Former NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton, now LAPD Chief of Police, offered his blunt assessment that a paparazzi taskforce was a "waste of time" since, for one, favorite paparazzi target Lindsay Lohan "has gone gay." While LA City Council members were disturbed by Bratton's remarks--and outing of the Mean Girls starlet--Bratton refined his remarks, saying Lindsay's relationship with Samantha Ronson apparently "quieted her down...nobody is more of a supporter of gay rights than I am." Naturally,......

William Bratton, the former NYPD Commissioner who introduced CompStat and helped oversee a dramatic reduction in crime (and then was dismissed when Rudy Giuliani got jealous), is now dealing a different kind of scourge: The paparazzi in Los Angeles. An LA City Council member has proposed restrictions on paparazzi and even convened a regional "paparazzi task force," with testimony from celebrities. Bratton, who has headed the LAPD since 2002, feels it's a "total waste of......

Torontoist discovered their city's most ridiculous holiday lights setup, with 80,000 lights and two––two!––synchronized music routines. Naturally, they snagged a video. Chicago tragically loses one of its most recognizable neighborhood icons, the pigeon man of Lincoln Square. LAPD leaves body in car at crash scene, then tows it. Massachusetts plus mullet equals PR mayhem. Londonist sleeps in a Haunted plague pit. UC Berkeley students strip naked and race through campus, NSFW floppiness ensues. Phillyist......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a stabbing on 168th St. and Hillside Ave. in Queens, a sexual assault at Stanton and Attorney Sts. in Manhattan, and a missing child on Himrod St. in Brooklyn. Artist Eve Mosher is outlining in chalk the high water lines that floods will reach every four years by 2080 if global warming continues unabated. The project can be seen at her site highwaterline. Six-year-old Natalie Shea is now a......

A look at some noteworthy programs this week: Mystery: Foyle’s War: Invasion (Sunday, 9:00 p.m., WNET 13, Tuesday, 9:00 p.m., WLIW 21) The fourth series of this great British World War II period mystery drama makes its way to this side of the pond. The first of four episodes has Detective Foyle and his team investigation a murder on an American base. The 4400 (Sunday, 9:00 p.m., USA) This sci-fi series about people who were......

There's so much going on across the Ist-a-Verse that it's almost impossible to keep track these days. Fortunately, we do it so you don't have to! Londonist took a walk through Oliver Twist's London, thanks to a gorgeous map layer for Google Earth. They also caught up with modern-day fictional London, with the Fantastic Four and 28 Weeks Later. It was a week of insanity over at DCist. They started the week off with......

A look at some noteworthy television programs this week: Nature: Dogs That Changed The World: The Rise of the Dog (Sunday, 8:00 p.m. WNET 13; Wednesday, 9:00 p.m., WLIW 21) The first of a two part look at man's best friend, the dog. Part one looks at the origins of domesticated dogs and inquires about the theory that links domestication to human's trash. A behind the scenes podcast looking into the challenges of filming dogs......

Austinist gets arty with an interactive guide to SXSW, loved some local art galleries and a new art exhibit and lamented the possible loss of "Friday Night Lights" production to New Mexico. Bostonist was happy they finally found an Anna Nicole Smith connection to their fair city and that an Apple Store was opening up. They were less happy that new rules have been established limiting underage shows and that their Governor spending a lot......

An interesting turn in the post-Sean Bell shooting NYPD: The NYPD has hired the RAND Corporation to examine NYPD weapons-use records and firearms training. The independent review will take 6 months and cost $500,000 (paid out of funds from the NYC Police Foundation). Police Commissioner Ray Kelly announced the study, but said that the review will "not directly investigate" the Bell shooting, though it will look at the phenomenon of "contagious shooting." Reaction is mixed:......

The -ists this week had politics on the brain. And what goes better with politics? Partying-- that's two great tastes in one. Oh, and Kevin Federline...can't forget about Kevin Federline. That's three great tastes in one. -Chicagoist celebrated the election news but cried in their Beer of the Week as Da Bears lost for the very first time. And in continuing with our theme, previewed an actual K-Fed show! -DCist caught the President stumped......

In February 2005, the first Pinkberry opened on a quiet street in West Hollywood by 32-year old Korean entrepreneur Hyekyung (Shelly) Hwang. The frozen yogurt fiends came in droves, forced the LAPD to write 1,000 parking tickets because the store's neighbors couldn't find a place to put their cars amidst the visitors' SUVs, and now Hwang has signed more than thirty leases for yet-to-be-opened Pinkberry stores around the country. Often hailed as "crackberry," the......

Okay, Gothamist admits it: The whole 50 Cent-The Game feud that may or may not have caused the shooting of an associate of The Game totally confuses us. First, the media reported that one of 50's crew was shot in the lobby of Hot 97 where 50 Cent was on the air dissing The Game (photo left, AP). But then the victim, who was shot in the upper leg-groin (ouchie), turned out to be a......