Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Paul Krugman: The Mortgage Morass (nytimes.com)
An epic housing bust has led to an epidemic of foreclosures. The situation is much worse than you think.
Respectfully, Mr. President: Thank You! (dailykos.com)
I don't know about you but I am ready to go and these are the reasons why I have more Enthusiasm than ever:
Health Care Reform: Coverage can't be denied to children with pre-existing conditions. Etc.
Clarence Page: What's so bad about elites? (chicagotribune.com)
In her continuing effort to distance herself from her own beliefs, Delaware's Christine O'Donnell is trying her level best to convince the world that she's a genuine, regular person. If she can fake that, as an old saying goes, she's got it made.
NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF: What Oman Can Teach Us (nytimes.com)
Instead of using military force to fight extremism, we might learn from the remarkable country of Oman and try education.
Jim Hightower: THE IMMORALITY OF "AMERICA AT WAR"
Are you aware that America has now been at war for nearly a decade? We've been fighting, bleeding, and dying in two hellacious, multitrillion-dollar conflagrations since 2001 - and our blood continues to flow, with no end in sight.
PAUL REYES: Picturing the Crisis (nytimes.com)
What the new genre of foreclosure photography reveals about the human side of the Great Recession.
Froma Harrop: Government Doesn't Have to Subsidize Everything (creators.com)
When government tells restaurant owners that they can't let customers smoke on their premises, that's the nanny state. When it fines motorcyclists for not wearing helmets, again, the nanny. But is New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg playing Mary Poppins when he tries to stop low-income people from using their food stamps for Coca-Cola and other sugary, fattening drinks? He is not.
Martin Wainwright: Walking could protect brain against shrinking, US research says (guardian.co.uk)
Neurologists who monitored 300 volunteers over 13 years say walkers could be defending themselves against memory loss.
Susan Estrich: Traffic Jams (creators.com)
There's an old joke in California that if you want attention, stage your event on the freeway. The biggest night for pizza delivery in Los Angeles history was when O.J. Simpson in his white Ford Bronco led police on a slow motion chase up and down the San Diego Freeway. None of the L.A. stations has a bureau in the state's capital city of Sacramento. But they all have helicopters that cover traffic on the freeways morning, noon and night. Thus, the joke: If you want people to watch a political debate, stage it on the freeway at rush hour.
Nick McGrath: "Boy George: 'Jail's like school but you can't leave'" (guardian.co.uk)
He's been jailed and addicted to drugs - twice. Now Boy George has cleaned up, worked with Mark Ronson and even curbed his acid tongue.
Roger Ebert: Review of "WINNEBAGO MAN" (UNRATED; 3 stars)
There is a video on YouTube that has had millions and millions of hits and made its subject, a man named Jack Rebney, internationally known as "Winnebago Man." He is perhaps even as famous as Trololo Man, and that's famous.
David Bruce has 39 Kindle books on Amazon.com with 250 anecdotes in each book. Each book is $1, so for $39 you can buy 9,750 anecdotes. Search for "Funniest People," "Coolest People, "Most Interesting People," "Kindest People," and "Maximum Cool."
The Weekly Poll
As you read this, I'll either be on the way to, already at, or returning from the VAMC in Dee-troit (right on the Wayne State University campus) gettin' a pre-admission work up for my surgery next week. As such, there'll be a Poll hiatus whilst said procedure is done and recovery endured. I hope to have one up on the 26th asking yer predictions concerning the election on November 2nd. Those will be posted that morning (the 2nd) and we shall see later that evening who's got it right. At least that's the plan... Until then, TTFN...
wrote:
said:
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Coastal eddy almost let the sun burn through.
Shareholders Have Questions
Murdoch
News Corp shareholders on Friday quizzed Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch (R-Evil Incarnate) and his fellow directors over the process by which the company makes donations to political organizations.
The directors faced several questions at the company's annual general meeting from individual shareholders and shareholder activists about a recent decision to donate $1 million each to the Republican Governors Association and U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The gifts are being made in the run-up to U.S. congressional mid-term elections on Nov 2.
Murdoch said he and the board believed the donation was made in the "best interest of the company."
Shareholder activist groups including The Nathan Cummings Foundation have criticized the recent donations. In a letter to the board on October 11 the foundation said the decision was "troubling".
