• We were making out, but then we went somewhere where it was bright and I saw that he was black and made an excuse and left. I can’t stand black guys. I would never touch one. It’s gross (pauses). Does that guy look black to you?
• Paris Hilton • Quoted in celebrity interviewer and creepy guy Neil Strauss’ new book “Everyone Loves You When You’re Dead.” Granted, it was from an interview she did in 1999, when she was 18 (she was talking about an unnamed actor from “Saving Private Ryan”), so let’s not be too hard on her. (Others have disagreed with this point.) But that said … Hilton followed up by saying this in response to the question “How black does a guy have to be?” “One percent is enough for me.” We’ll just leave this here. Whew. source

• Here’s some amateur video, parsed by Euronews, of last night’s conflict at a Omari mosque in the Syrian city of Daraa. Despite bans on protests in the country for almost 50 years, some have cropped up in the southern Syrian city in the past week. A number of protesters were inside attempting to protect themselves from Syrian security forces threatening to attack the mosque. “Brother don’t shoot,” one protester shouted inside of the mosque. “This country is big enough for me and you.” Apparently, Syria disagrees. And this is a problem.  source

• 2 months the length of time Egypt’s stock market went without a single session — something about a revolution
• -9% the stock market’s decline on its first day back, caused in part by foreign investors freaking out source

• scary The FDA just limited the import of food from the area of Japan near the Fukushima nuclear disaster, days after officials discovered radiation in some foods, including milk and spinach. A lot of people have been freaking out over this.
• not scary However, this almost assuredly isn’t a big deal — only four percent of our imported foods come from Japan, and the ones we usually eat from the country are things like fish, which weren’t significantly affected by Fukushima. source

• 130 immigrants arrested in No. VA in the past three days source

• Elizabeth Taylor, Big Hollywood style icon. Liz Taylor is one of those iconic figures who seemed, for a period, larger than life. Her death at 79 (she died of congestive heart failure on Wednesday) ends the life of a woman who defined a certain era of big-screen cinema — both on-screen and off. Especially off. In a lot of ways, she set the template for the kind of Hollywood you see today — one where divorces are a common fact of life and everyone keeps their last name. But as a figure to be admired, you don’t get any better than Taylor. Here are some quick bits about her life.

Three key years in the actress’ life

• 1944 As a child, Taylor starred in “National Velvet,” a story about a child who fell in love with her horse. (She had to … the other option was Mickey Rooney.) It was her first major hit.
• 1960 Taylor, by now a major star, was making $1 million a picture with her starring role in “Cleopatra,” a movie beset by delays and, after inflation, a budget larger than “Avatar.”
• 1964 Taylor married Richard Burton, and the already-inseparable couple started working together much more — including in such classics as “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf.”

Other key facts and figures on Taylor’s life

• 8 marriages in her day — she married Richard Burton TWICE

• two number of Academy Awards she won for her acting; she also won a humanitarian award in 1992
• three number of other nominations she earned … though she was shut out for some of her early films

• $325M amount invested in AIDS research by amFAR, started by Taylor and others in 1985
• 69.42 number of carats in the Taylor-Burton Diamond, a frickin’ huge diamond Taylor owned
• first Taylor’s voice was famously used for Maggie Simpson’s first words source