Don't screw this up, America. After 8 miserable years of failed Bush policies, we don't need four more years of the same. We need real leadership. Granted, I'm not the biggest fan of BO but wake up and smell the roses. This goes to all the Yids voting GOP: stop buying into all the Rovian smears. Look at the poll numbers!

As I said at the start of the season...

J Street has Geoff Davis as a part of the list of candidates they endorsed. I thought J Street was more liberal in nature, which is why it shocks me to see Geoff Davis (R-KY5) on that list. I had him as more of an AIPAC guy myself!

Congressman Davis strongly supports Middle East peace and signed the 2007 Ackerman-Boustany letter endorsing the Annapolis peace process. He also did not cosponsor the “Iran Blockade Resolution,” H.CON.RES 362, and believes that the U.S. should pursue diplomatic channels to confront Iran’s nuclear program. He has openly discussed the failures of the war in Iraq and calls for more “progress on the political front” to secure democracy in Iraq and end the war. He also broke with the majority of his party by supporting H.R. 2863, which bans the “cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment” of detainees.

With thoughtful policies on the resolution of the conflicts and crises in the Middle East, JStreetPAC is proud to endorse Rep. Davis.

As for other Kentucky candidates, John Yarmuth (D-KY3) was also endorsed.

Rep. Yarmuth maintains great concern for Israeli security, cosponsoring a bill condemning the ongoing Palestinian rocket attacks on Israeli civilians by Hamas and other terrorist organizations. He also co-sponsored a bill calling for the President to appoint a Special Envoy for Middle East Peace.

Rep. Yarmuth opposes the continued occupation of Iraq, arguing that “our presence in Iraq has caused a quagmire that has made our nation less secure and lowered our respect around the world. It is now indisputable that the claims President Bush made to justify the American invasion were false.” He supports removing U.S. troops safely from Iraq, voting in support of Congress’s benchmarks for Iraq and a redeployment of US troops if those benchmarks are not met.

Congressman Yarmuth is opposed by former Congresswoman Anne Northup, who he defeated in 2006. Unlike, Yarmuth, Northup supports an unlimited occupation of Iraq. She was a co-sponsor of a 2006 act to curb aid to Palestinians in Gaza, contributing to deteriorating conditions on the ground that undermine the will and opportunity for peace.

Rep. Yarmuth says that “war should always be America’s last resort, and I will encourage strong diplomatic strategies to ensure that unnecessary conflict is avoided in hostile areas like Iran.” With his strong record of accomplishments in his first term and his pro-Israel, pro-peace, pro-diplomacy policies, it is with great pride that JStreetPAC is endorsing Rep. Yarmuth.

And will be mailed back tomorrow.

But I need my absentee ballot placed in my mailbox no later than Thursday. This is not fun. I have not missed an election ever and don't plan to start now!

The Jewish holidays, which have lasted nearly a month, are finally over.

A non-Cubs fan actually feels sorry for Cubs fans. You have to admit though that Cubs fans know what they are getting into when they decide to become a Cubs fan. It's always "maybe next year." It's never, "well, maybe they just won't win in my lifetime."

That had to be rough, worse than those other season-ending debacles. A six-month period of unprecedented hope comes crashing down in four days of abject failure, the only saving grace being that the end came as a straight nosedive, no teasing ups and downs.

I've been following baseball for about 48 years, and that was definitely the best Cubs team I can remember seeing, with apologies to the 1969 club for whom the memory grows dim.

All season long I kept hearing Cubs fans asking themselves this one question, and now that it's over, I can't help but ask it myself:

If the Cubs can't win it this year, when will they ever be able to win it?

Here's a list of Cardinals that became a member of the Cubs and vice-versa.

When centerfielder Jim Edmonds first suited up for the Chicagoans on May 15, 2008, he became the bookend of Nicol as the 304th major leaguer in the long history of the Cubs and Cardinals to play for both franchises.

The long-time Cards star Edmonds leaving the San Diego Padres and joining the Cubs was especially alarming and disturbing to many. The fact that St. Louis was paying $2 million of his 2008 salary only added salt to the open wound.

The discomfort increased throughout the summer as the 38-year-old found new life while helping power the Cubs to 97 regular season wins and their second consecutive NL Central Division title. Yet, even Edmonds could not alter the three-and-out NLDS result that ensued for the second year in a row.

Edmonds actually balanced out the current ex-Cubs, ex-Cardinals factor this season. The outfielder joined starting pitcher Jason Marquis as the two Chicagoans that previously called St. Louis home. In the other dugout, starting pitcher Todd Wellemeyer and shortstop Cesar Izturis first wore the Cubs uniform.

