The Wall Street Journal’s Jason Gay has a classic column, doling out 21 tips for having fun at a Super Bowl party. Like tricking your guests into thinking when they arrive that you have no TV and you’ve planned to have everyone listen to the game on the radio instead. Also, he has some advice for guests: “Bringing a box of doughnuts to a Super Bowl party is like telling your friends you hate them.”

The Burlington Free Press says officials failed to notice a modification to a decal used on state police cruisers until the paper pointed it out yesterday. Apparently, a prisoner-artist added a pig while updating the logo four years ago as part of a work program in the state’s Correctional Industries Print Shop. I’d call that getting the last laugh. Want to see the prank pig? Look at the cow’s spots.

In the leadup to the Nevada primary, Donald Trump made a surprising wager: he decided to back Mitt Romney. In his column this morning, the Washington Post’s Paul Fahri focuses on how many major media outlets—the Associated Press, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Politico, The Washington Post and CNN, to name a few—incorrectly reported that Trump would endorse Gingrich instead.

The San Francisco Chronicle says “waitress moms” will be especially important in this year’s elections. And they’re of particular importance in Nevada—in Las Vegas alone there an estimated 30,000 waitresses whose average income is about $22,000.

Dewayne Bevil, the Orlando Sentinel’s theme park reporter (!), investigates a curious thing that he’s seen on the job but never fully understood: the allure of the turkey leg. Bevil writes that the “overgrown snack is too messy, too Cro-Magnon, too mysterious” for his tastes but he’s in the minority—Disney sells 1.5 million pounds of turkey legs each year.

Transit officials in the Twin Cities are using an unusual strategy to deter rowdy teens from loitering in the city’s rail stations. In addition to adding more lights and security cameras, they’re pumping in Beethoven and music by other classical composers. Explains Transit Police Chief: “If it encourages some people to wander away because it’s not their favorite type of music, I guess that’s OK.”

“The Voice” has Christina. “American Idol” has J Lo. And now Simon Cowell wants Beyonce as a full-time judge on “The X Factor.” And he’s willing to pay $100 million to get her, says the New York Post. Apparently, Cowell has decided that his first choice, Mariah Carey, “is no longer the hot ticket she once was.”

The Susan G Komen controversy is really blowing up—it’s the lead story on the front page of the New York Times this morning. The paper says the social media outcry and immediate response—26 senators have asked the Komen foundation to reverse its decision to end its financial support of Planned Parenthood—is the latest example of how social media “can change the national conversation with head-snapping speed.”

Interesting obituary in the San Diego Union-Tribune this morning. Dolores Thompson died last month at the age of 71. She was one of only 40 people in the entire country who still used an iron lung to treat the polio she’d contracted as a young child. Once the go-to treatment, the 700-pound cylinders used to be a common sight in hospital wards.

James Foldenauer has set a new record. The Iowa man was just in court to settle a speeding ticket he got in 2009—for going 188 miles an hour on his motorcycle. The Des Moines Register says that’s a state record for speed on a public highway. He was driving a 2003 Suzuki Hayabusa, which is about as fast as the bike can go without modifications.

A great photo of a grey whale being rescued back in 1988, the inspiration for the movie “Big Miracle,” makes the front page of the Anchorage Daily News. It was a weird rescue crew, says writer Richard Mauer: “Greenpeace, oil giant Arco, Ted Stevens, the Soviets, the U.S. military, a chainsaw distributor, a guitar-playing whale-song singer, a couple of Minnesota ice fishermen…brigade of Inupiat whalers.” And Mauer should know—he was there too.

Breaking news from the Punxsutawney Spirit this morning, though it may be hard to believe after the 760-degree weather we had in New York yesterday. Phil’s verdict is in and he says we’re going to have six more weeks of winter. Speaking of New York, on Staten Island, Charles G. Hog, the borough’s “own prognosticating groundhog,” didn’t see his shadow, and predicted an early spring.

