Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Paul Krugman: What Greece Means (New York Times)
So Greece has officially defaulted on its debt to private lenders. It was an "orderly" default, negotiated rather than simply announced, which I guess is a good thing. Still, the story is far from over. Even with this debt relief, Greece - like other European nations forced to impose austerity in a depressed economy - seems doomed to many more years of suffering.
RAINEY REITMAN: "Legal Censorship: PayPal Makes a Habit of Deciding What Users Can Read" (Electronic Frontier Foundation)
PayPal has instituted a new policy aimed at censoring what digital denizens can and can't read, and they're doing it in a way that leaves us with little recourse to challenge their policies in court. Indie publisher Smashwords has notified contributing authors, publishers, and literary agents that they would no longer be providing a platform for certain forms of sexually explicit fiction.
Two People Having Sex: An Erotic Parody (Smashwords)
Talk of censorship tends to put a frown on everyone's face. Today, we're going to put a smile on your face, erotica style. The amazing duo of Jen Ashton and Ren Cummins, writing under the nom de plume of Freida Wright, have penned a delightful parody of the PayPal/Smashwords censorship saga that would make Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert blush with pride. … With their generous permission, I bring you their masterpiece here in its entirety, for FREE. (Uses the f-word.)
Leo Babauta: 9 Essential Skills Kids Should Learn (Zen Habits)
Kids in today's school system are not being prepared well for tomorrow's world.
Terry Savage: Smart Dividend Strategy Pays Off (Creators Syndicate)
Why is the stock market rising? The economy is still in rough shape, unemployment remains stubbornly high, housing remains weak, and the European financial system is a mess. Still, U.S. stocks are rising, and we're seeing daily headlines about the market hitting new four-year highs. Why? Well, two reasons. First, despite the headlines, the economy is growing again, at least a bit. And second, stocks are the "least worst" place to put your money.
Batman and Robin Run Away from Everything in Roberto Salvador's Animated Gifs (Comics Allianace)
"Stupid funny GIFs really make me smile, like these clips created by Roberto Salvador which feature Batman and Robin running for their lives from various evil forces." -- Neatorama
Lenore Skenazy: One Overreaction Leads to Another (Creators Syndicate)
"Grandma, tell me about the olden days at the airport."
"Oh, sweetie, all I can remember is the thrill of nobody seeing the holes in my socks."
Pauli Poisuo: 5 People From History Who Were Absurdly Hard to Kill (Cracked)
James Bowie is a 19th century American pioneer and frontier legend. The world-famous bowie knife is named after him -- which is appropriate, as he was known to have a 9-inch hunting knife on him at all times, just in case. And with Bowie, those "just in case" situations came up a lot.
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
John Denver & Carl Sagan
John Denver Interviews Carl Sagan
Sharon in Tejas
Thanks, Sharon!
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny, but better than 10° cooler than seasonal and supposed to get colder.
'Democracy Has Been Hacked'
Al Gore
In a wide-ranging talk about the Internet and government, Al Gore urged the techie crowd at South By Southwest to use digital tools to improve government.
The former vice president sat for a conversation with Napster co-founder and Web entrepreneur Sean Parker on Monday at SXSW in a flashy tete-a-tete that drew an audience of thousands at the Austin Convention Center and more viewers via a live stream.
"Our democracy has been hacked," said Gore, framing Washington gridlock and the effects of special interest money in digital terms.
Both Gore and Parker derided the dominant role of television in elections and political dialogue. Change, Parker said, won't come from within the political system.
Al Gore
Visiting Letterman Next Monday
Michelle Obama
Michelle Obama is returning to the late-night stage.
The first lady will appear on the "Late Show with David Letterman" on March 19. Mrs. Obama will discuss her Joining Forces initiative, which supports military families, and her plans for the program's one-year anniversary.
CBS, which airs Letterman's show, says this will be Mrs. Obama's first appearance on the program. But she has made other stops on the late-night talk show circuit to promote her initiatives and stump for President Barack Obama's re-election campaign. Her recent appearances include "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" and Jimmy Fallon's "Late Night" program. Both shows are on NBC.
Michelle Obama
Urges Support For Japan
Cyndi Lauper
Cyndi Lauper is admired in Japan for not running away after last year's devastating earthquake and tsunami.
Now, the American singer is back to show the Japanese people that she hasn't forgotten them.
Lauper had arrived in Tokyo on March 11, 2011, just as the massive quake struck northern Japan. She stayed to perform her concerts as planned, even though fears of radiation from a tsunami-stricken nuclear power plant in Fukushima caused many other performers and visitors to flee. She said she stayed to console survivors with her music.
Lauper, who arrived earlier this month, traveled to the tsunami-hit areas, including an elementary school to donate cherry trees and play with the children, visited a temple and explored a music store whose elderly owner fixed a tsunami-damaged piano.
Cyndi Lauper
World Premiere
Jack Kerouac
Jack Kerouac's only full-length play will be staged for the first time this fall.
Merrimack Repertory Theatre and the University of Massachusetts Lowell said Monday - on what would have been Kerouac's 90th birthday - that they will produce the three-act play called "Beat Generation" in the novelist's hometown of Lowell, Massachusetts.
The premiere of the play - a staged reading for eight performances only - will be the centerpiece of the 2012 Jack Kerouac Literary Festival, which will be held Oct. 10 through Oct. 14.
Kerouac wrote "Beat Generation" - which draws on his life and those of other Beat writers, including Neal Cassady and Allen Ginsberg - in 1957, the same year his classic "On the Road" was released.
He tried to build interest for "Beat Generation" in the theater world, contacting such people as Lillian Hellman and Marlon Brando, but he failed and set the manuscript aside. Kerouac died in 1969. The manuscript was found in a warehouse in 2005.
Jack Kerouac
Introduces Bill
Sen. Nina Turner
Democratic Ohio state Sen. Nina Turner is the third female lawmaker to introduce a bill that would limit men's access to Viagra and other erectile dysfunction drugs to make a statement about the dozens of anti-abortion bills that have passed statehouses around the country over the last year.
Turner is opposed to a proposed bill that would prohibit abortion after a fetal heartbeat is detected, which can happen as early as six weeks into a pregnancy. The Dayton Daily News reports that Turner's bill would mandate that men seeking Viagra be "tested for heart problems, receive counseling about possible side effects and receive information about 'pursuing celibacy as a viable lifestyle choice.'"
Turner said on MSNBC Monday that the bill is about showing "men as much love in the reproductive health arena as they have shown us over the years. My Senate Bill 307 is all about the love and making sure we look out for men's sexual health."
Turner is one of several female Democratic state lawmakers who are wielding the power of sarcasm to protest a wave of anti-abortion legislation.
According to the abortion rights group the Guttmacher Institute, a record-breaking 92 new abortion-restricting laws were passed in 2011. Two of those laws mandated that women have ultrasounds and look at the images before being allowed to get an abortion.
Sen. Nina Turner
Mystery Witness Emerges
"Desperate Housewives"
A judge wants to talk to a "Desperate Housewives" worker who claims he mistakenly received an email suggesting a cover-up of information about Nicollette Sheridan's firing from the show.
The man called Sheridan's attorney Sunday afternoon stating he was a low-level employee on the series, but received an email indicating messages about Sheridan's departure from the show would be purged.
The message was left as Sheridan's wrongful termination trial draws to a close, with closing arguments expected on Tuesday. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Allen White ordered the man to appear in court Tuesday to determine whether he should be allowed to testify.
Sheridan's attorney Mark Baute has claimed "Housewives" creator Marc Cherry and others conspired to hide info about when they decided to kill off the actress' role.
"Desperate Housewives"
Iran Cancels Ceremony For Oscar Winner
Asghar Farhadi
Iranian authorities canceled a ceremony Monday in honor of the country's Oscar-winning director even though the government had hailed his win as a triumph over a competitor from Israel.
The event for Asghar Farhadi, whose movie, "A Separation," won the Oscar for best foreign film last month, was abruptly scrapped after authorities denied permission, according to the semiofficial Ilna news agency.
