Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Paul Krugman: California Death Spiral (nytimes.com)
Surging health insurance premiums show the need for comprehensive, guaranteed coverage which is exactly what Democrats are trying to accomplish.
Mark Morford: All politicians are madhouse freaks (sfgate.com)
Is that headline overstating things just a little? Do you think I am perhaps engaging in a small amount of hyperbole to draw in your jaded eyeballs and make an otherwise obvious point? You might be right. Then again, perhaps you are not.
John Kass: One day, Kevin Trudeau will get a dose of his own 'medicine' (chicagotribune.com)
30 days in jail just what the judge ordered for TV pitchman.
When the Ballet Boyz became Dadz (guardian.co.uk)
Lippy, brash and unshaven, the Ballet Boyz were a dance phenomenon. Now, as they enter their 40s, they're launching their boldest venture yet. Judith Mackrell catches a rehearsal.
Sarah Vine: The Ministry of Food at the Imperial War Museum, SE1 (timesonline.co.uk)
If you have ever chucked out a half-rotten bag of salad the Imperial War Museum's new exhibition about food during the Second World War will make for salutary, if slightly uncomfortable viewing.
"Ransom" by David Malouf: A review by Brian Doyle
Some 3,000 years ago, it may be, one grim, ferocious warrior killed another on the coast of what is now Turkey. The killer was Achilles, the dead man Hector.
Jon Henley: "Stranger than fiction: the true story behind 'Kidnapped'" (guardian.co.uk)
It has been the basis for at least five novels, most famously Robert Louis Stevenson's 'Kidnapped.' But the newly revealed story of James Annesley is more incredible than any of the tales it inspired.
Audra D.S. Burch: Bob Marley's son alleges book twists (McClatchy Newspapers)
A son of Bob Marley has written his memoir, an arresting narrative about life as the exiled child of a musical and social icon.
Tom Peck: Three gongs, countless outfits, but only one Lady Gaga (independent.co.uk)
American singer rings the changes as she takes this year's Brit Awards by storm.
MICHAEL SHEEN: ASHLEY GREENE (interviewmagazine.com)
As Alice Cullen in the 'Twilight' movies, she has been thrust into a maelstrom of earthshaking vampire-teen-sex-wolf-out hysteria. But for the actress herself, there's more to life than being beautifully undead.
David Hiltbrand: Why is this politically incorrect show about 'guidos' and 'guidettes' such a hit? (The Philadelphia Inquirer)
How did a freak show like "Jersey Shore" become 2010's must-see TV event? Glamour had nothing to do with it.
Harriet Lane: "Matthew Macfadyen: 'I do have a good eye'" (guardian.co.uk)
After playing Darcy in 'Pride and Prejudice,' Matthew Macfadyen decided to start being fussy about roles. Harriet Lane hears how all those months of turning down scripts finally paid off.
The Weekly Poll
Current Question
The 'Executive Orders, Part Deux' Edition
WASHINGTON - With much of his legislative agenda stalled in Congress, President Obama and his team are preparing an array of actions using his executive power to advance energy, environmental, fiscal and other domestic policy priorities... Obama Making Plans to Use Executive Power - NYTimes.com
Last November after Obama was elected, I asked about what Executive Orders you'd like 'The Man' to make. Puzzlingly, he did not utilize that option in any significant way, to my thinkin'... Now, however, with his "agenda stalled", he's decided to get 'Froggy' and make that leap... So, once again, I ask...
What specific issues would you like 'The Man' to address with Executive Orders?
Send your response to
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From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
BadtotheboneBob
Glacier Dust
Melting Icelandic glaciers may be contributing to an increase in dust, according to research.
The thin layer of grime that accumulates on car bonnets and windscreens is usually blamed on desert sand blown across Europe from Africa. But new evidence indicates that some of it can be traced to the effects of global warming in Iceland. As the glaciers retreat, newly exposed areas of rock previously ground under the ice are releasing more dust into the atmosphere, say scientists...
Increasing dust 'down to Icelandic glaciers' - Telegraph
Reader Suggestion
PULITZER PRIZE
IT'S OFFICIAL! ENQUIRER ACCEPTED INTO PULITZER PRIZE COMPETITION - Celebrity News | Gossip - National Enquirer
Marian the Teacher
Thanks, Marian!
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Much cooler, and the rain has returned.
Online Drive
John Mellencamp
An online effort to draft Hoosier rocker John Mellencamp to run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Indiana's Democratic Sen. Evan Bayh is building up steam.
Twitter is abuzz with the rumor and three separate Facebook groups have been set up, with the largest boasting about 2,000 members.
