Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Paul Krugman: Held Hostage Over the Debt Ceiling (New York Times)
Six months ago President Obama faced a hostage situation. Republicans threatened to block an extension of middle-class tax cuts unless Mr. Obama gave in and extended tax cuts for the rich too. And the president essentially folded, giving the G.O.P. everything it wanted.
Mark Shields: Public Service -- Patriots or Freeloaders? (Creators Syndicate)
Next time, you hear your local know-nothing mouthing off about how people on a public payroll just couldn't make it in the private sector, please interrupt and ask him exactly which men and women in uniform in which God-forgotten valley of death in Afghanistan are in it for the paycheck.
James Rainey: The price of 'free' journalism (Los Angeles Times)
Information at no charge abounds on the Internet, but at what cost to quality newsgathering?
Hector Tobar: The disgraceful interrogation of L.A. school librarians (Los Angeles Times)
If state education cuts are drastic, the librarians' only chance of keeping a paycheck is to prove they're qualified to be switched to classroom teaching. So LAUSD attorneys grill them.
Steve Blair: The 5 Craziest Ways Public Schools Are Trying to Make Money (Cracked)
Even when economic times are good, most public schools are hard up for money, scraping by on outdated textbooks and school lunches made up of food rejected by prisoners. And economic times are not good.
Scott Burns: Has Your Portfolio Recovered Yet? (Assetbuilder.com)
Today we're playing a meaningful game of woulda-coulda. We're going to see how a $1 million portfolio fared over the last few miserable years. We're going to put our money in some of the largest and most successful balanced funds. Some will be no load funds, some will be load funds, but we're not going to count the up-front commissions.
Ted Rall: Cartooning in Crisis
I wonder if editors who cancel cartoons know the effect they have on the profession. Hardly a month passes when a colleague doesn't call to tell me that he or she just got that one cancellation that pushed them over the edge into making their strip or editorial cartoon unviable.
Will Storr: "Morgellons: A hidden epidemic or mass hysteria?" (Guardian)
It's a mysterious condition that affects tens of thousands worldwide. But what is it?
Wendy Lesser: The Smartest Scandinavian Mystery Writer (Slate)
What makes Jo Nesbø's books so addictive.
"A Covert Affair: Julia Child and Paul Child in the OSS" by Jenna Conant: A review by Nancy Rommelmann
It is 1954, and as he has for the past dozen years, Paul Child is designing war rooms for the Foreign Service, often in exotic locales, currently in Bonn, a German city of industrial complexes and teeming with American soldiers behaving badly.
Clarence Page: A Plea for Better Junk on TV
Fifty years ago this week, then-Federal Communications Commission Chairman Newton N. Minow famously skewered the nation's daily television programming as "a vast wasteland." Today, it is still largely a wasteland, in my view, because that's mostly what people want.
Roger Ebert's Journal: My mighty hammering over "Thor"
If I had my piece on "Thor" to write over again, I think it would be more bemused and whimsical. My tone was off. I brought too much anger to a trivial entertainment. When I described it as "a desolate vastation," I went perhaps one hyperbole too far.
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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Michelle in AZ
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
BadtotheboneBob
Christine Baranski
Attention Christine Baranski fans: This is a very interesting look at a very interesting actress that's loaded with anecdotes...
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Gray and windy.
The List Grows
Canceled TV Shows
Last week was a whirlwind for TV reporters. If you're just catching up, we've got some tough news for you: a lot of shows have been canceled. Like, a lot.
But to save you the hassle of having to frantically Google all of your favorite shows, we've got one (big) list here of every show that every network canceled.
Now don't blame us -- we're just the messengers -- but also don't go into some deep TV-related depression over this news. Even if shows you adore have been axed, there's also a ton of awesome new shows getting picked up for next season as we speak.
CANCELED SHOWS, BY NETWORK: Canceled TV Shows
CNN Anchorman Comes Out
Don Lemon
CNN anchor Don Lemon has come out as a gay man in his new book, a disclosure he knows comes at a risk.
While Lemon's memoir, titled "Transparent," also covers his journalism career, he's prepared for much of the reaction to focus on more personal matters, which include growing up without a father and his revelation that he was sexually abused as a child.
In his book, the 45-year-old Lemon writes of having lived with "dark, ugly secrets" that took him years to bring into the light.
Lemon, who serves as a correspondent and anchors "CNN Newsroom" during weekend prime time, joined the network in 2003. "Transparent" will be released next month.
Don Lemon
Scolds Georgia For New Immigration Law
Carlos Santana
Carlos Santana on Sunday used baseball's annual Civil Rights Game as a platform to admonish Georgia and Arizona for their new immigration laws.
Santana received the Beacon of Change Award before the Braves-Phillies game.
The Grammy-winning musician said he was representing immigrants before adding: "The people of Arizona, and the people of Atlanta, Georgia, you should be ashamed of yourselves."
"This law is not correct. It's a cruel law, actually," Santana said in an impromptu news conference after the ceremony. "This is about fear. Stop shucking and jiving. People are afraid we're going to steal your job. No we aren't. You're not going to change sheets and clean toilets."
Carlos Santana
Cancer Cured?
Canadian Scientists
Researchers at the University of Alberta, in Edmonton, Canada have cured cancer last week, yet there is a little ripple in the news or in TV. It is a simple technique using very basic drug. The method employs dichloroacetate
This drug doesn't require a patent, so anyone can employ it widely and cheaply compared to the costly cancer drugs produced by major pharmaceutical companies.
Canadian scientists tested this dichloroacetate (DCA) on human's cells; it killed lung, breast and brain cancer cells and left the healthy cells alone. It was tested on Rats inflicted with severe tumors; their cells shrank when they were fed with water supplemented with DCA. The drug is widely available and the technique is easy to use, why the major drug companies are not involved? Or the Media interested in this find?
In human bodies there is a natural cancer fighting human cell, the mitochondria, but they need to be triggered to be effective. Scientists used to think that these mitochondria cells were damaged and thus ineffective against cancer. So they used to focus on glycolysis, which is less effective in curing cancer and more wasteful. The drug manufacturers focused on this glycolysis method to fight cancer. This DCA on the other hand doesn't rely on glycolysis instead on mitochondria; it triggers the mitochondria which in turn fights the cancer cells.
You can access the original research for this cancer here.
Canadian Scientists
Afterlife Is A Fairy Story
Stephen Hawking
Renowned physicist Stephen Hawking recently explained his belief that there is no God and that humans should therefore seek to live the most valuable lives they can while on Earth.
Guardian writer Ian Sample asked Hawking if he feared death in a story published yesterday. This was his response:
I have lived with the prospect of an early death for the last 49 years. I'm not afraid of death, but I'm in no hurry to die. I have so much I want to do first. I regard the brain as a computer which will stop working when its components fail. There is no heaven or afterlife for broken down computers; that is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark.
Hawking's 1988 book "A Brief History of Time" sold 9 million copies, and in it Hawking referenced God metaphorically as the force that could fully explain the creation of the universe.
But in 2010, Hawking told Diane Sawyer that "science will win" in a battle with religion "because it works."
Stephen Hawking
Honorary Penn Degree
Denzel Washington
Denzel Washington confessed to a bit of stage fright in his latest role: Commencement speaker at the University of Pennsylvania.
The Oscar- and Tony-winning actor addressed about 5,000 graduates Monday at the Ivy League school in Philadelphia. He also received an honorary degree.
Washington told the crowd at Franklin Field that he was scared to "make a fool of myself" by leaving his comfort zone and speaking at an academic ceremony.
The 56-year-old star of "Malcolm X" and "Philadelphia" then encouraged graduates to "have the guts to fail."
Denzel Washington
Dark Side Of The Moon 'Best Album Cover'
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd's sleeve for the classic Dark Side Of The Moon has been named the greatest album cover of all time in a survey by British music website MusicRadar.com.
