Submitted Without Comment:

Roger, Don't Hold Back

Ebert on the Trib's bankruptcy filing:

Zell recently observed that no paper ever made money because of its Pulitzers. I would add that no paper ever made money because of its putzes, which Zell has proven. The lesson here is that journalists create newspapers, and their owners should be in sympathy with that purpose. Sam Zell made his purchase because he wanted to make money.

On Prohibition:

This could go for The Weed as well:

This is a speech by Mississippi state legialator Noah S. "Soggy"
Sweat, Jr., in 1952:

My friends, I had not intended to discuss this controversial subject at this particular time. However, I want you to know that I do not shun controversy. On the contrary, I will take a stand on any issue at any time, regardless of how fraught with controversy it might be. You have asked me how I feel about whiskey. All right, here is how I feel about whiskey:

If when you say whiskey you mean the devil's brew, the poison scourge, the bloody monster, that defiles innocence, dethrones reason, destroys the home, creates misery and poverty, yea, literally takes the bread from the mouths of little children; if you mean the evil drink that topples the Christian man and woman from the pinnacle of righteous, gracious living into the bottomless pit of degradation, and despair, and shame and helplessness, and hopelessness, then certainly I am against it.

But, if when you say whiskey you mean the oil of conversation, the philosophic wine, the ale that is consumed when good fellows get together, that puts a song in their hearts and laughter on their lips, and the warm glow of contentment in their eyes; if you mean Christmas cheer; if you mean the stimulating drink that puts the spring in the old gentleman's step on a frosty, crispy morning; if you mean the drink which enables a man to magnify his joy, and his happiness, and to forget, if only for a little while, life's great tragedies, and heartaches, and sorrows; if you mean that drink, the sale of which pours into our treasuries untold millions of dollars, which are used to provide tender care for our little crippled children, our blind, our deaf, our dumb, our pitiful aged and infirm; to build highways and hospitals and schools, then certainly I am for it.

This is my stand. I will not retreat from it. I will not compromise.

Today in Weed:

Good for memory:

The more research they do, the more evidence Ohio State University scientists find that specific elements of marijuana can be good for the aging brain by reducing inflammation there and possibly even stimulating the formation of new brain cells.

Say it ain't so:

Amsterdam To Close Many Of Its Brothels, Marijuana Cafes, Sex Shops

However, it's not totally going away:

"It'll be a place with 200 windows (for prostitutes) and 30 coffee shops, which you can't find anywhere else in the world _ very exciting, but also with cultural attractions," he said. "And you won't have to be embarrassed to say you came."

Still worthy of a trip.

Ken Derry is High:

Ken Derry, crane operator on the Trump Tower, takes great pictures. Click the photo for more:

Submitted Without Comment:

That Toddlin Town

Chicago. GQ City of the Year.

Apropos of Nothing

Wow, This Guy Is Something Else.

Meet Clarence Thomas, Supreme Court Associate Justice, sexual predator, self-loathing black man:

Ode to Coffee

Great drawings using only napkins and...coffee.

Winter Classic Promo is Classic

The Bailout: Visually

Wow.

Today In Weed

Chicago Heights, less than an ounce, same as a traffic violation.

Supreme Court: give him back his medicine.

Tides are turning, the anti-legalization forces need to find a new boogieman.

Matt Taibbi

He's doing a blog now. Check him out via the links to the left.

Mary, Mary, You Say It's Your Birthday!

A good recipe here.

Today, New Yorkers are celebrating the "birth" of the Bloody Mary, which they claim occurred in the St. Regis Hotel on this date in 1933. The date may be in question, but the creator is not. According to Robert Hess, Ferdinand "Pete" Petoit actually created the drink at Harry's Bar in Paris in 1920. Petoit took his drink with him when he moved to New York where, the cities lushes claim, he "perfected" the drink by adding Tobasco