Charlie Sheen

The Middle East is blowing up, teachers are protesting instead of teaching, oil prices climbing, but what is really important? Why Charlie Sheen of course. Does anyone really care? I hope not or we are really lost. Finton Cordell, Lutherville

Charlie Sheen was clearly the man of the year. You'll recall that 2011 began with the oafish actor celebrating his own narcotic and sexual crapulence like a victorious gladiator working the crowds. He was egged on by a media with as much decency as the cons on the top tiers of the prison who chant "fresh fish" as the new inmates walk into general pop, their eyes stinging from delousing powder. Mr. Sheen succeeded at turning his own debasement into a national pseudo-event by calling the very definition of losing "winning.

Why must the media find it news to report on Charlie Sheen ( "Charlie Sheen leaves rehab, reportedly receiving treatment at home," Feb. 1). I really don't think the general public is interested in his escapades of women, drugs and alcohol. He is a most despicable human being and certainly does not deserve the news coverage on a daily basis. He is a sick individual, and I really don't care if he is the highest paid actor on TV. Let it go. He is not worth any more coverage. Vicki Chambers, Lutherville

1. Rebecca Black Today is not Friday, but Rebecca Black's unintentional parody of modern pop still (unfortunately) takes the No. 1 spot for 2011 viral hits. The original video racked up disproportionately more dislikes than likes, but its so-bad-it's-genuinely-appalling appeal earned it a Teen Choice award, an appearance for Black in a Katy Perry video and a cover by Jimmy Fallon, Stephen Colbert, the Roots AND Taylor Hicks (with an assist from the Knicks City Dancers). 2. Charlie Sheen Sheen's rant on the Feb. 24 episode of "The Alex Jones Show" started the very public destruction of his working relationship with "Two and a Half Men" creator Chuck Lorre and was the first of numerous interviews that popularized catchphrases we'd rather forget.

On weekday mornings, I'll post the most controversial, shocking and (of course) ridiculous stories for your reading pleasure. That way, when you walk into work, you'll be the master of witty conversation. National • Really, Canada? Smoking is the least of your Charlie Sheen worries: Canada warns Sheen n ot to smoke on stag e. (CBC News)  • Shocker. It's all about ratings? Trump might announce presidential intentions on "The Apprentice. " (Yahoo News)

Let me get this straight: the Senate of the state of Maryland, which is broke, is considering a bill to use my tax money to give a tuition discount to students who are here illegally, while students who are American citizens here legally from Pennsylvania or Virginia will have to pay full price ( "A flawed compromise on illegal immigrant tuition," March 8). And people think it is Charlie Sheen who is acting crazy? Andrew Goldfinger

Letters, calls and the roar of the crowd:Roger Dettmer, Annapolis: Nobody loves a smart ass. Except, maybe, the face in the mirror. One of the first lessons I got [when I was in the newspaper business] was: Answer your mail politely. The angrier the mail, the more disarming you ought to be.Since the [Charlie] Sheen screed was mailed to you -- not presumably as a formal Letter to the Editor -- [you] might have bled privately or written the offending misspeller [a] cleverly abusive reply. But no, [you]

Guys like me used to envy guys like Charlie Sheen.He was rich; he was handsome; he could have any woman he wanted.We were just handsome.But last week we learned that if you dig down beneath the fake tinsel of Charlie Sheen's life, you find the real tinsel.Testifying in the federal tax evasion trial of Hollywood madame Heidi Fleiss, Sheen admitted that he had paid more than $53,500 for sex with Fleiss' prostitutes.Constantly tugging at his collar and wiping sweat from his brow, Sheen testified he had used Fleiss' call-girl ring at least 27 times, including Christmas Day, 1992, when he paid a prostitute $2,000.

Charlie Sheen made news again Thursday. But this time, it wasn't about drugs, sex or his pending divorce -- well, maybe a little sex. His Two and a Half Men character, Charlie Harper, isn't exactly the most celibate cat on the small screen, but playing the cad landed Sheen his first-ever Emmy nomination, for lead actor in a comedy series. His top-rated, 3-year-old series also got its first nomination as best comedy, and costar Jon Cryer received his first nod for supporting actor. The conventional CBS sitcom about Harper, a decadent bachelor whose life changes when his neurotic and repressed brother Alan (Cryer)

Charlie Sheen was clearly the man of the year. You'll recall that 2011 began with the oafish actor celebrating his own narcotic and sexual crapulence like a victorious gladiator working the crowds. He was egged on by a media with as much decency as the cons on the top tiers of the prison who chant "fresh fish" as the new inmates walk into general pop, their eyes stinging from delousing powder. Mr. Sheen succeeded at turning his own debasement into a national pseudo-event by calling the very definition of losing "winning.

On weekday mornings, I'll post the most controversial, shocking and (of course) ridiculous stories for your reading pleasure. That way, when you walk into work, you'll be the master of witty conversation. National • Really, Canada? Smoking is the least of your Charlie Sheen worries: Canada warns Sheen n ot to smoke on stag e. (CBC News)  • Shocker. It's all about ratings? Trump might announce presidential intentions on "The Apprentice. " (Yahoo News)

Charlie Sheen is not winning in the nation's capital. After selling out within a matter of minutes in both Chicago and Detroit, tickets for the controversial actor's "My Violent Torpedo of Truth/Defeat is Not an Option" show are still available in 17 other cities, including Washington. Sheen's show is mostly an approximately 80-minute spoken-word performance. The tour begins in Detroit on April 2 and wraps in Seattle on May 3. Sheen will appear April 19 at DAR Constitution Hall in Washington.

The good folks at Public Policy Polling decided to use their valuable time conducting a presidential poll including Charlie Sheen . Yes, he of Adonis DNA and tiger blood.  Even though it's been widely misreported that Sheen won matchups against both President Barack Obama and Sarah Palin, that's not true. He lost soundly. "Sheen's unpopularity is pretty universal across party lines," the pollsters concluded. (Which is shocking to anyone following his Twitter feed.

The Middle East is blowing up, teachers are protesting instead of teaching, oil prices climbing, but what is really important? Why Charlie Sheen of course. Does anyone really care? I hope not or we are really lost. Finton Cordell, Lutherville

Let me get this straight: the Senate of the state of Maryland, which is broke, is considering a bill to use my tax money to give a tuition discount to students who are here illegally, while students who are American citizens here legally from Pennsylvania or Virginia will have to pay full price ( "A flawed compromise on illegal immigrant tuition," March 8). And people think it is Charlie Sheen who is acting crazy? Andrew Goldfinger

I'm with you, Huck. I couldn't agree more with Mike Huckabee, who dissed Natalie Portman last week. Portman, outrageously, won the best actress Oscar for her pinched-face, baby-voiced mewling as a tortured ballerina in "Black Swan. " A travesty! Especially when obviously the award should have gone to Jennifer Lawrence as a tough backwoods girl battling her extended meth-brewing clan to save her own family in "Winter's Bone. " What? What's that you say? Huckabee actually was slamming Portman not for her undeserved statuette but for the unwed actress' baby bump?

* ''The Rookie'' Clint Eastwood is the older cop, and Charlie Sheen is his younger partner. Together, they take on members of a car-theft ring.

The good folks at Public Policy Polling decided to use their valuable time conducting a presidential poll including Charlie Sheen . Yes, he of Adonis DNA and tiger blood.  Even though it's been widely misreported that Sheen won matchups against both President Barack Obama and Sarah Palin, that's not true. He lost soundly. "Sheen's unpopularity is pretty universal across party lines," the pollsters concluded. (Which is shocking to anyone following his Twitter feed.

Those of us with self-esteem issues — and we are legion — could learn a thing or two from Charlie Sheen and Moammar Gadhafi. The embattled American actor and the embattled Libyan strongman granted interviews this week to let the world know how much their people love them and how wrong everybody else is about them. The internet and magazines were rife with comparisons of the talkative duo. During his interview, Sheen demanded a $1 million raise for each of the remaining eight episodes of "Two and a Half Men," his TV show that CBS has announced it will not film because of his outrageous behavior.

Why must the media find it news to report on Charlie Sheen ( "Charlie Sheen leaves rehab, reportedly receiving treatment at home," Feb. 1). I really don't think the general public is interested in his escapades of women, drugs and alcohol. He is a most despicable human being and certainly does not deserve the news coverage on a daily basis. He is a sick individual, and I really don't care if he is the highest paid actor on TV. Let it go. He is not worth any more coverage. Vicki Chambers, Lutherville