Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Nick Hanauer (6-minute YouTube clip)
Ordinary consumers are job creators.
Connie Schutz: On My Knees in Ohio, Prayin' for an Echo Chamber (Creators Syndicate)
… once in a while, you find yourself hoping a groundswell of opinion turns into an echo chamber for change. This is currently true for those of us who care about democracy and live in the battleground state of Ohio, where Republicans have taken a rare break from their relentless quest to lasso women back to the '50s so they can limit the future voting rights of people who aren't like them.
Tom Morello: 'Paul Ryan Is the Embodiment of the Machine Our Music Rages Against' (Rolling Stone)
Ryan claims that he likes Rage's sound, but not the lyrics. Well, I don't care for Paul Ryan's sound or his lyrics. He can like whatever bands he wants, but his guiding vision of shifting revenue more radically to the one percent is antithetical to the message of Rage.
Paul Constant: Romney Loves Ryan (The Stranger)
What Mitt Sees in His New Beau.
Susan Estrich: Vice Presidents? (Creators Syndicate)
The only thing worse than allowing Cuban criminals to land in Florida (Jimmy Carter '80) is telling seniors you're going to revamp the programs that they literally depend on in a life or death sort of way.
Matt Miller: Understanding the Ryan Plan (Washington Post)
Since Mitt Romney named Ryan to the ticket on Saturday, the news has been filled with talk of the " fiscal conservative " (NPR) " intent on erasing deficits " (New York Times) who has become " the intellectual heart of the Republican Party's movement to slash deficits" ( The Post). All of this is demonstrably false. Ryan's con has succeeded largely because Democrats haven't sensed the political salience of assailing his plans from the right; instead, they've chosen to slam only Ryan's regressive priorities and Medicare scheme.
Matt Miller: ONCE AGAIN-PAUL RYAN IS NOT WHAT YOU THINK
You're going to hear a lot about Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) being an "intellectual heavyweight" with a "bold, fiscally conservative" vision for America. As a former Clinton Office of Management and Budget aide who has looked closely at Ryan's plans, I can tell you he is NOT a "fiscal conservative," NOT a "truth-teller" on America's fiscal challenges, and NOT a man with a plausible plan to renew the country.
Tom Danehy: Even though it's old and made of adobe, the Marist College building may not be worth saving (Tucson Weekly)
Knowing full well that it might get me permanently barred from the warm, fuzzy wing of the Liberal Club, I must say this about the Marist College building in downtown Tucson 1. Not all old buildings are automatically historic. 2. Not all historic buildings are automatically deserving of preservation.
Henry Rollins: German Metal Festival Time (LA Weekly)
I like being around music people. At the risk of sounding patronizing or broad-brushing, metal fans are some of the coolest, most nonjudgmental people you will find. … I hit the stage at 2300 hrs. in front of a tent full of people. Max, the Stooges' front-of-house soundman, is keeping things clear through the PA. Sixty-five minutes later, I get off the stage so the next lot can get up there and soundcheck. The audience was fantastic and I saw only one bottle thrown at me.
David Bruce's Amazon Author Page
David Bruce's Lulu Storefront
David Bruce's Smashwords Page
David Bruce's Blog
David Bruce has 42 Kindle books on Amazon.com with 250 anecdotes in each book. Each book is $1, so for $42 you can buy 10,500 anecdotes. Search for "Funniest People," "Coolest People, "Most Interesting People," "Kindest People," "Religious Anecdotes," "Maximum Cool," and "Resist Psychic Death."
wrote:
answered:
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Hot & humid.
Speaks From Ecuador Embassy Balcony
Julian Assange
There was no arrest. No escape. No surrender. No assassination attempt. No human smuggling. No helicopter or hovercraft. Just a wanted man, on a balcony with a microphone.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange emerged from a window onto a small balcony of the Ecuadorean Embassy on Sunday, where he made his first public remarks since being granted asylum.
"I ask President Obama to do the right thing," Assange, who's been holed up in the embassy since June, said as he read a written statement. "The United States must renounce its witch hunt against WikiLeaks. The Unites States must dissolve its FBI investigation. The United States must vow that it will not seek to prosecute our staff or our supporters."
