Recommended Reading
from Bruce
David Bruce: Wise Up! Good Deeds (Athens News)
Jay Leno came up with a good idea for a fundraiser for the victims of Hurricane Katrina in 2005: He auctioned off on eBay one of his Harley-Davidson motorcycles, which celebrities had been autographing for four weeks. The winning bid was $505,100. Among the celebrities autographing the motorcycle were Pamela Anderson, Billy Crystal, Jennifer Garner, Angie Harmon, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Matthew McConaughey, Adam Sandler, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jimmy Smits, and Reese Witherspoon.
Mark Morford: How to Eat a Dead Terrorist (SF Gate)
So deeply mesmerized was I by Nicholas Schmidle's chillingly detailed, wildly intense New Yorker piece describing nearly every gut-wrenching decision, stratagem and gunshot during the Navy SEAL's momentous takedown of Osama bin Laden on that fateful night in Abbottabad back in May, that I almost missed it. … It was this: We do this sort of thing all the time.
Chris Nolte: Not many of us natives left here in adventure land (SF Gate)
I ran into a man I'd known for years at a supermarket the other day. He's an old San Francisco guy, so I was surprised at what he said.
DAVID STREITFELD: In a Race to Out-Rave, 5-Star Web Reviews Go for $5 (Scroll down for link)
Fantastic piece about fake reviews on Amazon, Yelp, etc., confirms what you already know.
Froma Harrop: 'Enforcement' of Immigration Laws Already Here (Creators Syndicate)
Have you noticed that our immigration laws are finally being enforced? That illegal immigration is way down? That employers hiring undocumented workers are finally being punished? And that this is being done in the Democratic administration of President Barack Obama? If not, take note.
David Weigel: Republicans for Tax Hikes (Slate)
Republicans have finally found a group they want to tax: poor people.
Annie Lowrey: A Tough Job, but Someone's Gotta Do It (Slate)
What can the Obama administration do to help the long-term unemployed?
Andrew Tobias: Libya
Never been there, know little about it. Yet I can't help thinking the President's Cairo "New Beginnings" speech improved Mid-East perceptions of the U.S. and may even have had something to do with the Arab Spring. Can you imagine such a speech by Mitt Romney or Rick Perry? I can't help thinking that the way the Obama team went after Bin Laden was more effective than his predecessor's. I can't help thinking that our handling of Qaddafi and Libya has thus far worked out well. What if we had taken this Qaddafi approach with Saddam Hussein?
Christie Young: Rules of Finding a Roommate (Good Magazine)
Looking for a roommate? Christie Young of Good Magazine has a few rules you should follow
Hadley Freeman: "Dolly Parton: 'I may look fake but I'm real where it counts'" (Guardian)
The country music star on high heels, 'hillbilly ways' and the truth about her marriage.
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 Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Reader Suggestion
Moby Duck
Moby-Duck: The True Story of 28,800 Bath Toys Lost at Sea and of the Beachcombers, Oceanographers, Environmentalists, and Fools, Including the Author, Who Went in Search of Them By Donovan Hohn.
MAM
Thanks, Marianne!
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny and a bit warmer.
Forbes List
Most Powerful Women
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff topped Forbes magazine's 2011 list of the world's 100 most powerful women, released today.
Many of the 100 women named on the list--eight heads of state, politicians, humanitarians, business and technology leaders, journalists, media tycoons, and non-profit chiefs--are familiar from past years' rankings: Merkel, Clinton, Rousseff, IMF chief and former French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde, PepsiCo's Indra Nooyi, Oprah, Lady Gaga and J.K. Rowling, to name a few.
But the 2011 list noted several new arrivals--Minnesota representative and Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann, NBC Today show host Ann Curry, and New York Times executive editor Jill Abramson among them. And several women fell off after appearing on past years' lists (Sorry, Madonna). So who came and who left? And what does it say about wider trends in the world of the past year?
French model, singer and First Lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, ranked No. 35 on last year's list, dropped off this year's list, perhaps signaling a larger malaise with the world's first spouses--and their elected partners--several years into their terms. American First Lady Michele Obama sank from No. 1 on last year's Forbes list to No. 8 this year. Also dropping off the 2011 list: Qatari First Lady Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al-Missned, who was ranked No. 72 on last year's list, and Maria Shriver, who ranked No. 53 on last year's list but has now publicly split from the now retired California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Two another notable California women also fell off the list: former Republican Senate contender Carly Fiorina and former Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman, who ranked No. 51 and No. 47 respectively in last year's list, but lost their 2010 races.
Most Powerful Women
He Gets It
Matt Damon
The Washington Post's Valerie Strauss reports that the Obama administration tried several times to meet with actor Matt Damon before he was scheduled to speak at a rally last month held to protest the federal focus on test scores.
"[Education Secretary Arne] Duncan was willing to meet Damon at the airport when he flew into the Washington region and talk to him on the drive into the city," Strauss reports. "Damon declined all of the requests."
At the Save our Schools rally, Damon slammed standardized testing and what he described as the influence of "corporate reformers" on the education system. His speech brought a lot of media attention to a relatively small rally attended by a few thousand people.
Duncan said he does listen.
"I do conference calls with teachers, I visit hundreds and hundreds of schools each year," Duncan said.
That didn't convince a rapping teacher duo from California , who released a video calling into question Duncan's ability to lead the nation's education system since he's never taught in public school. "Your resume's impressive but you're still not a teacher," they sing.
Matt Damon
Bonus Mini-Episode
"Doctor Who"
"Doctor Who" returns to BBC and BBC America this Saturday to burn off the remaining six episodes of the series' sixth season.
But fans have already been granted a new way to satisfy their fix for more storylines: BBC announced Wednesday that it will air a mini-episode this fall on BBC Three.
The special will star Matt Smith, and is titillatingly titled "Death Is the Only Answer."
But here's the catch: The episode is only three minutes long, and it was written by "children from a school in Basingstoke after they entered a BBC Learning and Doctor Who Confidential competition earlier this year," according to the network.
The episode will air October 1, the same day as the sixth-season finale.
"Doctor Who"
Closing Dec. 31
'The Addams Family'
Gomez, Morticia, Wednesday, Lurch and Fester will be gone from Broadway by the time the New Year rolls around.
Producers for the musical "The Addams Family" said Wednesday it will end its run at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre on Dec. 31.
When it closes, it will have had 725 performances and 34 previews. A national tour launches on Sept. 15 in New Orleans and is booked in more than 30 cities through 2012.
The musical, based on characters created by legendary cartoonist Charles Addams, currently stars Roger Rees and Brooke Shields. When it opened in 2010, it starred Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth.
'The Addams Family'
Prove Your Worth
Calling All Psychics
The $1 million treasure just sits there for the taking. Quite literally.
The nonprofit organization The James Randi Educational Foundation has $1 million tucked in an escrow account for any celebrity psychic able to prove their "powers" in a controlled atmosphere.
This seems about as safe as offering to fling money at any WWE wrestler who takes down an MMA fighter, or telling your local bar's karaoke star you'll pay them top dollar when they have a record top the Billboard charts.
Either way, you're money's safe. And that's exactly what James Randi, a magician and founder of eponymous educational foundation, banks on by taking his challenge public and working to get the word out about a group of people he considers con artists.
After a recent Nightline television program showcased psychic celebrities, Randi wanted to promote his own views. "James Van Praagh and Allison DuBois have turned the huckster art of 'cold reading' into a multi-million-dollar industry, preying on families' deepest fears and regrets," he says in a statement announcing the challenge. "They should be embarrassed by the transparent performances."
Calling All Psychics
"Restoring Courage"?
Beck
Former Fox TV personality Glenn Beck capped a contentious visit to Israel Wednesday by hosting a rally next to a hotly disputed holy site in Jerusalem's Old City.
Hundreds of supporters, including Israeli politicians, were on hand to hear the commentator in the final leg of his "Restoring Courage" tour of the Holy Land. A small group of protesters held banners saying "Glenn Beck, go home."
Beck's unabashedly pro-Israel, anti-Muslim rhetoric has endeared him to some on Israel's far-right. But religious figures and left-wing politicians have come together in an unusual alliance appealing to Israelis to shun his embrace.
Last month, Beck, who is currently Mormon, was hosted at the Israeli parliament and received several rounds of applause when he encouraged lawmakers to "stop playing the game" of mainstream media and "speak the truth" about Israel and its adversaries.
Beck
Plea Deal in Vegas
Cy Waits
Paris Hilton's ex-boyfriend was fined $585 and ordered Wednesday to stay out of trouble as he settled drug charges stemming from a Las Vegas Strip traffic stop with the celebrity socialite last year.
