are doing this — and we are destroying some people’s lives — we better be darned sure we’re talking about the right people,” Dart added.

Dart — who called evictions the most difficult and “gut wrenching” job his deputies are asked to do — said he believes he’s the first sheriff in a major metropolitan area to stop participating in evictions, and the publisher of a national foreclosure database said he’s probably right.

So, what now?  If the deed becomes the bank’s, the former mortgage clients get to stay because nobody will force them out?  If the bank then sells the house, how will the new owners be able to move in if the cops aren’t going to make the previous owners get out?  In one fell swoop, the Sheriff has eliminated property rights, and central planning of real estate isn’t that far behind.  “All power through the barrel of a gun.” — Mao.

GMA News of the Phillippines: US [economic] crunch is Muslim victory - Al Qaeda man

Sure, because the smart money in troubled times goes to Afghanistan.

Entertainment Wise: Madonna: Sarah Palin Isn’t Welcome On Tour

Madonna can’t stand competition from younger and better-looking women.

CNS: Don’t Rely on “Daily Show” for News, Says Show’s Own Rob Riggle

In related news, the founder of Krispy Kreme said that diabetics should avoid doughnuts.

CNS: NBC’s Brokaw Asks No Questions on Iraq, Immigration, Abortion or Same-Sex Marriage

Why not? Most of those kinds of questions help Republicans.

AP: Iceland suspends stock trading, creates new bank

Shares in ice cubes must have fallen.

AP: UN food program finds hunger in rural Zimbabwe

Really? Did anyone think that a UN food program would have been looking for gluttony?

AP: AP IMPACT: GPS could save airlines time and fuel

Don’t think pilots will be impressed with the sound of “turn right 500 miles.”

P-D: St. Louis homeless center opens business incubator

Because the homeless shelter is where the Next Great Idea can usually be found.

CNS: Stem Cells From Testicles an Alternative to Embryos

Some think the idea is absolutely nuts.

AP: NYC National Debt Clock runs out of digits

Who’s going to bail us out?

UK Telegraph: Chicago plans school for gay students

One feature that they’ll bring over from regular schools are the open gym showers.

WSJ: Is California too big to fail?

The bigger they are…

WTAE-ABC-4 Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh To Spend $200K On Gang, Crime Study

After that, they’ll spend $400K to discern why white racism caused the first study to cite too many colored folk, and after that they’ll make a $600K grant to Morris Dees to make sure it never happens again.

If the format of tonight’s McNumbnuts-Obambi snoozefest wasn’t a townhall, I would have sworn up and down that they just replayed the debate that happened eleven days go.  If you squint hard enough, Tom Brokaw could easily be mistaken for Jim Lehrer.

Seriously, debates have gone way downhill.  Ronald Reagan would have wiped the floor with both of these clowns.  I hate to say it, but Bill Clinton would have wiped the floor with both of these clowns.  And I wouldn’t easily dismiss Al Gore versus either one of these two.  He might have been dry, technocratic and preachy, but he was the last major party candidate for President who seemed to be able to talk off the cuff in a debate.  Much less the Clintonian “no personal attack ever fed a hungry child” in 1996, much less than that Reagan’s “I will not make an issue of my opponent’s youth and inexperience” in 1984.

CNS:  Ron Paul Says Bailout is Morally Wrong

Also fiscally, monetarily, constitutionally, politically, ethically, and probably also supercalifragilisticexpialidociously.

KSDK:  Kenya Deporting [Jerome Corsi,] US Author of Anti-Obama Book

They just saved him from being turned into missionary stew.

Reuters:  U.S. official says online drug videos threaten teens

Just show them the video of a withdrawing crack addict chained up to a hospital guerney.  That’ll cure it.

Politico:  Questions for Donna Shalala

“Did Heidi Beirich of the Southern Poverty Law Center ever stand in for you as a body double?”

Yahoo Tech:  AMD to spin off factories in bid to save money

AMD doesn’t need factories anymore, for processors now grow on trees.  (???)

Reuters:  World’s tallest man becomes world’s tallest dad

Those quarterly pencil marks along the wall and going upward will be pretty far apart.

KSDK:  Effort Against LA-Area Taco Trucks Loses its Bite

I dare you to eat something that came off a “taco truck.”

UK Sun:  Black Cops Union:  Don’t Join Police

Listen to them, black citizens.  They know what they’re talking about.

AP:  Scientists: 1 in 4 mammals faces extinction

Outside in my back yard tonight, during at least one point in time, will be a stray dog, a stray cat and a ferret.  It isn’t going to be me…

LiveScience:  Shh! Let’s Not Talk About Race

Uh, no.

KSDK:

Ford Feature Will Let Parents Set Limits for Teens

DETROIT (AP) — So you think junior is a little too lead-footed when he drives the family car? Starting next year, Ford Motor Co. will give you the power to do something about it.

