Tony La Russa announces retirement

After 16 seasons as manager of the St. Louis Cardinals, Tony La Russa retired following 33 years managing in the big leagues. La Russa retires as one of only two managers to win a World Series in both leagues.

There isn't one [factor] that dominates [my decision]," La Russa said. "They all just come together, telling you your time is over.

"We went through the season, and I felt that this just feels like it's time to end it, and I think it's going to be great for the Cardinals to refresh what's going on here."[...]

For the time being, La Russa does not have a next job in line. He does not expect to return to the organization but indicated that he had some interest in continuing to work in baseball.

Mozeliak acknowledged that he has a preliminary list of people in mind to be the Cardinals' next manager, but he made it clear that he expects that list to change in the coming days. Mozeliak did not rule out any possibility for the next skipper, from internal candidates to managers not currently with a team to coaches or managers with other teams.

As Matt notes, La Russa joined Billy Southworth as the only Cardinal managers with more than one World Series championship.

In 16 seasons with the Cardinals, La Russa won 1,408 games, and led the Cards to 9 postseason appearances, including winning the NL pennant in 2004, 2006, and 2011. La Russa retires with 1,408 wins over all, good enough for second place behind Connie Mack (3,731) and John McGraw (2,763). While many of us Cardinals fans thought the skipper would have decided to manage to the point where he would finish second all-time, it was never in La Russa's plans as Matt notes here:

La Russa said that he did not consider continuing in order to get the 36 wins he would have needed and pass McGraw on the all-time list.

"I'm aware of the history of the game," La Russa said. "But I would not be happy with myself if the reason I came back was to move up one spot. That's not why you manage...it's not something that motivates me. Wherever you finish, you finish."

La Russa finishes with the following numbers:
Postseason wins: 70 (2nd)
Games: 5,097 (2nd)
Losses: 2,365 (2nd)
Years: 33 (2nd - tie)
Wins: 2,728 (3rd)
Playoffs: 14 (3rd)
World Series titles: 3 (6th - tie)

You can send a note of thanks to Tony La Russa here.

Postseason Award Predictions

NATIONAL LEAGUE
Rookie of the Year: Freddie Freeman, Atlanta Braves
Most Valuable Player: Matt Kemp, Los Angeles Dodgers
Cy Young Award: Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers

AMERICAN LEAGUE
Rookie of the Year: Jeremy Hellickson, Tampa Bay Rays
Most Valuable Player: Curtis Granderson, New York Yankees
Cy Young Award: Justin Verlander, Detroit Tigers

It's interesting to note that Kershaw and Verlander both led their leagues in Wins, Strikeouts, and ERA. It's the first time since 1924 that two pitchers have won the Triple Crown in their league respectively.

Game 6: An Instant Classic

David Freese saved the St. Louis Cardinals twice tonight. In the bottom of the 9th inning, he tripled to bring in Albert Pujols and Lance Berkman.

In the 11th, he scores the game-winning walk-off home run to win the game for the St. Louis Cardinals.

Freese joins postseason lore with Kirk Gibson, Carlton Fisk, and Joe Carter with a walk-off home run to end the game. Not only that but he joins Jim Edmonds and Ozzie Smith has the only Cardinals to win a postseason game with a walk-off home run. Ozzie with his Game 5 win of the 1985 NLCS. Edmonds did so in extra innings in Game 6 of the 2004 NLCS.

This is an unbelievable season. Down 10.5 at the end of August, the Cards were thought to be out of the postseason. Nope. Atlanta started losing while the Cardinals started winning.

Like in 2006, I did not get any sleep.

Big 12 Takes West Virginia

Louisville fans will just have to wait.
http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
According to CBS Sports:

West Virginia has been invited to join the Big 12 Conference, college football industry sources told CBSSports.com Friday.

The Mountaineers will accept the invitation, sources said. The Big 12 is expected to officially announce the invitation later today.

The Big 12's board of directors voted Friday morning and chose West Virginia over Louisville. They will stay at 10 schools, a source said.

