Rudy has no case against Borat, but should Sacha Baron Cohen worry about Lin Manuel Miranda?

In case you somehow haven’t heard, Rudy Giuliani unwittingly cameoed in Borat 2, and he’s not happy about it. Since America’s mayor is also a licensed attorney, the Subsequent Moviefilm’s lead actor was concerned enough over the prospect of a lawsuit that he tweeted about it.

Luckily, legal experts say that — even if Rudy actually files suit — Borat doesn’t have too much to worry about. Indeed, I’d argue that Lin Manuel Miranda might have a stronger legal claim, depending on whether a judge agrees that this obvious copyright violation constitutes fair use:

Mitch McConnell’s theory of economics actually explains everything (and anything)

As previously noted, I often fall tremendously behind in my reading. This winter “break”, I’ve taken that proclivity to new levels by working my way through a stack of TIME Magazines published in 2008.

Before you suggest I choose something more relevant to  current events, allow me to note that I am quite happy having recently read reviews of WALL-E, the original Kindle, and some book or other by Jim Webb (who recently became the first official Democratic contender for the 2016 Presidency). And one particular article I came across today struck me as especially timely:

Amazon’s not the only outfit bringing Arrested Development back to life

Netflix might have brought us Season 4, and may eventually commission Season 5 & a movie, but the rest of the world refuses to wait for more Arrested Development.

Earlier this week, I described Amazon’s bold move to move ahead with an Arrested Development spinoff. And now, real life is getting in on the opportunity. Newser:

Amazon’s “Transparent” might converge with Season 5 of Arrested Development

Jeffrey Tambor appeared on The Colbert Report last night to promote his new show on Amazon, “Transparent”, in which the actor formerly known as George Bluth plays the role of Maura Pfefferman, nee Mort Pfefferman. Patriarch turned Matriarch of the Pfefferman family is undoubtedly a challenging role to play, but Tambor might have gone a little too far when he told Colbert, “It’s the greatest transformative role I’ve ever played in my life”:

You see, playing a man who becomes a woman — for Tambor — is sort of old hat (pun intended):

New book about the Rebbe right where it belongs

A good friend made an amusing observation yesterday on Facebook: a book titled Rebbe: The Life and Teachings of Menachem M. Schneerson, the Most Influential Rabbi in Modern History, by Joseph Telushkin, is currently ranked #1 on Amazon for “Christian Living“:

To give you an idea of the type of company the Rebbe currently keeps, here are the top six sellers in the category – or top four, depending on how charitably you feel like counting:

Who is responsible for the Huffington Post’s massive traffic numbers?

The worst article about Seattle sports ever written

It’s nice to have your team land in the Superbowl. For two wonderful weeks, your city attracts media attention from every corner of the internet. Especially in Seattle, we don’t get a lot of it — which is why it’s important the national media get the facts right: They might not check in again for a while,

Many failed. Unfairly or not, I’m going to single out one egregious example, just to make Richard Sherman proud of me. In my own preemptive defense, this article has been up for five days now, and FOX still hasn’t managed to correct even the most basic egregious errors I noticed in my initial read-through. A few examples.

1. The headline: “Seattle hoping Seahawks bring home elusive championship.”

That alleged Velveeta shortage isn’t just bullshit; it’s also blackmail.

[Caption: I can’t believe it’s not silicone!] [Referring to the bottom.] [The second bottom.]

Remember that Velveeta shortage? If not, here’s NPR from back on January 8:

According to an AdvertisingAge , Velveeta may be a little hard to come by in some areas over the next few weeks.

Ad Age reports that an employee of a Brooklyn, N.Y., area grocery has been told that shipments of Velveeta won’t come until February. And the publication says there are reports about shortages from a few other grocery stores on the East Coast.

A Kraft spokesperson cites high demand as a factor. “It’s … amplified by the fact that this is a key time for the brand,” Jody Moore told Ad Age.

We asked Kraft if it has any plans to get the production chain moving a little faster, and we heard back from Moore, who told us in an email that it is “possible that consumers may not be able to find some Velveeta products on store shelves over the next couple of weeks.”

It always seemed a little too convenient that the “shortage” was set to occur right around the time of the Super Bowl. A cheap way to get your brand in the headlines. Kind of like announcing heavy R&D in doorstep drone delivery erev Cyber Monday.

Though he was on break at the height of the furor, Jon Stewart rightfully called out the media for giving Kraft all that free airtime last night. And since this is the same media that covered the Velveeta shortage, it should come as no surprise that it also reported on what the late-night comedian had to say. Here’s one synopsis of the above clip:

Complete guide to spelling the holiday

While some are looking to tomorrow’s special event as some sign of apocalypse, I’d be the first to admit that I’m pretty excited for the coincidence of Thanksgiving and Chanuka. What better way to celebrate Thanksgiving than by encroaching upon its native turf? (Zing.)

This post was prompted by a recent email that turned up in my inbox, with a deceptively-simple subject line — one word: “Thanksgivikah.” I didn’t think much of it as I got to typing my reply, but the moment I pressed send, I noticed something a little off. You see, I had concluded my email in kind, by wishing the recipient a “Happy Thanksgivvukah!” and couldn’t help but do a double-take at my own spelling of the word: Two v’s? That couldn’t possibly be right.

Or could it?

Two years ago, this blog thoroughly covered the debate over the proper spelling of Hanuka/Chanuka/Hanukah/Chanukah/Hanukkah/Chanukkah/Hanukka/Chanukka in a post titled Google’s War on ‘Chanuka’. One of the highlights of that post was Avidan Ackerson’s deterministic finite automaton that helped define all of the possibilities (for Google to declare war against).

This year, Avidan and I have again teamed up to compile all the possible spellings of the seemingly-simple but deceptively-diverse portmanteau of Thanksgiving and Chanuka. Behold, DFA v2.013:

Blame the continuing ban on in-flight electronics on Virgin America

When I received an email from Jetblue a week ago (Subject line: Take off without shutting off!), I thought the airline was improperly taking credit where none whatsoever was properly due: