Froma Harrop: Stop the Hysteria Over NSA Surveillance (Creators Syndicate)
During the 2001 assault on the World Trade Center, I was trapped in a train under Manhattan for hours. As news of the collapsing towers, the attack on the Pentagon and the crash in Pennsylvania filtered down to the passengers, the conductor kept telling us this tunnel was the safest place we could be. Meanwhile, the tunnels were being searched for explosives.
Marc Dion: The Key to Success (Creators Syndicate)
Drove to the dentist. Bad news. Tooth shot. Need dental implant at a cost of $3,000. Insurance will pay $1,500. I have $1,000. Will get remaining $500 from tooth fairy.
Paul Krugman: Unacceptable Prejudices (New York Times Blog)
And let's be clear: while there's a lot of conformity and hypocrisy involved in such changes, they are nonetheless good things. Yes, if you remember the Civil Rights movement and the real Martin Luther King, seeing MLK turned into a cuddly, universally loved figure, celebrated in airline magazines, is a bit disturbing. But hypocrisy is the tribute vice pays to virtue and all that; every time a vile prejudice becomes socially unacceptable, our society gets a bit better.
Scott Burns: TV is Dead, Long Live TV (ASsetBuilder)
Consider the Burns household. When it comes to TV we find ourselves in what psychologists call a "double avoidance" situation. Instead of being in a tunnel facing a man with a whip at one end and a rabid dog at the other, we face scrolling through the many channels of cable TV that are unworthy of our time. The alternative is going to Netflix and scrolling through the multitude of movies we would regret seeing.
Richie Ryan, Dustin Koski, and Evan V. Symon: 6 Books That Destroy Your Image of the People Who Wrote Them (Cracked)
Sometimes the name of the author tells you everything you need to know about a book: If you see the words "Stephen King" on the cover, you know it's gonna be creepy as hell and set in New England, and if you see "Nicholas Sparks," you know there's smooching inside, and that there'll be a shitty movie of it in two years. But then you find out that J.K. Rowling secretly wrote a detective novel and everybody loses their shit.
Rohan Ramakrishnan: 5 Authors More Badass Than The Badass Character They Created (Cracked)
When you read a story of a manly hero slaying a dragon and then bedding the princess, it's easy to imagine there's a 300-pound author sitting behind the typewriter in a tiny apartment full of cats. After all, fiction is all about escaping our real life, right? Not always. In fact, if you look at the authors behind some of the most iconic heroes of all time, you find a writer who's every bit as badass. Not only did these guys insert elements from their actual lives into the stories, they actually toned them down a bit.
Flip Wilson, whose character, the female Geraldine, originated the catchphrases "What you see is what you get" and "The devil made me do it". Geraldine would often use them to excuse her quirky behavior. Wilson and his alter ego had their own variety show in the early '70s.
Source
Alan J was first, and correct, with:
Flip Wilson
ekimtod said:
That would be Flip Wilson
mj wrote:
Geraldine
Wast the flip side of Flip Wilson.
I will never stop laughing at Roman Herman's berry.
Note on yesterday's trivia question
I was traveling, so I missed it. In an early episode of NCIS, agent Kate Todd (Sasha Alexander) asks group leader Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon) what Donal "Ducky" Mallard (David McCallum ~70) looked like when he was younger. Gibbs responded Illya Kuryakin. Damn I had a huge crush on that guy.
Charlie replied:
Flip Wilson
Jim from CA, retired to ID, responded:
Flip Wilson
Adam answered:
Without peeking, I'd say Flip Wilson.
Sally said:
Geraldine Jones, known for the catchphrases "What you see is what you get," and, "The devil made me do it," was the alter-ego of (Jersey guy) Flip Wilson!! So easy, I didn't even have to look it up!
Sammy Davis Jr and Geraldine Jones (Clerow Wilson, Jr.)! Loved his show!!
PS: I had a real miracle here yesterday afternoon. About 10 minutes before the men arrived to install my storm door, the sun came out from a day-long rain! It took about an hour to put the door in, and shortly afterwards, the rain returned!! PTL!!
