WEDNESDAYS 9/8c 
 
 Black Ink Crew Chicago 
 
 Ryan is back on the throne, but it'll take more than a piece of paper to rebuild 9MAG. Now that Ryan has control of the shop's lease, the real work of reuniting the 9MAG family after their ugly split begins. Will Van finally forgive Ryan? Is Charmaine ready to let go of Loyal Ink? And can the original crew get along with Ryan's new artists? It's time to find out. ||||| First, a prosecutor would need to appeal to – perhaps exploit – Stone’s natural sense of self-preservation. For all the trouble he has been mixed up in over his long career, Stone has never been at any real risk of serving time behind bars. Friday’s indictment might change his bearing a bit. It’s one thing to rail publicly against the possibility of a theoretical future indictment, but another to see seven federal criminal charges, carrying a total maximum sentence of 50 years, in black and white. As a practical matter, Stone isn’t looking at anything close to 50 years, but he easily could be facing five years or so if convicted on all counts. For a 66 year-old man like Stone, that could mean most or all of the rest of his life, which has to be at least a bit sobering. And the evidence laid out in the indictment seems locked in; over and over again, the indictment quotes Stone’s lies and then cites hard proof – typically Stone’s own texts – to prove that he lied. A good prosecutor could make a compelling case that cooperation offers Stone his best and most realistic chance to get through the case without having to serve time. 
 
 
 
 
 
 Second, as much as we don’t like to acknowledge it in our quest for pure justice, money matters. It is expensive to defend yourself in federal court, and it is jaw-droppingly costly to go to trial. Stone has flashed vulnerability on this, declaring that he faces legal fees of $2 million – not an outrageous estimate, if a trial is involved – while noting that he is “not a wealthy man” and begging for crowdfunded donations. 
 
 
 
 
 
 Third, Stone is nothing if not ego-driven. We all are, of course, but Stone’s in his own league. A prosecutor might therefore make a pitch to Stone along these lines. You can stay quiet, you can be a “stand-up” guy, you can fight the government and maybe even go to trial. Trump will send nice tweets about you, you’ll have a heavy media following for a couple years, but ultimately you’ll be a strange footnote in history. Or you can flip and be John Dean.
– GOP hopeful Rick Santorum's latest campaign ad doesn't exactly scream 2012. The video is seemingly inspired by VH1's cult classic TV show Pop Up Video, which was a huge hit after it debuted in 1996 (it was resurrected in October of this year). In the 60-second spot, the former Pennsylvania senator plays backyard sports with his kids as trivia bubbles pop into view containing fascinating tidbits, such as "All the Santorum children were homeschooled." New York's Daily Intel blog notes: "It's the bubble-popping sound effect that really makes it."