Recommended Reading
from Bruce
SARAH MASLIN NIR: Embracing a Life of Solitude (nytimes.com)
FOR the last 16 years, Nick Fahey has been living on an island in the San Juan archipelago north of Puget Sound, in Washington state, where his only full-time companion is a 26-year-old quarter horse called Ig.
GailCollins: The Joys of April 15 (nytimes.com)
If the I.R.S. had been doing its marketing properly, little kids would dream of growing up to become really big taxpayers.
Martina Navratilova: 'I want to save lives' (guardian.co.uk)
Martina Navratilova's breast cancer revelation is the latest in a long line of very public battles. She tells Julie Bindel why she is speaking out.
Farhad Manjoo: Eric Schmidt Is the Nicest Guy in Tech (slate.com)
Does that mean Google is doomed to lose to Apple?
Victoria Wright: My disability is not a joke (guardian.co.uk)
Last week, comedian Frankie Boyle caused a furore when he joked about Down's Syndrome; he was challenged by the mother of a child with Down's. Here, one woman shares her experience of being the butt of jokes about her disability.
David Glenn: Charging That His College Undervalues Teaching, a Professor Strikes Back (chronicle.com)
Last October, Madhukar Vable said farewell to two teaching prizes that he had won a decade earlier. He packed the plaques in envelopes and shipped them back to the university and state offices that had awarded them.
Mark Morford: What Jesus reads when he's naked (sfgate.com)
Often do I hear the scintillating words, "Oh sweet Jesus Mark, that column you just wrote about neurotic fundamentalists/the Zen of Obama/divine kinkiness/Canada's vile oilsands/gay Vatican lust/the need for more awe in the workplace just made my day/blasted coffee through my nose/completely wrecked my fragile relationship with my angry, born-again sister in Florida, and for that I should probably thank you.
Mark Morford: Back off, I'm a corporate whore (sfgate.com)
Here's what you should know right off: there is no secret handshake. I was, to say the least, slightly disappointed. There is no secret code, no password, no futuristic RFID chip implanted straight into my retina...
How I fell back in love with music (timesonline.co.uk)
Getting your music for free sounds like heaven - but, as the Times pop critic fan Pete Paphides learnt, it comes at a price.
Jonah Weiner: Do You Believe in Miracles? (slate.com)
The wild, weird world of Insane Clown Posse.
Geoff Boucher: "'Kick-Ass' director: 'This movie has broken every rule'" (latimes.com)
Nursing a nasty Jack Daniels hangover, director Matthew Vaughn spent Wednesday morning doing the same thing he's been doing for weeks: defending "Kick-Ass," his ultra-violent and deliriously profane superhero film, which opens Friday.
PAUL CONSTANT: You Kill Like a Girl (thestranger.com)
Kick-Ass Almost Kicks Ass.
Roger Ebert: Review of "KICK-ASS" (R; One Star)
A movie camera makes a record of whatever is placed in front of it, and in this case, it shows deadly carnage dished out by an 11-year-old girl, after which an adult man brutally hammers her to within an inch of her life. Blood everywhere. Now tell me all about the context.
The Weekly Poll
Current Question
The 'Enemy of the State' Edition...
"The Obama administration has taken the extraordinary step of authorizing the targeted killing of an American citizen, the radical Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who is believed to have shifted from encouraging attacks on the United States to directly participating in them... officials say Mr. Awlaki is an operative of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the affiliate of the terror network in Yemen and Saudi Arabia...
It is extremely rare, if not unprecedented, for an American to be approved for targeted killing, officials said..."
Confirmed: Obama authorizes assassination of U.S. citizen - Glenn Greenwald - Salon.com
Do you approve or disapprove of such an action?
A.) Approve
B.) Disapprove
C.) This is nothing new, it's been going on for years...
Send your response to
wrote:
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Reader Suggestions
Michelle in AZ
Reader Comment
Benny the Rat
Dear Marty,
It seems Pope Benedict has sort of got his dick caught in the wringer. I just thought a little background history, besides the fact that he was in the Hitler Youth movement, might shed some light on the quality of character for someone given the nod for the top job in the world's richest money-making racket (er, religion). In The Jesus Papers by Michael Baigent, bestselling co-author of Holy Blood, Holy Grail, from Harper Element, 2006, the author states in
Chapter Six, Rome's Greatest Fear on pp 100 - 101
…"in 1908 the Inquisition was renamed the Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office. Then in a further change, it became the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 1965: calm, even soft, words for the title of a dogmatic and unbending institution whose unchanged role in the Church is to maintain the orthodoxy of belief."
The current head of the Congregation - called the "Prefect" and effectively the current Grand Inquisitor, appointed on 13 May 2005 is the Californian-born Monsignor William Levada, formerly the archbishop of San Francisco. His immediate predecessor, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, was elected pope in April 2005. Ratzinger is quite clear about the Church's doctrine: there is no flexibility with regard to its precepts.
… Ratzinger has added to this dogmatism: "One cannot establish the truth by resolution but can only recognise and accept it." Hence, he explains, it follows that "the Church … the bearer of faith does not sin." History is clearly not Ratzinger's strong point; dogmatic public relations spinning is.}
So, that wonderful church institution, The Inquistion, that did so much to clean the world of witches and heretics is still happily functioning today and the previous Grand Inquisitor was none other than the current pope, Benny the Rat. Just thought you might like to know.
Cheers,
Stephen
Thanks, Stephen!
Hope you're past that nasty virus.
Links from RJ
Two-Fer
Hi there
Two possible links (quite different) for you today. Thanks very much for looking at them - hope you enjoy!
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny and pleasant.
Win Asian Human Rights Awards
AFP Photographers
Photographers from Agence France-Presse were Saturday awarded the top news and feature prizes at the prestigious Asian Human Rights Awards for outstanding coverage of riots in China's Xinjiang region and acid attack victims in Pakistan.
Beijing-based Peter Parks won the main award in the news category for dramatic images of the aftermath of deadly unrest in the northwestern Chinese region of Xinjiang in July last year.
Parks was also commended for a photo of grieving relatives of victims of the riots, while Beijing-based colleague Frederic Brown received a merit award for coverage of the anniversary of the Sichuan earthquake in May last year.
Bangkok-based photographer Nicolas Asfouri won the top features prize at the 14th annual awards, announced at a ceremony at Hong Kong's Foreign Correspondents Club, for work on assignment in Pakistan.
AFP Photographers
Reaches North Pole
Sir David Attenborough
Veteran British wildlife broadcaster Sir David Attenborough has reached the North Pole for the first time at the age of 83, the BBC said Saturday.
The naturalist and presenter made it to the top of the world while filming in the Arctic Circle for a new BBC nature series highlighting the impact of global warming on the Earth's extreme regions.
The BBC presenter, the brother of acclaimed actor Richard Attenborough, is famous for acclaimed nature programmes including "Life on Earth," "The Living Planet" and "The Trials of Life."
Until now, most of his previous programmes have focused on tropical parts of the world, he noted.
Sir David Attenborough
Ash Disrupts Celebs
Hollywood vs. The Volcano
The ash spat out by an Icelandic volcano that has left thousands of air travelers stranded is also affecting celebrities, filmmakers, musicians and even pro-wrestlers.
With almost two-thirds of Europe's flights grounded, cancelations and postponements were popping up across the entertainment landscape on Saturday as Icelandic scientists warned that volcanic activity had increased and showed no sign of abating.
Organizers of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, Calif., tweeted that some acts were forced to pull out of the weekend event, including British rockers The Cribs and Bad Lieutenant, Scottish rockers Frightened Rabbit, and British dance trio Delphic. It also appears unlikely that British synth singer Gary Numan will make it to Coachella for his Sunday slot.
Scientists were indicating that travel chaos could extend into the new week, increasing the threat to New York's Tribeca Film Festival, which begins Wednesday. Festival organizers said that some early arrivals - those scheduled to fly in Monday to help promote their films - had already been grounded. Tribeca is to feature films from nearly 40 countries, with many filmmakers from Europe expected to attend.
Hollywood vs. The Volcano
Automotive Shows
WyoTech Graduates
Attending an automotive technical school on the windy Wyoming plains might seem an unlikely way to get on television, much less score a regular TV gig, but WyoTech graduates have done both.
The latest ones on camera: Ramon Saenz and Doug Swenson, who were taped in Tennessee this week as they painted a 1982 Camaro for an automotive show on the Spike network.
The recent WyoTech grads from the Denver area didn't luck into TV. They earned it.
WyoTech rewards its top graduates - who study auto mechanics, chassis fabrication, auto body repair, painting and upholstery installation, among other skills - with the opportunity to appear on TV through the school's long partnership with RTM Productions in Franklin, Tenn.
WyoTech Graduates
Prosecutors Argue Victim Can't Alter Case
Roman Polanski
Polanski's victim cannot ask for the 32-year-old sex case to be dismissed against the fugitive director or otherwise impact the case, prosecutors argued in a court filing Friday.
In a filing to the California Second District Court of Appeal, Los Angeles County prosecutors argue a recent constitutional revision spelling out crime victims' rights does not grant them the power to determine the outcome of criminal cases.
They are also asking the appeals court to reject requests by Polanski's victim, Samantha Geimer, to have the case heard in another county and unseal recent testimony by a former prosecutor.
Geimer petitioned the appeals court to dismiss the case and make the other rulings in a March petition. That filing argued a 2008 constitutional amendment, dubbed Marsy's Law, gives victims more input into criminal cases. Geimer's attorney, Lawrence Silver, has argued twice before that the amendment meant his client's request for dismissal should be considered.
Roman Polanski
A Look Inside
'Behavior Placement'
Think Dwight Schrute becoming a recycling-obsessed superhero on 'The Office' was the work of the show's clever writers? Think again. As an eye-opening
Wall Street Journal article revealed last week, the plot line, and many others on your favorite NBC shows, was an advertising plant known as "behavior placement." As the article states: "The tactic ... is designed to sway viewers to adopt actions they see modeled in their favorite shows. And it helps sell ads to marketers who want to associate their brands with a feel-good, socially-aware show. Unlike with product placement, which can seem jarring to savvy viewers, the goal is that viewers won't really notice that Tina Fey is tossing a plastic bottle into the recycle bin, or that a minor character on 'Law and Order: SVU' has switched to energy-saving light bulbs."
The combination of NBC's ratings woes over the past decade, the steady rise of DVRs, Tivos and other commercial-bypassing machines and the general decline of the U.S. economy in recent years has led NBC to try new initiatives in an effort to lure advertisers. In today's age, buying ads may not be the sole route to get your product's message across.
"All the networks are doing things now that they never would have done 10 or 15 years ago when they were kings of the castle," says Brian Steinberg, Television Editor at Advertising Age. "They're allowing more intrusive placements and deeper connections with advertisers. We're at a point now where it's getting more egregious because the networks are economically flailing about for some new model."
With NBC already planning more green story lines and an upcoming week in June during which certain shows will emphasize healthy eating and exercise, the bigger question is not so much, "Is this good for advertisers?" but rather, "Will this actually do anything?"
'Behavior Placement'
Allows Concealed Weapons Without Permit
Arizona
Favoring the constitutional right to bear arms over others' concerns about gun safety, Gov. Jan Brewer (R-Tiny Penis) on Friday signed into law a bill making Arizona the third state allowing people to carry a concealed weapon without requiring a permit.
The measure takes effect 90 days after the current legislative session ends, which likely puts the effective date in July or August.
By eliminating the permit requirement, the Arizona legislation will allow people 21 or older to forego background checks and classes that are now required.
Brewer's predecessor, Democrat Janet Napolitano, in 2007 vetoed two related bills. One would have reduced penalties for carrying a concealed weapon without a permit. The other would have allowed a person without a permit to carry a gun largely concealed as long as any part of it or its holster was visible.
Arizona
Struggles With Muslim Dress Code
Europe
Chances of seeing a burqa in Belgium are only a little better than spotting a liquor shop in Saudi Arabia. Yet Belgium soon may be the first European nation to outlaw the burqa and other Islamic garb that completely hides a woman's body and face.
Neighboring France and the Netherlands may also outlaw attire that is viewed by many in western European societies as demeaning to women. It also is considered a gateway to radical Islam, a fear that is stoking rightwing sentiment across the continent.
Anxieties that visible signs of Islam erode national identity are combining with complaints that immigrants are stealing jobs amid the worst economic slump in decades to deepen a sense of unease in many European countries, small and large alike, over the role of Muslims in society.
Swiss voters recently voted to ban the construction of new minarets. In recent years, both mosque and minaret construction projects in many European countries, including Sweden, France, Italy, Austria, Greece, Germany and Slovenia have generated protests, some of them violent.
Europe
Film Futures
Trend Exchange
U.S. regulators on Friday approved the creation of a futures market for trading in forecast box-office receipts, but major Hollywood studios immediately trumpeted a bill that would ban it.
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission approved the creation of the Trend Exchange, a forum that would allow movie industry participants and speculators to trade on predicted movie revenues.
The exchange still requires the commission's approval of specific contracts, which would essentially act as presales of ticket revenue. A decision on the contracts is due June 7.
Hollywood is trying to short-circuit that decision, and on Friday called the exchange "an online gaming platform that could be easily manipulated."
Trend Exchange
Penguin Reprints Book
'Pasta Bible'
Penguin Group Australia publishing company was forced to pulp and reprint 7000 copies of Pasta Bible last week after a recipe called for "salt and freshly ground black people" - instead of pepper - to be added to the spelt tagliatelle with sardines and prosciutto.
The exercise will cost Penguin $20,000, the head of publishing, Bob Sessions, said. At $3300 a letter, it's a pricey typo.
Stock will not be recalled from bookshops because it would be "extremely hard" to do so, Mr Sessions said. Copies remained on the shelves in city bookshops yesterday, selling for $20.
Mr Sessions could not understand why some readers had found the slip offensive.
'Pasta Bible'
Library Late Fees
George Washington
If George Washington were alive today, he might face a hefty overdue library fine.
New York City's oldest library says one of its ledgers shows that the president has racked up 220 years' worth of late fees on two books he borrowed, but never returned.
One of the books was the "Law of Nations," which deals with international relations. The other was a volume of debates from Britain's House of Commons.
Both books were due on Nov. 2, 1789.
George Washington
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