Tom Danehy: Tom has some issues with the co-author of Jeb Bush's new book (Tucson Weekly)
After fighting to use public money to send kids to religious schools, [Clint] Bolick raved about the Milwaukee voucher plan. But then the results came in. More than a decade of siphoning money from the public schools to start crappy charter schools and to fund vouchers to send kids to private schools has produced exactly two inarguable results. The city's schools became more racially and ethnically segregated, and the public schools outperformed the vouchers schools on the state tests.
NEIL DEMPSEY: Teachers teach for love of the work, not money (Winnipeg Free Press)
Re: Reward teachers who show merit pay (Jan. 22). Teachers -- they're not doing the best job they can. They must be holding out for more money. Insulting? Of course it is. I am a vice-principal of a K-8 school and I say that the idea that teachers could be doing a better job but choose not to is ridiculous.
Paul Krugman: Cheating Our Children (New York Times)
Fiscal policy is, indeed, a moral issue, and we should be ashamed of what we're doing to the next generation's economic prospects. But our sin involves investing too little, not borrowing too much - and the deficit scolds, for all their claims to have our children's interests at heart, are actually the bad guys in this story.
11 Companies Not Afraid To Proudly Support Gay Marriage (PHOTOS)
So maybe millions of Americans and quite a few politicians remain confused by or firmly against the idea of gay marriage. At least these 10 companies [plus one more] couldn't be more clear about where they stand on the issue of equality for all: …
Crosswalk Madness (YouTube)
"In 2006, students at Austin High School in Austin, Minnesota engineered a prank that capitalized on the unusual architecture of their school. A busy street separates two buildings on the school's campus. Students can use the crosswalk or an underground tunnel to get from one building to the other. At an appointed time on the day of the prank, 94 students began filing across the street, using the crosswalk. Then they circled back through the underground tunnel and crossed the street again-and again, and again-creating an endless stream of pedestrians. Traffic was tied up for nearly 10 minutes as cars lined up waiting for the students (including one dressed as a cow and another as a chicken) to finish crossing." - Mental Floss
The oldest bank still in existence is Monte dei Paschi di Siena, headquartered in Siena, Italy, which has been operating continuously since 1472.
Source
Marian was first, and correct, with:
Italy.
Alan J wrote:
Italy
Jim from CA, retired to ID, said:
The oldest bank still in existence is Monte dei Paschi di Siena,
headquartered in Siena, Italy, which has been operating continuously since
1472.
Charlie responded:
Monte dei Paschi di Siena, Italy.
Adam answered:
Siena, Italy.
Dale of Diamond Springs, Northern Cali replied:
In Italy, the Monte dei Paschi di Siena, headquartered in Siena has been operating continuously since 1472. Currently, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena's 4.07 billion-euro ($5.2 billion) state rescue won't resolve the troubles of Italy's third-largest bank, which is poised to report a second straight loss on soaring bad-loan provisions.
The world's oldest bank may post a 2012 net loss of 2.33 billion euros ($3.03 billion) when it publishes results on Thursday, based on the mean estimate of 10 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. The Siena-based lender had a 4.69 billion-euro loss in 2011, and will probably be unprofitable in 2013 as well, analysts' estimates show.
Just another fucking bank!!!
Sally said:
The oldest bank still in existence is Monte dei Paschi di Siena, headquartered in Siena, Italy, which has been operating continuously since 1472. The bank lost nearly €3.2 billion in 2012...
PS: Thought you might like to see the First Communion outfits I made for my morning care little girl and a few of her friends.
You see, I am not a total agnostic...
MAM wrote:
Monte dei Paschi di Siena, headquartered in Siena, Italy
BttbBob replied:
Wild-Azz Guess Moment - Liechtenstein... (I briefly thought perhaps, maybe,
Luxemburg; Switzerland would be too obvious and I considered the 'City of London' in England. Not London, the 'City of London'. There is a difference. Look it up.) Now, a pause as I check to see... Gong! - I am wrong... It's Italy... Really? Italy? How boring is that? San Marino, Okay... But, Italy?
