Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Andrew Tobias: Optimism (andrewtobias.com)
"So what? The future is never easy for all but a few of us, at least not for long. But we figure it out. And that is why in 20 years we will be better off than we are today. Each of us, all over the world, by working out our own visions of psychic income, will make the real world a better place."-Bill Mauldin
Tom Danehy: A tale of accidental stuffing ingestion, Crock-Pot shopping and the Marana Police Department (tucsonweekly.com)
At any stage of life-and particularly at the one I'm currently wandering through-if you're not getting better, you're getting worse. I know this to be true, and I try to live my life accordingly.
Garrison Keillor: More and more, the truth of Christmas is put to the test
Midwesterners who came here long ago slapped grass down on the desert, hoping to make it more like Indianapolis. If you enjoy rocks, you will love Arizona. But for me, it's weird to walk outdoors and hear "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas" from little speakers hidden among the cactuses.
Daniel Denvir: "Recession Diaries: Tales of Philly's young, educated and underemployed" (philadelphiaweekly.com)
"Where I am right now is at the end of a pretty long period of uncertainty, and sometimes poverty and desperation," says 25-year-old Toby David.
Aditya Chakrabortty: "Brain food: the problem with Scroogenomics" (guardian.co.uk)
Twenty-four shopping days to go. Over the next few frantic weeks, the British will walk for miles, queue for hours and spend around £360 each on Christmas presents. And for most of you, the economist Joel Waldfogel has two words of advice: don't bother. He describes Yuletide present-giving as "an orgy of wealth destruction". The logic is simple: if I buy you a £50 cardigan, which you hate, that's £50 down the drain.
Evan R. Goldstein: The Images Dancing in David Gelernter's Head (chronicle.com)
"Stop any person on the street and ask them to name a living poet, a living painter, or a living composer. There will be complete silence," Gelernter says. "When I was a child, artists were heroes."
"Raymond Carver: A Writer's Life" by Carol Sklenicka: A review by Mark Athitakis
Who made Raymond Carver? Maybe it was Gordon Lish, who edited Carver's short stories about workaday lives into the minimalist style that made him famous.
Leo Hickman: The rise of poetry in advertising (guardian.co.uk)
More companies, including McDonald's, are being moved to verse to advertise their products. Is this a welcome development?
James Rainey: Roseanne Barr is still speaking out, but few are listening (latimes.com)
The onetime TV titan struggles to find a radio audience as she rails against 'people at the top.'
Bill Forman: Devil in the details (csindy.com)
Samuel James takes the blues storytelling tradition into a new era.
I wouldn't advise any actor thinking of his career to come out (guardian.co.uk)
He had Hollywood at his feet at the age of 25. So why has Rupert Everett never lived up to that early promise? Here, the outspoken actor talks about homophobia, deranged A-listers and why Madonna isn't speaking to him.
Will Harris: A Chat with Bill Lawrence, Creator of "Scrubs" and "Cougar Town" (bullz-eye.com)
On future guest appearances on "Scrubs": We just do actors that we like and that we respond to. So you'll see some names like that, but no one who's a huge "oh, my God!" name. Well, unless you go "oh, my God" when Zach Braff's on television.
Hubert's Poetry Corner
Poetic Justice
From the better looking half of the brother and sister duo who gave us the Number One 1963 Song of the Year Grammy Winner, "Deep Purple"!
The Weekly Poll
New Question
The 'Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?' Edition
The two people without invitations that crashed President Obama's first White House state dinner, Tareq and Michaele Salahi, polo-playing socialites from northern Virginia, are now offering to talk to broadcast networks about it - providing they're well paid. The Virginia couple was looking for a payment in the mid-six figures range - about half a million dollars...
Are you interested enough in what they have to say about their exploit to watch an interview of them?
Meanwhile, two senators, Evan Bayh (D-Indiana) and Jon Kyl (R- Arizona), have called for criminal charges be brought against the couple...
Do you feel that the party crashing couple should be prosecuted?
Send your response to
answered:
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Some sun, some clouds.
We'ro on our annual pilgrammage to Sacramento for the marathon, so the Saturday & Sunday pages may be a bit early - or late.
Attends Opening Of Parkinson's Center
Muhammad Ali
Ring legend Muhammad Ali attended the opening Thursday of the newly expanded center to treat Parkinson's disease that bears his name.
