With the start of January comes another round of a scoop filled month at the Television Critics Association’s winter press tour, with highly anticipated insider info from the creators and writers of some of the best television shows in prime time.

At the same token there’s also some insight from studio executives who are usually unseen figures (with the exception of the Upfronts in May) that make the big calls usually around this time  for renewals, premature cancellations and show shuffles.

Earlier today ABC president Paul Lee said that Courteney Cox’s (is she still an Arquette these days?) Cougar Town may be benched, but it certainly isn’t out for the count, stating that “The reality is I think Cougar Town is having one of its best [seasons].We haven’t yet landed on where it’s going to go, but it’s tentatively in there for March. We’re going to give it a good launching pad… We will be [announcing a premiere date] in a couple weeks.”

Sounds promising. Unlike the case for the lone soap opera show General Hospital whose future remains uncertain. Regarding its future Lee went on to say that he doesn’t have a time frame to make the call for cancellation yet.

In terms of experimenting with its schedule Lee isn’t shying away from anything out of the ordinary. A whole new comedy night will be created and don’t be surprised if you see Cougar Town in the mix along with Happy Endings and midseason newcomer Don’t Trust the B—- in  the James Van Der Beek’s satirized comedy Apartment 23. “It will be great to have a group of great irreverent comedies together. That’s the dream.”

The shuffling around doesn’t stop there! Thursday night’s 10pm slot is going to get either pretty interesting or remain dead very quickly with a new series from Grey’s Anatomy/Private Practice creator Shonda Rhimes called Scandal. The creator’s Private Practice will move from its regularly scheduled time slot to Tuesday’s at 10pm following the Dancing With The Stars results show.

Latsly, if you’re bored with what’s already on your television screen, ABC has a slew of midseason replacements and spring replacements with Apartment 23 premiering on April 11th on Wednesday’s at 9:30pm,  and Scandal which premieres on April 5th on Thursday’s at 10pm.

ABC President Talks Cougar Town, Private Practice, General Hospital is a post from: The Inquisitr

The Iraq war death of David Emanuel Hickman will forever hold a special meaning, while he suffered the same fate as nearly 4,500 of his fellow American soldiers he was also the last American soldier to fall in the region.

The 23-year-old soldier was killed on Nov. 14, 2011 when an improvised explosive device was detonated, he was just one month away from leaving the war torn country as the final US troops left Iraq.

Speaking about the fallen soldiers life his friends and family called him a jokester who was given the nickname “Zeus” because he joked that his physique was so impressive that the gods would be envious.

An outside linebacker in high school his school had to scrape their complicated defense after he graduated because nobody else could figure out how to run the plays.

Hickman joined the military with the specific goal of becoming a member of the Special Forces, as a friend put it he “didn’t sign up to get his life on track. He wanted to be a physically and mentally elite soldier.”

Speaking of his life a friend told the Washington Post:

“There aren’t enough facts available for me to have a defined opinion about things. I’m just sad, and pray that my best friend didn’t lay down his life for nothing.”

Even by military standards Hickman died at the young age of 23 when the average age for fallen soldiers is 26, although approximately 1,300 fallen were 22 or younger.

It’s hard to lose a loved one, it’s even harder to realize their life could have been saved if the United States had just pulled out of the country one month earlier.

Our condolences go out to the family, friends and fellow soldiers of David Emanuel Hickman.

Remembering The Final American Soldier Killed In Iraq [In Memoriam] is a post from: The Inquisitr

Despite the loss of Beijing Olympic captain Alicia Sacramone the United States women’s gymnastics team managed to win their third world gymnastics title on Tuesday with a final score of 179.411 points, a full four points ahead of last year’s championship winners Russia.

After the gold medal was already decided the Russians showed poise with their second place finish applauding the American’s for their floor exercise.

Speaking about the victory national team coordinator Martha Karolyi said:

“I was hoping for it, but I could not be 100 percent sure because there were so many newcomers,” while adding “These girls were standing up very confident, very powerful out there.”

Sacramone who had surgery on Monday to repair a torn Achilles tendon received a medal for her part in the teams success, the medal is the 10th for the gymnast, allowing her to break the American record she previously held with Shannon Miller ans Nastia Liukin.

On her Twitter feed Sacramone wrote:

“Words can’t describe how proud I am of all of you!”

