Nipplegate ends up being a bust:
A federal appeals court has ruled that the FCC acted improperly when it imposed a half-million dollar fine on CBS for broadcasting an image of Janet Jackson's exposed nipple for a fraction of a second during the 2004 Super Bowl. The court ruled that the broadcast was legal under the FCC's then-current policy of allowing "fleeting" indecency on the airwaves, and that it was unfair of the FCC to change the policy retroactively.
The White House under President Obama has sent decidedly mixed signals on marijuana.
Via hit & run, this illustration from the Consumer Product Safety Commission does everything it can do take absolutely all the fun out of trick-or-treating.
This seems like another one of those "let's do a study because we can get the money" studies:
How do Americans read the Bible? Scholars in Indianapolis have received a $500,000 grant to figure that out.
Does this seem like a pretty big number to anybody else?
ANDERSON, Ind.—Nearly 4,200 people have asked the Indiana Gaming Commission to bar them from entering casinos across Indiana.
Well, guess we won't be hearing her sing the Monday night football song:
Susan Sarandon dropped a zinger or two when she appeared at the Bay Street Theatre Saturday for an interview with fellow actor Bob Balaban. The outspokenly political actress talked about Occupy Wall Street, recalled her run-ins with the NYPD over the Amadou Diallo case and called the current pope a "Nazi."
Always classy.
I try not to pay to much atention to sensational trials, but I confess to getting a little caught up in the Conrad Murray case. Even granting that Michael Jackson bore the primary responsibility for Michael Jackson's behavior, Murray comes across as an incredible sleazeball (or "person of low character" as I heard one commentator call him). He was paid more than $1 million a year to look after just one patient, and he was so busy using Jackson to impress bedable women that he couldn't even handle that:
This is an interesting point of view:
I read an inspiring tidbit somewhere recently about Stevie Ray Vaughan and Buddy Guy. I can't remember where, and I haven't been able to verify it with Google research, but it sounds like the kind of story that should be true even if it isn't. It seems that when Stevie was learning to play the blues, Buddy was one of his major influences -- he listened to his music over and over to get the licks down. Then, Stevie went on to fame and fortune, but Buddy fell on hard times. He was ready to put down his guitar and just quit until . . .
I referenced this piece about Steve Jobs several weeks ago. With the news of his death, it seems appropriate to link to it again:
Jobs gave people products they didn't know they wanted, and then made those products indispensable to their lives.
