Jackson Browne prevailed over John McCain in his lawsuit for McCain's use of "Running on Empty" during his presidential campaign. They settled, the amount wasn't disclosed and McCain apologized.

Funny, that of all the songs McCain could have chosen, he picked the one that most resembled his own campaign.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

Monday mornings usually bring good news stories. Maybe it's early yet, but here's what I'm seeing:

Vanity Fair puts its copy editors to work on Sarah Palin's resignation speech to show just how poorly written it was. The Boston Phoenix has a five page article on just how much money conservatives will throw at Sarah Palin.

Paula Abdul may not return to American Idol. (694 articles on it according to Google News.) Michael Jackson's mother may challenge the appointment of estate executors, Jackson's doctors may not be charged with murder and lots of people want to raise his kids (1,165 Google news articles).

If you're finding better things to talk about, or want to add to the list of news you could care less about, here's an open thread. I'm off to work and will be back later.

The New York Times reports AOL, in its spinoff from its "disasterous" acquisition of Time Warner, is making significant changes and planning for a comeback.

Could it work? I'm one the few who still use AOL for e-mail. I started in 1996 and old habits die hard. While I also use gmail and prefer that for my law practice, I think AOL has some advantages for personal and blog-related e-mail. I'm not talking about the internet version but the version you install on your computer. (You can download it from their home page.) The installed version loads quicker and requires fewer clicks for mass actions -- like deleting mail with one click, without having to click a checkbox next to the items before you delete it.

One of AOL's new features is, get this, reduced ads on its site. [More...]

Congratulations to bloggers Chris Bowers (Open Left) and Natasha Chart who got married today.

Political adviser Joe Trippi has an apology up for having blogged without disclosing some of his professional relationships. It's very personal and more than he should have had to explain. I've always liked Joe, more than most of the candidates he represents, I hope this is a non-issue that blows over like yesterday.

McJoan at Daily Kos has a wrap-up of the week's Health Care Reform news.

Medical Marijuana is now bringing big bucks to the economy in California. And, you can order it and have it delivered as fast as a pizza. [More...]

We've covered politics all day. Time for something different. Country music singer Wes Hayden, who as I've frequently written, is mad as h*ll about the way he was edited on the Bachelorette, is coming out swinging.

Hayden was portrayed as a ruthless player who wasn't on the show to find love, but instead had a secret girlfriend and a larger motive to promote his singing career. Now Hayden says he's on a mission to clear his name. He is denying that he had a girlfriend while taping the show, and he says he's a victim of creative editing. "I signed a contract with them, so I knew they could portray my character any way they saw fit," Hayden said. "But they have totally slandered me and taken my words and put them out of context. They cut, they paste, they left vital sentences out."

Sounds like Wes has lawyered up and a battle may be brewing. I'll bet it's good for both Wes and the show. [More...]

RIP:

Walter Cronkite, who pioneered and then mastered the role of television news anchorman with such plain-spoken grace that he was called the most trusted man in America, died Friday, his family said. He was 92.

Update (TL): Here's his famous clip announcing the assassination of JFK:

The New York Times reports on the hacking of Twitter passwords. You may want to change your password. It also has tips for Google account users.

Using a different password for every account is a pain, but it's far better than the alternative.

Frank Rich has an interesting, but ultimately shortsighted and wrongfully aimed column today:

Sarah Palin and Al Sharpton don’t ordinarily have much in common, but they achieved a rare harmonic convergence at Michael Jackson’s memorial service. . . . Sharpton told the singer’s children it was their daddy’s adversaries, not their daddy, who were “strange,” he was channeling the pugnacious argument the Alaska governor had made the week before. . . . Sharpton’s bashing of Jackson’s naysayers received the biggest ovation of the entire show. . . . Th[e] overwhelming majority [of the GOP] isn’t just the “base” of the Republican Party that liberals and conservatives alike tend to ghettoize as a rump backwater minority. It is the party, or pretty much what remains of it in the Barack Obama era.

[MORE . . .]

If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. The Michael Jackson Memorial is about to begin. The musical tributes will be great and there's suspense as to who will sing when, the family has not provided a schedule.

If you're watching, here's a thread to weigh in the memorial and the music. You can view the photos of the service below in larger format here.

Update: 11:34 am (MT): "We are going to see the King. No More Dying". They bring the gleaming casket in. It's topped with flowers and really quite beautiful. The crowd rises and claps. It's very tastefully done so far. updates below.

Below, Jeralyn notes that the Huffington Post has hired Dan Froomkin. We are all pleased for Froomkin and HuffPo, if HuffPo lets Froomkin be Froomkin. Very few on the Left will note this important part of the story, but Glenn Greenwald will:

While this pairing is, in some ways, a natural one . . . there are also potential sources of tension. As a practitioner of what he calls "accountability journalism" -- "explaining how Washington works; pulling no punches" -- Froomkin has been a vehement critic of the Obama administration for the last several months, while The Huffington Post frequently trumpeted (some might say "cheerleading") the Obama campaign and even his presidency . . . Will Froomkin's harsh criticisms of Obama alienate an Obama-loving HuffPost readership?

[MORE . . .]

The Michael Jackson memorial service at Staples in L.A. is Tuesday at 1pm ET. 1.6 million applied for tickets awarded online through a computer-generated lottery system. 1 of every 182 who applied received a ticket. From CNN's website:

Tomorrow, join CNN and CNN.com/LIVE for all day coverage of the Jackson Memorial. Don't miss special primetime coverage of the day's events beginning at 8p.m. ET.

CNN will also broadcast the event online. How many plan to watch? The current tally from a poll on its website: 82% won't watch. Five other networks will broadcast the event live.

Dan Abrams new site, Mediaite, launches today. Howard Kurtz has a rundown: it plays to the celebrity factor of journalists, and is described as "When HuffPo meets Gawker."

I've been following their twitter feed for weeks now, probably because I know and really like Dan Abrams, having guested on his shows for years, I like the site'sconcept. Rachel Sklaar is Editor at Large.

With separate pages for TV, print and online, the site aggregates plenty of content, like other media-focused portals, while also offering opinionated takes on scandal coverage, journalistic feuds, ethical questions and sundry embarrassments.

Dan's last show on MSNBC had a "Beat the Press" segment. This sounds similar. He was always the most energized during that portion, almost gleeful at times. He reportedly has funded the new site himself and it's lean, with just 5 staffers. [More...]