We suppose we’re supposed to get a chuckle out of the news that Rush Limbaugh and Whackjob Florida Pastor are both proud members of the Cape Central High School Class of 1969. But at our woefully advanced age, what really catches our attention is this:

Gregg Hopkins, a Cape Central alum, recalled Jones in a comment on the site:

“I knew him the early 70s. He graduated from Central (I think) in 69. He was a funny, friendly guy back then, when he was dating my friend, Lisa. My how the years change some people. Every picture I’ve seen of him, he’s wearing an intense scowl.”

Terry Jones was once young, and free, and happy. What the hell turned him into a vile hateful douchebag?

Then again — okay, fine, you saw it coming, so we’re not even going to write it.

Rush Limbaugh, Pastor Terry Jones Were High School Classmates [Politics Daily]

After Thursday afternoon’s special edition of Not Necessarily the News, we figured we needed a break. And what better break than Spike? Or even better, one of the responses to Spike? Say, the dance troupe of six kids?

But no, Sheryll wasn’t going to let us off that easy. She mischievously hacked the YouTube search system, so that when we looked for “Spike Can Dance,” results for “CanCan Dance” turned up — including this clip from a British music hall, circa 1943.

Which, in turn, made us think of Thursday afternoon again.

Damn you, Sheryll. Haven’t you punished us enough?

(Editor’s note: As of 8:30 p.m. ET, with six updates and two mini-updates, just about every reported fact has been undermined. We believe this merits some kind of award.)

Can we get back to conventional bigotry now?

The leader of a small Florida church that espouses anti-Islam philosophy says he is canceling plans to burn copies of the Quran on Sept. 11.

Great! But wait!

Pastor Terry Jones said Thursday that he decided to cancel his protest because the leader of a planned Islamic Center near ground zero has agreed to move its controversial location.

Ummm… We haven’t heard that one yet. Ruh-roh.

Fla. minister cancels burning of Qurans on 9/11 [AP/Atlanta Journal-Constitution]

WTF Update:

Read more »

“Donald Trump has sent an offer to purchase the site of the proposed mosque near New York City’s Ground Zero for the price paid plus 25%, according to a statement received by e-mail.” [Crain’s, via PourMeCoffee]

“The temple for waisted male self-esteem is Old Navy, where I easily slid into a size 34 pair of the brand’s Dress Pant. Where no other 34s had been hospitable, Old Navy’s fit snugly. The final measurement? Five inches larger than the label. You can eat all the slow-churn ice cream and brats you want, and still consider yourself slender in these.” [Esquire, via Daring Fireball]

So yesterday we were thinking, at least Obama hasn’t said anything about Saturday’s Koran Roast, which really should be beneath notice…

• Obama says something about Saturday’s Koran Roast.
• FBI says something about Saturday’s Koran Roast.
• Interpol says something about Saturday’s Koran Roast.
• The AP says not to say anything specific about Saturday’s Koran Roast.

People, people, people: August is over. Sheesh.

We’ve been online about twenty years, give or take. We skipped the BBS era, but working on campus in the early ’90s, we were privy to the pre-Web Internet: email, newsgroups, gopher. We remember the office geek excitedly telling us about this new software called Mosaic. We remember being excited ourselves about what Netscape 1.1 introduced to the world.

Our life has been almost bifurcated by the Internet: before, after. We managed to reach thirty without it, which, at this point, makes our youth some kind of alien netherworld, full of exotic primal technology like rotary phones, 8-track tapes, console color televisions (works in a drawer!), and free-form FM radio.

You had to be there. And if you were lucky, you weren’t.

Read more »