Paul Krugman: Disastrous Predictions and Predictable Disasters (New York Times)
Readers sometimes complain about my frequent references to the things my friends and I got right, and others got wrong. But look, it's not ego (or anyway it's not just ego). Predictions are how you judge between models. If the world delivers results that are very much at odds with what your framework says should have happened, you're supposed to reconsider your framework - as I did, for example, after I was wrong about interest rates in 2003.
Paul Krugman: The Immorality of the Interest Rate Hawks (New York Times)
Business Insider reports on a Bloomberg TV interview with hedge fund legend Stan Druckenmiller that helped crystallize in my mind what, exactly, I find so appalling about people who say that we must tighten monetary policy to avoid bubbles - even in the face of high unemployment and low inflation.
Envelopes That Claim to be Important
A conspicuous contemporary trend in "traditional" dead-tree junk mail (the snail-mail equivalent of online spam) is to follow the basic format of phishing e-mail: it comes in disguise as legitimate "important" mail, to trick you into clicking on opening it. And so for a while now, we've been amassing a collection of what we call "Envelopes That Claim to be Important."
Amy Hawley: Waldo residents dig out ambulance stuck in snow (KSHB)
Let's call it "Miracle on 74th Street." A group of families who live on 74th Street in Kansas City, Mo., came together to dig an ambulance out of snow and firefighters say they likely saved a man's life.
William Brennan: Why You Should Read Shirley Jackson (Slate)
Jackson isn't all eerie uncertainties and lonely housewives. Those who know her work only from "The Lottery" or Hill House may be surprised to discover that she could also be very funny. Desi Arnaz allegedly once asked her to write a screenplay for Lucille Ball, which seems to me just right: Jackson's two lighthearted memoirs, are filled with droll observations and amusing mishaps. For a quick laugh, read "The Night We All Had Grippe," "Charles," and "Pajama Party." It'll make up for that time you read "The Lottery."
Bryan Appleyard: "Reviewed: The God Argument by A C Grayling" (New Statesmen)
… what religion has to offer is a great mountain of insights into the human realm. Belief, in this context, is beside the point. Reading John Donne's Holy Sonnets, the Fire Sermon or the Sermon on the Mount will teach you more about the human condition than anything written by the horsemen.
The Four Symbols are four mythological creatures in the Chinese constellations. They are the Azure Dragon of the East, the Vermilion Bird of the South, the White Tiger of the West, and the Black Tortoise of the North.
The four legendary beasts represent a season each. The Azure Dragon of the East represents Spring, the Vermilion Bird of the South represents Summer, the White Tiger of the West represents Autumn, and the Black Tortoise of the North represents Winter.
Source
Alan J was first, and correct, with:
Spring
Jim from CA, retired to ID, wrote:
It represents the east and the spring season
Charlie responded:
Spring (only three weeks now).
'til this?
Adam answered:
Spring.
Sally said:
The Azure Dragon of the East represents the Spring season!
North Jersey has many Asian residents, and nail salons. Dragon nails are quite popular here. Today's question reminded me of this...
PS: I love living in a multi-cultural neighborhood. In addition to our Asian neighbors, we have many people from the mid-East, Italy, and Israel. When we have, "Town" days, the food alone is fantastic!
PPS: Loved Bruce's A Video for Straight People Made by Gay Men
Very funny (and true).
Dale of Diamond Springs replied:
The seven mansions of the east (the Horn, the Neck, the Root, the Room, the Heart, the Tail and the Winnowing Basket) are shaped like a dragon when joined together. They are located in the east and azure in color, hence given the general title of "the Azure Dragon". It's also the representative symbol of "Spring".
"For years, reality has been nipping at the heels of satire. Now, it's finally caught up. I don't need to make this stuff up."
~ Paul Krassner
Marian responded:
constellation
MAM wrote:
Spring
Example of the Azure Dragon in a Chinese rubbing from tomb of Wang Hui.
