The Weekly Poll
Now With Working Link!
This week's poll:
Unisex Selective Service Registration
OK, Poll-Fans, here it is...
Senator Barack Obama has gone on record that females aged 18-25 be required to register with the Selective Service as males in that age group are required by law to do.
He also is in favor of opening up all 'Combat Arms' positions that women are not currently not allowed to participate in...
Candidates differ on female draft
Are you in favor or opposed to these positions?
BadtotheboneBob
Send your response to BadtotheBoneBob (BCEpoll (at) aol.com)
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Robert L. Borosage: The Horror, The Horror Yet To Come (huffingtonpost.com)
Disregarding the delicate sensibilities of women and children, the Wall Street Journal editors expose today to all the stark horrors that could ensue after an election that produces a Democratic President with larger Democratic majorities in Congress: Voters will be registered. Workers organized. Banks regulated. Health care provided for all. Government investment will drive a green revolution that generates millions of jobs. The wealthy will pay more in taxes. Guantanamo will be shut down; torture will end. And that doesn't even mention ending the war in Iraq. The horror of it all. Can the Republic survive?
WARREN E. BUFFETT: Buy American. I Am. (nytimes.com)
THE financial world is a mess, both in the United States and abroad. Its problems, moreover, have been leaking into the general economy, and the leaks are now turning into a gusher. In the near term, unemployment will rise, business activity will falter and headlines will continue to be scary. So ... I've been buying American stocks.
Scott Burns and Laurence J. Kotlikoff: Getting an Economic Grip (assetbuilder.com)
he patient suffered a cardiac arrest. A dangerous amount of time has passed. Although the heart may be restarted, most cardiac arrest patients suffer severe brain damage after such delay. But we are perversely fortunate. This patient is not human. It's our banking system.
Russell Baker: For president, a generational conflict (latimes.com)
It's the key to viewing McCain versus Obama.
CATHERINE O'SULLIVAN: Going through a Tucson summer is a lot like going through childbirth (tucsonweekly.com)
The Tucson summer is like labor and delivery: It's horrible, but afterward, you forget about the pain by virtue of the marvel you've got a hold of.
Veronica Schmidt: "Ringo Starr: 'Stop sending me fan mail' "(timesonline.co.uk)
The former Beatle has said he will no longer give autographs and any fan mail he receives will be thrown in the rubbish.
Kevin C. Johnson: Death Cab for Cutie rides a crest of creativity (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
Death Cab for Cutie fans indulged front man Ben Gibbard when he embarked on his solo tour last year, but now he's back in his proper place.
Steven Rea: "Anne Hathaway: Now she's Princess Screwup" (The Philadelphia Inquirer)
Anne Hathaway still doesn't quite get what Jonathan Demme saw in her to make him believe she'd be right for the lead in "Rachel Getting Married."
Robert W. Butler: 'Trouble the Water' directors found an ideal subject for their Katrina documentary (McClatchy Newspapers)
Originally, Brooklyn-based filmmakers Carl Deal and Tia Lessin thought they'd make a post-Katrina documentary about Louisiana National Guardsmen struggling to provide disaster relief.
Michael Phillips: Actor Mickey Rourke makes a leading move with 'The Wrestler' (Chicago Tribune)
An American indie bound for Oscar nominations: "The Wrestler"
In which: Mickey Rourke, a sure thing for an Academy Award nomination, plays Randy "The Ram" Robinson, a pro wrestler long past his heyday, struggling to reconnect with his daughter, played by Evan Rachel Wood, while finding out whether his relationship with a stripper, played by Marisa Tomei, is strictly business. Darren Aronofsky directs.
Charlie replied:
Contributor Comment/Suggestion
Re: Madeira M'Dear
"HAVE SOME MADEIRA M DEAR" ONE OF MY FAVORITE SLEAZY SONGS WITH THE WORD "INVEAGLE" IN THE LYRICS...HA HA HA
LIMELIGHTERS VERSION
FLANDERS AND SWANN (WROTE IT)
Purple Gene
Thanks, Purp!
Reader Comment/Suggestion
Re: Madeira M'Dear
Hi Marty:
I have an ancient LP from 1957 with Have Some Madiera M'dear on it. Flanders & Swann, At The Drop of a Hat,"an after dinner Farrago".
Here is a link to Madiera by its composers/lyricists.
Love your page,
Jim
Thanks, Jim!
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny and quite pleasant.
'Technical Problems'
TBS
TBS had technical difficulties that prevented it from showing the first 20 minutes of Game 6 of the American League championship series between Boston and Tampa Bay on Saturday night.
The game started at 8:08 p.m., but the broadcast didn't begin until 8:28 p.m., when Carlos Pena, the seventh batter of the game, walked in the bottom of the first. TBS then showed a replay of a home run by B.J. Upton, the previous batter, that put the Rays ahead 1-0.
TBS had experienced router failure in Atlanta, which caused transmission problems, Rays spokesman Dave Haller said.
In place of the game, TBS had televised an episode of "The Steve Harvey Show." A crawl on the screen ran repeatedly, saying: "We are experiencing technical difficulties."
