Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Purple Daze: You call it graffiti, we call it AWARENESS! (Video)
Music by The Verve: "Bitter Sweet Symphony."
Paul Krugman's Blog: "Reposted: Sam, Janet, and Debt" (New York Times)
The bottom line, then, is that the plausible-sounding argument that debt can't cure debt is just wrong. On the contrary, it can - and the alternative is a prolonged period of economic weakness that actually makes the debt problem harder to resolve.
Jim Hightower: SNEAKING THE PLUTOCRATIC AGENDA INTO STATE LAW
Michigan's working families are mighty hard hit these days, but the state's new governor, Rick Snyder, has reached out with a helping hand. Not for workers though. Instead, he handed out a 60 percent tax cut to corporations. To help pay for this giveaway, he snuck into law a provision that takes away six weeks of jobless benefits for out-of-work Michiganders, plus he intends to tax the pensions of working class retirees.
Connie Schultz: A Leap of Interfaith (Creators Syndicate)
After only a year of clergy meetings and brainstorming sessions with congregants, GCC was ready to roll out its five-pronged agenda, summed up Monday night by the Very Rev. Tracey Lind: "We intend to organize and campaign for good jobs, accessible and affordable health care, safe and productive schools for our children, fair and equal treatment in our criminal justice system, and sustainable and healthy food."
Mark Bittman: E. Coli: Don't Blame the Sprouts! (New York Times)
One hundred thousand E. coli can dance on the head of a pin; it may only take 50 to make you sick enough to die.
Colin Covert: John Waters makes his first foray into the world of curating a big art exhibition (Star Tribune)
Most upright citizens wouldn't trust John Waters to rearrange their fridge magnets. Walker Art Center in Minneapolis is giving him carte blanche to reshuffle its priceless collection. It's like giving Sid Vicious the keys to Orchestra Hall.
Barbara Ehrenreich: Man is Not Cat Food (Los Angeles Review of Books)
In the last decade, human vanity has taken a major hit. Traits once thought to be uniquely, even definingly human have turned up in the repertoire of animal behaviors: tool use, for example, is widespread among non-human primates, at least if a stick counts as a tool.
Mary Beard: Young minds . . . and the dirty bits (in Aristophanes) (Times of London)
If you dont like something, if you think -- even more --that its presence could harm young minds and bodies, then BAN IT -- as if that was effective, and the only strategy of change that there was. Surely, if we disapprove of such things, we are clever enough to devise other ways to discourage them….
Emma Brockes: "A life in writing: Janet Malcolm" (Guardian)
'I hammer it out sentence by sentence and it takes a long time. That's what the work is, right? To make the reader think it is not hard to do.'
JEFFERY DEAVER: Lessons Learned From Bond-James Bond (Wall Street Journal)
The author of the latest 007 novel shares tricks of the espionage trade, from losing a tail to forging signatures.
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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Michelle in AZ
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Google Problem
Little Ricky
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Even thicker marine layer - no sun for us (and I'm not complaining!)
Count Down To Premiere
Keith Olbermann
Keith Olbermann is showing off his office to a visitor.
His office is in the cozy production and editorial headquarters from where, starting June 20, he will originate "Countdown With Keith Olbermann" on Current TV every weeknight. He and his team had taken residence just days earlier at the still-under-renovation building, which, situated on Manhattan's West 33rd Street, Olbermann has dubbed Studio 33.
The set for his show hasn't been delivered yet. But he has just finished taping his first "Worst Persons" Web video (today's winner - ta-da! - Sarah Palin) in the newsroom.
His office is bare. Its lone amenity so far is a desk chair he used to have at MSNBC, a chair he says once belonged to Brian Williams that he somehow kept after exiting in January. But on the newly refinished hardwood floor, a dotted outline of Post-its clearly indicates where his desk will go.
Olbermann has similarly vivid outlines in mind for how "Countdown" will fit into his new Current TV home. As he is quick to point out, "Countdown" is only the opening act.
