Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Roy Eidelson, Ph.D.: Four Psychologists at the Gates of Hell (Psychology Today)
A cautionary tale about psychologists, torture, and golden eggs.
Paul Krugman: The Great Degrader (New York Times)
Why did the Bush administration want war? There probably wasn't a single reason, but can we really doubt at this point that it was in part about wagging the dog? And right there you have something that should block Bush from redemption of any kind, ever: he misled us into a war that probably killed hundreds of thousands of people, and he did it in part for political reasons.
Paul Krugman: The Story of Our Time (New York Times)
So what could we do to reduce unemployment? The answer is, this is a time for above-normal government spending, to sustain the economy until the private sector is willing to spend again. The crucial point is that under current conditions, the government is not, repeat not, in competition with the private sector. Government spending doesn't divert resources away from private uses; it puts unemployed resources to work.
John Streamas: Unlearning Outcomes (Irascible Professor)
In my experience, college students' syllabus-illiteracy is an issue of refusal rather than inability, but the result is the same. In, maybe, the thirteenth week of a semester, students ask about the relative grade-weights of quizzes and papers, even though the third page of the syllabus, which they received on the first day of class, clearly provides the answers in the form of a helpful chart.
Katie J.M. Baker: Screw Princesses -- Disney Villains Are the Real Role Models (Jezebel)
Maleficent demands respect, and I expected the same, which is why, as a four year old, I refused to answer to anything other than "Maleficent" for months. I brought in my Maleficent mask, cape, and scepter to preschool show and tell and still have a certificate from the library declaring "Katie Maleficent Baker" a "#1 Book Reader."
Charlyn Fargo: Brain Food (Creators Syndicate)
We've all been touched by Dementia, Alzheimer's or forgetfulness in some way - a parent, a friend, someone we know. Many of us worry it could affect us, especially if there's a genetic history. The worry comes when we simply start forgetting things - is this an early sign? The big question remains, what can we do to keep our brain healthy?
Marilyn Preston: "Sad Times Call for Happiness Strategies: Be Kind and Seek Joy" (Creators Syndicate)
Lyubomirsky compares happiness to fitness. Both are lifelong endeavors. "You need to work at it every day of your life, but once it becomes a self-reinforcing habit, it becomes easier."
That's Not Fair! (Neatorama)
You know how it felt when you found out your boss was paying a co-worker more money than you for doing the same job? In this excerpt from a TED Talk, Frans de Waal presents a classic experiment in which capuchin monkeys were confronted with such unfairness. You'll get a kick out of the way the monkey reacts.
Henry Rollins: Pride Getting the Best of Me (LA Weekly)
I have come to the conclusion that it's a waste of time to have too much pride in anything. Perhaps it's good to have a sense of duty, a jealous zeal to protect or improve, but pride ultimately is only that which stands vulnerable to offense and degradation. Pride is a thing that I have tried to abandon completely.
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Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
Bosko Suggests
Fairytale Islands
Happy May Day Holidays!
Bosko.
Thanks, Bosko!
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Spike Jensen
Guns Without The Butter
So I get it that guns are more important to white guys than almost anything other than porn. Don't even tease them that the government might want to write down at least a serial number or something on bazookas and flame throwers cuz they will go ape shit on you. Didn't everyone other than maybe a couple community organizers know that those Congress people would punt rather than man or woman up to that nasty old NRA re background checks? I think that one was actually about number 14 on the priority list of sane people after asking their elected representatives for a firm no on people firing RPG's in Public Parks, a limit of two M1 Abrams tanks per family and no claymore mines in homeowners front yards (for safety of the mailman and paperboy), only allowed in backyards and or patio decks. As everyone knows, any possible idea of taming the wild-west gun scene around the country went down the toilet as soon as it was whispered in that DC place. Just cuz 94% of humans in America support a law that would at least ask someone if they were crazy or a criminal and take a few minutes to check it out I guess meant the USA was going all fascist on that 6% of wacked outlaws who see black drones in their dreams each night. They want the right to put an AK or Bushmaster on a credit card and sprint out of the store before anyone knows they may not be Kiwanis Club material. You can't blame them I guess as I understand their feelings but this seemed like a win-win for politicians if they would have voted yes as nearly everyone would cheer them and yes they'd get death threats from those single digit losers so then they could be picked up by the FBI before they shoot every person, deer and duck in this country. You would think this would happen but nope, not when we elect pussies more concerned about their future lobbying gig than saving the lives of innocent kids and women who are getting shot in the face each week.
