Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Anki (ichi2.net)
Free. Anki is a program which makes remembering things easy. Because it is a lot more efficient than traditional study methods, you can either greatly decrease your time spent studying, or greatly increase the amount you learn.
Chris Thompson: Meet the Economist Who Says the Government's Economic Numbers Are Lies (East Bay Express)
Establishment economists think John Williams' numbers are off. But then, most of them also thought the economy was healthy.
Daniel Gross: Back to Work (slate.com)
The new jobs report is great news. Why are economists still so glum?
CATHERINE RAMPELL: In Job Market Shift, Some Workers Are Left Behind (nytimes.com)
Many of the jobs lost during the recession are not coming back. Period.
PAMELA WHITE: MUCH ADO ABOUT MELONS (boulderweekly.com)
BOULDER'S TOPLESS GARDENER SPEAKS OUT ABOUT BREASTS, THE MEDIA AND WHY SHE WON'T PUT ON A SHIRT.
Mark Bittman: Diet and Exercise to the Extremes (nytimes.com)
I went running with Scott Jurek on a clear, chilly morning last month, an easy four-mile loop in Central Park. He ran another few miles with 50 or so adoring fans, then another few by himself, for a total of about 15. After that he showered and came to my house to cook lunch before going for a late-afternoon jog of another 10 miles or so.
"The Dead Republic" by Roddy Doyle: A review by Jeff Baker
There's a long fight scene in The Quiet Man, John Ford's 1952 valentine to Ireland. John Wayne and Victor McLaglen fight their way through a village, stop for a drink, fight some more, and end as friends.
'Talking to teenagers was more terrifying than boxing' (guardian.co.uk/)
Chris Arnot meets the former boxing champion whose mission is to turn youngsters away from violence.
Interview by Laura Barnett: "Portrait of the artist: Macy Gray, singer" (guardian.co.uk)
'I like art that's provocative - art that inspires you to think, or dance, or have sex, or go out and get loaded.'
Jordan Levin: Argentine rock star Gustavo Cerati is a natural wonder (McClatchy Newspapers)
Argentine Gustavo Cerati was an international rock star 15 years before the world heard of Shakira or Juanes. He started in 1982 as the charismatic frontman and songwriter for Soda Stereo, the revered Buenos Aires band widely credited with kicking off rock in Latin America. When Soda broke up in 1997, Cerati went on to a successful solo career.
Hilary Rose: "What I've learnt: Nicholas Hoult" (timesonline.co.uk)
The actor shot to fame in 'About a Boy' and now has 'Skins' and 'A Single Man' under his belt. He shares his life lessons.
Alan Jackson: Cate Blanchett juggles blockbusters and babies (timesonline.co.uk)
We know her as one of the greatest actresses of her generation. But at home, she's a time-pressed mother of three.
The Weekly Poll
New Question
The 'Sympathy for the Devil' Edition...
Glen Beck(-elzebub) - or perhaps some unearthly entity clothed in Glenn Beck's skin - on Faux and Fiends, discussing the Miranda Rights of alleged Times Square car bomber Faisal Shahzad said… "He is a citizen of the United States, so I say we uphold the laws and the Constitution on citizens… If you are a citizen, you obey the law and follow the Constitution. He has all the rights under the Constitution… We don't shred the Constitution when it is popular. We do the right thing"...
You weren't expecting that, were you? I don't think anybody was...
Quote Unquote: Glenn Beck on Faisal Shahzad's Rights | Indecision Forever | Comedy Central
and Huff Post
Sooooooo....
Who among you has the courage to stand with Beck(-elzebub) and for the record
state that you agree with him on this issue?
(haha! This too delicious!)
I am SO Bad... totheboneBob
Send your response to
wrote:
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Two New Videos
[Darenet]
Links from RJ
Two-Fer
Hi
Two possible links for you this weekend,,,, thanks for taking a look!
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Marine layer hung on til mid-afternoon. Quite nice.
FBI Files
Walter Cronkite
Legendary CBS News anchor Walter Cronkite allegedly collaborated with anti-Vietnam War activists in the 1960s, going so far as to offer advice on how to raise the public profile of protests and even pledging CBS News resources to help pull off events, according to FBI documents obtained by Yahoo! News.