Murdoch
Sending 'Daily Show' Audience To DC
Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey surprised audience members at Comedy Central's "The Daily Show" on Thursday by saying she's sending them to Washington, D.C. this month. That's where host Jon Stewart is hosting his "Rally to Restore Sanity" in politics.
The daytime talk queen is famous for treating her audience to trips. Last month she gave people attending the first episode of her final season a trip Down Under.
She appeared via satellite Thursday on "The Daily Show" and told audience members to open red envelopes under their chairs.
Stewart planned the Oct. 30 rally shortly after Fox News Channel's Glenn Beck held one in Washington. Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert joked Thursday that his talk show host character would join Stewart and rename the event the "Rally to Restore Sanity And/Or Fear."
Oprah Winfrey
Stamps Up For Auction
Audrey Hepburn
A rare sheet of 10 stamps showing film star Audrey Hepburn smoking is expected to fetch at least $564,000 at an upcoming charity auction in Berlin.
The German postal service printed 14 million of the stamps in 2001. They show Hepburn as Holly Golightly from the film Breakfast at Tiffany's with a cigarette holder between her lips.
Hepburn's son Sean Ferrer initially refused to grant copyright for the stamps and suggested using another photo. The German government ordered the stamps destroyed, but a few sheets survived. The sheet being sold for charity is the one originally sent to Ferrer in 2001 for approval.
Five of the stamps, presumed stolen from the postal service, have been sold previously, with one fetching (EURO)173,000.
Audrey Hepburn
Baby News
Egypt Dean
It's a boy for Alicia Keys and her husband, music producer/rapper Swizz Beatz.
A representative for Keys said she gave birth Thursday night in New York. The couple have named their son Egypt Dean. It's the first child for the 29-year-old superstar and the fourth child for Beatz, whose real name is Kaseem Dean. The couple was married July 31.
Swizz Beatz, 31, took time to tweet on Friday: "I'm so thankful for everything I been blessed with in my life wowwwwww!
Egypt Dean
More Baby News
Gideon Scott and Harper Grace Burtka-Harris
Neil Patrick Harris is officially a first-time father.
The "How I Met Your Mother" television star announced via Twitter Friday that he and partner David Burtka's surrogate twins arrived October 12th.
"Babies!!" Harris tweeted. "On 10/12, Gideon Scott and Harper Grace entered the Burtka-Harris fold. All of us are happy, healthy, tired, and a little pukey."
This is the second time Harris turned to Twitter for a baby announcement. In August, he first tweeted that he and Burtka would be expecting twins in the fall.
Gideon Scott and Harper Grace Burtka-Harris
Song Tangled In Dispute
Jimi Hendrix
The Jimi Hendrix estate, Martin Scorsese and an old saxophone player named Lonnie Youngblood are among those battling over a 40-year-old song entitled "Georgia Blues" that was recently featured on a Scorsese-directed PBS special on blues music and distributed via an accompanying album.
In the mid-1960s, Hendrix, working as Jimmy James, played in Youngblood's band. Later the guitar virtuoso struck out on his own, but he reunited in 1969 with Youngblood in a New York studio to record "Georgia Blues."
The tune was mostly forgotten until Scorsese's 2003 PBS special, "The Blues," which spawned a few albums including "Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues: Jimi Hendrix," which included the song. It's now the subject of heated litigation.
Earlier this year, Youngblood sued the estate, MCA Records and Scorsese, claiming the song was released without his permission and without proper credit. Youngblood said the Hendrix estate offered him $3,000 for rights, which he refused.
On Tuesday, the Hendrix estate struck back with counterclaims, asking a judge to declare it the owner of the song and Youngblood's belated copyright registration as invalid.
Jimi Hendrix
Defends Bad Writing
Vince Vaughn
Actor Vince Vaughn has defended the use of the word "gay" in his upcoming comedy "The Dilemma" after a week of controversy about whether it is a slur against gays and lesbians.
Universal Pictures last week pulled a promotional movie trailer for "The Dilemma", in which Vaughn's character tells a joke calling electric cars "gay", after complaints that the use of the word sent a message of intolerance at a time when gay teen suicides and bullying are in the media spotlight.
Vaughn said in a statement late Thursday that he supported "the people outraged by the bullying and persecution of people for their differences, whatever those differences may be."
But he added; "Comedy and joking about our differences breaks tension and brings us together. Drawing divided lines over what we can and cannot joke about does exactly that; it divides us. Most importantly, where does it stop."
Vince Vaughn
Pleads No Contest
Leif Garrett
Former teen heartthrob Leif Garrett pleaded no contest Friday to heroin possession in Los Angeles and will enter a drug rehab program.
Garrett, 48, was arrested in February after authorities found him carrying heroin in a Los Angeles subway station.
The case could be dismissed if Garrett completes the terms of the treatment program within 18 months.
Garrett has been working with celebrity addiction specialist Dr. Drew Pinsky and he is among those slated to appear on the next season of "Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew," Flier said. Garrett's court-ordered program wouldn't be part of any reality show, he said.
Leif Garrett
Another Compassionate Conservative
Belgium
Belgium's Roman Catholic Church, already reeling from allegations of sexual abuse, faced a new scandal Friday after its primate wrote that AIDS was "a sort of inherent justice."
Many lawmakers condemned Archbishop Andre-Joseph Leonard, the head of the Belgian church, for the remarks in a new book and Belgium's center for equal opportunities received a series of complaints, including one by a lawyer who said his comments were incitement to hatred.
The Church is struggling to recover from the resignation of the Bishop of Bruges in April after he admitted sexually abusing a nephew.
In his book "Monseigneur Leonard - Conversations," the archbishop referred to a remark by the late Pope John Paul II who said, when asked whether AIDS was a punishment from God, that it was difficult to judge God's will.
Belgium
No-Show At Spanish Hearing
Sean Connery
Sean Connery declined to appear in a Spanish court Friday as requested by a judge investigating an allegedly shady real estate deal involving property the actor used to own.
The 80-year-old actor sent the judge a letter explaining he cannot travel to Spain because of his age and unspecified health issues, a court official said.
Connery and wife Micheline Roquebrune had been summoned to testify on Friday. They have not been charged with a crime in the affair known in Spain as the "Goldfinger Case."
The official said the magistrate will decide next week how to proceed. His options include sending Spanish officials to question Connery personally, the official said, although he said he did not know where Connery is now. The James Bond actor owns a home in the Bahamas.
Sean Connery
In Memory
General Johnson
General Johnson, lead singer of the popular beach music trio Chairmen of the Board, has died. He was 69.
Johnson died on Wednesday in suburban Atlanta, his son, Norman Johnson, of East Point, Ga., said Friday. The singer died of complications from lung cancer, his son said.
The Chairmen of the Board formed in Detroit in 1970, but moved south in the early 1980s and established a record label in Charlotte.
Johnson was the lead on two hits, "Give Me Just A Little More Time" and "(You've Got Me) Dangling on a String." Johnson also won a Grammy for writing the rhythm and blues classic "Patches," which was recorded by Clarence Carter.
Johnson began singing as a young boy in churches in Norfolk, Va., where he was born, and reached a peak as a performer touring the U.S. and abroad during the height of the Motown sound.
Johnson and his family moved from Detroit to the Atlanta area in 1979, Norman Johnson said, but the band's sound adapted to a style called beach music popular in beachfront communities in North Carolina.
A Tuesday memorial service was planned for Johnson, who lived in East Point, Ga.
Johnson also is survived by his wife of 48 years, Julia Johnson; son Antonio Johnson of Union City, Ga.; and daughter Sonya Johnson Payne of College Park, Ga.
General Johnson
In Memory
Simon MacCorkindale
"Falcon Crest" actor and longtime British star Simon MacCorkindale has died at the age of 58 after a long struggle with cancer, his agent Max Clifford said Friday.
MacCorkindale, who played British lawyer Greg Reardon in the '80s soap -- which also starred Jane Wyman, Lorenzo Lamas and Mel Ferrer -- appeared in "Death on the Nile" and spent six years on the British medical drama "Casualty."
The actor died Thursday night surrounded by his family in a private Harley Street clinic. He had been diagnosed with bowel cancer four years ago, and it spread to his liver.
His wife, the actress Susan George, said he had fought valiantly against the ravages of the disease.
Simon MacCorkindale
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