Millarworld in the News

Mark Millar has been in the news a lot recently with several developments.

Wanted 2 is being written at the moment. At the moment, I don't know how it can be done with Angelina Jolie's character having been killed. Derek Haas and Michael Brandt, who adapted the original script, were just hired to write the sequel.

Meanwhile, news surrounding a new Millarworld project is being developed by none other than Matthew Vaughn.

Matthew Vaughn hasn’t yet picked a project to direct after the critical and financial success of X-Men: First Class, but a picture is forming as to what his options could be, and they all involve comic book writer Mark Millar.

Vaughn, Millar and artist Dave Gibbons (best known for as the co-creator of The Watchmen) unveiled this week a new comic titled The Secret Service. While plot details are under wraps, Vaughn not only co-created the concept but holds the movie rights.[...]

Vaughn also has the movie rights to Superior, a comic Millar is writing with Leinil Francis Yu doing the art. The plot revolves around a superhero and comic book-idolizing boy afflicted with multiple sclerosis who is given the chance to become a superhero named Superior. The chance, of course, comes with a heavy cost.

THR notes that no writers have been attached to either project but speculation is that Vaughn will co-write with Jane Goldman.

Both projects are in the early stages, with no screenwriters attached. Vaughn is likely to tackle the script for Secret Service himself, possibly with frequent collaborator Jane Goldman, just as he did with Kick-Ass and X-Men: First Class. For Superior, he will supervise the writing, according to sources.

A fourth Millarworld project was announced with Universal picking up rights to War Heroes.

Universal is in negotiations to pick up War Heroes, the project based on the Mark Millar-Tony Harris comic book. Thomas Dean Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer, who are writing Doctor Strange for Marvel, are in negotiations to write the script.

Michael De Luca, Chris Morgan and Trigger Street’s Dana Brunetti are attached to produce.[...]

The story centers on a U.S. military experimental program developed in light of dwindling enlistments and the expanding war on terrorism that gives ordinary soldiers superpowers. When a rogue group of the super-soldiers breaks off to form a criminal enterprise, one hero rises from their ranks to prevent catastrophic results.

Could it be true?!?

I hope that this tidbit actually happens!

Could the The Beatles' last film, Let It Be, finally be headed to DVD? Director Michael Lindsay-Hogg says, "We have been working on it pretty much every year for the last couple of years. And the plan is, at the moment, to have it come out, I think, in 2013. This is after they release Magical Mystery Tour as a special DVD release. And it'll be the film itself, the original film -- the color is great, the soundtrack is perfect."

Lindsay-Hogg adds that it will include a bonus DVD, which is a making-of documentary featuring outtakes from the film.

St. Louis wins National League Pennant

That's a winner! 2011 World Series, here we come! Go Cards! It's time to mess with Texas!

Rand Paul keeps spamming me

Rand Paul's senate office keeps spamming me with his newsletter despite unsubscribing EVERY FUCKING TIME that I get them.

Make it fucking stop this fucking minute!

Quote of the Day

"We are here to talk about re-elections, but if we can sign Albert Pujols for four more years, that would be good, too.”
--Missouri Governor Jay Nixon speaking downtown in St. Louis at a fundraiser for President Barack Obama during the Cardinals game, October, 2011

LINK

President Obama visits Cincy

President Obama visits Cincy and mentions Louisville...

Read the full speech or select excerpts.

Behind us stands the Brent Spence Bridge. It’s located on one of the busiest trucking routes in North America. It sees about 150,000 vehicles every single day. And it’s in such poor condition that it's been labeled "functionally obsolete." Think about that -- functionally obsolete. That doesn’t sound good, does it?

AUDIENCE: Nooo!

THE PRESIDENT: It’s safe to --

AUDIENCE MEMBER: Kind of like John Boehner. (Laughter.)

THE PRESIDENT: It's safe to drive on, but it was not designed to accommodate today’s traffic, which can stretch out for a mile. Shipping companies try to have their trucks avoid the bridge. Of course, that only ends up costing them more money as well.

