Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Amanda Ripley: What Makes a Great Teacher? (theatlantic.com)
For years, the secrets to great teaching have seemed more like alchemy than science, a mix of motivational mumbo jumbo and misty-eyed tales of inspiration and dedication. But for more than a decade, one organization has been tracking hundreds of thousands of kids, and looking at why some teachers can move them three grade levels ahead in a year and others can't.
Roger Ebert's Journal: A Superwoman for Kenya, but America is still waiting for Superman
Sometimes two films set up an uncanny resonance with one another. I saw two documentaries back to back. One filled me with hope and the other washed me in despair. They were both about the education of primary school children.
Holocaust survivors' stories (guardian.co.uk)
As the number of survivors in the UK dwindles to 5,000, Stuart Jeffries commemorates Holocaust Memorial Day by hearing the stories six of them have to tell.
Stuart Jeffries: "Memories of the Holocaust: Zigi Shipper" (guardian.co.uk)
'We saw the chimneys. Rumours said it was a crematorium. I didn't know what that meant.'
Stuart Jeffries: "Memories of the Holocaust: Harry Spiro" (guardian.co.uk)
'When someone fell, you felt lucky you were next to him. The dead always had something useful.'
Stuart Jeffries: "Memories of the Holocaust: Sabina Miller" (guardian.co.uk)
'We ran because we heard the ghettos were being liquidated and that lorries were coming for the Jews.'
Stuart Jeffries: "Memories of the Holocaust: Ben Helfgott" (guardian.co.uk)
'When I heard what happened to my father, I was alone. I cried for 24 hours.'
Stuart Jeffries: "Memories of the Holocaust: Martin Stern" (guardian.co.uk)
'They looked like ordinary railwaymen cramming people in. Why were they doing that?'
Stuart Jeffries: "Memories of the Holocaust: Kitty Hart-Moxon" (guardian.co.uk)
'We were prepared to die there but it turned out to be a mock execution - a piece of Nazi cruelty.'
Clark Morphew: It's time for religions to stop tolerating intolerance (from 2001; morpheweb.com)
I have always wondered why we tolerate fanatics, even bless them, as they divide and destroy our communities of faith.
Joseph Galliano: The gay cartoonists with the last laugh (timesonline.co.uk/)
Humour was a vital and powerful weapon in the campaigning gay press, a new exhibition of cartoon strips reveals.
Sam Wasson: Remembering Jean Simmons (huffingtonpost.com)
Remembering Jean Simmons, who died Friday, January 22, of lung cancer at 80, the first thing I thought of is her performance in 'Angel Face.'
Gary S. Chafetz: Pernell Roberts, 1928-2010 (huffingtonpost.com)
A Broadway actor, Pernell had a commanding presence. He was charismatic, intelligent, and well read. Hence, he could speak with great authority on many subjects. He was energetic, curious, and had a booming laugh.
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From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
Lost Ashes To Be Scattered
Mahatma Gandhi
Some of the last of Mahatma Gandhi's ashes, kept in secret for decades by a family friend, will be scattered at sea off South Africa's coast on Saturday, 62 years after his assassination, his family said.
Normally, ashes are immersed in rivers or the sea within days, but for Gandhi, his remains were divided to many urns and sent around India and across the globe so his followers could hold memorials.
One urn came to South Africa, where Gandhi had come to practise law in 1893, living in the country on and off for 21 years.
Until recently, Gandhi's family had no idea that any of the remains were still in Africa. But because so many urns were sent around the world in 1948, no one knows if any others are left.
The last immersion ceremony for Gandhi was two years ago in Mumbai. Those remains had been kept for decades by an estranged son before being donated to a museum, which had wanted to display them. At the family's request, they were spread in the Arabian Sea.
Mahatma Gandhi
Looking Into Late-Night
Spike TV
The Spike cable network is looking to get into late-night television, but Conan O'Brien need not apply.
