Recommended Reading
from Bruce
English Teacher Harassed For Being Erotica Author (YouTube)
My 10th grade teacher Judy Buranich is being shamefully harassed on the local news simply because she writes "racy" romance novels on the side. There are teachers in that school that have had affairs with students multiple times. Who is harassing them?
Tom Danehy: The Arizona legislature's neglect of the public-education system will define these times (Tucson Weekly)
The origins of this right-wing crusade against public schools and their teachers are well-documented and needn't be repeated. What does deserve mention is the zeal with which this campaign has been carried out, especially in the face of ever-mounting evidence of its wrong-headedness, not to mention the willingness of those involved to double back over their own philosophical tow line in a Captain Queeg-like effort to teach other people a lesson.
Mark Matousek: "Why We Don't Need God to Be Good (and What Religious Folk Don't Want You to Know)" (Huffington Post)
Religious people find it very annoying that people don't need God to be good, as science has now incontestably proved.
Paul Krugman's Blog: Why Casey Can't Read (New York Times)
OK, so from now on I'll assert that the Chicago position on unemployment is that we can cure it by sacrificing goats. Hey, I heard that somewhere - no need to actually read anything they say, right?
Jim Hightower: The Artful Dodgers
Here's the hot new phrase in Washington: "shared sacrifice." Sounds nice, but it's really just code for gouging the middle class and the poor.
Connie Schultz: Born to Remember 9/11 (Creators Syndicate)
Sunday night, thousands of Americans stood outside the White House gates and cheered as if we had just won an Olympic hockey game.
Susan Estrich: The Other Big News About Osama (Creators Syndicate)
The big news is not that Osama bin Laden is dead. I mean, that is certainly big news, but a guy in hiding who has a record price tag on his head is not exactly an effective leader of a revolutionary movement. The big news, at least by my lights, is that Americans waving flags seem to be the biggest demonstrations going on.
Richard B. Woodward: Debatable 'Evidence' (New York Times)
Where once photographic images were used to prove reality, the prevalence of fake news photos has now led many to demand reality as proof of a photo.
Mark Bittman: Junk Food 'Guidelines' Won't Help (New York Times)
Imagine your child's teacher was distributing twice daily snacks, before and after lunch - maybe Snickers and PopTarts in the morning, Mountain Dew and fries in the afternoon. Now let's pretend you complain to the principal, who tells the teacher, "Could you please stop doing that? You have until … five years from Tuesday."
20 Questions: David Thorne (Popmatters)
His book, 'The Internet is a Playground,' a collection of the aforementioned humor and satire drawn from his site, 27b/6, published in April. (What's 27b/6 signify? Hint: George Orwell and Terry Gilliam. Figure it out - or just look it up on Wikipedia) Finally, he gets his biggest break, his surefire launch to celebrity-dom, here on PopMatters 20 Questions. (The royalty check is in the mail, David. Meanwhile, dear readers, Help David Thorne Sell More Books Than Justin Beiber, here.)
Clare Maguire: Only fools rush in (Guardian)
First she turned down Jay-Z's label, then she said no to a Jarvis Cocker track - not bad for someone who had just quit Topshop. Alexis Petridis meets singer-songwriter Clare Maguire.
David Bruce: Wise Up! Children (Athens News)
Life is made of little moments. In Rome, artist Raphael Soyer was sketching his wife and a wall of the Coliseum. A young boy of about 8 sat by Raphael's wife, Rebecca. Raphael used sign language to ask him to remain there for a few moments, and then he put him in the drawing. When the drawing was done, he showed it to the boy, who looked at it and said, "Bravo."
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."
wrote:
answered:
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
The marine layer returned and temperatures dropped 20°!
Welcome back, Gary in PA!
Minnesota Lawmaker's Gay Marriage Defense Goes Viral
Steve Simon
Though Minnesota politicians voted to put a gay marriage ban on the ballot in 2012 yesterday, the eloquent words of one of the measure's detractors have caught the nation's attention.
Rep. Steve Simon, DFL-St. Louis Park, gave an impassioned speech asking lawmakers on the House committee not to place a gay marriage ban in the state's Constitution. (Gay marriage is already outlawed in the state.) He also objected to the religious tone of the debate, as most of the people testifying in favor of the ballot measure were faith leaders or using religious arguments.
