The WIRe – Week in Review

From the National Affairs Desk: Toronto


TORONTO – Been a busy week, so let’s get to it….Swiss cops arrested Film director Roman Polanski as he was flying in for the Zurich Film Festival. He faces extradition to the U.S. for statutory rape charges for having sex with a 13 year old in 1977. Polanski claims it was consensual; I guess that means its okay…. 73 year old Dennis Hopper was taken to a New York Hospital this week; eyewitnesses say he was brought into the emergency room wearing an oxygen mask and had numerous tubes connected to him….Spencer Pratt says he’s afraid to have sex with wife Heidi Montag because he’s afraid she’ll get pregnant. Really, we all should have such problems….Tufts University in Boston has a new dorm policy banning sexual activity while a roommate is in the same room. That one’s just too easy….Apparently Canadian actress Ellen Page enjoys shoveling Goat manure, helps her relax…..Madonna, when asked this week if she’ll ever marry again stated: “I’d rather get hit by a train…” now THERE’S a ringing endorsement for marriage….. An earthquake measuring 7.6 hit Sumatra Wednesday with death tolls estimated at 1100, according to the UN….Meanwhile flooding in the Philippines leaves 140 dead after a month of rain falls in just 12 hours….astronomers say a bright flash in the sky over Ontario was likely a meteor streaking momentarily, and was possibly the size of a microwave….Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi cancelled his mysterious trip to St. John’s Newfoundland this week. His reason for cancelling the trip is just as mysterious as why he wanted to go there in the first place…. Chancellor Angela Merkel is re-elected with a majority government in Germany’s latest election, Portugal re-elects the Socialists, and Canada is still stuck with mister poopy-head in office….Lucy Vodden, classmate of Julian Lennon and inspiration for John Lennon’s classic song Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds, has died after a long battle with Lupus, she was 46….A toxicology report confirms that Adam Goldstein, AKA DJ AM, died of a lethal overdose of prescription drugs and cocaine….Jenny Slate, newcomer to Saturday Night Live, drops an F-bomb in the middle of a skit on live TV; “You know what? You stood up for yourself, and I fucking love you for that…” she said, before rolling her eyes and blushing at her mistake…...David Letterman must be blushing too; this week he came out and admitted he had sex with staff members, He also said a man had threatened to expose the relationships unless a payment of $2m was made. CBS employee and 48 Hours producer Robert "Joe" Halderman has been implicated. Didn’t know you had it in you, Dave, or hanging out of you… author, columnist, and Pulitzer Prize winner William Safire has died at the age of 79 after a battle with cancer. Safire penned more than 3000 columns over 30 years for the New York Times and wrote Spiro Agnew’s famous line “nattering nabobs of negativism.”


..On the Lighter Side…..


I nominate Canadian cutie Ellen Page as the Inaugural “National Affairs Girl of the Week” for her Brains, Beauty and Toughness, and her willingness to shovel Goat manure:


















Thanks to all our contributors this week, and for making the NAD the great blog that it is. The conversation got a little heavy this week; a lot of religious discussion, and a lot of opinions. Sorry I didn't weigh in on it, but as I said, it's been a busy week. Thanks for reading! until next time...

David Hunter, the National Affairs Desk: Toronto