Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Paul Krugman: Two Observations on the Politics of the Minimum Wage (New York Times)
Maybe once upon a time, when Republicans were less intellectually inbred, they could have pulled off the stunt of seeming to care about the people supposedly hurt by a higher minimum wage. But I really don't think they're up to it at this point.
Paul Krugman: Minimum Wage Economics (New York Ties)
… So what should you know? First, as John Schmitt (pdf) documents at length, there just isn't any evidence that raising the minimum wage near current levels would reduce employment.
Terry Savage: In the Name of Love and Marriage, Settle Your Financial Differences (Creators Syndicate)
Q: My fiance and I agree on everything but money. He doesn't want to spend a penny on our wedding, even though my parents are paying for most of it. And ever since we got engaged, he feels "entitled" to see how much I am spending. Since I work and pay for the things I buy, I think he has no right to see my credit card bills. How should I deal with this?
Marilyn Preston: Heart Awareness Month -- I'm Seeing Red! (Creators Syndicate)
The meager number of people who exercise regularly has barely budged in the last 30 years. Obesity is gaining. Cupcakes rule! And despite countless campaigns to get people to eat their fruits and veggies, vegetable consumption has leveled off at a pathetic one cup per person per day. And fruit? For the last 25 years, it's held steady at a paltry half-cup per person a day.
Edward Helmore: Malcolm McLaren's widow fears Met will get punk fashion show all wrong (Guardian)
The New York museum's forthcoming show could be riddled with errors and fail to give Malcolm McLaren due credit, say critics, as a battle against fakes and counterfeits from the era rages.
My Strange Grandfather (Vimeo)
This delightful animation is from Dina Velikovskaya of the Russian State University of Cinematography (VGIK). A child can't understand why her weird grandfather spends so much time picking up trash from the beach. Then his secret is revealed!
A Bird Nest Hanging on a Telephone Pole (Neatorama)
Sociable weaver birds live in the Kalahari Desert of southern Africa. They're called "sociable" because they live in colonies. Also, they're not a bit territorial: they welcome the presence of other birds regardless of species. Sociable weavers thus build popular nests that grow and grow, year after year.
Best of Web 4 HD (YouTube)
"This finely-edited compilation of clips by Zapatou is heavy on extreme sports, featuring amazing athleticism and skill, odd POVs, and some heart-stopping moments. Not all of them are real. Don't blink, or you'll miss something crazy!" -- Neatorama
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From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
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Save the Reptiles!
Save the Reptiles! ('cept for the human types, o' course)
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny and cooler.
Rare Instruments
National Music Museum
Grammy-winning fingerpicking guitarist Pat Donohue thinks a South Dakota college town of about 10,000 is an unlikely place for a wide-ranging collection of musical instruments that includes saxophones built by inventor Adolphe Sax, a rare Stradivarius violin with its original neck and a Spanish guitar on which Bob Dylan composed some of his earliest songs.
But that's part of the charm of the 40-year-old National Music Museum, a treasure tucked away in an old Carnegie library building on the University of South Dakota campus.
Donahue, a regular performer on Garrison Keillor's radio show "A Prairie Home Companion," got to play a 1947 D'Angelico New Yorker guitar and a 1902 black and wood-grained guitar built by Orville Gibson for millions of listeners during a 2006 live broadcast from campus.
The National Music Museum has boasted a world-class collection of musical instruments since it was established, and officials now want to build a facility to match that. The museum is looking to raise $15 million over the next few years to triple its gallery space, improve the entrance and revamp the vast archives where music scholars can peruse the thousands of instruments and documents not on public display.
National Music Museum
"Weed Wednesday"
Discovery
Cupcake makers, pawnbrokers and storage container raiders have all had their moments in reality television's spotlight. Now the time may be right for marijuana growers - and the people who chase them.
The Discovery network debuts a six-episode series, "Weed Country," at 10 p.m. Wednesday and will replace it with "Pot Cops" in April. Both examine the marijuana trade in northern California.
It fits Discovery's efforts to introduce interesting subcultures to viewers, said Nancy Daniels, the network's executive vice president for production and development on the West Coast. Discovery tried a series about a medical marijuana dispensary in Oakland two years ago, "Weed Wars," and is sticking with dope even though the show didn't do very well in the ratings.
Discovery had planned to air the two programs back-to-back on the same night and promote it as "Weed Wednesday" on the network. But those plans were dropped because unrelated programming expected to be available this spring had fallen through and Discovery needed "Pot Cops" to fill a hole on its schedule in April.
Discovery
Restoring Alcohol Content
Maker's Mark
After backlash from customers, the producer of Maker's Mark bourbon is reversing a decision to cut the amount of alcohol in bottles of its famous whiskey.
