Paul Krugman: Prisons, Privatization, Patronage (New York Times)
Over the past few days, The New York Times has published several terrifying reports about New Jersey's system of halfway houses - privately run adjuncts to the regular system of prisons. The series is a model of investigative reporting, which everyone should read. But it should also be seen in context. The horrors described are part of a broader pattern in which essential functions of government are being both privatized and degraded.
Connie Schutz: Walking Into the Future of Marriage Equality (Creators Syndicate)
We headed for Goodale Park in Columbus, Ohio, where dozens of booths were opening for day two of the 31st annual gay pride festival. It was a pinch-me moment as we took in some of the festival sponsors: AT&T, State Farm, Target, Macy's, Bud Light, Battelle, AARP, Chase, New York Life, Red Roof Inn and Key, PNC and Huntington banks. It doesn't get more mainstream than that.
Simon Rich: Don't Be Evil (New Yorker)
My favorite Google feature is Google Dictionary. Whenever I need a word defined, I just type it into the search box and the meaning pops right up. It's really convenient, but sometimes the definitions can be strange. For example, here are some words I looked up recently on Google Dictionary. Yahoo: A stupid Web site for stupid people who only want crap. …
Susan Estrich: Thirty-Seven Words (Creators Syndicate)
This week, 40 years after the passage of what became Title IX of the law, King went to Capitol Hill along with Dr. Mae Carol Jemison, the first woman of color to go into space, Olympic gold medalist Nancy Hogshead-Makar, and Superintendent of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy Rear Admiral Sandra L. Stosz to talk about how Title IX changed lives, theirs included.
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."
Sally said:
Ice may be one of the 15 known solid phases of water, so sayeth basic HS science (at least taught in the old time parochial schools).
Water is practically everywhere on Earth. Moreover, it is the only known substance that can naturally exist as a gas, a liquid, and solid within the relatively small range of air temperatures and pressures found at the Earth's surface.
PS: Still hot, I am not sending for brochures about living in Alaska (as I do every year when the first heat wave sets in). I want to live somewhere where 70o is considered max hot temperature! Any suggestions readers?
PPS: Hi DannyD, long time no posting from you!! :)
BttbBob responded:
15... Who knew? Not me until I looked it up. Although being merely a simple, country 'solid, liquid and vapor' sorta guy I was naturally suspicious of the question, hence googlized it. I am now much more sophisticated in my knowledge of the phases of water and better for it, I'm tellin' ya...
But, I do know from experience one thing about ice - how to break it...
USCGC Bramble down-bound, the St. Clair River (Ontario on the far shore), late Dec. '80 to meet two other cutters at the lower end of the river to break up a huge ice dam that had trapped a tug and barge and was also causing extensive flooding. We spent almost a week keeping the channel open. I'm on board there somewhere. The 'brash' ice (there's 21 kinds of ice Brash Ice -
Brash Ice Definition - Popular Mechanics) was so bad that the famous cutter 'Mackinaw' was called down from northern Lake Huron to help...
I took this shot... Bazillions of chunks of ice all jammed together by the fast strong current of the river. Damn'd cold December that year and that's a fact!
Jim from CA, retired to ID responded:
Ice may be any one of the 15 known solid phases of water.
Charlie wrote:
The main Wikipedia article says 15, but some other sources say 14.
dave, cincinnati replied:
there are 15 phases of ice.
Adam answered:
Two. One, Two- ah, ah, ah! (that's my Count From Sesame Street impression...)
Dale of Diamond Springs said:
There are 15 forms of ice. Most of it melting due to manmade Global Warming.
Marian's vacation kicked in.
MAM wrote:
15 (or is it 14?) ~ After reading about it, I will never look at an ice cube the same way again!
Ice!
