The New Republic

At Doublethink, Sonny Bunch cites the horrifying murders committed by Steven Hayes and Joshua Komisarjevsky in Cheshire, CT in 2007, and concludes: READ MORE >>

For anyone who fears he or she may hold Hollywood studio executives in insufficiently low esteem, the Wall Street Journal offers this trend story: Soon to be starring in his own feature-length film with Universal Pictures: Stretch Armstrong, the pliant, muscle-bound doll whose roots go back to the 1970s. Big Wheel, the plastic tricycle, has its own TV show in the works. Even the board game Risk has a deal for a film, to be co-produced by star Will Smith.... READ MORE >>

The revolutionary children's show hits the big four-oh this month, having launched on November 10, 1969, just in time for my two-and-a-half-year-old self to get in on the ground floor. READ MORE >>

Dave Weigel's dispatch from NY-23 last night describes the evolving message of the Hoffman camp: READ MORE >>

When word broke last week that the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences was planning to have multiple hosts for the Oscars this year and that they'd be chosen in part on the basis of having "different strengths and a different generational appeal," it was easy to envision televisual disaster. This the just the kind of patronizing, ill-conceived demographic slicing that, not so long ago, might have resulted in a Sinbad nod and these days could spark worries of Miley Cyrus. READ MORE >>

It's remarkable enough that a bat somehow made its way into San Antonio's AT&T Center and buzzed the court during the Spurs-Kings game. It's more remarkable still that Spurs guard Manu Ginobli was able to pluck the flying critter right out of the air for disposal. But for all this to happen on Halloween night? READ MORE >>

Step-by-step instructions for making his very own Death Star pumpkin, guaranteed to keep him busy for 4-10 hours. This, and other labor-intensive cucurbitaceae possibilities suitable for any taste, can be found here. READ MORE >>

In her latest ill-advised broadside against Levi Johnston, Sarah Palin accused the soon-to-be Playgirl model of "sell[ing his] body." READ MORE >>

I swear that when I wrote this: READ MORE >>

A few weeks ago, I posted a "Nightline" segment featuring an interview with John Jackson, the prosecutor in the death penalty case of Cameron Todd Willingham. Willingham, who was almost certainly innocent, was nonetheless found guilty and executed by the state of Texas in 2004. The basis for the conviction was evidence given by arson investigators that was subsequently shown to be entirely unscientific. READ MORE >>