Anthony Weiner is tired of being mooned by the “Triumph of Civic Virtue” statue in Queens:

The statue features a nude, muscled man holding a sword behind his head standing atop two bare-chested mermaids, who look more like Medusa than Ariel, slithering at his feet.

The statue is meant to portray civic virtue triumphing over vice and corruption, however, many have found it offensive for decades. Its allegorical portrayal of vice as female caused a stir following its unveiling in 1922 — which was just two years after the 19th Amendment was passed.

Weiner suggests selling it on Craigslist. But some concerned citizens think all it needs is a good rubdown. We think they’re all avoiding the issue:

Read more »

Charlie Sheen on show producer Chuck Lorre, Thursday: “I violently hate Chaim Levine. He’s a stupid, stupid little man and a pussy punk that I’d never want to be like.” (Lorre was born Charles Levine. His Hebrew name is Chaim.) Charlie Sheen, Friday: “I was referring to Chuck by his real name, because I wanted to address the man, not the bullshit TV persona.” [TMZ]

Well, now, here’s an intriguing headline!

Even GOP activists are turning against Sarah Palin

Let’s click through and taste the juicy goodness inside:

At a recent gathering in South Carolina, the site of a crucial early presidential primary next year, party activists said the former Alaska governor didn’t have the experience, the knowledge of issues or the ability to get beyond folksy slang and bumper-sticker generalities that they think is needed to win and govern.

Whoa, that’s harsh. The GOP Activists are sounding like — well, like Democrats. And it took them only thirty months to see the obvious! Who says America’s best years aren’t still ahead of us?

Read more »

Near as we can tell, the FBI caught a real live terrorist this time:

The affidavit alleges that on Feb. 1, 2011, a chemical supplier reported to the FBI a suspicious attempted purchase of concentrated phenol by a man identifying himself as Khalid Aldawsari. According to the affidavit, phenol is a toxic chemical with legitimate uses, but can also be used to make the explosive trinitrophenol, also known as T.N.P., or picric acid. The affidavit alleges that other ingredients typically used with phenol to make picric acid, or T.N.P., are concentrated sulfuric and nitric acids.

Read more »

“Just when abortion rights supporters thought they had beaten a controversial bill they believe would legalize the killing of abortion providers, it has cropped up again [in Nebraska] — this time in a more expansive form that has drawn the concern of law enforcement officials.” Proponents, of course, deny the insinuation. [Mother Jones]

“The U.S. Army illegally ordered a team of soldiers specializing in ‘psychological operations’ to manipulate visiting American senators into providing more troops and funding for the war, Rolling Stone has learned — and when an officer tried to stop the operation, he was railroaded by military investigators.”

People magazine first observed Abe Vigoda’s passing in 1982 — which means that he’s spent nearly a third of his life in the Mark Twain Twilight Zone. (Twain himself only outlived the exaggeration by thirteen years.) The other two-thirds began on this day in 1921.