Author: Eric Randall

Insane Clown Posse Won't Take FBI Gang Designation Lying Down

Associated Press

Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope, the hip hop duo that makes up Insane Clown Posse is pretty unhappy with the FBI for labeling their fan-base, known as Juggalos, as a "loosely-organized hybrid gang," so unhappy that they're suing.

By Eric Randall

Dec 12, 2011

Past Adulterer Newt Gingrich Pledges Not to Cheat on His Latest Wife

Newt Gingrich responded to a candidate pledge circulated by an Iowa social conservative group The Family Leader that addresses adultery, abortion, gay marriage, and pretty much every other social conservative issue ever, including remaining faithful to his wife. 

Comments | 7,979 Views

By Eric Randall

Dec 12, 2011

Cliché Watch

Romney's Mitts Might Always Be Off

"The Mitts come off" appears to be a simple infusion of two things journalists love: Mitt Romney puns and perennial political phrases.

Comments | 392 Views

By Eric Randall

Dec 12, 2011

A Book Deal for Roger Ailes Leads to Speculation He's on His Way Out at Fox News

News that Roger Ailes is shopping an autobiography around to publishers is leading to speculation that he may step down from his post as head of Fox News after the 2012 election.

Comments | 116 Views

By Eric Randall

Dec 12, 2011

Today's Best

Five Best Monday Columns

James Surowiecki on bankruptcy, Juliette Kayyem on medical marijuana, Helen Ladd and Edward Fiske on public education, E.J. Dionne on Obama's foreign policy, and Noah Feldman on Sunni-Shiite violence.

Comments | 1,227 Views

By Eric Randall

Dec 9, 2011

Rick Perry Forgot How Many Supreme Court Justices There Are

In his latest "oops" moment, Rick Perry forgot how to say Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor's name and then referred to the "eight unelected" justices of the Supreme Court in an interview with the Des Moines Register editorial board.

Comments | 1,674 Views

By Eric Randall

Dec 9, 2011

Nicholas Kristof Briefly Detained by Bahrain Police

The New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof is in Bahrain observing clashes between anti-government protesters and law enforcement today, and he got a first-hand reporting opportunity when police dragged him into their car

Comments | 2,451 Views

By Eric Randall

Dec 9, 2011

Diagnosed for Breast Cancer on Twitter

Boing Boing writer Xeni Jardin, whose live-tweeting of a routine mammogram ended tragically with a breast cancer diagnosis, has written a long and moving account of that doctor's visit.

Comments | 123 Views

By Eric Randall

Dec 9, 2011

Today's Best

Five Best Friday Columns

Michael Specter on the morning-after pill, Valerie Panyushkin on Russia's protests, Kimerley Strassel on Rick Perry, Jonathan Alter on Newt Gingrich, and Con Coughlin on Syria's civil war. 

Comments | 2,099 Views

By Adam Martin and Eric Randall

Dec 9, 2011

Trump's Debate Getting Lonely After Bachmann's Withdrawal

It's going to be a two-man show in Des Moines on Dec. 27 as Michele Bachmann has decided to skip the Donald Trump-hosted Republican debate, leaving just Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich slated for the stage.

Comments | 1,064 Views

By Eric Randall

Dec 8, 2011

EPA Takes the Position That Fracking May Pollute Groundwater

The Environmental Protection Agency has weighed in on the fracking debate to say, for the first time, that the controversial practice may contribute to groundwater pollution.

Comments | 5,295 Views

By Eric Randall

Dec 8, 2011

When Working in Congress, Don't Drink and Tweet

Three staffers for Rep. Rick Larsen have learned today that it's a pretty terrible idea to tweet about being drunk on the job if you work on Capitol Hill.

Comments | 5,472 Views

By Eric Randall

Dec 8, 2011

What People Want to Know About the Presidential Candidates

Google autocomplete, designed to help speed you along by guessing what you're looking for as you type a Google search, has some interesting thoughts on what people want to know about the 2012 presidential candidates.

Comments | 654 Views

By Eric Randall

Dec 8, 2011

Today's Best

Five Best Thursday Columns

Scott Clement on Israel in 2012, Joshua Green on Obama's speech, Stephen Carter on Congress's exemptions, Karl Rove on Gingrich's disorganized campaign, and Gail Collins on Ginger White. 

Comments | 1,148 Views

By Eric Randall

Dec 7, 2011

Stephen Glass's Weird Childhood Stories Are Not Legal Qualifications

Stephen Glass, famous for fabricating large parts of numerous magazine pieces in the 90s, has spent years trying to gain admittance to the California bar, and Reuters's Jack Shafer sifted through some of the arguments Glass's team has made for his fitness as a lawyer.

Comments | 4,734 Views

By Eric Randall

Dec 7, 2011

S&P Adds the European Union to Its Growing List of Potential Downgrades

After putting nearly every Euro Zone nation on "credit watch negative," Standard & Poor's has now added the European Union itself and several large European banks to its list of potential downgrades.

Comments | 56 Views

By Eric Randall

Dec 7, 2011

The Payroll Tax Grinch Steals Obama's Hawaii Vacation

After Mitt Romney criticized Barack Obama for his plans to go on his annual Hawaii vacation over Christmas, the President announced today he won't be travelling to the island paradise but said it's because he needs to stay in D.C. to work on extending a the payroll tax break.

Comments | 1,948 Views

By Eric Randall

Dec 7, 2011

Sandusky Arrested on New Charges

Former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky was just arrested at his home in Pennsylvania after two new accusers came forward to claim he sexually abused them as well.

Comments | 767 Views

By Eric Randall

Dec 7, 2011

Sebelius Overrules FDA on Allowing Teens Access to the Morning-After Pill

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius overruled the FDA today on making the morning-after contraception pill available to teens under 17-years-old without a prescription

Comments | 5,051 Views

By Eric Randall

Dec 7, 2011

An Oedipal Sex Scene Wins the 'Bad Sex in Fiction' Award

Today in books: the "Bad Sex in Fiction" award results are in, two poets have withdrawn from the T.S. Eliot prize shortlist, and California gets a Harry Potter theme park.

Comments | 2,438 Views

By Eric Randall

Dec 7, 2011

Today's Best

Five Best Wednesday Columns

Ian Toll on Pearl Harbor, Eric Berkowitz on Afghan women, Michael Kazin on Gingrich vs. Obama, Dana Milbank on Republicans and abortion, and Maxim Trudolubov on Russia's awakening.

Comments | 2,588 Views

By Eric Randall

Dec 6, 2011

Romney Hates When Obama Steals His Vacation Destinations

Mitt Romney criticized President Obama today for planning a trip to Hawaii (where he grew up) for the holidays, but The Boston Globe's Glen Johnson points out that Romney himself vacationed in Hawaii just last Christmas.

Comments | 895 Views

By Eric Randall

Dec 6, 2011

Amanda Knox Lawyers Up For Her Book Deal

Today in  publishing: Amanda Knox hires a lawyer to help with a book deal, British Poet Ted Hughes gets honored today at Westminster Abbey, and your iPad can now look like a magical leather-bound book.

Comments | 1,525 Views

By Eric Randall

Dec 6, 2011

Today's Best

Five Best Tuesday Columns

Vygaudas Usackas on Soviets in Afghanistan, Joe Nocera on Medicare's former chief, Ramesh Ponnuru on Gingrich, Spike Dolomite Ward on ObamaCare, Roger Cohen on Israel

Comments | 2,985 Views

By Eric Randall

Dec 5, 2011

S&P Might Downgrade All of Europe

Ratings agency Standard & Poor's has put all 17 Euro Zone nations on downgrade watch, reports Bloomberg.

Comments | 562 Views

By Eric Randall

Dec 5, 2011

Obama Again Urges Congress to Extend Payroll Tax Cut

President Obama spoke in the White House briefing room today, once again urging Congress to extend this year's payroll tax cut into 2012.

