Paula Abdul & Frisky Hypnotists

1. On Wednesday, a Little Rock, Arkansas political forum turned ugly when the crowd heckled their two Democratic Representatives, accusing them of taking away Americans' personal freedoms by supporting a government-backed health care plan. Some audience members later apologized for the outbursts, but to be fair the crowd was probably very tired, having just chased Frankenstein through town with torches.

2. A common back treatment was recently put to the test in a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Medical cement, commonly used to fix cracks in the spinal bones of the elderly was shown to work no better for back ailments than a fake treatment. Half the patients were given the medical cement while the other half was fooled into thinking they were. Doctors say it shows that procedures are sometimes rushed into wide use before they're proven effective, and that even doctors doing a study can have fun fooling the elderly.

3. The man who entered a Pennsylvania health club and opened fire on a dance aerobics class was exceedingly frustrated with meeting women, according to police who cite the man's blog as evidence. "Women just don't like me," 48 year old George Sodini said in his online journal. Guys, rule #38 on increasing your success with women, "Don't shoot women."

4. On Tuesday, Paul Abdul today announced via Twitter that she would not be returning to American Idol next season. "I'll miss nurturing all the new talent, but most of all being a part of a show that I helped from day 1 become an international phenomenon," tweeted Abdul. Is it just me, or does Abdul type amazingly well for being drunk?

5. A South Korean hypnotist was fined for attempting to hypnotize his date in order to sneak a kiss, a report said Thursday. The hypnosis was unsuccessful and his date pushed him away, later filing a complaint with police. Or perhaps the hypnotist just wants us to think it was unsuccessful. "You will tell police I tried to kiss you, but in reality I will be touching your boobs... you will name our child Randolph and raise him to be a monkey, no matter how illogical."

High five.