News of the Day 1.24.10

• Just like clockwork, or even better than, today's story of Chinese scandal comes from the wide world of singing - so-called apparently. Two 'pop stars' must pay a load of money for lip synching, a punishable offense in China after the country was shamed in 2008 when they substituted a kid with crooked teeth for a kid who looked like she belonged in a beauty pageant during the Olympics opening ceremony. That's what you get for not singing.
• In the real singing world, The Killers cancel their Asian tour. WTF? Wait, I don't even listen to this band. And I wouldn't go to their concert because tickets for foreign acts are out of control here.
• A real WTF story. A Chinese dissident who participated in the 1989 Tiananmen protests is extradited to the Mainland - from Hong Kong - for crimes (false passport, fraud) supposedly committed in Hong Kong. The dude was traveling on a fake ID to visit his sick mother and was flagged in HK but is jailed and to be tried in Mainland? What the hell?
  
• The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry contends that illegal downloading could turn countries into 'cultural deserts'. They cite Spain and the depressed Spanish music industry as an example. I say the Chinese music industry has been depressed for awhile.....except for Jay Chow and a handful of others who possess genuine musical skill.
• The size of your brain may be the reason why you rock Halo or Grand Theft Auto, or why you suck.
  
• The creepy crawlies at the very bottom of the world.
• The Times: Boys who see porn more likely to harass girls.
• In case you didn't already know, your 749 Facebook friends don't mean shite. Research once again shows that 150 meaningful relationships is about all we can process.
  
• So why exactly are we beaming out information to track down extraterrestrial life?
• The Times takes on The Last Station, about Tolstoy's relationship with his wife in his last years. The unrivaled cast includes Christopher Plummer, Helen Mirren, Anne-Marie Duff, James McAvoy, and Paul Giamatti.