• It's been two years since Ben Silverman became co-chairman of NBC Entertainment. And what a two years it's been, huh? [LAT]
• The largest union at the Boston Globe will vote on a new contract on July 20, even though it's yet to iron out a deal with the New York Times Co. [BG]
• Reader's Digest's plan to remain relevant: It's going to become even more conservative and old-fashioned, and embrace religion and stuff. [NYT]
• How are some newspaper reporters dealing with unemployment? They're turning to careers as go-kart racers. Just as you suspected. [Fortune]

Hmmmm, just what is Senator Tom Coburn suggesting, here, with his statement to a constituent about making sure "political candidates are eligible for the offices they seek"? Oh, right, he is appeasing a lunatic "birther."

Larry Sabato is a quote-mongering political scientist at the University of Virginia who's always talking to reporters because he likes talking. And if you're a congressman pal who directs millions in earmarks to Sabato's organization, he'll say whatever you like.

Mark Penn, failed campaign strategist and head of one of the world's most ostentatiously amoral PR firms, has used polling and research to ferret out a new microtrend: People are pessimistic, these days. That will be one million dollars. [WSJ]

Did the Wall Street Journal really think people would fall over in disbelief at the news that the CEOs of a few bailed-out banks used their corporate jets to fly off on vacation? Like, last Christmas? By now, you've probably figured out that these companies blow tons of money on not-so-important things. (Like, say, office renovations, or jaunts to the Olympics and Wimbledon aboard their company jets.) If the paper really wants to break a story open wide, perhaps it could look into why a JPMorgan Chase-owned Gulfstream G-V was on the tarmac at a small airport in Brazil that happens to be known as a major transfer point for South American drug cartels? (See above.) Now that could be something big! [WSJ]

Google's complicated relationship with its founder's wife just got more tangled. Anne Wojcicki's genetic-testing startup, 23andMe, not only took a second round of funding from the company — it's now cohabitating with the search giant.

The Way We Live Now: Holding a bus pass. Mercedes hasn't abandoned its luxury image. CEOs haven't abandoned their private planes. But you're riding the bus. Aren't you?

Obit for John Palmer, 62: "I can't believe Keith Richards outlived me." R.I.P. [ADN]

Doug Hampton, the cuckolded husband of Sen. John Ensign's mistress, wrote a letter to Fox News five days before the story broke that Ensign had ruined his life and career. Fox never reported it, and called Hampton an extortionist.

Guys, if you're going to go to jail for six months for movie piracy, please make sure it's not because of The Love Guru. Let poor young Jack Yates of California be an example to us all.

We know you all love Richard's daily blind items, but do they leave you wondering what exactly is fact or fiction? Actual scandals or publicist planted nonsense? Well now you can weigh in...

You might want to inspect your bill closely the next time you stay at a hotel. Thanks to the plunging economy and the decline in travel, hotels have come up with all sorts of ingenious new ways to make money, as you may have noticed. Take, for example, the pool or exercise room that you had no intention of visiting anyway. You may end up seeing a "facility free" or "resort fee" appear on your bill, even though you went to Denver on a business trip, not to swim laps, and you've never heard anyone even use the words "resort" and "Denver" in the same sentence. You're perfectly aware that drinking a miniature-sized can of soda from the mini-bar will end up costing you $10. These days, though, you may also get slapped with a $1 "mini-bar restocking fee," which accounts for the 3.2 seconds or so it took someone to replace that $10 can of soda you just consumed.

National Lampoon parodied a newspaper back in the 70s, and The Onion was founded in 1988, and last year there was that mildly interesting fake New York Times, but the latest spoof paper is indistinguishable from an earnest lefty, arguing.

In 1981, John Hinkley shot Ronald Reagan, to impress Jodie Foster. He has been locked up in a mental ward ever since. It is time to free him, screenwriter and warblogger Roger Simon says, for some reason.

June 18 @ 5:45pm [Submit your own Gawker Stalker sightings to stalker@gawker.com] Dressed for some soccer. After I said hello and snapped the pic, a man pulled up on a moped.

Ed Koch is having surgery today at Columbia-Presbyterian to replace a heart valve. Dr. Craig Smith, the same top doc who handled Bill Clinton's bypass a few years ago, will be performing the honors. (Smith is also NYC's hunkiest cardiac surgeon, a fact that probably didn't escape Koch's attention.) And while a valve replacement is a pretty uncomplicated procedure, the 84-year-old ex-mayor appears to be prepared for all the eventualities: "God will take me if he needs legal or political advice," he quipped to a reporter. [NY1, NYP]

Not too much happening at this dreary end-of-week. Some good news for actors we like, and also some good news for actors we don't. Everyone loves fairytales these days, especially ones that are live action and self-referential.

Thomas "Painter of Darkness" Kinkade, the world's single most objectionable mass-producer of wall-hangings for middle American Baptists, is not just a terrible offender against aesthetics—he's also a crook!

Earlier this week we expressed dismay that wealthy San Franciscan heirs Peter and Billy Getty had decided to write an infuriating blog about: "What's it like to be rich?" And now, thanks be to god, Peter Getty wants to feud!

"The city's unemployment rate jumped to 9 percent in May, its highest level in more than a decade... The figures showed that there were about 361,000 unemployed people in the city, more than at any time during the recession that surrounded the Sept. 11 terrorist attack and the largest number of city residents out of work since 1993." But at least it's not raining out today! If you happen to be one of these 361,000 people, make sure you get outside and enjoy it. Next thing you know, the economy will turn around and you'll be stuck in a miserable cubicle again, and you'll be depending on your colleagues for weather reports so you know whether to take an umbrella with you to lunch. [NYT]