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Are you the type of person to laugh at economic news? When Planet Money comes on the air, do you stuff $50s in your ears and light your cigar with a burning copy of James Surowiecki‘s latest column? Ha! What recession?
Well, if you’re like that, or if you just love bourbon, retailer Neiman Marcus has a package you may be interested in.
From My Loueyville:
Specifically, the Maker’s Mark Masters Distiller package offered on page 58 of this year’s Neiman Marcus Holiday Fantasy catalogue. Here’s the description.
“Any whisky aficionado will tell you it is perfection in amber. Maker’s Mark® Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whisky is handmade in small quantities of just 19 barrels, each batch distilled and aged with the same exacting standards the Samuels family has passed down for seven generations. As Master Distillers for a day, you and a friend will have an all-access VIP experience like no other, with Master Distiller Kevin Smith as your host. You will participate in the unique whisky-making process step by step, for an insider’s look at how every detail makes every glass a special occasion. This gift experience includes a two-bottle memento of the rarest Maker’s Mark bottles ever: Two golden bottles will be etched with your likeness and dipped in gold wax with 24-kt. gold flecks. You’ll also get to hand dip six of your own 375ml Maker’s Mark bottles in signature red wax and take them home. The experience includes luxury accommodations in Louisville and a gourmet dinner hosted by Bill Samuels, Jr. (the top dog at Maker’s Mark).”
The cost? $7,500.
Today’s State of Affairs will feature…
From WFPL:
Rick Howlett
Stephanie Crosby
Me (Gabe Bullard)
From the C-J:
Dan Klepal
From LEO:
Phillip Bailey
Jonathan Meador
This post comes from WFPL’s Stephanie Crosby.
Many of us frequent certain websites throughout the day to keep up with what’s going on in the world. Today, while browsing the featured stories on Yahoo.com, I saw a photo of that oh-so-familiar shot from Indiana: the Louisville skyline. Underneath those glistening buildings were the words “U.S. Cities With The Most Smokers”. And one click away was the information that was surprising and not-so-surprising.
According to the CDC:
The Smokiest U.S. Metro Areas % of Population who are Current Smokers
Wichita Falls, Texas 30.9
Hagerstown, MD/Martinsburg, WV 28.9
Huntington, WV/Ashland, KY 27.9
Louisville, KY 27.5
Winston-Salem, NC 25.3
That’s right. Our smoking rate is higher than that of a town sometimes referred to as “Camel City” because of the city’s prominent tobacco industry. And our friends in eastern Kentucky are smoking even more.
The CDC report also found that for the first time in a decade, the national smoking rate increased from 2007 to 2008.
Some silver lining? The smoking rate of young adults (18 to 24) fell 3.6%.
National Geographic has launched an interesting web feature. They asked senators to to draw their home state and point out at least three areas of interest.
Since Senators aren’t generally elected for their artistic abilities, it’s easy to forgive some inaccuracies. Georgia Senator Saxby Chambliss, however, seems to have confused his home state for Mississippi, which is all the way on the other side of Alabama.
(via Wonkette)
You know those browser games you love playing at the office home? Well, now you can destroy your productivity and act out violent conspiracies about the New World Order.
Mother Jones is reporting on the Obama Coup game:
It’s January 2011. The GOP is about to assume control of both houses of Congress—having been voted in by a public deeply suspicious of Democrats after President Barack Obama conducted clandestine talks with President Felipe Calderon of Mexico and Prime Minister Stephen Harper of Canada. But two days before the new conservative majority is to be sworn in, Obama announces that this Congress will not be seated, that the United States (a creation of “racists and warmongers”) will be replaced by a North American Union, that the US Constitution will be dissolved, and that private ownership of firearms will be outlawed (as part of a United Nations treaty banning firearms globally). In response, millions rise up, and the Revolution begins.
But why should paranoid Obama-haters have all the fun?
…the site’s designers despise Democrats and Republicans, and they will show their political balance next week, when the site introduces an “Ambush Bush” scenario, which will give players the chance to hunt down the ex-president in Texas.
Maybe we should all stick to Gears of War.
This isn’t entirely about Louisville, but it is interesting.
Depth Reporting (which is based in Louisville) has a piece about how presidents get the news and what that means. Notably, Richard Nixon avoided the media and relied instead on his advisors’ reports.
The summaries were prepared by staffers Lyndon K. (‘Mort’) Allin and Patrick Buchanan. Although the summaries were advertised as the best way for Nixon to get an objective, cross-section of news coverage, they often were written in a way that fueled “the president’s already burning resentments and biases,”
I interviewed Bill Maher recently (disclosure, WFPL is sponsoring his December 5th show) and he warned (in a joking but serious way) about mainstream media that now caters to existing biases. A person can spend the entire day only hearing people he or she agrees with. Opinion isn’t news and facts aren’t opinion, but the difference is hard to tell sometimes.
Some folks say this is fine. They argue that a news consumer should be savvy enough to know a reporter’s bias and cynical enough to seek out the other side. While media access is faster and easier than ever, I think this worldview ignores the fact that not everyone is as media literate as most reporters and media theorists. It also makes people work harder to get fair news, thereby allowing reporters to get a lazy and loose in their presentation of facts. If everyone presents a different side, what inspiration does a journalist have to present them all in one piece?
I don’t know where media is going, and while there are a few troubling trends, I’m not hiding in the basement and cradling my Marshall McLuhan books just yet. Are you?
I haven’t been doing daybooks recently because nobody reads them. What can I do to make these more lively? Feel free to discuss the stories we’ll be covering.
Should I drop the daybook posts?
Anyway, here’s what we’re working on today:
The vice-president of Ghana has a press availability at the Seelbach. I’ll talk to him.
U of L provost Shirley Willinhganz will be available at the student center to discuss new smoking restrictions. Stephanie will be there.
Stephanie will also get reaction from E-on on today’s release of the PSC report on the ice and windstorms?
I’ll cover tonight’s Metro Council meeting.
Kristin will cover the healthcare discussion at the Science Center.
Rick is reporting on the FAA glitch that’s causing flight delays.
Today on SOA: “Louisville Neighborhoods”
Here’s what we reported on today:
