A protester displays a defaced portrait of ousted president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali. Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images A set of 10 diplomatic cables released by whistleblower website WikiLeaks offers some insight into the recent upheaval in Tunisia and starts…

"The Onion News Network," a 30-minute, weekly television program, will debut on IFC on Friday. The show comes on the heels of "SportsDome," which premiered on Comedy Central and satirizes the round-the-clock coverage of sports channels like ESPN.

Last week in this space, I mused about how quick we can be to over interpret events and ascribe tenuous meaning to actions that so often defy explanation. Less than 48 hours after I posted that column, 19 people…