Daily Loaf

Obama talks the sinking economy in the latest “Message From The President-Elect” posted to YouTube.

• Obama’s not even officially the Prez, and already he’s caving.

Lots more news after the jump: Read the rest of this entry »

Anyone who thought that Sarah Palin was going to vanish into the Alaskan wilderness now stands corrected. This time, Palin has popped up in a conversation with right-wing filmmaker John Ziegler about how the media was so mean to her because she’s not a Kennedy. Good stuff.

• After a tough, bruising game, the Gators win the BCS national championship!
• UN votes for Gaza cease fire. The U.S. abstained.

More news after the jump! Read the rest of this entry »

Some of the craziest video I’ve seen in a while. These guys can really fly. Sorry, but the flying-guys video is apparently gone. In its place, here’s this … other random, flying-related video.

• Illinois House committee could decide soon on whether or not to impeach Blago.

Click below for much more news!

Read the rest of this entry »

Democrat funnyman Al Franken has beaten Norm Coleman to become Minnesota’s new Senator. Understandably, Norm is pretty upset about this. So now, we go to court.

• Barack Obama gets a hot new whip.
• India makes public new details of the Mumbai attacks.

More news after the jump …

Read the rest of this entry »

Today is the keynote address at the Macworld Conference & Expo, an annual Apple-centric trade show. CEO Steve Jobs normally gives the big speech, during which he takes the wraps off Apple’s latest shiny thing (iPhone, iPod, etc.), but this year Steve is a no-show. Speculation about Jobs’ health has become so rampant that the guru/CEO published a letter yesterday explaining that he was not, in fact, dying. Get the latest on Macworld here and here, but first check out this great take on the Apple mystique (and get a first look at the revolutionary Macbook Wheel) from The Onion.

Apple Introduces Revolutionary New Laptop With No Keyboard

Much more of today’s news after the jump.

Read the rest of this entry »

Thinking of doing some investing in 2009? Here’s some predictions from Bloomberg TV for what’s in store in the year ahead.

• Israel gets its war on in Gaza.
• A “choked up” Obama heads for Washington.
• Tax credits for everyone!
• Bill Richardson withdraws as Obama’s Commerce secretary citing his being investigated back home in New Mexico.
• John Travolta speaks about his son’s sudden death.
• Bay News 9 gets a weather upgrade.
• Marley & Me remains atop the weekend box office.
• R.I.P. Commissioner Gordon. (No, not Gary Oldman.)

Happy new year one day late. To celebrate the ‘09, here’s a little clip from CNN’s NYE coverage featuring Kathy Griffin, an open mike and off-color hilarity.

Links after the jump …

• Read the rest of this entry »

Last day of the year. Let’s end it with one final look back at the 2008 presidential election, as seen through the all-seeing eye of YouTube. Be back in 2009!

Links after the jump.

• Read the rest of this entry »

With both 2008 and the Bush presidency slowly drawing to a close, here is Letterman’s top 10 George W. Bush moments.

• GMAC gets an infusion of federal cash.
• Grandma Sarah Palin.
• You know, Caroline Kennedy, you know, made a, you know, gaffe.
• Jaw-dropping: “Republican Party reaction is divided over the decision of a candidate for party chairman to distribute a CD that features the parody tune “Barack the Magic Negro,” with the majority of Chip Saltsman’s political rivals criticizing the move.”
• High blood pressure: It’s in the genes.
• Fanboy freakout: Fox to try to stop March release of Watchmen.
• Derrick Brooks plans to return to the Bucs in 2009.
• Bonus Bucs: Cadillac Williams gets good news … sort of.

As we close out the year, here’s former NY Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress with an important message about gun safety.

• With Israel continuing to pound Gaza, the death toll is piling up.
• Obama stimulus plan might not be a trillion dollars after all.
• The Secret Service goes bonkers when the lights go out in Hawaii.
• Corporate America plays survival of the fittest.
• R.I.P.: 2008 edition.
• Marley & Me barks up the top of the box office.
• The Bucs suck their way right out of the playoffs, with Cadillac Williams going down in the process.
• Ah, but the Detroit Lions illustrate just how good the Bay area has it.

