According to an AP report, Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA) plans to introduce legislation to grant benefits for same-sex spouses of veterans and service members. Smith says spouses of service members should not be barred from receiving benefits because they are in same-sex marriages. Read the Military Advantage Blog to learn more.
(I hate to say this, but I think that the DOMA will stand in the way of this. Repealing DADT was one thing, but realistically speaking, the DoD will fight this one for no more reason than budgetary concerns. The VA, too, I'm afraid. We'll see, but I'm not hopeful for this any time soon as long as the GOP controls the House.)
The Department of Veterans Affairs has announced that nearly all of the 230,000 disability claims related to Agent Orange presumptions have been completed. Over $3.6 billion has been paid to Vietnam veterans and their survivors as a result of Agent Orange exposure. For more information, read VA's VAntage Point Blog. VA has established its Agent Orange Fast Track Claims Processing System web site at www.fastrack.va.gov to assist veterans in filing claims for the three new conditions related to the effects of Agent Orange exposure. It guides Veterans through automated, program-assisted menus to capture the information and medical evidence needed for faster claims decision.
(It's not too late! If you or a loved one was exposed during 'The Great Southeast Asia Debacle' or along the Korean DMZ. File a claim! ASAP!
The 'fastrack' link above details all the presumptive conditions associated with AO exposure. The VA is trying very hard to make this right.)
The U.S. Department of Labor has announced the award of 64 grants totaling more than $15 million that are aimed at providing approximately 8,600 homeless veterans nationwide with job training to help them succeed in civilian careers. The grants are being awarded under the U.S. Department of Labor's Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program. A list of grantees is available on the U.S. Department of Labor website. For more information on the Department of Labor's unemployment and re-employment programs, Visit the U.S. Department of Labor VETS website.
In observance of June as PTSD Awareness Month, the Department of Veterans Affairs National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) has begun a new online initiative, AboutFace, which focuses on helping Veterans recognize PTSD symptoms and motivating them to seek treatment. For more information, visit the National Center for PTSD's AboutFace website. For more information on PTSD, visit the National Center for PTSD website
(This is another area that the VA is working very hard on. They are hampered somewhat by a shortage of trained mental health professionals, but they are actively recruiting for them.)
A discovery by a Minneapolis medical researcher may lead to a new test to help identify Gulf War Illness (GWI). Using sophisticated brain mapping equipment and techniques called magnetoencephalography (MEG), Dr. Aposotolos Georgopolous of the Minneapolis VA Medical Center has found a unique visual signature of a "core" brain abnormality in Gulf War Illness. Dr. Georgopolous's MEG findings provide further evidence that GWI is a distinctly separate disease entity rooted in damage to and dysfunction of the brain...
In a continuing effort to increase veterans' access to mental health care, the Department of Veterans Affairs has set a goal to conduct more than 200,000 clinic-based, telemental health consultations for all mental health specialties in fiscal year 2012. The clinic-based telehealth program involves the more than 800 VA community-based outpatient clinics (CBOCs) where many veterans receive primary care. If the CBOCs do not have a mental health care provider available, secure video teleconferencing technology is used to connect the Veteran to a provider within VA's nationwide system of care...
(The VA's Telehealth system is remarkable. Recently, I took a 6 week dietary class, once a week, at my primary care hospital in Saginaw and the class was connected to the 8 CBOC's in the rural areas of northern Michigan. They could see and hear the lecturers and vice versa. In addition, the VA provides transport from the CBOC's to Saginaw for treatment and then on to the larger VA hospitals in Ann Arbor and Detroit, if needed.)
The Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA's) "Coaching Into Care" is a telephone service that provides assistance to family members and friends trying to encourage their Veteran to seek health care for possible readjustment and mental health issues. The service offers free coaching to callers with the goal of connecting a Veteran with VA care in his or her community with the help and encouragement of family members or friends. The service is available toll-free at 1-888-823-7458, 8 a.m. -- 8 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday, and online. If a veteran is experiencing an acute crisis, callers should contact the Veterans Crisis Line at 1-800-273-8255 for immediate help.
(Sometimes the family has to get involved... friends, too. This helps.)
