Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Tom Danehy: Tom on gay people at Thanksgiving, WMDs, silly teenagers and airport pat-downs. (Tucson Weekly)
I have a few things to get off my chest: …
Arthur Delaney: "Unemployment Extension: Laid-Off Single Mom 'Trying Not To Freak Out'" (Huffington Post)
Marie Roth said she fell behind on house payments when Congress spent nearly two months dithering over a reauthorization of extended unemployment benefits last summer. Now that lawmakers are dithering again, she's worried she'll lose the house.
Paul Krugman: Destroying Retirement In Order To Save It (New York Times)
I think it is worth pointing out that like so many proposals from that side of the political spectrum - for this is, very much, bipartisanship as a compromise between the center-right and the hard right - this one involves a fundamental piece of strange logic. Namely, it argues that in order to head off the dire prospect of future cuts in Social Security benefits, we must … cut future Social Security benefits.
Susan Estrich: Entrapment (Creators Syndicate)
Defenders of Mohamed Osman Mohamud are already arguing to the press that he was set up and in court that he was entrapped. Every state recognizes a defense that argues a defendant was "entrapped," but most of them define it narrowly, as do the federal courts.
Andrew Tobias: Daily Comment
As maddeningly difficult as the Republicans have made it, and as angry and disappointed as so many people are . . . there is actually quite a lot to feel pretty good about as the second year of the Obama presidency winds down.
GARDINER HARRIS and WILLIAM NEUMAN: Senate Passes Sweeping Law on Food Safety (New York Times)
The Senate passed a sweeping overhaul of the nation's food safety system on Tuesday, after tainted eggs, peanut butter and spinach sickened thousands of people in the last few years and led major food makers to join consumer advocates in demanding stronger government oversight.
Bethany McLean: A Financial Party Platter (Slate)
Nine economic thoughts to nibble on as you recover from Thanksgiving dinner.
Annie Lowrey: Kardashian Kard Killed! (Slate)
Facing public outrage, the Kardashians cancel their especially sleazy prepaid debit card.
Jim Hightower: Hello, Vietnam!
Several of America's top high-tech giants are now breaking with conventional thinking on the offshoring of their factories and jobs, asking a heretofore unthinkable question: "Who needs China?"
The wonder of winter (Guardian)
Winter is not an ordeal but a time of endless pleasures - the first snowfall, the smell of wood smoke and a sky bright with stars. Phil Daoust toasts his favourite season.
The Killing of Crazy Horse
Thomas Powers investigates the life, death, and afterlife of the myth-enshrouded Sioux hero. Matthew Battles reviews.
Onnesha Roychoudhuri: Books After Amazon (Boston Review)
The man sitting next to me takes out his new Kindle. "How do you like that thing?" I ask. He instantly becomes animated, angling the Kindle toward me so that I can better see its face. "It's great," he says. "I can download tons of different books and magazines." Then, eyeing my hefty, hardback of John Dos Passos's USA trilogy, he adds, "Cheaper than that, too. $9.99."
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," "Religious Anecdotes," and "Maximum Cool."
The Weekly Poll
Current Question
The 'Wiki-Humpty Dumpty' Edition...
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Monday the leak of hundreds of thousands of secret diplomatic documents is an attack not only on the United States but also the international community...
"This disclosure is not just an attack on America's foreign policy interests," Clinton said. "It is an attack on the international community: the alliances and partnerships, the conversations and negotiations that safeguard global security and advance economic prosperity." ..."It puts people's lives in danger, threatens our national security and undermines our efforts to work with other countries to solve shared problems," she told reporters at the State Department...
Clinton calls leaked documents attack on world | detnews.com | The Detroit News
(I watched her statement live and she looked to be NOT a happy camper... Woe be unto PFC Manning)
Do you feel the release of these diplomatic documents are:
1.) A good thing...
2.) A bad thing...
3.) Sorta good - Kinda bad...
4.) Hey! What happened to the Holiday Season theme - thingy?
Send your response to
wrote:
answered:
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Reader Suggestions
Michelle in AZ
BadtotheboneBob
Westboro
Vet With Guns Arrested at Westboro Rally
Authorities arrested a wounded, decorated Army veteran after he followed members of a controversial Topeka church and he was found in a vehicle stocked with weapons outside Wichita City Hall on Tuesday, sources said... Sources said the man arrested is a veteran who suffered severe wounds when an improvised bomb exploded in Afghanistan...
Vet With Guns Arrested at Westboro Rally
I said a few weeks ago that I was surprised that violence hasn't been inflicted by now on those evil Westboro cretins (which I do not advocate)... Anyway, I have this feeling, having spent a lot of time around combat Vets with PTSD, that some of those evil Westboro cretins may soon get the opportunity to explain themselves to the 'Deity of their Understanding'. Somehow, I don't think they'd be well received. One can only hope that the scenario would play out somewhat similar to what The Onion described concerning the 9-11 hijackers...
Hijackers Surprised To Find Selves In Hell | The Onion - America's Finest News Source.
BadtotheboneBob
Thanks, B2tbBob!
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny and a bit more seasonal.
Friars Roast
Quentin Tarantino
Filmmaker Eli Roth brought shock and awe to the podium of a Friar's Club Roast of actor Quentin Tarantino on Wednesday night, saying it was a roaster's responsibility to be sick and distasteful.
"Pretty much what people say about 'Hostel 2,' I want them to say about my speech," Roth said referring to his 2007 horror flick.
Roth ripped the Weinstein's - filmmakers Harvey and Bob - who were sitting on the dais, joked about dead comic Greg Giraldo and poked fun at Tarantino's physical appearance. He also alluded to Tarantino's alleged foot fetish saying: "Quentin's got a bigger collection of women's shoes than Dachau."
Joining Roth at the event in New York was Sarah Silverman, Uma Thurman, Brett Ratner and roastmaster Samuel L. Jackson, who referred to the pack as a "true collection of freaks." Then he thanked Jim Henson, creator of The Muppets, for designing Tarantino's face, and kicked off the show.
Quentin Tarantino
Gallery Vows Protest Against Smithsonian
Transformer Gallery
A Washington art gallery pledged a round-the-clock protest Thursday against what it calls censorship by the Smithsonian Institution for removing a video that shows ants crawling on a crucifix after the Catholic League and members of Congress complained it was sacrilegious.
Transformer Gallery manager Barbara Escobar said the small, nonprofit gallery will show the video piece, "A Fire in My Belly" by artist David Wojnarowicz, in its storefront window every day and night until it's reinstated at the National Portrait Gallery.
Wojnarowicz died at age 37 of AIDS complications in 1992. His estate granted permission for the Transformer Gallery to show the full 30-minute original version of the artistic video.
The Smithsonian removed the video Tuesday after the Catholic League called it "hate speech" designed to insult Christians.
Also, Republican Leader Rep. John Boehner of Ohio and Rep. Eric Cantor, the No. 2 Republican in the House, have complained, saying the Smithsonian was misusing taxpayer funds. Other conservatives in Congress also objected.
Transformer Gallery
Jim Morrison Never Exposed
John Densmore
On December 9, the Florida Clemency Board, on the urging of outgoing Gov. Charlie Crist and in its last meeting of the year, will consider pardoning Doors frontman Jim Morrison.
Morrison was convicted of indecent exposure after a 1969 concert at Dinner Key Auditorium in Miami. The singer died two years later; he would have turned 67 on Wednesday, December 8.
Fans of the band have long campaigned for a reversal or full-out dismissal of the charge, claiming Morrison never revealed any actual body parts.
To get to the bottom of the matter, The Hollywood Reporter turned to Doors drummer John Densmore for his take on the night in question, and also discussed "When You're Strange," the Doors documentary narrated by Johnny Depp, which scored a Best Long Form Video Grammy nomination on Wednesday night.
John Densmore: Can I just make a statement? He didn't do it! I was there; if Jim had revealed the golden shaft, I would have known. There were hundreds of photographs taken and tons of cops and no evidence. Yeah, Jim was a drunk and a sensational, crazy guy, but he also was a great artist and I want him to be remembered for the art as well as the craziness. At the time, things were pretty political with the Vietnam War -- the whole country was polarized, not unlike today -- and he went to see Julian Beck and Judith Molina of The Living Theater and was inspired because they wore minimal clothes and were going up the aisles saying, "No passports, no pieces." It was pretty wild stuff. Jim tried to inject it in to the Miami concert, and he was inebriated, so it wasn't so successful. Musically, it was terrible, but politically, it was intriguing. So that was his motive and then it became this sensational, "get the hippie band that represents the counter culture!"
John Densmore
Hospital News
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin says her surgery was "highly successful" and thanks well-wishers for their prayers. In a statement released Thursday to The Associated Press, the Queen of Soul says: "God is still in control. I had superb doctors and nurses whom were blessed by all the prayers of the city and the country."
Franklin did not say what she was being treated for Thursday.
Last month, the 68-year-old singer announced she was canceling all concert dates and personal appearances through May on the orders of her doctors.