Marian is off on an adventure.
Dale of Cascading Diamond Springs, Norcali, took the day off.
MAM wrote:
Flip Wilson
BttbBob replied:
And the softballs keep-on-a-commin'!... Flip Wilson, o' course...
~~~~~
IMO Moment - I hold Carl Sagan's legacy in high esteem. Indeed, I have read his "Cosmos" and avidly viewed the TV series. But, when contemplating his "speck of dust" quote, I'll borrow Bart's, "Objection! Assumes facts not in evidence!" interjection. Ol' Carl was a pretty smart guy, dontcha know, but I'm not sure how he could presume to speak for the ETI community as to what extent or where their interests may lie (Unless, of course, he had direct contact and was thus informed. I mean, like I always say, "Ya never know!"). Sagan also said, "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence". Yet, where's that evidence behind his "speck of dust" claim? However, one can turn it around, too, when it comes to claims of ETI visitation to Terra. All those claims are anecdotal and subjective with nothing at all proved. Some, though, are pretty darn interesting, to be sure... Now, as to our interests, I submit for your approval:
Most Amazing Hubble Space Telescope Discoveries | Space.com (please see #3) A question: If'n we could figure out a way to get there, dontcha think we'd go see what's what? Basic human nature, I believe with some confidence, is one of exploration and expansion into the unknown with the often motive (face it) of acquiring for our own use what is there that is utile (Whether it belongs to someone else, or not. That's never been a hindrance throughout the ages). So, if we can believe (as I do) that we are not alone in the cosmos, then I think that we can safely surmise that some of our desires and motives are not unique as well... If I were an ET (and maybe I am, eh? Again, ya never know!), I'd sure want to check out that ol' "Pale Blue Dot" if'n I stumbled across it or espied it from a distance and go check out what makes it so blue if'n I could... Curiosity could well be a universal constant...
Or not... The choice is yours to make.
~~~~~
Happy Birthday this day to:
Born this day:
Alex Haley (1921-1992) Author and career US Coastguardsman of no small note. Enlisting as a Mess Attendant/Steward in 1939 (one of the few ratings that were allowed Blacks in the sea-services then) he developed his superb writing abilities, which became well known, while at sea during WWII. He petitioned and was allowed to become a Journalist Petty Officer in 1949 and was the first ever CG Chief Petty Officer in that rating. The CG has an award named for him that is given yearly to the top "Public Affairs Specialist" as they are called now. He is also honored by the CG most significantly by this...
CBS starts the night with '60 Minutes', followed by a FRESH'Big Brother', then a FRESH'Unforgettable', followed by a RERUN'The Mentalist'.
NBC opens the night with a RERUN'America's Got Talent', followed by a RERUN'L&O: SVU', then a FRESH'Crossing Lines'.
ABC begins the night with a RERUN'America's So-Called Funniest Home Videos', followed by a FRESH'Secret Millionaire', then a FRESH'Whodunnit?', followed by a RERUN'Castle'.
The CW fills the night with what passes for local news and other fluffery.
Faux has a RERUN'Family Guy', followed by another RERUN'Family Guy', then the FRESH'Teen Choice 2013'.
MY has an old 'How I Met Your Mother', followed by another old 'How I Met Your Mother', then an old 'Big Bang Theory', followed by another old 'Big Bang Theory', then still another old 'Big Bang Theory', followed by yet another old 'Big Bang Theory'.
A&E has 3 hours of old 'Duck Dynasty', followed by a FRESH'Bad Ink', then another FRESH'Bad Ink'.
AMC offers 'Breaking Bad', another 'Breaking Bad', followed by the SEASON PREMIERE'Breaking Bad', then the SERIES PREMIERE'Low Winter Sun'.
