Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Rachel Maddow on Republicans suppressing the Democratic vote
Rachel Maddow on Michigan's plan to axe local elected officials they don't like, simply by fiat
Rachel Maddow on tap water that catches on fire and a Pennsylvania plan to keep it that way
Brian Crecente: Earthquake relief, 99 cents at a time (Kotaku.com)
It was like a freight train hit the building. Wil McLellan was in the boardroom of New Zealand game developers Stickmen Studios when he felt the room start to vibrate. Then it whipped to the side.
Tom Danehy: Libya is never far from the minds of this basketball-loving Tucson family (Tucson Weekly)
It has been an interesting few weeks, to say the least, for Tucsonan Sohaib Fellah.
Susan Estrich: Last Weekend (Creators Syndicate)
I watched television last weekend, something I rarely do. I woke up in the middle of the night to check not my BlackBerry for messages, but my favorite news sites for the latest horror. I stared at the endless pictures and studied all the interactive models of how nuclear energy is produced, how the cooling process works, and why they were pouring in seawater and letting out steam.
Susan Estrich: The Alley (Creators Syndicate)
I got raped on a Thursday night. On Friday, I got the locks changed (he stole my car, with my keys on the chain) and moved back in. On Saturday, I graduated from college. On Saturday night, I went to work.
Timothy Noah: The Skype Skam (Slate)
Your boss left you a message. Want to hear it? Pay up!
Connie Schultz: From Teachers, A Lesson in Character (Creators Syndicate)
New York Times columnist David Brooks was in Cleveland on Monday to talk about his new book, "The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character, and Achievement." During the audience Q-and-A, the self-described conservative was asked how he would design a high-school curriculum to include the teaching of character.
Emily Yoffe: Don't Stop Working! (Slate)
What's the secret to living longer and being healthier? Keep doing useful work.
MARK BITTMAN: Some Animals Are More Equal Than Others (New York Times)
Why do we protect pets more than farm animals?
Jim Hightower: America's True Crisis
The greatest problem our nation faces can be summed up in one word: leadership. Okay, make that three words: lack of leadership.
Jared Diamond: It's Time to Go Upset Shopping (Wall Street Journal)
The bright-eyed kids at the Harvard College Sports Analysis Collective, a student-run sports analytics group at Harvard University, have a present for you: they've figured out which teams will suffer the humiliating upset.
David Bruce has 41 Kindle books on Amazon.com with 250 anecdotes in each book. Each book is $1, so for $41 you can buy 10,250 anecdotes. Search for "Funniest People," "Coolest People, "Most Interesting People," "Kindest People," "Religious Anecdotes," and "Maximum Cool."
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Michelle in AZ
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Reader Request
Re: The Osbournes
Many, many thanks to MAM ( ) for tracking down not one, but two (!)
pictures of Sharon Osbourne in her wedding dress when she & Ozzy renewed their wedding vows. Here's one.
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Overcast and breezy.
Donates $1 Million For Japan
Sandra Bullock
US actress Sandra Bullock has donated $1 million to help victims of Japan's earthquake and tsunami crisis, the latest celebrity to pledge aid, the American Red Cross said Thursday.
The contribution, described as from Bullock and her family, came after the US aid agency announced it had given $10 million to the Japanese Red Cross to help after last Friday's quake.
Other celebrities who have stepped in include Lady Gaga who raised $250,000 in 48 hours by selling red and white wristbands bearing the message "We Pray for Japan" for $5 a piece via her merchandise website.
Rock band Linkin Park also began selling T shirts, designed by band member Mike Shinoda, whose father is Japanese-American, to raise money for Japan's victims.
In January 2010, Bullock donated $1 million to help victims of Haiti's earthquake.
Sandra Bullock
In South Africa
Danny Glover
The lawyer of Haiti's Jean-Bertrand Aristide says actor Danny Glover has arrived in South Africa to escort the exiled former president home.
Miami lawyer Ira Kurzban flew to Johannesburg Wednesday on the same mission amid unexplained delays as the United States called for Aristide to put off his departure until Sunday's disputed presidential runoff in his homeland.