TBS
Wants Dallas Elephant Relocated
Lily Tomlin
Comedian and animal rights advocate Lily Tomlin says Jenny the elephant has worked 22 years for the Dallas Zoo and it's time for the aging pachyderm to retire.
Tomlin, who has seen video footage of Jenny appearing in distress, visited the Dallas Zoo for the first time Friday to view the elephant in her habitat.
The actress has been in Dallas most of the week, working with Concerned Citizens for Jenny. The group wants the zoo's lone 32-year-old elephant sent to the Elephant Sanctuary in Hohenwald, Tenn., which has a large area where Jenny can roam on hundreds of acres and socialize with other elephants.
At issue is the lack of space and the animal's loneliness, concerns zoo officials say they are in the process of addressing.
Lily Tomlin
Painful Family Feud
King Siblings
The Rev. Bernice King and Martin Luther King III haven't spoken to their brother in months, and their painful family feud has kept Dexter King from meeting his only niece, his two remaining siblings said Saturday.
The middle children of Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King told The Associated Press that the ongoing fight may seem at odds with their parents' peacemaking example. But they maintain their decision to face their brother in court, though difficult, is in keeping with what they were taught.
The three surviving King children have looked more like adversaries than siblings in recent months as they struggle to settle three lawsuits. On Tuesday, lawyers for Dexter King asked a judge to demand that Bernice King - as administrator of her mother's estate - turn over personal papers, including love letters between the civil rights icons.
Control of the documents is threatening to derail a $1.4 million book deal with New York publisher Penguin Group for a memoir about the civil rights matriarch. Bernice and Martin Luther King III both say that the book goes against their mother's wishes. And they say it exemplifies how her brother has effectively shut out them out of the corporation that controls their father's legacy.
King Siblings
Afghanistan Bound
'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire'
It may still be an active military theater, but Afghanistan is about to get an injection of Western entertainment with the launch of an Afghan version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire."
2waytraffic International, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, has licensed the "Millionaire" format rights to local producer Shams Prods., which is in final discussions with an undisclosed broadcaster.
The deal, announced Friday, marks the first time a light entertainment format has been officially licensed into the territory.
Contestants will have their eye on the main prize, 1 million Afghanis, equivalent to $21,000, a "life-changing" amount of money in Afghanistan, 2waytraffic International managing director Ed Louwerse said.
'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire'
Arrested In LA
Don Cornelius
Don Cornelius, the former host of the television show "Soul Train," was arrested on suspicion of domestic violence, police said Saturday.
Police were called to his Hollywood Hills home late Friday after someone reported a domestic dispute, Officer Sam Park said.
The 72-year-old producer was taken to jail, where he was booked for investigation of felony domestic violence, Park said. He was released on $50,000 bail and ordered to appear in court next month.
Park said he did not know whom Cornelius was suspected of assaulting.
Don Cornelius
Cat Championship
Obama & McCain
Barack Obama and John McCain will attend a New York cat show this weekend - Obama the Bombay cat and McCain the American Shorthair, that is.
The two felines are vying for the title of "Purr-fect President" at the Cat Fanciers' Association-IAMS 2008 championship that opens Saturday at Madison Square Garden.
More than 40 breeds are represented among the several hundred competing animals. The top title goes for "Best in Show."
In addition, hundreds of other kittens and cats will be available for adoption.
Obama & McCain
Cutting Spending
NBC Universal
NBC Universal plans to cut spending by $500 million next year, a figure totaling about 3 percent of the company's annual budget.
Employees were informed of budget cuts in a memo from NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker on Friday.
"We are living in a time of unprecedented economic challenges, and it is increasingly clear that the worldwide economic slowdown will continue well into next year," the memo read. "As we have been working on our budgets and planning for 2009, it has become evident that the decline in consumer confidence and spending will impact our operations."
The memo went on to direct division leaders to cut costs by reducing promotion expenses, discretionary spending (such as travel and entertainment and outside consultants) and staffing costs.
NBC Universal
London's Wartime Secret
Kingsway Tunnels
A once-secret 1940s tunnel complex under the centre of London that housed military intelligence and linked the cold war hot line phone between Washington and Moscow has been put up for sale.
Former state telephone monopoly BT says the one mile long network of tunnels below Chancery Lane underground station is now surplus to requirements.
The complex was dug in 1942 as a bomb shelter for 8,000 during World War Two but was taken over by military authorities as a communications and intelligence centre.
The Post Office later took over the property as a more secure location for its long distance phone exchange, including the 1950s hot line directly connecting the White House and the Kremlin.
Kingsway Tunnels
Lancaster, CA
Musical Road
The folks who silenced the nation's first "musical road" are singing a different tune. Workers on Wednesday began carving grooves on Avenue G that will produce notes of the "William Tell Overture" when cars drive over them.
The high desert city north of Los Angeles placed the grooves on another road, Avenue K, last month for a Honda commercial. The quarter-mile strip was engineered to play the notes - better known as the theme for "The Lone Ranger" - when motorists in Honda Civics hit them at 55 mph.
The city paved over that stretch two weeks later after neighbors complained the noise was annoying and kept them awake.
The city, however, received hundreds of calls praising the road and decided to retain the concept.
Musical Road
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