Officials at the Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center said the facility is now the most comprehensive in the nation for the treatment of the illness that causes tremors, slowed movement and disrupted speech.
The former heavyweight world champion lives with his wife, Lonnie, in the Phoenix suburb of Paradise Valley.
He put one hand on a pair of giant scissors to help cut a red ribbon in an opening ceremony before taking a tour with his wife and sister-in-law.
Muhammad Ali
Inductees Named
NJ Hall of Fame
The newest members of New Jersey's Hall of Fame include actors Jack Nicholson and Danny DeVito, musicians Les Paul and Count Basie, and authors Philip Roth and Judy Blume.
The list includes former President Woodrow Wilson, Olympian Carl Lewis, architect Michael Graves and former Supreme Court Justice William Brennan.
Rounding out the list of 2010 honorees are baseball player Larry Doby; women's rights advocate Alice Paul; actress Susan Sarandon; astronaut Wally Schirra; and singer Frankie Valli.
This is the third class to be elected. The induction ceremony will be in May.
NJ Hall of Fame
Meat-Free Mondays
Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney took his "Meat-Free Mondays" campaign to the European Parliament on Thursday, saying the power to halt global warming lies as much with individuals as with their governments.
McCartney met in Brussels with Rajendra K. Pachauri, head of the U.N.'s global climate change panel, and praised the virtue of skipping meat one day a week for the sake of the environment.
At a time of concerns over global warming, McCartney added, there are "even more crucial reason" to skip meat.
The former Beatle and well-known vegetarian said the production of food - from farm to fork - accounts for 20 to 30 percent of global green house gas emissions. Livestock production is responsible for around half of these emissions.
Paul McCartney
ABC Cancels "Kimmel" Performance
Adam Lambert
For the second time since his controversial American Music Awards performance, ABC has canceled an appearance by Adam Lambert, this time on "Jimmy Kimmel Live."
On his Twitter account, glam rocker Lambert, who finished as runner-up on "American Idol" in May, wrote, "Yes, sadly friends, ABC has canceled my appearances on Kimmel and NYE. :( don't blame them. It's the FCC heat ... I AM doing Leno though. And lookin into something for NYE ... It'll all blow over. Let's focus on being positive! :)"
"NYE" presumably means ABC's telecast of "New Year's Rockin' Eve." Sources say Lambert's appearance on the Dick Clark-produced event was still tentative.
Lambert was booked to perform on Kimmel's outdoor stage December 17 before his performance at the November 22 American Music Awards. During the live telecast of the awards show, the openly gay Lambert caused a furor with a rendition of his debut single, "For Your Entertainment," that included simulating oral sex and kissing a male keyboard player.
Adam Lambert
Returning For Third Season
"Sons of Anarchy"
"Sons of Anarchy" will return, but not for a while. The FX drama about an outlaw motorcycle club will be back in September for a third season.
FX has ordered 13 new episodes. In addition, creator/showrunner Kurt Sutter has signed a two-year deal to continue as showrunner. All the series regulars, led by Katey Sagal, Charlie Hunnam and Ron Perlman, will return.
The show's season finale drew 4.3 million viewers Tuesday night, matching its all-time high.
That figure brought "Sons" back to where it started this season, when the show stunned observers by returning with ratings 95 percent higher than those of its first-season debut. The bloody "Sons" closer pulled a 2.3 rating among adults 18-49.
"Sons of Anarchy"
Words Mean Things
Conservative Bible
The Gospel of Luke records that, as he was dying on the cross, Jesus showed his boundless mercy by praying for his killers this way: "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do."
Not so fast, say contributors to the Conservative Bible Project.
The project, an online effort to create a Bible suitable for contemporary conservative sensibilities, claims Jesus' quote is a disputed addition abetted by liberal biblical scholars, even if it appears in some form in almost every translation of the Bible.
The project's authors argue that contemporary scholars have inserted liberal views and ahistorical passages into the Bible, turning Jesus into little more than a well-meaning social worker with a store of watered-down platitudes.
"Professors are the most liberal group of people in the world, and it's professors who are doing the popular modern translations of the Bible," said Andy Schlafly, founder of Conservapedia.com, the project's online home.
Conservative Bible
Deal Faces Regulatory Hurdles
Comcast-NBC
Comcast Corp's NBC Universal deal faces a long and intense regulatory review that could end in approval only after the cable giant agrees to give rivals access to NBCU's television shows and movies, experts said on Thursday.
