Josh Barro: "There Are Two Americas, and One Is Better Than the Other" (Slate)
I will add one caveat, in the vein of Andrew Sullivan's comments. The things Phil Robertson said should get you fired from most jobs. But starring on a reality show is a special kind of job, one where demonstrating that you are a good person who follows good social conventions may not be necessary.
Josh Vorhees: Prostitution Is About to Get a Whole Lot More Legal in Canada (Slate)
Canada's supreme court on Friday struck down all of the Great White North's current anti-prostitution laws, declaring that bans on brothels and street solicitation along with other restrictions unconstitutionally violate the safety of prostitutes. The sweeping decision does not go into effect immediately, however, giving Parliament one year to come up with other ways to regulate the sex trade industry if lawmakers choose to do so.
Eddie Deezen: The Biggest-selling Christmas Album of All Time (Neatorama)
According to the latest data and certifications of the Recording Industry of America, Elvis' Christmas Album, recorded by Elvis Presley (who else?) has shipped at least 13 million copies since its original release in 1957. That makes it the biggest-selling Christmas album of all time.
Christina H: "5 Facts About Being Poor (From a Rich Person)" (Cracked)
We've gotten narratives from actual poor people, and from middle class people pretending to be poor people, and from rich people talking about poor people. What's missing, obviously, is rich people telling you what it's like to be a poor person. That's what I'm going to do. "Oh no," you might say. "That doesn't make any sense," you might say. "That can't possibly turn out well. It will be so insulting and condescending, it blurs the line between comic and tragic." You might say it's like an Asian woman telling people what it feels like to be a black man.
George Dvorsky: Scientists develop an 'elixir' that reverses a known cause of aging (io9)
To date, we know of only two things that can reverse the effects of aging: caloric restriction and extensive exercise. But in a recent experiment, researchers applied a new compound to 2-year old mice, causing their muscles to regenerate to 6-month old levels. Incredibly, human trials may start next year.
The Great Escape is a 1963 American film about an escape by Allied prisoners of war from a German POW camp during World War II, starring Steve McQueen, James Garner and Richard Attenborough. The film is based on the book of the same name by Paul Brickhill, a non-fiction account of the mass escape from Stalag Luft III in Sagan (now Zagan, Poland), in the province of Lower Silesia, Nazi Germany. The characters are based on real men, in some cases composites of several men. The film was made by the Mirisch Company, released by United Artists, and produced and directed by John Sturges.
USAAF Captain Virgil Hilts, "the Cooler King," irritates guards with frequent escape attempts and irreverent behavior. Hilts and RAF Flying Officer Archibald Ives conceive of an escape attempt through a short tunnel at a blind spot right near the edge of the camp, a proposal which is accepted by Bartlett on the grounds that vetoing every independent escape attempt would raise suspicion of the collective escape attempt they were planning. However, Hilts and Ives are caught and returned to the cooler. Upon release from the cooler, Bartlett requests that Hilts use his next escape attempt as an opportunity for surveillance for the other prisoners; a request that Hilts refuses.
Source
Marian was first, and correct, with:
The Great Escape
Charlie answered:
Too easy. McQueen was Capt. Virgil Hilts, "The Cooler King," in The Great Escape (1963). Saw it on the Big Screen on its first release.
Lois In Oregon said:
Steve McQueen as The Cooler King...hmmmm...my first thought,
naturally, is that's where he kept his beer...or his blob to
keep it from getting too frisky. Ah, but then I realized
that was his character in the "Great Escape", a movie about
a bunch of guys escaping greatly, and Steve kept getting
thrown in the "cooler" as punishment for escape attempts to
distract the guards from the real attempted escape.
@Dale: Zamfir IS Fabulous! He looks like he REALLY knows how
to blow them pipes!
@Sally: Ox tail stew for Christmas dinner!?! That is the
second saddest thing I have ever heard of.