BadtotheboneBob
Life Member ~ DAV
(Somewhere out on Lake Huron - Nov '80 - aboard the USCGC Bramble)
Video Games from the Bad Guys' Perspective (YouTube)
"He's almost indestructible. I mean, you've got to pour dozens of rounds into him before he dies. Then he comes back to life, over and over again. What is this monster? In this funny short film by Fatawesome, the villains try to cope with a video game in which they are expendable, but the hero is not."--Neatorama
Dora The Explorer Gets The Hollywood Treatment (Neatorama)
This is exactly what I'd expect a Hollywood version of Dora the Explorer to look like, complete with ridiculous casting, lots of suspense, and some over the top action sequences thrown in for good measure. Watch as Dora, Map and her friend Diego hunt for the infamous Swiper, while remaining educational for the audience!
Michael Moore: More Than a Victory, the Decision [Thursday] Was a Mandate for Us to Act
Five years ago this week, my health care documentary, Sicko, opened in theaters across the country. I have spent the better part of the decade on this issue, and for me, personally, fully aware of the current law's limitations, I am very happy with today's news - not because of its specifics or nuances, but because it is a road sign, and that sign points in the correct, humane and sane direction. THAT makes this a great day.
Paul Krugman: Europe's Great Illusion (New York Times)
Over the past few months I've read a number of optimistic assessments of the prospects for Europe. Oddly, however, none of these assessments argue that Europe's German-dictated formula of redemption through suffering has any chance of working.
Mark Morford: 101 easy steps to having it all (SF Gate)
Put another way: it doesn't really matter if you have no kids or 10, a CEO's desk or a flower shop in Des Moines. Tap deeply into the heart of the gist of the moment, be fully present in your skin, and there you go, baby. You've got it "all." Or rather, you've got the right axis around which it all can revolve.
Lenore Skenazy: When Life Hands You Lemonade... (Creators Syndicate)
I started asking folks about their lemonade stand stories, and it turns out that everyone's got one. One mom talked about her kids sitting out there in the hot sun, selling one cup every half-hour, "hanging in there but getting tired." Then suddenly, a customer pulled up in his sports car, handed them a $20 bill, chugged his drink and told them to keep the change. "They talk about this guy 15 years later as some kind of amazing apparition."
Tom Danehy: Tom went on a road trip-but he avoided the Stinker Stores (Tucson Weekly)
There is a strange and wonderful world out there, and I almost never see any of it. Like salsa left in the trunk of a car on a hot summer day, I don't travel well. Quite frankly, I don't know how anybody travels well, although I have friends who claim to be able to do so.
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."
On the TV series 3rd Rock from the Sun, the Solomon family communicated with their off-world (and usually unseen) boss, the Big Giant Head. Who portrayed the Big Giant Head?
Billy Barty (October 25, 1924 - December 23, 2000) was an American film actor. In adult life he stood three feet, nine inches, and because of his short stature he was often cast in movies and television episodes as outspoken or wisecracking characters, playing opposite taller performers. During the 1950s he became a TV star, appearing regularly in the Spike Jones ensemble.
Barty, an Italian American, was born William John Bertanzetti in Millsboro, Pennsylvania.
Source
Charlie was first, and correct, with:
Bill Barty
Adam answered:
Billy Barty, actor. little person.
Dale of Diamond Springs said:
The great Billy Barty!!!!!
Jim from CA, retired to ID, enjoyed the day.
Sally wilted.
MAM wrote:
Billy Barty ~ Stood three feet, nine inches tall. American motion-picture and television entertainer from the 1920s through 2000. Began in show business at the age of 3. Founder of the "Little People of America" organization in 1957. One of his most memorable roles was that of 'High Aldwin' in the 1988 Ron Howard adventure fantasy "Willow."
Alan J responded:
Billy Barty
BttbBob replied:
Billy Barty... and try as I might, I don't recall ever seeing him on either the big or little screens. Which is rather curious as I looked through his IMDb credits and he appeared in many TV shows I watched...
Marian's on vacation.
And, Joe S answered:
Billy Barty
Got a little worried this morning.
