Recommended Reading
from Bruce
"House Votes To Cut Food Stamps By $40 Billion" (Huffington Post)
The House of Representatives on Thursday approved sweeping reforms to the nation's food stamp program that would cut some $40 billion in nutrition aid over 10 years and deny benefits to millions starting in 2014.
Alex Seitz-Wald: "Multi-Millionaire Rep. Says He Can't Afford A Tax Hike Because He Only Has $400K A Year After Feeding Family" (Think Progress)
Fleming is himself a businesses owner, so Jansing asked, "If you have to pay more in taxes, you would get rid of some of those employees?" Fleming responded by saying that while his businesses made $6.3 million last year, after you "pay 500 employees, you pay rent, you pay equipment, and food," his profits "a mere fraction of that" - "by the time I feed my family, I have maybe $400,000 left over." Watch it:
Chris Gentilviso, "GOP Congressman: 'I'm Stuck Here Making $172,000'" (Huffington Post)
Gingrey said that younger folks on the Hill. may not be raking in money now, "but in a few years they can just go to K Street." "Meanwhile, I'm stuck here making $172,000 a year," he added, according to The National Review.
Marc Dion: Is It 1983 in Here? (Creators Syndicate)
I live in a city in Massachusetts; a particularly lovely state where something called Martha Coakley is running for governor. Last week, she came to my poverty-stricken, post-industrial heroin town and she dropped into the local diner. It's a real diner, chrome, looks like a railroad car. I live about four blocks from the diner, and I eat here with some frequency. Try the corned beef hash.
Lucy Mangan: "a right hoo-ha about hoo-has (if you get my drift)" (Guardian)
There's never been a better time to pamper your pudenda. Or so we're told. But there's a part of me that's very uncomfortable with the whole concept.
Emma Brockes: "Stephen King: on alcoholism and returning to the Shining" (Guardian)
More than 30 years after Stephen King first terrified readers with The Shining, he's written a sequel, drawing on his alcoholism and a near-death experience. He talks about being a drunk father and why the Twilight series is just 'tweenager porn.'
Jonathan Cole: What's so funny about comic novels? (Guardian)
From Fielding and Austen to Wodehouse and Amis, humour has always been at the heart of English literature. But who makes us laugh today - and is humour now harder to achieve?
Dorothy Kern: Oreo Peanut Butter (Crazy for Crust)
This is going to be your favorite new peanut butter! Oreo Peanut Butter has only two ingredients, and tastes so good you'll wonder why it was missing from your life for so long!
Journey of Guitar Solo (YouTube)
Mark Sidney Johnson takes us through 28 famous solos covering 50 years.
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Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny but cool.
Leaks 'Fifth Estate' Screenplay
WikiLeaks
WikiLeaks has posted the script to "The Fifth Estate" and made its most forceful denunciation of the film about the site's creation and its colorful founder.
The whistleblower website posted a memo calling the movie "irresponsible, counterproductive and harmful." The DreamWorks film, which Disney will release Oct. 18, chronicles the birth of WikiLeaks with Benedict Cumberbatch playing site founder Julian Assange.
Assange has previously called "The Fifth Estate" ''a massive propaganda attack." In a lengthy, point-by-point posting, WikiLeaks refuted the film's depiction of WikiLeaks, disputing everything from its suggestion that documents the site released put confidential sources in danger, to the idea that Assange dyes his hair.
"Most of the events depicted never happened, or the people shown were not involved in them," reads the posting. "It has real names, real places, and looks like it is covering real events, but it is still a dramatic and cinematic work, and it invents or shapes the facts to fit its narrative goals."
The film, which premiered earlier this month at the Toronto International Film Festival, portrays Assange as a visionary with democratic ideals for information and altruistic motives for whistleblowers, but also as a lying, reckless revolutionary who ultimately sabotages his own creation by his refusal to consider the lives of revealed sources in published documents.
WikiLeaks
Mingles In Iowa
Hugh Jackman
Actor Hugh Jackman didn't just show up for Saturday night's reopening of the historic Metropolitan Theater in Iowa Falls. He and his family spent much of the day in the small community.
Jackman, his wife and children arrived in Iowa Falls on Saturday afternoon and went fishing at a city park before taking in festivities at the 114-year-old refurbished movie theater.
Jackman later greeted hundreds of people outside the theater, which was showing two of his movies, the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reported. He even sang briefly at a city park.
About 300 seats were available inside the twin-screen theater. Tickets sold for $100 or through a raffle that raised money for a local hospital.
Jackman's invitation to Iowa came from John Whitesell, a retired attorney from Iowa Falls who bought and restored the theater. Whitesell's son is Jackman's agent.
Hugh Jackman
Old Prisons
Tourists
Halfway through a tour of the bleak, deserted Missouri State Penitentiary - notorious in its day for assaults, murders and gas chamber executions - nurse Donna Springer tried to explain why she wanted to visit such a place.
