Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Bill Maher New Rules slamming Republicans (YouTube)
The boyhood homes of Mitt Romney, Barack Obama and Paul Ryan (at 3:27).
John Rudolf: "Disabled Veteran 47 Percenter: 'I Guess I'm One Of The Leeches On The System'" (Huffington Post)
John Hoskins is not proud of his dependence on government. He scrapes by on a $900 monthly check from the Veterans Administration and $16 in food stamps. Sometimes he struggles just to pay his utilities and keep food in the fridge. Hoskins, 67, enlisted in the Army's elite 101st Airborne division in 1963 and saw two harrowing years of combat in Vietnam, where his reconnaissance unit was repeatedly air-dropped into the jungle behind enemy lines. Today he is disabled, suffering from diabetes and confined to a wheelchair. A month ago, his left foot was amputated due to a blood infection. … "I guess I'm one of the leeches on the system," he said. "But look at me. What can I do?"
Gail Collins: Mitt's Snake-Bit Season (New York Times)
It's not all that unusual for a vice-presidential candidate to go low-profile. And it is totally not true that Mitt Romney strapped Paul Ryan to the top of a car and drove him to Canada. Stop spreading rumors!
Suzanne Moore: Mitt Romney divides society into the wealth-makers and the wealth-takers - he's much like the Tories (Guardian)
The UK government is implementing policies way closer to crazed Republican thinking than it would like spelled out.
Froma Harrop: When Blue-collar Whites Turned Republican (Creators Syndicate)
Can Democrats recapture the blue-collar hearts they began losing 60 years ago? Perhaps. The very real declining fortunes of whites without college degrees could again make economic security their prime concern. Nothing stays the same.
Not Wanting Kids Is Entirely Normal (Atlantic)
How the ingrained expectation that women should want to become parents is detrimental and unhealthy.
Gail Collins: The Lows of Higher Ed (New York Times)
People, don't you think young adults should get the clearest, most easy-to-compare information conceivable before they sign a huge, life-changing loan deal? Don't you think there should be somebody in charge of calling them up once a week and yelling: "Eight hundred dollars a month until you're 51 years old!"
David L. Ulin: For David Byrne, music is about building up (Los Angeles Times)
David Byrne is, to use one of his favorite words, a context unto himself. Founding member of Talking Heads, he blew up the concept of that band at least three times before disbanding it in 1988 for good.
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."
"Doug's Most Shared Facebook Post" Today
wrote:
answered:
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
Bosko Suggests
Have a great week,
Bosko.
Thanks, Bosko!
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
BadtotheboneBob
Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore
Spray Falls, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Lake Superior, near Munising, Michigan...
... drops 70 feet onto the what's left of the shipwreck of the 184ft long wooden sidewheeler steamship, 'Superior', driven against that cruel shore with a loss of 40 persons in 1856. The wreck lies in 20ft of water at the base of the falls. The falls can only be viewed by boat or air as land access is restricted by the National Park Service. As is most of Pictured Rocks because...
... It's a long way down. The is "Grand Portal'. Until 1999 one could kayak through it until the large rock fall occurred during the winter/early spring of 2000. There are many caves, though, that kayakers can explore. Some are large...
... some are smaller...
All attest to the fact that while the rock is hard, the lake is persistent...
Photos by BadtotheboneBob
Thanks, B2tBob!
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny, hot and humid.
Here's a complete list of the Emmy Award Winners - 2012
New Career
Tony Dow
He is, and likely forever will be, best known as good old Wally Cleaver, the big brother who had to bail out a goofball sibling facing one dilemma after another on the classic TV series "Leave it to Beaver."
For the last dozen years, though, Tony Dow has been carving out a new career, as a sculptor with pieces that have shown at numerous venues, including what is arguably the world's premier art museum - the Louvre in Paris.
This weekend, more than 30 of Dow's pieces in bronze, steel and wood go on display closer to home at the Debilzan Gallery in Laguna Beach, and they could fetch several thousand dollars each from collectors. But despite his respected reputation as a sculptor, Dow acknowledges there could be as many people at Saturday's opening reception wanting to rub shoulders with the Beav's brother as see his art.
It was 12 years ago that art took front and centre in his life. Dow laughs when he remembers the day when he decided it was time to take the leap from acting to sculpting. He was up for a role in a TV show and a 28-year-old executive asked, "Have you ever done comedy before," recalls Dow, co-star of one of the most classic TV comedies in history.
"Well, I sort of looked at him and I thought, 'Hmmm, maybe it is time for me to retire. Maybe it is time to take the art seriously.'"
Tony Dow
Celebrates Birthday With Mom Onstage
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen celebrated his 63rd birthday onstage until nearly 2 a.m. Sunday, joined at the end by his hearty mom.
Adele Springsteen danced and sang background to "Twist and Shout," walking offstage with her son and his band at nearly 2. Her only concession to age was a pair of hastily made earplugs.
She watched as her son cut a giant cake in the shape of a guitar, passing out pieces to some audience members.
His show in the open-air MetLife Stadium was delayed three hours Saturday by authorities because of a downpour and worries about lightning. Thousands of fans clustered on indoor ramps waiting for the rain to stop.
When it did, Springsteen and his E Street Band took the stage at 10:30 p.m. to the strains of Wilson Pickett's "In the Midnight Hour," a song they performed when the clock hit that mark. They also covered Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Who'll Stop the Rain," and it worked.
Bruce Springsteen
amfAR Foundation
Sharon Stone
Sharon Stone helped raise more than $1.1 million (€846,000) for AIDS research at a charity auction, hours after a brief trip to a hospital during Milan Fashion Week.
The 54-year-old Stone experienced migraine-related symptoms after the Fendi runway show Saturday night, was examined as a precaution and was given a clean bill of health, the amfAR Foundation for AIDS Research said in a statement Sunday.
At the charity auction Saturday night, Stone was in fine form, cracking jokes as she enticed higher bids.
Designer Roberto Cavalli paid €35,000 ($45,500) for a new interpretation of the 1972 Bocca sofa shaped like lips after Stone reclined on the piece, demonstrating its comfort.
"You can kiss my a-- anytime," she joked with Cavalli, who was sitting at Stone's table.
Sharon Stone
Concert Meltdown, Rehab
Billie Joe Armstrong
Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong is headed to treatment for substance abuse.
Sunday's announcement by the band's representative comes after the rock frontman had a meltdown onstage at the iHeart Radio Music Festival in Las Vegas. In a clip that has gone viral, Armstrong profanely complained that the band's time was being cut short, then smashed his guitar.
In a statement to The Associated Press, the band apologized for the incident and said that their set was not cut short by Clear Channel, the host of the two-day festival.
The Grammy winning band also is cancelling some of its promotional appearances. It is due to release the album "Uno" on Tuesday.
Billie Joe Armstrong
Obtained Journal
CNN
A personal journal belonging to U.S. Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens was obtained by CNN, and The Wall Street Journal is reporting that it "broadcast reports based on its contents against the wishes of the Stevens family, according to relatives and State Department officials who were asked to intervene by the family."
The cable news network didn't publicly acknowledge having the journal until Friday night.
According to an un-bylined story posted Saturday on CNN's website "four days after he was killed, CNN found a journal belonging to late U.S. Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens. The journal was found on the floor of the largely unsecured consulate compound where he was fatally wounded."
CNN claims on its website that it "notified Stevens' family about the journal within hours after it was discovered and at the family's request provided it to them via a third party."
The Journal reports that the slain ambassador's family contacted the State Department, which put together a conference call between the Stevens family and CNN. During the call, the family "personally appealed to the news organization to return the journal and to not publish or broadcast any of its contents, according to a Stevens family member and State Department officials."
CNN
Neglect Ruins Prized Shoes
Imelda Marcos
Termites, storms and neglect have damaged part of former Philippine first lady Imelda Marcos' legendary collection of shoes and other possessions left behind after she and her dictator husband were driven into U.S. exile by a 1986 popular revolt.
Hundreds of pieces of late strongman Ferdinand Marcos' clothing, including the formal native see-through barong shirts he wore during his two-decade rule, have also begun to gather mold and fray after being stored for years without protection at the presidential palace and later at Manila's National Museum, officials told The Associated Press on Sunday.
The Marcoses fled the Philippines at the climax of an army-backed "people power" revolt which became a harbinger of change in authoritarian regimes worldwide. Ferdinand Marcos died in exile in Hawaii in 1989 and his widow and children returned home years later.
More than 150 cartons of clothes, dress accessories and shoes of the Marcoses were transferred to the National Museum for safekeeping two years ago after termites, humidity and mold threatened the apparel at the riverside palace. They deteriorated further at the museum after the fragile boxes were abandoned in a padlocked hall that had no facilities to protect such relics and was inundated by tropical rains last month due to a gushing leak in the ceiling, museum officials said.
Imelda Marcos
Spent On Pizza
Coin Collection
A young couple in Washington state may be guilty of committing an expensive crime for pennies on the dollar. Dakoda Garren, 19, has been charged with stealing a rare coin collection worth $100,000 and spending the coins at face value on a movie and pizza with his girlfriend.