Anybody else see the speed trap on the Pinellas side of the Howard Frankland heading into Tampa this morning? At 10:15 a.m., at least two cruisers and three motorcycle cops (I was going far too fast to get an accurate count) were pulling over their fellow citizens and issuing them lovely anti-gifts in the form of speeding tickets. Merry fucking Christmas from area law enforcement.

And I know what you’re going to say about how people die far too frequently in Christmas spirits related accidents. I agree. So why not do the speed trap tonight? That way, the cops might actually catch some folks drinking and driving. I guess that’s not priority #1, though. This morning’s trap wasn’t about safety. It was about income generation. To protect and serve, indeed.

Twas the day before Christmas and all through the Short List, not a video was playing except for Robert Smigel’s great reworking of a holiday classic. On a side note: I’m all for everyone celebrating whatever holiday floats their boat. I happen to celebrate Christmas*, so I’ll be back Friday. Happy holidays everyone.

• An internal Obama transition team investigation clears the Obama transition team of all wrongdoing in Blago mess. Why am I suddenly nervous about the next four years?
• Don’t worry about the Economic Recovery Plan; Biden’s got you covered.
• The President of Toyota may step down. In this country, he’d get a bonus.
• Pope: “Stop the evil gays and save the rain forests!”
• And the most suspicious death of the year is …
• And the most suspicious cutting of transatlantic Internet cables of the year is …
• At least we now know how much Scar Jo’s snot is worth: $5,300.
• How do the Yankees have this much money?

*-And sometimes Boxing Day.

After two canceled flights and a previously not-on-the-itinerary stopover in Baltimore, I arrived home last night to a warming breeze and balmy outside temp of 50. (It hit the negative where I was Sunday night.) I love you, St. Pete!

• Things I didn’t need to see before heading to the airport: The plane that skidded off the runway in Denver.
• Budget problems in California? Just have Ah-nold stroke a check.
• The Bush folks respond to the NY Times article dropping the sub-prime mortgage mess in the Prez’s lap.
• Obama to release Blago report today.
• New insomnia drug takes the pesky swallowing out of sleeping pills.
• The VCR’s long goodbye is finally coming to an end.
• That guy from The Sopranos (who was also in A Bronx Tale) is acquitted.
• Coming soon: The iPhone Nano?

In honor of Joe Bardi, who is stuck in Buffalo sans Internet, here’s what the blizzard of 2008 looks like in that godforsaken place:

• In case you haven’t noticed, it’s winter.
• Police understatement of the week: “From what we’ve heard, the separation has been rocky.”
• Sports understatement of the week: “I’ve had better days.”
• Stephanopolous reports: Rahm made no deals with Blago.
• Oh, no: Rudy and Fred get talk shows.
• Oh, Mary: Amsterdam stages a pink Christmas.
• E&P names the top 10 newspaper industry stories of the year.

It’s the last weekend before Christmas. Have you finished your shopping yet? Here’s a crazy light display to get you in the holiday spirit. Have a good weekend everyone.

• GM and Chrysler: A match made in Heaven?
• Florida’s A.G. demands the Tampa Hard Rock to knock off the card games or face arrests.
• It’s a lovefest for Obama’s new Secretary of Labor.
• Media Matters names Sean Hannity Misinformer of the Year.
• Hey kids, tell your folks to watch less TV.
• I’m dreaming of a white almost-Christmas …
• Wanna buy a space shuttle?
• How many ears you think Mike Tyson had to eat to get this big?

Yeah, the season premiere is still over a month away, but it’s never too early to get geeked for the return of Lost. ABC agrees and released this teaser trailer on the Web. I’m already puzzled.

• Chrysler shuts down production. Shall we start gambling on for how long?
• Things aren’t exactly peachy-keen for Ford and GM either.
• You know the weather is screwed when it starts snowing in Vegas.
• Blago just keeps hanging on …
• Wither the dollar.
• Aretha Franklin adds some R-E-S-P-E-C-T to Obama’s Inauguration.
• Step right up and refinance your home at historically low rates. Everybody’s doin’ it.
• Garcia looks ready to play on Sunday. If the Bucs win their last two games, they’re in the playoffs.

The Fed cuts interest rates to basically nothing and the stock market soars. Let’s hope it lasts.