The U.S. government's concern will likely focus on ensuring that Comcast's cable and satellite competitors, like Verizon Communications Inc and DISH Network Corp, have access to NBC Universal's programs for their subscribers.
Herb Kohl, a Democrat who chairs the Senate's antitrust and competition policy subcommittee, called on regulators to "ensure that all content providers are treated fairly on the Comcast platform."
Antitrust experts said it could take the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, which reviews broadcast license transfer applications, and Justice Department or Federal Trade Commission, which share the job of antitrust regulation, a year to work out conditions for approval, but they expected the deal to finally get the green light.
Comcast-NBC
Set For Daytime TV Show
Nancy Grace
Stations owners have reached a verdict: Nancy Grace is coming to daytime TV.
CBS TV Distribution has cleared the talk show of the longtime TV host and former prosecutor, "Swift Justice With Nancy Grace," to air daily on stations representing 80 percent of the country.
That makes Grace's show the first confirmed program to join the daytime ranks in fall 2010. "Justice" will air as back-to-back half-hour episodes and has been cleared in 48 of the top 50 markets.
The polarizing talk show host will continue her legal analysis show on HLN. "Justice" will have a more courtroom-style format that's popular in daytime. Grace will take the daytime field a year before CBS TV's top-rated "The Oprah Winfrey Show" exits the landscape.
Nancy Grace
Rocker Arrested
Ronnie Wood
Aging rocker Ronnie Wood of the Rolling Stones was released on bail Thursday after being arrested for possible domestic assault.
Wood, known for his stinging guitar riffs and raucous private life, was picked up by police Wednesday evening near his home in Esher in southern England.
The arrest comes on the heels of Wood's highly publicized divorce last month. His marriage collapsed after he started dating a young Russian woman.
Police in Surrey, England, released few details about the incident, which is still under investigation. Police would not say who made the assault complaint against Wood.
Ronnie Wood
Letter Could Set Record
George Washington
A signed four-page letter from George Washington to his nephew is expected to break sales records in one of two manuscript auctions at Christie's in New York this week.
The letter, which will be sold on Friday, could fetch up to $2.5 million dollars which would smash the previous record of $834,500 set in 2002 for a Washington document.
The letter by the first president of the United States was written from Mount Vernon, Washington's home for more than 45 years, on November 9, 1787.
In the letter, Washington shared his firm support for the ratification of the American Constitution.
George Washington
Cable Nielsens
Ratings
Rankings for the top 15 programs on cable networks as compiled by the Nielsen Co. for the week of Nov. 23-29. Day and start time (EST) are in parentheses:
1. NFL Football: Tennessee vs. Houston (Monday, 8:30 p.m.), ESPN, 8.79 million homes, 12.07 million viewers.
2. College Football: Texas vs. Texas A&M (Thursday, 8 p.m.), ESPN, 4.22 million homes, 6.69 million viewers.
3. "ICarly" (Saturday, 8 p.m.), Nickelodeon, 3.79 million homes, 5.66 million viewers.
4. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Saturday, 9:30 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 3.76 million homes, 5.5 million viewers.
5. "Monk" (Friday, 9 p.m.), USA, 3.69 million homes, 5.82 million viewers.
6. Movie: "SpongeBob: The Movie" (Friday, 10 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 3.6 million homes, 5.37 million viewers.
7. "WWE Raw" (Monday, 9 p.m.), USA, 3.54 million homes, 5.32 million viewers.
8. "WWE Raw" (Monday, 10 p.m.), USA, 3.46 million homes, 5.25 million viewers.
9. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Saturday, 9 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 3.45 million homes, 4.86 million viewers.
10. NFL Football: N.Y. Giants vs. Denver (Thursday, 8:21 p.m.), NFL Network, 3.45 million homes, 6.1 million viewers.
11. "Penguins of Madagascar" (Saturday, 10 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 3.29 million homes, 4.54 million viewers.
12. "Jon & Kate Plus 8" (Monday, 9 p.m.), TLC, 3.17 million homes, 4.31 million viewers.
13. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Friday, 9:30 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.99 million homes, 4.52 million viewers.
14. "White Collar" (Friday, 10 p.m.), USA, 2.98 million homes, 4.4 million viewers.
15. "NCIS" (Monday, 7 p.m.), USA, 2.97 million homes, 3.93 million viewers.
Ratings
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