The network geared to young men said Thursday that it was developing a new late-night talk and comedy show with Thom Beers, who helps make the network's "1000 Ways to Die" series. The new late-night entry hopes to scour the country for talent.
Sharon Levy, head of programming for Spike, said she wants the show to go beyond the typical late-night fascinations of movie stars and politics. She said Spike will seek out ordinary people doing extraordinary things, like a convenience store clerk who faced down robbers or a stockbroker who quit his job to fight in Afghanistan.
The show has no air date, host or even title. It will air once a week at first, although Levy said that if things go right, it could become a daily show.
Spike TV
Sarah & Pickles & Lynne & Goldie Hawn?
Bakersfield Business Conference
Organizers of the Bakersfield Business Conference announced Sunday that 2008 Republican Primary Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney and legendary entertainer Ronnie Milsap will address the Business Conference on October 9, 2010.
Last week, Conference organizers announced that 2008 Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin and academy-award winning actress Goldie Hawn will also appear at the 2010 Conference alongside former Vice President Dick Cheney, former Second Lady Lynne Cheney, former First Lady Laura Bush, and impressionist Rich Little. Conference organizers will continue to announce the names of speakers confirmed to address the 2010 Conference in weeks to come.
Bakersfield Business Conference
China City Denies Renaming Mountain
"Avatar"
A city in a scenic part of southern China has denied renaming a craggy peak after the floating mountains that appeared in Hollywood blockbuster "Avatar," after an online backlash, state media said on Thursday.
The "Southern Sky Column" in Zhangjiajie in southern Hunan province formally had its named changed to "Avatar Hallelujah Mountain" in a ceremony Monday, according to the Zhangjiajie government's website (www.zjj.gov.cn).
The government said the floating "Hallelujah Mountains" in the movie were inspired by the "Southern Sky Column," as a Hollywood photographer spent time shooting there in 2008.
But Zhangjiajie has now denied doing so, the official Xinhua news agency said.
"Avatar"
Statue For Sale
Vladimir Lenin
A city in Russia's south is selling its bronze statue of Vladimir Lenin, the founder of the Soviet Union, as it can no longer afford the cost of repairs, Russian media reported Wednesday.
The 14-tonne, balding figure has stood upright with one arm outstretched -- one of several typical Lenin poses -- in the main square of Voronezh, some 500 km (311 miles) southwest of Moscow, for 60 years, state-run Vesti-24 television showed.
But the city-owned company responsible for his upkeep has gone bankrupt and is looking for a new owner who can afford present repairs costing 1.5 million roubles, popular daily Komsomolskaya Pravda reported.
The city council of Voronezh, which has a population of around one million, was offered a brick statue of Lenin from another Russian region for the modest sum of 5,500 roubles last year, but rejected it at the last minute.
Vladimir Lenin
Sues Ex-Manager
Sly Stone
Sly Stone is suing a former business manager and others claiming tens of millions of dollars in royalties were kept from the singer.
Stone, whose real name is Sylvester Stewart, was the frontman of the 1970s funk group Sly and The Family Stone.
He sued former manager Gerald Goldstein and several companies in Los Angeles on Thursday, claiming they kept 20 years of royalty payments from Stone and leveraged his work and rights to pay for their lavish lifestyles.
The lawsuit claims Goldstein and others set up several companies to divert the royalty payments and borrow against Stone's work.
Sly Stone
Meal Ticket Hearing Scheduled
Joe Jackson
A judge has scheduled a hearing to decide if Michael Jackson's father should receive a monthly allowance of more than $15,000 from the pop star's estate.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff said Thursday he would hold an evidentiary hearing on May 26 regarding Joe Jackson's petition.
Michael Jackson had an often-strained relationship with his father. He omitted Joe Jackson from his will and trust, which benefits the singer's mother, three children and various charities.
Joe Jackson sought the stipend in November, saying he had little monthly income. The administrators of the pop star's estate have opposed the motion, and an attorney for Michael Jackson's children says she has concerns as well.
Joe Jackson
Better Than Viagra?
Pork
Argentina's president recommended pork as an alternative to Viagra Wednesday, saying she spent a satisfying weekend with her husband after eating barbecued pork.
"I've just been told something I didn't know; that eating pork improves your sex life ... I'd say it's a lot nicer to eat a bit of grilled pork than take Viagra," President Cristina Fernandez said to leaders of the pig farming industry.
She said she recently ate pork and "things went very well that weekend, so it could well be true."
Argentines are the world's biggest per capita consumers of beef, but the government has sought to promote pork as an alternative in recent years due to rising steak prices and as a way to diversify the meat industry.
Pork
Found In Mexico
Maya Tomb
Mexican archaeologists have found an 1,100-year-old tomb from the twilight of the Maya civilization that they hope may shed light on what happened to the once-glorious culture.
Archaeologist Juan Yadeun said the tomb, and ceramics from another culture found in it, may reveal who occupied the Maya site of Tonina in southern Chiapas state after the culture's Classic period began fading.
Many experts have pointed to internal warfare between Mayan city states, or environmental degradation, as possible causes of the Maya's downfall starting around A.D. 820.
But Yadeun, who oversees the Tonina site for Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History, said artifacts from the Toltec culture found in the tomb may point to another explanation. He said the tomb dates to between A.D. 840 and 900.
Maya Tomb
Cable Nielsens
Ratings
Rankings for the top 15 programs on cable networks as compiled by the Nielsen Co. for the week of Jan. 18-24. Day and start time (EST) are in parentheses:
1. "ICarly" (Monday, 8 p.m.), Nickelodeon, 6.89 million homes, 11.16 million viewers.
2. "Hannity" (Tuesday, 9 p.m.), Fox News Channel, 4.87 million homes, 6.8 million viewers.
3. "On the Record With Greta Van Susteren" (Tuesday, 10 p.m.), Fox News Channel, 4.58 million homes, 6.39 million viewers.
4. "Big Time Rush" (Monday, 8:30 p.m.), Nickelodeon, 4.41 million homes, 6.77 million viewers.
5. "ICarly" (Monday, 7:30 p.m.), Nickelodeon, 4.25 million homes, 6.29 million viewers.
6. Movie: "The Pregnancy Pact" (Saturday, 9 p.m.), Lifetime, 4.18 million homes, 5.85 million viewers.
7. "The O'Reilly Factor" (Tuesday, 8 p.m.), Fox News Channel, 3.94 million homes, 5.22 million viewers.
8. "Wizards of Waverly Place" (Friday, 8 p.m.), Disney, 3.93 million homes, 6.21 million viewers.
9. "Burn Notice" (Thursday, 10 p.m.), USA, 3.81 million homes, 5.35 million viewers.
10. "ICarly" (Monday, 7 p.m.), Nickelodeon, 3.608 million homes, 5.08 million viewers.
11. "NCIS" (Friday, 8 p.m.), USA, 3.607 million homes, 5.03 million viewers
12. "WWE Raw" (Monday, 10 p.m.), USA, 3.6 million homes, 5.41 million viewers.
13. "NCIS" (Monday, 7 p.m.), USA, 3.56 million homes, 4.73 million viewers.
14. "The O'Reilly Factor" (Thursday, 8 p.m.), Fox News Channel, 3.51 million homes, 4.83 million viewers.
15. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Saturday, 9:30 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 3.49 million homes, 4.93 million viewers.
Ratings
In Memory
J.D. Salinger
J.D. Salinger, the legendary author, youth hero and fugitive from fame whose "The Catcher in the Rye" shocked and inspired a world he increasingly shunned, has died. He was 91.
Salinger died of natural causes at his home on Wednesday, the author's son said in a statement from Salinger's longtime literary representative, Harold Ober Agency. He had lived for decades in self-imposed isolation in the small, remote house in Cornish, N.H.
