Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Tom Danehy: Arizona's high school sports governing body is destroying the hopes of thousands of young athletes (Tucson Weekly)
It's a sad reality in education and interscholastic athletics that the further away one gets from face-to-face interaction with young people on a regular basis, the more likely it is that an administrator will view student-athletes in terms of numbers rather than as human beings with hopes and dreams and goals.
Connie Schultz: Some Dreams Refuse To Die (Creators Syndicate)
Last week, as millions of Americans toiled, Republican senators complained about having to work so close to Christmas.
Jim Hightower: LET'S FIGHT THE TRAGEDY OF A.S.S.
Another Texas legislator has come down with the tragic disease know as "Amazing Stupidity Syndrome." A.S.S. attacks the lobe of the brain that controls one's ethical behavior, apparently causing the moral synapses in that region to go on the fritz, thus allowing the stupidity hormone to seep in and take charge. The main symptom is that afflicted legislators develop sticky fingers, causing then to double-bill for airline tickets, rooms at luxury resorts, lavish meals, etc.
James Rainey: "On the Media: A plea for honesty in paid TV pitches" (Los Angeles Times)
It shouldn't be that hard for news programs to clearly point out when guest 'experts' are being paid to pump up certain products.
Paul Krugman: Notes On Government Employment (New York Times)
… most government workers are at the local level, and most of the rest are state workers; the federal government is a small piece of the total. And if you look at what they do, a lot of them are teachers; many of the rest are firefighters, police, and other occupations we sort of like.
CHRISTOPHER MIMS: And the Smartest Site on the Internet Is... (technologyreview.com)
The Internet used to be full of highbrow reading material, until broadband penetration exploded and everyone with a credit card managed to find his or her way onto the Web. Finding your way back to the rarefied air that used to suffuse the 'net can be a slog, so Google has a new way to help you out: You can now sort sites by reading level.
Michelle Pauli: Andy Mulligan talks Trash (Guardian)
The children's author Andy Mulligan talks about his thriller, 'Trash,' and how Blue Peter ducked a chance to take their viewers beyond the 'cotton-wool world' when they removed it from their book prize shortlist.
Bob Blaisdell: Review of "'Voltaire: A Life' By Ian Davidson" (Christian Science Monitor)
Another look at the life of Voltaire, the 18th-century philosophe whom many would call the greatest, most interesting man of his epoch.
joenolan: Beefheart Doc Salutes the Captain (disinfo.com)
Me and mine were all saddened last week with the news of the passing of one of the true great originals of American popular music - Captain Beefheart.
Simon Mills: "Take That: style icons for older men" (Guardian)
The mature Take That have reinvented their sound - and given their wardrobe a serious overhaul. They're now the perfect fashion role models for men over 40.
Craig D. Lindsey: John Waters has his own special brand of holiday cheer (McClatchy Newspapers)
John Waters loves Christmas. Seriously. You wouldn't expect the man behind such twisted cult classics as "Pink Flamingos," "Female Trouble," "Polyester" and his breakout, Broadway musical-inspiring hit "Hairspray" to be the kind of guy who likes to deck the halls. But he swears he does.
Will Harris: A Chat with Henry Rollins, Host of National Geographic Channel's "Born to Rage" (bullz-eye.com)
I got all kinds of the oddest mail from ('Sons of Anarchy'). People would write me in my character. Like, girls. Angry girls, because I had hit Charlie. 'Look here, Mr. Weston, I don't know you who think you are…' Uh, I think my name is Henry, and I think I drive a Subaru back to my house after the day of work is over in the Valley where we shoot this, you weirdo.
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
The Weekly Poll returns December 28th with a 'Year in Review' sorta Poll. Until then, I wish you all a Merry Christmas
(Can I say that? Is it OK?... Sure, why not...)
BadToTheBoneBob
wrote:
answered:
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Reader Suggestion
Net Neutrality
It's not Net Neutrality that's responsible, it's the END of Net Neutrality via the sleazy laws being proposed for wired Internet and the absence of any laws at all for wireless.
This columnist got it right:
James in Alhambra
Thanks, James!
BadtotheboneBob
Hello, Creationists?
Hello, Creationists? Explain this...
