Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Democracy and the True Meaning of Happiness: Guest commentary by Todd Pettigrew (irascibleprofessor.com)
The Irascible Professor comments: Perhaps the most dangerous thing about Rick Santorum, and politicians like him, is that they actually believe the nonsense that they spout on the stump. Personally, I prefer a politician who knows that the pap he or she spouts is a pack of lies over the one who has deluded himself into thinking that his pack of lies actually is the truth. At least the former has a bit of a grip on reality.
Duane Elgin: The Spiritual Wisdom of Simplicity
The wisdom of simplicity is a theme with deep roots. The great value and benefits of living simply are found in all the world's major wisdom traditions.
Susan Estrich: The Other Side of Death (Creators Syndicate)
"Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything - all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart."-Steve Jobs
Jim Hightower: Rick Perry's "truthiness"
"I got lobbied by a 31-year-old young lady," Perry slapped back at his critics. How truthy. The lady was real and she did visit with him in his office. But not before he issued his gubernatorial order on behalf of Merck. It was not until three weeks later that Perry first met her! So the assertion that he was motivated by humanitarian compassion is untrue, false, a fib... a lie.
Nobel Prize in Chemistry for dogged work on 'impossible' quasicrystals (Guardian)
Daniel Shechtman, who has won the chemistry Nobel for discovering quasicrystals, was initially lambasted for 'bringing disgrace' on his research group.
Michele Hanson: Teachers Deserve More Respect (Guardian)
The whole world is invited to boss about and judge a teacher: government, management, parents, children, colleagues …
The Future of the Book (Daily Beast)
Bestselling author Sam Harris explains his current solution to the strange new media world-and why he's publishing short ebooks.
Roger Ebert: Stranger in a wondrous land
I visited India only once, for less than two weeks, but I left a part of my heart there. I can't say I know it well, but I know how it made me feel, and it seemed impossibly exotic and absolutely comfortable at the same time: I was curiously at home in a strange land.
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 Question
'Houseboat'
About the photo you are showing, is it from, "Houseboat," the 1958 romantic comedy film starring Cary Grant, Sophia Loren, Martha Hyer, Paul Petersen, Charles Herbert and Mimi Gibson? Huh? Huh??
Care to 'splain some more??
Sally P :)
On the return from our all-too-brief-visit-to-PA, the Southwest cattle-car-in-the-sky placed my bony ass in a center seat. On my right was a young technophile, as vacuous as an old RCA Tube, and on the left, and an older guy wearing a collared shirt advertising 'Monster Bash' on the back.
The young technophile had fired up his laptop and was trying to memorize 4 lines of a speech. Four lines, each of 6 words (or less), for 4 hours, and I'll bet he still didn't have it down.
The guy on my left, with the 'Monster Bash' shirt, offered me half of his Subway tuna sandwich.
Having had a wonderful meal at O'Brien's at the Pittsburgh airport (yes, I had a wonderful meal at an airport restaurant. Deal with it), I passed on the sub.
Between being in a somewhat crappy mood and the din of the motors messing with my hearing, I hoped the conversation was over, when the the gentleman said something about a film festival and I thought I head the name 'Paul Peterson'.
It was an 'oh shit' moment, and I had to respond.
I don't have many heroes, but damn, Paul Peterson is one.
Having grown up in the backwoods, I was pretty much in awe of anyone who had been on TV.
By that upbringing, I didn't understand how anyone who'd been on TV wasn't rich.
Over the years I met all kinds of folk who'd not only been on TV, but had also starred in movies, or written, or produced them, and not only were they not rich, they were in worse shape then I was.
The kids who'd been used by the Hollywood system, had largely been sucked dry, then left out to parch in the heat of the San Fernando Valley.
Kids without a 'long-term contract' mostly. The long-term contract protected earnings, thanks to the Coogan law. But most kids in TV & films don't have long-term contracts. They'd get to 21 and find out there wasn't much, it anything, there.
They are overwhelmingly uneducated. Sure, they can read. But their reading skills ended at parroting back lines. History, grammar, science, math - forget it.
And now this guy is saying he was here thanks to Paul Peterson.
Turns out the gentleman's name is Charles Herbert, and he was a kid actor. He'd been in 'Houseboat' with Cary Grant & Sophia Loren & Paul Peterson. He was also in 'The Fly' and the original '13 Ghosts', among other works. He
was supporting his family by 4, and 'washed up' by 20. Here are Charles's creidts at IMDb.
But, with my crappy hearing, I missed most of it.
