Photo by consiglieri80 via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr Have you been talking about anything else this week? Grand Theft Auto 4 is set to break all kinds of records today. Not only are they ugly, they are hazardous to your health! New safety warnings are being issued for Mario Batali's signature footwear, Crocs. More first-person reports from the Los Angeles Times Book Festival over at LA Observed. Some badass large-scale guerrilla......

Photo by Tyler S. Andrew via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr President Bush announced today that deployments to Iraq are being reduced to 12 months, down from 15 months: "The move was recommended by the Pentagon, concerned that the longer deployments were placing too much stress on the force." LA Now asks, are supergraphics fugly? Councilman Jack Weiss is making the case for legislation to restrict how many of those super-huge billboards......

A very Zen moment: "I bet he is thinking, 'where did I park my car?'" | Photo by hinducow via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr Rest in Peace, Mister Egg McMuffin inventor! Now you will not live to see the day when McDonald's food is made up entirely of plastic and high fructose corn syrup. So apparently Mexicans hate emo kids so much that they are now rioting. Somebody please remind Death......

When you read something you like on LAist, we love it when you hit the "recommend" button, and we love it even more if you put your two cents' worth in the comments. Getting a dialog going with our readers and making sure we're giving you content you can use are top priorities for us. So here's this week's top posts, as endorsed by you via the recommend feature, or as indicated by the level......

A view of the Valley from Sherman Oaks | Photo by Dan Wuh via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr So apparently in Kansas there's this lady who decided to sit on the toilet for two years -- this story is so bizarre I can hardly fathom it. How's this for shocking: remember that Downtown housing boom that was luring so many buyers to all those cool new lofts? Well, it's not so......

Photo of Jeff Koons' 'Tulips' at BCAM by pink_fish13 via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr As reported this morning, the body of a dead woman was left in a van with the windows down in a spot reserved for police in Pomona. The police told the owners of the car to pick it up or it would be towed. Oops. Now, SFist is reporting a similar case where police impounded a van......

The Metropolitan Water Board is set to approve a controversial new "drought plan" for Southern California. More updates on the tragic Oxnard shooting that has left one student seriously injured and possibly dead. Twelve top Defamer posts from outgoing editor Mark Lisanti, via...some guy's Tumblr account. Teh internets! Are you a lazy asshole? But a romantic lazy asshole? Well, check out last minute V-Day flower bargains from the Daily News' Bargain Hunter Blog. File......

Don't forget: LAist Super Tuesday Election Party tonight at Seven Grand! Details and RSVP here. Did you have any problems voting in Los Angeles today? The Los Angeles Times and LAist report on problems in the precincts, especially for non-partisan voters. Is it still a long strange trip if it's only just begun? The last remaining members of the Grateful Dead are reuniting tonight in San Francisco to show their support for Obama. The......

RUDY GIULIANI leaves after announcing that he has dropped his bid for the Republican Presidential nomination and is now supporting JOHN McCAIN at the RONALD REAGAN Presidential Library where the Republican Debate is being held. Don't forget to join the LAist staff next week at our Super Tuesday Party at Seven Grand in downtown Los Angeles! Come out to drink with us, watch the primary race unfold, and even tell off your least favorite......

The Daily News has more details on those marijuana vending machines. Besides, you know, the fact that they are TOTALLY AWESOME! A rash of gang violence in Watts since the weekend has led to two shooting deaths and the injury of at least 13 others. Yahoo is not doing so well: a major drop in fourth quarter profits is going to mean layoffs somewhere in the neighborhood of of 7% of the workforce. Four......

Photo by Here in Van Nuys via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr The chief of the Environmental Protection Agency is testifying to a Congress panel that he was not pressured into shutting down California's attempts to create its own global-warming laws: "It was Johnson's first appearance on Capitol Hill since he acted last month, and he drew the ire of not only Boxer, his usual critic, but other Democratic senators whose states......

Tribune Company CEO Dennis FitzSimons will be stepping down at the end of the year, letting Chicago businessman Sam Zell take over the company. The Tribune Company owns the Los Angeles Times. President Bush signed a huge Energy Bill yesterday, in hopes of "reducing our dependence on oil, confronting global climate change, expanding the production of renewable fuels and giving future generations of our country a nation that is stronger, cleaner and more secure."......

Dear Tony Pierce, can you please tell your new employers at the LA Times to fix their streaming American Express advertising pop-up so that it does not crash my brand-new computer every five minutes? Thank you, signed, LAist.com. When we are not struggling to cope with adverse side-effects of inexorable technological progress, we are keeping track of the striking writers' negotiations with venture capitalists to begin producing Internet programming. Baby needs a new pair......

Want a Wii this holiday season? Well toooooo fuckin bad. The best you can hope for is a rain check certificate that will entitle you to a console at some point in January. Even the Wii people themselves are now admitting what a mess they've made of manufacturing this thing. Two members of a terrorist cell have pleaded guilty to charges of conspiring to wage war: the splinter group was "was poised to attack......

A body was found yesterday afternoon in the Angeles National Forest, off Highway 2 near Big Pines. The identity of the person has not been revealed. Now you can get all the penis-biting snake action you want on the web: the next "Jackass" sequel is set to premiere on the web through Blockbuster's new online movie service. In New Jersey, the state assembly has voted to outlaw the death penalty, "poising the state to......

