Paul Krugman: Keynes was Right (New York Times)
"The boom, not the slump, is the right time for austerity at the Treasury." So declared John Maynard Keynes in 1937, even as F.D.R. was about to prove him right by trying to balance the budget too soon, sending the United States economy - which had been steadily recovering up to that point - into a severe recession.
Susan Estrich: A Second Look at the Death Penalty (Creators Syndicate)
… last week, California's new and very conservative chief justice, Tani Cantil-Sakauye, told a reporter that she had come to question the death penalty not because she thought it immoral for the state to take a life, and not even because she thought it might be administered to those who were in truth not guilty, but because it's too expensive and ineffective.
Joseph E. Stiglitz: Of the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1% (Vanity Fair)
Americans have been watching protests against oppressive regimes that concentrate massive wealth in the hands of an elite few. Yet in our own democracy, 1 percent of the people take nearly a quarter of the nation's income-an inequality even the wealthy will come to regret.
Republican Job Creation
Shortly after gaining the House of Representatives in 2010 the new Speaker of the House, John Boehner, made the welcome claim that the primary goal of the Republican Party was to increase employment. His exact words were: "We're going to have a relentless focus on creating jobs." The following, therefore, is a chronological list of legislative activities by the GOP beginning 2-10-2011. I'm sorry to report that none, so far, have resulted in a single new job being created in America.
Mary Beard: Do the Classics Have a Future? (New York Review of Books)
I'm here instead to suggest that the cultural language of the classics continues to be an essential and ineradicable dialect of "Western culture" (embedded in the drama of Rattigan, as much as in the poetry of Ted Hughes or the novels of Margaret Atwood or Donna Tartt-'The Secret History' couldn't, after all, have been written about a department of geography). But I also want to examine a bit more closely our fixation on the decline of classical learning.
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."
Hogmanay is the Scots word for the last day of the year and is synonymous with the celebration of the New Year (Gregorian calendar) in the Scottish manner. It is, however, normally only the start of a celebration which lasts through the night until the morning of New Year's Day (1 January) or, in some cases, 2 January which is a Scottish Bank Holiday.
Craig Ferguson described Hogmanay as: "In Scotland, New Year's is called Hogmanay. And it is a time when people who can inspire awe in the IRISH for the amount of ALCOHOL that they drink decide to RAMP IT UP a notch."
Source
Marian was first, and correct, with:
Scotland
Jim from Ca, retired to ID, said:
Hogmanay is the Scots word for the last day of the year and is synonymous
with the celebration of the New Year in the Scottish manner
BttbB wrote:
Oh, Scotland, of course. Who else would give a day such a name? It's a pagan-like New Year's celebration with all manner of strange,obscure and arcane customs that leave one's mind boggled upon contemplation (which is what the Scots say of our celebration of New Year's Eve. Fair's, fair, ya know?)However, as there still are Scots that paint their faces blue up there in the 'Highlands', we have it all over them for a civilized, staid affair...
...or maybe not... Be safe, my friends, be safe...
Alan J responded:
Scotland
Charlie replied:
Scotland
Adam answered:
Viking New Years- and if you're going to celebrate New Years, you might as well do it like a Viking. Prost!
Sally said:
In Scotland, the New Year is called Hogmanay, and celebrated on the Eve.
PS: At one time (circa 1960) 'doing' Times Square was a lot of fun, and invokes good memories for me. We would start 'bar hopping' down in the Village around 6 PM, and walk up along 8th Avenue, thru Hell's Kitchen, perhaps straying off (closer to the water) to a dance club and ending up at Times Square around 11 PM - in plenty of time to see the ball drop. No fences, security checks, etc., or entertainment! After the ball fell, we headed off to club (depending on what night it fell) or went home. I was living on 110th and Broadway at that time (Columbia UN vicinity) so I just hopped into the subway and was home in no time. The train was crowded, and I gave no thought to safety, but was aware of my surroundings. I always stopped drinking well before going home, so I don't remember disabling hangovers the next day either.
Now, I watch the people, locked in a cage, for 10 hours, to watch the entertainment on huge TV screens. They expect the crowds to go back to Central Park this year - a mile away - what can you see from there? Guess they will put up more of the TV screens for them... It's supposed to be mild, so the crowds will be huge...
Dale of Diamond Springs responded:
Happy Guid Year
While New Year's Eve is celebrated around the world, the Scots have a long rich heritage associated with this event - and have their own name for it, Hogmanay. There are traditions before midnight such as cleaning the house on 31st December (including taking out the ashes from the fire in the days when coal fires were common). There is also the superstition to clear all your debts before "the bells" at midnight. An integral part of the Hogmanay partying, which continues very much today, is to welcome friends and strangers, with warm hospitality and of course a kiss to wish everyone a Guid New Year. The underlying belief is to clear out the vestiges of the old year, have a clean break and welcome in a young, New Year on a happy note.
"First footing" (that is, the "first foot" in the house after midnight) is still common in Scotland. To ensure good luck for the house, the first foot should be male, dark (believed to be a throwback to the Viking days when blond strangers arriving on your doorstep meant trouble) and should bring symbolic coal, shortbread, salt, black bun and whisky. These days, however, whisky and perhaps shortbread are the only items still prevalent (and available).
They also have a wild and raucous festival in Edinburgh that goes from today through January 2, 2012.
MAM wrote:
Scotland
And, Joe S answered:
Scotland. It's Scotland's Pagan New Year celebration, and that brings up another thing. Why does the new year start on January 1? It makes no sense. There's nothing there on January 1, just another Winter day. The Winter solstice was almost two weeks earlier, so what's that got to do with January 1? It makes more sense to begin the new year in the Spring, the time of rebirth when a young mans fancy turns to love, say April 1st. The spring equinox is two weeks to 10 days earlier, but it would still be a time of rebirth. We could actually move the calendar back so that Spring would start on April 1. That would even make more sense, because look, April 1 is only April 1 because a thousand years ago (or so) some politician named Julian (I could be wrong, but I don't think so) said it was. There is no reason for it.
Of course South of the equator it would be just the opposite and the new year would start at the beginning of Autumn which still makes more sense then the beginning of Summer. Just sayin'. But what the hell, it doesn't matter, it's 2012
PS My sciatica is gone. Reiki works.
Lake Superior State University released its 37th annual List of Words Banished from the Queen's English for Misuse, Overuse and General Uselessness, an amazing list that is bound to generate some blowback.
"Worn-out words and phrases are the new normal this year, but with some shared sacrifice, we can clean up the language and win the future," said an LSSU representative.
LSSU wordsmiths emerged from their man cave long enough to release the new list, something the school has done since 1976.
"With the addition of this year's nominations, the list of words and phrases banished over the years has become ginormous."
Former LSSU Public Relations Director Bill Rabe and friends created "word banishment" in 1975 at a New Year's Eve party and released the first list on New Year's Day. Since then, LSSU has received tens of thousands of nominations for the list, which includes words and phrases from marketing, media, education, politics, technology and more.
I would add 'Job Creators' to the list. Any other suggestions?
Some sun, but the fog never really burned off, so it's another foggy, foggy night.
Tonight, Saturday:
CBS begins the night with a RERUN'How I Met Your Mother', followed by the movie 'The Bourne Ultimatum'.
NBC opens the night with a RERUN'Grimm', followed by another RERUN'Grimm', then the FRESH'New Year's Eve With Carson Daly'.
'SNL' is pre-empted and filled with even more FRESH'New Year's Eve With Carson Daly'.
ABC stars the night with the FRESH'New Year's Rocking' Eve: The 40h Anniversary', followed by the FRESH'Dick Clark's Primetime New Year's Rockin' Eve With Ryan Seacrest', which continues a couple of hours after your local news.
The CW offers an old 'Family Guy', followed by another old 'Family Guy', then an old 'Futurama', followed by another old 'Futurama'.
Faux has a RERUN'Terra Nova', followed by another RERUN'Terra Nova'.
MY has an old 'The Closer', followed by another old 'The Closer'.
A&E has all 'Dog The Tancredo-Loving Racist Bounty Hunter' all night.
BBC -
[6:00AM] Top Gear Top 40-Episode 1
[7:00AM] Top Gear Top 40-Episode 2
[8:00AM] Top Gear Top 40-Episode 3
[9:00AM] Top Gear Top 40-Episode 4
[10:00AM] Top Gear Top 40-Episode 5
[11:00AM] Top Gear Top 40-Episode 6
[12:00PM] Top Gear Top 40-Episode 7
[1:30PM] Top Gear Top 40-Episode 8
[3:00PM] Top Gear Top 40-Episode 1
[4:00PM] Top Gear Top 40-Episode 2
[5:00PM] Top Gear Top 40-Episode 3
[6:00PM] Top Gear Top 40-Episode 4
[7:00PM] Top Gear Top 40-Episode 5
[8:00PM] Top Gear Top 40-Episode 6
[9:00PM] Top Gear Top 40-Episode 7
[10:30PM] Top Gear Top 40-Episode 8
[12:00AM] Top Gear Top 40-Episode 1
[1:00AM] Top Gear Top 40-Episode 2
[2:00AM] Top Gear Top 40-Episode 3
[3:00AM] Top Gear Top 40-Episode 4
[4:00AM] Top Gear Top 40-Episode 5
[5:00AM] Top Gear Top 40-Episode 6 (ALL TIMES EST)
Bravo has 'Real Housewives Of OC', 'Real Housewives Of NJ', another 'Real Housewives Of NJ', and still another 'Real Housewives Of NJ'.