The image - featuring a ray of white light being split by a prism - triumphed over artwork for releases by acts such as The Beatles and The Clash.
The cover of Nirvana's Nevermind was runner-up in the poll of musicians and rock fans.
The list shows fans favour the artwork of vintage releases over contemporary work with most of the albums dating back to the 1960s and 1970s.
The top 10 are: 1. Pink Floyd - Dark Side Of The Moon, 2. Nirvana - Nevermind, 3. The Beatles - Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, 4. The Clash - London Calling, 5. Rage Against The Machine - Rage Against The Machine, 6. Iron Maiden - The Number Of The Beast, 7. The Beatles - The White Album, 8. Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures, 9. King Crimson - In The Court Of The Crimson King, 10. Pink Floyd - Animals.
Pink Floyd
Slammed For Using Taped Music
Broadway Producers
A coalition of Broadway composers and musicians and representatives from the New York Philharmonic, the Metropolitan Opera and The Juilliard School said Monday they have teamed up with the non-profit Council for Living Music to launch a nationwide campaign called "Save Live Music On Broadway."
The group opposes that some producers have reduced live orchestras on Broadway in favor of recordings "to squeeze out a few extra dollars in profits," even though ticket prices continue to rise.
The organizations cited such productions as the recently opened "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert" and a 2010 revival of Leonard Bernstein's classic "West Side Story," which ended up cutting out five musicians after 500 performances and replacing them with a synthesizer.
Endorsers of the "Save Live Music on Broadway" campaign include Marc Shaiman (composer, lyricist, arranger, "Hairspray," "Catch Me If You Can"), Scott Frankel and Michael Korie (composer and lyricist, "Grey Gardens"), as well as Joseph Polisi, president of The Juilliard School for Dance, Drama and Music, New York Philharmonic concert master Glenn Dicterow and Metropolitan Opera Orchestra assistant concert master Laura Hamilton.
The Web site SaveLiveMusicOnBroadway.com also features a video of composer Stephen Sondheim saying, "Every audience is privileged to see a very specific performance that nobody will ever see again. It's the aliveness of the orchestra that makes the evening unique and allows for the interplay between the audience, the stage and the pit, which is necessary in every musical."
Broadway Producers
Retiring From MDA Telethon
Jerry Lewis
After 45 years promoting treatment and a cure for children he calls "my kids," comedian Jerry Lewis announced Monday he is retiring as host of the Labor Day Muscular Dystrophy Association telethon that has become synonymous with his name.
Lewis, 85, issued a statement through the association calling it "time for an all new Telethon era."
"As a labor of love, I've hosted the annual Telethon since 1966 and I'll be making my final appearance on the show this year by performing my signature song, `You'll Never Walk Alone,'" Lewis said of a shortened six-hour primetime broadcast scheduled for Sept. 4.
Lewis, a Las Vegas resident, has in recent years battled a debilitating back condition, heart issues and the crippling lung disease pulmonary fibrosis. He said he'll continue serving as national Muscular Dystrophy Association chairman, as he's done since the early 1950s.
Jerry Lewis
Ends Publicity Stunt
T-rump
After months of flirting with politics, Donald Trump said Monday he won't run for president, choosing to stick with hosting "The Celebrity Apprentice" over a bid for the Republican nomination.
The reality TV star and real estate mogul made his announcement at a Manhattan hotel as NBC, which airs his show, rolled out its fall lineup.
Trump's office released a formal statement just as he was taking the stage. In it, a confident Trump said he felt he could win the Republican primary and beat President Barack Obama in the general election but had come to realize a presidential campaign could not be run half-heartedly.
"Ultimately, business is my greatest passion and I am not ready to leave the private sector," Trump said.
T-rump
Documentarian Braces For Backlash
"The Big Fix"
"The Big Fix," a documentary which claims to blow the lid off the "massive cover up" surrounding last year's Deepwater Horizon oil spill is set to generate a storm of controversy at its world premiere in Cannes Tuesday.
