Last night was no exception to one of the biggest rules in the era of electronic news media. If you have bad news to report, save it for Friday evening. We have two minor stories and one enormous 'holy shit' story to remember from last night.

1. New York governor David Patterson pardoned Slick Rick. Slick Rick had been sentenced and served five years for the 1991 shooting of two men. But this pardon wipes the conviction off his record, preventing him from being deported back to his native Wimbledon. It seems David Patterson is a friend to Old School hip hop artists. As we say in the Old School, he knows what time it is! Good for him. But I wonder what the two survivors of the shooting think, assuming they are still alive.

2. The Liberal Avenger: John McCain finally had his medical records of the past few years released, under tightly-controlled circumstances (what a shock, and on the Friday before a 3-day weekend, too). Cable TV news networks all declared McCain to be in great health. His BMI is a healthy 24. He had a pre-cancerous patch of skin removed early this year. Oh, and he takes a lot of mind-altering drugs. But never mind that last bit.

3. And in a much, much more important development, an internal audit found that the Pentagon cannot account for a new, combined grand total of $15 Billion spent on Iraq reconstruction and security training projects. We had heard a $9 Billion figure discussed for years. However, this revised total takes into account new data, and compiles the results of previous audits, without overlap. Needless to say, this is something that Henry Waxman's committee is going to have to escalate. His committee was already shown one example - a $320 Million cash payment for Iraqi salaries that was released with just one signature and no due diligence that the cash actually went to Iraqi personnel.