Paul Krugman: Off and Out With Mitt Romney (New York Times)
In a better America, Mitt Romney would be running for president on the strength of his major achievement as governor of Massachusetts: a health reform that was identical in all important respects to the health reform enacted by President Obama. By the way, the Massachusetts reform is working pretty well and has overwhelming popular support.
What Makes America the Greatest Country in the World? (Neatorama)
There's absolutely no evidence to support the statement that we're the greatest country in the world. We're seventh in literacy, 27th in math, 22nd in science, 49th in life expectancy, 178th in infant mortality, third in median household income, number 4 in labor force, and number 4 in exports. We lead the world in only 3 categories: number of incarcerated citizens per capita, number of adults who believe angels are real, and defense spending where we spend more than the next 26 countries combined, 25 of whom are allies."
RENEE GARFINKEL: A hero's redemption (UPI)
Before the word "hero" became confused with "celebrity," it was generally understood that a hero is a person who puts his own well-being, even his very life, at risk for a noble and altruistic purpose. Most people would agree that there are few purposes nobler than saving another person's life. Paul Grueninger was that kind of hero.
Andrew Tobias: Love is All You Need
Antisemitism is by now largely a non-issue in America. Thomas Jefferson's role as our first Secretary of State is by now routinely filled by a woman. And, most dramatically, Barack Obama is not counted as three-fifths of a person - he has George Washington's job.
Froma Harrop: Executive Women are Not That Special, Either (Creators Syndicate)
Two cultural events have caught our attention this season. One is the stern graduation speech at Wellesley (Mass.) High School in which teacher David McCullough Jr. told pampered students, "Do not get the idea you're anything special." The other was an article in The Atlantic magazine by Anne-Marie Slaughter titled, "Why Women Still Can't Have It All." Somehow the two belong together.
Microsoft's Downfall: Inside the Executive E-mails and Cannibalistic Culture That Felled a Tech Giant (Vanity Fair)
"Every current and former Microsoft employee I interviewed-every one-cited stack ranking as the most destructive process inside of Microsoft, something that drove out untold numbers of employees," Eichenwald writes. "If you were on a team of 10 people, you walked in the first day knowing that, no matter how good everyone was, 2 people were going to get a great review, 7 were going to get mediocre reviews, and 1 was going to get a terrible review," says a former software developer. "It leads to employees focusing on competing with each other rather than competing with other companies."
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."
Bewitched is an American situation comedy originally broadcast for eight seasons on ABC from 1964 to 1972, starring Elizabeth Montgomery, Dick York (1964-69), Dick Sargent (1969-72), Agnes Moorehead, and David White. The show is about a witch who marries a mortal and tries to lead the life of a typical suburban housewife. Bewitched enjoyed great popularity, finishing as the number two show in America during its debut season.
The main setting for most scenes is the Stephens' house at 1164 Morning Glory Circle (Although the address changes in "How Green Was My Grass" to 192 Morning Glory Circle). Many scenes also take place at the Madison Avenue advertising agency "McMann and Tate" for which Darrin works.
Source
It is McMann & Tate - not 'McMahon'.
Even looked it up, found a picture, and still typed the wrong spelling.
Some days...
Alan J was first, and correct, with:
Darrin Stevens
mj wrote:
The guy was as twitchy as his wite's nose
Darren Stevens of Bewitched.
BttbBob responded:
No looking this one up... Darrin Stephens, who was married to that 'good witch', Samantha on the TV program 'Bewitched'...
... oh, and there was a mother-in-law involved, too, often to Darrin's dismay named Endora. Not a nice lady...
Sally said:
"McMahon & Tate" McMann & Tate was the advertising firm in which Darrin Stevens, husband of witch Samantha Stevens, worked on the old TV show, "Bewitched."
Pretty dumb show anyway...
SP *To Hot For a Smiley Face...*
PS: Weather predicts temps over 100o here tomorrow. I am now researching the livability in the Arctic. Really, I could do that...