Alan J wrote:
The Great Escape
mj responded:
If Stalag 17 made the ocarina famous
The Great Escape put the spotlight on Steve' cooler. I must say, he was pretty cool without it. I always did want him dead or alive.
Jim from CA, retired to ID, replied:
The Great Escape
STEPHEN F wrote:
Stalag 17
Adam answered:
Yes, I thought so- 'The Great Escape'.
Sally said:
In the film, "The Great Escape," Steve McQueen was, "The Cooler King."
PS: I'm busy planning an "Elf" (the movie) Holiday Party for my morning care kids, and a few neighborhood kiddies on Monday afternoon. The morning care kids and I are making cookies after school today (1/2 day) for the party. Yup, I plan on sugaring them up and sending them home afterwards - Life is good... Ho, Ho, Ho!
Diptitty Dale of Diamondy Sprungsy, Norwintercali replied:
The Great Escape was also my favourite Dickey Attenborough flick. Plus , for a Holiday treat, gratuitous Ali McGraw!
RIP - Al Goldstein - Screw you.
MAM wrote:
The Great Escape (1963) ~ account of the mass escape from Stalag Luft III in Sagan (now ?aga?, Poland). USAAF Captain Virgil Hilts, "the Cooler King," is returned to the camp alone and taken back to the cooler.
The Cooler King Returns
PS Thanks to you and JD for 'Cats Are So Dramatic'.
Wowser says, 'Of course we are'.
And, Joe S responded:
Carla's favorite actor in Carla's favorite movie, The Great Escape. Carla was very much in love with Steve McQueen,but that's okay, we have an open marriage. There is only one rule, you can look but don't touch.
This is my latest favorite actress that I'm in love with.
CBS begins the night with a RERUN'2½ Men', followed by another RERUN'2½ Men', then a RERUN'Hawaii Five-0', followed by '48 Hours'.
NBC opens the night with 'The Sing-Off', followed by an hourlong RERUN'SNL'.
'SNL' is FRESH, Jimmy Fallon hosts, with music by Justin Timberlake.
ABC starts the night with 'I Want A Dog For Christmas, Charlie Brown!', followed by a RERUN'Marvel's Agents Of SHIELD', then a RERUN'Castle'.
The CW offers an old '2½ Men', followed by another old '2½ Men', then an old 'Family Guy', followed by another old 'Family Guy'.
Faux has a RERUN'Almost Human', followed by a RERUN'Bones'.
MY has an old 'Burn Notice', followed by another old 'Burn Notice'.
A&E has the movie 'The Shawshank Redemption', followed by 'Bonnie & Clyde' (part 1), then 'Bonnie & Clyde' (part 2).
AMC offers the movie 'Remember The Titans', followed by the movie 'Jack Frost', then the movie 'Jack Frost', again.
BBC -
[6:00AM] TOP GEAR - Season 12 - Episode 2
[7:00AM] TOP GEAR - Season 12 - Episode 3
[8:00AM] RAMSAY'S KITCHEN NIGHTMARES REVISITED UK - Season 3 - Ep 1 - Revisited: La Parra de Burriana
[9:00AM] RAMSAY'S KITCHEN NIGHTMARES UK - Season 2 - Ep 8 - La Gondola
[10:00AM] RAMSAY'S KITCHEN NIGHTMARES REVISITED US - Season 1 - Ep 1 - Revisited
[11:00AM] JAMES MAY'S MAN LAB - Season 3 - Episode 3
[12:00PM] TOP GEAR - Season 14 - Episode 1
[1:00PM] TOP GEAR: TOP 41-Episode 8
[2:00PM] TOP GEAR - Season 14 - Episode 2
[3:00PM] TOP GEAR - Season 14 - Episode 4
[4:00PM] ATLANTIS - Season 1 - Episode 4
[5:00PM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - Season 3 - Ep 19 - Captain's Holiday
[6:00PM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - Season 3 - Ep 20 - Tin Man
[7:00PM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - Season 3 - Ep 21 - Hollow Pursuits
[8:00PM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - Season 3 - Ep 22 - The Most Toys
[9:00PM] ATLANTIS - Season 1 - Episode 5 NEW
[10:00PM] THE GRAHAM NORTON SHOW - Season 14 - Episode 9 NEW
[11:00PM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - Season 3 - Ep 22 - The Most Toys
[12:00AM] ATLANTIS - Season 1 - Episode 5
[1:00AM] THE GRAHAM NORTON SHOW - Season 14 - Episode 9
[2:00AM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - Season 3 - Ep 19 - Captain's Holiday
[3:00AM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - Season 3 - Ep 20 - Tin Man
[4:00AM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - Season 3 - Ep 21 - Hollow Pursuits
[5:00AM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - Season 3 - Ep 22 - The Most Toys (ALL TIMES EST)
Bravo has the movie 'Bee Movie', followed by the movie 'Bee Movie', again.