Though Edmonds and Izturis will become free agents at the conclusion of the World Series, both could be back next year. Either way, there should be at least one “ex” on each roster in 2009. Marquis will enter the final year of his initial three-year Chicago contract while Wellemeyer is arbitration-eligible, but under Cardinals organizational control.

Seth Rogen will star in a cancer comedy.

Kristen Bell speaks about the DVD extras on Forgetting Sarah Marshall.

Since comedies from the Apatow empire tend to benefit from a lot of improvisation, Bell said the "Sarah" script changed "a ton" from the time she first read it.

"I would venture to say it changed about 50 percent," she said. The plot and characters "were created by Jason [Segel] and the majority of the scenes were in there, but the way they allowed us to work - there was a long rehearsal process where we were allowed to ad-lib through all of the scenes and think up scenes on our own that would be good for characters."

And after a lot of drama, Bell enjoyed the comedy.

"It's always been my dream to become a stand-up comic," she said, "but I just don't think that I have the balls to do it. To sit down and try to write a stand-up routine would scare the bejesus out of me. I'd rather make a very long public speech. So being able to work in a comedy with all these people I admire so much and attempt to keep up with their improv skills was really thrilling."

What about writing a comedy screenplay?

"There's a sense of permanence that comes with writing," she said. "I feel like I could go into a room and, fingers-crossed, make some people laugh, have some good zingers, but to be able to put them on paper just gives me so much anxiety."

"Writers would probably say the same thing about what you do," I responded.

"I know," she said. "It's so weird the things that are in your comfort zone and being a writer is the hardest job to me. You're putting jokes on paper and 100 people are reading them and going, 'That's not funny.' That sense of judgment, I'd be crying every day. I'm sensitive."

Rob Riggle has his own talent holding deal with CBS now.

The Cards have let Mark Mulder walk.

On Meet the Press today, Senator John McCain guaranteed a win on November 4th. No one told him that we've had eight miserable years under George W. Bush and that the GOP doesn't do good things with the economy.

“I guarantee you that two weeks from now, you will see this has been a very close race, and I believe that I'm going to win it,” McCain told interim "Meet" moderator Tom Brokaw. “We're going to do well in this campaign, my friend. We're going to win it, and it's going to be tight, and we're going to be up late.”

McCain was down just 5 points in the Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby poll released Sunday, with Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) leading by 49 percent to 44 percent among likely voters in the daily tracking poll, which has a margin of error of 2.9 points.

In the inbox and from the College Dems of America:
Mitch McConnell: A History of Voting Against Students
New Poll Demonstrates Strong Youth Support for Bruce Lunsford
Washington, DC – A new poll released today by Research 2000 found overwhelming youth support for Democratic Senate Candidate Bruce Lunsford. The poll, conducted from October 19 – 21, found that Lunsford garnered 50 percent of voters aged 18 to 29, compared to just 41 percent for McConnell. These results are not surprising when considering Senator Mitch McConnell's long record of putting politics and big business before Kentucky's young people. [Research 2000, 10/23/08]

Just last year, Senator McConnell stood with only eleven other Senators to vote against the College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007. With the cost of attending college skyrocketing and family income levels remaining stagnant, the bill increased the amount of money available for student aid by roughly $18 billion over the next 5 years – the largest increase in student aid since the passage of the GI bill after World War II. [HR 2669, Vote 326, 9/7/07; House Committee on Education and Labor, September, 2007]

Unfortunately, his vote on the College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007 is only emblematic of the Senator's disappointing record with regard to college students. In 2005, Senator McConnell cast a deciding vote for the largest student loan cut in history. The bill was approved by a 50-50 vote with the Vice President casting the tie-breaking vote. [S. 1932, Vote 363, 12/21/05]

Senator McConnell has a long record of opposition to the Pell Grant – he voted five times between 2004 and 2007 against raising the Pell Grant. [S.Amdt. 3028 to S.Con.Res. 83, Vote 39, 3/14/06; S.Amdt. 2213 to H.R. 3010, Vote 268, 10/25/05; S.Amdt. 177 to S.Con.Res. 18, Vote 68, 3/17/05; S.Amdt. 2725 to S.Con.Res. 95, Vote 51, 3/11/04]

In Contrast, Bruce Lunsford will help Kentucky students excel by expanding the tuition tax credit, increasing the funding for the Pell Grant, and streamlining the application for financial aid.

"Time and again Senator McConnell has voted against the youth of our state," said Emily Sullivan, Co-Chair of the Kentucky College Democrats. "It's time we elect a Senator who will address the inaccessibility of college to otherwise qualified students. Young people know that Bruce Lunsford will bring Kentucky's students the change they need."

