Catfish

The story about the fish that got away has a new twist--Tom Foshee says he lost 500,000 head of channel catfish when they swam off in floodwaters. The Natchitoches Parish fish farmer said that all but about 10 of the 160 acres of catfish ponds he has in production were flooded by heavy rains. "We can handle a heavy rainfall, but this was probably a once-in-a-100-year deal," he said.

WASHINGTON - Lucille Roybal-Allard has taken up an unlikely cause for a congresswoman from Los Angeles' landlocked Eastside: catfish. She is among the leaders of an effort to reel in a new federal catfish inspection program that she says threatens to cost jobs in her district and ignite a trade war with Vietnam, an important trading partner with California. Seafood is currently inspected by the Food and Drug Administration, but Congress agreed to subject catfish to a more rigorous inspection regimen, conducted by the Department of Agriculture.

Maintaining privacy in the digital age is no easy feat ? particularly if you are the subject of a movie. And yet Angela Wesselman-Pierce, the woman who holds the key to the mystery at the center of "Catfish," has remained a quiet enigma for more than eight months since the movie became a sensation at the Sundance Film Festival. She's avoided requests for interviews about the film, which is being marketed as a documentary thriller and has taken in more than $1.6 million at the box office since its Sept.

Chris Andersen has been cleared of any wrongdoing as part of an investigation by the Internet Crimes Against Children unit of the Douglas County (Colo.) Sheriff's Department, both his lawyer and prosecutors have confirmed. The colorfully tattooed forward for the Miami Heat was the victim of a wide-ranging Internet hoax, known as catfishing, in which a woman in Canada apparently impersonated him while seeking a relationship and gifts from and later threatening a female acquaintance of the player.

"Catfish" eludes simple categorization but it's a good bet that those who succumb to its loose-lips-sink-ships marketing campaign will discover that talking about or arguing over "Catfish" is very easy once its secrets are opened. Some of those post-film discussions might even ponder elements of the story that seem deliberately kept under wraps. But more on that later. The movie begins with New York-based filmmakers Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost, cameras at the ready, blithely turning Ariel's telegenic 24-year-old photographer brother Nev into a DIY movie star when an 8-year-old Michigan girl named Abby contacts Nev via Facebook to ask if she can make a painting of one of his published photos.

Re "Gene-Altered Catfish Raise Environmental, Legal Issues," Jan. 2: The genetic modification of animals is not environmentally safe or healthy. One cannot alter so rapidly what has developed over millions of years and expect no negative effects. There should definitely be federal regulation and oversight at the highest level to prevent harm to the environment and to consumers. And I disagree with the statement that fast-growing catfish "could help farmers feed more people for less money and boost efforts to end world hunger."

First it was grits. Now it's catfish. On the eve of the Mississippi and Alabama primaries, Mitt Romney showed how far he would go to bond with Southerners who might feel something less than a natural kinship with the famously stiff New England investment titan. “That's a fine Alabama good mornin',” Romney said with a twang to a few dozen supporters who braved a drenching downpour to sing him “Happy Birthday” outside the Whistle Stop diner on the Gulf Coast. The former Massachusetts governor, who turns 65 on Tuesday, could have left it at that.

Hustling for votes three days before the South Carolina primary, Republican front-runner Mitt Romney made an impromptu stop for pulled pork, baked beans and coleslaw before his third rally Wednesday, urging diners at each table in the crowded restaurant to support him at the polls Saturday. Romney led his closest GOP rival by 10 points among likely Republican voters in a CNN/Time poll released Wednesday, but the survey showed former House Speaker Newt Gingrich gaining ground. That shift prompted Romney to criticize Gingrich by name for the first time since December on Wednesday, suggesting that he had exaggerated his role in creating jobs while working in the Reagan administration in the 1980s.

What if you could date Siri? That's kind of the question at hand in "Her," the new film written and directed by Spike Jonze. The movie, a trailer for which hit the Web on Wednesday, stars Joaquin Phoenix as Theodore Twombly, a lonely writer trying to recover from a failed relationship. When an advanced operating system comes on the market that creates tailor-made virtual companions, Theodore signs up. It's then that he meets "Samantha," an engaging female voice program that comes to win his heart.  The Oscar-nominated filmmaker's latest project feels particularly timely, given the rise of "Catfish," the MTV program about strangers who meet their longtime online paramours.

When Jarrod Musselwhite, a 27-year-old single dad from rural Georgia, was feeling confused about his relationship with a girl he'd met online, there was one person he thought could help: an appealingly goofy New York photographer named Nev Schulman. Though an unlikely companion for the high-school-educated rocker, Schulman was no stranger to what Musselwhite was feeling. A protagonist of the controversial 2010 documentary "Catfish," Schulman had himself gone through a virtual romance that didn't turn out as expected.

What if you could date Siri? That's kind of the question at hand in "Her," the new film written and directed by Spike Jonze. The movie, a trailer for which hit the Web on Wednesday, stars Joaquin Phoenix as Theodore Twombly, a lonely writer trying to recover from a failed relationship. When an advanced operating system comes on the market that creates tailor-made virtual companions, Theodore signs up. It's then that he meets "Samantha," an engaging female voice program that comes to win his heart.  The Oscar-nominated filmmaker's latest project feels particularly timely, given the rise of "Catfish," the MTV program about strangers who meet their longtime online paramours.

In an example of medium meeting message, MTV's "Catfish: The TV Show," which deals with truth and lies in online dating, was the most-tweeted-about TV show last week, according to measurement firm SocialGuide. The show, now in its second season, is the creation of Yaniv "Nev" Schulman, who was the subject of the 2010 documentary film "Catfish" about his being duped into an online relationship with a married, middle-aged woman who had adopted a fake Facebook persona, posted phony photos and adopted a higher-pitched voice in phone conversations.

TEMPE, Ariz. -- Manti Te'o is not alone. Just ask Michael Roth , one of the Angels' most decorated pitching prospects. Caught up in a phony relationship? Happened to him too. Roth started the championship game of the College World Series in each of the last three years, with his South Carolina team winning in 2010 and 2011 before losing last year. After the Gamecocks won the 2010 title, Roth traveled to Maine to pitch in a summer league, where he got an unsolicited text message from an unfamiliar number.

With “Catfish: The TV Show” debuting to strong numbers on MTV this last week, the company behind the series is expanding its television efforts. RelativityReal, the TV unit of Ryan Kavanaugh's Relativity Media, is making two new overall production and development deals, including one with the company of teen producer Oliver Bogner. RelativityReal Chief Executive Tom Forman is expected to announce Thursday the division has signed pacts with Bogner Entertainment as well as This Is Just a Test Prods.

When Jarrod Musselwhite, a 27-year-old single dad from rural Georgia, was feeling confused about his relationship with a girl he'd met online, there was one person he thought could help: an appealingly goofy New York photographer named Nev Schulman. Though an unlikely companion for the high-school-educated rocker, Schulman was no stranger to what Musselwhite was feeling. A protagonist of the controversial 2010 documentary "Catfish," Schulman had himself gone through a virtual romance that didn't turn out as expected.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, in a bid to help drought-stricken farmers, announced it would buy up to $170 million worth of meat from affected livestock producers. The prolonged Midwest drought has driven up feed costs for livestock farmers in affected areas, and the purchase of pork, lamb, chicken and catfish will provide some relief, the USDA said in a statement. Many farmers had been selling livestock as they struggled to feed their herds and flocks, creating a temporary surplus of meat and lowering prices.

What if you met someone online and later found she wasn't whom she appeared to be? And what if the person she didn't appear to be turned out to be someone else entirely? That situation — with its attendant moral questions, narrative challenges, and headache-inducing implications — is at the heart of "Catfish," a social-media meditation and mystery from first-time filmmakers Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman. The movie, which caused a sensation at this year's Sundance Film Festival and was released Friday in Los Angeles by the genre label Rogue Pictures, could become a touchstone for the Facebook age. And it seems certain to stir passionate discussion about the line between fact and fiction: Although its makers have strenuously defended the film as a documentary, skeptics question whether events so remarkable can also be truthful.

What's the difference between a government handout and a helping hand?  I guess it's in who's getting the money. For example, those getting food stamps and the like are often seen not as down-on-their-luck Americans but as lazy freeloaders.    But if you're a farmer coping with this year's drought, well, I guess you're a different story. As The Times reported Monday : The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Monday that it would buy up to $170 million of meat from affected livestock producers.

First it was grits. Now it's catfish. On the eve of the Mississippi and Alabama primaries, Mitt Romney showed how far he would go to bond with Southerners who might feel something less than a natural kinship with the famously stiff New England investment titan. “That's a fine Alabama good mornin',” Romney said with a twang to a few dozen supporters who braved a drenching downpour to sing him “Happy Birthday” outside the Whistle Stop diner on the Gulf Coast. The former Massachusetts governor, who turns 65 on Tuesday, could have left it at that.