Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Tom Danehy: Tom swallows his Pride and goes to a Tea Party (tucsonweekly.com)
Last Saturday, as temperatures plunged into the high 80s, Tucsonans were out in droves. There was the Pride in the Desert thing, but I wasn't invited, which is weird, because I certainly take pride in our desert. So the choice came down to heading downtown for the Tucson Meet Yourself celebration, or heading over to Hi Corbett Field to check out what the Tea Party has morphed into this week. Basically, it was a choice between my belly and the dark underbelly of local politics.
Matt Miller: Why aren't our teachers the best and the brightest? (The Washington Post)
People trying to improve education in this country have been talking a lot lately about boosting "teacher effectiveness." But nearly all such efforts focus on the teachers who are already in the classroom, instead of seeking to change the caliber of the people who enter teaching in the first place.
STANLEY FISH: The Crisis of the Humanities Officially Arrives (nytimes.com)
A recent decision at a state university shows just how imperiled the humanities are.
Jim Hightower: AMERICAN CORRUPTISTAN
Many in Congress argued that it was dangerous, senseless - even screwy. Yet, the officials in charge insisted on unilaterally escalating the war. And now it is spiraling out of control, with potentially disastrous consequences for America.
James Rainey: "On the Media: Where's Muhammad? Not on many comics pages" (latimes.com)
Many papers pull a 'Non Sequitur' comic satirizing U.S. media's hesitancy to offend radical Islam. The cartoon should have run.
Michael Moore: How to Fight Fred (michaelmoore.com)
Eleven years ago I had the distinct weirdness of meeting the Reverend Fred Phelps of Topeka, Kansas.
Richard Roeper: Gotta stand up for those crazy Westboro haters (suntimes.com)
The worst punishment imaginable for the haters from Westboro Baptist Church is their own lives. They have to wake up every day trapped inside their own insanely warped worldview.
Connie Schultz: A Brief Tutorial on Blue-Collar Menswear (creators.com)
To state the obvious: I am not a man. So I don't know what it feels like to be a guy who makes his living wearing a hard hat and flannel shirts. I do, however, know what this sort of person looks like, as I am the daughter of just such a man.
Carol Blitzer and Karla Kane: Do-it-yourself publishing goes big-time (paloaltoonline.com)
What writer hasn't dreamt of holding that bound volume in hand, relishing the fresh-ink aroma, standing with pride at the podium of a local bookstore reading his or her own words to a loving audience??
Gerry Canavan: Our full interview with William Gibson
William Gibson, the author whose early works-especially his 1984 debut, 'Neuromancer'-epitomized cyberpunk literature, is a writer who has seen his visions become unremarkable reality. He's just published his 10th novel, 'Zero History,' which also completes his third trilogy, known as the "Blue Ant" series.
T. BALLARD LESEMANN: Archiving Anarchy in the U.K. (charlestoncitypaper.com)
Between 1988 and 1990, Jon Savage spoke extensively to the Sex Pistols, the late Malcolm McLaren, the late Joe Strummer, Chrissie Hynde, Siouxsie Sioux, and many others in the British punk scene. The England's Dreaming Tapes features full interviews with those who were there.
How the 60s New York arts scene revolutionised dance (guardian.co.uk)
New York in the 1960s saw a creative explosion as dancers, artists, poets and musicians came together - in a church. And, says Judith Mackrell, the dance world is still feeling the fallout.
Jonathan Jones: Banksy's satire on 'The Simpsons' (guardian.co.uk)
Banksy's opening sequence for 'The Simpsons' is very funny - but what does it tell us about the show?
Amy Kaufman: "The Actor's Craft: Hilary Swank was born to play real-life roles" (latimes.com)
Growing up in a mobile home in the Pacific Northwest, Hilary Swank unwittingly found herself placed in her first role: trailer trash.
David Bruce has 39 Kindle books on Amazon.com with 250 anecdotes in each book. Each book is $1, so for $39 you can buy 9,750 anecdotes. Search for "Funniest People," "Coolest People, "Most Interesting People," "Kindest People," and "Maximum Cool."
The Weekly Poll
As you read this, I'll either be on the way to, already at, or returning from the VAMC in Dee-troit (right on the Wayne State University campus) gettin' a pre-admission work up for my surgery next week. As such, there'll be a Poll hiatus whilst said procedure is done and recovery endured. I hope to have one up on the 26th asking yer predictions concerning the election on November 2nd. Those will be posted that morning (the 2nd) and we shall see later that evening who's got it right. At least that's the plan... Until then, TTFN...
wrote:
said:
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Coastal eddy rolled back in, so no sun for us.
