Six In The Late Afternoon

What's up? Lots!

1 PIRATES KILLED, HOSTAGE SAVED after a five-day standoff, American ship captain Richard Phillips is safe after U.S. snipers shot the three pirates holding him hostage. And now, their pirate-pals are pissed. But so is the U.S. president. (Guardian, Globe and Mail, NY Times)

2 THE GOOGLEMOBILE COMETH Minions of the Google empire are in Saskatoon taking photos of the city for the company's new Street View program that will eventually let viewers access a 3-D composite of many world cities. Privacy invasion, coolio Internet thing or both? (Star-Phoenix)

3 AMAZON DOT FAIL The online bookseller is scrambling along in damage control mode after after it (accidentally?) de-listed books on gay sexuality, making it difficult to search for and buy them and sparking a ginormous Internet flappola. Salon is following the story. (Wired, Salon)

4 CUBA LIBRE! U.S. President Barack Obama might be moving the United States toward a new stance on Cuba. This is not necessarily a good thing, though--the embargoey bullshitness and tourism restriction are staying in place. (New York Times)

5 LAST GAS The final episode of Corner Gas airs tonight. Also: did you see that clip with Brad Wall ignoring Wanda's goofy strike and driving through her picket line? Would've thought this might not be the best optics for a premier whose government brought in profoundly anti-labour legislation. Then again, a lot of voters in Saskatchewan seem to hate labour's guts, so maybe Wall's cameo is just another way to reach out to his political base. Here's the clip. Strange, creepy stuff. (CBC, YouTube)

6 MAYOR HAIR The Leader-Post has an insane, non-news front-page story story today. Which is no fault of Pat Fiacco's swell hair. And no, I'm not being sarcastic, the man does have nice hair and he wears a mullet well. And no, I'm not being facetious, mullets can (albeit rarely) be worn well. And Mayor pat has such a mullet. But Jeez, isn't prairie dog supposed to be the juvenile, unprofessional and lightweight media outlet in this town? Get off our turf, "Joe Couture" (if that is your real name)!