Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Federal Trade Commission: Spotting an Impostor: Scammers Pose as Friends, Family and Government Agencies
It's easy to think "It couldn't happen to me." But scammers know how to get around our better judgment. They play on our emotions or promise big payoffs to get us to act. And many use the names of government agencies like the FTC, trusted companies, or friends and family to get us to buy into their schemes. We may not be able to spot the impostor until it's too late.
Bill Press: Joe McCarthy Is Born Again - As Peter King (Tribune Media Services)
After FDR disgracefully rounded up Japanese-Americans during World War II and locked them up in relocation camps, Americans promised: we'll never do that again.
Nicholas D. Kristof: Pay Teachers More (New York Times)
From the debates in Wisconsin and elsewhere about public sector unions, you might get the impression that we're going bust because teachers are overpaid. That's a pernicious fallacy. A basic educational challenge is not that teachers are raking it in, but that they are underpaid.
Poor Elijah (Peter Berger): Commonwealth (irascibleprofessor.com)
I've been a classroom teacher for a quarter century now. Along the way I've been shaking my head at the madness of modern education reform.
Paul Krugman's Column: Another Inside Job (New York Times)
More from the abusive bankers and their political friends.
Paul Krugman's Blog: The "Rationing" Switcheroo (New York Times)
But nobody is proposing that the government deny you the right to have whatever medical care you want at your own expense. We're only talking about what medical care will be paid for by the government. And right-wingers, of all people, shouldn't believe that everyone has the right to have whatever they want, at taxpayers' expense.
Connie Schultz: Lessons from Superman (Creator Syndicate)
Superman came by for another visit last week. This time, he even spent the night.
Dick Cavett: My Life As a Juvenile Delinquent (New York Times)
It was one of those delicious summer nights in Nebraska when you're blissfully wallowing in vacation. You gulp dinner in order to slip out through the screen door into the dark, into an atmosphere of rustling elm leaves and June bugs, and join up with some friends to play "kick the can" or "ditch" or to raise, if not hell, heck.
Nicolas Roeg: 'I don't want to be ahead of my time' (Guardian)
Once audiences make sense of his work, Nicolas Roeg has usually moved on. As the film world rushes to canonise him, he tells Ryan Gilbey about the curse of bad timing.
Tanya R. Cochran: "Raise your hand if you're invulnerable!: An Interview with Harry Groener (Popmatters)
A versatile and seasoned actor, Groener may best be known to the "Spotlight on Joss Whedon" readers as the third-season 'Buffy the Vampire Slaye'r antagonist Mayor Richard Wilkins, a frontrunner for the 'Buffy' fan's favorite villain.
Mark Stryker: Grammy winner Esperanza Spalding brings a world of sound to her music (Detroit Free Press)
When jazz bassist and vocalist Esperanza Spalding shockingly beat out teen idol Justin Bieber, Drake, Florence + the Machine and Mumford & Sons for best new artist at the Grammy Awards three weeks ago, a large chunk of America squinted at their TVs and said, "Who?"
Marc Myers: The Search for Aretha's Sound (Wall Street Journal)
Before Aretha Franklin became the Queen of Soul, she was a budding Princess of Pop.
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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Michelle in AZ
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny and seasonal.
Time Has More Than Come
Freedom to Marry
An advocacy group says Anne Hathaway, Martin Sheen and Jane Lynch are among a group of actors, athletes and business leaders urging President Barack Obama to support marriage rights for same-sex couples.
The New York-based group Freedom to Marry said Monday that R&B singer Mya, NFL linebacker Scott Fujita and Twitter founder Jack Dorsey also signed an open letter calling on the president to back gay marriage.
Obama has said he supports civil unions as an alternative to marriage for gays and lesbians, and his views on the subject are evolving. His administration announced this month that it would no longer defend the federal law barring government recognition of same-sex unions.
Freedom to Marry says several couples plan to deliver the letter to the White House in the spring.
Freedom to Marry
Bestowed French State Honors
Frederic Mitterrand
French Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand on Sunday bestowed French state honors on prominent US and other cultural figures, including writers James Ellroy and Alain Mabanckou as well as actress Eva Marie-Saint.
Congolese author Mabanckou, who teaches literature at the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA), received the French Legion of Honor.
Ellroy, author of "L.A. Confidential," was given the Order of Arts and Letters.
The minister said that actress Marie-Saint, who also received the Order of Arts and Letters, had brought to cinema "magnificent light and a lot of poetry."
Frederic Mitterrand
Yesterday
Pi Day
Mathematics geeks turned irrational as they celebrated Pi Day Monday, the day of the year which represents the first three digits of the mathematical constant pi -- 3.14.
Pi Day was created in 1987 in the United States -- where people write dates in the month-day format -- by Larry Shaw, a theoretical physicist at San Francisco's Exploratorium science museum.
He was pondering "the possibility of entering other dimensions through a rotational motion and contemplated the relation of the linear measurement of pi to a sphere," when he came up with the idea of honoring pi with its very own day, the Exploratorium says.