Comments | 120 Views

By Eric Randall

Dec 5, 2011

Today's Best

Five Best Monday Columns

Michael Mukasey on the Supreme Court recusals, Margaret Heckel on Merkel, Adam Hochschild on Gingrich the historian, Arnold Schwarzenegger on renewable energy, and Michael Lewis on the 99 percent.

Comments | 1,379 Views

By Eric Randall

Dec 2, 2011

Comment of the Day

Would Power Corrupt Newt Gingrich?

Responding to today's post on Newt's relationship to evangelicals, commenter "stefanstackhouse" writes:

Comments | 694 Views

By Eric Randall

Dec 2, 2011

Fast Food Chain Pulls a Rather Fun Mugabe Ad After Threats

South African fast-food chain Nando's has had to pull a parody commercial it made spoofing Zimbabwe's dictator Robert Mugabe after its Zimbabwe franchises received threats from supporters of the leader.

Comments | 6,552 Views

By Eric Randall

Dec 2, 2011

Today's Best

Five Best Friday Columns

Charles Krauthammer on Republican front-runners, Jeffrey Fisher on the sixth Amendment, Alfonso Aguilar on immigration, David Brooks on the German ethos, and Jonathan Alter on Marco Rubio. 

Comments | 1,466 Views

By Eric Randall

Dec 1, 2011

Gingrich Still Wants to Hire Children as Janitors

Newt Gingrich, who got some flack last month for suggesting we eliminate child labor laws and allow underpriveleged children to clean schools for pay, has sort of recanted.

Comments | 3,793 Views

By Eric Randall

Dec 1, 2011

Perry Now Advertising That He's a Terrible Debater

In a new campaign ad running in Iowa, Rick Perry seeks to capitalize on the anti-momentum he got when he struggled to remember which federal agency he'd cut in a televised debate

Comments | 782 Views

By Eric Randall

Dec 1, 2011

Rasmussen Poll Shows Gingrich Crushing Romney

A new poll released by Rasmussen Reports shows Gingrich has support from 38 percent of likely Republican primary voters while Mitt Romney gets only 17 percent.

Comments | 912 Views

By Eric Randall

Dec 1, 2011

Apple's CEO Offers Very Familiar Apology for the Siri Abortion Thing

After Apple's spokesperson called the fact that voice-command robot Siri has trouble finding abortion clinics a "glitch" that will be fixed, Apple's CEO Tim Cook offered his own apology to Nancy Keenan, president of the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League.

Comments | 1,947 Views

By Eric Randall

Dec 1, 2011

Today's Best

Five Best Thursday Columns

George W. Bush on World AIDS Day, Joshua Green on Gingrich, Julene Bair on contaminated farm water, Jack Shafer on privacy and the press, and David Ignatius on civil rights post-revolution.

Comments | 1,207 Views

By Eric Randall

Dec 1, 2011

The Odds of Getting into The New York Times Wedding Section

Everyone likes pointing out that certain people, like Congressional staffers and Yale graduates, seem over-represented in the elite pages of The New York Times wedding announcements, but finally we have the statistics to prove the hunches.

Comments | 30,356 Views

By Eric Randall

Nov 30, 2011

Comment of the Day

Herman Cain's Other Special Relationships

We're not sure Herman Cain would like this commenter's newer, sexier version of his foreign policy map.

Comments | 1,874 Views

By Eric Randall

Nov 30, 2011

Hanson, Now Very Much Over-21, Brews a Beer Called 'MmmHop'

Though it's not the career move we would have predicted, Hanson, that trio of pre-pubescent brothers who hit it big in 1997 with "Mmmbop" has gone into the beer brewing business.

Comments | 1,071 Views

By Eric Randall

Nov 30, 2011

Congressional Candidate (Maybe) Saved Flight from Unruly Passenger

A candidate for Congress in Illinois reportedly subdued an enraged passenger on a domestic flight yesterday, and though his Republican competitors question his account of events, randomly-also-on-the-flight MSNBC host Chris Matthews confirmed the incident.

