Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Steve699: "Screw You, Howard" (Imgur)
Freddie Prinze, Jr. and Sarah Michelle Geller married in 2002 and are still married. Their children are Charlotte Grace Prinze and Rocky James Prinze.
Lucy Mangan: goodbye to the golden age of childhood (Guardian)
'This will be the last holiday where our son is still wholly ours and our world is the whole of his. Soon, real life will intrude.'
Oliver Burkeman: "This column will change your life: the case against hope" (Guardian)
'Scratch the surface of our hope-fixated culture and you discover The Shawshank Redemption lied to us: sometimes, giving up hope sets you free.'
What I'm really thinking: the vicar's wife (Guardian)
'Inside I'm seething, and wish I could tell everyone to eff off, from the sniping parishioners to the controlling bishops.'
Marc Dion: $136 in Food Stamps (Creators Syndicate)
I know woman, an old worn-out woman who married her soldier when he got back from World War II, and she had a child and was, for 40 years, what she called, "One of the girls in the office."
Adam Todd Brown: 5 Famous Companies That Get More Hate Than They Deserve (Cracked)
Hate has always been a hot commodity. There's a certain level of popularity that, once reached, all but guarantees that a significant portion of the general public will immediately decry anything else that entity generates for time eternal.
Blair Marnell: Watch Bruce Timm's Batman 75th Anniversary Animated Short (Crave)
Timm revisits Batman in the new short, "Batman: Strange Days."
Hannah Rosen: Alone, Alone, All, All Alone, Alone on a Wild Wild Sea (Slate)
Barbara Ehrenreich searches for transcendence.
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.
wrote:
, took the day off.
answered:
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.
So - to let you know what's going on, the guestbook on bartcop.com is
still open for those who want to write something in memory of Bart.
I did an interview on Netroots Radio about Bart's passing
( www.stitcher.com/s?eid=32893545 )
The most active open discussion is on Bart's Facebook page.
( www.facebook.com/bartcop )
You can listen to Bart's theme song here
or here.
( www.bartcop.com/blizing-saddles.mp3 )
( youtu.be/MySGAaB0A9k )
We have opened up the radio show archives which are now free. Listen to
all you want.
( bartcop.com/members )
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
Thanks, Marc!
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny and breezy.
Fundraiser With Willie Nelson
Wendy Davis
Texas state Sen. Wendy Davis (D), who is running to succeed Gov. Rick Perry (R-Prissy), unveiled a special guest for an April BBQ fundraiser in Houston: country music legend and activist Willie Nelson.
In a Friday email to supporters, Davis said Nelson, who was born in Abbott, Texas, would perform at the April 27 event.
"No, folks, I'm not kidding," Davis' email reads. "We'll have some amazing Texas BBQ. We'll be talking about the future of our great state. And at the end of the night, we'll have a special performance by Willie."
Davis is working to close the gap in the polls between her and Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, the Republican nominee.
Abbott's campaign faced criticism for appearing at events in February with rocker Ted Nugent, who has admitted to relationships with underage women and called President Barack Obama a "subhuman mongrel."
Wendy Davis
Campaign Against Comcast Is No Joke
Al Franken
For Senator Al Franken, the political became personal at a "Saturday Night Live" cast party, of all places.
It was there in New York two years ago that Mr. Franken, a Minnesota Democrat, ran into Lorne Michaels, the creator of the NBC show and his former boss when he was a writer and performer there. Mr. Michaels was chatting with Brian L. Roberts, the chief executive of Comcast
"I fought to prevent this!" Mr. Franken blurted out to the two men.
It was a potentially awkward moment that Mr. Franken defused with the kind of blustery humor that delighted audiences during his years as an entertainer. "We all had a laugh, fun was had by all, and I went on," he said in an interview.
But for Mr. Franken, antitrust issues involving big companies are no joking matter. The man who created such famous "Saturday Night Live" characters as the self-help guru Stuart Smalley is now a serious policy wonk and a self-made expert in antitrust matters like price-fixing and monopolization.
Al Franken
Characters Spark Trends
Baby Names
Today's parents might be naming their kids after "Game of Thrones," but stealing baby names from the silver screen is nothing new.
Darth Rimmer, 36, has made the most of his unique first name. His parents were huge "Star Wars" fans when they named him after the franchise's fictional villain, he told ABCNews.com.
