Frank Rich: Suicide Is Not Painless (The New York Times)
As the investigative reporters Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele observed in the October Vanity Fair, America has to date "spent twice as much in inflation-adjusted dollars to rebuild Iraq as it did to rebuild Japan - an industrialized country three times Iraq's size, two of whose cities had been incinerated by atomic bombs." (And still Iraq lacks reliable electric power.)
Jim Hightower: WHAT TORTURE IS (jimhightower.com)
Bill Clinton got roundly ridiculed and then impeached by congress for a sexual encounter that he tried to dismiss by quibbling over what the meaning of "is" is.
Yet, we now have a president who is engaged in a far more damning constitutional encounter that he is trying to dismiss by quibbling over what the meaning of "torture" is. Why isn't he facing an impeachment inquiry?
Chris A was first with the correct answer with:
It looks like the most unlikely answer, but who knows?
Second was Dan D, writing:
When I do try to answer these questions, I'm doing it strictly from from
the remnants of my post - 70s/80s/90s (pick a decade of self-abuse)
brain-recordings. If I do decide to cheat and google it, I'll le'cha
know.
Actually, I do remember that -- about a decade or more ago -- I read
something regarding Play-Doh's previously incarnated ability to "pick up"
newspaper print and, upon discovering this, .somebody decided to try
turning it into a novelty toy. What resulted was the slightly-so-bouncy
pseudo (para, quasi?) -clay.
So I'll say "C," it was originally used to clean wallpaper, etc.
David KW was third with a simple:
C: Cleaning wallpaper
Alan J wrote:
for cleaning wallpaper!
And, Buzzcook sent this RE: Ducks, the Crew Cuts, and Sh-Boom:
The Crew Cuts version of Sh-Boom
is most definitely not rock and roll, it isn't even close to the Rhythm
and Blues of the original Chords version.
BY comparison to the Crew Cuts, Pat Boone was a hard rocker.
I vaguely remember a cousin playing the chords version back when I was a
kid and liking it pretty much as a doo wop song a touch grittier than
the Belmonts. Then as a teen I was introduced to the greatest version of Sh-Boom of all by
Stan Freberg. Sorry couldn't find the Freberg
version.
A few years later while trying to be cool in front of friends and
females I saw a version of Sh-Boom on a juke box. I exclaimed that here
was a great old song that they'd really like. Unfortunately for me I had
forgotten the Chords and the juke box had the Crew Cuts. Within a
measure and a half my face was getting red and my friends were laughing
at me.
Gosh do I hate the Crew Cuts.
It was Gala Premier night at the Presidio theater in San Francisco…..the exclusive first time showing in America of the new movie by German director Dorris Dörrie ("Men" ("Männer") (1985) - "Enlightenment Guaranteed" " ("Erleuchtung garantiert") (2000) - Naked" ("Nackt") (2002)….There was an overflow special invitation crowd, reserved seating and the star of the movie, Edward Espe Brown, arriving in a Limo wearing brown and gold Buddhist apparel. Oh the Zen of it !
Ed Brown is an old friend of mine from Tassajara Zen Mountain Center (and Hot Springs). He came to Tassajara over 40 years ago and became a priest…..and head cook. He wrote a book in 1970 called "The Tassajara Bread Book" it was a culinary sensation all over the world and made him the "Buddha of Bread". But I always looked at Ed as a consummate comedian….he could tell a great story, his timing was impeccable and he knew how to get to the punch line with perfect aplomb!
One of my favorite stories of Ed's is, of course, True…with a Twist. Back in the early days of Tassajara, the monastic training was rigorous and often students would live half starved on the strict vegetarian diet. People began going into the kitchen at night and stealing food. So Ed became the first appointed Kitchen Kop…..he would sit in lotus position on top of the refrigerator….with knives in each hand. Whenever an unsuspecting student would sneak in, Ed would scare the crap out of them. But the founding Abbot, Suzuki Roshi, gave Ed and the community a greater solution….."Take the lock off your mind….. put it on the door !"
Ed also wrote a book called "Tomato Blessings and Radish Teachings: Recipes and Reflections". In it, he tells a story from his cooking class called the "Potato Chip Meditation". After having each student put a raisin in their mouth, he would say " now do not bite yet…..wait for a while. Then, painfully later, he would say, "now bite down and let the juice out…..but don't swallow yet…..wait for a while. Then, finally, he would say "let the juices flow down your throat!" Then Ed told his students to each take a single "Lays" Potato Chip….he had a mutiny….one student said "I bet you can't eat just one"….another said "are going to leave us hanging with unsatisfied desire…again". But upon doing the same thing with the processed potato chip….everyone's conclusion was that they were manufactured purposefully…. empty of any real food value so that you had to eat "more than one" to be happy.
