Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Paul Krugman's Column: Free to Die (New York Times)
… the Census Bureau released its latest estimates on income, poverty and health insurance. The overall picture was terrible: the weak economy continues to wreak havoc on American lives. One relatively bright spot, however, was health care for children: the percentage of children without health coverage was lower in 2010 than before the recession, largely thanks to the 2009 expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program, or S-chip.
Alan Bellows: Who Wants To Be a Thousandaire? (damninteresting.com)
The scoreboard on Larson's podium read "$90,351," an amount unheard of in the history of Press Your Luck. In fact, this total was far greater than any person had ever earned in one sitting on any television game show. With each spin on the randomized "Big Board" Larson took a one-in-six chance of hitting a "Whammy" space that would strip him of all his spoils, yet for 36 consecutive spins he had somehow missed the whammies, stretched the show beyond it's 30-minute format, and accumulated extraordinary winnings.
Connie Schultz: Random Acts of Kirkness (Creators Syndicate)
At 6:23 a.m., I heard the familiar splat of newspapers outside our bedroom window.
Froma Harrop: Global Warming is Here, All Right (Creators Syndicate)
Bark beetles and egrets don't care whether Governor This or Senator That believes in global warming. They feel it in their whatevers. Responding to warmer temperatures, plant and wildlife are moving north or uphill to cooler elevations, according to a new study published in Science magazine. For example, higher temperatures in the Rocky Mountains have set off a population explosion of bark beetles now devouring its beautiful pine forests.
Ted Rall: The Truth About Truthers
Why does the federal government feed the conspiracy theorists? Maybe it's unintentional, but probably not. I think the U.S. has become like a Third World dictatorship: the more they keep us guessing, the smarter they seem, and the more we'll fear them.
Jim Hightower: Who checks the "fact" checkers?
… Rick Perry did indeed slash state funds that are needed to support the volunteer firefighters who are the first responders to the vast majority of Texas wildfires.
Steve Almond: The Decade of Magical Thinking (The Rumpus)
Say you took the long view of September 11, 2001, the view from the heavens, the view of a compassionate celestial being. From up there, you'd see that approximately 150,000 earthlings died that day. Most of these deaths were caused by malnutrition and age-related illnesses, roughly 1500 were murders, hundreds more were due to civil wars.
Deborah Orr: Children are unhappy because their parents are too (Guardian)
Despite the best efforts of politicians, the growth agenda does not apply to our personal wellbeing.
Brian Palmer: When Do Gay Kids Start "Acting Gay"? (Slate)
Sometimes when they're toddlers.
Henry Rollins: Curtis Mayfield Songs in Haiti (LA Weekly)
I have been curious about Haiti for many years. The history of the country is as fascinating as it is turbulent. My curiosity rose after the earthquake on Jan. 12, 2010. I wanted to see how things were progressing at this point and if there was any way I could contribute.
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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Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Reader Recommendation
google gravity
go to google, type in "google gravity", and hit "I'm feeling lucky".
enter other into serach as needed
gary in pa.
Thanks, Gary!
Reader Comment
Re: Armchair Patriots
Hey Marty,
I just checked out your link, Armchair Patriots
So, good!
Love it!!!
Sally P :)
Thanks, Sally!
While I'd like to take credit, the Armchair Patriots link was courtesy of my great friend, Doug in Fla.
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
A marine layer so thick the sun never made an appearance.
Most Popular National Political Figure
Hillary Clinton
One third of Americans believe Hillary Clinton would have been a better president than Barack Obama, and two-thirds view her favorably, according to a new Bloomberg News poll.
"The most popular national political figure in America today is one who was rejected by her own party three years ago: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton," Bloomberg News' John McCormick wrote on the poll's findings, which were released Friday.
While 34 percent of those polled believe "things would be better under a Clinton administration," McCormick wrote, "almost half--47 percent--say things would be about the same, and 13 percent say worse."
By contrast, "35 percent of those polled believe the country would be worse off if John McCain had been elected president," Holly Bailey reported at The Ticket .
Hillary Clinton
Contract Reveals Anti-Segregation Stance
The Beatles
A soon-to-be-auctioned Beatles contract for a 1965 California concert reveals that the Fab Four took a firm stand in support of the era's civil rights movement, refusing to play before a segregated audience.
The contact, which is signed by the Liverpool group's manager, Brian Epstein, specifies that they "not be required to perform in front of a segregated audience" for their August 31, 1965, show at the Cow Palace in Daly City, California.
The document will be auctioned on September 20 by Nate D. Sanders in Los Angeles.
The Beatles took a public stand on civil rights in 1964, during their first American tour, when they refused to perform at a segregated concert at the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Florida. City officials relented, allowing the stadium to be integrated, and the band did take the stage for that show.
The Beatles
Group Receives Grant
Sean Penn
The Haiti aid group run by Hollywood actor Sean Penn says it has received a $2.25 million grant to help more than 500 families displaced by last year's earthquake move back home.
Benjamin Krause from Penn's relief group J/P HRO says the money from the World Bank will be used for rent subsidies, repairs to houses and building new homes and solar-powered water kiosks.
The project is part of a $95 million effort financed by the World Bank and Haiti Reconstruction Fund that is aimed at helping more than 500,000 people move back into redeveloped neighborhoods.
Penn co-founded the relief group shortly after the January 2010 earthquake and has overseen maintenance of a large settlement camp on a golf course. He's also testified in Washington.
Sean Penn
Wedding Banns Posted
Paul McCartney
Former Beatle Paul McCartney posted wedding banns this week at Westminster Register Office in Marylebone, central London, the same venue where he married his first wife Linda over 40 years ago.
