Lucy Mangan: fraud ain't what it used to be (Guardian)
This is what we're fielding in the (in)glorious history of scams? Failure to tap in? Oyster abuse? What happened to selling the Statue of Liberty to gullible foreigners or hawking the Eiffel Tower for scrap?
Barbara Ehrenreich: 'Was that you, God?' (Guardian)
Barbara Ehrenreich is proud to call herself an atheist. But in her latest book Living With A Wild God she recalls how more than 50 years ago she came face to face with something vast, terrifying and unknowable. Could she still call herself a non-believer?
Marc Dion: Boston Strong (Creators Syndicate)
I live about 40 miles south of Boston Strong where, in the days leading up to this year's Boston Marathon, the memorial never stops, the sports-themed tributes get louder, the t-shirts grow more defiant and where no politician can stay away from the grief long enough to wipe the solemnity off his/her greedy little snout.
Jon Christian: Why Tina Belcher Is a Folk Hero for Anxious Young People (Slate)
Unlike Family Guy and South Park, Bob's Burgers is a deeply tolerant show. Everybody is weird, and if an episode has a villain, they're usually made sympathetic by the end. Nobody tolerates or is tolerated as much as Tina, making her indispensable to the show. The Belchers shriek, shout over each other, and violate the health code, but with love.
The Easter Bilby is an Australian alternative to the Easter Bunny.
Bilbies are native Australian marsupials that are endangered. To raise money and increase awareness of conservation efforts, bilby-shaped chocolates and related merchandise are sold within many stores throughout Australia as an alternative to Easter bunnies.
Source
Charlie was first, and correct, with:
Australia. It isn't surprising that they have an alternative to the Easter Bunny.
The rabbit in Australia is out of control! Rabbits are mean and vicious and should be stopped. Rabbits were brought to Australia from European settlers to hunt for food. In 1859 Thomas Austin released 24 rabbits into Australia so he could hunt them. It was like a cancer rabbits grew by the thousands because rabbits have few natural enemies such as foxes among Australia wildlife. Rabbits do not belong in Australia. They are an invasive pest that damages the Australian environment and costs them primary production millions of dollars each year. An initial introduction of 24 wild European rabbits in 1859 produced an astounding 10 billion rabbits by the 1920's.
Lois Down Under Of Oregon said:
The Bilby of Australia is the cutest damn thing I have ever
seen, even though it looks like something Dale's rabbit
might have fathered after spending a day raping everything
at the zoo. Here's hoping they aren't all killed by cats.
mj wrote:
Heading South
One would find this "creature" in Australia.
Jim from CA, retired to ID, responded:
The Easter Bilby is an Australian alternative to the Easter Bunny.
Adam answered:
Sounds like Australia.
Deborah replied:
Going all WAG here - Australia.
Because it sounds Australian.
Happy Saturday!
Marian wrote:
Australia
Sally said:
HAPPY EASTER TO MARTY AND MY BCE PEEPS!
You would find the Easter Bilby in Australia.
Happy Easter Saturday,
Dale of Delusional Sprungs, Norcaliful, took the day off.
DJ Useo replied:
I know many a bootleg deejay from down under, and they informed me regarding this matter ages ago.
Happy Easter, everyone! ( Including you fine folk from Australia )
Alan J answered:
Australia
MAM wrote:
Australia
The Easter Bilby is an Australian symbol of Easter.
BttbBob, said:
Well, beings that said beastie (i.e. a Bilby) is a marsupial that only inhabits that alien far-side-of-the-world place called, "Down Under", the answer is quite plainly - Australia...
~~~~~
'Breaking News!' Moment - Here's my new little 'Easter Bilby'...
... who came a month early today, but all's well. 7lb 7oz, so I guess she (Alexandra) figured it was time to get on with it. My daughter, Sarah, had just finished a 12 hour shift at that hospital, she's a respiratory therapist, at 7:30 am and had indications that she felt her OB should know about. My 'Easter Bilby' arrived at 4:13pm, quick and easily. I took this photo at 7:30pm.
~~~~~
My family has already given her the tag "Lexi", but little does she, or the family, know that she will be forever "Bilby" to me. As in, "Yo! Bilby! Don't be touching that now, please!" or "Bilby! Would ya what Grampa to read ya a story?"...
That kinda thing... an' o' course I gots to print this page so's years from now I can show her and explain it all... Pretty cool, eh? Yeah, I'm-a thinkin' so...
