"She's raising Don's kids. And I also feel that she was always in her own show." Godwin also gets Weiner to talk about Betty's relationship with Henry Francis. Godwin posits, "My theory about Betty is that she's a sloth — she doesn't like to leave one tree without already having found her next tree. She doesn't like touching the ground." Weiner answers:

What confirms your suspicion of this, because I agree with you, is that Henry Francis (Christopher Stanley) did not sleep with her. He knew he was not getting anything. He was not getting anything until it was legal… He's a handsome guy who says, "You'll never have to work again." A lot of women like that. Lots of people don't know the people that they're marrying. She didn't know Don that well. But Henry has been good to her, and I think she knows what he's about, and he's a very exciting person for her. I think he's the anti-Don in the sense that he seems very grounded. All I can tell you is that, as a pregnant woman, when he treated her sexually at a party, something happened in her brain chemistry.

The other woman we may seem more of is Carla; Weiner says that he and the writers have "talked about" a Carla-centric episode:

Deborah Lacey is a great actress, and Carla's relationship with the family has so much integrity. That's a real relationship between employer and employee, and that's something that we're very proud of.

In addition, since she is one of the only African-Americans on the show, her thoughts of, feelings about and place in the changing American landscape of the 1960s —compared to that of the Drapers — could make for extremely rich storylines. And if the show makes it to 1968 and Martin Luther King's assassination, well, she's just got to have a bigger part.

Lastly, the bad news. It's about Joan.

Godwin: It's a tragedy. It hurts me. She bet on the wrong horse when she married her husband, and now all we can do is hope that he dies in Vietnam.
Weiner: Guys like him, apparently, don't really die in Vietnam. Only good people die.
Godwin: And he's not good?
Weiner: No, he's not good for her.

Ugh. Sadness.

Mastermind Matt Weiner Tells the Future of Mad Men [E!]

The opener — Betty being caressed by an unseen man — who we just know is Henry Francis — was actually a dream. And Betty's first disappointment of the episode.

Don Draper is headed into work early when he sees Suzanne Farrell — Sally's teacher — jogging. Interesting that she's wearing a top from Bowdoin College: Harriet Beecher Stowe started writing her influential anti-slavery novel Uncle Tom's Cabin in Bowdoin's Appleton Hall while her husband was teaching at the school. Also interesting: When talking about reading Martin Luther King's "I Have A Dream" speech to her class, Miss Farrell says: "It would be nice for them to hear an adult say it." Is she assuming parents aren't discussing such things with the children? (Is she correct? And is she disappointed that she's the only one who cares?) Don is clearly intrigued by a puzzle he can't solve, saying: "Who are you? Dumb or pure?" Alas, Don's adman coercion has zero finesse when he commands: "Have coffee with me." If you accept coffee as a euphemism for cheating on your wife, then it's especially wry when Miss Farrell says, "Maybe that's why you can't sleep. Too much coffee."

I like the hints that Don Draper and Suzanne Farrell are old school versus new school: Don's got his '50s tail fins on his car; she's jogging, ahead of the fitness craze. He's the buttoned-up businessman; she's a creative type, into current events.

Also, this scene and the next had sounds of distant thunder… A humid summer rain? Or foreshadowing of the storm that's coming?

Meanwhile, Betty makes a bold step and reaches out to Henry.

Henry reaches right back.

At the office, Sal is settling into his role as commercial director, yay! Only the client, Lee Garner — of Lucky Strike — can't be pleased. Boo. Lee's "long, wet lunch" adds to his mood; and he makes a move on Sal. Sal is not accommodating; Lee is upset. No one likes to be disappointed.

Betty's next letter to Henry is part flirtation and part cry for help: "But I do have thoughts." Her disappointment is clear: Her life isn't living up to her expectations.

More disappointment: Conrad Hilton is feeling so alone. Don tries to reassure him; Hilton says, "You're like a son." In fact, there's something more between Connie and Don than with Connie and his own kids, because, as Connie explains, "you never had what they had." Meaning the fortune of growing up with a rich father. This kind of talk taps into Don's daddy issues, and you can almost see his armor falling when he says, "Thank you… I mean it."

More disappointment at Sterling Cooper: The company's on the verge of losing Lucky Strike, thanks to Sal's refusal to engage in some man-on-man action with Lee Garner. Don is, in turn, disappointed with Sal. Don says, "Lucky Strike could shut off our lights." What he means is: "Obviously you fuck a client, if that is what the client wants!" Sal — recently told he was fired by Roger Sterling — was hoping Don would intervene. No such luck. Disappointment!

