This afternoon WIKILEAKS released the first batch of an estimated 250,000 State Department cables -- an event that has had official Washington, and the diplomatic missions of half the civilized world, shaking in its boots.

If this were Mean Girls, this would be the scene where pages from the Burn Book start showing up all over school.

Here's a campaign shocker: RACHEL MADDOW is still not running for Scott Brown's seat. Apparently that full page Globe ad last year wasn't enough for the Huffington Post, the Boston Herald, and eight zillion blogs. It wasn't really true until she showed up at Harvard on Sunday night and made an offhanded comment about it.

Apparently someone over at NPR has been trolling our website for story ideas. First, they took a shot at our film critic Peter Keough for taking a shot at Scott Pilgrim fanboys. For their second Phoenix namedrop in a week, we turn to Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!, NPR's weekly news quiz show. In a reoccurring segment entitled "Who's Carl This Time?", the show's official scorekeeper Carl Kasell rattles off quotes and one lucky contestant gets to guess what timely news story he's referencing in his quote.

Last week, we touched upon the net neutrality issue to help explain and add context to the buzz around a forthcoming Google-Verizon deal. That "deal," as you may have heard, was announced on Monday.

The first thing to note is that it's not an actual deal.

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Remember that dark day in late-April when the Boston Globe ran an ad and $1 off coupon for obscure bread company Bimbo Bakeries on their front page? Well, turns out that stunt is nothing compared to what was plastered on the front, back, and inside of today's Metro

So you've gone by and drooled over the newest Apple product at your local Apple store, wishing the thing didn't cost $500+. Or maybe you've decided it's not worth the money just yet and you can wait for the next generation(s) to be released. Maybe you're totally anti-iPad and have decided it'll never be worth having yet another device to cart around.

Well, this is awkward: NY Mag, this week; and the Boston Phoenix, July 2009

Back in July of 2009, Boston Phoenix staffer DAVID S. BERNSTEIN wrote an article about how Sarah Palin was about to rake in the dough -- a piece that examined the underbelly of the Conservative punditocracy in America, and explained how Palin, by becoming the leading figure in it, was poised to make a hell of a lot more money as a full-time free agent than she would as a half-assed Alaskan governor.

I know it's a little foofoo and some of the dishes are really meant for the culinary wizards of the country (hence the name I guess), but I'm seriously sad to hear about Gourmet magazine's demise. :(

Today, Conde Nast, parent-company of The New Yorker, Wired and a ton of other pubs, announced they are closing Gourmet along with three other publications -- Cookie, Modern Bride, and Elegant Bride (but keeping their Brides magazine open -- serously people? Three bride mags and you never thought it was a bit much?).

The Boston Newspaper Guild -- the union representing the newsroom of the Boston Globe -- narrowly rejected the final offer of the New York Times Company tonight, by a vote of 277 to 265, according to Boston.com in a report published a few minutes ago. That's an agonizingly close vote, in an election that produced high turnout (Globe says 80 percent of union membership voted).