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Obama Victory Cartoons
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Cartoon: Alternative Sources
Paul Krugman: Depression Economics Returns (nytimes.com)
The United States economy has entered the realm of Depression economics, in which the usual rules of economic policy no longer apply.
Mark Morford: Detroit must die (sfgate.com)
American cars are still uniformly god-awful. Why save them?
Tom Danehy: In today's society, the Word Police may do more harm than good (tucsonweekly.com)
It's only words, and words are all I have... To those of us who earn a living (and/or write a column) using words, it is amazing how maddeningly inconsistent people are in their use of words and the shifting meanings thereof. People are like galvanometers, their needles flipping wildly between extreme positions on the dial and never pausing in the middle.
CATHERINE O'SULLIVAN: Hey, everyone: Quit incorrectly accusing others of being 'socialist' (tucsonweekly.com)
First off, I want to say how happy I am that I was wrong about Barack Obama's electability. I didn't think it was possible for a black man to be elected president of the United States, but in my defense, that was before John McCain picked Britney Spears as a running mate.
Geeta Sharma-Jensen: "Worried? Read these: Sure, the economy stinks, but maybe it's not as bad as you think" (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
Be sensible. Live well but within your means. Take on debt judiciously. Save and invest some. If you're in the market, there's no point in selling out at the bottom. Businesses should pay down debt, hold down costs, and keep innovating for the future. Government should balance the budget, make sure the bailout money goes where it's most needed, and be prepared to reform its regulatory and lobbying areas.
Len Righi: Indie-pop band Cloud Cult throws a green tea party (The Morning Call)
Craig Minowa has been nurturing his eco-friendly band Cloud Cult since the early 1990s, and like anyone who is finally reaping some success after eking out a living in the hard-scrabble world of experimental orchestrated indie-pop, he speaks with pride at how his musical garden has grown.
Mike Osegueda: Trans-Siberian Orchestra has grown into a Christmas tradition (McClatchy Newspapers)
When you talk to the composer, the man who stands in front of all the scattered pieces, who finds the order and makes them all fit together, you have to know he's a little different.
Preston Jones: Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton take their offstage collaboration on tour (McClatchy Newspapers)
Taking a page from the country music power-couple playbook, Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton have embarked on a joint tour that's being billed as a "seamless" experience.
Jon Bream: Country music star Taylor Swift is on the fast track (Star Tribune)
As instructed, I removed my shoes before entering the tour bus. As I was introduced to Taylor Swift, I extended my hand in formal greeting, but instead country's hottest young star star pulled me into a enthusiastic embrace.
Steven Rea: From a sudden mental image, a book - and movie - are born (The Philadelphia Inquirer)
John Boyne was at home in his native Dublin a few years ago when an image suddenly popped into his head: Two young boys, seated across from each other, divided by a prison fence. The boy behind the fence was wearing the striped clothing given to the Jews when the Nazis locked them inside the gates of the concentration camps.
Will Harris: A Chat with Luke Goss, Co-star of "Hellboy II" (bullz-eye.com)
"When I got the call for 'Hellboy II,' I'd heard that (Guillermo del Toro) had written this part for me, and then I just get this call: 'Hey, motherf**ker!' (Laughs) That was the greeting. I said, 'I know who this is!"
Will Harris: A Chat with Bret Harrison, Co-star of "Reaper" (bullz-eye.com)
"With Tyler (Labine), we're constantly adlibbing back and forth. But at the same time, you can't get too crazy. It's a TV schedule. We're not shooting, like, a Judd Apatow movie, where we have hours and hours of film to just burn."
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Selected Readings
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In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Summer-like heat and very little humidity. Ack.
Ancient Greek Joke Book
Philogelos
For those who believe the ancient Greeks thought of everything first, proof has been found in a 4th century AD joke book featuring an ancestor of Monty Python's Dead Parrot sketch where a man returns a parrot to a shop, complaining it is dead.
The 1,600-year-old work entitled "Philogelos: The Laugh Addict," one of the world's oldest joke books, features a joke in which a man complains that a slave he has just bought has died, its publisher said Friday.
"By the gods," answers the slave's seller, "when he was with me, he never did any such thing!"