And, Joe S answered:
Subjected to higher pressures and varying temperatures, ice can form in fifteen separate known phases. With care all these phases except ice X can be recovered at ambient pressure and low temperature. The types are differentiated by their crystalline structure, ordering and density. There are also two metastable phases of ice under pressure, both fully hydrogen-disordered; these are IV and XII. Ice XII was discovered in 1996. In 2006, XIII and XIV were discovered. Ices XI, XIII, and XIV are hydrogen-ordered forms of ices Ih, V, and XII respectively. In 2009, ice XV was found at extremely high pressures and ?143 °C. At even higher pressures, ice is predicted to become a metal; this has been variously estimated to occur at 1.55 TPa or 5.62 TPa.
I have no fucking idea what any of that means except that the answer appears to be 15.
This is probably not one of the 15 phases, unless you can count passing phases in which case it would be the 16th phase.
PS Hope you are cooling down Sally, we are expected to get down to 49° tonight.
A young raccoon finds the escape route a bit difficult as he gets his head stuck in a Dearborn Heights storm drain cover June 20. The DPW removed the cover from the drain and with the help of some cooking oil and liquid soap 'unstuck' the critter's head and released it unharmed...
CBS begins the night with a RERUN'Rules Of Engagement', followed by a FRESH'How To Be A Gentleman', then a RERUN'CSI: The Original One', followed by '48 Hours'.
NBC starts the night with the FRESH'2012 US Olympic Trials', followed by a RERUN'L&O: SVU', then a FRESH'The Firm'.
Of course, 'SNL' is a RERUN, with Jonah Hill hosting, music by The Shins.
ABC opens the night with a RERUN'Extreme Makeover: Home Edition', followed by another RERUN'Extreme Makeover: Home Edition', then a RERUN'Castle'.
The CW offers an old 'Family Guy', followed by another old 'Family Guy', then an old '2½ Men', followed by another old '2½ Men'.
Faux has LIVE'MLB Baseball', then pads the left coast with local crap.
MY has an old 'The Closer', followed by another old 'The Closer'.
A&E has 3 hours of old 'Storage Wars', 'Dog The Tancredo-Loving Racist Bounty Hunter', and another 'Dog The Tancredo-Loving Racist Bounty Hunter'.
AMC offers the movie 'Heartbreak Ridge', followed by the movie 'Pale Rider', then the movie 'The Outlaw Josey Wales'.
BBC -
[6:00AM] RAMSAY'S KITCHEN NIGHTMARES REVISITED - SEASON 3-Ep 1 - La Parra de Burriana
[7:00AM] RAMSAY'S KITCHEN NIGHTMARES - SEASON 1U-Ep 3 - Sebastian's
[8:00AM] RAMSAY'S KITCHEN NIGHTMARES - SEASON 3U-Ep 8 - Lido Di Manhattan Beach
[9:00AM] RAMSAY'S KITCHEN NIGHTMARES - SEASON 4-Ep 3 - The Priory
[10:00AM] RAMSAY'S KITCHEN NIGHTMARES - SEASON 3-Ep 2 - The Fenwick Arms
[11:00AM] RAMSAY'S KITCHEN NIGHTMARES - SEASON 4U-Ep 6 - Cafe Tavolini
[12:00PM] THE BRIT LIST: 20 COOLEST-The Brit List: 20 Coolest
[1:00PM] TOP GEAR - SEASON 9-Episode 5
[2:00PM] TOP GEAR - SEASON 9-Episode 6
[3:00PM] TOP GEAR - SEASON 10-Episode 1
[4:00PM] TOP GEAR - SEASON 10-Ep 4 Botswana Special
[5:00PM] TOP GEAR - SEASON 2-Episode 2
[6:00PM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - SEASON 3-Ep 4 Who Watches the Watchers
[7:00PM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - SEASON 3-Ep 5 The Bonding
[8:00PM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - SEASON 3-Ep 6 Booby Trap
[9:00PM] MERLIN - SEASON 2-Ep 4 - Lancelot and Guinevere NEW
[10:00PM] MERLIN - SEASON 2-Ep 5 - Beauty and the Beast (Part 1) NEW
[11:00PM] THE GRAHAM NORTON SHOW - SEASON 11-Ep 10 - Emily Blunt, Rihanna NEW
[12:00AM] THE THICK OF IT-Episode 8 NEW
[12:40AM] KATY BRAND'S BIG ASS SHOW - SEASON 1-Episode 5 NEW
[1:00AM] TOMORROW NEVER DIES
[3:30AM] TOP GEAR - SEASON 14-Episode 6 (90 min)
[5:00AM] TOP GEAR - SEASON 2-Episode 1 (ALL TIMES EDT)
Bravo has the movie 'Bee Movie', followed by the movie 'Bee Movie', again.