Comedy Central has the movie 'Role Models', followed by the movie 'Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World', then the movie 'Scary Movie'.
FX has the movie 'X-Men: First Class', followed by the movie 'Thor'.
IFC -
[6:00AM] Comedy Bang! Bang!-Rashida Jones Wears a Black Blazer & Flowered Pants
[6:30AM] Malcolm in the Middle-Casino
[7:00AM] Malcolm in the Middle-Convention
[7:30AM] Malcolm in the Middle-Robbery
[8:00AM] Malcolm in the Middle-Therapy
[8:30AM] Malcolm in the Middle-High School Play
[9:00AM] Malcolm in the Middle-Bully
[9:30AM] The Three Stooges-Cookoo Cavaliers
[9:55AM] The Three Stooges-Crash Goes the Hash
[10:20AM] The Three Stooges-Dizzy Detectives
[10:45AM] The Three Stooges-Dizzy Doctors
[11:10AM] The Three Stooges-Dizzy Pilots
[11:35AM] The Three Stooges-Dutiful but Dumb
[12:00PM] Comedy Bang! Bang!-Rainn Wilson Wears a Short Sleeved Plaid Shirt & Colorful Sneakers
[12:30PM] Comedy Bang! Bang!-Jason Schwartzman Wears a Striped Shirt & High Top Sneakers
[1:00PM] Whitest Kids U'Know
[1:15PM] Anaconda
[3:15PM] Escape From Alcatraz
[5:45PM] Company of Heroes
[8:00PM] Full Metal Jacket
[10:30PM] Full Metal Jacket
[1:00AM] Silent Hill
[3:45AM] Borderland (ALL TIMES EST)
Sundance -
[6:00AM] Love Lust-Love Lust & Holiday Feasts
[7:00AM] The Writers' Room-Breaking Bad
[7:30AM] Charley Varrick
[10:00AM] Enter the Dragon
[12:15PM] Barney's Version
[3:15PM] Lost in Translation
[5:45PM] Kingpin
[8:00PM] Marie Antoinette
[10:30PM] A Dangerous Method
[12:45AM] The People vs. Larry Flynt
[3:30AM] Body Double (ALL TIMES EST)
SyFy has the movie 'The Faculty', followed by the movie 'Pitch Black'.
Actor Ben Stiller, left, his wife, actress Christine Taylor, right, and their daughter Ella Olivia Stiller, center, attend a screening of "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" presented by 20th Century Fox with the Cinema Society & Brooks Brothers on Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2013, in New York.
Photo by Andy Kropa
Yang Liping (L) performs in a dance drama called "Peacock" in Kunming, Yunnan province, December 19, 2013. The drama was directed and starred by Yang, 55, who won her reputation as one of China's most renowned dancer in 1980s.
Photo by Wong Campion
In the fallout over Wednesday's suspension of "Duck Dynasty" star Phil Robertson by A&E for anti-gay and racist remarks, GLAAD is experiencing record levels of backlash.
"In the five-and-a-half years I've worked at GLAAD, I've never received so many violently angry phone calls and social media posts attacking GLAAD for us speaking out against these comments," the media watchdog organization's vice president of communications Rich Ferraro told TheWrap.
