Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Tom Danehy: In Tom's cruelest-month housekeeping file: yellow lights, guns and Phlebas the Phoenician (tucsonweekly.com)
As we're coming up on August, I'll do some housecleaning.
Matt Miller: Race to the Top: A sprint when we need a marathon (washingtonpost.com)
I don't want to overreact. I'd hate to prematurely diss President Obama's National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform , which held its fourth public meeting Wednesday. But the commission's Democratic co-chair, Erskine Bowles, may have already blown it.
Ross Kenneth Urken: "I Have a Sixth Sense for When Big Countries Go Bad" (thebigmoney.com)
Novelist Gary Shteyngart on economic collapse, real estate, health care, and the future of publishing.
Connie Schultz: Ann Curry Came to Ohio To Tell the Story of America (creators.com)
Last Sunday night, NBC viewers across the country got a glimpse into the despair that is choking the life out of Ohio's Appalachia.
Susan Estrich: Her First Demonstration (creators.com)
It's hard to imagine anyone graduating from high school today, much less college, without being computer literate. One way or another, kids learn how to get online, how to navigate the Internet, how to live in a wired world.
Jim Hightower: ONCE AGAIN OBAMA ABANDONS HIS FRIENDS (jimhightower.com)
The Shirley Sherrod Story started as a beautiful anecdote of redemption and personal growth, which she recently related at a meeting of the Georgia NAACP.
Phil Daoust: Why walking in the woods is good for you (guardian.co.uk)
It's one of the most enjoyable activities imaginable -- and it might also be one of the most beneficial.
Michele Hanson: My Treasure? (guardian.co.uk)
Her teenage daughter made life a trial for Michele Hanson. Now that rebel is a woman on a mission to help some of the world's poorest children. How did that happen?
Randall Kennedy: Honoring Good White People (slate.com)
What really happened during Freedom Summer in 1964?
"In Pursuit of Silence: Listening for Meaning in a World of Noise" by George Prochnik: A review by Megan Buskey
The first widely observed national moment of silence occurred in Britain in 1919, in commemoration of the nation's inaugural Armistice Day. For two minutes, switchboard operators declined to connect telephone calls, subway cars and factory wheels ground to a halt, and ordinary citizens held their tongues.
"Dreyfus: Politics, Emotion, and the Scandal of the Century" by Ruth Harris: A review by Michael O'Donnell
The most remarkable moment of the Dreyfus affair, which noisily consumed France for over a decade at the turn of the twentieth century, occurred quietly in May 1895.
Interview by Laura Barnett: "Portrait of the artist: Wayne Sleep, dancer" (guardian.co.uk)
'The biggest myth about dancers? That they're gay. I am, but most are straight. You should see what goes on.'
David Bruce: "The Funniest People in Music: 250 Anecdotes"
A Kindle Book: $1.
The Weekly Poll
Current Question
Results Delayed - B2tbBob is under the weather.
The 'Mad Mel' Edition...
Mel Gibson has been called a religiously insane, anti-Semitic, misogynistic, racist by a great many people. His actions and words certainly point to that as being the case. However, he has made movies that have been very popular and, in some instances, awarded and/or critically acclaimed...
So...
What is your view of Gibson as an actor and are there any of his movies that you have enjoyed?
Send your response to
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From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Marine layer burned off early. Way too early.
Plans To Sue
Shirley Sherrod
Ousted Agriculture Department employee Shirley Sherrod said Thursday she will sue a conservative blogger who posted a video edited in a way that made her appear racist.
Sherrod was forced to resign last week as director of rural development in Georgia after Andrew Breitbart posted the edited video online. In the full video, Sherrod, who is black, spoke to a local NAACP group about racial reconciliation and overcoming her initial reluctance to help a white farmer.
Speaking Thursday at the National Association of Black Journalists convention, Sherrod said she would definitely sue over the video that took her remarks out of context. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has since offered Sherrod a new job in the department. She has not decided whether to accept.
Sherrod said she had not received an apology from Breitbart and no longer wanted one. "He had to know that he was targeting me," she said.
Shirley Sherrod
Leaving Christianity
Anne Rice
Anne Rice has had a religious conversion: She's no longer a Christian.
"In the name of Christ, I refuse to be anti-gay. I refuse to be anti-feminist. I refuse to be anti-artificial birth control," the author wrote Wednesday on her Facebook page. "In the name of ... Christ, I quit Christianity and being Christian. Amen."
Rice, 68, is best known for "Interview With a Vampire" and other gothic novels. Raised as a Catholic, she had rejected the church early in her life but renewed her faith in recent years and in 2008 released the memoir "Called Out of Darkness: A Spiritual Confession."
In a telephone interview Thursday, Rice said she had been having doubts for the past two to three years. She was troubled by the child abuse scandals in the church, and the church's defensive reaction, and by the ex-communication of Sister Margaret McBride, a nun and hospital administrator who had approved an abortion for a woman whose life was in danger.
Rice said she is a Democrat who supports the health care legislation signed into law by President Barack Obama and believes gay marriage inevitably will be permitted throughout the country. Although no longer part of any denomination, she remains a believer and continues to read theology and post Biblical passages on her Facebook page. She has no immediate plans to write about her leaving the church and will continue with her metaphysical fiction series, "Songs of the Seraphim."