Too bad it wasn't Andorra... That woulda been kinda cool...
~~~~~
Happy Birthday today to:
Eric Clapton (67) [ ERIC CLAPTON=BADGE - YouTube ]
(By far, my fa-vo-rite tune by Ol' Slowhand... Seriously)
Tracy Chapman (48) [ Fast car -Tracy Chapman - YouTube ]
(This tune always gives me the tingles - always. A great 'Live' video...)
Graeme Edge (71) Original drummer for The Moody Blues [ The Moody Blues - I Know You're Out There Somewhere - YouTube ]
(I like this tune for personal reasons...)
Norah Jones (33) [ Turn Me On ~ Norah Jones - YouTube ]
(The video is a turn on, I'm tellin' ya...)
Astrud Gilberto (72) Bossa Nova Singer [ Astrud Gilberto & Stan Getz: The Girl From Ipanema- 1964 - YouTube ]
(Ahhhh...)
Celine Dion (44) [ Céline Dion - If You Asked Me To - YouTube ]
(Don't care what anyone says... This woman can sing... particularly this song.
IMO, Dion sings it with much more passion and range than Patti LaBelle did in the original version used in the 007 film, "License to Kill" sound track.)
John Astin (82) [ GOMEZ ADDAMS BLOWS-UP ELECTRIC TRAINS! (1964) - YouTube ]
(Why else would a grown man play with trains?)
March 30 Birthdays - Celebrities Born March 30 | Famous Birthdays
~~~~~
Memo to The Boss: Hey! No fair flaunting Aunt Vivian's cheese ravioli, ya hear?
And, Joe S responded:
First guess, Switzerland. Second guess, Italy. Ok, now I'll look it up.
I WAS RIGHT! "Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena S.p.A. is the oldest surviving bank in the world and Italy's third largest bank. Founded in 1472 by the magistrate of the city state of Siena, Italy, as a "mount of piety", it has been operating ever since." I knew it!
Breaking News! Michigan comes from 14 points down to defeat Kansas in overtime 87 to 85!
PS Marty do you know what happened to Merlin on SyFy? I understood there to be 5 more episodes but All they are showing is stupid robot wars.
According to TheFutonCritic.com:
"Robot Combat League's" debut on Tuesday, February 26 (1.351 million viewers, 0.6 adults 18-49 rating) marked the network's best unscripted series premiere in over two years among viewers 18-49. And with its rebroadcast this past Friday (1.317 million viewers, 0.4 adults 18-49 rating) after "WWE Smackdown" nearly duplicating its overall audience, Syfy not surprisingly hopes to capitalize on its success with the extra airings.
While RedEye Chicago reported:
Syfy has decided to hold the final five episodes of "Merlin" until May Sweeps month, debuting "With All My Heart," the episode originally scheduled to air this week, at 9 p.m. CT May 3. The network will broadcast new episodes every Friday though to the two-part series finale, "The Diamond of the Day," airing May 24 and 31.
In other words, SyFy's looking to maximize ratings.
CBS begins the night with LIVE'March Madness', followed by a RERUN'Elementary', then '48 Hours'.
NBC opens the night with 'Dateline', followed by an hourlong RERUN'SNL' (Jamie Foxx hosting, Ne-Yo provides the music) from 12/08/12.
Leno'SNL' is a RERUN, with Justin Bieber (from 2/09/13).
ABC fills the night, starting early and running late, with the movie 'The Ten Commandments'.
The CW offers an old '2½ Men', followed by another old '2½ Men', then an old 'Family Guy', followed by another old 'Family Guy'.
Faux has 'Cops', another 'Cops', followed by a RERUN'The Following'.
MY has an old 'Burn Notice', followed by another old 'Burn Notice'.
A&E has 'Storage Wars', another 'Storage Wars', 'Storage Wars Texas', another 'Storage Wars Texas', still another 'Storage Wars Texas', yet another 'Storage Wars Texas', still another 'Storage Wars Texas', and yes, yet another 'Storage Wars Texas'.
