HAPPY THANKSGIVING, Y’ALL! I may not post much over the long weekend, but I’ll be back by Monday. In the meantime, here’s a bumper crop ‘o’ links.
SANTA’S GOT A BRAND NEW BAG: Actually, the Godfather of Soul has been giving away turkey for 13 years.
THE CENTER FOR CONSUMER FREEDOM pokes some Thanksgiving fun at obesity lawsuits with their Thanksgiving Guest Liability and indemnification Agreement. UPDATE: The Centers for Disease Control has overstated obesity deaths by as much as 20 percent.
OVER THE RIVER, OVER THE WOODS TO BED OR WED: Nearly one in four Americans get on a plane over the holiday season hoping the person sitting in the next seat might be a future date or spouse.
AL JAZEERA plans to spend up to $30 million to launch an English-language news channel by the end of 2005 — news that probably should not be announced by a dude named Jihad.
MARILYN MANSON guest lectures at Temple University. He opened the class with a question: Could he share a bottle of red absinthe with the students?
DAN DREZNER: The associate professor of Political Science from the U of Chicago tries his hand at a sex scene.
GET REESE’S ON THE PHONE: An ingredient of chocolate is nearly a third more effective in stopping persistent coughs than the leading medicine codeine. Can’t we get a product with both?
IT’S NOT YOUR FAULT: Your bad habits are due to a chemical imbalance in your brain, your smoking is genetic. Being a night owl may be genetic, too.
DAN RATHER, under investigation over the authenticity of documents aired in a 60 Minutes II story challenging Bush’s military service, resigns as anchor of the evening news in March 2005. In a semi-related story, former CBS News exec Jonathan Klein has been Klein referred to the bloggers who broke the story of Rather’s forged memos this way: ”[It’s] a guy sitting in his living room in his pajamas.” Starting in March, Rather will have time to bring Klein a cup of coffee to smell.
ON A RELATED NOTE: America’s twentysomethings were asked whom they trust more to inform them on politics: Dan Rather and Peter Jennings lost to Jon Stewart.
SOUTH KNOX BUBBA’S 500 Greatest Songs of All Time is arguably better than the Rolling Stone list linked yesterday. Again, the argument is the thing.
SPEAKING OF ROLLING STONE, former Playboy exec James Kaminsky will join Rolling Stone as one of three deputy managing editors. If you’re imagining a Lindsay Lohan centerfold, get a grip on yourself: the editorial troika “means Jann [Wenner] is the top banana once again and he is going to be running things,” said Wenner General Manager Kent Brownridge. Which means you’re more likely to see a Colin Farrell centerfold?
A NEW COMPUTER PROGRAM can detect art forgery as well as human examiners.
MARK CUBAN was fined by the NBA for some critical blogging.
ON THE PITCHFORK: Brian Wilson’s Smile is issued on vinyl, with bonus instrumental versions of some tracks.
IS HOLLYWOOD OUT OF TOUCH with the heartland? Los Angeles and New York City account for just under half of the fictional settings for prime-time television shows going back to 1948, according to a new study by a media agency.
ODB REALITY SHOW TO AIR, extending those 15 minutes just a little bit longer.
TV BARN is cataloging local TV news sweeps stunts.
