Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Paul Krugman: Pathetic Centrists (NY Times)
So progressive Democrats have seized on an op-ed by the group Third Way - an op-ed attacking Elizabeth Warren and Bill de Blasio for their terrible, horrible economic populism - as a way to start reclaiming the party from the "centrists". And it's working: the centrists are very much on the run.
Lucy Mangan: First Boris, then Dave, now Gidiot: are our leaders taking it in turns to be stupid? (Guardian)
Boris Johnson says greed is good, David Cameron hails privilege, George Osborne spends more than £8m redecorating the Treasury Big Brother-style. Whatever next?
Marc Dion: Is 40 Percent Off Christian? (Creators Syndicate)
Just a coupla weeks till the birthday of Baby Jesus, and would you check out these shoes! Two-tone, pal. Tan and navy. The navy part is suede. Bought 'em for $100 at a factory outlet mall in Wrentham, Mass., just 40 minutes from the post-industrial poverty pocket where I live.
David Wolf: An interview with the author, essayist and critic Daniel Mendelsohn (Prospect)
I spoke to Mendelsohn about deadlines, the difficulties of writing about TV, and why literature undergraduates should study Pauline Kael rather than Derrida.
HEATHER HAVRILESKY: Slouching Toward Neck Trouble (BOOKFORUM)
How Nora Ephron defined the comic spirit of new journalism.
Gladstone: 5 Covers That Improved the Lyrics of Famous Songs (Cracked)
The other week, I wrote a column about the worst changed lyrics in music history, and I think we all learned something -- specifically, what I think are the top five worst changed lyrics in rock history. But y'know what? I thought I'd turn that frown upside down. Then I turned it upside again and stood on my head. And then it was opposite day. By that time I was pretty confused, so I got drunk, and when I woke up I decided to do an article about the five best changed lyrics in music history.
Terry Savage: Holiday Money Gifts for Children (Creators Syndicate)
As you shop for your children or grandchildren this holiday season, don't forget some gifts that teach lessons about money and set them on a path to financial learning. Here are a few suggestions.
Marilyn Preston: Lose Weight Fast! While You Sleep! Fat Chance! (Creators Syndicate)
Our obsession with obesity and idiotic diets hangs heavily this holiday season filled with pecan pies and duck fat fries. Sometimes, I just wish the whole problem would go away, like smoking indoors. "Snap out of it, America!" is the theme of my merry assault on addictive and fake foods. Eat real food. No added sugar. Exercise regularly. Be mindful about portion size. End of story! But no. The more we learn, the less we know.
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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
Rainy morning, cloudy afternoon.
The nice young plumber visited, and $800 later, we have hot water, again.
Most US Silent Films Lost To Neglect
Library of Congress
The vast majority of feature-length silent films made in America have been lost due to decay and neglect over the past 100 years, allowing an original 20th century art form to all but disappear, according to a study released Wednesday.
The Library of Congress conducted the first comprehensive survey of silent films over the past two years and found 70 per cent are believed to be lost. Of the nearly 11,000 silent feature films made in America between 1912 and 1930, the survey found only 14 per cent still exist in their original format. About 11 per cent of the films that survive only exist as foreign versions or on lower-quality formats.
During the rise of silent films between 1912 and 1929 - before network radio or television - going to the movies became the most popular form of entertainment. Movie theatre attendance in United States averaged 46 million admissions per week in the 1920s in a country of 116 million people, according to the report.
Notable films now considered lost include "Cleopatra" from 1917, "The Great Gatsby" from 1926, Lon Chaney's "London After Midnight" from 1927, and "The Patriot" from 1928.
Films featuring early stars, including Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin and Mary Pickford still exist. The Museum of Modern Art in New York City, the Library of Congress and other archives have been preserving early films for decades. But the study notes that for every classic that survives, a half dozen have been lost.
Library of Congress
Author's Desk To Auction
Nancy Drew
Typewriters and a desk from the home of the original author of the Nancy Drew mystery books are going up for auction in Ohio.