And, Joe S answered:
At first guess I come up with Australia because Australians have such strange names for things, like wallaby, and billabong, and quokka. Stuff like that, but I'm gonna look it up, 'cause you know me. I hate to be wrong.
"Bilbies are native Australian marsupials that are endangered. To raise money and increase awareness of conservation efforts, bilby-shaped chocolates and related merchandise are sold within many stores throughout Australia as an alternative to Easter bunnies."
See? I knew it. Australian. Looks to be a cross between an rabbit and a rat.
Okay, you Australians out there, don't send me e-mail. You know you're strange. You're proud of it.
And BttbBob, Koegel, absolutely!
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CBS starts the night with '60 Minute', followed by a FRESH'Amazing Race', then a FRESH'The Good Wife', followed by FRESH'The Mentalist'.
NBC opens the night with 'Dateline', followed by a FRESH'American Dream Builders', then a FRESH'Believe', followed by a FRESH'Crisis'.
ABC begins the night with the chestnut 'it's The Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown', followed by 'Charlie Brown's All Stars', then a FRESH'Once Upon A Time', followed by the FRESH made-for-TV-movie 'In My Dreams'.
The CW has a RERUN'SAF3', followed by 2 hours of what passes for local news and other fluffery.
Faux has a FRESH'Bob's Burgers', followed by a RERUN'American Dads', then a RERUN'The Simpsons', followed by a RERUN'Family Guy', then a FRESH'Cosmos'.
MY has an old 'How I Met Your Mother', followed by an old 'Big Bang Theory', then another old 'Big Bang Theory', followed by still another old 'Big Bang Theory', then yet another old 'Big Bang Theory'.
AMC offers the movie 'The Shawshank Redemption', followed by a FRESH'Turn', then a FRESH'Mad Men'.
BBC -
[6:00AM] ATLANTIS - Season 1 - Episode 1
[7:00AM] ATLANTIS - Season 1 - Episode 2
[8:00AM] THE BLUE PLANET-Ep 6 - Coral Seas
[9:00AM] WILD THINGS WITH DOMINIC MONAGHAN - Season 2 - Ep 4 - Gaboon Viper
[10:00AM] RAMSAY'S KITCHEN NIGHTMARES US - Season 6 - Ep 5 - Barefoot Bob's
[11:00AM] RAMSAY'S KITCHEN NIGHTMARES US - Season 6 - Ep 6 - Olde Hitching Post Restaurant & Tavern
[12:00PM] RAMSAY'S KITCHEN NIGHTMARES US - Season 6 - Ep 7 - Levanti's Italian Restaurant
[1:00PM] TOP GEAR: BEST OF 11-12 - Episode 1
[2:00PM] TOP GEAR: BEST OF 11-12 - Episode 2
[3:00PM] TOP GEAR: BEST OF 11-12 - Episode 3
[4:00PM] TOP GEAR: BEST OF 11-12 - Episode 4
[5:00PM] THE MATRIX RELOADED
[8:00PM] THE MATRIX REVOLUTIONS
[11:00PM] ORPHAN BLACK - Season 2 - Ep 1 - Nature Under Constraint and Vexed
[12:00AM] THE MATRIX RELOADED
[3:00AM] TOP GEAR: BEST OF 11-12 - Episode 2
[4:00AM] TOP GEAR: BEST OF 11-12 - Episode 3
[5:00AM] TOP GEAR: BEST OF 11-12 - Episode 4 (ALL TIMES EST)
Bravo has 'Real Housewives Of Atlanta', followed by a FRESH'Real Housewives Of Atlanta', then a FRESH'Married To Medicine', followed by a FRESH'The Millionaire Matchmaker'.
Comedy Central has 'Bill Cosby: Far From Finished', 'Kevin Hart: I'm A Grown Little Man', 'Kevin Hart: Laugh At My Pain', followed by the FRESH'Tracy Morgan: Bona Fide'.
FX has the movie 'Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes', followed by the movie 'Contraband', then the movie 'Contraband', again.
History has 3 hours of old 'Pawn Stars', followed by a FRESH'No Man's Land'.