"Well, it's like ... 'This could have happened to me,'" said Springer. "You have a fascination with it in some way."
Former prisons, complete with gift shops and paranormal components, have become increasingly popular tourist destinations in America and abroad. Playing to the public curiosity about life behind bars, more than 100 former prisons and jails have tours or museums, according to a list posted on the website of the Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia.
Some, such as Eastern State and the Missouri prison, report steadily rising visitor numbers.
Tourists
Wedding News
Bolton - Soros
George Soros, the 83-year-old billionaire investor, philanthropist and active supporter of liberal political causes, married health care and education consultant Tamiko Bolton on Saturday afternoon.
Soros and Bolton, 42, exchanged vows in a small ceremony at his Bedford, New York, estate, which Soros bought in 2003 from "Jurassic Park" author Michael Crichton. Federal judge Kimba Wood officiated at the non-denominational wedding, which was attended by members of the couple's families, including the groom's five children, a source familiar with the wedding told Reuters on Saturday.
For Soros, whose net worth is $20 billion according to Forbes, this will be his third marriage. It is Bolton's second.
Bolton, who was raised in California, is the daughter of a nurse and a retired naval officer. She graduated from the University of Utah and holds an MBA from the University of Miami.
In lieu of gifts, the couple has asked that donations be made to charities including Global Witness, Harlem Children's Zone, National Dance Institute, Planned Parenthood and the Roma Education Fund.
Bolton - Soros
Lawyers To Drop Suit
Gale Sayers
A lawyer for pro football Hall of Famer Gale Sayers said on Saturday he would drop a federal lawsuit filed on the former player's behalf that accuses the National Football League of failing to warn him about and protect him against head injuries.
Attorney John Winters told Reuters he would voluntarily withdraw the lawsuit, filed on Friday in United States District Court in Chicago, after hearing from the Sayers' family that the Chicago Bears great no longer wanted to pursue the matter.
The lawsuit came three weeks after the league agreed to pay $765 million to settle a lawsuit brought by thousands of former players, many suffering from dementia and health problems, who accused the league of hiding the dangers of brain injuries.
Winters said Sayers, 70, contacted him earlier in the week, wanting to know about the concussion lawsuit against the NFL.
"After that conversation, he instructed me to file a lawsuit and then today I found out through family members he no longer wants to pursue it," Winters told Reuters on Saturday.
Gale Sayers
Visits Thailand
Rihanna
Pop star Rihanna spent a weekend at the beach in Thailand, leaving behind a trail of racy tweets and an incriminating Instagram photograph showing her cuddling an endangered primate. That didn't go down well with authorities, who arrested two people for allegedly peddling protected species.
On a break from her Diamonds World Tour, Rihanna visited the Thai island of Phuket, where she befriended the wildlife.
An Instagram photo she also shared on Twitter showed her in sunglasses snuggling up to a furry primate called the slow loris and was captioned: "Look who was talkin dirty to me!"
The slow loris, a squirrel-like animal with big eyes, is native to Southeast Asia and is listed as a protected species.
Police confiscated two lorises from the pair - a 20-year-old man and a 16-year-old boy - who could face charges of possession of protected animals. The charge carries a penalty of up to four years in prison and a 40,000 baht ($1,300) fine.
Rihanna
$1 Billion In 3 Days
Grand Theft Auto V
Grand Theft Auto V has crossed the $1 billion sales mark after three days in stores, a rate faster than any other video game, film or other entertainment product has ever managed, its creator Take Two Interactive Inc said on Friday.
The latest installment of GTA, a cultural phenomenon that has sparked a national debate on adult content and violence, received strong reviews and racked up $800 million in first-day sales alone.
That marked a launch-day record for the Grand Theft Auto franchise which is Take Two's most lucrative and allows players to cruise around a make-believe gameworld based on real-life locations such as Los Angeles.
It took more than five years to be developed by Take-Two's Rockstar Games studio at a cost of between $200 million and $250 million, according to some analysts' estimates.
Grand Theft Auto V
Ready For Trouble
Leith, North Dakota
Grant County Sheriff Steve Bay is ready for fireworks if clashes break out between a band of neo-Nazi white supremacists and protesters determined to keep them from taking over the tiny North Dakota town of Leith.
With a population of just two dozen in a mostly white county, Leith is an attractive destination for members of the U.S. National Socialist Movement, who recently revealed that they are joining plans to turn the disintegrating town into an all-white enclave.
Group members plan to be in town on Sunday and Monday to introduce themselves to the community in what their organization's leader, Jeff Schoep, calls an "act of good will and faith."
"We have every intention of legally assuming control of the local government," Schoep said in a statement.
The group is America's largest neo-Nazi organization, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups.
Leith, North Dakota
New Day Of Defiance
Saudi Women
Saudi women activists have called for a new day of defiance next month of the long-standing ban on women driving in the ultra-conservative kingdom.
An online petition entitled "Oct 26th, driving for women" had on Sunday gathered more than 5,800 signatories, as activists try again to push authorities to end the unique ban.
"I will drive on October 26," activist Nasima al-Sada told AFP on Sunday, saying that some 20 women are going to take part in the campaign in the kingdom's Eastern Province.
"Many women are enthusiastic about learning to drive, or to teach other" women how to drive, she said, as many Saudi women have obtained abroad the driving licences they are denied in their homeland.
Saudi Women
Crossing Country
'Jet Hiking'
Amanda Nolan's story might not sound all that original at first. She's attempting to hitchhike around the country. But this is what sets her journey apart: Nolan is traveling to all 50 states "jethiking" by private plane.
Nolan, a travel writer, started her journey in July 2012 and only has eight states to go before completing the unusual voyage. She'sbeen chronicling her journey on the Jet Hiking blog, and on her Facebook page, where she logs each of her stops along the way.
"As a travel writer, I've been all over the world but I hadn't seen much in my own backyard," Nolan said in a recent interview with the Daily Mail. "I wanted to experience the United States in a unique way and started brainstorming ideas."
She'll have officially knocked out all 50 states once she's able to hitch a ride to Alaska, Hawaii, Utah, Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Illinois and Indiana. Most of the states on that list are clustered next to each other, so it's entirely possible Nolan could wrap up her quest before too long.
'Jet Hiking'
Weekend Box Office
'Prisoners'
The more adult-oriented fall moviegoing season got off to a strong start over the weekend, as the Hugh Jackman kidnapping drama "Prisoners" opened with a box office-leading $21.4 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.
Following the robust business for "Lee Daniels' The Butler" (now up to $106.5 million in six weeks for the Weinstein Co.), the large audiences turning out for adult fare bodes well for Hollywood's coming awards season.
In limited release, two other adult-oriented films opened well. Ron Howard's Formula One tale "Rush" opened in five theaters with a $40,000 per-screen average. And the romantic comedy "Enough Said," which co-stars James Gandolfini in one of his final performances, opened in four theaters with a per-screen average of $60,000. Both films expand next week.
Last week's top film, "Insidious: Chapter 2," slid to second place for FilmDistrict. The horror film made $14.5 million in its second weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday. It has made $60.9 million in two weeks domestically.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Where available, latest international numbers for Friday through Sunday are also included. Final domestic figures will be released on Monday.
1. "Prisoners," $21.4 million ($500,000 international).
2. "Insidious: Chapter 2," $14.5 million ($3.5 million international).
3. "The Family," $7 million ($1.5 million international).
4. "Instructions Not Included," $5.7 million ($9.6 million international).
5. "Battle of the Year," $5 million.
6. "We're the Millers," $4.7 million ($9.6 million international).
7. "Lee Daniels' the Butler," $4.3 million ($2.2 million international).
8. "Riddick," $3.7 million ($9.4 million).
9. "Wizard of Oz," $3 million.
10. "Planes," $2.9 million ($7 million international).
'Prisoners'
In Memory
Richard Sarafian
Richard Sarafian, an influential film director whose 1971 countercultural car-chase thriller "Vanishing Point" brought him a decades-long cult following, has died in Southern California, his son said Saturday night.
Richard Sarafian died at a Santa Monica hospital on Wednesday of pneumonia contracted while he was recovering from a fall, son Deran Sarafian told The Associated Press. He was 83.
Sarafian worked primarily in television in his early career, directing episodes of 60s shows like "Gunsmoke," ''I Spy," and "77 Sunset Strip."
He also directed 1963's "Living Doll" episode of "The Twilight Zone," a chilling tale whose demonic main character Talky Tina terrified children for decades. That included his own kids. Deran Sarafian said as a boy he thought the episode was "the most horrible thing I've ever seen" before learning his father had made it.
But Richard Sarafian was best known by far for "Vanishing Point," a dark story of a drug-fueled auto pursuit through the Nevada desert brought on by a bet between a Vietnam vet and his drug dealer.
The film and director had a major influence on the generation of maverick moviemakers and actors, often referred to as "Easy Riders, Raging Bulls," who would come to dominate Hollywood in the 1970s.
Warren Beatty was a particularly devoted fan, casting Sarafian as an actor in two of his own 1990s films, "Bugsy" and "Bulworth."
And he had nearly as big an influence on later directors like Quentin Tarantino, who gave him a "special thanks" credit at the end of "Death Proof ".
Sarafian was close friends with "MASH" director Robert Altman, and twice married Altman's sister Helen Joan Altman, who died in 2011.
He's survived by four sons and a daughter.
Richard Sarafian
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