Is the Westboro Baptist Church Protected by the First Amendment?

TPM · 10/07/10 06:15PM

There's almost universal agreement that the tactics and message used by parishioners of the small, fringe Westboro Baptist Church are despicable. Does that make their provocative protests near the funerals of dead U.S. soldiers — under the theory that God is punishing the country because it tolerates gay and lesbian Americans — unconstitutional?

Behold: Adorable Newborn Panda Twins

Maureen O'Connor · 10/07/10 06:05PM

The Madrid Zoo unveiled a pair of one-month-old panda twins today. They're of unknown gender (apparently it takes awhile to figure that out) and are the first panda twins created by artificial insemination ever to be born outside of Asia.

This Tunnel Goes Down, Down to the Devil

Hamilton Nolan · 10/07/10 04:11PM

The Way We Live Now: emerging from the world's longest tunnel, blind and groping. We can't find decent cities. We can't find stable currencies. We can't find the hill going up. But the hill going down—that one never quits.

Mother Finds Out About Daughter's Murder on Live TV

Maureen O'Connor · 10/07/10 04:09PM

Concetta Serrano was summoned to her brother-in-law's home by Chi l'ha Visto—an Italian show about missing persons—where she was informed on live TV that her teenage daughter's body had been found—and her brother-in-law was responsible for her death.

TV News and the Best of the Rest on the Web

Whitney Jefferson · 10/07/10 04:00PM

The voice of Dora the Explorer is suing Nickeloedon, Bristol Palin might have been DWTS' sloppy seconds, the ladies of SNL are getting a 2-hour special, and the last day to sign up for Arianna Huffington's free bus is tomorrow!

Your Thursday Night Lineup

Matt Cherette · 10/07/10 03:30PM

TONIGHT: Lots of TV! We have the season finale of of The Real Housewives of DC, plus new episodes of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Vampire Diaries, Nikita, Community, 30 Rock, Grey's Anatomy, Jersey Shore, CSI, and much, much more!