BttbBob took the day off.
And, Joe S said:
No doubt in my mind, East always represents Spring the rebirth. Among the wise people of the Earth anyway.
CBS starts the night with '60 Minutes', followed by a FRESH'Amazing Race', then a FRESH'The Good Wife', followed by a FRESH'The Mentalist'.
NBC opens the night with a RERUN'Betty White's Off Their Rockers', followed by another RERUN'Betty White's Off Their Rockers', then 'Dateline', followed by a FRESH'T-Rump's No-Star Fluffery Flim-Flam'.
ABC begins the night with a FRESH'America's So-Called Funniest Home Videos', followed by a FRESH'Once Upon A Time', then the SERIES PREMIERE'Red Widow'.
The CW fills the night with what passes for local news and other fluffery.
Faux has a RERUN'The Simpsons', followed by a FRESH'The Cleveland Show', then a FRESH'The Simpsons', followed by a FRESH'The Cleveland Show', then a RERUN'Family Guy', followed by a FRESH'Bob's Burgers'.
MY has an old 'How I Met Your Mother', followed by another old 'How I Met Your Mother', then an old 'Big Bang Theory', followed by another old 'Big Bang Theory', then still another old 'Big Bang Theory', followed by yet another old 'Big Bang Theory'.
A&E has 'Shipping Wars', another 'Shipping Wars', 'Storage Wars', another 'Storage Wars', still another 'Storage Wars', yet another 'Storage Wars', still another 'Storage Wars', and still another 'Storage Wars'.
AMC offers the movie 'Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers', 'The Walking Dead', followed by a FRESH'The Walking Dead', then a FRESH'Talking Dead'.
BBC -
[12:00AM] RIPPER STREET - Season 1 - Ep 7 - A Man of My Company
[1:15AM] THE GRAHAM NORTON SHOW - Season 12 - Ep 17 - Richard Gere, John Malkovich, Saoirse Ronan, Taylor Swift
[2:00AM] RIPPER STREET - Season 1 - Ep 6 - Tournament of Shadows
[3:00AM] RIPPER STREET - Season 1 - Ep 7 - A Man of My Company
[4:15AM] THE GRAHAM NORTON SHOW - Season 12 - Ep 17 - Richard Gere, John Malkovich, Saoirse Ronan, Taylor Swift
[5:00AM] THE BRIT LIST: THE DOCTOR WHO ULTIMATE LIST OF LISTS
[6:00AM] TOP GEAR - Season 9 - Episode 2
[7:00AM] TOP GEAR - Season 9 - Episode 3
[8:00AM] PLANET EARTH: EXTREME JOURNEYS
[9:00AM] PLANET EARTH: EXTREME SURVIVAL
[10:00AM] WILD THINGS WITH DOMINIC MONAGHAN - Season 1 - Ep 6 - Army Ants
[11:00AM] BEAR GRYLLS' WILD ADVENTURES-Ep 1 - Miranda Hart
[12:00PM] BANG GOES THE THEORY - Season 1 - Episode 1
[12:40PM] BANG GOES THE THEORY - Season 2 - Episode 1
[1:20PM] BANG GOES THE THEORY - Season 3 - Episode 3
[2:00PM] TOP GEAR - Season 10 - Episode 1
[3:00PM] TOP GEAR - Season 10 - Episode 2
[4:00PM] TOP GEAR - Season 10 - Episode 3
[5:00PM] TOP GEAR - Season 10 - Ep 4 Botswana Special
[6:00PM] GATTACA
[8:00PM] STARSHIP TROOPERS
[11:00PM] STARSHIP TROOPERS (ALL TIMES EST)
Bravo has 'Real Housewives Of Atlanta', followed by a FRESH'Real Housewives Of Atlanta', then a FRESH'Shahs Of Sunset', and 'Real Housewives Of Atlanta'.