According to ESPN:

The Russians ended all suspense, however, when Viktoria Komova melted down. She couldn’t hang on after a series of back handsprings and fell off the balance beam, then stumbled backward after under-rotating her opening pass on floor exercise.

Did you watch the U.S. Women’s Gymnastics team win this years world championships? If so did you think they deserved the gold medal finish?

U.S. Women’s Gymnastics Team Wins Gold At World Championships is a post from: The Inquisitr

If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the years it’s that this map is the best way to explain the world to my fellow American’s, especially the group of individual’s who receive all of their news from The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. 

The World According To Americans [Map] is a post from: The Inquisitr

Actually, for a demotivational poster, this makes me feel strangely patriotic.

America… is a post from: The Inquisitr

The good ol’ boys may have thought twice about trying to fly the General Lee over a toll booth, particularly after you see this drunk drivers attempt.

Drunk Driver Goes General Lee is a post from: The Inquisitr

A suspected case of an abandoned foetus in a Pittsburgh High School has turned out to be a case of mistaken identity.

Police were called to the Southmoreland High School school after a “female custodian” discovered the “suspected 7 week old foetus” under a starewell. Blood had been found in the female restroom earlier that day, leading to the conclusion that….well, naturally, there’s a foetus under the stairs.

According to local reports, the foetus was sent for forensic testing in an attempt to identify who might have abandoned it there, but coroner’s office tests failed, because the foetus turned out to be vegetable matter.

A school official said that they were “not sure of the exact origin of the material because that would require too many unnecessary tests,” but “the important thing is that it is not human fetal tissue.”

Confusing Vegetable Matter For A Foetus? More Common Than You Think is a post from: The Inquisitr

I’ve never claimed my video skills were brilliant, but an anonymous user by the name of the Young Twats has added a mix (including parts of our video) to YouTube that goes even further in not only proving the Young Turks racism, but also how they contradict themselves. It’s long, but it’s worth it if you’re interested as to why The Young Turks are America’s most hypocritical, and at times racist radio and YouTube show.

I don’t have permission, but a repeat from the sidebar which is referred to in the video. Given they used our footage, and the intent of this post, I’d hope there’s no problems in the repost:

The Young Turks did a segment on a KFC ad in Australia, they classified as Racist

What they failed to see, In their rush to claim racism,
They projected their own thoughts and biasism
onto an entire nation.

Even though they tried to back peddle and say it was KFC, they were after,
They actually created a demagoguery and caused the threads to erupt into a feeding frenzy from both sides.

The other interesting things are;
They had no connection to any part of this video.
They mix up so many things, it turned into a non sequitir.
They did not do any research.
They, themselves, acted so overly anti-racist, that they actually were racist to the West Indians.
They cherry picked a local ad, from a different continent, from a different culture, from a game they do not know about or play, took it out of context, added a racial context, and then they broadcasted it to the very people that would take offence.

They, themselves, perpetrated racial hatred
And perpetuated it, by leaving it on their channel, twice
When Australia had taken the ad off air, straight away!

The end result is; They effectively censored the Australian media, by claiming it used a stereotype, that only exists in the US.
In other words,
They forced their culture upon another culture.

EXACT QUOTE FROM KFC:
But in a statement yesterday, KFC Australia said the ad had been “misinterpreted by a segment of people in the US”.

“It is a light-hearted reference to the West Indian cricket team,” the statement read.

“The ad was reproduced online in the US without KFC’s permission, where we are told a culturally based stereotype exists, leading to the incorrect assertion of racism.

“We unequivocally condemn discrimination of any type and have a proud history as one of the world’s leading employers for diversity.”

Enjoy:

The Racist Young Turks: Round Two is a post from: The Inquisitr

The long march by some ignorant American’s who believe that there is no culture in this world other than their own continues with allegations that an Australian KFC is racist.

The ad shows an Australian fan offering KFC to a crowd of West Indies supporters at a cricket match. The fan states “Need a tip when you’re stuck in an awkward situation?” followed by the fan saying “too easy” as he passes around the chicken.

The ad, part of KFC’s “Cricket Survival Guide” promotional series, was played during the recent Australia vs West Indies test matches. The West Indies are currently touring Australia.

The allegations of racism come from the American idea that black people like fried chicken, therefore a white person offering black people fried chicken is racist. That might be true in the United States, but it’s a concept that is completely foreign to people outside of the United States, let alone people in Australia.