Comedy Central has the movie 'Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story', 'Kevin Hart: Laugh At My Pain', and 'Chris Rock: Bigger & Blacker'.
FX has the movie 'Death Race', followed by a FRESH'UFC On FX', then the FRESH'Hooters International Swimsuit Pageant 2012'.
IFC -
[6:00AM] Whitest Kids U'Know
[6:30AM] Whitest Kids U'Know
[6:45AM] Comedy Bang! Bang!-Jon Hamm Wears a Light Blue Shirt & Silver
[7:15AM] Bunk
[7:45AM] Flakes
[9:30AM] The Three Stooges-Dutiful but Dumb
[9:55AM] The Three Stooges-False Alarms
[10:20AM] The Three Stooges-Fright Night
[10:45AM] The Three Stooges-From Nurse to Worse
[11:10AM] The Three Stooges-Gem of a Jam
[11:35AM] The Three Stooges-The Ghost Talks
[12:00PM] Blood of the Vampire
[1:45PM] Fiend Without a Face
[3:30PM] Bunk
[4:00PM] Whitest Kids U'Know
[4:15PM] Flakes
[6:00PM] Meatballs
[8:00PM] Napoleon Dynamite
[10:00PM] Apocalypto
[1:00AM] Cursed
[3:00AM] Comedy Bang! Bang!-Jon Hamm Wears a Light Blue Shirt & Silver Watch
[3:30AM] Bunk
[4:00AM] Meatballs (ALL TIMES EDT)
Sundance -
[6:00A] This Is Not A Robbery
[7:15A] When a Man Comes Home
[8:50A] French Roast
[9:00A] MY SO-CALLED LIFE - Father Figures (Episode 4, Season 1)
[10:00A] MY SO-CALLED LIFE - The Zit (Episode 5, Season 1)
[11:00A] MY SO-CALLED LIFE - The Substitute (Episode 6, Season 1)
[12:00P] Made in China
[1:30P] This Is Not A Robbery
[2:45P] When a Man Comes Home
[4:25P] Made in China
[6:00P] Love Lust & Breakfast
[7:00P] MY SO-CALLED LIFE - In Dreams Begin Responsibilities (Episode 19, Season 1)
[8:00P] Colin Fitz Lives!
[9:30P] The New Tenants
[10:00P] Wristcutters: A Love Story
[11:30P] On The Line
[12:00A] Room in Rome
[1:50A] Wassup Rockers
[3:30A] Wristcutters: A Love Story
[5:00A] Love Lust & Breakfast (ALL TIMES EDT)
SyFy has the movie 'Eight Legged Freaks', followed by the FRESH made-for-TV movie 'Arachnoquake'.
(L - R) Writer, director and cast member Seth MacFarlane poses with co-stars Mila Kunis and Mark Wahlberg at the premiere of "Ted" at the Grauman's Chinese theatre in Hollywood, California June 21, 2012. The movie opens in the U.S. on June 29.
Photo by Mario Anzuoni
The Library of Congress is celebrating "Books that Shaped America" with a list of 88 titles and an exhibit in Washington.