The thing is there are bridges and roads and highways like that throughout the region. A major bridge that connects Kentucky and Indiana just closed down for safety reasons. Another aging bridge that crosses over the Ohio River in Ironton could be replaced right now. There are rail stations in Cleveland and Toledo in desperate need of repair. And the same is true in cities and towns all across America. It makes your commute longer. It costs our businesses billions of dollars -- they could be moving products faster if they had better transportation routes. And in some cases, it’s not safe.

Now, we used to have the best infrastructure in the world here in America. We’re the country that built the Intercontinental Railroad, the Interstate Highway System. (Applause.) We built the Hoover Dam. We built the Grand Central Station. (Applause.) So how can we now sit back and let China build the best railroads? And let Europe build the best highways? And have Singapore build a nicer airport? At a time when we've got millions of unemployed construction workers out there just ready to get on the job, ready to do the work to rebuilding America. (Applause.)[...]

So my question is, what's Congress waiting for? Why is it taking so long? Now, the bridge behind us just happens to connect the state that’s home to the Speaker of the House --

AUDIENCE: Booo --

THE PRESIDENT: -- with the home state of the Republican leader in the Senate.

AUDIENCE: Booo --

THE PRESIDENT: Now, that’s just a coincidence. (Laughter.) Purely accidental that that happened. (Laughter.) But part of the reason I came here is because Mr. Boehner and Mr. McConnell, those are the two most powerful Republicans in government. They can either kill this jobs bill, or they can help pass this jobs bill. (Applause.) And I know these men care about their states. They care about businesses; they care about workers here. I can’t imagine that the Speaker wants to represent a state where nearly one in four bridges are classified as substandard -- one in four. I know that when Senator McConnell visited the closed bridge in Kentucky, he said that, “Roads and bridges are not partisan in Washington.” That’s great. I know that Paul Ryan, the Republican in charge of the budget process, recently said that "you can’t deny that infrastructure does creates jobs." That's what he said.

Well, if that’s the case, there’s no reason for Republicans in Congress to stand in the way of more construction projects. There’s no reason to stand in the way of more jobs.

Mr. Boehner, Mr. McConnell, help us rebuild this bridge. (Applause.) Help us rebuild America. Help us put construction workers back to work. (Applause.) Pass this bill.

AUDIENCE: Pass this bill! Pass this bill! Pass this bill! Pass this bill!

THE PRESIDENT: Let’s pass the bill.

2011 Primetime Emmy Winners

The winners for the 63rd Annual Emmy Awards are:

COMEDY SERIES: Modern Family (ABC)
COMEDY ACTOR: Jim Parsons (The Big Bang Theory)
COMEDY ACTRESS: Melissa McCarthy (Mike & Molly)
SUPPORTING COMEDY ACTOR: Ty Burrell (Modern Family)
SUPPORTING COMEDY ACTRESS: Julie Bowen (Modern Family)
DRAMA SERIES: Mad Men (AMC)
DRAMA ACTOR: Kyle Chandler (Friday Night Lights)
DRAMA ACTRESS: Julianna Margulies (The Good Wife)
SUPPORTING DRAMA ACTOR: Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones)
SUPPORTING DRAMA ACTRESS: Margo Martindale (Justified)
MINISERIES OR TV MOVIE: Masterpiece: Downton Abbey (PBS)
LEAD ACTRESS IN A MINISERIES OR MOVIE: Kate Winslet (Mildred Pierce)
LEAD ACTOR IN A MINISERIES OR MOVIE: Barry Pepper (The Kennedys)
SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A MINISERIES OR MOVIE: Maggie Smith (Masterpiece: Downton Abbey)
SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A MINISERIES OR MOVIE: Guy Pearce (Mildred Pierce)
VARIETY, MUSIC, OR COMEDY SERIES: The Daily Show With Jon Stewart (Comedy Central)
REALITY-COMPETITION PROGRAM: The Amazing Race (CBS)
DIRECTING FOR A COMEDY SERIES: Modern Family, Michael Alan Spiller (ABC)
DIRECTING FOR A DRAMA SERIES: Boardwalk Empire, Martin Scorsese (HBO)
DIRECTING FOR A MINISERIES, MOVIE OR DRAMATIC SPECIAL: Masterpiece: Downton Abbey, Brian Percival (PBS)
DIRECTING FOR A VARIETY, MUSIC OR COMEDY SERIES: Saturday Night Live, Don Roy King (NBC)
WRITING FOR A COMEDY SERIES: Steve Levitan and Jeffrey Richman, Modern Family (ABC)
WRITING FOR A DRAMA SERIES: Jason Katims, Friday Night Lights (DirecTV)
WRITING FOR A MINISERIES, MOVIE OR DRAMATIC SPECIAL: Julian Fellowes, Masterpiece: Downton Abbey (PBS)
WRITING FOR A VARIETY, MUSIC OR COMEDY SERIES: The Daily Show With Jon Stewart (Comedy Central)

