Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Mark Morford: Obama vs. The Fear (sfgate.com)
Grin and be enthralled, or tremble and stuff dollar bills into your mattress?
Paul Krugman: Climate of Change (nytimes.com)
President Obama's budget represents a huge break from policy trends. If he can get it through Congress, he will set America on a fundamentally new course.
Barbara Ehrenreich: My Role in the Torture of Binyam Mohamed (ehrenreich.blogs.com)
I like to think that some of the things I write cause discomfort in those readers who deserve to feel it. Ideally, they should squirm, they should flinch, they might even experience fleeting gastrointestinal symptoms. But I have always drawn the line at torture. It may be unpleasant to read some of my writings, especially if they have been assigned by a professor, but it should not result in uncontrollable screaming, genital mutilation or significant blood loss.
Colby Cosh: Watching boomers in turmoil is worth a recession (nationalpost.com)
Asked to pronounce on "The Virtues of Austerity," I eventually decided to let my id run amok and take over the column for a day. Let's face it: The virtues of austerity are the kind we generally recommend solely unto others. We all think ourselves much too well acquainted with them.
Andrew Tobias: The Third Interstate Highway System, And a few Words About Taxes (andrewtobias.com)
Be honest: Is the reason you're not investing in stocks these days (a) the prospect of having to pay 15% capital gains tax? Or (b) the fear of further losses? (Well, or - c - that you don't have any money?)
Elizabeth Kolbert: GREENING THE GHETTO (newyorker.com)
"You have construction workers who are idle, and they're going to be idle for twelve months, twenty-four months, thirty-six months," he said. "They're not going to be able to build anything. Let them rebuild everything. We have people coming home from wars, coming home from prisons, coming out of high school with no job prospects whatsoever. Let us connect the people who most need work with the work that most needs to be done."--Van Jones, the founder and president of a group called Green for All
JOEL STEIN: Our science fictions (latimes.com)
Conservatives and liberals alike don't like to face facts when they conflict with their assumptions about how the world works.
RICHARD ROEPER: Nixon's views on gays come as no surprise (suntimes.com)
Throws around slurs liberally in recording with his top aide.
Jean Millington: An Interview with a Rock and Roll Survivor (popmatters.com)
Long before the Runaways, the Slits, Hole, and Sleater-Kinney took the stage, the members of Fanny proved to the narrow-minded masses that a group need not the Y chromosome to rock harder than Led Zeppelin. Fanny co-founder Jean Millington reflects on the last days of a band that truly are "rock and roll survivors".
Ed Potton: Listen up, suckas! The A-Team legend Mr T speaks (timesonline.co.uk)
It's 8 o'clock on a Saturday morning and I've just been woken by a call from a sickeningly sprightly Mr T. I ask, groggily, how he is. "I'm great man!" he yells down the line. "The glory of God woke me up this morning."
Roger Ebert: Hunt not the Snark but the Snarker
Snarking is cultural vandalism. I have arrived at this conclusion belatedly. I have been guilty of snarking, and of enjoying snarks. In the matter of snarking, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child. But it has grown entirely out of hand. It is time to put away childish things. I must restore my balance, view the world in a fair way, hope to inspire more appreciation than ridicule. No doubt there will always be a role for snarking, given the proper target and an appropriate venue, and I reserve the right to snark when it is deserved, as in certain movie reviews. But in general I must become more well-behaved.
Roger Ebert: The Oscars are outsourced
It was the best Oscar show I've ever seen, and I've seen plenty. The Academy didn't bring it in under three and a half hours, but maybe they simply couldn't, given the number of categories. What they did do was make the time seem to pass more quickly, and more entertainingly. And they finally cleared the logjam involved in merely reading the names of the nominees. By bringing out former winners to single out each of the acting nominees and praise their work, they replaced the reading of lists with a surprisingly heart-warming new approach.
Hong Kong: Day to Night
Stephen Willey: "You might like this picture of downtown Hong Kong. If you place your cursor at the top of the photo, you'll notice it shows 6:10 a.m. As you bring it down slowly over the photo, the pictures slowly darkens and the city lights come on. At 7:40 p.m. it's dark. Photo technology at its best!"