AMC offers the movie 'Godzilla', 'The Walking Dead', another 'The Walking Dead', and still another 'The Walking Dead'.
BBC -
[6:00AM] DOCTOR WHO - Season 6 - Ep 7 - A Good Man Goes to War
[7:00AM] DOCTOR WHO - Season 6 - Ep 8 - Let's Kill Hitler
[8:00AM] DOCTOR WHO - Season 6 - Ep 9 - Night Terrors
[9:00AM] DOCTOR WHO - Season 6 - Ep 10 - The Girl Who Waited
[10:00AM] DOCTOR WHO - Season 6 - Ep 11 - The God Complex
[11:00AM] DOCTOR WHO - Season 6 - Ep 12 - Closing Time
[12:00PM] DOCTOR WHO - Season 6 - Ep 13 - The Wedding of River Song
[1:00PM] DOCTOR WHO: THE DOCTOR, THE WIDOW AND THE WARDROBE
[2:00PM] DOCTOR WHO - Season 7 - Ep 1 - Aslyum of the Daleks
[3:00PM] DOCTOR WHO - Season 7 - Ep 2 - Dinosaurs on a Spaceship
[4:00PM] DOCTOR WHO - Season 7 - Ep 3 - A Town Called Mercy
[5:00PM] DOCTOR WHO - Season 7 - Ep 4 - The Power of Three
[6:00PM] DOCTOR WHO - Season 7 - Ep 5 - The Angels Take Manhattan
[7:00PM] DOCTOR WHO: THE SNOWMEN
[8:00PM] DOCTOR WHO - Season 7 - Ep 6 - The Bells of Saint John NEW
[9:00PM] ORPHAN BLACK - Season 1 - Episode 1 NEW
[10:00PM] THE NERDIST - Season 2 - Episode 1 NEW
[11:00PM] DOCTOR WHO - Season 7 - Ep 6 - The Bells of Saint John
[12:00AM] ORPHAN BLACK - Season 1 - Episode 1
[1:00AM] THE NERDIST - Season 2 - Episode 1
[2:00AM] DOCTOR WHO - Season 7 - Ep 6 - The Bells of Saint John
[3:00AM] ORPHAN BLACK - Season 1 - Episode 1
[4:00AM] THE NERDIST - Season 2 - Episode 1
[5:00AM] DOCTOR WHO - Season 7 - Ep 6 - The Bells of Saint John (ALL TIMES EST)
Bravo has 'The Rachel Zoe Project', followed by the movie 'How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days'.
Comedy Central has the movie 'Trading Places', followed by the movie 'Coming To America'.
FX has the movie 'Iron Man', followed by the movie 'Iron Man 2', then the movie 'Iron Man 2', again.
History has 'Pawn Stars', another 'Pawn Stars', 'The Bible'.
IFC -
[6:00AM] Whitest Kids U'Know
[6:15AM] Out There-Joanie Loves Terry
[6:45AM] Sicko
[9:30AM] The Three Stooges-Rockin' Thru the Rockies
[9:55AM] The Three Stooges-Saved by the Belle
[10:20AM] The Three Stooges-The Sitter Downers
[10:45AM] Whitest Kids U'Know
[11:00AM] Sling Blade
[2:00PM] Lolita
[5:30PM] Monster's Ball
[8:00PM] Boogie Nights
[11:15PM] Boogie Nights
[2:30AM] Thirteen
[4:45AM] Whitest Kids U'Know
[5:00AM] Out There-Joanie Loves Terry
[5:30AM] Out There-A Chris by Any Other Name (ALL TIMES EST)
Sundance -
[6:00AM] Freaks and Geeks-Tricks and Treats
[7:00AM] Career Girls
[8:30AM] I Hate Valentine's Day
[10:00AM] Wordplay
[11:30AM] Career Girls
[1:00PM] I Hate Valentine's Day
[2:30PM] Le Divorce
[4:45PM] Barry Lyndon
[8:00PM] The Quiet American
[9:45PM] The Business Trip
[10:00PM] Once
[11:30PM] Higglety Pigglety Pop! or There Must Be More to Life
[12:00AM] Autoerotic
[1:15AM] State and Main
[3:05AM] Together
[5:05AM] My Wild Life: Isabella Rossellini (ALL TIMES EST)
SyFy has the movie 'Blade II', followed by the movie 'Resident Evil: Afterlife'.
