Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Michael Moore: Burn, Baby, Burn!
Get outta the house and take a trip through the Arab world! ... They hate us because we've killed hundreds of thousands of their people! We've claimed their oil as ours. Never ever forget that Saddam Hussein was armed and supported for years by the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. And WE overthrew the democratically-elected government in Iran. We continue to prop up the dictators of the Arabian peninsula and we have turned our backs on the Palestinian people.
Tom Danehy: Hey, Democrats: Don't let Republicans get away with these b.s. talking points
We Democrats are probably facing anywhere between a severe beating and a serious whuppin' come November. That sort of thing happens on a semi-regular basis, but while we may lose seats statewide and nationally, we cannot let the Republicans set the tone of the political discussion.
Paul Krugman: Things Could Be Worse (nytimes.com)
Japan and the United States both had real estate bubbles that burst and led to crisis. Both responded with half-measures. What happens now, especially if Republicans win big in November?
Patrick Barkham: Cambridge University and me (guardian.co.uk)
How the world's best university changed my life.
Cat Cutcher: "Remembering Art Gish: A eulogy for an inspiring man" (athensnews.com)
Asalaamu Aleikum. Peace be with you. This was Art Gish's favorite greeting, and I share it with you.
Gary "Spruce" Houser: Art Gish's underlying vision did not perish in his death (athensnews.com)
As someone who was moved by one of Art Gish's books to relocate to Athens County 26 years ago in order to explore the experiment in Christian community known as New Covenant Fellowship, I feel that his death is a stunning loss of a wonderful friend. Art and I had been arrested together for nonviolent civil disobedience because of our shared commitment to witness for peace, and he was someone with whom I shared some of the deepest and most soul-searching conversations of my life. I cannot count the number of occasions when Art and I would lose track of time as we delved into the great over-arching questions of good and evil, and the profound moral implications of the choices we make in life.
Jim Hightower: THE CORPORATE ASSAULT ON AN HONEST SENATOR
If you look at the whole flock of 535 congress critters, it's hard not to giggle - or break out in uncontrollable sobs at the thought that - oh my God! - this is the United States Congress. As Peggy Lee sang years ago: "Is that all there is?"
Andrew Tobias: Taxes
…this notion that … you, the small businessman earning $350,000, or $800,000, or $2.4 million, won't hire people for your small business because your tax rate goes back to what it used to be is just nuts. If you need people, because business is good, you'll hire them to make even more money. If you don't need them, because business sucks, you wouldn't hire them even if the tax rate were zero.
Froma Harrop: The Rich are Not Here to Give Us Jobs (creators.com)
Let's cut the baloney about jobs and rich people's taxes. If corporate profits automatically turned into jobs for the little folk, the unemployment rate would be plummeting.
Bill Press: Glenn Beck's War on Christianity (Tribune Media Services)
It was bad enough, in July 2009, when Glenn Beck called President Obama a "racist" with a "deep-seated hatred of white people." But when, on Aug. 29, he finally apologized - 13 months later, the morning after his big rally on the Washington Mall - he only made it worse by attacking what he called the president's distorted brand of Christianity.
George Varga: Rocker Starts Making New Music (creators.com)
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Chrissie Hynde has been the great (make that the greatest) Pretender for more than 30 years. But she's now happy to just be one of the guys (make that the only gal) in a new band whose sole link to The Pretenders is Hynde herself. Welcome, please, JP, Chrissie & The Fairground Boys, a group that's giving Hynde, 59, a welcome jolt at a time when too many music legends her age are either retired or churning out their old hits on the rock nostalgia circuit.
My Beethoven moment (guardian.co.uk)
When composer Michael Berkeley lost his hearing, he finally understood Beethoven's torment. But could deafness help him write better music?
The Weekly Poll
New Question
The 'Odd Bedfellows?' Edition...
On Labor Day, the Michigan's largest construction trade union (Carpenters and Millwrights with 18,000 members) broke ranks with other major unions (UAW, AFL-CIO, AFSCME) and endorsed the GOP candidate, Rick Snyder, for governor instead of the Democratic candidate, Virg Bernero.
Breaking with Dems, carpenters union planning to back Snyder | freep.com | Detroit Free Press
Is it ever appropriate for a Union to back a GOP candidate?
(Please feel free to comment with yer response)
1.) No! Never! _________
2.) Yes, sometimes _______
Send your response to
wrote:
answered:
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
BadtotheboneBob Recommends
Covering all the bases...
Muslims in Dearborn burn effigies of Florida pastor, Osama bin Laden
Chanting "burn, baby, burn," a group of Muslims in Dearborn lit ablaze tonight effigies of Pastor Terry Jones of Florida and Osama bin Laden in a protest against religious (Insanity) extremism...
Muslims in Dearborn burn effigies of Florida pastor, Osama bin Laden | freep.com | Detroit Free Press
Way cool... I wish I woulda thought of that!
BadtotheboneBob
Thanks, B2tbBob!
Purple Gene Suggests
Jerry Brown
Jerry Brown got Peter Coyote to do his radio ad....what do ya think?
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
A little sunnier, a little warmer.