"I'm Jewish. Eating pork or shellfish is not allowed in my tradition, but I would never ask the government to impose that on our fellow citizens," Simon said. "We have to be careful about trying to enshrine our beliefs, however religiously valid you may believe them to be, in the Minnesota Constitution."
He then referenced a clergy member who testified to the committee that sexuality was a gift from God.
"I think that's true [...] and I would ask everyone on this committee [...] if that's true, if it's even possibly true, what does that do to the moral force of your argument?"
"How many more gay people does God have to create before we ask ourselves whether or not God actually wants them around?" he asked to applause.
Steve Simon
Dancing With the LAPD
Hines Ward
Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver and "Dancing With the Stars" contestant Hines Ward was briefly detained at gunpoint Thursday in a mix-up over a reported stolen car, but he was released without being arrested, police said.
Hines and a woman friend were stopped in her car at about 1:30 a.m. in North Hollywood because she had reported the car stolen on April 19, said Sgt. Maria Morrison.
The two had left a restaurant in North Hollywood, said officer Sara Faden.
Police took Hines out of the car at gunpoint and handcuffed him, Morrison said. Hines and the woman were released after she was able to prove the car was hers.
Hines Ward
CMT Lines Up
Tornado Relief
An initial list of country music stars has aligned with CMT to raise money for tornado victims across the South.
Hank Williams Jr., Alabama, Lady Antebellum, Keith Urban and Tim McGraw will join other stars in a 90-minute benefit concert for tornado relief May 12 in Nashville. Proceeds from the special will go to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund.
Alabama was especially hard hit by tornadoes and Williams initially thought he might do a local benefit for his former home state. But after some thought he reached out to CMT and suggested a benefit.
The CMT benefit marks the second time in a year stars have gathered to raise money following a disaster after bringing in millions for flood relief in Nashville in 2010.
Tornado Relief
Ends Gingrich, Santorum Contracts
Fox News Channel has ended the contracts of on-air contributors Newt Gingrich (R-Holy Philanerer) and Rick Santorum (R-Man On Dog) as the two former lawmakers explore White House bids.
Fox Rupert News
The top-rated cable news network had previously said Gingrich and Santorum would be dropped on May 1 unless they notified the network that they were not running for president.
A former House speaker from Georgia, the three-times married Gingrich has been testing the waters for a presidential campaign and is expected to enter the wide-open race.
Santorum, a former U.S. senator for Pennsylvania, has established a presidential exploratory committee and frequently visited early nominating states.
Fox Rupert News
Honorary Degree
Stephen Colbert
It's the truthiness: Stephen Colbert is getting an honorary degree from his alma mater, Northwestern University.
The host of "The Colbert Report" will join an impressive class of honorary degree recipients at the Evanston campus during the commencement on June 17.
The group includes opera singer Jessye Norman, computer science expert Barbar Liskov and death penalty and international criminal law scholar William Schabas.
Colbert is a 1986 graduate of Northwestern's School of Communication. Colbert was a member of the Second City comedy group before joining Comedy Central's "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart."
Stephen Colbert
8-Year, $66 Million Deal
Emmys
The Emmy Awards and the four major TV networks agreed to an eight-year, $66 million deal that allows for changes in the ceremony marking its 63rd year in September.
After protracted negotiations, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences' board of governors approved the deal Wednesday night with ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC.
Reality kingpin Mark Burnett, whose credits include "Survivor," "Celebrity Apprentice" and newcomer "The Voice," will produce the ceremony airing Sept. 18, according to an academy-network statement.
The major broadcasters will continue airing the awards in a "wheel rotation," with Fox kicking off the new cycle.
Emmys
Man With An Opinion
Michael Moore
Michael Moore thinks Osama bin Laden's death at the hands of U.S. Navy Seals is a conspiracy, and will likely expand on his thesis when he is interviewed by CNN's Piers Morgan later on Thursday.
In more than 40 Tweets over the past several days, the documentary filmmaker made his case in 140 characters or less. A few are excerpted below:
"What's so wrong w/ just saying the truth? "We executed him." Fine. I'm guessing most would applaud u. So I like trials! Call me an American!" he wrote.