I don't own a gun myself. Ok, other than a spudgun but I do plan to buy one if and when politicians take their hands out of the cookie jar and vote for not letting bad people buy them cuz then I could feel kind of superior which has been very rare in my life. I mean if at least background checks ever pass I hope I will be watching the news or reading the paper to know about it so I can hop on a bus immediately to the nearest gun show to pick out some huge piece and patiently wait until they tell me I'm officially not crazy or a serial killer. I already know that I am basically a nice guy but it does feel good to hear someone else, a complete stranger say I am a responsible person. So of course everyone knows it's a smart idea to just say no to goofy people but something in me says I kinda do feel a little sorry for the losers of this gun game cuz they are still gonna want to buy a nice shiny assault rifle or semi-automatic weapon for New Year's Eve or the 4th of July. For sure half of the holidays I dig will be a lot more boring for those 6% if politicians wise up but on the bright side for these dickheads they might be around for more of them too and that should be worth something to them you would think.
I read somewhere that those gun companies are trying to get more women to add a stop at Cabela's or a Bass Pro Shop to their shopping routine as they now make pink and pastel colored guns to wow them. Not the metal but the stocks. I don't think it's going to work cuz why would they want a weapon that would make some robber or rapist question their taste in firearms? Think how lame Clint Eastwood would have looked in Dirty Harry if his 44 magnum would have been a muted shade of purple? Women aren't dumb; they know what looks cute but know chances are also real good they'll have to actually pull the trigger if the bad guy is giggling at them when they grab it from their purse. This is just the start of a new sales pitch from gun companies to those that have never bought into the need to own a dozen or two pistols and rifles. Soon we will be seeing tiny little kiddie revolvers that fit in a diaper, large caliber 2 irons that can kill any gator or wild boar on the golf course and even fully equipped walkers that are locked and loaded with cop killer bullets for the seniors at the mall.
I also heard the other day the number of people who orgasm when thinking of buying a gun are shrinking every day as most young people would rather fondle their phones so it truly is panic time for those who rely on customers into killing and or scaring other living things. Their main hope to stay in business rests on those who live in states with that "Stand Your Ground" law and there are now about 33 states that have some kind of a "shoot first" get out of jail card. When you think about it you would have to be a moron to not carry something if anyone can shoot you for feeling a little spooked. A lot of people, ok, mostly the ladies have said to me more than once my face looks kinda scary. It never did much for my self-esteem but now I could get shot if they see my mug in unflattering light? I am also thinking Trayvon Martin's hoody and also a butt load of other cases that were too boring to Nancy Grace and the gang to spend airtime covering. Forget about government screw ups like Fast & Furious we need to take a look at so called regular people with legal guns who could kill someone within the law at the sight of a pair of pants sagging too low, a teenager in a red or blue t shirt and yes maybe even a cab driver with a sporty turban on. Who knows what will make someone take full advantage of this freaking law (?) but it should make most not crazy people say WTF and vote out anyone who supports this thing. Anyway, for what's it's worth, that's my two cents. Later.
Spike Jensen
Guns Without The Butter « My POV
Thanks, Spike!
Team Coco
Conan
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny and warmer.
SC Debate
Elizabeth Colbert Busch
Former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford (R-Appalachian Trail), trying to revive his political career, and Democrat Elizabeth Colbert Busch traded verbal jabs on his past indiscretions and her liberal political supporters during a spirited debate Monday night - their only scheduled meeting in the race for the state's vacant 1st Congressional District seat.
With eight days to go before the May 7 special election, Sanford stressed his efforts to rein in spending as a three-term member of Congress and as a two-term governor. The Republican noted that he was the first governor in the nation to turn back economic stimulus funds.
But Colbert Busch reminded Sanford that he once used taxpayer funds to "leave the country for a personal purpose" - referring to the extramarital affair with an Argentine woman he had while governor. Sanford said he didn't hear the response and asked to have the question repeated.
