Remember the "voluptuous blonde" Ukrainian nurse described in a Wikileaks cable about Colonel Muammar Qaddafi? Well, he had a bunch of them, most of whom fled Libya as the rebellion grew stronger. And luckily for us, Newsweek tracked one of them down. According to 24-year-old Oksana Balinskaya, Colonel Qaddafi:
Amid growing public outrage that resulted in the death yesterday of two Egyptian protesters, Hosni Mubarak has issued his first, self-pitying statement since he was forced out of office two months ago. Meanwhile, state prosecutors have summoned him for questioning, and arrested his former Prime Minister, Ahmed Nazif.
Comedy Central forayed into the awards show market this evening with the airing of its first-ever Comedy Awards. When Jon Stewart predictably won the statuette for late-night talk show, Stephen Colbert pulled a Kanye West and crashed Stewart's acceptance speech in glorious fashion.
The Achilles Effect, a blog about gender stereotypes and masculinity, took stock of the frequency with which certain words are used in commercials for "gendered" toys like Hot Wheels and Bratz by making Wordle word clouds. See if you can guess which cloud goes with which gender! (Hint: Boys hate friendship, fun and glitter.) [Achilles Effect via Boing Boing]
If you're disappointed by your own unemployment or depressed salary in the post-recession era, at least be heartened that some of your fellow Americans are doing well: According to the Times, CEOs at 200 major corporations made a median $9.6 million last year, with Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman pulling in $84.5 million for the top spot. Yes, corporate profits are way up, and along with them executive compensation; and while the Times notes that "so far, this recovery has not trickled down," we're sure it's only a matter of time! And, until then, absolutely no need to tax the super rich at higher rates. [NYT; image via Shutterstock]
Multimillionaire musician Bob Dylan performed in China this week and, shockingly, did not sing ancient protest song "Blowin' in the Wind." This, writes New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd, "is a whole new kind of sellout."
Former Governor of Alaska Sarah Palin believes President Obama was born in Hawaii. She said so just yesterday! But even so, she "appreciates" failed businessman Donald Trump's (very public) quest to discover the president's true origins.
It's prom season, which means it's time for the New York Post to roll out its trend story about how New York City proms are more outrageously expensive than ever. However! Our scientific meta-trend analysis shows isn't quite the case.
Prince William and Kate Middleton are playing with fire. Charlie Sheen bounces back. Lindsay Lohan is shocked. And Michelle Williams might be a hipster. Welcome to your Gossip Roundup: Lord's Day edition.
Like many of us, President Obama woke up on Saturday morning not completely sure of what had happened the night before—had he averted a government shutdown? "There's only one way to make sure," Ax told him over the phone. "You have to go to the Lincoln Memorial and see if it's open."
A shooter with an automatic weapon opened fire in a shopping mall in the Dutch town of Alphen aan den Rijn, killing six and wounding 10 before taking his own life. It's the second shooting in as many weeks in the town of 70,000 (two were killed on April 2), though it's unclear if the incidents were connected; the gunman in today's massacre was apparently shooting indiscriminately. He hasn't been identified, though he is apparently "known to police." [BBC; image via AP]
A congressional staff member sent us this snapshot from outside Rep. Sam Graves' (R - Mo.) office, taken around 10:15 p.m. as Congress wrapped up the final budget compromise. Note that we are not—absolutely not!—implying that Republican staffers were drunk during the up-to-the-wire negotiations! Just reckless and crazy and dangerously ignorant. Okay, and maybe a little drunk. Here's the full-sized photo; we've got an email with with Rep. Graves' office and will let you know if we hear back. (Hey! At least they're recycling, right?)
Loud person Donald Trump, who is running for president from the Insane Internet Commenter wing of the Republican Party, has decided that not enough people are paying attention to him. So he wrote a letter to The New York Times!
Director Sidney Lumet, the man behind Dog Day Afternoon and Network, has died of lymphoma at age 86, according to The New York Times. Lumet began his career as an actor, and directed for stage and television before making 12 Angry Men in 1957. Lumet's last movie was Before the Devil Knows You're Dead; above, a scene from his Oscar-winning 1976 film Network.
With just an hour to go before a midnight deadline, Democrats and Republicans reached a last-minute budget compromise tonight, averting a government shutdown that would have brought Washington to a standstill and furloughed hundreds of thousands of federal employees. The deal—which involves $39 billion in cuts but does not include a Republican provision to cut funding for Planned Parenthood—isn't final: congressional leaders now have five days to iron out the formal details. Crisis averted—for now! [NYT, CNN]
Depending where you are, it's either still cold and dreary early spring, or it's already gotten too hot to do much outside. So why not go see a movie! Lots of things are opening this weekend, ranging from a documentary about a beloved comedian to a Euro-trippy kiddie assassin thriller to a medieval stoner comedy.