Aristide has been in exile seven years. Aides say he fears that either of the two right-wing candidates running for president might reverse the decision to allow his return once elected.
Glover is among U.S. celebrities and politicians including Jesse Jackson and entertainer Harry Belafonte who have been pushing for Aristide's return.
Danny Glover
Helps Philly School Replace Computers
Will Smith
Will Smith is donating replacements for 30 stolen computers to a high school in West Philadelphia, where he was born and raised.
The Will and Jada Smith Family Foundation and the Charlie Mack Cares philanthropic organizations are giving 29 Apple laptops and one desktop to West Philadelphia High School.
Local community activist Charlie Mack is a longtime assistant and friend of Smith, the music, TV and film superstar.
Two students have been charged with stealing 60 computers from the school last month. Police recovered half of them, but the rest remain unaccounted for.
Will Smith
Sales Jump In January
E-Books
The e-book boom has reached new heights, but not high enough to boost book sales overall.
Helped by millions of Kindles, Nooks and other digital devices given for holiday gifts, e-book sales jumped in January and surpassed purchases of hardcovers and mass market paperbacks, according to a new survey. The Association of American Publishers reported Thursday that e-sales more than doubled from $32.4 million in January 2010 to $69.9 million in January 2011.
Hardcovers sales fell from $55.4 million to $49.1 million, and mass market paperbacks, a format that's declining as baby boomers seek books with larger print, fell from $56.4 million to $39 million.
Total sales, which include the education and professional markets, were $805.7 million in January, slightly below the $821.5 million reported last year.
E-Books
Write First Ballet
Pet Shop Boys
British electro-pop duo the Pet Shop Boys have turned their talents to ballet for the first time, setting Danish author Hans Christian Andersen's fairytale "The Most Incredible Thing" to music.
To many critics, the venture is a natural progression for an act which has thrived on filling the dance floors with catchy tunes like "West End Girls" and "It's a Sin" often backed by orchestral-style synthesized sounds.
Neil Tennant, who with Chris Lowe boasts 22 top 10 hits, three BRIT awards and record sales of over 100 million, agreed that The Most Incredible Thing was an extension of what the pair had done throughout their 30-year collaboration.
"I would regard this project as part of a long career of putting pop music in a theatrical context," Tennant told Reuters in an interview ahead of a preview of the work at London's Sadler's Wells Theater on Thursday.
Pet Shop Boys
To Debut "Star Whackers" Song
Randy Quaid
Having evaded apparent Hollywood star whackers to get to Canada, Randy Quaid is to perform his new song, fittingly called "Star Whackers," in Vancouver on Friday night.
Quaid and the band The Town Pants are booked into Vancouver's Commodore Ballroom for the American actor's first gig since being granted permanent residency status in Canada by local authorities.
The American actor was asked by the The Town Pants to host their Vancouver gig during the band's west coast concert swing. Town Pants lead singer Aaron Watson told the Globe and Mail newspaper Thursday that Quaid initially broached the idea of singing the "Star Whackers" song.
"He goes, 'Well, actually I've got some other things on the go, thinking that maybe I'd like to debut a song.' And we go, 'Oh yeah, what's that?' And he goes, 'Star Whackers.' And we're like, 'Uh, sure," Chapman said.
Randy Quaid
Renews "Office," "Parks and Rec" and "Community"
NBC
U.S. network NBC has renewed three of its Thursday night comedies for next season.
"The Office," "Parks and Recreation" and "Community" will all be returning for the 2011-12 television season.
With NBC's core comedy lineup back for another round -- it was previously announced "30 Rock" will also return next season, making it the show's sixth -- that leaves struggling freshmen comedies "Outsourced" and "Perfect Couples" awaiting pickups.
NBC
Renews "Being Human"
Syfy
Cable network Syfy has renewed "Being Human" for a second season.
"Being Human," the U.S. version of the British series, has averaged 1.8 million viewers so far in its first season, making it the cable network's most successful winter scripted series launch in six years.
Syfy is also touting "Being Human" as its most female-skewing series to date, with women making up 53 percent of its viewers.
Syfy renewed reality competition series Face Off on Wednesday.
