1. Ebert walks back Jackass comment. From The Guardian: US film critic Roger Ebert has admitted he may have spoken too soon when he took to Twitter with anti drink-drive comments following the death of Jackass star Ryan Dunn in a high-speed car smash.
Dunn and his passenger died after the former’s Porsche 911 hit a tree and burst into flames in West Goshen, Pennsylvania, in the early hours of Monday morning. A coroner yesterday said the men were killed by the impact of the smash and the resulting fire.
Ebert, who had earlier tweeted: “Friends don’t let Jackasses drink and drive”, appeared to backtrack over his comments following a backlash from his followers and fans of Dunn, who starred in all three Jackass movies as well as the MTV TV series which spawned them.

2. Jon Stewart apologizes (sort of) for calling Fox News viewers most ill-informed. From Mediaite: Jon Stewart’s fiery debate with Chris Wallace on Fox News last Sunday is still generating fodder for the Daily Show, especially now that Politifact, the non-partisan correction organization, called Stewart’s statement that Fox News viewers were “consistently misinformed” false. But instead of merely apologizing humbly and moving on, Stewart spent most of the segment highlighting false claims made by Fox News over the years.

3. Tracy Morgan’s public apology for anti-gay tirade.

Comment: Okay, Tracy Morgan is sorry and that’s good. What he said in his supposed comedy act was wrong. But I still haven’t heard Morgan apologize for this:

In fact, not only did Morgan not apologize for  his dehumanizing remark, he compounded it a few day later.

Here’s how  The Huffington Post reported the follow-up incident:

Appearing on the red carpet at the Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday night, Tracy Morgan had some interesting praise for Palin, which he tacked on at the end of an interview, apropos of nothing.

“Sarah Palin, you’re the hottest MILF in the world,” he shouted out, confusing his interviewer. Perhaps she shouldn’t have been so bewildered — this was the second time in a week that Morgan called out Palin for her looks.

On Thursday night, Morgan was the guest on TNT’s NBA pre-game show, and when asked to settle the hosts’ dispute over Tina Fey vs. Palin, Morgan responded: “Now let me tell you something about Sarah Palin man, she’s good masturbation material. The glasses and all that? Great masturbation material.”

TNT later apologized, but clearly, Morgan felt no remorse.

Comment continued: I also, BTW, don’t recall 30 Rock’s Tina Fey or NBC issuing statements condemning Morgan’s unseemly remarks about Palin. Everyone, including gays and conservative Republican women, deserves basic respect.  

4. Atheists blast street sign honoring 9/11 heroes. From The Brooklyn Paper: To honor seven dead 9-11 firefighters, a portion of Richards Street has been ceremonially renamed “Seven in Heaven Way” — prompting tributes to the heroes and complaints from critics who say that the government should not be in the business of advancing one religion’s notion of the afterlife…Local atheists also insisted that public signs should be non-sectarian. “It falls under the umbrella of Church and state,” added Ken Bronstein of NYC Atheists….“They are heroes and should be rewarded in a place like heaven,” said Tom Miskel of Community Board 6, which unanimously supported the name change in December 2009. “Almost every religion has some form of heaven,” he added. “It’s not just specific to Christianity.” The “Seven in Heaven” firemen — Joseph Gullickson, Brian Cannizzaro, Salvatore Calabro, Thomas Kennedy, Patrick Byrne, Joseph Maffeo, and Terence McShane — were among the first firefighters called to the towers, making it there before the second airplane hit.
IMHO: This kind of in-your-face atheism is just plain nasty. And, besides, clearly America has a tradition of not being so nit-picky over names with religious connotations. What’s next? Are we to rename cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles?

5. No Entourage for Anthony Weiner. From Boomtron: When the whole Charlie Sheen thing was big news, Entourage creator Doug Ellin wanted Sheen to make a cameo on the show’s eighth season. Now in a similar fashion, there’s a rumor going around that Ellin offered New York politician, Anthony Weiner, the same kind of gig. Weiner recently stepped down from office after posting photos of his junk on twitter…But wait! Ellin recently told CNN that the reports of Weiner’s cameo were completely false. “It’s not true,” said Ellin to CNN. Maybe Weiner wasn’t the kind of guy Ellin wanted on Entourage after all. Since he’s now unemployed, Weiner could have used the job. But the story’s not over yet….While the cameo might have been a fake story, Weiner did get a legit job offer from the one and only Hustler Magazine….The job would be working on the company’s Internet division and include a 20 percent increase on his previous salary.

6. Lost reunion on Hawaii Five-O. From The Wrap: “Lost” alum Terry O’Quinn, who played Locke on the series, has landed a major recurring role on CBS’s revamp of “Hawaii 5-0” — which, like “Lost,” is filmed in Hawaii…In addition to giving O’Quinn yet another gig in a tropical locale, the “Hawaii 5-0” stint will reunite the actor with fellow “Lost” alum Daniel Dae Kim, who plays Chin Ho Kelly on the series. O’Quinn recently had a starring role in the ABC pilot “Hallelujah,” about a Tennessee town that’s torn between the forces of good and evil, but the pilot was not picked up.

7. Weird Al Yankovic takes on Lady Gaga’s Born This Way. Perform This Way. That’s the spoof’s title, not advice.

Encourage one another and build each other up – 1 Thessalonians 5:11