Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Paul Krugman: Moochers Against Welfare (New York Times)
Cornell University's Suzanne Mettler points out that many beneficiaries of government programs seem confused about their own place in the system. She tells us that 44 percent of Social Security recipients, 43 percent of those receiving unemployment benefits, and 40 percent of those on Medicare say that they "have not used a government program."
Froma Harrop: Missiles Aimed at Social Security and Medicare (Creators Syndicate)
Missiles are pointed at Social Security and Medicare, the broad-based programs for older Americans. Some are stealth missiles. Some are misguided missiles. But both parties are pointing them.
Paul Constant: The Messy Genius of Rick Santorum (The Stranger)
This single well-timed appearance by Santorum was the equivalent of buying millions of dollars of TV commercials before the March 3 caucuses. It's the kind of savvy political decision that the Romney machine, with its big-money momentum and tendency to overplan every decision, can't seem to manage.
HOW ROMNEY STOLE MAINE (Rachel Maddow Show; Video)
"This clip shows how Ron Paul may actually have beaten Mitt Romney in Maine. Three of Maine's 16 counties weren't counted. Just how that happened is either funny or chilling depend on how you look at it. One of the three had been Ron Paul's strongest county in 2008. Its caucuses got canceled - by a Romney supporter - on account of a snowstorm he predicted. It didn't snow - the Girl Scouts didn't cancel their meeting - and even if it had, so what? Snow, it turns out, is not the rare paralyzing thing in Maine it is in, say, Mississippi." -- Andrew Tobias
Hugh Muir: "Maya Angelou: 'Barack Obama has done a remarkable job'" (Guardian)
Poet and veteran civil rights activist, Maya Angelou is the sage of black America. And for her, Barack Obama has delivered. She talks about her hopes for his-re-election - and receiving an award from his wife Michelle.
Suzanne Moore: Instead of being disgusted by poverty, we are disgusted by poor people themselves (Guardian)
Empathy has crashed. No more cruel to be kind. We must simply be cruel.
Tracie McMillan: The American Way of Eating (Slate)
I got hired to do the hardest job at Applebee's.
Timothy Messer-Kruse: The 'Undue Weight' of Truth on Wikipedia (Chronicle of Higher Education)
For the past 10 years I've immersed myself in the details of one of the most famous events in American labor history, the Haymarket riot and trial of 1886. Along the way I've written two books and a couple of articles about the episode. In some circles that affords me a presumption of expertise on the subject. Not, however, on Wikipedia.
Emine Saner: "Rose Wylie: 'My mother thought women should have an escape route'" (Guardian)
Painter Rose Wylie is finally being talked about as an up-and-coming artist - at 77.
Michele Hanson: The curse of clumsiness (Guardian)
My relaxing teabreak was ruined when I lost sight of my biscuit and decided to investigate.
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 Suggestions
Michelle in AZ
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny and warm.
Tapings Still On For Next Week - So Far
"Colbert Report"
Despite the cancellation of two "Colbert Report" tapings this week, the show is still scheduled to tape next week, according to Comedy Central.
That could still change. Wednesday and Thursday's tapings were canceled because of what the network called "unforeseen circumstances." The Wall Street Journal said those circumstances involved a family emergency.
The Huffington Post, citing "a person who has a business relationship with the show," said Stephen Colbert's 91-year-old mother, Lorna, was seriously ill. The New York Post also cited sources who said the show was shut down because of his mother's health.
Colbert was the youngest of 11 children born to her and his father James, who died in a plane accident in 1974 with two of Colbert's brothers.
"Colbert Report"
Not Running Scared
Rupert
News Corp. chief executive Rupert Murdoch (R-Evil Incarnate) on Friday warned staff at his scandal-hit British tabloid The Sun that he won't protect reporters found to have broken the law, but pledged unstinting support to the title he claimed is among his proudest achievements.
The media mogul, who flew on Thursday to Britain from the United States to tour The Sun's London newsroom amid a simmering staff revolt, pledged to restore the newspaper's status and confirmed plans to soon launch a new Sunday edition to replace the shuttered News of the World.
In an emailed message to staff, Murdoch confirmed he will remain in London "for the next several weeks to give you my unwavering support" amid the crisis caused by Britain's phone hacking scandal and police investigations into alleged email hacking and purported bribery of public officials.
Murdoch's visit follows last week's arrest of five senior staff at The Sun in raids at their homes in an inquiry into the alleged payment of bribes to police and defense officials for information. A total of 10 current and former staff at The Sun - Britain's biggest selling newspaper - have been questioned over the allegations. None has so far been charged.
Murdoch's visit, which officials insisted had long been planned, came amid a mutinous mood at The Sun. Some staff at News International have expressed alarm after both the company and police confirmed the latest arrests of reporters came after executives supplied information to detectives.
