Cop has sex with boyfriend in hot tub, gets busted

Tub tryst lands cop in hot water

September 28, 2006

BY LAUREN FITZPATRICK Daily Southtown

As the star witness, the state called on a boyish high school sophomore with a mop of tousled hair.

The defendants, a soberly suited and neatly combed 11-year Cook County sheriff's lieutenant and her boyfriend, are tagged as perpetrators of public indecency.

Their purported crime? Steamy hot tub sex on a fall afternoon in far southwest suburban Lockport. Now they're standing trial on the charge.

The boy and his mother, who live next door, called the cops on their alleged love-making neighbors, Kelly Mrozek, 38, and 22-year-old Mark Sumner of Orland Park, last November.

On Wednesday, the couple went to trial in a Will County courtroom in an unorthodox finale for a single misdemeanor charge.
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Click here for entire story.

Olbermann slams RoSCUM er uh Roskam

RoSCUM gets some unflattering national press. . .poor miserable man.

RedEye/Tribune tackle Chicago myths

True Chicago
RedEye sets the record straight
on 13 local myths and mysteries

By Kyra Kyles
RedEye
Published September 27, 2006


The Excalibur nightclub is a source of mystery for Dee Zrnich, 25.

"I saw this documentary on Excalibur, and I've been on this site called hauntedchicago.com," the Jefferson Park resident said of the club at 632 N. Dearborn St. "When I go there, I always want to ask somebody if there are ghosts there, but when you're drinking, it's not a good time."

But ghouls aren't the only local fascination. One South Sider's quest is to find the building where media mogul Oprah Winfrey lives.

"I just keep wondering where it is," said Aleria Butler, 20. "She just is such a big figure nationally."

Those mysteries are among the most popular for those who live in or are visiting the city, history buffs said. About 10 years ago, locals were obsessed with Chicago's mob history, but the new focus is on simple history, local legends and pop culture trivia including:
Did Mrs. O'Leary's cow really burn the city to a crisp?
What exactly is the Cubs' curse?
Why does the Chicago River run backward?

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Click here for entire story.

Another refreshing "special comment" from Keith Olbermann

This does not get old, Keith Olbermann responds to the Bill Clinton FAUX NEWS (FOX) interview:



A textbook definition of cowardice
Keith Olbermann comments on Bill Clinton's Fox News interview
SPECIAL COMMENT
By Keith Olbermann
Anchor, 'Countdown'
MSNBC

Updated: 9:28 p.m. CT Sept 25, 2006

The headlines about them are, of course, entirely wrong.

It is not essential that a past president, bullied and sandbagged by a monkey posing as a newscaster, finally lashed back.

It is not important that the current President’s portable public chorus has described his predecessor’s tone as “crazed.”

Our tone should be crazed. The nation’s freedoms are under assault by an administration whose policies can do us as much damage as al Qaida; the nation’s marketplace of ideas is being poisoned by a propaganda company so blatant that Tokyo Rose would’ve quit.

Nonetheless. The headline is this:

Bill Clinton did what almost none of us have done in five years.
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Click here for entire transcript.

Surprise, surprise, more evidence that George Allen is a bigot.

Windy City Watch thinks its funny that Allen was forced to defend himself alongside Black ministers who joined him in his effort to promote bigotry against gays. They may be Black and men of the cloth, but like Allen they too are bigots.

Allen forced to deny using the 'n-word'

Story in Salon.com is latest race-related twist in senator's bid for re-election.

By Hugh Lessig
804-225-7345

September 25 2006, 1:10 PM EDT

RICHMOND -- Sen. George Allen found himself playing defense again Monday on the subject of race relations, this time denying allegations that he used racial epithets while playing football at the University of Virginia in the early 1970s.

A story in Salon.com draws on three former teammates of Allen's who said the current senator and potential presidential candidate referred to blacks as "niggers."

One man said Allen gave him the nickname "Wizard" because his last name was the same as a man who had served as the imperial wizard of the United Klans of America, a group affiliated with the Ku Klux Klan. Two of three teammates are quoted anonymously.

It was against this backdrop that Allen appeared in Richmond Monday with a group of African-American pastors to voice his support for a state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.

Later, facing persistent questions from reporters, an emotional Allen said the story was a lie.

"Let me say this again very clearly so no one can misunderstand this," he said. "These allegations, and this story . . . are false. I don't ever remember ever using that word. That word was not a part of my vocabulary as was asserted in this article. It wasn't then. It hasn't been since then. And it is not now. It is not who I was and is not who I am."
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Click here for story.

No way to sugar coat it, Peter Roskam is SCUM, just plain and simple SCUM!!!

In the race for the US House of Representatives in Illinois' 6th Congressional District Republican Peter Roskam claimed his opponent Tammy Duckworth, who lost her legs while serving as a US Army helicopter pilot were serving in Iraq, would "cut and run" from the war torn country.

