I bet Sarah Palin is thrilled to learn of her daughter's re-engagement to Levi Bristol from U.S. Weekly.

Guess what mom? We're engaged! Again!

Bristol Palin and Levi Johnston announced today on the cover of Us Weekly that they're back together, have decided to get hitched – and that even their parents had no idea.

"We got engaged two weeks go," the daughter of 2008 vice-presidential candidate and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin told the magazine. "It felt right, even though we don't have the approval of our parents."

(Above: Kid Rock (another favorite of mine)joins Bon Jovi in March in Detroit.)

Sending good thoughts to Jon Bon Jovi, who tore a calf muscle while performing at the Meadlowlands Friday night, and gives new meaning to "the show must go on." Video below:

The National Geographic has a new series for TV, Drugs, Inc. Tonight there's a meth episode, followed by one on heroin and one on medical marijuana.

The description of the meth and heroin episodes sound like they were produced by the DEA. I'd rather watch The Bachelorette.

As for the marijuana episode , we'll have to wait and see. The fact page is a little less slanted. Although I don't think the statement "cannabis polarizes public opinion" is demonstrated by the two examples given: "cannabis revolutionaries trying to legitimize the plant" vs "law enforcement is trying to wipe it off the planet." Public opinion doesn't appear to be polarized, and I don't think the views of law enforcement or activists qualify as "public opinion." Public opinion can be affected by the views of both groups, but neither constitute "public opinion" let alone a major segment of it.

Markos Moulitsas and Daily Kos have filed their federal lawsuit against Research 2000 alleging the weekly polls Daily Kos commissioned from them included phony and falsified data. You can read the lawsuit here. Attorney Adam Bonin (pro hac vice) and Nathan Dooley of COZEN O'CONNOR in LA are representing Markos and Kos Media, LLC in the suit which has been filed in the federal district of Northern California.

A few days ago, I read some blogposts on the suit and got the general gist of what happened, but not being a statistician, I got lost by reading their findings.

Adam and Nathan do a great job with the civil complaint. They understand judges aren't statisticians, and write in simple language that lawyers and lay people can understand. (Theoretically, after all, since these cases are usually settled, juries don't hear most of them. But you can never be sure, so you better be able to break down the tech talk to something they can relate to. Adams succeeds very well at this.

Here's how. [More...]

Glenn Greenwald wrote about the whole Godwin's Law thing regarding his latest spat with Joe Klein and appears to have experienced a "Marshall McLuhan moment," as Godwin himself explains Godwin's Law:

Molly Haggerty, the woman accusing Al Gore of sexual misconduct during a massage in 2006, has agreed to be publicly identified. She tells more of her story to the National Enquirer. The Enquirer claims she has new evidence and is now demanding a full police investigation.

Oddly, the Oregonian, while reporting on her enhanced version to the Enquirer, which reveals her identity and shows her holding up a pair of pants, continues not to print her name .

I think this story died last week when it was reported Ms. Haggerty wanted large amounts of money for her story. Yet, in her taped statement, you hear her telling the police investigator she's not doing this for money, she's not interested in money and she just wants justice for women. Her credibility is shot. Continued interest level in this story: zero. Time to put it to bed.

Andrew Breitbart is offering 100k for the Journolist archives. Not sure why. Joe Klein is revealing them:

[Jeff] Goldberg's work is quite the opposite: rigorously reported, beautifully written and fiercely honest. [. . . Glenn] Greenwald, locked in the sterile prison of his ideology, is completely incompetent to understand. And now, Greenwald--who, so far as I can tell, only regards the United States as a force for evil in the world [. . .]

Save your 100 grand Breitbart, Joe Klein will reveal all for free.

To get the joke, read this and this.

Greenwald responds here. No word yet from the Journolisters on this spat. Presumably, private e-mails are flying. Also presumably, not 400 at a time.

Speaking for me only

I saw this Ta-Nehisi Coates post linked at Daily Kos and was struck by this quote Coates mentions from an anonymous WaPo reporter given to Jeffrey Goldberg:

It makes me crazy when I see these guys referred to as reporters. They're anything but. And they hurt the newspaper when they claim to be reporters. Ezra Klein is a talented guy, but he's just an absolute partisan. If this is where journalism has to go, so be it, but I don't want to go there.

(Emphasis supplied.) It seems to me that these Beltway reporters know less about their business than almost anyone. Forget for a moment that the history of journalism demonstrates that it began as nothing but partisan operations. Let's stick to the "modern" era where "nonpartisan" journalism was supposedly born. Perhaps the anonymous WaPo reporter remembers the late Robert Novak:

The Portland Police Department has put the audio of the Massuese's interview online. Part 1 is here and part 2 is here. Again, she's reading from a statement prepared by her lawyer which he sent her for editing, but she does ad-lib and there is some q and a during and afterwards.

So far no one has taken her up on her $1 million offer for the story, but a source tells Page Six she's preparing to come forward and identify herself.

A source told us, "She's ready to come forward and sell the story with even more salacious details. But she wants $1 million. Her attorney is shopping for a deal, and while there are many media outlets interested, there are negotiations going on because the price tag is way too high."

Meanwhile, the Portland Oregonian's editor explains why they didn't print the story when the accuser first contacted her. [More....]

Howard Kurtz at the Washington Post reports that the Enquirer says the masseuse accusing Al Gore of sexual improprieties asked for $1 million for her story. It says it decided not to pay her anything and conducted only a brief interview with her, verified some facts (like Al Gore was in Portland and the woman had billed the hotel for his massage) and then wrote the story mostly from police reports.

The accuser told police she had no interest in money. Here's what she says in her January, 2009 police statement on page 22:

I consulted with an attorney as this was so overwhelming and I felt the need to understand my rights and choices in a private setting. Since all I have ever been interested in with this situation is stopping this from happening to others, I decided I was not interested in making any money from this case.

I did not want to be labeled a gold digger like women in this situation are often labeled. And I don't care about judgments for money and some army of lawyers fighting another army of lawyers who would not bring back my pre-assault sense of peace and safety. I don't want to be bought off into silence. I only want Justice and having this ugly thing come out of the shadows and into the light where it cannot continue any more. And for this man to be stopped from what he has been doing which should have been done a long time ago. I know that I'm not the first Woman to be assaulted by him.

[More...]

What a disaster in the making. CNN announced today it will replace Campbell Brown in the fall with a show co-hosted by a conservative columnist, Kathleen Parker, and former New York Gov. and Attorney General, Eliot Spitzer. They're pairing a conservative with "the sheriff of Wall Street"? Where's the balance? I guess they want to give Fox News a run for their money.

CNN should stick to reporting the news and skip the talk shows. It's what they are known for and it's what they do best. Their pundits are their weakest link and this pairing hardly seems like a fresh approach.

Anyone think this show has a chance of succeeding?

iPhone lovers had a bad day yesterday trying to pre-order the iPhone 4. Especially on AT&T's website where security was breached. Lack of adequate testing of its pre-order system may be the cause.

After resorting to pen and paper orders, today AT&T announced it was suspending online pre-orders. Apple's website had problems too. And it has now pushed back delivery date to July 2.

For Applephobes, don't despair. A new Droid phone is due June 23 -- Verizon and Motorola will have it.