Circuit City R.I.P.

Damn, I can't count how many CDs and DVDs I bought from Circuit City over the years. Sorry to see it go, even sorrier for the 30,000 employees about to lose their jobs:

Circuit City became the largest retailer to fall victim to the expanding financial crisis Friday, announcing it will shut down its remaining 567 U.S. stores at the cost of 34,000 more jobs after failing to sell the business.

The closure of the nation's second-biggest consumer electronics retailer spells more trouble for the nations malls, and is the latest casualty of an unprecedented pullback in consumer spending that has claimed KB Toys, Mervyns LLC and Linens 'N Things.

"Very, very sad," said Alan L. Wurtzel, son of company founder Samuel S. Wurtzel and himself a former chief executive of Circuit City. "I feel particularly badly for the people who are employed or until recently were employed."

Richmond, Va.-based Circuit City had been seeking a buyer or a deal to refinance its debt, but the hobbled credit market and consumer worries proved insurmountable. Negotiations for an acquisition extended past midnight Thursday before finally falling through, Circuit City lawyer Gregg Galardi said.

Two potential buyers -- Mexican billionaire Ricardo Salinas Pliego, who controls a chain of electronics stores in Latin America, and the Golden Gate Capital private equity firm -- considered a shrunken form of the business, retaining as many 350 stores or as few as 180. But Circuit City couldn't secure the necessary financing or support from vendors.

"This is the only possible path for our company," acting Chief Executive James A. Marcum said in a statement. "We are extremely disappointed by this outcome."

Fantasia May Lose Her Home

How bad is the current economic crunch? Even "American Idol" winners are being affected:

Fantasia Barrino's Charlotte home is set for debtor's auction at noon Monday, according to a report Wednesday in the New York Post - and officials say the "American Idol" winner seems to be ignoring the loss.

The problem stems from a $65,000 loan Barrino received from a Florida credit card company in 2006. Aside from a $10,000 payment in 2007, Barrino has failed to repay the rest of the loan, prompting the company to auction the Piper Glen house.

The Post reports that Mecklenburg sheriff's deputies have tried several times to reach the singer by phone and at the home, but to no avail. The story also said Barrino hasn't responded to court documents or had a lawyer appear in court to represent her. Barrino's attorney declined to comment for the Post story.

Now we all know Fantasia had some hard times on the come up, having been raped, pregnant as a teen and barely able to read her kid bedtime stories, so something has to be amiss for her to be ignoring this mess. I mean, maybe she couldn't read the court documents or something like that.

Lil Cease and Gravy In Brooklyn

MTV Shows

Notorious hits theaters Jan. 16.

Free James Joseph Cialella!

It's literally the stuff that dreams are made of:

A man angry that a family was talking during a movie threw popcorn at the son and then shot the father in the arm, according to police in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

James Joseph Cialella, 29, was charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault and weapons violations, a police report said.

Cialella told the family sitting in front of him in the theater on Christmas Day to be quiet, police said.

An argument ensued while others at the Riverview Movie Theatre watched "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," starring Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

Cialella then approached the family from the left side of the aisle and shot the father, who was not identified, as he was standing between Cialella and his family, according to the police report.

The victim was taken to Jefferson Hospital with a gunshot wound to his left arm, police said.

Cialella was carrying a Kel-Tec .380-caliber handgun clipped inside his sweatpants, police said. He was arrested and taken into custody.

Not that I'm not condoning this sort of thing, but count me as one of those who can't stand people who talk during movies. What with the price of movies these days, the last thing I want to hear is your dumb, annoying ass talking away during a movie that I'm trying to SEE and HEAR. And I'm one of those people who chatterers always seem to find and sit near. Lord knows I've thought about delivering a huge can of whup-ass to idiots who talk during films, but we all know that violence is never the answer....unless your James Joseph Cialella! If any good comes out of this (besides our hero finding a good lawyer and getting acquitted after he pleas that he shot the guy in a "crime of passion" or some other BS like that), it'll be future dumbasses thinking twice about yapping during a movie because now they might get shot.

Myanmar Court Gives Comedian 45 Years For Helping Cyclone Relief

AP:

Myanmar's courts continued a crackdown on activists Friday, handing out a 45-year prison sentence to a comedian who went to the delta to help cyclone victims and criticized the junta's slow relief response.

Comedian and activist Zarganar, whose birth name is Maung Thura, was among at least 100 people to receive sentences of two to 65 years since early November. Many of the trials were held in closed sessions, sometimes without defense lawyers or family present.

The military government's wave of harsh sentences has been condemned worldwide by Western governments and human rights groups. They contend that the sentences make a mockery of the ruling junta's professed plan to restore democracy with a 2010 election.

The government holds more than 2,100 political prisoners, up sharply from nearly 1,200 in June 2007 — before last year's pro-democracy demonstrations, according to international human rights groups.

Monks inspired and led protests that the army violently suppressed in September 2007. The authorities began their crackdown by raiding several monasteries in Yangon in the middle of the night and hauling away monks.

Damn, guess the next time I hear somebody complaining about free speech in this country I can send then a copy of this story.