• Meet the new Secretary of Education. This guys a baller.
• Consumer prices are falling at a rate not seen since 1932.
• MSNBC offers The Year in Pictures.
• Ok, who took all the acorns?
• It turns out Einstein was right after all.
• Steve Job to skip Apple’s last MacWorld.
• Now that the government crackdown is over, who wants a free airline ticket to Thailand?
• Both Manning boys make the Pro Bowl. Derrick Brooks and Clifton Smith (!) of the Bucs also headed for Hawaii.

Here’s a clip of my appearance last week on Tampa Bay Media Talk, presented by Tampa Digital Studios. In the clip, host Janet Sherer and I discuss my personal life, what makes a green christmas, and whatever happened to that Free Way guy anyway? Enjoy.

Esquire has a funny piece on The Five Most Terrifying Local TV Christmas Commercials. All five are worth a look, but this one for Norton Furniture is the gem of the bunch.

• If you just talk about something (like, say, selling an open Senate seat), is it still a crime?
• Speaking of the U.S. Legislature: Caroline Kennedy for Senate.
• The Supreme Court smokes the cigarette companies yet again.
• Prepare for (temporary) chaos around TIA.
• Who buys five identical lottery tickets for one drawing? This guy.
• What guy hasn’t dreamed of his own Go-Kouch?
• Madonna’s divorce from Guy Ritchie will cost the singer $75 million. Or is it $76 million? Or could it be $92 million?!!?
  
• The Arena Football League takes its balls and goes home.
• Shameless pander to lovers of animal videos: Pug vs Laser.

That’s funny. I thought I was the only person who thought about death while watching Jimmy Kimmel Live.

• McCain refuses to endorse the Palin 2012 ticket.
• What went wrong in the rebuilding of Iraq? Everything.
• Gas prices hit rock bottom.
• The Fed to cut interest rates to their lowest level in the last 50 years.
• Turns out the Taser isn’t so non-lethal after all.
• Obama’s Superfriends plan to meet today.
• The Bucs lose to Atlanta, then lose Monte Kiffin to Tennessee.
• The Day The Earth Stood Still takes #1 at the box office.

Gen. Colin Powell sounds off on the future of the Republican party. The Reps would be wise to listen to Powell, but my guess is this will only set the Limbaughs of the world off even more.

• Bank of America plans layoffs for 35,000 workers.
• Obama claims his staff was not dealing with Blago.
• India turns the other cheek.
• The auto bailout runs out of gas.
• GM on the brink?
• Is it or isn’t it Caylee Anthony?
• Will the governor’s mansion be getting some new inhabitants?
• Handicapping the Heisman race.

How much will the scandal surrounding Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich affect the Obama transition? John Harwood checks it out.

• Obama calls on Gov. Blagojevich to step down.
• Is it Jesse Jackson Jr. or should we call you Candidate #5?
• Sure the election’s over, but Obama is still doing well in the polls.
• The house passes $14 billion auto bailout bill.
• It’s Greek to me: Athens riots still going strong.
• Inside the Ikea Ybor store opening next year.
• Tim Tebow packs his bags for Saturday’s Heisman ceremony.
• Dudes dig the chicks with the long, wavy hair.

“I’ve got this thing and it’s fucking golden…” Read #96 and all the other juicy bits in the affidavit, ‘United States of America v. Rod R. Blagojevich, and John Harris.”

Catch the full rundown at the Chicago Reader.

Or perhaps you’d prefer the David Mamet version?

Or the Shakespeare: Mrs. B.=Lady MacB

Name that goon: Who said it, Tony Soprano or Governor B?

Even the governor’s neighbors are glad he got caught.

What the Blagojevich scandal means for Obama.

Oh, we could go on all day with great Blagojevich shit, but a few other things happened in the world yesterday:

Who’s buried out there? Mystery at a Florida reform school.

Get out of my Facebook: Student sues principal.

WMNF loses its “heart and soul.”

Letterman taunts Leno: “Welcome to The Late Show, still at 11:35!”

And Best Picture goes to… a robot?

The Rev. Wright ad that didn’t run — until ABC News got hold of it:

“You can call me Al”: Prez-Elect Obama and Prez-That-Almost-Was Gore sit down for a chat today.

Jay Leno is headed for prime time.

Do we really want Bush choosing our “car czar“?

If you were Madonna’s interior designer, you’d probably want to screw her over, too.

