TUES FEB 2 Congresswoman Laura Richardson is appointed Chair of Emergency Communication, Preparedness and Response, which I originally thought was the long-discarded first name for Blood, Sweat and Tears, but have since been informed is a rather critical subcommittee of the Homeland Security Committee. The subcommittee is there to monitor FEMA, prepare for terrorism response [...]

One story I never wrote all year
A few months after I moved to Long Beach, I was prowling Craigslist’s gig section for some minimal-effort extra cash. I hadn’t yet learned the art of freelance writing, and so helping a closing record store in Long Beach set up an eBay business sounded like a good financial [...]

The ecstasy and agony of eBay for the holidays
For 10 years, the bright spot on Black Friday has always been eBay. What started as a place to buy and sell Pez dispensers has—and you know you know this—morphed into a bazaar selling everything from the King of Cambodia’s sports car to a Russian MiG fighter [...]

It’s official: No. 10 of the Futurliners–one of 12 oversized, streamlined buses General Motors built to haul its traveling promotional Parade of Progress shows in the 1940s and 1950s–is up for sale.
Where? Where else? eBay. The pricetag? There’s already one bid, at $950,000, so your price will be anywhere north of $950,100. Is it worth [...]

Maybe there’s something I’m not understanding, but $89,000 buys you an automatic toilet. In Seattle.
According to the New York Times, which monitors such activity, the city of Seattle spent $5 million fours year ago to install five automated public toilets around town. Now it’s, well, shitcanning the whole project and selling the commodes on eBay.
Explains [...]

This Week: Schoolgirl Underwear, Uncomfortable Symbolism and American Ingenuity

SAT. APRIL 26: GARY WILSON AND KAREN
Mon | APR 21 President Bush appears on Deal Or No Deal as part of the most conceptually unpredictable presidency since Nixon invited a nation to sock it to him and then sent 24,000 troops back to Vietnam for involuntary second [...]

Okay, so this is outside Long Beach–but really, if you own an airplane, does that matter? Didn’t you fly to Palm Springs for dinner last night? Didn’t you let Kate Hepburn fly your plane while you opened up a bottle of milk? (Okay, so that happened in “The Aviator”.)
The important thing to keep in mind [...]

Many thanks to Chris Schlarb for this tip: the owner of Pittsburgh record store Record Rama puts up a comprehensive collection of American music for $3 mil or more on eBay—according to the seller, it’s the world’s greatest music collection, though more because of its value as a survey of everything reasonably popular in America [...]

You may have read, in Saturday’s Los Angeles Times–or Sunday’s Press-Telegram, via an Associated Press story–how the current owners of the famous Downey house where ’70s soft-rock duo Richard and Karen Carpenter lived want to tear it down?
Well, uh, they do.

Keeping Mitt’s dream alive
Mitt Romney, the most mannequin-like of the current crop of Republican presidential candidates, needs your help. Up until now, Mitt’s core fundraising strategy has been to raid his own multi-million dollar piggy bank, and loan his campaign money. But apparently, that’s not enough anymore. So Mitt wants you to sell your possessions [...]