Teen Gossip Site Shut Down

Cyber-bullying is nothing new. In fact almost as long as there has been an Internet, there have been people cold enough to use it for public mocking and abuse. Although it's one thing to post mean things on MySpace  or harass someone via IM, it's yet another when there is a site that is essentially completely dedicated to anonymous cyber-bullying.  PeoplesDirt.com has been shut down twice since December for various reasons, including misrepresentation to advertisers. But the bigger problem for PeoplesDirt.com (which is again offline) is the content of the site. The bulletin board is broken down by state, then by county, and then by high school, and encourages anonymous visitors to post gossip about anyone they wish, without fear of reprisal.  The most recent take down was the result of an investigation started by the Maryland Attorney General. A former student at Walt Whitman High School used the site to post death threats, and parents and school faculty have complained about it repeatedly. A quick Google search for the site turn up plenty of news coverage and blog posts about the racist, homophobic, and just plain mean things posted on it. Walt Whitman Principal, Alan Goodwin, told the Maryland Gazette he was happy to hear the site had been shut down. But many are concerned that this is only a temporary calm and that PeoplesDirt or a site just like it will be back online in no time.

Could this be what the movie Final Destination is about?

Woman Who Missed Flight Killed by Car

In an unfortunate twist a fate, a woman who missed the Air France flight that crashed into the Atlantic last week has been killed in a car accident.

Johanna Ganthaler was vacationing in Brazil with her husband, Kurt, last month and was scheduled to fly into Paris May 31 on Air France Flight 447.

The Italian couple missed boarding the flight after arriving late to the Rio de Janeiro airport, according to the Times Online.

Despite their initial good fortune, the two were involved in a car accident in Austria. Johanna Ganthaler was killed and her husband was seriously injured in the crash.

For the full story, go to the Times Online.

Sonny and Cher’s daughter to become man - Can put away the Chastity Belt.

Chastity Bono, the daughter of the late Sonny Bono and Cher, is in the early stages of transitioning from female to male. Bono’s representative, Howard Bragman, has publicly confirmed this to be true.

“Yes, it’s true — Chaz, after many years of consideration, has made the courageous decision to honor his true identity.

He is proud of his decision and grateful for the support and respect that has already been shown by his loved ones. It is Chaz’s hope that his choice to transition will open the hearts and minds of the public regarding this issue, just as his ‘coming out’ did nearly 20 years ago.”

Bono is a well known author and gay rights advocate. 

Joss Whedon's 'Dollhouse' -- 'Back with such a vengeance'

Joss Whedon is two weeks into breaking stories forDollhouse's second season.

"About two hours after starting to talk to the writers about story, I was back with such a vengeance, and so energized and so pumped because we really understand the show now. We understand what works, and what didn't work so well or what we weren't so thrilled about. We don't have the onus of trying to be a big hit sitting on our shoulders. We can just be ourselves. And so the stories we're breaking are pure, and exciting, and everybody's on-board in the room, and it's never flowed better."

Whedon tells us that season 2 won't pick up right with "We've got to find Alpha!" but a little bit later.  Whedon says that Echo's last word in the finale, "Caroline," was the beginning of her season 2 quest. "Echo wants to find not just Caroline, but what's going on behind everything. She doesn't have all of the skills. [Laughs] But she does have this weird super power of becoming a different person all the time, so she might start using that more specifically to find out who Caroline was and what happened to her and why this place exists." So she still has all those past imprints in her? "Well, they're supposed to have wiped them out of there. But we'll see how well that went..."

David Carradine Didn't Commit Suicide

While Thai police initially said the actor had likely committed suicide, details soon emerged about how he was found – nude, with cords wrapped around his wrists, neck and genitals – that gave rise to speculation Carradine had died accidentally during an autoerotic act.

Yeah I wasn't buying the "suicide" story either and from the beginning thought it was something a bit more "kinky" or murder.

According to a source, Carradine's funeral will be held on Saturday in California. 

Madonna wins 3-year-old 'Mercy' from Malawi

Madonna can get "Mercy," Malawi's highest court ruled Friday. The court overruled a lower court, saying the pop star can adopt 3-year-old Chifundo "Mercy" James.

Chief Justice Lovemore Munlo, reading the three-judge appeal court panel's ruling on Friday, said that was a narrow interpretation based on old laws and that "in this global village a man can have more than one place at which he resides."

He said the singer's commitment to helping disadvantaged children also should have been taken into account in the decision.

Madonna has founded a charity, Raising Malawi, which helps feed, educate and provide medical care for some of Malawi's more than 1 million orphans, half of whom have lost a parent to AIDS.