Cautions Staffers About Stewart-Colbert Events
NPR
NPR, like many news organizations, restricts its journalists from taking political stands, making campaign contributions, or participating in marches and rallies that the network covers.
Those rules can apply more broadly than just to Democratic or Republican events. NPR told staffers Wednesday that they are not permitted to attend the upcoming Washington events hosted by Comedy Central's Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert.
The NPR memo raised the question about the difference between overtly political events versus performances that can be perceived as political. It's not going out on a limb to suggest that attendees at the dueling Oct. 30 events - one to "restore sanity," the other to "keep fear alive" - will lean left, even though neither event is affiliated with the Democratic Party or is galvanizing support behind any particular issue. So the Stewart-Colbert rallies may be viewed through a liberal lens, even though the hosts routinely mock Democrats along with Republicans.
Fox News host Glenn Beck repeatedly claimed that his August event on the National Mall wasn't political and, in keeping with that promise, didn't launch any fiery attacks on the Obama administration, as he does routinely on his TV and radio shows. But with Sarah Palin speaking and attendees waving "Don't Tread On Me" flags - popular with tea party activists - the event was perceived as a conservative gathering.
But why did NPR's management never offer a similar warning before Beck's "Restoring Honor" gathering or the recent progressive "One Nation" rally?
NPR
Walk-Off
`The View'
Joy Behar and Whoopi Goldberg walked off the stage of "The View" during an argument with Bill O'Reilly over the proposed Islamic center near the site of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
The women objected to the Fox News Channel host saying that "Muslims killed us on 9/11."
Barbara Walters criticized her co-hosts for walking off stage during the live show. But she said O'Reilly should make the distinction that extremists committed the terrorist act.
Behar and Goldberg returned after O'Reilly said that "if anyone felt that I was demeaning all Muslims, I apologize."
`The View'
Bassist Builds Skate Park
Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament was in his hometown of Big Sandy for the debut of a new skate park.
The park was finished Tuesday night and the Great Falls Tribune reports Ament was up just minutes after sunrise Wednesday to give it a spin.
Ament says as towns get smaller, it's important for kids to have something to do besides school sports, which is why he picked up the $40,000 tab to build the park.
Ament says he plans to buy a few skateboards, helmets and pads to keep on hand for kids who don't have them. And next spring he says he plans to bring some friends who are professional skateboarders to town to put on a show.
Pearl Jam
Admits Affair
Gavin Rossdale
Having spent 15 years denying it, Gavin Rossdale has now admitted he experimented with cross-dressing singer Marilyn, aka Peter Robinson, when he was 17.
Rumours began when Boy George wrote about the affair in his 1995 autobiography and then last year, Marilyn himself spoke out claiming that Gavin, who is now married to Gwen Stefani, had been the love of his life.
The British frontman of the band Bush has always denied the allegations but in a interview with U.S. magazine Details, Rossdale has now confessed to the liaison.
Gavin and No Doubt singer Gwen Stefani have been married since 2002 and have two sons together, four-year-old Kingston and two-year-old Zuma.
Gavin Rossdale
Hospital News
Dave Brubeck
A spokesman for Dave Brubeck says the jazz pianist is doing well after surgery at a Connecticut hospital to install a pacemaker.
Patrick Giblin, spokesman at Brubeck's alma mater, University of the Pacific in California, says Brubeck's doctors expect him to be ready to resume concert touring in November.
Giblin said Brubeck is eager to return to the piano. The jazz legend had the surgery at Bridgeport Hospital on Monday after experiencing fatigue and dizziness at his home in Wilton, Conn.
Dave Brubeck
Judge Refuses To Dismiss Suit
J.K. Rowling
A British judge refused to dismiss a plagiarism lawsuit against "Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling on Thursday, saying claims that the best-selling author stole ideas from an obscure fantasy book should be considered at a proper hearing.
Rowling and her publishers, Bloomsbury, had applied to court for the case to be immediately dismissed, saying the copyright infringement claims brought by the estate of the late author Adrian Jacobs had no real chance of succeeding.
But Justice David Kitchin ruled that the claims had a chance of success - although he described this as being "improbable."
The lawsuit alleges that Rowling's book "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" copied substantial parts of Jacobs' 1987 book, "The Adventures of Willy the Wizard - No. 1 Livid Land." Jacobs' estate also claims that many other ideas and plot aspects from the 16-page volume were copied into the "Harry Potter" books. Jacobs died in London in 1997.
J.K. Rowling
Cheney's Prey
Harry Whittington
Nearly five years on, Harry Whittington still speaks with a slight flutter in his voice -- a "warble," he calls it, inadvertently choosing a bird metaphor. His easy East Texas drawl changed forever one day in February 2006 when a tiny lead pellet pierced his larynx. It's still there.