The kid & I attended our first Poly Jackrabbit football game of the season. Unfortunately, the Seraph of St. Bonaventure prevailed.
OTOH, we were puzzled by the Bonny's mascot -
a giant teddy bear with a tinsel halo.
'At The Movies' Again
Roger Ebert
Film critic Roger Ebert, who lost his ability to speak and eat after cancer surgeries, said Friday that he is returning to television on a movie review show that he is producing for public television.
And, Ebert says, the thumbs up and thumbs down reviews made famous with his late partner Gene Siskel will return.
The Pulitzer Prize-winning Chicago Sun-Times film critic is producing "Roger Ebert Presents At the Movies" with his wife, Chaz Ebert. The weekly, half-hour review program will debut in January and be syndicated nationally on public television stations.
The show will feature co-host Christy Lemire of The Associated Press and contributing critic Elvis Mitchell of National Public Radio and former movie critic for The New York Times. Ebert will have his own segment on the show called "Roger's Office," during which he will use his computer voice to review new movies or talk about the state of film.
Roger Ebert
Joins Hotel Picket
Martin Sheen
American actor Martin Sheen joined striking hotel workers on the picket line on Friday outside a downtown hotel while here for the Toronto film festival.
Workers at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel launched a 24-hour strike as the film festival kicked off. Several celebrities, including Sheen, are staying at the grand hotel.
"I'm a union member (and have been) all my life," said Sheen, picking up a placard and walking the picket line. "I cannot not support a union now."
"I'm much more comfortable out here than I was inside, I'm where I belong, I'm doing what I should," he said, flanked by his eldest son Emilio Estevez.
The father and son offered to check out of the ritzy hotel and urge other actors staying there to do the same, but Unite Here Local 75 declined his offer, the union's J.J. Fueser told AFP.
Martin Sheen
Klingon Opera
"U"
DaHjaj 'oH Qaq jaj vaD bI'reS.
No, your screen is not broken -- that, for the uninitiated, is how one says "Today is a good day for opera" in Klingon.
The invented language, spoken first by the fictional aliens of the "Star Trek" universe and later embraced by humans worldwide, is now being put to use in an opera making its debut on Friday in the Dutch city of The Hague.
Opera is a cornerstone of the Klingon culture that is a major part of the "Star Trek" canon, which led to the creation of the show "U" (which means universe or universal).
The 90-minute show tells the story of Kahless the Unforgettable, said to be the first Klingon emperor. Tickets for the show's three-day run at the Zeebelt Theatre, which has just under 100 seats, were still available as of Friday morning.
"U"
$690 Book
Jimmy Page
A leather and silk-bound photographic autobiography by Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page will go on sale later this month for a hefty 445 pounds (540 euros, 690 dollars).
Page, one of the world's top guitarists, has chosen nearly 650 photographs to provide a visual history of his musical career, annotated by extended captions written by him.
Only 2,500 copies are being sold, each of them signed and hand-bound in leather and laser-cut Perspex. The pages and spine are decorated in gold, and the book is presented in a silk-bound slipcase.
Although most fans are likely to balk at the price, Page said he appreciated the "fine bookbinding" of the speciality publishers, Genesis.
Jimmy Page
Arsonist Gets Prison
Philly
A man has been sentenced to prison after drunkenly breaking into a famous Philadelphia recording company's headquarters and starting a fire.
Twenty-eight-year-old Christopher Cimini was sentenced Friday to 1 1/2 to 10 years in prison for the crime at Philadelphia International Records in February.
The label was home to Teddy Pendergrass, Patti LaBelle, Lou Rawls and the O'Jays. Sound of Philadelphia producers Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff lost much of their memorabilia to fire, smoke or water damage.
Investigators say Cimini had a blood-alcohol content of 0.27 percent. He was rescued by firefighters.
Philly
Admits Fraud
The 'Other' Ken Starr
An investment adviser, whose clients included director Martin Scorsese and singer Carly Simon, pleaded guilty on Friday to fraud charges as part of a deal with U.S. prosecutors who accused him of swindling up to $50 million.
Kenneth Starr, 66, admitted to committing wire fraud, money laundering and adviser fraud -- three of the 23-counts he was charged with after his arrest in May.
Since his arrest, current and former clients have said they trusted Starr but should have been more suspicious of the lucrative returns he promised. The client list includes wealthy New Yorkers and celebrities such as film director Mike Nichols, actress Uma Thurman, actor Wesley Snipes and photographer Annie Leibovitz.
Starr's wife, Diane Passage, is a former nightclub pole dancer. In a parallel civil case brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Passage was named as a recipient of possibly stolen funds.
The 'Other' Ken Starr
Pleads Not Guilty
Foxy Brown
Rapper Foxy Brown has pleaded not guilty to charges of violating a court order stemming from a 2007 confrontation with her neighbor in New York City.
Brown, whose real name is Inga Marchand, entered the plead Friday to a charge of criminal contempt. She could face up to one year in jail.
Prosecutors say Brown violated the order in July by screaming at neighbor Arlene Raymond before bending over, baring her buttocks and showing her underwear while shouting an obscenity.