Sal was stunned/hurt/destroyed/disappointed as he packed up his portfolio. Sob.

While Don was at work dealing with disappointment, Betty had a surprise visitor: Henry Francis. Unfortunately, Carla interrupted their hand-holding in the foyer. When Don gets home, Betty feels the need to tell him about "that man from the governor's office" — and make sure that Carla can hear. Don's response: "I don't care." How very disappointing. As for Carla, she seems to know that there are shenanigans afoot. Betty may feel like she doesn't have to explain herself to Carla, but she can't help herself. The power dynamics between them are strained.

After Don and his team create a "great" campaign for Hilton, Connie is "deeply disappointed" in Don for not including a reference to the moon. More daddy issues, more let downs. It's hard to please your stand-in-father! And it's hard to have a psuedo-son who doesn't listen!

Even more frustrating: When your dreamlover penpal doesn't show up to the political fundraiser you only threw to get closer to him. Even though Betty is filled with desire, she doesn't want to do it on a desk or in a motel, come on. "It's tawdry." Henry Francis says, "I don't know what you want." Betty's disappointment seems to have many levels: This is not how she thought it would be. She wants romance, or meaning, or something. He should know what she wants. Except doesn't know what she wants, either… But a quickie on the office couch isn't it.

At home, Betty walks in as Carla is listening to Martin Luther King, Jr.'s 'Eulogy for the Martyred Children', which MLK gave at the funeral for the four black girls killed in a Birmingham, Alabama church bombing on September 15, 1963. When Betty says, "You can leave it on YOUR station" — emphasis mine — she is reinforcing the idea that she is separate from Carla, and that black people issues are not white people issues or national issues. Betty's reminding Carla that she, Betty, is on another level. Betty pushes this further by saying, "It's really made me wonder about civil rights. Maybe it's not supposed to happen right now." Since she's already turned the radio off, poor Carla didn't have the chance to get up to the part in Dr. King's speech when he said, "We must not lose faith in our white brothers. …Somehow we must believe that the most misguided among them can learn to respect the dignity and the worth of all human personality."

Meanwhile, somewhere in New York (infamous gay hangout The Ramble in Central Park?) Sal is calling his wife while surrounded by lots of MENZ. Since turning down an encounter got him into trouble, he may as well go drown his sorrows in some al fresco sex.

Lastly, Don and Suzanne have a face off fraught with sexual tension: "I know exactly how it ends," she says. She's practical, guarded, pragmatic. When she says, "I don't think you've done this before this way," is she insinuating that she has? No matter: Don's aggressive and impulsive: "I want you. I don't care. Doesn't that mean anything to someone like you? " He's not willing to entertain the idea that she's not impressed by him: That would be too disappointing.

Earlier: On Mad Men, When Is It Rape?
Mad Men: Sex, Lies, & The Recline Of The Roman Empire
Mad Men's Appeal Is All About Joan
Mad Men: Drinking, Dancing, & Screwing
Mad Women Experience Frequent Aftershocks
Mad Men: It's All Fun & Games Until Someone Loses A…
Mad Men: Blood, Sweat, And Tears
Mad Men: "It's A Dead Man's Hat. Take It Off."
Mad Men: "I'm Peggy Olson, And I Want To Smoke Some Marijuana"
Mad Men: "Just Don't Get Pregnant."
Mad Men: Ann-Margret Gives Master Class In Womanly Arts
"His Name Is Dick - After A Wish His Mother Should Have Lived To See"

Interestingly, every time a rape or sexual assault is portrayed on the show, questions swirl around whether or not it was really, truly an assault. When Joan was raped by her fiancé in the second season the buzz on message boards was that it wasn't really rape. In an interview with New York Magazine, Christina Hendricks expressed her shock at the fact the rape scene was being debated:

[I]n the penultimate episode of the season, her doctor-fiancé rapes her. "Every time I got the script, I was like, ‘Poor Joan!' " says Hendricks. [...]

