Tropical Depression 26 has formed east of Nicaragua, and it is forecast to become Tropical Storm Beta later today. Tropical storm warnings are up for the entire Nicaraguan coast. Here’s the forecast track. The drumbeat of tropical activity rolls on.

P.S. Dr. Jeff Masters writes, “This system could bring heavy rains of 5 - 10 inches to Nicaragua this weekend, causing life-threatening flash floods and mudslides.”

All I can say about tonight’s ND basketball ticket distribution event is: Stupidest. Thing. Ever. It was poorly conceived, poorly planned, poorly organized, poorly communicated and poorly executed. In short: LAME!

But hey, at least I’m now guaranteed to be able to get tickets tomorrow. I think.

Anyway, while we were at the Joyce Center listening to Coach Mike Brey speak to the assembled masses, the White Sox won the World Series. Nick, a lifelong fan of the south-side Sox, was watching on his portable TV, and I captured a video of his celebration after the final out:

source file

Here’s a picture of Nick’s reaction, actually a freeze-frame from the full-size version of the above clip. (I moblogged it earlier as a picture-of-a-picture.) Here’s another picture, from earlier in the ninth inning.

White Sox win the World Series!

The sun came out yesterday, so I was able to get some decent pictures of the fall foliage. Here they are. A few highlights:

View ‘em all!

I just got an e-mail from John Kerry. It begins:

Later today, I will deliver a major speech on the war in Iraq.

The poor guy is delusional. He actually thinks it’s possible for him to give a “major speech.” The thing is, that would require more than a handful of people to give a damn about what he thinks…

USA Today was caught red-handed today making Condi Rice look like the devil. How stupid was the employee/intern/whoever who did this? When will people in the MSM learn they can’t get away with crap like this anymore? The blogosphere won’t let them.

Here’s the editor’s note “correcting” the photo:

Editor’s note: The photo of Condoleezza Rice that originally accompanied this story was altered in a manner that did not meet USA TODAY’s editorial standards. The photo has been replaced by a properly adjusted copy. Photos published online are routinely cropped for size and adjusted for brightness and sharpness to optimize their appearance. In this case, after sharpening the photo for clarity, the editor brightened a portion of Rice’s face, giving her eyes an unnatural appearance. This resulted in a distortion of the original not in keeping with our editorial standards.

How embarrassing, and pathetic.

From the South Bend Tribune:

Senior [Notre Dame] fullback/running back Rashon Powers-Neal, suspended indefinitely for undisclosed reasons, was not at practice Tuesday.

I wonder what that’s all about? (Hat tip: Alex T.)

It recently came to my attention (in comments on this post) that BrendanLoy.com has a larger contingent of Great Big Sea fans than I would have guessed. So it occurred to me, it would be interesting to do a little survey, for those who are familiar with this particularly wonderful Canadian band: What are your five favorite GBS songs?

My Top 5, in no particular order, are:

General Taylor
Captain Kidd (from the new album)
Excursion Around The Bay (a.k.a. “oh me, oh my”)
Lucky Me
The Chemical Workers Song (a.k.a. “go boys go”)

But man, there are so many good other songs, too! Narrowing down the list is hard. If I were to make it a Top 10, I’d add:

Captain Wedderburn (live version with Sarah Harmer)
Old Brown’s Daughter
When I Am King
Boston and St. John’s (the song that introduced me to GBS)
French Perfume
The Night Pat Murphy Died

Dammit, that’s a Top 11, but I can’t decide which one to delete. Like I said… narrowing down the list is hard! :)

So, fellow Great Big Sea fans, what are your Top 5? Or 10, or 11… whatever. Leave ‘em in comments! (Here’s a discography, if you need help remembering the songs.)

WNBA star Sheryl Swoopes is gay. (Hat tip: Patrick.)

The blogger formerly known as The Backer is leaving his blog’s new cardinal-and-gold “Traddies” redesign intact until the World Series is over, even though our bet expired yesterday, because it seems to be good luck for his other favorite team: the White Sox. Heh. I guess this means I should root for the World Series to go seven games. :) Fight on!

Incidentally… Sox lead, 3-0. The Astros really blew it last night. (More here.)

It’s Earthquake Relief Day in the blogosphere. (Hat tip: InstaPundit.)

