Paul Krugman: "'The Big Short,' Housing Bubbles and Retold Lies" (NY Times)
The thing to remember, when you see such attacks, is why they're taking place. The truth is that the people who made "The Big Short" should consider the attacks a kind of compliment: The attackers obviously worry that the film is entertaining enough that it will expose a large audience to the truth. Let's hope that their fears are justified.
Kathy Benjamin: 5 Dumbest Things People Are Getting Mad About This Christmas (Cracked)
We all know the deal with Christmas: Our days are supposed to be merry and bright. Santa is spying on us like some kind of hirsute pervert, making sure we're all being nice. Unfortunately, this time of year is also dangerous, stressful, and even your best intentions can go tits up. It can get to the point where you just need to have a serious bitch-fest about the whole damn thing.
This actor was born Harold John Smith on the Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation, near Brantford, Ontario, Canada, and was posthumously inducted into the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, as well as the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame. By what name is he better known?
"Jingle Bells", by James Lord Pierpont, was actually written for Thanksgiving. When it was first published in 1857 it had a different title. What was the original title?
"Jingle Bells" is one of the best-known and commonly sung American Christmas songs in the world. It was written by James Lord Pierpont (1822-1893) and published under the title "One Horse Open Sleigh" in the autumn of 1857. Even though it is now associated with the Christmas and holiday season, it was actually originally written for American Thanksgiving. It has been claimed that it was originally written to be sung by a Sunday school choir; however, historians dispute this, stating that it was much too "racy" to be sung by a children's church choir in the days it was written.
Source
Alan J was first and correct with:
One Horse Open Sleigh.
mj said:
It was titled based on the vehicle to which the bells were afixed
The One Horse Open Sleigh.
Randall wrote:
I had to look it up...
It was originally a Thanksgiving song, but like everything else- it got swallowed up by Christmas.
It was originally called:
"One Horse Open Sleigh"
Jim from CA, retired to ID, responded:
One Horse Open Sleigh
DanD replied:
Maybe "Turkey-balls?" Otherwise, I haven't the slightest idea ~
Turkey balls, turkey balls,
turkeys all the way,
oh what fun it is to
slice, a turkey on the plate, HEY! ...
(Later lyrics takes you to the
turkey-testicles of it all.)
Dale of Diamond Springs, Norfallcali replied:
"One Horse Open Sleigh" was the original title of the song "Jingle Bells".
Santa's Helpers a la tit
Happy Fucking Ho Ho Ho to You
Lois The Lush Of Oregon responded:
Clearly, this "One Horse Open Sleigh" song was written in a bar by a drunk trying to get laid. Singing to "Fannie Bright" about riding his horse! Seriously, how obvious can you get?
MAM wrote:
"One Horse Open Sleigh" in the autumn of 1857.
PS Like DJ Useo's 'dick head' on Thursday's e-page.
Joe S answered:
I'm gonna take a guess here because I'm so old I remember singing "Dashing Through The Snow" in grade school around Thanksgiving. That's where I think "Jingle Bells" originated. I could be wrong, but I don't think so.
So that's the way I see it.
Patriot Act NSA Spying Unconstitutional Section 215 National Security Letters Must End
My name is Marc Perkel and I have decided to announce that I will not comply with the so called "Patriot Act" laws requiring me to disclose information about my customers. If I receive a national security letter I will immediately photograph it, post it online everywhere I can, and then make a video of me burning it. I will then await my arrest. If you want to put me in jail then come get me mother fucker.
CBS begins the night with a RERUN'NCIS', followed by a RERUN'Criminal Minds', then '48 Hours'.
NBC fills the night with a RERUN'The Wiz (Not So) Live! 'SNL' is FRESH, with Tina Fey & Amy Poehler hosting, music by Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band.
ABC fills the night with the LIVE'New Hampshire: The Democrats Debate', followed by a FRESH'The Great Holiday Baking Show', then a RERUN'Castle'.
The CW offers an old 'Friends', followed by a RERUN'Monopoly Millionaires' Club', then an old '2½ Men', followed by another old '2½ Men'.
Faux fills the night with LIVE'UFC Fight Night', then pads the left coast with local crap.
MY has an old 'Rizzoli & Isles', followed by another old 'Rizzoli & Isles'.
AMC offers the movie 'Scrooged', followed by the FRESH'Imagine: John Lennon 75th Birthday Concert'.
BBC -
[6:00AM] TOP GEAR: BEST OF 12-13 - SEASON 1, Ep 1 - Lego
[7:00AM] TOP GEAR: THE PERFECT ROAD TRIP: ITALY - SEASON 1, Ep 2 - Slotcar Racetrack
[8:00AM] TOP GEAR: BEST OF BRITISH - SEASON 1, Ep 3 - Plasticine Garden
[9:00AM] MAN VS. WILD - SEASON 1, Ep 10 - Everglades
[10:00AM] MAN VS. WILD - SEASON 2, Ep 10 - Namibia (Part 1)
[11:00AM] MAN VS. WILD - SEASON 2, Ep 11 - Zambia (Part 2)
[12:00PM] MAN VS. WILD - SEASON 2, Ep 12 - Jungle Swamp (Part 1)
[1:00PM] MAN VS. WILD - SEASON 2, Ep 13 - Castaway (Part 2)
[2:00PM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - SEASON 4, Ep 19 - The Nth Degree
[3:00PM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - SEASON 4, Ep 20 - Qpid
[4:00PM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - SEASON 4, Ep 21 - The Drumhead
[5:00PM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - SEASON 4, Ep 22 - Half a Life
[6:00PM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - SEASON 4, Ep 23 - The Host
[7:00PM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - SEASON 4, Ep 24 - The Mind's Eye
[8:00PM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - SEASON 4, Ep 25 - In Theory
[9:00PM] THE PRINCESS BRIDE
[11:00PM] THE GRAHAM NORTON SHOW - SEASON 16, Episode 6
[12:00AM] THE PRINCESS BRIDE
[2:00AM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - SEASON 4, Ep 20 - Qpid
[3:00AM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - SEASON 4, Ep 21 - The Drumhead
[4:00AM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - SEASON 4, Ep 22 - Half a Life
[5:00AM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - SEASON 4, Ep 23 - The Host (ALL TIMES EST)
Bravo has 'Real Housewives Of BH', another 'Real Housewives Of BH', followed by a FRESH'Bravo First Looks', then the movie 'Legally Blonde'.
FX has them movie 'This Is 40', followed by the movie '21 Jump Street'.
History has 'Banned From The Bible II', 'Christmas Through The Decades', another 'Christmas Through The Decades', and still another 'Christmas Through The Decades'.
IFC -
[6:00AM] THAT '70S SHOW-Halloween
[6:30AM] THAT '70S SHOW-Van Stock
[7:00AM] THAT '70S SHOW-I Love Cake
[7:30AM] THAT '70S SHOW-Sleepover
[8:00AM] THAT '70S SHOW-Eric Gets Suspended
[8:30AM] THAT '70S SHOW-Red's Birthday
[9:00AM] THAT '70S SHOW-Laurie Moves Out
[9:30AM] THAT '70S SHOW-Eric's Stash
[10:00AM] 30 DAYS OF NIGHT
[12:30PM] THE HILLS HAVE EYES
[3:00PM] THE AMITYVILLE HORROR
[5:00PM] SAVING PRIVATE RYAN
[9:00PM] SAVING PRIVATE RYAN
[1:00AM] THE AMITYVILLE HORROR
[3:00AM] THE MIST
[5:45AM] COMEDY BANG! BANG!-Ellie Kemper (ALL TIMES EST)
Sundance -
[7:30AM] The Haunting in Connecticut
[9:45AM] The Exorcist
[12:30PM] The Amityville Horror
[3:00PM] Amityville II: The Possession
[5:30PM] Amityville: The Demon
[7:30PM] The Amityville Horror
[10:00PM] The Returned
[11:20PM] Amityville II: The Possession
[1:50AM] The Returned
[3:11AM] Amityville: The Demon
[5:14AM] The Exorcism of Emily Rose (ALL TIMES EST)
SyFy has the movie 'Angels & Demons', followed by the movie 'Skyfall', then the movie 'Tyler Perry's Madea's Big Happy Family'.
Actress Drew Barrymore participates in AOL's BUILD Speaker Series to discuss her book "Wildflower" at AOL Studios on Thursday, Dec. 17, 2015, in New York.
Photo by Evan Agostini
Abbott and Costello's heirs struck out Thursday in their efforts to prove copyright claims against the producers of a Broadway play in which a character uses a sock puppet to perform part of the comedians' famous "Who's on First" routine.
"The complaint doesn't get past first base," U.S. District Judge George B. Daniels wrote as he dismissed the lawsuit filed in Manhattan in June.
The copyright holders had accused "Hand to God" producers, promoters and playwright Robert Askins of copyright infringement.
The lawsuit claimed the play "copied the very heart" of "Who's on First?" with a one-minute, seven-second portion that was used so the play could more easily be promoted as a comedy as it confronts dark sides of human behavior.
The judge said the one-hour, 55-minute play made use of the famous routine in a way that was transformative and assumed the audience recognizes the original source of the satanic sock puppet's performance.
German artist Markus Luepertz stands next to his Beethoven sculpture during the official revelation in front of the Museum of the Fine Arts in Leipzig, central Germany, Friday, Dec. 18, 2015. The bronze sculpture is dedicated to German composer Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827).
Photo by Jens Meyer
Recordings secretly made by an anti-abortion group at meetings of abortion providers do not show criminal activity and could put the providers at risk, a federal judge said Friday, citing the recent shooting at a Colorado Planned Parenthood clinic.
U.S. District Judge William Orrick made the comments during a hearing over the National Abortion Federation's request for a preliminary injunction that would continue to block the release of the recordings. Orrick did not immediately issue a ruling. He previously issued a temporary restraining order blocking the recordings pending the outcome of the preliminary injunction hearing.
The Center for Medical Progress (R-Every Sperm Is Sacred) has released several secretly recorded videos that it says show Planned Parenthood employees selling fetal tissue for profit, which is illegal. Planned Parenthood has said it abides by a law that allows providers to be reimbursed for the costs of processing tissue donated by women who have had abortions.
The doctored videos have riled anti-abortion activists and fueled discussion in Congress about cutting off funding for Planned Parenthood.
Actor James Cromwell was among six people arrested at an upstate New York power plant that is under construction.
The Times Herald-Record of Middletown reports the 75-year-old actor whose work includes "Babe," ''American Horror Story" and "L.A. Confidential" was arrested Friday after leading a chant among a group of protesters.
New York state police say the six protesters who were arrested blocked an entrance to the construction site at the Competitive Power Ventures power plant in Orange County. They were arrested on disorderly conduct charges and ordered to appear in court in January.
Protesters have said they believe toxins from the plant may cause health issues and lower property value in the area.
Principal dancers Janessa Touchet, left, and Cervilio Miguel Amador perform during a dress rehearsal of the Nutcracker at the Aronoff Center, Thursday, Dec. 17, 2015, in Cincinnati.
Photo by John Minchillo
Officials say they had to discard hundreds of tubes of lip balm that were distributed at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richards after they were found to contain trace amounts of THC, an active ingredient in marijuana.
The base's Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office had been distributing the lip balm as it typically does with other promotional items, like water bottles and calendars, The Alaska Dispatch News reported. JBER spokesman 1st Lt. Michael Harrington said the lip balm was purchased mistakenly.
The lip balm contained hemp seed oil, which is banned under U.S. Army and Air Force regulations.
The base's public affairs team had emailed JBER employees Wednesday, asking them to toss out the 400 tubes of lip balm.
While the lip balm "does not have a significant amount of THC to register on a drug test," the email says, it still falls under the ban on hemp seed products.
Southern Methodist University, one of the top private colleges in Texas, on Friday said it would opt out of state law due to go into effect next year that allows people with licenses for concealed handguns to bring them on campus.
SMU students, faculty and staff by a wide margin said they wanted to keep the campus in Dallas weapons free, University President R. Gerald Turner said in a statement, which heavily weighed into his and the Board of Trustees' decision not to participate in the so-called "campus carry" law.
But public universities will be required to allow concealed handgun permit holders 21 and over to carry handguns when the law takes effect on Aug. 1, 2016. This falls on the 50th anniversary of one of the deadliest U.S. gun incidents on a campus when Charles Whitman killed 16 people by firing from a perch atop the University of Texas at Austin campus' clock tower.
Private universities have been allowed to opt out and many of the biggest-named schools in the state have done so including Rice University and Texas Christian University.
A University of Texas advisory committee said it faced widespread opposition to campus carry but has reluctantly recommended allowing handguns in classrooms when the law goes into effect, saying last week it cannot bar the firearms under the state measure.
The birds that helped inspire the theory of evolution could go extinct in just decades, scientists have warned. Researchers say Darwin's finches could be wiped out by parasitic flies that arrived on the islands in the 1960s in as little as 50 years.
