Make plans to go grab a bite to eat out today, get a smoking deal and support restaurants close to home. Many local places are doing some sweet $12 specials today on 12/12/12. TucsonNightOut.com has a list of the participating locally owned eateries here. Looking at the list there is something for all tastes, and locations, around town.

The day Enrique Peña Nieto took power as president of Mexico, there were actions throughout Mexico that turned violent. News reports of what took place that day were, at best, mixed; at worst, clueless.

However, here's a report from Waging Violence's Martha Molina that explains what occurred that day and who was involved.

You can read the entire post here. Snippet:

At 1:09 p.m. Peña Nieto finished his speech at the National Palace, while someone wrote “Revolution flows in our hearts” on the ground at the entrance of the Palacio de Bellas Artes. The imposition had been legitimized and EPN announced his 13 goals and five core ideas. The first: “a Mexico with peace and justice,” a vision that contrasted strongly with the repressive violence outside.

That day in the media bubble, a new televnovela began in which Peña Nieto is the president. Meanwhile, in the real world, the day ended with a press release from the Allied Artists Yo Soy 132 on the day’s demonstrations, in which they affirmed their respect for the different forms of dissent expressed by the organizations present, emphasizing that “today, the members of #YoSoy132 act absolutely peacefully.”

The chronicle of a Mexico without a president didn’t end after 20 hours. December 1 was only the first paragraph in a larger story of struggle against an imposition that has only begun.

It seemed like it started last year, when the Society of Professional Journalists passed a resolution recommending newsrooms stop using "illegal alien," and even questioned the term "illegal immigrant," in stories on immigration when describing undocumented immigrants.

This year, the Associated Press stuck by “illegal immigrant," as did the New York Times.

Last week, on Tuesday, Dec. 4, the Arizona Daily Wildcat published that the student-run newspaper's standards and practices committee "agreed to use the term “undocumented.”'

You can read their announcement here. Snippet:

We easily could have ignored the issue without making a decision. We haven’t had a preferred style in the past and we could have continued to go without.

However, because of Arizona’s proximity to the border and how frequently border security issues come up, even in higher education, it seemed important for the Wildcat to have a set style when it came to this term.

At the beginning of November, Ruben Navarrette, a syndicated columnist with The Washington Post Writers Group, wrote that groups pushing for the word “undocumented” are trying to “shame the media” into political correctness.

The Wildcat staff explored this idea, but agreed that using “undocumented” isn’t about trying to talk around the issue or dress it up as something it isn’t. Using “undocumented” is about avoiding characterizing someone’s entire personhood by one civil offense.

24/7 Wall St., which seems somewhat like a legitimate news source, I guess, has a survey of the nine mass-market beers that have suffered the largest decline in sales since 2006 and it turns out that times have been tough for the Michelob brand, which takes up the top two spots in the list:

American consumers have abandoned Michelob — a lager brewed since 1896 — at a faster rate than any other beer. From 2006 to 2011, sales declined from 500,000 barrels to 140,000, with a 20% drop between 2010 and 2011 alone. No other beer on this list sold less than Michelob. The next-lowest selling beer, Amstel Light, still sold 200,000 barrels more than Michelob last year. The brand has not always struggled. According to Beer Marketer’s INSIGHTS’ Eric Shepard, “the superpremium category — basically between Budweiser and the imports — Michelob pretty much had that to itself for many years.”

So, how long will it take for Michelob to become the new PBR, sold as a hipster discount staple at a dollar or two a bottle? A year or so? A few months? On the other hand, can anyone actually recall what Michelob tastes like? Maybe that could be part of the problem.

Just because we haven't had enough campaigning over the last year: Suppose Congressman Raul Grijalva does get appointed to Secretary of the Interior. Who runs for his seat in a special election? The comment section is open to irresponsible speculation. We'll start with three obvious ones: Tucson City Councilwoman Regina Romero, Pima County Supervisor Richard Elias and state Rep. Matt Heinz.

• Noelle Haro-Gomez
• Congressman Raul Grijalva addresses the crowd at the 2012 Election Night Victory Party

Congressman Raul Grijalva is downplaying the possibility that he'll be the next Secretary of the Interior, according to Khara Persad of Cronkite News Service.

By Khara Persad
Cronkite News

WASHINGTON — A coalition of 238 groups urged President Barack Obama on Monday to nominate Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Tucson, for the position of Interior Secretary should the job become open.

But a spokesman for Grijalva said the support was unsolicited and that the office had not met with any of the groups pushing the plan.

“We haven’t talked to any groups about it,” Adam Sarvana said, adding that Grijalva has not met with the president about a job that is still occupied.

“We haven’t been approached by the White House. The position isn’t even open,” Sarvana said.

But there have been “persistent rumors” that current Secretary Ken Salazar will step down soon, and the groups pushing for Grijalva wanted to get ahead of that, said Kieran Suckling, executive director of the Center for Biological Diversity. His group is part of the coalition signed on to the letter.

“We all came together to ask Obama to put him at the top of the list for consideration,” Suckling said of Grijalva.

Seven lucky Tucson residents will get a chance to review the salaries paid to the Mayor and City Council, an opportunity afforded to those appointed to the Citizen's Commision on Public Service and Compensation.

The panel will spend two months analyzing what the city pays its six council members and Mayor Jonathan Rothschild, a term that will run from mid-January until mid-March. At that time, a recommendation will be made to the city on any salary changes, with the intention of putting such changes up for a public vote on the November 2013 ballot.

There are some strict stipulations for panel applicants: you must be a registered voter, living within the city limits — check a map if you're not sure, but break out the magnifying glass — and cannot be a city employee. Or related in any way to a city employee. Not even a fifth cousin, twice removed.

Applicants are expected to "provide maximum representation from among Tucson’s diverse economic, environmental, racial, ethnic, and cultural groups," according to a news release issued by the city. The release said there's a preference for people with government, personnel management or public administration experience, but it's not required.

Nominations — yes, you can nominate someone, and no, don't nominate that neighbor you don't like just to stop him from nude backyard sunbathing — and applications are due Dec. 19. For more information, check out the release.

• Daily Dish

Andrew Sullivan has a weekly "View From Your Window" contest wherein his readers guess the location of photos from exotic spots across the globe. This week's landscape: Sierra Vista Municipal-Libby AAF Airport, Sierra Vista, Arizona. The guesses from readers range from Mongolia to Area 51.

• http://thenicestplaceontheinter.net
• That man on the left doesn't want to eat you, I swear.

Not everyone is having the same kind of extremely awesome day that we here at Weekly World Central are having, but that's okay! We sympathize, and offer the kind of solution that only works if you aren't within arms reach of someone who you are okay having physical contact with.

Head over to The Nicest Place on the Internet, and allow the multitude of folks there to cheer you up with all manner of hugs at awkward, chest-level webcam placements. For a bit more about the project of kindness, check out their YouTube video here. And cheer up, friend. We've got all the ehugs you need.

Apparently, a person searching for temporary housing on tucson.craigslist.org only needs your yard, it seems. This person, whose name was not signed at the bottom of his/her space wanted ad, appears to have come across a rather, uh, "magical" windfall, and needs your land to make his/her dreams come true.

They want to grow a beanstalk. Of the magic kind. And the ad is just too crazy to not dissect below the jump. The actual ad will be in block quotes, my comments will not. Let us begin.

[Note: Out of respect for this individual's privacy, we have not included a direct link to their ad. But c'mon, you all should be smart enough to figure it out if you want to.]