Keith Olbermann
Google Doodle Pays Tribute
Les Paul
Google paid tribute to US guitar legend Les Paul on Thursday by transforming the celebrated logo on its homepage into a guitar which plays when strummed with a computer mouse.
The six strings on the guitar, which is shaped to spell out the name of the Internet search giant, each play a different note when touched with the cursor and light up in the Google colors of red, blue, green and yellow.
A composition can also be recorded and played back.
Les Paul, a virtuoso guitarist and inventor who shaped the sound of rock 'n roll, was born on June 9, 1915 and died on August 12, 2009. He helped pioneer solid-bodied electric guitars and multitrack recording.
Les Paul
Bonnaroo
Buffalo Springfield
Richie Furay knows a little something about miracles in his new career as a preacher.
A Buffalo Springfield reunion may not strictly qualify as a one. But like most folks he'd written off the possibility when the band famously flamed out in 1968, ending a short but incandescent run that would ripple through music for decades to come.
"People have asked me did I think The Buffalo Springfield would ever get back together again, and my answer was a short, `Never, it's not gonna happen,'" Furay said in a phone interview last Saturday before the band's soundcheck in Los Angeles. "That old saying, `Never say never,' is true."
The surviving members of the California quintet - Furay, Stephen Stills and Neil Young - will make their only festival appearance this year on Saturday at Bonnaroo, serving as a focal point for an event heavy on bands influenced by the folk- and country-rock pioneers.
Young first broached the idea of a reunion in a song, "Buffalo Springfield Again" from 2000's "Silver & Gold," and finally reached out personally last year to invite Furay and Stills to join him at his annual Bridge School benefit concert in October.
Buffalo Springfield
Hospital News
Greg Mortenson
The embattled author of "Three Cups of Tea" has undergone open-heart surgery nearly two months after reports questioned the accuracy of the book and whether he benefited from the charity he founded, the charity's spokeswoman said.
Doctors discovered an aneurysm, in addition to a hole, in Greg Mortenson's heart that had left him with low oxygen levels, Central Asia Institute acting director Anne Beyersdorfer said. Surgeons repaired the hole and tied down the aneurysm, she added.
She told the Bozeman Daily Chronicle that the operation took place last week but she declined to say where it was performed or where Mortenson was recuperating. She said he expected to eventually return to his Bozeman home for a recovery that could take weeks or months.
Mortenson entered a Bozeman hospital after the reports surfaced in April alleged he lied about events in his best-selling book. The reports from "60 Minutes" and author Jon Krakauer also questioned whether Mortenson financially benefited from the institute and whether CAI built the number of schools in it claimed.
Greg Mortenson
Labor Dispute Threatens
Tony Awards
A labor dispute is threatening to make a mess of the Tony Awards, forcing actors to cross picket lines to attend the red carpet for Broadway's biggest ceremony.
Hundreds of members of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees plan to gather with a giant inflatable rat near the Beacon Theatre on Broadway where the award show will be held Sunday evening.
The stagehands have traditionally set up the red carpet and tent outside the annual event, but this year the awards show has been moved to a new theater and the red carpet has been moved a block south - outside the perimeter where the union is assured jobs.
If no deal is made, the deployment of the union's super-sized inflatable rat - on its hind legs and bearing fangs - will add theatricality to the already theatrical event.
Tony Awards
Charged With 4 Counts
Estella Warren
Los Angeles prosecutors have charged former model and actress Estella Warren with four misdemeanors, including hit and run, stemming from a recent arrest.
The "Planet of the Apes" actress is also facing drunken driving, resisting arrest and battery on a peace officer counts.
She is due in court on June 17 for arraignment.
City Attorney spokesman Frank Mateljan says Warren refused a breathalyzer test when she was arrested early May 24 after crashing into three parked cars and then tussling with police.
Estella Warren
Threaten Paris Bar
The Doors
Lawyers for US rock group The Doors threatened legal action against a Paris bar devoted to the band, saying it did not want to be associated with a drinking establishment, the landlord said Thursday.