Later, Sanford was reminded by a questioner that he voted to impeach President Bill Clinton because of his involvement with Monica Lewinsky and asked if he would vote that way again.
Elizabeth Colbert Busch
Joins Twitter
Mel Brooks
Mel Brooks was forced to join Twitter Monday afternoon as part of Twitter's week long Comedy Fest-excuse us, #ComedyFest, produced in all too obvious commercial conjunction with Comedy Central-but we're not expecting him to become a regular tweeter. Because Twitter, as Brooks demonstrated, is not for all comedians.
For his first tweet, Brooks included a link to the live stream of a festival kick-off conversation between him and his good friend and comedy partner Carl Reiner (already a prolific tweeter), moderated by Judd Apatow.
So nobody's really sure how everything else will turn out. And, naturally, Reiner and Brooks also did have something to promote too. Everyone at the panel got a copy of Reiner's book, and Brooks has an American Masters documentary on its way. (Brooks also put on a baseball cap to promote the movie of his son's book, World War Z.) But Reiner and Brooks are legends and were charming. They told stories like how the first met on Your Show of Shows, how they started the 2000 Year Old Man, how Reiner found Mary Tyler Moore for The Dick Van Dyke Show, and how Brooks consulted with Richard Pryor about the controversial aspects for Blazing Saddles. After the audience applauded at mention of Pryor's name, Reiner said when he dies he'll be able to tell Pryor: "They're still applauding you."
After all the reminiscing, they were also prepared to go home and watch Breaking Bad, which they do every night. We're not expecting Brooks to live tweet it.
Mel Brooks
Auction For Charity
Bob Hope
Hundreds of personal items, including antiques, artwork and furniture once owned by Bob Hope and his wife, Dolores, will be auctioned to benefit a Southern California charity.
The Daily News of Los Angeles reports proceeds from the sale Saturday will help the family service center at St. Charles Borromeo Church in North Hollywood, where Dolores Hope was a member for 70 years.
The couple's daughter, Linda Hope, says memorabilia from Bob Hope's long show business career will also be up for sale.
Prices will range from $10 to several hundred dollars an item.
Bob Hope
1st US Facility
Pinewood Atlanta
The British film studio that's home to the James Bond movie franchise announced plans Monday for its first U.S. film production facility, at a site near Atlanta.
The large-scale film complex will be called Pinewood Atlanta, and Pinewood will manage the facility under an agreement with a group of private investors. Plans call for the studio to be developed on 288 acres south of Atlanta in Fayette County and initially include at least five soundstages as well as production offices.
It's the fifth major studio development or expansion announced in Georgia in recent months. Last week, Atlanta-based developer Jacoby Development said it would build an estimated $1 billion multi-use project north of Atlanta that will include 12 soundstages as well as production offices and an arts and media school aimed at training the next generation of film industry employees.
The Pinewood project is a coup for Georgia and opens the state to major, big-budget films that need large studio space. While Pinewood Studios has an office in Los Angeles, it chose the Southeast for its first U.S. production facility.
Pinewood Atlanta
More Compassion
Pre-K
State funding for pre-kindergarten programs had its largest drop ever last year and states are now spending less per child than they did a decade ago, according to a report released Monday.
The report also found that more than a half million of those preschool students are in programs that don't even meet standards suggested by industry experts that would qualify for federal dollars.
Those findings - combined with Congress' reluctance to spend new dollars - complicate President Barack Obama's effort to expand pre-K programs across the country. While Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius continue to promote the president's proposal, researchers say existing programs are inadequate, and until their shortcomings are fixed there is little desire by lawmakers to get behind Obama's call for more preschool.
States spent about $5.1 billion on pre-K programs in 2011-12, the most recent school year, researchers wrote in the report.
Per-student funding for existing programs during that year dropped to an average of $3,841 for each student. It was the first time average spending per student dropped below $4,000 in today's dollars since researchers started tracking it during the 2001-02 academic year.
Pre-K
$20 Grand For 30 Hours
ET Hearings
Ex-U.S. Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick of Detroit and six other former Congress members are presiding over hearings on the existence of extraterrestrials.
