Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Sophie Roell: Paul Krugman on Inspiration for a Liberal Economist (The Browser)
Five books that influenced Paul Krugman.
Paul Krugman's Blog: Not Wrong, Again (The New York Times)
But the usual suspects know, just know, that it can't be true. Austin Frakt takes on one hatchet job, which relies on the also true fact that health spending outside Medicare and Medicaid has risen more slowly than Medicare spending. As Frakt points out, this number has been held down by the rising number of Americans without insurance. So the private sector has achieved "cost control" by just not providing coverage.
Paul Krugman's Blog: Our Lost Decade Relationship (New York Times)
What you see isn't a recovering economy that may be stumbling; you see an economy that has stopped its free fall, but hasn't really been recovering at all. I'd say that the burden of proof right now is on those who claim that we aren't on track for a lost decade.
Connie Schultz: A Father's Love, by Any Other Name (Creators Syndicate)
My father and I always ended phone calls with the same verbal waltz. "I love you, Dad." "Yep," he said. "A-a-a-nd you love me." "Well, if you already know it, I don't need to tell you, do I?"
Michael Hiltzik: Payroll tax cuts rob the poor to feed the rich (Los Angeles Times)
Washington's long-term nostrums all involve preserving the status quo for the Wall Street class. Cutting Social Security and Medicare? That's on the table. Rolling back tax benefits for the wealthy? That's not.
Paul Krugman's Blog: Denialism, Here and There (New York Times)
What strikes me most, reading the current discussion of economic policy, is the extraordinary extent to which the Serious position depends on sending what actually happened over the past few years down the memory hole. In the United States, we learn that Barney Frank was responsible for the housing bubble and the financial crisis. Who knew that a member of the minority party in the House, at a time when Republicans not only ruled the House with an iron fist but also controlled the White House, had such power?
Bill Press: "On Libya: It Depends on How You Define War"
On March 19, American warships fired more than 100 Tomahawk missiles against Libyan government forces in what was called "Operation Odyssey Dawn." We were bombing Libya, President Obama explained to the nation, in response to a UN resolution, upon request of the Arab League, and as part of a NATO operation - with the U.S., initially, in the lead.
Scott Burns: "The Fat Fund Part 2: No-Load Mutual Funds, the less expensive way to invest" (assetbuilder.com)
This week, thanks to data from Morningstar, we're taking a look at how low-cost no-load funds stack up against their more expensive competitors. We're also going to search for a rare bird, load funds that are like inexpensive no load funds.
Dick Cavett: "Waiting (and Waiting) in the Wings" (New York Times)
Someone said the best way to vanish from show business was to be Ethel Merman's understudy. Merman famously never missed a performance, saying, "I'm gonna take a chance on some young cutie going out there and being better than me? Fat chance!" (The printable version of the quote.) A lady I know who stood by for the indestructible dynamo in "Call Me Madam" was warned, "If a cement truck hits Ethel she goes on." (Some would pity the truck.)
A field guide to bullshit (newscientist.com)
How do people defend their beliefs in bizarre conspiracy theories or the power of crystals? Philosopher Stephen Law has tips for spotting their strategies
Enrique Lopetegui: "Brian Eno's (first) golden years" (San Antonio Current)
Never did a man with so little have so much influence in the history of music.
ERIC FELTEN: Is There a Scientific Explanation for Justin Bieber? (Wall Street Journal)
Popular tastes in music have long had the power to perplex. What can possibly explain the public's fascination with Madonna; the odd enthusiasm for Milli Vanilli; the stark raving madness over David Cassidy or Justin Bieber? Why does one bit of embarrassing fluff breeze to the top of the charts while a thousand other bits of embarrassing fluff sink into blessed obscurity?
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'
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Marine layer is thinning, so the mercury is rising.
He's Ba-a-a-a-a-ck
Keith Olbermann
Keith Olbermann has returned to the air promising "a newscast of contextualization."
Five months after his abrupt departure from MSNBC, the outspokenly liberal host premiered on the Current TV network Monday night awash in media attention to his arrival at a new home.
His new nightly show, like the old one, is called "Countdown," and it retains the signature musical riff from Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.
Viewers who reconnected with Olbermann on Monday heard him bash U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence "Slappy" Thomas, conservative talk show host Rush "Pigboy" Limbaugh and Republican U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Neanderthal), of Arizona, among other familiar targets.
Olbermann welcomed his first guest, documentary filmmaker Michael Moore, with whom he joined in criticizing President Barack Obama for opting to reject for legal reasons the word "hostilities" to describe U.S. involvement in Libya's civil war.
Keith Olbermann
Auction Brings In $22.8 M
Debbie Reynolds
An auction of actress Debbie Reynolds' Hollywood memorabilia earned $22.8 million over the weekend and included the record-breaking sale of Marilyn Monroe's iconic "subway dress" from 1955 movie "The Seven Year Itch," organizers said on Monday.
The $4.6 million winning bid for Monroe's dress, which billows up with a gust of air as a train rolls by, rose to $5.52 million after taxes and fees were included, and the sum far surpassed pre-sale estimates of $1 million to $2 million.
