Names Banned By Google Plus

Ryan Tate · 07/25/11 06:15PM

Google's social network is on a rampage. It's banning people for using nicknames. It' s banning people for names that are too short. It's banning people for names that are too long. It's even banning people for having the wrong names.

Internet Addiction Just as Bad as Real Addiction, But Not Cool

Hamilton Nolan · 07/25/11 04:24PM

Fertile China! Psychic dogs! Killer papaya! ADHD safety! Internet addiction! Breastfeeding asthma! Shrinking brains! Love psychology! And uncalled-for lizard posing! It's your Monday Health Watch, where we watch your health—out of sheer desperation!

Haywire: Kicking Ass and Making Names

Richard Lawson · 07/25/11 04:06PM

Here's a trailer for Haywire, Steven Soderbergh's upcoming scorned secret agent on a rampage of revenge movie. It looks pretty revengey!

Black Student Barred from Being Valedictorian, Says Lawsuit

Maureen O'Connor · 07/25/11 03:53PM

18-year-old Kymberly Wimberly is suing her McGehee, Arkansas public high school for barring her from being valedictorian because of her race. (As opposed to the equally unfair but way less depressing "funny name issue.") Kym's federal lawsuit claims she had the highest GPA in her class and was told she would be valedictorian, but got pushed out last minute for white students.

Erick Erickson, Lord of the House Republicans

Jim Newell · 07/25/11 03:41PM

There is precisely one person on Earth for whom this terrible debt ceiling debate has been a net positive: Erick Erickson, CNN political analyst and blogger at RedState.com! He's used it to portray himself as the most important person in Republican party politics, with his trenchant blog posts. Did you know that House Republicans need his permission to do anything? It's true! Our politics are just that healthy.

Internet Prankster Sends SWAT Team to Cyberbullying Expert's House

Adrian Chen · 07/25/11 02:55PM

Among the many, many people who irk the anarchic message board 4chan, cyberbullying expert Parry Aftab is one of the most consistently despised. So it's not surprising that an anonymous internet denizen sent a SWAT team to her New Jersey home this weekend.

Sleazeballs Valued at $1.3 Billion

Ryan Tate · 07/25/11 02:31PM

Three guys who refuse to answer for sleazy spam tactics on behalf of their startup might expect to be shunned. Circumstances being what they are, the same three guys are bathing in money and adulation.

What Reporters Really Need to Do Is Stop Snitching

Hamilton Nolan · 07/25/11 02:03PM

In your balmy Monday media column: the ethics of getting journalistically blazed are debated, the WSJ yes-persons defend their hefty salaries, a Sudanese journalist is jailed, AOL's sales chief is out, the NYT chronicled, and no one trusts the media.

Esquire Sees Erotic Opportunity in DSK Rape Narrative

Maureen O'Connor · 07/25/11 01:39PM

Bros: You know when you're hanging out with a girl, and she's talking about the time she was raped, and you're like, "Whoa, this chick is totally talking about her vagina. Now I'm all horny. How can I turn this brutal tale of violent degradation into a sexual opportunity?"

Larry King Wants to Marry Anderson Cooper

Richard Lawson · 07/25/11 01:19PM

Gentleman's Quarterly magazine, aka "GQ", recently sat down with milliongenarian TV personality and budding stand-up comic Larry King to ask him some weird 'n' wacky questions. They even played Fuck Marry Kill with some of King's CNN colleagues. And his answers were sexy.

Real Housewives of New Jersey: The Christmas Miracle

Richard Lawson · 07/25/11 12:47PM

On last night's episode of Brawl in the Family, it was finally, foreal this time, Christmas. Actual honest-to-goodness Christmas, with Santa and presents and all that. Well, actually, it was just Christmas Eve. And first we had to finish a party.