In a British comedy act Monty Python's Flying Circus sketch, first aired in 1969 and regularly voted one of the funniest ever, the pet-shop owner says the parrot, a "Norwegian Blue," is not dead, just "resting" or "pining for the fjords."
Philogelos
Named U.N. Peace Messenger
Charlize Theron
Oscar-winning South African-born actress Charlize Theron was named a United Nations messenger of peace on Friday, with a special focus on ending violence against women.
Messengers of peace, of which there will now be 10, are celebrities mainly from the fields of film, music, literature and sport who are charged with promoting U.N. activities and ideals through public appearances and media contacts.
Theron, named by Esquire magazine last year as its "Sexiest Woman Alive," has also been involved in charitable causes such as putting mobile health clinics in rural areas of her native South Africa where access to care is limited.
The other messengers of peace are actors George Clooney and Michael Douglas, musicians Daniel Barenboim, Midori Goto and Yo-Yo Ma, authors Paulo Coelho and Elie Wiesel, equestrian Princess Haya Bint al-Hussein and naturalist Jane Goodall.
Charlize Theron
Facing Early Death
"Pushing Daisies"
ABC's quirky drama "Pushing Daisies" wrapped production on its 13th episode Thursday, and industry sources are buzzing that the network does not plan to order more episodes.
An ABC spokesperson said no decision has been made, and series creator Bryan Fuller said he has not heard a verdict.
"Our ABC exec was on the set last night saying they are still swinging in the fight to keep 'Daisies' on the air," Fuller said. "Spirits are high and hopeful and everyone here is very proud of our work and this show."
Fuller previously expressed interest in returning to the writing staff of NBC's "Heroes" if "Daisies" departs. He also has indicated that he would finish this season's story lines in comic book form.
"Pushing Daisies"
"CSI" Fans Unhappy
William Petersen
Crime drama "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" tops the must-see fall television shows for Americans, but more than a third of viewers said they would no longer watch after the departure of star William Petersen, according to an online poll released on Friday.
The heavily-hyped remakes "90210" and "Knight Rider" got the biggest thumbs down as the most disappointing new shows on U.S. TV, while the five-year jump ahead in the lives of the "Desperate Housewives" was a hit with only 12 percent of viewers in the season that began in September.
According to the AOL television poll, the year-long delayed new season of the Kiefer Sutherland thriller "24", is the most anticipated show returning early next year, getting 28 percent of votes.
"24" just beat the 8th installment of "American Idol" in January, which has been America's most watched TV show of the past four years.
William Petersen
Final Season
"Monk"
"Monk" will soon be solving his last case.
USA Network said Friday that it is giving its long-running hit series an eighth- and final-season pickup with a 16-episode order.
The final season of the show, starring Tony Shalhoub as a brilliant detective who suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder, will debut in the summer. Shalhoub won three Emmys and was nominated on three other occasions for his work.
"Monk"
Charges Filed
Don Cornelius
The Los Angeles city attorney has charged Don Cornelius, former host of "Soul Train," in connection with two domestic incidents involving his wife last month.
Cornelius was charged with spousal battery, assault with a deadly weapon and dissuading a witness from making a police report, all misdemeanors, city attorney spokesman Frank Mateljan said Friday.
The married 72-year-old producer was taken to jail last month after police were called to his Hollywood Hills home following a report of domestic dispute.
Cornelius was released on $50,000 bail. He could face up to one year in prison for each of the five misdemeanor charges.
Don Cornelius
SCOTUS To Decide
'Hillary: The Movie'
The U.S. Supreme Court agreed on Friday to rule on a new challenge to the federal campaign finance law by a conservative group that wants to broadcast and promote a movie critical of Democratic Sen. Hillary Clinton.
The group, Citizens United, released the 90-minute documentary film "Hillary: The Movie" in January when the New York senator was running for president.
Citizens United released the movie to theaters and for store sales on DVD. The group also planned to broadcast the movie on cable television video on-demand, and to pay the fee for viewers to be able to see the movie.
But that was rejected by a federal court which said under the campaign finance law the group had to disclose its donors and include a disclaimer to run its advertisements promoting the movie.