Assange also called for the release of Bradley Manning, the former U.S. army intelligence analyst accused of leaking classified documents to WikiLeaks.
Julian Assange
Opens Up
Graham Nash
Graham Nash has never been one to hold his tongue, musically expressing opinions about some of the most pivotal events of the past 40 years with his band Crosby, Stills & Nash - and occasionally Neil Young.
During that time, the introspective singer-songwriter has written his share of songs with a political spark. But he doesn't consider his music political, instead saying it's inspired by what he sees happening in front of him.
The 70-year-old Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee is currently on tour with CSN, which includes David Crosby and Stephen Stills. He spoke to The Associated Press on topics including the band's newest live album and DVD, "CSN 2012," captured earlier this year, a project that includes Young and the band's take on political songs. He also spoke of their "40-odd-year bond" and tumultuous journey.
AP: CSN played Red Rocks (in Colorado) in July right before the Aurora shooting. What's your take on the tragedy?
For the interview: Graham Nash
63-Year-Old Engineer
Japan's 'Last Ninja'
A 63-year-old former engineer may not fit the typical image of a dark-clad assassin with deadly weapons who can disappear into a cloud of smoke. But Jinichi Kawakami is reputedly Japan's last ninja.
As the 21st head of the Ban clan, a line of ninjas that can trace its history back some 500 years, Kawakami is considered by some to be the last living guardian of Japan's secret spies.
"I think I'm called (the last ninja) as there is probably no other person who learned all the skills that were directly" handed down from ninja masters over the last five centuries, he said.
"Ninjas proper no longer exist," he said as he demonstrated the tools and techniques used in espionage and sabotage by men fighting for their samurai lords in the feudal Japan of yesteryear.
Nowadays they are confined to fiction or used to promote Iga, some 350 kilometres (220 miles) southwest of Tokyo, a mountain-shrouded city near the ancient imperial capital of Kyoto that was once home to many ninjas.
Japan's 'Last Ninja'
November Retrospective
Stanley Kubrick
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will present "Stanley Kubrick," the first U.S. retrospective of the work of the director of such classic films as "A Clockwork Orange," "Barry Lyndon" and "2001: A Space Odyssey."
The exhibition, developed in collaboration with the Kubrick Estateand the Deutsches Filmmuseum in Frankfurt, is scheduled for November 1, 2012 to June 30, 2013, at LACMA.
In addition to a film retrospective set for November at LACMA's Bing Theater, the exhibition will include Kubrick's early photographs for Look magazine, taken in the 1940s, annotated scripts, costumes, cameras, set models, props and promotion material.
The exhibition was last seen in 2011 at La Cinematheque Francaisein Paris.
Stanley Kubrick
Another Compassionate Conservative
'Legitimate Rape'
Missouri Republican Senate candidate Rep. Todd Akin, who opposes abortion in most cases, including rape, said in a television interview today that it is "really rare" that victims of "legitimate rape" get pregnant.
"From what I understand from doctors, that's really rare," Akin, who is running against Democrat Sen. Claire McCaskill, said in an interview on the "Jaco Report" on KTVI-TV. "If it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down."
He added that if the woman does become pregnant, "the punishment ought to be on the rapist."
Akin later released a statement saying he "misspoke" and that he has "deep empathy" for victims of rape.
'Legitimate Rape'
Investigated For Traffic Accident
Amanda Bynes
Los Angeles police are investigating a minor traffic accident involving actress Amanda Bynes after a person reported the actress left without providing her information.
Police Lt. Andy Neiman said Sunday the 26-year-old actress stopped after the accident and looked at the other vehicle and determined there wasn't any damage. Police said Bynes drove away without giving her information, which is required by law.
No one was injured and the damage to the other person's vehicle in the Aug. 4 incident was more than $800.
Bynes has pleaded not guilty to a driving under the influence charge after she was arrested in April for grazing a sheriff's patrol car.
Amanda Bynes
Sued In Russia For Supporting Gays
Madonna
Some Russian activists have sued Madonna for millions of dollars, claiming they were offended by her support for gay rights during a recent concert in St. Petersburg.