A roundup...

Marc Stanley penned an editorial for JTA.

As Serwer noted, this was in stark contrast to the negative accusations hurled at President Obama after his May 19 State Department address during which he restated -- against a backdrop of supportive statements about Israel’s security -- longstanding U.S. (and, frankly, Israeli) policy that Israel’s negotiations with the Palestinians should take place along “1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps.”

Obama’s statement was unremarkable for many reasons: President George W. Bush said as much in 2005 while standing next to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in the Rose Garden; Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton reiterated the same formula in 2009; and Netanyahu even issued a joint statement with Clinton using that exact phrase last November. In fact, this common understanding has been the basis of bipartisan negotiations for at least 12 years, if not more.

So why was Obama vilified over this statement, but his critics remained silent as Netanyahu took the exact same position? And why do Obama’s critics insinuate that the Israeli government -- Netanyahu in particular -- has concerns with the president and his commitment to a safe and secure Jewish state? Why haven’t Netanyahu’s quite favorable remarks about the current status of the U.S.-Israel relationship been covered in the media?

Perry-phobia is real.

Jon Scheyer, the former Duke basketball player, made aliyah to Israel.

Do the Presbyterians know it's not nice to start their whole divestment thing up again?!?

The church's Committee on Mission Responsibility Through Investment released a report Sept. 9 arguing that the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church divest from Motorola, Hewlett-Packard and Caterpillar.

The release provoked pushback from Presbyterian and Jewish groups, and the American Jewish Committee and the Anti-Defamation League issued statements condemning the recommendation.

“This renewed effort by some within the Presbyterian Church to penalize Israel does not advance peace,” said Rabbi Noam Marans, AJC's director of intergroup and interreligious relations. “On the contrary, threatening divestment undermines those who are truly committed to Israeli-Palestinian peace.”

The organization Presbyterians for Middle East Peace released a statement condemning the report's authors as giving a "friendly ear" to "a small group of activists within the Presbyterian Church that has relentlessly sought to punish Israel" and want "to find one party at fault in a conflict where all parties have engaged in positive or negative actions."

The group promised in the statement to fight the report from being adopted.

The Jewish outreach for the next election has started already.

Use the force, Luke!

For having a new laptop...

I really ought thttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifo be posting more...I suppose I would be if I was not so busy between work and writing.

I saw Moneyball last night. It's really good. One of the top ten this year if you ask me.

Megyn Kelly shares her feelings on Jon Stewart.

I find Jon Stewart very funny — except for when he’s making fun of me. [laughs] The problem with Stewart is when people think The Daily Show is actual news, or that he made an attempt to be fair, which I think he would freely admit that he doesn’t.

Similarly, in a new issue of Rolling Stone, Jon offers some commentary of his own on his show and FOX News.