BBC -
[6:00AM] TOP GEAR: BEST OF 10-11 - Episode 1
[7:00AM] TOP GEAR: BEST OF 10-11 - Episode 2
[8:00AM] FLORIDA ADVENTURE WITH DOMINIC BONUCCELLI NEW
[9:00AM] CROCODILE: SMILING PREDATOR
[10:00AM] RAMSAY'S KITCHEN NIGHTMARES US - Season 1 - Ep 3 - Sebastian's
[11:00AM] RAMSAY'S KITCHEN NIGHTMARES US - Season 3 - Ep 8 - Lido Di Manhattan Beach
[12:00PM] RAMSAY'S KITCHEN NIGHTMARES UK - Season 4 - Ep 3 - The Priory
[1:00PM] TOP GEAR - Season 13 - Episode 3
[2:00PM] DANGERMAN: THE INCREDIBLE MR. GOODWIN - Season 1 - Episode 5
[3:00PM] TOP GEAR APOCALYPSE
[4:30PM] CONAN THE BARBARIAN (1982)
[7:00PM] THE CROW
[9:00PM] 28 DAYS LATER
[11:30PM] 28 DAYS LATER
[2:00AM] THE CROW
[4:00AM] TOP GEAR: BEST OF 10-11 - Episode 1
[5:00AM] TOP GEAR: BEST OF 10-11 - Episode 2 (ALL TIMES EST)
Bravo has 'Real Housewives Of NJ', followed by a FRESH'Real Housewives Of NJ', then a FRESH'Eat, Drink, Love', and another 'Real Housewives Of NJ'.
Comedy Central has the movie 'Get Him To The Greek', followed by the movie 'Role Models', 'Futurama', and 'Tosh.0'.
FX has the movie 'Just Go With It', followed by the movie 'Something Borrowed', then the movie 'Something Borrowed', again.
History has 'Mountain Men', another 'Mountain Men', followed by a FRESH'Mountain Men', then a FRESH'Ice Road Truckers'.
IFC -
[6:00AM] Comedy Bang! Bang!-Andy Samberg Wears a Plaid Shirt and Glasses
[6:30AM] Comedy Bang! Bang!-Aziz Ansari Wears a Charcoal Blazer
[7:00AM] Bride & Prejudice
[9:30AM] Dilbert-Charity
[10:00AM] Dilbert-Holiday
[10:30AM] Dilbert-The Infomercial
[11:00AM] Dilbert-The Gift
[11:30AM] Dilbert-The Shroud of Wally
[12:00PM] Arrested Development-Key Decisions
[12:30PM] Arrested Development-Visiting Ours
[1:00PM] Arrested Development-Charity Drive
[1:30PM] Arrested Development-My Mother the Car
[2:00PM] Comedy Bang! Bang!-Andy Samberg Wears a Plaid Shirt and Glasses
[2:30PM] Comedy Bang! Bang!-Aziz Ansari Wears a Charcoal Blazer
[3:00PM] Comedy Bang! Bang!-Anna Kendrick Wears a Patterned Blouse & Burgundy Pants
[3:30PM] Comedy Bang! Bang!-David Cross Wears a Red Polo Shirt and Brown Shoes with Red Laces
[4:00PM] City Slickers
[6:30PM] The Transporter
[8:30PM] Blade Runner
[11:00PM] Comedy Bang! Bang!-Zoe Saldana Wears a Tan Blouse and Glasses
[11:30PM] Comedy Bang! Bang!-Michael Cera Wears a Blue Denim Shirt & Red Pants
[12:00AM] House of 1000 Corpses
[2:00AM] Dance of the Dead
[3:45AM] House of 1000 Corpses
[5:45AM] Whitest Kids U'Know (ALL TIMES EST)
Sundance -
[6:00AM] Being John Malkovich
[8:00AM] You Can Count on Me
[10:00AM] Wonder Boys
[12:30PM] The Writers' Room-Parks and Recreation
[1:00PM] The Writers' Room-Breaking Bad
[1:30PM] The Spine
[1:45PM] Being John Malkovich
[3:45PM] You Can Count on Me
[5:45PM] My Own Private Idaho
[8:00PM] Dead Man Walking
[10:00PM] District 9
[12:15AM] Kinsey
[2:15AM] Inside Deep Throat
[3:45AM] Dead Man Walking
[5:45AM] Lipsett Diaries (ALL TIMES EST)
SyFy has the movie 'Raiders Of The Lost Ark', followed by the movie 'Indiana Jones & The Temple Of Doom'.
