Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Ted Rall: THIS TIME IT'S IMPERSONAL
One year ago, I was fired. Not laid off--fired. In a layoff, you go home until the factory calls you back to work. I got fired. Everyone knew there would be a bloodbath. Management tried to keep it secret. But we knew.
Tom Danehy: We have good news, and we have bad news ... (tucsonweekly.com)
With the good comes the bad. It's this weird cosmic equalizer-like when you meet a really good-looking woman (good), and then she tells you that she was a cheerleader in high school (bad).
Paul Constant: Excommunicate Me (thestranger.com)
Today, Bishop Malone, I am demanding that you excommunicate me. I cannot in good conscience belong to your church anymore; I do not want to be counted with the 200,000 Catholics in Maine, or the 68,115,001 Catholics in the United States of America, or the 1.1 billion Catholics in the world.
Paul Constant: So You Want to Get Excommunicated? (thestranger.com)
How to Stop Child Rapists and Hatemongers from Speaking for You.
Garrison Keillor: On the Job (tmsfeatures.com)
I think of myself as conservative and that's why it was so irritating last Sunday in church when we were instructed to cry out gladly on cue, "He is risen indeed, Alleluia," and so I did not.
CHRIS CURREY: How the GOP Purged Me (frumforum.com)
I am an old Republican. I am religious, yet not a fanatic. I am a free-marketer; yet, I believe in the role of the government as a fair evenhanded referee. I am socially conservative; yet, I believe that my lesbian niece and my gay grandchild should have the full protection of the law and live as free Americans enjoying every aspect of our society with no prejudices and/or restrictions. Nowadays, my political and socio-economic profile would make me a Marxist, not a Republican.
"Memoir: A History" by Ben Yagoda: A review by Eric Liebetrau
Ultimately, Yagoda concludes, "once you begin to write the true story of your life in a form that anyone would possibly want to read, you start to make compromises with the truth."
Erica Wagner: Philip Pullman on retelling the Gospel story (timesonline.co.uk)
'His Dark Materials' enraged the Roman Catholic Church. Now, with his latest book, the author is risking even greater ire.
Mark Stryker: Chatting with saxophone legend Sonny Rollins (Detroit Free Press)
Sonny Rollins took the most famous sabbatical in jazz history from 1959-61. Uncomfortable with the fame swirling around him as the most inventive tenor saxophonist in jazz and anxious to reinvestigate the fundamentals of his art, he dropped off the scene, famously practicing his horn on the Williamsburg Bridge, which links lower Manhattan and Brooklyn.
Gerrick D. Kennedy: Alicia Keys finds her 'freedom' on tour (latimes.com)
Since releasing her critically acclaimed debut album, "Songs in A Minor," nearly nine years ago, Alicia Keys has shown no signs of slowing down.
Luaine Lee: The united states of Diablo Cody (McClatchy-Tribune News Service)
Screenwriter Diablo Cody doesn't harbor different personalities like her character in Showtime's "United States of Tara," but she hosts a slew of different lives.
Jessica Grose: Naked Honesty (slate.com)
Why mumblecore nudity will never go mainstream.
David Bruce: "How to Manage Your Money: A Guide for the Non-Rich" (lulu.com)
Free download. This little document gives a number of common-sense tips for managing your money. It is not for rich people; however, students who are graduating from college and beginning their career will benefit from reading it, as will many other non-rich people.
The Weekly Poll
New Question
The 'Banning the Burka' Edition...
Belgium may be the first European country to ban the full-covering Islamic veils from being worn in public... The Belgian parliament's home affairs unanimously backed a proposal to ban the so-called burka and niqab, two forms of the Muslim veil covering the entire body and face. If the law is enacted, women who wear this in public would be fined 15-25 euros and may face a jail sentence of up to seven days.
EUobserver / Belgium moves towards banning the burka
Would you support or oppose such a ban here in the US? (and why?)
A.) Support ______
B.) Oppose ______
C.) WTF? I gots more important things to worry about, dagnabbit! _______
Send your response to
replied:
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny and a bit cooler.