Anne Rice
Quits "American Idol"
Ellen DeGeneres
"American Idol" judge Ellen DeGeneres unexpectedly quit the top-rated television singing show on Thursday after just a year in the job, saying it was not the right fit for her.
The popular U.S. talk show host and comedian, whose addition to the panel had largely disappointed viewers, said the workload was more than she expected and she found it hard to hurt the feelings of contestants.
DeGeneres, who signed a five year contract with "Idol" in 2009, is the second judge to quit the show this year. Abrasive British judge Simon Cowell left in May to launch his own talent show in late 2011.
The surprise departure of DeGeneres leaves producers with just two judges -- Randy Jackson and Kara DioGuardi -- one month before auditions in front of the panel begin in September for the 10th season.
Ellen DeGeneres
Hollywood Walk O' Fame
Mark Wahlberg
Rapper-turned-underwear model-turned-Oscar-nominated actor Mark Wahlberg has been enshrined in the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
The 39-year-old actor was presented with a star Thursday on Hollywood Boulevard's famed sidewalk monument.
Will Ferrell, who stars with Wahlberg in the action-comedy "The Other Guys" being released next week, was on hand for the ceremony. The comedian got in a couple of digs.
His wife and four young children were on hand for the sidewalk ceremony.
Mark Wahlberg
Dentures Fetch Nearly $24,000
Winston Churchill
A partial set of British wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill's gold-mounted dentures has fetched 15,200 pounds ($23,770) at auction, over three times the estimate.
The false teeth, specially designed to disguise Churchill's lisp, were sold by the son of the technician who was commissioned to make them.
They had been expected to make a maximum of 5,000 pounds at Thursday's sale by Keys auctioneer.
The buyer, a collector of Churchill memorabilia from Gloucestershire, also owns the microphone with which Churchill announced the end of the war in Europe in 1945.
Winston Churchill
Returns To Music
Phil Specter
In the often weird world of show business marriages, the love story of Phil and Rachelle Spector is among the strangest.
The 70-year-old Spector is a rock music legend imprisoned for the murder of an actress.
His wife, an aspiring singer who just turned 30, is dividing her time between prison visits and promoting her new album, for which he is listed as the producer.
For Rachelle, there has been a whirl of clubs, red carpet openings, travel, interviews and recording sessions, all happily reported on her Facebook page. For Phil, there is life in a tiny cell at a prison in Corcoran, Calif., where he lives on hope that his appeal will be granted and he will get a new trial. He was sentenced to 19 years to life behind bars.
But with Rachelle's album, "Out of My Chelle," Spector has a chance to jump back into the music world, where he built his Rock and Roll Hall of Fame credentials by producing such acts as the Beatles, Ike and Tina Turner, Cher, the Ramones, the Ronettes, and many others.
Phil Specter
Set To Testify
Mia Farrow
Actress Mia Farrow and models' agent Carole White will testify next month about a "blood diamond" Naomi Campbell is said to have been given by Liberia's Charles Taylor, court papers showed Thursday.
The two women's names are on a witness list for Monday, August 9, that the prosecution in Taylor's war crimes trial filed with the court in The Hague and which have been obtained by AFP.
The filing specifies that White's evidence would take about two hours, and that of Farrow one hour.
The prosecution says both women have agreed to testify about the late-night gift allegedly presented to supermodel Campbell after a celebrity dinner hosted by then South African president Nelson Mandela in September 1997.
Mia Farrow
Gal Pal Denies Generosity
Sumner Redstone
Viacom Inc executive chairman Sumner Redstone's news-making gifts to young women are proving irksome to his longtime lady friend, Christine Peters.
Peters is well aware that her longtime production deal at Viacom-owned Paramount -- which ended last year -- was long perceived by many in the industry and even within Paramount as a favor that was done for her because of her close relationship to the boss, now 87.
But Peters said she earned everything she got and never was on the receiving end of the sort of largesse that has been making the papers lately. "No one's made it easy on me -- I'll tell you that," she told The Hollywood Reporter.
Peters was unwilling to comment on recent reports that Redstone had given gifts of stock worth tens of thousands of dollars to party girl Rohini Singh and aspiring rock singer Heather Naylor. Redstone also arranged for executives at Showtime to give Singh a job, and ordered MTV to develop a reality series about Naylor's band, the Electric Barbarellas.
Sumner Redstone
Death Threat
French Nuns
Benedictine nuns from a secluded convent in southern France have received death threats after winning a deal aimed at creating a chart-topping album, a newspaper reported on Thursday.
The nuns from the Abbaye de Notre-Dame de l'Annonciation near Avignon had their prayers answered last week after beating 70 other religious orders from North America and Africa to the deal with Universal Music.
The sisters, whose album is set to be released in November, put a clip of their Gregorian chants online, but realized on Tuesday a raft of death threats had been put at the bottom of the clip, La Provence reported on its website.
"There were threats written in English saying that these nuns had to be killed," the newspaper reported, citing a person close to the matter.