Comedy Central has the movie 'Get Him To The Greek', 'Tosh.0', 'Workaholics', and 'The Jeselnik Offensive'.
FX has the movie 'Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen', followed by the movie 'The A-Team'.
History has 'Pawn Stars', another 'Pawn Stars', followed by the FRESH'The Bible', then the FRESH'Vikings'.
IFC -
[6:00AM] Monty Python: Almost the Truth (The Lawyer's Cut) -The Much Funnier Second Episode
[7:15AM] The Spirit
[9:30AM] Dilbert -Elbonian Trip
[10:00AM] Dilbert -Tower of Babel
[10:30AM] Dilbert -The Little People
[11:00AM] Dilbert -The Knack
[11:30AM] Dilbert -Y2K
[12:00PM] Arrested Development -The Cabin Show
[12:30PM] Arrested Development -For British Eyes Only
[1:00PM] Arrested Development -Forget Me Now
[1:30PM] Arrested Development -Notap...
[2:00PM] Unrest
[4:00PM] The Thing
[6:15PM] The Faculty
[8:30PM] The Omen
[11:00PM] Portlandia -Blackout
[11:30PM] Out There -A Chris by Any Other Name
[12:00AM] The Omen
[2:30AM] Exorcismus
[4:45AM] Out There -A Chris by Any Other Name
[5:15AM] Portlandia -Blackout
[5:45AM] Whitest Kids U'Know (ALL TIMES EST)
Sundance -
[6:00A] The Necessities of Life
[7:45A] Monsoon Wedding
[9:45A] Mommie Dearest
[12:00P] Little Children
[2:20P] Monsoon Wedding
[4:15P] Breakfast on Pluto
[6:30P] The Anniversary Party
[1:15A] The Anniversary Party
[3:15A] Half-Life
[5:15A] ICONOCLASTS - Seth MacFarlane + Norah Jones (Episode 3, Season 6)
[5:45A] The Spine (ALL TIMES EST)
Actor Richard Gere throws out the ceremonial first before the start of the New York Yankees MLB spring training game against the Detroit Tigers in Tampa, Florida March 2, 2013.
Photo by Scott Audette
British actor Richard Burton finally received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame next to that of his two-time wife, Elizabeth Taylor, on Friday, nearly 30 years after his death.
Welsh-born Burton, who died in 1984, received the career honor as part of the 50th anniversary of ancient Egypt movie drama "Cleopatra," in which he and co-star Taylor began their storied and tumultuous love affair.
The couple's adopted daughter, Maria Burton, accepted the honor of the iconic terrazzo and brass star along Hollywood Boulevard in the historical heart of the U.S. film industry.
Burton was nominated for an Oscar seven times between 1953 and 1978 but never won the prize.
Katelyn Ohashi, of the United States, performs on the balance beam during the American Cup gymnastics competition in Worcester, Mass., Saturday, March 2, 2013. Ohashi won the event.
Photo by Charles Krupa
Gay advocacy group GLAAD says Madonna will present CNN's Anderson Cooper with an award for openly gay media professionals.
GLAAD told The Associated Press on Saturday that the singer has been chosen to give Cooper the Vito Russo Award at the 24th annual GLAAD Media Awards in New York City on March 16.
GLAAD President Herndon Graddick says Madonna and Cooper are longtime friends who have both used their careers to support lesbian, gay and transgender people.
Cooper declined to speak publicly about his sexuality for years. But last July he gave blogger Andrew Sullivan permission to publish an email in which Cooper said he was gay and "couldn't be more happy."
Three stars from the ABC comedy "Modern Family" got stuck in a Kansas City elevator for about an hour Friday night, delaying their appearance at a charity benefit.
Julie Bowen, Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Eric Stonestreet were in town for a fundraiser for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Kansas City. Stonestreet grew up in Kansas City, Kan.
The Kansas City Star reports the three actors were trapped in an elevator with about a dozen other people at the Sheraton Kansas City Hotel at Crown Center, where they were headlining the fundraiser.