Moreover as the Republican leader in the Senate, Mitch McConnell has spearheaded the economic policies of deregulation on Wall Street that led directly to the current financial crisis and made it harder for Kentucky's students to secure college loans given the frozen credit market.

"We need a Senator who will put an end to the Bush-McConnell policies that have jeopardized the ability of Kentucky youth to pursue higher education," added Sullivan. "Bruce Lunsford will restore much needed fiscal responsibility to Washington – as Senator, he'll put the priorities of Main Street before those on Wall Street."

The College Democrats of America is the official youth outreach arm of the Democratic Party.

This is why Obama won't speak with Iran after all. The US will never withdraw support of Israel. Any president that withdraws their support would lose the financial backing of any Jew in America, be it a Democrat or Republican.

WSJ:
Barack Obama's declaration that, if elected, he would be willing to sit down and talk to Iran "without preconditions" has been widely discussed in this country. It's a key policy difference between him and John McCain, who rejects unconditional talks with Tehran.

So what does the Islamic Republic think? The enterprising reporters at the state news agency recently asked a high-ranking official for his opinion on talks with the U.S. As it turns out, Iran has its own "preconditions" and they don't suggest a diplomatic breakthrough, or even a summit, anytime soon.

Mehdi Kalhor, Vice President for Media Affairs, said the U.S. must do two things before summit talks can take place. First, American military forces must leave the Middle East -- presumably including such countries as Iraq, Qatar, Turkey and anywhere else American soldiers are deployed in the region. Second, the U.S. must cease its support of Israel. Until Washington does both, talks are "off the agenda," the Islamic Republic News Agency reports. It quotes Mr. Kalhor as saying, "If they [the U.S.] take our advice, grounds for such talks would be well prepared.

Iran is one of the toughest and most urgent foreign policy problems the new U.S. Administration will face. If Mr. Obama ends up in the Oval Office on January 20, he may find that solving it will take more than walking into a room and talking to Iranians "without preconditions."

Cold Open:


The Palin Rap:


Mark Wahlberg talks with Andy Samberg:

Since we're in between end of the NLCS and the start of the World Series, I decided to look over my 2008 MLB preseason predictions. I correctly predicted the NL East, NLCS winner, AL West, and AL Wild Card.

Now, for those updated awards:
NL MVP: Before the season I picked Chase Utley of the Philiadelphia Phillies. I'm now thinking that it will be either Albert Pujols or Ryan Howard.

NL CY YOUNG: Although he has over 200 strikeouts this past season, I don't think my pick of Cole Hamels of the Philiadelphia Phillies will win. It will either be Brandon Webb or Tim Lincecum.

NL ROY: Rasmus did not see a day of light this year. It's going to be either Edinson Volquez or Jay Bruce.

AL MVP: Josh Hamilton, Texas Rangers

AL CY YOUNG: I picked Justin Verlander originally but it's probably going to be Roy Halladay or Cliff Lee.

AL ROY: Evan Longoria, Tampa Bay Rays
Longoria made an impact upon arrival and helped lead Tampa Bay to the playoffs.

Blog ads would be frickin' nice! You go unemployed for two months and tell me how that goes!

It's not my fault that our government had to bail out the financial institutions.

But you know what? The economy hasn't just affected the markets but, um, those of us needing to find jobs?

Unemployed for two months, thanks crappy economy, and not a SINGLE CAMPAIGN will purchase a blog ad? I call bullcrap! You know you have the money!

I can't wait til we elect a new president. Maybe, I'll actually be able to find some work. But this is ridiculous. Despite nearly 1000 resumes sent off...nothing. A few interviews but that's gone south.

And staffing agencies tell you that they will find you work? Yea, that never happened?

What is wrong with this world? Here it was, I thought I would start seeing revenue from this blog during a fricking election year, especially in the month leading to the election. Now, I'll be lucky to if I can pay my bills on time (generous birthday gift anyone?)

What did I do to deserve such a fate? I've always been a good person and done the right things? But living like this is just flat out depressing. I want a reason to get up early...not a "hey, what is there to do today and is free?" question to ask my self.

Wake up, people! I know that there are more than just the google searches. I see all the unknown visitors, meaning it was bookmarked somewhere.

The economy has hit me really hard!

Please, if you are a campaign, purchase a blog ad or make a donation via paypal. I've really been hit by the poor job market as a result of the economy. Help a fellow blogger out, please!

John Oliver:...And finally Cubs fans.

Jon Stewart: Cubs fans are considered subsets of the stupids?

Oliver: Oh, absolutely, Jon! They had had 100 years to figure out that what they want will never happen and yet they still yearn for it.

Stewart: And that is stupid.

Oliver: Yes, it's very stupid.

Stewart: Because the Cubs will never win.

Oliver: That's right, Jon. The Chicago Cubs will never, ever win the World Series. They won't do it.

Stewart: They have made G-d angry.

Oliver: That's right. That's what I am saying.

Coming Soon:

CS/SHH!: Is that in hopes of a "Deadpool" spin-off film?
Schuler Donner: I hope so. I really hope so. He's so good at it.

CS/SHH!: Are there any comic book storylines in particular that the movie is drawing from?
Schuler Donner: There's an "X-Men: Origins" that some of it is pulled from, and then it's sort of an amalgamation of some of them. But "X-Men: Origins" sort of goes back into his young, young past, and we started there. [Note: Schuler Donner is referring to the 2001 Origin miniseries by Bill Jemas, Joe Quesada, Paul Jenkins, Andy Kubert and Richard Isanove].

CS/SHH!: And is the Stan Lee cameo obligatory at this point, even though he didn't personally create Wolverine?
Schuler Donner: Well, we shot in Australia, and so we don't have a Stan.

CS/SHH!: Oh no... Maybe he can get placed in the background digitally?
Schuler Donner: Yeah, I know. Oh, you know what, we're doing some additional shooting in January and that's a good idea. I love Stan!

Rick Bozich has the scoop:

"I'm voting for (Barack) Obama, but I was rooting for (Sarah) Palin to do well ... But she did not go after Obama enough."

The most interesting thing I heard from Pitino on his interview with Costas was how he didn't like it when his players in the pros used to scribble their names while signing an autograph. Pitino said he always takes his time while signing his name so the people who acquire the autograph can read it years down the road. He said that former UCLA coach John Wooden was always very meticulous while signing his name.

McCain - Streisand

Says so in the debate...

McCain says it will depend on what we do...

Blog advertisement revenue, with the economic crisis at stake is REALLY desperate right now. Please, if you can buy an ad or donate via paypal, please!

I was shocked at this news. I had no idea that Danielle Panabaker was a Democrat. She campaigned recently in support of Barack Obama.

While both are in favor of Senator Barack Obama, both women say the election is about more than that.

“My generation is the generation that hasn’t really stepped up to their social responsibilities and started voting, Panabaker said. “Even if we think these things don’t affect us, they affect us today, tomorrow and the rest of our lives, our children’s lives.”

Ten things that Cubs fans don't want to hear right now.

As you know, this country is on the verge of an economic meltdown. As such, blog advertising on this site has been down, too. I don't want to say that I've been unemployed for the last, um, month and a half...but I have and it's a rough job market out there. I don't like the fact that I'm a victim of the Bush economy but I am. I'm doing every thing that I can as far as trying to find a job goes but I'm playing that whole waiting game right now and it stinks. It stinks that I've been given an ultimatum of November 1st to either have a job or be forced back AGAINST MY WILL to Kentucky.

I want the economic problem solved. I moved at the worst possible time to Chicago as far as the economy is concerned. Either no one is hiring or they are taking their time to hire.

If you have any sort of Chicago connections, that's great. Otherwise, I don't know where I'll be come November 1st. Playing the waiting game stinks. So here's what you can do. If you represent a campaign, please do me a favor and purchase a blog ad. If you don't represent a campaign and have the sort of budget to make some sort of non-tax-deductible donation via paypal, that's great to. Actually, any revenue would be great at this point.

I don't want this to come off as some sort of get rich fast scheme or that I am desperate for cash but the truth is: I've been applying for jobs and following up but the fact that I have a college degree and working on a master's either makes me over-qualified or they are looking to hire someone that they can pay less.

It frickin' stinks, you know. What am I supposed to do? Write a book or a movie? Because I just might have to do that but even at that, those take some time to sell and market to publishers or studios!

Since Completely Useless By September does not apply this year, the above heading does.

I'll be offline for Shabbas but I leave you with these images:

Sources close to the Kentucky Democrat are reporting that the House has rejected the bailout...the Mets collapsed on their own and taxpayers should not be footing their expenses.

The Hollywood Reporter reports that Judd Apatow will be producing a musical.

Bo Burnham is getting ready to sing for his supper.

The songwriting comedian, who turned 18 in August, is in negotiations with Universal to write and create the music for a comedy that Judd Apatow will produce. Burnham also could star in the project.

