Highlights

This feature was written by Wally, Cedric, Betty, Rebecca, Elaine and Mike and we picked the highlights unless otherwise noted.

"Kat's Korner: Bright Eyes releases the studio album you've waited for" -- Kat's latest review, Bright Eyes' Cassadaga. Great CD, check it out if you haven't already.

"Tom-Tom Goes to the Public Library" -- Betty's latest chapter includes the pick for truest statement of the week. It includes a lot more as well. From the comic, online novel, Thomas Friedman Is a Great Man.

"Walnuts and Cranberry Rice in the Kitchen" -- Trina's addressing ways to add life to rice as well as what good it does when you're on TV and your piece is linked but your website is down.

"THIS JUST IN! BEAUTY CONTESTS GET SLEAZIER!" & "There she is, Miss America" -- Wally and Cedric's joint-post on the 'cherished' Miss America (the title, not the person) going online (with police) posing as an underage teenager to meet up with pervs. Doesn't it add a whole 'nother leve of respect to the cattle show that is the beauty contest? The print edition will contain a take on this topic. We don't think it's making the online version because there's been too many complaints about how it's not "sharp" enough and "meanders." We disagree.

"sad, sad sirota" -- A Party Hack decides it's time to play journalist and Rebecca's not buying (nor were we).

"And the war drags on . . ." -- this pick by Mike's dad. In this entry, C.I.'s using the latest issue of Rolling Stone (40th anniversary) to illustrate how independent media could be taking part in the dialogue on Iraq but instead chooses to sit this one out.

"Law and Disorder" -- Mike offers an overview of Law and Disorder.

"Katrina vanden Heuvel did not win an award from Planned Parenthood" -- we are shocked! Shocked! Shocked! And more shocked by the news contained in Kat's post. We haven't been so shocked since we found out Bill O'Lielly didn't win a Peabody!

"dear katrina" -- her ears must have been burning because Rebecca penned another open letter, this time wondering how it's okay for a woman to be in charge, to call all the shots, and think running one woman for every four male is acceptable?

"On the exclusion of women" -- Elaine also addresses the issue of women being sidelined -- including when they're sidelined by women ("Queen Bees").

"Jake Kovco" -- a community favorite and requested by 14 people who e-mailed this site, according to Ty. Mike goes over recent news about Kovco's death and notes the community's stand.

"In the Land of Rubin" -- Jess gave us the backstory here. Last week, as the edition seemed to never end (writing of it), Dona, Jess, Ty and C.I. made an ice cream run. A woman was buying a New York Times. Or pretending like she wanted to buy it. She kept insisting that the price (printed on the front page and the same price it is across the US) wasn't correct. They had grabbed their ice cream and were waiting patiently (well, for them) for their turn but the woman wanted to gripe and complain and started saying she knew the price was wrong and it was only two dollars at Starbucks, she knew, she just knew. Dona finally tapped the woman on the shoulder (the woman had held up the line -- which was just her and the gang -- for nearly 10 minutes as she haggled over the price of a newspaper) and told her, "You're done. Step aside." The woman then made some comment about how "some people like to be informed" and C.I. stepping around her, declared that she wouldn't get information from that paper and proceeded to give pretty much the critique you see in this entry. (Jess says it also included a dopey sentence by Rubin that declares evidence but then, at the very end, admits it may not be evidence.) We thought the entry was funny (and analytical) on its own but knowing it was ticked off to the woman holding up the line (we imagine C.I. doing in a non-stop flow) made us enjoy it even more.

"Iraq snapshot" -- this is the snapshot that notes Terri Johnson and, readers of the gina & krista round-robin know, her story is one of great interest to this community. We won't hold our breaths waiting for independent media to cover her.