Mellencamp is no stranger to politics. In 2008, he recorded a radio commercial supporting Barack Obama's presidential campaign and requested that Republican candidate John McCain stop playing his songs, including "Our Country" and "Pink Houses," at his rallies.
On Thursday, Mellencamp spokesman Bob Merlis said the musician "has no statement to offer."
John Mellencamp
Saves L.A. Theater
Quentin Tarantino
Of those rooting for Quentin Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds" on Oscar night, the Torgan family might be cheering the loudest.
As the proprietors of the New Beverly Cinema, the Torgans operate one of Los Angeles' last havens for classic movies. And, as of recently, Tarantino is their landlord.
The New Beverly, built in 1929 as a first-run moviehouse, has been the Torgan family business since 1978. But if not for the intervention of the director with the encyclopedic knowledge of film, it would be just another chain franchise.
"It was going to be turned into a Super Cuts," Tarantino said. "I'd been coming to the New Beverly ever since I was old enough to drive there from the South Bay -- since about 1982. So, I couldn't let that happen."
"As long as I'm alive, and as long as I'm rich, the New Beverly will be there, showing double features in 35mm," Tarantino said.
Quentin Tarantino
Jesus Was Gay
Elton John
British pop superstar Elton John stirred controversy in a magazine interview Friday when he claimed that Jesus Christ was "gay."
"I think Jesus was a compassionate, super-intelligent gay man who understood human problems," John said in an interview posted on the website of US celebrity news magazine Parade.
"On the cross, he forgave the people who crucified him. Jesus wanted us to be loving and forgiving. I don't know what makes people so cruel. Try being a gay woman in the Middle East -- you're as good as dead," said John, who is gay.
Elton John
A&E Renews
Steven Seagal
Steven Seagal's A&E reality show is getting a sequel.
The network has renewed "Steven Seagal: Lawman" for a second season. A&E is picking up 16 episodes of the docudrama, three more than the first-season order.
Seagal and his Sheriffs Department colleagues again will protect the people of New Orleans, but this time the production filmed during Mardi Gras.
Season 1 of "Lawman" was a success for the network, averaging 2.1 million viewers and 1.3 million adults 18-49, making it A&E's best freshman performance by an original series in total viewers.
Steven Seagal
Says Romney Touched Him First
Sky Blu
A rapper with the Grammy-nominated club act LMFAO says former Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney first touched him - and not the other way around - during a confrontation aboard an Air Canada flight that was preparing to take off from Vancouver, British Columbia.
Sky Blu, whose given name is Skyler Gordy, says in a video posted Friday on TMZ.com that he was trying to go to sleep when he leaned his seat back in the coach section of a the Vancouver-to-Los Angeles flight Monday. He says Romney loudly told him several times to straighten it, as is required until takeoff under commercial flight regulations.
Then, he says, Romney reached forward and grabbed his shoulder.
Gordy says that Romney's wife, Ann, screamed and that the plane returned to the gate before two police officers escorted him off. After being detained briefly, he was allowed to buy a ticket for another flight.
LMFAO, composed of Stefan Gordy and nephew Skyler, made their debut last year and are known for party music; they are best known for their club hit "I'm In Miami Trick." They were recently nominated for a Grammy for their debut CD, "Party Rock" and are the opening act on the current Black Eyed Peas tour.
Stefan Gordy is the son of Motown founder Berry Gordy. Skyler is Berry Gordy's grandson.
Sky Blu
Charged With Battery
Sean Penn
Actor-director Sean Penn was charged Friday with battery and vandalism charges stemming from an altercation with a photographer in Brentwood last fall.
Penn will be arraigned March 22 on the two misdemeanor charges, said Los Angeles city attorney's spokesman Frank Mateljan.
Mateljan said Penn kicked a photographer during a dustup in October. The photographer's camera also was damaged. The incident was captured on a video posted by celebrity Web site TMZ.com in which Penn is seen kicking at a photographer and repeatedly telling the photographer to "get out."
If convicted, Penn could face up to 18 months in jail.
Sean Penn
Gets Medical Files
Joe Jackson
Michael Jackson's father can receive some medical records related to his superstar son's death, a judge ruled Friday.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff ruled that Joe Jackson can receive his son's medical records from the hospital where he died. The judge will review the records first before releasing them to Joe Jackson's attorney, Brian Oxman. Beckloff also said the men can only receive records generated on or after June 25 - the day Michael Jackson died at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center.
Oxman sought the files as part of an effort to obtain a monthly stipend for the Jackson family patriarch. He said during a hearing last week that he also needs the records to decide whether to pursue a wrongful death lawsuit.