French Nuns
Ten Key Indicators
Global Warming
Melting glaciers, more humid air and eight other key indicators show that global warming is undeniable, scientists said on Wednesday, citing a new comprehensive review of the last decade of climate data.
Without addressing why this is happening, the researchers said there was no doubt that every decade on Earth since the 1980s has been hotter than the previous one, and that the planet has been warming for the last half-century.
This confirms the findings of the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which reported in 2007 with 90 percent certainty that climate change is occurring. The IPCC also said that human activities contribute to this phenomenon.
The new report was released after U.S. Senate Democrats delayed any possible legislation to curb climate change until September at the earliest. Prospects for U.S. climate change legislation this year are considered slim.
Released by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as "The 2009 State of the Climate Report," the new report draws on the work of 303 scientists from 48 countries, including data from last year.
Global Warming
Big Decline
Plankton
Despite their tiny size, plant plankton found in the world's oceans are crucial to much of life on Earth. They are the foundation of the bountiful marine food web, produce half the world's oxygen and suck up harmful carbon dioxide.
And they are declining sharply.
Worldwide phytoplankton levels are down 40 percent since the 1950s, according to a study published Wednesday in the journal Nature. The likely cause is global warming, which makes it hard for the plant plankton to get vital nutrients, researchers say.
The numbers are both staggering and disturbing, say the Canadian scientists who did the study and a top U.S. government scientist.
Half a million datapoints dating to 1899 show that plant plankton levels in nearly all of the world's oceans started to drop in the 1950s. The biggest changes are in the Arctic, southern and equatorial Atlantic and equatorial Pacific oceans. Only the Indian Ocean is not showing a decline. The study's authors said it's too early to say that plant plankton is on the verge of vanishing.
Plankton
Cheating In Open-Book Test
FBI
FBI Director Robert Mueller told Congress on Wednesday that he does not know how many of his agents cheated on an important exam on the bureau's policies, discussing an embarrassing investigation that raises questions about whether the FBI knows its own rules for conducting surveillance on Americans.
The Justice Department inspector general is investigating whether hundreds of agents cheated on the test. Some took the open-book test together, violating rules that they take it alone. Others finished the lengthy exam unusually quickly, current and former officials said.
The test was supposed to ensure that FBI agents understand new rules allowing them to conduct surveillance and open files on Americans without evidence of criminal wrongdoing. If agents can't pass that test without cheating, civil liberties groups ask, how can they follow them?
Asked about an Associated Press report about the cheating investigation, Mueller said he does not know how widespread the problem was.
FBI
World's Strongest Beer
"Start the Future"
A Dutch brewer with a penchant for competition has laid claim to creating the world's strongest brew: a beer that is some 60 percent alcohol by volume.
"You don't drink it like beer, but like a cocktail -- in a nice whisky or cognac glass," brewer Jan Nijboer told Dutch news agency ANP.
Nijboer's Almere-based brewery, 't Koelschip (The Refrigerated Ship), sells the new beer, which is 120 proof and dubbed "Start the Future," in a one-third litre bottle for 35 euros $45 (28 pounds) each.
Nijboer told ANP he developed the new brew to keep up with Scottish outfits that were also pushing the boundaries of beer's alcohol content.
"Start the Future"
In Memory
Theo Albrecht
Theo Albrecht, the secretive co-founder of Germany's worldwide discount supermarket chain Aldi, a co-owner of Trader Joe's in the United States and one of Europe's richest men, has died at age 88.
The retail machine that Albrecht built with his brother Karl has won over German consumers with their no-thrills but super-cheap offer, making billionaires of the two and spawning imitation "hard-discount" stores across Europe.
The company's Aldi Nord division said in a statement Wednesday that Albrecht was the driving force behind Aldi's internationalization, expanding stores to France, Spain, Portugal, Poland and the United States, among other nations.
When Forbes featured the brothers in 1992 as two of the world's richest men, the magazine had to uses silhouettes rather than photographs to illustrate the article since no pictures of them had been published in many years.
Albrecht and his elder brother Karl both served as German soldiers in World War II then returned home to Essen and took over a grocery store their parents owned.
They flourished as the German economy, in shambles after the war, came back to life in what is often called the "economic miracle."
The first Aldi stores, an acronym standing for "Albrecht Discount", opened in the early 1960s under the motto: "concentrating on the basics: a limited selection of goods for daily needs."
It was a formula that sold well: Aldi carries a limited selection of fastest-selling, nonperishable consumer items, a strategy that allowed them to increase order volume, cut handling costs and waste, and buy their goods cheap - savings passed on to the consumer.
In 1979, a family trust established by Theo Albrecht bought the U.S. specialty grocery chain Trader Joe's. In keeping with Aldi's culture of secrecy, Trader Joe's refused Wednesday to comment on Albrecht or Aldi, even refusing to confirm that the chain is owned by the Albrecht family. The business information provider Hoover's confirms that billionaire brothers bought the U.S. company in 1979.
Albrecht is survived by his wife Cilli and his two sons, Theo and Berthold. German media say he was buried on Wednesday in a small family ceremony.
Theo Albrecht
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