Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Marc Dion: Math for Conservatives and Kids (Creators Syndicate)
Mathematics is important. If you study math in school, you can be a physicist, an engineer, an accountant, maybe even a conservative.
I, Anonymous: Bicyclists Can Be Assholes, Too (The Stranger)
First you squeeze yourself between two lanes of cars at the light, then start screaming how I (about to turn right, signal on) am "illegally in the bike lane." Then you smack my hood, block my lane, flip me off, and taunt me with that "c'mon, motherfucker" hand gesture.
Paul Constant: "Oscar Nominated Animated Short Films 2014: Roundly Entertaining" (The Stranger)
Everybody knows this year's animated feature Oscar nominees are less than useless because the The Lego Movie was removed from consideration on a technicality. The good news is that the animated short film category displays all the diversity, artistry, and intellect that the full-length animated feature category failed to represent.
Sophie Heawood: If Björk can't stop a man stealing the limelight, what hope is there for the rest of us? (Guardian)
'I imagine being an artist who is also guilty of being a woman can sometimes feel like starring in a long-running murder mystery, with people constantly excited to work out who actually dunnit. Cos it ain't you, babe - it can't be you.'
Rosanna Greenstreet: Q&A: John Lithgow, actor (Guardian)
'My worst job? Cab driver in New York. It almost crippled me. There are no 6ft 4in cabbies in New York.'
What I'm really thinking: the supermarket delivery driver (Guardian)
'I maintain my cheerful demeanour, anxious to chat with you and show I am not the inarticulate buffoon you evidently suppose I am.'
Oliver Burkeman: Why we tell strangers our secrets (Guardian)
'Sometimes we seek out non-intimates precisely because they're non-intimate. For one thing, you're not going to discuss your extramarital affair with your spouse.'
Natso Baatarkhuu, Justin Crockett, Ivan Farkas, Zachary Frey: The 5 Ballsiest Pranks Ever Pulled At Famous Landmarks (Cracked)
Human nature can be summed up like this: for every iconic landmark, there are many people who aspire to draw dicks on it. It's one of the quickest paths to fame for an aspiring artist/vandal.
KFC Face From Space (YouTube)
Creation of the world's largest logo near Area 51 in Nevada - KFC's Colonel Sanders.
David Bruce's Amazon Author Page
David Bruce's Smashwords Page
David Bruce's Blog
David Bruce's Lulu Storefront
David Bruce's Apple iBookstore
David Bruce has approximately 50 Kindle books on Amazon.com.
"Doug's Most Shared Facebook Post" Today
returns, writing:
responded:
has returned to semi-retired status.
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
from Marc Perkel
BartCop
Hello Bartcop fans,
As you all know the untimely passing of Terry was unexpected, even by
him. We all knew he had cancer but we all thought he had some years
left. So some of us who have worked closely with him over the years are
scrambling around trying to figure out what to do. My job, among other
things, is to establish communications with the Bartcop community and
provide email lists and groups for those who might put something
together. Those who want to play an active roll in something coming from
this, or if you are one of Bart's pillars, should send an email to
active@bartcop.com.
Bart's final wish was to pay off the house mortgage for Mrs. Bart who is
overwhelmed and so very grateful for the support she has received.
Anyone wanting to make a donation can click on this the yellow donate
button on bartcop.com
But - I need you all to help keep this going. This note
isn't going to directly reach all of Bart's fans. So if you can repost
it on blogs and discussion boards so people can sign up then when we
figure out what's next we can let more people know. This list is just
over 600 but like to get it up to at least 10,000 pretty quick. So
here's the signup link for this email list.
( mailman.bartcop.com/listinfo/bartnews )
Marc Perkel
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny and way too warm.
Calls For UK To Pardon
Benedict Cumberbatch
Oscar-nominated actor Benedict Cumberbatch has joined others in calling for the British government to pardon gay and bisexual men convicted in the past under the defunct "gross indecency" law.
Their letter published Saturday in the Guardian praises the government for the 2013 pardon of World War II code breaker Alan Turing, whom Cumberbatch portrays in the movie "The Imitation Game."
Turing was pardoned by Queen Elizabeth II at the recommendation of the government, but the letter points out that 49,000 other men convicted under the same law also merit pardons.
The letter was also signed by Rachel Barnes, Turing's niece; Morten Tyldum, director of "The Imitation Game," actor Stephen Fry and longtime rights campaigner Peter Tatchell.
The letter calls on Prince William, his wife Kate and other "young leaders of today" to take steps to pardon all of the men, including an estimated 15,000 thought to still be alive.
Benedict Cumberbatch
Delays Upcoming Issue
Charlie Hebdo
French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo will reportedly delay publication of its next issue, citing the exhaustion and grief of its staff.
