Photo by Andy Sternberg/LAist A posthumous tribute wall dedicated to singer/songwriter Elliot Smith sat defaced by graffiti for months on end -- LAist said enough, so did the fans and city council.SFist was surprised to learn that chronic presidential candidate Ralph Nader picked former San Francisco Supervisor Matt Gonzalez as his running mate.Phillyist explored the possibilities of green cleaning.In the latest edition of Reel Toronto, a bi-weekly feature looking at films shot in Toronto......

According to Microsoft, Santa likes to talk about oral sex. The space shuttle heads to the International Space Station this Saturday. The CIA destroyed vidoetaped evidence of their interrogations of two top terror suspects in 2002. Rest assured, this is probably an isolated incident. A positive sign for our economy. GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney is a mormon and nobody cares. The U.S. House sends kickass energy bill to Senate. City ordered to put......

Governor Rick Perry today announced his official support of Republican presidential candidate and former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, whose pro-abortion stance has enraged many conservatives. Perry, in today's declaration, admitted that reconciling the hot-button issue was the biggest obstacle in his endorsement. Giuliani, in turn, pledged to nominate hard-line "strict constructionist" judges to the Supreme Court. Perry replied that he was "comfortable" with this answer. "For the last six months, I have cogitated,"......

The Lamar Train Bridge has forever been a canvas for local graffiti artists, Austin High seniors, and hopeless romantics with poor penmanship. Long gone are the days of "EMINEM IS GOD"; a few months ago, the most prominent thing on that rusty old bridge was a declaration of peace. Now, looking east from Lamar, you'll be reminded of the grassroots appeal of Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul. Let's see how long this one lasts.......

One burrito to rule them all: 10,000 lb burrito to be built at October fundraiser for local charities. Texan Dan Rather is suing CBS (and others related to his ouster) for $70 million. GOP presidential candidate Fred Thompson visited Dell today. Southwest Airlines is sticking with open seating, but families with small kids will no longer get to go first. A rabid bat was found this morning at St. Edwards. A local filmmaker is......

A billowing American flag against a pitch background opens this compelling story of a Seattle grandmother, Bev Harris, who started asking questions after presidential candidate Al Gore managed to get negative votes (-16,022, to be exact) in Volusia County, Florida in 2000. After a media distraction over "hanging chads" and other discrepancies, the overall results in Florida effectively lost the election for Gore. As simplistic as it sounds, Harris made a search engine find......

The war in Iraq is an unqualified mess, confidence in elected officials seems to be at a low and Republican leaders are scrambling trying to get some cover. Enter John Kerry. The former presidential candidate made a “botched joke” (his words, not ours) involving college students, the Iraqi quagmire and George Bush, and Republicans are taking the opportunity to turn the tables on the Democrats in hopes of generating some traction before next week’s mid-term......

Democratic goobernatorial candidate Chris Bell is demanding that Carole Keeton Cougar Rylander Strayhorn return $29,500 she received from members of the Zachry Family, which owns Zachry Construction Corp. Zachry Construction is involved in a partnership to develop the first phase of the Trans-Texas Corridor, which includes 4,000-plus miles of tollways. What bothers Bell is that this is the same project that Strayhorn has spoken out against publicly. In other Grandma Cougar news: Kinky wants......

A few tasty offerings today, including: Edward Norton in a cowboy hat! Vince Vaughn and Jen Aniston - omg, will they get back together in the end?? And hey, guess what - planet Earth is totally f*cked! *An Inconvenient Truth Last week we were a little confused about this film's release date, but we've confirmed that it does in fact open today. Not a moment too soon - the oceans are rising! Former presidential......

One of the greatest statesmen in Texas political history died today. Former Senator Lloyd Bentsen served the state of Texas for six years in the U.S. House and 22 years in the U.S. Senate. He also served for two years as Secretary of the Treasury after being part of the losing Democratic presidential ticket with Michael Dukakis in 1988. The Atticus Finch-like figure, who never seemed to ruffle feathers or disrespect his peers with grandstanding,......