Actors Sidney Poitier (L) and Louis Gossett Jr. (R) arrive at the opening night of the UCLA Film and Television Archive film series "Champion: The Stanley Kramer Centennial" and the world premiere screening of the newly restored "Death of a Salesman" in Los Angeles, California August 9, 2013.
Photo by Gus Ruelas
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has called President Barack Obama's announcement of plans to limit sweeping U.S. government surveillance programs a victory of sorts for fugitive former spy agency contractor Edward Snowden. ? "Today, the President of the United States validated Edward Snowden's role as a whistleblower by announcing plans to reform America's global surveillance program," Assange said in a statement referring to Obama's announcement on Friday.
"Today was a victory of sorts for Edward Snowden and his many supporters," Assange said in the statement, which was posted on the WikiLeaks website on Saturday.
"As Snowden has stated, his biggest concern was if he blew the whistle and change did not occur. Well reforms are taking shape, and for that, the President and people of the United States and around the world owe Edward Snowden a debt of gratitude."
Assange accused the U.S. government of "stunning" hypocrisy in its treatment of Snowden while it gave asylum to thousands of dissidents, whistleblowers and political refugees from countries like Russia and Venezuela.
Actor and director Antonio Banderas (C), his wife actress Melanie Griffith (L) and Argentine model Valeria Mazza pose during a photocall after their arrival for the Starlite Charity Gala in Marbella, southern Spain August 10, 2013.
Photo by Jon Nazca
NASA's only identical twin astronauts are planning to serve as guinea pigs for studies investigating the genetic impacts of long-duration spaceflight.
Astronaut Mark Kelly, who commanded four space shuttle missions including the final flight of Endeavour, is set to be a test subject on Earth while his twin undergoes studies in orbit.
Kelly left NASA in 2011 to care for his wife, former U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords. She was shot through the head in January 2011 when a gunman opened fire at a political event in Arizona, killing six people and wounding 26 others.
His brother, Scott Kelly, is preparing for a year-long mission aboard the International Space Station, the longest single spaceflight NASA has ever attempted.
Its roster of participants is impressive: former President Bill Clinton, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, three Baldwins, Dustin Hoffman, Paul Simon, Jackson Pollock and Kurt Vonnegut, to name just a few.
Organizers of the annual East Hampton Artists & Writers softball games are a little fuzzy about when they got their start - most peg it to around 1948, when artists including Pollock, Willem de Kooning and others organized casual pickup games on summer afternoons in their yards. Today they have become one of the premier events in the Hamptons, New York's summer resort for the haves and have mores.
"I've played against some of the greatest house painters in the world," jokes reporter Carl Bernstein, making a common, good-natured accusation that his opponents pepper their rosters with "ringers" to gain a competitive advantage.
This year's game, billed as the 65th and slated for Aug. 17, is expected to draw thousands to watch writers such as Bernstein, Richard Reeves and Mike Lupica play artists including Domingo Zapata and Eric Ernst and actors Josh Charles, Lori Singer and others. With the support of corporate sponsors and deep-pocketed donors, the game is expected to raise $100,000 for eastern Long Island charities.
Car designer George Barris arrives at the opening night of the UCLA Film and Television Archive film series "Champion: The Stanley Kramer Centennial" and the world premiere screening of the newly restored "Death of a Salesman" in Los Angeles, California August 9, 2013.
Photo by Gus Ruelas
The winner has been named in a Pennsylvania sideburns contest that honours a U.S. Navy commodore known for his impressive facial hair.