Charlie replied:
Darrin Stephens of Bewitched. Wikipedia spells it "McMann and Tate"
Adam answered:
Darrin Stevens.
Did "McMahon & Tate" McMann & Tate compete directly with Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce (Harris)? Larry Tate and Roger Sterling share a certain cotton-topped resemblance.
Jim from CA, retired to ID, responded:
"McMahon & Tate" McMann & Tate was the advertising firm in which Darrin Stevens, husband
of witch Samantha Stevens, worked in on the tv series Bewitched.Vacation
time again.....back in 10 days.
Ed (The Thalia Street Gallery) said:
That was Darrin Stephens (hubby of the witch), until "McMahon & Tate" McMann & Tate was bought out by Mitt Romney and Bain Capitol and all the jobs were sent to Bangladesh.
Dale of the Springs Diamond replied:
Darrin Stevens of the television show "Bewitched".
Endora Samantha
Samantha and the two Dicks Gratuitous Jessica Hahn that I forgot yesterday!!!!!
PS - We had a pretty good fire in DS yesterday, right behind my office next to the Diamond Springs Hotel. Five helicopter water drops and two airplane retardant drops. This is going to be a real fire season this year in California. The retardant misted all of the cars in our parking lot pink!!!!
Tom B responded:
That talented (if often startled) Darrin Stevens, spouse of the lovely and supernatural Samantha Stevens.
'Bewitched' - it had its moments.
MAM wrote:
Darrin Stephens played by Dick York/Dick Sargent in'Bewitched'.
Dick York 1964-69 Dick Sargent 1969-72
Marian's on vacation.
And, Joe S answered:
Darrin Stephens, who happened to be married to a witch, who had lots of relatives.
CBS begins the night with a FRESH'NYC 22', followed by another FRESH'NYC 22', then '48 Hours'.
NBC opens the night with a RERUN'America's Got Talent', followed by a RERUN'L&O: SVU', then a FRESH'The Firm'.
Of course, 'SNL' is a RERUN, hosted by Sofia Vergara, music by One Direction.
ABC starts the night with a RERUN'Extreme Makeover: Home Edition', followed by a RERUN'Ball Boys', then another RERUN'Ball Boys', followed by 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 fills the night with some LIVE'Big Money Sporting Event', then pads the left coast with local crap.
MY has an old 'The Closer', followed by another old 'The Closer'.
A&E has the movie 'The Shawshank Redemption', followed by the movie 'Forrest Gump'.
BBC -
[6:00AM] RAMSAY'S KITCHEN NIGHTMARES - SEASON 3U-Ep 11 - Fleming
[7:00AM] RAMSAY'S KITCHEN NIGHTMARES - SEASON 2U-Ep 4 - Black Pearl
[8:00AM] RAMSAY'S KITCHEN NIGHTMARES - SEASON 4U-Ep 5 - DownCity
[9:00AM] RAMSAY'S KITCHEN NIGHTMARES - SEASON 2-Ep 7 - Oscars
[10:00AM] RAMSAY'S KITCHEN NIGHTMARES - SEASON 1U-Ep 5 - The Mixing Bowl
[11:00AM] RAMSAY'S KITCHEN NIGHTMARES - SEASON 2-Ep 4 - La Riviera
[12:00PM] RAMSAY'S KITCHEN NIGHTMARES REVISITED - SEASON 2U-Episode 2
[1:00PM] TOP GEAR - SEASON 16 (60)-Episode 6
[2:00PM] TOP GEAR - SEASON 7-Episode 4