The auction Sunday in Toledo will feature a lifetime of keepsakes that belonged to Mildred Wirt Benson. She wrote 23 of the 30 original Nancy Drew stories using the pseudonym Carolyn Keene.
Benson died in 2002 and left her belongings to her daughter, who died this year. The auction house handling the sale says many of the items, including autographed posters and awards, came from Benson's home office.
Few people knew Benson was the writer behind the early Nancy Drew stories until 1980 because she had signed a secrecy contract that wouldn't allow her to publicly reveal her identity. She was paid $125 per book.
Nancy Drew
Make Mysterious Migration
Snowy Owls
The visitors from the Arctic have shown up as far south as North Carolina, on the island of Bermuda and in unusually large numbers in the Northeast and around the Great Lakes. Yesterday (Dec. 5), 15 were counted at Logan Airport in Boston.
For reasons no one understands, snowy owl sightings are spiking in eastern North America this winter.
"Maybe this is starting to shape up to be an irruption year," said Denver Holt, founder of the Owl Research Institute in Montana. 'Irruption' refers to the unpredictable migrations the birds make.
This wouldn't be the first snowy owl irruption in recent memory; it would be the third. Two years ago, the birds showed up in unusually high numbers from east to west across the continent. One was even spotted in Hawaii for the first time. The following year's snowy owl irruption was less widespread and more directional, with birds showing up in the northern Great Plains, northern Rockies and the Pacific Northwest, according to the Audubon Society's Christmas Bird Count. This year, owls appear to be drawn to another part of the continent.
In the central plains of North America, some owls, particularly young ones, appear to show up regularly. Likewise, most of the birds that arrive during an unpredictable irruption are young ones that hatched over the summer, Holt said.
Snowy owls are included in the Christmas Bird Count, an annual survey that begins on Dec. 14. Anyone can submit a snowy owl or other bird sighting anytime at eBird.org.
Snowy Owls
Valued Less Than $1K, Sells For Over $1M
Chinese Plate
Walker's Fine Arts and Estate Auctions was commissioned to sell a Chinese plate by the George R. Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art in Toronto, Canada. As reported by CTV, the auction house estimated that the glazed pottery featuring a three clawed dragon was between 300-500 years old and valued the piece at $700-$900 Canadian (over $656-$844 US).
Walker's president, Jeffrey Walker, admitted that he was not a specialist in Chinese porcelain, so he consulted with experts who indicated that the plate was quite rare. Jeffrey told CTV the plate was, "Said to be from the late Yuan, early Ming Dynasty. Produced in an imperial kiln. Quite a rare example where only, only a very small handful are known to exist in the world." Still, the auction house kept their estimates low. "We're conservative with the dating and we're conservative with the pricing," said the auctioneer.
From the developing interest in the plate as the auction date neared, Jeffrey realized they valued the plate much lower than what interested parties may spend though they thought, "We were hoping then for $10,000, maybe $15,000." Their expectations were blown away when the winning bidder, who chose not to reveal his name or nationality, purchased the plate for $1.025M Canadian (over $961K US). The anonymous foreign winner flew in to Ottawa to bid in person and competed with other international internet and phone bidders.
The plate's original owner was Mrs. Waltraud Ellis, the widow of John Ellis, a former Member of Parliament. Upon her passing in June, she donated the plate, which was believed to have been passed down by her Austrian grandparents, to the Gardiner Museum. Canada's national ceramics museum decided to sell the donated plate to invest in Canadian pottery and ceramics.
Chinese Plate
Portrait Worth $12M
Farrah Fawcett
An Andy Warhol portrait of Farrah Fawcett currently held by actor Ryan O'Neal is worth an estimated $12 million, an appraiser told a jury Friday.
New York art appraiser Lee Drexler testified in a lawsuit by the University of Texas at Austin against the actor in which the school is seeking to gain possession of the Fawcett portrait for its art museum.
O'Neal contends the artwork was given to him as a gift by Warhol and did not belong to Fawcett when she died in 2009. The "Charlie's Angels" star left all her artwork to the university; her gift included another version of the Warhol portrait.
Drexler was the university's final witness in its principal case, which started with opening statements Nov. 25. Her estimate could be used by a jury to award damages if it finds that O'Neal improperly took the artwork after Fawcett, his longtime partner, died.
Farrah Fawcett
Baker Discriminated
Colorado
A Colorado bakery owner illegally discriminated against a gay couple when he refused to bake a wedding cake for the pair last year because of his Christian religious beliefs, a judge ruled on Friday.
Administrative Law Judge Robert Spencer ordered Jack Phillips, owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop in suburban Denver, to accommodate sex-couples or face fines and other possible penalties.
"At first blush, it may seem reasonable that a private business should be able to refuse service to anyone it chooses," Spencer wrote in his 13-page ruling.
"This view, however, fails to take into account the cost to society and the hurt caused to persons who are denied service simply because of who they are."
Colorado allows civil unions for same-sex couples, but defines marriage as between one man and one woman. Phillips refused to bake the cake, saying his Christian beliefs prevented him from doing so.
Colorado
Sicken Midwest Residents
'Cannibal Sandwiches'
Residents in the upper Midwest should ditch their seasonal tradition of eating "cannibal sandwiches" made of raw ground beef, health officials warned, citing multiple outbreaks of foodborne illnesses since the 1970s and cases last year.
Gobbling up raw ground beef spread on sandwich bread or crackers with onions and other seasoning led to more than 50 cases of foodborne illness in 1972, 1978 and 1994 in Wisconsin, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention wrote in a report released this week.
Raw beef "cannibal sandwiches" have also been linked to at least four cases, and possibly more than a dozen, of sickness tied to E. Coli bacteria in the central region of Wisconsin over the 2012 winter holiday season, the CDC said.
"Despite ongoing outreach efforts addressing the dangers associated with consuming undercooked or raw ground beef, this regional holiday tradition continues to be associated with outbreaks," the CDC said.
'Cannibal Sandwiches'
Swells Affected Glowing Lagoon
Puerto Rico
A popular lagoon that glows at night off Puerto Rico's northeast coast has lit up once again as scientists wrap up their investigation into why it went dark last month, officials said Friday.
A prolonged and heavy swell had swept away microscopic plankton known as dinoflagellates that are found in heavy concentrations in the lagoon and emit light through a chemical reaction when disturbed, said Carmen Guerrero, secretary of the Natural Resources Department.
There are typically thousands of dinoflagellates per liter (gallon) of water in the lagoon, but those concentrations had dropped to less than 100 in early November as heavy swells dispersed them, she said.
Scientists found that the swell was eight times bigger than what the lagoon experiences on average.
Scientists and residents were concerned that the lagoon stopped glowing because of runoff from the construction of a nearby water and sewer treatment plant, or because of people cutting down mangroves to allow larger boats into the area.
Puerto Rico
It's, Like, Everywhere in Southern California
Valley Girl Talk
Valley girl talk, a style of talking marked by a rise in pitch at the end of sentences, is not just for rich girls from Encino any more.
The uptalk is, like, totally ubiquitous amongst native Southern Californians of all demographics, including males, new research shows.
Understanding that prevalence could help prevent miscommunications or negative impressions by Midwesterners and others unfamiliar with the SoCal language, said study co-author Amanda Ritchart, a linguistics doctoral candidate at the University of California San Diego.
In Southern California, "most people talk like this, including males and people from all different ethnic groups," said Ritchart, who will present the findings today (Dec. 5) here at the 166th meeting of the Acoustical Society of America. "It's a normal thing, it's not that we're confused or not very assertive."
Despite its pop-cultural relevance, uptalk, a style of talking in which speakers end their sentences on a rise much like a question, hasn't been studied much, Ritchart said. No one knows exactly how the speaking style first emerged, but by the 1980s, the stereotype of the uptalking Valley Girl was firmly entrenched in pop culture. The style of speech was probably first popularized by "rich, white girls" from the San Fernando Valley outside of Los Angeles, Ritchart said.
Valley Girl Talk
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