Rob Samuels, Maker's Mark's chief operating officer, said Sunday that it is restoring the alcohol volume of its product to its historic level of 45 percent, or 90 proof. Last week, it said it was lowering the amount to 42 percent, or 84 proof, because of a supply shortage.
"We've been tremendously humbled over the last week or so," Samuels, grandson of the brand's founder, said of customers' reactions.
The brand known for its square bottles sealed in red wax has struggled to keep up with demand. Distribution has been squeezed, and the brand had to curtail shipments to some overseas markets.
Maker's Mark
Flips Hollywood Formula
'Pi'
In mathematical terms, divide the circumference of the world by its diameter, and you have pi. In Hollywood terms, add a United Nations mix of ingredients and you have the blockbuster "Life of Pi."
With 11 Academy Awards nominations - second only to "Lincoln" with 12 - and the sort of global box-office receipts normally reserved for superheroes, "Life of Pi" is one of the most unusual megahits ever to hit the big-screen. Approaching $600 million at the box office worldwide, the film is by far the top-grosser among the nine best-picture nominees - with $200 million more than "Les Miserables" and "Django Unchained," its closest rivals.
"Life of Pi" has action, suspense and spectacle, but it's a thoughtful, contemplative, internalized film, a philosophical and even cryptic story that touched something in the worldwide psyche resulting in business in the realm of more traditional Hollywood hits such as "The Hunger Games," ''Men in Black 3" and "Brave."
"It's a global movie culture. The mainstream cinematic language was largely set up by Hollywood, Americans, therefore it's American. Some European directors, but it was an American spirit," Lee said. "I think the film language that's established here, that's the biggest obstacle when you try to do something different. You know, the world views things differently. They have different life experiences."
'Pi'
Mysterious Drop
Crime
Over the last 20 years, crime rates in the United States have plunged precipitously - and mysteriously.
Far from taking credit for the decline, criminologists have been scratching their heads over the reason for the drop in robberies, assaults and burglaries. But new research points to a combination of many small changes in recent decades, as well as the largely ignored contributions of private crime prevention efforts, as responsible.
"Over the course of a generation, we have had this extraordinary change in the crime picture," criminologist Philip J. Cook of Duke University said here Saturday (Feb. 16) at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. "It is a mystery, because no criminologist can say with any confidence that they understand what's going on."
Cook and his colleagues studied the role of private security efforts in tackling the problem of crime.
"There are more private security guards than there are police in this country," Cook said. "I believe that private action, though it has been largely ignored, deserves part of the credit."
Crime
Iran Confiscates Statues From Shops
Buddha
An Iranian newspaper is reporting that government authorities are confiscating Buddha statues from shops in Tehran to stop the promotion of Buddhism in the country.
Sunday's report by the independent Arman daily quotes Saeed Jaberi Ansari, an official for the protection of Iran's cultural heritage, as saying that authorities will not permit a specific belief to be promoted through such statues.
He did not elaborate on how many have been confiscated so far, but said more would be seized from shops.
Iran has long fought against items, such as Barbie dolls and Simpsons cartoon characters, to defuse Western influence, but this appears to be the first time that Iranian authorities are showing an opposition to symbols from the East.
Buddha
Drug-Tainted Water
Fish
What happens to fish that swim in waters tainted by traces of drugs that people take? When it's an anti-anxiety drug, they become hyper, anti-social and aggressive, a study found. They even get the munchies.
It may sound funny, but it could threaten the fish population and upset the delicate dynamics of the marine environment, scientists say.
The findings, published online Thursday in the journal Science, add to the mounting evidence that minuscule amounts of medicines in rivers and streams can alter the biology and behavior of fish and other marine animals.
Calling their results alarming, the Swedish researchers who did the study suspect the little drugged fish could become easier targets for bigger fish because they are more likely to venture alone into unfamiliar places.
Researchers around the world have been taking a close look at the effects of pharmaceuticals in extremely low concentrations, measured in parts per billion. Such drugs have turned up in waterways in Europe, the U.S. and elsewhere over the past decade.
Fish
Swarm N.C. Neighborhood
Vultures
Thanks to a mild winter, swarms of turkey vultures have made themselves at home in Shelby, N.C., but town residents are wary of their neighbors.
While the birds normally pass through the city while migrating south for the winter, the vultures have been sticking around this year, swarming lawns and making residents nervous.
Joan Schmoutz, who has lived in the same home in Shelby since 1963, told ABCNews.com that the vultures normally flock in the mornings and the evenings.
Schmoutz said the birds mostly stay in the trees, but estimates that there are "over a hundred [birds] on any given day" in her neighborhood.