Anti-gay sentiment is strong in Russia. In St. Petersburg, a law passed in February makes it illegal to promote homosexuality to minors, and the author of that law has pointed to the presence of children as young as 12 at Madonna's concert on Aug. 9.
Russian news agencies quote Alexander Pochuyev, a lawyer representing the nine activists, as saying the suit was filed Friday against Madonna, the organizer of her concert, and the hall where it was held, asking for damages totaling 333 million rubles, or nearly $10.5 million.
Madonna also has angered conservative Russians with her support for Pussy Riot. Three members of the punk band were sentenced Friday to two years in prison for a protest inside Moscow's main cathedral against Vladimir Putin and his cozy relationship with the Russian Orthodox Church.
Madonna
1991 Coup Anniversary
Putin
Kremlin foes criticized Vladimir Putin on Sunday at events commemorating the defeat of a coup that hastened the 1991 Soviet collapse, saying the Russian president had reversed progress toward democracy that seemed unstoppable 21 years ago.
Opposition politicians and every day Russians said the two-year jail sentences handed down to punk performers Pussy Riot for a protest against Putin in a cathedral were part of a crackdown that evoked Soviet-era show trials and scare tactics.
"The situation with democracy is substantially worse than it was, say, 15 years ago," said Ivan Preobrazhensky, 31, who came with his wife and 5-year-old daughter to place a flower at a modest memorial to three young men who died opposing the coup.
"We are moving toward authoritarianism and totalitarianism," he said, calling the Pussy Riot verdict part of a series of steps to crush dissent since Putin, in power since 2000, won a new presidential term in March.
Putin
Road Rage Incident
Gerard Depardieu
Gerard Depardieu is in hot water again after an alleged road rage incident in the middle of Paris in which the French film star admitted he may have gone "a bit over the top."
A Parisian driver has accused Depardieu of punching him in the face after he swerved his car into the path of the actor's scooter in the chic left-bank quarter of the French capital earlier this week.
Police have not yet decided whether to follow up the driver's complaint, which Depardieu claimed had only been lodged because of his celebrity status.
"There are people who see me and immediately file a complaint," he said. "It's the price of celebrity, as the idiots would say."
Depardieu, 63, is arguably the outstanding French actor of his generation but he has cut an increasingly troubled figure in recent years, regularly seeming to be under the influence of alcohol on his public appearances.
Gerard Depardieu
Troop Rules
Germany
Germany's armed forces can carry out combat operations on home soil in case of a threat of "catastrophic proportions", the country's highest court ruled on Friday.
However troops cannot be mobilized against demonstrators, the constitutional court said.
The military had previously only been able to act in a similar way to the police in domestic disaster situations but will now be able to use combat weapons.
"The deployment of armed forces and the use of specific military defense mechanisms is only permissible as a last resort in such an emergency situation," the court said.
Germany
Weekend Box Office
'The Expendables 2'
Sylvester Stallone's action hero roundup "The Expendables 2" debuted at No. 1 with $28.8 million, according to studio estimates Sunday. That's down from the $34.8 million start for "The Expendables" two years ago.
The Lionsgate sequel elbowed out another action tale as Universal's "The Bourne Legacy" fell to No. 2 in its second weekend with $17 million. That was a steep 55 percent drop from its $38.1 million opening weekend, though the movie's domestic total climbed to a solid $69.6 million.
Focus Features' animated comedy "ParaNorman, about a boy leading the fight against zombies that rise from the grave, was No. 3 with $14 million.
Sony's music remake "Sparkle," featuring "American Idol" winner Jordin Sparks and Whitney Houston, was No. 5 with $12 million. The update of the 1976 movie centers on three sisters who form a singing group in the late 1960s.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Where available, latest international numbers are also included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1. "The Expendables 2," $28.8 million.
2. "The Bourne Legacy," $17 million.
3. "ParaNorman," $14 million.
4. "The Campaign," $13.4 million.
5. "Sparkle," $12 million.
6. "The Dark Knight Rises," $11.1 million.