Crews from the Kansas City Fire Department freed the group at about 10 p.m., an hour after they were scheduled to appear.
An opera singer performs during the inauguration of the mirror panels installation designed by British architect Norman Foster at the Old Harbour in Marseille March 2, 2013.
Photo by Jean-Paul Pelissier
A controversial 80-year-old Arizona lawman, who styles himself as America's toughest sheriff and is known for targeting illegal immigrants, broke his left shoulder on Thursday after taking a spill in downtown Phoenix, authorities said.
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio (R-Smug) was being treated for the shoulder fracture at a local hospital and will not require surgery, said sheriff's spokeswoman Lisa Allen. It was not clear if he will remain overnight.
Arpaio was on his way to lunch when he tripped on a pipe and fell to the ground, she said. He was taken to the emergency room for diagnosis and treatment.
Arpaio, famous nationwide for his tent city jail and immigration roundups, was re-elected for his sixth term last November after facing his stiffest challenge yet. He is facing lawsuits from the federal government and Hispanic drivers who accuse him of racial profiling and civil rights abuses, which he denies.
The final arbiter of word usage for most newspapers and online news outlets just added guidelines for "husband" and "wife," which include using the words to describe legally wed same-sex couples.
This is the first time the Associated Press (AP) has adopted a policy for the terms husband and wife. The organization publishes the "Associated Press Stylebook," a guide that determines grammar and word choice for AP stories as well as many media outlets.
"All the previous conversation was in the absence of such a formal entry," on marital terms, AP senior managing editor for U.S. news Mike Oreskes said in a statement. "This lays down clear and simple usage. After reviewing existing practice, we are formalizing 'husband, wife' as an entry."
The entry reads, "Regardless of sexual orientation, husband or wife is acceptable in all references to individuals in any legally recognized marriage. Spouse or partner may be used if requested."
A man performs during a male striptease show held in celebration of International Women's Day at a club in Bucharest March 2, 2013. Romanians dedicate both March 1, which is traditionally Romania's first day of spring, and March 8 to honour their women and their contribution to society.
Photo by Bogdan Cristel
A second book by U.S. writer Jonah Lehrer, who previously admitted to making up quotes from singer Bob Dylan, is being pulled from sale, its publisher said on Friday.
Lehrer's book "How We Decide" will no longer be sold after going through a fact checking process, according to publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Published in 2009, the book explores how people's minds make decisions and how those decisions can be improved.
Lehrer's first book, "Proust Was a Neuroscientist," will continue to be sold, Lori Glazer, executive director of publicity for Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, said in an email.
Lehrer last summer resigned as a staff writer for The New Yorker magazine after admitting he had made up quotes from singer and songwriter Dylan in his book "Imagine: How Creativity Works." Houghton Mifflin Harcourt immediately halted shipments of the physical books and e-book sales for "Imagine."
A model wears a creation by French fashion designer Jean-Paul Gaultier as part of his Ready to Wear Fall-Winter 2013-2014 fashion collection, presented, Saturday, March 2, 2013 in Paris.
Photo by Jacques Brinon
Linguists say they have determined that a unique sign language, possibly dating back to the 1800s or earlier, is being used in Hawaii, marking the first time in 80 years a previously unknown language - spoken or signed - has been documented in the U.S.
Researchers will formally announce their findings this weekend showing it's not a dialect of American Sign Language, as many long believed, but an unrelated language with unique vocabulary and grammar.
Only about 40 people, most in their 80s, are known to currently use Hawaii Sign Language, meaning the discovery comes just as the language is on the cusp of disappearing.
Researchers said they interviewed and videotaped 21 users of Hawaii Sign Language - 19 elderly deaf people and two adult children of deaf parents - for their study.
They documented how Hawaii and American sign languages have different grammar. In Hawaii Sign Language, adjectives come after nouns, like "dog black" instead of "black dog" in American Sign Language.
Villagers prepare their birds in cages for a bird-singing contest in Yala province, 1,100 km (684 miles) south of Bangkok March 2, 2013.
Photo by Surapan Boonthanom
If dresses could talk, this dark navy, figure-hugging velvet number would have the best stories to tell.
Princess Diana wore it on state visits, at royal banquets, and most memorably to a gala dinner at the White House in 1985 when she took to the dance floor with Hollywood star John Travolta.
The Victor Edelstein gown will go under the hammer at a vintage fashion auction in London in March, along with nine other of Diana's lavish evening dresses. In total, Kerry Taylor Auctions say the sale is expected to raise more than 800,000 pounds (US$1.2 million.)
Diana decided to sell dozens of her dresses at a New York charity auction at the suggestion of her son, Prince William, in 1997 - three months before she died in a Paris car crash. Florida-based socialite Maureen Dunkel bought about a dozen of the dresses - including the ten to be sold next month - and put them up for auction in Canada in 2011, but the prices were set too high and many dresses didn't sell.
Spectators (bottom) watch skiers descending down from the slope while holding lit torches in the town of Zheleznogorsk, some 50km (31 miles) northeast of Russia's Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, March 2, 2013. Local residents organized an annual winter torch festival to promote sports and a healthy way of life, according to organizers. Picture taken with long exposure.
Photo by Ilya Naymushin
Mushers and their dogs took a leisurely jaunt through Anchorage on Saturday in the ceremonial start of Alaska's Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.
The 1,000-mile race kicked off in a festive mood as 66 teams posed with fans and sailed their sleds 11 miles on streets covered with trucked-in snow. Each sled carried an Iditarider, a fan who won the short ride at auction.
The event comes ahead of the real, competitive start of the race Sunday in Willow, 50 miles to the north. This is when teams leave the big crowds behind for remote terrain shared mostly with their dogs.
From Willow, where the race clock starts ticking, mushers and their dog teams will begin making their way through unforgiving wilderness toward the finish line in the old frontier town of Nome on Alaska's western coast. Before reaching their destination, the teams will cross mountains, frozen rivers and forests before hitting the wind-pummeled coast. They'll sign in at village checkpoints, sometimes stopping for mandatory layovers.
The winner will get a new truck and $50,400. The rest of the $600,000 purse will be split between the next 29 mushers to cross the finish line.
Armando Trovajoli, an Italian who composed music for some 300 films and whose lush and playful serenade to Rome is a much-requested romantic standby for tourists, has died at age 95.
The city's mayor, Gianni Alemanno, mourned Trovajoli's passing, saying in a statement that "the voice of Rome has been extinguished." The Italian news agency ANSA said widow Maria Paola Trovajoli announced the death Saturday, saying her husband had died a few days before in Rome but declining to give the exact date.
Roman by birth, Trovajoli began his musical career as a pianist, playing jazz and dance music. He appeared with many jazz stars, among them Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, Chet Baker, Louis Armstrong, Stephane Grappelli and Django Reinhardt.
In the 1950s, his prolific relationship with the film world took flight. Travojoli composed for many of Italy's hit movies of the next decades, especially comedies.
Among the directors turning to him were some of Italy's best in the decades following World War II, including Ettore Scola, Vittorio De Sica, Dino Risi and Luigi Comencini.
But it the lushly orchestrated "Roma nun fa' la stupida stasera" written for the 1962 stage musical "Rugantino" that became Trovajoli's most famous song.
The title, translated from the Roman dialect, literally means "Rome, don't act silly this evening." Composed as a duet, it is sung by would-be suitors who beg the city to put on its magic so romance might bloom.
A bird flies above a group of people fishing on Navy Pier in The Presidio of San Francisco, part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, in San Francisco, California March 1, 2013.
Photo by Robert Galbraith
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?
wrote:
took the day off.
said:
