Despite Josh’s conspicuous absence, we are very much back in the swing of things here. Look for Your Morning News at the regular time tomorrow, and in the meantime, here’s the odds and ends from the day:
A hush fell over the Tampa Bay crowd late in the fifth inning. The score? I don’t remember. But Jason Bartlett took one glance down the basepath from first, spat in his hands, and knew he had to do his patriotic duty.
90 feet later, we all won a taco.
That’s right, it’s time to cash in on the annual Taco Bell “Steal a base, steal a taco” promotion. I saw a headline that read “Stolen base earns you a free lunch,” but I can’t imagine a person who can eat one Taco Bell crunchy taco and call it a meal. Hell, throw in a #3, a mexican pizza, and a choco-taco and then we’re starting to get somewhere.
Hit up your local Taco Bell between 2 and 6pm today and grab your reward. Or, if you’re like me, check out their restaurant locator and find a list of 90 Taco Bells within 5 miles of you. Score.
Today’s main story is that Alaska’s Republican Senator Ted Stevens was found guilty by a jury of violating federal ethics laws. He was convicted on seven felony counts he faced in connection with charges that he knowingly failed to list 250,000 in gifts and services on Senate disclosure forms. Stevens is up for reelection this year and Democrats are now seeing what was once a safe Republican seat as a likely pickup. Those hardest hit by the investigation might be bloggers, Stevens leaving the Senate and going to jail takes what little humor there was left out of the “series of tubes” meme.
Game 5 of the World Series between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Tampa Bay Rays is still going on — sorta. The game was suspended last night after 6 innings because of weather and will resume tonight at 8 pm (if the weather is still bad, tomorrow at 8 pm). The Rays had checked out of their hotel before the game in anticipation of flying home after — and they couldn’t get back in because the hotel was sold out. They had hoped to stay with area fans, but haven’t yet found enough to house all 9 players.
The US is considering talks with elements of the Taliban, the group that once ruled Afghanistan and has been resurgent in recent months. There is a hope that these talks could drive a wedge between the extremist elements of the Afghan insurgency and the more moderate groups.
Led Zepplin is reuniting and planning to go on tour again minus lead singer Robert Plant, who has decided he has quite enough money, thank you very much.
Dammit, can’t you tell I’m trying to watch playoff golf? If you must watch TV later, then check out:
7:00 – Red Sox at Phillies (ESPN)
Red Sox! Thrillies! Young Cole Hamels! What more do you need?
8:00 – American Gladiators (NBC)
I seem to remember an ad for tonight’s Gladiators featuring a ridiculously cool new people-flying-around-in-midair event. Which is good, becuase the last new people-flying-around-in-midair event kinda sucked.
10:00 – Weeds & Secret Diary of a Call Girl (Showtime)
Come on, Tiger, come on, Tiger… Mike Myers on Letterman, Anne Hathaway on Leno, Ann Curry on Conan, Alfred Molina on Ferguson, some authors I’ve never heard of on Daily Show and Colbert. WOW HE DID IT TIGER RULES.
The New York Times leads with a great story on the fact that workers across the country are working fewer hours. For blue-coller workers, this means a lack of overtime pay that has traditionally been a staple of their salaries. Since talk of the recession has mostly focused on stock prices, I would say that this is today’s must-read. All the people involved in the wall street stories are still making more than $450 a week – trust me.
The Air Force spent $50 million through ablatantly corrupt process on a company to “jazz up” the Thunderbirds air show. That bid was more than twice the next lowest bid and the company barely exists. The whole thing was apparently designed to reward a former Air Force General and senior-level Air Force personelle were involved. It is a small amount of money (for the Pentagon), but the real news behind this story is buried in the 5th paragraph:
According to the report, Goldfein even arranged for President Bush to record a video testimonial in the White House Map Room that was included in the SMS contract proposal, demonstrating the company’s credibility and access.
I am pretty sure the President isn’t supposed to do that. Here’s hoping the video hits Youtube.
A hush fell over the Tampa Bay crowd late in the fifth inning. The score? I don’t remember. But Jason Bartlett took one glance down the basepath from first, spat in his hands, and knew he had to do his patriotic duty.
