I don't get it. Perhaps I'm just a heartless bastard, but I don't understand all of the wailing and gnashing of teeth when a celebrity dies. I understand the lurid, sensational interest of the tabloids and the 24-hour news programs that have to fill it with something. You can just see in their eyes that Christmas has come early with the recent celebrity deaths. And that, while repellant, is comprehendible.

What I can't empathize with is the people setting up memorials for the fallen celebrities - crying their eyes out on national television that this person has died. It doesn't matter which one I'm referring to - this has happened for as long as I can remember. A handy example from the past is Princess Diana. People who have never met the deceased are suddenly struck down as if a close friend had died. Are they all hypersensitive, histrionic nut jobs who easily surrender to the more maudlin sides of their personalities? Am I just a jerk for not feeling anything when they die? I, of course, love them as I am commanded to by the Lord, and feel some pity for their families and passing concern about their souls, but that's really it. Otherwise I don't really care and it doesn't affect my daily life in the least.

There is undeniably a streak of idolatry in this country when it comes to celebrities, and it would be easy to attribute this phenomenon to that. Perhaps people feel as if they really know this person that they've never met and identify with them (see also this rather on-point article from The Onion). It could be that, having vicariously latched onto someone that it's especially hard, emotionally, when they die.

I don't know, is it just me?

Join the discussion

Atlantis is on its way back home after having to land at Edwards AFB in California:



It might just be me, but that laden 747 looked way too big to get off the ground.  It'll take a couple days to get back to Florida; tonight it's staying in Texas for refueling.

I'd mentioned this on Twitter earlier but it's apropos here and pretty funny, I thought.  This is on the 747, on one of the Shuttle mount points:

Secretary Clinton is using the global economic crisis to further a liberal agenda. Says who? Oh, she did:

Bill Gates Unleashes Swarm of Mosquitoes on Crowd
Admit it. When you read the headline your first thought was, "Well, we knew it was only a matter of time before Bill Gates got a monocle, a white cat, and started trying to take over the world with genetically-engineered super mosquitos."

The NYT is talking of charging for online content again...I'll confess I don't have a solution. I'm sure it's an expensive operation, the New York Times. And you can't just give it away for free. And you have a good thing with the Kindle there. But you have to know that getting people to pay for news when they're already online, browsing around, simply won't work. I don't know if you've noticed but there are more than a couple news sites online and if you think anyone outside of your loyal readership gives two craps about whether it comes from you or not then, well, we'll see how that goes for you.

From AFP via Breitbart comes this vexing story:Let me start by saying this is in no way an attack on the Pope, Catholicism, or the many fine Catholics living around the world. We're all sons and daughters of God and I have little patience for sectarian squabbles.

Having said that, it's things like this that completely baffle me. As I understand it (and prefacing any sentence with that should set off an alarm somewhere given my limited understanding) the Pope is the spiritual descendant of St. Peter and the earthly head of the Church. Being human, he is not infallible (pretty sure he's not supposed to be infallible anyway) but if you were to rank people by righteousness he should be in the top 5 or so, we'll say. It's his place to interpret scripture for humanity and to speak for God.

So given that, how can there be talk of a "loss of confidence" in the Pope, or other Catholics calling for him to step down? If he has been chosen by God to be His spokesperson then how could there be any mistake in the matter? The article seems to talk as if he could be impeached or something. But surely such a situation is unthinkable! That would mean the following statements are both true:

• The Pope is God's representative on Earth and has been chosen, by God, to interpret God's will
• The Pope can be wrong and can be removed from his position if people disagree with him.

How can both statements be true? This is saying that the Pope only speaks for God when everyone else agrees with him.

Unless I've missed something? If anyone has any thoughts by all means share, please.

More corporate whining c/o ABC:Yeah, again, I don't know. Certainly there have been undeserved bonuses and many unwise purchases. But, typically, corporations don't waste money. They might not spend it on things you agree with but it's not waste. If they spend money on something it's either for personal greed or because they expect to make more money off of it than they're spending. The NFL Experience which is - as the article says - "blanketed in Bank of America logos and marketing calls to sign up for football-themed banking products" is clearly a branding and advertising event. They must expect to make more money off of the branding and increased business than they're spending on the event, or why do it? If we're wanting them to pay back some of this "bailout" money then they're going to have to start making money somewhere.

