Jeffrey Skilling, the former Enron exec found guilty in 2006 on 20 of 28 counts of conspiracy, fraud, false statements, and insider trading, has been denied his request for temporary release in order to attend the funeral of his son, John Taylor "J.T." Skilling, according to the AP. more ›

he body of 20-year-old John Taylor "J.T." Skilling was discovered late Tuesday on his bed in his Santa Ana apartment, reports the OC Register. Skilling's father is Jeffrey Skilling, the former CEO of Enron. Friends showed up at Skilling's place when he did not meet them for coffee as planned. Authorities say Skilling, a student at Chapman University, had told his friends he was upset about a recent breakup. more ›

Before we begin, we'd like to extend our deepest sympathies to the family of James Kim. We are not, by any means, trying to discount that tragedy by juxtaposing posts about the Kims with more light-hearted posts. It's the nature of doing a compilation such as this one: we're trying to give a full slice of the goings-on in the Ist-a-Verse: the good, the bad, and the ugly. more ›

- George Bush cuts n' runs from "Stay The Course" - The Australian - Tan Nguyen stays the course in his controversial race for Congress - NBC4 - Warner Bros. cut n run from their plan to provide limbs to Africans - Defamer - Get an 80 hour Tivo with 1 year of service for just $125 - zatznotfunny - Set your Tivo to record Madonna on Oprah this Wednesday - People - Bush... more ›

"As Home Educators from all over the State pack into the Ontario, California Convention Center, Friday, July 7, Guitar Coach Jean Welles gets ready to make good on her boast that she can teach almost anyone to play the guitar in 7 minutes." - Topix.net more ›

Jose Canseco, who was recently signed to the San Diego Surf Dogs was traded yesterday after just one game. And, Snoop Dogg, he's coming to the LBC.

Reno Silver Sox general manager Dwight Dortsh said Tuesday that the former Major League Baseball slugger, who played for San Diego in Monday's 4-3 victory over Chico, will be traded to the Long Beach Armada for a player to be named later. - Nevada Appeal

The weeks starts out right when a sucker punch on the field lands Chicagoist in the middle of a Sox/Cubs throwdown and the fists continue to fly in the comments. Despite suburban resident Ms. Pinney's best little try no books will be banned anytime soon and the El is really really gross. more ›

Score one for the little guy. The verdict is in on the fraud and conspiracy trial of Enron's Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling, and it's guilty, guilty, guilty. Lay was found guilty on all charges while Skilling was found guilty on 20 of 28 counts (conspiracy, fraud, false statements, insider trading). Maybe they weren't the smartest guys in the room after all. more ›

Another step has been taken in transforming downtown with the Grand Avenue project. Now we're not sure we're going to get the technicalities of municipal development right, but as we read in the Daily News, an agreement to begin design on the park (see illustration) that will stretch from the Music Center to City Hall has been approved. A gallery of park proposals from the people has been put together by good-intentioned rabble-rousers at the Norman Lear Center at USC; we suggest the big developer look there for some inspired ideas. more ›

Yep, that's Felicity Huffman, and yes, she wins Best Actress at the Independent Spirit Awards. Think she's got a shot at the Oscar? more ›

DCist helps us make more sense of the world this week. Posts like this concert review are the reason for Scott Stapp. DCist also enumerates the reasons for playing ultimate frisbee, Condi's tight buns, their love of a local convenience store, and their jealousy of a person in Seattle calling the city. more ›

Earlier this week kissy couples were wading through roses and red tissue paper deeper than an east coast snow dump and singles shook a tiny, lonely fist (no ring!) at it all. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 - Valentine's season is in the can, finally. more ›

It seems California has been in a constant state of administrative turmoil ever since Enron and their ilk conned and cajoled our legislature during Pete Wilson's term to reform and deregulate the energy laws that for over a century had protected California and guaranteed her thirst for power would be met. We have always suspected a dastardly engineered conspiracy conceived in the still-classified FERC meetings where both Rove and Enron exec Ken Lay plotted the path to throw California in to chaos, wherein Enron would profit and Gray Davis would be ousted mid-term in a recall election. There is no solid proof to verify this theory, but we do know now that Enron ordered plants shut down during California's power shortage forcing her to buy more power from other states (Texas) at highly inflated prices. more ›

Well, the “fit’s hit the shan,” the storm has hit, whatever metaphor you’d like to use–the mayor’s race has taken the long-predicted turn to the negative, as detailed in today’s Times. Hahn’s come out with his first attack ads, while Villaraigosa and Hertzberg have responded with their own (credit Parke Skelton and John Shallman with the pre-packaged response ads; they knew it was coming). Though we haven’t seen the ads (we don’t have time to sit in front of the television to see them), the Times gives fairly detailed descriptions, and so we will review the strategies and histories behind the ads below. more ›

"He just fucks California," says one Enron employee. "He steals money from California to the tune of about a million." more ›