Billed as an "Inside Job" for the oil industry, the documentary, from director Josh and co-director Rebecca Tickell ("Fuel"), exposes a network of corruption surrounding the spill and its supposed clean up. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Josh Tickell said that litigation could follow the Cannes premiere.
"We are taking on the oil companies, the U.S. government, the military and the banks," Tickell said. "And we are exposing something that the U.S. media didn't cover So there is a danger."
To ensure maximum exposure for the film, the Tickells will be joined on the red carpet Tuesday by Peter Fonda, who is an executive producer on the film, singer Jason Mraz, who composed a new song, "Collapsible Plans," for The Big Fix soundtrack, and actress Michelle Rodriguez, who will be a key figure in the film's promotional campaign. Tim Robbins has also recently joined the film as an executive producer.
"The Big Fix"
Builds Foreign Force In UAE
Erik Prince
The crown prince of Abu Dhabi has hired the founder of private security firm Blackwater Worldwide to set up an 800-member battalion of foreign troops for the United Arab Emirates, the New York Times said Sunday.
The Times said it obtained documents that showed the unit being formed by Erik Prince's new company Reflex Responses with $529 million from the UAE would be used to thwart internal revolt, conduct special operations and defend oil pipelines and skyscrapers from attack.
The newspaper said the decision to hire the contingent of foreign troops was taken before a wave of popular unrest spread across the Arab world in recent months, including to the UAE's Gulf neighbors Bahrain, Oman and Saudi Arabia.
According to former employees of the project and U.S. officials cited by the Times, the troops were brought to a training camp in the UAE from Colombia, South Africa and other countries, starting in the summer of 2010.
They were being trained by retired U.S. military, and former members of German and British special operations units and the French Foreign Legion, the Times said.
Erik Prince
Exits `Entertainment Tonight'
Mary Hart
The list of exiting TV personalities seems to lengthen every day: Oprah Winfrey; Regis Philbin; Larry King; Katie Couric; Jim Lehrer; Meredith Vieira.
Don't overlook Mary Hart, whose last "Entertainment Tonight" broadcast is Friday. Celebrity and entertainment coverage has changed markedly since she began anchoring the show in its first year in 1982.
It was the first weekday syndicated show devoted solely to entertainment news when it began, and has remained at the top of the ratings as similar shows came along. And "ET" as it is fondly known, remains one of the top sources for celeb news among the many other shows, websites, magazines and news outlets now covering the subject.
Hart, a former Miss South Dakota and now 60, has worked with five male co-hosts, most notably John Tesh and currently Mark Steines. Nancy O'Dell will replace her.
Mary Hart
Takes On "Flintstones"
Seth MacFarlane
"The Flintstones" are heading back to television, courtesy of irreverent "Family Guy" creator Seth MacFarlane, Fox television said on Monday.
MacFarlane will give a 21st century spin to the classic 1960s animated comedy series about the lives of Fred Flintstone, his wife Wilma, and their neighbors Barney and Betty Rubble.
The new animated series will feature MacFarlane's modern-day take on the lives of the Flintstones and the Rubbles, two hard-working middle-class families living with contemporary conveniences in the dinosaur-era town of Bedrock.
Fox said production would start in the fall of 2011 and would likely air some time in 2013. "The Flintstones" will be a joint production between 20th Century Fox Television and Warners Bros. Television, the owners of the Hanna-Barbera collection of animated titles.
Seth MacFarlane
In Memory
Mary Murphy
Actress Mary Murphy has died at 80. She was discovered in a coffee shop and landed a role as the small-town wholesome girl opposite Marlon Brando in "The Wild One."
Daughter Stephanie Specht tells the Los Angeles Times that Murphy died May 4 of heart disease at her Beverly Hills home.
Murphy had several roles in 1950s films, including "The Desperate Hours," "Beachhead," "A Man Alone," "Sitting Bull" and "The Mad Magician."
Murphy was a package wrapper at Saks Fifth Avenue on Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills when she was discovered in a nearby coffee shop by a Paramount Pictures talent scout.
Mary Murphy
In Memory
Joseph Wershba
Joseph Wershba, a CBS News producer and reporter whose work on a pivotal 1954 expose on Sen. Joseph McCarthy was the centerpiece of the film "Good Night, and Good Luck" has died. He was 90.
Wershba, who became one of the six original "60 Minutes" producers, died Saturday of complications from pneumonia on Long Island, N.Y., where he lived, CBS announced in a statement.
His work for Edward R. Murrow on the "See it Now" segment about McCarthy helped end the 1950s communist witch hunt. Robert Downey Jr. played the role of Wershba in 2005's "Good Night, and Good Luck," the Oscar-nominated film about Murrow and his CBS News team's joust with the powerful Wisconsin senator.
Wershba was born in Manhattan on August 19, 1920, and, after attending Brooklyn College and serving in the U.S. Army during World War II, he joined CBS News in 1944 as a radio news writer.
Four years later, he was sent to CBS' Washington bureau as a radio correspondent, where he worked on the groundbreaking Murrow-Fred Friendly "Hear it Now" series, the radio precursor to "See it Now." While in Washington, he also worked on-air with Walter Cronkite in early television news at the network's local station.
Wershba was also the on-camera reporter and field producer for Murrow on the 1953 "The Milo Radulovich Story," which exposed the U.S. Air Force's move to discharge a reserve officer because of his family's indirect association with Communism.
From 1958 to 1964, Wershba was a columnist and feature writer for The New York Post.
Then he returned to CBS News, where he produced documentaries for "CBS Reports" and was chosen to be one of the original group of producers for "60 Minutes," which premiered in 1968.
He won two Emmy awards at "60 Minutes." One of them, for "What Happened in Tonkin Gulf," recognized his 1971 investigation with correspondent Morley Safer into the 1964 naval encounter off the coast of Vietnam.
"Joe was an old-school reporter and a wonderful travelling companion," Safer said. "His only hobby was collecting. He collected books and people, especially people."
Wershba retired from CBS News in 1988 and, with his journalist wife, Shirley, ran a documentary production company.
He is survived by his wife of 63 years, whom he met on the overnight shift at CBS. Their subsequent marriage is depicted in "Good Night, and Good Luck," with Patricia Clarkson playing her character in the film.
He is also survived by a brother, Charles; a daughter, Randi; a son, Donald; and two granddaughters.
Joseph Wershba
In Memory
Bob Flanigan
Bob Flanigan, an original member of the four-part jazz vocal harmony group The Four Freshmen, has died in Las Vegas at age 84.
Flanigan along with his cousins Ross Barbour and Don Barbour, and Hal Kratzsch formed the group in 1948 while at Butler University in Indiana.
The group had several Grammy nominations over the years and might be best known for the Capitol recordings "Blue World" in 1952 and "Graduation Day" in 1956.
Flanigan retired in 1992 but kept a hand in the changing cast of performers. The group now includes Brian Eichenberger, Curtis Calderon, Vince Johnson and Bob Ferreira.
Bob Flanigan
In Memory
Montae Talbert
Los Angeles rapper M-Bone, a member of the group Cali Swag District, was killed in what appeared to be a drive-by shooting, police and celebrity news sites said on Monday.
Police said a man was shot while outside a liquor store in the Inglewood area on Los Angeles on Sunday night and pronounced dead at a nearby hospital. Website TMZ.com identified him as rapper M-Bone, whose real name is Montae Talbert.
M-Bone was a member of hip-hop group Cali Swag District who found success with the 2010 single dance hit "Teach Me How to Dougie".
TMZ.com quoted police sources as saying that M-Bone was shot twice in the head and appeared to have been a random victim in a drive-by shooting by an unknown assailant.
M-Bone's age was given variously by authorities as 19 and 22.
Montae Talbert
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