Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Steve Levenstein: 10 Adorable Japanese School Buses
Too cute for school? Not in Japan, where settling at mere cuteness means you're not trying hard enough. That high-pitched sound you're hearing isn't a school bus in need of a brake job, just its pint-sized passengers squealing "KAWAII!" in unison.
Marc Dion: Shoot the Occupy America Kids (Creators Syndicate)
In a nation where the rich have been on a 30-year binge and the poor swell their sullen numbers every day, what will happen the day that 10,000 protesters go swinging down Wall Street, breaking windows and fighting the cops? If that day comes, in this America, some voice will shout "treason," and the decision to kill or not to kill will go, by default, to men who have never seen blood. and that decision will be backed by rich people who own nearly every corner of every way to make a living, and it will be sold as a needed defense of our America.
Mark Shields: In Cincinnati, an Incumbent President in Trouble (Creators Syndicate)
In Ohio, which has voted for the winning White House nominee in the last 12 consecutive presidential elections, there has been no major county that has been more reliably Republican than Hamilton, with its county seat of Cincinnati.
The Grand Wizards of Elementary School
How the KKK helped get children out of the factories and into the classroom.
Henry Rollins: Sleep is the Cousin of Death (LA Weekly)
I would rather be out here in the world, with a backpack, some jams and a full itinerary, than anywhere else. The hustle and lack of sleep? I'll take this over complacency or the dull death tones of contentment anytime.
Froma Harrop: The Dietary Supplement Scam Continues (Creators Syndicate)
Since I was a wee pill-popper, I've taken more vitamins and other supplements than I care to admit. If over the years I'd invested that money in an S&P 500 stock fund ... oh, well.
13 Horror Movies and the 'True Stories' They're Based On
Some of the very best horror movies of all time are based on actual events. Take "Psycho," "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and "Silence of the Lambs," for example, three of the scariest horror movies of all time are based on the horrible killings of a single man, Ed Gein.
The Greatest Horror Films Ever Made
Horror Movies ranked by adrenaline junkies worldwide. Anyone can vote on this CrowdRanked list, and can even add your own favorite chiller to these rankings. Ghosts, zombies, monsters or maybe just the quiet guy down the street who straps on a hockey mask for kicks; these are the movies that scare the pants off you.
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."
took the day off.
took the day off, too.
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Michelle in AZ
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
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BadtotheboneBob
The world at seven billion
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Invasion Of The Mind-Controlling Zombie Parasites
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Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny and summery.
Koch-Funded Study
Climate Change
A prominent physicist and skeptic of global warming spent two years trying to find out if mainstream climate scientists were wrong. In the end, he determined they were right: Temperatures really are rising rapidly.
The study of the world's surface temperatures by Richard Muller was partially bankrolled by a foundation connected to global warming deniers. He pursued long-held skeptic theories in analyzing the data. He was spurred to action because of "Climategate," a British scandal involving hacked emails of scientists.
Yet he found that the land is 1.6 degrees warmer than in the 1950s. Those numbers from Muller, who works at the University of California, Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, match those by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and NASA.
He said he went even further back, studying readings from Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. His ultimate finding of a warming world, to be presented at a conference Monday, is no different from what mainstream climate scientists have been saying for decades.
What's different, and why everyone from opinion columnists to "The Daily Show" is paying attention is who is behind the study.
One-quarter of the $600,000 to do the research came from the Charles Koch Foundation, whose founder is a major funder of skeptic groups and the tea party. The Koch brothers, Charles and David, run a large privately held company involved in oil and other industries, producing sizable greenhouse gas emissions.
Climate Change
Returning
'In Living Color'
Groundbreaking comedy sketch show "In Living Color" is returning to Fox, the network said on Friday.
The series, which ran from 1990 to 1994, is being reprised in the form of two half-hour specials, to air in spring 2012. Keenen Ivory Wayans, who co-created and produced the original series, has signed on to host and executive-produce.
The network said that the specials will bring "a modern-day take on the hit sketch comedy show that will feature a new cast of fresh, young talent, as well as musical performances by special guests."
Known for bringing a cutting, urban twist to the sketch-comedy genre, "In Living Color" launched the careers of Jim Carrey and Jamie Foxx, among others. No word on whether Carrey or Foxx will participate in the revamped version -- or whether Jennifer Lopez will be back to reclaim her role in the Fly Girls dance troupe.
'In Living Color'
Wins L.A. Film Critics' Lifetime Honor
Doris Day
Doris Day has been named recipient of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association's 2011 Career Achievement Award, the critics group announced on Saturday.