Via Newsmax:Some states are forcing dealers to post insurance bonds or prove that they're paying off the liens before transferring the title, but not all of them.

Jonathon Porritt, chairman of the UK's Sustainable Development Commission:

Couples who have more than two children are being "irresponsible" by creating an unbearable burden on the environment, the government's green adviser has warned.

Jonathon Porritt, who chairs the government's Sustainable Development Commission, says curbing population growth through contraception and abortion must be at the heart of policies to fight global warming. He says political leaders and green campaigners should stop dodging the issue of environmental harm caused by an expanding population.

A report by the commission, to be published next month, will say that governments must reduce population growth through better family planning.

Porritt, a former chairman of the Green party, says the government must improve family planning, even if it means shifting money from curing illness to increasing contraception and abortion.

Well that's excellent. Nicely done. Jonathan Swift would be proud.

White House lawyers are trying to limit the commercial use of President Obama's name, likeness, etc.

The White House lawyers may have to make case-by-case determinations about the best ways to protect the presidential image without tempering enthusiasm or trampling on free-speech protections, said Jonathan Band, an intellectual property lawyer in Washington.

"It will be difficult," Band said. 'Because he is the president of the United States and there was this campaign and everyone's proud, I think the First Amendment will be applied much more broadly with respect to people wanting to use an image of the president than it would be with typical entertainment figures or sports figures."

Yes, everyone's very proud. This is sort of the flip side of running a cult-of-personality candidacy and is really to be expected. I suspect this is going to end up following the usual celebrity mantra: The only thing worse than everyone everyone wanting a piece of you is when they stop...

Teen sex is down:

While some young people are clearly engaging in risky sexual behavior, a vast majority are not. The reality is that in many ways, today's teenagers are more conservative about sex than previous generations.

Today, fewer than half of all high school students have had sex: 47.8 percent as of 2007, according to the National Youth Risk Behavior Survey, down from 54.1 percent in 1991.

A less recent report suggests that teenagers are also waiting longer to have sex than they did in the past. A 2002 report from the Department of Health and Human Services found that 30 percent of 15- to 17-year-old girls had experienced sex, down from 38 percent in 1995. During the same period, the percentage of sexually experienced boys in that age group dropped to= 31 percent from 43 percent.

The rates also went down among younger teenagers. In 1995, about 20 percent said they had had sex before age 15, but by 2002 those numbers had dropped to 13 percent of girls and 15 percent of boys.

Funny, I see no mention anywhere in the article about abstinence programs. Well, in any event, it's good that more kids are waiting longer.

From USA Today:

Criminal gangs in the USA have swelled to an estimated 1 million members responsible for up to 80% of crimes in communities across the nation, according to a gang threat assessment compiled by federal officials.

The major findings in a report by the Justice Department's National Gang Intelligence Center, which has not been publicly released, conclude gangs are the "primary retail-level distributors of most illicit drugs" and several are "capable" of competing with major U.S.-based Mexican drug-trafficking organizations.

Look at those numbers. If that's true then 0.3% of the population is responsible for 80% of the crime. That's crazy!

Brrr...

A Cody man has been cited for public intoxication while riding his horse on a busy street during a weekend snowstorm.

Police received a call at 4 p.m. Sunday from a motorist who was concerned that Benjamin Daniels, 28, was creating a road hazard by riding his horse in conditions of poor visibility.

From the NYT:

At a news conference earlier today, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi defended the Democrat-only passage of the economic stimulus package, contending that Republicans were indeed included; their suggestions on tax cuts had become part of the bill itself, she said. But several G.O.P. senators and representatives hit the airwaves today, criticizing the spending portions and promoting their view of a more palatable alternative — bigger, broader tax cuts and incentives.

Ok, sounds good. But here's what she said...

We reached out to the Republicans all along the way, and they know it. And they know it. They were part of the original bill, with the - some of the tax provisions were their suggestions. They had what they asked for in terms of committee mark-up. They had the rule on the floor that gave them plenty of opportunity to make changes. They just didn't have the ideas that had the support of the majority of the people in the Congress.

Well, no, probably not. But since the DNC has a majority, only allowing in ideas that have the support of a majority is the same thing as only allowing in Democratic ideas. Which, logically, is NOT the same thing as allowing in Republican ideas.

From the WSJ:

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama hammered Wall Street institutions Thursday for what he called "shameful" bonuses, saying it is the "height of irresponsibility" to ask for help from taxpayers and continue to reward executives with handsome pay packages.

"There will be time for them to make profits, and there will be time for them to get bonuses. Now is not that time," President Obama said before an Oval Office meeting with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Vice President Joe Biden.

"When I saw an article today that indicates that Wall Street bankers had given themselves $20 billion worth of bonuses, the same amount of bonuses as they gave themselves in 2004, at a time when most of these institutions are teetering on collapse and they are asking for taxpayers to help sustain them, and when taxpayers find themselves in the difficult position that if they don't provide help then the entire system could come down on top of our heads, that is the height of irresponsibility," President Obama told reporters.

"It is shameful."

Yeah, well, maybe. I don't know. There's not enough data to really tell. $18.4 billion is a lot of money, of course. But it is down 44% from 2007 and I don't see any data about how many people we're talking about. I would imagine that, like a sales commission, a lot of brokers and such have bonuses worked in as part of their salary structure. Just because they are white collar workers doesn't mean they're not entitled to their pay.

I'd just like to see a little more information and a lot less finger-wagging and knee-jerk bashing of the financial industry is all.

From Politico:

Politico has learned that tomorrow Americans United for Change, a liberal group, will begin airing radio ads in three states Obama won — Ohio, Pennsylvania and Nevada — with a tough question aimed at the GOP senators there: Will you side with Obama or Rush Limbaugh?

Well, that didn't take too long. Already it's becoming an "us vs. them" mentality among the liberal attack groups. It's interesting too how they're saying Rush wants Obama to "fail" (not exactly what he said), as if Rush would want the economy to go into the toilet if it made Obama look bad. This from the people who were willing to see us fail in Iraq if it would only make Bush look bad. As is often the case, though, Rush sees through them to see the real agenda:

"Senate Republicans need to understand this is not about me," he wrote in an email. "It is about them, about intimidating them, especially after the show of unity in House. It is about the 2010 and 2012 elections. This is an opportunity for Republicans to redefine themselves after a few years of wandering aimlessly looking for a 'brand' and identity."

Exactly, yes. They're afraid the Senate will do what the House did and score a GOP shutout of the bill - nailing the bill firmly to Obama and the Democrats.

From The Note:

ABC News has learned that tax refunds are now on hold in California for the first time in state history, according to the state controller's office.

"Unfortunately, we have asked the California Franchise Tax Board not to send over tax refund claims beginning today because we will not be able to process them and have them out the door by Feb. 1 when a 30-day delay in tax refunds goes into effect," Hallye Jordan, spokeswoman to California State Controller John Chiang, tells ABC News.

During the 30-day delay, the controller's office estimates that a combined 2.74 million California individuals and businesses will have their tax refund delayed.

The controller's office estimates that the delay in tax refunds will free up $1.99 billion over the next month to pay for education, debt service, and other payments that legally have first claim to state funds.

Oh, well, bully for the State of California.  Can someone explain to me how this is anything but stealing from the taxpayers?  This is money that was taken that the State determined it was not entitled to (hence the term "refund").  Now it's keeping it and making money off of the interest.  It should by all rights pay interest back to the taxpayers for holding on to their money.  They have, in effect, forced its citizens to purchase short-term treasury bonds and is pocketing the interest.

From The Daily Telegraph (all emphasis mine):

President Barack Obama got the $825 (or $1.2 trillion over a decade) stimulus package through the House of Representatives but the 244 to 188 vote is a hollow victory indeed. Without a single Republican voting for the bill, his high-profile visit to Capitol Hill on Tuesday came to exactly naught - at least on the House side.

Obama vowed to change Washington and usher in a new post-partisan era. The the mood music and optics were pitch perfect as he trekked up to the Hill. Republicans praised his gesture, welcomed his sincere demeanour and appreciated his willingness to listen.

Problem was, he wanted only to listen and did not want to act on what Republicans said. When he was asked if he would re-structure the package to include more tax cuts, he reportedly responded: "Feel free to whack me over the head because I probably will not compromise on that part."

He apparently added: " I understand that and I will watch you on Fox News and feel bad about myself."

That's fine. No doubt Obama will indeed get beaten up on Fox News. But his failure to get even the squishiest moderate Republican - including the 11 entertained in the White House by Rahm Emanuel last night - to back him is not merely a big score for Rep Eric Cantor, Republican Whip, and the rest of the GOP leadership.

It also shows that it is not just Fox, the loony Right or Rush Limbaugh - or however else you might want to characterise the opposition in order to marginalise it - who had grave misgivings about the content of the bill.

Said Rep. Schultz (D-FL):

They repeatedly are slapping the outreached hand of Democrats who are attempting to work in a bipartisan way. We have given the Republicans every opportunity to have input and help shape this.

Yes, but input doesn't mean "You guys sit in a corner and tell us what you want and we'll say no."  Once in a while you have to compromise - you know, like you were constantly telling the GOP to do when they were in power.  Instead we get:

Obama faced an early test last week, when, in the midst of the debate over economic stimulus, Democrats worked to shut Republicans out of the policy process, then behaved boorishly when Republicans complained.

Democratic leaders responded with the political equivalent of a sack dance in football. “If it’s passed with 63 votes or 73 votes, history won’t remember it,” said Senator Richard Durbin, Democrat of Illinois.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi added to the mood by saying, “Yes, we wrote the bill. Yes, we won the election.”

There is still time for Obama to object to such behavior. If he wants to fulfill the promise of his rhetoric, he should take Pelosi to the woodshed and insist that she include Republicans, collegially, in the process. He should stand up to his party and threaten to veto a bill if it fails to make reasonable concessions to his friends across the aisle. He should advise his own staff to begin returning the phone calls of senior Republican aides.

And then, of course, those two little words:

Challenged by one Republican senator over the contents of the package, the new president, according to participants, replied: "I won."

The statement was prompted by Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl of Arizona, who challenged the president and the Democratic leaders over the balance between the package’s spending and tax cuts, bringing up the traditional Republican notion that a tax credit for people who do not earn enough to pay income taxes is not a tax cut but a government check.

Still, other Democrats echoed the sentiment. As he left the White House, House Majority Whip James Clyburn of South Carolina was asked about Republican complaints that Democrats aren't listening to what their GOP colleagues have to say. "We're responding to the American people,” he said. “The American people didn’t listen to them too well during the election."

Which is fine by me, I'm all for "winner take all" and to hell with compromise.  That's life in politics.  But don't come back to me saying the GOP is being partisan or, when they regain power, that they're being unfair about not sharing power.

From Politico:

In what could be a preview of the 2012 presidential race, Sarah Palin and Barack Obama will share a stage together this Saturday night in Washington, Politico has learned.

The Alaska governor and former GOP vice presidential nominee, making her first trip to the nation’s capital since the election, will join the president at the Alfalfa Dinner, a venerable gathering of the city’s political elite.

No, no, no, no, no.  She's a very nice, intelligent woman, but she's been Quayled.  Rightly or wrongly, she is no longer a viable candidate for any national position and do not, do not, DO NOT put her up for any kind of nomination.

Dan Rather is suing CBS.  You may remember that after presenting clearly false documents as real ones during a Presidential election, and then still holding to the veracity (if not validity) of the documents, Dan Rather was fired (or resigned, whichever they said publicly).

So what is the basis of his lawsuit?  He's claming he was the victim of a massive conspiracy stretching from CBS executives all the way to the White House.

Today, in New York Supreme Court, in response to Dan Rather's civil lawsuit, CBS filed a lengthy 30-page motion to dismiss the case.

CBS executives also released a statement today, noting that they are "mystified" by Rather's "bizarre allegations" but will "vigorously" defend themselves in court if need be.

"Dan Rather is one of the most important figures in the history of broadcast journalism, and for more than 40 years was one of our most valued colleagues," CBS said in the statement. "That is why we at CBS are mystified and saddened by the baseless and self-serving allegations and distortions of fact raised in his lawsuit."