In the mail:
Dale of Diamond Springs, CA's response to
yesterday's trivia question about The Honeymooners':
Alice Kramden's sister Agnes appears only in Episode 22 of The Honeymooners "Here Comes the Bride". Ralph nearly ruins the imminent marriage between a fellow Raccoon Lodge member and Alice's sister, Agnes after he provides some advice to the groom. This episode contains a veiled reference to Willie Mays , who was, by then reaching the peak of his baseball career. Ralph says that, out of habit, Alice's sister caught the bouquet herself. Alice says it was because her foot slipped to which Ralph responds, "If my foot could slip like that, I'd be playing Center Field for the New York Giants."
Jeff will be at Burkes in Memphis on July 9, Square Books in Oxford on July 10, Lemuria in Jackson on July 11, Parnassus in Nashville on July 22, B&N in Little Rock on August 11, and back in Memphis at The Booksellers of Laurelwood on August 28.
He'll also be on WYPL's BookTalk sometime soon, Mississippi Public Radio in August, and Live @ 9 on WREG Channel 3 on July 9th.
Yesterday's page was up late because sometimes things just don't work the way they're supposed to.
Finally gave up around 6am, rubbed the St. Jude medallion, powered down the rig and called it a day.
Seems to be working OK now.
Tonight, Tuesday:
CBS begins the night with a RERUN'NCIS', followed by a RERUN'NCIS: The 2nd One', then '48 Hours'.
On a RERUNDave (from 5/17/12) are Conan O'Brien, Regina Spektor, and John Mayer.
On a RERUNCraig (from 5/21/12) are Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Stephen Wright.
NBC starts the night with a RERUN'America's Got Talent', followed by a FRESH'America's Got Talent', then a RERUN'Love In The Wild'.
On a RERUNLeno (from 5/21/12) are Kevin Costner, Bailee Madison, and Lisa Marie Presley.
On a RERUNJimmy Fallon (from 5/24/12) are Will Smith, Bill Paxton, Ronnie Dunn, and Stone Gossard & Shawn Smith.
On a RERUNCarson 'The Scab' Daly (from 2/2/12) are Mario Batali, Ry Russo-Young, and White Denim.
ABC opens the night with a RERUN'Wipeout', followed by a super-sized RERUN'Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition'.
On a RERUNJimmy Kimmel (from 6/19/12) are Sally Field, Kevin Love, and Waka Flocka Flame.
The CW offers a FRESH'The Catalina', followed by a RERUN'The LA Complex'.
Faux has a FRESH'Hell's Kitchen', followed by a FRESH'MasterChef'.
MY recycles an old 'Cold Case', followed by another old 'Cold Case'.
AMC offers 'CSI: The 2nd One', followed by the movie 'Independence Day', then the movie 'Independence Day', again.
BBC -
[6:00AM] BBC WORLD NEWS
[7:00AM] BBC WORLD NEWS
[8:00AM] MERLIN - SEASON 1-Ep 6 - A Remedy to Cure All Ills
[9:00AM] MERLIN - SEASON 1-Ep 7 - The Gates of Avalon
[10:00AM] MERLIN - SEASON 1-Ep 8 - The Beginning of the End
[11:00AM] MERLIN - SEASON 1-Ep 9 - Excalibur
[12:00PM] MERLIN - SEASON 1-Ep 10 - The Moment of Truth
[1:00PM] MERLIN - SEASON 1-Ep 11 - The Labyrinth of Gedref
[2:00PM] MERLIN - SEASON 1-Ep 12 - To Kill the King
[3:00PM] MERLIN - SEASON 1-Ep 13 - Le Morte d'Arthur
[4:00PM] MERLIN - SEASON 2-Ep 1 - The Curse of Cornelius Sigan
[5:00PM] MERLIN - SEASON 2-Ep 2 - The Once and Future Queen
[6:00PM] MERLIN - SEASON 2-Ep 3 - The Nightmare Begins
[7:00PM] MERLIN - SEASON 2-Ep 4 - Lancelot and Guinevere
[8:00PM] MERLIN - SEASON 2-Ep 5 - Beauty and the Beast (Part 1)
[9:00PM] MERLIN - SEASON 2-Ep 6 - Beauty and the Beast (Part 2)
[10:00PM] MERLIN - SEASON 2-Ep 7 - The Witchfinder
[11:00PM] MERLIN - SEASON 2-Ep 1 - The Curse of Cornelius Sigan
[12:00AM] MERLIN - SEASON 2-Ep 2 - The Once and Future Queen
[1:00AM] MERLIN - SEASON 2-Ep 3 - The Nightmare Begins
[2:00AM] MERLIN - SEASON 2-Ep 4 - Lancelot and Guinevere
[3:00AM] MERLIN - SEASON 2-Ep 5 - Beauty and the Beast (Part 1)
[4:00AM] MERLIN - SEASON 2-Ep 6 - Beauty and the Beast (Part 2)
[5:00AM] BBC WORLD NEWS (ALL TIMES EDT)
Bravo has 'Real Housewives Of NYC', 'Real Housewives Top Reunion Moments', followed by a FRESH'Pregnant In Heels'.