Beckloff's order states a medical expert hired by Joe Jackson can review the files, but not copy them. Anyone who sees the records will be required to sign a confidentiality agreement, the ruling states.
Joe Jackson
Arrested - Again
Brian Bonsall
Former "Family Ties" actor Brian Bonsall has been arrested again in Colorado, this time on a charge of using marijuana in violation of the terms of his release.
Deputies handcuffed and led the 28-year-old from a Boulder courtroom Friday after he pleaded not guilty to an assault charge and a failure to report charge involving another case. Bail was set at $10,000.
Bonsall's defense attorney says the actor needs marijuana for headaches and has applied for a medical marijuana card through the state.
He is accused of repeatedly hitting a friend in the head with a broken wooden stool in December and of missing a court hearing in 2007 in another assault case.
Brian Bonsall
Hackers Attacked From China Schools
Google
The Internet attacks that may end up driving Google Inc. out of China originated from two prominent schools in the country, according to a story published late Thursday.
The New York Times reported security investigators have traced the hacking to computers at Shanghai Jiaotong University and Lanxiang Vocational School in China. The newspaper attributed the information to unnamed people involved in the investigation.
The company revealed on Jan. 12 that digital thieves had stolen some of its computer code and tried to break into the accounts of human rights activists opposed to China's policies. The sophisticated theft also targeted the computers of more than 30 other companies, according to security experts. A security weakness in Microsoft Corp.'s Internet Explorer Web browser is believed to have created an opening for the hackers.
The digital assault was serious enough to prompt Google to confront China's government about censorship rules that weed out politically and culturally sensitive topics from search results in the country. Google says it's prepared to shut down its China-based search engine and possibly shut down all of its offices in the country unless the ruling party loosens its restrictions on free speech.
Google
Canadian School Ship Sinks
SV Concordia
A Canadian sailing ship filled with high school and college students sank off the coast of Brazil in strong winds, but officials said all 64 people aboard were rescued Friday after about 16 hours in rafts tossed by rough seas.
A distress signal was picked up from the three-masted SV Concordia about 5 p.m. (2 p.m. EST; 1900 GMT) Thursday, Brazil's Navy said in a statement and an Air Force plane later spotted life rafts floating in the ocean about 300 miles (500 kilometers) off the coast of Rio de Janeiro.
Forty-eight students - in grades 11, 12 and university freshmen - were aboard the vessel, said Kate Knight, head of West Island College International of Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, which operates the Class Afloat program.
The ship had visited Europe and Africa since leaving Canada in September, and it had just begun a five-month semester program on leaving Recife in Brazil's northeast on Feb. 8. It was scheduled to dock in Montevideo, Uruguay on Tuesday, then head on to several islands in the Atlantic and to southern Africa and the Caribbean before returning to Canada.
SV Concordia
Italy Considers 3D Glasses Hygiene Risk
"Avatar"
Fans of the blockbuster "Avatar" applaud the film's use of 3D technology, but the Italian government believes it may also present a health risk.
The health ministry said Thursday it had confiscated about 7,000 sets of 3D glasses from Italian cinemas and could collect more of them.
Officials said the glasses pose hygiene problems if they are not properly cleaned between screenings, and that the confiscated glasses did not display tags proving they would not cause short-term vision problems to users.
The missing glasses have had little effect on the success of "Avatar" in Italy, where it remains the top-grossing film in the country.
"Avatar"
In Memory
Lionel Jeffries
Lionel Jeffries, whose numerous film roles included Grandpa Potts in "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang," has died at age 83.
Jeffries, who also wrote and directed the 1971 film "The Railway Children," died Friday morning following a long illness, according to his representative, the Liz Hobbs Group. He died in a nursing home in Poole in southern England, the British Broadcasting Corp. reported.
Jeffries made his stage debut in "Carrington V.C." at the Westminster Theatre in London in 1949, and his film debut five years later in "The Black Rider."
Later film roles include Inspector Parker opposite Peter Sellers in "The Wrong Arm of the Law" (1963), King Pellinore in "Camelot" in 1967 and Gen. Sapt in "The Prisoner of Zenda" in 1979. He also played Horace Vandergelder in the 1984 London production of "Hello, Dolly!" starring female impersonator Danny La Rue.
Prematurely bald, Jeffries played Dick Van Dyke's father in "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" although, Jeffries recalled, he was six months younger than Van Dyke.
Jenny Agutter, one of the stars of "The Railway Children," has said that Jeffries gave each of his child actors a half crown coin if they produced a usable scene on the first take.
Despite the success of "The Railway Children," voted one of Britain's 100 best films by the British Film Institute in 1999, Jeffries directed only four other films including two that he also wrote.
Lionel Jeffries
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