Lady Gaga’s parents’ new restaurant gets panned by New York Post restaurant critic Steve Cuozzo this morning. In fact, he warns you might gag. Apparently, the Italian trattoria wasn’t even close to being ready last night at its opening. Cuozzo says it took 50 minutes for appetizers to show up and then when they did, the grilled calamari “were the worst I’ve had in a lifetime of squid-mongering.”

If meetings run too long at your company, the answer may be to take away the chairs. Some companies are eliminating chairs at meetings to give people an incentive to keep their remarks brief. The Wall Street Journal says in a tech culture sitting “has become synonymous with sloth.”

Fury is mounting over the decision by a cancer charity to pull its funding for Planned Parenthood says the San Francisco Chronicle. Planned Parenthood is accusing Susan G. Komen for the Cure of bowing to pressure from anti-abortion lobbyists, something the charity denies.

Details about Facebook’s finances are trickling in as the company prepares for its IPO. The San Jose Mercury News says the company earned $1 billion in profit last year, on $3.7 billion in revenue. The filings also reveal that Facebook now has over 845 million users, which is about half of world’s Internet users. Not bad for a company everyone thought didn’t have a business plan.

Have you ever watched RAY WJ on YouTube? The Wall Street Journal says over 5 million people subscribe to be notified when he posts a new video. As one media expert points out—that’s bigger than the audience of some cable channels. Ray makes an estimated million dollars a year on his YouTube advertising share.

Don Cornelius, the man who created “Soul Train,” has died. The Chicago Tribune says Soul Train’s impact on style was just as monumental as its impact on music. Just look at the sales for one of its main sponsor, Johnson Products, maker of Ultra Sheen and other African-American hair products. When Soul Train first went on the air in 1971, sales were about $12 million. When the show relocated to LA in 1977, annual sales were up to $40 million.

There’s an interesting profile in the LA Times this morning, about a doctor who treats Jehovah’s Witness patients suffering from leukemia. Their religion does not allow them to get blood transfusions. Instead he builds up their white blood cell count with medication and when he must draw blood, he uses tiny tubes used for pediatric patients. 

Greg Brooks is convinced only 700 feet of water separate him from his fortune. The Maine man was granted salvage rights, says the Portland Press-Herald, to excavate the S.S. Port Nicholson, which sunk in 1942 and which Brooks believes was carrying $3 billion in platinum bars. Others are skeptical. But he’s undeterred: “I’m going to get it, one way or another, even if I have to lift the ship out of the water.”

Mitt Romney handily won the Florida primary yesterday, getting almost 47 percent of the vote. The Miami Herald says women, seniors and Hispanics pushed him far ahead of his closest rival, Newt Gingrich, who managed to get only 32 percent. The paper says Romney’s win showed the state’s Republican leadership that he could go head-to-head with President Obama, come November.

After his performance in Florida, Newt Gingrich is done says New York Times’ columnist Ross Douthat. Here are his four reasons: 1.) Gingrich’s poor showing in Florida, means he can’t compete nationally. 2.) The anti-Romney vote isn’t as strong as everyone thought. 3.) Romney showed his toughness in Florida, and 4.)  Gingrich’s “lackluster debate performances permanently undercut the strongest rationale for his candidacy.”

There’s a great analysis in the Washington Post this morning examining how much of the national deficit is President Obama’s and how much is left over from former President Bush’s administration. Columnist Ezra Klein says although the deficit has soared $4 trillion during the Obama administration, he’s only responsible for about $983 billion of that.

Awesome photo out of Alaska this morning. That’s the entire Occupy Fairbanks camp on the front page of the Daily News-Miner. There are about 15 core members of the group, and they take turns occupying the snow-covered headquarters. Curiosity led me to check the weather in Fairbanks—it’s negative 31 right now.

Some might consider Costis Mitsotakis unlucky—he’s the only person in his entire village in Spain who did not buy a winning ticket for a recent lottery.  But the Greek filmmaker’s not upset because one of his neighbors is buying the land he had for sale.