Added Moore, "OBL was said 2 have $30 mil net worth. But we didn't start profiling rich people. No, we gave them their own fast trak line at the airport!
"OBL was about as true a Muslim as Timothy McVeigh was a Catholic. But no headline ever read "Catholic Blows Up Fed Bldg in Oklahoma City."
Michael Moore
Censors bin Laden Joke, But It Airs In Canada
ABC
Days after President Obama announced that Osama bin Laden had been killed, an unlikely television series found itself in a bit of a bind.
ABC's comedy "Happy Endings" aired an episode Wednesday in which Zach Knighton's character compared an elusive mouse in Elisha Cuthbert's apartment to a "bin Laden."
During the airing in the U.S., Knighton told Cuthbert -- in discussing the hardships of trying to capture said mouse: "He's my bin Laden. ... Jessica bin Laden, a super hot Arab girl I went to college with." Then the audio cuts out, though Knighton's mouth is still moving.
The Hollywood Reporter has learned that there was more to the joke, with the silenced line being, "She was the one that got away."
Given that the actual Osama bin Laden is no longer the one who got away, it's understandable why ABC cut the line, which was taped about two weeks ago. But it aired in its entirety on Canada's Citytv, suggesting ABC was mindful of the particular sensitivities U.S. audiences might have to a joke about the al Qaeda leader.
ABC
Won't Drive Indy 500 Pace Car, After All
T-rump
The Donald has dumped himself from the Indianapolis 500.
Donald T-rump said Thursday he will not be the celebrity pace-car driver for the May 29 race, calling it "inappropriate" since "he may be announcing shortly his intention" to run for president. He also said it would be impossible to fulfill the required practice sessions that occur late in race week because of his busy schedule.
The decision shuts down a potential controversy that threatened to overshadow the 100-year anniversary of the first 500.
Some race fans complained Trump was too divisive to serve as the celebrity pace car driver after his recent questioning of whether President Obama was born outside the United States and whether he was qualified to attend two Ivy League schools.
T-rump
Sues Mattel
Donna Douglas
The actress who played Elly May Clampett on the hit television series "The Beverly Hillbillies" is suing toy manufacturer Mattel Inc., claiming the company used her name and likeness for a Barbie doll without her authorization.
The federal suit filed Wednesday in Baton Rouge, La., says packaging for the "Elly May" Barbie doll features a photo of Donna Douglas portraying the character. Douglas says she never endorsed the doll or gave Mattel permission to use her name to promote its sale before the toy maker introduced the doll in December 2010.
From 1962 to 1971, Douglas appeared in all 274 episodes of the CBS comedy show about a poor family that moves to Beverly Hills after striking oil on their land.
Douglas lives in Zachary, near Baton Rouge, and continues to make public appearances and speaking engagements in connection with the show, according to one of her attorneys, Charles von Simson.
Donna Douglas
Denied Bail
Richard Hatch
A judge in Rhode Island has denied reality TV star Richard Hatch's bail request pending an appeal of a nine-month prison sentence for failing to pay taxes on the $1 million he won on the first season of the hit show "Survivor."
Hatch, who is being held in Brooklyn, N.Y., spent over three years in prison for tax evasion. Released in 2009, he was ordered to refile his 2000 and 2001 taxes and pay what he owed. A judge in March ruled he never did and returned him to prison.
Hatch's lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment. She has said there are questions about whether Hatch violated the release terms. Prosecutors said those questions aren't substantial enough to warrant bail.
The bail denial was filed Thursday in federal court in Providence.
Richard Hatch
CBS Drops Talk Show Plans
Katie Couric
CBS has pulled its offer to produce a syndicated talk show for outgoing evening news anchor Katie Couric, and she is now considering a deal at ABC.
A source close to the CBS discussions said the company decided about a week and a half ago to take the offer off the table.
"The negotiations just went on way too long," said a person familiar with the situation at CBS. "The deal just kept getting more and more rich, with more and more people involved."
The source said Couric wanted to maintain a strong relationship with the news division, thereby raising doubts about her commitment to work on original content for a daily show for upwards of 40 weeks a year.