As one comment highlighted on The Huffington Post points out:

This ad was shown during cricket matches between Australia and the West Indies. If England had been playing at the time, the ad would have shown the bloke feeding chicken to the Barmy Army to make them sit down and shut up.

Cultural context though is lost on some grade A idiots, like Jack Sheperd at Buzz Feed or Kiran Aditham at Media Bistro, both of who attack the ad as being racist through their own myopic and ignorant American cultural glasses.

I wonder though whether this idea of black people liking fried chicken says far more about the endemic racism in the United States than it says about this ad. This is a stereotype after all that comes from the United States from Americans, including those who seek to call racism in a light hearted ad made for an Australian audience.

For the record I did a quick straw poll; not one person I asked here in Australia had any idea of the American stereotype of black people and fried chicken. Those that saw the ad thought nothing of it; indeed, the hundreds of thousands of Australian’s who will attend cricket matches this summer (Pakistan is touring along with the West Indies), and the millions more who’ll watch on TV attest that there is no racist overtones in this context at all.

The so-called racist KFC ad as follows:

Here We Go Again: Australian KFC Ad Deemed Racist By Ignorant Americans is a post from: The Inquisitr

In case you don’t live in America, or you do and choose to ignore social calendars, this week holds the holiday of Thanksgiving on Thursday, a mixed-message celebration of the arrival of the Pilgrims, and is followed by what is known as “Black Friday”.  What better way to celebrate the arrival of our poor, hungry, puritanical ancestors than to participate in a heathen festival of money throwing and retail gorging?

Sorry, but the cake is a lie.

For the last decade, Amazon.com has positioned itself as the de facto online retail destination where almost all products can be found on the cheap – even those you didn’t know you wanted.  It started with CD book sales and has rapidly expanded to include everything you can buy in a brick-and-mortar store:  electronics, clothes, music, gardening supplies, kitchen utensils… everything.

This is why Black Friday is on its way out.

Black Friday occurs either one of two ways, from a retailer perspective:  either they mark up the prices so high that a “50% off” deal is really more expensive than the item was a week prior, or they make very small profit margins off each item while hoping for large volume.  The problem here lies in their inability to use a crystal ball – not only have retail sales been declining recently because of the Great Recession, thereby erasing any low-price-high-volume ideas, but they had also stagnated prior to the economic catastrophe of 2008.

The reason for this is obvious:  Amazon’s sales have been skyrocketing ever since 2003, and in a world where teenagers, young adults, and the otherwise youthful-at-heart prefer to spend their shopping time getting what they want or need, for low prices, in a matter of moments, retail seems doomed.  As a busy, budding adult of almost-22, it’s far easier for me to order anything I need via Amazon and have it appear two days later at my apartment door than it is to find it at some store, fight the unwashed masses, and wait in line for two hours to overpay.

It is my belief, which is founded upon raw data and the sage knowledge of the informed young, that Black Friday 2009 will be a catastrophic disaster, and may actually be the last time it’s promoted so heavily.  People don’t have money, and aren’t spending as much as they normally would, so does fighting over a “Tickle Me Elmo” in Walmart at 6am really seem that appealing?  That fistful of cash could easily pay for some of the economic farce that is fuel, or maybe help me upgrade my food for a day from tomatoes and rice to flavorful baked beans.

The proof will be in the pudding, as it were, but if the economic indicators and societal mood has shown anything in the last year or more, it’s that Americans are no longer willing to spend money willy-nilly, and corporate greed has become one of their pet peeves.

Now if only Goldman Sachs had a Black Friday sale, they might be pushed to legitimate bankruptcy…

Kyle Brady is a contributing columnist for the Inquisitr, an entrepreneur, and has a future in science fiction.  He can be found at his blog, via email, or on Twitter.

Black Friday? Amazon Always! is a post from: The Inquisitr

On the bright side, at least the burgers have bacon on them. Mmmm….bacon.

14-year-old has sex for a cheeseburger with bacon is a post from: The Inquisitr

A Massachusetts man has been sentenced to 18 months in jail on charges relating to the theft of a hot dog.

Antonio Judd admitted in court that he had indeed stolen the hot dog from a man eating it in a Worcester park back in August. But just in case you think stealing a hot dog is like taking candy from a baby, Judd also used a pellet gun to make his huge heist.

According to local reports, Judd made no attempt to flee the scene, and instead stood in full view of witnesses who saw him “devour the hotdog, spilling mustard over his shirt.”