Scientists say an entirely separate type of human identified from bones in Siberia co-existed and interbred with our own species.The ancient humans have been dubbed Denisovans after the caves in Siberia where their remains were found. There is also evidence that this group was widespread in Eurasia. A study in Nature journal shows that Denisovans co-existed with Neanderthals and interbred with our species - perhaps around 50,000 years ago... According to the researchers,
this provides confirmation there were at least four distinct types of human in existence when anatomically modern humans (Homo sapiens sapiens) first left their African homeland...
BBC News - Ancient humans, dubbed 'Denisovans', interbred with us
Curiouser and curiouser, I'm sayin'...
BadtotheboneBob
Thanks, B2tbBob!
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Overcast and damp.
FBI Releases Files
Daniel Schorr
The Nixon White House was so worried about Daniel Schorr's reporting that it ordered an investigation into the veteran network correspondent whose tough stories landed him on the president's infamous enemies list, according to newly released FBI files.
The administration had the bureau conduct a background investigation in 1971, according to one section from among hundreds of pages released Thursday from Schorr's FBI file.
The White House said it was considering Schorr for a public affairs job in the environmental area. A day later, the investigation was canceled but the White House still wanted to see anything the FBI had managed to discover about Schorr.
The first reference to Schorr in FBI files dates from July 31, 1942, when FBI Director J Edgar Hoover asked the chief of the Special War Policies Unit for more information on Schorr's status as a "representative of a foreign principal" in his employment with the Netherland Indies News Agency.
Daniel Schorr
Has All WikiLeaks Cables
Aftenposten
A Norwegian newspaper says it has obtained the entire trove of 250,000 uncensored U.S. diplomatic documents that WikiLeaks has been distributing.
The announcement Thursday appears to make Aftenposten the first media organization outside WikiLeaks' five partners to obtain the material - a development sure to heighten U.S. government fears that the public release of some uncensored diplomatic cables could endanger informants' lives.
So far WikiLeaks has released about 1,900 of the more than 250,000 State Department documents it claims to possess, many of them containing critical or embarrassing U.S. assessments of foreign nations and their leaders. The documents are also being published by The New York Times, France's Le Monde, Britain's Guardian newspaper and the German magazine Der Spiegel.
Managing editor Ole Erik Almlid said Aftenposten has no restrictions on how to use the material, and will be publishing articles about the U.S. documents that it finds relevant in its online and paper editions.
Aftenposten
Cherokee, Apple Partner
iPhones
Nine-year-old Lauren Hummingbird wants a cell phone for Christmas - and not just any old phone, but an iPhone. Such a request normally would be met with skepticism by her father, Cherokee Nation employee Jamie Hummingbird.
He could dismiss the obvious reasons a kid might want an iPhone, except for this - he's a proud Cherokee and buying his daughter the phone just might help keep the tribe's language alive.
Nearly two centuries after a blacksmith named Sequoyah converted Cherokee into its own unique written form, the tribe has worked with Apple to develop Cherokee language software for the iPhone, iPod and - soon - the iPad. Computers used by students - including Lauren - at the tribe's language immersion school already allow them to type using Cherokee characters.
The goal, Cherokee Chief Chad Smith said, is to spread the use of the language among tech-savvy children in the digital age. Smith has been known to text students at the school using Cherokee, and teachers do the same, allowing students to continue using the language after school hours.
iPhones
Questions Harsh Pot Penalties
Marion 'Pat' Robertson
Religious broadcaster Marion 'Pat' Robertson told his "700 Club" audience that harsh penalties for marijuana possession are costly for the nation and damaging to young people, but a spokesman said Thursday he was not calling for decriminalizing pot.
Robertson, 80, made the comments on the Christian Broadcasting Network in the context of faith-based approaches to treating offenders, the spokesman said.
The comments, however, were widely interpreted on several websites as an endorsement by the Christian Coalition founder of legalizing marijuana. They were celebrated by NORML, a group that advocates legalization of the drug.
While Robertson said, "I'm not exactly for the use of drugs," he added that criminalizing the possession of a few ounces of pot is "costing us a fortune and it's ruining young people. Young people go into prisons, they go in as youths and come out as hardened criminals. That's not a good thing."
Marion 'Pat' Robertson
Producer Sues
"Black Swan"
A New York film production company has sued its former president, claiming "gross lapses in judgment" cost the company millions of dollars in lost revenue and a producer credit on the movie "Black Swan."
The defendant, Aaron Kaufman, called the claims baseless and said he would countersue for libel.
"Black Swan," starring Natalie Portman, was released for the holiday season and has gained early Oscar buzz after being nominated for four Golden Globe awards, including best drama.