There were no details as to why a permit was denied but some Iranian conservatives were upset with the film's themes: domestic turmoil, gender inequality and the desire by many to leave the country.
Iran had welcomed Farhadi's Oscar as the movie beat an Israeli film and three others in the foreign language category, describing it as a conquest for Iranian culture and a blow for Israel's perceived outsized influence in America.
Asghar Farhadi
Don't Want Their Ads On Pigboy
141 Companies
Preparation H, Domino's, and Acura all have one thing in common--they don't want their ads to be scheduled within 15 minutes of Rush Limbaugh and other "controversial" content like Sean Hannity, Mark Levin, and Glenn Beck. We've been keeping tabs on the advertisers sticking by Rush, dropping Rush, and even advertisers who didn't know their ads were playing during Rush's show--the latter of which possibly explains the need for guidelines for people programming the ads. But we're not exactly sure why an internal memo from Rush Limbaugh's distributor to traffic programmers appeared online.
Think Progress has a snapshot of the document and reports Monday that there are now 141 companies who want nothing to do with Limbaugh's programming. In a note to traffic programmers, Premiere Radio Networks writes:
They've specifically asked that you schedule their commercials in dayparts or programs free of content that you know are deemed to be offensive or controversial (for example, Mark Levin, Rush Limbaugh, Tom Leykis, Michael Savage, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity). Those are defined as environments likely to stir negative sentiment from a very small percentage of the listening public ...
Please ensure their commercials that you receive as part of any Premiere Radio Networks inventory do not air in these programming positions, but in dayparts and times considered free of content some may deem controversial. Also, please ensure that these commercials air with a minimum of 15 minutes separation from any controversial programming content.
For the full and very diverse list of companies that want out, head over to Think Progress.
141 Companies
Lawyer Gets New Date In Vegas Case
Marion 'Suge' Knight
A lawyer for rap music mogul Marion "Suge" Knight is working on a plea deal with a Las Vegas city prosecutor on unpaid tickets that led to Knight's arrest last month on traffic warrants.
The 46-year-old former Death Row Records executive didn't appear Monday in Las Vegas Municipal Court while attorney Richard Schonfeld got a new court date March 19.
Knight was arrested Feb. 8 in Las Vegas on warrants issued after police say he failed to appear on tickets issued in November 2008.
Knight also was accused of possessing less than one ounce of a controlled substance on a report that marijuana was found in the car.
No charge was immediately filed in the marijuana case. That's scheduled for June in another court.
Marion 'Suge' Knight
Playwright, Performer, Spy
Noel Coward
For many, the name Noel Coward conjures the image a smoking jacket-clad bon vivant, tickling the ivories and tossing off bons mots between sips of a cocktail.
But a new exhibit that opened on Monday at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center takes a comprehensive look at the many, sometimes lesser-known lives of Coward the celebrated playwright. He was, for instance, a spy.
"Star Quality: The World of Noel Coward" offers a wealth of his memorabilia and artifacts in an exhibit that is a primer in 20th-Century arts and letters, as well as style and fame.
Coward, a composer and performer who wrote stage and film classics like "Private Lives," "Brief Encounter" and time-honored standards such as "Mad About the Boy" and "Mad Dogs and Englishmen," was equally known as the personification of erudite sophistication -- a penthouse-dwelling raconteur.
But the show, which is billed as the most comprehensive Coward exhibit ever assembled and which runs through August 18, also offers glimpses of Coward the artist, Coward the boy and even Coward, the World War Two spy.
Noel Coward
First Findings Presented
Leonardo da Vinci
A researcher searching for a lost Leonardo da Vinci fresco claims that a hidden wall in Florence's Palazzo Vecchio contains colors consistent with those used by the Renaissance master.
Maurizio Seracini is an Italian engineer leading the hunt for the "Battle of Anghiari," an unfinished mural by Leonardo. Seracini announced the first results of technological sleuthing on Monday, saying an analysis shows the red, black and beige paint found are consistent with organic paint Leonardo used for his frescoes.
The suspected fresco is concealed behind a more recent wall, so researchers had to take samples for lab analysis.
Seracini called the results "encouraging" but preliminary.
Leonardo da Vinci
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