Auctioneer Profiles in History said the previous costume sales record was held by Audrey Hepburn's iconic little black dress from the 1961 film "Breakfast at Tiffany's," which sold for $923,187.
The auction resulted in several major sales that surpassed that figure. Hepburn's ascot dress from "My Fair Lady" fetched $4.4 million, and Judy Garland's blue cotton dress from "Wizard of Oz" drew $1.09 million.
Debbie Reynolds
Television Awards
Critics' Choice
In what amounts to a reflection of last year's Emmys and a bold prediction of this year's ceremony. "Mad Men" and "Modern Family" won the top prizes at a new event organized by television critics.
The two shows, both critical darlings, took the respective best drama and comedy prizes at the Critics' Choice Television Awards during a luncheon in Beverly Hills on Monday.
The event is organized by the nascent Broadcast Television Journalists Association, a spinoff of the Broadcast Film Critics Association, a group with an impressive Oscar forecasting pedigree.
Organizers hope their fortune-telling prowess for movies will carry over to the small screen. Their ceremony took place four days before ballots are due in for the Emmy Awards, television's top honors. Emmy nominees will be announced on July 14, and the winners on September 18.
Critics' Choice
Joins Hobbit Cast
Barry Humphries
Australian satirist Barry Humphries, best known for his characters Dame Edna Everage and Sir Les Patterson, is the latest actor recruited by Peter Jackson for the upcoming "The Hobbit" movies.
The Oscar-winning director announced on his Facebook page Monday that Humphries will play the role of the Goblin King.
Also joining the cast is Evangeline Lilly, known for her role on the television series "Lost", who will be playing a new character, the Woodland Elf Tauriel.
Another recent signing is British comedian Stephen Fry, who will play The Master of Laketown.
Barry Humphries
Wedding News
DeVogelaere - Fonda
"Easy Rider" actor Peter Fonda was married to Margaret "Parky" DeVogelaere over the weekend in Hawaii, his representative said on Monday.
DeVogelaere is the actor's third wife. His previous marriage, to Portia Rebecca Crockett, lasted 36 years but ended in divorce earlier this year.
The 71 year-old actor and son of the late Henry Fonda is best known for playing free-wheeling biker Wyatt in the classic 1969 film "Easy Rider." He also was nominated for an Oscar for his role in the 1997 movie "Ulee's Gold" and recently appeared in TV drama "CSI: NY."
DeVogelaere - Fonda
Hospital News
Leslie West
Rock guitarist Leslie West, who rose to fame in the '70s power trio Mountain, has had his lower right leg amputated in a life-saving operation related to his diabetes, his wife said on Monday.
West, 65, underwent the emergency surgery after being admitted to a hospital in Biloxi, Mississippi, on Saturday when his leg started to swell and his foot went septic.
"The doctors tried for two days to save it to no avail. The decision to amputate was one that was necessary to save his life as the infection was spreading throughout his body," his wife, Jenni West, said in an email.
Mountain is probably best known for its debut 1970 single "Mississippi Queen," a staple of classic rock radio. West has long struggled with his weight and type 2 diabetes. He named one of his solo albums "The Great Fatsby."
Leslie West
Drops Medicaid Patients
Indiana Planned Parenthood
Planned Parenthood of Indiana will stop seeing Medicaid patients after Monday because of an Indiana law that cut the provider's funding.
PPIN went to court last month to prevent Indiana from cutting funding to the state's largest reproductive health care provider. U. S. District Judge Tanya Walton Pratt said she would make a decision on whether to enjoin the law by July 1.
"Our 9,300 Medicaid patients, including those who had appointments Tuesday, are going to see their care disrupted," Betty Cockrum, president and CEO of PPIN, said in a statement.
The Medicaid funds stopped May 11, the day Republican Governor Mitch Daniels signed a law that restricts abortions and cuts federal funding to Planned Parenthood.
Planned Parenthood performs abortions, but even before the Indiana law passed, federal money could not be used to pay for abortions. Indiana cut Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood that covers other reproductive health services, including contraception and cancer screening.
Indiana Planned Parenthood
Tattoo Artist Settles With Warner Bros
S. Victor Whitmill
The tattoo artist who sued over Ed Helms' tattoo in "The Hangover Part II" has settled his lawsuit over the design, which resembles the facial ink the artist created for Mike Tyson.
Warner Bros. spokesman Paul McGuire said Monday that the movie studio and S. Victor Whitmill amicably resolved their dispute. McGuire declined to discuss the case further.
Whitmill claimed the filmmakers ripped off the design that he tattooed on Tyson in 2003 in Las Vegas. Whitmill now lives in Missouri.
The lawsuit filed in federal court in St. Louis tried to block the film's release, but a judge ruled just two days before the film's May 26 debut that it could open as scheduled.
S. Victor Whitmill
Leaves CNN, Joins Fox
Ed Henry
CNN White House correspondent Ed Henry is jumping to Fox News Channel.
