Tom Cruise under fire (again)

Docs don't like the idea that Thomas Mapother IV bought a personal sonogram machine to monitor the development of his child with actress Katie Holmes.

Here's the FDA's take: "Persons who promote, sell or lease ultrasound equipment for making 'keepsake' fetal videos should know that FDA views this as an unapproved use of a medical device. In addition, those who subject individuals to ultrasound exposure using a diagnostic ultrasound device (a prescription device) without a physician's order may be in violation of state or local laws or regulations regarding use of a prescription medical device."

Jack White sires child

The White Stripes frontman and model-wife Karen Elson expect their first child in the spring. Meg can be the babysitter.

Buy Jerry Garcia's toilet!

That and other household fixtures of the dead Dead guitarist are going up for auction. See 'em all before you bid.

Pullout

Great summary of Kaplan's piece over on Eschaton. (I'd link to the original, but Slate seems to be down at the mo'.) It raised a frightening though for me though -- what plan do we have in place if Iran decides an American withdrawl is the perfect time for a land-grab? The border between Iraq and Iran has long been disputed, the Iraqi forces will be utterly incapable of responding, and the Preznit has spent all his political capital for mideast wars. There will never be a better time for Iran to try to expand its borders, reopening a 2-3 decades old dispute, and possibly enticing other neighboring nations to do the same.

I hope I'm wrong, but I think we have laid a pooh of unimaginable proportions -- not directly in our own bed, but we may see some fall-out from all of this down the line. Possibly literally.

Readers flummoxed by runaway headlines

Funny.

Rock hall announces new inductees

Blondie, the Sex Pistols, Miles Davis and Black Sabbath are among the new members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Fiefdom of Dullardy established

We have a virtual nation on the Internets. I am still trying to figure out what, if any, value this game has.

Canadians warned of UFO war

UFOs are as real as the airplanes that fly over your head. ... I'm so concerned about what the consequences might be of starting an intergalactic war, that I just think I had to say something.

— Paul Hellyer, Canada’s Defence Minister from 1963-67, in a recent speech

Pat Morita is no longer with us

The "Happy Days" and "Karate Kid" actor is dead at age 73.

Tom Cruise buys sonogram machine

Or so he tells Barbara Walters. Or maybe it's an e-meter.

Save Katie Holmes!

Get your Christmas war on

I have heard murmurings about a supposed "war on Christmas" for some time. It seemed like much ado about nothing, just the usual posturing by the usual suspects.

Today in my local paper, a full-page ad from a church group urged everyone in our area to boycott stores that wish shoppers "Happy Holidays." Instead, we are being told to take our dollars to businesses that say "Merry Christmas." This is needed, the ad says, to win the war on Christmas.

I've had enough of this bullying and exclusion in the name of religion. If it's war they want, then it's war they shall have. I urge all Dullards out there to only spend money at stores (and donate to charities) that say "Happy Holidays."

As someone once said, "Bring 'em on." Happy Holidays!

Triumph

Triumph interviews Republicans. Wouldn't play on my craptastic home computer, but with a name like Triumph, it has to be good.

Blue America

Sweet baby Jesus, will ya look at that.

Reminder

Come see my band, you lazy bastards.

Oh My.

I, too would like to "apologize to Jennifer Garner and her pool boy Ben Affleck for involving them in my fantasies."

TiVo -> iPod

Yes.

Link Wray is no longer with us

The cult guitar hero is dead at age 76.

"I'm beyond atheism"

Penn Jillette tells NPR what he believes.

Throwing a Curveball

Interesting LAT article on the Iraqi intel informant known as Curveball.

Andy's "fun girl" no longer with us

Character actress Jean Carson, known to Mayberry fans as the "fun girl" in a handful of "Andy Griffith Show" episodes, is dead at 82. The more you think about it, the more you realize that the show had a lot of sexual tension. And I am not even talking about Aunt Bee.

Save Our Bluths

I, for one, would subscribe to Showtime if they picked up AD.

Gig: Ghost Town @ Molly Malone's on Tuesday, Nov 22

Ghost Town will be playing some new tunes, as well as all your old-time favorites at one of LA's oldest and bestest Irish pubs, Molly Malone's. Ghost Town goes on at 9:30, but if you get there by 8:30, you can catch me backing up a terrific songstress named Melanie Monroe, as part of her fabulous string section.

Ghost Town is really jelling around the vocals of Ms. Laura Derby, and the new tunes are a bit poppier than some of the older material. Please come out, and stick around afterward and let me know what you think! Cover: Only 6 bucks

Star Maps

Google-stylee.

A lot of the addresses are actually just mail drops, unless there are a few dozen celebs crammed into the same suite on Wilshire Blvd. And I'm fairly sure the address given for Ella Fitzgerald is off by at least 6 feet, vertically. But this will certainly give any stalkers-in-training a hand-up in their career.

Vlade Divac: draft dodger?

That's what Serbia-Montenegro says of the former Laker.

In other NBA weirdness, Spurs star (and Eva Longoria boyfriend) Tony Parker is working on a rap album, possibly in his native French.

UPDATE: Vlade has been exonerated. Whew.

