America, meet the Cranicks. They are the family who now live in a trailer near the charred remains of their home in rural Obion County, Tennessee, all because the local fire department refused to extinguish a fire that destroyed their home. Why? Because they had not paid a $75 fee (on top of taxes) for fire fighting services from the nearby town.

The Cranick’s grandson was burning trash near the family home when the fire grew out of control. The Cranicks reportedly called 911 several times, but the fire department refused to respond because the Cranicks had not paid the nearby town of South Fulton ‘firefighting’ fee of $75. The Fire Department did respond to a neighbor’s call because they had paid the fee.

>>>More details and news video at Mediaite.

Hey do you like Twitter, but only wish it were somehow funnier? Well good news! Banjo legend, and sometimes comedian Steve Martin has now joined Twitter! And guess what? He’s really funny. Perhaps 140 characters is the perfect solution to a Ramblin man. R-A-M-B-L-I-N. Apostrophe.

The account hasn’t yet been verified by Twitter, but Martin’s official website, stevemartin.com, says that “Steve is on Twitter @stevemartintogo,” so its a fair bet that this is for real.

Corroborating evidence: He is already bringing the funnies. Mediaite has highlighted some of his auspicious debut tweets.

In the days that followed Glenn Beck’s “Restoring Honor” rally, a strange and fascinating movement started on Reddit. For a number of days, the most popular post on the social news and information service was an earnest and excited plea for Stephen Colbert to host his very own rally in the nation’s capital, in much the same fashion as Beck.

Last night, Colbert addressed this phenomenon on his show, and just like his lead-in Jon Stewart had announced in the prior time slot, Colbert made a rather startling announcement.

While the specifics of the announcements are still unclear, it appears that there may in fact be some sort of event in the works, though one can only imagine how that would work or what it would look like. But we can imagine…

>>>Video of the segment at Mediaite.

Um. So here are the facts as they’ve been reported. Dog-owner Jerry Douthett had a seriously infected big toe and was ignoring medical treatment. Earlier this week, he and his wife went out to celebrate her new status as an American citizen; Douthett had too much to drink, came home and passed out in bed. He awoke to find blood-stained sheets because his dog Kiko HAD EATEN HIS INFECTED TOE. Turns out, had the dog not eaten the bad toe, the infection may have killed Douthett. Good Doggie!

>>>News report at Mediaite.

The persistently bewhiskered Jon Stewart took on the latest Wikileaks controversy, which has been labeled “one of the biggest leaks in US military history,” due to the release of tens of thousands of classified “military field reports” about the Afghan war. But while The Daily Show host mocked some absurdities surrounding the individual most responsible for the security breach, his greatest ire was saved for the dispassionate reporting of the story by the usual media pundits.

To be certain, there is no shortage of strange and unfathomable aspects to this story: from the online moniker of the source of the leaked documents (“Bradass87″), to the strange detail that many of the documents were carried on a CD-Rom disguised as a Lady Gaga Disc:

>>>See the video at Mediaite.

Gourmet Lives! Conde Nast CEO Chuck Townsend just announced plans to bring back the recently shuttered food title, not as what previously existed in print, but rather as a digital interactive experience that leverages its massive database of recipes, branded merchandise and social network. “We see tremendous upside in leveraging social networks,” said Townsend, and Gourmet Live appears to be the trial balloon.

During a morning press event at Condé Nast Times Square offices today, Bob Sauerberg, the Executive Vice President, Consumer Marketing spoke to the importance of the timeless property of Gourmet and Conde’s partnership with digital consultants Activate, who were tasked with re-imagining the brand experience of Gourmet. The end result? Gourmet Live, which will plan go live in the fourth quarter of this year.

Read the full post at Mediaite.

WikiLeaks has released a video of US military personnel killing 12 individuals in Iraq, two of whom were later revealed to be Reuters staff members. They label the video an “indiscriminate murder,” although the actual fact pattern is considerably more complex, as the troops in the video were following military procedure and seemed to honestly mistake the photojournalist’s camera for an RPG.

Warning: the following video is graphic in nature.

Amidst the breathless hype surrounding Apple’s latest next big thing – the iPad – one recalls the breathless promotions from yesteryear, specifically Ron Popeil‘s various life changing products. People of a certain age are sure to recall the phrase “It slices, it dices, it even makes julienne potatoes.” Well, on last night’s Colbert Report, Stephen Colbert made that very comparison quite literally, when he used the iPad to slice and dice vegetables. Video below:

The convergence of print and digital publishing models has been a topic of conversation in media circles for well over a decade, but the oft-discussed “cataclysmic shift” has mostly been hyperbole. Until now.

With the imminent launch of Apple’s iPad, and the numerous slick demos that have been revealed for any or all tablet versions in the last few months, that cataclysmic shift is upon us, and if there is any consensus in the publishing world, it’s that it’s all very much a work in progress.

Case in point: what is the function of an magazine cover for an iPad?

That’s right. You read that correctly. Finally you no longer need to be embarrassed by your dog’s exposed anus. A new product called “Rear Gear” protects your dog from “feeling left in the dirt because of his/her unsightly rear.” Not sure who is going to actually buy this product, nor the psychological profile of the individual who had this idea. But if there is one thing in can say is that, yes, this is one of those rare instances where words fail: