Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Mark Morford: A Grateful Nation Thanks Charlie Sheen (SFGate)
Just when all seems lost ... look! Yonder! Could it be? It is! A dazzling beacon winks out from the savage darkness. We are saved! Let us now wheel in the hookers and Veuve Clicquot and large bazookas full of cocaine! God bless America.
Froma Harrop: Spending's Not Better the Second Time Around (Creators Syndicate)
Before we take an ax to the federal budget, let's try a scalpel.
William Saletan: Impure Lesbians of Sodom (Slate)
Why are bisexual women more likely to have tried anal sex?
Jim Hightower: THE CORPORATE/GOP ATTACK ON AMERICA'S MIDDLE CLASS
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's autocratic attempt to abrogate the democratic right of public employees to bargain with their governmental bosses is not wearing well with the public.
Letters: Putting Teachers in the Firing Line (New York Times)
"For decades I have nagged my husband to quit teaching because I can't stand his 70-hour workweeks. As a New York City high school teacher, he has on average 170 students each day. That translates into 170 tests and essays to mark on a regular basis, on top of having to create two or three lesson plans for each day."-- Regina Weiss
Germaine Greer: Now please pay attention, everybody. I'm about to tell you what art is (Guardian)
A kid doing graffiti will make no money and could go to jail. There is no truer example of the sacredness of the art enterprise.
Robert Moore: "Joss Whedon 101: Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (Popmatters)
The story of 'Buffy the Vampire Story' becoming a television series is an improbable one.
Susan King: Behind the Laughter at 'Laugh-In' (Los Angeles Times)
Several key players look back at the groundbreaking 1967-73 comedy series, which will be honored with a PBS special.
Will Harris: A Chat with Guy Pearce, Star of "Memento" and "L.A. Confidential" (bullz-eye.com)
You sort of can't miss anything in 'Memento,' otherwise you're completely lost. I always found that with 'Seinfeld' as well. If ever I came in halfway, if I didn't see the beginning of that show, I could never truly follow it!
Roger Ebert: Rango (4 stars)
"Rango" is some kind of a miracle: An animated comedy for smart moviegoers, wonderfully made, great to look at, wickedly satirical, and (gasp!) filmed in glorious 2-D. Its brilliant colors and startling characters spring from the screen and remind us how very, very tired we are of simpleminded little characters bouncing around dimly in 3-D.
JOE MORGENSTERN: Lizard Tale 'Rango': Clever, Coldblooded (Wall Street Journal)
The landscapes are gorgeous, the creatures that inhabit them are wildly inventive (as well as wonderfully voiced) and the visual references range from "High Noon" and the spaghetti Westerns of Sergio Leone through "Stars Wars," "Gulliver's Travels" and "Chinatown" to the grotesqueries of Daumier and the Dali dream sequences in "Spellbound." The only thing that's missing is an emotional dimension. I watched this postmodern mashup with as much bafflement as wonderment, thirsty for any trace of warm, clear feeling.
Roger Ebert: Just Before Nightfall (3 ½ stars)
The blond is good-looking, maybe a little over the hill. She lolls on the bed. "Come and play . . . or I'll make you pay!" she says, licking her lips.
David Bruce has 41 Kindle books on Amazon.com with 250 anecdotes in each book. Each book is $1, so for $41 you can buy 10,250 anecdotes. Search for "Funniest People," "Coolest People, "Most Interesting People," "Kindest People," "Religious Anecdotes," and "Maximum Cool."
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From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Reader Suggestions
Michelle in AZ
Reader Recommendation
'Wisdom'
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny and much warmer than seasonal.
Set Up Like A Bowling Pin
NPR
NPR's president and CEO resigned Wednesday in an effort to limit the damage from hidden camera footage of a fellow executive deriding the tea party movement as "seriously racist." Conservatives called the video proof that the network is biased and undeserving of federal funds.
NPR's board had pushed for the resignation of Vivian Schiller, whom conservatives also criticized in October for firing analyst Juan Williams over comments he made about Muslims. She was not in the video, which was posted Tuesday by a conservative activist, but she told The Associated Press that staying on would only hurt NPR's fight for federal money.
The timing of the video was exceptionally bad from NPR's perspective, with Republicans in the new House majority looking to cut all federal funding of public radio and television. Public broadcasting officials say that would force some stations to fold.
The video showed two conservative activists posing as members of a fake Muslim group at a lunch meeting with NPR's top fundraiser, Ron Schiller, who is not related to Vivian Schiller and who also resigned. The men offered NPR a $5 million donation and engaged in a wide-ranging discussion about tea party Republicans, pro-Israel bias in the media and anti-intellectualism.
The video of Ron Schiller was posted by conservative activist James O'Keefe on his Project Veritas website. O'Keefe is best known for wearing a pimp costume in hidden-camera videos that embarrassed the community-organizing group ACORN. He also made headlines when he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor last May after he was accused of trying to tamper with the phones in Sen. Mary Landrieu's office. O'Keefe didn't return a request for comment from AP.
NPR
Not Punked By Judge's Teflon Son
PBS
PBS says it was contacted by the same fake Muslim group that arranged a meeting with an NPR executive and secretly videotaped him calling the tea party racist.
PBS spokeswoman Anne Bentley said Wednesday that they had an initial conversation with the Muslim Education Action Center but had concerns about the group. She says a PBS executive was contacted, but when PBS couldn't confirm the organization's credentials, they halted discussions.
The Muslim Education Action Center is tied to conservative activist James O'Keefe. He posted a video online Tuesday of NPR executive Ron Schiller meeting with the fake Muslim group. The tape led to the resignation of NPR's chief executive, Vivian Schiller.
PBS
Dumps Director, Postpones Open - Again
'Spider-Man'
Producers of Broadway's "Spider-Man" musical postponed the show's official opening for a stunning sixth time, announcing Wednesday that it will not officially open until this summer and that it will bring in a new creative team.
Julie Taymor, who directed and co-wrote the book for "Spider Man: Turn Off the Dark," will no longer helm the production but will be a part of the creative team, the producers said.
The delay revealed a production so trouble-plagued that it has taken itself out of the running for Tony Award consideration this year, but it will be eligible for the 2012 season. The $65 million show was scheduled to open on March 15.
Philip William McKinley and Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa have joined the $65 million production to assist with new staging and rewrites. Musical consultants Paul Bogaev and sound designer Peter Hylenski are also on the new team.
Taymor's directing duties will be handled by McKinley, who directed "The Boy From Oz" (2003) and "The Night of the Hunter" (2006). Aguirre-Sacasa worked on HBO's "Big Love" and has written for Marvel comics, and wrote the play "The Picture of Dorian Gray," based on the Oscar Wilde novel.
'Spider-Man'
Performance Stopped
'Spider-Man'
What's a Green Goblin to do when he can't steer himself around a stage? Dangle. For several minutes.
A preview performance of "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark" came to a halt Wednesday night during one of the Broadway musical's aerial stunts, a fight between Spider-Man and Green Goblin.
After soaring over the audience, Green Goblin's flight came to a stop when his steering mechanism failed. While the Goblin dangled over the stage and Spider-Man stood on a balcony ledge waiting to fly, the actors mugged for the laughing crowd.
A stage manager finally told the audience that the stunt would have to be canceled for safety reasons and Spidey and GG were returned to earth.
'Spider-Man'
Guitar Sold At Auction
Eric Clapton
A replica of a prized Eric Clapton guitar that duplicates the cigarette burns and belt buckle scratches found on the original has sold for $30,500 at a New York City auction.
Proceeds from Wednesday's sale are to benefit a drug and alcohol treatment center Clapton founded in the West Indies.
The sale at Bonhams New York included 75 guitars and 55 amps from the British artist's collection and brought in $2.15 million.
The replica Fender Stratocaster "Blackie" guitar is inscribed in silver felt pen "Eric Clapton 2010." The original "Blackie" sold at Christie's in 2004 for $959,500. Bonhams says it's the most expensive guitar ever sold at auction.
Eric Clapton
80th Anniversary
Abbey Road Studios
Abbey Road Studios in London, where the Beatles recorded most of their hits, has launched a global anthem competition to mark its 80th anniversary this year.
The studios, opened in 1931 by composer Edward Elgar with a performance of his patriotic song "Land of Hope and Glory," are looking for original, undiscovered writers who will compete for the chance to record their compositions at Abbey Road.
The winning anthems will be recorded in Studio One, home to the recording of the "Star Wars" movie title sequence and The Beatles' live satellite performance of "All You Need Is Love."
Composer Eric Whitacre will conduct the London Symphony Orchestra and as yet unnamed singers, and musical arrangers will be on hand to help entrants in order to open the competition up to the wider public.
Abbey Road Studios
Eurovision's Transgender Diva
Dana International
Israel's transgender pop diva, Dana International, is heading back to the Eurovision song contest in hopes of trying to recapture the top prize she won at the competition 13 years ago.
The flamboyant singer, who was known as Yaron Cohen before a sex change operation nearly two decades ago, was selected on Tuesday night to represent Israel with the Hebrew-English song "Ding Dong."
She wore a figure-hugging sleeveless white gown adorned with feathers.
This year's competition will be held in May in Duesseldorf, Germany.
Dana International
Cops Plea In Domestic Abuse Case
Mel "Sugar Tits" Gibson
Actor Mel "Sugar Tits" Gibson is expected to plead no contest to a charge of battery and avoid jail time for the domestic abuse claim made by his ex-girlfriend, a source close to the case told Reuters on Wednesday.
Celebrity news website TMZ.com, citing unidentified people connected to the Los Angeles District Attorney, reported that the "Braveheart" actor and director will appear in court on Friday to enter his plea, which is equivalent to guilty.
He made the deal to avoid a prolonged court battle that would be a strain on his family, TMZ and others said.
A spokeswoman for the Los Angeles District Attorney's office declined to comment on the TMZ report, but Gibson's attorney, Blair Berk, issued a statement saying he had asked her to approach officials with a deal to end the matter.
Mel "Sugar Tits" Gibson
Sentencing Hearing Set
Buju Banton
A sentencing hearing has been set for June 16 for Grammy-winning Jamaican reggae singer Buju Banton.
Banton faces up to 15 years in prison after he was convicted of conspiring to set up a cocaine deal in 2009.
A Tampa federal court jury last month found Banton guilty of two drug charges and one weapons charge.
It was the singer's second trial. A previous jury deadlocked in September.
Buju Banton
Donates Gadhafi Fees
50 Cent
50 Cent is the latest artist to make a donation to charity after it was revealed he performed at an event linked to the clan of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.
A statement released to The Associated Press on Wednesday said the rapper, who has his own G-Unity foundation, will be making a donation to UNICEF to help with that organization's relief efforts during the turmoil in Libya.
50 Cent performed at a private event during the 2005 Venice Film Festival that was later linked to the Gadhafi clan. Gadhafi is battling rebels who are revolting against his rule, and faces an investigation for possible war crimes.
Last week, Beyonce, Usher, Mariah Carey and Nelly Furtado announced donations to charity in the wake of their participation in private concerts connected to the Gadhafis.
50 Cent
Lamborghini Stolen
Guy Fieri
Police say a thief using climbing gear rappelled into a San Francisco exotic car dealership and stole television celebrity chef Guy Fieri's $200,000-plus Lamborghini sports car.
The bright yellow Gallardo owned by the star of the Food Network's "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives" was taken Tuesday.
Police investigators tell the San Francisco Chronicle and KPIX a thief climbed to the roof of the dealership then rappelled into the showroom. The garage door lock was cut and the Lamborghini was driven away.
KPIX says the swashbuckling crook left behind a bag of mountaineering gear.
Guy Fieri
May Sue Over Breastmilk Ice Cream Name
Lady Gaga
Pop singer Lady Gaga has threatened to sue a specialist ice cream parlor in London for naming its breast milk ice cream "Baby Gaga," the shop's owner said on Wednesday.
Matt O'Connor, founder of The Icecreamists in London's Covent Garden, said he had received a letter from Lady Gaga's lawyers informing him that the singer planned to sue him over the name.
"She's threatening to bankrupt us and she's also threatening me personally, saying she'll seize my personal assets and property," he said.
London's Westminster Council briefly confiscated supplies of "Baby Gaga" ice cream last week on health concerns, but gave it the all-clear on Wednesday.
Lady Gaga
Sues Surgeon
Johnny Halliday
French rock star Johnny Halliday is suing for compensation from a doctor who operated on him before he fell ill in late 2009, his representative told AFP on Wednesday.
The 67-year-old rock legend underwent emergency surgery and was briefly put into an artificial coma in December 2009 in Los Angeles, after falling ill on the flight from Paris where he had a back operation days before.
His representative Pierric Le Perdriel told AFP the singer had decided "the time for compensation has come" and had lodged a complaint with medical authorities against Stephane Delajoux, known as a surgeon to the stars.
Hallyday is by far the best known rock star in France, with a colourful rock 'n' roll lifestyle. He was born to a Belgian father in Paris but has homes in Los Angeles and Switzerland.
Johnny Halliday
$10 To $1,500 In One Jump
Screwing Preemies
The price of preventing preterm labor is about to go through the roof. A drug for high-risk pregnant women has cost about $10 to $20 per injection. Next week, the price shoots up to $1,500 a dose, meaning the total cost during a pregnancy could be as much as $30,000.
That's because the drug, a form of progesterone given as a weekly shot, has been made cheaply for years, mixed in special pharmacies that custom-compound treatments that are not federally approved.
But recently, KV Pharmaceutical of suburban St.Louis won government approval to exclusively sell the drug, known as Makena (Mah-KEE'-Nah). The March of Dimes and many obstetricians supported that because it means quality will be more consistent and it will be easier to get.
None of them anticipated the dramatic price hike, though - especially since most of the cost for development and research was shouldered by others in the past.
"That's a huge increase for something that can't be costing them that much to make. For crying out loud, this is about making money," said Dr. Roger Snow, deputy medical director for Massachusetts' Medicaid program.
Screwing Preemies
Working For Newtie The Lying Philanderer
Zell Miller
Newt Gingrich says his passion for his country contributed to his marital infidelity. In an interview posted Wednesday by The Christian Broadcasting Network, Gingrich - who recently converted to Catholicism - said he had sought God's forgiveness for mistakes in his past.
"There's no question at times of my life, partially driven by how passionately I felt about this country, that I worked far too hard and things happened in my life that were not appropriate," Gingrich said.
Gingrich went on to say that he and his third wife, Callista, now have a great marriage.
The twice-divorced former U.S. House speaker has admitted he had an affair with Callista, a former congressional aide, while married to his second wife. It happened at the same time he was attacking President Bill Clinton for his relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
He also said former Georgia Gov. Zell Miller, a Democrat who has backed many Republicans in recent years, will serve as a co-chairman of his national campaign effort.
Zell Miller
74,040 Applications For Internship
Charlie Sheen
How bad is the current job market? At least 74,040 people would like to work for Charlie Sheen.
Internships.com said Wednesday that that's how many people have applied to Sheen's internship position since he posted it Monday. The actor said he would pay someone to help leverage his social media network this summer.
The posting was also a paid advertisement from Internships.com. The application wasn't exactly extensive: It limited applicants to 75 characters or less.
On Monday, Sheen was fired by Warner Bros. Television from the hit CBS show "Two and a Half Men." In a webcast Tuesday evening, Sheen lambasted the decision.
Charlie Sheen
Preservation Program Eendangered
Covered Bridges
A truck driver forced his oversized tractor-trailer rig through the historic Mt. Orne covered bridge in Lancaster, N.H., last year, causing extensive damage to the wood span. A tornado tossed the beloved 1886 covered bridge in Moscow, Ind,. into the Big Flatrock River three years ago.
Only six of the 19 original covered bridges in Madison County, Iowa - made famous by the love story "The Bridges of Madison County" - remain.
Floods, vandalism, arson and neglect are also taking a toll. About 750 of the 15,000 covered bridges that dotted the United States in the 19th century are still standing.
But nostalgia is a luxury few communities or the federal government can afford these days. President Barack Obama's budget proposal for 2012 would eliminate 55 Department of Transportation programs, including the National Historic Covered Bridge Preservation Program.
The program provides about $8 million a year in grants to repair or rehabilitate a dozen or so covered bridges - an infinitesimal portion of the $3.8 trillion federal budget. Transportation Department officials said communities would still be able to apply for grants for covered bridge projects, but they would have to compete with other highway and bridge projects for funds..
Covered Bridges
Cable Nielsens
Ratings
Rankings for the top 15 programs on cable networks as compiled by the Nielsen Co. for the week of Feb. 28-March 6. Day and start time (EST) are in parentheses:
1. "Jersey Shore" (Thursday, 10 p.m.), MTV, 5.46 million homes, 7.77 million viewers.
2. "WWE Raw" (Monday, 10 p.m.), USA, 3.85 million homes, 5.61 million viewers.
3. "WWE Raw" (Monday, 9 p.m.), USA, 3.81 million homes, 5.59 million viewers.
4. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Saturday, 10:30 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 3.48 million homes, 4.9 million viewers.
5. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Saturday, 10 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 3.38 million homes, 4.7 million viewers.
6. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Saturday, 9:30 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 3.238 million homes, 4.39 million viewers.
7. "Army Wives" (Sunday, 9 p.m.), Lifetime, 3.232 million homes, 4.22 million viewers.
8. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Sunday, 10:30 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 3.14 million homes, 4.47 million viewers.
9. "Jersey Shore After Hours" (Thursday, 11 p.m.), MTV, 3.07 million homes, 4 million viewers.
10. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Saturday, 9 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 3.04 million homes, 4.04 million viewers.
11. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Sunday, 10 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 3.03 million homes, 4.18 million viewers.
12. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Sunday, 9:30 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.99 million homes, 4.11 million viewers.
13. "T.U.F.F. Puppy" (Saturday, 11 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.838 million homes, 3.95 million viewers.
14. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Sunday, 9 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.837 million homes, 3.94 million viewers.
15. "American Pickers" (Monday, 9 p.m.), History, 2.83 million homes, 3.91 million viewers.
Ratings
In Memory
David Broder
David Broder, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post political reporter and columnist whose even-handed treatment of Democrats and Republicans set him apart from the ideological warriors on the nation's op-ed pages, died Wednesday. He was 81.
For decades, Broder set the standard for political coverage by seeing trends ahead of his competitors and by explaining how shifts in voters' moods and concerns forced politicians to adapt nimbly or falter. Long after he was famous he did tiring, shoe-leather reporting, including knocking on doors in bellwether precincts to discern voters' attitudes.
Broder was familiar to television viewers as a panelist on NBC's "Meet the Press" program. He appeared on the program more than 400 times, far more than any other journalist in the show's history.
He was the rare journalist who combined straight news reporting with a regular column on politics that appeared on the op-ed pages of dozens of newspapers. A September 2007 study by the liberal media watchdog group Media Matters found that Broder was second among columnists only to George Will in the combined circulation of newspapers in which his column appeared.
He won the Pulitzer for columns written in 1972, the year when Richard Nixon swept to a second term over Democrat George McGovern.
In 1990, a survey of newspaper editors conducted by Washingtonian magazine rated Broder as "Best Reporter," "Hardest Working" and "Least Ideological" among more than 100 columnists.
Among the books he wrote or co-wrote were "Behind the Front Page," "Dan Quayle: The Man Who Would Be President" and "Democracy Derailed: Initiative Campaigns and the Power of Money."
Starting in 2001, Broder served as a journalism professor at the University of Maryland. He also taught for a time at Duke University, but he always said he preferred reporting.
In 2008, he took a buyout from the Post, ending his career as a full-time employee there. But he continued writing his twice-weekly syndicated column.
Broder was born in Chicago Heights, Ill. He graduated from the University of Chicago and served in the Army from 1951 to 1953 before beginning his journalism career at the Bloomington (Ill.) Pantagraph. He worked for Congressional Quarterly, The Washington Star and The New York Times before joining The Washington Post in 1966. He covered every presidential campaign since 1960.
A top New York Times reporter, Broder surprised colleagues in 1966 by moving to the less-regarded Washington Post, in part out of frustrations with the Times' bureaucratic ways.
Working with editor Ben Bradlee, he began raising the Post's reputation for political reporting, which was boosted further by its Watergate coverage in the 1970s.
David Broder
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