The Erie Times-News reports that 56-year-old Dave Baxter, of Lake City, Pa., topped 19 contestants on Wednesday evening. Officials say one contestant dropped out because he recently got a new job, had to move and was required to shave.
Contestants were asked to show their patriotic spirit by growing sideburns most like those of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry.
Baxter says he researched images of Perry to try and match the hero who commanded a nine-ship American fleet to victory over the British in the Battle of Lake Erie in 1813. Historical portraits suggest that Perry wore long mutton-chop sideburns that extended toward his lips.
But the news that he is requiring the deputies to be armed and essentially on duty at all times is noteworthy.
"My deputies will carry guns 24 hours a day, even off duty. If they see any incident occurring, they will take action anywhere in this valley," he said.
Arpaio says the 400 new Smith & Wesson rifles were purchased using money obtained from arrests. The 81-year-old self-described "America's toughest sheriff" is no stranger to controversy, stemming primarily from his strict enforcement of the state's immigration laws.
Actress Piper Laurie arrives at the opening night of the UCLA Film and Television Archive film series "Champion: The Stanley Kramer Centennial" and the world premiere screening of the newly restored "Death of a Salesman" in Los Angeles, California August 9, 2013.
Photo by Gus Ruelas
A federal court has declined to hear Curb Records' lawsuit against Tim McGraw and Big Machine Records, another setback in the label's legal fight with the country star.
A U.S. District Court judge in Nashville, Tenn., signed an order administratively closing the case until a decision over copyright of music McGraw recorded is made in a lawsuit filed in Tennessee state court.
Curb initially filed a lawsuit over copyright and breach of contract issues and tried to bar McGraw from signing with Big Machine Records.
McGraw has countersued, and a judge allowed him to make new music with a different label for the first time in his more than 20 years as a recording artist.
Actor Marvin Kaplan arrives at the opening night of the UCLA Film and Television Archive film series "Champion: The Stanley Kramer Centennial" and the world premiere screening of the newly restored "Death of a Salesman" in Los Angeles, California August 9, 2013.
Photo by Gus Ruelas
An anti-Keystone pipeline ad in the United States that the NBC refused to air, has evoked some strong opinions both in the United States and in Canada.
Not about the pipeline, per se, but about the ad and whether or not the network should have banned it.
Actors George Chakiris (L) and Andrea Marcovicci (R) arrive at the opening night of the UCLA Film and Television Archive film series "Champion: The Stanley Kramer Centennial" and the world premiere screening of the newly restored "Death of a Salesman" in Los Angeles, California August 9, 2013.
Photo by Gus Ruelas
Germany's leading telecoms operator will channel email traffic exclusively through its domestic servers in response to public outrage over U.S. spy programs accessing citizens' private messages, Deutsche Telekom said on Friday.
Deutsche Telekom launched the "E-mail made in Germany" initiative after a month of public indignation over reports on U.S. snooping based on documents leaked by fugitive former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden.
The spying scandal, which has filled German newspapers for weeks, has become a major headache for Chancellor Angela Merkel ahead of a September 22 election. Government snooping is a sensitive subject in Germany due to the heavy surveillance of citizens in the former communist East and under Hitler's Nazis.
Deutsche Telekom and its partner United Internet, which account for about two-thirds of all email users in Germany, said they would protect clients' emails via so-called SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) encryption. This is an option already offered by Google.
Actress Marsha Hunt arrives at the opening night of the UCLA Film and Television Archive film series "Champion: The Stanley Kramer Centennial" and the world premiere screening of the newly restored "Death of a Salesman" in Los Angeles, California August 9, 2013.
Photo by Gus Ruelas
Hundreds of campers who had planned to live off the land for a month in a northern Vancouver Island provincial park are being forced to go elsewhere.
The B.C. government shut down Raft Cove Provincial Park, about 130 kilometres west of Port McNeill.
The closure on Saturday came after locals raised concerns that a mass gathering of participants of the so-called Rainbow World Gathering of Tribes would wreak havoc on the small park.