Vultures
Weekend Box Office
"A Good Day to Die Hard"
Bruce Willis' action sequel "A Good Day to Die Hard" debuted as the weekend's top draw with a $25 million debut from Friday to Sunday. The 20th Century Fox release raised its domestic total to $33.2 million since opening Thursday for Valentine's Day to get a jump on the long President's Day weekend.
The movie comes 25 years after the original "Die Hard" and six years after "Live Free or Die Hard," the hit that resurrected the franchise centered on Willis' relentless New York City cop John McClane.
The previous weekend's No. 1 movie, Universal's comedy "Identity Thief" starring Jason Bateman and Melissa McCarthy, was a close second with $23.4 million to lift its haul to $70.7 million.
Debuting at No. 3 with $21.4 million was Relativity Media's romance "Safe Haven," starring Julianne Hough and Josh Duhamel in an adaptation of the Nicholas Sparks novel about a woman who flees her abusive husband and takes up with a sensitive widower. Since opening on Valentine's Day, "Safe Haven" has taken in $30.3 million.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Where available, latest international numbers are included. Final domestic figures will be released Tuesday.
1. "A Good Day to Die Hard," $25 million ($61.5 million international).
2. "Identity Thief," $23.4 million ($180,000 international).
3. "Safe Haven," $21.4 million ($2.6 million international).
4. "Escape from Planet Earth," $16.1 million.
5. "Warm Bodies," $9 million ($4.9 million international).
6. "Beautiful Creatures," $7.5 million ($5.4 million international).
7. "Side Effects," $6.3 million.
8. "Silver Linings Playbook," $6.1 million ($6.5 million international).
9. "Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters," $3.5 million ($9.5 million international).
10. "Zero Dark Thirty," $3.1 million ($2.9 million international).
"A Good Day to Die Hard"
In Memory
Mindy McCready
Mindy McCready, who hit the top of the country charts before personal problems sidetracked her career, died Sunday. She was 37.
Waren Olmstead, the coroner in Cleburne County, Ark., said McCready died Sunday in Heber Springs but couldn't immediately provide further details.
She arrived in Nashville in 1994 with tapes of her karaoke vocals and earned a recording contract with BNA Records.
In 1996, her "Guys Do It All the Time" hit No. 1 and its dig at male chauvinism endeared her to females. Her other hits included "Ten Thousand Angels," also in 1996, and her album by that title sold 2 million copies.
However, personal problems plagued her beginning in 2004 and included a custody battle with her mother over one of her sons.
McCready took her older son Zander from her mother and the boy's legal guardian, Gayle Inge, in late 2011. She fled to Arkansas without permission over what she called child abuse fears. Authorities eventually found McCready hiding in a residence without permission and took the boy into custody.
She and her boyfriend David Wilson had a son, Zayne, in April of 2012. The older son has a different father.
In May 2010, she was hospitalized briefly after police responded to an overdose call at a home in North Fort Myers, Fla., owned by her mother. This followed a stint on "Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew," where she declared herself clean from drugs.
After getting her recording contract, she did concert appearances with top country stars including George Strait, Tim McGraw and Alan Jackson.
Her other singles included "Maybe He'll Notice Her Now," ''A Girl's Gotta Do (What a Girl's Gotta Do)" and "You'll Never Know."
Mindy McCready
In Memory
Gerry Hambling
Gerry Hambling, the British film editor whose credits include "Midnight Express," "Pink Floyd: The Wall" and "Mississippi Burning," died February 5 in England. He was 86.
Hambling, who entered the film industry at 16 as an editor's apprentice, was a longtime collaborator of director Alan Parker, editing 14 of his films.
Hambling won three BAFTA Awards, and received the Career Achievement Award from theAmerican Cinema Editors in 1998. He had also been nominated for six Oscars.
Hambling's last editing job was on the 2003 Parker drama "The Life of David Gale," starring Kate Winslet and Kevin Spacey.
Gerry Hambling
In Memory
Shadow Morton
Shadow Morton, a 1960s pop-song writer and producer whose biggest credits include "Leader of the Pack" and "Remember (Walking in the Sand)," has died. He was 71.
Family friend Amy Krakow confirmed with The Associated Press on Sunday that Morton, born George Francis Morton, died Thursday in Laguna Beach, Calif.
Shangri-Las, the girls group from Queens, N.Y., gained fame after recording both "Remember" in 1964, and then "Leader of the Pack," which Morton co-wrote with Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich. Shangri-Las became famous starting in 1964 with Morton's hits.
Morton was born in Brooklyn and moved to Long Island as a teenager.
Krakow said he is survived by three daughters, a sister and three grandchildren.
Shadow Morton
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