The issue of the country’s financial turmoil appears to be benefiting Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama in a fairly steady manner, with November 4 election just round the corner.

Though Obama’s 11-point lead over his rival Republican John McCain, according to Sunday’s Washington Post-ABC News tracking poll, is his lowest of the month over the economy issue, it nevertheless is a gap that McCain has to think about.

Five days after the brouhaha over financial disclosure forms from the Republican National Committee revealing a spending of $150,000 on clothing of Sarah Palin and her family, the vice presidential candidate tossed the blame back to the RNC.

Opening her remarks in Tampa, Palin, who had offered no comments till now, revived the unpleasant topic for the McCain campaign, saying that the whole wardrobe talk was very “ridiculous.”

Comedian Jerry Lewis, 82 currently in Australia for a stage show that takes a retrospective look at his career, has gone and done it again.  Mr. Lewis after a news conference last Friday, asked to comment on Australia’s most popular sport while miming swinging a cricket bat effeminately, responded: ‘Oh, cricket?  It’s a fag game.’  This comes hard on the heels of his last year’s anti-gay comments made during his annual telethon for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

The comment and gesture broadcast on Australian channel Network Ten’s telecast last night has The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation and the Australian Coalition for Equality calling for an apology.

Halloween may be round the corner, but there are better ways to get the goose bumps than watch Saw V’s signature gruesome deaths.  The film is about five people, who awake to find themselves faced with a painful ultimatum.  Collared and attached to a pulley system, they can either free themselves, or risk decapitation fighting each other.

This fifth film of the series focuses more on storytelling than trying to shock viewers with blood and gore.  There is only one scene early on in the film that evokes a desired reaction in the clearly bored audience.

Inside sources reveal that soon after Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. filed for bankruptcy protection on 15th September, Wall Street firm Goldman Sachs Group Inc. had approached Citigroup Inc. to discuss a possible merger of the two firms.  

However, the brief call made by Lloyd Blankfein (CEO - Goldman) to his Cititcorp counterpart - Vikram Pandit did not result in any serious discussion, with Pandit immediately rejecting the proposal.

One of San Francisco’s most important and beautiful features, Coit Tower was built atop Telegraph Hill in 1933 at the bequest of Lillie Hitchcock Coit, who gave a large part of her fortune so that the city she loved could be made more beautiful.