Fox announced Monday that Henry would become Fox's chief White House correspondent. He had joined CNN in 2004 from the newspaper Roll Call, and he covered the president, Congress and politics for the network.
Fox News executive Michael Clemente says the network has been "impressed with Henry's reporting for a long time."
Fox is making other changes. Wendell Goler will become senior White House and foreign affairs correspondent. Mike Emanuel will be chief congressional correspondent and James Rosen will report on how Washington-based news affects the rest of the country.
Ed Henry
Gray Bar Hotel
Tone Loc
The rapper Tone Loc has been arrested on suspicion of felony domestic violence in Southern California.
Burbank police Sgt. Tracy Sanchez says 45-year-old Anthony Smith was arrested Saturday. That's Tone Loc's real name.
Sanchez could not confirm that the man arrested is Tone Loc, but Smith's birthdate and description in Los Angeles County jail records match those of the rapper. Sanchez also could not provide any details about the alleged victim or the circumstances.
Tone Loc is best known for the 1989 hip-hop hits "Wild Thing" and "Funky Cold Medina."
Tone Loc
Indicted In NY Fake-Attack Case
Heidi Jones
A lawyer for a New York TV meteorologist accused of fabricating attacks on her says his client has been indicted, an unusual step for prosecutors in a misdemeanor case.
The Manhattan district attorney's office declined to comment Monday on Heidi Jones' case. Taking a case to a grand jury for indictment is common in felony cases but not in lower-level misdemeanor ones.
Prosecutors say Jones told police she'd been attacked in Central Park, and again near her apartment, but later said she "made it up for attention."
Jones has been suspended from New York's ABC affiliate.
Heidi Jones
'Flights Over Neverland' For Anniversary
Michael Jackson
Helicopter flights over Neverland Ranch in California are being booked for the second anniversary of Michael Jackson's death.
The singer was 50 when he died on June 25, 2009. He owned the Neverland Ranch in the Santa Ynez Valley for years.
Oxnard-based Channel Island's Helicopters says the half-hour "Flight Over Neverland" event costs $175 per person and $500 for a private flight of up to three people.
A spokesman for the company says it has already booked about 100 passengers, with more seats still available for June 25.
Michael Jackson
Throws Open Domain Names
ICANN
Good.food, learnto.salsa, glossy.lipstick -- people and companies will be able to set up a website with almost any address by the end of next year if they have a legitimate claim to the domain name and can pay a hefty fee.
The Internet body that oversees domain names voted on Monday to end restricting them to suffixes like .com or .gov and will receive applications for new names from January 12 next year with the first approvals likely by the end of 2012.
And they can be in any characters -- Cyrillic, Kanji or Devanagari for instance, for users of Russian, Japanese and Hindi.
The new gTLD, or generic top-level domain, program was approved by 13 votes to one with two abstentions by the board of ICANN at a meeting in Singapore.
ICANN
In Memory
Ryan Dunn
"Jackass" star Ryan Dunn, who along with his cast mates made Americans cringe and snicker through vulgar stunts in their multimillion-dollar TV and movie franchise, was killed early Monday in a fiery car crash. He was 34.
Dunn, a daredevil whose most famous skits included diving into a sewage tank and shoving a toy car into his rectum, was driving his 2007 Porsche in suburban Philadelphia when it careered off the road, flipped over a guardrail and crashed into the woods before bursting into flames. A passenger was also killed, and speed may have been a factor in the crash, West Goshen Township police said.
The force of impact shattered the vehicle into several twisted and blackened pieces, leaving the Porsche 911 GT3 unrecognizable except for a door that was thrown from the crash and not incinerated. A 100-foot-long tire skid marked where the car left the roadway.
Both Dunn and his passenger were severely burned. Police said they were able to identify Dunn through his tattoos and hair.
Dunn appeared on MTV shows "Jackass" and "Viva La Bam" and the three "Jackass" big-screen adaptations. He also was the star of his own MTV show, "Homewrecker," and hosted "Proving Ground" on the G4 cable network.
Dunn was born in Ohio and moved at age 15 to Pennsylvania, where he met Bam Margera on his first day of high school, according to a biography posted on his website.
Dunn, Margera, Christopher Raab (known as Raab Himself) and Brandon DiCamillo, under the moniker CKY for "Camp Kill Yourself," started making videos that featured them skateboarding and performing stunts.
Dunn was working as a welder and at a gas station when Johnny Knoxville, a friend of Margera's through the skateboarding circuit, asked the crew to allow their videos to be part of the series "Jackass," which became a hit on MTV and ran from 2000 to 2002.
Perhaps his most famous stunt, in 2002's "Jackass: The Movie," involved inserting a toy car into his rectum and going to an emergency room, where he made up a story that he was in mysterious pain after passing out at a fraternity party. Dunn's X-ray from the hospital became a popular T-shirt for "Jackass" fans.
A few hours before the 3 a.m. crash, Dunn tweeted a picture of himself drinking with two friends. The photo has since been removed.
Ryan Dunn
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