"Decades on from the main body of her work, Doris Day is still arguably the template to which Hollywood turns when trying to quantify and capture 'girl-next-door' appeal," said LAFCA president Brent Simon in a release announcing the honor.
Day has often been a subject of speculation when the Academy meets to choose its honorary Oscar winners, though she has a long-running and well-known reluctance to attend ceremonies.
The association also announced that it will vote for the winners of its 2011 awards on Sunday, December 11. While the New York Film Critics Circle, which usually chooses its winners the day after the Los Angeles critics, decided to move its voting into November, LAFCA opted not to change its voting date.
Doris Day
Wedding News
Amurri - Martino
Actress Eva Amurri, the oldest child of Susan Sarandon, married former soccer pro Kyle Martino on Saturday, People magazine reported.
The couple, engaged since December, tied the knot in Charleston, South Carolina. Sarandon and her former partner Tim Robbins, who helped raise Amurri, hosted the weekend's festivities.
Officiating at the ceremony was Sister Helen Prejean, the nun portrayed by Sarandon in Robbins' 1995 film "Dead Man Walking." Amurri, 26, had a small role in the film, playing her mother's character as a child.
Amurri's film work has included roles in "The Banger Sister," "Saved!" and "The Life Before Her Eyes." Her father is Italian director Franco Amurri. She has two half-brothers, Sarandon's sons with Robbins.
Martino, 30, retired from Major League Soccer in 2008 and is now a soccer commentator. He and Amurri chose historic Charleston for their wedding because his parents live there.
Amurri - Martino
Fres Staff Over Chechen PR Blunder
Hilary Swank
Widely rebuked for helping celebrate a brutal Chechen dictator's birthday last month, Hilary Swank has embarked on an internal housecleaning of her personal representation, The Independent reported Sunday.
According to the newspaper, the Oscar-winning actress has fired Jason Weinberg, her friend and manager for the last eight years.
It's expected, the paper reported, that CAA representatives Amie Yavor and Josh Lieberman will be pulled off her team, too.
The reported moves come three weeks after human rights groups blasted Swank, along with Jean-Claude Van Damme, violinist Vanessa Mae and singer Seal, for attending the 35th birthday party of Chechnya's president, Ramzan Kadyrov.
Hilary Swank
Estate Saddled By Debt
James Brown
James Brown's charitable trust had withered to just $14,000 and his estate was saddled with more than $20 million in debt before a professional money manager was able to turn it around, an attorney told The Associated Press.
Under a complex 2009 settlement, the manager took control of Brown's assets from the estate's trustees. That manager wiped out the crushing debt and paved the way for thousands of needy students to receive full college scholarships by next year from the charity by cutting deals that put the Godfather of Soul's music on national and international commercials for Chanel perfume and Gatorade.
The full details of that settlement and the dire condition of Brown's estate had previously been a mystery and were provided to the AP by David Black, an attorney for the money manager.
And now that deal - which gave about half of Brown's assets to the trust, a quarter to Brown's widow and young son, and the rest to his adult children - could be in jeopardy because the ousted trustees claim the deal should never have been approved and should be thrown out.
James Brown
US Studio Filming In China
"21 and Over"
Rights activists have criticized a Hollywood studio for filming a buddy comedy in an eastern Chinese city where a blind, self-taught activist lawyer is being held under house arrest and reportedly beaten.
Relativity Media is shooting part of the comedy "21 and Over" in Linyi, a city in Shandong province where the activist Chen Guangcheng's village is located. Authorities have turned Chen's village of Dongshigu into a hostile, no-go zone and activists, foreign diplomats and reporters have been turned back, threatened and had stones thrown at them by men patrolling the village.
The news that Relativity Media had chosen Linyi, a city of 10 million, as a location for its film and was touting its close government connections comes at a time when activists have renewed their attention on Chen. A campaign to visit the lawyer to draw attention to his plight has caught on and intensified over recent weeks, though none have succeeded and many visitors have been met with violence.
On China's popular Twitter-like microblog, Sina Weibo, some bloggers circulated email addresses for Relativity staff, urging users to write to the company in protest. A few called for a boycott of the film.
"21 and Over"
Editor Arrested
"Jon & Kate"
A 56-year-old TV editor who has worked on "Jon and Kate Plus 8" and other cable reality shows featuring kids has been charged with possession of child pornography.
According to documents obtained by RadarOnline, William Blankinship was arrested October 21 in North Carolina as part of an FBI sting and has been charged with 10 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor.
Blankinship is a subcontractor for Figure 8 Films, and has edited such TLC shows as "Jon and Kate Plus 8," spin-off "Kate Plus 8," "17 Kids and Counting" and "Table for 12."