Criminal genius Judd has three previous convictions for assault and vandalism.

Massachusetts man gets 18 months for stealing a hot dog is a post from: The Inquisitr

Bank of America is being sued by a man upset with the customer service he received for a cool “$1,784 billion, trillion dollars.”

In a lawsuit considered in the Manhattan District Court Thursday, Dalton Chiscolm claimed among other things that he received inconsistent information from a ‘Spanish woman and that his checks have been rejected because of incomplete routing numbers.

The figure asked for is 1 followed by 22 zeros, significantly higher than the combined GDP of every country on the face of the earth.

According to Reuters, U.S. District Judge Denny Chin called the suit “Incomprehensible,” and gave Chiscolm until October 23 to :better explain the basis for his claims, or else see his complaint dismissed.”

Bank of America sued for “1,784 billion, trillion dollars” is a post from: The Inquisitr

Life imitates the Simpsons: a 10 year old New York girl has been fined $50 for operating a lemonade stand without a license.

Clementine Lee set up a lemonade stand in Riverside Park, New York Saturday as a way to raise some pocket money, but that was before not one, but three city officials pounced on her illegal operation.

“I was kind of nervous, and I also really felt bad because I didn’t know I was doing something against the law,” Clementine told local media. “They made me feel really, really bad, and scared at the same time,” Clemetine said. “We could have gotten into really big trouble and gotten arrested or something.”

A spokesperson for the New York Parks Department says that the three agents “showed poor judgment” (you think so?) and that the ticket will be dismissed.

For the record, Clementine had managed to sell $19 worth of lemonade before being slapped with the $50 fine.

10 year old girl fined $50 for operating a lemonade stand without a license is a post from: The Inquisitr

Connecticut police have arrested 19 people in connection with a canary bird fighting operation.

Over 100 canaries were seized from a home in Shelton as the 19 were preparing to the birds to fight Sunday reports Fox. Apparently Canaries can become aggressive and fight each other, particularly during breeding season

We’ve tried to do some background on Canary fighting because lets face it, you don’t really expect to hear of Canary fighting rings, however there’s not a lot of history on it available on Google. One site on Canary breading did note however that they are prone to fight:

Fighting is a common problem when trying to breed canaries. Males can sometimes be aggressive with the female. The female can sometimes be severely injured by the male. Therefore, make sure you keep an eye on things and separate the two if you have to. You can help prevent fighting by keeping the two birds in adjacent cages until they get used to each other.

But even still: Canary fighting as a sport. Serious levels of WTF.

19 arrested over Canary bird fighting ring…yes, Canaries is a post from: The Inquisitr

Your tax money at work: the United States Government has spent a staggering $1,191,200 on two pounds (900 grams) of frozen, sliced ham.

The money for the ham was funded by President Obama’s stimulus package and awarded through the Department of Agriculture. The money went to Cloughherty Packing, a Los Angeles based company that “processes pork products, including fresh-cut pork, prepared bacon, sausages, and boneless and bone-in cooked ham.”

According to the official record for the million dollar ham, the project which involved “animal slaughtering” was awarded in April 2009 and was due for completion in at the end of June 2009. It’s not clear from the record where the ham was heading after it had been sliced and frozen.

American taxpayers can take some solace though in the million dollar ham: the tender attracted two bids with the cheapest offer winning the deal. They usually say politicians have their snouts in the troth, although in this case they’re eating pig at $595,600 per pound instead. A copy of the official Government record here.

US Government spends $1,191,200 on two pounds of frozen, sliced ham is a post from: The Inquisitr

Virgin Mary spotting has dropped to new lows with a Texas family claiming that the mother of Jesus has made an appearance in bird poop attached to their pickup truck.

The image of the Virgin Mary appeared after Salvador Pachuca returned home after having an accident four months ago. The truck was taken outside for a wash, and then the Virgin Mary bird poop magically fell from the sky.

“I told my brothers come over here and see what this is and they say this is the Virgin,” says Salvador Pachuca told local media. Wife Cristal said she took pictures and began making calls to invite others to see, what she describes as, a miracle. “We just all feel protected. It’s a blessing to our family and to everybody that comes to see it.”

The family say they will welcome anyone who wants to see the image, and there are no plans yet to sell the bird poop on eBay.

The local TV station report as follows:

Virgin Mary spotted in bird poop is a post from: The Inquisitr

A New Hampshire man has discovered that smoking isn’t only bad for your health, but also bad for your hip pocket when he was charged $23,148,855,308,184,500 for a packet.