Comedy Central has last night's 'Colbert Report', last night's 'Jon Stewart', 'Workaholics', 'Tosh.0', another 'Tosh.0', still another 'Tosh.0', followed by a FRESH'Tosh.0', then a FRESH'Workaholics'.
On a RERUNJon Stewart (from 6/25/12) is Sen. Marco Rubio.
On a RERUNColbert Report (from 6/25/12) is Frank Deford.
FX has the movie 'Spider-Man 2', followed by the movie 'Spider-Man 3'.
History has 'Pawn Stars', another 'Pawn Stars', still another 'Pawn Stars', yet another 'Pawn Stars', 'Mountain Men', and 'Shark Wranglers'.
IFC -
[6:00AM] Whitest Kids U'Know
[6:30AM] Whitest Kids U'Know
[6:45AM] Delirious
[9:00AM] Che: Part One
[11:45AM] Che: Part Two
[2:30PM] Delirious
[4:45PM] The Three Stooges-Crash Goes the Hash
[5:10PM] The Three Stooges-Dizzy Detectives
[5:35PM] The Three Stooges-Dizzy Doctors
[6:00PM] Malcolm in the Middle-Block Party
[6:30PM] Malcolm in the Middle-Dirty Magazine
[7:00PM] Malcolm in the Middle-Hot Tub
[7:30PM] Malcolm in the Middle-Ida's Boyfriend
[8:00PM] The Thin Red Line
[11:30PM] The Thin Red Line
[3:00AM] Black Book (ALL TIMES EDT)
Sundance -
[6:00A] Visioneers
[7:35A] Man in the Chair
[9:30A] Know Your Mushrooms
[10:45A] Visioneers
[12:20P] Man in the Chair
[2:15P] Know Your Mushrooms
[3:30P] Love Lust & Heels
[4:30P] Visual Acoustics
[6:00P] Love Lust & the Bikini
[7:00P] FREAKS AND GEEKS - Tests and Breasts (Episode 5, Season 1)
[8:00P] Sangre de Mi Sangre
[10:00P] Y Tu Mamá También
[11:50P] Red White & Blue
[1:35A] Sex Is Comedy
[3:10A] Sangre de Mi Sangre
[5:10A] The Wilde Ones
[5:30A] THE MORTIFIED SESSIONS - Cheryl Hines & Margaret Cho (ALL TIMES EDT)
SyFy has the movie 'Lake Placid 3', followed by the FRESH'WWE Steroid SmackDown!', then a FRESH'Haunted Highway'.
TBS:
On a RERUNConan (from 2/22/12) are Jennifer Aniston, Ron & Amy Shirley, and Jay Larson.
US musician John Lee Hooker Junior, son of late blues legend John Lee Hooker, performs during his concert in Algiers July 2, 2012.
Photo by Louafi Larbi
Anderson Cooper revealed on Monday that he is gay, ending years of reluctance to talk about his personal life in public.
The CNN journalist wrote in an online letter that he had kept his sexual orientation private for personal and professional reasons, but came to think that remaining silent had given some people a mistaken impression that he was ashamed.
"The fact is, I'm gay, always have been, always will be, and I couldn't be any more happy, comfortable with myself and proud," he wrote in the letter, published by Andrew Sullivan of the Daily Beast.
