Do the Yak

Election detox update: Autumn mania has faded, but a small inner glow remains. Cabinet choices: so far so good. Can't wait for the inauguration. A couple of my coworkers are going so as to experience the history along with thousands of strangers in the cold. I've been meaning to write about the ongoing demise of the newspaper business but there wasn't a recent news peg until yesterday's announcement that the two Detroit papers are cutting back to home delivery only three days a week (with only a pared-down newsstand print version on those days), since the web has for some time been Numero Uno. In weeks previous, there've been articles about the Tribune Co. filing for bankruptcy , professional web-only journalists successfully competing with traditional media in several cities, and apparently at least one paper outsourcing all its editorial functions to India for pennies. Wow. I got into newspapers at what was, in retorpsect, the last gasp of the golden age of th...

Massachusetts and New Jersey, to name just two, have a reputation for political corruption. But nothing, and I mean NOTHING, could top the hinkle-pinkling of Ilinois Gov. Roy Blagojevich as just reported on CNN.com . Trying to auction off Obama's Senate seat to the highest bidder? If he doesn't get enough moolah, maybe appoint himself to the seat so he could rake in more graft from the Senate than he could as governor and also rehab his already-crappy image for a 2016 presidential run? Or how about threatenting to withhold state assistance from the Tribune Co. unless they fired their editorial board that had been critical of him? It's so juicy I can hardly stand it. Plus as an added bonus, his photo on CNN.com reveals what I firmly believe is a toupee worthy of Buddy Cianci. No one who is 52 has hair that thick and dark brown, with the possible future exception of George Stephanopoulos. Diane Wilkerson looks like a nun in comparison. Edited to add: A blog post in TIME cla...

I've recently discovered StumbleUpon and have already wasted many happy hours with it. Some great yields: Absolutely Ridiculous Christmas Card Photos (not to be confused with 1970s JC Penney catalog photos ) Australia Gets Drunk, Wakes Up in North Atlantic 2208 A.D. Looks Back on George W. Bush ...and I'm going to recommend Obama Victory plates on StumbleUpon even though it's not intentionally funny, but it's oh so America. (Be sure to have your speakers on to hear the ludicrous voice-over.) Get 'em while supplies last! ...and the most recent Mimi Smartypants , whose young daughter Nora was recently doing some sort of art project: Nora: MOM! Do we have any of those, those, those things that make spinning happen? Me: [Percocet? Stationary bicycles? Colonial Williamsburg?] Sorry, what? Nora: The metal things! With the sides! Me: Can you explain more... Nora: AHHHHHHH! [runs away as I am clearly too dumb to live] [blessed silence punctuated by faint rummaging sounds...