The Columbian reports that a woman living in Woodland had her family coin collection stolen in May and says that Garren and his girlfriend Elizabeth Massman were the only people to visit her home during that period, when they were hired to do some part-time work.
Garren denied the accusation back in May, telling police they "didn't have any evidence against him," according to a report filed in Cowlitz County Superior Court.
But then Garren and Massman allegedly began using the coins at local establishments, spending them at face value, including a quarter that is estimated to be worth thousands of dollars.
The Daily News reports the collection includes a variety of rare coins, such as Liberty Head quarters, Morgan dollars and several others dating back to the early 1800s.
Coin Collection
Battles For Threatened Badgers
Brian May
A battle over badgers is brewing in Britain - and rock star Brian May is leading the fight.
May and other animal rights activists are going up against the country's cattle farmers in a bid to save Britain's native burrowers from a government-authorized cull.
For animal-loving Britons, raised on tales of the wise Mr. Badger from the children's classic "The Wind in the Willows," the black-and-white creatures are a treasured part of the rural landscape.
To cattle farmers, however, they are a feral menace, spreading bovine tuberculosis, a disease that can devastate herds and hurt farm revenues.
This week the government approved a trial plan to kill badgers in one part of England to try and slow the spread of infection. Soon hunters - licensed to cull - will be roaming by night in search of the animals, unless a public campaign in support of the badgers succeeds in altering government policy.
That's where May, the Queen guitarist, comes in.
Brian May
Gummy Worms Replace Costly Corn Feed
Cows
Mike Yoder's herd of dairy cattle are living the sweet life. With corn feed scarcer and costlier than ever, Yoder increasingly is looking for cheaper alternatives -- and this summer he found a good deal on ice cream sprinkles.
As the worst drought in half a century has ravaged this year's U.S. corn crop and driven corn prices sky high, the market for alternative feed rations for beef and dairy cows has also skyrocketed. Brokers are gathering up discarded food products and putting them out for the highest bid to feed lot operators and dairy producers, who are scrambling to keep their animals fed.
In the mix are cookies, gummy worms, marshmallows, fruit loops, orange peels, even dried cranberries. Cattlemen are feeding virtually anything they can get their hands on that will replace the starchy sugar content traditionally delivered to the animals through corn.
"Everybody is looking for alternatives," said Ki Fanning, a nutritionist with Great Plains Livestock Consulting in Eagle, Nebraska. "It's kind of funny the first time you see it but it works well. The big advantage to that is you can turn something you normally throw away into something that can be consumed. The amazing thing about a ruminant, a cow, you can take those type of ingredients and turn them into food."
Cows
Stripes & Genes
Tabby Cats
How does a tabby cat earn its stripes? With the right DNA.
Scientists say they've found the gene that sets the common tabby pattern - stripes or blotches.
It's one of several genes that collaborate to create the distinctive design of a cat's coat, and it's the first of the pattern genes to be identified.
Cats with narrow stripes, the so-called "mackerel" pattern, have a working copy of the gene. But if a mutation turns the gene off, the cat ends up with the blotchy "classic" pattern, researchers reported online Thursday in the journal Science.
It's called "classic" because "cat lovers really like the blotched pattern," said one of the authors, Greg Barsh. He works at both Stanford University and the HudsonAlpha Institute of Biotechnology in Huntsville, Ala.
Tabby Cats
Weekend Box Office
Photo Finish
Hollywood is in photo-finish mode with three new movies bunched up tightly for the No. 1 spot during a sleepy weekend at the box office.
Studio estimates Sunday put two movies in a tie for first-place with $13 million each: Jake Gyllenhaaland Michael Pena's police story "End of Watch" and Jennifer Lawrence's horror flick "House at the End of the Street."
And right in the same ballpark was Clint Eastwood and Amy Adams' baseball tale "Trouble with the Curve," which opened with $12.7 million.
The weekend's other new wide release, Lionsgate's sci-fi action tale "Dredd," opened well down in the rankings at No. 6 with $6.3 million. The movie features "Star Trek" co-star Karl Urban as a law enforcer and executioner in a crime-laden city of the future.
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 (tie). "End of Watch," $13 million.
1 (tie). "House at the End of the Street," $13 million ($1.5 million international).
3. "Trouble with the Curve," $12.7 million.
4. "Finding Nemo," $9.4 million ($1.3 million international).
5. "Resident Evil: Retribution," $6.7 million ($30.5 million international).
6. "Dredd," $6.3 million ($2.2 million international).
7. "The Master," $5 million.
8. "The Possession," $2.6 million ($1.5 million international).
9. "Lawless," $2.32 million ($1.5 million international).
10. "ParaNorman," $2.3 million ($3 million international).
Photo Finish
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