Elsewhere in the 'Ist-a-verse

California Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman speaks during a campaign stop a Yelp headquarters in San Francisco, Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2010. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

• LAist inspired a lively debate when they reported that gubernatorial candidate and millionaire Meg Whitman has now spent more of her own money on her campaign than any other politician in US history had. (By the way, that's $119 million out of her own pocket.)
• Londonist spotted some creative street art challenging the Pope's state visit to London.
• Gothamist had a crazy week: The city made moves towards banning smoking in parks, beaches, and pedestrian plazas and outspoken, bestiality-email-forwarding Tea Party fave Carl Paladino won the Republican primary for governor and promises a huge fight (which is win-win for the media).
• Phillyist received White House press credentials to attend President Obama's back-to-school speech at Masterman School in Philadelphia—and got some badass photos.
• SFist shed some light on the abandoned couches of San Francisco.
• Shanghaiist celebrated Arnold Schwarzenegger's trip to Shanghai by hosting a caption contest.
• Chicagoist came across a treasure trove of photos by two generations of photographers, spanning six decades of the city's history.
• Seattlest stayed up too late watching television and playing Halo:Reach, and welcomed home its new champions.
• DCist was all over the story of a D.C. police officer who shot and killed a dog in the middle of a heavily-attended street festival.

Compiled by SFist editor Brock Keeling