MP3 Players

Thought I'd throw this open to those of you that have one, which I don't (yet). Any recommendations? What I want is something (and forgive any ignorance in what follows):

Easy to use

With good quality sound (I don't care about any video applications--I'll either watch videos online, or--gasp--on television. That's right, I'm old school.).

Where I can take all my CDs and transfer them

And if there's any special hookup where I can play it in my car, too, that would be cool.

Photos would be nice but are in no way a "dealbreaker."

I feel much the same about "shuffle." I know many people like it and I assume most come with it, but if I found one that did everything else, I wouldn't hesitate if it didn't do that.

The design isn't a big deal either, but if I can find one in my favorite color, great.

I'm gonna wanna sign up for an internet radio station (almost certainly last.fm, which seems to turn up 99 times out of 100 when I go looking for favorite songs or groups)

So?

Far be it from me to tar them all with one brush...

...but I think we can safely say now (as if we couldn't before): Most Republicans are either racist, stupid, or both. Check this out.

A whopping 58 percent of Republicans either think Barack Obama wasn't born in the US (28 percent) or aren't sure (30 percent). A mere 42 percent think he was.

That means a majority of Republicans polled either don't know about -- or don't believe the seemingly incontrovertible evidence Obama's camp has presented over and over and over that he was born in Hawaii in '61.

The above by Glenn Thrush, who also asks an important next question:

When do we start a serious dialog about the Birther movement being a proxy for racism that is unacceptable to articulate in more direct terms?

Well yes, exactly. I think it's painfully obvious that all this "Obama wasn't born in the US!" malarky really means "OMG, the President of the United States is a big, scary black man! Aieee!"

But as he says, this is unacceptable to articulate in more direct terms.

Progress.

Kareena Kapoor

Brad Pitt Flies Air France

Brad Pitt takes a first class Air France Flight back to LAX airport in Los Angeles on Thursday (July 30).

Meanwhile, Angelina Jolie was seen landing her plane at the Bob Hope Airport after an hour and 28 minute flying lesson from Las Vegas. Her sons Maddox, 7, and Pax, 5, were reportedly on board and on hand for the Sin City trip.

Winehouse's dad faked heart attack to get her off drugs

Amy Winehouse's father Mitch has confessed he faked a heart attack in front of her formerly drug addict daughter to get her off heroin.

The 59-year-old former cabbie said he was desperate to get the 25-year-old singer out of drug hell before it took a nasty turn.

"I was at me wits end. I just didn't know which way to turn. I'd tried everything. I pretended I was seriously ill and even got our doctor to tell Amy that I was dying," The Mirror quoted him as saying.

"Once I even started screaming and said I was having a heart attack, but it didn't work. Amy's not stupid and she wanted to see my medical records proving I was actually ill," he added.

The "Rehab" hitmaker kicked her drug habit after her extended break in St Lucia.

Los Metallicos String Bikini and Sexy Swimsuits

Sheer String Bikinis

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Cameron Diaz In A Jude Law and Leonardo DiCaprio Sandwich?

Cameron Diaz Image Hollywood Choas

She already nabbed the likes of Justin Timberlake and Matt Dillon, but leave it up to Cameron Diaz to have her choice between Leonardo DiCaprio and Jude Law. Dream love triangle? Signs point to…err–maybe? Apparently both actors have been on secret dates with the actress recently.

Even I can't help thinking that Patrick may've had just a bit too much sugar at the comic-con

At the San Diego Comic-Con, Saw VI coauthor Patrick Melton sez...

“We definitely want all the critics to see this one; we’re actually excited for them to. I would like to go on record to say that this is how confident we are in Saw VI: I am willing to stake my entire reputation on this movie.”

Bear in mind, the average critical ranking of the Saw franchise, (using Rotten Tomatoes as a yardstick, as I like to do), is about 28%. As far as critics are concerned, there seems to be little or no difference between this franchise and the Friday the 13th series (Trust me: There's more.)

We all know I love them, but it'd be purest denial to claim that they're critical favorites. So I'm left thinking: Faith in yourself is a wonderful thing, Patrick, but...

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Crocs ‘Dead and They Don’t Know It’

Photo: Getty Images

Good news! Crocs might disappear as soon as September. The shoemaker has until the end of September to pay off its debt. Last year the company lost $185.1 million. They cut about 2,000 jobs, but still owe creditors millions. The Washington Post reports:

"The company's toast," said Damon Vickers, who manages an investment fund at Nine Points Capital Partners in Seattle. "They're zombie-ish. They're dead and they don't know it."

After, against all logic, the company managed to sell 100 million pairs of shoes over seven years, they made millions more shoes to meet demand. They even made charms with which to adorn them. Luckily the universe has no room for this sort of hideousness, and as fate would have it, the economy crashed. Crocs customers realized their money is best spent on anything other than that absurdly ugly footwear.

Two summers ago, Nancy Fisher of the District bought two pairs of Crocs, one green and one pink, for her daughters. The girls, now 8 and 12, wore them constantly and even got charms to decorate the tops. This year, the shoes are forgotten.

"They were their go-to," Fisher said, "and now they're just really interested in flip-flops."

Praise! But the company is in denial about their imminent demise. They recently hired a new CEO to lead the seemingly pointless exercise of trying to keep Crocs afloat. He's telling analysts George Clooney has promised to work with the company. We thought George had decent taste, but it makes perfect sense: Someone as rich as he is hasn't felt the economic force that knocked the beer goggles off so many other Crocs customers.

Evan Rachel Wood

Sharon Stone