"Today we are filing a motion to dismiss," added the statement. "If we are required to proceed beyond this point, we will defend the case vigorously and demonstrate that the lawsuit is wholly without merit, and that the bizarre allegations by Mr. Rather are untrue."

"The Complaint is predicated on allegations of a bizarre 'scheme' extending from the White House to an array of CBS executives including Sumner Redstone, CBS's Executive Chairman, Leslie Moonves, CBS's Chief Executive Officer, and Andrew Heyward, formerly president of CBS News, all of whom, according to Rather, colluded to harm Rather's reputation and keep him off the air," add CBS lawyers. "Of course, there was no such nefarious scheme, and Rather's allegations bear no resemblance to reality. CBS and its executives are not now, and never have been, out to get Dan Rather."

So, we'll see what comes of this...

A Santa training course in Australia is urging their students to be more politically sensitive:

Thirty trainees at a Santa course in Adelaide last month, held by recruitment company Westaff, were urged to replace the traditional festive greeting with "ha, ha, ha".

A Santa veteran of 11 years who attended the course told the Sunday Mail  the trainer was very clear in spelling out no to "ho".

Two Santa hopefuls reportedly left the course after the trainer's edict.

The term "ho" is also American slang for a prostitute. "We were told it (ho) was a derogatory term for females and can upset people," said the Santa, who did not want to be identified publicly.

The policy doesn't seem to be getting much support as the rest of the article basically points out why it's absurd and the online poll was around 96% against the idea.  Just to be fair to the Aussies -- we all have our crazy contingents.

This from the Daily Mail: Boy George is charged after 'chaining male escort to a wall'

Boy George has been charged with false imprisonment after allegedly chaining a male escort to a wall at his London flat.

Auden Karlsen, 28, claims he was a prisoner at the Culture Club star's home in Shoreditch.

He said he met George on the website Gaydar but only went to the flat as a photographic model.

He said George and another man held him at the property after taking pictures.

The star allegedly produced whips and sex toys and threatened him.

Mr Karlsen said he only escaped after wrenching a hook out the wall.

I tried to think of a joke for this, but all of the humor is out on the table already.

Everyone's favorite victim, Paris Hilton, has found her cause.  Every celebrity has to have one, after all.  And now, finally, she has hers.  Guess what it is.

No, really.  Guess.  I promise you won't get it.

Ready?

From the AP: Hilton Tries to Help Drunk Elephants

Paris Hilton is being praised by conservationists for highlighting the problem of binge-drinking elephants in northeastern India.

Activists said a celebrity endorsement such as Hilton's was sure to raise awareness of the plight of the pachyderms that get drunk on farmers' homemade rice beer and then go on a rampage.

"The elephants get drunk all the time. It is becoming really dangerous. We need to stop making alcohol available to them," the 26-year-old socialite said in a report posted on World Entertainment News Network's Web site. Her comments were picked up by other Web sites and newspapers around the globe.

Yes, for real.

Pope Says Catholicism Only True Church

Pope Benedict XVI has reasserted the universal primacy of the Roman Catholic Church, approving a document that says Orthodox churches are defective and that other Christian denominations are not true churches. The document, released Tuesday, restates key sections of a 2000 document that set off a firestorm of criticism among Protestant and other Christian denominations. It said they were not true churches but merely ecclesial communities and therefore did not have the "means of salvation." In the new document and an accompanying commentary it says "Christ 'established here on earth' only one church." It says the other communities "cannot be called 'churches' in the proper sense" because they do not have the ability to trace their bishops back to Christ's original apostles.

In other articles it's said that, basically, while the Protestant churches can contribute to a person's salvation inasmuch as God can use it (which you can actually say about anything), the only path to salvation lies through the Catholic church.

This is a shame and feels like a step backwards away from a church unity I was hoping to see some day.  C. S. Lewis has talked about this a lot and about the differences between "high church" and "low church" and how really both are necessary in some degrees.  I'm not sure, also, exactly where the apostolic succession rule is introduced.  Could be in the Apocrypha, I guess.

Sprint hangs up on "excessive" complainers

Sprint Nextel Corp, which recently launched an advertising campaign to attract new customers, is disconnecting more than 1,000 subscribers for calling its customer service lines too often and making what the company called unreasonable requests.