Cast member Gerard Butler gestures during a photo opportunity dedicated to the Russian premiere of the movie "Olympus Has Fallen" in central Moscow, March 29, 2013.
Photo by Ivan Burnyashev
Amazon.com Inc., the world's biggest online retailer that got its start in bookselling, has agreed to buy book recommendations site Goodreads.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Amazon said Thursday that it "shares a passion for reinventing reading," with Goodreads.
In addition to recommending books to read based on other books people have liked, Goodreads also serves as a social network for bookworms. It has 16 million members and was founded in 2007.
The deal is expected to close in the second quarter. Seattle-based Amazon.com Inc. says Goodreads headquarters will remain in San Francisco.
Residents protest outside the National Shooting Sports Foundation in Newtown, Connecticut March 28, 2013 after receiving robocalls from the NRA, trying to enlist them in efforts to defeat new statewide gun control proposals. Residents began receiving the calls three months after a gunman killed 20 students and six adults at Sandy Hook elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut December 14, 2012.
Photo by Michelle McLoughlin
Authors Guild president and best-selling novelist Scott Turow is condemning Amazon.com's purchase of Goodreads, a leading book recommendation website.
In a statement posted Friday on the Guild home page, Turow called the acquisition a "textbook example" of how a monopoly is built. Seattle-based Amazon.com Inc. announced Thursday that it had bought Goodreads, a favorite Internet stop for readers to review and discuss books. Founded in 2007 and based in San Francisco, Goodreads has 16 million subscribers.
Goodreads co-founder Otis Chandler is defending the sale, which has set off a debate about Amazon's market power. In a blog posting Thursday on Goodreads, Chandler said that Goodreads would continue to operate independently and that Amazon's resources would help his company reach more readers.
At Friday's opening day of
Wondercon 2013, the swords were drawn early. Or, more specifically, the light sabers were drawn and the phasers were set to kill.
Four experts, including two psychologists, debated four specific topics as part of an epic breakdown analyzing the respective strengths and weaknesses of "Star Wars" and "Star Trek."
To an outsider, the debate might seem trivial. But to fans of each series, the differences have long run deep, pitting the more cerebral science fiction of "Star Trek" against the emotional, fantasy-driven stories of the "Star Wars" universe.
As the debate opened, it was clear a majority of the hundreds of Wondercon attendees who packed into the ballroom showed up in, er, force, to support "Star Wars."
Alternative folk singer Michelle Shocked strums her guitar outside Moe's Alley nightclub in Santa Cruz, Calif., Thursday, March 28, 2013, after her show was canceled because she made an anti-gay slur earlier this month. Shocked had her face covered and her mouth taped shut. She dressed in a white disposable safety suit and invited people to write on it.
Photo by Thomas Vincent Mendoza
Marilyn Monroe's letter of despair to mentor Lee Strasberg and Dwight D. Eisenhower's heartfelt missives to his wife during World War II are among hundreds of historical documents being offered in an online auction.
Monroe's handwritten, undated letter to the famed acting teacher is expected to fetch $30,000 to $50,000 in the May 30 sale.
The 58 Eisenhower letters, handwritten between 1942 and 1945, range from news of the war to the Allied commander's devotion to his wife, Mamie. They are believed to be among the largest group of Eisenhower letters to survive intact and could bring up to $120,000, said Joseph Maddalena, whose Profiles in History is auctioning the items.
Also included is a typed, undated draft letter from John Lennon to Linda and Paul McCartney that reflects the deep animosity between the two Beatles around the time of the foursome's formal 1971 breakup. The two-page letter is unsigned and contains corrections. A photographic logo on the stationery shows Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono within a circle with their lips almost touching.
A documentary filmmaker known for helping rescue children from squalid Romanian orphanages in the early 1990s was fatally shot following a dispute over the trimming of shrubbery outside his Southern California home, officials said Friday.
John Charles Upton Jr., 56, was found dead Thursday on a dirt path in the yard of his Encinitas home. The San Diego County Sheriff's Department said detectives arrested Michael Vilkin, 61, on suspicion of murder. He was being held without bail, pending arraignment Tuesday.
Upton, after learning of the plight of Romanian orphans, publicized the brutal conditions and was instrumental in bringing an estimated two dozen orphans to America for medical care and adoption.
Vilkin, in an interview conducted in county jail, told KGTV in San Diego he fired gunshots in self-defense after Upton menaced him with a gun during a dispute over foliage.
Vilkin said he owns vacant property next to Upton's home, and the two men had a disagreement over trimming shrubs.
Members of the Nazarenos brotherhood stand in a line as they participate in a Holy Week procession in Zipaquira March 29, 2013. Holy Week is celebrated in many Christian traditions during the week before Easter.
Photo by John Vizcaino
Rep. Don Young (R-Dolt), the gruff Republican veteran who represents the entire state of Alaska, said he "meant no disrespect" in referring to Hispanic migrant workers as "wetbacks."
The 79-year-old Young, the second-most senior Republican in the House, issued a statement late Thursday seeking to explain his remark after using the derogatory term to describe the workers on his father's farm in central California, where he grew up.
Young, discussing the labor market during an interview with radio station KRBD in Ketchikan, Alaska, said that on his father's ranch, "we used to have 50-60 wetbacks to pick tomatoes." He said, "It takes two people to pick the same tomatoes now. It's all done by machine."
Young's use of the word drew swift criticism from Republicans working to temper the party's hard-line positions on illegal immigrants and to improve GOP standing among Hispanic voters.
Stephen Baldwin, the youngest of four brothers in show business, said Friday he's looking forward to "clearing the wreckage of my past."
Step 1 will be coming up with $300,000 for the tax man.
Baldwin, 46, admitted in Rockland County Court that he failed to pay New York state income taxes for 2008, 2009 and 2010. Under a plea bargain, he gets to stay out of jail - so he can make some money - and can have his record wiped clean if he pays the taxes within a year.
His total bill in taxes, interest and penalties is $400,000, but state Supreme Court Justice Charles Apotheker said $100,000 had already been paid.
He said he's directing a movie starring his brother William and that other "faith-based opportunities" consistent with his principles are emerging. His lawyer said earlier this month that Baldwin would not be taking any roles like his starring turn as a professional thief with a short temper in the 1995 film "The Usual Suspects."
Ruben Enaje, 52, who is portraying Jesus Christ for the 27th time, screams while a man who plays a Roman soldier hammers a nail into his palm during a Good Friday crucifixion re-enactment in San Pedro Cutud town, Pampanga province, north of Manila March 29, 2013. The Roman Catholic church frowns upon the gory spectacle held in the Philippine village of Cutud every Good Friday but does nothing to deter the faithful from emulating the suffering of Christ and taking a painful route to penitence. Holy Week is celebrated in many Christian traditions during the week before Easter.
Photo by Romeo Ranoco
Dena Kaye frequently hears from people who have vivid stories about how her legendary father, Danny Kaye, affected their lives.
Whether it was through his movie performances, which ranged from slapstick to dramatic, or his crooning voice, his effortless dancing or his charitable works, for many, Kaye provided indelible memories that continue to be cherished to this day.
But as Dena Kaye explains, those comments are usually from those of a "certain generation" - translation, an older generation. Those fans were around when classics like "White Christmas" or his television shows and specials or his music were in the public consciousness.
Now, in the 100th year of his birth, Dena Kaye is determined to help a new generation discover the genius, and the generosity, of her father, who died in 1987 at age 74.
The memo, dated March 22, 1950, was sent by FBI Washington, D.C., field office chief Guy Hottel to then-Director J. Edgar Hoover.