Rupert
Actress 'Deeply Sorry'
Lisa Chan
An Asian-American actress who starred in the controversial ad produced by Michigan Republican Pete Hoekstra's U.S. Senate campaign has apologized for her participation.
"I am deeply sorry for any pain that the character I portrayed brought to my communities," Lisa Chan, the actress, wrote in a statement on her Facebook page. "As a recent college grad who has spent time working to improve communities and empower those without a voice, this role is not in any way representative of who I am. It was absolutely a mistake on my part and one that, over time, I hope can be forgiven. I feel horrible about my participation and I am determined to resolve my actions."
In the ad, which ran in Michigan during the Super Bowl, Chan portrays a young Asian woman riding a bike through a field of rice paddies and speaking broken English while thanking Hoekstra's opponent, Democratic incumbent Debbie Stabenow, for her "reckless spending."
"Thank you, Michigan Senator Debbie Spenditnow," the woman says. "Debbie spends so much American money. You borrow more and more from us. Your economy get very weak. Ours get very good. We take your jobs. Thank you, Debbie Spenditnow."
The spot sparked outrage in the Asian American community. "It is very disturbing that Mr. Hoekstra's campaign chose to use harmful negative stereotypes that intrinsically encourage anti-Asian sentiment," the Asian & Pacific Islander American Vote group said in a statement.
Lisa Chan
Estate Drops "Adjustment Bureau" Lawsuit
Philip K. Dick
The estate of science-fiction author Philip K. Dick dropped its lawsuit against the makers of the 2011 film "The Adjustment Bureau" on Friday, according to court papers obtained by TheWrap.
In the papers, filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, the Philip K. Dick Testamentary Trust moved to have its claims dismissed without prejudice. Earlier this month, Judge Otis D. Wright II dismissed a number of the claims from the original lawsuit, which was filed in October 2011.
Dick's trust had sought damages plus interest from director/writer George Nolfi, producer Michael Hackett, MRC II Distribution an Oaktree Entertainment Inc., claiming that they had tried to skirt paying for the rights on the Philip K. Dick short story "The Adjustment Team" by claiming it was in the public domain.
The suit contended that the defendants initially agreed to purchase the rights to the story for between $1 million and $2 million, depending on the film's budget, plus another $100,000 once the film broke even -- and then stopped payment when they found that the story's copyright may have expired.
While the short story was first published in a magazine in 1954, which would have placed it in the public domain, the trust claimed that the first authorized publication of "The Adjustment Team" was in the 1973 collection "The Book of Philip K. Dick."
Philip K. Dick
Jackson Estate Sues
Tohme R. Tohme
Michael Jackson's estate sued the singer's former manager on Friday, claiming he lined his own pockets by persuading the pop superstar to sign unconscionable contracts in the final year of his life.
The lawsuit against Tohme R. Tohme came after more than a year of wrangling between Jackson's estate and the former adviser who has claimed he is owed 15 percent of the more than $310 million collected by the estate since the singer's death.
The lawsuit seeks the return of Jackson's property and financial records along with damages and a ruling that Tohme is not entitled to any money from the estate.
The contracts involved a refinancing of Jackson's debt related to Neverland Ranch and a producer's fee that Tohme negotiated for himself for Jackson's series of planned comeback concerts in London.
Tohme R. Tohme
NYC Ticket
Robin Thicke
Police say R&B singer-songwriter Robin Thicke has been arrested on a minor drug charge in New York City.
The 34-year-old is the son of Alan Thicke, who played patriarch Jason Seaver on the long-running ABC sitcom "Growing Pains." He was arrested early Friday afternoon in Manhattan near Madison Square Park. Police say he was pulled over and they saw a joint inside his black SUV. He was given a desk appearance ticket and released.
Thicke has written and produced songs for Michael Jackson, Christina Aguilera and others. He also began recording songs himself, and his 2009 hit "Sex Therapy" was at the top of the R&B charts. His fifth album, Love After War, was released in December.
Robin Thicke
Museum Robbed
Ancient Olympia
Two masked gunmen stormed into a small museum at the birthplace of the ancient Olympics in southern Greece on Friday, smashing display cases with hammers and making off with dozens of antiquities up to 3,200 years old, authorities said.
It was the second major museum theft in as many months in debt-crippled Greece, and a culture ministry unionist said spending cuts have compromised security at hundreds of museums and ancient sites across the country. With unemployment at 21 percent and Greece's economy in its fifth year of recession, crime, poverty and homeless rates also have been increasing.
Friday's robbers targeted the museum of the ancient Games at Olympia, a few hundred yards (meters) away from the world heritage site's main museum that contains priceless statues and bronze artifacts excavated at the holiest sanctuary of ancient Greece.
