Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Paul Krugman's Column: Rule by Rentiers (New York Times)
The latest economic data have dashed any hope of a quick end to America's job drought, which has already gone on so long that the average unemployed American has been out of work for almost 40 weeks. Yet there is no political will to do anything about the situation. Far from being ready to spend more on job creation, both parties agree that it's time to slash spending - destroying jobs in the process - with the only difference being one of degree.
Paul Krugman's Blog: Our Wasteful Health Care System (New York Times)
The Economist's "Democracy in America" blog has a very good illustration of the reasons our privatized, market-based system is so much more expensive, for no better results, than everyone else's …
Joseph Epstein: Duh, Bor-ing (Commentary Magazine)
My own experience of boredom has been intermittent, never chronic. As a boy of six or seven, I recall one day reporting to my mother that I was bored. A highly intelligent woman of even temperament, she calmly replied: "Really? May I suggest that you knock your head against the wall. It'll take your mind off your boredom." I never again told my mother that I was bored.
Joe Bob Briggs: "Pepé Le Perv: France's Gift to American Tabloids" (Taki's Magazine)
About once every hundred years the French nation presents America with a monumental gift.
Froma Harrop: The Sad Politics Over a Cancer Drug (Creators Syndicate)
"I shudder at the thought of a government panel assigning a value to a day of a person's life." Louisiana Sen. David Vitter said that in response to the Food and Drug Administration's possible removal of the drug Avastin as a treatment for advanced breast cancer. The Republican went on, "It is sickening to think that care would be withheld from a patient simply because their life is not deemed valuable enough."
Jim Hightower: OBAMA'S KARMATIC PRETZEL
Sometimes, political karma can be so right, even when it applies to something so wrong.
Thomas L. Friedman: The Earth is Full (New York Times; Posted on andrewtobias.com))
You really do have to wonder whether a few years from now we'll look back at the first decade of the 21st century - when food prices spiked, energy prices soared, world population surged, tornados plowed through cities, floods and droughts set records, populations were displaced and governments were threatened by the confluence of it all - and ask ourselves: What were we thinking?
Tom Danehy: Remembering the music that we listened to in our younger days (Tucson Weekly)
A couple of weeks back, I wrote that albums (8-tracks, actually) by Average White Band and Earth, Wind and Fire helped me get through college where the only two local radio stations played American country and Mexican country.
Glenn Gamboa: Looks like The Go-Go's aren't going-going after all (Newsday)
The Go-Go's Charlotte Caffey laughs at her band's sudden change of heart.
Esmeralda Bermudez: Artwork Jamal is living and singing the blues (Los Angeles Times)
Things were just beginning to pick up at the House of Blues on Sunset Boulevard when in the private bar upstairs, the big man took the stage. His voice, deep and gravelly, rumbled through the room. "If y'all love the blues, let me hear you say, yeah!"
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."
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From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Marine layer never burned off. : )
Marks A Remarkable Year
Pasadena Playhouse
If either "Baby, It's You!" or "Sister Act" win Tony Awards on Sunday, you might hear the cheers from as far away as Pasadena, Calif.
That's because the Pasadena Playhouse helped put together both musicals and a Tony for either show would cap an extraordinary turnaround for the venerable theater: After all, this time last year it was in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
"It's been about the most roller coaster year that you could experience even in the constantly roller coaster profession of the theater," says Sheldon Epps, artistic director of the nonprofit playhouse.
Plagued by about $4 million of dollars of debt, the playhouse closed its doors in February 2010, laid off its staff of 37 and entered bankruptcy in May of that year. Two months later, a court approved its financial comeback plan, which included repaying subscribers.
Pasadena Playhouse
Favored To Sweep Tony Awards
"The Book of Mormon"
"The Book of Mormon," a satirical show about Mormons from the creators of the TV series "South Park," looks set to sweep the Tony Awards on Sunday, aiming to be the most acclaimed show since "The Producers" with 14 nominations.
The Tony Awards, which honors Broadway's best musicals and plays and can help propel winning shows to commercial success, will be handed out at New York's Beacon Theater in a live televised event hosted again by actor Neil Patrick Harris, the Emmy-winning star of TV comedy "How I Met Your Mother."
This year is expected to feature less Hollywood winners than last year, although nominees include Frances McDormand who adopted a thick Boston accent for the best play nominee, "Good People" and Al Pacino for his turn as Shylock in "The Merchant of Venice," nominated for best play revival along with favorite "The Normal Heart."
"The Book of Mormon," go into Sunday's awards with the highest number of nominations, followed by "The Scottsboro Boys" with 12. The short-lived musical is on a 1930s case in which nine black men were unjustly accused of attacking two white women on a train in Alabama.
"The Book of Mormon"
YouTube - The Book of Mormon - Hasa Diga Eebowai
Hasa Diga Eebowai Lyrics
Food Poisoning
Jennifer Hudson
Jennifer Hudson's representative says the entertainer is on the mend after falling ill with a bout of food poisoning.
The Oscar and Grammy winner felt well enough to perform for ABC's "Good Morning America" on Friday morning. But representative Lisa Kasteler says Hudson was taken to the hospital afterward suffering from severe abdominal pains. Hudson was treated and then released.
Hudson was promoting her second album "I Remember Me."
Jennifer Hudson
Case Of Bieber Fever?
Selena Gomez
Selena Gomez has been admitted to a hospital following an appearance on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno."
A spokeswoman for the "Wizards of Waverly Place" star says Gomez "wasn't feeling well and was taken to the hospital" and is undergoing "routine tests." She did not specify Gomez's condition.
The 18-year-old singer-actress was promoting the upcoming film "Monte Carlo" on the talk show.
The hospitalization was first reported by TMZ, which said Gomez suffered from nausea and a headache before going to a Los Angeles-area hospital.
Selena Gomez
Over The Top
Tracy Morgan
Tracy Morgan said Friday that he was sorry for telling an audience in Nashville, Tenn., that if his son were gay, he would "pull out a knife and stab" him.
The comedian and "30 Rock" actor apologized to his fans and the gay and lesbian community for what he called "my choice of words" during his June 3 appearance at the Ryman Auditorium.
A Facebook account posted by an audience member said Morgan's stand-up performance was full of homophobic references. The Ryman issued its own apology afterward for Morgan's behavior.
The Human Rights Campaign said apologizing wasn't enough. The gay civil rights organization said Morgan "now has a responsibility to make amends for his horribly hurtful and dangerous `comedy' routine."
Tracy Morgan
Labor Dispute Solved
Tony Awards
The stagehands' union and producers of the Tony Awards reached an agreement Friday on how the show's red carpet area will be staffed, ending a labor dispute that threatened to derail Broadway's biggest night.
Members of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees had vowed to picket near the Beacon Theatre, where the award show will be held Sunday evening. They were angry that producers of the show had nonunion workers setting up the red carpet area.
A deal between both sides was announced Friday afternoon, though no details were immediately disclosed. The union won its biggest demand - for union workers to staff the area.
The change in the Tony Awards' venue this year has put stress on producers. The ceremony was forced to leave its longtime home at Radio City Music Hall because Cirque du Soleil took over the art deco theater for its new show and Tony producers picked the 3,000-seat Beacon Theatre on the Upper West Side, which has only about half as many seats as Radio City.
Tony Awards
Apologizes For Anti-Circumcision Tweets
Russell Crowe
Russell Crowe went on an anti-circumcision tirade on Twitter late Thursday and early Friday morning, later taking down his cutting Tweets and apologizing for offending anyone.
Read one: "Circumcision is barbaric and stupid. Who are you to correct nature? Is it real that GOD requires a donation of foreskin? Babies are perfect."
When a follower wrote, "There's actually a scientific reason for, u should google it," Crowe replied: "My friend, 'human' science has caused too much damage, don't be a moron."
Another follower called the practice hygenic, and Crowe replied, "Hygenic? Why don't you sew up your ass then?"
Russell Crowe
Record Label Responds To Lawsuit
Joan Jett
A record label that singer-guitarist Joan Jett and 1970s bandmate Cherie Currie are suing to stop the release of a tribute album in homage to their early punk band says the recording was made "with the best of intentions" to raise funds for cancer research.
Main Man Records said Friday it had not received a copy of the lawsuit filed in Manhattan, but said it would vigorously defend itself.
The two-disc album, "Take It or Leave It: A Tribute to the Queens of Noise," features covers of songs by the Runaways, which launched the careers of Jett and Currie. It's supposed to be released June 28.
Jett and Currie say in their lawsuit that the Easton, N.J.-based record label used their names to promote the album without their permission.
Joan Jett
Spanish Police Arrest
Anonymous
Spanish police arrested three suspected members of the so-called "Anonymous" group on Friday on charges of cyber attacks against targets including Sony's PlayStation store, governments, businesses and banks.
The police said the accused, arrested in Almeria, Barcelona and Alicante, were guilty of coordinated computer attacks from a server set up in a house in Gijon in the north of Spain.
Spanish police alleged the three arrested "hacktivists" had been involved in cyber attacks on Spanish banks BBVA and Bankia and the Italian energy group Enel as well as Sony PlayStation stores.
Members of the loosely coordinated "Anonymous" group, known for wearing Guy Fawkes masks made popular by the graphic novel "V for Vendetta," had also attacked government sites in Egypt, Algeria, Libya, Iran, Chile, Colombia and New Zealand, police said.
Anonymous
AMC Theaters For All Your Propaganda Needs
"The Undefeated"
The Sarah Palin documentary "The Undefeated" will be released at AMC Theaters starting July 15.
The film, directed by Stephen K. Bannon and independently financed by Victory Film Group and its partners, chronicles the former half-term Alaska Governor's rise to national prominence as the Republican Vice Presidential candidate in 2008.
"AMC is committed to providing distinct content corporate propaganda to diverse audiences across the United States," said Nikkole Denson-Randolph, tolen vp specialty & alternative content at AMC Theatres. "We are proud to consistently offer a wide variety of product prejudice to our guests."
"The Undefeated" features only interviews from Palin supporters, both residents of Alaska and conservative bloggers like noted liar Andrew Breitbart. Palin herself does not appear on camera to answer questions, but Real Clear Politics says she arranged interviews and access. Bannon also bought the audio rights to her memoir, "Going Rogue," so that Palin's voice narrates several scenes.
"The Undefeated"
Klinger's Beloved Hot Dogs
Tony Packo's
A family feud slathered with accusations of financial misdeeds is threatening the future of an Ohio restaurant whose hot dogs were made famous by cross-dressing Cpl. Max Klinger on "M-A-S-H."
The fight centers on the ownership of Tony Packo's, a corner bar and grill that grew out of the Great Depression and whose chili-topped hot dogs, stuffed cabbage and roast beef platters continued to please fans even after the iconic TV show ended its run three decades ago.
The son and grandson of the restaurant's namesake have been trading accusations for nearly a year, and each is trying to buy the company. The restaurant's lender foreclosed on its loans, and a judge put a third party in charge of the restaurant while he sorts out the mess.
Both sides are due in court Friday, when a Lucas County judge is to decide on several motions on how to proceed.
Tony Packo's
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