So tonight, the captured audience of "Buddhaphiles" settle in to see Ed Brown become a 15 foot high movie star…..Ed happened to be sitting to the left of me and he seemed to shrink as his huge image went up on the silver screen. I had actually came to the movie with very low expectations and with 2 minds….one mind was that of being at an intimate family event viewing pages from an old album…the other mind was that of being someone in the Midwest, who knew nothing about Ed Brown, and was just going to see a "Cooking flick".
The good news is that Ed Brown is a the new Zen Action Super Star (now he can run for governor)…the really good news is that "How to Cook Your Life" is a surprisingly entertaining, beautifully filmed and a well acted mini-masterpiece. The action is all Ed Brown….filling the screen with self-deprecating epithets, pearls of wisdom, sincere expressions on his face (he laughs a lot…he cries a little), and his beautiful hands…kneading dough, slicing carrots, bowing and baking bread.
This movie was shot of classes Ed was teaching at Scheibbs Buddhist Centre (Austria), Tassajara Zen Mountain Center (Big Sur, Calif.), Green Gulch Farms (Marin County) and San Francisco Zen Center.
Purple Gene's left mind (Zen) gives "How to Cook Your Life" 9 bright red tomato slices out of 10…..Purple Gene's right mind (Midwest) gives "How to Cook Your Life" 7 shiny green cucumbers out of 10. (Although exquisitely edited, I do think this movie was about 15 minutes too long!)
CBS opens the night with a FRESH'Survivor: China', followed by a FRESH'CSI: The Original One', then a FRESH'Without A Trace'.
On a RERUNDave (from 10/3/07) are Alec Baldwin and Faith Hill.
On a RERUNCraig (from 8/8/07) are Michelle Pfeiffer, Rachael Nichols, and Kat De Luna.
NBC begins the night with a FRESH'My Name Is Earl', followed by a FRESH'30 Rock', then a FRESH'The Office', followed by the SEASON PREMIERE'Scrubs', then a FRESH'ER'.
On a RERUNLeno (from 9/19/07) are Dane Cook, Ali Larter, and Chris Cornell.
On a RERUNConan (from 6/21/07) are John Krasinski, Louis CK, and the Mooney Suzuki.
On a RERUNCarson Daly (from 9/20/07) are Oliver Hudson, Peter Bjorn and John.
ABC starts the night with a FRESH'Ugly Betty', followed by a FRESH'Grey's Anatomy', then a FRESH'Big Shots'.
Scheduled on a FRESHJimmy Kimmel are Ray Liotta, Jack LaLanne, and Interpol.
The CW offers a FRESH'Smallville', followed by a FRESH'Supernatural'.
Faux has FRESH'MLB Baseball - World Series - Game 2', then pads the left coast with local crap and maybe an old 'Simpsons'.
MY fills the night with the movie 'The Amityville Horror'.
A&E has 'CSI: The 2nd One', another 'CSI: The 2nd One', followed by a FRESH'The First 48, and 'Dallas SWAT'.
AMC offers the movie 'Halloween', followed by the movie 'Halloween 4: The Return Of Michael Myers', then the movie 'Halloween 5: The Revenge Of Michael Meyers' (yes, it's 'myers' in #4, and 'meyers' in #5 - go figure).