Darwin's finches were important to the theory of natural selection, having diversified into new species around three to five million years ago. They are one of the best examples of speciation, with Darwin observing how different Galapagos finch species had varying beak and body sizes. There are up to 18 species of finches now living on the island.
However, the arrival of the parasitic nest fly Philornis downsi could signal the end of the species. The flies were first documented in bird nests in 1997 and damage the health of the birds by causing reproduction problems. It lays its eggs in bird nests, which hatch into parasitic larvae and feast on the blood and flesh of developing nestlings. It has caused significant mortality among Darwin's finch nestlings.
Scientists from the University of Utah have now carried out mathematical simulations to show the fate of the birds over the coming years. The findings, published in the Journal of Applied Ecology, reveal that even the most abundant species - the medium ground finches (Geospiza fortis) - are not safe.
Using five years' worth of data, they documented how flies damaged reproduction. They found that finches were more likely to breed successfully and survive during years when there is quite high rainfall. In years were there is either extreme rainfall or dryness, survival rates fall.
The Cordon Bleu culinary school will close its 16 campuses in the United States after failed attempts to find the right buyer, the company that operates the locations said.
Created in 1895, France's Le Cordon Bleu presents itself as the world's largest network of culinary and hospitality schools.
Career Education Corporation -- a company independent from Le Cordon Bleu International -- said in a statement that it was slowly discontinuing the operations of Le Cordon Bleu North America and would no longer enroll new students after the start of classes for the January 2016 student cohort.
Le Cordon Bleu International said separately that the decision would not affect any of its global operations.
An Indian couple make cow dung cakes used as a fuel for clay stoves, which will be sold to devotees arriving for the upcoming 'Magh Mela' festival in Allahabad, India, Friday, Dec. 18, 2015. Hundreds of thousands of Hindus are expected to take holy dips at the confluence of Ganges,Yamuna and mythical Saraswati rivers during the astronomically auspicious period of over 45 days celebrated as Magh Mela, that begins later this month.
Photo by Rajesh Kumar Singh
"Zombie infections: epidemiology, treatment, and prevention" - readers of the BMJ medical journal might have done a double take at that title of an article released Monday (Dec. 14).
Don't panic. The walking dead aren't really out to get you. But stories about zombies are a good analogue for the spread of real-life infectious diseases, said article author Tara Smith, who researches emerging diseases at Kent State University in Ohio.
That's why Smith wrote the tongue-in-cheek piece for the BMJ's traditionally goofy Christmas issue. She's used the same zombie analogy when giving lectures, whether academic or popular, or in venues ranging from local libraries to comic conventions. She's even on the board of the Zombie Research Society. (Yes, it's real.)
In the new article, Smith lays out a history of zombies and zombie pathogens, from the Solanum virus in the book and film "World War Z," to the modified Ebola virus that swept the United Kingdom in the movie "28 Days Later." Needless to say, these viruses are fictional (though there are some real - and very dull -viruses that infect potato plants that bear the Solanum name).
Smith isn't the first to use zombies to raise awareness of real-life pandemics. In 2011, a jokey post on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) blog nearly brought down the blog's servers because of all the Web traffic to the site. The idea was to urge people to get prepared for real-life disasters through the lens of zombie mayhem, a CDC spokesman told Live Science at the time.
The fictional land of Agrabah, the setting from Disney's Aladdin, would be bombed if it were up to 30 percent of Republican primary voters, according to a recent poll commissioned by Public Policy Polling (PPP).
PPP tweeted about the results on Friday. The Middle East and Islam were widely discussed at the recent Republican debates, and the polling company decided to ask about Agrabah as a result.
"We got the idea to see how far that might extend - if people would reflexively support bombing something that sounded vaguely Middle Eastern," said a PPP spokesperson to Mashable.
Thirteen percent of Republican primary voters are opposed to bombing Agrabah. Forty-one percent of Donald Trump's supporters who were polled would like to bomb the fictional setting, while only 9 percent opposed it.
30% of Republican primary voters nationally say they support bombing Agrabah. Agrabah is the country from Aladdin. #NotTheOnion
A California sea lion catches a fish thrown by its keeper in the enclosure in the zoo in Stuttgart, southern Germany, Friday Dec. 18, 2015.
Photo by Marijan Murat
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wrote:
answered:
has returned to semi-retired status.