Officials said 65 artifacts were stolen by the robbers, who tied up the only site guard, a 48-year-old woman.
A culture ministry official said the stolen antiquities dated from the 9th to the 4th centuries B.C., apart from the seal-ring which dates to Late Bronze Age Mycenaean times and was found in another part of southern Greece.
Ancient Olympia
Plane Forced Down
Long Beach
A small plane with more than 20 pounds of marijuana strayed into restricted airspace around President Barack Obama's helicopter on Thursday in Los Angeles, prompting U.S. F-16 fighters to rush to intercept it, officials said.
The two F-16s were scrambled from March Air Reserve Base, east of Los Angeles, by North American Aerospace Defense (NORAD) Command officials alerted to an airspace violation "in the vicinity" of Los Angeles International Airport, a NORAD spokesman said.
The fighter jets made contact with the pilot of the Cessna 182, a single-engine plane, and the pilot then complied with instructions to land at Long Beach Airport, spokesman Michael Kucharek said.
An FBI spokeswoman said the pilot had been flying from Santa Maria, in Central California, to Long Beach and had failed to respond to radio communications prior to contact by the fighter jets.
There was no immediate word on whether criminal charges were filed in connection with the incident. But law enforcement sources who has been briefed on the incident said authorities found 10 kilos, or 22 pounds, of marijuana on the plane.
Long Beach
Who's Looking At Your Page? Can You Really Find Out?
Your Facebook
If you've spent more than five minutes online, you've probably seen an ad that promises "find out who's searching for you." It sounds like a scam, but is it possible? Can someone find out if you've been looking at their Facebook or LinkedIn profile? Can you tell if someone's unfriended you? And can you see what searches have been performed with your name?
First the warning: there are scams aplenty promising to show you who is "stalking" your Facebook page. I put in a call to Facebook and spoke with their technical folks, the truth is, NO ONE can see who's been on your Facebook page. There are no features buried in the Facebook settings with that data. There are no apps that can unearth that info. Facebook says it is one of the most common scam come-ons on the site. Don't fall for it; you cannot see who's looking at your profile (and no one can see if you've been looking at theirs).
BUT there are apps and tools to see who's unfriended you. Facebook tries to squelch these apps, but I found a couple - one that you download to your computer called UnFriend Finder and one for Android called Friends Checker. Sign in, and they store a list of your friends. Then every time you check back, it tells you who's no longer on the list. UnFriend Finder also reminds you of friend requests you've made that haven't been answered. For Twitter, Qwitter does the same thing, telling you who's unfollowed you each week.
LinkedIn is a popular social networking site that lets you connect with professional associates and keep your work activities up to date, and it DOES let you see who's viewed your profile. This handy feature is over on the right column of the site, it looks like an ad, but click it to see a handful of most recent people who've looked at your profile. To access a comprehensive list of people checking up on you, you need to pay $8 to upgrade to a premium membership.
Facebook
In Memory
Neil Hope
Actor Neil Hope, who starred as Derek "Wheels" Wheeler on the popular 1980s TV series "Degrassi Junior High" and had little contact with relatives and friends in his final years, died alone in an Ontario rooming house in 2007, his former fiance confirmed Friday.
Ex-fiance Christina Boulard said Hope's family spent years trying to track him down after hearing rumors of his passing several years ago, but only learned last month from police in Hamilton, Ontario, that he had died.
Boulard said the former star of Canada's groundbreaking "Degrassi" series died on Nov. 25, 2007, of "natural causes" at the age of 35 but declined to elaborate, only saying Hope was diabetic.
"Neil was a very private person. He didn't have the best life, there were times when he would go a while without seeing or talking to his family," Boulard said.
She said she is angry that police took so long to inform Hope's relatives of his death. He apparently had not listed a next-of-kin in any official documents, she said, adding she doubted that was true.
Hope was one of "Degrassi's" earliest stars, appearing as "Griff" on the first installment, "The Kids of Degrassi Street," in 1979.
On "Degrassi Junior High," which ran from 1987 to 1991 on PBS in the United States, he portrayed the troubled character Derek Wheeler - known as "Wheels" - who struggled with alcoholism. The actor was candid about his own difficult childhood growing up with alcoholic parents.
"Degrassi Junior High," was acclaimed for its realistic portrayal of topics such as drug use, child abuse, teen pregnancy, homophobia, racism and divorce. The show followed the lives of teens who eventually graduated to "Degrassi High," another incarnation of the show.
Hope later guest starred on "Degrassi: The Next Generation" in 2001 and 2003, but details of his final years were scarce. The "Degrassi" series has won two International Emmy Awards and two Teen Choice Awards, along with several other awards.
Boulard is planning a private memorial in June for Hope's old "Degrassi" colleagues and close friends.
Neil Hope
| CURRENT MOON lunar phases |