"I have received a letter from the lawyers of The Doors who are giving me 60 days to change the bar's posters, its name, the name of its cocktails and the website," Christophe Maillet, manager of the Lezard King bar, told AFP.
"The Doors did not want to be associated with a drinks bar," added Maillet, who opened the venue in September last year.
The bar's name is a tribute to the band's frontman Jim Morrison, who was known as the Lizard King after coining the term in a poem. It serves cocktails named after Doors songs such as "Soft Parade" and "Light My Fire".
He said he had told the US lawyers he would bend to their demand if they insisted.
The Doors
Sues Over Planned Runaways Tribute
Joan Jett
Joan Jett loves rock and roll, but not on a tribute album she says an ex-employee put together without her permission.
The "I Love Rock N' Roll" singer-guitarist and 1970s bandmate Cherie Currie sued in New York on Thursday to stop the June 28 release of "Take It or Leave It: A Tribute to the Queens of Noise," an intended homage to their punk band, the Runaways.
They said that Main Man Records used their names to promote the album without their say-so and that a Main Man staffer who once worked at Jett's record label implied the project had her blessing.
Eatontown, N.J.-based Main Man didn't immediately respond to email and Twitter messages. No working telephone number could be found for Main Man or Jett's former employee.
Joan Jett
Charged With DUI In Miami Beach
Flo Rida
A large crowd pleaded with officers to let rapper Flo Rida go and one fan offered to drive him home after he was charged with driving under the influence early Thursday in Miami Beach, police said.
According to an arrest report, officers spotted his 2008 Bugatti driving erratically about 3:45 a.m. The report said the rapper, whose real name is Tramar Dillard, failed a field sobriety test, blew twice the legal limit on a device to measure his blood-alcohol level, had bloodshot, watery eyes, and slurred his speech.
After his second attempt at trying to walk a straight line the rapper said, "officers, I can't do this. I don't feel I can walk a straight line. I had a few drinks. Let's try another test. I live on the other side of the bridge. I can make it home," according to the Miami Beach Police.
The 31-year-old was charged with DUI and driving with a suspended license after failing to pay a traffic ticket. He was later released on $2,000 bail and a judge signed an order allowing him to fly Thursday night to Bangkok, Thailand, to perform several concerts, said his lawyer Christopher Lyons. The order requires Flo Rida to return June 16.
Flo Rida
Fired "Spider-Man" Director Claims Royalties
Julie Taymor
Julie Taymor, the ousted director of Broadway's troubled "Spider-Man" musical, is seeking an estimated $300,000 in unpaid royalties from producers, the union representing her said on Thursday.
The union filed an arbitration claim on behalf of Taymor, who was replaced on the $70 million show -- the most expensive in Broadway history -- in March while it was still in previews.
Her ouster followed repeated delays to the official opening, scathing reviews, and several accidents involving the show's high-wire stunts.
Taymor, the creative force behind the successful stage adaptation of Disney's "The Lion King," is still credited as the show's "original director," and should therefore continue to receive director royalties even after her exit from the production, the union said.
Julie Taymor
Late Paying Fla Taxes
Kirstie Alley
Actress Kirstie Alley says she is paying $41,000 in property taxes from last year on her Tampa-area mansion after published reports noted the delinquency.
The "Cheers" star and recent "Dancing With the Stars" runner-up called it an oversight. A spokesman released a statement Thursday saying "we were not aware of the amount owed, and her accountant never received the bill."
Pinellas County tax records showed Alley owed $41,395, including fees and interest, on the $1.73 million mansion on Clearwater Harbor that she bought in 2008. The 2010 tax bill was due April 1.
Tax office spokesman Chad McLeod confirmed that one of Alley's representatives called Thursday and promised to send a certified check.
Kirstie Alley
Warner Bros May Change Tattoo For DVD
"Hangover 2"
Ed Helms' face might look very different when "The Hangover: Part II" comes to DVD and Blu-ray in December.
Warner Bros. movie studio has told a Missouri judge that if it can't resolve the ongoing legal tussle over the tattoo on display in the blockbuster comedy by the time it comes out on home video, the studio will digitally alter the controversial mark on Helms' face.
Warner Bros. was sued by a Missouri tattoo artist who claims he owns a copyright on the unique tattoo first worn by former boxer Mike Tyson and now by Helms in "The Hangover: Part II".
The tattoo's owner, S. Victor Whitmill, attempted to stop the film's release in May but was denied a preliminary injunction. The movie has since grossed $350 million worldwide and counting.
The case has continued, however, and U.S. District Judge Catherine Perry on Thursday set a jury trial date for February 21, 2012. At issue is whether to award Whitmill a permanent injunction against the film's distribution and/or damages for copyright infringement.
"Hangover 2"
Fly Fishermen, Fashionistas Fight Over
Feathers
For the first time in 40 years, Philip Greenlee cannot get the choice feathers he ties into fishing lures to tempt trout from the blue-ribbon streams in the western United States.
A new nationwide trend of attaching feathers to hair, known as feather extensions, has spurred a run on the decorative plumage of designer roosters produced at just three farms in the country.
Since January, demand for the specialty feathers - a fad fanned by the stars of TV series such as "American Idol" and "Glee" sporting the extensions - has left anglers high and dry even as it has boosted profits for farmers who raise the fowl.
Prices for some packages of the distinctive feathers, known as hackles, have soared from $60 to $400 as supplies have dwindled for a product that takes roosters one year to grow.
Feathers
Wombles Upsets Festival Founder
Glastonbury
The founder of the Glastonbury music festival is unhappy that novelty 1970s act "The Wombles" had been booked to appear at this year's event, the BBC reported on Thursday.
Michael Eavis said booking the band, based on the furry characters who tidied up litter on London's Wimbledon Common in the children's books and TV show of the same name, was "a bit of a mistake."
"I've got about 25 stages and managers and bookers for each of the stages. I can't control every single one of them but I do get cross about that kind of thing," the BBC quoted Eavis as saying.
The Wombles, who had a series of hits during the 1970s such as "Remember you're a Womble," will join the likes of U2, Coldplay, Beyonce and Morrissey at the festival which runs from June 24-26. The band will be performing on the Avalon stage.
Glastonbury
Kills Two Canadians
Flying Bear
Two Canadians died instantly in a freak accident when a car hit a 440-pound (200-kg) black bear and sent the animal flying straight through the windshield of an oncoming vehicle, local media said Wednesday.
The bear's body hit the 25-year-old driver and a 40-year-old man sitting behind her and then shot out of the back window. The bear also died.
The accident happened Monday night in a rural area about 25 miles north of the federal capital Ottawa.
"We don't see (this) often, even if we live in the country. Lots of deer, but collisions with a bear and two people died? That's really rare," local police spokesman Martin Fournel told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.
Flying Bear
In Memory
M.F. Husain
India's most famous and controversial modern artist, M.F. Husain, who fled the country in 2006 after death threats from Hindu extremists, died in London on Thursday at the age of 95.
President Prathiba Patil's office in New Delhi said that Husain, often called "The Picasso of India", passed away in hospital in the British capital during the early hours of the morning.
Indian media cited family members saying that he had suffered a heart attack and lung failure after being in "indifferent health" for several weeks.
The Muslim painter's death brought to an end to a turbulent chapter in modern India that showed how religious sentiments could still be easily aroused -- often for political ends -- and the limits of artistic self-expression.
In life, Hindu ultra-conservatives including the regional Shiv Sena party in Husain's home state of Maharashtra denounced his works as pornographic, blasphemous and an affront to national values.
Controversy failed to dampen the enthusiasm of overseas collectors: in 2008, one of his paintings, influenced by Hindu epic The Mahabharata, fetched $1.6 million at Christie's in London.
But even in death he deeply divided Indian opinion, with the public split between those who saw him as a great artist and others who attacked him for depicting naked Hindu gods.
Maqbool Fida Husain, a former Bollywood poster artist whose career took off after Indian independence in 1947, had been in London where three of his paintings were sold by the auction house Bonhams as recently as last week.