Overnight LLC, led by producer Rick Schwartz, accuses Kaufman of breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty and misappropriation of corporate opportunity in a lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal court.
"Black Swan"
Sues Kevin Costner
Stephen Baldwin
Stephen Baldwin has sued fellow actor Kevin Costner over their investments in a device that BP used in trying to clean up the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
The federal lawsuit filed in New Orleans on Wednesday by Baldwin and a friend claims Costner and a business partner duped them out of their shares of an $18 million deal for BP to purchase oil-separating centrifuges from a company they formed after the April 20 spill.
BP ordered 32 of the centrifuges, which separate oil from water, and deployed a few of the devices on a barge in June. BP capped the well in July and kept any more oil from leaking until the seafloor gusher was permanently sealed in September.
Baldwin and his friend, Spyridon Contogouris, owned shares in Ocean Therapy Solutions, the company that marketed the centrifuges to BP.
But Baldwin and his friend claim they were deliberately excluded from a June 8 meeting between Costner, his business partner Patrick Smith and a BP executive, Doug Suttles. At the meeting, the suit says, Suttles agreed to make a $18 million deposit on a $52 million order for the 32 devices.
Stephen Baldwin
3 Arrested In Theft
Stradivarius Violin
Three people were arrested for stealing a 1.2 million-pound ($1.85 million) antique violin from an internationally acclaimed musician while she stopped for a snack at a London sandwich bar, British police said Thursday.
South Korean violinist Min-Jin Kym was eating inside the sandwich shop outside Euston station on Nov. 29 when she noticed that her black violin case - which contained the 300-year-old Stradivarius as well as two expensive bows - was missing, police said.
The violin, made in 1696, is one of only around 400 in the world. It was stolen with a Peccatte bow, valued at 62,000 pounds, and another bow worth more than 5,000 pounds.
Police arrested and charged John Maughan, 26, and two teenagers on Wednesday for theft. The teens, aged 16 and 14 years old, cannot be named for legal reasons. Maughan is in custody and the two teenagers are free on bail.
Stradivarius Violin
Loses Ratings Appeal
David Schwimmer
Former "Friends" star David Schwimmer has lost a bid to soften the rating for his latest directing effort, a movie about the dangers of online predators.
"Trust," due out in theaters on April 1, was handed a restrictive "R" rating for "disturbing material involving the rape of a teen, language, sexual content and some violence."
An appeal filed by distributor Millennium Entertainment was fell on deaf ears at the Motion Picture Association of America's Classification and Rating Appeals Board, which on Wednesday upheld the original rating.
Executive producer Avi Lerner had said in a statement that it was important for the film be seen by teenagers, especially as a cautionary tale. Schwimmer had said that he would not modify the film in order to receive a lesser rating. The film stars Clive Owen and Catherine Keener.
David Schwimmer
Numbers Down
Executions
The United States executed fewer people this year, in part because there is a shortage of the drug used in lethal injections and because executions are too expensive in tough economic times, a report released on Tuesday said.
The Death Penalty Information Center said in its annual report that executions decreased 12 percent this year and new death sentences stayed near the lowest level since capital punishment was reinstated in 1976.
Texas led the nation with 17 of the 46 executions carried out this year in the United States. The total is down from 52 in 2009 and less than half the number put to death in 1999.
One factor reducing or delaying executions is difficulty obtaining sodium thiopental, one of the drugs used in lethal injection executions, the Washington-based group said.
Executions were postponed or canceled in five states due to a shortage of the drug, it said. Arizona imported some from Britain, where executions have been abolished, but Britain is now restricting the drug's exportation.
Executions
Brings Scrutiny To Betty Ford
Lindsay Lohan
Lindsay Lohan isn't the only one authorities are investigating over a late night spat with a rehab worker. Experts say the facility where she is being treated and its former employee will also receive some scrutiny.
A spokesman for the California Department of Public Health confirmed the agency was conducting an investigation at Betty Ford, but declined to release details. Spokesman Ralph Montano said this week that details may be released later, but he could not confirm that the inquiry was related to Lohan or an interview by the fired employee.
Detectives are investigating Lohan for misdemeanor battery at the request of a Betty Ford Clinic worker who was involved in a fight with the "Mean Girls" star shortly around 1 a.m. on Dec. 12.
