Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Tom Danehy: Tom comments on the post-shootings rhetoric (Tucson Weekly)
The Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives, having, in their minds, wasted an entire week of voter-outrage-fueled momentum, are getting back to work this week. They will attempt to pass the Big Fat Lies About the Health Care Reform Law of 2010 Act. It's even money that at least one clod will suggest that the outstanding care that Giffords received will somehow vanish into thin air if President Obama gets his way.
Sandy Banks: Blinded by Ted Williams' surprisingly silky voice (Los Angeles Times)
It was a nice story, and I hope it has a happy ending. But the tale of Homeless Man with the Golden Voice has already lost its fairy-tale patina.
Emily Bazelon: Good Riddance, Joe Lieberman (Slate)
Why I loathe my Connecticut senator.
Hadley Freeman: Sarah Palin - a modern-day Lucy van Pelt? (Guardian)
Like Lucy from Peanuts, there is something impressive about Sarah Palin's refusal to kowtow to the expectations of others.
Hospital Visitation Regulations Go Into Effect Today (whitehouse.gov)
With those words on April 15, 2010 President Obama directed HHS Secretary Sebelius to initiate rulemaking to ensure that hospitals that participate in Medicare and Medicaid respect the rights of patients to designate visitors. The President further advised that the rule should ensure that participating hospitals may not deny visitation privileges based on factors including sexual orientation or gender identity.
Susan Estrich: Sick People (Creators Syndicate)
Someone called me at home, claiming to be a student of mine, and threatened to rape me again - because I probably enjoyed it - by semester's end. There were two weeks left in the semester.
Paul Krugman: Upton Sinclair and the Wonk Gap (New York Times)
... I'm surprised that Chait doesn't refer to Upton Sinclair's principle: it's difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it. In fact, in general right-wing think tanks prefer people who genuinely can't understand the issues - it makes them more reliable.
Paul Krugman: Stuff Happens (New York Times)
Joe Romm* has some fun with the Texas Attorney General , who declares himself opposed to regulation of CO2 on the grounds that "It is almost the height of insanity of bureaucracy to have the EPA regulating something that is emitted by all living things." As Joe points out, this argument says that we should adopt an equally laissez-faire attitude toward sewage.
Matt Miller: In the wake of national tragedies, some words won't do (The Washington Post)
What can you do but cry? And go on. Think Samuel Beckett: "I can't go on. I'll go on."
Laura Cochrane: "Neal Cassady: Drug-taker. Bigamist. Family man" (Guardian)
He was the hard-living, fast-driving, pill-popping womaniser who was immortalised in Jack Kerouac's On the Road. But what was it like to be married to Neal Cassady?
Susan Hill: 'I was never good at anything else' (Guardian)
At 68, veteran novelist Susan Hill shows no signs of slowing down. She tells Robert McCrum why storytelling wasn't just a passion - it was her only chance of employment.
Alex Pham: Authors see e-books as escape from publishing houses (Los Angeles Times)
Joe Konrath can't wait for his books to go out of print. When that happens, the 40-year-old crime novelist plans to reclaim the copyrights from his publisher, Hyperion Books, and self-publish them on Amazon.com
Joe Romm* is the brother of
Baron Dave Romm.
David Bruce has 39 Kindle books on Amazon.com with 250 anecdotes in each book. Each book is $1, so for $39 you can buy 9,750 anecdotes. Search for "Funniest People," "Coolest People, "Most Interesting People," "Kindest People," "Religious Anecdotes," and "Maximum Cool."
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From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Reader Suggestions
Michelle in AZ
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johnstown flood
The Final Solution to the Conservative Question
David Dvorkin
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Back to sunny and warm.
50th Anniversary
JFK
Fifty years ago, President John F. Kennedy took the oath of office and called for a fresh start with a reminder that "civility is not a sign of weakness" and his famous request to "ask what you can do for your country."
On Thursday, Caroline Kennedy will gather members of her father's administration, civil rights activists, astronaut Buzz Aldrin and others to celebrate the 35th president's legacy. She and Jimmy Fallon also plan to talk about a new public service campaign aimed at youth.
In Washington, the Kennedy Center will host three weeks of performances recreating moments from the Kennedy White House.
Cellist Yo-Yo Ma performs Thursday night, along with Morgan Freeman, the American Ballet Theatre and the National Symphony Orchestra for an audience that will include about 100 Kennedy family members.
