GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER?
Call it a sign of the times for Louisiana's embattled governor: A chance to dine with Gov. Kathleen Blanco fetched a winning bid of $1 at a recent fundraising auction hosted by a group of business leaders.
(NOLA.COM)

HUMAN RIGHTS' FATHER
Former Massachusetts congressman Father Robert Drinan, still teaches classes in legal ethics and human rights at Georgetown University Law Center and has had much to celebrate of late: the Democratic midterm election victories, his 86th birthday and the establishment of an endowed chair in human rights in his name at Georgetown.
(LAW.COM)

ON FILMING FIDEL
In May 1968, Saul Landau received a call in San Francisco that Fidel Castro was ready to cooperate on a film portrait for public television. Landau and crew arrived shortly thereafter and waited for seven weeks. Then, the phone rang and a voice said “Be in the lobby at 6 a.m. Bring the whole crew and all your film equipment." Three hours after receiving the curt message, two uniformed men walked into the Hotel Habana Libre and helped him and the crew load cameras, lights, tripods and a hundred rolls of film and audio tape stock into two 1958 Mercedes Benz en route to meet Castro.
(PROGRESO WEEKLY)

"JUSTICE" WORKING OVERTIME
A record 7 million people - one in every 32 American adults - were behind bars, on probation or on parole by the end of last year, according to the Justice Department.
(MSNBC)

SELF-SERVING NEWS ITEM
Make sure you click on "OJ Simpson's Book Reaction" video link.
(WALA-TV FOX 10)

DRUNKEN ELK TERRORIZES SCHOOLCHILDREN
A drunken elk has been terrorizing children at a school in southern Sweden. 'That could be the problem. We could be dealing with a boozy elk,' Jan Caiman, a police officer in Molndal, told the national news agency TT. The elk was probably eating fermented apples in a garden and had become inebriated," he said.
(HOUSTON CHRONICLE, unearthed by Bill Messick)

LIMBAUGH GREETS DEMOCRATS AS "LIBERATORS"
On the November 8 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Rush Limbaugh claimed to "feel liberated" by Democratic victories in the House and Senate because he is "no longer going to have to carry the water for people who I don't think deserve having their water carried." (Although he'd probably still carry a bucket of pain pills for them.)
(MEDIA MATTERS)

SEATTLE VOTERS REJECT BAN ON STIP CLUBS
Like many of her fellow dancers, Asia was planning to leave town, if voters endorsed a city ordinance that would bleach much of the lust and most of the lucre out of lap dancing. Rest easy, Asia, Seattle voters decided overwhelmingly (YES: 36% to NO: 64%)CLICK HERE FOR NEWS STORY that guys (and girls) can continue to stuff $20 bills in the G-strings of hot young women.
(WASHINGTON POST AND SEATTLE TIMES, unearthed by Paul Whitehurst)

BECAUSE FREEDOM ISN'T DUMB
I can't tell if these folks are really nonpartisan or if they have some sort of agenda, but if you're looking for a great site this "national library of factual information" covers the candidates and elected officials in five basic categories: biographical information, issue positions, voting records, campaign finances and interest group ratings.

YOU'VE BEEN TUBED!
Although better known as the home of TV-show snippets, music videos and goofy amateur clips, file-sharing sites such as YouTube and Google Video have matured this year into powerful tools of political ambush, enabling almost anyone to post recordings of slips that the mighty would rather forget. This new twist on the old game of gotcha has rapidly become known as 'YouTube politics.'
(WASHINGTON POST)

BLUE STATE, RED SENATOR
Amid the furious debate over Iraq and the speculation that George Bush may be a lame duck after next Tuesday's mid-term elections, an extraordinary political milestone is approaching: a cantankerous 65-year-old called Bernie looks set to become the first socialist senator in US history.
(COMMON DREAMS)

THERE'S SOMETHING HAPPENING HERE
A new protest movement inside the military,including active-duty soldiers back from Iraq, is calling on Congress to end the war immediately.
(SALON)

FROM THE FOLKS WHO HATE BIG GUV'MENT
Bush's outrage has extended from homos playing house and kids having sex to hetero adults. The federal government's 'no sex without marriage' message will begin to target unmarried adults who are having - uh!, well, you know ( Unlawful Carnal Knowledge). This program is part of the government's abstinence-only programs, which include millions of dollars in federal money that will be available to the states under revised federal grant guidelines for 2007. It will be just a matter of time before our Talibama signs us up for this one.
(APOPHENIA, unearthed by David Lowe)

AIR AMERICA BLACK-LISTED
An internal ABC Radio Networks memo obtained by Media Matters for America, indicates that nearly 100 ABC advertisers insist that their commercials be blacked out on Air America Radio affiliates. According to the memo, the advertisers insist that "NONE of their commercials air during AIR AMERICA programming." Among the advertisers listed are Bank of America, Exxon Mobil, Federal Express, General Electric, McDonald's, Microsoft, Wal-Mart, and the U.S. Navy.
(MEDIA MATTERS)

DO-IT-YOURSELF-STRIPPER KIT
With your own dance pole the possibilities are endless!! You can boogie on down in the living room, spice things up in the bedroom or even liven up a friend's party!!
(Suggested by John "Pimp Daddy" Sharbrough)