Last time I was in Starbucks, the guy in front of me ordered a tall blonde. And they gave him one! After years of promoting dark roasts, Starbucks and other national coffee chains are pushing light roasts—the Wall Street Journal calls them the “hot blondes” at the coffee shop.

It’s one of the least hyped milestones you can imagine. Tonight is David Letterman’s 30th anniversary on late night TV. But at his own request, there’s no celebration planned. Bill Carter of the New York Times says Letterman won’t ignore it, but that the anniversary won’t dominate the show. It will probably be the subject of the Top 10 List, according to executive producer Rob Burnett.

There’s some great advice in the Wall Street Journal this morning to help you leave your job in style, specifically about how to write a goodbye letter that won’t make your colleagues cringe. Or maybe what not to write, would be more apt. Like the guy who sent around a photo of himself with his employment dates as a caption…which several of his colleague mistook for a death notice.

Classic New York Post headline in today’s paper: No Shirt, Sherlock. The story’s about Ray Kelly’s recent decision that cops can’t wear anything emblazoned with the NYPD logo, even when they’re off-duty. Apparently some inappropriate shirts were cropping up, like the one favored by homicide detectives that reads: “Our day begins when your day ends.”

More and more arts organizations are setting aside seats for those who want to tweets during performances, a development that’s angered more traditional audience members. The San Jose Mercury News says it’s a battle between those who want to interest a new generation and those who think the practice is a dangerous one, which leads to “distracted viewing.”

The Boy Scouts of Troop 965 discovered something rare on a recent camping trip, says the Baltimore Sun. The land adjacent to their campground is not on state tax rolls because it doesn’t have an owner. The troop is now trying to be declared the official owner, but first they muddle their way through a Colonial-era land patent.

There’s a serious debate going on in Alabama about what the state’s official bread should be: biscuits or cornbread. The argument for biscuits is that they’re versatile, can be eaten from breakfast to dinner and, in a pinch, can make the base of a sandwich. Cornbread, on the other hand, can be served with more things, and has greater sopping-up power. The Birmingham News has recipes for both, if you’d like to do some research. 

No one cares if there’s an app for that anymore. USA Today says the novelty of the app is finally wearing off. A new survey has found that 68 percent of smartphone owners use fewer than five apps in any given week.

Before his death, “folklorist” Alan Lomax envisioned that his archives would be available on a “global jukebox.” Then they invented the Internet and he got his wish. The New York Times says about 17,000 tracks from Lomax’s collection will be made available to the public by the end of February.

The Giants’ trip to the Super Bowl has inspired a run on giant TVs, says the Staten Island Advance. Apparently, football fans (mostly men, of course) are using the big game as their excuse to buy a new flat screen TV. Some say they’re simply taking advantage of the discounts that retailers are offering up, others say $1200 is a steal compared to the price of two Super Bowl tickets.

Apparently, the mis-cast “X Factor” host, Steve Jones did not live up to the Ryan Seacrest standard. He’s been sent packing. A short time later Nicole Sherzinger said she’s leaving the show to focus on her music career.  And there’s a report that Paula Abdul will not return for the talent show’s second season.

In the battle of the sexes, women have just notched a considerable victory. According to a new study out of the UK, they are far superior at parking than their male counterparts. Women got high parks for being patient enough to find a space and positioning their car “centrally within it.” Researchers also noted that men tend to ‘pose park’—squeeze into a small spot instead of look for a bigger one—when accompanied by a female passenger.

The Seattle Times says Starubucks is gearing up to open its first store in India, about five years after it first planned to do so.  Some have warned it might be tough to break into a society of tea-drinkers. But those critics are usually silenced by Starbucks’ recent success in another big tea-drinking nation: China.

If you don’t want to have a conversation about your weight at the doctor’s office, choose a physician who’s overweight. The Wall Street Journal says your doctor is less likely to bring up the topic if he or she is tipping the scales too. Experts say it’s a symptom of a “they look like me, but I’m healthy” mindset.

