Recommended Reading
from Bruce
HAMILTON NOLAN: The Disastrous, Watery Future of South Florida (Gawker)
Barring a huge public works project the likes of which the world has never seen, south Florida is doomed. Its end will come not from Bugs Bunny wielding a saw, but from the gentle lapping of waves higher and higher upon the shore.
Hamilton Nolan: Verily, [Tree] Nuts are the Food of the Gods (Gawker)
Let me put this medical mumbo-jumbo in terms that the average person can understand: you drop whatever it is you're holding in your hand right now, even if it is an infant, and you go and fill those hands with your choice of delicious nuts, and you eat those god damn nuts as if your life depended on it, because it does.
Hamilton Nolan: The Simple Path to a Living Wage at Walmart (Gawker)
Demos estimates that if Walmart had dedicated last year's share repurchasing money to worker wages, it could have ensured that all employees working 32 hours or more per week made at least $25K per year.
Tom Danehy: More folly from the Arizona Interscholastic Association (Tucson Weekly)
As the varsity kids are warming up, my friend goes over to ask whether the JV kids can sit on the bench during the game. He is told by an AIA official that not only can they not sit on the bench, but that they must exit the building, go around to the other door and pay $6 each to get in to watch the game. (The AIA charges up to $10 for adults at some state tournament events.) The money was paid and the kids got to watch the game.
Rebecca Nicholson: "Cher: 'Women have always been sex objects and always will be'" (Guardian)
After five decades in show business, Cher is funnier and more outspoken than ever. She talks about Miley Cyrus, America's lurch to the right - and whether Dalí really gave her a vibrator.
Andrew Pulver: Gravity and other films that changed Hollywood for ever (Guardian)
Gravity is a game-changer that makes a swath of films seem redundant. Here are seven earlier movies that broke the mould - and one that didn't.
Meredith Woerner: How Catching Fire transformed Peeta from Wuss to Blood Covered Bad Ass (io9)
Peeta Mellark didn't get much to do in the first Hunger Games movie - so how do you make him cool enough to deserve Katniss Everdeen? We spoke with Catching Fire director Francis Lawrence about the many ways he decided to "expand" the the second chapter in the Hunger Games series. Including upgrading Peeta from baby baker to badass Hunger Games victor. Spoilers ahead...
Krampus (Wikipedia)
Krampus is a beast-like creature from the folklore of Alpine countries thought to punish children during the Yule season who had misbehaved, in contrast with Saint Nicholas, who rewards well-behaved ones with gifts. Krampus is said to capture particularly naughty children in his sack and carry them away to his lair.
Kos_Kun: This Morning in the Tube (Imgur)
Photo of Krampus communting to work in Vienna, Austria.
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Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
PURPLE GENE MINI REVIEW
"THE BALLAD OF CABLE HOGUE"
(MY FAVORITE JASON ROBARDS MOVIE)
(SAM PECKINPAH'S..FAVORITE MOVIE)
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Rainy day, cold night.
Protest WH Press Access Limits
News Media
Dozens of leading news organizations protested to the White House on Thursday against restrictions that sometimes keep journalists from taking pictures and video of President Barack Obama performing official duties. At the same time, two press groups urged their members to stop using official photos and video handed out by the White House, dismissing them as little more than "government propaganda."
The news organizations' letter to White House press secretary Jay Carney detailed a number of recent examples in which photographers weren't allowed to cover presidential events that were deemed "private" by administration officials - even though the White House indicated their newsworthiness by releasing its own photos of the same events.
"As surely as if they were placing a hand over a journalist's camera lens, officials in this administration are blocking the public from having an independent view of important functions of the executive branch of government," the letter states, adding that the restrictions imposed by the Obama White House represent a major break from the practices of past administrations.
In addition to the AP, those signing the coalition letter were ABC News, Agence France-Presse, American Society of News Editors, American Society of Media Photographers, Associated Press Media Editors, Associated Press Photo Managers, Association of Alternative Newsmedia, Association of Opinion Journalists, Bloomberg News, CBS News, CNN, Dow Jones & Company, Inc., Fox News Channel, Gannett Co., Inc., Getty Images, Lee Enterprises, Incorporated, The McClatchy Company, McClatchy-Tribune Information Services, National Press Club, National Press Photographers Association, NBC News, New England First Amendment Coalition, News Media Coalition, Newspaper Association of America, The New York Times Company, Online News Association, Professional Photographers of America, Radio Television Digital News Association, Regional Reporters Association, The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, Reuters, Society of Professional Journalists, Tribune Company, The Washington Post, White House Correspondents' Association, White House News Photographers Association, Yahoo Inc.
News Media
Foundation Donation
Leonardo DiCpario
Leonardo DiCaprio wants to help the tiger population of Nepal.
His Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation has awarded $3 million in grants to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to work with the Nepal government on protecting the animals.
In a statement Wednesday, the actor and activist said he's "hopeful" the money will help "exceed the goal" of doubling the tiger population that exists in Nepal now.
The money will help build up anti-poaching patrols and protect and restore areas for them to breed and expand.
Leonardo DiCpario
Marks 50 Years
'Doctor Who'
Fans of the time-travel series "Doctor Who" know the long-running British adventure saga is all about regeneration.
The quirky sci-fi smash centres on an ancient alien hero who has been revived from near-death no less than 10 times, assuming a new body, with a new personality each time.
And so it's perhaps fitting that the offbeat show has survived its own multiple near-deaths to celebrate its 50th anniversary this weekend, with a blitz of special broadcasts on Space to mark the milestone.
Over the past half-century, "Doctor Who" evolved from a curious genre experiment into a global phenomenon, introducing along the way such otherworldly technologies as the Doctor's all-servicing Sonic Screwdriver, a talking robot dog named K-9 and of course the flying TARDIS spaceship, bearing an awkward name that stands for Time and Relative Dimension in Space.
Then there are the slew of bizarre TV villains who ingrained themselves as deeply as the Doctor himself, including the war-mongering Daleks and their unison cries to "Exterminate!", the emotionless Cybermen, and a rival Time Lord known simply as The Master.
'Doctor Who'
Check out today's Google Doodle.
Hospital News
John Prine
Country singer-songwriter John Prine says he's been diagnosed with an operable form of lung cancer.
A note on the 67-year-old Prine's website says he will undergo surgery next month, forcing the postponement of two dates in Louisville, Ky. Prine says in the note that doctors found the cancer early and "see no reason why I won't fully recover." The cancer is not related to the squamous cell cancer on his neck for which he was treated in the mid-1990s. Prine's management confirmed the details of the post.
The "Angel from Montgomery" singer postponed dates in Wisconsin earlier this month due to illness. Those concerts and two scheduled for next month in Louisville will be pushed to 2014. Prine will still play Dec. 6-7 dates in North Carolina.
John Prine
Fire Destroys Another Art House
Detroit
A fire early Thursday destroyed another house that makes up the Heidelberg Project outdoor art installation in Detroit.
Arson investigators were at the scene of "Penny House" on the city's east side. Fire Capt. Charles Simms told TheDetroit News they plan to contact a person of interest Thursday. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was being asked for assistance, he said.
Earlier this month, the "House of Soul" at the Heidelberg Project was destroyed by fire and project officials announced plans for security cameras and other measures. Last month, a fire burned the project's "Obstruction of Justice House" a second time this year.
Tyree Guyton is the creator of the Heidelberg Project. The artist transformed his decaying, crime-ridden neighborhood into an interactive sculpture park.
Detroit
SF Bans Tour Buses
'Full House'
San Francisco officials have banned tour buses in a neighborhood that has become a major tourist draw for a set of Victorian homes featured in the opening credits to the 1980s and '90s television show, "Full House."
The Municipal Transportation Agency's Board of Directorsvoted 5-0 on Tuesday to ban the buses from a 25-square-block area around and including Alamo Square Park, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. The park is across the street from some of the most colorful, iconic examples of homes known as "Painted Ladies."
Residents have complained that the buses, which they estimate at more than 50 a day during the peak season, double-park, block driveways and sideswipe parked cars.
City officials previously passed a noise law that requires tour guides to speak so their voices cannot be heard from more than 50 feet away.
'Full House'
Comic Artwork Withdrawn From Auction
"Superman's Mission for President Kennedy"
An auction house has withdrawn from sale the original artwork for a 1964 Superman comic book featuring President John F. Kennedy.
Heritage Auctions had hoped to sell the artwork Friday in California for an estimated $50,000. But its creator sued the Dallas-based firm Tuesday, seeking to disclose the seller's name.
Illustrator Al Plastino of Shirley, N.Y., believed "Superman's Mission for President Kennedy" had been donated to Boston's Kennedy Library decades ago. But last month he spotted it at New York Comic Con, where Heritage was exhibiting it.
Heritage says the seller purchased it at auction in 1993.
Plastino's attorney says DC Comics told his client the work would be donated to the library. The attorney says he believes it was stolen before that could happen.
"Superman's Mission for President Kennedy"
Links First Americans to Europe and Western Asia
DNA
Although it's generally accepted that the First Americans migrated from Siberia, roughly 14-15 thousands years ago, it's still not exactly clear to which 'Old World' population they can trace their genetic roots. Now, new DNA evidence from two ancient skeletons found in Siberia suggest that they may be closely linked to western Eurasia.
