Everybody's favorite dry-witted financial mag waited until the week before the election, but The Economist's Presidential endorsement is online today, and it's an unequivocal backing of Barack Obama: more ›

We have gathered some of the top political writers in the country and asked them to discuss the presidential race throughout the year. Today they discuss McCain’s new frontrunner status, religion in American politics, and Edwards’ departure. more ›

Mercer Island is not just the home of the fifth richest man on earth. And 98040 isn't just the wealthiest zip code in our state. It is now known as a childhood home of Barack Obama's mother, Stanley Dunham. more ›

We have gathered some of the top political writers in the country and asked them to discuss the presidential race throughout the year. Today they review Tuesday's doings in New Hampshire. more ›

Corner of 3rd and Union last night, the air's full of crazies. The rabid anti-Hillary crazies, fueled by and fueling right-wing panic even as they convince the mainstream that she's unelectable because she's so polarizing ("Just look at us!"). The Ron Paul crazies, all suited and tied. The 9/11 crazies in search of evil conspiracies. more ›

Pearl Jam capped off this year’s three-day Lollapalooza blowout on August 5, and as anyone who knows much about the band might expect, singer Eddie Vedder badmouthed Big Government (Mr. Bush) and Big Business (BP Amoco) on stage. If you weren’t lucky enough to be there (as we weren’t), but caught AT&T’s “live” Blue Room webcast of the band’s performance, you missed some of Eddie’s poli-sci jabs because they were strategically removed. more ›

The Windy City has awakened to the news that Americans love miniburgers. We're glad the food writers at the Chicago Tribune finally noticed. more ›

Howard Schultz, Inc. has made some interesting business decisions recently. The latest, as we obliquely mentioned yesterday: Signing former Beatle and Heather Mills survivor Paul McCartney to a record deal, the first from Starbucks' new Hear Music label. Actually, it’s not interesting, and that’s the problem. more ›

While it's tempting to make fun of the Seattle Times (or the P-I, for that matter) for not getting the story the Los Angeles Times reported this weekend on the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the conflicts that exist between the foundation's charitable work and its financial holdings, and while we're somewhat inclined to point out the fact that no one in Seattle is in a position to say boo to the Gates Foundation, it's really just fantastic work by the L.A. Times which continues to be one of the country's best newspapers despite the fact that it's under assault by its owner the Chicago Tribune. The Gates Foundation is based here so it's easy to lose sight of their place in the universe and jump on them for things like buying up the land that contains Seattle's only municipal skatepark and bulldozing it, but they're really a global giant with a tremendous amount of money. Thank you to the L.A. Times for pointing out that while a fraction of that money is injected directly into various charitable causes the Foundation also has a mountain of cash the size of Rainier that can also be working either for, or, in some cases against, those same causes. Take some time out on Snow Day #1 2007 to read the entire article - We learned more about the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation from that piece than we had previously through years worth of Seattle Times and Post Intelligencer full-release massage pieces. Kudos, at least, to the Seattle Times for reprinting it. more ›

Editor Dan loves you, Seattle. City, people, land, water and professional sports franchises; all of it. However, he cannot back you on the issue of the Seattle Seahawks vs. the Chicago Bears. If you're looking for calming words of compassion or hilarious Seahawks histrionics Seattlest will take care of you there, too, but one of us grew up with a Bears helmet painted on our neighbor's garage door and didn't appear in a photograph without any Bears paraphernalia until he was about 15, and that kind of indoctrination just doesn't wash away in half a decade of Seattle drizzle. In fact, to this day we maintain a close relationship with a few Chicago-based RSS feeds and we'll check in on them throughout the week. more ›

As the NBA's 10th worst team, the Sonics had about a 1/25 chance of getting one of the top three picks, and about a 9/10 chance of getting the 10th pick. They did not pick up an ace "on the river" however (if you have been unemployed in the past year you will know what this means), and so the tenth pick is theirs. more ›

What can you say about the Seahawks yesterday? They dominated the Panthers on offense and defense. They held Steve Smith to 33 yards receiving and a disputed return touchdown. They didn't turn the ball over and they took the ball four times. All in all, their 34-14 win was the best performance by a local team in a big game since, well, since the Huskies' 34-14 win over Michigan in the 1992 Rose Bowl. 34-14 is now our favorite football score. more ›