No bond has been set yet for the accused, who remains under the authority of U.S. Marshals.
"Jon & Kate"
Studies Challenge Wisdom
GOP Candidates
Key proposals from the Republican presidential candidates might make for good campaign fodder. But independent analyses raise serious questions about those plans and their ability to cure the nation's ills in two vital areas, the economy and housing.
Consider proposed cuts in taxes and regulation, which nearly every GOP candidate is pushing in the name of creating jobs. The initiatives seem to ignore surveys in which employers cite far bigger impediments to increased hiring, chiefly slack consumer demand.
"Republicans favor tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations, but these had no stimulative effect during the George W. Bush administration, and there is no reason to believe that more of them will have any today," writes Bruce Bartlett. He's an economist who worked for Republican congressmen and in the administrations of Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush.
As for the idea that cutting regulations will lead to significant job growth, Bartlett said in an interview, "It's just nonsense. It's just made up."
GOP Candidates
Property Sold
'Field of Dreams'
The sprawling eastern Iowa cornfields made famous by the movie "Field of Dreams" are being sold to a company that will preserve the site's baseball legacy, the owners announced Sunday.
Don and Becky Lansing said they have accepted an offer from Mike and Denise Stillman and their company, Go the Distance Baseball LLC, which will develop the site near Dyersville as a baseball and softball complex. A purchase price was not disclosed.
The land has been in Don Lansing's family since 1906. The couple put the property up for sale at $5.4 million in May 2010. The parcel includes the two-bedroom house, baseball diamond, six other buildings and 193 acres - mostly cornfields - from the movie.
The film, released in 1989, was based on the book "Shoeless Joe" by W.P. Kinsella and starred Kevin Costner. The site has been a popular tourist destination ever since.
'Field of Dreams'
Spin Funding Tall Tales
GOP Lawmakers
It's an outrageous tale: The federal government spends one out of every $10 in transportation aid on wasteful projects such as refurbishing a giant roadside coffee pot and constructing turtle tunnels.
That's what Republican lawmakers have said repeatedly in recent weeks in the Senate, in public appearances and in news releases. They are trying to eliminate a requirement that states use a portion of their highway aid for "transportation enhancements," 12 categories of projects from bike and walking paths to scenic overlooks and landscaping.
But it's not exactly true.
To make their case, lawmakers have exaggerated and misrepresented some projects that have received aid.
Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Tool., raised the issue last month when he temporarily blocked action on a transportation bill. He said he wanted to allow state transportation departments to use all their federal aid on basic needs such as roads, bridges and tunnels, instead of setting some aside for enhancements.
GOP Lawmakers
German Artist To Buy Defunct Power Plant
Anselm Kiefer
German contemporary artist Anselm Kiefer said Sunday he planned to snap up a mothballed atomic power plant in the belief that Germany's nuclear history should be preserved for future generations.
In an interview with news weekly Der Spiegel, Kiefer said he was buying "at least the cooling tower" at the Muelheim-Kaerlich facility near the French border.
He enthused: "This nuclear power plant is so fantastic. Wonderful. It's my Pantheon. I am fascinated by nuclear plants."
Kiefer did not mention how much he would pay and was also mum on his plans for his new purchase. "Everything is still open. Germans dispose of their history too easily and too quickly," he said.
Anselm Kiefer
Weekend Box Office
"Puss in Boots"
The "Shrek" spinoff "Puss in Boots" landed on all fours, opening with an estimated $34 million to lead the box office.
Though the box office for the top 12 movies was up 7.8 percent from the corresponding weekend last year, it was still affected by both the unseasonable winter storm on the East Coast and the appeal of the Game 7 broadcast of baseball's World Series on Friday night. DreamWorks estimated the storm took off several million from "Puss in Boots."
The new release on the weekend from 20th Century Fox, the Justin Timberlake sci-fi thriller "In Time," was down as much as 20 percent Saturday in markets like New York and Philadelphia.
But the largest estimated opening didn't happen in North America. "The Adventures of Tintin," which is being distributed overseas by Sony Pictures and Paramount Pictures, opened in 19 international markets and hauled in $55.8 million.
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. "Puss in Boots," $34 million. ($17 million international.)
2. "Paranormal Activity 3," $18.5 million. ($17 million international.)
3. "In Time," $12 million. ($14.5 million international.)
4. "Footloose," $5.4 million. ($1.4 million international.)
5. "The Rum Diary," $5 million.
6. "Real Steel," $4.7 million.
7. "The Three Musketeers," $3.5 million.
8. "The Ides of March," $2.7 million.
9. "Moneyball," $2.4 million.
10. "Courageous," $1.8 million.
"Puss in Boots"
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