In the new book “The Obamas,” New York Times correspondent Jodi Kantor, writes about a secret White House cover-up. What officials at the nation’s capital tried to keep under wraps wasn’t classified military information, but apparently a 2009 Halloween party attended by the cast of Tim Burton‘s Alice in Wonderland:

White House officials were so nervous about how a splashy, Hollywood-esque party would look to jobless Americans — or their representatives in Congress, who would soon vote on health care — that the event was not discussed publicly and Burton’s and Depp’s contributions went unacknowledged.

I can see why Kitty Kelly, whose claim to fame is being the author of unauthorized biographies of Nancy Reagan, Frank Sinatra, the Bush family and Oprah, skipped this one. There may be a juicy story lurking somewhere in the Obama White House, but this isn’t it. For me, the picture brought an unexpected bout of 2009 nostalgia. Read more…

After a failed Olympic bid in 1952, Chicago decided to give it a go again this year. Yesterday, however,the hype surrounding the expensive campaign to have the Olympics take place in the Windy City in 2016 died a quick death when Chicago was embarrassingly eliminated in the first round of voting. The Chicagoans who supported the idea were planning to celebrate at Read more…

Our “beloved” mayor Richard M. Daley has had a busy year. Last December, he sold off Chicago’s parking meters to a private company, thus making rates rise significantly. This clandestine business deal outraged most, if not all, Chicagoans. Then, shortly thereafter, he approved a bill to make CTA fare more expensive, despite a growing number of riders. Needless to say, Read more…

The moment I saw this clip on the morning news, I knew it was stupid enough to become a YouTube sensation.  Move over Susan Boyle.