If we don’t start building neighborhoods that encourage walking, says New York Times’ health columnist Jane Brody, than this will be the first generation to live shorter lives than their parents. Experts blame the last few decades of urban planning, which has seen the rise of homes and shopping centers built far away from a central downtown area within walking distance. 

Some TSA agents at LaGuardia reportedly found two suspicious objects yesterday says the New York Post.  Initially, they thought they were pipe bombs.  But instead of calling in the bomb squad, the agents set the suspected bombs on a radiator for about six hours.

Gardeners in North Carolina have suspected this for years, but last week the USDA confirmed it: winters aren’t as cold as they used to be. The agency released a new map of temperature zones around the country, along witha new list of plants that tend to thrive in those areas.

A nine-year study of the Florida Everglades has revealed something disturbing: pythons are wiping out the area’s mammal population. The Sun Sentinel says in places where the Burmese python has been the longest, there’s a 99.3 percent decline in raccoons, a 98.9 percent drop in opossums, and—I was shocked by this until I saw the photo of the front page of the Sun Sentinel—an 87.5 percent decline in bobcats.

How many water skiers does it take to break a world record? The Telegraph has some great video from Australia, of a group of 145 people water skiing their way into the Guinness Book of World Records. The group started out with 154 people, and even though nine fell along the way, they still had enough standing to break the previous record for the highest number of people to be pulled behind a single boat. VIDEO

One day, says the Wall Street Journal’s Jason Gay, men’s tennis will be boring. But that day is not now. Gay uses his column this morning to sing the praises of the sport, which he describes as offering up “the kind of outrageous viewer experience that leaves the audience gasping.” And we have three people to thank for our constant entertainment: Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.

Donald Trump may live in New York, but he wants to spend eternity in New Jersey. The Star Ledger says the Donald is trying to build a private cemetery next to the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster. He won’t be alone—club members who pay more than $300,000 will also have the option of keeping their hobby close to their hearts, even after their hearts have stopped beating.

Bad news for those whose money was tied up in MF Global. The Wall Street Journal says after three months of searching, officials still don’t have a clue where the missing $1.2 billion is.  A group of 60 forensic accountants has been scouring the company’s correspondences after it filed for Chapter 11 on October 31, but still no dice.

Mitt Romney’s real problem isn’t that he’s rich—it’s that he was born that way. Americans, it seems, prefer a “self made” politician. That’s not always the case, says the Washington Post—just look at the Kennedys, the Rockefellers, the Bushes. But when you’re born rich you have to possess some way of relating to the masses, and it’s usually “a gift for self-deprecating humor.”

A fatal chain reaction halted traffic on I-75 near Gainesville, Florida yesterday. Police are calling it the deadliest interstate tragedy in the state after a string of accidents left 10 people dead and 21 others hospitalized. The Gainesville Sun talks to a survivor in today’s paper who says “it looked like the end of the world.”

Awards season is upon us, a time of year that’s particularly important to premium cable channels, which see the accolades as a way to convince customers of their worth. Showtime’s “Homeland” has already shaken things up by winning a Golden Globe for best drama, but Bill Carter of the New York Times says the real winners in the battle between Showtime and HBO are the viewers.

Move over Microsoft Office, there’s a new boss in town. More businesses are embracing Macs in the workplace as younger employees demand them says USA Today. Last year, 46 percent of companies in the US and Europe issued Apple computers to their employees and that’s on top of the 11 percent who use iPhones at work and the 9 percent who rely on iPads.

Could anything be more removed from New York than this? The New York Times says 11-year-old Amber Leetch is the only student at her school in Montana.  She’s also the only student in her school district. Although she had the company of a first-grader for a few weeks early this year, most days it’s just Amber, her teacher and the school dog.

There’s no place like Kansas for a Cairn terrier. The Wichita Eagle says the wheels are in motion to make the breed the official dog of Kansas. It’s not a random choice—Toto from the “Wizard of Oz” was a Cairn terrier. But despite the connection, the state Representative who introduced the legislation expects to get a little ribbing: “The first time I get on the floor to do anything, I expect to get barked at.”

