Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Tom Danehy: Tom has some things to get off his chest regarding Arizona politics (Tucson Weekly)
Actually, and quite embarrassingly, that ridiculous bill is being pushed right now ... in the 21st century ... in the United States. State Sen. Lori Klein, a Republican from Anthem who is wrong more often than Nicki Minaj's fashion designer, introduced the bill, claiming that she has received complaints about "political indoctrination in the classroom." She didn't go into detail as to where these "complaints" originated, or what form the indoctrination took.
Mark Miller: Forget Buffett-it's time for the Dimon Rule (Washington Post)
If we applied a 50 percent marginal rate to earnings above $10 million (this is my idea-Dimon didn't suggest a new top rate in that interview, and I couldn't reach him by deadline), it would affect about 8,000 families and raise roughly $40 billion a year.
Eliot Spitzer: Why Romney Is Collapsing (Slate)
His economic arguments are failing, and he has nothing else.
Roger Ebert: The debate that wasn't held
CNN missed a golden opportunity by deciding not to sponsor the final Florida debate with the GOP Presidential candidates.
Susan Estrich: Who's in Charge? (Creators Syndicate)
The fight between Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum doesn't just raise questions about each man's strengths and weaknesses. It also raises, as fundamentally as any battle in recent decades, the question of who, ultimately, is in charge of picking the nominee.
R.L. Stine publishes an entire horror story line-by-line on Twitter
Father to the 'Fear Street' saga and the 'Goosebumps' series R.L. Stine has shared a brand new short story about an evil kitchen with the masses entirely over Twitter.
Japanese Fart Scrolls (Tofugo.com)
I was doing research for another post a while back, and found something a bit…unusual. It was an old Japanese scroll about farting. No, you didn't misread that last sentence. The whole scroll, which is called He-Gassen ("The Fart Battle") is just about people farting. Farting at other people, farting at cats, farting off of horses, farting into bags; just farting everywhere.
Matt Soniak: What's the Difference Between a Street and a Road? (Mental Floss)
Reader Brit asks: "Is there any rhyme or reason to calling a road an avenue, a boulevard, a street or a lane? Is it just at the discretion of whoever names the street?"
David Bruce has 42 Kindle books on Amazon.com with 250 anecdotes in each book. Each book is $1, so for $42 you can buy 10,500 anecdotes. Search for "Funniest People," "Coolest People, "Most Interesting People," "Kindest People," "Religious Anecdotes," "Maximum Cool," and "Resist Psychic Death."
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Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny and sorta like spring has sprung into summer.
Eva Longoria and Kal Penn Join
Obama Campaign
President Barack Obama's support in Hollywood might not be what it used to, but he can always depend on a little star power from Eva Longoria and Kal Penn.
Longoria and Penn will serve as national co-chairs of the president's re-election campaign, the Obama for America campaign announced Wednesday. "Harold & Kumar" star Penn and "Desperate Housewives" actress Longoria will join dozens of other co-chairs to "serve as ambassadors for the President, advise the campaign on key issues, and help engage and mobilize voters in all 50 states."
Other co-chairs named to the campaign include former Obama chiefs of staff Rahm Emanuel and Bill Daley, Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick, and Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
Longoria and Penn's participation in the campaign isn't surprising; Longoria has been a big Obama booster, while Penn (real name: Kalpen Modi) took time out from acting to work at the White House as the associate director for the Office of Public Engagement.
Obama Campaign
Headed To Washington For May Sweeps
'Jeopardy!'
"Jeopardy!" is invading the Beltway to put to the test some of Washington's most influential figures.
The syndicated game show announced Thursday that it will enlist 15 prominent contestants for "Power Players Week."
The show's producers say participants will include political figures, authors, journalists and newsmakers. The players will be named a few days before the taping, scheduled to take place on April 21 at DAR Constitution Hall in front of a live audience.
Each contestant will be playing for charity, with the winner each day getting a $50,000 jackpot.
The programs will air May 14-18.
'Jeopardy!'
Novel For Adults
J.K. Rowling
Adult fans of J.K. Rowling can rejoice: She has a new novel coming, for grownups.
The author of the mega-selling "Harry Potter" series has an agreement with Little, Brown in the United States and Britain to release her first adult novel, the publishers announced Thursday. The title, release date and details about the book, long rumored, were not announced. A neighbor of Rowling's in Edinburgh, author Ian Rankin, tweeted Thursday that he thinks Rowling has written a mystery novel.
"Wouldn't it be funny if J.K. Rowling's first novel for adults turned out to be a crime story set in Edinburgh?" Rankin wrote. "My word yes."
Any Rowling book would seem a guaranteed million seller, although it's questionable that her new novel will have the same mass appeal as Potter. Adult authors from E.B. White to Sherman Alexie have nicely managed the transition to writing for young people but, once a writer is defined as a children's author, the transition can be tricky. Winnie the Pooh creator A.A. Milne, a successful playwright in his early years, once confessed that he was forced to say "goodbye to all that" after his beloved books about the bear and friends. Margaret Wise Brown, author of the classic "Goodnight Moon," tried for years to write stories for The New Yorker.
J.K. Rowling
Vegas' Mandalay Bay
Carlos Santana
Guitar legend Carlos Santana plans a two-year headlining gig at the House of Blues at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, switching venues from his previous home at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.
Representatives for the House of Blues say Santana will have a run of shows in May and June, then return in September with the residency running through 2013. Tickets go on sale March 3.
Santana says he's happy to call the venue home, and plans to honor the diversity and culture that the House of Blues promotes as a company.
Part of each ticket sale will go to Santana's foundation, which supports children's art, education and health.
Carlos Santana
Another Hacking Case Settled
Rupert
The British newspaper arm of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp empire will be spared a potentially embarrassing trial next week after singer Charlotte Church agreed to a settlement over her claim against the company over the phone-hacking scandal.
Earlier this month, News Group Newspapers, publisher of some of News Corp's British titles, had agreed deals with other claimants ahead of a civil trial at London's High Court which was due to begin on Monday, but failed to strike a settlement with Church.
Her settlement means that News International will be spared potentially damaging details of phone hacking being aired at a public trial the day after it launches a Sunday edition of its Sun daily tabloid to replace News of the World.
However, the settlement is far from the end of the legal process and other cases are in the pipeline involving well-known figures which also might need to be dealt with at a trial.
There was no detail of how much NGN had agreed to pay Church, although media reports have suggested it could be one of the largest agreed so far. The High Court had been due to consider the Welsh singer's claim that 33 articles in the now defunct News of the World were the product of phone hacking.
Rupert
Loses $7.5M Ruling
Joe Francis
The founder of the "Girls Gone Wild" video empire said Thursday he'll ask a Nevada judge to rescind a $7.5 million award given to Las Vegas Strip casino mogul Steve Wynn in a civil defamation case.
Joe Francis told The Associated Press that he wasn't present and didn't have a chance to defend himself during a Wednesday hearing at which Clark County District Court Judge Mark Denton issued a default judgment and awarded Wynn $5 million in compensatory and $2.5 million in punitive damages.
Francis' Reno-based lawyer, David Houston, said attorneys who had been representing Francis in the case withdrew before Wednesday's hearing in Las Vegas, and the Los Angeles-based Francis didn't get proper notice.
"To default someone for not attending a pretrial conference, and then to enter a $7.5 million judgment without the party present seems extreme to the max to me," Houston said.
Joe Francis
Former Lawmaker Named Lobbyist
Google
Former New York congresswoman Susan Molinari has signed on to be Google Inc's top lobbyist in Washington at a time when the search engine company faces growing regulatory challenges.
Molinari, once viewed as a rising star in the Republican Party, will be the vice president for public policy for North and South America, Google said in a statement on Thursday.
She replaces Alan Davidson, who began Google's lobbying operation several years ago. He stepped down in November.
The FTC, which also investigates violations of antitrust law, is currently looking into complaints that Google's search results favor the company's other services, among other issues.
Google hired 12 lobbying firms this past summer in the wake of the FTC probe, after previously hiring six other lobbying firms.
Google
Oscars Warn Against Red Carpet Stunt
Sacha Baron Cohen
Oscars organizers have warned flamboyant British actor-comedian Sacha Baron Cohen not to try to pull a stunt at this weekend's Academy Awards show, but said he is not banned from attending.
The Hollywood Reporter cited sources as saying the star has told Paramount, the studio behind his latest movie "The Dictator," that he plans to turn up on the Oscars red carpet in full bearded, uniformed character Sunday.
Reports suggested that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences had banned the "Ali G," "Borat" and "Bruno" star altogether, but a spokeswoman denied this Thursday.
Baron Cohen, who is in Martin Scorsese's 11-times Oscar-nominated movie "Hugo," has a history of colorful stunts: in 2006 he turned up at the Toronto film festival in a cart pulled by a "peasant woman" to promote Borat.
Sacha Baron Cohen
Suit Tossed
The Naked Cowboy
A federal judge has reviewed the Naked Cowboy's briefs and concluded his legal arguments just didn't fit.
The guitarist known for parading in New York's Times Square while clad in his underwear, boots and a cowboy hat has lost his $1.5 million lawsuit accusing the CBS Corp. soap opera "The Bold and the Beautiful" of ripping off his act.
The Naked Cowboy, whose real name is Robert John Burck, said the soap opera violated his trademark rights by depicting a similarly-clad, guitar-strumming, "drunk and sexually charged" character named Oliver.
While Oliver was not identified on the November 1, 2010, episode as the Naked Cowboy, CBS later posted the clip on Google Inc.'s YouTube with the tag "The Bold and the Beautiful -- Naked Cowboy," according to the complaint.
U.S. District Judge Barbara Jones in Manhattan, however, threw out the case, finding that "even an unsophisticated viewer" would not have confused the soap opera character with the Naked Cowboy.
The Naked Cowboy
IRS Revokes Tax-Exempt Status
US Slavery Museum
The U.S. Slavery Museum has lost its federal tax-exempt status.
The Washington Post reports the museum was added Wednesday to a list of organizations that have had their federal tax-exempt status revoked by the Internal Revenue Service.
The move means the Fredericksburg, Va., museum envisioned by former Gov. L. Douglas Wilder can't receive tax-deductible charitable contributions.
Nonprofit groups must file a return or notice annually to the IRS. The IRS revokes a nonprofit's tax-exempt status if it fails to file for three consecutive years. The museum last filed a federal return in 2007.
The museum is in chapter 11 bankruptcy while it reorganizes its $7 million debt.
US Slavery Museum
Poland, US Museum Tussle Over Barracks
Auschwitz
Polish and U.S. officials are engaged in intense talks to determine the fate of a sensitive object: a barrack that once housed doomed prisoners at the Nazis' Auschwitz death camp and is now on display at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Poland is demanding the return of the artifact, which has been on loan to the Washington museum for more than 20 years and is an important object in its permanent exhibition. But the U.S. museum is resisting the demand, saying the valuable object shouldn't be moved partly because it is too fragile.
The issue has arisen because of a Polish law aimed at safeguarding a cultural heritage ravaged by past wars, particularly World War II. Under the law, passed in 2003, any historic object on loan abroad must return to Poland every five years for inspection. While Poland appears open to renewing the loan, it says the barracks must return - at least temporarily.
Because of the rule, the U.S. museum in recent years has already returned thousands of objects dating to the Holocaust, including suitcases, shoes and prosthetic limbs, often in exchange for new, temporary loans of similar or identical items.
Auschwitz
Chuck Norris Bridge?
Slovaks
Slovaks have been voting overwhelmingly in favor of naming a new pedestrian and cycling bridge near their capital for 1980s action film and TV star Chuck Norris.
The two other top names in the running for the bridge, which will span the Morava river and cross the border to Austria, were Maria Theresa after an Austro-Hungarian empress and the Devinska cycling bridge in honour of the closest village.
The actor's work has become a popular source of kitschy fun among Slovaks and a mainstay for local jokes about macho strength and invincibility.
The voting will run until April. As of Thursday, 1,157 votes have backed Norris, 74 percent of the total, leaving the runner up 'Maria Theresa Bridge' far behind with 8 percent.
Slovaks
Caught On Film For First Time
Shepherd's Beaked Whales
Australian researchers Thursday revealed they had filmed a pod of extremely rare Shepherd's beaked whales for the first time ever.
The Australian Antarctic Division team was tracking blue whales off the coast of Victoria state last month when they spotted the reclusive mammals, which are so rarely seen that no population estimates of the species exist.
Voyage leader Michael Double said the black and cream-coloured mammals with prominent dolphin-like beaks had been spotted in the wild only a handful of times through history.
They have never been filmed live before.
The Shepherd's beaked whale, also known as the Tasman beaked whale, was discovered in 1937 but little is known about them.
Shepherd's Beaked Whales
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