CBS’s Katie Couric asks Sarah Palin one simple question: “What magazines or newspapers did you read regularly before being picked for VP?”

And in spite of probing follow-ups, she can’t name one, even though she majored in journalism as an undergraduate in college. Broadcast journalism that is…

She does say, however, that she’s “read most of them.”

What?

There are 1,422 daily newspapers in the US and 6,253 weeklies and who knows how many hundreds of magazines.

She then gets all defensive about how Alaska isn’t a foreign country or something.

Couric kept asking her, OK, but can you just name one that you’ve read?

Palin couldn’t name one, even her local newspaper, the big paper from Anchorage, The Anchorage Daily News? She’s never read Newsweek or TIME?

Transcript:

COURIC: And when it comes to establishing your world view, I was curious, what newspapers and magazines did you regularly read, before you were tapped for this, to stay informed and to understand the world?

PALIN: I’ve read most of them again with a great appreciation for the press for the media, I mean…

COURIC: Like what ones specifically? I’m curious that you…

PALIN: Um, all of ‘em, any of ‘em that um have been in front of me over all these years, um…

COURIC: Can you name any of them?

PALIN: I have a vast variety of sources where we get our news too. Alaska isn’t a foreign country where it’s kind of suggested it seems like, wow how could you keep in touch with what the rest of Washington, DC may be thinking and doing, when you live up there in Alaska. Believe me, Alaska is like a microcosm of America.

[Yeah, let's elect her to fix our economic crisis and solve the global warming problem, right...]

A new “Save the Black Warrior” campaign will kick off in Birmingham, Friday, Oct. 3, and in Tuscaloosa, Thursday, October 16.

The Birmingham kick-off celebration will be at 10 p.m. on Friday, October 3, at Zydeco (205-933-1032). Tickets are $8 in advance at zydecobirmingham.com or $10 at the door (2001 15th Ave S).

The event is headlined by The Dynamites featuring Charles Walker, who got started at the Apollo Theater. The band’s dynamic live show has already gained them opening slots for Galactic and Widespread Panic as well as appearances at Bonnaroo and the Austin City Limits festival.

The campaign’s Tuscaloosa kick-off event will be at 9:30 p.m. on Thursday, October 16, at Jupiter Bar and Grill (205-248-6611). Tickets will be available online for $10 at jupiteronthestrip.com or at the door (1307 University Blvd).

This concert is headlined by Dubconscious. These Athens, Georgia reggae pioneers are longtime supporters of Black Warrior Riverkeeper. Dubconscious brings healthy servings of spirituality, celebration, and social awareness exemplified by reggae legends like Lee Perry, King Tubby, Augustus Pablo, and The Gladiators.

SweetWater Brewing Company is launching a campaign in Birmingham and Tuscaloosa throughout October called Save the Black Warrior to help raise funds and awareness for Black Warrior Riverkeeper.

SweetWater has run a very successful campaign in Atlanta with Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper called “Save the Hooch.” Funding raised through “Save the Black Warrior” will support Black Warrior Riverkeeper’s river patrol and water-quality monitoring programs.

As part of the campaign, participating local bars and businesses in the Birmingham and Tuscaloosa areas will be selling paper fish to their clientele for $1 and $5, as well as special edition t-shirts.

Participating venues include: 5 Points Grill (Birmingham), Bottletree Café (Birmingham), Cosmo’s Pizza (Birmingham), Dave’s Pub (Birmingham), Innisfree (Birmingham), The J. Clyde (Birmingham), Jackson’s Bar and Bistro (Homewood), Jupiter Bar and Grill (Tuscaloosa), Mellow Mushroom (Tuscaloosa, Birmingham, and Hwy 280), Metro Bistro (Birmingham), On Tap Sports Café (Lakeview, Inverness, and Riverchase), Western Supermarkets (Birmingham), Whole Foods Market (Mountain Brook), and Zydeco (Birmingham).

Promotional materials for the campaign will emphasize that the Black Warrior River and its tributaries are threatened by pollution and overuse, and will offer five things individuals can do to protect this important water supply for Birmingham and Tuscaloosa. SweetWater will also be offering incentives for participating retailers to encourage their fundraising efforts through paper fish and shirt sales.

Whole Foods Market is donating five percent of the sales on October 21st at its Mountain Brook location (3100 Cahaba Village Plaza, 8am-10pm, 205-912-8400). REI and Alabama Small Boats are also supporting the campaign.

Black Warrior Riverkeeper is a non-profit organization whose mission is to protect and restore the Black Warrior River. Alabama Environmental Council’s 2007 Conservation Organization of the Year, Black Warrior Riverkeeper is an autonomous local chapter of Waterkeeper Alliance.

For more information, go to the group’s Website or the Website of SweetWater Brewing Company.

Sarah Palin’s nude portrait

There’s been no shortage of takeoffs on Sarah Palin lately, from television skits to action figures, but Bruce Elliott has gone one step further than most. He’s taken off her clothes, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Elliott’s wife, Tobin Mitchen, owns the Old Town Ale House on Chicago’s North Side. He painted a nude portrait of the Republican vice presidential nominee and hung it above the bar, where it’s become a huge draw.

Elliott doesn’t like her politics, but finds something about her very interesting to the point of holding a crush on her, he said.

“I’ve been following her religiously,” he told the reporter. “I had never heard of her before, like everyone else. I find her bizarrely fascinating, even though I pretty much despise everything she stands for.”

Elliott’s daughter, who looks a little like Palin and does a “great” impression of her, served as model for the governor’s body. He began painting Palin’s smile and trademark Tina Fey glasses, then filled the details, her red high heels and a serious gun with the Alaska landscape in the background, along with a polar-bear rug and a scared moose.

The bar is a popular spot for Second City comedians for beer and pinball after shows. Now the place is apparently packed all the time, since the image hit the Web on Monday.

Maybe we should take a short break and revisit this. It’s Black Monday on Wall Street and in D.C.