According to the FBI, the document was first made public in the late 1970s and more recently has been available in the "Vault," an electronic reading room launched by the agency in 2011, where it has become the most popular item, viewed nearly 1 million times. The Vault contains around 6,700 public documents.
Vaguely written, the memo describes a story told by an unnamed third party who claims an Air Force investigator reported that three flying saucers were recovered in New Mexico, though the memo doesn't say exactly where in the state. The FBI indexed the report for its files but did not investigate further; the name of an "informant" reporting some of the information is blacked out in the memo.
Inside each saucer, "each one was occupied by three bodies of human shape but only 3 feet tall, dressed in metallic cloth of a very fine texture," according to the report. "Each body was bandaged in a manner similar to the blackout suits used by speed fliers and test pilots."
Richard Griffiths was one of the great British stage actors of his generation, a heavy man with a light touch, whether in Shakespeare or Neil Simon. But for millions of movie fans, he will always be grumpy Uncle Vernon, the least magical of characters in the fantastical "Harry Potter" movies.
Griffiths died Thursday at University Hospital in Coventry, central England, from complications following heart surgery, his agent, Simon Beresford, said. He was 65.
Griffiths won a Tony Award for "The History Boys" and appeared in dozens of movies and TV shows. But he will be most widely remembered as a pair of contrasting uncles - Harry Potter's Uncle Vernon Dursley and Uncle Monty in cult film "Withnail & I."
Griffiths was among a huge roster of British acting talent to appear in the "Harry Potter" series of films released between 2001 and 2011.
His role, as the grudging, magic-fearing guardian of orphaned wizard Harry, was small but pivotal. Griffiths once said he liked playing Uncle Vernon "because that gives me a license to be horrible to kids."
Earlier, Griffiths was the louche, lecherous Uncle Monty to Richard E. Grant's character Withnail in "Withnail & I," a low-budget British comedy about two out-of-work actors that has become a cult classic. Years after its 1987 release, Griffiths said people would regularly shout Monty's most famous lines at him in the street.
A huge stage presence with a grace rendered all the more striking by his physical bulk, Griffiths created roles including the charismatic teacher Hector at the emotional heart of Alan Bennett's school drama "The History Boys." He won an Olivier Award for the part in London and a Tony for the Broadway run, and repeated his performance in the 2006 film adaptation.
Griffiths also played poet W.H. Auden in Bennett's "The Habit of Art," a hugely persuasive performance despite the lack of physical resemblance between the two men.
Griffiths was born in northeast England's Thornaby-on-Tees in 1947 to parents who were deaf and mute - an experience he and his directors felt contributed to his exceptional ability to listen and to communicate physically.
Griffiths left school at 15 but later studied drama and spent a decade with the Royal Shakespeare Company, making a specialty of comic parts such as the buffoonish knight Falstaff.
On television, he played a crime-solving chef in 1990s' British TV series "Pie in the Sky," and he had parts in movies ranging from historical dramas "Chariots of Fire" and "Gandhi" to slapstick farce "The Naked Gun 2 ½."
Known for his sense of humor, large store of rambling theatrical anecdotes and occasional bursts of temper, Griffiths was renowned for shaming audience members whose cell phones rang during plays by stopping the performance and ordering the offender to leave.
Griffiths' last major stage role was in a West End production of Neil Simon's comedy "The Sunshine Boys" last year opposite Danny DeVito. The pair had been due to reprise their roles in Los Angeles later this year.
Griffiths is survived by his wife, Heather Gibson.
A woman shows a handful of Easter eggs at an Easter market in the western Austrian village of Innsbruck March 28, 2013. Holy Week is celebrated in many Christian traditions during the week before Easter.
Photo by Dominic Ebenbichler
You have reached the Home page of BartCop Entertainment.
Make yourself home, take your shoes off...
Go ahead, scratch it if it itches.
The idea is to have fun.
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Anything that increased your blood pressure, or, even better, amused or entertained?
Do you have a great album no one's heard?
How about a favorite TV show, movie, book, play, cartoon, or legal amusement?
A popular artist that just plain pisses you off?
A box set the whole world should own?
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Just plain vile, filthy rumors?
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