If ever there was a perfect moment to create a Three Stooges film, it’s now.

With the Mideast roiling, parts of Africa in chaos and even Wisconsin stealing front-page real estate, it’s time for a feel-good flick to distract the hoi polloi from the terror of reality.

Even if it takes two years to come to fruition, just the game of guessing what actor might play which Stooge, is enough distraction from the world gone crazy and oh yes, the Charlie Sheen hoopla and Oscar second-guessing.

First we hear that the Farrelly brothers initially considered casting Benicio Del Toro, Sean Penn and Jim Carrey as our favorite buffoons; next thing we hear it’s Justin Timberlake (Justin Timberlake?) for Larry, Johnny Knoxville as Moe and Will Sasso as lovable knucklehead Curly.

On top of that head-scratching casting possibilities, we now hear...

Why do we care so much about bad-boy actor Charlie Sheen’s latest alleged romp with drugs, porn stars and high-end vodka?

After all, wasn’t it just a few months ago that he trashed some glitzy hotel room or other in a drug-fueled frenzy? Why are we surprised to hear of this latest nasty turn of events in the Sheen household? So big deal, he may be in rehab again. What’s that -- three times this year? Yawn.

While Egypt burns, the Oscar race sizzles and the nasty wintry weather keeps the Northeast hunkered down, all tweets point not to the political climate but to Sheen’s excellent adventure with the skin trade.

It’s the stuff of which producers’ dreams are made: a good-looking bad boy, comely playmates and a designer suitcase (or two) of white stuff (not snow) for good measure.

Oh, and maybe some expensive vodka...

Even Rachel Maddow seemed stunned by Olbermann’s shocking announcement Friday that he was departing MSNBC, this time for good.

Maybe we shouldn’t have been that shocked.

After all, his tempestuous relationship with the media giant (now helmed by Comcast) had long been fodder for Monday morning quarterbacking and political punditry on both sides of the aisle.

Suspended in November for making political contributions (some going to Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords), chastised for his public spanking of public figures and maybe even chewed out for reading James Thurber stories to the audience, the top brass at the network apparently had enough and weren’t going to take it anymore.

And so Friday night viewers of "Countdown" were left with an empty feeling when the host declared that night his last. Fired? Quit?...

“At a time when our discourse has become so sharply polarized ... it’s important for us to pause for a moment and make sure that we’re talking in a way that heals, not wounds.”

With a nation still reeling from the senseless murders that recently occurred in Tucson, President Obama cited incivility as a nagging reminder that words, not just sticks and stone, can hurt. And sometimes words inspire the mentally unbalanced to commit horrific, senseless acts of horror.

And once again the good citizens of our nation and around the globe gather in mass support of the fallen, the wounded and the heroes who helped prevent an even deadlier catastrophe. This time it happened in Tucson, home of the cowboy and cowboy-wannabe.  It’s a modestly sized city resplendent in gorgeous desert scenery with wildlife that can be found literally...