Studies have found that modern day Native Americans have genetic ties to both East Asia and western Eurasia (collectively Europe and Western Asia), however it's commonly thought that the western Eurasian ties came fairly recently - after European expeditions crossed the Atlantic and 'discovered' the New World. A study of DNA samples from two skeletons unearthed in south-central Siberia, one dated at 24,000 years old and another at 17,000 years, have questioned those assumptions, though. The researchers found that both have very similar genetic lineage to each other, and both show genetic links to both modern day Eurasians and to Native Americans, but no close link to East Asians. They also estimate that modern day Native Americans have between 14 and 38 percent of their genetic ancestry from these ancient people.
Until now, there's been a common assumption that ancient peoples trekked from Eurasia into East Asia, and then migrated north from there into Siberia and across the Beringia land bridge to Alaska. However, with no close genetic link to East Asia, according to the researchers, this suggests "that populations related to contemporary western Eurasians had a more north-easterly distribution 24,000 years ago than commonly thought."
Dr. Kelly Graf, who is one of the co-authors of the study, talks about the findings in this video from Texas A&M University.
DNA
1893 Recording Up For Auction
"Mama's Black Baby Boy"
One of two copies of the oldest known recording of a black vocal group in the U.S. is up for auction - a recording so rare and delicate that the auctioneer doesn't dare try to play it.
The 1893 recording of "Mama's Black Baby Boy" by the Unique Quartet pre-dates vinyl recordings. The song was recorded on a wax-covered cylinder using technology invented by Thomas Edison. It can only be played on a special cylinder player that was a predecessor to phonographs, which played flat, vinyl discs, said Troy Thibodeau, manager of Saco River Auction Co.
The 120-year-old recording, along with a second Unique Quartet song, "Who Broke the Lock (on the Henhouse Door)?" from 1896, came from a Portland collector who amassed 3,000 of the old cylinder recordings.
There are so few cylinders that have the historical significance of the Unique Quarter recordings that it's hard to know how much they might sell for. An appraiser believes they'll go for $25,000 or more - apiece.
"Mama's Black Baby Boy"
To Auction
Rare Comics
Comic book collector and industry legend Maggie Thompson of Wisconsin has decided to put some 500 pieces of her personal collection up for auction over the next few months. The first wave alone includes the first issue of "The Avengers," ''Journey Into Mystery" No. 83, which features the first appearance of Thor, the first issue of "The Incredible Hulk" and the original cover art for the fourth issue of "Conan the Barbarian."
News of the auction has comic lovers' wallets tingling. The books are in exceptional condition; auctioneers expect the total collection could fetch $1 million by the time sales wrap up next year.
Comic book collections going for $1 million aren't unheard of, said J.C. Vaughn, vice president of publishing for Gemstone Publishing, which produces a comic book pricing guide. But it's rare to find books from such a respected collector and in such good condition, he said.
Thompson, 70, has been collecting comic books since she was a girl in the 1940s. She married another comic book collector, Don Thompson, in 1962. Twenty years later they left Ohio, where Don Thompson had worked as a reporter, for Wisconsin to take over editing duties for an industry magazine, Comics Buyer's Guide.
They spent years working on the magazine. It grew into a paper-and-ink equivalent of a Facebook page, connecting comic fans, distributors, writers and artists across the country.
Rare Comics
TS Eliot's Widow
Valerie Eliot
A trove of artwork collected by poet T.S. Eliot's widow has sold for more than 7 million pounds ($11.3 million) at auction.
Valerie Eliot, who died last November aged 86, bought the artworks with royalties from the hit Andrew Lloyd Webber musical "Cats," which was based on her husband's volume of light verse "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats."
The collection auctioned Wednesday in London by Christie's included drawings and watercolours by 18th- and 19th-century British artists and sculptors including Francis Bacon, Lucian Freud, and David Hockney.
Proceeds from the auction will go to Old Possum's Practical Trust, an arts charity Valerie Eliot set up.
Valerie Eliot
In Memory
Sylvia Browne
Sylvia Browne once said she was just 3 when she discovered she could look into the future and know what was coming.
For the next 74 years, Browne claimed to do just that, predicting who would win elections, which celebrities would be getting married, splitting up or having babies, and whether people who had disappeared were alive or dead.
Sometimes she got it right and sometimes not. Among the predictions that misfired was one she made to talk-show host Larry King in 2003 that she would live to be 88.
Browne was 77 when she died Wednesday at Good Samaritan Hospital in San Jose. The cause of death was not disclosed.
Browne is survived by her husband, Michael Ulery; her son and fellow psychic, Christopher Dufresne; another son, Paul Dufresne; her sister, Sharon Bortolussi; and three grandchildren.
Sylvia Browne
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