The rape was a shocker-but the audience reactions were perhaps more disturbing. "What's astounding is when people say things like, ‘Well, you know that episode where Joan sort of got raped?' Or they say rape and use quotation marks with their fingers," says Hendricks. "I'm like, ‘What is that you are doing? Joan got raped!' It illustrates how similar people are today, because we're still questioning whether it's a rape. It's almost like, ‘Why didn't you just say bad date?' "

The scene was polarizing, sparking heated online debates in which some questioned Joan's reaction (she and her fiancé head off for dinner afterward) while others wondered whether Joan would understand that it was rape, a taboo subject in 1962. Labels aside, Hendricks says Joan knew what was going on. "She's smart. She'd think it was awful and ‘Holy shit!' But she also thinks, ‘Pick yourself up, comb your hair. You've got a dinner reservation; don't be a baby. You know many girls this has happened to.' "

Our culture teaches us to excuse rape, to rationalize it away, to pinpoint all the reasons why a woman was partially or fully culpable for a man choosing to ignore consent and force a sexual encounter.

Also in the second season, Don Draper decides to regulate and sexually assaults Bobbi Barrett. But hey, does it really matter if Barrett likes it? (Let me be clear - that scenario is extremely complicated and needs a post of its own to parse out.) How many of us were turned on by (or, alternately, repulsed by) this scene, when the consent was not given beforehand, but complicated by their relationship afterward?

But let's put those two aside for the moment. What happened with Pete and the flustered au pair? Let's say Bobbie Barrett truly enjoyed Don Draper molesting her and found it sexy. Plausible. Bobbie enjoyed Don in a sexual way. But that was not the dynamic between Pete and Gertrude.

She is distraught, he offers to find a solution to her problem. She accepts the dress he has exchanged with thanks. When Pete moves in initially for a kiss, she shakes her head and demurs, mentioning a boyfriend. Pete is rebuffed. He leaves. A little later, after a drink, he comes back, not taking no for an answer. Gertrude doesn't even want to let him in the house, but acquiesces before he makes a scene. She is a subordinate in the building, while Pete is an apartment owner and a peer to her employers. She consents only to trying on the dress - as she goes to try the dress on, Pete restrains her, closes the door, and forcibly kisses her. At this moment, Gertrude stands stiffly for a few moments before submitting.

But submission is not equivalent to consent, especially not with those kind of power dynamics going on.

We didn't have to see the end of the scene between Don and Betty to know that they slept together. Likewise, we don't have to see the end of the late night scene between Pete and Gertrude (or hear about the four boxes of tissues she went through) to know what happened was rape.

Dangerous Curves [New York Magazine]
Mad Men, I Love You, But Your Fans Are Freaking Me Out [Bitch Blogs]

Earlier: Don Draper Dominates Dames
Mad Men: Sex, Lies, & The Recline Of The Roman Empire

They call it "aftershocks" - that slightly too-long moment of reaction, in which time most shows would have cut away. Particularly for the female characters, the device is revealing and crucial. As Variety points out, even those interactions that would seem to exclude women give them a "voice" in these scenes - often the loudest one. These moments are carefully plotted: each episode is preceded by a "tone meeting," in which the editors plan the distinct feeling they're going for. And while "dead air" is normally anathema to television - and was initially deemed "too slow" by AMC - the silences are a big part of the show's power.


Take this moment: on the page, it might look like Don's in complete control, displaying his sophistication and shutting down Peggy's attempt at small talk. It's in the silence that we see Peggy decide it's not worth it, and take the situation back - and in Don's look at her departing back that we know he knows it, too, and that a power shift has occurred.


This scene - in which Joan's husband tells her he hasn't gotten a much-desired promotion - would be effective anyway. But it's the moment of silence, in which we see Joan drop her ever-present game face and admit defeat, that makes it devastating.


There are only three lines here, when you think about it: all the tension comes from the silences and the pauses - and it's really tense; you feel a physical relief when Grandpa Gene reveals that he's not going to yell at Sally for stealing his money - or even mention it. His look says: I know, I have the power, and I'm wielding it benevolently. It's over. And somehow it's more suspenseful than a procedural packed with corpses and nonstop dialogue.

'Mad Men' Cutters Cue Subtle Moments [Variety]

One of the most notable scenes took place between three generations: Grandpa Gene, Don Draper, and Bobby. As Gene showed Bobby a Prussian helmet with dried blood, Don said, "Bobby, it's a dead man's hat. Take it off." This was such a layered statement: Not only was Don trying to wrestle the parenting role away from Gene and exert his authority over his, but Don's actually the one wearing a dead man's "hat." Name, identity, etc. A father's warning to a son not to make the mistakes he made?

The episode began with a great segment showing Grandpa Gene teaching Sally how to drive. The gorgeous smile on her face says so much: It's not just that she's having fun; it's not just that she's proud that her grandfather let her take the wheel. She loves being loved, craves the attention that Grandpa Gene gives her — and which she rarely gets from her parents. (An aside: My grandfather taught me to drive and this scene made my heart swell.)

