Legendary country singer George Jones has died, WMSV reports. Jones was hospitalized last week with a fever. He was 81.

Of all the things Brad Paisley and LL Cool J's "Accidental Racist" is accused of being (among them: The Worst Song Ever™, awkward and earnest, actually just racist, brave), there are at least two things that the song unarguably is. First, it is important –- like it or not, this song the pop culture story of the week, if not the year. It packs the one-two punch of social relevance and diversion. Whether you like it or hate it, we are all talking about it. Many on the internet who claim to despise racism are clearly and perversely riveted by it.

Washington Post columnist Kathleen Parker has just moved to NYC for her new CNN show, the somehow raunchy-sounding Parker Spitzer. But she's already whining about the "bureaucrats." Why won't Michael Bloomberg allow cable guys to eat doughnuts?

• New York talks to the owner of the Eldridge (left), the Lower East Side "hidden lounge/restaurant" with "chaperones, butlers, table attendants, and a hospitality consultant." [NYM]