Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Tom Danehy: When politicians talk about redistricting, disingenuous things come out of their mouths (Tucson Weekly)
Disingenuous (Adj.)-Not candid or sincere, typically by pretending that one knows less about something than one really does.
Mark Morford: Hurry up, get more done, and die (SF Gate)
Your terrifying word of the day is "microtasking" and it comes by way of a relatively humble, ostensibly helpful article I read via one of those perky little DIY blogs that exist to tell you a million ways to tweak and hack your entire existence to gain maximum productivity, efficiency and improved overall time management, because, well, if that's not the true meaning of this manic American life, what is?
Robert P. Watson, Ph.D.: The Obama Record
As a presidential historian … I have been struck by claims being put forward by Obama's many critics and the news media that he has accomplished little when, in fact, his presidency is easily one of the most active in history. As such, with all the misinformation circulating on talk radio, at town hall meetings, and in the blogosphere about the President, here is a fact-checked list of some of President Obama's initiatives.
Andrew Tobias: 9-9-9
The numbers are in. Based on a just-released analysis by the Tax Policy Center, the lowest-income fifth of Americans would pay $1,854 more in federal tax each year under Republican front-runner Herman Cain's 9-9-9 plan; the middle fifth would pay $4,330 more; but the fifth with the highest income would pay $14,442 less. Meanwhile, those of us in the top 1% would save, on average, $238,422 on our taxes each year and the top tenth of a percent would see average annual savings of $1,356,078.
Paul Krugman's Blog: Adventures In Credibility (New York Times)
Here's a suggestion for the GOP: why not rely instead on diviners who examine the entrails of sacrificed rams? It would improve your credibility.
SCOTT BEALE: 'Word as Image' by Ji Lee, Creating an Image Out of a Word Using Only Letters From That Word (Laughing Squid)
'Word as Image' is a new book by Ji Lee where he attempted the following:
Challenge: Create an image out of a word, using only the letters in the word itself.
Rule: Use only the graphic elements of the letters without adding outside parts.
Jacopo della Quercia , Maxwell Yezpitelok, M. Asher Cantrell: 7 Classic Movies You Didn't Know Were Rip-Offs (Cracked)
Hey, Hollywood, we get that it's hard to come up with new ideas. Especially when you've gotten really good at improving on the original. But it's one thing to purposefully remake a dud into a classic -- it's another to pretend you're the one who came up with the idea in the first place. How would you like it if we said we invented anorexia and scientifically impossible explosions, huh Hollywood?
Nicholas Lezard: How could they do this to Tintin? (Guardian)
Hergé's comic-book hero is one of the great creations of the 20th century. Which makes Spielberg's film version little more than murder, says one lifelong Tintin fan.
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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Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Reader Comment
Santorum and SNL
So, I see that "Ricky Boy" Santorum has now gone after the not-ready-for-prime-time crew on 'SNL' for a sketch showing him in a gay bar.
Ricky Boy, if I were you I would be very careful in regard to going after 'SNL'; after all, just for fun, they may come back at you with either A) a sketch showing you in bed, humping a Doberman Pinscher "and I don't mean the two-legged Doberman you call your wife", or B) a sketch showing your little daughter crying while in a compromising position with her father, if you ken my meanin'.
Just though I would contribute something for the weekend, as I am having to transition my cable service from that offered by the apartment building where I live, which is being phased out, to service from a certain big cable provider which just took over a certain television network. However, as part of my new service, I'll get to watch a certain cable news channel which has a show featuring the lovely and talented Rachel Maddow.
Keep swinging the hammer, Marty!
George M
Thanks, George!
Reader Comment
Re: Michelle in Arizona
For Michelle in Arizona's Who does God want in the White House? - CNN.com
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Another mainre layer - sun finally popped out around 3.
Visitng Leno Tuesday
Obama
President Obama will have a late night chat with Jay Leno on "The Tonight Show" next week.
White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer says in a tweet that Obama will be on the show Tuesday. Obama will be traveling on the West Coast next week, raising money for his re-election bid and trying to boost public support for his jobs bill.
This will be Obama's fourth time on Leno's show. He made two appearances as a presidential candidate. His last appearance was in March 2009, shortly after taking office.
NBC, which airs Leno's show, said at the time that Obama was the first sitting president ever to appear on "The Tonight Show."
Obama
NPR Fires Freelancer
Lisa Simeone
A freelance radio host was fired from a documentary program that airs on NPR affiliates after she became a spokeswoman for a Washington protest because her producers believed she violated the public radio network's code of ethics, the host said Thursday.
Lisa Simeone of Baltimore said she was fired the previous evening from "Soundprint," a music documentary show that isn't produced by NPR but is aired by its affiliates across the country. She said the head of Soundprint Media Center Inc., which produces the show, read NPR's code of ethics to her before she was fired.
NPR also questioned Simeone's involvement in the "Occupy D.C." protest and said its ethics code applies to the shows it carries. But NPR also said Simeone doesn't work for the radio network, and it hadn't pressured Soundprint to fire her.
Simeone also hosts "World of Opera," a show produced by North Carolina-based music and arts station WDAV. That program is distributed by NPR. She said that station is supporting her so far.
"I don't cover news. In none of the shows that I do, do I cover the news," she said. "What is NPR afraid I'll do? Insert a seditious comment into a synopsis of 'Madame Butterfly?'"
Lisa Simeone
Initiative To Aid Artists
Doris Duke Charitable Foundation
The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation will award $50 million over 10 years to more than 200 performing artists under a new nationwide initiative.
The foundation announced Thursday that it will give out flexible, multi-year cash awards of up to $275,000.
The artists will be from the fields of jazz, theater and contemporary dance.
The artists cannot apply for the funds. They will be chosen through an anonymous peer-review process.
Doris Duke Charitable Foundation
Launching Search Engine
MC Hammer
Looking to buy a pair or two of parachute pants online? We have the search engine for you -- but you'll have to wait a bit for it.
TechCrunch reports that "U Can't Touch This" rapper MC Hammer dropped in at the Web 2.0 Summit Wednesday to tell a bewildered crowd that he's getting into the search-engine business.
Yup, that's right -- Hammer's taking on Google.
"Why create another search engine?" Hammer -- born Stanley Kirk Burrell -- asked the Web 2.0 crowd, by way of explanation. "Well, what if Sergey and Larry had not tried?"
Besides, Hammer explained, WireDoo will be a different kind of search engine, one that will allow users to search relational terms -- search for a particular school name, and you'll also receive, for example, the school's truancy rate.
MC Hammer
Victims Get Access To Evidence
Rupert
Like all good tabloid tales, the News of the World saga is a scandal that keeps on giving.
British investigators have spent months sharing thousands of pages of seized evidence with hundreds of suspected targets of alleged phone hacking by the now-defunct newspaper.
The problem for Rupert Murdoch's UK-based News International, which published the newspaper, is that each session with probable victims could trigger new revelations and new lawsuits, including possible litigation in U.S. courts.
"Most of the people who are informed by police that their phones have been hacked will sue for invasion of their privacy," said Geoffrey Robertson, one of Britain's most prominent human rights lawyers. "Some celebrities are upset that they're not on the list so far and are waiting with impatience to be informed by Scotland Yard."
The main evidence, say victims of the hacking and lawyers representing them, consists of 11,000 pages of handwritten notes made by a private detective who was paid an annual retainer by the shuttered tabloid. The notes, several people who have seen the evidence said, contain names of suspected hacking targets, phone numbers with which they were associated and names of possible associates of the targets.
Rupert
Sues Paramount For $20 Million
John Singleton
Director and producer John Singleton is suing Paramount Pictures and MTV Films for at least $20 million, claiming fraud and breach of contract.
In a complaint filed Wednesday in Los Angeles, Singleton claims the studios failed to uphold an agreement connected with the distribution rights to 2005's "Hustle & Flow." The lawsuit claims the studios promised to finance and distribute two future Singleton productions within five years but added restrictions when he submitted the projects.
Paramount said in a statement Wednesday that it "was hoping that John Singleton would produce two more pictures before his agreement with our studio ended in 2010, but that did not happen. Instead, he went on to direct 'Abduction' for Lions Gate."
Singleton is demanding a jury trial. Paramount says the suit has no merit.
John Singleton
Pleads Guilty
Cameron Douglas
Michael Douglas' imprisoned son pleaded guilty to a new drug charge Thursday, admitting that he managed to get drugs in prison even while he was cooperating with the government in a drug investigation.
Cameron Douglas, 32, pleaded guilty to a narcotics possession charge, saying: "God knows I'm sorry about this situation." Although the charge carries the potential for a 20-year prison term, a plea deal with prosecutors recommended Douglas serve between a year and 1˝ years in prison. His sentencing was set for Dec. 21.
Michael Douglas, who was not in court, said in a statement that his son's offense involved a small user-quantity of drugs.
The plea came just two weeks after Cameron Douglas testified as a government witness against a co-defendant facing drug charges. The testimony was part of the cooperation he promised when he was sentenced to five years in prison after his arrest in July 2009 for dealing methamphetamine from a high-end Manhattan hotel.
Cameron Douglas
Blows Day 1
Lindsay Lohan
Lindsay Lohan arrived late to her first day of community service at the county morgue Thursday and was turned away, another hiccup in the actress' effort to prove to a judge that she is complying with terms of her probation.
Lohan had been told to arrive at 8 a.m. for an orientation session but arrived 40 minutes late, spokesman Craig Harvey said. The actress was told to try again on Friday, but will have to arrive at 7 a.m., he said.
The "Mean Girls" star's tardy arrival at the morgue came a day after she was scolded by a judge for being terminated from a community service assignment at a women's shelter. The hearing ended with Lohan's probation being revoked and her being led from court in handcuffs.
She later posted $100,000 bail and was released.
She remains on probation for a pair of drunken driving arrests in 2007 and a misdemeanor theft case filed earlier this year after she was accused of taking a $2,500 necklace without permission. She pleaded no contest in that theft case.
Lindsay Lohan
Pulitzer Prize Winner Sued by Bx-Marine
Steve Fainaru
Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post reporter Steve Fainaru is being sued by a former Marine turned private security firm staffer in Iraq, claiming that Fainaru made untrue and totally mean claims about him in his book "Big Boys Rule: America's Mercenaries Fighting in Iraq."
In the suit, Jacob Washbourne -- who transitioned from the Marines to Triple Canopy, a private security firm providing services in Iraq -- claims that he's painted as a psycho, an incompetent and a drunk in the book.
Among the characterizations in the book that Washbourne takes exception to: That he "had a callous and indifferent attitude toward killing people," that he "arbitrarily discharged firearms at Iraqi civilians without adequately assessing whether such individuals were an actual safety threat," and that he routinely missed briefings he was supposed to conduct because he was "sleeping off the previous night's binge."
The suit, which claims defamation, invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress, is seeking actual and punitive damages of $75,000, plus interest and attorney's fees.
Steve Fainaru
Artists Sue Auction Houses
Royalties
Famed New York painter Chuck Close and other artists are suing Sotheby's, Christie's and eBay, contending the auctioneers willfully violated a California law requiring royalty payments on sales of their works.
The three federal suits filed Tuesday seek class-action status to represent many other artists and demand unspecified royalties and damages - which could total hundreds of thousands of dollars given current art prices.
The suits were filed on behalf of Close - best known for his enormous photorealistic paintings - along with Los Angeles artist Laddie John Dill, and the estate of late sculptor Robert Graham. Graham's works include the ceremonial gate for the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum that was commissioned for the 1984 Olympics and features nude statues modeled on some of the athletes.
A foundation of late California painter Sam Francis also is named as a plaintiff in the suits against Christie's and eBay Inc.
Royalties
Cable Nielsens
Ratings
Rankings for the top 15 programs on cable networks as compiled by Nielsen for the week of Oct. 10-16. Day and start time (EDT) are in parentheses:
1. NFL Football: Miami at N.Y. Jets (Monday, 8:30 p.m.), 11.76 million homes, 16.37 million viewers.
2. "Jersey Shore" (Thursday, 10 p.m.), MTV, 4.68 million homes, 6.47 million viewers.
3. "Walking Dead" (Sunday, 9 p.m.), AMC, 4.54 million homes, 7.25 million viewers.
4. MLB National League Championship Series: Milwaukee at St. Louis (Thursday, 7:57 p.m.), TBS, 4.26 million homes, 5.65 million viewers.
5. MLB National League Championship Series: St. Louis at Milwaukee (Sunday, 7:57 p.m.), TBS, 4.12 million homes, 5.93 million viewers.
6. MLB National League Championship Series: Milwaukee at St. Louis (Friday, 7:57 p.m.), TNT, 3.9 million homes, 5.46 million viewers.
7. College Football: Michigan at Michigan St. (Saturday, 12:01 p.m.), ESPN, 3.76 million homes, 4.77 million viewers.
8. "Sportscenter" (Monday, 11:49 p.m.), ESPN, 3.7 million homes, 4.65 million viewers.
9. "WWE Raw" (Monday, 9 p.m.), USA, 3.46 million homes, 5.37 million viewers.
10. MLB National League Championship Series: Milwaukee at St. Louis (Wednesday, 7:59 p.m.), TBS, 3.17 million homes, 4.28 million viewers.
11. "NCIS" (Wednesday, 8 p.m.), USA, 3.12 million homes, 4.25 million viewers.
12. "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" (Monday, 9 p.m.), E! Entertainment, 3 million homes, 3.97 million viewers.
13. "WWE Raw" (Monday, 10 p.m.), USA, 2.99 million homes, 4.66 million viewers.
14. College Football: Arizona at Oregon (Saturday, 10:26 p.m.), ESPN, 2.86 million homes, 3.86 million viewers.
15. "Real Housewives of New Jersey" (Sunday, 10 p.m.), Bravo, 2.8 million homes, 3.44 million viewers.
Ratings
In Memory
Barry Feinstein
Photographer Barry Feinstein, who captured behind-the-scenes images from rock's golden age and shot iconic album covers for Bob Dylan and George Harrison, died in upstate New York on Thursday. He was 80.
Agent Dave Brolan said Feinstein, who lived in Woodstock, suffered various ailments and was hospitalized with an infection.
Feinstein's best known images include the picture of a skinny, side-glancing Dylan on the cover of 1964's "The Times They Are A-Changin'" and of Harrison sitting among garden gnomes on his 1970 solo album, "All Things Must Pass." But Feinstein had varied experiences that ranged from working as an assistant at Columbia Pictures, photographing Hollywood stars like Steve McQueen and Judy Garland and later shooting rock royalty of the 1960s and 1970s. He also made films.
Feinstein was friends with Dylan's early manager Albert Grossman. Brolan said the photographer got to know the rising music star on a long ride from Denver to New York to deliver a Rolls Royce to Grossman.
Feinstein's pictures gave an insider's view of Dylan's world. One well-known shot shows Dylan, with dark sunglasses and cigarette, in the back seat of a limousine with fans pressing their faces against the window.
Feinstein branched out to other rock work, shooting album covers for Janis Joplin's "Pearl" and for Eric Clapton, among many others. Despite his proximity to big stars, Brolan said Feinstein never betrayed their confidence.
"Hollywood Foto-Rhetoric," a book of Feinstein's evocative old Hollywood pictures and poems Dylan wrote in the early 1960s to accompany the images, was published in 2008.
Feinstein's still photographs were used in Martin Scorsese's documentaries on Dylan and Harrison.
He is survived by wife Judith Jamieson and two children from previous marriages.
Barry Feinstein
In Memory
Denny Hall
Cinematographer Denny Hall, who had worked on TV productions since the late 1980s, died Thursday morning in New Orleans, after suffering a heart attack while on location for the upcoming USA Network drama "Common Law."
Hall experienced chest pains while in his hotel room, and an operator called paramedics, who were unable to revive him. A USA representative confirms his death to TheWrap. The news was first reported by The Hollywood Reporter.
The 54-year-old member of the International Cinematographers Guild began his Hollywood career as a camera operator on shows like "Diagnosis Murder" and "Beverly Hills 90210."
In the last decade he had worked as the director of photography on "Bones," "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip," "Big Shots," "Eli Stone," "The Cleaner," "Eastwick," "Burn Notice" and "The Lying Game."
"Common Law," which was ordered to series in July by USA, stars Michael Ealy and Warren Kole as police partners who bicker, and are sent by their boss to couples therapy.
Denny Hall
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