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Jewish Soccer Team Suspended Over Fake Jewish Players

Max Read · 02/15/11 10:25PM

Holy Mount Zion, a soccer team in England's all-Jewish Maccabi Southern Football League, has been suspended from league play for, it seems, fielding non-Jewish players and pretending they were Jews. The team had apparently been under suspicion for some time, and was asked by the league to "provide proof" that all its players were, in fact Jewish; they were ultimately done in by a Facebook photo in which supposed Jews "Danny Potter" and "Simon Laub" were tagged as—and revealed as—"Mariusz Mielniczuk, a Polish-born personal trainer, and Javier Guevara, a banker who had previously studied and worked in Bogota." (A referee had previously suspected something was up when players called "Danny" "Mariusz" on field, and also when "Danny" didn't know his own birthday.) The manager has admitted to the ruse, but questions remain, The Jewish Chronicle reports:

Key Iraq War Source Admits He Made It All Up

Jim Newell · 02/15/11 05:41PM

Rafid Ahmed Alwan al-Janabi, an Iraqi defector under Saddam Hussein whose claims about the former dictator's mobile biological weapons programs were used heavily in the Bush Administration's public case for war, has an interesting story to tell everyone. The source, who, under the alias "Curveball" in intelligence reports, provided a foundation for Secretary of State Colin Powell's famous speech to the United Nations a month before the Iraq invasion, admits that he just made it up to get Hussein out of power.

Wisconsin's Plan to Sic the National Guard on Unions

Jim Newell · 02/15/11 05:13PM

Wisconsin's new Republican governor, Scott Walker, wants to get his austerity budget rammed through the state's new Republican legislature, and he just supposedly doesn't have the time to deal with public employee unions. So he's introduced a proposal to eliminate workers' collective bargaining rights for wages, pensions, and other benefits while sharply raising their required contributions. And if these employees respond by striking? The proposal allows allows state authorities to fire workers who "participate in an organized action to stop or slow work" or who "are absent for three days without approval of the employer."

The Premature Aging of Michelle Pfeiffer

Richard Lawson · 02/15/11 04:41PM

We think she looks great and is great, but Hollywood wrote her off for a while, and is now bringing her back in sad old lady roles. It's not fair. Also today: Wentworth Miller is trying to figure out what to do now that he's out of prison, Aaron Sorkin might make fun of himself, and sad news about a promising pilot.

South Dakota Bill Could Legalize Murder of Abortion Providers

Jim Newell · 02/15/11 03:29PM

Killing a doctor who performs abortions could soon be legal in South Dakota — that is, if a bill passed out of committee in the state House of Representatives on Monday, which makes it a "justifiable homicide" for someone to kill anyone attempting to harm an unborn child, becomes law.

Congress Cracks Down on Naked TSA Photo Leaks

Jim Newell · 02/15/11 02:28PM

Are you worried about those airport security scans of your penis and vagina making it onto the Internet? First of all, don't flatter yourself. But just in case, the Senate voted 98-0 today in favor of an amendment "that would punish anyone who misuses images from full-body security scanners at airports with a $100,000 fine or a year in prison." How hot would a person need to be to make these penalties "worth it"? A 5.5 on the 1-10 scale, or lower?

Another Oprah Lover Comes Forward

Remy Stern · 02/15/11 02:00PM

It always happens. The day after your book is published you meet someone who says, "Oh, I wish I'd known you were writing that biography. I could've told you about ...." Fill in the blanks here with some hair-raising incident you did not have in your book, despite years of research and hundreds of interviews. Never fails.

What Does Sean Penn Have Against Hairbrushes?

Maureen O'Connor · 02/15/11 01:48PM

Jealous, perhaps, of female celebrities' busted weaves, Sean Penn went to a press conference today wearing the pelt of a drowned sewer rat on his head. What does this man have against hairbrushes?

Hilarious Arizona Senate Race in the Works

Jim Newell · 02/15/11 01:09PM

With the news of old Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl not seeking reelection in 2012, state Republicans are already considering possible successors. Is Arizona, like Egypt, "prepared for democracy," or will this bad-child state elect some nutter or authoritarian child of Dan Quayle?

Injured Theatergoers Sue Billy Elliot Musical

Richard Lawson · 02/15/11 12:54PM

The Spider-Man crew can breathe a sigh of relief. It seems they're not the only Broadway folks putting people's lives and limbs at risk every time they raise the curtain. Two Kansas City natives are suing the producers of the Broadway musical Billy Elliot, claiming that, while watching the show from the front row, they were both hit by an errant prop and were subsequently hospitalized. They are each suing for $2 million, or roughly two Broadway tickets' worth. (Broadway shows are expensive!) The producers have not yet issued a statement about the lawsuit.

Gossip Girl: The St. Valentine's Day Massacre

Richard Lawson · 02/15/11 11:52AM

Love sprung, if not eternal, certainly something on last night's Valentine's Day episode of America's whiniest Peyton Place remake. Chuck loves to scheme. Blair also loves to scheme. Serena loves Ben. Ben loves catering events. Dan loves staring at people as they do interesting things. And Erik loves being disappointed. Wait, no he doesn't!