[3:00PM] TOP GEAR - SEASON 4-Episode 1
[4:00PM] TOP GEAR - SEASON 4-Episode 2
[5:00PM] TOP GEAR - SEASON 2-Episode 4
[6:00PM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - SEASON 3-Ep 10 The Defector
[7:00PM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - SEASON 3-Ep 11 The Hunted
[8:00PM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - SEASON 3-Ep 12 The High Ground
[9:00PM] MERLIN - SEASON 2-Ep 8 - The Sins of the Father NEW
[10:00PM] MERLIN - SEASON 2-Ep 9 - The Lady of the Lake NEW
[11:00PM] THE GRAHAM NORTON SHOW - SEASON 11-Ep 12 NEW
[12:00AM] TWENTY TWELVE - SEASON 1-Episode 6 NEW
[12:40AM] TWENTY TWELVE - SEASON 2-Boycott, Part 1 NEW
[1:20AM] ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS (2012)-Ep 2 - Job
[2:00AM] DOCTOR WHO - SEASON 5 (2010)-1 - The Eleventh Hour
[3:00AM] DOCTOR WHO - SEASON 5 (2010)-2 - The Beast Below
[4:00AM] DOCTOR WHO - SEASON 5 (2010)-3 - Victory of the Daleks
[5:00AM] DOCTOR WHO - SEASON 5 (2010)-4 - The Time of Angels (ALL TIMES EDT)
Bravo has 'Real Housewives Of NJ', another 'Real Housewives Of NJ', followed by the movie 'The Fifth Element'.
Comedy Central has the movie 'Accepted', followed by the movie 'Semi-Pro', then the movie 'Talladega Nights: The Ballad Of Ricky Bobby'.
FX has the movie 'Spider-Man 3', followed a FRESH'UFC On FX', 'Anger Management', and another 'Anger Management'.
IFC -
[6:00AM] Hope Springs
[8:00AM] Bunk
[8:30AM] Comedy Bang! Bang!-Michael Cera Wears a Blue Denim Shirt & Red Pants
[9:00AM] Comedy Bang! Bang!-Seth Rogen Wears a Plaid Shirt & Brown Pants
[9:30AM] The Three Stooges-Heavenly Daze
[9:55AM] The Three Stooges-Hoi Polloi
[10:20AM] The Three Stooges-Hold That Lion
[10:45AM] The Three Stooges-Horses' Collars
[11:10AM] The Three Stooges-Idiots Deluxe
[11:35AM] The Three Stooges-Idle Roomers
[12:00PM] Magic
[2:30PM] Puppet Master
[4:30PM] Comedy Bang! Bang!-Seth Rogen Wears a Plaid Shirt & Brown Pants
[5:00PM] Bunk
[5:30PM] Whitest Kids U'Know
[5:45PM] Operation Valkyrie
[8:00PM] The Last Legion
[10:15PM] The Brothers Grimm
[12:45AM] The Last Legion
[3:00AM] The Brothers Grimm
[5:30AM] Comedy Bang! Bang!-Seth Rogen Wears a Plaid Shirt & Brown Pants (ALL TIMES EDT)
Sundance -
[6:00A] The Edge of Heaven
[8:00A] Love Lust & Bad Girls
[9:00A] Love Lust & Lingerie
[10:00A] Love Lust & Power Couples
[11:00A] Saturn In Opposition
[12:50P] La Maison En Petits Cubes
[1:05P] Encounters At The End Of The World
[2:45P] The Edge of Heaven
[4:45P] A Town Called Panic
[6:00P] Love Lust & Sex Symbols
[7:00P] FREAKS AND GEEKS - We've Got Spirit (Episode 9, Season 1)
[8:00P] Thumbsucker
[9:45P] Mercy
[11:15P] INDIE SEX: Teens
[12:45A] INDIE SEX: Extremes
[2:15A] INDIE SEX: Censored
[3:45A] Mercy
[5:15A] Lipsett Diaries
[5:30A] MAN SHOPS GLOBE - France (Episode 1, Season 1) (ALL TIMES EDT)
SyFy has the movie 'Indiana Jones & The Temple Of Doom', followed by the movie 'Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade'.