The library released its picks of the most influential books Friday. Librarian of Congress James Billington says the titles aren't meant as "best" books. Instead, he says the library wants to spark a conversation about books that influenced the nation.
The list begins with Benjamin Franklin's "Experiments and Observations on Electricity" from 1751. It includes Thomas Paine's "Common Sense," novels "The Scarlet Letter," ''Moby-Dick," ''Little Women" and "The Great Gatsby" and other famous titles like "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" and "The Cat in the Hat."
The library wants the public to nominate other titles. An exhibit on the "Books that Shaped America" opens Monday.
Peggy Lipton, Actress Rashida Jones and Musician/producer Quincy Jones attend the Celeste and Jesse Forever Premiere Party Sponsored by KIA and Russian Standard Vodka on Thursday June 21, 2012 in Los Angeles.
Photo by Todd Williamson
Helen Mirren, Jennifer Hudson, James Franco and the Backstreet Boys are among the famous folks getting stars on Hollywood's Walk of Fame in 2013.
Actress Marg Helgenberger and the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce announced the new 24 inductees Friday at a press conference on Hollywood Boulevard's star-lined sidewalk.
A committee selects celebrities eligible for a star and those who accept pay $30,000 in costs and fees.
Other entertainers slated for a star next year are Javier Bardem, Viola Davis, Simon Baker, Bryan Cranston, Jane Lynch, Katey Segal, Matthew Perry, Ellen DeGeneres and Olympia Dukakis; performers Penn & Teller; makeup artist Rick Baker; filmmaker Ron Howard; radio personalities Steve Harvey and "Shotgun" Tom Kelly; and musicians Jane's Addiction, New Kids on the Block, Janis Joplin, Usher, Thalia and Luther Vandross.
George Washington's personal copy of the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights sold for $9.8 million at auction on Friday, setting a record for an American book or historic document.
Several bidders at Christie's New York salesroom and others on the telephone competed for the first U.S. president's signed, gold-embossed volume dating to 1789, which had a pre-sale estimated of up to $3 million.
The Mount Vernon Ladies Association, which maintains the historic Mount Vernon estate in Virginia that was Washington's home and is now open to the public, was the successful bidder.
Christie's described the book as being in near-pristine condition after 223 years. It was specially printed for Washington in 1789, his first year in office as president.
The margins include Washington's handwritten brackets and notations highlighting key passages concerning the president's responsibilities.
Actress Jane Lynch (C, back) watches the Marine One with U.S. President Barack Obama aboard, take off from the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, as Obama starts his day trip to Florida, June 22, 2012.
Photo by Larry Downing
Dick Cheney is celebrating the marriage of his daughter Mary to her longtime partner, Heather Poe.
In a statement to the right-leaning website The Daily Caller, Cheney and his wife, Lynne, said, "Maryand Heather have been in a committed relationship for many years, and we are delighted that they were able to take advantage of the opportunity to have that relationship recognized."
Mary Cheney and Poe were married today in Washington, they said. Mary Cheney has given birth to a son and a daughter.
The Black Keys are not shilling power tools or pizza, the band said in copyright infringement lawsuits against The Home Depot and Pizza Hut.
The "Lonely Boy" band filed the federal lawsuits Thursday, claiming Home Depot did not have permission to use elements of the hit song in an ad promoting power tools and that Pizza Hut misused "Gold on the Ceiling" in a recent ad.
Both songs appeared on the rock group's seventh album, "El Camino," which was released last year and has sold nearly 840,000 copies. The Black Keys are comprised of Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney. Musician-producer Brian Burton, who is known as Danger Mouse, is also suing the companies.
The cases seek unspecified damages of more than $75,000 apiece and an order preventing the continued use of the songs in the commercials.
Myanmar Burma pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi gestures during a meeting with members of the Myanmar Burmese community at the Royal Festival Hall in central London June 22, 2012. Aung San Suu Kyi has returned to Europe for the first time since 1988, when she left her family life in Britain and found herself thrust into Myanmar Burma's fight against dictatorship, mostly from the confines of her Yangon home.
Photo by Suzanne Plunkett
A Muslim convert from Brooklyn was sentenced Friday to nearly 12 years in prison for posting online threats against the creators of the "South Park" television show and others he deemed enemies of Islam.
The sentence - largely in line with the term sought by prosecutors - came after Jesse Curtis Morton, 33, offered an apology for his conduct, saying he "contributed to a clash of civilizations" by espousing a violent ideology.
Morton founded the now-defunct Revolution Muslim website. He said he wanted the site to offer a forum for nuanced dialogue on relations between the Muslim world and the West and that he thought his website was protected by the First Amendment. However, he admitted that the website devolved into coarse calls for violent jihad, and that he crossed the line by posting the al-Qaida magazine Inspire on the site. The magazine explicitly called for the murder of a cartoonist from Seattle who promoted "Everybody Draw Muhammad day" and featured an article titled "How to Make a Bomb in the Kitchen of Your Mom."
He and another defendant, Zachary Chesser, used the website to deliver thinly veiled threats against the creators of the "South Park" television show for perceived insults to the prophet Muhammad, by depicting him in a bear costume. Chesser earlier received a 25-year sentence, but he also tried to travel to Somalia to join the al-Shabab terrorist group.
San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker (the former Mr. Eva Longoria) is suing a New York City club and its operators for $20 million over a scratched cornea he says he suffered during a fight involving singer Chris Brown and members of hip-hop star Drake's entourage.
The suit was filed in State Supreme Court in Manhattan on Thursday. It says the W.i.P club in SoHo and its operators were negligent in security and supervision, which allowed the fight to take place.
Chris Brown, his girlfriend and his bodyguard were among eight injured during the fight inside the club last week. Police say members of Drake's entourage stopped Brown as he was leaving. The fight escalated and bottles were thrown.
There was no answer at phone numbers listed as affiliated with those named in the lawsuit.
Participants compete in a dragon boat race hosted on land to celebrate the upcoming Dragon Boat Festival at a square in Chongqing municipality June 21, 2012. The Dragon Boat Festival, also known as the Duanwu Festival, falls on June 23 this year and commemorates the memory of Chinese patriotic poet Qu Yuan, who drowned himself in 277 BC to protest against the corrupt government of his time.
One of the stars of the TV reality show "Swamp People" has been arrested in Florida on domestic violence charges.
Noces Joseph LaFont Jr. - who is known as "Trapper Joe" on TV - was arrested Wednesday by Orange County Sheriff's deputies.
According to an arrest affidavit, LaFont was arguing with his girlfriend while staying at a hotel near Disney World and tried to burn her with a lit cigarette. The report also says he punched the woman with a closed fist.
LaFont, who is from Louisiana, was charged with battery and assault. He was booked into the Orange County Jail, posted bail and released. It's unclear whether he has retained an attorney.
"Swamp People" is a History channel show that follows Cajuns who hunt alligators.
Police are looking for a man who stole a $150,000 Salvador Dali painting from a New York art gallery.
Police say the man walked into the Venus Over Manhattan art gallery on Madison Avenue in Manhattan posing as a customer. They say he removed the watercolor and ink painting from the wall, put it in a bag and fled.
Police say the man was wearing a black-and-white checked shirt and dark jeans. It happened Tuesday.
The 1949 painting is "Cartel des Don Juan Tenorio." It was part of the gallery's inaugural exhibition.
Models present traditional Hanbok during a rehearsal of an event for the spouses of leaders who will attend the G20 Seoul Summit, at Changdeokgung Palace in Seoul November 9, 2010.
Photo by Truth Leem
Celebrity auctioneer Darren Julien said Friday that his company has agreed not to sell the crypt after fans worldwide demanded that it be kept as a shrine to his memory.
