A: The following Monday

The $25 billion bailout to US Automakers is going to happen this coming week with 100% certainty.

Whether you support the bailout or not, I’ve learned (unnamed but overly credible) that Ford doesn’t necessarily need bailout money. However, GM and Chrysler are literally on the brink of filing for bankruptcy by the end of 08 if a package doesn’t get passed ASAP.

So, who benefits once the bailout package gets passed?

Stating the obvious, the bailout will be offered to the collective Big 3. As originally seen on BccList.com here, I will stand firm on my previous assertion that there is a ton of value in long term trading of Ford stock (F).

P.S. Look at the historical pricing of US Automaker stock from 1993 through 2000. God bless the Democrats.

Since I was like 15, I’ve annually shopped on Black Friday with my aunt, cousins, mom, etc. Each year – until this – I’ve had to wait in line at almost EVERY store for at least 10 minutes. My longest wait this year was at Circuit City – 5 minutes. The wait at Best Buy at 10:45 EST was less than 1 minute. Crazy.

Oddly enough, seemingly every parking lot is full from Target to Best Buy to Circuit City to Toys R Us.

All of this said, will Black Friday spending beat expectations? Maybe. Perhaps stores have figured out how to pump consumers in and out without lines building. But, it’s “scary” when it takes longer to get a cappuccino from Borders than T.I.’s Paper Trail for $6.99.

Best Buy’s television department around 10:45 am EST.  Ghost town…

Gas is at $1.55 a gallon in Michigan. Wowser.

1988 Dodge Aries K Station Wagon: My pride and joy. First car I ever wrecked. Although damaged after sustaining a 45 mph plunge into a construction ditch, the Dodge Aries K lived on for a few more years. Yes, years. In fact, it even survived jumping a handful of hay stacks that got dropped directly in front of me on the highway going 70-75 m.p.h.

1966 (?) Plymouth Valiant: Great car. Delivered a lot of pizzas. Push button transmission. Absolutely horrible on winter and/or back roads. I left the lights on one night for a few hours and the battery died. So, I did what any sensible 18 year old would do – I jumped it. Unfortunately, I hooked the cables up to the wrong posts (it was dark!) and somehow fcked the entire car. No joke. Charging the battery wrong ruined like everything on the car in the matter of like a month.

1970 Volkswagen Beetle: One of my favorites. Couldn’t be any colder in the winter. Of course, you could see the moving road through the floor panels. But, once we fixed that slight problem, it was a dream to be behind the wheel. It could somehow get through any difficult traffic situation and/or sand dune. Volkswagen Beetles never get pulled over either – I’m not sure why the cops take it easy on VW Beetles. Sometimes the gas mixture – or something of the other – doesn’t go right and the car stops running. That’s always fun.

1992 (?) Chevy Astrovan: I don’t know if I ever “owned” this car – thanks Mom – but it brings up some good memories. A) Pushing it through the hood in Detroit because something got jacked in the radiator. We saw a gun sale go down. B) Hitting 2 deers at once and the insurance company fixing the damage rather than totaling the car. C) A buddy (Jason) puking all over the side of it on the way home from Canada. It was Canada, right? We weren’t 21. D) My Dad driving it 90 m.p.h. regardless of the road conditions, speed limit, and/or traffic congestion.

1999 F-150: I don’t know if I ever “owned” this truck – thanks Dad – but, the F-150 was nice. While Volkswagen Beetles (above) don’t get pulled over, you can’t take more than a 2 hour drive before getting pulled over in an F-150. The inflatable lumbar support and going way too fast for a truck in all weather conditions was cool.

1999 (?) Honda Civic Hatchback: I sort of blur this car out of my memory. Not as fun to drive as the Volkswagen Beetle and could fit under any semi truck on the highway. Awkwardly cold inside during the winter but I think something heater related was broken. Roamed the streets of Lansing way too often in this vehicle engaging in such activities as tracking down Magic Johnson’s brother. He worked for my Dad. Long story.

