Over at the L.A. Times' The Dish Rag blog, Elizabeth Snead wonders how Newsweek got Governor Sarah Palin to pose "with a rifle" for the cover of its next issue? Snead then reveals that it was not a new photo but an old one, that the Governor did not pose for the cover at all, and wonders if it is right for the magazine to use the photo as they did? I suppose Snead wasn't really too worried about the photo, but she did just prove that she has no idea what a "rifle" is because Palin is holding a shotgun, not a rifle, in the cover photo.

When worried about dropping polls how do you create a powerful distraction? Well, basically, you resort to the oldest trick in the book of humanity. You use sex. After all, billions are spent on merchandising cigarettes, cars, boats, anything... by posing a pretty model next to the goods for sale. Thus McCain has gambled, in his unpredictable way, that sex will sell his spoiled ideology. To make people forget about losing homes, bankruptcy, failing mortgages, medicare, the rising prices of everything, you introduce a pretty female who can wink, wiggle, jiggle, giggle, and use cutsey sayings like "Gosh" or "Doggone it." Most heterosexual males will stop whatever they are doing to look at shiny legs, moistened lips, whitened teeth, booming bust, come-hither looks accompanied by smiles and wiles. Adam may have been beguiled but Eve certainly was all decked out with whatever males seek. This is old old stuff, the dream of both old and young codgers who go into mental orgasms when a female goes undulating past them. Winks, smiles and nods are promises of future delights, even though nothing actually occurs. Sarah Palin is a composite of Marge Gunderson of Fargo, and Samantha of Bewitched, except that recently she has turned into Endora...the waspish witch. The witchcraft is the same, even if Sarah has undergone the laying-on of hands by a witch-doctor to rid her of witchcraft. McCain, being an old tailhook hand, knows the basic human urges and exploits them to the maximum. His gamble, that economics...

A Moment in June, the debut feature by indie director O Nathapon, made its world premiere over the weekend at the Pusan International Film Festival . Part of the New Currents competition program, it'll screen twice more in Busan on Wednesday. The Hollywood Reporter's Maggie Lee reviewed the film, which is an ensemble romantic drama with storylines that involves three couples, homosexuality, flashbacks from 1999 to 1972 and a play within the movie.

The 13th Pusan International Film Festival, which featured 315 films from 60 countries, will wrap up its nine-day run today in the southeastern port city of Busan with the closing film "I Am Happy," directed by Korean filmmaker Yoon Jong-chan. Amid expectations about the festival's growing influence as a leading venue for premiering Asian films, PIFF broadened its scope by selecting a Kazakh film, "The Gift to Stalin," and screened a record number of world and international premieres, totaling 133. However, there were some concerns about whether the festival would attract as much publicity as it wanted, due to the shocking suicide of Choi Jin-sil, one of Korea's most iconic actresses, last Thursday, PIFF's the opening day. Choi Jin-sil, 40, was found dead by her mother early Thursday morning, after apparently committing suicide due to rumors connecting her with the death of another entertainer. A host of Korean actors who planned to participate in the festival canceled their appearances in Busan and rushed back to Seoul. The festival suffered a couple of technical problems last week. At the opening ceremony, some of the microphones and speakers did not work, interrupting the operations, and on Saturday a power generator at an outdoor theater broke down, prompting complaints from moviegoers. But the festival managed to regain normal operations over the weekend, envoking a festive mood. One of the positive developments came from the Asian Film Market, the festival's ambitious film marketplace that has gone through an extensive overhaul this year. Thanks to...

I don't even know what to say about this. Since last week, when we announced the October 2 suicide of Korean actress, Choi Jin-Sil, there have been two more high profile suicides in the Korean entertainment world bringing the total number of showbiz suicides to 7 since 2007. On October 3, transsexual entertainer and pop culture figure Jang Chae-Won wrote, "I'm sorry mom, next time I'll do better," on her Cyworld page (Korean version of MySpace) then hung herself in her bathroom, copying Choi Jin-Sil's suicide method. Jang first became a media sensation in Korea back in 2007 when she showed up on a popular quiz show first as a man (in 2004) then in 2007 as a woman, after gender reassignment surgery. Then, there was model-turned-actor Kim Ji-Hoo. The popular model was branching out into TV dramas but after publicly coming out as a gay man his management company chose not to renew his contract and many fashion shows and TV programs canceled his appearances. Internet users also targeted his personal blog, posting numerous homophobic comments and denouncing him for being gay. Those commenters should all be thrilled because on October 6 he went home, wrote a note that read, "I'm lonely and in a difficult situation. Please cremate my body," and then hung himself. Police are saying that his suicide is a direct result of his being targeted for being gay. According to Kim's mother, "He underwent many professional and personal difficulties following his coming-out." His was the...