Regardless, he pulled out a pile of photos, and autographed one to me - that's the picture.
So, if you're in the proximity of 'Monster Bash', stop by and say 'hi' to Charles, one of the survivors.
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny and seasonal.
Colorado Approves 2 Leases
Christo
The Colorado State Land Board has approved two leases for the artist Christo's proposed Over the River project, which would temporarily suspend huge fabric panels over the Arkansas River.
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management is expected to decide this fall on a permit for Christo's proposal. But its preferred alternative, released this summer, sticks closely to the proposal by Christo and his late wife to suspend 5.9 miles worth of fabric over parts of the river.
The State Land Board said Friday it approved a five-year, 7.7-acre lease to Christo's team so the project could be built, shown and removed. It approved a 10-year, 130-acre lease with Colorado Parks and Wildlife to create a corridor and habitat for affected bighorn sheep.
The leases will generate roughly $26,000 for schools.
Christo
Ordains First Gay Minister
US Presbyterian Church
A man who left his Presbyterian ministry in California more than 20 years ago after telling his congregation that he is gay was welcomed back into the church leadership as its first openly gay ordained minister.
In a quavering voice ripe with emotion, 56-year-old Scott Anderson on Saturday told the hundreds of friends and backers who packed Covenant Presbyterian Church in Madison, Wisconsin for his ordination ceremony that he never thought the day would come.
"To the thousands of Presbyterians who have worked and prayed for almost 40 years for this day, I give thanks," Anderson said. "And I give thanks for those who disagree with what we're doing today yet who know that we are one in Jesus Christ."
When he was presented to the crowd, audience members gave him a thunderous standing ovation and began roaring with cheers.
US Presbyterian Church
Pushed To Saturday Night
"How to Be a Gentleman"
The new Kevin Dillon sitcom "How to Be a Gentleman" just got rude treatment from the network.
CBS announced Friday that the series -- which stars Dillon and David Hornsby as a pair of odd-couple pals -- is being bumped to Saturdays at 8:30 p.m., a relative no-man's land, effective October 15.
"Rules of Engagement" will be taking "Gentleman's" time slot of Thursdays at 8:30 when it returns with its season six premiere on October 20. In the meantime, a repeat of "The Big Bang Theory" will run in the timeslot on October 13.
The former "Gentleman" timeslot is particularly desirable, coming as it does after the very popular "The Big Bang Theory."
"How to Be a Gentleman"
Hospita Newsl
Zsa Zsa
Zsa Zsa Gabor has been hospitalized after slipping out of consciousness at her Los Angeles-area home.
Gabor's husband, Frederic Prinz von Anhalt, said Saturday that the actress had a high fever and was bleeding from a tube in her stomach.
Paramedics rushed Gabor from her Bel Air mansion to UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center.
The 94-year-old Gabor has been hospitalized repeatedly since July 2010, when she broke her hip falling from bed. Most of Gabor's right leg was amputated in January because of gangrene.
Zsa Zsa
Record Label Talks Break Down
AFTRA
Talks between AFTRA and record labels have broken down.
The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and the labels have been negotiating since August and despite about 16 meetings, have been unable to come to an agreement.
No more negotiating sessions are scheduled.
Major issues standing between the two sides include health care and pension security and transparency of accounting.
AFTRA
Designer Accepts Damages
Rupert
Interior designer Kelly Hoppen has accepted 60,000 pounds ($93,000) in damages for phone hacking from the publisher of the News of the World, lawyers for both sides said Friday.
Hoppen, former stepmother of actress Sienna Miller, is one of scores of people accusing the tabloid of eavesdropping on cell phone voicemails. Her case was due to go to court in January.
Her lawyer, Mark Thomson, told a preliminary hearing that the paper's publisher had agreed to pay Hoppen the damages, plus legal costs.
More than 60 people have filed court papers alleging their phones were hacked by the News of the World, which was shut down by owner Rupert Murdoch in July after evidence emerged that its reporters had eavesdropped on the telephone voice mail messages of Milly Dowler, a 13-year-old who disappeared in 2002 and was later found murdered.
Rupert
Computer Virus Hits
Drones
A computer virus that captures the strokes on a keyboard has infected networks used by pilots who control U.S. Air Force drones flown on the warfront, according to a published report.
Wired magazine reported Friday that the spyware has resisted efforts to remove it from the computers in the cockpits at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada, where pilots remotely fly Predator and Reaper drones in places like Iraq and Afghanistan.
