News Bullets, casting call Monday;

How about that crap weather for Halloween? I hope you all enjoyed having two days to celebrate the holiday. It's now November, and that means we've got those funky odd-year elections. Right across the river Creigh Deeds is fighting for his life in Virginia. I hate to say it, but Deeds is not going to win. Or rather, I would be incredibly surprised if he did. I'm no political expert here, but I'm guessing he will lose by 6-8 points. It's sad, because McDonnell is a jackass.

More testimony on gay marriage. Today more than 150 people will testify before the D.C. Council on the topic of gay marriage. The measure is expected to pass and Mayor Fenty is expected to sign it into law. One of the main questions is how much leeway to allow religious organizations in denying same-sex couples services. A church can refuse to recognize gay marriage, but more tricky questions arise such as can a place be forced to rent a their space to a gay couple. These are some thorny issues that make my head hurt a bit on Monday morning.

Better and cheaper is excuse for improper spending. At least that's what they Fenty administration tried to say on Friday. They claim that the normal process just wasn't getting things done, so they moved money around and got results. This whole ends justifying the means argument played out a few years ago, and the Council didn't buy it then, either.

Real World casting call in D.C. OMGZ! There will be a casting call in D.C. next Saturday for people interested in appearing on MTV's The Real World. That's right kids, maybe you can inspire a blogger in another city to start a web site dedicated to hating you. Interested? Head over to the Town Tavern in Adams Morgan from 10 AM-5 PM. How appropriate it would be at Town Tavern.

Washington Post editorial board writes another love letter to Michelle Rhee. Sometimes I think the City Paper spends a little too much time on media criticism, but not today. Erik Wemple takes a look at the Post's latest ode to Rhee. Gotta love the Post's subhead: "The D.C. Council seems to worry about everyone but students." How many times in one week can we fall back on saying breaking the law to achieve results is OK. We aren't talking about stealing bread for a starving family here. There are financial regulations for a reason and if no one respects them, things will get a whole lot worse.

Former GWU president was paid an absurd amount of money. Stephen J. Trachtenberg was compensated $3.7 million in 2007-2008. That amount dwarfs any other university president in the United States by at least two million dollars. To compare, Georgetown University president Jack DeGioia made only $643,000. Guess we know where all of the tuition money goes--GWU also happens to be the most expensive college in the country.