'Hillary: The Movie'
"Scud Stud" Sues
Arthur Kent
Canadian journalist Arthur Kent, known as the "Scud Stud" for his live NBC reports during the 1991 Gulf War, has filed a libel lawsuit against Canada's biggest media group, CanWest Global Communications Corp.
The suit, filed Thursday in New York State Supreme Court, relates to a profile that ran in CanWest's Calgary Herald and National Post papers during his unsuccessful run for office in Alberta's provincial elections earlier this year. Kent represented the province's governing Progressive Conservative party.
"CanWest launched a grossly inaccurate and biased attack on my character and reputation. The article misrepresents both our team's election campaign and my career in journalism, particularly my work for the New York-based broadcast news industry," Kent alleges in the suit.
He added that the CanWest Global newspapers refused to publish a rebuttal that he submitted. Kent earlier filed a defamation action against the media company in Calgary.
Arthur Kent
NY Restaurant Sued
Justin Timberlake
U.S. pop star Justin Timberlake's New York restaurant has cheated staff out of tips, proper pay and overtime, according to a lawsuit filed on Friday.
A busboy who worked at the restaurant for a year from June 2007 filed the suit on behalf of 50 other employees. It accuses Timberlake, two of his business partners and managers of Southern Hospitality BBQ restaurant in Manhattan of stealing tips and not paying the minimum wage or overtime.
It was the latest suit to be filed by workers over wages against New York restaurants and clubs, with businesses owned by actor Robert De Niro and hip hop star Jay Z also hit by legal action.
Justin Timberlake
Canada Gets It
'Going Fishing'
The host of a Canadian fishing show was reprimanded on Wednesday for broadcasting political propaganda during an election campaign, the first time that a show for anglers has landed in hot water for being partisan.
Darryl Cronzy, who presents "Going Fishing," had been wrong to urge viewers to vote for the opposition Conservatives in an October 2007 election in the province of Ontario, the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council said. Cronzy also mocked the Liberals, the province's ruling party.
Cronzy's problems began after Conservative leader John Tory appeared on the show in September 2007, during the campaign.
"Towards the end of the program, Cronzy said, 'Listen, I'm not telling you who to vote for' and then contradicted his verbal statement by pointing at John Tory in an obvious and exaggerated manner," the council said in a formal ruling.
The council said the show broke regulations put into place in 2000 which are designed to ensure parties received fair treatment during election campaigns.
Going Fishing
Facing Excommunication
Roy Bourgeois
A Georgia priest facing excommunication for supporting the ordination of women said Friday he plans to visit the Vatican with a contingent of fellow priests and a bishop to appeal the decision.
Roy Bourgeois, 69, a Maryknoll priest and nationally known peace activist, ran afoul of Vatican doctrine by participating in an Aug. 9 ceremony in Lexington, Ky., to ordain Janice Sevre-Duszynska, a member of a group called Roman Catholic Womenpriests. Recent popes have said the Roman Catholic Church cannot ordain women because Christ chose only males as apostles.
"Who are we as men to say to women that our call to the priesthood is valid, but yours is not?" Bourgeois said in a telephone interview. "As Catholics we profess that the invitation to priesthood comes from God, and I believe that we are hampering with the sacred when we say that women must be excluded from being priests. That invitation is from God."
Bourgeois, a Vietnam veteran, served as a missionary in Bolivia and El Salvador. Concerned by what he had witnessed, he returned to the United States and formed School of Americas Watch, a group that holds annual demonstrations against a Fort Benning school that is now known as the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation. He lives in an apartment outside Fort Benning's main gate.
Roy Bourgeois
A Bitter Ale For Bitter Times
Bailout Bitter
As central bankers try to prop up an ailing global economy with financial bailouts, a tiny Western Canadian brewery has stepped into the battle with what it bills as a recession-fighting ale.
Howe Sound Brewery began selling Bailout Bitter at its pub in Squamish, British Columbia, on Wednesday, and is awaiting permission to begin selling bottles of the brew in stores in the provinces of British Columbia and Alberta.
Howe Sound co-owner Leslie Fenn said the ale, which is similar to a British extra special bitter, was an attempt to inject some humour into tough economic times. It carries the slogan "A bitter ale for bitter times."
In keeping with the tight financial times, it will be sold at a lower price than the brewery's other ales.
Bailout Bitter
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