I wasn't going to watch "Farrah's Story" last night, but then I did, all two hours of it. It made for a fitful night's sleep and every time I woke up I was thinking about it and how horrible and tragic and hopeless her situation is.

I wasn't going to write about it but this review in the New York Times made me angry. The comments by readers are across the board. [More...]

TNR and Jeff Rosen, take note. This is some actual legal reporting on Judge Sonia Sotomayor, from Tom Goldstein at SCOTUSblog:

Judge Sonia Sotomayor is an obviously serious candidate to serve on the Supreme Court. We have been struck by how the amount of commentary about Judge Sotomayor has ignored the most accessible and valuable source of information: her opinions as an appellate judge. Last year, I directed a project in which a team of Akin Gump summer associates extensively reviewed Judge Sotomayor’s opinions. Amy Howe subsequently revised and expanded their work, with contributions by me. Here, we summarize what we regard as Judge Sotomayor’s principal opinions in civil cases. Our only goal is to identify and summarize the opinions, not evaluate them.

A good roundup. And how the discussion should have started about the possibility that Judge Sotomayor may be President Obama's choice for the Supreme Court. It is worth a careful read. BTW, Judge Sotomayor will not be chosen by President Obama, imo, because of speeches like the one Orin Kerr reports on here. To me, the speech is unexceptional. To the Village, it will be an outrage. And Obama has shown no inclination to standing up to the Village. Just watch.

Speaking for me only

Mika Brzezinski writes a letter to the NYTimes:

. . . Joe’s evenhanded approach angers harsh ideologues on both sides. Last week, he was attacked by right-wing hosts for being too open-minded, and now by your liberal editorial page.

This liberal thinks The New York Times should follow Joe Scarborough’s example of speaking truth to power — regardless of which party is in power.

Mika Brzezinski
New York, May 11, 2009

Yeah, I laughed too.

Speaking for me only

Anyone see the 2 hour season finale to Grey's Anatomy? Did Izzie and George both die, just one, or neither? Talk about keeping your options open.

One theory: Since Izzie didn't step off the elevator to meet George, he's dead, she returns.

I would have preferred a firm resolution, but I'll take what they gave us because it was the best episode of the season -- especially Derek and Meredith finally getting married by hand-writing vows on a post-it note. (Thus the theme, despite all the sadness, there's a little bit of joy.)

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

The Government in India has razed the home of one of the child stars of "Slumdog Millionaire" rendering the family homeless.

The mother of the child actor said that she did not know what would happen to her family now and that the help promised by local authorities and by the film's makers had not materialised.

The film made $200 million. Can't the movie's owners help out?

Film director Danny Boyle has strongly denied charges of exploitation. The film's makers have set up funds to pay for their education and they have been enrolled in school for the first time. They also recently announced that they will donate £500,000 to a charity which will help children living in the slums of Mumbai.

I hope Mr. Boyle and company decide to do more. What good is the charitable contribution if it doesn't help the child who helped make the movie a hit?

Via the new site The Stimulist: It wasn't BBC that won the top award for radio at the Sony Radio Academy awards in the UK this week, it was Electric Radio Brixton, a prison radio station. The Guardian has the story:

[The station] won four prizes, including two prestigious gold awards. Run by the Prison Radio Association (PRA), most of the station’s music and speech output is produced and presented by prisoners. With a tagline of ‘making waves behind bars,’ it broadcasts 24 hours a day, but only inside the prison walls.”

I bet it's better than the Christian-oriented prison radio stations we get in this country.

Is charging for online content the wave of the future for newspapers? The Denver Post thinks so. Media News Group which owns the paper and 53 others, made an announcement today that it will cease providing free online access to the papers.

The MediaNews memo said, "We continue to do an injustice to our print subscribers and create perceptions that our content has no value by putting all of our print content online for free. Not only does this erode our print circulation, it devalues the core of our business -- the great local journalism we (and only we) produce on a daily basis."

Seems very short-sighted to me. Fewer online eyes means fewer clicks for advertisers which will lead to decreased ad revenue. There must be a better answer.

The news has been thoroughly depressing today. Time to tune it out and watch TV. It's American Idol and the finale of the Biggest Loser for me (I''m rooting for Mike.)

DWTS will drop someone tonight, I hope it's not Melissa. By the way, my pal Jesse Csincsak (photo here) from the Bachelorette has a petition going to land a spot on DWTS next season. I think he'd be great, I hope you will go over and sign.

What are you watching tonight? If the answer is nothing, feel free to discuss other topics -- especially if you have something positive to report.

You know how thrilled the Obama Administration is when that name gets said in the Media? I know Brian Williams loves Rush Limbaugh, but most of America does not. So Wanda Sykes has done Obama a great favor. I suppose conservatives will feel obliged to be "outraged" about it all, though I thought this was sort of half hearted:

TIME's Joe Klein: "comedy is by definition inappropriate. I mean, this is just comedy. And we're talking about a guy in Rush Limbaugh who is inappropriate half the time I hear him on the radio." "But he doesn't do it at a White House Correspondents' dinner." said [Amanda] Carpenter.

(Emphasis supplied.) Umm, so the problem was Sykes did it at the White House Correspondents Dinner, as opposed Limbaugh doing it on radio? Oookaaay Amanda.

Speaking for me only

There's a lot of tv on tonight to cap a very pleasant Mother's Day. First up is the season finale of HBO's The Number One Ladies Detective Agency.

There's the three hour finale of Celebrity Apprentice where Joan Rivers goes to bat against her arch-rival, poker champ Annie Duke. (Joan has the better team but Annie should win since she's the better player. It should be a down and dirty sleaze-fest.) Update: Joan is killing Annie at the task, she really deserves to win. 45 minutes to go though. Update: My final prediction, with 20 minutes to go: Joan wins.

There's also a new Desperate Housewives and the season finale of Brothers and Sisters.

Since I'll be watching all of the above, here's an open thread for TV and for more important things. All topics welcome.

Via Grits for Breakfast, the ABA chose the independently produced documentary "Writ Writer" for its Silver Gavel Award.

Initially broadcast by the Emmy Award-winning series Independent Lens on PBS in June 2008, "Writ Writer" portrays the historic conflict that emerged in the 1960s when a cadre of Texas prisoners challenged the brutal conditions in state prisons. The film focuses on inmate Fred Cruz and attorney Frances Jalet, whose collaborative efforts led to the legal battle Ruiz v. Estelle, which led to the most comprehensive court-ordered state prison reform in U.S. history and landmark litigation for the right of Texas prisoners to assist one another with lawsuits.

Arrivals are going on now at the White House Correspondent's Dinner. You can watch at C-Span or follow the tweets at #nerdprom and #WHCD.

Bon Jovi and Sting are there. From the screaming in the background, you'd think it's 1964 and the Beatles just arrived.