The 30 hours of congressional-style hearings kicked off Monday and are scheduled to run through Friday at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
Those testifying hope to prove that aliens contact Earth - and that the government is trying to keep it secret.
The News says Kilpatrick, who is being paid $20,000 plus expenses, will chair the panel on Tuesday.
ET Hearings
1st Female Resister To Be Court-Martialed
Iraq War
A court-martial got underway Monday for the first female U.S. Army soldier to flee to Canada to avoid a second tour of duty in the Iraq war.
Army Pfc. Kimberly Rivera is charged with desertion and could face up to five years in prison and a dishonorable discharge if convicted, the Colorado Springs Gazette reported.
Rivera, 30, was a wheeled-vehicle driver in Fort Carson's 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team and served in Iraq in 2006. She has said that, while there, she became disillusioned with the U.S. mission in Iraq.
During a two-week leave in the U.S. in 2007, Rivera crossed the Canadian border after she was ordered to serve another tour in Iraq. She applied for refugee status but was denied.
Rivera then applied for permanent residency, but Canadian immigration officials rejected that application, too. Authorities also rejected her requests to stay on humanitarian and compassionate grounds.
Iraq War
Family Crypt Possibly Discovered
Medieval Knight
Archaeologists have unearthed skeletal remains of eight people that may be the relatives of a medieval knight discovered under a parking lot last month in Scotland. The team uncovered one partial skeleton and seven complete skeletons, including one infant and an adult female.
The remains were all buried behind a wall in what may have been an ancient family burial crypt.
"This site just keeps getting more and more interesting, it is turning out to be a real treasure trove of archaeology," Ross Murray, a former student at the University of Edinburgh, said in a statement. "These new finds look likely to be the possible relations of the suspected Medieval knight we found earlier this year. The skull of the skeleton found immediately beneath the location of the knight looks like that of a female and the remains found on the other side of the ornate slab belong to an infant from the same period."
Last month, archaeologists on hand at new building construction site unearthed a medieval skeleton under a parking lot in the Old Town of Edinburgh, Scotland. The skeleton was near a slab engraved with a Calvary cross and sword, markers of nobility.
Archaeologists anticipated finding historic remains, because the site had once been a 13th-century Blackfriar's monastery.
Medieval Knight
The Hypocrisy State
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania man, who says his outhouse works just fine, is being ordered to install a septic system. The man told Lancaster Online that the septic system could cost him thousands.
The man, 77-year-old Wilson Huyett, told the website that Salisbury Township told him he has to replace the outhouse with a septic system that consists of three underground tanks, a pump and a "three-trench sand mound." Though he doesn't know the official cost yet, Huyett is estimating the project will make him $20,000 lighter.
Huyett, who lives on a farm where his nearest neighbor is a quarter-mile away, insists that his current low-tech system is just fine. "You can't smell nothing," he told the paper. "I put lime in it. Lime will kill anything."
Huyett, who has lived on the property since 1958, said that he spoke to sewage enforcement official Bob Mohn about the issue. In an email to the website, Mohn wrote that Huyett's outhouse violates Pennsylvania law.
"The DEP regulations do not care whether it is one person or a family, nor does age or financial concerns make a difference," Mohn wrote. "The township's responsibility is to assure the waters of the Commonwealth are not jeopardized."
Pennsylvania
From the same Commonwealth that has NO problems with fracking, but old man turds, yeah, that's the really dangerous shit.
In Memory
Janos Starker
Grammy Award-winning cellist Janos Starker has died after months of declining health. He was 88.
Alain Barker, a spokesman for the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, said Starker died Sunday at his Bloomington home in the presence of family members. Barker said a family representative confirmed the death.
Starker won a 1997 Grammy Award for best instrumental solo performance for a recording of Bach cello suites.
Starker made his professional debut at 14. He immigrated to the U.S. in 1948 and played for the Dallas Symphony, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chicago Symphony before joining Indiana University in 1958.
He was born to Jewish parents in Budapest on July 5, 1924, and spent three months in Nazi concentration camps.
Survivors include his wife, Rae, and two daughters.
Janos Starker
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