If the thought of a $23 quadrillion packet of cigarettes isn’t bad enough, image Josh Muszynski’s surprise when he eventually discovered the charge: Bank of America not only deducted the amount from his account, they also charged him a $15 overdraft fee for the privilege.

“I thought somebody had bought Europe with my credit card,” Muszynski told local television, although his troubles weren’t over yet. When him first approached Bank of America, they wouldn’t correct the error, and it took several attempts to get it sorted. The Bank also eventually reimbursed Muszynski the $15 over draft fee.

To put the amount in perspective, $23 quadrillion is multiple times larger that US national debt, a figure astronomically large in itself.

Cigarettes in New Hampshire now cost $23 quadrillion a pack is a post from: The Inquisitr

July 4th, also known as Independence Day in America, was this past Saturday, resulting in large quantities of grilled foods, fireworks, and alcohol consumption, much to the chagrin of history buffs and hardcore patriots.  But most of the country missed a key component of the weekend: truly celebrating Independence Day.  How do you really celebrate Independence Day?

Politics.

I’m not talking about politics at the local level, or even the state level, but politics in the national and international arenas that should be the focus of attention on July 4th.  Most Americans are too self-absorbed and/or ignorant to know how good we truly have it – even if you don’t like our President, you think some of our laws are unjust, or you’re incarcerated, you’re still pretty well off.  Americans as a people enjoy many freedoms that citizens of countries around the world will never have, and the day that is meant to evoke such reflections has turned into a bloated festival of food, booze, and shenanigans.

China imposes many restrictions on its citizens, not the least of which is internet censorship.  Honduras, a South American country, is shadow-controlled by the military and staged a coup against the President.  Many Mexicans live in fear of the continuing drug war violence.  England is quickly becoming a high-surveillance, low public freedoms police state.  Not to mention all the problems of Africa, India, the Middle East…

Yet many Americans don’t realize that our freedoms are so great, so large as to allow us to heavily criticize our own government, move freely throughout the country, or have “basic” services provided to us relatively cheaply and unaffected by government hands.  We aren’t jailed for gathering in public groups or persecuted based on where within the United States we were born.  We have running water, mostly-stable electricity, computers, cars, gadgets, and much more that large portions of the world will only ever dream of.

Rather than being concerned with how much wealth can be acquired (an activity that has largely resulted in widespread disaster as a country), American citizens should instead occasionally remember that we started out as a group of mostly-English exiles who were looking for something better.  We should remember that our country was formed based on ideas of freedoms across-the-board, self governance, and a better life.  We should remember that no matter how vitriolic the political rhetoric becomes, we are a single nation of free people seeking to hopefully achieve what is best for ourselves, the future, and the rest of the world.

Life is about much more than the latest episode of a TV program or stalking celebrities – attention needs to be given to the critical issues at hand, and consideration given to the proper place of the general public’s obsessions.  This is why the way to truly celebrate the American Day of Independence, on July 4th, is to read, consider, and discuss politics.  Real political issues, not merely the party favorite one-liners of menial consequence.

The Founding Fathers would be ashamed of Average John Q. Public today, so it is fitting on a day in memory of them that the public attention wanders across the plains of political enlightenment.

President Obama, it seems, understands this.

Kyle Brady is a contributing columnist for the Inquisitr, an entrepreneur, and has a future in science fiction.  He can be found at his blog, via email, or on Twitter.

How to Really Celebrate Independence Day is a post from: The Inquisitr

A power company is denying responsibility for a string of electrocutions in a Missouri lake despite having corroded cables in the lake itself.

The lake has electrocuted nearly a dozen people over three years, including the death of a teenage swimmer. The most recent electrocution occurred over the Memorial Day weekend.

State officials have only now closed Spring Lake, and are investigating why residents and swimmers are being electrocuted.

Local media notes that the local power company AmerenUE is denying responsibility, despite having paid $2.3 million in damages over the electrocutions so far (they didn’t admit liability as part of the settlement.) The company though is “replacing and rerouting corroded cables around the lake,” a project the company claims is related to improving customer service and not the electrocutions….because of course corroded cables in or near a body of water couldn’t possibly have anything to do with people being electrocuted

Lake electrocutes people, power company denies their corroded cables are to blame is a post from: The Inquisitr