My link at left (under “relief efforts” in the “hurricane season 2005″ box) to the Red Cross will actually allow you to donate to victims of any of the recent tragedies, not just the hurricanes. That includes the Pakistan/Kashmir earthquake, which was, of course, far deadlier than Katrina, Rita, Stan and Wilma combined.

If you prefer to give to a different charity, check out the list of options at the Earthquake Relief Day post.

Patrick has an important, final update on the SBPD story:

I received a call today from the Captain of Internal Affairs at the South Bend Police Department. He was following up on my complaint. During our discussion, I recounted the facts and he asked me several questions regarding the driver’s behavior at the scene. He then clarified much of what took place that night.

The man that struck me was not drunk. He was not under the influence of any substance. As it turned out, he was having a stroke. He’s currently in the ICU at Memorial Hospital, and he may not survive.

That the man was having a stroke was not known to anyone at the scene, so I stand by my assertion that the officers did not perform their duties properly. I must, however, retract my assertion that they turned a blind eye to drunk driving. They may have turned a blind eye to what they thought was drunk driving, but they did not, in actuality, ignore a case of drunk driving.

In a certain sense, the officers’ refusal to administer a sobriety test in these circumstances is more egregious because it had a direct and potentially deleterious effect on someone who needed immediate medical attention. A breathalyzer would have revealed that the man was sober and that there was some other cause to his strange behavior. The officers could have called for an ambulance and the man would have received much needed medical attention more quickly than he ultimately did. Instead, warning signs were ignored and the man did not arrive at the hospital when he should have. At the very least, the officers should have examined the man’s health and state of mind, which were anything but normal.

As one could imagine, my anger has cooled considerably. Although I still feel that the officers carelessly ignored their duty, I cannot escape the fact that the man whose character I would have had maligned by the media now lies dying in a hospital bed. Furthermore, the captain with whom I spoke lacked even the slightest hint of dishonesty. He showed genuine concern for my concerns and mentioned that the approach taken by the officers merits a thorough review. He also stated that the officer who confronted me outside of the station was completely out of line and would be reprimanded appropriately. He provided me with every assurance that proper steps would be taken to prevent this type of “oversight” from happening again.

I also realize that much of my hostility was misplaced. So far as I can tell, corruption does not run deep within SBPD. The officers may have had it on their minds to disregard drunk driving, but it is clear that the Internal Affairs Department was appropriately notified to examine whether this was the case. I spoke with a genuinely concerned and honest captain this afternoon and, by and large, my confidence in SBPD has been restored.

I’m not pursuing this incident any further. While I could most assuredly still argue a dereliction of duty on the officers’ parts, I find it unnecessary given the assurances that I’ve been provided by the Captain of Internal Affairs. As I conclude this final update, I find myself strangely humbled. I find myself praying for the man who, only hours ago, I would have condemned for driving drunk and damaging my car. Truly, things are not always what they appear, which is why it is supremely important to comb over the facts with the finest toothed comb available. I apparently failed to do so.

I clearly jumped the gun on this one, and I apologize. I was inappropriately overzealous and too eager to blow the whistle before I had all the facts straight. I should have given the Police Department the benefit of the doubt before broadcasting this story to the world. I can only commend The Observer, The Tribune, and WNDU for holding off on all stories until every fact had been verified. All three organizations demonstrated impeccable discretion. Not only do I commend them, I must offer them my sincerest gratitude. I can only imagine the scandal such misinformed stories would have brought me. I would have essentially impugned the character of a dying man who, according to the Captain of Internal Affairs, was a well-respected and upstanding citizen.

In closing, I’d ask everyone to pray for the man who, in all likelihood, will not survive. He evidently had a large family, and I’m sure many would be affected by his passing.

I’ve updated the original post to reflect this new information.

I was planning to go to bed at a decent hour tonight. But nooo… Game 3 of the World Series just had to go 13+ innings, didn’t it? Harumph! It’s now the longest game in World Series history by time (4 minutes, 57 seconds and counting).

Incidentally, Astros fans are, like, the quietest fans on earth, apparently. Lame.

Heh.

P.S. Also, check out the picture — another USC fan in the ND student section!

Here are some pictures of today’s nor’easter. More here, including surfing in NYC!