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Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi tweeted her thanks to Sen. John McCain (see "Leaders who bad girls 2").

Sideshow: Sen. Lautenberg is a huge Gaga fan

There are powerful men, men who run the country, who adore some of the baddest of celebdom's bad girls.

Robert Katz and son Dan at their West Ave Grille in Jenkintown, which President Obama once visited.

Annette John-Hall: Tired of all the bickering over Obama's policies

I see there's another of those polls out, and, surprise, surprise, President Obama's numbers are down again. Hovering at 47 percent approval, lower than they've ever been before.

Tell Me About It: Beer is not on guest list at shower

Adapted from a recent online discussion. Question: Two of my adult children and I are hosting a baby shower for my third child and her husband. They are big sports fans, so the shower is planned for late morning at a location that will allow guests, if they wish, to join the parents-to-be at a nearby sporting event afterward. It is a coed shower with four children (10 and under) attending.

Phil Sheridan: Eagles, Kolb begin a new era

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Try not to notice the NFL gave the Eagles the honor of playing their first game of 2010 on Friday the 13th.

City officials approved adding a second-floor stage for nude dancing and one-on-one booths at the porno house at 22d and Market. A residents´ group has appealed. (Charles Fox / Staff Photographer)

Changing Skyline: How City Hall is helping porn peddler

Porn films are everywhere these days. On the Internet. On television screens. In hotel rooms. At bachelor parties. (And probably at bachelorette events, too.) The one place you don't expect to find hard-core flicks anymore is at a movie theater, especially one in a blossoming Center City residential district.

PhillyInc: Econsult, Fairmount Capital Advisors joined in new venture

You may not have heard of the economics and litigation consulting firm Econsult Corp. or the financial advisory firm Fairmount Capital Advisors Inc.

Fantasia Barrino , 2004 "American Idol" winner, was hospitalized after an apparent suicide attempt. (See "Fantasia´s tragic love affair.")

Sideshow: Halle Berry: 'Not done with love'

Watch out, love, she's not done with you. Academy Award-winning actress Halle Berry, who broke up with her baby's papa, Gabriel Aubry, earlier this year, tells Vogue she won't stop her romantic scorched-earth campaign until she meets The Right Guy.

Your Place: Advice for kitchen flooring: A recent column about kitchen flooring options reaped these pieces of reader advice. From Janice Wolf: In the past year, I replaced my wood kitchen floor with a product by Congoleum (DuraCeramic). It looks like tile, feels like tile, and it's not hard under your feet. My guests always comment how nice it is and they can't believe it's not regular tile.
Tell Me About It: Wishing she didn't envy her sister: Question: My younger sister and I are close, though we weren't always. Recently she started dating a man that she will likely marry. Because of his position and family connections, she is getting to enjoy exciting, fun events that few people get to participate in. I am beginning to feel the little twinges of jealousy.
Time to ...: Prevent stilt grass from going to seed and marring next year's garden. This Asian invasive looks somewhat like a mini-bamboo with lots of foliage, and it soon will flower. Since it's an annual, you eliminate next year's "crop" by not allowing se
Cheltenham mansion crumbles: On Super Bowl Sunday 2002, Ellen Gartner fell in love with a long-forsaken lady. Gartner's kids were 4 and 6 at the time, old enough to stay with their dad as she went with friends to see a show. She was sitting in the backseat of a car when she saw the object of her affection for the first time, though she had probably passed the place 100 times before.
Bob Ford: Kolb has to escape McNabb's shadow: During a training camp in which the news of the day is often that August can be warm in Bethlehem, there was a minor stir on Wednesday when a fan with a sideline pass was asked to remove his official Washington Redskins jersey bearing the name and number of someone named McNabb.
PhillyInc: DreamIt helps new Web businesses find funding: About the only thing that's been cool lately has been the U.S. economy. The unemployment rate remains at 9.5 percent. Small-business owners remain pessimistic. And after Wednesday's poor report on the widening trade deficit, some economists were scaling back their forecasts for growth in gross domestic product.
Inqlings: Bernie Parent saves his old locker: Flyers legend Bernie Parent is about to make a big save. With the interior of the Spectrum being dismantled in advance of the wrecking ball, the Hall of Fame goalie came down with a pickup truck last week and picked up his old locker, where he stashed his stuff for the better part of 10 seasons with the Broad Street Bullies.
Michael Klein: Garces seeks a Trading Co. liquor license: Jose Garces is applying for a liquor license for Garces Trading Company at 1111 Locust St. But why does he want one, since the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board operates a wine boutique inside the place - much to the consternation of some rival restaurateurs, who sued the LCB over the arrangement? Garces is not a party to the suit, pending in Common Pleas Court.
Worldview: Why was aid team killed?: A lack of security and a Pakistan safe haven open the door to control by Taliban.

Reviewing the news from the last two weeks during which I was enjoying a Cape Cod vacation, I've been gripped by the story of 10 medical aid workers murdered last week in Afghanistan.
Sideshow: Bristol scoffs at Levi's bid: Oh, it's a nasty, strange business, politics is. For evidence, we need only turn our eyes north to Alaska, where young Bristol Palin has aimed withering words of scorn, biting as the tundra wind, at the political ambitions of ex-swain Levi Johnston, 20, f
The Smart Money: Atlantic City girds for football fantasy drafts: The approach of Labor Day has traditionally meant shopping for school supplies and last-chance trips to the beach. Unless, that is, you're among the seemingly zillions of folks whose lives revolve around fantasy football in the fall. In that case, the coming of September means that it's time for The Draft.