Thanks Red Star for reminding us about the great Studs Terkel, who died today. Not only did I blubber a bit thinking of the amazing talent this man had for telling the truth, but I blubbered thinking about my late father--who adopted Chicago as his home and liked to cause trouble like Terkel. He loved the man, and maybe now, he finally has someone to pal around with.

Who knows? Maybe they can work together and rig the election, and Nov. 5, we will wake up to the headline "Kucinich Wins."

Here are some Terkel quotes:

"We are the most powerful nation in the world, but we're not the only nation in the world. We are not the only people in the world. We are an important people, the wealthiest, the most powerful and, to a great extent, generous. But we are part of the world."

"We can't make any choices unless we connect the past with the present. The thing that horrifies me is the forgetfulness."

"I'm known around the block as a writer and broadcaster, but also as that old guy who talks to himself."

"We're born eventually to die, of course. But what happens between the time we're born and we die? We're born to live. One is a realist if one hopes."

By defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman, Arizona's Proposition 102 aims to make gay marriage--which is already not legal--unconstitutional. On Saturday, Oct. 18, gays and heterosexuals both gathered at Pride in the Desert to oppose the proposition.

Over the past two months, the organization Women Against Palin has received almost 200,000 letters from women expressing why they think Palin is wrong for America. Today, many of these letters will be read aloud via live web stream from 1-9 p.m. Hear what these women have to say at http://womenrespondtopalin.com .

Or visit http://www.womenagainstsarahpalin.blogspot.com/ for more information on why Palin is the wrong choice.

Samantha Bee gets to the heart of McCain's "Dick Fingers."

Feminist blog Shakesville put up a series of cool photos of Obama's girl fan base. Pretty cool seeing kids in awe holding up signs, or shouting from their parents' shoulders.

Thanks, Shakes.

It's online and ready for you to peruse. Feel free to comment on its contents here.

PETA doesn't always go after the fur folk, the chicken or turkey farms, or the slaughter houses. Evidently, candy companies are also on their hit list.

Mars, maker of those yummy little nuggets of chocolate joy called M&Ms, evidently use lab rats to test all that yummy chocolate goodness by force-feeding them. I mean, c'mon; they don't have to use rats. I'd be glad to volunteer to eat lots of chocolate. But then again ... they cut open the little guys to see how the chocolate "ingredients" change their blood vessels.

This made me think about the Hightower column we ran a few weeks ago on the fact that there isn't real chocolate in chocolate anymore. So if there isn't any, and they have to do lab tests, what is in the chocolate that I enjoy so much? (And when do I start to mutate? Maybe it already happened, and no one wants to tell me.)

Check out PETA's campaign here.

Amy Silverman has a great story in last week's Village Voice on John McCain and his lack of support for his fellow veterans. It's worth a read here.

Another dispatch from the good Dr. Knowledge:

They worked all weekend, late night too.

Came up with a plan all shiny and new.

Bailed out Wall street and some Big Banks, too!

But they didn't bail me and forgot about you.

More bad news in the local newspaper biz: Layoffs are coming to the Gannett-owned Tucson Citizen.

Here's a letter that came today from Robert Dickey, the president of Gannett's U.S. Community Publishing arm.

To: USCP Publishers & General Managers

As all of you are painfully aware, the fiscal crisis is deepening and the economy is getting worse. Gannett’s revenues continue to be severely impacted by this downturn, and our local operations are suffering. While we are doing our best to reduce all non staff-related expenses, I am sorry to report that we must do another round of layoffs across our division.

To that end, we will institute an involuntary staff reduction of approximately 10% by the first week of December. The terms of the severance will be one week for each year of service with a cap of 26 weeks.

Each Publisher is responsible for developing their local plan to achieve the expected goal. Decisions will be made locally because each of our markets is unique, with differing market conditions and individual needs in light of our previous reductions.

I have asked that all plans be completed by November 14th at which time they will go through the standard review process.

I fully understand this announcement will cause you concern but I felt that once a decision was made it should be communicated as quickly as possible.

While this is more bad news, it is a sign of Gannett’s determination to remain healthy and viable as a company during these turbulent economic times. We continue to be a leader in our industry, not only because of our fiscal strength but also because we have a plan to aggressively grow the company when the economy returns.

To that end, I encourage you to contact me with your thoughts and ideas. We need to grow revenue as well as continue to find efficiencies. I would appreciate your help and ideas on both fronts.

My email address is rdickey@gannett.com. I promise you will be heard and receive a timely response.

I appreciate your understanding and commitment during these challenging times.