WASHINGTON - Employees at the Department of Veterans Affairs are working to resume normal operations as quickly as possible. Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) regional offices are re-opening their doors and resuming public contact services for Veterans today.
"With the shutdown over, we are all very grateful that the Nov. 1 benefit checks will go out to approximately 5 million Veterans and other beneficiaries as scheduled," said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. "We at VA are working quickly to resume normal operations in order to fulfill our solemn obligation - to ensure that Veterans receive the benefits and services they have earned through their service. I want to thank all of our VA employees for their dedication and resolve during this difficult period."
During the government shutdown, VA medical centers, clinics, and other health services remained open...
Mark Morford: You are all completely insufferable (SF Gate)
Do you know the one thing we've all learned from the Interweb? Everyone is awful. Every group, demographic, neighborhood, type of car, time of day, choice of outfit, weather system and coffee shop preference - despicable, shameful, embarrassing, stupid. Don't believe it? Just ask. If you dare.
HELL NO: The Sensible Horror Film (YouTube)
Imagine a realm where the most horrifying terrors of the underworld emerge to wreak bloody vengeance upon any who... hmm? what's that? you wanna go literally anywhere else? yeah, good idea let's get out of here.
Peter Max (born Peter Max Finkelstein, October 19, 1937) is a German-born American illustrator and graphic artist, known for the use of psychedelic shapes and color palettes as well as spectra in his work. At first, works in this style appeared on posters and were seen on the walls of college dorms all across America. Max then became fascinated with new printing techniques that allowed for four-color reproduction on product merchandise.
Max's art work was first identified as having been a popular part of the counter culture and psychedelic movements in graphic design during the late 1960s and early 1970s. He is known for using intense bursts of color, often containing much or all of the visible spectrum.
Sara, in Upstate New York (hillbillyville), was first, and correct, with:
That beautiful butterfly is by Peter Max!
Mona Lois Of Oregon said:
Gonna take a wild guess here and say we can blame Peter Max
for that. Them there Psychedelic Artists opened the flood
gates and let all sorts of artistic effluence come streaming
through the pipes. I myself prefer Rembrant Van Rijn and
Hans Holbein the younger, just as I prefer beer to LSD.
However, it may have led to the evolution of art's modern
classics such as "Homer Simpson on Sofa", and who can argue
with that?
STEPHEN F wrote:
Peter Max
mj responded:
The man whose posters could be found in every dorm room in the late 60
The mind-blowing Peter Maxx.
Adam answered:
Peter Max.
Charlie replied:
Since I've never really gotten over Beatlemania, I find it quite easy to recognize the work of Peter Max.
Sally said:
I remember this, it's 'Pop Art,' by Peter max.
Even though it's from my era, I don't like that psychedelic crap... (I must learn to speak my mind more...)
Tis a happy morning here, my candidate, Corey Booker won the election last night!
I am stoked! I was sweating, all day long because Lonegan was giving interviews saying things like, "Republican's vote late...'
Booker had been the frontrunner all along, but I was afraid, that like, "Dancing With the Stars," when a couple is really good, and the judges really like them, their fans don't vote because they figure they don't need to as their candidate's are ahead. Then, they are voted off and no one can figure out why!
Unfortunately, Booker has to run again next year, when Frank Lautenberg's term runs out. Hopefully, his opponent will have disappeared by then!!
I am thrilled, although he is burying his dad today - hard to celebrate his victory in this case...
Alan J took the day off.
John I from Hawai'i says,
"Peter Max."
Ellen B wrote:
Big deal in the late 60s early 70s.
Jim from CA, retired to ID, took the day off.
ilacroN ,sgnirpS dnomaiD fo elaD, replied:
Trippy Dippy Peter Max. Notice that the Life Magazine had "Sun, Fun at Work at the Nixon Retreat". Yeah old Tricky Dick at San Clemente Western White House. I pissed on his Birth house in Whittier in 1970. Epistle for Dippy! LSD for Yellow Submarine. Two Nudes…..Wow I'm having a Flashback!!!
Kevin K. in Washington, DC answered:
Peter Max! I used to imitate his work while doodling on my 8th Grade
notebooks.
Marian responded:
I'm guessing that it is the Beatles album cover for Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
MAM took the day off.
BttbBob said:
My agent sez that my contract stipulates that 'shrooms are required to be supplied well in advance in order for me to contemplate the answer to these types of questions... Sorry...
~~~~~
Born this day:
(1918-1987) This photo has always left me... um... well, you know...
(1920-1966) My vote for 'Best Eyebrows Ever"...
(1902-1973) Few women were more iconic than she was...
(1921-2007) This guy always cracked me up... somehow... someway...
And, Joe S answered:
I don't know. I'm very busy trying to establish in my own mind that I'm at least as smart as my new smart phone. I'll take a wild guess and say Alton Curtis Kelley.
CBS begins the night with a FRESH'Undercover Boss', followed by a FRESH'Hawaii Five-0', then a FRESH'Blue Bloods'.
Scheduled on a FRESHDave are Steve Young and White Denim.
Scheduled on a FRESHCraig are Rosie Perez and Nick Cobb.
NBC starts the night with a RERUN'The Michael J. Fox Show', followed by a RERUN'Sean Saves The World', then 'Dateline'.
On a RERUNLeno (from 9/5/13) are Vince Vaughn, Olivia Munn, and Vintage Trouble.
On a RERUNJimmy Fallon (from 9/13/13) are Scarlett Johansson and Drake.
On a RERUNCarson 'The Scab' Daly (from 5/23/13) are Michelle Rodriguez, Hanni El Khatib, and the Men.
ABC opens the night with a FRESH'Last Man Standing', followed by a FRESH'The Neighbors', then a FRESH'Shark Tank', followed by '20/20'.
On a RERUNJimmy Kimmel (from 10/9/13) is Kanye West.
The CW offers a RERUN'Reign', followed by a FRESH'America's Next Top Model'.
Scheduled on a FRESHArsenio Hall are Leah Remini, Nene Leakes, and Lil P-Nut.
Faux has a FRESH'MasterChef', followed by a RERUN'Sleepy Hollow'.
MY has an old 'Monk', followed by another old 'Monk'.
AMC offers the movie 'Stephen King's Silver Bullet', followed by the movie 'Cujo', and 'The Walking Dead'.
BBC -
[6:00AM] BBC WORLD NEWS
[7:00AM] BBC WORLD NEWS
[8:00AM] DOCTOR WHO - Season 2 - Ep 4 - The Girl In The Fireplace
[9:00AM] MERLIN - Season 2 - Ep 5 - Beauty and the Beast (Part 1)
[10:00AM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - Season 3 - Ep 24 - Menage a Troi
[11:00AM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - Season 3 - Ep 25 - Transfigurations
[12:00PM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - Season 3 - Ep 26 - The Best of Both Worlds (Part 1)
[1:00PM] RAMSAY'S KITCHEN NIGHTMARES UK - Season 2 - Ep 5 - Sandgate
[2:00PM] RAMSAY'S KITCHEN NIGHTMARES US - Season 5 - Ep 2 - Leone's
[3:00PM] RAMSAY'S KITCHEN NIGHTMARES UK - Season 3 - Ep 1 - La Parra de Burriana
[4:00PM] TOP GEAR - Season 3 - Episode 1
[5:00PM] TOP GEAR - Season 3 - Episode 2
[6:00PM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - Season 6 - Ep 20 - The Chase
[7:00PM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - Season 6 - Ep 21 - Frame of Mind
[8:00PM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - Season 6 - Ep 22 - Suspicions
[9:00PM] CONAN THE BARBARIAN (1982)
[11:30PM] CONAN THE BARBARIAN (1982)
[2:00AM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - Season 6 - Ep 19 - Lessons
[3:00AM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - Season 6 - Ep 20 - The Chase
[4:00AM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - Season 6 - Ep 21 - Frame of Mind
[5:00AM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - Season 6 - Ep 22 - Suspicions (ALL TIMES EST)
Bravo has the movie 'The Scorpion King', followed by the movie 'Raiders Of The Lost Ark', then the movie 'Raiders Of The Lost Ark', again.
Comedy Central has an old 'Colbert Report', an old 'Jon Stewart', 'Futurama', another 'Futurama', 'Tosh.0', another 'Tosh.0', 'Key & Peele', and another 'Key & Peele'.
FX has the movie 'Moneyball', followed by the movie 'Moneyball', again.
IFC -
[6:00AM] Cloverfield
[7:45AM] Missing in Action 2: The Beginning
[9:45AM] Hanna
[12:00PM] Cloverfield
[1:45PM] Missing in Action 2: The Beginning
[3:45PM] Hanna
[6:00PM] I Think I Love My Wife
[8:00PM] Billy Madison
[10:00PM] Comedy Bang! Bang!-Rainn Wilson Wears a Short Sleeved Plaid Shirt & Colorful Sneakers
[10:30PM] The Birthday Boys-Paychecks!
[11:00PM] Billy Madison
[1:00AM] Comedy Bang! Bang!-Rainn Wilson Wears a Short Sleeved Plaid Shirt & Colorful Sneakers
[1:30AM] The Birthday Boys-Paychecks!
[2:00AM] A Clockwork Orange
[5:00AM] Comedy Bang! Bang!-Rainn Wilson Wears a Short Sleeved Plaid Shirt & Colorful Sneakers
[5:30AM] The Birthday Boys-Paychecks! (ALL TIMES EST)
Sundance -
[6:00AM] The Writers' Room-Parks and Recreation
[6:30AM] Le Divorce
[9:00AM] In the Loop
[11:15AM] Lolita
[2:45PM] Le Divorce
[5:15PM] Wall Street
[8:00PM] Diner
[10:30PM] Fight Club
[1:30AM] The Dreamers
[4:00AM] Serial Mom (ALL TIMES EST)
SyFy has 'Being Human', followed by a FRESH'WWE Steroid SmackDown', then a FRESH'Haven'.
Katey Sagal performs at the 2013 Benefit Gala Honoring FX Networks with the Paley Prize for Innovation and Excellence on Wednesday, October 16, 2013 in Los Angeles.
Photo by Frank Micelotta
eBay Inc founder Pierre Omidyar on Wednesday said he is building an independent media organization covering news from sports to politics for mainstream readers, spearheaded by big names including ex-Guardian correspondent Glenn Greenwald.
Omidyar, the 46-year-old French-born Iranian-American who remains chairman of the e-commerce giant he founded, wrote in a blog post that he considered buying the Washington Post - which Amazon.com Inc founder Jeff Bezos eventually snapped up - but decided he wanted to build a news organization from the ground up.
Joan Van Ark attends the 2013 Benefit Gala Honoring FX Networks with the Paley Prize for Innovation and Excellence on Wednesday, October 16, 2013 in Los Angeles.
Photo by Scott Kirkland
Papers from the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., including speech outlines and letters, have brought in more than $130,000 at auction in New York City.
They were put up for sale Thursday by Maude Ballou, King's secretary from the late 1950s, through the New York office of Texas-based Heritage Auctions.
A series of handwritten notes outlining one of King's speeches was the top lot. It has sold for $31,250.
Two letters King wrote to Ballou from India sold for $18,750 and $17,500. More than 100 items were up for auction.
Kevin Nealon hosts the live auction at the reception for the 8th Annual Hilton HHonors Charitable Golf Series Finale Event on Monday, Oct. 14, 2013 in Los Angeles. The three-day event, held at the famed Riviera Country Club raised money for City of Hope, the leading research, treatment and education center for cancer, diabetes and other life-threatening diseases.
Photo by Casey Rodgers
Eleven Nobel Peace Prize winners have called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to ensure that "excessive charges of piracy" laid against 30 Greenpeace activists are dropped, Greenpeace said on Thursday.
"We are writing to ask you to do all you can to ensure that the excessive charges of piracy against the 28 Greenpeace activists, freelance photographer and freelance videographer are dropped, and that any charges brought are consistent with international and Russian law," the Nobel laureates said.
"We are confident that you share our desire to respect the right to nonviolent protest," they said in a letter released by Greenpeace.
The Nobel laureates including South African Bishop Desmond Tutu and former President of East Timor Jose Ramos Horta said that an oil spill in the Arctic would have a "catastrophic impact" on local communities.
"We, like millions of people around the world, are watching this case, eager to see Russian authorities drop the piracy charges, treat the 'Arctic 30' in accordance with international law, reaffirm the right to nonviolent protest, and rededicate efforts to protect the Arctic."
Hollywood director Michael Bay was attacked and slightly injured Thursday on the set of the fourth installment of the "Transformers" movie series currently filming in Hong Kong, police said.
A Hong Kong police spokeswoman said two brothers surnamed Mak who own a shop near the movie set approached Bay and demanded 100,000 Hong Kong dollars ($13,000).
The two men, aged 27 and 28, were arrested and face charges of blackmail, assault and assaulting police officers, she said.
Paramount Pictures gave a somewhat different account of the incident, which it said occurred on the film's first day of production in Hong Kong.
It said in a statement that a man allegedly under the influence of a narcotic substance rushed onto the set wielding an air conditioning unit and swung it at Bay's head. It said Bay ducked and wrestled the air conditioning unit away from the man.
Bolivia's President Evo Morales chews coca leaves during the anniversary ceremony of the so-called "Gas War" in El Alto, on the outskirts of La Paz, October 17, 2013. Bolivians commemorate the tenth anniversary of the violent revolt in El Alto, holding the city of La Paz under siege for one week, until then President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada resigned. The revolt came after a strong public opposition towards selling natural gas through Chilean ports.
Photo by Gaston Brito
A lobbying group for major U.S. food manufacturers has violated campaign finance laws in its attempt to block a measure that would require labeling of genetically modified foods in Washington state, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday by the state's attorney general.
State Attorney General Bob Ferguson alleges that the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) illegally collected and spent more than $7 million while shielding the identity of its contributors.
GMA, which represents some of the largest food and beverage companies in the world, has been heavily lobbying against ballot initiative 522, set for a public vote in Washington state on November 5. The measure requires labels of goods containing ingredients made from genetically engineered crops as well as labeling of genetically engineered seeds and seed products sold in the state.
GMA is the largest donor to a "No on I-522" campaign, and the Attorney General's office said that the group set up a "Defense of Brands Strategic Account" within its organization and asked members to pay assessments that would be used to oppose the GMO labeling initiative. GMA then funded opposition efforts while shielding contributors' names from public disclosure, the attorney general alleges.
More than 300 companies are listed as members on GMA's website.
A rocking chair once owned by former President John Kennedy is seen in the window of an auction house in New York, October 17, 2013. The chair is expected to fetch approximately $100,000 at an auction on November 23 in Dallas.
Photo by Carlo Allegri
The "Black Pete" tradition in the Netherlands is under fire from opponents who believe the figure is a racist caricature and who asked Amsterdam officials Thursday to revoke the permit for a popular children's festival because of it.
"Sinterklaas," the Dutch version of Santa Claus, is portrayed as a tall white man who arrives to great fanfare on Nov. 5, accompanied by dozens of clownish servants called "Zwarte Pieten" - Black Petes. These are typically white people wearing blackface makeup with red lips and curly "Afro" wigs.
The tradition is an important part of Dutch culture, but in recent years there have been growing complaints that Pete is offensive.
One of 21 people who filed formal complaints, Imro Rietveld, described growing up as the only black-skinned child in his class. Every year, he said he was subjected to a month of taunts such as "your whole family is coming over in the boat" and "can you do tricks?"
A new art piece by British graffiti artist Banksy is pictured in the Brooklyn borough of New York, October 17, 2013. Banksy has caught the attention of New York mayor Michael Bloomberg saying that graffiti ruins property. "It's a sign of decay and loss of control," local media have reported.
Photo by Carlo Allegri
The discovery of a 1.8-million-year-old skull of a human ancestor buried under a medieval Georgian village provides a vivid picture of early evolution and indicates our family tree may have fewer branches than some believe, scientists say.
The fossil is the most complete pre-human skull uncovered. With other partial remains previously found at the rural site, it gives researchers the earliest evidence of human ancestors moving out of Africa and spreading north to the rest of the world, according to a study published Thursday in the journal Science.
The skull and other remains offer a glimpse of a population of pre-humans of various sizes living at the same time - something that scientists had not seen before for such an ancient era. This diversity bolsters one of two competing theories about the way our early ancestors evolved, spreading out more like a tree than a bush.
Nearly all of the previous pre-human discoveries have been fragmented bones, scattered over time and locations - like a smattering of random tweets of our evolutionary history. The findings at Dmanisi are more complete, weaving more of a short story. Before the site was found, the movement from Africa was put at about 1 million years ago.
This undated image provided by the New York Public Library shows a drawing of Whoopi Goldberg by caricaturist Al Hirschfeld, for a poster of her 1984 one-woman Broadway show. It is part of a new exhibition on Hirschfeld, "The Line King's Library," which opens at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center on Thursday, Oct. 17, 2013.
The Smithsonian National Zoo's panda cam began operating again this morning, but that doesn't mean you'll get to watch Mei Xiang's 8-week-old cub stretch and wriggle about.
"The panda cam went live at 10:36 this morning I believe," said Devin Murphy, communications officer at the zoo in Washington, D.C. "Within 10 minutes we had reached the maximum number of connections that we can accommodate for the panda cam, so we've been troubleshooting those issues throughout the day."
A maximum of 850 visitors at any one time can connect to the panda cam, Murphy told LiveScience. To help ease the cam deluge, zoo officials have set the connections in a way that allows visitors to sit and watch for just 15 minutes before they have to refresh or the connection is lost.
A workaround? Check out the Smithsonian Zoo's app, which streams the panda cam uninterrupted, Murphy said.
Kumar Pallana, an Indian character actor with small parts in movies such as "The Terminal" and "The Royal Tennenbaums," died suddenly Oct. 10 at the home he shared with his son in Oakland. He was 94.
"He lived life to the fullest," said his daughter Sandhya Pallana of Dallas, who confirmed the death to The Associated Press. "It was really wonderful how well he was received and how well he was liked and that people appreciated his unique and creative style."
Pallana was a yoga instructor living in Dallas when in the mid-1990s he met Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson, who were working on their breakout movie "Bottle Rocket," the Los Angeles Times reported. They cast Pallana as a bumbling safe cracker.
His thick accent and diminutive stature combined to help him steal scenes and earned him parts in more films, including three more directed by Anderson and one by Steven Spielberg.
Sandhya Pallana said her father had been in good health, but collapsed while getting ready to play bridge with friends. He was making plans to travel to Dallas to see his first grandchild, whom she adopted earlier this month in India.
Kumar Pallana was born Dec. 23, 1918, in Indore in central India. His father lost his lucrative car dealership when Pallana's brother was arrested for aiding in the fight against British colonial rule.
Pallana dropped out of high school with the goal of becoming an actor, but he could not get seen at the studios in Bombay.
He trained as an acrobat and plate spinner, touring festivals in India and Africa performing balancing acts. In 1946 he came to the U.S. as the act Kumar of India.
Eventually he opened a yoga studio above his son's Cosmic Cup coffee shop in Dallas, where the chance meeting with Anderson and Wilson helped to fulfil his dream of becoming an actor.
Ed Lauter, 74, a character actor who carved out a niche in the 1970s playing mostly heavies in movies and TV and kept up a busy schedule in recent years with appearances in Clint Eastwood's "Trouble With the Curve" and Oscar winner "The Artist," died Wednesday at his home in Los Angeles of mesothelioma, a form of cancer that affects tissue surrounding internal organs. Family spokesman Edward Lozzi announced his death.
"A lot of people say, 'I know you,' but they don't know my name," Lauter told The Times in 2012. "But I've had a great run."
Edward Matthew Lauter was born Oct. 30, 1938, in Long Beach on New York's Long Island. He graduated from what was called the C.W. Post campus of Long Island University, where he majored in English and played basketball.
He studied acting and worked as a stand-up comic before landing a small part in the 1968 Broadway production of the boxing drama "The Great White Hope."
Stuffed copulating tortoises are displayed at the exhibition "Sex and Evolution" at the Natural History museum in the western city of Muenster October 17, 2013. The exhibition, which features animals mating and examines how sex in the plant and animal kingdoms plays the main role in evolution, runs from October 11 until October 19, 2014.
Photo by Ina Fassbender
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