Some people prefer cats. Others enjoy the company of dogs. For others still, it’s zonkies that do it. A hybrid of a donkey and a zebra, the rare breed is the size of a zebra but has the shape of a donkey, says the LA Times. Mona Lisa, the zonkey featured in today’s paper, has a gray body with black and white ears and mane, and legs streaked with black stripes.

Tigers, Bears, Cougars—they all seem like standard choices for a mascot. Students at Corner Canyon High School in Utah voted last week to name themselves the Cougars. But school officials vetoed the name, saying it was “too offensive to middle-aged women.” The Salt Lake Tribune points out that Brigham Young University’s mascot is also the Cougars.

Ahh, family. The New Orleans Times-Picayune says a sheriff recognized his second cousin as “the Alabama fan who pressed his testicles on the neck of an unconscious LSU fan in a Bourbon Street burger joint after the BCS Championship Game.” Apparently, a video of the…incident has gone viral. The 22-year-old man was arrested on charges of sexual battery and obscenity.

In the New York Post this morning, a picture of the “skipper’s sexy siren.” Now Italian authorities say the captain of the Costa Concordia had been wining and dining a 25-year-old Moldovan woman right before crashing the cruise liner. Sources say he brought her up to the bridge just moments before the vessel crashed into a rock.

When you’ve been in politics as long as Newt Gingrich, there are undoubtedly some skeletons lurking in the closet. And yesterday, one came tumbling out. The GOP candidate’s ex-wife, Marianne, told reporters that Newt had given her an ultimatum back in 1999: give him an “open marriage” or a divorce. The Washington Post notes that this was the same time Gingrich was on cross-country “family values” lecture circuit.

Heartening news for those who’ve suffered a heart attack. The American Heart Association said yesterday that having sex poses very little risk for those who’ve had heart trouble or a stroke. There are some caveats: Don’t have sex if you can’t climb a flight of stairs and don’t cheat on your spouse. Says one of the doctors responsible for the new guidelines: “You can imagine an extramarital affair might raise your blood pressure.”

Both Fujifilm and Kodak saw the digital age coming, says the Wall Street Journal—guess which one had the future in better focus? Instead of just thinking about their future as a switch from analog to digital, Fujifilm started brainstorming and came out with other applications for its chemical expertise. Nowadays, it’s a major player in both health-care and electronics markets.

MegaUpload is in some mega trouble. Homes of people involved with the popular video-sharing site were raided yesterday after the Justice Department accused the company of “conspiracy to commit copyright infringement.” Not named on the indictment was Swiss Beatz, the husband of Alicia Keys and allegedly MegaUpload’s CEO. In retaliation, the LA Times says the hacker group Anonymous has taken down the Justice department’s and Universal Music Group’s websites.

Some good advice from the Columbus Dispatch this morning. The USPS is increasing the cost to send a letter, from 44 to 45 cents this weekend. The change goes into effect on Monday. Be careful if you drop anything into the mailbox over the weekend, because it won’t be picked up until Monday—when your postage will be a penny short.

There’s a public corruption trial going on in Cleveland. And the local news channel has been covering it in an odd way. Every night after their regular newscast, the station airs Puppet Court, a full re-enactment of the trial, with witnesses, reporters, and jurors…played by puppets. Some viewers say it’s a nice way to digest the news—others are unsure about what to think.

Lots of different opinions about President Obama’s decision to reject a proposal for the Keystone oil pipeline, which would run from Canada to the Gulf Coast. The New York Times says the decision was “a good call.” The decision prompts the Wall Street Journal to call him the “anti-job president.”

One day, you might go on a hike and spot a Pat Kiernan growing in the wild. Maybe. The Washington Post says botanists have decided that Latin is no longer their lingua franca. Now new species can be named in English. The Post says the original requirement was to keep out frauds—if you could describe your discovery in Latin, it probably wasn’t a bogus species.

