Poll: Too Much Celeb Scandal Coverage

New York Times: NEW YORK (AP)

Celebrities behaving badly? If you don't care, you have company.

The vast majority of Americans believe there is too much news coverage of celebrity scandals, and most blame the media for the attention paid to the stars' trials and tribulations, a new survey has found.

Nearly nine out of 10 adults said celebrity scandals receive ''too much'' news coverage, according to a national survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. Only 2 percent said the subject receives ''too little'' coverage, and 8 percent said scandals get the ''right amount'' of press.

The survey also found that 54 percent of those who say celebrity news coverage is excessive blame news organizations. Around one-third of those surveyed found the public at fault for paying attention and 12 percent said the public and the media both are to blame.

Barry Bonds Not Certain He'll Be Present For His 755th Home Run

The Onion :

SAN FRANCISCO—Barry Bonds added his voice to the chorus of criticism surrounding his inevitable breaking of the all-time home-run record Monday, saying he was 'so sick and damn tired' with the constant comment that he himself may not be present for the feat. 'Hank Aaron, Bud Selig, all these guys making a big deal over whether or not they'll be in the stands when Bonds finally does it—I think I'm starting to know how they feel,' Bonds said. 'Hell, I don't even like the guy that much. If the team allows me to sit that one out, I just might.' Bonds admitted that he would, however, watch the historic moment on television, albeit with the sound off.

Sounds right to me.

Repo: The Genetic Opera

Variety.com :

After spending most of the year living a soap opera, Paris Hilton will be part of a real opera this fall.

Hilton has joined Alexa Vega and Paul Sorvino in the cast of 'Repo! The Genetic Opera,' a full-blown musical thriller co-financed by 'Saw' makers Twisted Pictures and Lionsgate."...

Hilton will sing in a futuristic thriller framed around musical numbers that range from opera to rock. The setting is 2056, when a plague nearly destroys the human race and survival is dependent upon being able to finance a pricey organ transplant.

Hilton plays a daughter of the organ transplant magnate (Sorvino) who is the villain of the piece.

"This movie has become my life," said Bousman. "I have auditioned at least 30 actresses for this role -- Paris came in and owned it. She is this role."

See, I told you terrible things would happen if we commercialized a trade in organs for transplantation.

Thanks to blog.bioethics.net for the pickup--Variety is not on my usual rounds.

Keeping Up With the Hiltons?

New York Times:

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actress Lindsay Lohan was arrested in the Los Angeles area early on Tuesday on suspicion of drunken driving and cocaine possession, days after she completed a 45-day rehabilitation program, authorities said.

The 21-year-old star of 'Mean Girls' -- already facing a drunken-driving charge following a car crash two months ago -- was pulled over in the coastal city of Santa Monica shortly after midnight.

Discussions of legal sanctions often focus on their deterrent effect. Among some populations, it seems more like a competitive challenge.

Journalism Today

The Caucus

New York Times Blog: By Michael Falcone

Elizabeth Edwards ...took on Ann Coulter yesterday, calling in to MSNBC’s “Hardball” to criticize the conservative commentator for “debasing” the political dialogue in the country and to demand that she stop making personal attacks on her husband and other candidates.

Their exchange followed Ms. Coulter’s remarks on Monday that she wished Mr. Edwards would have been killed in a terrorist assassination plot, in response to a question about having labeled Mr. Edwards with an anti-gay slur earlier this year....

Paris is back on the streets. Ann has to keep up.
I'll keep my own wishes about Ms Coulter's fate to myself...

Paris Hilton to Give Larry King Post-Jail Interview

New York Times (Reuters):

Hotel heiress and reality TV star Paris Hilton will give her first post-jail interview on CNN's 'Larry King Live' on Wednesday, the show's spokeswoman said on Saturday.

'She will be on for the hour,' Bridget Leininger told Reuters. 'We had (filmmaker) Michael Moore originally scheduled for that time.'

We have to keep our priorities straight. Health care reform can wait.

The Princes

"The Princes: The interview everyone is talking about."
Not I.

May you learn, grow and prosper--and pay well your new PR team

From Salon:

'Being in jail is by far the hardest thing I have ever done,' Hilton said in a statement released by her lawyer, Richard A. Hutton. 'During the past several days, I have had a lot of time to think and I believe that I am learning and growing from this experience.'

Letters: Paris isn't free -- and neither are we

Letters: From Salon: "Bush to Pardon Paris!

George Bush is rumored to be considering a package deal: Scooter AND Paris will be pardoned together. Sources within the Administration say, 'The two cases share many essentials in terms of issues of equality before the law. It would simply be wrong to pardon one without doing both. And Bush, after all, is nothing if not a defender of the rule of law. He's the 'Defender'.'
-- RGoodwin"

Heston: In The Ten Commandments, I Performed All My Own Miracles

From The Onion

Bored with matzoh? Missing the garlic and onions of Mitzraim?
BRING YOUR GUN!

Legal Note: The Ten Commandments do not include the Second Amendment.

Juxtaposition of the Day

U.S. Billionaire Heads to Space Station - From The New York Times:

"There was no mention of [American billionaire and amateur space traveler Charles Simonyi's friend Martha] Stewart on [Simonyi's] blog, but Simonyi did make reference to one of the lesser-known, last-minute traditions for cosmonauts heading into space -- urinating on the tire of the bus transporting them to the launch-pad."

Did Stewart instruct Simonyi to lift his pinkie finger while urinating?