The story said there are no confirmed reports that classified data was stolen and that the virus did not stop pilots from flying any of their missions. Network security specialists are uncertain if the virus was part of a directed attack or accidentally infected the networks, the story said.
The Air Force said in a statement it doesn't discuss threats to its computer networks because it can help hackers refine their tactics.
Drones
Walk of Fame
Hollywood
Engelbert Humperdink has one. Clint Eastwood does not. John, George and Ringo - yes. Paul McCartney? Not yet. And George Clooney would be in the club if only someone could convince him to show up for the ceremony.
When it comes to receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the sidewalk tourist attraction that encompasses 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of intersecting Vine Street, it's not so much who you know, but whether you're willing to play by the rules.
For starters, someone in the celebrity's camp must first fill out an application form that includes the star's signed promise that they will attend the ceremony.
No pledge? No ceremony. Which is why Eastwood, Julia Roberts and Clooney aren't among the 2,450 honorees lining Hollywood's sidewalks.
A five-member committee meets annually in June to consider some 250 to 300 applicants from five categories of the entertainment industry - film, television, music, broadcast radio and theater, a category added in 1984.
Hollywood
14 Years Later
Australia
After 14 years and an ocean trek measuring a quarter of Earth's waistline, a message in a bottle has popped up in the dunes along the beaches of Southwestern Australia's Big Quaram Beach.
On Feb. 19, 1997, retired Texas Tech professor George Tereshkovich, aboard the Holland-America's grand ocean liner SS Rotterdam, wrote out his missive, addressing it to an anonymous recipient who might find it and promising him or her $5. As the sun set, Tereshkovich, a plant and soil scientist, tossed the sealed bottle, which also included his business card, into the ocean.
"I told the wife what I was going to do," the 81-year-old said in a statement. "She thought I was seasick or something, throwing a note overboard. We continued cruising, and I completely forgot about it."
That is until late April 2011, when a couple on a hiking trip spotted the bottle, 6,000 miles (9,656 kilometers) from its origin.
Australia
In Memory
Roger Williams
Roger Williams, known as "the Pianist to the Presidents" for his White House performances, died on Saturday in his California home after a brief battle with pancreatic cancer, his former publicist said. He was 87.
Williams scored his first hit in 1955 with a chart-topping "Autumn Leaves," the best-selling piano record of all time.
He would go on to earn 18 gold and platinum records and albums throughout his six-decade career, making him the top charting pianist in the history of Billboard magazine.
Born Louis Weertz on October 1, 1924 in Omaha, Nebraska, Williams learned to play piano at age three in his father's church.
In 1942, at the age of 18, Williams enlisted and served in the Navy throughout World War Two. After the war he graduated with a Masters degree in music from Drake University.
Williams moved to New York City to pursue a career as a pianist. He was signed to his first recording label after being spotted by a record producer while playing at the ritzy Forest Hill Inn.
While on a U.S. tour, Williams was spotted by President Harry Truman, who asked him to play at his Missouri office. Later President Dwight Eisenhower would invite him to the White House, and he would eventually perform for nine presidents, earning him his nickname.
Williams, the first pianist to be honored with a star on the Hollywood "Walk of Fame," performed for the last time a few days after announcing on his website in March he had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
He is survived by his daughters Laura Fisher and Alice Jung, as well as five grandchildren.
Roger Williams
In Memory
Al Davis
Al Davis was a rebel with a cause - "Just win, baby" he exhorted his beloved Oakland Raiders.
And as the NFL well knows, he was also a rebel with a subpoena.
Davis, who bucked league authority time and again and won three Super Bowl titles during his half-century in professional football, died Saturday. He was 82.
The Hall of Famer died at his home in Oakland, the team said. The cause of death was not immediately disclosed.
Davis was one of the most important figures in pro football history from his role in the development of the AFL, the merger with the NFL and the success he built on the field with the Raiders.
Elected in 1992 to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Davis was a trailblazer during his half-century in professional football. He hired the first black head coach of the modern era - Art Shell in 1988. He hired the first Latino coach, Tom Flores; and the first woman CEO, Amy Trask. And he was infallibly loyal to his players and officials: to be a Raider was to be a Raider for life.
Davis is survived by his wife, Carol, and son Mark, who Davis had said would run the team after his death.
Davis was charming, cantankerous and compassionate - a man who when his wife suffered a serious heart attack in the 1970s moved into her hospital room. But he was best known as a rebel, a man who established a team whose silver-and-black colors and pirate logo symbolized his attitude toward authority, both on the field and off.
Al Davis
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