The New York Post says Anthony Bourdain was super cynical about Paula Deen on Twitter yesterday writing,  “Thinking of getting into the leg-breaking business, so I can profitably sell crutches later.” Bourdain has never been shy about his dislike for Deen, but has amped it up since her disclosure that, after three years of keeping her diagnosis secret, she’s now repping a diabetes drug.

Ms magazine hasn’t released monthly issues since 1987. So it was with surprise that a Florida man opened his mailbox this week to find the February 1976 issue waiting for him. The Sun Sentinel says it was delivered after being lost for four decades at the post office. The man says though it was interesting to look at the ads (like the KFC one with the tagline, “Best breasts in the west.”)  says he “would have preferred a Playboy.”

The Wall Street Journal has a first-hand account of the world’s longest flight, 15 hours from Dallas to Sidney. In coach. Airline columnist Scott McCartney says more people are willing to pay a premium to fly non-stop on long flights, instead of opting for one with a connection. But that doesn’t mean it’s pleasant. Some advice on how to make it tolerable: Don’t watch all your “30 Rock” episodes in the first hour—pace yourself.

Looks like I wasn’t the only one who realized how much they depend on Wikipedia. The San Jose Mercury News says yesterday’s historic Web protests were effective in slowing down the SOPA legislation winding its way through Congress. Some key politicians backed away from the bill, including Florida Sen. Mark Rubio, who was one of its co-sponsors.

Francesco Schettino, everyone’s least favorite skipper, is back in the New York Post today, and he has another story about why he abandoned ship after running the 950-foot, 3,200-passenger cruise vessel into the ground. He says he “tripped and ended up in one of the lifeboats.” How lucky for him.

Like mother like daughter is not such a bad aphorism to live up to if a) your mom is Cindy Crawford and b) you’re an aspiring model. The New York Daily News has a photo of 10-year-old Kaia Gerber posing as the face of Versace’s childrens line. On the front page they couldn’t resist a pun: “Chip off the Mole Block.”

Why is it so hard to find the perfect button-down shirt? It’s a probelm that affects both genders equally, says the Denver Post. Luckily, some designers are concentrating their efforts to improve the workplace staple. Praise is heaped on lobbyist-turned-designer Rochelle Behrens who’s created a version with several hidden buttons on the placket to ensure a gap-less bustline.

“American Idol” is starting up again today. And Houston Chronicle columnist Joey Guerra has some suggestions for songs he’d like to see deleted from the show’s songbook. Whitney Houston’s “I Have Nothing” is on the list. Actually Guerra says anything by Houston, Mariah Carey or Alicia Keys needs to go. He’s also in support of the rumor that “At Last,” by Etta James has been officially banned.

If you’re not a fan of “American Idol” you going to find this depressing. USA Today puts together a list of “5 reasons ‘Idol’ could roll on forever” in today’s paper. Its track record as a star-maker, its simple contestant-focused format, and its position as leader of the Reality Singing Show Contest genre are offered up as reasons for the show’s staying power.

The New York Post comes out swinging on its front page this morning. “Chicken of the Sea” is the headline below a photo of the captain of the Costa Concordia. Just-released audio puts the captain on a rescue boat about an hour after he’d run the 950-foot, 3,200-passenger cruise ship into the ground. The Coast Guard’s reaction: “Get back on board for f—k sake!!!”

After years of encouraging viewers to serve bacon cheeseburgers on Krispy Kreme donuts, Paula Deen announced yesterday that she has diabetes. Apparently, she’s known about her condition for three years. But she’s talking about it now because she’s the new spokesperson for Victoza, a diabetes drug. The Savannah Morning News says the news didn’t deter diners at her restaurant from ordering Deen’s fatty favorites.

The Boston Globe has an interesting article today, featuring “confessions of ex-vegetarians.” One man says it wasn’t until he started eating meat again that he realized the meat substitutes in his diet were giving him headaches. Another says he didn’t feel strong enough for rigorous activity on his meat-less diet.