7. "The Odd Life of Timothy Green," $10.9 million.
8. "Hope Springs," $9.1 million.
9. "Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days," $3.9 million ($867,000 international).
10. "Total Recall," $3.5 million.
'The Expendables 2'
In Memory
Veronique Peck
Veronique Peck, the widow of screen legend Gregory Peck, has died at age 80 of heart failure at her home in Los Angeles, a spokesman for her family said on Saturday.
Born in Paris as Veronique Passani, she became a reporter for the daily newspaper France Soir and met Peck in 1953 when she interviewed him for a story. They were married on December 31, 1955, the day after Peck's divorce from his first wife, Greta Kukkonen, was finalized.
Veronique Peck, who became a U.S. citizen in 1976, worked on a number of philanthropic causes, including working to establish theLos Angeles Music Center and an interracial theater group, Inner City Cultural Center.
When her husband died in 2003 at age 87, she took over producing the Gregory Peck Reading Series, a star-laden program that has featured the likes of Quincy Jones and Sharon Stone and raises funds for the Los Angeles Public Library.
She is survived by her two children, the writer and producer Anthony Peck and documentary filmmaker Cecilia Peck Voll, and by her brother and three grandchildren.
Gregory Peck, who won an Oscar for his role as the heroic Southern lawyer Atticus Finch in the 1962 film "To Kill a Mockingbird," was one of the most admired actors in Hollywood history. His other best known films are "Gentleman's Agreement," "The Guns of Navarone" and "Spellbound."
Veronique Peck
In Memory
Tony Scott
Tony Scott, director of such Hollywood blockbusters as "Top Gun," ''Days of Thunder" and "Beverly Hills Cop II," died Sunday after jumping from a Los Angeles County bridge, authorities said.
The 68-year-old Scott's death was being investigated as a suicide, Los Angeles County Coroner's Lt. Joe Bale said.
Several people called 911 around 12:35 p.m. to report that someone had jumped from the Vincent Thomas Bridge spanning San Pedro and Terminal Island in Los Angeles Harbor, according to Los Angeles police Lt. Tim Nordquist.
A dive team with Los Angeles Port Police pulled the body from the murky water several hours later, Nordquist said. Scott's body was taken to a dock in Wilmington and turned over to the county coroner's office.
Investigators found a note in Scott's car, which was parked on the bridge, according to the Los Angeles Times. That note listed contact information. A suicide note was later found at his office.
The British-born Scott, who lived in Beverly Hills, was producer and director Ridley Scott's brother.
The two brothers ran Scott Free Productions and were working jointly on a film called "Killing Lincoln," based on the best seller by Bill O'Reilly. Their company produced a 2011 documentary about the Battle of Gettysburg for the History Channel. Ridley Scott's "Prometheus" was a summer blockbuster.
Scott frequently worked with Denzel Washington, most recently on the runaway train drama "Unstoppable." Scott and Washington collaborated on three other films: "Man on Fire," "Deja Vu," and "The Taking of Pelham 123."
Other Scott films include "True Romance," ''Crimson Tide" and "Enemy of the State."
Scott was married to actress Donna Scott. They have twin sons.
Tony Scott
In Memory
Joey Kovar
Reality television performer Joey Kovar, who starred in MTV's "The Real World: Hollywood" andVH1's "Celebrity Rehab," was found dead at a friend's home near Chicago on Friday, according to media reports.
Kovar, 29, who had a history of drug addiction, was found by a female friend who noticed blood coming out of his ears and nose, celebrity news website TMZ.com reported. Kovar's representative could not be reached for comment.
The Chicago native gained fame as an aspiring actor on the 20th season of MTV's "Real World" reality show in 2008, which documented Kovar's struggles with drug addiction as he tried to forge a career in Hollywood.
The aspiring actor later joined the cast of VH1's "Celebrity Rehab" in 2010 to overcome his addiction to alcohol, cocaine, ecstasy, methamphetamine and steroids. His biography on the show's website said he had previously "come very close to death through an overdose."
Joey Kovar
| CURRENT MOON lunar phases |