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During an election debate at the weekend in the outskirts of Chicago, Peter Roskam, the Republican candidate for Illinois's sixth district, trotted out the familiar line that his Democratic opponent wanted America to "cut and run" from Iraq.

His opponent, Tammy Duckworth, a former National Guard pilot who lost both her legs in Iraq last year when her helicopter was shot down by a rocket-propelled grenade, was visibly angry at the exchange. "I just could not believe he would say that to me," said Ms Duckworth, who now walks on artificial legs with the help of a cane. "I have risked my life to serve my country and you cannot question my patriotism."
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"I am sick and tired of the Republicans saying 'Either you agree with us on national security or you are not patriotic'," says Ms Duckworth, whose campaign has ignited the highest level of volunteer door-to-door support the Democrats can remember in this district. "It is total baloney – in fact I have a better army word, but I can't use it. We must never forget that it is patriotic and it is American to question people in power."
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Click here for entire story.

Simply put, Peter Roskam is just scum, plain and simple.

Chicago announces Olympic plans

Plan for 2016 Olympics disclosed

By Greg Hinz
Sept. 23, 2006

(Crain's) — Arguing that Chicago is uniquely equipped to host an "athlete-centric" 2016 Olympics, officials have sketched out plans to scatter venues for 33 sports throughout a wide swath of the central part of the city.

Proposed in a bold effort to both involve neighborhoods and impress visitors is everything from tennis and whitewater rafting on the North Side lakefront to gymnastics and swimming on the Near West Side, judo at McCormick Place and track-and-field competition in Washington Park.

For the first time, officials also began to put some numbers on how much it would cost to build housing and sports facilities for athletes from around the world, with indications the ultimate price tag will approach or exceed $2 billion.

"We're not going to build ordinary venues. Chicagoans aspire to greatness," said former Aon Corp. CEO Patrick Ryan, who heads Olympic planning efforts for Mayor Richard M. Daley.
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Click here for entire story.

Couch raises interesting point regarding race and Notre Dame coaching

In today's Chicago Sun-Times, columnist Greg Couch raises a very interesting point about race and the Notre Dame football coaching position. Its not all that far fetched.

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Building a major-college football powerhouse is not a snapshot. It's a process. And it's exactly this panic feeling from Notre Dame nation that forced out Willingham way, way before it was time. If the final minutes had gone wrong, Notre Dame would have found itself in a mess. If you think the racial implications of firing Willingham weren't resonating, especially after that Michigan game, then you were wrong.

Look, Willingham was the first black head coach Notre Dame had hired in any sport.

He started 11-3, and then lost to Michigan and Michigan State. And one more year later, he was fired.

Weis started 11-3, and then lost to Michigan, and was on the verge of losing to Michigan State. And Weis has a 10-year contract extension. Meanwhile, Willingham's Washington team beat UCLA on Saturday, and started its turnaround.

Too simple of a way of looking at it? Maybe. But it absolutely would have been an image problem. Now, that's shelved.
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Click here for entire column.

Real life "when keeping it real goes wrong" is definately real and it went wrong

Cops: Wife mistakenly vandalizes officer's truck

September 20, 2006

When trying to get revenge, details are important.

Two Aurora residents might have learned that lesson the hard way when one woman apparently tried to get back at her allegedly unfaithful husband this past weekend.

According to the Kane County state's attorney's office, Tamieka Ayanech, 31, called co-worker Johnnie Logan, 45, to ask for help in punishing Ayanech's husband for supposedly cheating on her.

Ayanech wanted to damage her husband's silver truck, so both women went looking for the vehicle on River Street, according to charging documents.
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Click here for story.

Watch the clip below to see how life imitates art:

Judge Judy to decide iPod case?

Judge says you settle dispute over iPod

By Christy Gutowski
Daily Herald Legal Affairs Writer
Posted Friday, September 22, 2006


Their parents can't seem to agree, but the two Aurora schoolgirls at the center of a court dispute over a missing iPod are being brought together to try to reach an agreement.

DuPage Associate Judge Dorothy French on Thursday ordered the Oct. 18 settlement conference between the 14-year-olds and their parents in an effort to resolve the matter without a trial.

The small claims suit, though, may be decided on the “Judge Judy” show, based in California, which airs weekdays on WBBM-TV Channel 2. Both sides are talking with the program's producers, but the idea of changing court venues still is in the early stage.

The national exposure is the latest twist to a teenage quarrel that generated a lawsuit, media frenzy and thousands of Internet forum opinions.
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Click here for entire story.

Is chief justice of the Illinois Supreme Court playing politics on Christian radio?

Abortion-notification issue returns

September 20, 2006

BY ABDON M. PALLASCH Legal Affairs Reporter

Robert Thomas, chief justice of the Supreme Court of Illinois, called in to a Christian radio program in suburban Chicago last week to tell them he hoped to revive an abortion case the court had stalled action on 11 years earlier.

Late Monday, the court declared it would issue rules about how minor girls could appeal a judge's decision denying them the right to get an abortion without their families being notified. That will clear the way for a law passed by the Legislature in 1995 to take effect, requiring abortion providers to notify an adult relative of a pregnant teen before giving her an abortion.

Republican DuPage County State's Attorney Joe Birkett has been campaigning for lieutenant governor on a platform of reviving the law, and he wrote a letter to the state high court in June asking it to finally write the rules that will let the law take effect.

Thomas, who won his seat on the court with support from anti-abortion groups six years ago, had already asked his clerks to research the issue before Birkett and the anti-abortion groups filed their briefs, said Joe Tybor, court spokesman.
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Click here for entire story.

Chicago native Patrick gets Democratic nod in Mass

Deval does it
Front-runner Deval Patrick wins Democratic primary

by christina wallace / metro boston

nd
SEP 20, 2006
BOSTON — Deval Patrick was victorious last night, handily winning the Democratic gubernatorial primary with 50 percent of the vote.

Patrick edged out venture capitalist Chris Gabrieli with 28 percent and Attorney General Tom Reilly with 23 percent of the vote.

If elected in November, Patrick, 50, will be the state’s first black governor and the first Democrat in the corner office in 15 years. Last night’s victory marked the first time an African-American won a major party’s nomination for governor here.

A Milton resident, Patrick jumped ahead of the other two candidates in April 2005. In recent months, the three-way contest for a spot on the ballot grew extremely contentious with candidates spending unprecedented amounts of money for a primary on television spots and other advertising. Polls as early as this summer showed Gabrieli, Reilly and Patrick in an almost dead heat, but in recent weeks Patrick’s lead grew stronger with polls indicating he was more than 20 points ahead.

A former assistant U.S. attorney general under President Bill Clinton and general counsel for the Coca-Cola Co., Patrick fought his way out of the South Side of Chicago where he spent his childhood on welfare. He was granted a scholarship to Milton Academy, where he attended high school, and later went on to graduate college and law school at Harvard University.
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Click here for entire story.

MySpace and other networking sites get blocked at school

Access denied: Schools block networking sites

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

By Christina Biggerstaff
Staff writer

Frankfort School District 157C is blocking access to Internet sites that pose a risk for students, focusing on those that allow users to post personal information while communicating with friends.

District 157C Supt. Robert Madonia said the district is being "proactive rather than reactive with an issue that is of concern for any student."

Sites similar to and including MySpace.com are those that concern district officials. Such Web sites are problematic and can pose a threat because people can access them for inappropriate and illegal activity, according to a recent letter sent by the district to parents.

In addition, district officials contend that the sites often interfere with the educational process.

The use of any school-related material on these sites is something for which the school can exercise disciplinary action, Madonia said. Posting names or pictures of District 157C employees inappropriately or defaming anyone's character qualifies as interfering with the educational process, he said.
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Click here for entire story

Yuck! Great America gives away passes t-shirts for eating cockroaches.

Would you eat this to be the first in line at Great America?

By Bob Susnjara
Daily Herald Staff Writer
Posted Wednesday, September 20, 2006

They're big, shiny brown with a black head, and crunchy, and for some brave souls, they'll soon be what's for dinner at Six Flags Great America.

The Gurnee amusement park is daring those with adventurous tastes to down a live Madagascar hissing cockroach - much to the displeasure of the Lake County Health Department.

It starts Oct. 7 as part of a promotion for Great America's annual weekend FrightFest. In return, a roach-eater will receive a T-shirt and a pass to bring three pals to the front of any ride line. The undated pass will be good for all of FrightFest, which ends Oct. 29.

Great America's cockroach infatuation won't end there.

Spokesman James Taylor said the amusement park plans to hold an eating contest with cooked Madagascar hissing roaches Oct. 13. He said it's hoped someone tops the 36 cooked roaches downed in one minute by a British man in the Guinness Book of World Records.
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Click here for entire story.

Art or phallic symbol?

Artist defends sculpture for CTA station
Sculptor scoffs at riders who say the piece is pornographic and should be taken away

By Virginia Groark
Tribune staff reporter

September 19, 2006

Lakeview artist Josh Garber insists his intent was to design a sculpture for the Brown Line's Kimball station that would inspire the community and give people a place to sit.

But the proposed piece, "Hope and Renewal," instead set off a mini-firestorm in the Northwest Side neighborhood after e-mailed images of it drew comments that it resembled parts of the male anatomy.

Despite the controversy and requests to alter the design, Garber has decided to stand his ground. He's not altering the artwork.

"I thought about what slight alterations I could make and I realized that the people who have seen the piece in person, it never even crossed their mind, so it's really not fair to me or the jury that picked me to change it," he said.

"It's funny," he said. "What I really think is it speaks more about the viewer and what's in their mind. Because I know when I made it that was never anywhere near my mind-set."
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Click here for story.

