Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Henry Rollins: Dead Children in Afghanistan (LA Weekly)
With high-definition clarity, Americans and the rest of the world can access
images of dead children in Afghanistan. Understandably, many recoil in anger and
disgust. As Americans, we are often tasked with cognitive dissonance as normal
operating procedure. We are horrified at the thought of America being the killer
of children, yet we also know that America has been killing kids all over the
world for a very long time. Can this be stopped? Of course. You. Just. Stop.
Paul Krugman: The Jobless Trap (New York Times)
F.D.R. told us that the only thing we had to fear was fear itself. But when
future historians look back at our monstrously failed response to economic
depression, they probably won't blame fear, per se. Instead, they'll castigate
our leaders for fearing the wrong things.
Paul Krugman: Destructive Creativity (New York Times)
If you stayed with Econ 101, you got it right, if you went with the trendy stuff
you made a fool of yourself. The lesson we should have taken from this crisis
was that plain ordinary macro is actually a very powerful, very useful tool, one
that you ignore at your peril.
Tim Adams: "David Colquhoun, Twitter-addicted scourge of scientific quackery" (Guardian)
Professor of pharmacology David Colquhoun is the take-no-prisoners debunker of
pseudoscience on his unmissable blog.
Dominic Holden: The Case for Suing That Florist (The Stranger)
Why She Should Get Sued for Refusing to Provide Flowers for a Gay Wedding.
Justin Freeman: What Are the Top 10 Things That We Should Be Informed About in Life? (Slate)
You need others in a sense that you need to be part of a community-there's a
reason we reflexively pity hermits. … However, you don't need another person in
order for your life to have meaning-this idea that Disney has shoved through our
eyeballs, that there's someone out there for all of us if we'll just believe
hard enough and never stop searching, is hokum ... because of arithmetic, if
nothing else. Establish your own life-then, if there's a particular person that
you can't help but integrate, believe me, you'll know.
Eric Barker: "Interview - Author Cal Newport on how you can become an expert and why you should *not* follow your passion"
Long-term career satisfaction requires traits like a real sense of autonomy, a
real sense of impact on the world, a sense of mastery that you're good at what
you do, and a sense of connection in relation to other people.
Victoria Coren: "Rupert Everett: 'Sex is over. I'm not motivated by it any more'" (Guardian)
Rupert Everett has long been a martyr to his passions, but lately he's had
something else on his mind. Victoria Coren, a lifelong fan, joins him for dinner
to talk about his excoriating memoirs, his portrayal of Oscar Wilde and his urge
to be a serious man.
Esther Inglis-Arkell: "The Centipede's Dilemma: Why you forget how to do the most basic tasks" (io9)
A whimsical rhyme written in the 1800s was named as the most psychological poem
in the world. It proposed that, if a centipede had to think about how to move
each of its legs, it would be immobilized. It was right. I know, because a
similar thing happened to me.
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Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
Bojan Suggests
Birds of Prey
Thanks, Bojan!
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny and seasonal.
Comedy Central Cancels
Futurama
Comedy Central has decided not to renew the animated series Futurama, which will air its final episode on Sept. 4, TVGuide.com has confirmed.
The show will conclude its seventh season with 13 episodes that will begin airing on Wednesday, June 19 at 10/9c.
This is the second time Futurama has been canceled. It was first dropped by Fox in 2003 after four seasons, but was picked up by Comedy Central in 2007 after it found a large following through reruns that aired on Adult Swim.
In 2011, Futurama won its second Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program. The latter half of Season 7 will feature guest voice appearances by Larry Bird, Sarah Silverman, George Takei and others.
Futurama
Marks 40th Anniversary
ELO
Jeff Lynne and his Electric Light Orchestra, the British rock group that mixed electric guitars with classical cellos, violins and woodwind, are celebrating their 40th anniversary with new material and a slew of album re-issues.
The band had a string of hits in the 1970s and 1980s like "Evil Woman," "Strange Magic" and "Mr. Blue Sky." But by the late 1980s it had run its course, and Lynne had teamed up with Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Roy Orbison and Tom Petty to form another supergroup, The Traveling Wilburys.
Lynne and ELO mark the milestone of becoming a band with the never-before released "Electric Light Orchestra Live" with two new songs, and two reissues - ELO's "ZOOM" and Lynne's debut solo album "Armchair Theatre" (also with two new tracks) - all out on Tuesday.
Lynne, 65, talked to Reuters about the band's legacy, why there are no plans for touring, and old pals Petty, Harrison and Ringo Starr.
For the interview - ELO
Planting Clones
Ancient Trees
A team led by a nurseryman from northern Michigan and his sons has raced against time for two decades, snipping branches from some of the world's biggest and most durable trees with plans to produce clones that could restore ancient forests and help fight climate change.
Now comes the most ambitious phase of the quest: getting the new trees into the ground.
Ceremonial plantings of two dozen clones from California's mighty coastal redwoods were taking place Monday in seven nations: Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain, Ireland, Canada, Germany and the U.S.
Although measuring just 18-inches tall, the laboratory-produced trees are genetic duplicates of three giants that were cut down in northern California more than a century ago. Remarkably, shoots still emerge from the stumps, including one known as the Fieldbrook Stump near McKinleyville, which measures 35 feet in diameter. It's believed to be about 4,000 years old. The tree was about 40 stories high before it was felled.
"This is a first step toward mass production," said David Milarch, co-founder of Archangel Ancient Tree Archive, a nonprofit group spearheading the project. "We need to reforest the planet; it's imperative. To do that, it just makes sense to use the largest, oldest, most iconic trees that ever lived."
Ancient Trees
Continues Record Run
PSY
PSY continues to set records on YouTube.
The South Korean pop star hit another mark for viral views with his new single "Gentleman," earning 38 million views in a single day as it set a blistering pace to 200 million views.
Kevin Allocca, YouTube's trends manager, says "Gentleman" was viewed 38 million times on April 14, surpassing the single-day record of 30 million set by the "KONY 2012" short film. It also holds the day-of-debut record with 18.5 million views.
PSY's "Gangnam Style" is YouTube's most-viewed video at 1.5 billion.
PSY
Woman Convicted In Car Theft
Huey Lewis
A woman will be sentenced in May in Northern California for the theft of a rental car and laptop from singer Huey Lewis.
Katherine Bowyer Gallagher has pleaded guilty to a felony charge of possession of stolen property. The Marin Independent Journal reports sentencing for the 31-year-old is May 15.
Lewis was identified by the California Highway Patrol as Hugh Anthony Cregg. The 62-year-old was staying at a Holiday Inn Express in Mill Valley on Feb. 21 when the Toyota Corolla he rented was stolen with his laptop inside.
Lewis says he left the car idling to go into the hotel for a receipt. Authorities say a CHP officer later spotted Gallagher in the stolen vehicle.
Huey Lewis
Cancels 4 Shows
3 Doors Down
The rock band 3 Doors Down has called off four U.S. appearances following the arrest of the group's bassist, who was accused of driving intoxicated and causing a fatal interstate crash in a Nashville suburb.
The band announced Monday that out of respect for the victim, 47-year-old Paul Howard Shoulders Jr., it was canceling four appearances in the U.S. originally set for April and May.
The cancellations include shows scheduled in Bossier City, La., Nashville, and at two music festivals, Rockville in Jacksonville, Fla., and Carolina Rebellion in Charlotte. The tour will resume May 31 in Moscow and return to the U.S. in July.
Bassist Robert Todd Harrell remained jailed Monday in lieu of $100,000 bail. He awaits a scheduled court appearance Thursday, but court records do not indicate that he had retained a lawyer. He is facing multiple charges, including vehicular homicide by intoxication, violation of the implied consent law, contraband, and two counts of possession of a controlled substance.
The musician is also accused of bringing controlled substances into the jail. Authorities say they discovered a plastic bag concealed in his sock that contained eight Xanax pills, 24 Oxycodone pills and four Oxymorphone pills while they were in the process of booking him in the jail.
3 Doors Down
Sentencing Delayed
Lauryn Hill
A federal judge postponed Lauryn Hill's tax evasion sentencing on Monday but not before scolding the eight-time Grammy-winning singer for reneging on a promise to make restitution by now.
Hill pleaded guilty last year to not paying federal taxes on $1.8 million earned from 2005 to 2007. At that time, her attorney said she would pay restitution by the time of her sentencing. It was revealed Monday in court that Hill has paid $50,000 of a total of $554,000.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Madeline Cox Arleo criticized her for relying on the promise of a recording contract to pay the tax bill.
The reclusive singer didn't speak during the proceeding and left the court without commenting. Arleo rescheduled the sentencing for May 6.
Lauryn Hill
Teaching Master Class
John Galliano
Disgraced fashion designer John Galliano is continuing his public image rehabilitation with an upcoming stint teaching a master class at one of New York's leading design schools.
Galliano, who was fired by Dior in 2011 after he was caught on camera making anti-Semitic remarks in a Paris cafe, will teach a course titled "Show Me Emotion" at Parsons The New School For Design, the school said on Monday.
Parsons said the class "will be a dynamic and intimate opportunity for our students to learn from an immensely talented designer."
Earlier this year, the 52-year-old British designer, widely thought of as one of the most talented and creative names in fashion, spent several weeks working at Oscar de la Renta's studio in New York, preparing for de la Renta's New York Fashion Week show in February.
A French court handed out a 6,000-euro ($8,000) suspended fine to Galliano in 2011 after he was found guilty of anti-Semitic behavior. Galliano has said an addiction to drugs and alcohol had left him out of control and he was determined to make amends.
John Galliano
Out On 'X Factor'
Khloe Kardashian
Khloe Kardashian is left out following the latest game of musical chairs on "The X Factor."
Fox said Monday that while Mario Lopez is returning this fall as host of Simon Cowell's music competition series, Kardashian will not be joining him.
Cowell's series, which has never quite met ratings expectations, is in the midst of turnover with its judging panel, too. Cowell and Demi Lovato will be returning, but Britney Spears and record producer Antonio "L.A." Reid left and have not been replaced yet.
The show starts its third season in the fall.
Khloe Kardashian
In Memory
Chrissy Amphett
Chrissy Amphlett, the raunchy lead singer of the Australian rock band Divinyls whose hit "I Touch Myself" brought her international fame in the early 1990s, died at her home in New York City on Sunday. She was 53 years old.
"Christine Joy Amphlett succumbed to the effects of breast cancer and multiple sclerosis, diseases she vigorously fought with exceptional bravery and dignity," her musician husband Charley Drayton said in a statement.
Amphlett was an icon of Australian music renowned for her distinctive singing voice as well as edgy stage performances clad in school uniforms and fishnet stockings.
She was born on Oct. 25, 1959, in Geelong city in Victoria state, cousin of 1960s Australian pop star Patricia Amphlett, known as "Little Pattie," who was at her New York bedside on Sunday.
Amphlett met musician Mark McEntee at a concert at the Sydney Opera House in 1980 and the pair formed the Divinyls.
The band released six albums between 1982 and 1996, peaking in 1991 with the success of the single "I Touch Myself," which reached No. 1 in Australia, No. 4 in the United States and No. 10 in Britain.
The band reformed briefly in 2006. Amphlett announced in 2007 that she had multiple sclerosis and in 2010 that she had cancer.
Chrissy Amphett
In Memory
Richie Havens
Richie Havens, the folk singer and guitarist who was the first performer at Woodstock, died Monday. He was 72.
Havens died of a heart attack in New Jersey, his family said in a statement. He was born in Brooklyn.
Havens was known for his crafty guitar work and cover songs, including his well-received cover of Bob Dylan's "Just Like a Woman."
His performance at the three-day 1969 Woodstock Festival, where headliners included Jimi Hendrix, was a turning point in his career. He was the first act to hit the stage, performing for nearly three hours. His performance of "Freedom" - based from the spiritual "Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child" - became an anthem.
Woodstock remains one of the events that continues to define the 1960s in the popular imagination. Performers included The Who, Janis Joplin, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and dozens of others, and the trippy anarchy of Woodstock has become legendary. There was lots of nudity, casual sex, dirty dancing and open drug use. The stage announcer famously warned people to steer clear of the brown acid.
Havens had originally been scheduled to go on fifth but had been bumped up because of travel delays. Festival producer Michael Lang said in the book "The Road to Woodstock" that he chose Havens "because of his calm but powerful demeanor."
His performance lasted hours because the next act hadn't showed up.
"So I'd go back and sing three more," Havens said in an interview with NPR. "This happened six times. So I sung every song I knew."
Havens' website said he had kidney surgery in 2010 and that he never recovered enough to perform concerts like he used to. He performed at Bill Clinton's presidential Inauguration in 1993.
Havens, who released his debut "Mixed Bag" in 1967, has released more than 25 albums. He sang with doo-wop groups on the street corner in his Brooklyn neighborhood at an early age. At 20, he moved to New York City's Greenwich Village, where he performed poetry, listened to folk music and learned how to play the guitar.
Havens' last album was 2008's "Nobody Left to Crown." He also started his own record label called Stormy Forest in 2000.
Richie also became an actor in the 1970s and was featured in the original stage presentation of The Who's "Tommy." He appeared in the 1974 film "Catch My Soul" and co-starred with Richard Pryor in "Greased Lightning" in 1977.
Havens was the eldest of nine children. He is survived by his four daughters and many grandchildren.
A public memorial for Havens will be planned for a later date.
Richie Havens
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