Good and bad news for "Smallville" fans, a possible apocalypse starter and a war of words between L.A. and Arizona

- Smallville fans, there is good news and bad news for you right now. First off, your favorite show will be returning for its 10th season and it will remain in the same Friday night perch it occupied this season and last. Now, for the bad news: the show’s10th season will also be its last. The man who let that news slip was none other than actor Tom Welling, who plays Clark Kent, spilled the news in an interview on Wednesday. Welling’s revelation preempted the CW’s upfront presentation featuring its new slate of programming for the fall, which took place today. But even in the bad news, there remains at least a shade of positivity. Unlike many shows whose fate is not decided until the middle of a current season and thus receive an abrupt or incomplete finale as a result, Smallville will head into its final season knowing that the end is at hand and the writing and production teams will be able to plan accordingly. There will be no rushed goodbyes and no unresolved issues, at least not on account of those running the show not having enough advance notice to make it happen. Also, ten years is an impressive run for any show and the fact is that Smallville has always been working up against a wall that most shows don’t have because it tells the story of Clark Kent growing up and at some point, the tale had to butt up against the Superman mythology that we all know so well from other Superman-themed shows and movies. Taking all of that into account, I’d say Welling and Co. have had an impressive run and my one main hope for the 10th season is that the über-hot Kristin Kreuk, who departed the show a couple seasons ago, will return for an episode or five in the final season……….

- Uh-oh. Unless you are a fan of rooting for the apocalypse/World War III, this cannot be good news for you. After reaching the conclusion that North Korea was responsible for sinking one of his country’s warships, the president of South Korea has vowed "resolute" measures against North Korea for the alleged attack. The announcement came after a five-country committee announced Thursday morning in Seoul that they had concluded a North Korean submarine fired a torpedo that sunk the South Korea warship in March. "(We) will take resolute countermeasures against North Korea and make it admit its wrongdoings through strong international cooperation and return to the international community as a responsible member," President Lee Myung-bak told Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in a phone conversation. The ship was torn in half by an explosion on March 26 in disputed waters off North Korea and 46 sailors were killed or lost in the incident. Predictably, North Korea was front and center to deny the allegations and the North Korean National Defense Commission released a statement saying that its navy did not torpedo the South Korean ship, calling South Korean Lee Myung-bak "a traitor.” The thing is, the conclusion on who blew up the ship came from a joint investigation committee composed of American, Australian and South Korean experts. This isn’t one nation with a vendetta, although it would admittedly be easy to believe that every nation not currently named North Korea would have reason to harbor just such a vendetta against Kim Jong Il and Co. The United States has believed all along that a North Korean torpedo was the most likely culprit in the attack and because the U.S. has a mutual defense treaty with South Korea and Japan to defend "against any aggression," it would responsible for defending South Korea if a military confrontation develops. Hopefully it won't come to that because that could well kick off the festivities of WWIII. Fortunately, there are military options for South Korea beyond firing missiles. For starters, South Korea could boost its naval presence along the line that divides South and North Korea in the waters surrounding the countries. Issuing a resolution condemning the attack is also possible, although that would be sort of…..what’s the word….wussy. A third option could be delaying the upcoming transfer of operational control of U.S. and Korean military forces from the United States to South Korea a move that is due in April 2012. That would reinforce the American position as a strong ally of South Korea, sending a message to the North that it is dealing with more than just its lowly neighbors to the south. I suppose that in the end, I’m in favor of whichever option keeps K.J. Il from nuking the world and commencing the aforementioned apocalypse………

- Personally, I’ve never set foot inside of a Hooters restaurant, so I’m not relating this next story from first-hand experience. Based on Hooters’ reputation and stated purpose, chicks with big racks seem to be the top prioirity and other typical restaurant priorities - good food, fast service, etc. - are secondary. In this environment, the appearance of those bringing the mediocre food is paramount and as such, staying in top physical condition is a must. Exaclty what “top physical condition” means is the question that is currently ruining Cassie Smith’s life. Smith, a server at the Hooters in Roseville, Mich., claims she's been put on probation because of her weight. Smith says she got an overall positive performance review, but an evaluation related to her uniform indicated that she needed to drop some weight. She was devastated to lose the opportunity to work and obviously needs the money, as women generally do not work at Hooters if they aren’t desperate for cash and still holding onto enough of their dignity not to become a stripper. So the obvious question is what sort of pounds she’s packing on and just how overweight she is, right? As it turns out, Smith isn’t fat at all. In fact, she’s pretty freaking thin and that’s by my standards as someone who is generally pretty strict on people being in shape or classified as FAT. Standing 5’8, Smith says she weighs 132 pounds, which would make her ideal in most people’s books. Looking at pictures of her, she seems to be the typical blond beauty that most guys would be looking for, yet she alleges that Hooters won't allow her to work until she drops a few lbs. Hooters of America Inc. denies the claim, saying in a statement Tuesday that Hooters doesn't impose a weight requirement and "no employee in Michigan has been counseled about their weight." On the surface, the claim of no official weight requirement might be true. However, just like baseball has its unwritten rules of the game that players are expected to follow, I’m guessing that Hooters has some unwritten rules about physical appearance for the women who rock its familiar tight, white tank tops and skin-tight orange shorts. I’m also guessing that there is more to Smith’s story that we know at this point and that Hooters won't be all that proud if and when the truth comes out………..

- It has been quite a day for the walking disaster that is Lindsay Lohan. After reports surfaced that she was doing well in her court-mandated alcohol education class and attending regularly, a Los Angeles judge revoked the actress’ probation and issued a bench warrant for her arrest after she failed to appear at a hearing today. Her attorney, Shawn Chapman Holley, said Lohan’s failure to appear was a result of her losing her passport while traveling abroad and being able to get back into the United States until she was issued a temporary replacement passport. Chapman said his client will fly back to the U.S. as soon as possible, but that didn’t sway Judge Marsha Revel, who ruled there was "probable cause to believe (Lohan) is in violation of probation" from a 2007 drunk driving conviction. Later in the day, Revel rescinded the arrest warrant. Had Lohan actually been arrested, she would have been allowed to post a $100,000 bond until a probation revocation hearing could be held. Until the hearing is held, Lohan can't drink and will be fitted with a bracelet to detect if she has been drinking, the judge said. That has to be a huge buzz kill for a noted lush like L. Lohan, who I believe eats her breakfast serial drenched in Jack Daniels, eat her lunch with a side of Jim Beam and helps herself sleep with a slug or five from a bottle of Absolut. Oh, and Revel has also decided that Lohan will be subjected to random drug testing because of previous evidence she was under the influence of cocaine. "I warned her before," Revel said. "She knew it was very serious." She did, but she was also probably nursing a major hangover at the time, so you have to understand that your warning may not have stuck…………

- Pissing matches between political leaders are always hilarious to me, especially when those leaders represent two different states and are threatening to do stupid sh*t like cut off one another’s power. The politico firing off that salvo is Gary Pierce, an Arizona state utility regulator who says if Los Angeles officials don't want to send money to Arizona companies in order to boycott the state’s new immigration law, maybe Arizona should let Angelinos sit in the dark and bake in the SoCal heat. Pierce fired off a letter this week L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, ripping both he and the L.A. city council for voting 13-1 to boycott Arizona following the enactment of a tough new law state targeting illegal immigrants. The council wants to prevent city workers from traveling to Arizona (which makes sense because what business would most city workers have in another state anyhow) and stop the city from spending money on Arizona businesses. The vote doesn’t make anything official and Villaraigosa still must decides if he wants to follow through on it, but Pierce wants the mayor to know that if he does, Arizona might have a little something waiting for him. As a member of the Arizona Corporation Commission, Pierce said he would do what he can to stop the flow of electricity from Arizona power plants to California. It was a nice threat and one I would love to see made good on, but Pierce ultimately admitted that there is no way he or his colleagues on the commission could legally make good on it. Even if they could, panel chairman Kris Mayes said it still wouldn’t happen, as much of Arizona's gasoline comes from California and that’s a battle no one wants to start. Pierce still isn’t backing down from his words and refuses to issue any sort of apology. Austin Beutner, general manager of the L.A. Department of Water and Power, said his city gets between 20 and 25 percent of its daily power from Arizona, so it is a fairly sizeable amount. "Nothing in the city's (boycott) resolution is inconsistent with our continuing to receive power from those LADWP-owned assets,'' Beutner said. The exact wording of Pierce’s threat in his letter to Villaraigosa is as follows: "I will be happy to encourage Arizona utilities to renegotiate your power agreements so Los Angeles no longer receives any power from any Arizona-based generation. If, however, you find the city council lacks the strength of its convictions to turn off the lights in Los Angeles and boycott Arizona power, please reconsider the wisdom of attempting to harm Arizona's economy. In response, Villaraigosa’s office replied that the mayor fully support the council and has no intention of backing down. Oh, and I should also point out that Pierce is up for reelection this year, so there is an excellent chance that he’s merely posturing and looking to score some much-needed votes. That will be all……….