He said those reactions range from those who simply believe as Robertson believes to those who feel that GLAAD and A&E's actions limit the reality star's free speech.
"I don't think this is about the first amendment," Ferraro said. "I feel it's more about the America we live in today. That is one where Americans, gay and straight, are able to speak out when people in the public eye make anti-gay and racist remarks."
Harry Potter has travelled from page to screen - and now to stage.
J.K. Rowling said Friday she is working on a play about the boy wizard's life before he attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Rowling's seven-book saga begins when Harry, an unloved orphan grudgingly raised by his aunt and uncle, receives a letter informing him he is a wizard.
Rowling said in a statement that the play will "explore the previously untold story of Harry's early years as an orphan and outcast. "
Rowling will be a co-producer on the show, along with veteran British theatre producers Sonia Friedman and Colin Callender. The statement said Rowling will collaborate with a writer but will not write the script herself.
A demonstrator lies on the ground as she takes part in a pro-choice protest against the government's proposed new abortion law outside Moncloa Palace in Madrid, December 20, 2013. The text on the mask reads "Your mouth is fundamental against fundamentalism".
Photo by Juan Medina
Casey Kasem's wife and one of his daughters have reached a settlement that ends a bid to place the ailing radio personality in a conservatorship.
Details of the agreement between Kasem's wife, Jean, and his daughter Julie Kasem were not divulged in a Los Angeles court where the settlement was announced Friday.
Julie Kasem had been seeking a conservatorship and has said she and her siblings have been blocked from seeing their father, who is suffering from advanced Parkinson's disease.
Another of Kasem's daughters, Kerri, has not reached an agreement. Her attorney Troy Martin says she may have to file a petition to see her 81-year-old father without certain restrictions.
Martin says Casey Kasem is currently hospitalized but wouldn't provide more details.
There's an old and well honored legislative strategy of tucking otherwise unacceptable and noxious proposals into must-pass bills. For those who follow that strategy, the hope is that members of Congress, seeking compromise on a final piece of legislation, may be so relieved to get a deal on the big-ticket items that some of the smaller bits can get through, too.
Right now, the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate are seeking to close an agreement on a comprehensive farm bill, crucial to the future of food stamps, farm subsidies and programs that the Union of Concerned Scientists long has supported - among them the Farmers Market Promotion Program, which would help American families eat more healthily through targeted grants to local and regional food projects. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, Democrat of Michigan, chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee, has a huge challenge in trying to come to terms with her House counterparts who'd like to cut the food stamp program alone by $40 billon.
But the farm bill is not just about the big-ticket items. Unfortunately, the farm bill offers opportunities to those who wish to stymie federal-agency science, protective state regulation or citizen access to information.
The House-passed farm bill contains many noxious lumps of coal that could make it into the final law. These range from the unwise to the outrageous. They have been opposed by groups that care about transparency in government, scientific integrity and public protections. They are demonstrably bad. But that doesn't mean they won't gain traction.
The Christmas illumination of shopping street Habsburgergasse is pictured in Vienna, December 19, 2013. Picture taken December 19, 2013.
Photo by Leonhard Foeger
The publisher of two tabloid magazines said it never intended to imply that Tom Cruise had cut all ties to his daughter after his divorce and announced Friday that it had reached a settlement with the actor over two stories it published.
Bauer Publishing and Cruise's lawyer wrote in a joint statement that the terms of the settlement were confidential.
"Bauer Publishing, as well as In Touch and Life & Style magazines, never intended to communicate that Tom Cruise had cut off all ties and abandoned his daughter, Suri, and regret if anyone drew that inference from anything they published," the statement read.
Lockheed Martin Corp, the top U.S. defense contractor, has halted donations to the Boy Scouts of America because of the group's policies on religion and to exclude some gays from its ranks, it said on Thursday.
