• by John Gaffney , June 27, 2003

Watch It On That Table Setting, Punk: The National Society of Newspaper Columnists picked Martha Stewart as "the year's most-ridiculed newsmaker" during its conference in Tucson, Ariz. NSNC President Mike Leonard said Stewart was a runaway winner, with The New York Times and France tied for second. One columnist voting for Stewart commented: "She can create a table setting from shreds of toilet paper, but she can't make up a good alibi to save her life."

And They Look Great On Star Jones: According to a corporate statement from Payless Shoes, The Hulk, which was ushered onto the big screen last Friday from Universal Pictures, will become a new line of Super Hero shoes and accessories featuring the concrete-crunching Hulk and his fellow Super Hero, Spider-Man, as well as other Marvel Comics characters.

Brought To You By The Makers Of Excedrin: A survey released last week released by the National Consumers League showed that only 39 percent of those surveyed over the age of 65 said stress has "slowed them down," compared to 67 percent of adults aged 18-44 and 58 percent of those 45-64 years of age. The survey said 36 percent of seniors have experienced headaches as a result of stress or tension (36 percent), compared with 59 percent of adults 45-64 and 69 percent of those 18-44. NCL thanked Excedrin manufacturer Bristol-Myers Squibb for an "unrestricted educational grant."

More Proof That Globalization Is Risky Business: From London's Media Guardian: "The Australian government has vowed to revive its push to relax media ownership laws, after it failed to gain the support of dissident independents in parliament following a day of fruitless negotiations. The setback has thrown Rupert Murdoch's plans to buy the country's third ranked commercial network, Channel 10, into disarray and thwarted the ambitions of the country's richest man, Kerry Packer, who has his eye on newspaper publisher John Fairfax Holdings."