A federal judge in Georgia has just thrown out the claims of racial discrimination filed as part of a $1.2 million lawsuit against gooey butter cake Paula Deen by former employee Lisa Jackson. Good thing they nipped that one in the bud before it exploded into the sky like a magnificent fireball, melting the sugar-windows, liquifying the gumdrop roads, and incinerating the gingerbread infrastructure of Paula Deen's candy kingdom.

President Obama pulled the plug Friday on a long-delayed environmental regulation that would have further limited industrial smog emissions, leaving in place an ozone standard that EPA administrator Lisa Jackson recently described as "legally indefensible."

Cassie, the singer best known for her hair and for having hooked up with Diddy, turns 23 today. Macaulay Culkin is turning 29. Thalia, the Latin singer and wife of music honcho Tommy Mottola, is 38. Former vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro is turning 74. Former Homeland Security boss Tom Ridge is 64. Valerie Simpson of Ashford & Simpson turns 63. Actor Chris Pine is turning 29. Shirley Manson of the band Garbage is 43. Upper East Side interior designer Lisa Jackson is turning 51. Legendary Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee turns 88. And New York Times crossword editor Will Shortz turns 57 today.

Former child star (and now author and indie actor) Macaulay Culkin is 28 today. Others celebrating today: Cassie, the pop star and occasional Diddy flame, is 22. Thalia, the Latin singer (and wife of Tommy Mottola) is 37. Garbage frontwoman Shirley Manson is 42. Interior designer Lisa Jackson is 50. Former vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro is turning 73. Former Homeland Security secretary Tom Ridge is 63. And Times crossword editor Will Shortz is 56.

Jackson is a partner in the Upper East Side interior design firm/high-end furniture purveyor Jackson Siegel Aaron. She's the daughter of oil executive John Calicchio and the stepdaughter of socialite Denise LeFrak Calicchio.