Economic stimulus, umm, package

Magazine Estimates Britney Spears Is Worth $120 Million to Economy (ABC News)

Speaking of Heath Ledger

The Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, KS will apparently be picketing Heath Ledger's funeral to protest--posthumously, I guess--his appearance in Brokeback Mountain. Because, in the words of the press release, "God hates f*gs! and f*g enablers!" (via Jezebel)

Wow. You know who God really hates? Assholes.

PS--Did I really just have to censor a church flyer to comport with this blog's standards of decency? Sheesh.

R.I.P. Heath Ledger

The news of Heath Ledger's death (WP) has made me profoundly sad...he had such promise as an actor. He was stunning in his taciturn role in Brokeback Mountain. The split with Michelle Williams seemed so fraught. What happened there? And he seemed to really love his little daughter. Bummer. Hope he is in a happier place.

:(

A triplet on justice

Paris Hilton served her time,

Steve Griles got 10 months,

All's right with the world.


Judge Orders Time for Ex-Interior Deputy (WP)
Paris Hilton Due to Break Her Silence (AP)

Lame!!!

It hardly needs to be written that this a disappointing miscarriage of justice. I weep for our nation.

After spending five nights in jail, Paris Hilton was released early this morning and put under house arrest, The Los Angeles Sheriff's Department announced today...The decision was made after "extensive consultations with medical personnel"...According to the plans, she will finish the original sentence of 45 days in her own house with a tracker attached to an ankle. Her reduced jail term for violating probation on an alcohol-related driving charge was 23 days. (NYT)

And let's remember...house arrest for Paris Hilton is like vacation for the rest of us.

Palfrey names unsaid

DC escort business caters to power elite, madam releases phone records, blah blah blah. Yawn. Unless you've got some kind of technical account of the erotic use of a cigar by a head of state, or homemade heiress night vision porn, I am so over your sex scandal muckraking...

But anyhow, I'm a little torn about ABC News's cherry-picking of which of Palfrey's clientele to expose publicly. (WP) "Brian Ross of ABC confirmed that some fairly important people had used her escort service." Yet ABC has acknowledged the identity of only two (to this blogger's knowledge): Deputy Secretary of State Randall Tobias, and Harlan Ullman, of the Washington Times and the Center for Strategic and International Studies. The rest, producers considered too "anonymous" to publicize.

Well, okay; Palfrey is arguing that the services her firm provided were all legal. If that turns out to be true, it does seem unethical to expose all of these people, possibly ruin their lives, over whatever legal activities in which they may be engaged in their spare time. And there may be no compelling public interest in revealing that the non-public-figure down the street is in Palfrey's black book, no matter what service he or she has received.

But who gets to make that judgement call? Why do any of the public officials implicated deserve a pass? And how do we know that ABC excluded them all based on their lack of importance or name recognition rather than some other, more political factor? (They include "A federal prosecutor, who recently died. A handful of military officers, including the head of an Air Force intelligence squadron. A senior official at the World Bank and other officials at NASA and the International Monetary Fund. Corporate CEOs. And lobbyists, both Democratic and Republican.")

Shock jock codes of conduct

Don Imus is a jackass and deserves everything that's coming to him. Anyone who thinks they can get away with a) racism and b) sexism directed towards c) some of America's top student-athletes d) on a national radio broadcast...has got to be crazy or have a death wish. And the backlash is reassuring.

But this episode got me thinking. Imus and radio hosts like him are basically paid to be offensive, outrageous, and even bigoted. The shock is what brings in the audience. At the same time, they inevitably face suspension or firing when they cross the line and say something that inspires widespread public outrage and the loss of advertiser dollars. They ride a fine line.

Lisa Wanless, Systems Analyst "Cut Imus some slack. The man is under immense pressure to be an asshole every single morning." (The Onion)

How does one know what will be outrageous enough to draw an audience, but not outrageous enough to get cancelled? Do you think that there is any kind of general agreement or code of conduct between shock jocks and their employers about what topics are strictly off limits vs. fair game? From here, the line seems to be drawn on an ad hoc basis.

Senators--they're just like us!

They follow celebrity gossip!

"Britney Spears," [Senate minority leader Harry] Reid said, shaking his head. "She loses a little weight, and now she's getting all cocky about things." He added, "Britney has gotten her mojo back." (NYT)

How much you wanna bet Britney Spears doesn't know who Harry Reid is....

Teeny tiny pouty lips

I am a bit surprised that the sight of little Shiloh Jolie-Pitt did not burn my eyes out.
(Hello!)