US – Thursday, March 11

Bank your friend? Don’t fool yourself

Is your bank acting like your new best friend? Calling and writing about how they need to protect you — for a fee — in case you overdraw your account? Don’t buy it.

Canadian pols eat seal to make point to Europe

Canadian parliamentarians dug into a meal of seal meat yesterday to defy both animal right activists and the European Union, which has banned imports of seal products.

Is nothing in her life real anymore?

When we first read that Heidi Pratt was firing husband Spencer Pratt as her manager, we thought, “Yay! Heidi’s new face is finally doing something right!” But then we found out that although she did fire Spencer, it seems like she’s replacing him with psychic Aiden Chase to take the reigns on her “career” — and then we got scared.

The mistrial minstrel show fails to balance

Clearly John Kander and the late Fred Ebb, creators of musical classics such as “Cabaret” and “Chicago,” knew how to spin cynicism into theatrical gold. And that talent is very much in evidence in “The Scottsboro Boys” at the Vineyard Theatre, which combines hard-boiled skepticism with tuneful razzle-dazzle to often entertaining effect. Yet despite its clever story-telling, “Scottsboro” fails to find its balance. It should take your breath away but barely elicits a sigh.

‘Free’ ad leads to fraud suit

NEW YORK. A Wisconsin college student is suing credit firm Experian — the brains behind the ubiquitous FreeCreditReport.com jingles — for fraudulent advertising after she inadvertently signed up for a monthly $14.95 monitoring service.

One ‘Delight’ after another

Don’t confuse Sophie Dahl’s new cookbook for any skinny girl mantra.

Published 23:31, February the 8th, 2010

Pressure grows for sanctions

International pressure for new sanctions against Iran grew yesterday after Tehran announced plans to make higher-enriched uranium and add 10 nuclear sites in a year, raising Western fears it wants to develop atom bombs.

The U.S. and France led calls for what would be a fourth, broader set of punitive sanctions, while a senior lawmaker in Russia, which in the past has urged talks rather than punishment, said economic measures should be considered.

A senior U.S. administration official called Iran’s announcement “a provocative move” that was in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions.

REUTERS

The March MMMpod features conversation and music from Surfer Blood and The Allman Brothers Band (There's a double-bill you're not too likely to see. However, Gregg Allman does mention Hannah Montana!). We also speak with Vampire Weekend and the Dropkick Murphys.

[Flyers by PaperG]