He left India in 2006 after Hindu hardliners accused him of insulting their faith, leading to attacks on his home and galleries showing his work, death threats and even a $11.5 million bounty on his head.
He said in 2008 he was homesick and longed to return to Mumbai, where he trained at the Sir J.J. School of Art, but accused the government of not being prepared to provide him with the protection he needed.
Husain, who often went barefoot and was once thrown out of a Mumbai private members' club for not wearing shoes, accepted Qatari citizenship in 2010, admitting that his advancing years made it impossible to fight his detractors.
The artist always said that nudity symbolised purity, insisting that naked goddesses were a long-established part of the country's iconography dating back to antiquity.
M.F. Husain
In Memory
Mietek Pemper
The man who typed up Oskar Schindler's list which helped save more than 1,000 Jews from the Nazis, Mietek Pemper, has died in Germany aged 91, the Bavarian city where he lived said Thursday.
Pemper died Tuesday in Augsburg, southern Germany, and is to be buried in the city's Jewish cemetery Friday, when municipal authorities will order flags to be lowered to half-mast in his honour.
Born Mieczyslaw Pemper in 1920 in the Polish city of Krakow to a Jewish family, he was imprisoned at the Nazi concentration camp of Plaszow, where he worked as the personal typist for its feared commandant Amon Goeth from March 1943 to September 1944.
It was there that he linked up with German industrialist Schindler.
Pemper secretly read in Goeth's mail from Berlin that all factories that were not producing goods for the Nazi effort should be shuttered.
He convinced Schindler, an ethnic German from Czechoslovakia and a member of the Nazi party who first sought to profit from Germany's invasion of Poland, to abandon enamel production at his plant and make anti-tank grenade rifles.
Then Pemper, at great risk to his own life, supplied Schindler with a typed list of the names of more than 1,000 fellow prisoners to be recruited for work.
Schindler is credited with saving the lives of some 1,200 Jews through such work schemes as well as bribes paid to German officers.
Pemper later testified against Goeth and other war criminals in trials in Poland after the war. Goeth was hanged in 1946.
Schindler died in anonymity in Germany in 1974 at the age of 66, although he and Pemper remained close friends, but his story was later unearthed by Australian writer Thomas Keneally.
US director Steven Spielberg adapted the book into the 1993 film "Schindler's List" which won seven Oscars. Pemper served as an advisor on the picture.
Pemper moved with his father after his mother's death in 1958 to Augsburg, where his brother had settled immediately after the war. He became a German citizen and worked as a management consultant.
Mietek Pemper
In Memory
"Trouble"
"Trouble," the pooch who inherited $12 million from hotel mogul Leona Helmsley, has died, heading to the hunting grounds in the sky and leaving a trail of money and legal disputes behind.
The pampered Maltese bitch with a curly off-white coat died December 13, spokeswoman Eileen Sullivan said, but news only emerged Thursday.
She was 12 in human years, or 84 in doggie years, just shy of the 87 years at which her eccentric mistress and benefactor Helmsley died in 2007.
"She was cremated, and her remains are being privately retained," Sullivan said. The remaining funds held in trust for "Trouble" have gone to The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust.
When Helmsley died she left her adored companion $12 million, but a New York judge agreed she had been mentally incompetent and knocked down that fortune to a mere $2 million, while boosting the inheritance left to Helmsley's human family and to charity.
"Trouble," known for snapping nastily at just about anyone except Helmsley, retired to Florida, living and finally dying in luxury at the Helmsley Sandcastle hotel in Sarasota.
According to the New York Daily News, which broke the story, "Trouble" chewed through $100,000 a year, with $8,000 for grooming, $1,200 for food and the rest for security against dozens of kidnapping and death threats.
For "Trouble," mealtime was never a question of canned meat in a plastic bowl, but fresh chicken and vegetables prepared by a Helmsley hotel chef and served on silver and china plates -- for the diamond-collar canine, the New York Times reported.
"Trouble"
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