The 31-year-old Brown was issued the order of protection after pleading guilty in 2008 to menacing Raymond with her cell phone.
Foxy Brown
Donating Fee?
Beckerhead
Representatives say Glenn Beck (R-Delusional) will donate his speaking fee from his upcoming appearance with Sarah Palin in Anchorage.
Christopher Balfe, president of Beck's media company, says the fee from Saturday's event at the Dena'ina Civic and Convention Center will go to the Special Operations Warrior Foundation. The organization provides scholarships and services to families of military members.
The amount is not being disclosed.
Tickets range from $73.75 to $225. Therin Ferrin, with a private contractor that operates the city's convention centers, says all but 800 of 4,500 tickets had been sold.
Beckerhead
Bans Pop Songs At Funerals
Australia's Catholic Church
Football club songs and pop or rock music have been banned from funerals in Catholic churches in Australia under new guidelines distributed this week to priests and funeral directors.
A funeral should not be a "celebration" of the deceased's life, Archbishop of Melbourne Denis Hart said in the rules, but a final sacred farewell. Celebrations of that life should be held at social occasions before or after the funeral, he said.
"Secular items are never to be sung or played at a Catholic funeral, such as romantic ballads, pop or rock music, political songs, football club songs."
Some funeral directors, however, said the directive was insensitive to relatives' needs as many grieving families wanted to incorporate multimedia presentations, including photographs and video of the deceased person's life as well as music.
Australia's Catholic Church
Japan Missing More Than 230K
Centenarians
More than 230,000 Japanese citizens listed in government records as at least 100 years old can't be found and may have died long ago, according to a government survey released Friday.
In August, the Justice Ministry ordered a review of records that found about 77,000 people who would be at least 120, and 884 people who would be 150 or older. The head count followed a flurry of reports about how elderly people are falling through the cracks in Japan as its population ages rapidly and family ties weaken.
In all, the survey of family registration records nationwide found that 234,354 centenarians were still listed as alive, but their whereabouts were unknown, the ministry said.
A ministry official said many of the missing people had probably died, lost touch with relatives or moved overseas. The official spoke on condition of anonymity, citing ministry policy.
Centenarians
Sues Band Over Logo
Daily Variety
Hollywood trade newspaper Daily Variety is embroiled in heated litigation with California punk rock band the Vandals, whose bass player happens to include an attorney.
The dispute began in 2004, when the Vandals released their 10th album, "Hollywood Potato Chip," which included the band's name in lettering made to look like the trademarked Daily Variety logo. (Daily Variety is a rival of The Hollywood Reporter.)
Reed Elsevier, Variety's parent company, sent a cease and desist letter and ultimately worked out a settlement with the band, which agreed to change the cover art and stop using the Variety-esque lettering. If the band members breached the deal, they agreed to pay $50,000 plus attorneys fees.
Case closed, right? Flash forward to April of this year, when Reed sued the band for breach of contract in federal court in Delaware, claiming the offending image had reappeared on a website for the band and its label Kung Fu Records. Reed lawyers argue that the breach of the settlement agreement is clear-cut. The band claims it wasn't behind any errant images that may have popped up online and that Reed never provided an opportunity to "cure" any breaches.
Rather than pay a lawyer to fight Reed, group member Joe Escalante is handling the matter himself. He's a Loyola Law School alumnus and worked in business affairs at CBS before pursuing music. He still does pro bono work and became somewhat of a local celebrity hosting "Barely Legal Radio," a radio show devoted to entertainment law questions.
Daily Variety
Allen Dale June
Allen Dale June, one of the 29 original Navajo Code Talkers who confounded the Japanese during World War II by transmitting messages in their native language, has died. He was 91.
June died of natural causes Wednesday night at a veterans hospital in Prescott, his wife, Virginia, told The Associated Press.
The Code Talkers took part in every assault the Marines conducted in the Pacific from 1942 to 1945. They sent thousands of messages without error on Japanese troop movements, battlefield tactics and other communications critical to the war's ultimate outcome.
Several hundred Navajos served as Code Talkers during the war, but a group of 29 that included June developed the code based on their native language. Their role in the war wasn't declassified until 1968.
June, who attained the rank of sergeant, received the Congressional Gold Medal in 2001 along with other members of the original Code Talkers.
With his death, only two of the 29 are still living.
June first tried to sign up for the Marines in his hometown of Kaibeto on the Navajo Nation, but a recruiter told him he was too young. He then traveled to the reservation town of Chinle to enlist - because he figured people there wouldn't recognize him - and he could lie about his age and forge his father's signature, Virginia June said.
Even after the code was declassified in 1968, June said little about his role as a Code Talker because he viewed it as bragging, his wife said. Anyone who saw him in the past several years might have been able to guess he was a Code Talker, as he wore a red Navajo Code Talker cap with his name on it wherever he went and a black leather jacket with "Marines" written across the back. He completed his look with a bolo tie that had a large turquoise stone.
Virginia June routinely handed out cards bearing Allen June's picture and rank in the Marines that he had autographed.
Besides his wife, Allen June is survived by 10 children. Funeral services are scheduled for Monday in Page, with burial in Kaibeto.
Allen Dale June
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