The staff members need time off after the fatal terrorist attack on their Paris offices three weeks ago and the subsequent international attention, according to spokeswomen for the publication.
Publicist Anne Hommel told the newspaper Le Parisien that Charlie Hebdo will not release its 1,179th edition on Feb. 4 or 11. In fact, she said, "no date is set."
The writing team is not yet ready to create another issue, as it deals with grief, fatigue and overexposure to media attention, she added.
But Charlie Hebdo's new editor-in-chief, Gérard Biard, has made it perfectly clear that the publication will continue to publish, she told the French daily.
Charlie Hebdo
Australian Paper Mocked
#myozobituary
Australia's largest newspaper is facing sharp criticism over its obituary of the nation's most famous author, whom it described as plain and overweight.
The Australian newspaper's obituary of Colleen McCullough, whose novel "The Thorn Birds" sold 30 million copies worldwide and who died on Thursday at age 77 after a long illness, opened not with a list of her myriad accomplishments, but with a description of her appearance.
Soon, the hastag #myozobituary was trending on Twitter, as people across the world mocked the publication for what many viewed as a blatantly sexist treatment of a lauded literary figure.
The Australian declined to comment on Saturday.
#myozobituary
Selling Legal Moonshine
Hatfields & McCoys
After generations of bootlegging, direct descendants of the Hatfields have teamed up with the McCoy name to produce legal moonshine in southern West Virginia with the state's blessing - the start of a new legacy for the families made famous for their 19th-century feud.
Production of "Drink of the Devil" has been in full swing at a distillery on original Hatfield land, bringing batches to the nation's store shelves using the original recipe of family patriarch William Anderson "Devil Anse" Hatfield.
Overseen by Chad Bishop, husband of Hatfield's great-great-great granddaughter, all the work is done by hand in a converted garage on a mountainside six miles from "Devil Anse" Hatfield's gravesite.
After going through fermentation and distilling processes at Hatfield & McCoy Moonshine, batches are bottled, corked and packaged in-house before being shipped to West Virginia, Florida, Kentucky, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
Sold in 25-ounce bottles, moonshine is essentially whiskey that hasn't aged. The business sells between 1,800 and 3,000 bottles each month at $32.99 per bottle.
Hatfields & McCoys
They Used To Be Ours
U.S. Airwaves
AT&T Inc spent close to half the total in the record-setting U.S. sale of airwaves for mobile data, with Dish Network Corp spending heavily to manage a surprise win at No.2 ahead of Verizon, results showed on Friday.
AT&T bid a total of $18.2 billion to win licenses of so-called AWS-3 spectrum. Dish itself did not win any licenses, but had invested in bidding partners SNR Wireless LicenseCo LLC and Northstar Wireless LLC, which bid a total of $13.3 billion.
The two companies, backed also by financial firms including BlackRock Inc but with little to no revenue, had applied to receive a discount as small-business entities, bringing their net bid amount to $10 billion.
Verizon and T-Mobile bids were $10.4 billion and $1.8 billion, respectively, according to the results of the Federal Communications Commission's largest ever auction.
U.S. Airwaves
Dueling Narratives
Marion 'Suge' Knight
As Marion "Suge" Knight sat jailed on suspicion of murder, dueling narratives cast him as attacker and victim in the hip-hop music mogul's latest and most serious run-in with the law.
Sheriff's deputies said he hit and killed a man with his pickup truck, injured another and then fled. His lawyer said he was an innocent victim who accidentally ran over his friend and the other man as he tried to escape an attack.
A better understanding about what happened Thursday afternoon may be found in a video that Knight's attorney said is in "police custody." Defense attorney James Blatt said he'll likely see it Monday or Tuesday, and he was confident it would vindicate his client who was being held in lieu of $2 million bail, on Saturday.
The incident was the latest in a long line of brushes with death and the law for the 49-year-old founder of Death Row Records, one of the genre's leading labels.
The fatal run-in comes less than six months after Knight was shot six times at a West Hollywood nightclub in August - the second shooting he's survived. No arrests have been made.
Marion 'Suge' Knight
Skates Again
Zippy
A Florida prosecutor announced on Friday he will not pursue an aggravated assault charge against former neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman stemming from a domestic incident earlier this month after the alleged victim recanted.
Zimmerman, who was acquitted in 2013 in a fatal shooting of an unarmed black teenager, has had several brushes with the law since his trial.
His latest arrest on Jan. 9 in central Florida was in connection with a domestic disturbance involving his then-girlfriend who had accused him of throwing a wine bottle at her and smashing her cell phone during an argument.
Friday's announcement marks the third time that Zimmerman, 31, has been accused of but not prosecuted for a domestic incident since the Martin slaying.