The film is being described as a sort of anti-"High School Musical," though it is not a parody.

Bill Murray offers a warning of sorts and time appears to have healed all wounds.

“We didn’t have a lot of special effects in it. There were just a couple. It was just the funny characters in that world, and I like that movie because of it. The first movie had like 60 plate shots. The second movie had like hundreds. Those guys got their hands on the script early, and it was GONE. It went away. It was hard to wrangle because it was tied all around the effects without the story or the characters coming first. So, they are hard movies to write, and Dan really caught it with that first one.”

Larry Sabato notes that Bruce Lunsford may just pull off the upset.

Kentucky: As we have said since last December, one or more seemingly 'safe' Senate seats may become competitive late in the game. How do we know? It almost always happens. And we have our first entry in this October category: Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), the GOP minority leader in the Senate. Two recent surveys have shown his contest with multimillionaire Bruce Lunsford to be very close, tied outright or within the margin of error. McConnell is also below 50%, a dangerous zone for an incumbent. Almost no one thought this contest would be close. Just two weeks ago, I was told by a high-ranking Kentucky Democratic officeholder that Lunsford hadn't taken hold and McConnell was sure to be reelected. So what has changed? The rotten national environment for Republicans and the financial meltdown on Wall Street have boomeranged especially hard on a legislative leader like McConnell. Kentucky is a conservative state, but it has a populist streak in times like this. The other GOP senator from the Bluegrass State, Jim Bunning, has won extremely tight victories in his two previous elections. Even McConnell has rarely been overwhelmingly popular in the state. Since his first close election in 1984 against a Democratic incumbent (courtesy of the Reagan reelection landslide), he has had only one truly easy race, in 2002 when he won by close to two-to-one against weak opposition. McConnell's usual level of voter support has hovered around 55 percent.

Can Lunsford pull off the upset of the 2008 Senate cycle? It is now within the realm of possibility, though we are not yet ready to declare McConnell on his way out. To the contrary, the incumbent is a wily politician who has raised the many millions he needs to compete fully against a wealthy opponent. McConnell knows how to win tough contests, and he can slug it out with the best of them on the ground for those critical few votes that can make the difference. Finally, his old party adversary John McCain--with whom he has clashed repeatedly over campaign finance reform--will win Kentucky handily, ironically providing a few yards of coattail to McConnell.
If current polling trends hold, we'll move this to TOSS UP. For now, though, McConnell's impressive electoral record merits a rating of LEANS REPUBLICAN.

Today marks one year until the IOC announces the host city of the 2016 Olympics.

A while back, I posted a few videos from YouTube that I recieved from Brad Meltzer with regards to saving the Superman house. Anyway, they had a goal of raising $50,000. Instead, they raised $101,000! Here's excerpts of the email Brad sent out:

One month ago, I asked for your help in launching the Invisible Army. You didn't know what it was for. You didn't know what we had planned. But you said yes. And that meant so damn much. And so, as I finally now come home from the full month of the book tour, I just wanted to say thank you for what you unleashed. First, of course, I appreciate what you did with The Book of Lies, talking it up to whoever would listen. It was one of the most outrageous launches we've ever had (and over and over again, when reporters would ask, I'd tell them it was because of the Invisible Army. Swear. They still don't believe me.)

But most important, thank you for what you did to save the house where Superman was created. As you know, the goal was to raise $50,000 just to work on the outside of the house. Instead, we raised $101,000. 101! Thousand! Which now means we'll be working on the inside of the house as well.

So let me be clear: you did this. When I was worried about getting the word out there, you stepped forward without even asking. You are a clear troublemaker and I love you for it. Make no mistake: what you did -- from passing the video along, to facebooking, to myspacing, to all the rest -- made a huge difference. So thanks for the trust and the faith and of course for putting the word out there from day one.

This has been one of the most incredible, humbling, spectacular experiences I've even been a part of. Of course, now the hard work begins as the Siegel & Shuster Society does the real fixing of the house. And just to show you what you unleashed, here's a photo from the impromptu clean-up at the house from this past weekend.

Finally, and perhaps most important, let me share what Jerry Siegel's wife and daughter asked me to share with everyone who has been a part of this:

We are overwhelmed by the generosity of everyone involved in this massive undertaking. We have great admiration for you and what you are accomplishing with the auction. We deeply appreciate the love and care you put into it. The amount of money that's already been raised to restore Jerry's house is a magnificent tribute to Jerry's memory!

We thank you and everyone who made this effort possible for honoring Jerry in this very special way.

Sincerely,
Joanne Siegel and Laura Siegel Larson

So again, thanks from here. And send love there.

Brad