The Chicago Sun-Times is reporting on the death of Christopher Kelly who was an adviser to former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich. According to initial reports the cause of Mr. Kelly’s demise is an apparent aspirin overdose.

OK, let me tighten the straps on my aluminum foil helmet and try to get a handle on this. Mr. Kelly pleads guilty less than four days ago to an $8.5 million fraud regarding a contract at O’Hare Airport for roof repairs. After pleading guilty, Mr. Kelly talked of the pressure he was receiving from prosecutors to cooperate with the federal government in the corruption trial against former governor Rod Blagojevich.

According to the article, Mr. Kelly called his girlfriend to tell her that he was going to take some pills and kill himself. The girlfriend then drove over to Mr. Kelly, picked him up, and drove him to the hospital. Once at the hospital she dropped him off and called the police to report that she left him at the hospital. Unfortunately she dropped him off at Oak Forest Hospital which doesn’t have a trauma unit, so he had to be transported to Stroger Hospital in an ambulance. For those of you not familiar with the geography of the greater Chicago area, the distance between Oak Forest Hospital and Stroger Hospital is 25.4 miles and approximately 34 minutes of drive time. By contrast, the time from Oak Forest Hospital to Christ Advocate Medical Center (which has an advanced trauma center) is 8.8 miles away with an approximate driving time of 15 minutes.

This one should keep the conspiracy nuts busy for a long time.

The Mandarin

The Mandarin, whose real name is 吏恆, joined the order in 1309, and introduced the Gormogons into England during the 18th Century.

The Mandarin enjoys spending time with his pet manticore, Βάρἰκος, or Barry (who can be found in the Bestiary). When not in the Castle…well, frankly, nobody is quite sure where he goes.

The Mandarin popularized the fine art of “gut booting,” by which he delivers a powerful kick to the stomach of anyone that annoys him. Although nearly universal today, the act of gut booting or threatening someone or something with a gut boot is solely due to him.