In addition to time and attention, Grandpa Gene tells Sally: "You're smart… You could really do something. Don't let your mother tell you otherwise." Wise words. Parenting from a strong father figure — which Sally clearly relished.

There were parent issues of another sort going on in Peggy's life: She told her mother that she planned to get an apartment in Manhattan, and her mother did not take it well at all. "Family's cheap," Her mother spat. "Someday both of youse is gonna feel this — this broken heart I'm carryin… You'll get raped, you know that." Peggy's sister Anita tried to diffuse the situation, telling Peggy, "The whole Father dying situation… that was hard on her." Lessons are learned through parents — even if that lesson is learning when to walk away (or move out).

Of course, Sterling Cooper was dealing with Fatherhood, as the company's new client, Horace Cook Jr., was looking to spend $3 million of his dad's money on promoting jai alai in the U.S. At a lunch with Don and Pete, Horace talked about being the "father" of the sport, and impressing his father someday by giving him a team. Pete, who has dad drama of his own, was on board for making sure Horace got what he wanted, telling Don: "So he was born with a lot of money> He has a dream and it's out job to make it come true." But in a meeting between Don, Bert, Lane and Horace Sr., Horace the elder said: "Should you be lucky enough to strike gold, remember that your children weren't there when you swung the axe." Quite an interesting take on inheritance and passing things on to your kids.

The crappy parenting Sally's been getting was on full display when a cop arrived at the house to inform Betty that Grandpa Gene was dead. Sally was, quite literally, left out.

Sally's outburst when the adults were laughing while mourning Gene came as no surprise, but its worth pointing out that while Betty brushes Sally off ("Go watch TV"), Sally doesn't move until she gets a silent, motionless okay from Don. Even though Don spends so much time away from home, the thread between father and daughter is somehow strong, trusting, understanding. And when Sally did go watch TV, what she saw was more death, namely, the now-iconic image of Buddhist monk Thích Quảng Đức self-immolating in protest of South Vietnam's treatment of Buddhists.

Of course, it wasn't all doom, gloom and daddy issues on Sunday night:

Don broke the ant farm! Is it the end of the "gynocracy"? Ant colonies need queens to survive…

…And Joan killed them all. Dead.

Joan taught Peggy a thing or two about copywriting.

The Patio commercial was ear-piercingly awful…

Although Peggy's "I told you so" look was amazing.

And watching Sal act out the Patio routine was hilarious, even if his poor wife suddenly realized the truth about her marriage.

Earlier: Mad Men: "I'm Peggy Olson, And I Want To Smoke Some Marijuana"
Mad Men: "Just Don't Get Pregnant."
An Open Letter To Jon Gosselin From Don Draper
Mad Men: Ann-Margret Gives Master Class In Womanly Arts
"His Name Is Dick - After A Wish His Mother Should Have Lived To See"

• Even though AMC has "formally exercised" its option for a third season of Mad Men, Producer Lionsgate and network AMC not only have no contract with series creator Matthew Weiner, they have not made deals with the cast, either! What will become of Don Draper? [Fox 411, Variety]
• Oh, Mad Men star John Slattery was overheard trashing other actors while having dinner in New York: "De Niro's a jerk!" he said. And! "I was thinking about doing something with [Al Pacino], but I was told to run - not walk - away from him, he's so unbearable." [Rush & Molloy]
• Angelina Jolie plans to adopt another Ethiopian baby in the New Year, to "bond" with daughter Zahara. [Mirror]
• John Mayer is winning Jennifer Aniston back with "soppy texts." A source says "He has even written a song about their time together and played it to Jennifer who, naturally, was incredibly touched." [Mirror]

• Speaking of texts, Paris Hilton has been texting Prince William after meeting him in a club. She invited him to a club opening in Las Vegas; he declined but is "up for a few drinks" the next time she's in town. [Mirror]
• Sam Ronson bought Lindsay Lohan a "£15,000 Ferrari red diamond encrusted Tiret," which is, apparently, a watch. [Mirror]
• Uh-oh, Sam and Lindsay had a fight on an Acela train to Washington! LL was "whining incessantly." When Lindsay would get up, Samantha would sigh and put her sweatshirt hood back up. Oh, and at some point, Lindsay said to Sam: "Don't fucking lie to me!" [Page Six]
• David Duchovny's 28-year-old Hungarian tennis coach, Edit Pakay, was asked if she'd had an affair with Duchovny. She answered: "I don't want to say anything that might hurt David. I am not going to deny it. I don't know what our relationship means to him." [Daily Mail]
• Ooh, Harper's Bazaar editor Glenda Bailey liked Kenley's designs best on Project Runway and thinks it's a shame she didn't win! Also, the post calls Leanne the "viewer favorite," even though the "fan favorite" was Korto, hello? [Page Six]
• Mary-Kate Olsen and some friends ate at a restaurant in NYC and left a big tip — as well as a wad of chewing gum — on the table. [Page Six]
• Madonna's divorce case will claim that Guy Ritchie was cruel and verbally abusive to her. A source says: "She is alleging he would tell her that she really should give up the live touring and that she 'looked like a granny' compared to the nubile youngsters dancing with her on stage." [Daily Mail, NY Post]
• Seems like Madonna and A-Rod were getting together when his wife was seven months pregnant. He had this apartment he never told his wife about, and Madonna would meet him there. [Fox 411]
• David Banda's biological father, Yohane Banda, says if he had known Madonna had plans to divorce Ritchie, he never would have agreed to let the celebrity couple adopt his 3-year-old son. [UPI, Times Of London]
• Madonna's publicist, Liz Rosenberg, notorious for lying, says the divorce settlement has not been finalized. [AP]
• Guy Ritchie's dad says it was "horrid" to read about Madge calling his son an "emotional retard" in front of fans. [The Sun]
• Madonna says Guy was "against" the adoption of David Banda. [The Sun]
• Um, this report says that Madonna wants to have a natural child with A-Rod. A friend says: "She thinks he's physically a great specimen. And if she is going to have another child, he would be the ideal man to bring one to her." Gah. [Daily Mail]
• Madonna might not move to NYC after all; the kids are in school in London and she doesn't want to interfere with that. [Mirror]
• This report says Madonna thinks Guy is a gold-digger, and that the kids are home-schooled and go on the road with her. [The Sun]
• A source says of the Madonna/Guy split: "She’s got a team of Kabbalah advisers who guide her through her spiritual decisions. If they say something is justified, then she feels comfortable going ahead and doing it. It’s only going to get worse (the public jabs) if Kabbalah greenlights it. Expect ugliness of epic proportions." [MSNBC]
• Guy Ritchie maybe told friends that making love to Madonna was like "cuddling up to a piece of gristle." [Daily Mail]
• Nicole Richie is the happiest she's ever been. "Parenthood is easier than I thought. Everybody was saying, before giving birth, sleep now because you'll never sleep with a baby but she sleeps 12 hours a day and I'm sleeping, too. She's the sweetest little angel." [The Sun]
• The Lost Madonna Tapes. Early songs. [The Daily Beast]
• Russell Simmons has a "bunch of money" tied up in a Lehman Brothers fund in London, but he says: "I don't worry about it. I have lots of staff members; I want to make sure everyone keeps getting fed." He does worry about the five charities he heads. "I’m not going to cut down on them so I can have another ride on a private plane." [NY Mag]
• So the son of the Beckhams' housekeepers, who's being held in an eBay investigation, used to dress up in Beckham's suits. [Mirror]
• Gisele Bundchen and Tom Brady: Getting hitched? They are planning a wedding reception at Tavern On The Green in NYC. [Page Six]
• Victoria Beckham arrived in Madrid and asked that her suite have "only white colors" in it. White candles and white roses. No word on whether she only let white people in. [Page Six]
• Tom Cruise was seen posing on the streets of New York with Suri Cruise. Walking slowly, stopping at the car with the door open, just letting the paparazzi get pictures. "Exploiting" his daughter? Or making sure the photogs get what they want so they don't jostle and follow the car? [Perez Hilton]
• At a listening party, rapper Q-Tip was asked if he really dated Nicole Kidman. He said: "Yes, I did. So what?" [LA Times]
• Sean Penn is visiting Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez. Again. The actor accompanied the President during the inspection of a natural gas pipeline on Sunday. [Yahoo News]
• Heidi Montag's ex-boyfriend, Jordan Eubanks, says: "Since dating Spencer [Pratt], Heidi's whole mentality has changed—everything has changed. She's done a total 180, and I think it's so sad." Plus! There's a pic of him with Heidi and she's got her old nose and boobs. [E!]
• Chris Martin was being interviewed and talking about how Gwyneth told him he could only leave her if it was for one of the chicks in Girls Aloud. He told her that she could leave for Irish singers Westlife. The interviewer said, "You could have at least told her Brad Pitt." To which Martin replied, "She was engaged to him, you fucker." Then Martin punched the guy and called him a "cunt." [Jossip]
• Chris Martin says he was "just fooling around" when he punched the reporter. [Rush & Molloy]
• Don Cornelius of Soul Train was arrested over the weekend on suspicion of domestic violence. [AP]
• Katie Price, aka Jordan, has walked out on husband Peter Andre. She's on the cover of the UK version of OK!. [Perez Hilton]
• Actor Gale Harold, of Desperate Housewives and Queer As Folk, was in a serious motorcycle accident last week. He had swelling on the brain and a fractured shoulder but is expected to recover. [Star]
• Oi! Amy Winehouse and David Beckham have the UK's "most hated celebrity accents." [The Star]
• Eminem's new book includes thoughts about the 2006 shooting death of his close friend and fellow D12 rapper Proof: "I have never felt so much pain in my life. It was tough for me to even get out of bed, and I had days when I couldn't walk, let alone write a rhyme." [People]
• Andy Dick has been ordered by a court to wear an alcohol-monitoring bracelet for one year. Think he can last that long? [UPI]
• Ali Larter had an engagement party over the weekend. [People]
• Morgan Freeman has agreed to help kick off the first Blues at Moon Music Festival at Mississippi's Golden Moon Hotel and Casino in Choctaw, MS. [UPI]
• Sir Paul McCartney's new love, Nancy Shevell, has moved in. [The Sun]
• Headline of the day: "The Grandadiator: Russell Crowe's raging grandfather makes hellraising star look tame." [Daily Mail]
• Jeff Probst created a new show, Live Like You're Dying, for CBS. The gist: A person who has been given a terminal diagnosis with a finite amount of time to live will be taken "on the last adventure of their life." But it's not morbid! "The focus of the show is not death," says Probst. "The story we’re going tell is about living. This is a show that is intended to inspire everybody to get the most out of their lives every day." [EW]
• Carrie Fisher's memoir includes this info about Star Wars: She was looking at her white costume when director George Lucas said, "You can't wear a bra under that dress." "Why?" asked Fisher. "There's no underwear in space," he replied. [Page Six]
• Rihanna rode a Segway around the mall in Vegas, attempted to look cool while doing so. [Concrete Loop]
• A male friend of actress Bonnie Somerville was shot and wounded at a party in West Hollywood; it may have been a BB gun. [UPI]
• Jeremy Piven talks about being in Mamet's play Speed-The-Plow on Broadway: "I don’t think there would be an Entourage without David Mamet." [NY Times]
• Michael Kors: Spotted checking out pusses at the Cat Show in NYC! [Fey Friends]
• If Christie Brinkley's ex, Peter Cook, has a sex tape of himself with his teen mistress, it's a felony: She was 18 at the time and recorded without her knowledge. [NY Post]
• John Legend hearts Obama and the feeling is mutual. [Guardian]
• Liza Minnelli: On Broadway! Two weeks only! [Variety]
• Lily Tomlin wants Jenny, who's been working at the Dallas Zoo for 22 years, to retire. Jenny is a 32-year-old elephant; Tomlin wants her sent to a sanctuary. [MSNBC]
• Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood cheated on his wife with Kelly LeBrock…in 1981. [Daily Mail]
• "I never got introduced to [Bond creator Ian Fleming] until I was well into the movie but I know he was not happy with me as the choice. What was it he called me, or told somebody? That I was an over-developed stunt man. He never said it to me. When I did eventually meet him he was very interesting, erudite and a snob – a real snob." — Sean Connery, recalling filming Dr. No. [Daily Express]

• Arnaldo Silva and his daughter Vanessa were both diagnosed with breast cancer within the same year and both went through treatment together in 2007. • An Iraqi woman and her Iraq war-veteran husband learn how to deal with post-war life and economic struggles in America. • Amputee Chinese dancers Ma Li and Zhai Xiaowei both perform a ballet titled "She Without Arm, He Without Leg."• Virginia's General Assembly is considering a bill that would require insurance companies to cover the medical costs to treat autism, which can sometimes cost families $5 million over a lifetime to support a single autistic child. • A new study suggests that men are more likely to meet an online acquaintance "in real life" than women. • A London judge was criticized by a London appeals judge yesterday for calling a trio of middle-aged female muggers "over-the-hill slappers." • According to a federal indictment that was unsealed this week, a teenage Afghan girl was enslaved by five Afghan immigrants in the Seattle area where she was beaten and sexually assaulted by her 37-year-old husband for two years. •