And I know that the White House is glad to have him back.
Tony has been taking it easy while recovering from his surgery last month and planning the treatment of his recurring colon cancer. In his stead these last several weeks has been deputy press secretary Dana Perino, who has done a terrific job dealing with the crazy circus that is the White House Press Room.
Link: Washington Post
I mentioned earlier this month that the ashes of actor James Doohan, “Scotty” from Star Trek, would be sent into space. The event happened today.
Link: TV Squad
Did we really need a scientific study to figure that one out?
Link: LiveScience
Four Democratic senators are running for President: Joe Biden, Chris Dodd, Hillary Clinton, and Barack Obama. All four of them have mentioned that man-made global warming is a crisis. All four senators have also communicated the need for Americans to cut down on their CO2 emissions.
The four presidential hopefuls took part in a debate yesterday on the campus of South Carolina State University. And all four flew from Washington D.C. to South Carolina around the same time. But here is the clincher: all four of the allegedly environment-friendly senators took separate private jets to get to the exact same place at the same time.
Let’s hope they all bought plenty of carbon offsets…
Link: Fox News
I was saddened to hear that Jack Valenti passed away yesterday. Valenti died in his home in Washington D.C. due to complications from a stroke which he suffered last month. He was eight-five years old.
The man who ran the Motion Picture Association of America for nearly forty years (1966–2004) had a huge impact on the industry. He got rid of the Hays Code and created the film rating system, not to mention his vigorous fight against the evil, copyright-infringing VCR (note the sarcasm).
Prior to his years running Hollywood, Valenti had been an Army pilot during World War II and flew over fifty combat missions. Later on, he was a special assistant to President Lyndon Johnson.
Valenti just recently finished his memoir titled This Time, This Place: My Life in War, the White House, and Hollywood. The book is due to be released in June.
Link: E! News
Alec Baldwin, who last week told his eleven-year-old daughter Ireland on a voicemail that she was a “rude, thoughtless little pig” and was embarrassed when said voicemail was released to the public, stated in a pre-taped appearance on The View that he tried to get an early release from his NBC contract. Baldwin, who plays Jack Donaghy on the critically-acclaimed sitcom 30 Rock, said that he did not want the show and the cast and crew to “be hurt by the situation.”
Fortunately, NBC realizes that Alec Baldwin is a critical element of the show’s moderate success and cannot afford to lose him. The network released a statement saying that it “look[s] forward to having him continue his role in the show.”
Link: BusinessWeek
Astronomers have discovered a planet orbiting the star Gliese 581, which is 20.5 light-years away. What makes this planet special among the hundreds of already discovered planets outside our solar system is that this one is the most Earth-like ever found. The planet’s benign temperatures mean that water might possibly exist on the surface in liquid form.
Link: BBC News
Comedienne, actress, daytime television host, and 9/11 conspiracy theorist Rosie O’Donnell announced today that she will depart as co-host of The View in June. O’Donnell and ABC were unable to agree about the terms of her contract renewal. Rosie promised that she will return frequently as a guest host.
Link: ABC News
A “massive” riot erupted today at New Castle Correctional Facility, a prison located in the state of Indiana. The inmates there set fires and attempted to tear down a fence. The police had to use tear gas and water cannons to break up the riot. At least two members of the prison staff were injured by the inmates’ violence.
Link: Raw Story
Discover has an amazing “map” of the linking nature of the blogosphere. The image was created by Matthew Hurst, a “social media expert” who collected six weeks’ worth of link data in order to show which areas of the blogosphere are the most active and interconnected.
Link: Discover Magazine
That would be Helvetica, which is celebrating its fiftieth anniversary this year. In celebration of this widely-used font, a Helvetica exhibit opened this month at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.
Link: Toronto Star
Former Russian president Boris Yeltsin, the man who oversaw the dissolution of the Soviet Union and who became the first elected leader of the Russian Federation, has died of heart failure. Yeltsin was seventy-six.
Link: Bloomberg
Evan Brown’s Links of Interest 