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Stephen Colbert Is Sick of the Bin Laden Story

Matt Cherette · 05/05/11 11:32PM

On tonight's Report, Stephen Colbert had one major complaint: The media won't talk about anything other than Osama bin Laden! After lamenting the fact that "the TV people won't let [him]" focus on anything else, Colbert gathered his thoughts long enough to bring us up to speed on a few of the stories currently trending online—including the nude pictures of Kate Middleton's brother—before making a few confessions of his own.

Seattle Cracks Down on the Scourge That is Yellow Pages

Seth Abramovitch · 05/05/11 11:00PM

Yellow Pages. I cannot throw those things in the recycle bin fast enough. And yet they keep coming! When was the last time you actually used one, and what did you use it for? As makeshift booster seats for your child's third birthday party? Under-sweater bulletproofing for driving through rough neighborhoods? All-purpose instruments of blunt force trauma? Hey, Yellow Pages: 1983 called. They would have called sooner, but they had to use a Yellow Pages to find your number! You get the point. I hate Yellow Pages. But I love Seattle, for being the first city in the country to actually take active measures to get rid of them.

This Is Why Jennifer Lopez Did American Idol

Matt Cherette · 05/05/11 09:23PM

When Jennifer Lopez signed on to judge this season of American Idol, many wondered why a star of her caliber would sit on the panel of a talent competition. Her performance of "On the Floor" on tonight's live results show answers that question.

Ahmadinejad's Advisers Jailed for Practicing Witchcraft

Seth Abramovitch · 05/05/11 09:17PM

An ongoing fight between Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei has taken a turn for the weird, as several of the president's closest advisers have been arrested and charged with being "magicians" and invoking djinns, or spirits.

Live Coverage of the First Republican Presidential Debate

Jim Newell · 05/05/11 07:57PM

Five Republicans — Herman Cain, Tim Pawlenty, Rick Santorum, Gary Johnson, and Ron Paul — are debating political stuff in South Carolina at tonight's First Republican Presidential Debate. Where are the "good candidates," you ask? They're busy, doing anything else. But that's no matter; The Pizza Man and Anal Leakage don't need Mitt Romney's help to put on a show. Let's record all the slaps in this Palmetto Punchout, right here. Turn on the Fox News Channel, now!

The Bold Return of Wes Bentley

Richard Lawson · 05/05/11 04:39PM

A great male hope from the late '90s/early '00s just landed a pivotal role in a sure-to-be-big movie. Also today: your real estate dreams could come true, Simon Cowell has a new coworker, and let's look at the boys of the new X-Men.

Security Scare at Obama's Ground Zero Ceremony

Jim Newell · 05/05/11 03:59PM

New York City police officers tackled and took away for questioning a "suspicious man" outside Ground Zero today, where President Obama was leading a wreath-laying ceremony. The man was walking his bike towards the World Trade Center area and saying, "Secret Service, Secret Service coming through," after which cops tackled him and searched through his messenger bag. And according to the New Jersey Star-Ledger, "witnesses say may have pulled a gun out of a backpack as President Barack Obama's motorcade passed."

David Koch Doesn't Give 'Hardcore Socialist' Obama Credit for Killing Anything

Jim Newell · 05/05/11 02:55PM

David Koch, the right-wing billionaire who funds much of the Republican party's ideological activities and whose towering persona makes for effective left-wing performance art, gave a rare public comment to New York magazine at some gala or another last night. Does he think the president deserves any credit for the Osama bin Laden mission? Of course not! Socialists don't deserve a farthing's worth of credit for anything.

The Most Meta Hack Attack Ever

Adrian Chen · 05/05/11 02:43PM

Most of us store our multitude of passwords and usernames in random emails we send to ourselves, or on used cocktail napkins. But some people use fancy password managers to organize their logins, and they think they're so smart. But what happens when hackers steal the password to your password manager?

Birthers Do Respond to Hard Evidence

Jim Newell · 05/05/11 01:35PM

Some considered President Obama's decision to release his birth certificate last week a fool's errand, since those who didn't think he was born in the United States wouldn't ever respond to more definitive evidence. It still may have been a silly argument to engage — that press conference of him showing his papers will always seem beyond surreal, if not plain depressing. But now a whole 70 percent of Americans believe he was born in Hawaii! You know what that means: This issue is coming dangerously close to something that we'll never have to write about again.

Obama Lays a Wreath at Ground Zero

Jim Newell · 05/05/11 12:53PM

Here's President Obama's relatively subdued appearance at Ground Zero, where he laid a wreath to honor the victims of 9/11 and then chatted up a nice police officer. No soaring speeches today, it seems. Before the ceremony he stopped at a local firehouse, and now he's meeting privately with 9/11 victims' families.