He loves his name now -- but said he struggled with it as a child.
Newer TV and movie series have also sparked baby name booms. In 2012, 146 parents named their babies Khaleesi, a made-up title from the HBO hit "Game of Thrones," according to the Social Security Administration.
Bella, the name of Kristen Stewart's character in "Twilight," has topped the list of most popular baby names for girls in recent years. Jacob, the name of Taylor Lautner's character, shot to the No. 1 spot for boys' names in 2012 after the film's success.
Baby Names
Turns 60
'Rock Around the Clock'
For a song destined to rock around the centuries, "Rock Around the Clock" - recorded 60 years ago this week - had the humblest of beginnings, starting life as a lowly B-side that didn't even have a genre to call its own.
Bill Haley & the Comets recorded it on April 12, 1954 almost as an afterthought, devoting 40 minutes and two takes to the tune at the tail end of a session otherwise devoted to "Thirteen Women (And Only One Man in Town)," a novelty song about the happy benefits of sexual inequity after a nuclear blast. After being patched together from those two hastily recorded takes, "Rock Around the Clock" was relegated to flip-side status when first released a month after the session, taking a back seat to A-side "Thirteen Women," which did not rock anyone 24/7.
The biggest indignity of all: When it came time to assign a genre or dance mode to "Rock Around the Clock" on the 45's label, as was common in that day, the term "rock 'n' roll" hadn't yet been assigned to the nascent style of music the song represented. So Decca Records designated it as a fox trot record.
But the kids were not ready to trot, trot, trot till broad daylight. They were ready to rock, and although Haley is not as cool a figure as Elvis or Chuck Berry to cite as ushering in the new movement - squares with receding hairlines don't make the most picturesque revolutionaries, right? - there is no disputing that "Clock" was the single that suddenly seemed to change everything, at least when it finally hit No. 1, a little more than a year after it was recorded.
'Rock Around the Clock'
Free Speech In Oregon
Flashing Headlights
Hauling a truckload of logs to a Southern Oregon mill last fall, Chris Hill noticed a sheriff's deputy behind him and flashed his lights to warn a UPS driver coming the other way.
The deputy pulled over Hill on U.S. Highway 140 in White City and handed him a $260 ticket for improperly using his headlights, saying another deputy had seen the flashing lights from behind the UPS truck and alerted him to stop the log truck because of the signaling.
Outraged, Hill decided to fight the ticket, and on Wednesday, a Jackson County Justice Court judge dismissed the citation, finding that motorists flashing their headlights amounts to speech protected by the Oregon Constitution.
Judge Joseph Carter determined the law covering the use of high beams was valid, but was unconstitutional as it was applied by the deputy.
"The citation was clearly given to punish the Defendant for that expression," the judge wrote. "The government certainly can and should enforce the traffic laws for the safety of all drivers on the road. However, the government cannot enforce the traffic laws, or any other laws, to punish drivers for their expressive conduct."
Flashing Headlights
Join Geneva Conventions On War
Palestinians
The Palestinian Authority has signed up formally to the Geneva Conventions, which set down the rules of warfare and humanitarian operations in conflict zones, the treaties' guardian Switzerland confirmed Friday.
Swiss foreign ministry spokesman Pierre-Alain Eltschinger told AFP that the Palestinian Authority had declared itself party to the conventions on April 2.
The step is part of a new diplomatic drive by Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, coming as peace talks with Israel are close to collapse.
Abbas said he had received a letter from the Swiss president confirming the registration, and praised it as "an historic day for the Palestinian people", a senior Palestinian official said.
Palestinians
Wants Dropbox To Drop Condoleezza
Anonymous
When Dropbox CEO Drew Houston announced on Wednesday that the company had appointed Condoleezza Rice, former US secretary of State, to its board of directors, he might have expected some skepticism.
Calling Dr. Rice "brilliant" and her career "illustrious," Mr. Houston seemed to hedge against possible blowback in an online post in which he said that she was an ideal candidate to help shepherd an expansion of the cloud storage platform's "global footprint." Rice is now a professor at Stanford, as well as a consultant to several tech firms.
But, on Friday, techies were not having it.
On a website set up soon afterward, called Drop Dropbox, critics alleged that Rice's record of support for positions to which Silicon Valley is largely opposed suggests that Dropbox is not serious about its claim to resist online government surveillance.
Drop Dropbox faults a number of Rice's past activities in the Bush administration, including her role in planning the Iraq war, her alleged support for the use of torture in interrogating Al Qaeda suspects, and government wiretapping without a warrant.
Anonymous
Visited A Garden Store
DEA
Angela Kirking never thought shopping for garden supplies would lead to agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration waking her up with guns drawn, but that's what happened last October.
"I bought a bottle of organic fertilizer, a 16-ounce bottle," said Kirking, a 46-year-old face-paint artist. "Three weeks later I was raided by DEA."
The DEA is refusing to answer questions about the law enforcement operation targeting an Illinois garden store that has netted Kirking and at least 10 other people. But Kirking and her lawyer contend it's a case of misplaced priorities and federal overreach. They're asking why the DEA is treating ordinary customers of a garden store selling hydroponic equipment as if they were major drug dealers.
The Oct. 11, 2013, raid on Kirking's house, first reported by Patch, involved four DEA agents and five Shorewood, Ill., police officers, according to a police report. Its alleged yield from Kirking's art room, whose entrance is guarded by beads: 9.3 grams of marijuana, or less than one-third of an ounce.
In the search warrant application, a Braidwood, Ill., police officer assigned to the DEA, Donn Kaminski, wrote that he had observed Kirking exit the garden store "carrying a green plastic bag containing unknown items." Kaminski stated he had "previously conducted numerous investigations that involved the surveillance of Midwest Hydroganics and persons purchasing items at Midwest Hydroganics, which has led to the arrest of suspects for production of cannabis sativa plants and production of cannabis."Top of Form 1
Kaminski wrote that he then sifted through Kirking's household trash, detecting "a strong odor of green cannabis" in one plastic trash bag, and compared her home's electrical bill to that of her neighbors, finding that it was higher. Another officer conducted a field test on a green plant stem, which allegedly tested positive for marijuana. That was enough for a judge to sign a warrant.
DEA
Bible The State Book?
Louisiana
Louisiana's House of Representatives' Municipal, Parochial, and Cultural Affairs Committee voted on Thursday to recommend legislation that would name the Bible as their official state book. House Bill No. 503's sponsor, State Representative Thomas Carmody, R-Shreveport, says, "The Holy Bible would be appropriate for the state of Louisiana," because of the state's "strong religious ties," according to The New Orleans Advocate
The bill is being met with a lot of resistance for various reasons. State Representative Wesley Bishop, D-New Orleans, the son of a preacher, told The Advocate, "If you adopt the Bible as the official state book, you also adopt Christianity as the state religion...We are going to open ourselves up to alawsuit." Rep. Carmody refutes this, saying, "This is not about establishing an official religion," as reported by NOLA.com.
State Representative Ebony Woodruff, D-Harvey, attempted to amend the bill so that "all books of faith" would be official state books, but that proposal was voted down. Rep. Carmody told NOLA.com he was opposed to the amendment, but also told The Advocate he thinks Louisiana can have more than one state book. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Louisiana's executive director, Majorie Esman, told NOLA.com, "[The official state book] ought to be one that relates to the history of Louisiana and not one that is going to discriminate against a large number of Louisianans." Michael Weil, executive director of the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans, said, "I think the state should consider a text that is not religious."
The bill will now be voted on by the full House.
Louisiana
In Memory
Phyllis Frelich
Phyllis Frelich, a Tony Award-winning deaf actress who starred in the Broadway version of "Children of a Lesser God," has died. She was 70.
Her husband, Robert Steinberg, said Frelich died Thursday at her Southern California home. She suffered from a degenerative neurological condition for several years.
The oldest of nine deaf children born to deaf parents, Frelich became interested in acting while at the North Dakota School for the Deaf and Gallaudet College in Washington, D.C.
She joined the National Theatre of the Deaf, where she met Steinberg, who worked as a scenic and lighting designer on several plays by Mark Medoff.
The couple inspired Medoff to create "Children of a Lesser God," which follows the relationship between a deaf woman and a teacher at a school for the deaf.
Phyllis Frelich
| CURRENT MOON lunar phases |