Whittington sweeps a hand up to his dusky face and points near his right eye, then to the right side of his forehead. The eye socket, hairline and hand have birdshot pellets lodged in them, too. If you look closely -- and strangers occasionally sidle up to him to do just that -- the accident's remnants are evident; there's a tiny bump in each spot.
Every so often, for months afterward, some of the lead in Whittington's body worked its way to the surface. But many pieces remain too deeply embedded to remove, including one near his heart. At 82, Whittington knows he will live the rest of his days with about 30 pieces of shot inside him. Somehow, he jokes, he can get through a metal detector without causing a commotion.
Four years ago, Whittington was on a quail hunt, walking in the tall grass of a South Texas ranch, when a fellow hunter wheeled on a winging bird and fired. The shot peppered Whittington in the face, neck and torso. The shooter was Dick Cheney, the vice president of the United States.
Eyewitnesses, including Cheney, said the shooting was accidental. Whittington doesn't dispute that, but his memory of the event is limited only to his most immediate sensations. "All I remember was the smell of burning powder," he says. "And then I passed out."
Nearly five years on, he's still waiting for Dick Cheney to say he's sorry.
Harry Whittington
Executive Suspended For Forwarding Email
Los Angeles Times
Lee Abrams, an executive at Los Angeles Times owner Tribune Company, has been suspended without pay, the company informed staff in a memo Wednesday.
Abrams, the company's chief innovation officer, had come under fire for forwarding an email featuring a video with gyrating and topless women. Just a few days earlier, a New York Times article detailed other misogynistic actions of executives at the media company.
Abrams apologized Wednesday for his "inappropriate" email.
Tribune's chief executive officer, Randy Michaels, wrote in a memo Wednesday that Abrams will remain on suspension while the company reviews the circumstances surrounding the email.
Los Angeles Times
Berlin Exhibition Breaks Taboos
Hitler
Almost every aspect of the Nazis has been covered by German museums, but a chilling new exhibition in Berlin from this week explores for the first time the personality cult of Adolf Hitler.
"Hitler and the Germans," at the German Historical Museum (DHM) from Friday until February 6, explores how the Fuehrer managed not only to win power but also how he kept it even as "total defeat" in World War II loomed.
The exhibition features a hoard of eerie Nazi artefacts like propaganda posters, busts of Hitler, a card game helping players to learn the names of top Nazis, SS cufflinks, a red swastika lampshade to Christmas tree decorations.
Other items include a Nazi-themed rug that used to adorn the wall of a town church, poster guides explaining correct usage of the Hitler salute and the Nuremberg race laws, and a record of the SA brownshirts marching song greatest hits.
Hitler
Auction Action
Lady Gaga
Fans eager to purchase unreleased Lady Gaga songs due to be auctioned online this month will be disappointed because singer bought them back.
For an undisclosed amount Lady Gaga purchased six CDs and a DVD that her first manager, Bob Leone, was selling in the auction of nearly 860 celebrity items.
Some of the items were autographed and featured unreleased songs dating back to a 2002 demo recording when Lady Gaga was the shy teenager Stefani Germanotta. Minimum bids for each were $1,000.
"She wanted to purchase them. We sent her an offer on behalf of Bob Leone. She countered and we made a deal," said Peter Siegel, co-founder of GOTTA HAVE IT! Collectibles, Inc., which is running the auction.
Lady Gaga
Sales Not As High As Expected
3-D TV
Research firm DisplaySearch says sales of 3-D TV sets have been weaker than expected this year, as 3-D content is lacking and overall TV sales in North America are slack.
DisplaySearch now expects 3.2 million 3-D TV set to be sold worldwide this year, down from a forecast of 3.4 million made less than three months ago. It is reducing its North America sales forecast even more abruptly, to "just under" 1.6 million units from more than 2 million.
In March, TV maker Samsung Electronics Co. said it expected all manufacturers to sell 3 million to 4 million 3-D capable sets in the U.S. this year.
3-D TV
First Edition Found In Charity Bin
1984
A rare first edition of George Orwell's grim totalitarian novel "1984" worth several thousand dollars has been found in a charity donation bin in Australia, reports said Thursday.
The 1949 British hardback was found at the bottom of a 200-book heap in a bin at Wollongong south of Sydney with its red dustcover still intact, said the volunteer who discovered it, Paul Hol.
Bruce Elder, a 1984 scholar, said the unusual find was a collector's dream, and he hoped it would fetch several thousand dollars at auction over the weekend.
First editions of 1984 sell for thousands of dollars, with an initial print run of just 25,000 copies by Secker and Warburg. It was published with both red and green covers, and the red is reportedly the rarer of the two.
1984
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