The Weekly Poll
New Question
The "Guilty by Association" Issue
Amnesty International is urging the suspension of US military aid to Israel in a report that details the recent use of US weapons in Gaza. (CommonDreams.org)
Do you support their call to do so or not?
Send your response, and a (short) reason why, to
Results next Tuesday.
responded:
Reader Comment
MORAN vs. MORON
For several years I have thoroughly enjoyed your section on
Bartcop.com.
However, I don't understand why you spell Moron with an "a"... Moran.
I even checked a few dictionaries thinking perhaps the spelling
had changed **as ALL RIGHT is now ALRIGHT as an acceptable spelling.
We can thank THE WHO album cover for that one. haha.
"The Kids are Alright".
You're so intelligent and have a terrifc vocabulary that the first time
I saw **your misspelling of 'moron' I thought it was merely a "typo".
But through the years, I saw that you continued using morAn.
This morning when I saw the word again I thought I would write to you
and ASK if you realize the misspelling? Also, I'm surprised that no one
has **mentioned it to you already.*
*Again, I want to say how much I enjoy your*
* * Selected Readings from that Mad Cat, JD
It's the first section I read on Bartcop.com,
daily, and I wish you continued success.
Also, I hope you don't feel offended by
my **pointing out this one "little" error.
Sincerely,
LGN
Thanks, Linda!
In BartCop-speak, 'moran' is a long running joke, based on this graphic ~~~>
It dates from the summer Cindy Sheehan spent in Crawford, TX, and the spelling-challenged protestor was expressing his disapproval.
OTOH, this isn't the first time I've been asked this quiestion - it's usually more like "CANT ANYONE SPELL ANYMORE??? THE WORD IS "MORON" NOT "MORAN"!!!!"
So, thank you for the most polite complaint I've ever received. : )
Reader Comment
Re: the simpsons
Just a little quibble about Fox's claim that "The Simpsons" is the longest- running prime time show ever. It should have specified that this is a record for American television.
There are a number of prime time shows in other countries that have been on the air much longer than 20 years. The British sitcom "Last of the Summer Wine", for example, debuted in 1973 and is still in production.
Kris H
Thanks, Kris!
Oh, that Rupert.
It's Faux, not that they are especially adept at half-truths or cherry-picked factoids.
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Hazy sun and on the cool side.
ASCAPs Founders Award
Heart
Ann and Nancy Wilson, the principal members of veteran rock group Heart, will receive a lifetime achievement award from a songwriters' group, organizers said on Thursday.
The sisters will be given the Founders Award during performing right group ASCAP's annual pop music awards in Hollywood on April 22. The honorees and various guests usually perform at the event, but details have not yet been finalized.
Ann Wilson, Heart's 58-year-old singer, and Nancy, its 54-year-old rhythm guitarist, rose to fame in the 1970s with such hits as "Crazy On You," "Magic Man" and "Barracuda."
Past recipients include Elvis Costello, Billy Joel, Annie Lennox, Paul McCartney, Joni Mitchell, Smokey Robinson, Steely Dan, James Taylor, Tom Waits, Stevie Wonder and Neil Young.
Heart
Producers Plan Arbitration
Jeremy Piven
The producers of "Speed-the-Plow" said Friday they will file for arbitration to settle their dispute with Jeremy Piven for abruptly quitting the Broadway show after his doctor said he was suffering from mercury poisoning.
The action came after no agreement was reached Thursday in a grievance hearing requested by the producers. A panel composed of Actors' Equity and Broadway League representatives were unable to reach a required unanimous decision.
In a terse, two-sentence statement, the producers said: "The grievance went as expected yesterday. The grievance committee (made up of League and Equity representatives) did not rule for either side and we will be filing for arbitration as provided by our contract."
In a tearful interview with The New York Times after Thursday's hearing, Piven said his illness stemmed from eating fish twice a week for 20 years, not from consuming too much sushi, as some reports suggested.
Jeremy Piven
'Lost' Work
Beethoven
Nearly 182 years after Beethoven's death, three musicians are getting ready to give the first known performance of a lost piano trio by the immortal composer.