“We are both reactions to the news and to government,” he says. “We’re both expressions of dissatisfaction. [Roger Ailes'], I think, happens to be a slightly more powerful version [laughs.]...Ailes was a strategist for Nixon. He comes from the seat of power, and he understands how important the narrative is. We come from comedy, so our natural instinct is not to understand that, and to be bratty. That goes a long way towards explaining the difference between the two organizations.”

Comedians talk about tackling a dramatic role.

“It is something to talk about when a dramatic actor can go and do comedy, that’s really impressive,” said Polley. “I think it’s less shocking when a great comedian does a great dramatic role…I was amazed at how surprised that people would be that that would have worked.”

Silverman, who plays Lou’s foul-mouthed sister Geraldine, said she felt some honesty in delivering dramatic lines.

“I feel like in comedy you can be saying a bunch of lies, but the audience smells b---s--- if there isn’t some sort of honesty coming through in this,” she said. “It’s like saying words honestly, it doesn’t really feel so different.”

Rogen concurred, noting that “a lot of people have been talking to me about how it is totally different from what I have done before, but it doesn’t feel different from anything.”

2011 Primetime Emmy Nominations and Predictions

Here are the nominees with my predictions in bold.

COMEDY SERIES
The Big Bang Theory (CBS)
Glee (FOX)
Modern Family (ABC)
The Office (NBC)
Parks and Recreation (NBC)
30 Rock (NBC)

COMEDY ACTOR
Louis C.K. (Louie)
Alec Baldwin (30 Rock)
Steve Carell (The Office)
Jim Parsons (The Big Bang Theory)
Johnny Galecki (The Big Bang Theory)
Matt LeBlanc (Episodes)

COMEDY ACTRESS
Laura Linney (The Big C)
Melissa McCarthy (Mike & Molly)
Edie Falco (Nurse Jackie)
Amy Poehler (Parks and Recreation)
Martha Plimpton (Raising Hope)
Tina Fey (30 Rock)

SUPPORTING COMEDY ACTOR
Chris Colfer (Glee)
Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Modern Family)
Ed O'Neill (Modern Family)
Eric Stonestreet (Modern Family)
Ty Burrell (Modern Family)
Jon Cryer (Two and a Half Men)

SUPPORTING COMEDY ACTRESS
Jane Lynch (Glee)
Betty White (Hot in Cleveland)
Julie Bowen (Modern Family)
Sofia Vergara (Modern Family)
Kristen Wiig (Saturday Night Live)
Jane Krakowski (30 Rock)

DRAMA SERIES
Boardwalk Empire (HBO)
Dexter (Showtime)
Friday Night Lights (DirecTV)
Game of Thrones (HBO)
The Good Wife (CBS)
Mad Men (AMC)

DRAMA ACTOR
Steve Buscemi (Boardwalk Empire)
Michael C. Hall (Dexter)
Kyle Chandler (Friday Night Lights)
Hugh Laurie (House)
Timothy Olyphant (Justified)
Jon Hamm (Mad Men)

DRAMA ACTRESS
Connie Britton (Friday Night Lights)
Julianna Margulies (The Good Wife)
Kathy Bates (Harry's Law)
Mireille Enos (The Killing)
Mariska Hargitay (Law & Order)
Elizabeth Moss (Mad Men)

SUPPORTING DRAMA ACTOR
Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones)
Josh Charles (The Good Wife)
Alan Cumming (The Good Wife)
Walton Goggins (Justified)
John Slattery (Mad Men)
Andre Braugher (Men of a Certain Age)

SUPPORTING DRAMA ACTRESS
Kelly Macdonald (Boardwalk Empire)
Archie Panjabi (The Good Wife)
Christine Baranski (The Good Wife)
Margo Martindale (Justified)
Michelle Forbes (The Killing)
Christina Hendricks (Mad Men)

MINISERIES OR TV MOVIE
Cinema Verite (HBO)
Masterpiece: Downton Abbey (PBS)
The Kennedys (ReelzChannel)
Mildred Pierce (HBO)
The Pillars of the Earth (Starz)
Too Big to Fail (HBO)