This undated theater image released by the Geffen Playhouse shows Richard Chamberlain in the world premiere of John Pielmeier's "The Exorcist" at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles. The play, an adaptation of the 1971 William Peter Blatty novel, runs through Aug. 12.
Photo by Michael Lamont
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum has unveiled a memorial honoring a late Cleveland newspaper reporter known for covering the institution, rock music and the industry.
The Plain Dealer reports the bronze statue of its former rock reporter Jane Scott features her sitting on an oak bench while wearing her signature red eyeglasses and holding a notebook.
The statue is by sculptor David Deming. It was unveiled in the Hall's lower lobby on Thursday. Scott's family and friends were there.
Scott retired from the Plain Dealer in 2002 after 50 years there. She died last year at age 92.
Tibetans performs a traditional mask dance to celebrate the 77th birthday of their spiritual leader the Dalai Lama in Kathmandu July 6, 2012. Nepal ceased issuing refugee papers to Tibetans in 1989 and recognizes Tibet to be a part of China.
Photo by Navesh Chitrakar
During a tumultuous time in morning television, the competition between the "Today" show and "Good Morning America" can't get any tighter.
The shows finished in a dead heat in the Nielsen ratings last week, both averaging 4.604 million viewers. It was the fifth time in 12 weeks that ABC's "Good Morning America" had claimed victory, or a slice of victory, since snapping a "Today" winning streak that had stretched back to 1995.
NBC's "Today" actually won Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in the ratings last week.
But on Friday, the day after Ann Curry made her tearful farewell from "Today," the NBC show was crushed by a 670,000-viewer margin.
To play Macbeth is no mere task. Nor is portraying Lady Macbeth or Macduff or even Duncan. Undaunted, Alan Cumming is trying them all - at the same time.
The Tony-winning Scotsman is playing all the roles in Shakespeare's tragedy, an Olympic feat of both endurance and gender-bending. All three witches? Cumming. He's also Banquo and Lady Macduff, for good measure.
"It's truly the most difficult thing I've ever done," says Cumming, who has rather outrageously ended up doing his one-man "Macbeth" in New York while also filming the fourth season of CBS' "The Good Wife."
The production, which started in Scotland in mid-June before coming to New York for the next few days as part of the Lincoln Center Festival, is being undertaken under the watchful eyes of directors John Tiffany and Andrew Goldberg. That's right: There are more directors than lead actors.
In the play, Cumming appears as a patient in a white-tiled mental hospital for whom the plot of "Macbeth" is sort of a schizophrenic nightmare. Two other actors - Myra McFadyen and Ali Craig - play medical staff, but speak no lines. Three closed-circuit cameras monitor all the action and broadcast their grainy images on TV screens, adding to the feeling of paranoia.
Running only an hour and 45 minutes with no intermission, this "Macbeth" has been trimmed. The directors say they've cut for clarity and that means some characters have been exiled, including the Porter and one of Duncan's two sons. But they insist they've honored the playwright.
Revellers hold up red scarves during the start of the San Fermin Festival in Pamplona July 6, 2012. The annual festival, best known for its daily running of the bulls, kicked off on Friday with the traditional "Chupinazo" rocket launch and will run until July 14.
Photo by Vincent West
Kansas State University student Greg Peterson and some friends were unwinding at a drive-in restaurant when LMFAO's song "Sexy and I Know It" came on the radio. He groaned.
But as the chorus droned on, the 21-year-old found inspiration. He switched "sexy" to "farming" as he began rapping. Then he started coming up with lyrics. It would be fun, he thought, to do a video parody with his brothers when he returned home to the family farm in central Kansas.
Peterson said the brothers aimed the video at their city friends on Facebook because they "hardly knew anything about the farm." They ended up educating the world. "I'm Farming and I Grow It" video has become an Internet sensation with more than 3.2 million views since it was posted June 25 on YouTube.
