Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Paul Krugman: Why Don't We Have Deflation? (New York Times)
Whenever you see a piece suggesting that the US economy has entered a "new normal" of slow growth, you're likely to see someone making the argument that if the economy actually had lots of excess capacity, we should be seeing deflation. And the question of why we don't have deflation is a good one. It is, however, a question that people like me have answered repeatedly; unfortunately, it seems that this analysis hasn't been making it to, say, a number of current and former Fed officials.
Paul Krugman: The Life Expectancy Zombie (New York Times)
So, one of the moments in my debate with JoScar - which wasn't as bad as I felt, but should have gone much better - was my "wow" when JS raised the old line that life expectancy was 62 when Social Security started, so the program was no big deal. Well, that's still a "wow" thing: it's incredible that people are still making that argument; when someone says something like that, he's just proved himself ignorant, disingenuous, or both.
Paul Krugman: Of Cockroaches and Commissioners (New York Times)
And let's be clear: this stuff matters. The European economy is in disastrous shape; so, increasingly, is the European political project. You might think that eurocrats would worry mainly about that reality; instead, they're focused on defending their dignity from sharp-tongued economists.
Andrew Tobias: Only the Server Died
House Speaker John Boehner: "How much more money do we want to steal from the American people to fund more government? I'm for: NO more." To him, tax revenue is "stolen" from the people. Worst of all, it's stolen from those who are best off - most recently, in the increased rate he abhors on that portion of your income that exceeds $450,000.
Mark Morford: I'll Kill You for This Column (New York Times)
I don't even pretend to understand what this must be like. The daily, bone-deep fear, the struggle against seemingly overwhelming odds, the exhaustive effort it must take to write about all the deadly truths and violently unethical agendas all around your city, and I mean corruption at all levels, from military to government, police to drug cartel and back again, impossible to distinguish between each, and therefore rightfully fearing all.
Susan Estrich: Voters Dribble In … (Creators Syndicate)
As I write this, it is Election Day in the nation's second largest city [LA].
Minimalist Typographic Posters of Scientists (Neatorama)
Graphic artist Kapil Bhagat designed a series of ten typographic posters featuring the names of scientists, with each showing a clever clue as to what they are famous for, as a project celebrating Science Day in India.
David Haglund: What We Really Learn from Deleted Scenes (Slate)
But what is great about deleted scenes is that they remind us that a work of art is not a sacred, inviolable artifact that springs fully formed from the head of anyone. Art is the result of choices made by-in the case of movies-directors, actors, editors, even producers and studio executives.
Jeremiah Massengale: "Game On: 'Wreck-It Ralph'" (PopMatters)
While the eye-popping action, whimsical colors and swift pace are sure to bring a rush of excitement to the film's youngest viewers, the real success of the film is its emotional core and the relationship between the two misfits. In other words, no Konami Code is needed to unlock Wreck-It Ralph's appeal.
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Bosko Suggests
Above the Trees
Have a great weekend,
Bosko.
Thanks, Bosko!
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
Veljko Suggests
Swimming Pools
Thanks, Veljko!
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Team Coco
Conan Highlight
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Overcast day, rainy night.
U.K. Debut Before U.S.
"Star Trek Into Darkness"
"Star Trek Into Darkness" will dock in the United Kingdom a week before it hits theaters in the United States.
It was Simon Pegg, who plays Scotty in J.J. Abram's "Star Trek" sequel, who broke the news. He tweeted on Thursday that the film will beam into theaters across the pond on May 9, instead of the previously planned U.K. release date of May 17.
"Looks like 'Star Trek Into Darkness' will land in the UK first. Release date May 9th," Pegg wrote. "That's about 8 weeks away. Not long considering."
That means there will be some spoilers on the internet for days before Americans can see the movie. It will be released domestically on May 15.
"Star Trek Into Darkness"
'Star Wars' Trio Returning
George Lucas
It appears the Force is still strong with Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher.
In an interview posted online Thursday, George Lucas said the trio from the original "Star Wars" trilogy will reprise their iconic roles of Hans Solo, Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia in the new "Star Wars" film.
Lucas told Bloomberg Businessweek that all three were signed for the new "Episode VII" film in advance of Lucasfilm's $4 billion purchase by Disney.
He added: "Maybe I'm not supposed to say that. I think they want to announce that with some big whoop-de-do."
George Lucas
Art Appraised At $30M
Arthur Pinajian
Works by an obscure Armenian-American abstract impressionist discovered in a New York cottage have been appraised at $30 million.
In 2007, the new owner of a bungalow in Bellport, on Long Island, found thousands of paintings, drawings and journals by Arthur Pinajian in a garage and attic. News 12 Long Island says Peter Hastings Falk valued the works. He once appraised art from the Andy Warhol estate.
Some pieces already have sold for $500,000. Fifty of his landscapes are currently on exhibit at Manhattan's Fuller Building.
The run-down bungalow and one-car garage were purchased for around $300,000 in 2007.
Arthur Pinajian
Shifts "Vegas" For "Golden Boy"
CBS
What happens in "Vegas" will soon be happening on Friday nights. As far as CBS is concerned, anyway.
CBS is bumping the freshman drama, which stars Michael Chiklis and Dennis Quaid, from its Tuesdays at 10 p.m. timeslot, and into Friday night, where it will occupy the 9 p.m. timeslot starting on April 5.
The network's new drama "Golden Boy," which stars Theo James as New York City's youngest police commissioner, will take over the "Vegas" timeslot. The series ran previews in the "Vegas" timeslot February 26 and March 5, and was due to take over the Friday 9 p.m. timeslot on March 8. It will still air an episode in that slot on that date.
Aside from giving "Golden Boy" a high-profile slot, following the popular "NCIS" and "NCIS: LA," the schedule shift will allow the network to air all original episodes for the remainder of the season on Tuesday nights without dipping into repeats.
CBS
Gore Sued Over Sale To Al-Jazeera
Current TV
A television consultant claims that former Vice President Al Gore and others at Current TV stole his idea to sell the struggling network to Al-Jazeera.
Los Angeles resident John Terenzio is demanding more than $5 million in a lawsuit quietly filed in San Francisco Superior Court Tuesday.
Terenzio alleges he first brought the idea of the Qatar-owned Al-Jazeera's purchase of Current TV to board member Richard Blum in July, and he expected to be paid if his plan was used. The lawsuit claims Blum was open to the plan, which Terenzio laid out with a detailed PowerPoint presentation but feared Gore would find such a deal with the oil-rich government of Qatar "politically unappealing."
Gore co-founded Current TV in 2005 with Joel Hyatt, with each receiving a 20 percent stakes in Current, a politically left leaning news and talk network. Comcast Corp. had less than a 10 percent stake. Another major investor in Current TV was supermarket magnate and entertainment industry investor Ron Burkle, according to information service Capital IQ.
Blum, a venture capitalist and husband of California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, is also an investor in Current TV.
Current TV
Dancer Confesses
Bolshoi
A dancer accused of organizing an attack that nearly blinded the Bolshoi Ballet's artistic director admitted on Thursday he had wanted him beaten up, but said he was shocked when he heard that his face had been splashed with acid.
Police formally charged Bolshoi soloist Pavel Dmitrichenko and two suspected accomplices in the January 17 attack, which stunned Russia, revealed discord in the theatre and left Sergei Filin with severe facial burns.
Brought to a drab court in handcuffs, the slight, disheveled Dmitrichenko told the judge he had agreed when the man accused of carrying out the attack suggested roughing Filin up, but did not tell him to throw acid in Filin's face.
Dmitrichenko, who made a career playing villains such as the murderous medieval Russian Tsar Ivan the Terrible, said that when the assailant had proposed that he "hit him (Filin) in the head, beat him, I agreed to this suggestion." He also said he told the attacker when Filin left the Bolshoi late on Jan 17.
A masked assailant called Filin's name as he returned home that night and threw acid in his face from a glass jar, leaving him writhing in pain in the snow. Filin, 42, is being treated in Germany after several operations in Russia to save his eyesight and is expected to return to work later this year.
Bolshoi
Convicted In Wiretap Case
Oh Silvio
Former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi was convicted Thursday over the illegal publication in a newspaper owned by his media empire of wiretapped conversations related to a bank takeover attempt.
A Milan court found Berlusconi guilty of breach of confidentiality and sentenced him to one year in jail, though it did not issue an order on carrying out the sentence. In Italy, it is rare for anyone to be put behind bars pending a possible appeal except in the case of very serious crimes like murder.
In a potentially more damaging case, the verdict is also nearing in Berlusconi's appeals trial on a conviction of tax fraud in the purchase of rights to broadcast Hollywood films on Berlusconi's Mediaset network. Prosecutors have demanded the court uphold the conviction and four-year sentence. They also are seeking a five-year ban from public office.
Berlusconi also is on trial in Milan for allegedly paying a Moroccan teen for sex during his now-infamous Bunga Bunga parties, with a verdict likely this month.
Prosecutors in Naples are investigating him for corruption for allegedly paying an opposition lawmaker €3 million ($3.9 million) to join his party, a move that significantly weakened the previous center-left government of Romano Prodi.
Oh Silvio
Face Unfamiliar Life In Federal Prison
Ohio Amish
Sixteen Amish men and women who have lived rural, self-sufficient lives surrounded by extended family and with little outside contact are facing regimented routines in a federal prison system where almost half of inmates are behind bars for drug offenses and modern conveniences, such as television, will be a constant temptation.