LEAD ACTRESS IN A MINISERIES OR MOVIE
Diane Lane (Cinema Verite)
Elizabeth McGovern (Masterpiece: Downton Abbey)
Kate Winslet (Mildred Pierce)
Taraji P. Henson (Taken From Me: The Tiffany Rubin Story)
Jean Marsh (Masterpiece: Upstairs Downstairs)

LEAD ACTOR IN A MINISERIES OR MOVIE
Edgar Ramirez (Carlos)
Greg Kinnear (The Kennedys)
Barry Pepper (The Kennedys)
Idris Elba (Luther)
Laurence Fishburne (Thurgood)
William Hurt (Too Big to Fail)

SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A MINISERIES OR MOVIE
Maggie Smith (Masterpiece: Downton Abbey)
Evan Rachel Wood (Mildred Pierce)
Melissa Leo (Mildred Pierce)
Mare Winningham (Mildred Pierce)
Eileen Atkins (Upstairs Downstairs)

SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A MINISERIES OR MOVIE
Tom Wilkinson (The Kennedys)
Guy Pearce (Mildred Pierce)
Brian F. O'Byrne (Mildred Pierce)
Paul Giamatti (Too Big to Fail)
James Woods (Too Big to Fail)

VARIETY, MUSIC, OR COMEDY SERIES
The Colbert Report (Comedy Central)
Conan (TBS)
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart (Comedy Central)
Late Night With Jimmy Fallon (NBC)
Real Time With Bill Maher (HBO)
Saturday Night Live (NBC)


REALITY-COMPETITION PROGRAM
The Amazing Race (CBS)
American Idol (FOX)
Dancing With the Stars (ABC)
Project Runway (Lifetime)
So You Think You Can Dance (FOX)
Top Chef (Bravo)

DIRECTING FOR A COMEDY SERIES
How I Met Your Mother, Pamela Fryman (CBS)
Modern Family, Michael Alan Spiller (ABC)
Modern Family, Gail Mancuso (ABC)
Modern Family, Steve Levitan (ABC)
30 Rock, Beth McCarthy-Miller (NBC)

DIRECTING FOR A DRAMA SERIES
Boardwalk Empire, Martin Scorsese (HBO)
Boardwalk Empire, Jeremy Podeswa (HBO)
The Borgias, Neil Jordan (Showtime)
Game of Thrones, Tim Van Patten (HBO)
The Killing, Patti Jenkins (AMC)

DIRECTING FOR A MINISERIES, MOVIE OR DRAMATIC SPECIAL
Carlos, Oliver Assayas (Sundance Channel)
Cinema Verite, Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini (HBO)
Masterpiece: Downton Abbey, Brian Percival (PBS)
Mildred Pierce, Todd Haynes (HBO)
Too Big to Fail, Curtis Hanson (HBO)

DIRECTING FOR A VARIETY, MUSIC OR COMEDY SERIES
American Idol, Gregg Gelfand (FOX)
The Colbert Report, James Hoskinson (Comedy Central)
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart, Chuck O'Neil (Comedy Central)
Late Show With David Letterman, Jerry Foley (CBS)
Saturday Night Live, Don Roy King (NBC)

WRITING FOR A COMEDY SERIES
David Crane and Jeffrey Klarik, Episodes (Showtime)
Louis C.K., Louie (FX)
Steve Levitan and Jeffrey Richman, Modern Family (ABC)
Greg Daniels, The Office (NBC)
Matt Hubbard, 30 Rock (NBC)

WRITING FOR A DRAMA SERIES
Jason Katims, Friday Night Lights (DirecTV)
David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, Game of Thrones (HBO)
Veena Sud, The Killing (AMC)
Matthew Weiner, Mad Men (AMC)
Andre Jacquemetton and Maria Jacquemetton, Mad Men (AMC)

WRITING FOR A MINISERIES, MOVIE OR DRAMATIC SPECIAL
Julian Fellowes, Masterpiece: Downton Abbey (PBS)
Todd Haynes and Jon Raymond, Mildred Pierce (HBO)
Steven Moffat, Masterpiece: Sherlock: A Study in Pink (PBS)
Peter Gould, Too Big to Fail (HBO)
Heidi Thomas, Masterpiece: Upstairs Downstairs (PBS)