When Shaw's daughter told him that March 14 was also Albert Einstein's birthday, the Pi holiday took hold.
The Greek letter pi looks like two columns at Stonehenge with a plank across the top. Pi, the number, is irrational and transcendental, meaning it will go on forever after the decimal without repeating a pattern.
Pi Day
Movie Pulled From Japanese Theaters
Clint Eastwood
Warner Bros. film studio on Monday said it has taken afterlife movie "Hereafter" out of Japanese theaters and postponed the release of "The Rite" in that country following last week's devastating earthquake.
"In deference to the tragic unfolding events in Japan, we have pulled 'Hereafter' from the theaters and will postpone the Japanese release of 'The Rite' (which was scheduled to open this coming weekend) to a later date," Warner Bros. said in a statement.
Japan suffered the most powerful earthquake in its history late last week, resulting in massive destruction and death.
"Hereafter," which was directed by Clint Eastwood and stars Matt Damon, follows three people who are questioning death and what may or may not come after. "The Rite," starring Anthony Hopkins," deals with an exorcism.
Clint Eastwood
Soars On British Charts
I Fagiolini
A sumptuous first recording of a long-lost 450-year-old Italian Renaissance mass written for 40 different vocal parts has soared onto British pop charts a week after its release.
The recording by British vocal group I Fagiolini of the little-known Alessandro Striggio's 1566 mass for 40 voices -- most masses are written for four -- made its debut at number 68 on the pop charts, above Bon Jovi, George Harrison and Eminem.
It was number two on the classical charts, just behind Dutch violinist waltz master Andre Rieu.
The mass was performed in several major European cities when it was written but had been mis-catalogued at the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris where it was rediscovered a few years ago by musicologist Davitt Moroney, and given its first modern performance at the BBC Proms in London in 2007.
I Fagiolini and their label Decca Classics, a part of the Universal music group, spared no expense on the recording. It uses five choirs and a panoply of period instruments, from trombone-like sackbuts to the 11-stringed lirone, a cello precursor, as well as lutes, recorders and Renaissance strings.
I Fagiolini
Dumped By Aflac
Gilbert Gottfried
Aflac Inc. said Monday it has fired Gilbert Gottfried, the abrasive voice of the insurer's quacking duck in the U.S., after the comedian posted a string of mocking jokes about the earthquake and tsunami in Japan on Twitter over the weekend.
The tasteless tweets are particularly problematic for Aflac because it does 75 percent of its business in Japan. One in four homes in Japan buys health insurance from Aflac. The insurer's CEO, Daniel Amos, flew to Japan on Sunday to show support for the company's employees and agents.
Aflac said in a statement Monday that Gottfried's jokes do not represent the feelings of the company, which previously announced it would donate 100 million yen ($1.2 million) to the International Red Cross to help with disaster assistance.
The insurer said it will start a casting search for his replacement. The company also noted that Gottfried is not the voice of the duck in Japan. Aflac's mascot has a softer, sweeter voice in Japanese commercials.
Gilbert Gottfried
Turns Himself In To Begin 9-Month Sentence
Richard Hatch
Reality TV star Richard Hatch presented himself to U.S. marshals in Rhode Island on Monday to begin a nine-month prison sentence for failing to pay taxes on the $1 million he won on first season of the CBS show "Survivor."
Hatch arrived at U.S. District Court in Providence just after noon, wearing a blue sweatsuit. He told reporters outside the courthouse that he is innocent. He has appealed his case to the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston.
Hatch lives in Newport and currently is appearing on NBC's "The Celebrity Apprentice." He spent three years in prison for tax evasion before being released in 2009 and was serving a three-year term of supervised release. During that period, he was supposed to refile his 2000 and 2001 taxes and pay what he owed, but he never did.
U.S. District Court Judge William Smith ordered Hatch back to prison last week. During that hearing, Hatch said he was working with an accountant to determine from the IRS what he still owed.
Hatch now owes an estimated $2 million to the IRS, a figure that includes taxes on his "Survivor" winnings and penalties.
Richard Hatch
Special Effect Expert Cleared
"The Dark Knight"
An Oscar-winning special effects expert was cleared Monday of health and safety breaches after a cameraman died during the making of the last Batman movie in 2007.
Conway Wickliffe, 41, was killed when the vehicle from which he was filming struck a tree during a test run for an action scene in "The Dark Knight," starring Christian Bale and the late Heath Ledger.
Jurors at Guildford Crown Court took less than two hours to find special effects supervisor Christopher Corbould, 53, not guilty of failing to ensure his safety, the Press Association reported. Their decision was unanimous.
Corbould, who won an Oscar last month for the special effects in Hollywood blockbuster "Inception," looked relieved and could be heard to breathe a sigh of relief as jurors returned their verdict.
"The Dark Knight"
TV Is First Love
Lou Dobbs
Lou Dobbs (R-Racist), the pugnacious former CNN news anchor who flirted with the idea of running for U.S. president, is back where he wants to be, hosting a television show and free from his old network.
The veteran newsman is hosting an hour-long weeknight program for Fox Business Network debuting on Monday and getting him "back to business," as the promotional campaign says.
Harvard-educated Dobbs began his career at CNN as a straight-ahead financial journalist. But by the time he left in 2009 after nearly 30 years, he had become its most populist anchor by expressing anger against illegal immigration and jobs going overseas, among other topics.
Dobbs' new show on Fox Business Corporatist Propaganda Network is called "Lou Dobbs Tonight," the same title as his last program on CNN, and it will air at 7 p.m. eastern time.
Lou Dobbs
Rupert's Newest Bitch
Evan Bayh
Fox News Channel has hired former Democratic Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh as an on-air contributor.
The network announced Tuesday it had hired Bayh to offer commentary and analysis across Fox News' programming ahead of the 2012 elections.
Bayh left office in January after representing Indiana for two terms in the Senate. Bayh was considered a moderate useless within the Democratic Party and regularly appeared on Fox News as a senator.
Since leaving politics, Bayh has also signed on as a partner at a law firm and was appointed a senior adviser to private equity firm Apollo Global Management.
Evan Bayh
Miniseries Frightens Big Advertisers
"The Kennedys"
National advertisers are notoriously timid when it comes to programing that might be even the slightest bit controversial.
So it was inevitable that a media frenzy over a miniseries about America's most iconic political family would result is a tough ad sales pitch for "The Kennedys." Three weeks before the eight-part series premieres April 3, ReelzChannel has failed to line up any major sponsors.
Only 20 percent of the upstart cable channel's inventory for the miniseries has been sold. Nine companies that buy across the network allowed their spots to air during the miniseries.
Granted, ReelzChannel, which picked up "The Kennedys" in January after the History channel rejected it, didn't have a lot of time (only seven weeks) to market and sell it. So some advertisers didn't have the budget. But others aren't even giving the program a chance.
"The Kennedys"
Shock Jocks Pander Hard Right
LA
California's new governor faces daunting obstacles as he tries to erase a $26.6 billion budget gap, but one of the hardest to ignore is a pair of AM-radio shouters whose conservative-minded audience has a track record of making life uncomfortable, even miserable, for politicians who lose the pair's favor.
John Kobylt and Ken Chiampou have used their daily "John and Ken Show" to browbeat and menace any Republican who might consider sidling up with the Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown, who wants to raise about $50 billion over five years by extending higher sales, vehicle and income taxes.
Their website is a public pillory: the head's of suspect legislators are crudely pictured impaled on what appear to be sharpened wooden spikes - "heads on a stick," they call it. Even Brown, who has yet to win over a single Republican vote, has suggested the threats might be stifling a compromise.
Dismiss them as political shock jocks or admire them as conservative crusaders, but there is no dispute that Kobylt and Chiampou are entertainment hotshots in Southern California and part of the fabric of conservative politics in the state.
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LA
Earthquake Shifted Balance Of The Planet
Japan
Last week's devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan has actually moved the island closer to the United States and shifted the planet's axis.
The quake caused a rift 15 miles below the sea floor that stretched 186 miles long and 93 miles wide, according to the AP. The areas closest to the epicenter of the quake jumped a full 13 feet closer to the United States, geophysicist Ross Stein at the United States Geological Survey told The New York Times.
The world's fifth-largest, 8.9 magnitude quake was caused when the Pacific tectonic plate dove under the North American plate, which shifted Eastern Japan towards North America by about 13 feet (see NASA's before and after photos at right). The quake also shifted the earth's axis by 6.5 inches, shortened the day by 1.6 microseconds, and sank Japan downward by about two feet. As Japan's eastern coastline sunk, the tsunami's waves rolled in.
Why did the quake shorten the day? The earth's mass shifted towards the center, spurring the planet to spin a bit faster. Last year's massive 8.8 magnitude earthquake in Chile also shortened the day, but by an even smaller fraction of a second. The 2004 Sumatra quake knocked a whopping 6.8 micro-seconds off the day.
Japan
Internet Usage Transforming
News Industry
The rapid growth of smartphones and electronic tablets is making the Internet the destination of choice for consumers looking for news, a report released Monday said.
Local, network and cable television news, newspapers, radio and magazines all lost audience last year, according to the Project for Excellence in Journalism, a research organization that evaluates and studies the performance of the press. News consumption online increased 17 percent last year from the year before, the project said in its eighth annual State of the News Media survey.
The percentage of people who say they get news online at least three times a week surpassed newspapers for the first time. It was second only to local TV news as the most popular news platform and seems poised to pass that medium, too, project director Tom Rosenstiel said. Local TV news has been the most popular format since the 1960s, when its growth was largely responsible for the death of afternoon newspapers, he said.
People are just becoming accustomed to having the Internet available in their pockets on phones or small tablets, he said. In December, 41 percent of Americans said they got most of their news about national and international issues on the Internet, more than double the 17 percent who said that a year earlier, the report said.
In January, 7 percent of Americans owned electronic tablets, nearly double what it was three months earlier. Rosenstiel said it's the fastest-growing new digital technology, ahead of cell phones when they were introduced.
News Industry
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