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Kinder Egg-Style Chocolate Now Legal in the U.S.

Kinder Surprise Eggs, the Italian-made, toy-filled chocolate Easter candy that was banned in the United States since it was first produced in the 1970s, has suddenly been legalized -- or, at least, an American version has. ABC News reports that New Jersey sweets entrepreneur Kevin Glass received FDA ... More >>

A Fire Hit Berkeley's Chez Panisse Last Night

A fire was reported at 3:04 a.m. this morning on the grounds of Alice Waters' Berkeley restaurant, Chez Panisse. No one has been injured, but the restaurant's front dining area sustained serious damages. "At this point, it appears to be an exterior fire that worked its way to the interior," Fire De ... More >>

Voice Readers Raise Thousands For Couple That Refused to Spy for Scientology

We've always been suckers for the final scene of It's a Wonderful Life. No matter how many times we see it, we tear up at the sight of George Bailey's friends coming to his aid in his time of need, proving to him that he really is the richest man in town. Over the last couple of days, we watched so ... More >>

Restaurants Adding Mandatory Tips Because Of Canadians

The news comes to us from ABC News, who reports that some restaurants in Vermont are adding mandatory tips because of cheap foreigners. The policy has some people accusing the restaurants of discrimination, but owners are maintaining that the policy is necessary.

After Batman Theater Shooting, Rightbloggers Rush to Defend What's Important: Guns, Themselves

Last week's terrible incident in Aurora, Colorado in which 70 people were shot, 12 fatally, at a midnight showing of The Dark Knight Rises made many of us think about how awful these episodes of senseless violence are, how precious and fragile life is, and that we should stay close and be good to ou ... More >>

DEVELOPING: Shooting at Midnight Screening of The Dark Knight Rises in Colorado Leaves 12 Dead, 50 Injured

A mass shooting took place at a midnight screening of The Dark Knight Rises in Aurora, Colorado last night. Aurora is a suburb of Denver, a short distance from the suburb Columbine, where 13 people were killed in a mass shooting in 1999. Although initial stories reported 14 dead, WNYC's The Takeawa ... More >>

Anthony Bourdain to Host Cooking Show on ABC with Nigella Lawson

When we said Anthony Bourdain was everywhere, we didn't really think he'd actually be on everywhere. Last time we reported that he's switching from the Travel Channel to CNN. Today, we bring word that he will be hosting a cooking reality show on ABC with Nigella Lawson. ABC recently put up a castin ... More >>

ABC News Thinks Big Foot May Have Been Spotted In Idaho (Spoiler Alert: Big Foot Isn't Real)

ABC News got its hands on a juicy story out of Idaho about a possible Big Foot sighting caught on tape. There is one minor problem, though: Big Foot isn't real. Like, not even a little bit.The story currently is the second featured story on ABC's New York affiliate's "news" website (right after Mike ... More >>

Anna Chapman, Failed/Sexy Russian Spy, Is Back (Kind Of)

Anna Chapman, the failed/sexy Russian spy, almost seduced a member of Barack Obama's cabinet! So says the Post, the Daily News, Huffpo, and almost every other media outlet covering the recent news. But breaking developments suggest that this might not be true.

Blowfish, a New Over-the-Counter Hangover Cure, Will Soon Be in Your Duane Reade

​Have you heard of "Blowfish"? It is not a fish. Nor is it something that you buy on the streets from a shady-looking guy whispering your fake name. It is a tablet that will be available over the counter in New York City drugstores come January. (Apparently it's already in Ricky's -- we're inv ... More >>

Next Week Is Meat Week in NYC; Cantaloupes Now Officially Deadliest Food Poisoning Outbreak in U.S. History

​In Occupy Wall Street news today, food vendors have returned to their Wall Street locations now that police have removed some of the barricades. [DNAinfo] When Le Cirque opened recently in New Delhi, they did so with some menu modifications. (Spoiler alert: Indians prefer Italian to French.) ... More >>

Daylight Savings Ending (This Weekend!) Is Good for You, Claim Certain People

Your sunrises and sunsets, today through Tuesday.​It's that time of year again, the time that we are plunged into terrible darkness by 4 in the afternoon and the hours wile on, interminable and chilly, like vampire hands. Or, whatever, it's the end of daylight savings! No biggie! And apparentl ... More >>

Barack Obama Will Support Legislation Repealing DOMA

​Today White House press secretary Jay Carney announced that President Obama will endorse the Respect for Marriage Act, which repeals the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and would grant all lawfully married couples, including same-sex couples, federal marriage benefits and protections. Carney s ... More >>