JFK
Award Nominees
GLAAD
Golden Globe winning movie "The Kids are All Right" and TV shows "Glee," "Modern Family" and "Project Runway" were among nominees on Thursday for the annual GLAAD awards honoring the portrayal of gays and lesbians in the media.
Singer Ricky Martin's coming-out TV interview with Oprah Winfrey, the movie musical "Burlesque," and Anderson Cooper's CNN reports on gay teen suicides were also among the nominees, which cover magazines and digital journalism along with film, television, music and theater.
Independent blogs were also among the nominations for the first time in the 22-year history of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) media awards.
Winners will be announced during fund-raising gala dinners in New York on March 19, Los Angeles on April 16, and San Francisco on May 14.
GLAAD
Changes Tune
Elton John
Has fatherhood changed Sir Elton John's feelings about marriage for same-sex couples?
The 63-year-old singer made several blunt comments on the topic Wednesday night while performing at a private fundraiser for the ongoing legal challenge to California's gay marriage ban.
John disappointed some gay rights activists after the ban, known as Proposition 8, passed in 2008 when he said he had no desire to get married and was satisfied with the civil partnership he and his longtime partner, David Furnish, had.
But Sir Elton was singing a different tune at Wednesday's concert, which raised $3 million for the American Foundation for Equal Rights. He praised the effort to overturn the ban and promised to do everything he could to support it, even though he is British.
"As a gay man. I think I have it all," he said. "I have a wonderful career, a wonderful life. I have my health, I have a partner of 17 years and I have a son. And you know what, I don't have everything, because I don't have the respect of people like the church, and people like politicians who tell me that I am not worthy or that I am 'less than' because I am gay.
Elton John
Caught Malaria
George Clooney
George Clooney contracted malaria during a trip to Sudan earlier this month, but is now fully cured, a spokesman for the Oscar-winning actor said on Thursday.
Clooney, 49, a frequent visitor to the war-torn nation, was helping draw attention to a historic referendum on independence for residents of the mainly Christian south.
"George is completely over the malaria he contracted while in the Sudan during the first week in January," his spokesman said in a statement.
"This was his second bout with it. This illustrates how with proper medication, the most lethal condition in Africa, can be reduced to a bad ten days instead of a death sentence."
George Clooney
Asked Fans
Macy Gray
Soul singer Macy Gray has asked her fans on Facebook whether she should cancel planned concerts in Tel Aviv because of the "disgusting" way the Israeli government treats Palestinians.
International artists, entertainers and academics are under increasing pressure to boycott Israel because of Israeli actions in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
"What the Israeli government is doing to the Palestinians is disgusting, but I wana go. I gotta lotta fans there I dont want to cancel on and I dont know how my NOT going changes anything. What do you think? Stay or go?"
After receiving almost 4,000 often impassioned messages in just four days, Gray has announced via Twitter that she would indeed sing in Tel Aviv next month.
Macy Gray
Gets Midnight Slot
'Jimmy Kimmel Live!'
Jimmy Kimmel's talk show is getting a midnight start, courtesy of a five-minute sacrifice by "Nightline."
"Jimmy Kimmel Live!" will move back from 12:05 a.m. to midnight EST as of Feb. 4, ABC said Thursday. That will cut "Nightline," which had been airing from 11:35 p.m. to 12:05 a.m. EST, to 25 minutes instead of a half-hour.
The news program, however, will gain a series of 13 prime-time episodes, ABC News President Ben Sherwood said in a staff memo that was released by ABC. He said the hourlong shows would "minimize the disruption" to "Nightline."
Kimmel's show will pick up six minutes in length, with its current 1:06 a.m. EST end time remaining the same.
'Jimmy Kimmel Live!'
Class Of 2011
NJ Hall of Fame
The newest inductees into New Jersey's Hall of Fame include actors John Travolta and Queen Latifah and singer Tony Bennett.
Others winning induction to the hall this spring include lifestyle guru Martha Stewart, football greats Franco Harris and Joe Theisman and former Gov. Brendan Byrne.
Rounding out the hall's fourth class are actor Bruce Willis, World War II heroes John Basilone and Admiral William "Bull" Halsey, novelist Mary Higgins Clark, jazz great Bucky Pizzarelli and businessman and former Jets owner Leon Hess.
The induction ceremony will be in June.
NJ Hall of Fame
Taking Over National Opera in DC
Kennedy Center
The Kennedy Center announced Thursday it will take over most operations of the Washington National Opera because of the music company's financial troubles.