Comedy Central has the movie 'Employee Of The Month', followed by the movie 'Dance Flick', 'South Park', another 'South Park', still another 'South Park', and yet another 'South Park'.
FX has the movie 'Tropic Thunder', followed by the movie 'Pineapple Express'.
History has 'Prophets Of Doom', 'Marijuana: A Chronic History', and 'Cocaine: History Between The Lines'.
IFC -
[6:00AM] The Nugget
[8:00AM] Hope Springs
[10:00AM] The Three Stooges-Pardon My Clutch
[10:25AM] The Three Stooges-Sing a Song of Six Pants
[10:50AM] The Three Stooges-Termites of 1938
[11:15AM] The Three Stooges-Three Lone Wolves
[11:40AM] The Three Stooges-Three Pests in a Mess
[12:05PM] The Whitest Kids U'Know
[12:35PM] The Whitest Kids U'Know
[1:05PM] United We Stand
[1:15PM] Moulin Rouge
[4:00PM] Meatballs
[6:00PM] The Three Stooges-A Bird in the Head
[6:25PM] The Three Stooges-Idiots Deluxe
[6:50PM] The Three Stooges-All the World's a Stooge
[7:10PM] The Three Stooges-An Ache in Every Stake
[7:35PM] The Three Stooges-A-Plumbing We Will Go
[8:00PM] The Three Stooges-Back to the Woods
[8:25PM] The Three Stooges-Beer Barrel Polecats
[8:50PM] The Three Stooges-Boobs in Arms
[9:15PM] The Three Stooges-Booby Doops
[9:40PM] The Three Stooges-Busy Buddies
[10:05PM] The Three Stooges-Cactus Makes Perfect
[10:30PM] The Three Stooges-Calling All Curs
[10:55PM] The Three Stooges-Cash and Carry
[11:20PM] The Three Stooges-Cookoo Cavaliers
[11:45PM] The Three Stooges-Crash Goes the Hash
[12:10AM] The Three Stooges-Dizzy Detectives
[12:35AM] The Three Stooges-Dizzy Doctors
[1:00AM] The Three Stooges-Dizzy Pilots
[1:25AM] The Three Stooges-Dutiful but Dumb
[1:50AM] The Three Stooges-False Alarms
[2:15AM] The Three Stooges-Fright Night
[2:40AM] The Three Stooges-From Nurse to Worse
[3:05AM] The Three Stooges-Gem of a Jam
[3:30AM] The Three Stooges-The Ghost Talks
[3:55AM] The Three Stooges-G.I. Wanna Home
[4:20AM] The Three Stooges-Goofs and Saddles
[4:45AM] The Three Stooges-Half-Shot Shooters
[5:10AM] The Three Stooges-Half-Wits Holiday
[5:35AM] The Three Stooges-Idle Roomers (ALL TIMES EST)
Sundance -
[6:00A] The Unforeseen
[7:35A] The Matador
[8:55A] Bitch
[9:00A] Love Lust & Breakfast
[10:00A] ALL ON THE LINE WITH JOE ZEE - Angelo Lambrou: Your Dream Turned Into My Nightmare (Episode 1, Season 2)
[11:00A] ALL ON THE LINE WITH JOE ZEE - Qristyl Frazier: Plus-Sexy (Episode 2, Season 2)
[12:00P] ALL ON THE LINE WITH JOE ZEE - Kathy & Erik Wilson
[1:00P] ALL ON THE LINE WITH JOE ZEE - Nicole Miller: Fashion Week (Episode 4, Season 2)
[4:00P] Barry Lyndon
[7:05P] 2001: A Space Odyssey
[9:35P] Lolita
[12:15A] Public Sex
[2:05A] The Chaser
[4:15A] Johnny Mad Dog (ALL TIMES EST)
SyFy has their traditional 'Twilight Zone' marathon.
People walk during the Torchlight Procession in Edinburgh, Scotland, Friday, Dec. 30, 2011. Thousands of people joined in with the revellers who carried torches in the procession through Edinburgh city centre, which was led by Up Helly Aa Vikings and marks the start of Edinburgh's Hogmanay celebrations. Up Helly Aa refers to any of a variety of fire festivals held in Shetland, in Scotland, annually in the middle of winter to mark the end of the yule season.
Photo by Danny Lawson
Oscar-nominated actress Helena Bonham Carter, famed for playing quirky characters as well as British royalty, joins a former prisoner, a reality TV guru and several Olympics organizers on the list of people being awarded honors by Queen Elizabeth II this New Year.
Bonham Carter missed out on the best supporting actress Oscar for her role as Queen Elizabeth, the supportive wife of King George VI in "The King's Speech." Her other major roles have included characters in films such as "Planet of the Apes" and "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory."
The queen, who is the daughter of King George VI and Elizabeth, awarded Bonham Carter a CBE, short for Commanders of the Order of the British Empire. Bonham Carter has said she is dedicating the CBE to her late father.
Britain's honors are bestowed twice a year by the monarch - at New Year's and on her official birthday in June. Recipients are selected by committees of civil servants from nominations made by the government and the public.
In descending order, the honors are knighthoods, CBE, OBE - an Officer of the Order of the British Empire- and MBE - Member of the Order of the British Empire. Knights are addressed as "sir" or "dame." Recipients of the other honors have no title but can put the letters after their names.
Actress Olivia Wilde looks at the scoreboard during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game between Kansas and Howard in Lawrence, Kan., Thursday, Dec. 29, 2011. Wilde, who appears on TV's "House," starred in the movie "Tron: Legacy."
Photo by Orlin Wagner
A Laurel Canyon home once inhabited by Jim Morrison was damaged in one of the 19 overnight arson attacks that plagued Hollywood and West Hollywood early Friday morning, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The fire -- at 8021 Rothdell Trail in Hollywood -- broke out at 1:20 a.m. in a nearby car, then spread to the house.
Morrison lived in the 1922 Hollywood home with his girlfriend Pamela Courson. It's where he wrote the Doors album "Waiting for the Sun" and portions of "The Soft Parade."
The Laurel Canyon street on which it's located also was the inspiration for the Doors song "Love Street," which played during the closing credits of a season two episode of "Entourage."
The famed British physicist is seeking an assistant to help develop and maintain the electronic speech system that allows him to communicate his vision of the universe. An informal job ad posted to the famed physicist's website said the assistant should be computer literate, ready to travel, and able to repair electronic devices "with no instruction manual or technical support."
It's a complicated, tailor-made system, as the ad makes clear. A photograph of the back of Hawking's wheelchair, loaded with coiled wires and electronic equipment, is pictured under the words: "Could you maintain this?"
"If your answer is 'yes,' we'd like to hear from you!" the website says.
Hawking's website says that the job's salary is expected to be about 25,000 pounds ($38,500) a year.
Actress Kaley Cuoco (R) sits courtside with her father Gary Cuoco (L) at an NBA basketball game between the New York Knicks and the Los Angeles Lakers in Los Angeles December 29, 2011.
Photo by Danny Moloshok
Virginia alcohol regulators say the Discovery Channel's "Moonshiners" television show is misleading viewers into thinking the state is tolerating illegal booze manufacturing and that it wouldn't have participated if they knew how the episodes would turn out.
The television series is about people who brew their own moonshine and local authorities' efforts to track them down. The show includes actual western Virginia residents and state agents.
Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control spokeswoman Kathleen Shaw told The Associated Press in an email Thursday that viewers have asked why the state is allowing a crime to take place. Shaw said the show is a dramatization, and no illegal liquor is actually being produced.
Earlier Thursday, the department issued a statement saying it would not have participated in the filming had they known how the show would've turned out.
U.S. troops are increasingly using an easy-to-get herbal mix called "Spice," which mimics a marijuana high and can bring on hallucinations that last for days.
The abuse of the drug has so alarmed military officials that they've launched an aggressive testing program that this year has led to the investigation of more than 1,100 suspected users, according to military figures.
So-called "synthetic" pot is readily available on the Internet and has become popular nationwide in recent years, but its use among troops and sailors has raised concerns among the Pentagon brass.