Syfy
To Start Charging For Website
New York Times
The New York Times says it will start charging for access to its website and for the use of smart phone and tablet applications later this month in the U.S.
Beginning March 28, prices start at $15 for four weeks of full access to the website and the smart phone app.
Subscribers to the printed edition will keep free access to the website and apps. Others will be able to view 20 articles a month for free on the website and see the "Top News" section in the apps.
A similar system will go into effect on Thursday in Canada, which will serve as a testing ground.
New York Times
Malaysia Gags And Garbles
Lady Gaga
Malaysian radio stations worry some lyrics in Lady Gaga's gay anthem "Born This Way" are on the wrong track, baby.
Broadcasters in this Muslim-majority nation have refused to play lines in the hit song that encourage public acceptance of gays, claiming Thursday they are being cautious because the government forbids offensive content.
Malaysians who tune in to popular stations hear edited versions of "Born This Way" that use indecipherable garble to replace the lyrics: "No matter gay, straight or bi, lesbian, transgendered life, I'm on the right track, baby."
AMP Radio Networks, Malaysia's top private radio operator, said the precaution was due to government restrictions against songs that might violate "good taste or decency or (are) offensive to public feeling."
Lady Gaga
Booked And Released
Mel "Sugar Tits" Gibson
California authorities say Mel Gibson was booked and released on a misdemeanor battery charge as part of the criminal case involving his former girlfriend.
Jail records show the actor-director turned himself in Wednesday to the El Segundo Police Department.
He was fingerprinted and his mug shot was taken, a requirement of a plea deal that resulted in him being on probation for three years and attending a year of domestic violence counseling.
The 55-year-old Oscar winner opted to turn himself in on the same night his film "The Beaver" premiered at the South by Southwest film festival in Austin, Texas.
Mel "Sugar Tits" Gibson
Catchphrases Prompt Trademark War
Charlie Sheen
The next time Charlie Sheen wishes to say something outrageous, he may want to pause a beat and make sure his intellectual property lawyer is paying attention.
In the past few weeks, as Sheen has blitzed his way into the cultural imagination, he's triggered a secondary phenomenon: People are rushing to the U.S. Trademark Office to stake claims over his many quotable quotes.
How many small-time entrepreneurs, for example, have decided they simply must sell t-shirts with the word "WINNING" mentioned prominently? Quite a few, in fact. In the past few weeks, various folks have registered the marks, "Winning!," "Uh Winning," "Winning," "World Wide Winning Connections," "Friendship, Who's Winning?" and "Bi Winning."
Others have gone to the Trademark Office to stake Sheen's other popular catch phrases. A video website that keeps track of new Charlie Sheen appearances has registered "Tiger Blood TV." A Florida-based toy manufacturer has registered the "Magic Charlie Ball." Another company registered "Adonis DNA" for a line of dietary and nutritional supplements.
Charlie Sheen
Drops Divorce, Loves "Hannah Montana"
Miley's Dad
The father of teen idol Miley Cyrus is dropping divorce plans, and says he no longer feels that her Disney Channel TV show "Hannah Montana" ripped his family apart.
"I dropped the divorce. I wanted to put my family back together," country singer Billy Ray Cyrus said in an interview to be broadcast Friday on daytime chat show "The View". Transcripts from the program were released late on Thursday.
Cyrus, 49, filed for divorce from his wife Tish in October to end their 17-year marriage. Last month, the "Achy Breaky Heart" singer made headlines by telling GQ magazine that he felt "Hannah Montana" had destroyed his family and blamed the program for sending his daughter out of control.
Billy Ray Cyrus, who played the father to his daughter on the Disney Channel show, told ABC's "The View" he wanted to set the record straight.
"I love 'Hannah Montana'. I love Disney. I love our fans who've been with us throughout this whole show. This has been an incredible journey.
Miley's Dad
Adds 12 More Dates To Tour
Charlie Sheen
Charlie Sheen's "Torpedo of Truth" live tour will explode onto 12 more stages across the United States and into Canada, as reports surfaced on Thursday of sold-out shows at New York's Radio City Music Hall.