Gay-Themed Film Challenges Boundaries
Malaysia
Malaysia's first gay-themed movie could hit cinemas within months, its producer said, after government censors eased restrictions that have stifled the film industry here for decades.
Although the Malay-language movie won't have explicit sex or even kissing, its screening would be a huge step forward for freedom of popular media in this Muslim-majority country that many fear is coming under the influence of Islamic conservatism.
"Dalam Botol," or "In A Bottle," centers on a man whose relationship with his male partner crumbles after he undergoes sex change surgery, said Raja Azmi Raja Sulaiman, who produced the film and wrote the screenplay based on the experiences of her friend.
Raja Azmi submitted a preliminary script last year to the Home Ministry's Film Censorship Board, which verbally approved it after advising her not to shoot scenes of men kissing or being in bed together.
Censors also told her to change the original title: "Anu Dalam Botol," or "Penis in a Bottle."
Malaysia
Painting To Auction
Frida Kahlo
A long-unseen Frida Kahlo painting of a pre-Hispanic idol goes on sale next month at Christie's when it will reappear in public for the first time in 72 years, the auction house said.
"Survivor," which sold in 1938 at a New York gallery, has since remained out of sight, its image unpublished, before submission this year for auction at Christie's Latin American art sale on May 26.
"Survivor" is one of the few Kahlo paintings to focus on a pre-Columbian idol, he said. It shows a standing warrior figure, mottled brown, with a white headdress. The idol stands on a field with an abandoned house on a ridge, set against a sky churning with blacks, blues, grays and yellows.
"Survivor" was acquired in 1938 by Walter Pach, an influential critic famed in art history as a key organizer of New York's 1913 Armory Show, considered a watershed by introducing Americans to the work of many avant-garde artists.
Frida Kahlo
The Taiwanese Susan Boyle?
Lin Yu-chun
Could the next Susan Boyle be a young Taiwanese man with a soprano's voice?
Videos of 24-year-old Lin Yu-chun singing Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You" have exploded online.
Since his performance Friday evening on the Taiwanese talent show "One Million Star," clips have racked up nearly 800,000 views on YouTube and were likely to climb further. Much of the appeal is Lin's pitch-perfect rendition of the song in the style of Whitney Houston, who covered it for the soundtrack to the 1992 film "The Bodyguard."
Lin may have Houston's vocal cords, but the squat man with a bowl haircut doesn't resemble the diva in any other way.
Lin Yu-chun
Portrait To Auction
Michael Jackson
An over-the-top portrait of Michael Jackson is going up for auction online.
The eBay.com auction of the 50-by-40-inch painting by Australian artist Brett-Livingstone Strong will launch Wednesday evening, the portrait's owner said Tuesday. The colorful portrait, titled "The Book," and reportedly the only painting for which the King of Pop ever posed, depicts Jackson in a red velvet jacket, clutching a journal at his Neverland Ranch.
"I've had it an awful long time," said toy inventor Marty Abrams, who acquired the painting with partner John Gentilly in 1992 from Japanese businessman Hiromichi Saeki as payment on a debt owed to them. "With the positive response to his music and the movie about him after his death, we thought it was a good time to sell it and for the world to see it."
The painting was originally sold to Saeki for $2.1 million in 1990. Abrams said the painting was appraised by Belgo Fine Art Appraisal and Restoration at $5.3 million in 2000, but he believes it is worth more now. Abrams hopes it will fetch over $3 million in the auction, which is scheduled to end April 17. The minimum starting bid will be $2.75 million.
Michael Jackson
Fluffing The Dead
Ronald Reagan
California's state Senate on Thursday unanimously passed a bill designating Feb. 6 as Ronald Reagan Day. It encourages schools to spend the day commemorating Reagan's life and accomplishments.
The legislation, which heads to the Assembly, is one of three Reagan-themed bills Republican lawmakers hope to pass before Feb. 6, 2011. That would have been the 100th birthday of the conservative icon, who died in 2004.
Ronald Reagan Day would be the third special day of recognition in California dedicated to an individual.
The first honors conservationist John Muir. Last year, lawmakers honored Harvey Milk, a gay activist and former San Francisco supervisor who was gunned down at city hall in 1978.
Ronald Reagan
Sentenced To Probation
Brian Bonsall
Former "Family Ties" actor Brian Bonsall has been sentenced to two years probation after pleading guilty to charges connected to a fight with a friend last year in Colorado.
The 28-year-old actor entered his plea Thursday in Boulder to felony menacing and third-degree assault.
Bonsall also pleaded guilty to violating terms of probation stemming from a 2007 assault on his girlfriend and was sentenced to five days in a work-release program and 40 hours of community service.
Bonsall played the youngest son, Andy Keaton, on "Family Ties," starring Michael J. Fox.
Brian Bonsall
Former "Survivor" Producer Arrested
Bruce Beresford-Redman
Mexican police arrested a former producer of the "Survivor" television series on Thursday on suspicion of murdering his wife, found strangled in the Caribbean resort of Cancun.
Bruce Beresford-Redman's Brazilian wife Monica went missing on Monday from the luxury hotel where they were on vacation and her body was later found in mangroves near the hotel. She had been beaten and strangled.
Beresford-Redman, a former U.S. producer for the hit reality TV series "Survivor" and co-creator of the car makeover show "Pimp My Ride", had cuts and bruises on his arms, said Melchor Rodriguez, the attorney general for Quintana Roo state that includes Cancun.
Police did not know the whereabouts of the couple's two children, who were with them on the vacation.
Bruce Beresford-Redman
No Buyers
Nicolas Cage
A Bel-Air mansion owned by Nicolas Cage has found no takers in a foreclosure auction.
The opening bid for the actor's 12,000-square-foot home was $10.4 million, but there are $18 million worth of loans on the property.
The Tudor mansion boasts six bedrooms, a central tower, home theater and an Olympic-sized pool. The house reverted to the foreclosing lender at Wednesday's auction in Pomona.
Even though he's one of Hollywood's highest-paid stars, Cage has money troubles. He owes millions in unpaid taxes and in January his foreclosed home in Las Vegas sold for nearly $5 million.
Nicolas Cage
Supports Tory Youth Program
Michael Caine
Actor Michael Caine offered support Thursday for a Conservative Party proposal of a civilian service program - drawing on his working-class roots to appeal for help for disaffected youths.
The two-time Oscar winning actor appeared on the same stage as opposition leader David Cameron to support the National Citizen Service.
"You may think to yourself 'what the hell is he doing here, why is he here?'," Caine said after being introduced by Cameron at a news conference. "I'm here because I'm a representative of all those youngsters that have been forgotten in this country."
A supporter of Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s, Caine had been won over by former Prime Minister Tony Blair in Labour's sweep to power in 1997. But Caine has expressed anger over Labour's tax plans - the top bracket income tax rate rose to 50 percent last week - and threatened to leave the country if taxes went higher.
Michael Caine
Beer Protest
Carlsberg
Scores of Carlsberg workers walked off their jobs in protest Thursday after the Danish brewer tightened laid-back rules on workplace drinking and removed beer coolers from work sites, a company spokesman said.
The warehouse and production workers in Denmark are rebelling against the company's new alcohol policy, which allows them to drink beer only during lunch hours in the canteen. Previously, they could help themselves to beer throughout the day, from coolers placed around the work sites.
The only restriction was "that you could not be drunk at work. It was up to each and everyone to be responsible," company spokesman Jens Bekke said.
Bekke said around 800 workers went on strike Wednesday and around 250 walked off their jobs Thursday, resulting in interruptions to beer transports in and around Copenhagen.
Carlsberg
Abuse Lowly Production Staff
Hollywood Filmmakers
They are Hollywood's migrant workers, the gofers, the errand boys, the Girls Friday.
They are Hollywood's production assistants, the lowest-paid workers on the set -- if paid at all -- and the only ones without a union, the only ones no union even wants to bother with. In Hollywood's caste system, they are the untouchables.
These PAs work in nearly every phase of production and postproduction, and sometimes their employers break the law by not even paying them.
Production assistants have five things in common: They're young, they're multitaskers, they're trying to break into show business, they wear earpieces on the set so they can be yelled at from afar -- and they all have stories of abuse.