Two years ago, only 29 Marines and sailors were investigated for Spice. This year, the number topped 700, the investigative service said. Those found guilty of using Spice are kicked out, although the Navy does not track the overall number of dismissals.
Spice is made up of exotic plants from Asia like Blue Lotus and Bay Bean. Their leaves are coated with chemicals that mimic the effects of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, but are five to 200 times more potent.
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra's Anneleen Lenaerts tunes her harp before a rehearsal for the traditional New Year's Concert in Vienna, December 28, 2011. The concert will be broadcast by over 70 television networks and 300 radio stations worldwide on January 1, 2012.
Heinz-Peter Bader
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez speculated on Wednesday that the United States might have developed a way to give Latin American leaders cancer, after Argentina's Cristina Fernandez joined the list of presidents diagnosed with the disease.
It was a typically controversial statement by Venezuela's socialist leader, who underwent surgery in June to remove a tumor from his pelvis. But he stressed that he was not making any accusations, just thinking aloud.
"It would not be strange if they had developed the technology to induce cancer and nobody knew about it until now ... I don't know. I'm just reflecting," he said in a televised speech to troops at a military base.
Chavez, Fernandez, Paraguay's Fernando Lugo, Brazil's Dilma Rousseff and former Brazilian leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva have all been diagnosed recently with cancer. All of them are leftists.
"Fidel always told me, 'Chavez take care. These people have developed technology. You are very careless. Take care what you eat, what they give you to eat ... a little needle and they inject you with I don't know what,'" he said.
Montana authorities say a man shot himself in the ankle after hospital staff refused to give him painkillers for his back.
The Miles City police chief says the 48-year-old man was upset when left Holy Rosary Healthcare hospital Monday night, so he grabbed a gun from his car and shot himself in the hospital parking lot to get treatment.
Prosecutors are reviewing the case to determine whether to charge the man, whose name was not released.
The Miles City Star reports the hospital was temporarily locked down after the shooting.
A man poses for a picture with a wax figure of U.S. actress Angelina Jolie at the Wax Museum in Mexico City December 30, 2011. Jolie and her partner, U.S. actor Brad Pitt, were added to the museum recently, according to local media.
Photo by Bernardo Montoya
The photo was undeniably cute: a studio portrait of eight babies in identical onesies and perky white cotton hats, sporting an array of expressions from giggly to goofy, baffled to bawling.
Intended as an advertisement for the studio, the photo grabbed a different kind of attention: In a country that limits most couples to one child, many Chinese were amazed to learn that a couple had spent nearly a million yuan ($160,000) and illegally enlisted two surrogate mothers to help have the four boys and four girls.
The incident has highlighted both the use of birth surrogates, a violation of Chinese law, and how wealthy Chinese do as they please, with scant regard for the rules that constrain others. The most common reaction, though, has been simple disbelief.
Much remains uncertain about the family from Guangzhou, the capital of south China's Guangdong province. According to the Guangzhou Daily, a government newspaper, the biological mother carried two of the babies, while two surrogates gave birth to three each. After the babies were born in September and October last year, 11 nannies were hired to help take care of the children, the report said.
A lone gray wolf has wandered across the Oregon border into California in what wildlife officials hailed Thursday as the historic return of a species not seen in the state in more than 80 years.
Biologists tracked the wolf's position to a few miles south of the state line in Siskiyou County, the California Department of Fish and Game said.
A global positioning system collar was placed on the wolf in February. Since then, the 2½-year-old male has wandered more than 300 miles from its original location. Its movement into California was widely anticipated as it approached the border just before Christmas.
The GPS data put the wolf in California as of Wednesday. Officials said they would only provide general information about its location, since gray wolves in California are designated a federally endangered species.
The fish and game department expects other wolves to arrive in California at some point as part of a slow wolf migration linked to the 1995 introduction of a Canadian gray wolf pack to Idaho and areas around Yellowstone National Park. Wolves first re-entered Oregon in 1999.
You have reached the Home page of BartCop Entertainment.
Make yourself home, take your shoes off...
Go ahead, scratch it if it itches.
The idea is to have fun.
Do you have something to say?
Anything that increased your blood pressure, or, even better, amused or entertained?
Do you have a great album no one's heard?
How about a favorite TV show, movie, book, play, cartoon, or legal amusement?
A popular artist that just plain pisses you off?
A box set the whole world should own?
Vile, filthy rumors about Republican hypocrites?
Just plain vile, filthy rumors?
This is your place.
wrote:
answered:
