To bail or not to bail, that is the question,
whether tis nobler for Detroit to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageously high unemployment
Or to guarantee huge loans against a sea of debt,
And by paying them off end them?
 [Read more]

I certainly hope this Hamlet-inspired edition of the question column pleaseth the millions (or at least the hundredths of daggers) and not be caviare to the general ... (btw, it's caviar, not murder, that is most foul, both in concept and taste).

1. Something is rotten in the state of [Dagblog]?

2. A dream itself is but a shadow?

3. O most pernicious woman! O villain, villain, smiling, damned villain?

4. When sorrows come, they come not single spies, but in battalions?

5. To be honest as this world goes is to be one man picked out of ten thousand?

6. Doubt that the stars are fire; doubt that the sun doth move; doubt truth to be a liar; but never doubt I love? [Read more]

Prime Minister Stephen Harper prorogued Canada's Parliament yesterday. Proroguing is not to be confused with pierogieing, a Polish sport in which competitors pelt each other with cheese-filled dumplings. While pieroguieing is popular in many Eastern European countries, and the Olympic Committee for Weird Athletics is considering adding a Freestyle Pierogie event to the 2016 Summer Games, Canada has banned the practice since 1993 because of the influential curling lobby, which feared that pierogieing would displace curling as the Guinness Book record holder for "Most Special Sport." [Read more]

Found this kind of interesting. Apparently, the NFL will be experimenting by broadcasting tonight's NFL game between the 4-8 San Diego Chargers and the 3-9 Oakland Raiders live in 3-D in theaters in LA, New York and Boston. Nothing like watching a supreme battle of Who's the Suckiest AFC team as overpaid behemoths play crappy football right on your lap.

I'd actually love to see how the technology performs, but only insiders are being invited for the screenings (if anyone reading this gets to see it, please post your thoughts!). My guess is that it will be disorienting and not nearly as cool as it sounds. [Read more]

In a victory for our folks, Saxby Chambliss won the Georgia runoff. Thank goodness. Our folks took a beating on Nov. 4th as the other folks voted for one of their own. A few years ago, the idea that one of the other folks could become president was unthinkable. But the recession, which was obviously caused by the other folks who forced our folks to lend them money, caused some of our folks to foolishly vote for one of the other folks. Our folks who voted for him may also have been influenced by the other-other folks who attacked us on 9/11 and forced our folks to invade one of their countries. [Read more]

So I still happen to be digging Geo Challenge - I don't even want to think about all the hours I've spent on Facebook Playfish games this year. I think they somehow figured out how to put crack cocaine in their code and time-capsule release it over the wires on the Interweb and through the speakers on my computer. I think in some states, Playfish and I would be common law married about now. [Read more]

I watched live stand-up comedy one night last week. In an attempt to energize a quiet crowd, a comedian remarked, "So Barack Obama will be President," which elicited a cheer. She then remarked that it was a guaranteed way to wake up a room, which got a laugh. But the laugh carried an ironic note. The trick is dated. Our ecstatic enthusiasm for Obama's exhilarating election is fading. When another comedian tried the same routine later in the night, the response was modest. When a third comedian did it, apparently without realizing that we'd already played that game twice over, the audience remained uncomfortably mute. The trick is played out. We still look forward to Obama's presidency, but the old era has already come to an end. [Read more]

Not to steal any of the Dead One's thunder, but I'm going to do my own thing here with some questions that are on my mind.  There won't be ten of them, but rather the exact number that are on my mind at the time.  I also don't expect any answers.  Consider them rhetorical if you wish or offer your thoughts.  It's up to you.  Here goes.

Why can't Barack Obama close the deal?

It's funny how Obama is already getting pilloried.  The dude hasn't even been sworn in yet and the judgement is coming down.  I have a feeling that he's going to be under a copious amount of scrutiny, which brings me to my next question.

Is America prepared to be pragmatic? [Read more]

No matter where each of us finds ourselves on Thanksgiving Day, we all no doubt have reasons to be thankful. I am thankful for family and friends; for my sweet dog, who found me in March; for the opportunity to work hard to bring about something that hasn't happened in my lifetime--a Democrat winning my state's electoral college votes. I am thankful for summer, for music, for the fact that Chicago is only a couple hours away. I'm thankful for the people in my life that challenge me to be better. [Read more]

I’ve been reading the book The American Presidency this year. It’s been taking me a long time to get through because, honestly, non-fiction kind of bores me. Still, I have been learning all sorts of fun facts about our nation’s leaders, so I thought I would share some. Eleven months after I started, I'm up to James Madison. I figure if I force myself to write about the presidents, I’ll eventually finish the book. So, here we go:

George Washington – Stuff I learned: [Read more]

Back in the primary, pundits and critics wondered how Obama could deliver change while keeping his promise of bipartisanship, for the Republicans would surely block progressive initiatives. As Obama selects experienced insiders for his administration, pundits and critics now wonder how he can deliver change with a staff whose ideas have shaped past administrative policies. Some assume that Obama will not try or will not be able to fulfill his promises of change. Others assume that to Obama, "change" is an empty word, useful for getting elected but irrelevant to his governing plans. [Read more]

City of God (2002) tells the story of a good kid from the teeming slums of Rio who struggles to escape the gravitational pull of poverty, crime, and prejudice in quest of love and a better life. Slumdog Millionaire tells the story of a good kid from the teeming slums of Bombay/Mumbai who struggles to escape the gravitational pull of poverty, crime, and prejudice in quest of love and a better life. Thus, a genre is born. [Read more]