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GOP, Grand Old Presidents: According to a poll from CNN, every Republican president since Ronald Reagan has approval ratings higher now than they did immediately after leaving office, whereas their Democratic counterparts tend to see their numbers remain static. The lone exception? Richard Nixon. Why, I’ll never know. His efforts fostering relationships with China were break-in. I mean bang-up.
Creepy-crawly conspiracies: A German man named Sven Koppler was arrested on Thursday after an investigation revealed he had illegally sent hundreds of tarantulas into the country using the U.S. Postal Service. The man was caught like a fly in a web after a nine-month investigation called — seriously — “”Operation Spiderman,”” and faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted. We’ll just chalk this up to another reason the post office bites, eh?
Big Brother browsing: If you’re like me, your Facebook profile became inundated with updates from friends electing to “”upgrade”” their profiles. The latest and greatest advancement from the world’s preeminent time waster includes sharing such vital details as what languages you know how to speak. Remember a few months ago when everyone was up in arms over Facebook infringing on their privacy? Neither do I.
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Rage against the insulin: It’s become a fact of life that celebrities will invariably latch onto certain “”pet projects”” and browbeat us with them. Al Gore wears his swimsuit everywhere and Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have staked a claim on all impoverished children. But Brad Wilk, the drummer for Rage Against the Machine who has type-1 diabetes, has crafted his own selection of drinks that even those with diabetes can enjoy. Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee is also developing a new drink, but for the sake of propriety, it can’t be discussed in any more detail.
Asking, with a chance of telling: Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Monday that he was “”not particularly optimistic”” that the military’s policy barring openly gay men and women from serving would be repealed anytime soon, though he did say changes were inevitable. Of course, change has been inevitable since the policy was first implemented, so …
Equality in Wally World: The Supreme Court has said it will consider nixing the largest employment discrimination case in U.S. history, a class-action discrimination suit brought against Wal-Mart that claims the retailer pays women less than men and promotes them less frequently. Wal-Mart is disputing whether the case can be argued as a class action. Wal-Mart: Always low standards. Always.