At the Tribune Company, it’s all about debt restructuring. (Why does this sound so familiar?)

A Marine Corps jet crashes into a San Diego neighborhood.

9/11 families and alleged 9/11 terrorists meet at Guantanamo.

The Bucs defense goes missing against the Panthers.

Andy Samberg has taken his SNL Digital Shorts shtick and made an album with his band The Lonely Island. Here’s the premiere video, for a song called “Jizz in My Pants.” Subtle.

• Obama says the economy will get worse before it gets better. Thanks for the confidence boost.
• A showdown looms in congress over the auto industry bailout.
• Tribune company weighs bankruptcy.
• Airline prices primed for a fall.
• Man, we haven’t seen gas cheap this cheap since all the way back in 2003.
• The Gators to play Oklahoma in the national title game.
• The making of The Godfather.
• Four Christmases continues to spread yuletide cheer atop the box office.

We end the week with the gift that keeps on giving: The George W. Bush victory tour. In this clip from a few days ago, Bush tries to get in line with some soldiers and gets awkwardly shut out. Have a good weekend, everyone.

• Now the car companies want $34 billion!
• Verizon’s service is so bad it gets fined millions by the state.
• Tampa City Council OK’s 25-year Tampa Electric deal without renewable energy or anti-coal provisions.
• If India bombs Pakistan, this might be the target.
• Deeson: Top Hillsborough fire brass get paramedic pay bonus even if they don’t work as paramedics.
• Controversial Ed Helm edged out for Democratic State Committeeman in Pinellas.
• Controversial St. Pete middle school principal suspended with pay during internal investigation.
• Wanna buy a money-losing daily newspaper with a great view?
• Ahhh, it’s the first sighting of a “Grinch” headline in the MSM for the holiday season. Won’t be the last.
• Tampa Tribune releases news that has no news.
• “Hello, this is Barack Obama.” Click.
• November was terrible for retailers. Can December be much better?
• Facebook Connect just might change the world (wide web).
• This Christmas, support a worthwhile cause by helping Stephen Colbert humble Kanye West.
• R.I.P. Knight Rider.

It was only a matter of time before major stars joined forces to produce Prop 8 — The Musical.

• Blame for the Mumbai terror attacks creeps closer to Pakistan.
• Speaking of Mumbai terrorists: Them boys was on some drugs!
• And now the new Secretary of Commerce.
• Will voters ever like Bush again?
• Obama breaks a campaign promise.
• Mortgage rates to hit 4.5%?
• Hot high-school trend: Self-embedding.
• The Bucs bounce Charlie Brown from ABC.

I don’t normally post sports clips, but for this one I’ll make an exception. From the Pittsburgh-New England game from last weekend, here is Steelers safety Ryan Clark absolutely demolishing Patties wide receiver Wes Welker. (Expect a fine to be handed down by the NFL any second now.) Give Wes some props; he managed to walk off under his own power.

• Republican Saxby Chambliss wins in Georgia’s Senate runoff.
• Jeb Bush for Senate?
• The Big Three return to Washington for another round of begging.
• The new Secretary of State might not even be eligible for the office.
• Pinellas Hope’s plan for wood shelters for the homeless hits a permit snag.
• Plaxico Burress suspended for the season by the NY Giants.
• Wallace/Howard.
• Jet lag is so 20th century.

If you haven’t already, I highly recommend checking out Talking Points Memo’s “The Day in 100 Seconds.” It’s amazing how many video clips can be crammed into a minute-forty.

• Obama unveils team of Superfriends to fight crime around the globe.
• First up for the Superfriends …
• Politico: Alex Sink won’t run against Sen. Martinez.
• …but Martinez is vulnerable.
• Pat Kemp wins Hillsborough Democrat chief’s job.
• Crist’s plan to suspend foreclosures through the holidays hits Time magazine.
• Breaking news! Breaking news! We’ve been in a recession since December 2007.
• The stock market takes a shit.
• The Pentagon plans 20,000 troops stationed in the U.S. by 2011.
• And the new host of Meet the Press is …
• The stars aligned. Did you miss it?

Ah, the holidays: A time to reflect. A time to show one’s love and affection for your fellow humans. A time to — Whoa! Are those discounted X-box 360s? Unhand that box or I will kill you!!!!