BBC -
[12:00 PM] Cash in the Attic - Ep 19 Gray;
[1:00 PM] Cash in the Attic - Ep 18 Mitchell;
[2:00 PM] Bargain Hunt - Ep. 16 Shepton Mallet 73;
[2:30 PM] Bargain Hunt - Ep. 17 Ardingly 68;
[3:00 PM] How Clean Is Your House? - Episode 7;
[3:30 PM] How Clean Is Your House? - Episode 8;
[4:00 PM] You Are What You Eat - Episode 7;
[4:30 PM] You Are What You Eat - Episode 8;
[5:00 PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares - Ep 2 Walnut Tree;
[6:00 PM] My Family - Ep. 14 Ding Dong Merrily;
[6:30 PM] My Family - Ep 1 Fitting Punishment;
[7:00 PM] BBC World News America;
[8:00 PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares - Ep 8 La Gondola;
[9:00 PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares - Ep 7 Oscars;
[10:00 PM] BBC World News America;
[11:00 PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares - Ep 8 La Gondola;
[12:00 AM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares - Ep 7 Oscars;
[1:00 AM] Absolutely Fabulous - Ep. 2 Death;
[1:40 AM] The Catherine Tate Show - Episode 3;
[2:00 AM] The Weakest Link - Episode 9;
[3:00 AM] Hollyoaks - Episode 39;
[3:30 AM] Changing Rooms - Ep.12 West Drayton;
[4:00 AM] Bargain Hunt - Ep. 14 Ardingly 67;
[4:30 AM] Bargain Hunt - Ep. 15 Oakington 59;
[5:00 AM] Cash in the Attic - Ep. 1 Ogden White;
[5:30 AM] Cash in the Attic - Ep. 2;
[6:00 AM] BBC World News. (ALL TIMES EDT)
Bravo has 'Real Housewives', 'Work Out', 'Kathy Griffin: Everybody', 'Kathy Griffin: Strong Black', and 'Tim Gunn'.
Comedy Central has 'Scrubs', another 'Scrubs', an old 'Jon Stewart', an old 'Colbert Report', 'Chappelle's Show', 'South Park', another 'South Park', and 'Drawn Together'.
On a RERUNJon Stewart (fom 10/10/07) is Lynne Cheney.
On a RERUNColbert Report (from 10/15/07) are Dennis Kucinich and Paul Glastris.
FX has the movie 'X2: X-Men United', 'Always Sunny In Philadelphia', and more 'Always Sunny In Philadelphia'.
History has 'Modern Marvels', 'Engineering Disasters 21', 'Mega Disasters', and 'Tsunami 2004: Waves Of Death'.
IFC -
[06:05 AM] Mr. Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred A. Leuchter, Jr.;
[07:45 AM] Monster in a Box;
[09:20 AM] Face;
[11:15 AM] Mansfield Park;
[01:15 PM] Monster in a Box;
[02:50 PM] Media Lab Results;
[03:00 PM] Face;
[04:50 PM] Mansfield Park;
[06:50 PM] Hilary and Jackie;
[09:00 PM] Marvin's Room;
[10:45 PM] Mississippi Burning;
[01:00 AM] Naked;
[03:15 AM] Marvin's Room;
[05:00 AM] Hilary and Jackie. (ALL TIMES EDT)
SciFi has the movie 'Final Destination', followed by the movie 'Final Destination 2'.
Sundance -
[05:00 AM] Very Annie Mary;
[06:45 AM] Koenig's Sphere;
[07:45 AM] Bodies, Rest & Motion;
[09:30 AM] August in the Empire State;
[10:45 AM] No Looking Back;
[12:30 PM] Ginger and Cinnamon;
[02:15 PM] Private;
[03:45 PM] Bodies, Rest & Motion;
[05:30 PM] Janice Beard: 45 Words Per Minute;
[07:15 PM] No Looking Back;
[09:00 PM] Robert Redford on Paul Newman;
[10:00 PM] Sean Penn + Jon Krakauer;
[11:00 PM] Episode 3;
[12:00 AM] Furnish;
[12:35 AM] Energy War;
[02:05 AM] Furnish;
[02:35 AM] Cashback;
[03:00 AM] Sean Penn + Jon Krakauer;
[04:00 AM] Amongst Friends;
[05:30 AM] August in the Empire State. (ALL TIMES EDT)
Robert Plant, left, and Alison Krauss fool around before they perform on the NBC 'Today' television program in New York Wednesday Oct. 24, 2007. The pair have collaborated on an new CD 'Raising Sand.' At center is guitarist and the album's producer T Bone Burnett.
Photo by Richard Drew
If you've hummed along, tapped your feet, or even danced in your seat while watching "Purple Rain," "Saturday Night Fever" or "Trainspotting," you're not alone.
The soundtracks from those movies have been named among the 50 greatest by the editors of Vanity Fair magazine. The full list will be revealed next month in a one-time Conde Nast magazine, Movies Rock, for subscribers of its 14 titles.
"Purple Rain" topped the chart even though it was described as "perhaps the best badly acted film ever," editors at Vanity Fair said, while "Trainspotting" came in at No. 7 and "Saturday Night Fever" was eighth.
"A Hard Day's Night" came in a No. 2, followed by "The Harder They Come," "Pulp Fiction," "The Graduate" and "Superfly." "American Graffiti" and "The Big Chill" rounded out the top 10.