"The Catcher in the Rye," with its immortal teenage protagonist, the twisted, rebellious Holden Caulfield, came out in 1951, a time of anxious, Cold War conformity and the dawn of modern adolescence. The Book-of-the-Month Club, which made "Catcher" a featured selection, advised that for "anyone who has ever brought up a son" the novel will be "a source of wonder and delight - and concern."
Salinger was writing for adults, but teenagers from all over identified with the novel's themes of alienation, innocence and fantasy, not to mention the luck of having the last word. "Catcher" presents the world as an ever-so-unfair struggle between the goodness of young people and the corruption of elders, a message that only intensified with the oncoming generation gap.
Salinger's other books don't equal the influence or sales of "Catcher," but they are still read, again and again, with great affection and intensity. Critics, at least briefly, rated Salinger as a more accomplished and daring short story writer than John Cheever.
The collection "Nine Stories" features the classic "A Perfect Day for Bananafish," the deadpan account of a suicidal Army veteran and the little girl he hopes, in vain, will save him. The novel "Franny and Zooey," like "Catcher," is a youthful, obsessively articulated quest for redemption, featuring a memorable argument between Zooey and his mother as he attempts to read in the bathtub.
Salinger also wrote the novellas "Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters" and "Seymour - An Introduction," both featuring the neurotic, fictional Glass family that appeared in much of his work.
His last published story, "Hapworth 16, 1928," ran in The New Yorker in 1965. By then, he was increasingly viewed like a precocious child whose manner had soured from cute to insufferable. "Salinger was the greatest mind ever to stay in prep school," Norman Mailer once commented.
Jerome David Salinger was born Jan. 1, 1919, in New York City. His father was a wealthy importer of cheeses and meat and the family lived for years on Park Avenue.
Like Holden, Salinger was an indifferent student with a history of trouble in various schools. He was sent to Valley Forge Military Academy at age 15, where he wrote at night by flashlight beneath the covers and eventually earned his only diploma. In 1940, he published his first fiction, "The Young Folks," in Story magazine.
He served in the Army from 1942 to 1946, carrying a typewriter with him most of the time, writing "whenever I can find the time and an unoccupied foxhole," he told a friend.
Returning to New York, the lean, dark-haired Salinger pursued an intense study of Zen Buddhism but also cut a gregarious figure in the bars of Greenwich Village, where he astonished acquaintances with his proficiency in rounding up dates. One drinking buddy, author A.E. Hotchner, would remember Salinger as the proud owner of an "ego of cast iron," contemptuous of writers and writing schools, convinced that he was the best thing to happen to American letters since Herman Melville.
The world had come calling for Salinger, but Salinger was bolting the door. By 1952, he had migrated to Cornish. Three years later, he married Claire Douglas, with whom he had two children, Peggy and Matthew, before their 1967 divorce. (Salinger was also briefly married in the 1940s to a woman named Sylvia; little else is known about her.)
Salinger became famous for not wanting to be famous. In 1982, he sued a man who allegedly tried to sell a fictitious interview with the author to a national magazine. The impostor agreed to desist and Salinger dropped the suit.
Five years later, another Salinger legal action resulted in an important decision by the U.S. Supreme Court. The high court refused to allow publication of an unauthorized biography, by Ian Hamilton, that quoted from the author's unpublished letters. Salinger had copyrighted the letters when he learned about Hamilton's book, which came out in a revised edition in 1988.
Against Salinger's will, the curtain was parted in recent years. In 1998, author Joyce Maynard published her memoir "At Home in the World," in which she detailed her eight-month affair with Salinger in the early 1970s, when she was less than half his age. She drew an unflattering picture of a controlling personality with eccentric eating habits, and described their problematic sex life.
Salinger's alleged adoration of children apparently did not extend to his own. In 2000, daughter Margaret Salinger's "Dreamcatcher" portrayed the writer as an unpleasant recluse who drank his own urine and spoke in tongues.
Margaret Salinger said she wrote the book because she was "absolutely determined not to repeat with my son what had been done with me."
J.D. Salinger
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