The No. 3 U.S. wireless provider with 53 million customers said on Monday it started sending service termination letters on June 25. Sprint said the cancellations involved 1,000 to 1,200 customers who had called the company about 40,000 times a month in total.

"In some cases they were calling customer care hundreds of times a month for a period of six to 12 months on the same issues even after we felt those issues had been resolved," she said.

Singleton, noting that mass cancellation letters were not routine, said this call volume was 40 to 50 times more than average customer monthly calls. She would not say how often customers can call before being deemed too demanding.

The company also declined to say what percentage of monthly service calls the 40,000 figure represented.

Singleton said some of the cancellations involved customers who repeatedly asked for information about other people's accounts.

As someone who has worked in customer service, I can only say one thing.  Bravo.  Finally a company with the guts to stand up to people whose sole mission in life appears to be irritating customer support.  They didn't say what percentage the 40,000 calls represents, but they did say that it was 40 to 50 times the average user. That means that those 1,000 on average are calling about 40 times a month (that's more than once a day), which means the average user probably calls about once a month.  Which means those 40,000 (out of apparently an average of 53 million calls a month) would be 0.075%, as opposed 1000 normal users at 0.0019%.

I could easily see that small minority monopolizing so much of their time and considering they waived any remaining balances on those users' accounts and gave them 30 days to find another carrier, it's a more than generous situation.  I'm sure they'll get some PR backlash from the decision (and their stock has already taken a small hit from it) but I'm behind it.

Ah, the "fairness doctrine".  Even the mention of the Orwellian name brings back to mind the 1990s when Limbaugh was king and the dems were desperate to thwart him any way they could.  Senator Feinstein is "looking into" bringing it back.  The article in full:

WASHINGTON, June 24 (UPI) -- U.S. Sen. Diane Feinstein, D-Calif., said Sunday she is "looking at" the possibility of reviving the fairness doctrine for U.S. broadcasters.

Feinstein, speaking on "Fox News Sunday" with Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., said talk radio in particular has presented a one-sided view of immigration reform legislation being considered by the Senate.

U.S. talk radio is dominated by conservative voices.

"This is a very complicated bill," said Feinstein. "Most people don't know what's in this bill. Therefore, to just have one or two things dramatized and taken out of context, such as the word amnesty -- we have a silent amnesty right now, but nobody goes into that. Nobody goes into the flaws of our broken system."

Feinstein said the measure before the Senate "fixes those flaws" but that doesn't get presented on talk radio, which she said "pushes people to ... extreme views without a lot of information."

Asked if she would revive the fairness doctrine, which used to require broadcasters to present competing sides of controversial issues, Feinstein said she was "looking at it."

"I remember when there was a fairness doctrine," she said, "and I think there was much more serious correct reporting to people."

Ahh, that's the free-speech, capitalist society I like.  Don't like the opinions on talk radio?  Free market system preventing boring, unpopular alternative views from being aired?  Why, get the government to force 'em!

Cameron Diaz on a visit through Peru...

US actress Cameron Diaz has apologised for wearing a bag with a political slogan that evoked painful memories in Peru. The voice of Princess Fiona in the animated Shrek films visited the Incan city of Machu Picchu in Peru's Andes wearing an olive green bag emblazoned with a red star and the words "Serve the People", perhaps Chinese Communist leader Mao Zedong's most famous political slogan, printed in Chinese. The bags are marketed as fashion accessories in some cities around the world, but in Peru the slogan evokes memories of the Maoist Shining Path insurgency that fought the government in the 1980s and early 1990s in a bloody conflict that left nearly 70,000 people dead. "I sincerely apologise to anyone I may have inadvertently offended," Diaz said in a statement. "The bag was a purchase I made as a tourist in China and I did not realise the potentially hurtful nature of the slogan printed on it." One prominent Peruvian human rights activist said Diaz should have been a little more aware of local sensitivities when picking her accessories.

To be fair, I suppose such a thing could happen to anyone.  Though, honestly, getting a bag in China with a bright red star on it?  It probably doesn't mean peace, freedom, and the American way...

I'm glad it's a big fashion accessory this year too.  Last year's "Hitler purses" were starting to get old.