The company will roll out a new feature on many 2010 models that can limit teen drivers to 80 mph, using a computer chip in the key.

Parents also have the option of programming the teen’s key to limit the audio system’s volume, and to sound continuous alerts if the driver doesn’t wear a seat belt.

“Our message to parents is, hey, we are providing you some conditions to give your new drivers that may allow you to feel a little more comfortable in giving them the car more often,” said Jim Buczkowski, Ford’s director of electronic and electrical systems engineering.

Sounds like something that should also apply to the parents.

They’ll be the ones come to throw you off of your house and property if Robert Mugabe wins the election.

***

I keep hearing them say that “because of Obama, I’m going to be a” lawyer, electrical engineer, or something else.  They could be lawyers or electrical engineers even if Obama doesn’t win.  If they have the brain pans, almost every college in the country will be falling all over themselves to get them - it has been this way for several decades.  Why do they think they need Barack Obama as President in order to do these things?

KSDK:  Nine from Roswell, NM, Claim $200 Million Powerball Jackpot

Two of those nine were those creatures that arrived on those “balloons.”

AP:  Shock jock Howard Stern ties the knot in NYC

Since I can’t imagine any woman being married to him, I think this story means that he literally tied a knot.

AP:  Push to register felons to vote could aid Obama

David Axelrod glows with pride as they figure they have the felon consituency in the bag when they get out of the can.

AP:  Report: NKorean leader watches soccer game

And he probably ate supper and ordered a dozen executions of dissidents.  How’s that news?

Politico:  Dean to students: Don’t worry over economy

“Because our economy in academia is doing great, damn everyone and everything else.”

AP:  Ex-McAfee executive clear of illegal option dating

His defense, although successful, consumed most of his resources.  Sound familiar?

E!Online:  Trying Times for Marilyn Manson

If he gets convicted, officials will be confused whether to send him to Sybil Brand or to Pelican Bay.

Thirteen is my lucky number today.  For yesterday, 13 years to the day after a black jury refused to convict Orenthal James Simpson for murdering his white wife, and after 13 hours of deliberation, a Las Vegas jury finally made him a convicted felon.  Sentencing is in December.

I’m waiting for the news that some Aryan Nation-type in whatever Nevada prison he’ll be sent to has raped and murdered him.  Then it’ll be time to party.

To pass the rescue (nee Bailout) in the House.  But nobody in the delegation from the St. Louis metro area voted differently than they did earlier this week, meaning that the only Yes vote was Russ Carnahan.

Amazingly, the MSM have been giving Ron Paul some face time after the vote, as an example of a lingering rescue (nee bailout) critic.  RP actually thinks that this bill will hasten an economic depression.

Face the State Colorado:  Democracy Alliance memo details Dem plan to “educate the idiots” and target minorities

We find someone whose estimation of minorities is lower than mine, and it turns out to be someone who wants their votes.

P-D:  Welcome to the best source of coverage for tonight’s debate

Yeah, but what does that have to do with the Post-Dispatch?

Slashdot:  No Space Porn (For Now)

Astronauts will have to do with turning a telescope towards the Grand Tetons when they make a flyboy over Wyoming.

Wisconsin State Journal:  Police official says [Madison, Wisc.] should limit low-income housing

Madisongrad city officials overruled the cops when they realized that more low-income housing would provide more diversity.

Jake Wagman:

Rudy and Co. make friends at Steak N’ Shake

As we shake off the grog from last night’s veep rumble at Washington University, the tidbits are rolling in.

We hear that some Republican heavyweights took some late night eats at the Steak N’Shake by the airport before heading out of town: Rudolph Giuliani, Fred Thompson and Lindsey Graham.

The trio, we’re told, ordered hamburgers, er, steakburgers, and fries, and commiserated with members of a high school volley ball team that had stopped in, as well.

All along, I thought that Mike Huckabee was the spoiler for McCain.  But what became perfectly clear at the Republican Convention last month is that Fred Thompson was the spoiler.  To an extent, Rudy was an inadvertent spoiler for McCain, for if he would have taken his campaign seriously before Florida, he and McCain would have split the moderate/RINO vote in New Hampshire and South Carolina, precluding the McCain victories in those states.  And, of course, McCain probably won South Carolina because of Gooberface.

Since they chose the Steak-n-Shake near the airport, here’s hoping that they all made a quick getaway and that they won’t come back.

That’s what tonight’s debate at Wash. U. was about.  Sarah Palin was not the bimbo the media expected, and Joe Biden at least tried to keep a lid on his acidic arrogance.  But most of this was a matter of both of them reading their own campaign’s bromides.

