“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the time when bleach-faced pop stars accused of diddling little boys showed up at court in pajama pants and slippers,—their surgically-sculpted mouths smeared in pastel pink lipstick, their posses of paid sycophants trailing behind them like the long black tail of some obscenely-priced and custom-tailored tux jacket…”* **** update:  “…tasty animal crackers and pop rocks and

Sgrena: “What is this—a stupid panino?  Take it back. I ordered the veal scaloppine!” waitress:  “No, you ordered the prusciutto sandwich, ma’am.  We don’t even serve veal scaloppine here –” Sgrena:  “Do you dare call Giuliana Sgrena a liar?  I am a champion of the people—scourge of the western hegemon! I have faced American fire and survived to curse their name!  Now go find me some fucking veal, or so

As Lebanese president Emile Lahoud, emboldened by a massive pro-Syria demonstration, reinstates Omar Karami as prime minister just 10 days after the Syrian-backed leader resigned under popular and international pressure, the Times Online (UK) notes British and Arab anger over the reinstatement, and UPI rounds up reaction in the Arab press: The political crisis in Lebanon continued to be a favorite commentary issue in Arab newspapers Thursday, with the London-based

From ABC News: Top commanders in Iraq put intense pressure on interrogators to extract useful intelligence information from prisoners, yet that does not explain the sexual humiliation and other abuse of prisoners under U.S. control, an investigation has concluded. The report by Navy Vice Adm. Albert T. Church said the pressure was not excessive. The investigation could find no “single, overarching reason” why prisoners under U.S. control were abused at

From the BBC: Pakistan has confirmed that the former head of its nuclear weapons programme, AQ Khan, gave centrifuges for enriching uranium to Iran. It is the first time Pakistani officials have publicised details of what nuclear materials the disgraced scientist passed on to Iran. Information minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed told the BBC’s Urdu service that “a few” centrifuges were involved. Iran is under international pressure over its nuclear ambitions.

I think I’m coming down with the same sort of ferocious bug that plagued my wife this week— one that begins as a mild scratch in the throat before working its way into the chest and lungs, where it quickly settles in and makes itself right at home, running around shoeless, misusing the appliances, charging Thai takeout on your credit cards and throwing keggers at which a clatch of sluttly

Are you a budding Tom Daschle-inspired poet?  If so, submit your work here.

Q: what do you get when you cross anti-business Greenpeace zealots with London International Petroleum Exchange oil traders? A: equal parts pain and humiliation, evidently.*