Requiem for an Editor

We have all heard by now that some reality shows are actually re-enactments of situations that supposedly really happened. These are viewed by many as cheap ripoffs because we think we're viewing the real thing, when in reality we're not. Oh, they tell us -- but in the smallest of small print. Perhaps the most infamous example of this is the show "Operation Repo" on Tru TV; and that's not the only one. One show however that requires reenactments, and we don't mind, is the show "One Thousand Ways to Die." It's obvious why reenactments are required for this one: People die in every episode. The reenactment is bolstered with graphic animation showing us what happens inside the body when it falls, is bitten by a snake, or the impact on flesh and bone of 998 other ways to die. On SPIKE TV show's website, we learn, "1000 Ways to Die combines the science of living and the randomness of death with a dash of Darwinism. What actually happens ...

The Big Bang Theory is one of my favorite TV shows, and judging by the ratings, many of you watch it too, every Thursday night -- I still miss it on Monday nights, but through the magic of FIOS DTV, I can watch one of the various episodes I recorded and saved. I found some trivia on IMDB.com , and one of the items on the list caught my eye and helped me solve a riddle. At the end of every episode, there is a white screen with black type on it. It passes by too quickly for the eye to catch more than a phrase or so, so I took a picture of the screen with my trusty Sony CyberShot and you can see it here (from the episode titled, "The Cohabitation Formulation," the most recent episode, in fact) (You have to click it to read it, too): Sorry it is so big and not exactly straight, but this is the best I could do, and you could read it at least, if you want to. What is it? you ask. That's where the trivia comes in. From IMDB.COM, "One of the final cards to appear in ...

A son of imprisoned ex-Enron chief Jeffrey Skilling , John Taylor Skilling, a 20-year-old communications major at Chapman College in Orange, Calif., was found dead from what police say was a drug overdose, according to an article on ABC News's Go website. "Paramedics broke into his apartment after friends were concerned and found Skilling in the bedroom with a bottle of prescription drugs by his bed," the article said. "They were supposed to meet him for dinner and he didn't show up and they knew he was despondent over a recent break-up with a girlfriend," Santa Ana Police Corporal Anthony Bertagna told Reuters, as quoted in the story. "They looked in the window and they could see him lying on the bed." "We don't know yet if it's a possible accidental overdose or suicide," he said. Jeffrey Skilling is the former president of Enron , which was headquartered in Houston, Texas . In 2006 he was convicted of multiple federal fe...

Mannerheim is on Hitler's left. As evidenced in countless WW2 documentaries on the Military and History Channels, Adolf Hitler's voice can only be heard coming from the mouth of the raging, frothing demigod he played for his people. History heretofore has had only a single recording of how the man actually spoke in private. This single recording of Hitler kicking back, speaking "off the record" among his cronies exists thanks to the Finns, in whom Hitler was hoping to find an ally to open a new front in his losing war on Russia. But for the Finns, it was a matter of, been there done that. Their war with Russia was over.

Maxwell, Murdoch's first public critic; died in 1991. An article on the website for the BBC carries the headline "RUPERT MURDOCH - A PORTRAIT OF SATAN" and goes on to "assiduously record... [his] relentless rise ... and his assault on the old 'decadent' elites of Britain." The piece, written by Adam Curtis and showcasing a voluminous amount of videos of Murdoch-related BBC broadcasts over the years, is careful to note right at the beginning that, "Rupert Murdoch doesn't like the BBC. And sometimes the BBC doesn't seem to like Rupert Murdoch either," so there is a relationship involved that could bias the story. The BBC had an ax to grind, and they ground it right against old Rupert's neck. Curtis proceeds to trace the evolution of the BBC's coverage of Murdoch over the years, starting a long time ago, way before he became a household name in this country. "Murdoch first appears," Curtis writes, "in the...