Comments | 540 Views

By Eric Randall

Nov 30, 2011

Herman Cain's World Map Is Not a Joke

Herman Cain has released a "vision for foreign policy and national security" on his web site, and it includes a map in which he labels major world countries with pithy (and boy do we mean pithy) summaries of the U.S. relationship with them.

Comments | 17,956 Views

By Eric Randall

Nov 30, 2011

Today's Best

Five Best Wednesday Columns

Dana Milbank on Barney Frank, Ian Desai on Gandhi in modern America, Scot Lehigh on Romney, Ruth Marcus on Brownback's twitter critic, and Peter Skerry on Gingrich and immigration.

Comments | 1,071 Views

By Eric Randall

Nov 29, 2011

Brownback Tweeter's High School Classmates Are Bullying Her

Though much of the country came to the defense of Emma Sullivan, the Kansas high school student who got into a very public Twitter spat with Gov. Sam Brownback this week, her high school classmates haven't been quite as supportive.

Comments | 3,276 Views

By Eric Randall

Nov 29, 2011

Cain Helped His Latest Accuser with Rent and Car Payments

Herman Cain's lawyer says Ginger White, who says she had a 13-year affair with Cain, once asked him for help with her rent and car payments, and "he obliged."

Comments | 1,379 Views

By Eric Randall

Nov 29, 2011

Gingrich Once Wanted a Health Insurance Mandate

Dave Weigel at Slate has dug up video from 2005 of Newt Gingrich expressing support for a plan that would require Americans making more than $50,000 a year to purchase health insurance or face a penalty, just like Obamacare.

Comments | 1,035 Views

By Dino Grandoni and Eric Randall

Nov 29, 2011

Bleeping Blurs Who Exactly Ann Coulter Insulted on Morning Joe

Morning Joe was spiked with a few curses from Ann Coulter this morning, though it isn't exactly clear who she called a "douche bag" live on MSNBC this morning.

Comments | 7,741 Views

By Eric Randall

Nov 29, 2011

Today's Best

Five Best Tuesday Columns

Wael Ghonim on Egypt, Austin Goolsbee on Europe, Charles Lane on the death penalty, Jeffrey Goldberg on the Arab Spring, and Tom McNichol on Steve Jobs.

Comments | 1,703 Views

By Eric Randall

Nov 28, 2011

Fitch Lowers U.S. Credit Outlook to 'Negative' After the Super Committee's Failure

Fitch Ratings Agency maintained the U.S.'s top rating of AAA today, but it changed its outlook on U.S. debt to "negative" and warned it may downgrade the credit rating because the Super Committee failed to reach a deal on reducing the federal deficit.

Comments | 3,486 Views

By Eric Randall

Nov 28, 2011

Three Rich Guys from Greenwich Are Winning the Lottery of Life

In today's feel-bad story of the day, three asset managers, two of whom live in Greenwich, Connecticut, won a $254 million jackpot in the Powerball lottery, the Associated Press reports.

Comments | 5,363 Views

By Eric Randall

Nov 28, 2011

Rupert Murdoch Allegedly Scammed a Young Charlotte Church

Cute British classical-singer-turned-pop-star Charlotte Church told a sad story to Parliament about how she tried to bribe Rupert Murdoch for favorable coverage in his papers with a free concert at his wedding but got the tabloid treatment anyway.

Comments | 1,246 Views

By Eric Randall

Nov 28, 2011

The Weather Is Amazingly Nice in New York City

It's late November, and yet the temperature in New York City just hit 70 degrees, tweets The New York Times, breaking the record set in 1896, and making New York one of several areas to see record-breaking warm temperatures in the past couple days.

Comments | 1,897 Views

By Eric Randall

Nov 28, 2011

Today's Best

Five Best Monday Columns

James Surowiecki on Europe, Bill Keller on economics, Simon Gass on Afghanistan, Noah Feldman on law professors, and James Carroll on 'the city on the hill.' 

Comments | 688 Views

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