Just when you thought Oprah Winfrey couldn't get any more powerful. Now, the daytime talk diva is shutting down Michigan Avenue in Chicago to kick off of the 24th season of her television show.

On Sept. 7 and 8, the Windy City's most famous street will be closed to traffic so Oprah can take her show outside, the Chicago Tribune reports. Tuesday's taping is free and open to the public.

How did she pull this off?

Why bother with the bun? That's the premise of KFC's latest offering, the Double Down, a sandwich that replaces the traditional bun with two original recipe chicken fillets that hold bacon, cheese and some secret sauce.

An you thought the low-carb Atkins diet was just a fad? Some have estimated this chicken experiment has more than 1,200 calories.

Whatever happened to the days when a judge would say, "One more outburst like that and I will hold you in contempt!"

A judge in Chicago has sentenced Clifton Williams to six months in jail for contempt of court after he yawned during his cousin's trial. A spokesman for the court said Williams attempted to disrupt the proceedings with his yawn.

I wish we had the videotape, because that must have been one heck of a yawn. The worst part is Williams' cousin got probation, and he got sent to jail.

According to the Chicago Tribune, this judge is not someone you want to mess with. He's held people in contempt for swearing, not turning off their cell phones and even sneezing! Okay, I'm just kidding about that last one.

The discussion continues in the BV community.

+ Rapper Gets 2 Years for Cop-Killing Song

A Florida rapper is sentenced to two years in prison for a song called 'Kill Me a Cop' that he produced as a teenager.

Authorities say 20-year-old Antavio Johnson raps about killing two Lakeland, Fla., police officers in the tune, which cops found on MySpace while surfing for gang-related activity.

Johnson pleaded no contest to two counts of corruption by threat of a public servant and was sentenced to two years in prison last month. He was already in jail on a cocaine charge at the time. ...

President Obama's lighthearted crack about the possibility of being arrested or SHOT (for being a black) in the White House reminded me of this hysterical Dave Chappelle bit from way back.

First, there was "driving while black." Now, Gatesgate has sparked a new piece of terminology: "home while black."

Anyway, enjoy the vid.

Sunday was the tipping point, to use a tired phrase. When a black pastor from Harlem asks President Obama to prove his citizenship you know something's up. The so-called "birthers" movement has become more than just a bad joke that most people with half a brain laugh about. I'd almost had enough last week when I read about a soldier who refused to deploy over this nonsense.

But now it's official. President Obama being born in Kenya, not Hawaii as his birth certificate says plain as day, will go into the history books as full-fledged conspiracy theory. ...

President Barack Obama's 11-year-old daughter Malia's recent fashion statement of wearing an anti-nuclear peace sign t-shirt sparked a racist response from some lowlifes at a right-wing blog and message forum and now it has turned into real news.

President Obama had just gotten Russia to agree to cut back on the world's stockpiles of nuclear weapons a couple days earlier last week when Malia sported the peace sign shirt to support him and the cause.

Over the weekend, the Vancouver Sun newspaper began repeating some racist comments made by the conservative blog and open message forum, Free Republic. There's no need to repeat the vile things that were posted. You can read them here if you wish.

The Huffington Post's Michael Shaw says shame on the Vancouver Sun for elevating the photo of Malia along with mindless racist utterances from a pseudo blog into something resembling a legitimate story. And I have to agree. ...