• India is getting more tense by the second.
• Is Microsoft finally buying Yahoo?
• Welcome home, Endeavour.
• Come on, come on, now touch me baby.
• The hurricane season is over!
• The Bucs are 9-3. Let that sink in for a second.
• Four Christmases is #1 at the box office.
• Keeping up with quick-draw Plaxico Burress.

Easily the most disturbing moment of yesterday’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade was the live Rickrolling of the audience. And is that a blue penis in the opening part? I thought this was a family show!

• Let the bargain hunting begin.
• Terror in India. But was it home grown?
• Meanwhile, in Thailand, expect long delays at the airport.
• Passenger jet on a maintenance flight goes down off the coast of France.
• The NY Times visits a Florida condo auction.
• The new Blackberry is no iPhone killer.
• R.I.P.: The World’s Oldest Person.
• Man, the Lions suck.
• There’s something naughty about this headline, even if I can’t quite figure out what it is.
• Roving gangs of Key West seniors.
• Love the dude cranking a brewski next to the mayor, in the second photo.
• Reviewing South Florida’s “Fire-Breathing Liberal” congressman.
• Chris Matthews to run for the US Senate from Pennsylvania in 2010??
• Thomas Dolby finds a cassette tape with the demos that got him his first record deal.

Happy Thanksgiving! Keeping it short today, gotta run off and make some buttered toast and popcorn …

• It’s a Madge and A-Rod Thanksgiving!!
• BayWalk in foreclosure.
• 27-year-old named chief speechwriter for Obama White House.
• Bush’s and Obama’s thoughts on Thanksgiving. (Bush has thoughts?!?)
• Macy’s Parade on two networks.
• Coleman extends his lead over Al Franken.
• C’mon, if a Bee Gee can’t smuggle a little doobich on the plane, who can?
• Lawyer tasered at Tamp Code Enforcement Board hearing.
• “Your corn is sweeter, your potatoes are starchier and your turkey is much, much bigger than the foods that sat on your grandparents’ Thanksgiving dinner table.” Thanks, science.
• Lawsuit about early primary date seeks class-action status.
• Elections officials sued for not offering ballot en espanol.
• Tampa Bay’s Sarah Palin defends herself.
• Al Jazeera’s citizen journalism experiment.
• Hillsborough civic leader Bob Bondi dies at 74.

Ralph Nader ran for president again this year. Ralph Nader barely registered at the polls again this year. I blame Triumph The Insult Comic Dog.

• Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.
• Mayor Rick Baker set to march in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
• Hillary’s people made up Obama’s initial offer of Secretary of State.
• Florida’s ban on gay adoption overturned in court.
• And the word of the year is: Bailout.
• Barbara Bush (the old one) checks into the hospital.
• Helpful suggestions for making political conversation at the dinner table on Thursday.
• Meet the new quarterback, same as the old quarterback.

Slow news week: At the risk of going back to the SNL well once too often, here’s Andy Sandberg as Rahmbo, a Web-only offering from NBC.

• Obama reaches across the aisle to work with … George W. Bush?
• Gov. Crist ponders a foreclosure freeze financed by a cigarette tax hike.
• The Obama economic team is Dr. Doom approved.
• Buy! Buy! Buy!
• Tiger Woods gets laid off by GM.
• Might Cancer just go away on it’s own?
• Hannity and Colmes are splitting up.
• Chuck Klosterman reviews Chinese Democracy.
• “That’s I-75 going through rural Lithia.”
• Don’t bother sending that manuscript you’re pitching to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
• Will Obama disappoint those who want pot reform?
• YouTube goes widescreen.

We’re kicking off Thanksgiving week in style with SNL’s “turkeys on the run” skit from over the weekend. Enjoy.

• The incredibly ballooning stimulus package.
• Citibank looks to be the next member of the bailout club.
• Gas prices continue their long overdue plunge.
• Sometimes it sucks to be an astronaut.
• How many blogs does the world need?
• Hypocrisy alert: NBC axed the staff of The Weather Channel’s Forecast Earth environmental program during the network’s self-proclaimed “Green Week.”
• Twilight sets box office records. Good thing the sequel is already in the works.
• After a rough start, the Bucs roll over the Lions.