200 Feared Dead in Brazil Mudslide

Filed at 9:56 a.m. ET

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) -- At least 200 people were buried and feared dead under the latest landslide to hit a slum in Rio de Janeiro's metropolitan area, authorities said Thursday.

If confirmed, the deaths would raise the toll sharply from the 153 people already known to have died this week in slides triggered by record rains.

NYT

Sarah Palin at Campaign Rally for Michelle Bachmann

Once you get past looking at her helmet of hair, have a look at the woman behind her left shoulder. It's not 100% clear, but the expression on her face looks seriously pained. Like she's being held hostage by some crazies.

Palin and Bachmann: Between them their collective IQs barely reach room temperature.

Mike Lynche Survives, Siobhan Does Too

OK, so I blew it on my AI elimination guess this week. Siobhan must have the nerd gurl following because her singing is really the pits.

Mike, who can actually sing and perform, ended up at the bottom of the draw, but was then saved by the judges, thus prolonging our collective agony for yet another round of cuts.

Personally, I think Mike has a very fine voice and may arguably be the most polished and dynamic performer of the remaining crew, but he's obviously not hitting the right notes with the voting public. At least this week.

It's perhaps fitting that Dancing with the Stars finally beat AI in the ratings, no doubt boosted by the Gosselin bump. And speaking of Gosselin, her performance to Lady Gaga's song was quite possibly the world's worst display of dancing seen since the legendary Elaine dance on Seinfeld. The important difference, of course, being Elaine was doing comedy and Kate was not.

Anyway, next week I'm sure we'll see more boring singing on AI made even all the more unpleasant by the useless commentary from the insipid four they call the judges.

Man arrested for Pelosi threats called "angry"

Gregory Lee Giusti, 48, made at least four dozen harassing and threatening phone calls to Pelosi's homes in St. Helena and Washington as well as her husband's San Francisco office, authorities said.

I'd be angry too if I had to wear my mom's eyeglasses.

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American Idol: Siobhan Magnus Destroys The Universe

Although the judges may have found her version of Across the Universe to be good, the screeching left my ears bleeding and cats in heat outside my door. It's time to put this girl -- and me -- out of her misery and remove her from contention.

While her screeching may be on par with last year's screecher -- Adam Lambert -- her singing is pretty awful.

I'm guessing the judges were either distracted by her glitter lips or thinking about the stupid money they're making for hosting this (no) talent contest.

Also, could the judges be any more annoying? Especially Cowell. Their worthless and repetitive commentary is tedious and boring. Enough!

The Fat Man Cometh: Christie Eats Every NJ School Lunch

[NYT]

Public schools in Montclair, N.J., would lay off as many as 70 teachers, including reading and math specialists, and would no longer offer French and Spanish classes in its elementary grades.


Westfield would not be able to buy library books or replace aging computers, and a popular middle-school tradition — the fall play — could disappear.


Cresskill could see class sizes climb to 35 students in middle and high schools, it may charge students a fee to play high school sports, and it could eliminate middle-school athletic teams.

This is how the GOP values education and children.

Jesse James Nazi Salute Surfaces: The Real Picture

Evidently the two-fingered salute under the nose is meant to signify Hitler's moustache. Jesse is reportedly now in rehab in Arizona, but unless they plan on rehabbing him by using an icepick on his prefrontal cortex, it would seem his career may be hanging by a thread.

On the other hand, Mel Gibson is again making movies so perhaps Jesse will be hosting a travelogue about motorcycles in the former East Germany in a year's time? This country seems to reward bad behavior.

Thank you, US Weekly, for paying for this photo, and for reminding us just how bad Sandra Bullock's taste in douchebags is/was.

The accompanying article goes out of its way to suggest that James is not a neo-nazi, but unless that's cover against slander, I'd say that's some bizarre reporting.

American Idol: Your Tuesday Roundup - Siobhan Made My Ears Cry in Pain

In a night filled with largely forgettable, sometimes awful, and even some weird performances, if there's any justice at all, and there often isn't, tonight's big loser was definitely Siobhan.

Also, for you kids playing along at home, the producers do seem to routinely put the worst singers first and the best last. Since they're able to listen to the rehearsals, this is not as odd as it may sound.

In any event, based solely upon last night's performance, this chica below has to go.

However, if we take in the totality of the performances and rate the aggregate, then Didi should get the boot. Seriously, she sucks.

But truth be told, we could throw another three or four into the cut pile and not break a sweat in the process. America is obviously out of suitable talent.

Sarah Palin's Crosshairs of Stupidity

Not content with the current wave of near hysteria from some people within the lunatic fringe of the right-wing nation of kooks, comes this tweet from Caribou Barbie regarding -- presumably -- the healthcare bill.

And if the message isn't clear enough, her personal political action committee put together this charming piece:

When -- not if -- the violence escalates beyond the brick-throwing, the harassing and threatening phone calls, e-mails and faxes, we ("we" being those non-kooks) will look back at this kind of imagery and know that the message and the messengers are guilty of fomenting an environment of hate, intolerance and violence.

This imbecile, this completely inept, abjectly ignorant, despicable, racist white trash from the frozen north is emblematic of our new culture of celebrity first, everything else last.

Just how despicable is Palin's conduct? So much so that even her ardent supporter, Elizabeth Hasselbeck, is disgusted by it.


And now, to add insult to injury, Palin will soon have a program on the Discovery Channel to burnish her image and fatten her coffers. WTF!? Seriously.

Musical Interlude: Death Cab for Cutie-Brothers On a Hotel Bed (Studio)

So many great tunes in the Death Cab for Cutie catalogue, but this one speaks to me today.

Musical Interlude: Priscilla Ahn "A Dream"

I Hate Ann Coulter And So Should You

Not just because she throws idiotic rhetorical bombs at anyone or anything that she might even imagine represents a threat to her circumscribed and racist worldview. And not just because I find her physically repulsive and imagine she smells like an old ashtray that has never been properly cleaned, and not just because her pinched face, hollowed eye sockets and endlessly obnoxious self-important tone are as pleasing as nails on a chalkboard.

And not just because she has championed the execrable senator Joe McCarthy or called the 9/11 widows "harpies" or said that Christians consider themselves "perfected Jews" and that it would be better if everyone was a Christian. And not because she characterized evolution as "bogus science" or that she has other views that are so blatantly racist and vile that I won't even repeat them here.