Two senators on Wednesday threatened to introduce bipartisan legislation that would block the Federal Communication Commission from easing rules governing media ownership.
Sens. Byron Dorgan, a North Dakota Democrat, and Trent Lott, a Mississippi Republican, said they were studying possible legislation that would nullify an FCC decision expected on December 18.
"I think (relaxing media ownership rules) is not a good policy," Lott told reporters at a news conference. "I just don't think this is in the people's best interest."
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin (R-Murdoch's Fluffer) recently said he wants the agency to wrap up its examination of media ownership and reach a decision by December 18 on whether to ease limits on how many media outlets a company may own in a single market.
American film director Sean Penn poses during a photo call on occasion of the presentation of the movie 'Into the wild' at the Rome Film festival, Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2007.
Photo by Sandro Pace
As Michael Scott, the clueless boss on NBC's "The Office," would say, "ain't no party like a Scranton party."
With that in mind, the city where the Emmy-winning cubicle comedy is set is hosting a weekend blowout for thousands of fans.
The inaugural "Office Convention" promises to be as quirky as the show itself, with highlights including an Office Olympics (Dunderball, anyone?), a character lookalike contest, appearances by cast and crew and performances by the Scrantones, the band that recorded the show's theme music.
It starts Friday with the "Today" show's Al Roker broadcasting live from the University of Scranton and wraps up Sunday.
Eleven works by cult British artist Banksy exceeded their estimates on Wednesday at a London auction, underlining his ongoing appeal to contemporary art collectors.
According to the Web site for Bonhams auctioneers, 11 works fetched a total of 455,000 pounds ($930,000), compared with a pre-sale estimate of around 300,000 pounds. Including buyers' premiums, the total rose to more than 500,000 pounds.
The star lot was "Avon and Somerset Constabulary," a spray paint and oil canvas featuring two British policemen which fetched 80,000 pounds before premium and tax compared with a pre-sale estimate of 60-80,000.
Banksy has managed to remain anonymous and yet stay in the headlines for stunts including decorating Israel's controversial West Bank barrier and leaving a replica of a Guantanamo Bay detainee at the Disneyland theme part in the United States.
The former UN secretary general Kofi Annan on Wednesday received an honorary knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II in London.
The Ghanaian diplomat was made a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Michael and Saint George (GCMG). The award was made during a private audience with the monarch at her Buckingham Palace residence.
Annan, who won the Nobel peace prize in 2001, is not entitled to use the title "Sir" as he is not a British citizen.
Actor Nathan Lane, left, poses during a publicity photo-shoot with David Hume Kennerly for a forthcoming Broadway play in a reproduction of the Oval Office in the Gerald R. Ford Museum in Grand Rapids, Mich. on Friday, Oct. 19, 2007. The David Mamet play called 'November', about the last few days before a presidential election, will begin performances in December and opens on Broadway in January.
Photo by Adam Bird
ABC has picked up the fantasy comedy-drama "Pushing Daisies" for a full season.
The "back-nine" order brings the total order for the freshman series to 22 episodes.
In its first three airings, "Daisies" has been a solid ratings performer, winning its Wednesday 8 p.m. hour in the adults 18-49 demographic. It also earned the strongest reviews of any new series this year. Lee Pace stars as a piemaker who can bring people back from life by touching them, and can them dispatch them again with a second touch.
TMZ.com reports that TV host-actor Gary Collins, known for his work in the 80s on shows like "Hour Magazine", was busted Tuesday night under suspicion of DUI.
Collins was reportedly driving his black Ford Explorer in Sherman Oaks on Kester around 6:30 p.m. when he crashed into a blue Toyota. The collision caused Collins' car to then hit two parked vehicles, according to eyewitnesses.
The web site also quoted police as saying that Collins tried to get out of performing a Breathalyzer test (at least four times).
Collins, 69, is married to actress-TV personality Mary Ann Mobley, a former Miss America.
talian film writer and actor Dario Fo is seen prior to the presentation of the movie 'Zero - Inchiesta sull'11 Settembre' (Zero - Investigation on 9/11) at the Rome film festival, Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2007.
Photo by Sandro Pace
Joe Francis, founder of the "Girls Gone Wild" video empire, has engineered an ad campaign to call attention to his legal woes, which began in Panama City Beach in 2003 and now have him in a Nevada jail cell.
Francis said he's been treated like a terrorist and likens himself to an enemy combatant in legal filings. He says that's why he chose to feature a picture of himself taken during a 2004 White House visit - a campaign donor's perk - in a series of online advertisements running on newspaper Web sites from Pensacola to Tallahassee.
Francis could bond out of jail on the federal charges, but would face extradition back to Florida to face trial on four felony charges related to using minors in a sexual performances and two misdemeanor prostitution charges. The charges are all that remain in an original 73-count indictment in the 2003 "spring break" filming.
He would rather stay in jail in Nevada than return to Florida.
A shipping company owned by ConocoPhillips' pleaded guilty to concealing a 2004 oil spill in the ocean off Alaska and was ordered to pay $2.5 million for the offense, officials said.
Polar Tankers Inc. entered its guilty plea in U.S. District Court on Tuesday and was ordered to pay a $500,000 fine and a $2 million community-service payment to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, the U.S. Attorney's office said.
Federal officials said the 895-foot tanker Polar Discovery spilled oil sludge in the open ocean in January 2004 and attempted to conceal the incident by turning into the wind to clean the sludge from the vessel's side.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, right, is confronted by a protester with her hands painted red as she arrives to testify on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2007, before the House Foreign Relations Committee hearing regarding US policy in the Middle East ,where she spoke about Iraq, Iran, and the Israel Palestinian conflict.
Photo by Charles Dharapak
A Wisconsin man digging at an Arkansas diamond park with his fiancee Tuesday found a 3.92-carat white stone, but the rock will go into his collection because his betrothed already has a ring and a setting.
Eric Blake, 32, of Appleton, Wis., spotted the stone along a trail at the Crater of Diamonds State Park when he set down a 70-pound bucket of mud that he was carrying to a wash basin. "I put the bucket down to switch hands. I looked down and there it was," Blake said.
Blake, a carpenter, said his grandfather had taken him to the state park about 15 years ago and that he returns two to three times a year. "We usually find something," he said.
The Crater of Diamonds park is the world's only diamond-producing site open to the public and visitors can keep the stones they dig up. The largest diamond ever found in the United States, the 40-carat white diamond named Uncle Sam, was unearthed in 1924 at the Murfreesboro park.
Sunlight filtered though the smoke of nearby wildfires reflects off the ocean as surfers ride waves at Cardiff Reef Tuesday, Oct 23., 2007 in Encinitas, Calif.
Photo by Denis Poroy
Rankings for the top 15 programs on cable networks as compiled by Nielsen Media Research for the week of Oct. 15-21. Day and start time (EDT) are in parentheses.
1. NFL Football: Giants vs. Falcons (Monday, 8:30 p.m.), ESPN, 6.45 million homes, 8.48 million viewers.
2. "Hannah Montana" (Friday, 8 p.m.), Disney, 3.84 million homes, 5.35 million viewers.
3. "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" (original), (Thursday, 10 p.m.), USA, 3.65 million homes, 4.54 million viewers.
4. College Football: Auburn vs. LSU (Saturday, 9:03 p.m.), ESPN, 3.61 million homes, 5.07 million viewers.
5. Movie: "Wizards of Waverly Place" (Friday, 8:30 p.m.), Disney, 3.45 million homes, 4.81 million viewers.
6. College Football: South Florida vs. Rutgers (Thursday, 7:30 p.m.), ESPN, 3.27 million homes, 4.20 million viewers.
7. "WWE Raw" (Monday, 10 p.m.), USA, 3.26 million homes, 4.99 million viewers.
8. "Hannah Montana" (Friday, 7 p.m.), Disney, 3.22 million homes, 4.30 million viewers.
9. "Hannah Montana" (Friday, 7:30 p.m.), Disney, 3.17 million homes, 4.34 million viewers.
10. "WWE Raw" (Monday, 9 p.m.), USA, 3.06 million homes, 4.67 million viewers.
11. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Sunday, 9:30 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.88 million homes, 3.93 million viewers.
12. MLB NLCS: Diamondbacks vs. Rockies, Game 4 (Monday, 10:13 p.m.), TBS, 2.85 million homes, 3.80 million viewers.
13. "Back at the Barnyard" (Sunday, 10 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.81 million homes, 3.95 million viewers.
14. Movie: "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" (Friday, 9 p.m.), Disney, 2.80 million homes, 4.14 million viewers.
15. "Hannah Montana" (Friday, 6:30 p.m.), Disney, 2.76 million homes, 3.54 million viewers.
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