Judas's Extreme Makeover, Bush's Streak of Good PR, Fish Out of Water, and Katie Holmes

1. The 1,700-year-old text known as the "Gospel of Judas" sheds new controversial light on the figure of Judah, who, here, is favored and asked by Jesus to "betray" him to the authorities. Aside from the small feat of turning on its head the notion that 'Judah=traitor,' the discovery of such Gnostic texts is also revealing that Jesus's followers held diverse beliefs and practices. It's like the Bible decided to jump on the sequel/prequel bandwagon with all its twists and turns. (NYT)

2. Canadian fossil found today of a fishlike tetrapod. Called Tiktaalik ("large shallow water fish") roseae, it bore evidence of the beginnings of limbs in its fins. Paleontologists are declaring it the missing link between fish and land-walkers. "Tetrapods did not so much conquer the land, as escape from the water," AMNH John Maisey says. I'd like to think that this great great great ancestor was not only a coward but also would like to taunt its legless predators of their leglessness, which would be appropriate as I'm sure some scientists will like to rub these bones in the faces of creationists. (Nature)

3. Take that Dan Rathers! Raking in $15 million a year for anchoring "CBS Evening News," Katie Couric earns $5 million more than her CBS predecessor. Her salary also snubs Diane Sawyer's ($13m), Peter Jenning's ($10m), Larry King's ($7m), and emo Anderson Cooper's ($2m). Daily News also calculates out that "known for her hot gams" Couric will be earning $300,000 per week, which translates to $60,000 per day, which means each word that falls from her mouth costs CBS $67. Now, who said silence was golden?

4. Former chief-of-staff Lewis Libby told prosecutors today that the order from Cheney authorizing Libby to leak classified information to the New York Times was approved by Dubya, who sought to garner support for the Iraqi war. When you think of our current administration, you think classy. (BBC)

5. Holmes apparently acted completely bizarre/hypnotized/brainless during an interview with Tom Cruise for Parade. She smiled throughout the interview, even through Cruise's account of child abuse. Then things got back to "normal," and Cruise began to heavily PDA with her in front of the reporter. Well, it was Parade... (NY Post)