Illinois Governors - the Facebook Profile Pics

In case you missed it, for the last week plus, my profile picture was of former governors of Illinois who ran afoul of the law either before or after their tenure. There are four, count them FOUR, within the last half century or so. Four of the last eight. Beautiful. That's a 50% chance. Not good odds.

Rod Blagojevich: 2003-2009
Pay to Play Scandal
(Did we mention that he looks like a Lego-Man? More info on him in ChicagoDads page. And yet some more to come.)

George Homer Ryan: 1999-2003
Licenses for Bribes Scandal (twenty-three charges, including racketeering, extortion, obstructing justice, accepting bribes)
(Fun fact: Wikipedia lists next Republican trying to replace him [and losing to Blagojevich] as "Jim Ryan [his son]". This is wrong. And bad, even by Wikipedia standards. The two are not related; that much was reported by the media numerous times during the election.)

Daniel Walker: 1973-1977
Savings & Loan Fraud in the 1980's
Quote from his autobiography, "I knew this was against regulations. But like most businessmen, I saw a huge difference between regulations and law."


Otto Kerner, Jr.: 1961-1968
Accepting Bribes
(Interesting note from Wikipedia - and this may or may not be apocryphal, Kerner was turned in because the Arlington Park race track manager deducted his bribes from her tax forms because she was under impression that bribes were an ordinary business expense in Illinois. To which I reply, "Well, to an extent.")

Weekend Links We Like to Link to - Super Duper Deluxe Edition!

This is to make up for sucking at blogging here the last few months (although you can still find me - at least through the next month - blogging at ChicagoDads. I think I did some pretty decent posts there this last week, if I do say so myself.)

Maureen Dowd's righteous indignation at these idiots who take our money and reward themselves for doing it.

Since we're speaking of harsh lifestyle changes for the rich: It's the Economy, Stupi... Girlfriends (and mistresses). (Micah via Twitter)

Graphic novelist (and recent Newberry Winner) Neil Gaiman gives it to us straight: Where do ideas come from? Also, just a bit of slant, too.

Be warned: There be slow zones and zombies ahead! (Jeffrey Overstreet via Facebook)

Berkeley, oh, Berkeley. Thanks for reminding me of where hippies went wrong [and why I want to kick them]. (@spydrz via Twitter)

Young Adult Literature writing kit. If it sounds familiar, that's because it's been done, time, and time, and time, and time again.

Another reason to not name your boy Sue or Roddrick: Jail time. (ibid)

Weekend Links We Like to Link to - Inauguration & Palestine edition

• Wonderful pics of Inauguration Day via the Boston Globe. Numbers 3 & 5 give a wow visual to the crowds. But I was more awed/floored/taken by the pics 19 and 23. Which means, yes, I did cry. Again.

• Among all the hubbub, it was good to see friends who supported and voted for Obama keep their cool about them and just throw a few words of moderation out there. In addition, I did a post on the other site about this social-psychological status called elevation, which I think a lot of people erroneously view as either idol-worship or momentum for change. It is neither, but it can still be a watershed moment (pun not intended).

• My wife's friend is studying in Jerusalem now, expecting to leave shortly (long story). She told us about how the Palestinians were basically trapped - that all of the jobs and money was outside of their encamped neighborhoods but that they could not leave those areas. Now, I'm no fan of terrorism, but I think I can see where the seeds of extremism and violence are sown, and this scenario can't be good for anyone. As Jenn said via Facebook, I don't think they'd put this story ("Inside the World's Largest Prison") in a US paper, which is too bad, because a lot of people are missing something in their anti-terrorism (and anti-Muslim) rhetoric. Pray for the peace of the Middle East.

I found it on Wikipedia!

Ever since this whole series of interconnected tubes got together to call themselves the interwebs, I was a bit skeptical that the center may not hold. And now, here's my proof:

"Factual Error Found on the Internet". srce: The Onion News.

If this trend continues, tomorrow may see this headline:

Breaking News: All Online Data Lost After Internet Crash

Click here if video doesn't play (due, no doubt, to collapse of internets)