Lockheed's decision makes it the latest corporate sponsor to pull its donations from the Scouts, which voted to end a ban on gay scouts effective at the start of 2014, but has left in place a prohibition on gays serving as adult Scout leaders.
"While we applaud the mission of the Boy Scouts and the good things they do in our communities, their policies that discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation and religious affiliation conflict with Lockheed Martin policies," spokesman Gordon Johndroe said in a statement.
The Boy Scouts believe that no member can grow into the best kind of citizen without recognizing an obligation to God, the group says in its charter.
This undated image provided by the National Gallery of Art, shows "Green Wheat Fields, Auvers" by Vincent Van Gogh. The painting, that has been hidden away at a Virginia estate for decades, will have a new home at the National Gallery of Art.
After hearing from satanists, Hindus and an animal rights group, the panel that oversees the grounds at the Oklahoma Capitol says it's not taking any more requests for new displays at the Statehouse.
The Oklahoma Capitol Preservation Commission voted Thursday to approve the ban until a court dispute over the current Ten Commandments monument is settled. It was that monument that the New York-based Satanic Temple said opened the door for it to seek its own display at the Statehouse in Oklahoma City.
That was followed by similar requests from a Hindu leader in Nevada, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, and the satirical Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.
The Republican-controlled Legislature in 2009 authorized the placement of the privately funded Ten Commandments monument at the state Capitol, and former Gov. Brad Henry, a Democrat, signed the bill into law. It was placed on the north steps of the building last year, and the Oklahoma chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union has sued to have it removed.
Google said Thursday it saw a big jump in early 2013 in the number of requests from governments around the world to remove online content, in many cases for political reasons.
In an update to its "transparency report" for the first half of the year, Google said it saw a 68 percent jump in the number of requests from the prior six-month period, led by big increases from Turkey and Russia.
The updated report "is certainly not a comprehensive view of censorship online (but) it does demonstrate a worrying upward trend in the number of government requests, and underscores the importance of transparency around the processes governing such requests," said Google legal director Susan Infantino in a blog post.
From January to June 2013, Google said received 3,846 government requests to remove 24,737 pieces of content.
A couple poses under an illuminated tunnel to celebrate the upcoming Christmas and New Year at Garden of Morning Calm in Gapyeong, South Korea, Friday, Dec. 20, 2013. Christmas is one of the biggest holidays in South Korea.
Photo by Ahn Young-joon
A record number of manatees died in Florida waters this year and the leading killer of the endangered mammals was a toxic algae bloom in the Gulf of Mexico, according to the state's Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
The commission's research institute said it documented 803 manatee deaths in state waters between January 1 and December 13, the most for any year since record-keeping began in 1974.
That was more than double the 392 manatee deaths in Florida in 2012 and up sharply from the 453 deaths recorded in 2011.
"The previous record was 766 manatee deaths and that was in 2010," commission spokesman Kevin Baxter said on Friday. "That was a year when cold weather was a major factor," he added.
Baxter said a Red Tide that killed 276 manatees in the Gulf, in an area centered largely off Ft. Myers, was the single leading cause of death in 2013.
About 200 cars stolen in Germany have been tracked down in Tajikistan, where most are now driven by family and friends of President Emomali Rakhmon, media and officials in Berlin said Thursday.
The case of the German-registered cars, including 93 BMWs located via their GPS systems, has caused friction between Germany and the Central Asian country, mass-circulation daily Bild reported.
The German foreign ministry did not confirm it had called in the Tajik ambassador over the case, but a spokeswoman said "there have been talks with the Tajik side on cooperation in fighting organised crime".
The Tajik embassy denied as "completely unfounded" the charge that stolen German cars had ended up with the president's family, saying the claim aimed "to damage the reputation of the nation and the head of state".
A flock of migrating cranes is seen at the Hula Lake Ornithology and Nature Park in northern Israel December 20, 2013. The Hula Valley is a stopping point for hundreds of species of birds along their migration route between the northern and southern hemispheres.
Photo by Nir Elias
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wrote:
is a bit under the weather.
responded:
