CNN reports that CNET executive James Kim has been found dead in the Oregon wilderness. This sounds like a horrible ordeal for the whole family and particularly for their two young daughters.

After leaving Portland on Interstate 5, search leaders said, the couple missed a turnoff that leads to the coast and took a wrong turn on a twisty mountain road they chose as an alternative. Authorities have said the couple fed their daughters baby food and crackers and used snow as water as they waited for help.

Kati Kim’s mother, Sandy Fleming, told CNN that her daughter, who had been breast-feeding the younger child, breast-fed both the children after their food ran out. The adults also ate berries, police said. They used their car heater until they ran out of gas then burned tires to stay warm and attract attention.

My thoughts and sympathy go out to all of them.

Yikes. Spam volume has taken a nasty turn upward this year, according to the New York Times, because spammers have adopted a series of new tricks to foil filters. It’s amazing that we receive any legitimate messages considering these details below:

Worldwide spam volumes have doubled from last year, according to Ironport, a spam filtering firm, and unsolicited junk mail now accounts for more than 9 of every 10 e-mail messages sent over the Internet…

“Imagine an archvillain who has a new thumbprint every time he puts his thumb down,” said Patrick Peterson, vice president for technology at Ironport. “They have taken away so many of the hooks we can use to look for spam.”

Franklin Cinema is scheduled to close at the end of this month, though there is a small chance it could still survive. I’m sad to see this beloved neighborhood cinema go, and I’ll confess that I’m as guilty as the rest of us out there for neglecting it. I’ve only been to a movie there a few times, and I’ve opted for closer and fancier multiplexes instead.

“I really think that there’s not enough traffic to justify it operating as a cinema. It is very nostalgic, very heart-warming, everyone has stories from the Franklin Cinema, but what has happened is that the Cool Springs multiplexes have drawn most of the business from downtown Franklin. It just can’t compete with the digital, Dolby multi-screens playing 12 of the 15 latest movies,” [property owner Mark] Bloom said.

Unfortunately, I think Bloom is right.

This is by no means the first time, but I wholeheartedly agree with Scene editor Liz Garrigan that Tennessee’s Lieutenant Governor John Wilder should be replaced when the General Assembly returns in January.

Last year, when a handful of state lawmakers were indicted on bribery and corruption charges, Wilder condemned not the behavior of profiteering and unscrupulous public officials but instead the federal government for offering “bait to get someone in jail.” His interest is with the small cadre of those who have embalmed him politically, not with the millions of Tennesseans who count on sound policy regarding health care, taxes and other state issues.

We frankly find it troubling that, during 35 years of power, Wilder has yet to risk his hide over any meaningful principle, issue or ideology. As a speaker with nothing worthwhile to say—and, we might add, a tenuous grasp on both standard methods of communication and basic English grammar—his greatest political accomplishment is self-preservation…

We’d urge party elders to try again in the upcoming legislative session. Keeping a cartoon character behind the Senate podium is a good way to get Tennessee on The Daily Show, but that’s about it.

Well said. Here’s hoping Tennessee has a new speaker of the Senate in 2007.

Lost is moving to 9 p.m. central time when it returns in February. This probably a good thing for ABC because it prevents direct competition with American Idol and because Lost’s viewers have consistently abandoned whatever show follows it. I’d really rather watch it at 8, but I can live with this move.

Battlestar Galactica is moving to Sundays at 9 p.m. central beginning January 21. My wife and I at times have set our social lives around Friday nights for watching this outstanding show, so this is probably a good thing. I will not enjoy waiting until the end of the weekend for new episodes, but it will make Sunday nights that much more fun for me. I hope this is the right move for Galactica because I think it deserves a larger audience to match all of the critical acclaim it has received.

The search is continuing for CNET executive James Kim. My first thought, after reading that searchers had discovered a pair of Kim’s pants, was the same one mentioned in this CNN story:

“[Finding the pair of pants] also could mean Kim suffered severe hypothermia, said Dr. Jon Jui, professor of emergency medicine at Oregon Health and Science University. Jui said severe hypothermia causes people to become disoriented and have a false sense of warmth, which can lead to them disrobing.”

I can say from personal experience that hypothermia is a wicked and brutal condition to be in. I hope that Kim, who was reportedly wearing jeans beneath the pants that were discovered, was trying to send a signal and not suffering from exposure.

I think this statue is beautiful. It’s called the Angel of the North, and it’s located in Gateshead, England. Sculptor Antony Gormley created it, and it is as wide as the Statue of Liberty is tall. Wow. (Yes, that’s a person sitting on one of the angel’s feet.)