Angel >> Deposed Quebec Liberal leader Daniel Johnson The most ridiculed man in provincial politics went out with a bang: by timing his departure when he did, he scuttled the PQ's plans for a quick spring election and guaranteed lots of pre-election media attention for the Liberals. Unfortunately, his departure marks the definitive failure of the Johnson family's political non-dynasty: Daniel Sr. died in office as premier in 1970, and neither Daniel Jr. nor his brother Pierre-Marc (who led the PQ for three years in the mid '80s before being turfed out) were able to carry the torch. At Monday's press conference Johnson refused to answer reporters' questions, thus putting a definitive end to it all. In the case of this political suicide, an angel rises from the corpse of a dead career.

Insect >> Dan Rather and the CBS news team How desperately did the media want another war with Iraq? So bad they were reporting on it before it even happened--which, of course, it never did. CBS news was so hyped up about the possibility of a war, they had special "Gulf War" logos and music all ready to go. But when a few channel-surfing satellite viewers suddenly tuned into a 20-minute segment of CBS anchor Dan Rather reporting on bombings in Baghdad--complete with 3-D graphics and "live" video footage--a minor, war-of-the-worlds-esque panic broke out. CBS was flooded with calls, and eventually had to issue a release explaining that it was only a test run. Who says you can't rehearse the news?