Have you seen those CleanAirForce commercials urging us all to do our part? There's one where the Goody Two Shoes Brigade on Bikes (think back to high school) harangues a guy who is just trying to get his yard mowed. And then there's the one (featured below) where they drag this poor woman out of her car and force her on the bus. Don't you just want to grab those smarmy idiots and shake them till their teeth rattle, then throw then under the bus?
[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=yfJxv5VhxGg]
The way the economy has been struggling, you'd think this wasn't the time to lauch a "national branding" for an emerging chain of high-end steakhouses, esecially one originating in Fort Wayne, Ind. But more power to the folks at Eddie Merlot's:
Eddie Merlot's is taking the next step, or perhaps 11 smaller steps, in creating a national brand.
A few years ago, I thought we might be headed for a cultural bottoming out when I read that Steven Speilberg really doesn't read -- all his movies were inspired by other movies. (I haven't been able to find the quote since, so maybe I dreamed it, or maybe it was George Lucas). I think the bottom is either here or very close. The top two opening weekends in movie history, and three of the top five, now belong to films inspired by comic books.
This week's nominees for the Eighth Circle of Hell (the Seventh is for the merely violent:
Indianapolis police have received reports that one or more people have been going door to door in Indianapolis soliciting money for an injured officer
Something I wasn't aware is available but am not surprised by:
If you demand quality veterinary care for your pets, then you already know that this is not inexpensive. If your pet becomes unexpectedly ill or injured you may find yourself suddenly facing hundreds to thousands of dollars in veterinary bills. Many pet owners have found that pet health insurance can be a convenient way to help cover the costs of routine or emergency treatment for their pets.
Barack Obama walks into a bar with a duck on his head.
Bartender looks up and says, "Say, where'd you get the Chicago-influenced secret Muslim with the angry, unpatriotic wife?"
"You ignorant, ill-informed, right-wing alcohol pusher," Obama replies. "This is Not a Chicago-influenced secret Muslim with an angry, unpatriotic wife. This is a duck."
"I was TALKING to the duck."
I once remarked to a friend that somebody must be watching Steven Seagal movies; otherwiswe, they wouldn't keep making the damn things. I feel the same way about "The View," although the demograpics of its audience would probably scare me to death.
"View" co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck was in tears Thursday after a discussion about the use of the n-word, in which fellow co-host Whoopi Goldberg told her the two "don't live in the same world."
OK, God works in mysterious ways, but a bullet-proof watermelon?
Police later showed Thompson the path the bullet took through her car. She now believes that path was guided by God.
Good lord. Nothing like giving a guy a Nobel prize to make him start taking himself too seriously:
The United States should be making all of its electricity with renewable and carbon-free energy in 10 years, former Vice President Al Gore said Thursday.
The survival of the United States of America as we know it is at risk," Gore said.
Dress does are fine, and I think I've even written that school uniforms can help create a good learning environment. But messing with a kid's hair is getting too personal:
A small rural school district in Fort Bend County and a determined mother are tangled in a dispute over hair.
Michelle Betenbaugh says her 5-year-old son, Adriel Arocha, wears his hair long because of religious beliefs tied to his Native American heritage.
Oh, well. At least somebody tried:
The Indianapolis International Airport board on Friday reaffirmed their plan not to rename the airport after Col. Harvey Weir Cook, an aviator in both world wars.
Instead, the road leading to the new terminal building and the terminal itself will be named after the colonel, 6News' Julie Pursley reported.
Wave of the future?
A Virginia company today announced it will hire 480 people to work in a "virtual" call center - their own homes.
N.E.W. Customer Service Companies will hire customer reps from Terre Haute and surrounding west-central Indiana cities over the next three years.
The needed a poll to figure this out?
John McCain is facing an excitement deficit.
While overall interest in the presidential campaign has swelled since last fall, backers of Barack Obama are more fired up and express more loyalty to their candidate than McCain's do, a poll by The Associated Press and Yahoo News showed Friday.
Wonder if this is going to be a bad year for Republicans? Send those pollsters out again!
Anybody left who still pretends the Olympics are about international good will and the purity of amateur competition?
Gold medalist Laura Wilkinson has sued to gain a synchronized diving spot that would remove Elwood's 15-year-old Mary Beth Dunnichy from the U.S. Olympic team.
[. . .]
Mob enforcers Police officials quickly muscle out the competition do their duty to keep a high moral standard in the state:
Officials have shut down a central Indiana business where they suspect patrons were illegally playing poker for money.
Why is an elephant big, grey and wrinkly?
Because if it were small, white and smooth, it would be a member of the vast right-wing conspiracy spreading vicious rumors about Barack Obama.
A clever way to bring up Obama's big ears, eh?
What's wrong with this picture?
ALBANY — Senator Joseph L. Bruno, who led the State Senate for 14 years, has offered many reasons why he is leaving the Senate by the end of the week after a public career of four decades.
[. . .]
There is another factor to consider, though.
Mr. Bruno, a Republican, is likely to get a significant raise from the state by retiring.
Feel free to insert your own doughnut joke:
A police lieutenant in Daytona Beach was fired over accusations that he threatened slower emergency response times if he was not given complimentary specialty Starbucks coffee drinks.
An internal police investigation found that Daytona Lt. Major Garvin received free coffee for about two years from a city Starbucks coffee store.
Well, it's a start:
A company that owns 11 McDonald's restaurants in Nevada was fined one million dollars Wednesday after pleading guilty to employing 58 illegal immigrants.
No work, no incentive to come here illegally. Make it a lot more companies and a few billion in fines, and there will be no more illegal-immigration crisis.
If you've done a lot of cooking, you might know the French phrase mise en place, defined by the Culinary Institute as "everything in place." It means to have everything you need to prepare a meal -- utensils, main ingredients, spices -- lined up precisely so that there's no searching or fumbling around once the actual cooking starts.
