Off to DC for a few days. No more entries until after 12/11, when I return.

But first a few notes:

From the It's a Matter of Semantics Department:

You could call it a cut if you like. We're saying it's a return to the normal level of funding that we found in 2001.

--a spokesman for a federal agency involved in the Low-Income Energy Assistance Program, from which the Bush administration has proposed cutting $300 million (from its $1.7 billion budget), quoted in the New York Times.

I expect his office is heated, however.

And, from the Consider the Source Department:

I believe we should err on the side of sensationalism, rather than on the side of being boring....Because why should people read the paper if it's boring?

--Neil Steinberg of the Sun-Times, speaking at a panel featuring speakers from the Chicago media scene, including both daily newspapers, the Reader, and Northwestern's Medill School. (Via Media News)