The 12-minute piece of the trio in E flat will be performed Sunday, along with the North American premieres of two other once-lost Beethoven pieces - piano trios in D major and a second in E flat trio, Opus 63.
According to Beethoven scholar James F. Green, the main work on the program is an arrangement Beethoven made of an early trio he had written about 1792 for violin, viola and cello. Beethoven set out to arrange it for piano, violin and cello sometime between 1800 and 1805, but completed only the first movement.
The existing manuscript in Beethoven's own hand disappeared for more than 100 years before it was rediscovered and published by German musicologist Willy Hess in 1920. And even then it attracted little notice.
Beethoven
"Codex" Reveals Youthful Self-Portrait
Leonardo da Vinci
A sketch obscured by handwriting for five centuries in one of Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks may be a youthful self-portrait, according to Italian experts who "aged" the sketch to compare to confirmed later self-portraits.
Hidden under layers of thick writing on a page of the "Codex on the Flight of Birds," the sketch was spotted by the Italian scientific journalist Piero Angela, who will present images of his discovery on Italian state television RAI Saturday.
Studying a high quality facsimile of the codex, Angela first detected the faint form of a nose behind the heavy black text of the codex's tenth page, he told a news conference Friday.
Over months of micro-pixel work, graphic designer Giovanni Stillitano gradually "removed" the text and revealed the drawing underneath. What emerged was the face of a young to middle-aged man with long hair, a short beard and a penetrating gaze.
Leonardo da Vinci
Hospital News
Ed McMahon
Ed McMahon, former sidekick to Johnny Carson on "Tonight" and a familiar TV commercial pitchman, was hospitalized in intensive care, a spokesman said Friday. McMahon, 85, was suffering from pneumonia and other ailments (bone cancer according to TMZ.com) and had been in the hospital for several weeks, spokesman Howard Bragman said. He declined to identify the Los Angeles facility or the other illnesses.
"It's serious," Bragman said when asked about McMahon's condition, noting his age. But, Bragman added: "We're hopeful."
McMahon's wife and family are with him and appreciate the public expressions of concern, the spokesman said.
Ed McMahon
Resigns As Chairman
James Dobson
Conservative evangelical leader James Dobson has resigned as chairman of Focus on the Family but will continue to play a prominent role at the organization he founded more than three decades ago.
Dobson notified the board of his decision Wednesday, and the 950 employees of the Colorado Springs, Colo.-based ministry were informed Friday morning at a monthly worship service, said Jim Daly, the group's president and chief executive officer.
Dobson, 72, will continue to host Focus on the Family's flagship radio program, write a monthly newsletter and speak out on moral issues, Daly said.
Dobson's resignation as board chairman "lessens his administrative burden" and is the latest step in a succession plan, the group said. Dobson began relinquishing control six years ago by stepping down as president and CEO.
James Dobson
Owns 1776 Copy of Declaration
Richard Adams Jr.
A rare 1776 copy of the Declaration of Independence belongs to a Virginia technology entrepreneur, not the state of Maine, the Virginia Supreme Court ruled Friday. Richard Adams Jr. of Fairfax County purchased the document from a London book dealer in 2001 for $475,000. But the state of Maine claimed it belongs to the town of Wiscasset, where it was kept by the town clerk in 1776.
Virginia's high court said that a lower court did not err in its ruling in Adams' favor because Maine didn't prove the document was ever an official town record and that Adams had superior title to the print.
Adams' attorney, Robert K. Richardson, has argued that Wiscasset's town clerk copied the text of the Declaration of Independence into the town's record books on Nov. 10, 1776. It's that transcription, not the document upon which it was based, that is the official town record, Richardson said.
Adams, who gained fame when he founded UUNet Technologies Inc., the first commercial Internet service provider, sued to establish title to the document after learning that Maine was trying to get it back. His attorney told the high court last month there's no evidence the document was ever an official record kept by the town of Wiscasset and that Adams is the rightful owner.
Richard Adams Jr.
Painting For Sale
'Hope'
A seven-foot painting that may or may not be the work of famed pop artist Keith Haring goes on sale on eBay Friday night. Opening bid: 99 cents.