O.M.G. Guess what a group of researchers from the Berkeley just discovered? Gossip, they say, is good for society. Spreading the word about someone who’s behaving badly plays a “critical role in maintaining social order, preventing exploitation and lowering stress. Says one of the study’s psychologists: “Much of what we call gossip is driven by a sincere desire to help others.”

Mitt Romney revealed his tax rate yesterday. It’s about 15 percent. The Wall Street Journal says the disclosure has put a focus on the GOP candidate’s wealth. New Gingrich, who supports a 15 percent flat tax plan, took the opportunity to offer this jab: “We ought to rename our flat tax…the Mitt Romney Flat Tax.” By comparison, in 2010, President Obama and the First Lady paid 25.3 percent of their $1.8 million income.

On one side there’s the music and movie industries, who say SOPA will protect “America’s creative class from thieves.” On the other side, are privacy advocates and Silicon Valley, who say SOPA will “undermine free speech and due process.” In today’s paper, the Wall Street Journal puts together a helpful guide on the Stop Online Piracy Act, now making its way through Congress.

Buying a lightbulb used to be as simple as choosing between 60 watts and 75. Nowadays, one must answer a litany of questions before buying bulbs. The Wall Street Journal offers some advice to help decipher the new labeling, as well as pros and cons on the three main types—incandescents, compact fluorescents (CFLs) and light-emitting diodes (LEDs).

Scientists are trying to crack their own da Vinci code of sorts, says the LA Times this morning. A team based out of the University of California San Diego is in Italy to decipher if a mural by the artist has been hidden in plain sight,  behind 16th century fresco, for hundreds of years. The team is using tablets to determine where to drill through the fresco, by artist Georgio Vasari, in order to place tiny cameras in the wall.

There’s an opinion piece in the New York Times this morning, written by a bipolar woman whose sister is a writer for my favorite show of the moment, “Homeland.” She’s apparently the model for Claire Daines’ psych issues. She says “the show cuts close to home at points, but it gets the lead character’s story right.”

Kids, get your homework done today. Wikipedia is one of several websites participating in a one-day blackout on Wednesday, to protest the Stop Online Piracy Act, reports the LA Times. Founder Jimmy Wales says SOPA and other anti-piracy legislation supported by the movie and music industries encourages censorship. Mozilla, Wordpress and TwitPic are also planning to go black tomorrow.

And we’re down to five. John Huntsman bowed out of the GOP race yesterday, but not before he endorsed fellow Mormon, Mitt Romney. The Washington Post says the endorsement was odd, because “for years, the scions of two of the country’s most prominent Mormon families” have had an “uneasy and at times bitter rivalry.”

Visit Lancaster, California and you’ll notice something in the air. Actually, hear something is more accurate. About ten months ago the mayor started pumping in recordings of birds chirping over 70 speakers lining the city’s main drag. He claims the sounds keep his residents calm and, in turn, keep crime rates down.

Either they’re driving more cautiously, or they’re too stoned to drive at all. That’s the conclusion researchers have drawn from new study, which found states that have legalized medical marijuana have seen a significant drop in alcohol-related car crashes. Overall, legalization corresponded to a nine percent decrease in traffic fatalities.

Doctors in Texas are leading the charge for something that medical researchers say will become standard practice in the next decade. Collectively, they’ve become vanguards of the open-notes movement, a push to get physicians to share their notes. Studies have shown that patients want to read their notes, yet doctors tend to push back, saying they’re the only ones trained to interpret the notes—and perhaps the handwriting.

The Wall Street Journal says getting a second opinion, especially for radiology and biopsy results, can lead to drastically different diagnoses. According to one medical professional, 25 percent of patients receive a different diagnosis after a getting a second opinion. Why so high? Several types of cancer are known for being tricky to diagnose, which means the more eyes looking at your results the better.

