Under anesthetic, subdivided and synthetic

Burning Kansan hit with pepper spray. That's typically more Cajun style.

Speaking of, What went wrong at the Las Vegas Sun and Greenspun Media Interactive: '"The Sun ... took a big gamble on new technology and a bold strategy brought to them by a self-described Internet nerd from Kansas" named Rob Curley.' No, the two stories are not as closely related as some on my f-list would like.

"Republicans are struggling right now to find the Great White Hope, and I suggest to any of you who are concerned about that, who are Republican, there are some great young Republican minds in Washington." -- Rep. Lynn Jenkins (R-KS), yesterday.

I'm going to cut Jenkins a huuuuuge amount of slack and attribute her comments to ignorance as opposed to outright racism, for a number of reasons. First off, I'd like to think name-dropping James J. Jeffries into your political conversation, a boxer who challenged then-champion Jack Johnson saying "I am going into this fight for the sole purpose of proving that a white man is better than a Negro" (and that's about the only quote of his I feel comfortable quoting in its entirety) is, even for the current state of political discourse in this country, abhorrent. Second, it's entirely more likely for Jenkins to have glommed onto the phrase second-hand without realizing its origins in one of the most racially-charged events of the early 20th century: there've been enough ironic derivations of the title for someone to be aware the phrase exists and not understand its context. Third, and most compellingly, ideally, your invocation of a "Great White Hope" would be someone who does not, when the time finally comes to drop gloves, proceed to get his ass wiped all about the canvas by the man he mocked and derided.

That said, you would hope an elected official would be a little more aware of the historical context of their rhetoric when bandying it about. I'm guessing Jenkins has learned a history lesson in the last 24 hours.

It takes a special kind of person to rack up $18,000 in parking tickets and $13,000 in interest for not paying them off.

She said she accepts responsibility for the tickets, but nearly eight years later, she questions whether the amount is reasonable.

“You want to recoup costs and penalties, I get that,” the Topeka woman said. “But when the interest is nearly equal to the principal, there’s something diametrically wrong.”

Remember, she's a special kind of person (if her use of the word "diametrically" wasn't a clue itself):

Marcotte considers herself a responsible person who went to college and had worked the same job for 13 years. The lapse in judgment was out of character, she said.

Mrgphhl.

Just stopped by the Taco Bell in the Union and the very-overworked guy -- the only guy there -- said that the entire staff'd been fired today and he was treading water until his manager found someone to help him.

So I really can't complain about my day. Not sure who I feel worse for, the people who got canned or the last man standing. (At least none of us are this guy.)

KC Star lays off 50 employees. (Moar info here.) No, this is not a repeat; this is the third time layoffs -- I'm sorry, "an involuntary workforce reduction" -- hit the paper in the last five months. This is not entirely remarkable -- US News & World Report has gone from weekly to biweekly to monthly in the same timespan. Not that US News is the most notable such incident (I could go on, but I think we can live with one less death knell today), just the most amusing to me because it gets shunted backwards almost as quickly as my NaNoWriMo project.

Anyone still employed by print, have an escape plan.

First parachutist does just fine. The second, not so much. Estimated speed at impact: 50 mph. Fatalities: two tubas. Injuries: one broken leg, one person knocked out, one injured neck/head, one bent trumpet.

A former inmate ordered to testify at a hearing in the case of a Haysville nurse who is accused of running a “pill mill” with her husband said Monday she isn't a jailhouse informant.

Stacey Hill called The Associated Press on Monday to say news reports linking her to the case against Dr. Stephen Schneider and his wife, Linda, have put her in danger. Hill said she wants nothing to do with the case.

Sadly the headline is "Ex-inmate denies being 'pill mill' informant" and not "Hill nil as pill mill shill."

Fire at The Pines in Topeka. Of particular note to former residents on my f-list.

One of the houses in Manhattan that the tornado last week missed got hit by lightning this morning. I'd quote some of the story, but The Associated Press is being idiotic about bloggers and quotes, so I'll just paraphrase.

Speaking of, here's a list of everything in town seriously damaged, destroyed or otherwise annihilated. I've yet to see a media report about a reported suicide in town by a resident of one of those homes, but that could well be because of media policies regarding suicide. There's no consensus on the topic, and typically smaller publications err on the side of omission rather than deepening the wounds of survivors. In many cases you can make a compelling argument that proper publicity and context can redeem suicide coverage, and the framework of last week's storm and its catastrophic effect similarly make covering the act warranted. It's a vivid and painfully brutal example of the psychological damage that still lingers invisibly after the clouds have parted and cleanup begins, a reminder that your typical Midwestern stoicism isn't invulnerable or necessarily even workable.

Also, think twice before you shop PetSmart. Especially for a cockatiel.

Sorry for fixating on the nasty atmospheric phenomena for the last 36 hours, y'all. It's still quite alienating to see campus with half the trees on the north side either uprooted or creatively rearranged. And there's yellow insulation everywhere, for miles, on sidewalks, attached to cars, drooping from power lines.

Links of note: did I forget to mention that Ward Hall houses K-State's nuclear reactor? And yes, it got nailed. Everything's safe, though. (Or so they tell us.) More galleries of Manhattan, Chapman, but if you're like me (and everyone at work) you're approaching tornado burnout.

Also I should turn in my amateur meteorologist badge, because the tornado that hit Chapman's being classified as an EF3, and Manhattan's was actually an EF4. It was a damn skinny EF4, though. (Though a cow-orker says it'd shrunk by the time it got to campus; I believe that. Though most of the buildings on campus are hearty enough to stand up to upper-level tornados, they still have their weak spots -- nuclear reactors, arenas, the late Soil Erosion Lab.)

Okay, less spinny-cloudy-things from here on out. More ephemera. Promise.

...Dr. Jon Wefald's guesstimating the final damage figure to be in the $20 million ballpark. (Wait. Firefox has "guesstimating" in its dictionary? Cool.) Many people walking across campus -- half of them picking up trash (and there's a lot of it) and the other half taking pictures of uprooted trees and general damage (and there's a lot of that, too). VIPs are en route, too.

If anybody wants to blame one person for the storm, try this guy. Transplanted from Greensburg, he moves to Manhattan -- College Heights, to be exact. Sorry, dude.

The tornado that hit Chapman was huge -- some are saying perhaps half a mile wide. What hit Manhattan was tiny in comparison. Wefald said something along the lines of "If it had been an F3 or F4, there may not be a Kansas State."

Edit: Watch the tornado approach the skycam atop a K-State dorm. I'd been watching that camera rather intently earlier in the night. I guess it's in a better place now. Like Missouri. Danke to rewil.

E2: Via dvandom, pics of Cardwell Hall. The Manhattan Mercury's website is even sadder than usual today (actually, I kinda like the minimalism) and they've got moar pics.

E3: Aerial footage from Manhattan, Chapman. The more news that comes out of Chapman, the worse it sounds. They're now saying 75-85% of the town is severely damaged.