Sarah Palin and Donald Trump Will Dine Together in NYC Tonight

​Sarah Palin's top-secret bus tour will include a stop in New York City tonight, where she'll visit her friend and fellow Republican/reality TV-star Donald Trump at his apartment in Trump Tower before heading out for dinner with the onetime possible rumored presidential contender. Ah, to be a ... More >>

GMA Won't Pay Botox Mom Now That Botox Mom Is a Liar

​Ethics are a fascinating thing. While it was okay for ABC News to pay $10,000 for a story -- or, more specifically, to pay $10,000 as a licensing fee for photos given part-and-parcel with an "exclusive" Good Morning America interview with Kerry Campbell, or "Botox Mom" -- it is not okay to pa ... More >>

ABC Fires the Last Shot in Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution

​After much fanfare, controversy, and analysis, it's come to this: ABC has pulled Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution from its line-up due to low ratings. Adding insult to injury, the network is replacing the show with Dancing With the Stars recaps. As Huntington, West Virginia could have told us, ... More >>

Enough With the Kiddie Chefs, Already

​Having already chewed up and spit out Greg Grossman, the media has started in on a second course of the little Andrews sisters.

13 Killed in Bronx Bus Accident

via ABCA tour bus traveling from Connecticut to Chinatown this morning was hit by a truck on a Bronx highway and overturned, killing 13 passengers and critically injuring six others. There were 31 people on board in all. The bus was apparently clipped by a tractor trailer from behind, causing it to ... More >>

Gwyneth's Singing: What's Up With That?

​ Gwyneth Paltrow took an abrupt left turn in career emphasis when she made Country Strong and sang on Glee plus three awards shows, doing everything from slinking on a piano and crooning to a feathery Cee Lo Green and the Muppets, to standing upright at the Oscars and doing her best Carrie U ... More >>

Power Back in New Jersey After Outage Affecting 20,000

​Parts of New Jersey were left without power this afternoon due to an equipment failure at PSE&G's Bayway switching station in Elizabeth. ABC News reported about 20,000 customers lost power, and that terminals A, B and C were without power at Newark Liberty International Airport. The control t ... More >>

Want to Dine like the Stars? Eat at these Restaurants

zimbio.comFamous people get hungry too​ Because no trip to New York City is complete without a celebrity spotting, ABC News has compiled a list of places where the stars like to hang out and dine. You can be just like famous people! Except they won't have to endure long waits and reservatio ... More >>

Hotel Chelsea Now on the Market, Will Probably Go Upscale (Sigh)

​It's the end of an era. The Hotel Chelsea, which opened in 1884 -- where Sid Vicious may or may not have killed Nancy Spungen, Andy Warhol directed Chelsea Girls, and the names of residents frequently read like a who's who of '60s counterculture -- is now up for sale, reports the Wall Street ... More >>

Rahm Emanuel to Leave Motherfu**ing White House at End of G*damn Week

​ABC News' Jake Tapper is reporting that White House chief of staff Rahm "Special (Linguistic) Olympian" Emanuel is likely to leave his esteemed position as Barack Obama's chief-of-staff by the end of the week to explore a run as the mayor of Chicago, where his experience as a verbal gymnast m ... More >>

Morning Links: Obama Unveils Jobs Plan and Tax Breaks as Disapproval Rating Rises

​Welcome back; we hope your long weekends were swell! • President Obama has unveiled a $50 billion public-works plan to revive the economy, and is asking Congress to pass tax breaks that would let businesses write off 100 percent of their new capital investments through 2011. [WSJ, AP]

Wake Up to Coffee Cocktails; Canadians Come Up with Wine-Fed Beef

​The Randolph at Broome has started serving hot and cold coffee cocktails from 8 a.m. on, such as the World's Best Dad, incorporating Laird's Applejack and sweet vermouth, and the Slow Trip to New Orleans, made with Bulleit bourbon, Plymouth sloe gin, and coffee. [Diner's Journal] Tokaj, Hun ... More >>

NYC Department of Education is Set to Crack Down on Sexting

via ABC News​The NYC Department of Education is considering imposing rules against sexting and cyberbullying, the Daily News has reported. The trend is already so rampant that it might rival controlling the Gulf oil spill in terms of difficulty -- but it seems the DOE will give it a try if the ... More >>

Breaking: ABC News Reporter to Engage 3rd "Real Person" on TV

​Okay, so it's the 3rd "real person" from Twitter, but still: ABC News White House correspondent Jake "The Octagon" Tapper celebrating talking to the public, putting "real person" in scare-quotes, even having this be a notable occasion -- a reporter! Talking to real people! -- and also having ... More >>

Terrorists Are Officially Just Fucking With Us Now

​The FBI is warning of a possible new terror tactic: per ABC News, a "battle of suspicious bags" is being encouraged on a jihadist website. The bags, while suspicious, might actually be filled with harmless items like water bottles, or socks -- not with bombs.