WRITING FOR A VARIETY, MUSIC OR COMEDY SERIES
The Colbert Report (Comedy Central)
Conan (TBS)
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart (Comedy Central)
Late Night With Jimmy Fallon (NBC)
Saturday Night Live (NBC)

No quick fix for Sherman Minton Bridge

We have the latest update from the Federal Highway Administration:

s they continue to assess the damage to the closed Sherman Minton Bridge, federal highway officials told Kentucky and Indiana lawmakers Wednesday that even minor repairs could take two to three months.

A more extensive fix to the span could require 1½ to 2 years, while replacing the structure would take several years, Federal Highway Administrator Victor Mendez said, according to Rep. John Yarmuth and the staff of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.[...]

The initial cost estimate for a relatively simple repair of the cracks is around $10 million, lawmakers were told. A more extensive repair project could run as much as $60 million, and a replacement bridge would cost several hundred million dollars.

One possible pool of money is the highway administration’s emergency relief program, which currently is about $100 million. Federal law allows those funds to be used only to repair or replace bridges that have been seriously damaged by natural disasters or have collapsed because of an external cause.[...]

As questions continue to swirl around the Sherman Minton, inspectors spent part of Wednesday scouring I-65’s Kennedy bridge to check the integrity of the structure and to ease concerns about the increasing number of vehicles it must carry.

Chuck Wolfe, a Kentucky Transportation Cabinet spokesman, said inspectors were sent out at the request of Transportation Secretary Mike Hancock to get some “expert eyes” on the bridge.

Wolfe said inspectors also were directed to look at the Clark Memorial Bridge, on U.S. 31, but it was unclear if that happened Wednesday. He said inspectors would turn their attention to the Clark bridge “as soon as possible,” if they weren’t able to get to it Wednesday.

Rogen not in Knocked Up spinoff

Seth Rogen will not appear in This is Forty, the Knocked Up spinoff written and directed by Judd Apatow.

Movies.com spoke to the actor for his upcoming cancer comedy 50/50, and while he admitted to visiting the set of Apatow's latest movie (This Is Forty was the working title at one point), he claims he's not in it. "Yeah I'm not in it, but I went to visit the set and it looked hilarious," Rogen told us, later admitting that adding his character back into the equation may have been a bit jarring for audiences. "It was a good choice, honestly, because I think it would've confused people.," he said. "But I'm really looking forward to seeing it; I thought the script was unbelievably funny."

During our interview Rogen also said that he'll be beginning production on Jay and Seth vs. the Apocalypse in February, which he calls an "oddly personal" film. He also confirmed that he'll be co-directing with writing partner Evan Goldberg, adding "It's now much more than just Jay and Seth -- there's many other people vs. the apocalypse now. It's gonna be crazy."

Remembering 9/11: 10 Years Later

A poem written by Jack Buck

Since this nation was founded under God
More than 200 years ago

We've been the bastion of freedom...

The light that keeps the free world aglow.
We do not covet the possessions of others,
We are blessed with the bounty we share.

We have rushed to help other nations...
Anything...anytime...anywhere

War is just not our nature...we won't start
But we will end the fight.
If we are involved we shall be resolved to
Protect what we know is right.

We have been challenged by a cowardly foe
Who strikes and then hides from our view.

With one voice we say, "There's no choice
Today, there is only one thing to do"

Everyone is saying the same thing
And praying that we end these senseless
Moments we are living.

As our fathers did before, we shall win
This unwanted war

And our children will enjoy the future,
We'll be giving.


Written by Jack Buck
September 14, 2001

Been busy...

I've been very busy of late with writing the comedic book, which is fully of social commentary including many state and federal politicians.

It's nearly 130 pages at the moment.

Michele Bachmann is NOT Jewish

She's Lutheran.