I don't get it

Matthew McConaughey has been named Sexiest Man Alive by the increasingly irrelevant People magazine. Hey, I like "Dazed and Confused!" as much as the next guy, but I don't get him. Ladies, tell me why I am wrong.

Just Go

I used to really like Lisa Loeb. "Stay" is a perfectly-crafted little jem of a pop single, and girls who wear glasses always get passes from me. But now I must shun her, despite her "genuinely engaging and relatable lifestyle."

On the upside, I guess, she's no longer dating someone named "Dweezil."

Win a date with Lisa Loeb!

The "Stay" songstress will hit reality TV in search of a man, thus destroying any cred she had left with the alternative crowd.

She's still cute, though.

Snoop Dogg is a Wiener

Literally.

Maybe you'll want to wash that down with some refreshing salmon soda.

They Killed Xenu!

Those bastards!

They don't like Borat...

... in Kazakhstan.

For Ross

And Jody.

Emperor's New Clothes

Krugman updates.

"Arrested Development" gets ax

It's over after this season, although maybe it could thrive on cable. SpongeBob, meanwhile, will roll on into 2007.

Why the Fuss?

Why the fuss, indeed.

I don't mean to be a Gloomy Gus, but man, this is a dark time to be an American. Election fraud, use of chemical weapons, torture, secret prisons, a government that keeps finding new ways to shift the tax burden away from the ruling class, while eliminating services for the poor....

I only hope that someday, as a nation, we look back on this time with a great deal of shame.

Charlie Brown's Pathetic Xmas Tree

You can now, for the low, low price of $24, purchase a plastic replica of Charlie Brown's Pathetic Xmas Tree from Urban Outfitter's.

Wrong on so many levels.

Eff John Kerry

Still a flip-flopper.

Internationally Banned Chemical Weapons Found in Iraq

Of course, we're the ones using them.

Baby Review

The Infant Assessment Journal

John Lennon goes digital

Yoko is making her late husband's entire solo catalog available for download — but not on iTunes because of ongoing legal squabbles with Apple. John is the first Beatle to go digital.

Judy Judy Judy

NYT scribe Judith Miller, hated by left and right alike, is quitting. Her decision comes despite the urgings of Scooter Libby in his oddly worded letter. His missive sprang Judy from jail last month and caused a stir on the Internets.

UPDATE: She explains her decision here.

Andy Griffith lauded

The former Mayberry sheriff is honored with a Medal of Freedom.

Cruise makes moves

Tom Cruise (real name: Thomas Mapother IV) has canned his sister as his spokesperson. I guess his PR hasn't been that good since she took on the task last year.

Sis will still handle his charitable efforts — are contributions to $cientology tax-deductible?

Holler at Your Boy.

On the sidebar I've added a link to Google's Frappr, a service which lets you quickly and easily add your location to a global map, so that I can see at a glance who all twelve of you are. Take 30 seconds to add yourselves, won't you?

In the name of the father

Pete Rose Jr. is accused of helping minor leaguers dope up. The son of the scandal-scarred slugger was playing ball in Tennessee at the time, according to the feds.

It's another reason to deny Rose Sr. a spot in the Hall of Fame, although other Dullards are sure to disagree.

Genesis reunion? No thanks

Phil Collins is interested even if no one else is: "I'm happy to sit behind the drums and let Peter (Gabriel) be the singer."

What We Need More Of

Goats on trampolines.

What We Need More Of

John McCain.

Shortlinks

• Congress mulls ending birthright citizenship. Interesting, and clearly designed to stop the (re-)browning of America.


• Presidential Q&A -- though as usual, the only A ever given by Bush, regardless of the Q is "terrism."


• What I really want to do is direct.


• "Who could look at a cute little baby and call it 'Frank?'"

Borat Pimping

For MTV Europe Music Awards.

You Broke it, You Put it Back on the Shelf and Try to Get the Hell Out Before Anybody Notices

I was one of those folks who took a strong position against the war, but felt that if we went, we'd better stay until we'd stabilized the country -- Powell's misnomered "Pottery Barn" policy. But I'm not so sure anymore whether we're doing more harm than good by staying there, and whether an artificially constructed country like Iraq even CAN stay together without a homicidal strongman like Hussein in power.

Which is why I can't get too worked up about protesting the war. Even prominent Republicans are acknowledging it was a bad idea, poorly executed. But what do we do now? The solutions to the mess we've made aren't going to fit on a 3' x 4' cardboard sign. And they're not going to be found by the current group of nincompoops on Penn Ave.

I think all we can do is try to restore some balance to Congress in '06, and hope that President Clinton-44 can bring some intelligence and competence back to the White House.

Be Somebody or Be Somebody's Fool!

Mr. T. is still keeping it real.

Ali G Pimping

For the NBA

That's no moon

It's a space station — and a deadly one at that. How Stuff Works gives us the inside-out on the Death Star, including the Empire's claim that its destruction resulted in tremendous civilian casualties. Dang Rebel scum!

Gay or not gay?

Prius drivers.

MPAA vs. Gramps

The big studios come down hard on the grandparent of a kid over the downloading of four movies via the Internets.

“God, they’re an odd bunch, these Republicans.”

Speechless. Nothing to add to this. Some historian's going to make a reputation on this sort of thing some day.