Awesomely Nerdy Spelling Bee Finals Remind Us How Relieved We Are to Be Adults

​If you're just sitting at home tonight between 8 and 10 p.m., you're going to want to tune in to the Championship Finals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee, live on ABC. Why? Because it will be...awkward. Cringe-inducing. Stressful! And awesome. Remember when you wore a retainer, waged an o ... More >>

Jamie Oliver Praises Mickey D's; Lady Gaga on the Baby Food Diet

​The Times Square Alliance is seeking proposals from local businesses to operate concession stands in the pedestrian plazas located on Broadway between 42d and 47th Streets. [NY Times] The National Milk Producers Federation is lobbying the FDA to require that plant-based beverages, like soy m ... More >>

In California, the Happy Meal Goes the Way of the Dodo Bird; Donatella Arpaia Dons Chef's Whites

​Santa Clara County, south of San Francisco, has decided to ban Happy Meal and other promotional toys that often accompany kids' meals at fast-food chains. [NY Times] The recipe-testing battle between Food52.com and Cook's Illustrated continues, and the results will be posted on Slate. [ABC N ... More >>

Kombucha Makes a Comeback; Mets Get More Fancy Foods

​Mets fans are getting even more reasons to hang out in the Citi Field food court this season. Crab cake sandwiches from Catch of the Day, Disco fries from Box Frites, and strawberry shakes from Shake Shack are among new menu items. And a McFadden's Pub will open at street level. [NY Times] B ... More >>

9/11 Crime Scene: New Photos of New York City's End Times

A caption is unnecessary. ABC News is displaying still more previously unreleased photos of 9/11. Slideshow of all of the new ones (so far) is here. As if New Yorkers would ever forget. Still ...

The Future Is Bleak for Foodies; Forget Jared. Meet Christine, Taco Bell's Diet Poster Girl

​The latest food recall comes from National Steak and Poultry in Oklahoma, which is recalling some 248,000 pounds of beef that might be contaminated with a strain of E. coli. The meat could be linked to illnesses in Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, South Dakota, and Washington. [ABC News] Wh ... More >>

Need a Musto fix? Here's something to tide you over

​Michael may be on vacation, but he wasn't too busy to give ABC News a soundbite for their breathless story on Adam Lambert's "racy" AMA performance. Go here to see what words of Musto wisdom were included in the story. (And just ignore the helmet-haired morons who pop up automatically in the ... More >>

"Stars' Sexperiences" Make Us Feel Bad About Hollywood, Ourselves

​Tina Fey (pictured) reveals that she "couldn't give it away" -- meaning her virginity -- when she was a young lass, prompting respected journalistic organization ABC News to run a slide show of "Stars' Sexperiences." You would imagine these Sexperiences would be calculated to include simila ... More >>

Congratulations To Budding Multimedia Rock-Critic Superstar Tom Breihn

​Here's your friend and mine telling the good people of ABC News all about Girls. They pronounced it right, Tom, and for today that's enough.

Weird Photos of Michael Jackson's Legs

ABC News has uncovered these upsetting pix of Michael Jackson's legs at a rare moment when they weren't moonwalking. What the shots uncover is a bunch of discoloration and needle marks suggesting IV usage. And these were from 2002! Discuss.

"World's Richest" Meet in Secret, Plot New World Order or Something

Get out your tinfoil! ABC today reports a heretofore secret meeting of "America's Richest Givers", including Mayor Bloomberg, Oprah, David Rockefeller, George Soros, Ted Turner, and other illuminati, were invited by Warren Buffett and Bill Gates to a "window-lined private room" -- as opposed to one ... More >>

The Village Voice Friday Self-Reach-Around

Just a note here to point out that the Tom Robbins Voice story that tied former New Jersey Senator Bob Toricelli to the New York pension scandal went up Tuesday night, not Thursday as the Times has it today. Thanks also to the New Jersey Star-Ledger for picking up the story, and Crain's New York Bus ... More >>

Pilot Trouble

A season in hell: A critic's guide to what not to watch in the new fall lineup

Mauling Michael Moore

The attack on Fahrenheit 9/11: Fox lays back while ABC and NBC pile on

Behind the Pulitzer

Death and litigation continue even after The New York Times exposed a foundry owner's negligence

The Right to Choose Ads

The Battle Over Abortion Doesn’t Hit the Airwaves

Sue the Messenger, Part One

Rash of Lawsuits Shows No One Trusts the Media

Out of Network

The health issues behind the ABC lockout

Cheerleaders For Violence

The Green Menace

Dressing Down ABC

Network Not Funny

ABC Celebrates Cerebral-Free TV