Page 1 Consider (10/02)

The Winter of My Discontent: I realize "Friday Night Lights" wouldn't be coming back at all if not for its kooky arrangement with DirecTV. But do I really have to wait until next year to see Tim Riggins (hottie Taylor Kitsch) get nekkid again? (EW)

There Once Was a Girl From Wasilla: Because T.S. Eliot has been dead for over 40 years, I give you the poems of Sarah Palin. (Slate)

Ready for Prime Time: This is fun news. It's been announced that Rosie O'Donnell will host a live, hour-long special on NBC in November that may become an ongoing series. I like the idea, although it seems to be a bit of a spin on Logo's "Big Gay Sketch Show," of which she's already a producer. Let's just hope it's better than when Roseanne Barr attempted a sketch show, "Saturday Night Special," back in 1996. Despite having Kathy Griffin and Jennifer Coolidge are regulars, it was the least funny show EVER! As "SNL" has proven time and time again, this kind of thing is very hard to execute. (AfterEllen)

Hot and Cold: Just a day after dissing gay icon Harvey Milk, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Tuesday signed into law a bill requiring private health insurance providers to cover the cost of HIV testing regardless of a primary diagnosis. As soon as next year, health care providers in California will no longer have to manipulate the codes on insurance forms to goad private insurers into paying for the tests that screen for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Ironically, because of the current budget crisis, the state's public insurance provider, MediCal, will not be covered, leaving some of the most vulnerable ineligible for the free testing. A step in the right direction, Arnold. But I've still got my eye on you. (NYT)

The Choice to Laugh: A Boston women’s shelter on Wednesday cut headliner Sandra Bernhard from its annual benefit after she criticized Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin's anti-abortion stance and said the reader of "all" newspapers would be "gang-raped by my big black brothers" if she ever visited New York. Bernhard made the remarks last month during her one-woman show in Washington before Palin visited New York to campaign. Many guests at Rosie’s Place have been victims of violence, PR Leemarie Mosca said, so "in light of our mission we don't think violence against women is a laughing matter." Funny, because if anything it sounds you were the victim, Leemarie -- robbed of any sense of humor. (AP)

Good Riddance: Why would Disney-owned ABC have a porn star on "Dancing With the Stars" in the first place? (M&C)

Deal or No Deal: These pirates off the coast of Somalia would seem way more intimidating if they'd stop playing "Let's Make a Deal" with their "ransom" demands. (NYT)

OMG: It's starting to look like text-messaging really was behind the tragic commuter train crash in the San Fernando Valley that killed 25 people. Truly awful. (ABC)

Mercenary Inc.: Is it just me, or is this story about the pharmaceutical maker ImClone the most revolting thing ever? "The interest of many large pharmaceutical companies in cancer drugs is a reversal for such drug makers, who once shunned cancer drugs as less attractive than treating lifelong chronic diseases. One reason is that cancer drug prices have risen so sharply that even drugs for fairly rare cancers can generate big sales. Erbitux, for example, costs about $10,000 a month. In addition, patients and regulators are willing to accept more severe side effects from a cancer drug than they are from drugs for less serious illnesses. Drug companies like Lilly are also trying to move more into protein-based drugs like Erbitux and the drugs ImClone is developing. These drugs, made in living cells, are less subject to a sudden onslaught of generic competition than the chemical pills typically sold by large pharmaceutical companies." (NYT)

Gone to the Dogs: He's photographed Princess Diana in diamonds, Madonna in lingerie and top model Gisele Bundchen in the buff. But celebrated French photographer Patrick Demarchelier says none of the hundreds of pop culture icons he's immortalized in his more than 30 years behind the lens can compare with his dog, whom he calls "the perfect model." An exhibition at Paris' Petit Palais museum brings together more than 400 of Demarchelier's renowned portraits, including, of course, a ravishing shot of Puffy the long-haired dachshund. (AP)

My Dad Would Have Loved This: The gift of gab is no handicap in politics, so it’s not surprising that the 2008 presidential and VP candidates have Irish roots -- all of them. "This is probably the most Irish ticket collectively in American history,” says Megan Smolenyak, chief family historian at Ancestry.com, who has been studying the candidates’ genealogy. Whatever the case may be, I'm pro O'Bama all the way! (Newsweek)

Memo From Home: A proposed amendment to the Arizona state constitution to limit marriage to opposite-sex couples is facing a fierce battle and opponents of the measure say they are confident it will be defeated. (365Gay)

Achievement in Hate? Four gay groups are demanding that the Museum of Broadcast Communications retract its decision to induct Focus on the Family founder and all-around douche bag James Dobson into its hall of fame. The groups are urging supporters to contact the museum to share their disapproval, and to participate in a protest against the induction. (Advocate)