The seller is a Pennsylvania man, Ed Oswald, who believes the painting titled "Hope" to be an original Haring. But his cousin, Kermit Oswald, one of the world's leading authorities on Haring's work, says it's a knockoff.
As a result, the eBay listing does not claim "Hope" is the genuine article. Instead, the description says buyers are bidding on "an original painting ... from the 1980's in a remarkable likeness and style of a Keith Haring, with a very interesting story & provenance."
Haring grew up in Pennsylvania Dutch country. He mounted shows worldwide before his 1990 death from AIDS at age 31.
'Hope'
Los Alamitos - More Than A Racetrack
Dean Grose
The republican mayor of a small Southern California city who was criticized for sending an e-mail showing watermelons in front of the White House says he will give up the mayoral post but remain on the City Council.
Los Alamitos Mayor Dean Grose heard calls for his resignation this week when he forwarded an e-mail showing a watermelon patch on the White House lawn under the title: "No Easter egg hunt this year."
Grose has apologized and said he wasn't aware of the racial stereotype that blacks like watermelon.
Officials in the Orange County town say Grose will officially resign as mayor on Monday. But Grose told KCAL-TV on Friday that he intends to remain on the City Council.
Dean Grose
Settlement Against Children
RIAA
Lawyers have reached a tentative settlement in a music piracy lawsuit filed by the recording industry against the children of one of its best-known opponents, both sides said Friday.
Once the settlement is finalized, it would end a long battle between the industry and the family of Patti Santangelo, who was sued in 2005 for pirating music through file-sharing computer networks.
Santangelo, of Wappingers Falls, N.Y., denied the charge, saying she couldn't have downloaded or distributed music because she didn't know how. A federal judge described her as an "Internet-illiterate parent, who does not know Kazaa from kazoo."
In 2007, the industry dropped the lawsuit against Santangelo but sued two of her children, Michelle, then 20, and Robert, 16, saying they had downloaded and distributed more than 1,000 songs, including "Pretty Fly (For a White Guy)" by The Offspring, "MMMBop" by Hanson and "Beat It" by Michael Jackson.
RIAA
In Memory
Dick "Bulldog" English
Richard M. English died on February 23, 2009 in Rancho Mirage, CA. He was 80 years old.
Dick was born in 1928 in Buffalo, NY, the first born to Matthew and Marion English. His father "Matt" owned a gas station in South Buffalo for 26 years.
After graduating from high school in 1946, he enlisted in the Army. He spent 1947 as part of the occupation of Japan. He then attended the University of Buffalo and its law school under the G.I. Bill of Rights.
In September of 1952, Dick married Nan Kinney of South Buffalo. After law school graduation in 1953, he started a law practice. However, in late 1954, they moved to Southern California. They settled in Lynwood, CA where Dick practiced law and became a City Councilman in 1958.
A few months later, he chaired Pat Brown's campaign for Governor of California. In 1960, Dick worked full time in John F. Kennedy's campaign for president, chairing one third of L.A. County. In 1964, Dick ran for Congress as a democrat, but lost by a mere 148 votes.
He was a delegate on the Robert F. Kennedy for president slate in 1968 at Chicago's Democratic Convention.
During his legal career, Dick represented Robert Stroud, the "Birdman of Alcatraz", who served 54 years in prison, 47 years in solitary confinement. Dick was assured in late 1963 that President Kennedy was giving Stroud's case full consideration for a pardon. However, Stroud died on November 21, 1963 and within 24 hours, President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas.
In 1979, Dick moved to Palm Desert, CA and established a second law practice. In 2002, he purchased a condo in Palm Desert. That's where he and Joyce Nease Crawford lived until his death.
Dick was a member of the New York State Bar Association; State Bar of California; Blackthorn Club of South Buffalo; Life Member of American Legion Post No. 1477, Lackawanna, New York; Li fe Member of Foreign Wars, Post No. 2940, West Seneca, New York; member of the Jacob D. Hyman Society of the UB Law School; board member of the Desert Foundation for democracy.
Dick "Bulldog" English
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