CBS blames sexism for bad ratings

Leslie Moonves, CBS chief executive, on Tuesday suggested that sexist attitudes were partly to blame for the faltering performance of Katie Couric, the news anchor he recruited to the network with a $15m annual pay package.

"I’m sort of surprised by the vitriol against her. The number of people who don't want news from a woman was startling," Mr Moonves said of the audience's reaction to Ms Couric, who this month brought ratings for the CBS Evening News to a 20-year low.

Yes, of course.  That must be it.  It couldn't be the bias or the fact that the news is fluffy nonsense instead of actual news.  The truth comes out later in the article:

In the absence of specific research, some analysts took issue with that argument. “People get news from women all the time – on local news, on morning shows. I’m skeptical of his discovery of sexism,” said Andrew Tyndall, whose Tyndall Report monitors newscasts. He and others have criticized the style of Ms Couric’s newscast, which emphasized soft features over hard news – something CBS seemed to acknowledge this year when it replaced the producer.

Why!  Female local anchors?  In this day and age?!  It's enough to make the monocle pop right out of my eye and make me utter a profound "My Word!"

Yikes...

(from the article)
A dozen riders on an Arkansas roller coaster spent half an hour hanging upside down — 150 feet above the ground — after a power outage shut down the attraction.

It took about 30 minutes for the city Fire Department to rescue the riders using a ladder truck Saturday evening, said Aundrea Crary, spokeswoman for the Springs & Crystal Falls amusement park.

Some wandered in desert wastelands, finding no way to a city where they could settle. They were hungry and thirsty, and their lives ebbed away. Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. He led them by a straight way to a city where they could settle. Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men, for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things. Some sat in darkness and the deepest gloom, prisoners suffering in iron chains, for they had rebelled against the words of God and despised the counsel of the Most High. So he subjected them to bitter labor; they stumbled, and there was no one to help. Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress. He brought them out of darkness and the deepest gloom and broke away their chains. Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men, for he breaks down gates of bronze and cuts through bars of iron. Some became fools through their rebellious ways and suffered affliction because of their iniquities. They loathed all food and drew near the gates of death. Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress.

---

It's very easy to give into a little schadenfreude here but I'm trying to refrain.  She's a spoiled, arrogant, sinful creature.  But then so am I.  It's important to remember that Jesus died for her.  And though it's no excuse, as we're all accountable for our own actions, her life and upbringing has not been one that lends itself towards God.  For that I suspect her parents will be held accountable to some degree.  Still, I hope this serves as some kind of wake-up call - that she doesn't just shrug it off afterwards or turn it into a reason to feel persecuted and injured for the rest of her life.  I honestly suspect that will be the case, unfortunately.  But I will do what I can and pray.

In case you haven't seen it yet, they unveiled the new logo for the 2012 Olympics in London...

Yeah, that's pretty much what everyone else has thought of it too.  The shapes are supposed to be the numbers 2012, but it's hard to tell if you're not looking for it.

Unfortunately, they've had some problems with it and advertising around it when viewed by epileptics:

Animated footage promoting the London 2012 Olympics is being removed from its official website amid claims that it could trigger epileptic seizures, organisers said.

Allegations were made on the BBC that footage involving a diver plunging into a pool had already caused seizures.

A London 2012 spokeswoman said: "We have just been notified of the problem and we have taken immediate steps to remove the animation from the website. We will now re-edit the film."

The footage controversy follows widespread ridicule surrounding the 2012 logo. The bold, jagged £400,000 brand, which is a modern take on the Olympic colours, took a year's research, including consumer testing. Organisers have hailed it as dynamic and vibrant, but other people have said it resembles a "toileting monkey" or a "broken swastika".

Speaking on BBC London News about the promotional footage, epileptic photo sensitivity expert Graham Harding said: "We now know of eight cases of which seizures have occurred. What it appears has happened is that the flash rate of the diving sequence contravenes the Ofcom guidelines."

Despite a growing petition against the logo, London organising committee chairman Coe remains clueless:

"It won't be to be everybody's taste immediately, but it's a brand that we genuinely believe can be hard working... and reach out and engage young people, which is our challenge over the next five years," he said.

"It's not a logo, it's a brand that will take us forward for the next five years."

All about the youth.  You kids with your pink and yellow jagged numbers and seizures...