On tonight's Late Show, David Letterman welcomed Chaz Bono on to talk about his transition from a woman to a man. Unfortunately for Bono—and the rest of us—the interview consisted mostly of frustrating confusion from Letterman about the difference between being homosexual and being transgender. Here are some of the lowlights.
Did you know that if you believe in universal health care, you believe in slavery? Well: It's true! Kentucky Senator Rand Paul said so during a Senate hearing today, and he is a doctor, so you'd better listen to him.
Your mom might be part of a Detroit pickpocketing ring, but that's small potatoes compared to what your grandma could be up to. A mother and child were held up at gunpoint outside a Target store in San Bernardino by a woman "who might be 80," wearing a "neutral-colored faded muumuu with a multi-colored scarf covering her face." After brandishing a "black handgun," she snatched the victim's purse and drove off in a car with a missing hubcap. The M.O. matches a similar robbery Tuesday outside a Wal-Mart and Monday outside a Kohl's. Sound like any kindly old ladies you might know? If anyone has any leads about the Muumuu Bandit, you're encouraged to notify the authorities immediately.
This week the folks at Fox News have been up in arms about the fact that Michelle Obama invited Common to attend a poetry reading with her. Naturally, the network mischaracterized pretty much everything while reporting on the issue, so on tonight's Daily Show, Jon Stewart tried to put it all back into perspective.
This video of an Emirates flight getting hit by huge tendrils of lightning on its way in to land at Heathrow Airport was taken last month, so it's a bit too early to add to our list of this week's scary airplane "incidents." (Also, no one aboard was hurt, and the jet landed "with not even a scratch.") Even so, it makes us glad that you fly on the inside of a plane, and not standing on top. Update: The video has been taken down, but you can see it here. [via Daily Mail]
You were, likely, worried about the ability of Comcast-NBC to push effectively for its interests on Capitol Hill. Sorry — we mean, push for the interests of American consumers. But worry no more! The cable giant has hired Meredith Attwell Baker for "a top DC lobbying job," and we have a feeling she's going to do a great job. You've heard of Baker — she used to be one of the Republican commissioners of the FCC. Four months ago, she voted to approve the NBC-Comcast merger? But that was four whole months ago, so Comcast probably forgot about it before they hired her.
A high school class in Louisville, Ky. just went on the best field trip, ever! If you like finding bodies. Because that's what they did! They found a body, face-down "by a creek behind the school in a wooded area."
It's that time again! Tonight—from 8:00 to 9:30 PM, live on FOX—this season's American Idol Top 4 will each perform two songs for the judges' critiques and our votes. Want in on the action? Your open thread is inside.
Security researchers discovered that Facebook leaked user access tokens to advertisers, exposing their chat, photos and profiles. Facebook says there's no evidence any such data was used, but the security guys suggest changing your password, and you should probably listen.
Who killed Osama Bin Laden? Why, anti-Cardassian rebels fighting in former Federation colonies, obviously. Didn't you catch the broadcast on German channel N24? The news organization seems to have pulled a fan-made logo for the "Maquis Special Operations," a rebel terrorist group featured in Star Trek: The Next Generation, and presented it as the emblem for the Navy SEAL group that shot Bin Laden in Pakistan. Host Mick Locher even analyzed it! "And they also have the ‘Team Six,' that carried out the mission," he noted. "They don't have the skull in their emblem for nothing." Well, not, they don't, it's just that the skull, as close examination will reveal, is a Klingon skull. [TrekMovie.com via Fox News]
The city council in Garden Grove, California, voted unanimously to ban naked waitresses in their coffee houses. Apparently these establishments, mostly in Orange County's Little Saigon neighborhood, have waitresses who wear see-through bras and panties which leave nothing to the imagination. And it gets better!
The state of Florida, somewhat famously, finally got around to banning bestiality last week. But, as the blog Southern Fried Science points out, there might be something wrong with the language used in the bill—specifically that it bans sex with "an animal." Did you know that humans are "animals," too?
America's one-time favorite British person almost joined the cast of America's one-time favorite sitcom. A match made in sad heaven! Also today: news from Cannes, a bloody upfront scares us all, and of course Hunger Games casting news.
Newt Gingrich is in it, and he's in it to win it! He is running for president of America, in 2012. He announced this on Twitter around 4:30 this afternoon, just as he promised two days ago that he'd announce it on Twitter. Kind of kills the spontaneity of it all, no? And the tweet linked to his announcement video at Newt.org, which hasn't been loading ever since. We used our master sleuth skills to find it on YouTube, but still: Improve your traffic capacity, candidate.