The documents, obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, say that in November 1969, Cronkite encouraged students at Rollins College in Winter Park, Fla., to invite Maine Sen. Edmund Muskie to address a protest they were planning near Cape Kennedy (now known as Cape Canaveral). Cronkite told the group's leader that Muskie would be nearby for a fundraiser on the day of the protest, and said that "CBS would rent [a] helicopter to take Muskie to and from site of rally," according to the documents.
The claims are contained in an FBI memo recounting a confidential informant's report on a November 1969 meeting of a Rollins College protest group called Youth for New America. The group was planning rallies near Cape Kennedy on Nov. 13 and 14 - the latter being day of the Apollo 12 launch from Cape Kennedy, which President Nixon would be attending - as part of a nationwide Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam. That protest action culminated in a huge march on Washington on Nov. 15.
The memo is included in 72 pages of FBI files pertaining to Cronkite that were recently released by the bureau. The FBI claimed late last year, two months after Cronkite's death in July 2009, that all its records on the newsman had been destroyed in 2007 - which raised suspicions that the FBI may have deliberately shredded embarrassing files on its surveillance of journalists during the Cold War. The new records appear to be from files that didn't focus specifically on Cronkite's activities but that included mentions of the newsman. Among the other incidents in the newly released documents are a 1966 criminal investigation into CBS News for allegedly airing obscene language during coverage of civil-rights unrest in Mississippi; applications for Cronkite and others to travel to Cuba and China; and surveillance files on subjects who met with or were interviewed by Cronkite.
Walter Cronkite
New School Tries To Revive Music
Afghanistan
From the outside, it looks like any other school in Kabul. A red two-story building is sealed off from the street by a high wall. A few trees stand in the front yard. Children constantly go in and out.
But listen carefully. When the noise of the traffic dies down, you can hear the gentle sounds of violins being played and the patter of drums. In this city where music was illegal less than a decade ago, a new generation of children is being raised to understand its joys.
The new National Institute of Music has been offering some courses for the past several months, but the formal opening will be later in May.
The school's aims: to revive long-neglected musical traditions, to stock schools with qualified teachers and, perhaps one day, to form the country's first symphony orchestra. Of the school's students - there are 150 now, though there will soon be 300 - half are either orphans or among the tens of thousands of children who spend their days working on Afghanistan's streets.
Afghanistan
So Bad...
"Troll 2"
Considering the extensive competition, many people will no doubt quibble with the assertion that the supremely cheesy horror flick "Troll 2" is indeed the "Best Worst Movie" of all time.
Filmmaker Michael Paul Stephenson, who made this documentary examining the cult phenomenon that has grown up around the misbegotten direct-to-video 1992 effort, has a very personal reason for making the claim. He appeared in it as a young child actor, and has been trying to live it down ever since.
Sure to be embraced by moviegoers even more fascinated by blazing failure than by success, this quirky doc will inevitably be paired with its inspiration for double bills at repertory theaters for many years to come. It opens in limited release on Friday
The documentary focuses mainly on George Hardy, who played a leading role in "Troll 2." Now a dentist with a successful practice in Alabama, the genial Hardy has clearly embraced his notoriety, appearing at fan conventions and at the many screenings that celebrate the movie's quintessential terribleness.
"Troll 2"
Baby News
Claudia Schiffer
German supermodel Claudia Schiffer and her husband, British film producer and director Matthew Vaughn, have welcomed their third child - a baby girl.
A statement released Saturday by the couple announced the birth of their daughter but did not say what they intended to name her.
The baby was born in a central London hospital Friday afternoon. The statement says the 39-year-old model and the baby "are doing well."
Schiffer and Vaughn married in 2002. They already have a 7-year-old son, Caspar, and 5-year-old daughter, Clementine.
Claudia Schiffer
Cooked Up Murder-For-Hire Plot
"Calorie Commando"
A former television chef and Food Network host is under arrest in an alleged murder-for-hire plot involving homeless people, Santa Monica police said.
Juan-Carlos Cruz, one-time host of "Calorie Commando," was arrested Thursday and booked on suspicion of solicitation to commit murder, Sgt. Jay Trisler said. He's scheduled to be arraigned on Monday.
Homeless people told the city's homeless liaison officers that Cruz asked them to kill someone, Trisler said. They agreed to help police investigate the alleged murder-for-hire plot.
Detectives discovered where, when and how the targeted individual was to be killed and how much money Cruz allegedly offered, Trisler said.
"Calorie Commando"
Ruling's Chilling Effect
P2P Services
A May 12 federal court ruling finding LimeWire and its founder/chairman, Mark Gorton, liable for copyright infringement is the latest in a string of high-profile legal victories against companies and individuals who facilitate peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing. But its practical importance in squelching illegal downloading is much murkier.