Aretha Franklin
Hospital News
Kathryn Crosby
Bing Crosby's widow, Kathryn Crosby, is recovering from major injuries suffered in a deadly traffic crash in the Sierra Nevada.
Kathryn Crosby, 77, was hurt and her husband, Maurice William Sullivan, 85, was killed in the Nov. 4 single-vehicle wreck on U.S. 50 east of Placerville, Calif., California Highway Patrol spokesman Dan Stark said Thursday.
The former actress, who has homes in Genoa and Hillsborough, Calif., was flown to Renown Regional Medical Center in Reno and has since been discharged.
Sullivan was westbound when his vehicle left the roadway, struck a large boulder and rolled many times, ejecting him, Start said. The cause of the crash has not been determined, and an investigation continues.
Kathryn Crosby and Sullivan married in 2000.
Kathryn Crosby
US To Return Recovered Painting
Edgar Degas
An Edgar Degas painting that was stolen 37 years ago and recently rediscovered before an auction in New York will be returned to the French government, U.S. officials said Thursday.
U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch and James T. Hayes Jr., head of the New York office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, announced that a Manhattan seller had agreed to turn over the painting, "Laundry Woman with Toothache," without a forfeiture proceeding.
Sotheby's had given the small oil portrait of a young woman holding her jaw an estimated value of $350,000 to $450,000.
Court papers said the seller, whose father had obtained the signed piece, didn't know it was stolen. The family has the right to file a claim for compensation from French authorities.
Edgar Degas
Owns A Thesaurus
Bristol Palin
Bristol Palin (R-Legacy) is striking back against MSNBC host Keith Olbermann for dubbing her "worst person in the world."
Olbermann gave her the title on his show earlier this week, casting her as a hypocrite for appearing in a public service announcement promoting abstinence and safe sex. Palin was an unmarried teenager when she had her son, Tripp.
He likened her being an abstinence spokeswoman to saying former resident George W. Bush "kept us safe, 'cept for that 9/11 thing, which doesn't count."
The 20-year-old "Dancing With the Stars" diva and daughter of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R-Quitter) said Thursday via Facebook that calling her a hypocrite is an "old canard."
She says that what Olbermann lacks in originality, he makes up for with "insincere incredulity."
Bristol Palin
Ex Must Pay
Ellen Barkin
A New York appeals court says Revlon cosmetics magnate Ronald Perelman owes more than $3 million to a movie production company he started with ex-wife Ellen Barkin.
The actress and Perelman divorced in 2006. During the marriage, the couple and Barkin's brother, George, launched Applehead Pictures.
Perelman acknowledges he didn't pay more than $3.4 million he'd agreed to put into the venture. He says the Barkins negated his obligation by forming another film company, among other actions.
The state Supreme Court's Appellate Division says Perelman still must pay.
Ellen Barkin
Defends Bosnian Directorial Debut
Angelina Jolie
Hollywood star Angelina Jolie has hit back at criticism of her directorial debut, saying most people back her portrayal of a love story between a Serbian man and Bosnian woman on the eve of the 1992-95 Balkans conflict.
Speaking in Paris ahead of next week's premiere of a very different film -- romantic action comedy "The Tourist" in which she stars with Johnny Depp -- Jolie said her intention had never been to stoke controversy with her movie set in wartime Bosnia.
Bosnian victims of sexual violence during the 1990s have written to the United Nations, for which the Oscar-winning actress is a goodwill ambassador, saying she didn't deserve the position and did not know enough about the ethnic conflict.
"The absolute majority of the people, population, the cast, prime minister, president have been extremely supportive," she said, adding that 95 percent of the film's cast had lived through the war.
Angelina Jolie
Texas Ranger
Norris
Who's the only man tough enough to take down "Walker, Texas Ranger"?
Chuck Norris (R-Napoleon-Complex), Texas Ranger.
The actor and martial-arts expert became a real-life honorary Texas Ranger on Thursday after playing one on television for years.
Texas Gov. Rick "Good Hair" Perry presented the 70-year-old star and executive director of "Walker, Texas Ranger" with a designation as an honorary member of the famed law enforcement group.
Norris
Book Deal
Christine O'Donnell
Christine O'Donnell has lost an election, but gained a book deal.
The Deleware Republican and Tea Party favorite, defeated in last month's voting for the U.S. Senate, will offer her take on the campaign and her "frustrations" with the political process, St. Martin's Press announced Thursday.
Publication is scheduled for August 2011.