Prison rules will allow the 10 men convicted in beard- and hair-cutting attacks on fellow Amish in eastern Ohio to keep their religiously important beards, but they must wear standard prison khaki or green work uniforms instead of the dark outfits they favor. Jumper dresses will be an option for the six Amish women, who will be barred from wearing their typical long, dark dresses and bonnets.
It's unclear where the Amish will serve their sentences, but some of the nearest options include men's prisons in Elkton, a 90-minute drive southeast of Cleveland, and in Loretto, Pa., and women's prisons in Lexington, Ky., and Alderson, W.Va. Some of the initial prison assignments include locations in Texas and Louisiana, according to a letter circulating among defense attorneys, and other assignments could come any day.
Visits from family members might be difficult since they don't drive modern vehicles. During the trial, relatives hired van drivers to take them more than 100 miles to the trial in Cleveland, where they often filled most courtroom seats.
Ohio Amish
Tito's Pet Film Studio
Avala Film
On a forested hill above the Serbian capital, stray dogs nose through plywood film sets, the remnants of what was once one of the world's most prolific movie studios.
Founded in the wake of World War Two by Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito, Avala Film fed his socialist federation on a diet of rousing war epics extolling a vision of 'Brotherhood and Unity' between its peoples.
But mirroring the fate of the country it once promoted, the long-since bankrupt studios now face being dismembered, picked apart and sold off to settle a debt.
Filmmakers and cinema buffs in Serbia fear the loss of a national treasure, and with it a rich catalogue of hundreds of films spanning half a century.
Avala Film's demise mirrored that of Tito's Yugoslav vision.
Avala Film
Smashed Guitar
KISS
Die-hard KISS fans looking for the ultimate in concert memorabilia from the group's current Australian tour need search no more. Why not acquire a guitar smashed onstage "in your honor" by guitarist Paul Stanley - for a mere $5,500?
Stanley, also a singer in the U.S. hard rock group known for its garish makeup, will also be selling the microphone he sings into for $3,000, along with special microphone and guitar combination packages, his website said.
If you purchase a KISS guitar during the Australian tour, currently underway until March 16, you also get to meet Stanley before the concert and view your yet undamaged guitar, which will be smashed that night in your honor, according to Stanley's website.
Not included in the price is your concert ticket.
KISS
Top 20
Concert Tours
The Top 20 Concert Tours ranks artists by average box office gross per city and includes the average ticket price for shows in North America. The previous week's ranking is in parentheses. The list is based on data provided to the trade publication Pollstar by concert promoters and venue managers.
1. (1) George Strait; $1,367,779; $84.13.
2. (2) Justin Bieber; $1,276,481; $71.95.
3. (4) Dave Matthews Band; $967,758; $73.76.
4. (6) Leonard Cohen; $964,307; $102.08.
5. (5) The Who; $912,912; $93.35.
6. (7) Cirque du Soleil - "Quidam"; $757,381; $57.28.
7. (New) Muse; $667,508; $58.25.
8. (8) Trans-Siberian Orchestra; $572,590; $51.19.
9. (9) Carrie Underwood; $530,996; $58.67.
10. (10) Eric Church; $370,588; $45.76.
11. (11) Jeff Dunham; $359,798; $50.95.
12. (12) Shinedown / Three Days Grace; $215,305; $38.62.
13. (13) Robin Williams; $202,858; $93.93.
14. (14) The Moody Blues; $160,360; $68.27.
15. (15) "Winter Jam" / Tobymac; $146,432; $12.02.
16. (17) Ron White; $140,878; $52.07.
17. (19) Mannheim Steamroller; $134,577; $57.64.
18. (18) "The Story Tour" / Mark Hall / Jeremy Camp; $133,526; $31.11.
19. (20) 3 Doors Down / Daughtry; $125,253; $46.06.
20. (New) Straight No Chaser; $100,315; $42.16.
Concert Tours
In Memory
Claude King
Country singer-songwriter Claude King, an original member of the Louisiana Hayride who was best known for the 1962 hit "Wolverton Mountain," has died. He was 90.
King had just celebrated his birthday and 67th wedding anniversary to his wife, Barbara, last month. The couple's eldest son, Duane King, said his father was found unresponsive in his bed early Thursday morning at his home in Shreveport.
King was one of the original members of the Louisiana Hayride, the Saturday night show where Elvis Presley got his start. The show transformed country and western music from 1948 to 1960 with music genres including hillbilly, western swing, jazz, blues and gospel.
King's hit "Wolverton Mountain" told a story of mountain man Clifton Clowers, who guarded his daughter from suitors.
Claude King
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