Jon Miller enters Cooperstown today

It was 1988. The Orioles had started the season 0-21.

Cal Ripken, Sr. had already been fired. Fortunately for baseball history, Cal Ripken, Jr. decided not to sit out a game in protest.

Then the O's came to Chicago. New Orioles GM (and former Sox GM) Roland Hemond persuaded Jerry Reinsdorf to let him have the suit he'd worn in the clubhouse in 1983 when the Sox clinched their first post-season appearance since 1959. The suit had been soaked with champagne and beer and kept under glass, in a display case, ever since.

I can't imagine who wanted to sit next to Hemond that night.

Anyway, Jon Miller was a guest on the White Sox pregame show. He did a spot-on imitation of Edward R. Murrow reporting 'from the rooftops of London' to show how desperately the situation was viewed in Baltimore.

That was the night the Orioles broke the streak.

Despite that, I've always liked Jon Miller. I seem to recall a night when he and former White Sox broadcaster John Rooney traded impersonations. They're both quite gifted. If I recall correctly, Miller did a great Bob Elson, too.

All the Cub fans will be going on and on today about Handy-Dandy-Andy Dawson who will be entering the Hall of Fame today... as a Montreal Expo. But I'm cheering especially today for Jon Miller.

Hysterical 'Historical' Houdini Tweet

Winner: Houdini’s Tweet in the Blank

From Historical Tweets.

List of members of the Judicial Performance Commission of Cook County

Here is a list of the members of the Judicial Performance Commission of Cook County. The affiliations for each member are shown for identification purposes only. For more on the JPC, see "Voter resources for retention judges are coming" on page one of this blog.

Chairperson
Leonard Jay Schrager, Professor, The John Marshall Law School

Members
Enrique Abraham, Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office

Fay Lomax Cook, Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University

Jan Czarnik, League of Women Voters of Illinois

Stephen Daniels, American Bar Foundation

Susana Darwin, American Bar Association

Vivien C. Gross, Professor, Chicago-Kent College of Law

Roy E. Hofer, Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione

Jonathan D. King, DLA Piper

Michelle K. Jordan, League of Women Voters

Edward O. Laumann, The University of Chicago, Department of Sociology

James H. Lewis, Chicago Community Trust

Virginia Martinez, MALDEF Chicago Regional Office

Travis Richardson, Richardson & Mackoff

Wesley G. Skogan, Professor, Northwestern University, Department of Political Science

Ada Skyles, Chapin Hall Research Center for Children, at the University of Chicago

Randolph N. Stone, Professor, Mandel Legal Aid Clinic, at the University of Chicago Law School

Chicago Appleseed Fund for Justice
Malcolm C. Rich, Executive Director

Elizabeth Monkus, Project Manager

This would be funny -- if it weren't so true

From the webcomic xkcd, by Randall Munroe.

Money laundering legal in Zimbabwe

Indeed, according to this AP story (from Yahoo! News), it is recommended because, in parts of Zimbabwe, where American currency is legal tender, some greenbacks are "almost too smelly to handle."

Household hint: Money laundering is best done "with gentle hand-washing in warm water." Machine washing can work as well, but dry-cleaning is not recommended: The chemicals cause the bills to fade.