The World Rainbow Gathering of Tribes was founded in 1970, and is a group that hopes to create a "healthy and harmonious world" through the "protection, preservation and restoration of natural habitats and fostering World Peace," according to the group's Facebook page.
The group holds multiple events a year, and had moved a camp-in movement to Raft Cove after the original location on the banks of the Slocan River was fouled by a jet fuel spill two weeks ago.
Actor Theodore Bikel arrives at the opening night of the UCLA Film and Television Archive film series "Champion: The Stanley Kramer Centennial" and the world premiere screening of the newly restored "Death of a Salesman" in Los Angeles, California August 9, 2013.
Photo by Gus Ruelas
Many fish and plankton are relocating towards the North and South poles at an astonishing rate of hundreds of kilometres per decade in response to climate change, a new study has found. That is shaking up ecosystems and forcing the fishing industry to adjust.
The changes are far more dramatic than those seen on land, where species have been creeping nearer the poles at just six kilometres per decade, reported an international team of scientists led by University of Queensland biologist Elvira Poloczanska in Nature Climate Change this week.
Fish are moving an average of 277 kilometres per decade, zooplankton at 142 kilometres per decade and phytoplankton at a whopping 470 kilometres per decade.
In some cases, the movements are bringing together species that have never had contact before.
The study also found that warmer spring temperatures are prompting some species to breed earlier and earlier each year - about 11 days earlier per decade in the case of fish and zooplankton. Meanwhile, phytoplankton, which are a major food source for baby fish and zooplankton, are influenced more by the amount of sunlight and less by the temperature. They have started blooming just six days earlier per decade, leading to a worrying mismatch between the hatching of zooplankton and baby fish and the availability of their food.
Actress Anne Jeffreys arrives at the opening night of the UCLA Film and Television Archive film series "Champion: The Stanley Kramer Centennial" and the world premiere screening of the newly restored "Death of a Salesman" in Los Angeles, California August 9, 2013.
Photo by Gus Ruelas
For years, curiosity seekers visiting the Fort Worth, Texas, grave of Lee Harvey Oswald have wondered about the simple headstone next door, marked Nick Beef.
It turns out Nick Beef is alive and living in New York.
The New York Times reports that the 56-year-old man who uses that name purchased the cemetery plot next to Oswald's in 1975 and had the granite marker placed there in 1997.
Beef, born Patric Abedin, now lives in Manhattan and calls himself a nonperforming performance artist.
When he was 18, Beef read that the burial plot next to Oswald's was available. He bought it for $17.50 down and 16 monthly payments of $10.
Eydie Gorme, a popular nightclub and television singer as a solo act and as a team with husband Steve Lawrence, has died. She was 84.
Gorme had a huge solo hit in 1963 with "Blame it on the Bossa Nova." Her publicist, Howard Bragman, says she died at a Las Vegas hospital Saturday following an undisclosed illness.
Gorme was a successful band singer and nightclub entertainer when she was invited to join the cast of Steve Allen's New York television show in 1953.
She sang solos and also did duets and comedy skits with Lawrence, a rising young singer who had joined the show a year earlier. When the program became NBC's "Tonight Show" in 1954, the young couple went along.
They married in Las Vegas in 1957 and later performed there.
Jody Payne, a guitarist who toured with Willie Nelson for more than three decades, has died. He was 77.
Nelson publicist Elaine Schock told The Associated Press she received an email from Payne's granddaughter Saturday saying the guitarist died that morning.
According to a 2011 profile in The Mobile Press-Register, Payne toured with Nelson from 1973 to 2008. He retired to Stapleton, Ala., with his wife Vicki. There he continued playing music, teaching the guitar at a local music store.
A post on Willie's Nelson's Facebook page about Payne's death Saturday said, "Our friend will be missed."
Performers carry a float onto the field during the opening ceremony of the IAAF World Athletics Championships at the Luzhniki stadium in Moscow August 10, 2013.
Photo by Dominic Ebenbichler
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