WGN reporter fined for parking lot dust-up

WGN reporter fined $300 for parking lot dispute

September 19, 2006

BY DAN ROZEK Staff Reporter

WGN-TV reporter Marcella Raymond was fined $300 and sentenced to six months of court supervision for a 2005 clash with a suburban woman over a mini-mart parking space.

Raymond was sentenced Monday after she tearfully apologized for briefly grabbing the hand of a 60-year-old Glen Ellyn woman as they quarreled outside a local mini-mart.

"I am truly sorry that my actions led to this unfortunate incident," Raymond said during her sentencing, describing herself as "embarrassed" by the confrontation.

Raymond, 41, was convicted earlier this year of misdemeanor battery for the April 9, 2005, confrontation, which left the Glen Ellyn woman with a broken finger on her left hand.
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Click here for entire story.

Say what? Legal cocaine?

The Ultimate Energy Drink: Cocaine?
350 Percent Stronger Than Red Bull
By MELISSA SOWRY

Sept. 18, 2006 -- - Most people know what cocaine is, and now Redux Beverages in Las Vegas is offering what it calls a "legal alternative" to the illegal drug in form of an energy drink.

Jamey Kirby, the drink's inventor, says the name for the drink -- Cocaine -- came to him during a brainstorming session at 1 o'clock in the morning.

"It's an energy drink, and it's a fun name," says Kirby. "As soon as people look at the can, they smile."

Kirby says Redux wanted to make a beverage that would send a sensation to the mouth. He describes Cocaine, the new beverage, as a "fruity, atomic fireball" drink.

Real Cocaine?

The 8.4 fluid ounce energy booster has no actual cocaine in it, but it does contain 280 milligrams of caffeine. According to the company's Web site, the only way to get more caffeine per ounce is with an espresso.
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Click here for full story.

Tainted spinach found in Illinois

Illinois Reports First Spinach-Caused E. coli Case

LASALLE COUNTY, Ill. -- The tainted spinach cases across the country made headlines last week, and now there's an official first case in Illinois.

An elderly woman in LaSalle County has the same strain of E. coli linked to the nationwide outbreak. She experienced kidney failure as a result of tainted spinach consumption.

Doctors said they've done a fingerprint on the particular strain and determined they are one in the same.

An Ohio mother believes bagged spinach caused the death of her 23-month old daughter and is the culprit behind her two nephews becoming ill.
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Click here for story.

Looks like Mancow may be losing another station

MANCOW ON THE OUTS?

The Mancow morning show experiment may be coming to an abrupt end at KJLL AM 1330 (The Jolt). Operations Manager Kimberly Lopez says a decision will be made public within the next couple of weeks, but Mancow has not been a favorite among the Jolt's small, but hard-core group of Imus in the Morning listeners. If the Jolt officially opts to put Imus back in his original station time slot, Mancow's presence in Tucson will have lasted all of six months.
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Source: Tucson Weekly

Hype machine: Danica vs. Sharapova

Two pretty different examples of hype

September 15, 2006

BY GREG COUCH SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST

At the beginning, I went to the Indy 500 interested in one thing: Danica Patrick. If she won, I would write about her. If she lost, the story would be her. If there was a crash, her. If she went around the track once? Her.

She was the hot story. And ''hot'' meant the buzz, not her looks. Although, in this case, those are the same thing.

That was just last summer. This past Sunday, she raced at Chicagoland Speedway, and it would have been hard to care less.

''Last year people knew about me because I was fast,'' she said, defensively. ''That's it. I had the fastest speed of the month. I almost got [the] pole. I almost won the race.
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Click here for entire column.

What is Hynes' motivation? Might he want to replace Obama?

We agree that Senator Obama would make an excellent candidate, however we must question what motivated Comptroller Hynes to call a press conference to encourage them to run.

Hynes to Obama: Run for president
Comptroller: Senator 'can heal our nation'

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published Friday, September 15, 2006

CHICAGO - In a highly unusual move, state Comptroller Daniel Hynes Thursday urged U.S. Sen. Barack Obama to run for the presidency in 2008.

At a news conference Hynes called Obama the "man for these times," "awe-inspiring" and a "phenomenon" and said he hopes to spark a national movement to encourage the freshman senator to announce his candidacy.

"He can heal our nation," said Hynes of Obama, who defeated him in the Senate primary in 2004.

Hynes, who is seeking re-election for comptroller in November, is expected to easily defeat Republican Carole Pankau and Green Party candidate Alicia Snyder.

Click here for story.

Hey Mariotti! You got to have something better to write about.

Nothing perfect about this game call

September 14, 2006

BY JAY MARIOTTI SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST

So there was Freddy Garcia, crusty cap and all, repairing to the White Sox' dugout after retiring the first 21 Angels hitters Wednesday in Anaheim. And there was Hawk Harrelson, trembling in the TV booth like a human California earthquake, committing the ultimate sin in any baseball superstition handbook.

''PERFECT THROUGH SEVEN!'' he barked.

It's difficult enough tolerating this man's savage butchering of the language, which should be accompanied by subtitles and a ruler-wielding English teacher. But to hear him violate the traditional code that comes with any no-hit bid -- never, ever mention the p-word or the n-word during a broadcast -- basically jinxed any chance of Garcia completing the rare deed. Same goes for a large WGN graphic posted in the top of the eighth inning, which blared this to an afternoon drive-time audience in Chicago:

''PERFECT GAME IN PROGRESS.''

Of course, Garcia lost his flirtation with perfection in the eighth, only magnifying the decision by Harrelson and the production crew to blurt out the news flash. Why not be cleverly subdued like other broadcast crews in similar situations? Wasn't the linescore enough of an informative guide -- ANGELS 0 0 0 -- to prevent Harrelson from shouting out the obvious after the seventh? Down in the Sox dugout, no one dared to mention Garcia's pursuit of history, with 24-year-old Brian Anderson wise enough to say: ''Obviously people weren't talking about it because that's not a good thing.''

But no one told Hawkeroo, the baseball lifer with the stale 1960s shop stories. And no one told WGN, which may have been prioritizing an unexpected quickie ratings grab over a long-running baseball man law. We don't see many no-hitters in this town, with Wilson Alvarez last recording one for the Sox in 1991. Couldn't Harrelson have taken deep breaths and restrained his innards for two more innings?
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Click here for entire column.

Esquire Theater to close

Long run over for Esquire Theater
Mixed-use complex eyed for Oak Street

By Susan Diesenhouse
Tribune staff reporter
Published September 14, 2006

The last movies will show at the Esquire Theater on the Gold Coast Thursday, after which its owner will start raising the curtain on a possible retail-hotel complex that would replace the theater once its 1930s-era building is demolished.

"Our vision is to keep with, and add to, the street's luster and reputation for exclusive boutiques," said developer Jeffrey Shapack, a partner in Chicago-based M Development LLC.

The residential and retail developer acquired the Oak Street property four years ago. Most recently, AMC Entertainment Inc. has been managing the theater, often showing films that already have run at downtown megaplexes.

Shapack expects to begin demolishing the Esquire in about 14 months and start construction on a mixed-use complex likely to include retail, restaurants and, perhaps, a hotel or condominiums.
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Click here for entire story.

The mystery of lonelygirl15. . .solved!

From the New York Times:

‘Lonely Girl’ (and Friends) Just Wanted Movie Deal
By VIRGINIA HEFFERNAN and TOM ZELLER

September 12, 2006

A nearly four-month-old Internet drama in which the cryptic video musings of a fresh-faced teenager became the obsession of millions of devotees — themselves divided over the very authenticity of the videos, or who was behind them or why — appears to be in its final act.

The woman who plays lonelygirl15, whose first-person videos are among the most-viewed on the clip-sharing Web site YouTube, has been identified as Jessica Rose, a twentyish resident of New Zealand and Los Angeles and a graduate of the New York Film Academy. And the whole project appeared to be the early, serialized version of what eventually would become a movie.

Matt Foremski, the 18-year-old son of Tom Foremski, a reporter for the blog Silicon Valley Watcher, was the first to disinter a trove of photographs of the familiar-looking actress, who portrayed the character named Bree in the videos. The episodes suggested Bree was the home-schooled daughter of strictly religious parents who improbably stole time to upload video blogs of her innermost thoughts.

The discovery and the swift and subsequent revelation of other details surrounding the perpetrators of the videos — and the phony fan site that accompanied them — marks the end of one of the Internet’s more elaborately constructed mysteries. Whether fans, whose disbelief in lonelygirl15 was not willingly suspended, but rather teased and toyed with, will embrace the project as a new narrative form, condemn it, or simply walk away, never to be fooled again, remains to be seen.
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Click here for entire story.

Oh those Republicans. . .aren't they cute!

The bigotry party is at it again. . .

GOP disowns 'Catch an Illegal Immigrant' contest

September 13, 2006

WASHINGTON -- Republicans on Tuesday distanced themselves from campaign activities that encourage college students to ''Catch an Illegal Immigrant'' and shoot cardboard cutouts of leading Democrats with a BB gun.

Democratic Chairman Howard Dean said in a letter to his GOP counterpart, Ken Mehlman, on Tuesday that such activities, reportedly put together by a GOP college organizer, are ''divisive, potentially dangerous and discriminatory.''
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Click here for story.

GOP candidate wants to profile all Middle Eastern men. . .GOP bigotry at its best!

Zinga goofs on airline profiling
Campaign manager blames his 'poor briefing'

By BERNARD SCHOENBURG
POLITICAL WRITER

Published Tuesday, September 12, 2006

All Middle Eastern men should get secondary security screenings as they board airplanes, a candidate for the U.S. House said in Springfield on Monday.

However, Republican Andrea Zinga's campaign manager, Charlie Johnston, said later "that's not what she wanted to say." He said she really meant to say that there should be no threat of anti-discrimination legal action against airlines if the pre-screening system to identify problem passengers identifies more than three people from the same ethnic group.

Johnston said Monday night that he had discussed the screening problem with Zinga based on an article in the Autumn 2004 edition of City Journal magazine by Heather MacDonald, a scholar at the conservative Manhattan Institute in New York. Johnston said he and Zinga "went through some" of the article, but, he added, "I did a poor briefing on this."

In her appearance Monday morning at Springfield Fire Station No. 1 to commemorate the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Zinga, of Coal Valley, told reporters, "Profiling doesn't bother me if we are profiling the people who, with one exception - and that would be Timothy McVeigh - have caused the outrages against our nation and caused the deaths of American citizens. We're talking about Mid-Eastern men."
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Click here for entire article.

Olbermann does it again! Brilliant 9/11 commentary

Keith Olbermann provides excellent commentary on 9/11/06.



Some snippets, for a full transcript visit Keith's MSNBC page:

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I belabor this to emphasize that, for me this was, and is, and always shall be, personal.

And anyone who claims that I and others like me are "soft,"or have "forgotten" the lessons of what happened here is at best a grasping, opportunistic, dilettante and at worst, an idiot whether he is a commentator, or a Vice President, or a President.
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Today our leaders could use those same words to rationalize their reprehensible inaction. "We cannot dedicate, we can not consecrate, we can not hallow this ground." So we won't.

Instead they bicker and buck pass. They thwart private efforts, and jostle to claim credit for initiatives that go nowhere. They spend the money on irrelevant wars, and elaborate self-congratulations, and buying off columnists to write how good a job they're doing instead of doing any job at all.

Five years later, Mr. Bush, we are still fighting the terrorists on these streets. And look carefully, sir, on these 16 empty acres. The terrorists are clearly, still winning.

And, in a crime against every victim here and every patriotic sentiment you mouthed but did not enact, you have done nothing about it.

And there is something worse still than this vast gaping hole in this city, and in the fabric of our nation. There is its symbolism of the promise unfulfilled, the urgent oath, reduced to lazy execution.
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How dare you, Mr. President, after taking cynical advantage of the unanimity and love, and transmuting it into fraudulent war and needless death, after monstrously transforming it into fear and suspicion and turning that fear into the campaign slogan of three elections? How dare you -- or those around you -- ever "spin" 9/11?
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"Lonely Girl 15" real? Not sure, but it looks like a marketing ploy

Just An Online Minute... Jig Is Up For LonelyGirl's Creators

by Wendy Davis, Monday, Sep 11, 2006 2:15 PM ET

ONE OF THE BIGGEST WEB 2.0 stunts is hurtling towards its conclusion, as whoever's behind YouTube's newest starlet, the vlogger "LonelyGirl 15," appears poised to come clean. This spring, videos of "LonelyGirl 15," a supposedly home-schooled 16-year-old, surfaced on YouTube. She detailed her so-called life in a series of high-quality clips. "LonelyGirl," aka "Bree," made videos in which she spoke about her made-for-TV religious father, a lazy eye and her friend "Daniel."

But the popular videos--they racked up around 1.5 million views by the end of August--seemed fishy. The quality was just a little too good; the story arcs a little too Hollywood.

People began to wonder whether the videos were Web 2.0's first "Blair Witch" campaign--a promotional effort for a movie masquerading as user-produced content. But the very things that lent the 1999 "Blair Witch" campaign an air of authenticity--the grainy video and shaky camera work-- were suspiciously absent from the LonelyGirl 15 oeuvre.

By the end of August, the videos had been viewed around 1.5 million times, drawing worldwide media attention. The U.K. paper The Times ran a credulous article, "Worldwide fame for a lonely girl," which included an e-mail from Bree explaining that she found vlogging more fun than her usual routine, in which she found herself "stuck studying the Treaty of Versailles or Occam's razor." The article even included an expert weighing in with the opinion that people post video logs as a form of therapy.
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Click here for more.

More on "Lonely Girl 15"

Advertising Age on Lonely Girl 15

Lonely Girl 15's YouTube (profile and videos)

Lonely Girl 15 on MySpace

Dennise Haster screws up the Star Spangled Banner on 9/11

This is pretty good, it was caugh by Crooks and Liars (C&L) and then it was mirrored on You Tube. During a Congressional ceremony honoring the victims and survivors our own Denny Hastert butchered the "Star Spangled Banner" listen closely as C&L notes he sings "'by the star’s early light' not 'dawn’s early light.'"

Bears' shutout of Green Bay costs store owner close to $300,000

Customers score with Bears' shutout

By Sara Olkon
Tribune staff reporter
Published September 11, 2006, 6:19 PM CDT

Screams of jubilation heard from Bears fans late Sunday afternoon might have been the loudest in the far western suburbs.

That's because 206 people realized that the Bears' season-opening 26-0 shutout of the Green Bay Packers meant that all the furniture they had bought at a Plano store over the Labor Day weekend was free.

Their good fortune was part of a Labor Day promotion by Randy Gonigam, owner of World Furniture Mall, a spacious furniture store amid acres of cornfields in rural Kendall County. A self-proclaimed "huge Bears fan," Gonigam offered to pick up the tab for any furniture purchased over the holiday weekend if the Bears shut out the Packers.

Needless to say, Gonigam paid extra-close attention on Sunday, viewing the afternoon contest from a recliner in his store.
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Click here for entire story.

Other sports marketing stories
9/5/06 GMC Announces Its Largest Advertising and Marketing Campaign Yet at NFL Kick-off 2006

9/7/06 TiVo Teams Up With CBS SportsLine Fantasy Football

9/8/06 Popularity of NFL has skyrocketed

9/11/06 Federer, U.S. Open Winner, May Finally Get America's Attention

Elfman (S-T TV critic): ABC's "Path to 9/11" Zero stars

Accuracy aside, ABC's '9/11' deserves to bomb

September 8, 2006

BY DOUG ELFMAN TELEVISION CRITIC

I once sat in a car forever waiting for my mom to come out of a grocery store. I thought that was the definition of "interminable." I had no idea "The Path to 9/11" was in my future.

This is what happens during 4 1/2 lonnnng hours of "Path." Terrorists talk about killing Americans for Allah. FBI and other security officials try to track them but fail. 9/11 happens.

You don't say.

This is the most anticlimactic, tension-free movie in the history of terrorist TV.

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THE PATH TO 9/11'

Critic's rating: Zero stars
7 to 10 p.m. Sunday and 7 to 8:57 p.m. Monday on WLS-Channel 7.

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Click here for Elfman's entire review.

Lohan jacked! For $1 million in jewels

Lohan's $1m gem theft
By Bill Hutchinson

September 08, 2006 12:00

A sobbing Lindsay Lohan pleaded Thursday for the thieves to return the $1 million swiped from her at London's Heathrow Airport.

The "Mean Girls'' actress was in tears as she was photographed shortly after discovering she was target of the grand-theft caper.

"She is begging for the return of the items,'' said Lohan's spokeswoman, Leslie Sloane, confirming the theft occurred. "She doesn't care how she gets them back, she just wants her stuff back.''

The mysterious theft of the starlet's jewelry-filled Hermes Birkin bag happened at about 6:45 p.m. London time, just moments after her plane arrived at Heathrow.

Quoting unnamed sources, Hollywood Web site TMZ.com reported the designer bag contained $1 million worth of sparkling baubles and the actress' asthma medication.
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Click here for story.

Weatherman freaks out on air, over a roach

Well he is not the most "manly" of weathermen that I have seen.

Video of reporter getting beat down on TV.

If I were the reporter I think I would be delivering a beatdown to my cameraman! Roll tape!

79 year old woman attempts to bank robbery with toy gun

79-yr.-old allegedly tried to rob bank

September 7, 2006

BY RUMMANA HUSSAIN Staff Reporter

A 79-year-old Hyde Park woman -- possibly the oldest female charged with attempted bank robbery in Chicago history -- was released to her daughter's custody on a $4,500 bond Wednesday.

Melvena Cooke, who the FBI said wore a white visor that read "princess" and black sunglasses when she tried to hold up a Loop bank with a toy gun, put on face powder and lipstick before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sidney I. Schenkier explained the charge and conditions of her bond.

'Give me $30,000 . . . no dye'

"Can you hear me all right?" Schenkier asked the trim, dark-haired senior citizen dressed in a black tunic, white slacks and gym shoes.

"I hear you fine," Cooke replied.
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Click here for entire story

Will her mug shot look "HOT"? Paris Hilton busted for DUI!

Be on the look out today for the mugshot of Paris Hilton today, TMZ and other news outlets are reporting that we she was busted last night for DUI in Hollywood last night.

EXCLUSIVE: PARIS BUSTED FOR DUI

Posted Sep 7th 2006 4:49AM by TMZ Staff
Filed under: Celebrity Justice, Paris Hilton

Paris Hilton was arrested in Hollywood early Thursday and charged with driving under the influence.

TMZ has learned LAPD officers noticed Paris driving erratically at 12:31 AM and stopped her. They believed she exhibited signs of intoxication. We're told they administered a field sobriety test, and Paris blew a .08. In California, driving with a .08 blood alcohol level is the minimum level for DUI.

Paris was arrested and taken to the LAPD Hollywood division, where she was booked. The officers who stopped the car did not know it was Paris Hilton until they approached the vehicle on foot. Police sources say she was cooperative. Paris had a passenger in the car -- Kimberly Stewart, Rod Stewart's daughter.
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Click here for story.

Defender scoops Sun-Times on WVON/Riles

Today, September 6, 2006, Robert Feder of the Sun-Times reports that WVON-AM has named Jerry Riles as its program director:

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Jerry Riles, producer of Cliff Kelley's morning show at WVON-AM (1450), has been promoted to program director of the Midway Broadcasting African-American talk station. The appointment comes just two weeks before WVON moves up the dial to 1690 AM and expands to 24-hour broadcasting.

Riles previously was an executive producer at CBS Radio sports/talk WSCR-AM (670) and a reporter for Shadow Broadcast Services in Milwaukee.
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It should be noted however that the Chicago Defender reported this on Friday, August 25:

Riles named program director of new WVON

by Demetrius Patterson, Chicago Defender
August 25, 2006

Jerry Riles, producer of "The Cliff Kelley Show," has been named program director for the new 24-hour WVON-Am/1690 radio station.
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Click here for story.


On Tuesday, August 22, 2006 Feder delivered this item:

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Ty Wansley, veteran radio news anchor and talk show host, is a leading contender for the new program director job at WVON-AM (1450). The Midway Broadcasting black talk station expands to 24-hour operation and moves up the dial to 1690 next month.
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Too bad he got it wrong. Granted Feder has been on vacation since his August 22, column but its always refreshing when a small African American paper beats the mainstream press to the punch. Kudos to the Chicago Defender!

Lake Forest to ban pigs

3 big piggies must leave Lake Forest
Walgreen gets almost 5 years to move pets

By Susan Kuczka
Tribune staff reporter

September 6, 2006

The Lake Forest City Council voted Tuesday night to ban pigs from the community but gave Estelle Walgreen an extra four years to move her three pets out of town.

The surprise decision elated Walgreen, the city's sole owner of potbellied pigs.

"I'm happy. My children will be done with grammar school by that time, so we could move as a family all together," Walgreen said.

The council, which tentatively approved the ban last month with an effective date of next Sept. 1, approved an extension to 2011 in a 6-2 vote after Walgreen argued that anything less would be a "death sentence" for her two older pigs.
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Click here for story.

Rockford flooded

Heavy rain, flooding turn civilians into heroes

By Zack Creglow
and Corina Curry

ROCKFORD — Residents became heroes Monday after powerful flood waters submerged parts of Rockford, trapping people in their homes and setting one drastic rescue after another.

At the intersection of 14th Street and 10th Avenue, chilly flood water rose to about 5 feet. A civilian-operated fishing boat hauled in dozens of people, including several boatloads of young children.

When a number of the children reached dry land, their parents sobbed uncontrollably as they embraced.

Southeast Rockford in the areas around Charles and 20th streets sustained the most damage. Its root cause, forecasters say, was 4 to 5 inches of rain that swelled streets into rivers and neighborhoods, parks and businesses into lakes.
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Click here for story.

Will dropping Illiniwek cost UofI?

No Chief, no donations?

September 4, 2006

BY DAVE NEWBART Staff Reporter

When Knox College in western Illinois got rid of its nickname 13 years ago, the school heard from plenty of angry alumni vowing never to donate to the school again.

But in the years since, the school said, donations have increased steadily, and even some of the angriest alumni have come back to strongly support the school.

"For most people, it's a thing of the past," Knox president Roger Taylor said.

University of Illinois sources have told the Chicago Sun-Times that this is likely to be Chief Illiniwek's last year dancing officially at school sporting events. At the same time, the school is planning to launch a major fund-raising campaign with a goal in excess of $1 billion.
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Click here for entire story

Kass raises some good points in this column

John Kass in the Chicago Tribune writes about the BB gun shooting of Katerina Pavlatos and how the three teenagers from Glenview who did it got off lightly. This is especially appalling considering that earlier this summer a teenager from Cabrini Green was seriously injured when he pulled a BB on a Chicago Police officer. Something does not seem right when deadly force is used on a kid with a BB gun, while kids who actually shot somebody with their BB gun get off with a slap on the wrist.

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Katerina Pavlatos is thinking about leaving Chicago, where she raised her children and paid her taxes while building that incredible garden in the back yard of her North Side home.

There's been a change in the 76-year-old grandmother, ever since she was shot in the face with pellet guns by teenagers from Glenview who were working across the alley, painting a building for Swedish Covenant Hospital.

The police whitewashed the July 31 shooting. A teen "peer jury" slapped the boys' wrists with only 25 hours each of community service. The boys and their parents, including a mother who is also senior vice president at the hospital, have not apologized.
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To read the entire click here.

Harvey's Mayor Kellogg interviewed by prosecutors

Harvey Mayor Questioned by Prosecutors
Sam Hudzik

CHICAGO, IL (2006-09-01) The mayor of south suburban Harvey was questioned Thursday by the Cook County State's Attorney.

Mayor Eric Kellogg's name has surfaced in allegations over a gun that went missing from evidence at the city's police department.

A former Harvey police officer's been charged in connection with the missing gun.

Mayor Kellogg today continued to deny involvement with the incident, and he refused to take any blame for it.
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Click here for story.