Unless you're Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, one of the twinks from One Direction, "Fifty Shades of Grey" author E.L. James, Olympian Gabby Douglas, musical idiot Seth MacFarlane, probable Oscar winner Ben Affleck, or perennially angry New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, you did not make Barbara Walters annual list of most fascinating people.

Silvan Shalom, the Vice Prime Minister of Israel, just had his Facebook and Twitter accounts completely compromised by a group that calls themselves the ZCompany Hacking Crew.

Knick-knack monster Wal-Mart is facing an uncharacteristically well-organized worker strike this Friday, on what is one of the busiest shopping days of the year. The company is scared enough to try to get the NLRB to tell the company's own employees they can't protest. Since we can't imagine that that long-shot attempt at crushing dissent will be successful, you should be ready for Wal-Mart Black Friday: Protest Edition.

Highly divisive Tea Party congressman Allen West (R-FL) will have at least one of those titles stripped from his name after finally conceding to Democratic challenger Patrick Murphy in the race for the Sunshine State's 18th congressional district.

Because space is just amazing, astronomers in Hawaii announced today that they've found a planet 170 light-years away from Earth that is more than thirteen times larger than the largest planet in our solar system (that's Jupiter, for those of you just tuning in). They've also managed to take a photo of its surface, which is a fairly rare occurrence, and the rest of us get to benefit from living in the really tremendous kind of era where anyone can just look at photographs taken in outer space over lunch at our desks.

Florida Senator Marco Rubio has clearly learned a thing or two from Todd Akin and Richard Mourdock when it comes to qualifying public statements. Reminding us that a comprehensive understanding of the earth's history is reserved for only the most seasoned of sages and alchemists, with many glowing astrolabes, he told GQ that the true age of the planet is "one of the great mysteries" of our time. It seems fairly clear, however, that in suggesting parents teach their children about the formation and development of the planet using either "what science says" or "what their faith says" where he lands on science.

New Yorkers will soon find themselves facing a fear they haven't known for centuries: the king could show up on their doorstep at any time.

Paris Hilton is currently facing some major backlash in Saudi Arabia. Hilton — the less-famous niece of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills stars Kim and Kyle Richards — has just opened a store to sell her "handbags and accessories" at the Mecca Mall.

Is Marco Rubio, Florida's junior senator, a scientist? No, he tells GQ, twice, when asked how old the earth is:

What's Mitt Romney doing now that he's lost the presidential election?

Welcome to a magical land full of promise, "bluffs, sinkholes and other 'death traps.'" Whether you know it as Middle Earth or New Zealand, it is a very dangerous place to be if you are a four-legged friend.

Looks like Kristen Stewart's public nuzzling with Rupert Sanders was good for business, after all. Breaking Dawn – Part 2, the last Twilight film, made $141.3 million over the weekend, giving it $340.9 million worldwide. This is notable not just because of the heartbreaking scandal, but also because it proves once and for all that "females can fuel an event franchise," as The Hollywood Reporter put it, so there's that.

San Franciso is a city in which men and women are free to flaunt their respective junk in public without fear of arrest. America! What harm can a little dick or ass cause to a community if isn't swinging in your face or contaminating public seats? The answer is "a lot," according to perfectly named City Supervisor Scott Wiener.

Do you have literally nothing to do this weekend, including organizing your receipts, or sleeping? Consider celebrating your carefree life by taking in a truly mediocre meteor shower, courtesy of Mother Nature's amateur hour.

Wouldn't it be nice if we could find a story that would simultaneously indict authoritarian governments, greedy PR firms, and amoral, careless media outlets, all at once? Aha. Yes. Here's one.

What a morning. Bad enough for Americans still reeling from the idea that Twinkie production may be disrupted by the vagaries of business. I hate to break it to those very same Americans, but their favorite TV show may be just as imperiled as their favorite food.

Tel Aviv air raid sirens wailed yesterday for the first time since the first Gulf War as Israel's second most strategically important city was targeted by Palestinian militants armed with long-range rockets.

In the end, all the Twitter jokes in the world couldn't keep Hostess from shuttering as the company announced today that it will move ahead with plans to ask a federal bankruptcy court for permission to liquidate its assets and fire some 18,500 employees.

After years of fighting, it seems the West has finally found some common ground with the Taliban: Both find the Petraeus sex scandal highly amusing.

Hostess, the maker of Twinkies, Ho Hos, Ding Dongs, and other forms of American health food, is currently the target of strike by its workers. If you're interested in the particulars of the issues at hand, the union's side can be found here, and the company's side can be found here. ("The walkouts began after bakery union employees rejected a unilaterally imposed contract that included wage and benefits cuts of 27 percent to 32 percent.") Regardless, as a fan of artificially flavored cakes, you may be interested to know that management has threatened to shut down the entire company if a deal is not reached today.