The 21-year-old Kansas State University senior isn't the first to parody LMFAO's club hit. Spoofs include "Elmo and I Know It," which features the popular "Sesame Street" character, "I'm Average and I Know It," and "Santa and I Know It." Most have only a few thousand hits, although the Elmo version has garnered roughly 12.7 million hits in about seven months.
The CBS television network and severalcast members of 1970s hit comedy "Happy Days" reached a settlement in their dispute over royalty payments from sales ofmerchandise from the show, both parties said on Friday.
The agreement requires CBS Corp, which owns the show, and Paramount Pictures, which produced it, to pay an undisclosed amount to the cast members involved. Financial details were undisclosed.
"We have settled our lawsuit with CBS and Paramount. The terms of the settlement are confidential, but we are satisfied with the outcome," Jon Pfeiffer, attorney for the actors, told Reuters. "We will continue to receive all of the merchandising royalties promised to us in our contracts."
Actors Anson Williams, Marion Ross, Don Most, Erin Moran and the widow of performer Tom Bosley claimed they were owed $10 million in lost royalties from worldwide sales of "Happy Days" merchandise using their images, including comic books, T-shirts, board games, lunch boxes and drinking glasses.
Filed in April 2011, the lawsuit was initially challenged by CBS, and in October 2011 California Judge Elizabeth Allen White dismissed broad claims for fraud and punitive damages, reducing the amount sought. But the judge allowed the case to proceed, which ultimately led to Friday's settlement.
Jordanian men dress up as Roman warrior soldiers and gladiators during the Jerash Festival at Jordan's famed Roman-ruin city of Jerash, 30 miles (48 km) north of the capital of Amman, July 5, 2012. The Jerash Festival is a cultural and artistic event that features poetry recitals, gymnastic performances, dances, plays and comedies.
Photo by Muhammad Hamed
Rupert Murdoch (R-Evil Incarnate) has never been shy about voicing a political opinion, using his worldwide empire of television and newspaper outlets to promote conservative causes. Now, with a raft of complaints about Republican Mitt Romney, the billionaire media baron is signaling that he intends to boost his visibility in U.S. politics-even if it comes at the expense of the man conservatives hope can defeat President Barack Obama.
Murdoch is the founder and CEO of the global media conglomerate News Corp. which owns several outlets popular with conservatives in the U.S., including Fox News Channel, the Wall Street Journal and the New York Post. Until now, Murdoch has been far less influential in U.S. politics than he has in his native Australia and until recently in England, where a phone hacking scandal involving several Murdoch-owned newspapers has shaken his status as a fearsome power broker.
The hacking scandal forced the departure of many Murdoch's deputies, peeling away a protective layer around him while also liberating him to take such risks as openly criticizing Romney, some who know him say.
On Monday, Murdoch appeared to acknowledge his tweets might be causing consternation for the Romney campaign. "Romney people upset at me! Of course I want him to win, save us from socialism, etc but should listen to good advice and get stuck in!"
The Wall Street Journal's editorial page followed Murdoch's lead Thursday, unleashing a surprisingly harsh attack on the Romney campaign's response to the Supreme Court's affirmation of President Barack Obama's health care law. News Corp. purchased the Journal in 2007 and the paper's editorial page is viewed as an authoritative voice among conservatives.
A baseball that New York Yankees slugger Lou Gehrig hit for a World Series home run in 1928 is on display at a convention center in Kansas City, Mo., Thursday, July 5, 2012. Stamford, Conn., resident Elizabeth Gott, is selling the baseball at auction on behalf of her 30-year-old son, Michael to help pay off his medical school debts.
Photo by Charlie Riedel
A former household aide to U2 bassist Adam Clayton received a seven-year prison sentence Friday after an Irish jury unanimously found her guilty of embezzling more than €2.8 million ($3.6 million) from the musician.
Carol Hawkins, 48, offered no response to the sentence as prison guards led her out of Dublin Criminal Court.