Hollywood Filmmakers
They Walk Among Us
1 In 5
Aliens exist and they live in our midst disguised as humans -- at least, that's what 20 percent of people polled in a global survey believe.
The Reuters Ipsos poll of 23,000 adults in 22 countries showed that more than 40 percent of people from India and China believe that aliens walk among us disguised as humans, while those least likely to believe in this are from Belgium, Sweden and the Netherlands (8 percent each).
More men than women -- 22 percent vs 17 percent -- believe that alien beings are on earth.
Most of those believers are under the age of 35, and across all income classes, the survey showed. Of those who do not believe, most are women.
1 In 5
Successfully Hatches In California
Condor Egg
For the first time in more than a century, a California condor chick successfully hatched inside a federal park that once was a domain of the endangered species.
Biologists at Pinnacles National Monument in Central California celebrated the milestone announced Wednesday in the slow recovery of the birds.
But their enthusiasm was tempered because the egg did not belong to any adult birds in the park.
A pair of condors there had conceived an egg in March that biologists then took for safekeeping and replaced with a plastic egg. Biologists later discovered the embryo had died seven days into its development.
The pair in Pinnacle later hatched an egg that was slipped into their nest after being produced by a pair of condors in the San Diego Wildlife Park captive breeding program.
Condor Egg
Cable Nielsens
Ratings
Rankings for the top 15 programs on cable networks as compiled by the Nielsen Co. for the week of March 29-April 4. Day and start time (EDT) are in parentheses:
1. "WWE Raw" (Monday, 10 p.m.), USA, 3.77 million homes, 5.8 million viewers.
2. "NCIS" (Wednesday, 10 p.m.), USA, 3.63 million homes, 4.68 million viewers.
3. "NCIS" (Monday, 8 p.m.), USA, 3.53 million homes, 4.57 million viewers.
4. "WWE Raw" (Monday, 9 p.m.), USA, 3.51 million homes, 5.2 million viewers.
5. "NCIS" (Wednesday, 9 p.m.), USA, 3.49 million homes, 4.52 million viewers.
6. "Pawn Stars" (Monday, 10 p.m.), History, 3.47 million homes, 4.98 million viewers.
7. "Good Luck Charlie" (Sunday, 8:30 p.m.), Disney, 3.18 million homes, 4.68 million viewers.
8. "American Pickers" (Monday, 9:30 p.m.), History, 3.14 million homes, 4.53 million viewers.
9. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Saturday, 9:30 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 3.12 million homes, 4.25 million viewers.
10. "NCIS" (Monday, 7 p.m.), USA, 3.08 million homes, 3.91 million viewers.
11. "NCIS" (Thursday, 8 p.m.), USA, 2.85 million homes, 3.6 million viewers.
12. "In Plain Sight" (Wednesday, 10 p.m.), USA, 2.83 million homes, 3.81 million viewers.
13. "NCIS" (Wednesday, 7 p.m.), USA, 2.81 million homes, 3.53 million viewers.
14. "Law & Order: CI" (Tuesday, 10 p.m.), USA, 2.79 million homes, 3.55 million viewers.
15. "Penguins of Madagascar" (Saturday, 10 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.78 million homes, 3.74 million viewers.
Ratings
In Memory
Malcolm McLaren
Malcolm McLaren, the British former manager and the self-proclaimed mastermind behind iconic punk band the Sex Pistols, has died from cancer at a hospital in Switzerland, his girlfriend said. He was 64.
"He passed away at a hospital in Switzerland where he was being treated for cancer," said Young Kim.
McLaren, the ex-partner of designer Vivienne Westwood, had been suffering from cancer for some time.
The London-born impresario and promoter assembled the Sex Pistols and managed them in the mid-1970s, a period that produced the groundbreaking singles "Anarchy in the U.K." and "God Save the Queen."
Kim told Reuters McLaren had traveled to New York in February for the launch of an art book before returning to Switzerland to be treated at a clinic. He died of a rare form of cancer called mesothelioma.
Malcolm McLaren
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