"Fastballs keep coming. 12 more shows on sale Sat.," Sheen tweeted. The new shows for the tour, dubbed "Charlie Sheen's Violent Torpedo of Truth Defeat Is Not an Option," are also listed on sales website Ticketmaster.com.
New cities include Atlantic City, Tampa, Dallas, Houston and Denver in the United States, as well as Toronto and Vancouver in Canada, where his last show plays on May 2.
Already, shows are sold out in cities such as Detroit and at New York City's Radio City Music Hall, according to media reports.
Charlie Sheen
New No. 2 US Soda
Diet Coke
Coca-Cola is winning the fight for America's soda drinkers. Diet Coke bubbled up into the second spot in the U.S. soft drink market, ending Pepsi's decades-long run as the perennial runner-up to regular Coca-Cola.
Coca-Cola sold nearly 927 million cases of its diet soda in 2010, to Pepsi's 892 million, a report by trade publication Beverage Digest released Thursday said. Diet Coke was nearing a virtual dead heat with Pepsi a year earlier.
Regular Coke remains the undisputed champion at 1.6 billion cases.
Diet Coke's rise reflects a long-term trend toward diet sodas. Ten years ago, only two of the top 10 were sugar-free. Now, four are on the list: the diet versions of Coke, Pepsi, Mountain Dew and Dr Pepper.
Diet Coke
In Memory
Michael Gough
British actor Michael Gough, best known to international audiences as Batman's butler Alfred in the movie franchise, has died, the BBC reported on Thursday. He was 94.
He appeared in more than 150 films and television shows during a career that began in the 1940s.
Gough starred in the popular British sci-fi series "Doctor Who," including as the Celestial Toymaker, and was something of a cult figure among horror film fans for roles in movies including "Horror of Dracula" and "The Phantom of the Opera."
But it was U.S. director Tim Burton who thrust him into the international limelight, casting him as Alfred Pennyworth in "Batman" in 1989 alongside Michael Keaton in the title role.
He would reprise the part of Bruce Wayne's butler in three more installments, worked with Burton on "Sleepy Hollow" and also provided voices for the director's "Alice in Wonderland" and "Corpse Bride."
Gough is survived by his fourth wife, Henrietta, daughter Emma and sons Simon and Jasper.
Michael Gough
In Memory
Ferlin Husky
Country music great Ferlin Husky, a pioneer in both the hard-twang Bakersfield and lushly produced Nashville sounds who scored his biggest hit with the ballad "Gone," died on Thursday at age 85.
"Gone," which spent 10 weeks at the top of the country charts in 1957 and reached No. 4 as a pop hit, was easily the most requested song of Husky's half-century-plus career as a performer.
The Flat River, Missouri, native died at his daughter's home in Westmoreland, Tennessee, about an hour north of Nashville. He had a history of heart problems and most recently had been hospitalized for congestive heart failure.
It had been a long decline, and Husky surprised many when he attended the ceremony for his induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame last May.
He showed up connected to an oxygen tank -- he jokingly referred to it as his "own airline" at the ceremonies -- and was helped to his feet so his old friend Charley Pride could hang his Hall of Fame Medallion around his neck.
At the height of his career, in the 1950s and '60s, Husky was considered unmatched as a country music showman.
Other hits besides "Gone" included his version of the gospel song "Wings of a Dove," which spent 10 weeks at the top of the country charts in 1960. His last No. 1, "Wings," spent nine months on the country charts and also was a pop hit.
Husky was best known for being in the vocal vanguard of the Nashville sound, a smooth, richly textured form of country music developed by producers Chet Atkins and Owen Bradley in an attempt to expand the music's appeal.
Husky's 1957 version of "Gone" was one of the recordings "considered to be the birth of the Nashville sound," said country historian Eddie Stubbs, host of the Grand Ole Opry radio program.
An earlier version of "Gone" had been cut by Husky in 1952 in California, where he settled for a time after World War Two and recorded under the name of Terry Preston, becoming a pioneering force in the raw-edged Bakersfield sound.
In addition to his hits as Preston and Husky, the musician also performed under comic alter-ego, Simon Crum, who had his own contract and hits.
Ferlin Husky
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