Mark Morford: Welcome to 'Christian Facebook'! Please, no sexy gay swearing (SF Gate)
Will Faceglória and its ilk survive, even thrive, for long? Who knows? Fundamentalism is still big business in developing nations, where higher education is lacking and hence the church can still rely on its classic, fear-based rulebook to induce dread and lure in new adherents.
Andrew Tobias: Thank You, For A Real Good Time
That's what the blimp circling Chicago's Soldier Field Stadium periodically scrolled across its giant display, as 70,000 Deadheads - all of whom know the Loose Lucy lyric - [and] did indeed thank the band for 50 years of a real good time.
Many German cities hold an annual Spargelfest (asparagus festival) celebrating the harvest of white asparagus. Schwetzingen claims to be the "Asparagus Capital of the World" and during its festival an Asparagus Queen is crowned. The Bavarian city of Nuremberg feasts a week long in April, with a competition to find the fastest asparagus peeler in the region. This usually involves generous amounts of the local wines and beer being consumed to aid the spectators' appreciative support.
Source
Alan J was first, and correct, with:
Asparagus.
Adam answered:
Asparagus - and no, I did not hit up Google Translate.
Harry wrote:
Spargel, or white asparagus.
Jim from CA, retired to ID, said:
Asparagus
Deborah responded:
Taking another WAG - the crop so celebrated is asparagus.
I was there 10 years ago - our daughter was an au pair in Karlsruhe - and there was way more white than green asparagus.
That was the year the Tour de France rode through the city, as its founder had something to do with bikes. She said the crowds were so huge she couldn't see the cyclists.
I wish the US embraced pro cycling with such enthusiasm.
Happy Hump Day!
Dale of Diamond Springs, Norcali replied:
Asparagus is one of the finest vegetables known to men and women alike. We get local Asparagus in the Springtime and feast upon it regularly. This leads us to today's topic of delight, Asparaguspeeus: Asparagus contains a high concentration of a sulfur-containing compound called asparagusic acid, named for the vegetable, of course, which can also be found in other pungent-smelling foods such as rotten eggs, onions and garlic. When your digestive system breaks down asparagusic acid, it releases volatile odoriferous components that are the culprits of the strange smell associated with asparagus urine. Twenty to fifty percent of the population have the superior body chemistry to pass the piss. Of course, I have the gift of Asparaguspeeus!
Does anyone else boast Asparaguspeeus in today's audience?
Lois Of Oregon said:
Zhose crazzzy Germans und zeir festivals! Although considering it takes a full TWO years before asparagus HAS a harvest, guess that would be something to celebrate. But is asparagus and beer a good idea? Sounds like an explosive combination.
Randall responded:
Asparagus
DJ Useo answered:
It's asparagus. To each his own, I proclaim. I don't mind some good steamed asparagus with melted cheese sauce.
MAM wrote:
Asparagus ~ End of April to St. Johann's Day in late June.
Marian replied:
asparagus
Joe S said:
That's easy, it's spargelfargengelfargen. It makes your pee smell funny.
Patriot Act NSA Spying Unconstitutional Section 215 National Security Letters Must End
My name is Marc Perkel and I have decided to announce that I will not comply with the so called "Patriot Act" laws requiring me to disclose information about my customers. If I receive a national security letter I will immediately photograph it, post it online everywhere I can, and then make a video of me burning it. I will then await my arrest. If you want to put me in jail then come get me mother fucker.
Unseasonal marine layer rolled in and hung around most of the day.
Tonight, Thursday:
CBS opens the night with a RERUN'Big Bang Theory', followed by a RERUN'Mom', then a FRESH'Big Brother', followed by a FRESH'Under The Dome'.
The programming geniuses at CBS are filling Dave's hour with reruns of 'CSI: The Original One'.
On a RERUNJames Corden, OBE (from 6/9/15) are Betty White and Kyle MacLachlan.
NBC begins the night with a FRESH'Food Fighters', followed by a FRESH'Aquarius', then a FRESH'Hannibal'.
On a RERUNJimmy Fallon (from 6/18/15) are Colin Farrell, Jason Schwartzman, and Elmo.
On a RERUNSeth Meyers (from 6/24/15) are Channing Tatum, Laverne. Cox, Desaparecidos, and Amy Poehler.
On a RERUNCarson 'The Scab' Daly (from 2/3/15) are Simon Helberg, the Budos Band, and Kevin Macdonald.
ABC starts the night with a FRESH'The Astronaut Wives Club', followed by a FRESH'Mistresses', then a FRESH'Rookie Blue'.
On a RERUNJimmy Kimmel (from 6/29/15) are Emilia Clarke, Vanessa Bayer, and Miguel.
The CW offers a FRESH'Beauty & The Beast', followed by a FRESH'Dates', then another FRESH'Dates'.
Faux has a FRESH'Boom!', followed by a FRESH'Wayward Pines'.
MY recycles an old 'The Mentalist', followed by another old 'The Mentalist'.
A&E has 'The First 48', followed by a FRESH'Beyond Scared Straight: Back Talk', then a FRESH'Beyond Scared Straight', followed by a FRESH'American Takedown'.
AMC offers the movie 'I, Robot', followed by the movie 'US Marshals'.
BBC -
[6:00AM] Cash in the Attic - Season 18 - Ep 13 - J. Smith
[7:00AM] Cash in the Attic - Season 18 - Ep 14 - Mynott
[8:00AM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares UK - Season 6 - Ep 1 - Mayfair
[9:00AM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares US - Season 6 - Ep 7 - Levanti's Italian Restaurant
[10:00AM] Doctor Who: The Next Doctor
[11:00AM] Doctor Who: Planet of the Dead
[12:00PM] Star Trek: The Next Generation - Season 1 - Ep 24 - We'll Always Have Paris
[1:00PM] Star Trek: The Next Generation - Season 1 - Ep 25 - Conspiracy
[2:00PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares US - Season 4 - Ep 1 - Spanish Pavilion
[3:00PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares US - Season 5 - Ep 2 - Leone's
[4:00PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares US - Season 6 - Ep 12 - Yanni's
[5:00PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares US - Season 2 - Ep 8 - Sabatiello's
[6:00PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares US - Season 6 - Ep 4 - Ms. Jean's Southern Cuisine
[7:00PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares US - Season 4 - Ep 3 - Grasshopper Also
[8:00PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares US - Season 7 - Ep 5 - Mangia Mangia, Part 1
[9:00PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares US - Season 7 - Ep 6 - Mangia Mangia, Part 2 NEW
[10:00PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares US - Season 6 - Ep 2 - La Galleria 33, Part 2
[11:00PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares US - Season 7 - Ep 5 - Mangia Mangia, Part 1
[12:00AM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares US - Season 7 - Ep 6 - Mangia Mangia, Part 2
[1:00AM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares US - Season 6 - Ep 2 - La Galleria 33, Part 2
[2:00AM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares Revisited UK - Season 1 - Ep 3 - Revisited: Moore Place
[3:00AM] Top Gear - Season 5 - Episode 4
[4:00AM] Top Gear - Season 5 - Episode 5
[5:00AM] Top Gear - Season 5 - Episode 6 (ALL TIMES EST)
Bravo has 'Real Housewives Of NYC', 'Real Housewives Of OC', another 'Real Housewives Of OC', and still another 'Real Housewives Of OC'.
Comedy Central has 'South Park', another 'South Park', and 3 hours of old 'It's Always Sunny In Philly'.
On a RERUNJon Stewart (from 6/18/15) is Malala Yousafzai.
On a RERUN@Midnight (from 7/2/15) are Hannibal Buress, Bridget Everett, and Pete Holmes.
FX has the movie 'Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen', followed by the movie 'A Good Day To Die Hard'.
History has 'Mountain Men', another 'Mountain Men', followed by a FRESH'Mountain Men', then a FRESH'Alone'.
IFC -
[6:00AM] COMEDY BANG! BANG!-NICK OFFERMAN
[6:15AM] BLUES BROTHERS 2000
[9:00AM] COMEDY BANG! BANG!-SKYLAR ASTIN WEARS BLUE JEANS AND WEATHERED BROWN DESERT BOOTS
[9:30AM] COMEDY BANG! BANG!-MICHAEL SHEEN WEARS A PLAID BUTTON DOWN AND GREY BLAZER
[10:00AM] COMEDY BANG! BANG!-THOMAS MIDDLEDITCH WEARS AN ENIGMATIC SWEATSHIRT AND SWEATPANTS WITH POCKETS
[10:30AM] RUN FAT BOY RUN
[12:45PM] BLUES BROTHERS 2000
[3:30PM] SNAKES ON A PLANE
[5:45PM] FIGHT CLUB
[9:00PM] THE SPOILS BEFORE DYING
[9:30PM] THE SPOILS BEFORE DYING
[10:00PM] MARON-ANTI-DEPRESSED
[10:30PM] COMEDY BANG! BANG!-MICHAEL CERA WEARS A YELLOW COLLARED SHIRT AND WHITE SNEAKERS
[11:00PM] MARON-ANTI-DEPRESSED
[11:30PM] COMEDY BANG! BANG!-MICHAEL CERA WEARS A YELLOW COLLARED SHIRT AND WHITE SNEAKERS
[12:00AM] THE SPOILS BEFORE DYING
[12:30AM] THE SPOILS BEFORE DYING
[1:00AM] MARON-ANTI-DEPRESSED
[1:30AM] SNAKES ON A PLANE
[3:45AM] THE SPOILS BEFORE DYING
[4:15AM] THE SPOILS BEFORE DYING
[4:45AM] THE SPOILS BEFORE DYING
[5:15AM] MARON-ANTI-DEPRESSED
[5:45AM] COMEDY BANG! BANG!-ALISON BRIE (ALL TIMES EST)
Sundance -
[6:00AM] The Writers' Room-Dexter
[6:30AM] Two for the Money
[9:00AM] Once Upon a Time in Mexico
[11:15AM] Domino
[2:00PM] Tenderness
[4:15PM] The Manchurian Candidate
[7:00PM] Erin Brockovich
[10:00PM] Rectify-Hoorah
[11:00PM] Law & Order-Family Business
[12:00AM] Law & Order-Entrapment
[1:00AM] Rectify-Hoorah
[2:00AM] Erin Brockovich
[5:00AM] Rectify-Hoorah (ALL TIMES EST)
SyFy has the movie 'Predestination', followed by a FRESH'WWE Steroid SmackDown', then a FRESH'Dominion'.
TBS:
Scheduled on a FRESHConan are Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, and Liam Hemsworth.
Former Wimbledon Champion Billie Jean King takes her seat on Centre Court, at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships in Wimbledon, London, Wednesday July 8, 2015.
Photo by Kirsty Wigglesworth
Keith Olbermann's show on ESPN will end sometime this month.
"Olbermann" premiered in August 2013 when he returned to the network.
"Keith is a tremendous talent who has consistently done timely, entertaining and thought-provoking work since returning to ESPN," the network said in a statement Wednesday. "While the show's content was distinctive and extremely high quality, we ultimately made a business decision to move in another direction. We wish Keith nothing but the best and trust that his skill and ability will lead him to another promising endeavour."
The 56-year-old Olbermann was a "SportsCenter" anchor on ESPN from 1992-97. He went on to work for Fox Sports (1998-01) and switched to news with MSNBC (2003-11) and Current TV (2011-12) before returning to ESPN. He also was part of NBC's NFL coverage for the 2007-09 seasons.
Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta Jones pose with their children Carys Zeta Douglas, left, and Dylan Micheal Douglas for photographers upon arrival at the Ant-Man European premiere in London, Wednesday, 8 July, 2015.
Photo by Vianney Le Caer
A judge on Wednesday praised Joni Mitchell's longtime friend for helping the singer-songwriter recover from an aneurysm and ruled that she should continue to make medical decisions for the musician.
Superior Court Judge David Cunningham III said Leslie Morris should remain Mitchell's conservator, with the authority to oversee medical care for the eight-time Grammy winner.
Morris has been acting in that capacity since May, when Mitchell was recovering in a hospital from an aneurysm in late March that rendered her unable to speak for some time. The singer has since returned to her Los Angeles home and regained her speech.
Mitchell, 71, is expected to make a full recovery, a court-appointed attorney wrote in a filing Tuesday.
Hundreds of lawyers have registered to defend two women who went on trial in Morocco on Monday accused of "gross indecency" for wearing dresses considered provocative, an activist said.
The move came as protesters took to the streets of the capital, Rabat, in support of the defendants.
The women were arrested in the southern city of Agadir in mid-June after walking through a marketplace in the dresses, sparking anger among passers-by in the conservative Muslim kingdom.
The two women, hairdressers aged 23 and 19, were charged with "indecent exposure" for which they could face up to two years in prison.
In the police report, the women were said to have been wearing clothes that were "too tight".
A model presents hair styling with creations by Irene Luft at Berlin Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2016 in Berlin, Germany, July 8, 2015.
Photo by Fabrizio Bensch
It wasn't a robocall, but a federal judge left a message anyway for companies Tuesday when he awarded nearly $230,000 to a Texas woman, finding that a cable company crossed the line when it harassed her with 153 robocalls even after she complained about the wrong numbers.
U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein in Manhattan ordered Time Warner Cable Inc. to make the $229,500 payment to Araceli King of Irving, Texas, citing the New York-based company's "particularly egregious" behavior as it violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991.
King sued last year, saying she had repeatedly asked the company to stop making the calls.
Hellerstein said he tripled the $1,500 penalty for each call because Time Warner's actions were "particularly egregious" since it continued making the calls even after King complained in a seven-minute phone conversation in October 2013 with a company representative that the calls to her phone were apparently meant for a customer she did not know. The judge noted that 74 of the calls were made after Time Warner received a copy of King's lawsuit in March 2014.
The company's "recurring theme" in its legal arguments was that it was an unwitting victim of an unpredictable federal law that was not intended to turn an innocuous call to a wrong number into large damages, the judge said.
The CBS Late Late Show host has been tapped to emcee the 31st Annual Television Critics Association Awards during this year's summer tour. The non-televised event will be held on the evening of Saturday, Aug. 8, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, where the tour stretches for more than two weeks. Corden joins an impressive roster of past hosts, including Conan O'Brien, Bryan Cranston, Key & Peele, Ellen DeGeneres, and his Late Late Show predecessor, Craig Ferguson.
The news comes nearly four months after Corden replaced Ferguson as the face of CBS' 12:35 a.m. franchise. In that time, he's earned praise from critics (including a Critics' Choice Award nomination) and has churned out a steady stream of viral hits, 23 of which boast more than 1 million online views. Among them: a series of "Carpool Karaoke" installments featuring Mariah Carey, Justin Bieber and Jennifer Hudson, as well as career reenactments from both Tom Hanks and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The snark-free British host was still little known stateside when he appeared on the TCA stage in January to promote his show. Corden had made his acting debut in 1997 in the BAFTA-nominated U.K. comedy TwentyFourSeven, and later added other prominent roles in acclaimed play The History Boys, musical film Into the Woods and his own U.K. TV creation, Gavin & Stacey. It was his stage turn in One Man, Two Guvnors, however, that garnered Corden not only a Tony Award but also the attention of CBS bosses Nina Tassler and Leslie Moonves.
A water district has sued Tom Selleck, claiming the star of the crime shows "Magnum, P.I." and "Blue Bloods" stole truckloads of water from a public hydrant and took it to his ranch in drought-stricken California.
The Calleguas Municipal Water District in Ventura County claims a tanker truck filled up at a hydrant more than a dozen times and hauled water to a 60-acre ranch owned by Selleck in Westlake Village.
The district also says it spent nearly $22,000 to hire a private investigator to document the alleged thefts that date back two years.
The district claims it sent Selleck cease-and-desist letters aimed at halting the unlawful water deliveries, but the truck was spotted as recently as March filling up at the hydrant on four days and delivering water to the ranch.
In addition to legal fees and investigative costs, the water district is seeking an injunction barring Selleck and his contractors or employees from taking water from the district.
Kilikis help each other dress during San Fermin festival's "Comparsa de gigantes y cabezudos" (Parade of the Giants and Big Heads) in Pamplona, northern Spain, July 8, 2015. "Kilikis", wearing oversized masks as they playfully hit bystanders with sponges on sticks, parade daily through the city accompanied by brass bands during the nine-day-long festival made popular by U.S. writer Ernest Hemingway.
Photo by Eloy Alonso
The PGA of America is moving its Grand Slam of Golf from Donald Trump's course in Los Angeles, the first significant fallout for golf from the Republican presidential candidate's comments on Mexican immigrants.
Trump and the PGA of America met Monday. Both groups said they mutually agreed not to hold the Grand Slam of Golf at Trump National Golf Club in Los Angeles on Oct. 19-21.
Trump said because of the backlash over his comments he does not want the PGA of America to deal with any consequences.
Trump said losing the Grand Slam of Golf this year will give him time to rebuild the Los Angeles course that fronts the Pacific Ocean.
Friends of Abe, the underground conservative group in Hollywood, has become a favorite stop for Republican presidential hopefuls, with the latest being Donald Trump, who will speak to the group Friday night in Brentwood.
The sold-out, off-the-record event on Friday promises to be a barn burner, given Trump is under immense scrutiny since making controversial remarks about illegal immigrants from Mexico.
Jeremy Boreing, who runs FOA, would not comment on those who have visited FOA, nor would he name any FOA participants, but the group was outed, so to speak, when its petition for nonprofit status was held up by the IRS.
The group was founded when a few Hollywood conservatives met at a deli about a decade ago and has since grown to 2,300 members who work in the TV, film and music industries.
Some of those early founders include Gary Sinise, Kelsey Grammer, Lionel Chetwynd, Jon Voight and deceased activist Andrew Breitbart.
In this undated photo provided by Heritage Auctions, the 1984 Summer Olympics Torch that Bruce Jenner carried through Lake Tahoe, Nevada is shown. The 24-inch torch, featuring a brass finish and wood handle, is being offered by Heritage Auctions on July 30, 2015, at its Platinum Night Sports Auction in Chicago. It is the first significant piece of Jenner memorabilia to go to auction since the winner of the 1976 Olympic Decathlon Gold Medal became Caitlyn Jenner.
CVS Health Corp said it was withdrawing its membership from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce after media reports that the trade group was lobbying globally against anti-smoking laws.
The No. 2 U.S. drugstore chain said it was "surprised" to read recent reports on the chamber's position on tobacco products outside the United States.
The New York Times reported last week that the chamber and its foreign affiliates were lobbying against anti-smoking laws such as restrictions on smoking in public places and bans on menthol and slim cigarettes, mainly in developing countries.
"CVS's purpose is to help people on their path to better health, and we fundamentally believe tobacco use is in direct conflict with this purpose," CVS spokesman David Palombi said in an emailed statement on Tuesday.
A French court on Tuesday jailed a woman for three years for conning thousands of Chileans into buying a kit to make "magic cheese" they could sell back to French cosmetics firms for use in luxury beauty products.
Gilberte Van Erpe, 74, was given a six-year prison sentence -- three years suspended -- and a 250,000-euro ($270,000) fine for her scam in which she told victims the product they could make at home was a prized ingredient used in creams favoured by celebrities such as Michael Jackson.
But the goop was worthless and the scam became one of the biggest pyramid schemes ever seen in South America.
For 369 euros, investors could buy a kit containing filters and a special powder which when mixed with milk and fermented, produced a small cheese pat they were told was highly sought after by the cosmetics industry.
Fermex promised that companies like French cosmetics giant L'Oreal would snap up the cheese for use in whitening creams and other products.
A man watches the giant steel artwork "Bending" by Chinese artist Yue Minjun in Duesseldorf, Germany, Wednesday, July 8, 2015. It is part of the China 8 exhibition of contemporary art from China.
Photo by Martin Meissner
A Los Angeles-area truck driver has been charged with smuggling 7,000 pounds of used beverage containers into California from out of state, marking the third such arrest this year in a crackdown by California's recycling enforcement agents.
Cesar Vargas, 42, is accused of trying to defraud the California Redemption Value (CRV) program, which allows empty soft-drink bottles and cans to be redeemed at state-certified recycling centers for the 5- or 10-cent deposits consumers pay on those containers when they are purchased.
The latest defendant in that crackdown, Vargas was arrested last month by recycling fraud agents at an agricultural inspection checkpoint in Blythe, California, just over the border from Arizona.
Inspectors there seized nearly 7,000 pounds of empty plastic and aluminum beverage containers that agents conducting surveillance on Phoenix-area recycling centers had seen being loaded into the suspect's tractor trailer for clandestine delivery to California, Klug said.
CalRecycle estimates that the smuggled containers, if eligible for CRV redemption claims, would be worth more than $7,100.
A gull flips a herring in order to swallow it whole while flying away with a meal robbed from a delivery truck, Wednesday, July 8, 2015, in Rockland, Maine. Herring is primarily used for lobster bait, with a small percentage of it going to the sardine industry.
Photo by Robert F. Bukat
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said:
has returned to semi-retired status.
