You could seethis one coming: "Helen Thomas announced Monday that she is retiring, effective immediately. Her decision came after her controversial comments about Israel and the Palestinians were captured on videotape and widely disseminated on the Internet."

Your Wonkette editor worked with Helen for a while at UPI and even edited her "Backstairs at the White House" column in 1999-2000, and enjoyed her company when she'd stop by the newsroom to tell stories about JFK Jr. or whatever, and if Helen wants to spend her last years barking about what sonsofbitches Israel's politicians are, that's cool. We do hope she figures out there's a difference between right-wing Israeli hacks and, uh, the Jewish people of Earth. [McClatchy/Hearst]