Hawkins had been free on bail after being found guilty last week of 181 counts of writing checks from Clayton's bank account for her own use from 2004 to 2008. Records showed she used the money to buy designer clothing, 22 thoroughbred horses, a car, university education for her two children and first-class flights.
Judge Patrick McCartan said in his ruling that Hawkins deserved a severe sentence because she had demonstrated no remorse, falsely tried to pin blame for her grandiose spending on the often-absent Clayton, and could attempt similar offenses again if not jailed.
Dismissing her claims that she hadn't understood that what she was doing was wrong, the judge said, "These were crimes rooted in greed and nothing else. Whether she was a fool or clever person really matters very little."
A visitor looks at a display showing, from left, an orange bikini worn by Jinx, by actress Halle Berry, in the film 'Die Another Day', a white bikini worn by Honey Ryder by actress Ursula Andress in film Dr No, James Bond's, actor Daniel Craig swimming trunk in film 'Casino Royale' and James Bond's, actor Sean Connery beach shorts in the film 'Thunderball' in the exhibition 'Designing 007 - Fifty Years of Bond Style' at the Barbican centre in London, Thursday, July 5, 2012.
Photo by Sang Tan
Actor Brad Pitt's mother has criticized gay marriage and President Barack Obama in a letter to her local newspaper in which she praises Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney.
In the letter appearing on the website of Brad Pitt's boyhood hometown newspaper, the Springfield News-Leader in the U.S. state of Missouri, Jane Pitt commended Romney, a Mormon, for sharing a "Christian conviction concerning homosexuality".
She said Obama "did not hold a public ceremony to mark the National Day of Prayer, and is a liberal who supports the killing of unborn babies and same-sex marriage".
The letter published on July 3 was the most frequently viewed item on the News-Leader's website on Friday, and had generated more than 100 comments from readers. Springfield is a heavily Christian community in the heart of the Bible Belt in southern Missouri.
Jane Pitt's views on gay marriage contrast with her son, who has publicly championed same-sex marriage. Pitt has also been on friendly terms with Obama. He and actress Angelina Jolie met with him at the White House in January regarding efforts against mass atrocities and sexual violence against women.
A woman smiles as she wears a wreath during the Ivan Kupala festival in the town of Turov, some 270 km (167 miles) south of Minsk, July 6, 2012. The traditional festival celebrates the summer solstice with overnight festivities such as people singing and dancing before jumping over campfires, as they believe it will purge them of their sins and make them healthier.
Photo by Vasily Fedosenko
Cancelling Christmas and banning plays were just two of the edicts imposed on 17th century England by parliamentarians who overthrew Charles I, as documented in a series of broadsheets dubbed the "Anti-Fun Charter" to be auctioned by Sotheby's.
The handwritten acts and ordinances provide a glimpse of life in a kingdom racked with tensions between King Charles I's Royalists and Oliver Cromwell's Parliamentarians who dragged the nation into a civil war, shocked Europe with the beheading of a ruling monarch and created a brief republic.
The "distracted estate of England, threatened with a cloud of blood" meant that "spectacles of pleasure" such as theatre and sport were no longer appropriate, according to one document dated September 2, 1642 at the beginning of the civil war.
As a result, Puritans in the same year shut down the Globe Theatre that had been made famous byWilliam Shakespeare just three decades earlier.
To return the nation to "times of joy", parliament recommended "sad and pious solemnity" in the form of prayer, fasting and repentance.
Horses are pictured during the Rapa das Bestas traditional event in the Spanish northwestern village of Sabucedo July 6, 2012. On the first weekend of the month of July, hundreds of wild horses are rounded up, trimmed and groomed in different villages in the Spanish northwestern region of Galicia.
Photo by Miguel Vidal
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Make yourself home, take your shoes off...
Go ahead, scratch it if it itches.
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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?
Vile, filthy rumors about Republican hypocrites?
Just plain vile, filthy rumors?
wrote:
answered:
