Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Suzanne Moore: Why do we take economists so seriously? (Guardian)
They have no foresight, no hindsight, and little humanity. Are they really the best people to lead us out of this crisis?
Patrick Barkham: How to become an ebook superstar (Guardian)
A growing number of ambitious authors are turning to self-publishing. But how do they translate their aspirations into success?
Alison Flood: "Stop the press: half of self-published authors earn less than $500" (Guardian)
Comprehensive survey of DIY writers suggests that despite a few high-profile successes most authors struggle to sell.
LAURA KIPNIS: Papa Paparazzo (Bookforum)
A gilt-edged tribute to the Godfather of celebrity photography.
Patrick Barkham: One face, but two sides of a story (Guardian)
Truck driver William McElligott's face is a graphic illustration of the damaging effects of the sun.
How the internet killed porn (Guardian)
It's 15 years since Louis Theroux turned the TV cameras on to the US porn industry. Now he is revisiting it to see if anything has changed - and he finds a business in crisis.
ESTHER INGLIS-ARKELL: "People Who Survived Brushes With Death (And How They Did It)" (io9)
TV and movies are full of people who suffer "mortal" wounds and then get up and keep fighting for another half hour. (Like Buffy in the 'Buffy' series finale.) This always seems amazingly unrealistic. But actually in real life, lots of people survive apparently fatal injuries, and walk away.
Jenny Holzer: drawn to the dark side (Guardian)
Jenny Holzer's stark, often shocking slogans have graced T-shirts, posters, LEDs and even condoms. As a show of her early work opens, the US artist tells Stuart Jeffries why she's drawn to dreadful things.
David Bruce has 42 Kindle books on Amazon.com with 250 anecdotes in each book. Each book is $1, so for $42 you can buy 10,500 anecdotes. Search for "Funniest People," "Coolest People, "Most Interesting People," "Kindest People," "Religious Anecdotes," "Maximum Cool," and "Resist Psychic Death."
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Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sun finally popped out mid-afternoon.
Citizens Unite
TV Spending
Independent Republican groups are heavily outspending their cross-party counterparts on television advertising in the campaigns for the White House and control of the Senate, eating into President Barack Obama's financial advantage over Mitt Romney and prompting expressions of alarm from top congressional Democrats.
The disparity is most evident in the race for the White House, where Crossroads GPS, Restore Our Future and other organizations aligned with the Republicans spent nearly $37 million on TV ads through the first few days of June, most of it attacking Obama. That compares with about $11 million by groups supporting the president, with much of it from Priorities USA Action.
Senate campaigns also have been affected, notably in Ohio, where Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown's commanding lead in the polls began to erode this spring after the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and others started a televised attack. Overall, Republican-aligned organizations have spent roughly $30 million on ads in key races, compared with about $11 million for groups supporting Democrats.
Outside groups have allowed Romney to remain competitive in the television ads wars while restocking a treasury that was depleted during the battle for the Republican nomination. It also raises the possibility that Obama, the Democratic Party and allied groups will be outspent by a combination of Romney, the GOP and allied organizations, erasing an advantage the president had in 2008.
TV Spending
Sunday Auction
Annie Oakley
Relatives of legendary sharpshooter Annie Oakley are offering up a collection of items - including her Stetson hat, guns, letters and photographs - in an auction that one expert says hits the mark for its breadth and sentimental value.
On Sunday, Heritage Auctions will offer up about 100 Oakley-related items in Dallas, including a 12-gauge Parker Brothers shotgun that is expected to fetch about $100,000. Two Marlin .22 caliber rifles are expected to sell for more than $20,000 each.
Oakley gained fame in the 1880s and 1890s for her shooting skills as a performer in Buffalo Bill's Wild West show. She died in 1926 at the age of 66, but has remained a pop culture icon.
The items are being offered up by Oakley's great-grandnieces - sisters Tommye Tait and Terrye Holcomb of California. They inherited the items from their mother, Billie Butler Serene, who died in 2009 at the age of 95.
Serene was raised by her grandparents, and her grandfather, William Butler, was the brother of Oakley's husband, Frank Butler, a marksman who became Oakley's manager. Oakley and Frank Butler frequently visited and Oakley taught Serene how to handle a gun.
Annie Oakley
'You're Not Special'
David McCullough Jr.
Dressed in graduation robes, the class of 2012 at Wellesley High School, in a wealthy and elite nook of suburban Massachusetts, sat in their seats listening to their English teacher tell them what they didn't want to hear: "You're not special," David McCullough Jr. told them. "Astrophysicists assure us the universe has no center; therefore, you cannot be it."
"You've been pampered, cosseted, doted upon, helmeted, bubble-wrapped," he told the affluent audience of future college campus overachievers. "Yes, capable adults with other things to do have held you, kissed you, fed you, wiped your mouth, wiped your bottom, trained you, taught you, tutored you, coached you, listened to you, counseled you, encouraged you, consoled you and encouraged you again. You've been nudged, cajoled, wheedled and implored. You've been feted and fawned over and called sweetie pie. Yes, you have. And, certainly, we've been to your games, your plays, your recitals, your science fairs."
"Absolutely, smiles ignite when you walk into a room, and hundreds gasp with delight at your every tweet. … But do not get the idea you're anything special. Because you're not."
The Huffington Post reported that the hip teacher is fond of making newsworthy commencement speeches. In 2006 he told the graduating class to "carpe the heck out of every diem."
David McCullough Jr.
You Just Don't Hear Anymore
Tech Sounds
As we move toward an age of quiet gadgets that do everything possible not to get in our way, we're losing our appreciation for all the magic under the hood. Not long ago, the sounds our devices made reminded us that they were doing something truly important, whether that task was connecting us to the Internet or bringing us back to the beginning of our favorite VHS movies
A child born today has a greater chance of hearing a real cloned dinosaur roar than a busy signal. But for those of us who lived through the beginning of the PC revolution, these 13 tech sounds will always be hardcoded into our memories.
The Whir of a Floppy Disk Drive
Dial-up Modem Handshake
Dial Tone
For the rest - Tech Sounds
Megachurch Pastor Arrested for Battery
Creflo Dollar
Megachurch pastor Creflo Dollar is expected to preach on Sunday, in spite of a physical fight with his daughter that led to his arrest, his attorney said.
Fayette County Sheriff's Deputies arrived at Dollar's Atlanta home around 1 a.m. Friday after they received a domestic violence call from the pastor's 15-year-old daughter, authorities said. A fight over whether the daughter could attend a party turned physical, authorities said.
A witness told deputies Dollar, 50, grabbed his daughter by her throat and choked her, causing a scratch on her neck, ABC News' Atlanta affiliate WSB reported.
Dollar faces misdemeanor charges of simple battery and cruelty to children. He posted a $5,000 bond and was released Friday morning.
Creflo Dollar
Responds To Tax Charges
Lauryn Hill
Reclusive singer Lauryn Hill said in an Internet posting Friday that she hasn't paid taxes since she withdrew from society to guarantee the safety and well-being of herself and her family.
The eight-time Grammy Award winner and South Orange, N.J., resident was charged this week with willfully failing to file income tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service. Federal prosecutors said she didn't pay taxes on more than $1.5 million earned in 2005, 2006 and 2007 from recording and film royalties.
Hill responded to the federal charges in a lengthy post on her Tumblr page Friday. She described how she has rejected pop culture's "climate of hostility, false entitlement, manipulation, racial prejudice, sexism and ageism."
She said in her online post that she explained herself to authorities when she was questioned by authorities about her failure to pay taxes.
"My intention has always been to get this situation rectified. When I was working consistently without being affected by the interferences mentioned above, I filed and paid my taxes," she wrote. "This only stopped when it was necessary to withdraw from society, in order to guarantee the safety and well-being of myself and my family."
Lauryn Hill
Conservatives Are Alike All Over
Egypt
A mob of hundreds of men assaulted women holding a march demanding an end to sexual harassment Friday, with the attackers overwhelming the male guardians and groping and molesting several of the female marchers in Cairo's Tahrir Square.
From the ferocity of the assault, some of the victims said it appeared to have been an organized attempt to drive women out of demonstrations and trample on the pro-democracy protest movement.
The attack follows smaller scale assaults on women this week in Tahrir, the epicenter of the uprising that forced Hosni Mubarak to step down last year. Thousands have been gathering in the square this week in protests over a variety of issues - mainly over worries that presidential elections this month will secure the continued rule by elements of Mubarak's regime backed by the ruling military.
Friday's march was called to demand an end to sexual assaults. Around 50 women participated, surrounded by a larger group of male supporters who joined to hands to form a protective ring around them. The protesters carried posters saying, "The people want to cut the hand of the sexual harasser," and chanted, "The Egyptian girl says it loudly, harassment is barbaric."
After the marchers entered a crowded corner of the square, a group of men waded into the women, heckling them and groping them. The male supporters tried to fend them off, and it turned into a melee involving a mob of hundreds.
Egypt
New Allegations Against ABC
CBS
Attorneys for CBS Corp. claim the producer of an upcoming ABC reality series copied materials from his time on "Big Brother" and deleted emails that could have proved important in a case over whether the new show should be allowed to air.
The allegations were included in a filing Thursday that asked a federal judge to block the June 18 premiere of ABC's "The Glass House." CBS claims the series copies heavily from its hit show "Big Brother" and relies on experience and techniques used on that long-running series.
CBS' case focuses heavily on the notion that ABC is relying on the experience of roughly 30 former "Big Brother" staffers now working at "Glass House," including Executive Producer Kenny Rosen.
Rosen acknowledged in a recent deposition that he deleted emails after ABC had been warned by CBS that it would be sued, court documents said. It also alleges that Rosen directed a staffer to copy manuals he obtained while working on "Big Brother."
That would violate a non-disclosure agreement Rosen signed while working with CBS and could be a basis for blocking ABC from airing "Glass House," CBS' attorneys argue.
CBS
Plans Drawing Fire
Oreos
One hundred years after the introduction of the Oreo, an expansion plan at the iconic cookie's New York City birthplace has left a bitter taste in the mouths of its neighbors.
Community activists say the two new towers that developer Jamestown Properties wants to affix to the historic factory known as Chelsea Market would be eyesores and would increase traffic and congestion.
But the company that bought a majority stake in Chelsea Market in 2003 says the block-long complex - home to the Food Network, Google and a tourist-friendly ground-floor food mall - must grow if it is to thrive.
Jamestown's plan to mount a new 250-foot (75-meter) box-like structure atop Chelsea Market's western section and a similar 150-foot (45-meter) structure on the eastern side is going through an approval process that will likely end with a City Council vote later this year.
Foodies outside New York may know Chelsea Market from cable TV shows like "Chopped" and "Food Network Stars" that are shot there. Its soup-to-nuts retail shops sell live lobsters, imported pasta and high-end cupcakes.
Oreos
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