The worker later conducted an on-camera interview with celebrity website TMZ, which also posted an e-mail the worker apparently sent to supervisors after the fight. The woman, identified by TMZ as Dawn Holland, was promptly fired by Betty Ford.
Criminal defense attorney Steve Cron, who is not involved in the case, said both Betty Ford and Holland are likely to face some repercussions. Betty Ford, which described the Lohan incident as the first time in 28 years that it had a breach of patient confidentiality, could face a civil fine, he said.
Lindsay Lohan
Lands New Movie
New Mexico
New Mexico has landed what Gov. Bill Richardson's office is billing as the largest movie production in state history.
Richardson and Marvel Studios' co-president Louis D'Esposito announced this week that the comic book-based adventure film "The Avengers" will be shot primarily in New Mexico.
The film is expected to employ hundreds of New Mexico-based cast and crew, and use hundreds of local service and supply vendors.
Its all-star cast includes Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johannson, Jeremy Renner and Mark Ruffalo.
New Mexico
In Memory
Fred Hargesheimer
Fred Hargesheimer, a World War II Army pilot whose rescue by Pacific islanders led to a life of giving back as a builder of schools and teacher of children, died Thursday morning. He was 94.
On June 5, 1943, Hargesheimer, a P-38 pilot with the 8th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, was shot down by a Japanese fighter while on a mission over the Japanese-held island of New Britain in the southwest Pacific. He parachuted into the trackless jungle, where he barely survived for 31 days until found by local hunters.
They took him to their coastal village and for seven months hid him from Japanese patrols, fed him and nursed him back to health from two illnesses. In February 1944, with the help of Australian commandos working behind Japanese lines, he was picked up by a U.S. submarine off a New Britain beach.
After returning to the U.S. following the war, Hargesheimer got married and began a sales career with a Minnesota forerunner of computer maker Sperry Rand, his lifelong employer. But he said he couldn't forget the Nakanai people, who he considered his saviors.
The more he thought about it, he later said, "the more I realized what a debt I had to try to repay."
After revisiting the village of Ea Ea in 1960, he came home, raised $15,000 over three years, "most of it $5 and $10 gifts," and then returned with 17-year-old son Richard in 1963 to contract for the building of the villagers' first school.
In the decades to come, Hargesheimer's U.S. fundraising and determination built a clinic, another school and libraries in Ea Ea, renamed Nantabu, and surrounding villages.
In 1970, their three children grown, Hargesheimer and his late wife, Dorothy, moved to New Britain, today an out-island of the nation of Papua New Guinea, and taught the village children themselves for four years. The Nantabu school's experimental plot of oil palm even helped create a local economy, a large plantation with jobs for impoverished villagers.
On his last visit, in 2006, Hargesheimer was helicoptered into the jungle and carried in a chair by Nakanai men to view the newly found wreckage of his World War II plane. Six years earlier, on another visit, he was proclaimed "Suara Auru," "Chief Warrior" of the Nakanai.
Besides Richard, of Lincoln, Hargesheimer, a Rochester, Minnesota, native, is survived by another son, Eric, of White Bear Lake, Minnesota, and a daughter, Carol, of Woodbury, Minnesota; by a sister, Mary Louise Gibson of Grass Valley, California; and by eight grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.
Richard Hargesheimer said no services are planned.
Fred Hargesheimer
In Memory
John Alldis
John Alldis, whose choir ranged from working with opera to collaborating with Duke Ellington and Pink Floyd, has died of pneumonia. He was 81.
He founded the professional, 16-voice John Alldis Choir in 1962 and made an early mark with the world premiere performance of Alexander Goehr's "A Little Cantata for Proverbs." Alldis died Monday, his family said.
Subsequent recordings, mainly for Argo, tackled modern composers including Malcolm Williams, Harrison Birtwistle and Richard Rodney Bennett, but the choir repertoire reached back as far as the Renaissance.
The Alldis Choir worked with Pink Floyd on the "Atom Heart Mother" album in 1970, and in 1973 on a recording of Ellington's "Third Sacred Concert."
Alldis worked with choral ensembles for the London Symphony Orchestra and the London Philnarmonic, and taught at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama from 1966 to 1977.
He conducted the American Choral Symposium in Manhattan, Kansas, from 1978 to 1987, and was permanent guest conductor of the Netherlands Chamber Choir from 1985 to 1998.
Alldis is survived by his wife Ursula and two sons.
John Alldis
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