Julien's Auctions announced in May that it would sell the empty tomb at the Forest Hill Cemetery in Memphis, Tenn., at its "Music Icons" auction Sunday. Julien said the company won't sell the crypt "until Forest Hills finds a plan that best suits the interests of the fans while respecting and preserving the memory of Elvis Presley."
Presley was interred there alongside his mother, Gladys, after he died Aug. 16, 1977. Two months later, they were reburied at his Graceland home. The original crypt has remained empty ever since.
Four decades ago, the movie "Deliverance" introduced the lush north Georgia mountains to the world.
Though many in the region still bristle at the movie's portrayal of locals as uneducated hillbillies, the film helped create the $20 million rafting and outdoor sports industry along the Chattooga River, which splits Georgia and South Carolina. Several movies have filmed in the area this year because of the natural beauty showcased in "Deliverance," including next year's "Killing Season" with Robert DeNiro and John Travolta.
This weekend, communities along the Chattooga are celebrating the 40th anniversary of the movie's release with the first-ever Chattooga River Festival, even though some locals are unhappy with the idea of reminding the world of the area's connection to the movie.
Festival organizers say they hope the event can be an annual draw that raises money to preserve the Chattooga River and promotes environmental stewardship. The first year's theme of "Deliverance" simply celebrates the movie that created the adventure sports industry there, said Pete Cleaveland, executive director of the Rabun County, Ga., Convention and Visitors Bureau and vice chairman of the festival committee.
Events include a concert by Ronny Cox, one of the four lead actors in the movie and who played on "Dueling Banjos" in the movie. The iconic tune features the "Yankee Doodle" riff and features prominently in the movie. The schedule also includes a screening of "Deliverance" at the civic center in tiny Clayton, Ga., and a music festival in nearby Long Creek, S.C. at Chattooga Belle Farm.
Adler died Thursday at his home in Southampton, N.Y., his widow, Susan A. Ivory, said.
Some of Adler's biggest songs are "You Gotta Have Heart," ''Hey, There," ''Hernando's Hideaway," ''Whatever Lola Wants," ''Steam Heat," ''Rags to Riches," and "Everybody Loves a Lover."
Adler staged and produced several shows for U.S. presidents, including the unforgettable 1962 extravaganza for Kennedy at Madison Square Garden where Monroe sang "Happy Birthday."
He and Jerry Ross wrote the music and lyrics to "The Pajama Game," a light comedy about labor-management relations at the Sleep-Tite Pajama Factory, which won the best musical Tony in 1955.
Adler teamed up with Ross again for "Damn Yankees," in which a rabid baseball fan sells his soul to the devil in exchange for a chance to lead his favorite team to American League pennant glory. It won the best musical Tony crown the next year.
The fruitful Ross-Adler union ended when Ross died of a lung ailment in 1955 at age 29. Adler went on to earn a Tony nomination for writing the lyrics and music for 1961's "Kwamina."
Adler was born in New York City in 1921 and graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1943. He served in the U.S. Naval Reserve during World War II.
He composed several symphonic works, including "Wilderness Suite," which was commissioned by the U.S. Department of the Interior, and "The Lady Remembers," to celebrate the Statue of Liberty's centennial. He also composed two ballets for the Chicago City Ballet: "Eight by Adler" in 1984 and "Chicago."
Adler also produced works on Broadway, including the play "The Sin of Pat Muldoon" and the musical "Rex." He is a member of the Songwriter's Hall of Fame.
Adler is survived by his wife; his children, Andrew Adler, Katherine Adler and Charles Shipman; and three grandchildren, Damien and Scarlett Adler and Lola Jane Shipman.
A red lemur licks a container of frozen fruit during a hot day at Biopark Zoo in Rome June 22, 2012. A heat wave swept across Italy on Tuesday with temperatures of around 32 degrees made worse by the warm air from the Scipione wind blowing from north Africa. The high temperatures are expected to last for most of June.
Photo by Remo Casilli
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