A bizarre take on the Happy Meal in today’s LA Times: Police say they arrested a woman on the suspicion of prostitution after a customer said the woman approached him in the McDonalds drive-thru and offered sexual favors in exchange for free chicken McNuggets. He declined the offer. 

Jessica Latshaw just got her big break on the train last week after she was coaxed into breaking out her ukulele by a stranger. Or as the man who captured the impromptu performance, put it on YouTube, and made it into a viral hit sums it up: “What originally started out as a typical NYC subway ride (sitting across from guy who smelled like urine) turned into an awesome performance by two people who have never met before.” VIDEO.

Cool picture on the front page of the Anchorage Daily News this morning. The Russian tanker finally made it to Nome yesterday. Or close enough. Those are fuel transfer hoses running over the ice-covered Berring Sea. Yesterday, the ship started pumping 1.3 million gallons of fuel to the iced-in city, a process that could take up to five days.

These shoes were made for cruisin’. Prada has just come out with a line of heels inspired by the cars of the 1950s. There’s a wedge that has exhaust-pipe flames shooting out the back, and one shaped like the tail fin of a vintage Cadillac. But if you’re looking for a deal, you might want to think about springing for an actual car—the shoes in the collection start at $1450 per pair.

Today is Friday the 13th. Thirteen weeks from now, we’ll have our second Friday the 13th of the year (April 13th). And thirteen weeks after that, our third (July 13th). It’s actually not that uncommon to have three in one year, though it is kind of rare to have three in a leap year. Either way, USA Today says it’s definitely going to be a bad year for those who suffer from paraskevidekatriaphobia.

It’s the “Kar-Krashians” in today’s New York Post. Apparently, the family’s reality dynasty is crashing around them. Ratings for their TV show are plummeting, as are merchandise sales for the products they hawk. And circulation at Us Weekly, In Touch, Life & Style and OK! dropped about 18 percent in December each time a Kardashian sister was on the cover. I guess being married for 72 days doesn’t win you any fans.

Rich Karlgaard won’t be going to Rochester any sooner than Stephen Bloom returns to Iowa. In today’s Wall Street Journal, the publisher of Forbes argues that Kodak didn’t kill Rochester—it was the other way around. He says it’s tough for an “idea” company to thrive if it’s not in a community where that’s the norm.

You should wear a helmet when riding a motorcycle, playing football…and when a tornado’s in town. Researchers in Alabama have found that wearing a helmet is a cheap way to prevent injuries during a twister. The Birmingham News says the scientists are calling on the CDC to add helmet-wearing advice to their tornado preparedness messages.

Stephen Colbert isn’t running for president—yet. But last night he transferred his Super PAC to Jon Stewart, freeing him up to enter the South Carolina primary. Colbert then announced the following: “I am proud to announce that I am forming an exploratory committee to lay the groundwork for my possible candidacy for the president of the United States of South Carolina!” VIDEO

There’s an interesting guest column in the Wall Street Journal this morning. Attacks on Mitt Romney’s career at Bain Capital leads a private equity guy to explain his view on how firms like his help—not hurt—the economy. He says contrary to the aspersions flying around, private-equity firms don’t kill companies—in fact they only make money when the companies they invest in improve their standing.

“One Life to Live” is out of lives. The soap opera will end its 43-year run today. The Washington Post says there are several plot lines that will remain unresolved because it was thought that the show would get a second life on the Internet. But apparently, that deal has fallen through.

The Washington Post profiles Aquille Carr on its front page this morning. Carr is a standout high school basketball player, known locally as the “Crimestopper,” with NBA dreams. He averages 30 points a game, has a vertical leap on 48 inches, is a YouTube sensation (his Hoops mix tape has been viewed almost 3 million times), and has been called “the country’s most electrifying high school player.” He’s also 5 foot 7. VIDEO

There’s an awesome photo on the front page of the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner this morning. That’s Zathras. He’s licking his face after his owner took him for a quick 10-mile run on the Alaska Dog Mushers Association trail system. She wanted to get the workout in before it got to cold outside. What’s too cold, you ask? 20 below zero.