Cooper, the son of Gloria Vanderbilt, had long been the subject of rumors about his sexual orientation. He said that in a perfect world, it wouldn't be anyone's business, but that there is value in "standing up and being counted."
"I still consider myself a reserved person and I hope this doesn't mean an end to a small amount of personal space," he wrote. "But I do think visibility is important, more important than preserving my reporter's shield of privacy."
In this photo provided by the Florida Keys News Bureau, Richard Costello poses in his restaurant in Chatham, Mass., Monday, July 2, 2012, after learning he had won a Facebook-based Virtual "Papa" Hemingway Look-Alike Contest. Costello is to travel to Key West to participate in the live 2012 contest at Sloppy Joe's Bar, during Key West's (Ernest) Hemingway Days festival, set for July 17-22.
Photo by Amy Tagliaferri
HBO says it's bringing back "The Newsroom" and "True Blood" for another season each.
HBO announced Monday that "True Blood," the network's hit vampire drama, will be coming back for a sixth season next year. Its stars include Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer.
"The Newsroom," created and written by Oscar-winner Aaron Sorkin, won a green light for a second season after just two episodes have aired. Though getting mixed reviews from critics, the show attracted a healthy audience for its premiere, totaling 2.1 million viewers.
Set at a cable news network, "The Newsroom" features Jeff Daniels, Emily Mortimer, Alison Pill and Sam Waterston.
Signing autographs along the way, a group of Catholic nuns is taking a road trip across America to stand up for the poor.
The media-savvy "Nuns on the Bus" tour kicked off in the midwestern state of Iowa on June 17 and is making a slew of stops around the country to convey concern about social injustice.
"Our bus is about a policy conversation ... to say we the people of the United States, we can be a better union," organizer Simone Campbell told AFP during a stop in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania where the sister on Thursday hailed a historic US Supreme Court ruling that upheld the constitutionality of President Barack Obama's signature healthcare law.
The idea for the trip, sponsored by the Catholic lobbying group Network headed by Campbell, came about in May after the Vatican released a report that charged the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), which represents most US nuns, of "radical feminism" and not focusing enough on fighting gay marriage.
Network, which did not back Catholic bishops in their opposition to Obama's healthcare law, was taken to task by the Vatican for its links to LCWR.
PETA animal rights group activists are covered by a drift-net as they pose as fishes during a protest in Duesseldorf July 2, 2012. The protest was aimed against the use of drift-nets for fishing in oceans. Banner reads, "Fishing hurts".
Photo by Ina Fassbender
Avon Products Inc. announced Monday that the 50-year-old rock star is the company's newest celebrity fragrance partner. He'll appear in ads for both Unplugged for Her and Unplugged for Him.
The women's version, which will be available through Avon representatives and online in October, is a floral oriental perfume, and the men's is a woody floral musk fragrance. It will go on sale in November.
Both Avon and Bon Jovi said admiration for each other's involvement in philanthropy largely drew them together as partners.
Hearings in the dispute between Thomas Kinkade's widow and girlfriend over the late artist's $66 million estate will not be conducted behind closed doors - at least for now, a judge ruled on Monday.
Kinkade's widow, Nanette Kinkade, had sought to keep the matter private, asking Judge Thomas Cainto immediately send the case to an arbitration panel and not open probate court.
But Cain rejected that request, saying he was being asked to make findings based on very limited information, the San Jose Mercury News reported.
At the center of the dispute are handwritten notes that Thomas Kinkade's girlfriend, Amy Pinto-Walsh, says bequeath her his mansion in Monte Sereno and $10 million to establish a museum of his paintings. She was living with Kinkade and found his body when he died in April.
Nanette Kinkade, Kinkade's wife of 30 years, disputes those claims and is seeking full control of the estate. She and Kinkade were legally separated when Kinkade, 54, died of an accidental alcohol and Valium overdose.
Spain's national soccer team players celebrate their Euro 2012 victory on an open-top bus during a parade in downtown Madrid, July 2, 2012. Spaniards seized on their Euro 2012 triumph as a source of restored national pride after months of economic anxieties, as celebrations were set to reach fever pitch on Monday with a victory parade in the capital.
