Everything Good In Anna Nicole [FourFour]

• Christina Aguilera is in the family way! Just like with a genie in a bottle, her husband rubbed her the right way. The baby-making way. [E!]
  
• Isaiah Washington's verbal diarrhea of the day: He now says Patrick Dempsey is to blame for his spewing of hate speech. [ABC News]
  
• R.I.P Beverly Sills. And big thanks to our Intro to Opera prof from college, without whom we would not care about Sills' passing. [CNN]
  
• Violent crime in South Africa is at an "unacceptable" level. Do we hear the sweet sound of the Truth and Reconciliation Committee: The Revival? [BBC]

• We all know that Pete Doherty is no fan of rehab. But now he like, totally loves it! Or so he told a judge when faced with the choice of rehab or jail. Rehab is fun! Just ask Lohan, Petey Boy! [BBC]
• President Bush still might pardon Scooter Libby, on top of commuting his sentence? Way to practice small government and morality, Republicans! [CNN]
• Awkward international news item of the day: Japan's defense minister saying that it was sorta okay for the U.S. to have dropped the A-bomb on his country during WWII. And all over the world, people squirm uncomfortably. [NYT]
• Katie Holmes, Rosie O'Donnell, and Anna Nicole (and Larry Birkhead's!) baby were 3 of British tabloid OK's list of the 19 Most Influential Celebrities. We cry for Rosie, to be put in such company. [Yahoo]
• Even senior citizens have to show ID to buy booze in Tennessee now. Which means that those poor, unfortunate college students don't stand a chance in hell. [Slate]
• How does Paris Hilton show how much jail has matured her? By scoring a Hello Kitty t-shirt, of course. [People.com]
• The Dept of Defense's website is down, and thus our regular source for reporting the U.S. casualty reports is thwarted. How do you say "vast right wing conspiracy"? [DoD]
• Wait! Ugh. Reports of 5 U.S. casualties today. [Iraq Coalition Casualties]

• Guess is opening more and more accessories-only stores, ogling for Coach's spot in the market and a luxury image. Luxury image? We'd like to remind company execs that both Paris Hilton and the late Nicole Smith have served as the face of the brand. Just sayin... [WWD]
• Bloomingdale's continues its attack on California with opening of store in South Coast Plaza that glows in the dark. [WWD]
• Burberry has apparently reclaimed its highbrow status after being usurped as label of choice for English equivalent of white trash. [London Telegraph]
• H&M's new chain of stores, COS, is "more Zara than H&M" with just a pinch of "old Club Monaco." [Portfolio]

In the wake of Scarlett Johansson totally robbing the spotlight from the historic blah blah first female president of Harvard...not to mention the demise of an illiterate beauty queen, Slate's inimitable Undercover Economist asks the timely question, does beauty make you smarter? (Of course, in true Slate fashion, the question is answered — why yes! Of course beauty makes you smarter! We'll show you why! — on the front page, only to serve up polemical blueballs when you get all angry and click on the fucking thing — well, actually, no, beauty doesn't really make you smarter, in fact, we have some evidence on the subject, and just like the last time we went there and regretted it (Why Women Choke Under Pressure, which is to say, Slate has no evidence they choke under pressure) the whole story is based on maze studies (oooh! new Slate slogan: How Maze Studies Explain The Global Economy, and also the Human Condition!!! ), and what it says is that attractive people only think they're smarter, and express more confidence that they will solve the mazes, even though they can't actually do it, which is just how all the good-looking jackasses who think they know how to give head get through life, isn't it? Confidence. Ugh. For everyone else, at least there's cocaine!

Does Beauty Make You Smarter? [Slate]