Apparently, all publicity is not good publicity if you're one of the fine and Moral corporate types at Anheuser-Busch. It seems as though their trademark product, the mediocre but perfectly acceptable Budweiser, is prominently featured in the new film Flight, which is about a functional alcoholic named Denzel Washington who flies planes for a living, or something along those lines. One of Washington's self-destructive beverages of choice is Budweiser, a fact which has the company all in a tizzy because, you see, despite spending hundreds of millions a year to push Bud on anyone who watches any sort of sporting event, Anheuser-Busch is all about responsible boozing.

Adrienne Martin, the 27-year-old girlfriend of Anheuser-Busch heir August Busch IV, was found dead at Busch's home on Sunday. Martin was an aspiring model and art therapist (here's her iStudio page); police are investigating her death as a "possible overdose."

Is there any reason to be a man anymore? You know, besides the patriarchy, male privilege, and peeing standing up. Turns out, not only are women better at graduating from college, and being employed—they're better at tasting beers.

It looks like someone's Christmas vacation just got a whole lot more exciting:

Yahoo chairman Roy Bostock says that if Microsoft had handled itself the way InBev did, buying Anheuser-Busch for $52 billion even after A-B rejected an initial offer, Yahoo and Microsoft would probably be one company by now. "InBev was a classic, perfectly managed takeover," said Bostock.

Anheuser-Busch spent $134 million of its $1.3 billion marketing budget advertising Budweiser last year. Just 3 percent of that — $3.9 million — got spent online. Now that Belgium's InBev has acquired Anheuser-Busch for $52 billion, can we expect much change? In a word, no. Why? For one, A-B's current marketing strategy — TV spots against late-night shows and sports — works to sell suds. It'll be tough convincing even the company's new owners to fix what's not broken.

• The Federal Reserve and U.S. Treasury will inject billions of dollars into Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to shore up the mortgage financing giants. [WSJ]

• Lehman's stock price took a beating once again yesterday, this time amid chatter that Pimco and SAC Capital were pulling business from the bank. [WSJ, NYP]
  

• The Weather Channel was sold by Landmark Communications to NBC Universal, Bain Capital, and Blackstone for just under $3.5 billion. [NYT]

• An upgrade from Morgan Stanley is expected to help out Lehman's stock price, which fell 11 percent yesterday amid talk of a firesale. [Reuters]

• InBev may need to raise its offer for Anheuser-Busch by $7 billion to win over the company's board. [Bloomberg]

• Anheuser-Busch will reject InBev's $46.4 billion takeover bid. [Reuters]

Listen, we know you're all excited about the news of InBev's $46 billion bid to buy Anheuser-Busch. But have you considered the possible side effect? Fewer beer ads! A-B spends half a billion dollars a year on commercials, and another $300 million on sports sponsorships. But InBev—the maker of fey non-American beers like Stella Artois—is run by Belgian cheapskates who do comparatively little advertising at all. Watch out, Budweiser Clydesdales, Spuds MacKienzie, and American sportsmanship: foreigners are coming to destroy you!