An “obit” from the Trib:

Chicago Tribune | Wake planned for New Year’s Eve as reporters mourn the death of Chicago’s fabled City News Bureau

THIS JUST IN…

Services for Chicago’s City News Bureau, the 115-year-old wire service that was the starting point for hundreds of American journalists, will be held New Year’s Eve in the Billy Goat Tavern, lower Michigan Avenue and Hubbard Street.

The wake begins at 8 p.m.

Arrangements are being handled by Paul Zimbrakos, CNB editor; Sam Sianis, Billy Goat propietor,and Bernard Judge, former City News editor.

All present and former CNB staffers are welcome, along with spouses and friends. First drink is on the house for those who can prove they were part of the finest journalistic training ground ever devised.

CNB ceases operation at 12:01 a.m. January 1, 2006.

If you need more information–really, the above is everything you need to know– you can call Bernie Judge at 312-644-7006.

Read on for some memorable testimonials. They go on and on for pages and pages.

Let’s review – are Eat the State and Blogula Rasa on the same page?

1. Terri Schiavo: Yeppers
2. Intelligent Design (sic): Hee!
3. The War On Christmas: Hell, yes
4. Everything’s Going Splendidly In Iraq: Check
5. Michael Jackson’s Trial: I could care less about MJ
6. Martha Stewart’s Comeback: Ditto MS
7. Howard Dean: Hmm. When he shoots his mouth off, he’s not firing blanks. I’m not so sure about this one.
8. Pat Robertson: Again, I think making the Religious Right look foolish has more value than mere newsworthiness
9. The Minutemen: Okay, I agree we can ignore the yahoos
10. Rossi v. Gregoire (WA state governor’s race): Yep, another example of Repugnican issue mongering
11. Plus, sports, 14-Day-Accu–Pinpoint-Doppler-Radar-Insta-Weather, the usual: ITA

For the most part, I’m with Eat the State on their picks. Same with the most underreported stories, also found in the same article – W’s lameduckness, the US is a torture regime, Homeland Security’s many failures, the Downing Street memos, and “Say, where is Osama Bin Laden, anyway?”

However, I hadn’t heard of this tidbit:

Lastly, for the first time, a blog determined the outcome of a local election when David Goldstein’s HorsesAss.org broke the story that King County Executive candidate David Irons literally beat his mother. Only one major local media outlet (the P-I) would touch it, but the sensational (and true) story was enough to turn a close race into an easy victory for Ron Sims.

Very interesting reading. I guess Seattle/Western Washington politics are almost as colorful as the local Chicago/Upstate Illinois variety. I never knew that when I lived there.

Hey, remember that guy… Alito? Who got nominated for the Supreme Court a while back? Guess the Friday before the Christmas holiday weekend is a good time for the release of some interesting memos. Let’s all try to remember these later, when he’s back in the news for real in the midst of his Senate confirmation hearings.

ABC News: Alito Argued to Overturn Roe in 1985 Memo

WASHINGTON Dec 23, 2005 — Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito wrote in a June 1985 memo that the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling legalizing abortion should be overturned.

The June 3, 1985 document was one of 45 released by the National Archives on Friday. A total of 744 pages were made public.

…

In paperwork released earlier from Alito’s time in the Justice Department’s solicitor general’s office, he recommended a legal strategy of dismantling abortion rights piece by piece. And as part of an application for a job as deputy assistant attorney general, Alito said the Constitution does not guarantee abortion rights.

The latest memo is certain to stir controversy as the Senate prepares for confirmation hearings for Alito, slated to begin Jan. 9.

Charles Fried, a Reagan administration solicitor-general, two decades ago noted the implications of the memo in his introduction, “I need hardly say how sensitive this material is, and ask that it have no wider circulation.”

Alito Said Attorneys General Can’t Be Sued for Illegal Wiretaps

Dec. 23 (Bloomberg) — Supreme Court nominee Samuel A. Alito wrote in a 1984 memo that U.S. attorneys general should be immune from being sued for ordering illegal wiretaps.

Even so, Alito, then a Justice Department lawyer, recommended against pressing the claim in a case involving 1970s wiretaps ordered by former Attorney General John Mitchell to investigate a suspected plot to kidnap National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger and blow up utility tunnels in Washington.

Oh, that’s interesting. Bush and Alito, hand in hand and skipping among the violets and trampling rights as they go. What a happy picture.

Yes, the timing is particularly good. A recent poll shows about 54% of Americans favor Alito’s nomination. They won’t remember about this stuff in mid-January when his hearings start. Nice one, Bushco.

What’s that sound? Why, it’s Senator Rick Santorum backing away slowly from a previously held position and also putting distance between himself and former allies the Thomas More Law Center, and the (hee! hee!) former Dover, PA school board.

It’s only to be expected; that’s why they call him “Election Year Rick” in his state.

Senator cuts ties to law center after ‘intelligent design’ defeat-Santorum says Ann Arbor Christian rights group ‘made a huge mistake’ in Pennsylvania case

PHILADELPHIA – U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum plans to cut ties with the Ann Arbor-based Thomas More Law Center, which defended the Dover Area School District’s policy mandating the teaching of intelligent design in science classes dealing with evolution.

Santorum, R-Pa., earlier praised the district for “attempting to teach the controversy of evolution.”

But Wednesday, a day after a federal judge ruled the district’s policy on intelligent design unconstitutional, he said he was troubled by testimony indicating religion motivated some board members to adopt the policy.

“I thought the Thomas More Law Center made a huge mistake in taking this case and in pushing this case to the extent they did,” said Santorum, a member of the center’s advisory board.

The Thomas More Law Center was started by Domino’s Pizza founder Tom Monaghan, a backer of conservative Catholic causes, and says its seeks to defend the religious rights of Christians.

Let’s see if we can translate Senator Santorum’s dilemma: what happened was the Dover ID-iots screwed up. They’d been carefully and repeatedly coached by the Discovery Institute to “teach the controversy” and undermine science education by casting doubt on evolutionary theory. However, they went too far – they mandated that teachers had to read a statement, rather than suggesting that they get a carefully led “discussion” of “intelligent design” as a scientific theory every bit as valid as natural selection.

Santorum couldn’t be associated with the Dover ID-iots, and he was pissed off at the Thomas More Law Center for not riding herd on them better. Then, the Doverites broke the sekrit rule about ot-nay alking-tay out-abay eligion-ray in our nations ools-skay, which is why Judge Jones nailed them to the wall as an example to God-botherers to mend their ways (and also why the intelligently designed voters of Dover kicked them out of office). And also Santorum was pissed at Thomas More for allying themselves with those ID-iots in Dover in the first place, instead of with some smart Kansans who’re better at pussyfooting around the whole eligion-ray issue-hay.

It’s official: Rick Santorum is backing away from the appearance of being a religious zealot, just in time for the holidays. Happy electioneering, Senator Rick! A pleasant Festivus to you, sir!