Photo by Rocio Pelaez
A New York judge has ordered Twitter to hand over tweets and account information connected with an Occupy Wall Street protester arrested last fall during a march on the Brooklyn Bridge.
Criminal Court Judge Matthew Sciarrino, who is overseeing the hundreds of criminal cases stemming from Occupy-related arrests, rejected the idea that Twitter would violate protester Malcolm Harris' privacy by turning over the information.
"If you post a tweet, just like if you scream it out the window, there is no reasonable expectation of privacy," the judge wrote in his decision. He said he would review the information himself and release relevant portions to both prosecutors and Harris' lawyer.
The Saturday ruling, released on Monday, marks the second time in three months that Sciarrino has rejected an attempt to quash a subpoena in the case.
An organizer moves a dice on a giant board as people play a game of backgammon on the beach in Tel Aviv July 2, 2012. The board is the largest in Israel and was set up as part of a beach festival taking place at Israeli beaches.
Photo by Nir Elias
Law enforcement agencies in the United States are behind the overwhelming majority of requests for Twitter users' private information, the social media company revealed Monday in its first ever public report on the subject.
Of the 849 total government requests for user information during the period spanning January 1 to June 30 this year, 679 -- or 80 percent -- took place in the United States, typically for use in criminal investigations, Twitter said.
Japan was in second place after the United States with 98 requests filed by police, followed by 11 requests from law enforcement agencies in the United Kingdom and the same number from agencies in Canada.
Twitter, which was credited last year for fueling social unrest, from revolutions in the Middle East to Occupy protests in U.S. cities, has increasingly been pulled into criminal prosecutions as it gains popularity as an often-anonymous broadcast network.
This undated file photo shows Gilbert Stuart's 1796 oil on canvas portrait of George Washington on display at Washington's National Portrait Gallery. Sixteen paintings by American artist Gilbert Stuart of some of the nation's founding fathers and other figures are showing their true colors for the first time in decades through a major conservation project at the National Gallery of Art.
The former chief financial officer of the embattled Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia has pleaded guilty to stealing $906,000 from the church, the district attorney's office said on Monday.
The archdiocese, facing a $17 million budget hole and still reeling from last month's conviction of a monsignor in a child sex abuse scandal, was the target of a forgery and theft scheme run by former financial officer Anita Guzzardi.
The former CFO admitted on Friday that she stole the money from 2004 to 2011. Guzzardi, 43, was fired in July 2011.
She used most of the money to pay personal credit card bills for cash advances as well as purchases at casinos in the United States, Caribbean and Mexico, the prosecutor said.
A model presents a creation by Zahia Dehar as part of her Fall-Winter 2012/2013 high-fashion lingerie line presentation during the Haute Couture fashion week in Paris July 2, 2012.
Gonzalo Fuentes
KMXT reports Walmart will send the Miami rapper, whose real name is Armando Christian Perez, to the store that gets the most "likes" on its Facebook page.
A writer for The Boston Phoenix newspaper thought it'd be funny to send Pitbull to the most remote Walmart possible, and is encouraging people to "like" the Walmart in Kodiak.
It seems to be working. The Kodiak Walmart had more than 35,000 "likes" Monday, more than five times the town's population. A Walmart spokeswoman said Kodiak has a "significant" lead in the contest, but voting is open until July 16.
You have reached the Home page of BartCop Entertainment.
Make yourself home, take your shoes off...
Go ahead, scratch it if it itches.
The idea is to have fun.
Do you have something to say?
Anything that increased your blood pressure, or, even better, amused or entertained?
Do you have a great album no one's heard?
How about a favorite TV show, movie, book, play, cartoon, or legal amusement?
A popular artist that just plain pisses you off?
A box set the whole world should own?
Vile, filthy rumors about Republican hypocrites?
Just plain vile, filthy rumors?
wrote:
answered:
Jeff Crook's crime fiction debut THE SLEEPING AND THE DEAD gets a good review from the Associated Press-the review's been picked up by the Washington Post, The San Diego Union-Tribune, ABCnews.com, the Huffington Post, and many other print and online media outlets.