Cy Waits, 35, was sentenced after pleading no contest to misdemeanor driving under the influence of drugs. Felony and misdemeanor drug charges were dropped.
Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Bill Kephart ordered Waits to attend DUI (driving under the influence) and "victim impact" classes, gave him a 30-day suspended jail sentence, and warned him not to make the same mistake twice.
Waits emerged from the courtroom with his lawyer, Richard Schonfeld, and said he was glad to have the case behind him.
Cy Waits
Catches Yet Another Break
Redmond O'Neal
The son of Ryan O'Neal and the late Farrah Fawcett pleaded no contest Wednesday to heroin possession and was ordered to spend the next year in an intense inpatient rehab program.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Keith Schwartz also told Redmond O'Neal to serve five years on probation and gave him a three-year suspended prison sentence, which would only be imposed if the younger O'Neal gets into trouble again.
O'Neal, 26, also pleaded no contest to being a felon in possession of a firearm when he was arrested Aug. 2 after a traffic stop.
He entered the pleas without an agreement with prosecutors, district attorney's spokeswoman Jane Robison said.
Redmond O'Neal
Expels Slave Descendants
Cherokee Nation
The nation's second-largest Indian tribe formally booted from membership thousands of descendants of black slaves who were brought to Oklahoma more than 170 years ago by Native American owners.
The Cherokee nation voted after the Civil War to admit the slave descendants to the tribe.
But on Monday, the Cherokee nation Supreme Court ruled that a 2007 tribal decision to kick the so-called "Freedmen" out of the tribe was proper.
The controversy stems from a footnote in the brutal history of U.S. treatment of Native Americans. When many Indians were forced to move to what later became Oklahoma from the eastern U.S. in 1838, some who had owned plantations in the South brought along their slaves.
"And our ancestors carried the baggage," said Marilyn Vann, the Freedman leader who is a plaintiff in the legal battle.
Cherokee Nation
ABC Show Asked To Leave
"What Would You Do?"
Officials in one well-to-do U.S. town are asking an ABC hidden-camera show to hit the road.
Greenwich officials tell the Greenwich Time that the filming of the show "What Would You Do?" is disruptive. They say they asked the film crew to choose another location for filming.
The show sets up morally difficult situations and secretly films people's reactions.
Town officials say having the show set up in front of stores has a negative impact on business. Greenwich police say one of the show's scenes caused an alarmed resident to ask a store employee to call police.
"What Would You Do?"
Cable Nielsens
Ratings
Rankings for the top 15 programs on cable networks as compiled by the Nielsen Co. for the week of Aug. 15-21. Day and start time (EDT) are in parentheses:
1. "Jersey Shore" (Thursday, 10 p.m.), MTV, 5.52 million homes, 7.80 million viewers.
2. "The Closer" (Monday, 9 p.m.), TNT, 5.00 million homes, 6.73 million viewers.
3. "Rizzoli & Isles" (Monday, 10 p.m.), TNT, 4.97 million homes, 6.74 million viewers.
4. "Royal Pains" (Wednesday, 9 p.m.), USA, 4.07 million homes, 5.44 million viewers.
5. "Pawn Stars" (Monday, 10:30 p.m.), History, 3.95 million homes, 5.47 million viewers.
6. "Burn Notice" (Thursday, 9 p.m.), USA, 3.90 million homes, 5.32 million viewers.
7. NFL Preseason Football: New York Jets at Houston (Monday, 8 p.m.), ESPN, 3.73 million homes, 4.97 million viewers.
8. Nascar Sprint Cup (Sunday, 1 p.m.), ESPN, 3.654 million homes, 5.03 million viewers.
9. "Pawn Stars" (Monday, 10 p.m.), History, 3.645 million homes, 5.04 million viewers.
10. "Storage Wars" (Wednesday, 10:30 p.m.), A&E, 3.55 million homes, 5.01 million viewers.
11. "True Blood" (Sunday, 9:04 p.m.), HBO, 3.46 million homes, 5.53 million viewers.
12. "WWE Raw" (Monday, 9 p.m.), USA, 3.41 million homes, 5.25 million viewers.
13. "Suits" (Thursday, 10 p.m.), USA, 3.37 million homes, 4.46 million viewers.
14. "WWE Raw" (Monday, 10 p.m.), USA, 3.184 million homes, 4.86 million viewers.
15. "Storage Wars" (Wednesday, 10 p.m.), A&E, 3.175 million homes, 4.58 million viewers.
Ratings
In Memory
Frank Dileo
Music industry executive Frank Dileo, who managed Michael Jackson's career in the 1980s and returned as his manger in the superstar's final days, has died. He was 64.
Publicist Karen Sundell says Dileo died Wednesday morning. The cause of death was not immediately available, but he had recently experienced complications following heart surgery.
The short, portly Dileo was a colorful figure in the entertainment industry and had movie roles as an actor, notably portraying a gangster in Martin Scorsese's "Goodfellas."
A native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Dileo began his career in the music industry working as a promoter for CBS subsidiary Epic Records. He signed so many stars that he was credited with catapulting the small company to the No. 2 label in the country. Jackson was at CBS Records at the time and together they worked on the phenomenally successful "Thriller" album.
In 1984, with "Thriller" soaring, Jackson recruited Dileo to leave Epic and manage his career. Dileo accepted and presided over one of the most productive periods for Jackson. He executive produced the full length Jackson movie, "Moonwalker." He also wrote, produced and negotiated a series of lucrative Pepsi commercials for Jackson. And he managed two of Jackson's concert tours - the Victory Tour with other members of the Jackson family and the Bad World Tour, Jackson's first solo excursion which became the largest grossing concert tour of all time.
After five years together, Dileo and Jackson abruptly ended their business relationship without explanation. Dileo went on to manage the careers of other musicians, including Taylor Dayne, Jodeci, Laura Branigan and Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora. He also worked with Prince on several projects. He founded Dileo Entertainment Group in Nashville, Tenn., a company focused on launching the careers of young artists.
In 2005, when Jackson stood trial on child molestation charges, Dileo returned to his side. He would tell later of their emotional reunion. After Jackson's acquittal, they remained in touch and in the summer of 2009, as Jackson prepared to launch his "This is It" tour, the singer asked Dileo to manage him again. They were working together when Jackson died on June 25, 2009.
Dileo is survived by his wife, Linda.
Frank Dileo
In Memory
Scott Wannberg
Scott Wannberg's poems were wildly colorful, sometimes off the wall, frequently in your face and just as often very funny.
In other words, they were like the author.
Wannberg, whose garrulous personality and bearish build cast a huge shadow over the Los Angeles poetry scene for decades, died Friday at his home in Florence, Oregon, his longtime friend and fellow poet, S.A. Griffin, told The Associated Press. He was 58.
The cause of death was not immediately known, but Wannberg had been in declining health and had moved to Oregon two years ago to be closer to family.
Prolific to the end of his life, Wannberg gave hundreds of readings, published 10 volumes of poetry and was often included in anthologies, among them "The Outlaw Bible of American Poetry."
His stream-of-consciousness, beat-influenced style, noted for its colorful, often humorous language, touched on seemingly every subject that came to the author's mind: from the death of a beloved cat to the war in Iraq, politics to movies, the wealthy of Los Angeles' West Side to the destitute of its Skid Row.
As two of the founding members of the experimental poetry group the Carma Bums, Wannberg and Griffin made nearly a dozen tours of North America over 20 years, giving readings in cities from the Southwest to Canada. Their last trip was in 2009.
For most of those journeys, the group piled into a vintage 1959 Cadillac they named Farther, a nod to author Ken Kesey's Merry Prankster bus, Further.
As the years and the tours rolled by, Wannberg picked up an eclectic variety of admirers, including not only fellow poets but prominent novelists and actors. The author T.C. Boyle, in a 2008 essay in the Los Angeles Times, called him "one of the true literary zealots of our time."
Wannberg's own books included "Mr. Mumps," ''The Electric Yes Indeed, "Amnesia Motel," ''Strange Movie Full of Death" and "Nomads of Oblivion."
His latest work, "Tomorrow is Another Song," is being published next month by actor Viggo Mortensen's Perceval Press.
Wannberg grew up in Los Angeles' beachfront bohemian section of Venice, where he was the film critic for the Venice High School newspaper. He studied creative writing at San Francisco State University, and among his influences were the members of that city's 1950s beat scene, Jack Kerouac and Gregory Corso.
Wannberg is survived by his brothers, Bob and Paul. A memorial is scheduled Sept. 17 at the Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center in Venice.
Scott Wannberg
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