Katie Couric
Lends Hand
Keith Urban
A Wisconsin hair salon owner is missing her signature storefront sculpture: a fiberglass hand shaped like a chair with images of country star Keith Urban.
Urban Style owner Denise Mackey-Natz says the hand was unbolted from its concrete block outside her store and stolen last month.
Urban heard about the theft and called Mackey-Natz. He's offering four tickets and four VIP passes to any show on his "Get Closer World Tour" to anyone with information that leads to finding the hand. The salon is offering a $200 reward.
Mackey-Natz suspects college students stole it as a prank but says she just wants it back because it is so close to her heart.
Keith Urban
Albinos Murdered As AIDS "Cure"
Tanzania
Hundreds of albinos are thought to have been killed for black magic purposes in Tanzania and albino girls are being raped because of a belief they offer a cure for AIDS, a Canadian rights group said on Thursday.
At least 63 albinos, including children, are known to have been killed, mostly in the remote northwest of the country.
"We believe there are hundreds and hundreds of killings in Tanzania, but only a small number are being reported to the police," Peter Ash, founder and director of Under The Same Sun (UTSS), told Reuters.
"There is belief that if you have relations with a girl with albinism, you will cure AIDS. So there are many girls with albinism who are being raped in this country because of this belief, which is a false belief."
Tanzania
Latent Racism
Negro Hill
Time has weathered the 36 concrete gravestones in a dusty, half-century-old cemetery tucked away in a corner of California's former gold fields. Time has not erased, however, the bigotry of a bygone era carved into the markers.
The dead, both black and white, had been moved from a Gold Rush-era hamlet known as Negro Hill in the 1950s to make way for a reservoir.
The problem is the way the markers continue to identify them almost 60 years later: "Unknown. Moved from Nigger Hill Cemetery by U.S. Government - 1954."
Now a handful of activists are trying to get the markers replaced with ones bearing what they say was the original name, Negro Hill.
The trouble is getting someone to take responsibility for fixing an error committed during an era when the N-word was commonly used. The Army Corps of Engineers, which had the graves relocated, says it handed over control of the gravesite to El Dorado County. The county says it welcomes a solution from the Corps.
On Thursday, a group that oversees work projects for state prison inmates stepped in with an offer to update the gravestones. Chuck Pattillo, general manager of the California Prison Industry Authority, said the inmates can finish the work in two days, free of charge. He just needs approval from El Dorado County.
Negro Hill
House For Sale
"Home Alone"
The stately Georgian home where actor Macaulay Culkin outwitted a pair of bumbling thieves in the 1990 hit film "Home Alone" is for sale for $2.4 million (1.46 million pounds).
John and Cynthia Abendshien, the owners of the four-bedroom, red brick home north of Chicago, said they are ready to downsize, now that their daughter -- who became Culkin's playmate -- during the six-month long shoot is grown up.
The family lived in the house throughout most of the filming, moving into the four-room master bedroom suite.
In keeping with its star status, the house will have its own listing website: homealonehome.coldwellbanker.com/.
"Home Alone"
Elvis Exits
Baby-Name List
Ending a run that started in 1955, Elvis did not make the list of 1,000 most popular baby names compiled by the Social Security Administration. The name never topped the charts, peaking at No. 312 in 1957 and making a slight comeback after Elvis Presley died in 1977. But The King's first name was in the top 1,000 for 55 straight years, something that cannot be said for, say, Barack, which has never cracked the list.
Jacob continued a 12-year run as the most popular name for boys in 2010, according to the list released Thursday. Isabella was the most popular name for girls for a second year at the top.
Nearly 22,000 boys were named Jacob in 2010, followed by Ethan, Michael, Jayden and William. Nearly 23,000 girls were named Isabella, followed by Sophia, Emma, Olivia and Ava.
Names with different spellings were counted separately. For example, Aiden was No. 9 among boys, while Aidan was No. 94 and Aaden was No. 556. Among the girls, Chloe was No. 9 and Khloe was No. 42; Zoe was No. 31 and Zoey was No. 47.
Baby-Name List
| CURRENT MOON lunar phases |