Taste-Buzz will fill you with ramen cravings in this post on Asa Ramen in Gardena. Rameniac (noodle porn!) is also on the scene. More and more, it seems like the real culinary finds in this region are in the cities surrounding central L.A. Is Whole Foods (Whole Paycheck) a necessary evil for those seeking high-quality, low-impact organic food? Or is the company less interested in ethical consumption and more involved in "creating a retail......

Because he's too shy (and way too busy) to announce it here himself, I am proud to do the honors: Zach Behrens has officially accepted the Editor position here at LAist and he'll be starting on December 17th. BloggingLA has the announcement, as well as a nice picture of the new editor's "Sexy Face." That's how you get your Canadian fanbase, Behrens!!! Rain. Please. Rain. Effects of the strike are starting to ripple out......

Nine are dead in Omaha, Nebraska today after a man opened fire in a shopping mall, and then shot himself. Police do not have a motive so far. Did you have this conversation this morning? "Sorry, boss, I can't come in to work today...a terrible cough, I, uh, flu symptoms, definitely -- what waves? Uh, I don't know what you're talking about...." Lots of SoCal surfers took a sick day and busted out on......

Cardinal Roger Mahoney revealed that he had been assaulted in July outside of Our Lady of the Angels Cathedral; the attacker was "enraged by the Catholic Church's sexual-abuse scandal within days of a record settlement with hundreds of victims." Karl Dorrell will not be coaching UCLA in its upcoming Las Vegas Bowl game. Defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker will coach in the interim. If the world weren't already all shook up by Jakob Lodwick's departure......

Producers and writers have been talking and numbers are starting to be released. Nothing's final yet, but this strike could be soon over. What does $9.3 million buy the LAPD? It will finish the job on a backlog of 6,700 of DNA testing for sexual assault cases. Les Deux Cafe, a club where celebiatches Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears hang out, was scene to a fight early this morning that led to......

The WORST NEWS IMAGINABLE: you know that shiny new Fender Strat Rock Band controller? It's probably going to break. I KNOW. Harmonix is finally responding to the issue, but we hear it's fairly easy to fix at home. More fallout from striking writers: the Democratic party has cancelled next month's candidate debate due to a contract dispute between CBS and its many creative staffers. The Airbus A380, the world's largest passenger aircraft, is at......

We heart our sister -Ists: today, SFist Editor Bock Keeling was profiled in the SF Weekly. We find out that Gus Van Sant hates SFist and a funny picture of a woman modeling in front of an oil spill crew is now being featured on the site. Pro football player Sean Taylor has died from injuries sustained in a mysterious and tragic shooting incident; he was 24 years old. Police are still searching for......

People with too much time on their hands: Amy Ephron and other striking writers have whipped up a food blog. Our current food blog obsession: Luxeat, a Parisian model who eats at the finest restaurants in France and takes luscious pictures. Of the food. Over at the LA Times, food editor Leslie Brenner is really sticking it to the new Michelin Guide. Among her criticisms? "The book that purports to be the bible of......

Most insane picture and story of the day: a cruise ship strikes submerged ice in the Antarctic and begins to sink, 154 passengers escape to safety. I guess the holidays just really stress some people out: "a 27-year-old man turned himself in to police early this morning after allegedly shooting his brother-in-law to death following a Thanksgiving celebration." Christ, did somebody burn the turkey? And the long lines waiting for Black Friday deals weren't......

It's time we all realized something very very important about Britney Spears. Something incredible. Something -- redemptive, even. Much like Tamburlaine, she has been sent by God as a scourge to rid our fair city of its vermin-like paparazzi, one crushed foot at a time. Thank you, Britney. Thank you. Looks like the ArcLight at the Sherman Oaks Galleria might be up and running! Now us Valley kids don't have to cross the big......

The Los Angeles Michelin ratings are out! No three-star restaurants for LA, and many Angeleno foodies are already complaining about the non-starred status of places like Lucques, Grace, and JAR. They couldn't get Ackroyd? Meryl Streep will be playing Julia Child in the upcoming movie adaptation of the book "Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen." The sequel will be based on Carol Cooks Keller, hopefully. The kids over at......

The more we learn about the Temecula shooting that left five people dead, the sadder the story becomes: three of the victims of Sunday's shooting were a mother and her two teenage daughters; the remaining two dead were the mother's boyfriend and his son. A group of men in a Honda Civic opened fire on the driver of a truck on the 91 freeway today; road rage may be the culprit. The victim sustained......

" "Just because you've rolled horse manure in powdered sugar doesn't mean you have a doughnut": people aren't very happy with the Farm Bill, and yet the Senate still seems set on passing a totally inadequate "reformed" bill that continues to subsidize Big Agriculture at the expense of our nation's health. City officials are "identifying" Muslim communities across the city -- but it's not profiling, it's "community engagement"!! Those kooky kids at City Hall!......

This is why we do all of our Christmas shopping online: first the FBI reported possible terrorist threats to Chicago and Los Angeles malls this holiday season, then took it back. Hey kids! You too can grow up to be a pervert with a social conscience! Dov Charney just signed on for a deal with American Apparel's partner company that could net him millions per year. A Small World it's not: Disneyland is remodeling......

The man responsible for killing a woman and her two young children in a street-racing accident last month has been tracked down and arrested in Mexico; Martin Marones is expected to be charged with three counts of murder. So many questions! Has "Heroes: Origins" been shelved? Or just "postponed" due to the writers strikes? Will we ever find out who's been offing the group of twelve? And what's up with this ADAM guy??? Two......