New York-based LimeWire claims to be "the world's most popular peer-to-peer file sharing program," and, if the major labels succeed in obtaining an injunction to disable the service, millions of users will see their spigot of free songs suddenly shut off.
But the labels won't be able to prevent users from quickly moving to other networks and software providers. To this day, the Pirate Bay, which has been found guilty by a Swedish court of facilitating infringement, encourages its visitors to "download music, movies, games, software and much more."
Still, key elements of U.S. District Court Judge Kimba Wood's ruling, which follows large jury awards that the labels won in 2009 against file-sharers Jammie Thomas-Rasset and Joel Tenenbaum, have potentially important implications for the recording industry's fight against online piracy.
P2P Services
Danger To African Elephant
Ivory Trade
Carefully, the Chinese ivory dealer pulled out an elephant tusk cloaked in bubble wrap and hidden in a bag of flour. Its price: $17,000.
"Do you have any idea how many years I could get locked away in prison for having this?" said the dealer, a short man in his 40s, who gave his name as Chen.
A surge in demand for ivory in Asia is fuelling an illicit trade in elephant tusks, especially from Africa. Over the past eight years, the price of ivory has gone up from about $100 per kilogram ($100 per 2.2 pounds) to $1,800, creating a lucrative black market.
Experts warn that if the trade is not stopped, elephant populations could dramatically plummet. The elephants could be nearly extinct by 2020, some activists say. Sierra Leone lost its last elephants in December, and Senegal has fewer than 10 left.
Ivory Trade
Bones Found?
Caravaggio
Italian researchers said Friday that they may be close to identifying the remains of Caravaggio, the great Italian painter whose death 400 years ago is shrouded in mystery.
The researchers have dug up and studied bones found in a Tuscan town where Caravaggio died in 1610. According to results of carbon dating and other analyses released Friday, one set of bones is compatible with Caravaggio's remains. The bones belonged to a man who died in the same period as the artist at an age between 37 and 45.
Michelangelo Merisi - known as Caravaggio after his hometown - died at 39.
Caravaggio died in Porto Ercole, a beach town on the Tuscan coast. His death after a dissolute life of street brawls, affairs with prostitutes and even murder, remains an enigma. To this day, his remains are officially missing.
Caravaggio
Latam Art Sale
Diego Rivera
A painting by Mexican artist Diego Rivera that has not been seen in public for more than 50 years and works by some of Latin America's biggest artists will be up sold at auction later this month.
The sale at Sotheby's will feature a total of 245 pieces, including Wilfredo Lam's "Sur Les Traces", which could fetch up to $1.8 million and "The Ordeal of Owain" by British painter Leonora Carrington who now lives in Mexico. It has an estimated sale price of $600,000 to $800,000.
Two works by Rivera, a painter and muralist, will be featured in the sale including "Tejedora y los Ninos", or Weaver and Children, which had been held in a private collection for more than half a century.
It glorifies Mexico's indigenous culture and has an estimated sale price of $1.3 million, according to Sotheby's. But it is considered part of Mexico's national patrimony so it can never leave the country and must be sold to a collector residing in Mexico.
Diego Rivera
Being Bad at Relationships Is Good
Survival
Feeling happy and secure in our relationships is a goal many people strive for, but in times of need the emotionally insecure partners may be doing us a favor by being more alert to possible danger.
Evolution may have shaped us to consist of groups of emotionally secure and insecure individuals, researchers write in the March issue of the journal Perspectives on Psychological Science.
When faced with threats to close personal relationships, people react in different ways according to their sense of whether the world is a secure place. The same reaction styles also cause people to be more or less attuned to dangers of all kinds.
Evolution would have favored a mix of these so-called attachment styles if mixed groups were more likely to survive than groups of only secure or only insecure individuals.
Survival
Photo Phobic
Black Bear
A man was bitten as he was trying to take a picture of a black bear in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, but the injury was minor and did not require medical attention.
The National Park Service said in a release the unidentified man suffered a small puncture wound on his foot after he was bitten on the Laurel Falls Trail to the south of Gatlinburg, Tenn., on Wednesday.
Wildlife biologists captured a 60-pound female bear that visitors reported seeing near the trail. As a matter of park policy, bears that have contact or injure people are euthanized.
Black Bear
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