IFC -
[6:00AM] Whitest Kids U'Know
[6:15AM] Monty Python's the Meaning of Life
[8:45AM] Malcolm in the Middle-Funeral
[9:15AM] Malcolm in the Middle-Cheerleader
[9:45AM] Malcolm in the Middle-Rollerskates
[10:15AM] Malcolm in the Middle-The Bots and the Bees
[10:45AM] Malcolm in the Middle-Smunday
[11:15AM] Portlandia-Pull-Out King
[11:45AM] Portlandia-Spyke Drives
[12:15PM] Portlandia-Bahama Knights
[12:45PM] Portlandia-Trailblazers
[1:15PM] Monty Python's the Meaning of Life
[3:45PM] Gentlemen Broncos
[5:45PM] Cheech and Chong: Get Out of My Room
[7:00PM] Cheech & Chong's Next Movie
[9:00PM] Cheech & Chong Still Smokin'
[11:00PM] Portlandia-Late in Life Drug Use
[11:30PM] Portlandia-Baseball
[12:00AM] Cheech & Chong Still Smokin'
[2:00AM] Cheech & Chong's Next Movie
[4:00AM] Cheech and Chong: Get Out of My Room
[5:15AM] Portlandia-Late in Life Drug Use
[5:45AM] Whitest Kids U'Know (ALL TIMES EST)
Sundance -
[6:00AM] The Lucky Ones
[8:15AM] Rising Sun
[11:00AM] Tenderness
[1:15PM] Superman: The Movie
[4:30PM] Hard Eight
[6:45PM] Jackie Brown
[10:00PM] The Wild Bunch
[1:15AM] Repo Man
[3:15AM] Blue Velvet (ALL TIMES EST)
SyFy has the movie 'Paul', followed by the movie 'Men In Black'.
Retired professional boxer Mike Tyson and his son Miguel attend the "Champs" Tribeca Talks after screening event, during the 2014 Tribeca Film Festival, at the SVA Theatre on Saturday, April 19, 2014 in New York.
Photo by Evan Agostini
New Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Linda Ronstadt roars back onto the Billboard 200, as her new compilation "Duets" debuts at No. 32. The bow instantly grants Ronstadt her highest-charting album since 1990.
The multi-genre performer last charted higher with "Cry Like a Rainstorm, Howl Like the Wind" (featuring Aaron Neville), which peaked at No. 7 on March 17, 1990. That set spawned three hit singles with Neville on the Billboard Hot 100, including the smash No. 2 ballad "Don't Know Much." It also produced the No. 11 hit "All My Life" and her so-far final Hot 100 entry, "When Something Is Wrong With My Baby," which topped out at No. 78. ("Much" and "Life" each topped Adult Contemporary, while "Baby" rose to No. 5.)
The new compilation includes "Much" and boasts collaborations with Don Henley, Bette Midler, Frank Sinatra, Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris. Her 1987 No. 2 Hot 100 hit with James Ingram, "Somewhere Out There," is also on the set. One previously-unreleased cut rounds out the 15-song collection: "Pretty Bird," with Laurie Lewis.
The new Billboard 200 chart feat and Rock Hall induction comes at a time of crossroads for the singer, who announced in 2013 that she is unable to sing because of Parkinson's disease. Still, "Duets" is her 35th charting album, stretching back to 1970's "Silk Purse," which hit No. 103. She's scored 10 Billboard 200 top 10s, including three No. 1s: "Heart Like a Wheel" (1975), "Simple Dreams" (1977) and "Living in the USA" (1978).
Hundreds of counter-protesters line the street in response to a protest by anti-gay Westboro Baptist Church members at the funeral for William Corporon and his grandson Reat Underwood at the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas April 18, 2014. Both were killed in shootings at the Jewish Community Center and another victim was killed at the nearby Village Shalom, an assisted living center, on Palm Sunday, April 13, 2014.
Photo by Dave Kaup
Charlotte van den Berg was a 20-year-old college student working part-time in Amsterdam's city archives when she and other interns came across a shocking find: letters from Jewish Holocaust survivors complaining that the city was forcing them to pay back taxes and late payment fines on property seized after they were deported to Nazi death camps.
How, the survivors asked, could they be on the hook for taxes due while Hitler's regime was trying to exterminate them? A typical response was: "The base fees and the fines for late payment must be satisfied, regardless of whether a third party, legally empowered or not, has for some time held the title to the building."
Following her discovery in 2011, Van den Berg waged a lonely fight against Amsterdam's modern bureaucracy to have the travesty publicly recognized. Now, largely due to her efforts, Amsterdam officials are considering compensating Holocaust survivors for the taxes and possibly other obligations, including gas bills, they were forced to pay for homes that were occupied by Nazis or collaborators while the rightful owners were in hiding or awaiting death in the camps.
An unpublished review of those files by the Netherlands' Institute of War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies - or NIOD - found 217 cases in which the city demanded that returning Jews pay the taxes and penalty fees for getting behind in their payments.
Two Dutch newspapers, Het Parool and De Telegraaf, have received leaked copies of the report and published its conclusions. The report found that the city's top lawyer advised politicians of the time not to enforce the fines, but the recommendation was rejected. Politicians worried granting one claim might lead to more.
"Saturday Night Live" plans a blowout 40th birthday party - a three-hour live special that will air on Sunday, Feb. 15, 2015 and include a huge reunion of former cast members.
The list of returning Not Ready for Primetime Players, as well as special and musical guests from the show's run, will be announced in the coming months.
The show has won 40 Emmy Awards, the most in television history. "SNL" also holds the title for the most-nominated television show in Emmy history with 171 nods. It has been honored twice, in 1990 and 2009, with the prestigious George Foster Peabody Award and cited as "truly a national institution."
Broadcast live from NBC's famed Studio 8H in New York City's Rockefeller Center, "Saturday Night Live" premiered Oct. 11, 1975. It is a production of Broadway Video in association with SNL Studios.
People watch a Easter bonfire next to the river Elbe in Hamburg, Germany, 19 April 2014. According to pagan belief, the Easter fire banishes the evil spirits of Winter.
Photo by Bodo Marks
You can trace the genetic makeup of most corn grown in the U.S., and in many other places around the world, to Hawaii.
The tiny island state 2,500 miles from the nearest continent is so critical to the nation's modern corn-growing business that the industry's leading companies all have farms here, growing new varieties genetically engineered for desirable traits like insect and drought resistance.
But these same farms have become a flash point in a spreading debate over genetic engineering in agriculture.
Kauai and Hawaii counties have moved in the past several months to regulate genetically modified organisms and the pesticides the farms use. In Maui County, a group is collecting signatures for a potential ballot measure that would impose a temporary ban on the crops.
Seed companies with Kauai operations - Syngenta, Pioneer, BASF and Agrigentics - have sued the county to stop the law, saying they are already regulated by state and federal laws and there is no need for additional county rules.
A veteran Fox executive who used her company email account to plan aid for loved ones of the missing Malaysian airplane's passengers has been fired.
Darlene Tipton, who was vice president of standards and practices for the Fox Cable Networks Group, said Saturday she had wanted to arrange swift financial aid to families and other loved ones, sparing them lengthy court fights. She said she began by emailing Sarah Bajc, an American whose boyfriend, Philip Wood, was a passenger on Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 and who has made frequent TV appearances since the plane's March 8 disappearance.
Fox spokesman Scott Grogin said Tipton's "conduct and communications" violated company policy. Citing privacy concerns, he declined to discuss particulars, but he said, "As soon as we became aware, we took appropriate steps." He confirmed that Tipton has left the company.
Tipton was with Fox for a quarter-century before her April 9 dismissal. She said she plans to continue with her initiative, soliciting contributions through the crowdfunding website GoFundMe.
A condition of accepting the money she hopes to raise: Recipients must waive the right to seek legal remedy.
Transgender Indians gather to celebrate Tuesday's landmark verdict recognizing transgender rights as human rights, saying people can identify themselves as a third gender on official documents, in New Delhi, India, Saturday, April 19, 2014. The Supreme Court directed the federal and state governments to include transgender people in all welfare programs for the poor, including education, health care and jobs to help them overcome social and economic challenges. Previously, transgender Indians could only identify themselves as male or female in all official documents. Placard, center, reads "This is just the beginning. Transgenders are with LGB."
Photo by Tsering Topgyal
The head of Egypt's censorship board has resigned after the country's prime minister overruled his decision to allow a film starring a sultry Lebanese singer to be shown.
The film, titled "Roh's Sweetness," had already been in theaters for over a week. It tells the story of a married woman whose husband is abroad and lives with a relative in a poor neighborhood where she becomes an object of desire and sexual obsession for men.