Under an affiliation agreement, the opera will remain a separate nonprofit with its own board of trustees. However, the Kennedy Center will take over its business, fundraising and marketing functions. The arrangement beginning July 1 is intended to ensure the opera's survival after several years of financial shortfalls.
"For me it's not just a question of stabilizing them," said Kennedy Center President Michael Kaiser. "One of my goals is to build back their season. They're down to five operas a year, and we're hoping to do more in the future."
One stipulation of the merger, which has been in negotiations since March, was that the opera company transition to the Kennedy Center with no debt and no deficit. Kaiser said much of the opera's resources would be used to pay off its debts.
Kennedy Center
Estate Sues Over Website
Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson's estate is seeking the shutdown of a website that is selling a book written by the singer's mother and has released music attributed to the late pop superstar.
The singer's estate sued businessman Howard Mann, who operates the website www.jacksonsecretvault.com, on Thursday, claiming both are infringing on copyrights and pose unfair competition.
The website features a book of Katherine Jackson's recollections of her son and released a remix of a Jackson song shortly before the release of a posthumous album last year.
The copyright infringement lawsuit asks a federal judge to turn over the website to the estate. It also seeks all profits from the website, which would go to the multimillion estate that supports Katherine Jackson and the singer's three children.
Michael Jackson
Boyfriend Faces Felony
Paris Hilton
Paris Hilton's boyfriend is facing criminal charges stemming from his arrest with the celebrity socialite last summer on the Las Vegas Strip.
A complaint filed Thursday charges 35-year-old Cy Waits with a felony of being under the influence of marijuana, and misdemeanor driving under the influence and possession of marijuana. The former nightclub mogul could face up to four years in prison on the felony charge.
Police say an officer stopped the SUV Waits was driving Aug. 27 after smelling marijuana smoke coming from the vehicle.
Hilton is serving a year of probation after pleading guilty to misdemeanor cocaine possession and obstruction charges in the case.
Paris Hilton
Kiddy Porn?
"Skins"
A television watchdog group on Thursday asked the U.S. government to open a child pornography investigation into the new MTV series "Skins."
The Parents Television Council, which has 1.3 million members, said the drama about, and starring, teens as young as 15 years old could violate U.S. laws against the sexual exploitation of minors and statutes against child pornography.
"Skins," a drama series about misfit teens who dabble in drink, drugs and sex, made its debut on youth-oriented MTV on Sunday.
The show, based on the British series of the same name, attracted 3.3 million U.S. viewers, the vast majority between ages 12 and 34, according to TV ratings figures.
"Skins"
New Gig
Erik Prince
Erik Prince, whose former company Blackwater Worldwide became synonymous with the use of private U.S. security forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, has quietly taken on a new role in helping to train troops in lawless Somalia.
Prince is involved in a multimillion-dollar program financed by several Arab countries, including the United Arab Emirates, to mobilize some 2,000 Somali recruits to fight pirates who are terrorizing the African coast, according to a person familiar with the project and an intelligence report seen by The Associated Press.
Prince's name has surfaced in the Somalia conflict amid the debate over how private security forces should be used in some of the world's most dangerous spots. Blackwater, now known as Xe Services, became a symbol in Washington of contractors run amok after a series of incidents, including one in 2007 in which its guards were charged with killing 14 civilians in the Iraqi capital.
Though Somali pirates have seized ships flying under various flags, most governments are reluctant to send ground troops to wipe out pirate havens in a nation that has been in near-anarchy for two decades and whose weak U.N.-backed administration is confined to a few neighborhoods of the capital. The forces now being trained are intended to help fill that void. They will also go after a warlord linked to Islamist insurgents, one official said.
Erik Prince
Oink. Oink. Oink.
Oh, Silvio
For gossip-loving Italians, it's a feast. To others, it may be more than they ever wanted to know about their premier, Silvio Berlusconi, his purported sexual appetites and parties with topless girls - or, in one case, with a woman told to dress in a sexy nurse's uniform.
Italian newspapers are filled with embarrassing leaks of wiretaps ordered by Milan prosecutors as part of their prostitution probe targeting the 74-year-old Italian leader and his alleged encounters with a Moroccan teenager, known as Ruby.
Ttranscripts of the purported conversations involving Ruby, women who attended parties in Berlusconi's villa near Milan and some of the premier's aides and friends offer a glimpse into an indulgent lifestyle that critics say is inappropriate for a public official.
In some purported conversations, Berlusconi's house is described as a brothel with topless girls dancing around; the premier himself is described as a "caricature" by one guest and as having gained weight and having become ugly by another.
Oh, Silvio
Credit Card Scam
Beverly Hills
The owner of a Beverly Hills beauty salon has agreed to plead guilty to using credit card information from celebrity clients without their knowledge to ring up bogus charges, according to court documents.
Maria Gabriela Hashemipour, 51, agreed to plead guilty to one count of access device fraud and could face up to 10 years in prison. She was scheduled to enter her plea in U.S. District Court on Friday. As part of her agreement, federal prosecutors will drop 40 other counts.
Hashemipour may also face a fine of up to $250,000 and must pay full restitution to her clients estimated to be no higher than $1 million.
Two of actress Liv Tyler's credit cards had about $214,000 in fraudulent charges from the studio over a five-month period last year, according to an affidavit filed in the case.
Beverly Hills
No Charges
South Dakota
A South Dakota official says rocker and avid hunter Ted Nugent (R-Draft Dodger) will not be charged with violating any state game laws for shooting pheasants last fall after some of his hunting privileges were revoked in California.
Both states are part of a compact in which they can honor each other's license revocations.
Andy Alban in South Dakota's Department of Game, Fish and Parks said officials determined that Nugent's license revocation in California for deer hunting didn't disqualify him from getting a license to hunt pheasants.
Nugent had hunted pheasants in southwest South Dakota last October. Alban says Nugent was exercising a small-game privilege that didn't have anything to do with what happened in California.
South Dakota
South Dakota
Dead Birds
The deaths of 200 starlings in Yankton, South Dakota this week is no mystery -- they died as the result of poison set out by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, an official said on Thursday.
USDA wildlife biologist Ricky Woods explained that a large group of starlings was causing problems in a north Nebraska cattle feedlot, eating the feed and leaving waste on both the feed and equipment. So the USDA put out DRC 1339 poison for the birds, Woods said.
Woods said most of the birds died near the site of the feed lot, but about 200 were strong enough to fly about 10 miles north to Yankton, where they died, puzzling some local residents. He could not say how many birds died altogether.
Woods said putting out poison for birds is not common, but sometimes is necessary. "It depends on the situation," he said. He said the poison would not harm another animal which ate one of the birds, such as a cat or a hawk.
Dead Birds
Means Headaches To Many
3-D
From Hollywood studios to Japanese TV makers, powerful business interests are betting 3-D will be the future of entertainment, despite a major drawback: It makes millions of people uncomfortable or sick.
Optometrists say as many as one in four viewers have problems watching 3-D movies and TV, either because 3-D causes tiresome eyestrain or because the viewer has problems perceiving depth in real life. In the worst cases, 3-D makes people queasy, leaves them dizzy or gives them headaches.
Researchers have begun developing more lifelike 3-D displays that might address the problems, but they're years or even decades from being available to the masses.
That isn't deterring the entertainment industry, which is aware of the problem yet charging ahead with plans to create more movies and TV shows in 3-D. Jeff "Sparky" Katzenberg, CEO of Dreamworks Animation SKG Inc., calls 3-D "the greatest innovation that's happened for the movie theaters and for moviegoers since color."
3-D
Engaged To Marry
Jesse James
Motorcycle man Jesse James is engaged to tattoo artist Kat Von D.
James and Von D. began dating over the summer after his very public split from Oscar winner Sandra Bullock.
The 41-year-old biker businessman and reality-TV star calls Von D his best friend. Von D, whose real name is Katherine von Drachenberg, says James is "the one." The 28-year-old stars on the TLC reality show "LA Ink."
Jesse James
Cyprus Church Thanks
Boy George
Cyprus' Orthodox Christian Church on Thursday thanked former Culture Club singer Boy George for returning an icon of Christ that it says was stolen from a church in the breakaway north of the divided island.
Boy George agreed to return the 18th century icon he bought from a London art dealer in 1985 after being presented with proof of its true origin, the church said in a statement posted on its Web site.
The church said it was alerted about the icon's whereabouts by an informer who saw the singer with it on a Dutch TV show last November.
Boy George, who said he was unaware of the icon's history when he bought it, personally handed the icon over to Bishop Porfyrios in London on Tuesday. In return, the bishop gave him a modern icon of Christ as a token of gratitude and "with the wish that others soon follow his example."
Boy George
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