The banns allow McCartney to marry New York heiress Nancy Shevell any time 16 days after the September 14 posting at the Register office. It will be McCartney's third marriage.
Shevell, 51, who is divorced, and McCartney, 69, are believed to have begun dating after the Fab Four singer's bitter split with second wife, former model Heather Mills.
The banns list the couple as James Paul McCartney and Nancy Shevell. He gives his profession as "business executive" and his multi-millionaire future wife is listed simply as an "executive."
Paul McCartney
No Charges
Matthew Fox
Cleveland prosecutors will not charge Matthew Fox on a complaint that the star of the former "Lost" television series punched a private bus driver last month.
City spokeswoman Andrea Taylor said in a statement Friday the decision was made "after a thorough review of the facts."
Bus driver Heather Bormann of Cleveland had said Fox hit her early Aug. 28 after she blocked him from boarding a chartered party bus she was driving. She said Fox wanted a ride to his hotel and appeared intoxicated.
Bormann referred a call Friday to her lawyer, J. Norman Stark, who said the city's decision is a "miscarriage of justice."
Matthew Fox
Seeks Divorce
Tareq 'The Cuckold' Salahi
Reality TV star Tareq 'The Cuckold' Salahi on Friday filed for divorce from his runaway wife Michaele, and accused her of having an affair with Journey guitarist Neal Schon.
Salahi, who appeared with Michaele last year in the Bravo network show "The Real Housewives of D.C.," filed the divorce papers in Warren County Circuit Court in Virginia.
The Salahis, who married in 2003, are best known for sneaking past White House security and into a state dinner in 2009, where they shook hands with President Barack Obama. The fete earned them the nickname, White House gate crashers.
Earlier this week, when Michaele failed to return home Tareq reported her missing or kidnapped to authorities, according to divorce papers posted online at celebrity website TMZ.com.
Tareq said in the court papers that he later learned Michaele was not kidnapped at all, but was in "an adulterous relationship" with Journey guitarist Schon. Tareq is seeking a divorce on those grounds.
Tareq 'The Cuckold' Salahi
Loves The Right-Wing Best
Vatican't
Jewish groups are voicing concern about the Vatican's latest bid to reconcile with a group of breakaway traditionalist Catholics. The groups are calling for continued observance of the church's official teachings about Judaism and other faiths.
The Anti-Defamation League and others accuse the Society of St. Pius X, which includes a Holocaust-denying bishop, of promoting anti-Semitism.
The Vatican told the society this week it must accept core church teachings if it wants to be reintegrated into the church. But it said some expressions contained in documents from the Second Vatican Council could be discussed.
A key Vatican II document revolutionized relations with Jews by declaring that Christ's death couldn't be attributed to Jews as a whole.
Vatican't
English-Speaking Boy Emerges From Woods
Berlin
Berlin police are investigating the story of an English-speaking teenager who appeared in the German capital last week saying he had lived the previous five years in the woods with his father, a spokesman said Friday.
Michael Maass said the approximately 17-year-old boy appeared Sept. 5 at Berlin's city hall and was then taken in by a youth emergency center.
The boy told authorities that after his mother had died in a car accident about five years ago, his father had taken him to live in the forest, Maass said. The two lived in a tent, and in earthen dugouts according to his story.
The boy - who says he doesn't remember where the family came from - claims he followed his compass north after his father recently died following a fall in the woods, hitting Berlin after walking two weeks, Maass said.
The boy told authorities he only remembered the name his father called him by - Ray, according to media reports - and not his last name, Maass said. He speaks fluent English and only a few words of German, Maass said. He did not have any information about what accent the boy has.
Berlin
Name Change
Metta World Peace
Ron Artest's bid to become Mr. World Peace was delayed, but not denied.
A court commissioner granted the Lakers forward's request to officially change his name to Metta World Peace on Friday, three weeks after the bid was blocked because Artest had unpaid traffic tickets.
Artest, 31, did not attend a brief hearing Friday.
Superior court spokeswoman Patricia Kelly said that Artest's new last name will be World Peace.
Metta World Peace
In Memory
Willie "Big Eyes" Smith
Grammy-winning blues musician Willie "Big Eyes" Smith, who was a longtime sideman for Muddy Waters, died of a stroke on Friday in Chicago at age 75, according to a statement on his website.
Smith's death comes less than six months after the passing at age 97 of blues master Joe Willie "Pinetop" Perkins, with whom Smith shared a Grammy win this year in the best traditional blues album category for their 2010 release "Joined at the Hip."
Smith said backstage at the Grammy Awards that he first met Perkins as a boy and was glad to have found success recording with his elder. "To tell you the truth, right now I'm one of the happiest men on earth," he said at the February event.
While the Grammy win at age 75 was Smith's first, he had previously had a long career playing with the late blues legend Muddy Waters.
Born in Helena, Arkansas, in 1936, Smith went to Chicago at age 17 and heard Waters playing for the first time. He later joined Waters' band as a drummer in the early 1960s.
In 1964, Smith was forced to pack up his drum kit for a time and he supported himself with odd jobs such as driving a taxicab in Chicago, according to a profile on his website.
But Smith rejoined Waters' band in 1968 and played with him through the 1970s, the period when Waters won his six Grammys.
Aside from the drums, Smith also played the harmonica and sang. In the 1980s, he performed in the Legendary Blues Band with Perkins, Louis Myers, Calvin Jones and Jerry Portnoy.
Willie "Big Eyes" Smith
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