Sarah Palin had two handicaps against her during this debate:  One, she’s arguing for McCainiac policies that she doesn’t agree with, and two, Gwen Ifill, a public TV black woman who’s totally in the tank for Obama, was the “moderator,” so she got to ask loaded pro-Democrat questions.  That said, based on what little substance that presented itself during this debate, she tied Biden, and that was virtually a win for her.

As far as style, I think Palin’s style appeals to the white working class far better than Biden’s.  One thing I noticed that she, like President Bush, deliberately mispronounces “nuclear” to sound like “nuculur.”  I think she’s laying a trap, waiting for an arrogant know-it-all like Joe Biden to correct her, and his doing so would offend working class whites and drive their sympathy to her and away from him.  Ironically, I’m advising Republicans not to do the same in their criticism of Joe Biden and his gaffes.

One more thing:  It seems to me that Sarah Palin was trying to both support and oppose the “financial markets rescue” (nee bailout).  I think she personally opposes it, but has to sound like she supports it because McNumbnuts does.  I think she was deliberately leaving mixed messages.

By the way, when will the Stupid Party to push the issue to have obvious conservatives as moderators?  If we’re going to have Gwen Ifill, I would have like to have seen someone in the tank for McCain sitting right next to her, e.g. Sean Hannity, asking loaded pro-Republican questions.  You know that if Sean Hannity was going to be the only moderator for a debate, that the Democrats would bitch.

Memphis Commercial Appeal:  Couple’s findings link crime in Memphis to Section 8 voucher renters

The study was authored by Captain and Mrs. Obvious.

AP:  Cincinnati wants to lead green roof movement in US

Better focus on the kind of people underneath roofs first.

Dan Stein:  Sanctuary Cities Harm Gang Enforcement

Sanctuary cities also tend to have a lot of gangs.

KSDK:  Oscar De La Hoya Plans to Keep Fighting after ‘08

Yeah, but when is he going to start winning?

Info World:  Will your IT job survive the financial meltdown?

Better question:  Will your IT job survive the next H-1B visa bill?

AFP:  Cannabis less harmful than drinking, smoking: report

Since when did they let potheads start writing reports that are taken seriously?

The Hill:  Soros floats alternative bailout plan with Dems

Strangely, some think George Soros is about to become a lot richer.

ABC:  McCaskill Has ‘Joe Biden Moment’ by Saying Biden ‘Sometimes Says Things That Are Kind of Stupid

Actually, thinking that Joe Biden “sometimes” says things that are kind of stupid would be an upgrade for Biden, as he usually says things that are kind of stupid.

CNS:  Bush Won’t Support House Conservatives’ Alternative Financial Plan

All that’s left is for President Bush formally to change political parties.

CNS:  Bush’s Handling of Financial Crisis ‘Irresponsible,’ Gingrich Says

And who was Speaker of the House when the Federal government bolstered the Community Reinvestment Act to require affirmative action in mortgage lending?

AP:  Estimates show Palin assets top $1 million

That means the combined net worth of the McCain-Palin ticket is around $801 million.

Time:  1,300 Gang Members Arrested in 4 Months

Sounds like a slow four months.

Politico:  McCain: ‘Gwen Ifill is a professional’

By “professional,” he must mean it in the sense of the world’s oldest.

Space.Com:  50 Years in Space: NASA’s Roadmap to 2058

Good luck getting a budget in 2058 with a 70%+ black and Hispanic America.

Reuters:  Mail carriers to bring drugs in anthrax attack

Take it from someone who’s always getting my neighbors’ mail and vice versa:  Don’t catch anthrax.

KC Star:  Hulshof calls for big changes in KC, St. Louis schools

I don’t hear the NAACP bitching, so he musn’t be proposing any real big changes.

Just about ten minutes ago.  I noticed that many of the “no” votes came from the Deep South.   Both of Alabama’s Senators and Mississippi’s Senators voted against it.  North Carolina was surprising in that Elizabeth Dole voted against it while Richard Burr voted for it; conventional wisdom suggests it would have been the other way around, but Dole is up for re-election in November.  Both of Louisiana’s Senators voted against it, both Vitter and Democrat Mary Landrieu.  She’s also up for re-election in November, which is probably why.

Georgia’s Johnny Isakson and Saxby Chambliss both voted for it.  Then again, they both voted for “Comprehensive Immigration Reform,” so this is not a surprise.  Also not surprising is that Vice-President of the Media, Lindsay “Gooberhead” Grahamnesty, voted for the “rescue” (nee bailout).  He was interviewed earlier today, and said that one of the main reasons he was voting for it is because talk radio was against it, and that he would do anything that talk radio doesn’t want, as talk radio tried to destroy his career.  Be of good cheer, Gooberhead:  Talk radio is still trying.  Conley’s only nine points behind.

First off, it seems as if the Bailout has officially been retitled as “rescue.”  Probably because “rescue” sounds better to the average person than “bailout.”  Next thing you know, it’ll be called “Comprehensive Reform Reform.”

AP:

Senate to vote on rescue plan with added tax cut

WASHINGTON (AP) - In a surprise move to resurrect President Bush’s $700 billion Wall Street rescue plan, Senate leaders slated a vote on the measure for Wednesday - but added a tax cut plan already rejected by the House. Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and GOP Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky unveiled the plan Tuesday.

Don’t worry, “rescue” (nee bailout) opponent.  The reason that this is all bark is that spending bills have to start in the House.  Article I, Section 7.  Therefore, any “rescue” (nee bailout) that starts in the Senate cannot propose to spend any money.

Also from news about the “rescue” (nee bailout):  We’re always told about how wonderful India is, and how it’s the future.  Yeah, maybe the future for big corporations that love cheap labor.  But to show you how insignificant India is on the world stage, the total value of stock losses on Monday was more than the entire Indian GDP.

AFP Headline:  World leaders look to US for salvation as economies near abyss

This shows you how bad the rest of the world is, if we’re still its salvation.

John McCain thinks that Treasury has the power on its own to spend $1 trillion.  Trouble is, if they did, don’t you think they would have already done it by now?  As much as Bush and Paulson want this “rescue” (nee bailout).  I think it’s a scare tactic to get Congress to pass the “rescue” (nee bailout) — either we waste $700 with the approval of Congress, or $1 trillion without.

Washington Post:  Power Shifts From N.Y. to D.C.

Don’t think you’ll read this article in the New York Times.

Take Two:  Washington Post:  Power Shifts From N.Y. to D.C.

I wish power would shift to St. Louis, so that the Post-Dispatch could have something to gloat about.

Take Three:  Washington Post:  Power Shifts From N.Y. to D.C.

Power couldn’t even make a stopover in Philadelphia or Baltimore to give the Inquirer or Sun something to write about.

AP:  Los Angeles mayor announces bold housing plan

Here’s a new, fresh, bold idea:  Reduce mortgage lending standards for blacks and Hispanics, giving them interest rates lower than the prime lending rate.

CNS:  Obama Advisor Pledged $1 Trillion in Sub-Prime Loans As Fannie Mae CEO

Hey, nothing’s too good for our minorities.

AP:  NPR boosts online offerings, seeks larger audience

Will call it a success if their listenership swells to the 30s.  Not millions or thousands, mind you.

PC Mag:  New ‘Grand Theft Auto’ Makes Cocaine Sales a Game

I guess the only way that GTA will ever become truly controversial is if voting Republican becomes part of the game play.

CNS:  San Francisco’s Folsom Street Fair Featured Public Whippings

In another day, “public whippings” in San Francisco meant that a kid did something bad and his mother responded.  In another day, things done in public on Folsom Street in 2008 got you sent to Folsom Prison.

Charles Hurt, New York Post:

Here’s why Americans are revolting over the Wall Street rescue plan.

It’s not that taxpayers refuse to dig deeper to avoid an even bigger catastrophe.

It’s that they’re all puking over the notion that it’s the same bums in Washington who caused the mess by allowing it to fester who are now demanding their money to fix it.

It’s like the criminal who breaks into your house, hurts himself, then sues you for damages.

Ron Paul, debating the bailout earlier today in the House:

Just imagine the results if a construction company was forced to use a yardstick whose measures changed daily to construct a skyscraper…..There is almost no talk of the relationship of the Community Reinvestment Act, HUD, and government assisted loans to the housing bubble.

***

WSJ MarketWatch:  Paulson disappointed with vote, will work to rescue plan

AP:  Bush very disappointed by House vote

No word on who was very very disappointed.

He voted against The Bailout today.  Locally, Akin, Clay, Shimkus and Costello also voted against it.  Russ Carnahan voted for it.

In case you’re wondering, The Bailout is nothing more than the big banks and investment houses dumping their failed subprime racial pandering affirmative action loans onto the Federal government, i.e. you.  Yes, one could say that the Feds made these banks issue these mortgages, but it doesn’t seem that these banks put up any resistance to the concept; they were all too willing to do it on their own, as they have long countenanced the same kind of racial pandering and affirmative action that the Feds used to “force” banks to make these loans.

Note:  I’m not voting for Jay Nixon, either.  In case you were wondering.

AP:  German company claims puzzle is world’s biggest

At 1,141,800 pieces, it’s probably also the world’s biggest table.

AP:  Zimbabweans overwhelm banks to withdraw cash

Cash that isn’t worth a fraction of what it used to be worth, which almost sounds like another country I’ve heard of, which is in the same mess for many of the same reasons.

AFP:  MI6 pokes Facebook for new spy recruits

When one FB posted a message on another user’s wall that MI6 wanted to hire him, the job offer was suddently withdrawn.