Backed by Sarah Palin (R-Quitter), O'Donnell was a surprise winner in the GOP primary, but was widely ridiculed for her lack of experience and for past comments, including statements about her youthful interest in witchcraft and her opposition to masturbation.
Christine O'Donnell
Cable Nielsens
Ratings
Rankings for the top 15 programs on cable networks as compiled by the Nielsen Co. for the week of Nov. 22-28. Day and start time (EST) are in parentheses:
1. NFL Football: Denver vs. San Diego (Monday, 8:30 p.m.), ESPN, 8.39 million homes, 11.66 million viewers.
2. College Football: Arizona vs. Oregon (Friday, 7:22 p.m.), ESPN, 5.26 million homes, 7.78 million viewers.
3. NFL Football: Cincinnati vs. N.Y. Jets (Thursday, 8:30 p.m.), NFL Network, 3.98 million homes, 7.1 million viewers.
4. College Football: Boise St. vs. Nevada (Friday, 10:43 p.m.), ESPN, 3.9 million homes, 5.44 million viewers.
5. "NCIS" (Sunday, 8 p.m.), USA, 3.68 million homes, 4.95 million viewers.
6. "Walking Dead" (Sunday, 10 p.m.), AMC, 3.36 million homes, 5.56 million viewers.
7. "NCIS" (Sunday, 7 p.m.), USA, 3.35 million homes, 4.45 million viewers.
8. "WWE Entertainment" (Monday, 10 p.m.), USA, 3.33 million homes, 4.98 million viewers.
9. "WWE Entertainment" (Monday, 9 p.m.), USA, 3.26 million homes, 4.73 million viewers.
10. "NCIS" (Sunday, 9 p.m.), USA, 3.23 million homes, 4.24 million viewers.
11. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Saturday, 9:30 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 3.19 million homes, 4.54 million viewers.
12. "Victorious: Freak Out" (Friday, 8 p.m.), Nickelodeon, 3.16 million homes, 5.27 million viewers.
13. "NCIS" (Sunday, 10 p.m.), USA, 3.13 million homes, 4.17 million viewers.
14. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Friday, 11:30 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 3.02 million homes, 4.43 million viewers.
15. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Friday, 11 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 3.01 million homes, 4.29 million viewers.
Ratings
In Memory
Helen Boatwright
Soprano soloist Helen Boatwright, who championed the performance of American song and recorded the first full-length album of songs by composer Charles Ives, has died.
Boatwright celebrated her 94th birthday on Nov. 17. Her family said she was still teaching until three weeks before her death Wednesday, and the final piece of music she listened to was the last soprano aria of Handel's "Messiah."
Boatwright was celebrated for singing the music of American composers such as Ives and her husband, Howard Boatwright. In 1954, she became the first person to record a full-length album of Ives' songs, "24 Songs" with pianist John Kirkpatrick. She also studied with composer Normand Lockwood, who helped shape her philosophy that singers had a responsibility to perform and promote contemporary music.
Born Helena Johanna Strassburger in 1916, she was the youngest of six children in a large music-loving German family from Sheboygan, Wis. She earned bachelor's and master's degrees in music from Oberlin College.
Her operatic debut was as Anna in an English-language production of Otto Nicolai's "Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor" at Tanglewood in Massachusetts. During her career, she worked with luminaries in the world of music, including conductors Leopold Stokowski, Erich Leinsdorf, Seiji Ozawa and Zubin Mehta. She also performed with Leonard Bernstein at Tanglewood in the early 1940s, sang opposite tenor Mario Lanza in his operatic stage debut, and performed for President John F. Kennedy in the East Room of the White House in 1963.
Boatwright met her future husband, violinist Howard Boatwright, in an elevator in Los Angeles in 1941 when they were to perform in a National Federation of Music Clubs competition. They married two years later and performed together throughout their lives in the United States, Mexico, Europe, and India. Many of her husband's compositions for voice were written for her.
In 1964, Howard Boatwright became the dean of the Syracuse University School of Music, and in 1969, the couple established a university-sponsored summer program, L'Ecole Hindemith in Vevey, Switzerland, where they taught and performed every summer until 1988. He died in 1999.
Helen Boatwright taught at Syracuse University, Connecticut College, was a professor of voice at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester from 1972-79, and served as a guest professor at Cornell University and the Peabody Conservatory of Music at Johns Hopkins University.
Even in her 90s, Boatwright continued to learn new music. For her 90th birthday in 2006, she celebrated with a solo concert at a local church.
Boatwright is survived by two sons and a daughter. The family was still completing funeral arrangements.
Helen Boatwright
| CURRENT MOON lunar phases |