1994 Ford Explorer – Eddie Bauer Edition: Going back to an American car for my last year of college and first few years post college. Props to my Dad for the kick a$$ system, Eddie Bauer amenity package, and repaint. The Explorer loved Chicago. Not. Hated Chicago. Broke down every other week. Dropped a ton of money into it every other paycheck and somehow ended up fixing an alternator on the streets of Chicago with a cheap toolkit and repair guide. After dropping $600 or so dollars on the last repair, I returned the car back to its birthplace in Michigan. It still exists and has run fine ever since. Crazy.

2002 Dodge Stratus: Chicks loved this car. Ha! The silver bullet – 2 door. The first car I truly owned. Meaning, I had to make car payments. I’m glad it’s retired though I never had any minor or major mechanical issues. This, in my book, makes the Stratus a definite favorite car on the list.

Current: www.zipcar.com

http://cnnwire.blogs.cnn.com/2008/11/24/president-pardons-14-persons/

John Forte (Fugees fame) – coke dealer – made yesterday’s cut of pardons.  I wonder (specifically) if he’s one of bush’s old coke dealers from the 90s?

Update: Wow, I didn’t realize dubya loved pardoning drug offenders so much…

“In 2008 he offered absolute pardons to Andrew Foster Harley of Falls Church, Va. who was convicted of wrongful use and distribution of marijuana and cocaine, Robert Earl Mohon Jr. of Grant, Ala., who was convicted of conspiracy to distribute marijuana. Ronald Alan Mohrhoff of Los Angeles, who was convicted for unlawful use of a telephone in a narcotics felony. He also commuted the prison sentences of John Edward Forte of North Brunswick, N.J., and James Russell Harris of Detroit, Mich. Both were convicted of cocaine offenses.”

Sh!t starts getting weird at the 9 second….16 second…24 second…33 second…40 second mark…and 52 second marks.

Sh!t starts getting really weird at the 1:02-1:11,  1:17-1:28, 1:30, 1:43, and 1:57 second marks.

Funniest thing I’ve seen in 29.75 years…

Ah, is this what’s caused all the recent emptiness?  Ahahahhahahahaha.

Ryan, thank you.

Of course it is! Jewel parking lot – corner of Montrose and Broadway…

It turns out the Craiglist Chicago ad originally seen on BccList.com here is a pretty weird campaign/scam.  I’m not sure what kind of campaign/scam they’re going for but it’s weird.

After I posted the original blog posting, I sent them the link.  The response back from jessiesaqt@yahoo.com was, “Did you think you were going to get some fake response?  Why did you put that up?”

I responded, “no – I just think it’s an awesome deal.  $550 a month in lakeview is great.  hopefully you found a roommate.”

The autoresponse back from the two little “vixens” was the following…

“Thanks for responding to our room mate ad. As you probably guessed, the response has been insane! The house is available as of now, and it is as nice as it looks, with a garage and pool available. To make it easy, we set up a page wiht info on how you can get yourself moving in the room mate process weneedaroommate.blogspot.com. It has some more info on the house and pics of us! Check it out, and get back with us when you have what the landlord needs!”

I wouldn’t go to the above link.  The pictures aren’t overly provocative but a) some are not safe for work and b) I’m not sure where the site redirects you if you start clicking on pictures.

But, I went to their blogspot posting and a 1) there are no houses like what’s shown in Lakeview and b) the girls & inside of the house are different from the original posting.  See screenshots below.

Booooo – fake ad on Craigslist…imagine that.

I wonder if these two will find any takers?

http://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/roo/927352143.html

I’ve inserted a screenshot below in the event the link above gets removed from Craigslist.  If the below image looks blurry after clicking on it, left click on it again.

UPDATE: As posted here, the above is a fake ad.  Guys sigh with frustration.

Seriously, that dude couldn’t have taken a break for 3 minutes?  Or, did someone really think aluminum funnel looking things made for a good backdrop?  Oh my god, we almost had a president from Alaska.

Huffington Post, thank you.