In the middle of a live broadcast from Pennsylvania state representative Patty Kim's victory party in Harrisburg, a man in the background casually and enthusiastically drinks from a vase of flowers. Turns out it's part of a weird, elaborate local TV rivalry.

For the seventh year in a row, Jimmy Kimmel took on the two teenage winners of this year's National School Scrabble Championship (open to students in grades four through eight) in a televised competition.

Have you ever sat in a car and thought "I wish this were my clothes?" Why not drive that car to the nearest Forever 21 and make your dream a reality and then die knowing you have achieved your dream—something many people never do?

Earlier this week, the Intercept revealed another bombshell from Edward Snowden's cache of government secrets: The NSA soaks up all the mobile phone calls from the Bahamas and another country. When they didn't name that country, Wikileaks did. The question now is: why the secrecy?

7-Eleven would like to charge you $.99 for a plastic straw with a mustache on it, or if you are feeling especially bad about yourself, $2.99 for one that comes with a little plastic mason jar. You too can look like you went to a well-regarded state school, shop organic, and worry vaguely about politics.

A lawsuit out of the Atlanta suburb of Sandy Springs is raising the question of whether the Constitution of these here United States protects the right to sell sex toys. Keep your Rabbits close, folks, because the answer isn't completely clear.

We periodically run letters from death row inmates. Today we bring you a letter from Willie Tyrone Trottie, who is scheduled to be executed by the state of Texas on September 10 of this year.

A leading pro-gun organization claims the U.S. Department of Agriculture is buying up ammo for a "confrontation with American citizens" to finally set up the Obama dictatorship. See, all that ATF and FBI action was just a socialist fakeout.

The New York City Department of Education is sending "Fitnessgrams" home with 870,000 students, declaring where they fall on a scale from underweight to obese. Kids aren't supposed to look at the notes, which are based on BMI calculations from last November, but of course they're opening the letters and finding out the school district thinks they're fat.

Jim Mickle's moody, genre-skipping film Cold in July opens on a terrifying home invasion and only gets crazier from there. Dexter's Michael C. Hall plays Richard, a man who's thrust into a situation he's in no way prepared for, and then finds himself seduced by it. He ends up pursing a path that blurs the line between vigilantism and wanton criminality.

A Florida woman narrowly escaped with her life after her car stalled out on the tracks in front of a commuter train Monday. State officials released unbelievable video of the incident from the train's perspective, showing the woman's car door opening just before the impact.

A pro-government protester points at a soldier during cleanup at a demonstration site on the outskirts of Bangkok, Thailand, on Friday, a day after the military seized control of the country in a non-violent coup. Image via Wason Wanichakorn/AP.

Blended, the new Adam Sandler comedy chained to Drew Barrymore's ankles, isn't exactly what one would call a critical success (even by Sandler standards). But, as Sandler told Jimmy Kimmel last night, that's not the point. The point is Adam Sandler getting paid to go on vacation.

Cool new Pope, "Francis" (not his real name), has won lots of new fans for pointing out the exploitative and rapacious nature of global capitalism. The Catholic Church would like to assure you the Pope is not a commie. He loves the free market!

In the name of science, distinguished actor and voice of God Morgan Freeman sucked on a helium balloon, turning his famously deep voice high and squeaky for the Science Channel's Through the Wormhole.

Tennessee has a solution to the nationwide shortage of lethal injection drugs: It's bringing back the electric chair.

"The last words of rapper Tupac Shakur were, 'F**k you,' according to the cop on the scene of the 1996 Las Vegas drive-by shooting."

Amazing video has emerged of a man catching a baby who fell from a second-floor apartment window during a recent thunderstorm in China.

On last night's Tonight Show, doppelgängers Will Ferrell and Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith finally settled their long-standing feud with a much anticipated drum-off. I won't give away the ending, but there was cowbell and a surprise musical guest.

Toni Braxton drops more than a few bombshells in her new memoir, but by far the most extreme is her apparent belief that God gave her 11-year-old son autism because she once had an abortion.