Zippy
Government Sells Oilfield For $45M
Teapot Dome
A private company finally will be able to drill legally for oil at Teapot Dome, a remote Wyoming oilfield that remains best known for a political scandal that embroiled the administration of President Warren G. Harding in the early 1920s.
The Energy Department announced Friday that it had finalized the sale of the 9,481-acre Teapot Dome oilfield to New York-based Stranded Oil Resources Corporation for $45.2 million. Stranded Oil was the highest of nine bidders last fall.
Most of the easily accessible oil in the oilfield 35 miles north of Casper already has been tapped out since drilling resumed in the mid-1970s. Stranded Oil specializes in enhanced oil recovery, or recharging depleted oil fields with techniques such as injecting carbon dioxide underground.
The site was once one of three federal government oil reserves that were to be left untouched except with the exception of use as emergency fuel supplies for the U.S. Navy.
Teapot Dome
Abandons 'Global Force For Good'
Navy
The Navy is taking a new approach to its recruiting commercials: Appealing to people who are already in uniform, have long since left the military and those who never will join.
A slate of new Navy commercials have been developed to not only appeal to traditional recruits, but those already enlisted and Americans at large as the service seeks to improve retention and better position itself in the public eye in an era of shrinking defense budgets.
The Navy routinely places behind the Army, Air Force and Marines in Gallup surveys when questioned about which branch of the military is most important and the most prestigious, outranking only the Coast Guard in both categories.
Since 2009, the Navy had used the tagline 'America's Navy. A global force for good' as part of an effort to appeal to service-minded young people and their parents. While highly successful attracting recruits, the Navy began phasing it out last year after receiving feedback that it wasn't popular with active-duty sailors or veterans, who said it didn't capture all they did. The tagline also appeared not to resonate with the American public.
Navy
In Memory
Geraldine McEwan
The family of longtime actress Geraldine McEwan says she has died following treatment for a stroke. She was 82.
McEwan was known for many roles including playing the famous Agatha Christie detective Miss Marple in 12 TV episodes.
Her two children said in a statement that she died Friday after suffering a severe stroke at the end of October. She had been hospitalized extensively since then.
McEwan worked for many years in theater, television and films, sharing the stage with Laurence Olivier, Albert Finney, and other top British stars.
She won numerous awards, including a BAFTA Best Actress prize for her 1989 performance in "Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit."
McEwan was born in Old Windsor, 20 miles (30 kilometers) west of London and made her stage debut at 14, moving into starring roles just four years later. She excelled at Shakespeare, playing major roles in "Much Ado About Nothing" and "Hamlet," and directing one of the Bard's plays.
Her career also included movies like "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves," in which she played an evil witch alongside Kevin Costner and Alan Rickman.
She was married for nearly 50 years to Hugh Cruttwell, a former principal of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. He died in 2002. She is survived by their two children, Greg and Claudia.
Geraldine McEwan
In Memory
Carl Djerassi
Carl Djerassi, an Austrian-born chemist who helped to develop the birth control pill before becoming a playwright and novelist, died in San Francisco on Friday at the age of 91, his family said.
Djerassi, professor emeritus at Stanford University, was the leader of a team of researchers in Mexico City who synthesized a derivative of the hormone progesterone in a form that women could take orally. The breakthrough in 1951 became the basis of some of the first pills to prevent pregnancy.
"The pill" as it became known in popular culture has been credited with fueling a radical shift in sexual mores and changing the role of women in Western society.
Djerassi was awarded the National Medal of Science in 1973 for his contribution to the new form of contraceptive.
But by the time of his death Djerassi had left science behind and was well into his second career as a novelist and playwright. Beginning in the 1980s, he wrote about 20 books including "This Man's Pill", a memoir, and novels such as "Cantor's Dilemma".
"I'm sick and tired of talking about the pill," Djerassi told the San Francisco Chronicle in an interview four months ago at his flat in the Russian Hill neighborhood. Instead, he wanted to talk about his passion for writing plays with scientific content - a genre he dubbed science-in-theater.
Djerassi divided his time among San Francisco, Vienna and London. Born in Austria, his family fled the country when the Nazis came to power, moving first to Bulgaria then to the United States. His image is on an Austrian postage stamp.
After becoming a wealthy man thanks to his shares in Syntex, a company which marketed early birth control pills, Djerassi became an art collector.
But he later sold the bulk of his collection of works of Paul Klee and turned to supporting creative artists, setting up a colony near Woodside, California, where more than 2,000 choreographers, writers, visual artists and musicians have had residencies.
Part of the inspiration for founding the Woodside retreat was the death of his artist daughter in 1978.
Djerassi was a widower and is survived by his son, stepdaughter and grandson. He died of complications from cancer, his family said.
Carl Djerassi
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