Ahmed Awad, undersecretary to the culture minister and head of the censorship authority, told The Associated Press on Saturday that he had submitted his resignation Thursday morning in response to Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab's decision to stop the film from being shown. The censorship board is meant to be an independent body that gives the final say on whether a movie can be seen by Egyptian audiences.
Mahlab said he stopped the film from being shown in response to calls from the National Council for Motherhood and Childhood and "to preserve the morals of our children." Lebanese sex symbol Haifa Wehbe plays the lead character in the film and has a young boy infatuated with her. Also in the film, her character is raped.
A couple walks near a sand sculpture that depicts the scene of "The Kiss of Judas" during Holy Week celebrations in Arenal de Cochiraya, on the outskirts of Oruro April 18, 2014. Hundreds of artists and art students gathered for the annual Good Friday event to build sand sculptures based on Biblical stories.
Photo by David Mercado
There's a controversial debate within the medical community over whether doctors should consider the cost of a treatment as well as its effectiveness. Supporters say doctors can't ignore the rising costs of health care, and detractors call it bedside rationing, The New York Times reports on Friday.
A task force within the American Society of Clinical Oncology announced that it "is weighing efficacy, side effects and price using an algorithm to determine the relative value of drugs," using a system that will be available for public comment, according to Bloomberg. The Times writes that the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association also plan to factor in cost when they rank treatments in their practice guidelines and performance standards. The result is that some doctors might choose one drug over another, which might mean savings for patients in the long run. That's what the Society of Oncology is arguing. "Cancer is one of the primary reasons families go bankrupt today," said Gary Lyman, an oncologist and member of the task force, told Bloomberg. "We want to make sure families understand both the benefits of what we can do, and the financial impact."
There are also doctors who think this is a horrible idea. Critics of doctors considering costs argue that deciding if some treatments are too expensive, "at the end of life, for example," noted the Times, is rationing. People who pay attention to budgets shouldn't be the same people who actually treat people, Dr. Martin A. Samuels, who chairs the neurology department at a Boston hospital, told the Times. Patients will lose trust in their doctors, he says. And there's some evidence for that: Obamacare's small attempt to cut costs within Medicare was quickly labelled a grandmother-killing death panel.
A Muslim pilgrim holds his eye open as he performs inside the shrine of Muslim saint Shah-e-Alam during Urs, in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad April 19, 2014. Urs is an annual festival held for 10 days to mark the death anniversary of the Muslim saint in the city.
Photo by Amit Dave
A man who helped himself to a refill of his 89-cent drink at a Veterans Affairs hospital found it cost a lot more than he expected when he was fined $525.
WCSC-TV reports there are signs in the cafeteria telling people refills are not free. When Christopher Lewis of North Charleston, S.C., refilled his drink without paying Wednesday, a federal police officer gave him a ticket.
Lewis is a construction worker and says he never noticed the signs and has refilled his drink without paying before.
The medical center said in a statement that Lewis was ticketed for shoplifting, but that the VA doesn't determine the amount of the fine.
Kites are flown over the sands during the 28th International kite festival in Berck, northern France, Friday, April 18, 2014. Kite-flyers from different countries participated in the festival. The International Kite Festival is organised in Berck-sur-Mer every April in front of some 600,000 spectators during 10 days.
Photo by Michel Spingler
A mountain lion that appeared strong and healthy when it was photographed as it ruled a wilderness park in the middle of Los Angeles has been exposed to rat poison and is suffering from mange, officials said.
Scientists noticed the big cat known as P-22 was sickly when they recaptured it last month to replace batteries in its GPS tracking collar, National Park Service spokeswoman Kate Kuykendall said Thursday.
Tests revealed the animal had been exposed to anti-coagulant rodenticide, commonly known as rat poison, and was suffering from mange, a parasitic disease of the hair and skin.
P-22 was treated and returned to the 4,300-acre Griffith Park, where it continues to successfully hunt its natural prey of mule deer. Biologists said it's unclear whether the cat will fully recover.
The connection between exposure to anti-coagulant rodenticide and mange is still not fully understood, researchers said. Mange in wild cats is rare and only two other mountain lions in the 12-year National Park Service study have developed mange - with both ultimately dying of rodenticide poisoning.
An European hare (Lepus europaeus) sits in a field near Reitwein, in the state of Brandenburg, Germany, 19 April 2014. The population of the primarily nocturnal animal declines since the 1960s, as reported.
Photo by Patrick Pleul
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