Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Paul Krugman: Punishing the Unemployed (nytimes.com)
A coalition of the heartless, the clueless and the confused is blocking extended unemployment benefits. What can be done?
MAUREEN DOWD: My Deathless Passion for Dracula (nytimes.com)
This Independence Day, let your fanged flag fly.
Diane Dimond: When Neighbors Help Neighbors (creators.com)
This is the America I told my daughter we lived in when she was growing up.
"If you're ever in trouble, honey, just ask your neighbor for help. Find a policeman if you can."
Interview: Michael Pollan (guardian.co.uk)
The best-selling author at the centre of a revolt against processed food shares some simple rules for truly healthy eating with Jon Henley.
Carolyn Kellogg: "Book review: 'Role Models' by John Waters" (latimes.com)
The filmmaker writes about the figures who have inspired him, including Johnny Mathis and Leslie Van Houten.
Meghan Daum: L.A. for the aged (latimes.com)
Author Bret Easton Ellis of 'Less Than Zero' fame is creating a trilogy, with the third installment offering a glimpse of his alienated glitterati as senior citizens.
Laura Barton: "Tom Jones: 'Spiritual songs are natural to me'" (guardian.co.uk)
He used to be a 'naughty boy' in tight trousers and garlanded with knickers. But as he hits 70, Tom Jones has moved on and made his 'Johnny Cash album.'
What I see in the mirror: Leo Sayer (guardian.co.uk)
'Some days my hair looks like the Rock of Gibraltar, on others like the London skyline.'
millinocket: Thrill Me.......Chill Me.........The 10 Best Thrillers (epinions.com)
I love thrillers. I read them. I watch them. I eat them with a spoon. If I was forced to choose a single genre in which to indulge it would be the thriller. Made for TV, released directly to video, found on the quarter rack at the book store, there is something about just the possibility that I could stumble upon a great thriller that makes me keep reading, keep watching, keep renting.
Kristin Scott Thomas: 'Food mixers are not on the menu, thanks' (guardian.co.uk)
Kristin Scott Thomas talks to Elizabeth Day about her new film, Leaving, and reveals why turning 50 has opened new doors in French cinema.
Andrew Hussey: "Claire Denis: 'For me, film-making is a journey into the impossible'" (guardian.co.uk)
Since her 1988 debut 'Chocolat,' Claire Denis has established herself as one of France's most respected film directors, with a wide-ranging body of work and a taste for danger. Her latest film, 'White Material,' which stars Isabelle Huppert, draws again upon her colonial African childhood, and its violence has sparked controversy in the French press.
Mo Park: "Experience: I bought a long-lost Charlie Chaplin film on eBay" (guardian.co.uk)
'I became obsessed with the need to find out more about the film, but no one seemed to know anything about it.'
Hubert's Poetry Corner
"The Silencing Waters of Leon Creek"
The Weekly Poll
Summer Sabbatical
Poll returns 13 July!
BadToTheBoneBob
wrote:
responded:
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
BadtotheboneBob Suggests
Pig
Cattle herding pig video
Pigs are remarkably intelligent as this one demonstrates.
BttbB
Thanks, B2tbBob!
Reader Complaint
Obits
Marty:
One of the best parts of Bartcop E are the show biz obits at the end, particularly those of the lesser knowns who were part of the larger scene.
However, I was utterly horrified to learn the otherwise vigilant Bartcop E editors missed the passing of both Anita Humes Chappelle (May 30) and Robin Peter Smith, aka Crispian St. Peters (June 8). Ms. Humes was the lead singer of The Essex, a one-hit wonder group that had a big hit in the summer of 1963 with "Easier Said than Done." AND she was a Harrisburg, PA native, a graduate of a Catholic high school and active duty USMC (as were the other group members) at the time of the hit. Crispian St. Peters was another one-hit wonder who had "Pied Piper" in 1966 and in England, "You Were on My Mind." In the U.S. the We Five had the hit.
I realize the many failures of the Obama administration has the otherwise dutiful Bartcop E editors on edge, but this lady was from freaking Pennsylvania, for crying out loud.
Humes
St. Peters - and for a darker view
EJ2E
Thanks, Ed.
So sorry to have disappointed you, but, to put it bluntly, you get what you pay for.
Between a toilet impersonating a geyser last week, followed by a major clean-up and full-room repaint, I'm having way too much fun.
Add to that the local scofflaws who have been having their fireworks fun for the last week, and a houseful of freakier-than-usual cats.
Even with a large, cheerful, and overpaid staff (cough, cough), no one in the home office has taken a day off in nearly 3 years - 1075 days to be specific.
And, quite often there are just not enough hours to get every thing done.
Thanks for the links, and I appreciate that you went to the trouble of not using Rupert's propaganda machine as a source.
It must have been painful.
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sun never broke through. Quite nice.
End Run Around Logic
Voters
Science is confirming something successful politicians seem to know instinctively - support your local football team.
The success of major college teams in the two weeks before an election can have a measurable impact on how well incumbent politicians do at the polls, researchers report in Tuesday's edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
"Events that government had nothing to do with, but that affect voters' sense of well-being, can affect the decisions that they make on election day," the researchers said.
The new study looked at elections for president, governor and senate between 1964 and 2008 and compared them to football results for 62 major college teams. The researchers found that wins in the two weeks before an election boosted the vote share of incumbents in the county where a school is located by 1.05 to 1.47 percentage points - enough to make a difference in a close race.
And for teams they termed "powerhouses" the impact was even greater, giving the incumbents between 2.30 and 2.42 percentage points more than in years when the local team lost. Powerhouses were defined as teams that had won a national football championship since 1964, or were among the teams with average attendance of 70,000 or more from 1998 to 2008.
Voters
Recalls Davis' Skill With Basketball
Dave Brubeck
When people think of jazz legend Miles Davis, they invoke his troubled life or his skill with a trumpet. Dave Brubeck, himself a music icon, recalls a different side.
"One day he came to my house, and my kids, when they came home from school, they saw Miles and I playing basketball,'' he said. ''They couldn't believe that.
Brubeck, 89, was presented Monday with a special Miles Davis Award by the Montreal International Jazz Festival for his storied career, which includes his invention of a jazz style dubbed West Coast Cool.
"People said he could be hard to get along with but we got along great. We were truly friends. To get this award, this is wonderful because I admired him so much. It is a great tribute to have that."
Dave Brubeck
To Testify At Milan Fraud Trial
George Clooney
George Clooney stars in a real-life courtroom drama on July 16 when he appears at the trial of three people accused of usurping his name for a fashion label, a judge said on Monday.
The 49-year-old Hollywood heart-throb is to testify as a civil plaintiff at the trial in the Italian business and fashion capital Milan, judge Pietro Caccialanza said, the ANSA news agency reported.
"There will be a lot of people, I imagine," said Caccialanza, who ordered extra security to ensure that the trial goes ahead smoothly -- but who also promised Clooney's fans a chance "to come close to their hero".
ANSA did not release the names of the accused, but the case goes back to April 2008 when the trio -- accused of fraud, forgery and possession of stolen goods -- were organising a fashion show in a Milan hotel.
George Clooney
Show Gathers Heirs
Picasso & Klee
An exhibition in Switzerland has brought together the genius of modern art contemporaries Pablo Picasso and Paul Klee with an added twist: the first meeting of their two heirs.
Picasso and Klee the elders, among the most influential artists of the 20th century, met only twice.
More than 70 years on, the Zentrum Paul Klee museum in Bern is attempting to draw parallels between them with an exhibition of more than 180 works called "Klee meets Picasso".
And it brought their respective son and grandson for an unprecedented gathering to mull over those artistic ties.
Picasso & Klee
Video Goes Viral
Dancing Soldiers
A video showing Israel soldiers breaking into a dance while on duty in the West Bank has gone viral in Israel.
The video shows the soldiers stopping a patrol in the West Bank to dance to American electro-pop singer Kesha's hit "Tik Tok."
It was originally removed from YouTube, but has since reappeared. But Israeli TV stations, including Channel 2 and Channel 10, picked it up and showed it repeatedly on Monday.
The YouTube user who posted it identified the dancers as Israeli infantrymen in the Palestinian city of Hebron.
Dancing Soldiers
Unknown Painting Surfaces At Yale
Diego Velazquez
A U.S. expert on European art says he has discovered a painting by Spanish 17th century master Diego Velazquez languishing in a back room of Yale University art gallery.
If it receives authentication by Madrid's Museo del Prado, which houses nearly 50 paintings by the Sevillian artist including the Las Meninas, the new find could be worth more than 8 million pounds.
The large painting, The Education of the Virgin Mary, portrays St. Anne teaching the Virgin Mary to read and is in poor shape, with paint peeled off and even pieces of the canvas trimmed away.
"I looked at it and had a nagging feeling I knew who it was by. I put it away again until one day it clicked. It had to be an early Velazquez," John Marciari, curator of European art at the San Diego Museum of Art in California, told Reuters by telephone.
Diego Velazquez
Benefit From Later School Day
Teens
Giving teens 30 extra minutes to start their school day leads to more alertness in class, better moods, less tardiness, and even healthier breakfasts, a small study found.
"The results were stunning. There's no other word to use," said Patricia Moss, academic dean at the Rhode Island boarding school where the study was done. "We didn't think we'd get that much bang for the buck."
The results appear in July's Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. The results mirror those at a few schools that have delayed starting times more than half an hour.
Researchers say there's a reason why even 30 minutes can make a big difference. Teens tend to be in their deepest sleep around dawn - when they typically need to arise for school. Interrupting that sleep can leave them groggy, especially since they also tend to have trouble falling asleep before 11 p.m.
Teens
Exhumed In Iceland
Bobby Fischer
Icelandic authorities exhumed the remains of chess legend Bobby Fischer on Monday in order to carry out a paternity test to settle a dispute over his estate, a local official said.
Fischer died on January 17, 2008 at the age of 64 and was buried in the cemetery of Laugardaelir Church, just outside Selfoss, about 50 kilometres (30 miles) east of Reykjavik.
A doctor and a priest were present when the body was exhumed, Kjartansson said, adding that it was the first time as a sheriff that he had been asked to carry out such a task.
Iceland's Supreme Court last month approved the disinterment of Fischer's body to test his DNA and establish if he was the father of nine-year-old Jinky Young, from the Philippines, as her mother claims.
Fischer's estate is estimated to be worth about two million dollars (1.6 million euros) and is contested by three parties in addition to Young: his sister's two American sons; Japanese Myoko Watai, who claims to be his wife; and the US government, to whom he owed unpaid taxes.
Bobby Fischer
Faces Parole Board For 19th Time
Leslie Van Houten
Leslie Van Houten, the one-time Charles Manson follower long seen as the most likely of his ex-acolytes to win freedom someday, faces her 19th parole hearing with a new lawyer and new case law which may give her the best chance yet for release.
Even if there is a finding of suitability for parole at Tuesday's hearing, freedom would not be immediate. The entire state parole board would review the decision within 120 days and it would then be submitted to Gov. Arnold $chwarzenegger for a final ruling.
Van Houten, 60, remains incarcerated at the California Institution for Women at Frontera, the same prison where another Manson follower, Patricia Krenwinkle, is imprisoned. Susan Atkins, the third woman convicted of murder in the crimes directed by cult leader Manson, died in prison last year after parole officials denied her dying request for freedom.
Van Houten last appeared before a parole board in 2007. Her chances for parole are enhanced by the fact that she has been discipline free since her incarceration in the early 1970s, has positive psychological reports and has been active in self-help groups at the prison including "Golden Girls," a group for elderly women inmates.
Leslie Van Houten
Question Industry's Takeover Spree
Tech Customers
The world's largest technology companies have been on a buying spree, spending billions to snap up smaller companies. And often the buyers say they're doing it for their customers - businesses, hospitals, schools and government agencies.
As tech companies get bigger and bigger, they say, they can offer a broader variety of products and make it easier for their customers to do one-stop shopping.
Yet if you ask the customers, you hear a different story. Often they get new headaches with multibillion-dollar deals by the likes of Oracle, IBM, SAP, Dell and Hewlett-Packard. When you add the challenges that come with any corporate acquisition, it's not hard to envision a reverse trend eventually building: a drive to split up tech companies that have grown too large.
Technology companies have spent more than $350 billion buying other companies worldwide over the past 3 1/2 years, according to Capital IQ, a division of Standard & Poor's.
Tech Customers
Taken To Court For Trespassing
Census Worker
In these divisive times, Census worker Russell Haas has come to expect some resistance when he goes door to door to count the residents of the rugged communities near Hawaii's Kilauea volcano. He didn't expect to get arrested.
An attempt to get one resident, a county police officer, to fill out Census forms landed Haas in the back of a patrol car with a trespassing charge.
The case is now in federal court, the latest example of disputes this year between Census workers and residents who don't want to deal with them. It has created a rare instance in which federal prosecutors have stepped in to serve as criminal defense attorneys.
The case hearkens back to an argument that is as old as the nation itself: the tension between federal powers granted under the Constitution, such as census taking, and a state's right to govern itself.
Census Worker
Gets New BlackBerry
QE II
Queen Elizabeth II received a BlackBerry handset as a gift on Monday while touring the Canadian headquarters of its maker, Research in Motion.
The monarch is said to be a fan of the popular smartphones, ever since her her son, Prince Andrew, introduced her to them a few years ago.
Company co-founder Mike Lazaridis presented queen with the most current model, the BlackBerry Bold 9700, personalized with an image of area school children offering her flowers.
Dressed in a creme-colored hat and a white smock, Elizabeth was also given a rare glimpse inside the Waterloo, Ontario factory where the devices are made.
QE II
Coming To Europe
Camel Milk
Hard on the hooves of cow's and goat's milk, European grocery shelves may soon be invaded by milk from that proverbial ship of the desert, the camel.
An animal famous for bad breath and ill humour might seem an unlikely source of liquid to lubricate a bowl of breakfast cereal or froth up a latte, but promoters from the United Arab Emirates say it is healthy -- and almost like mother's own.
"People with lactose intolerance can drink it with no problem, unlike cow's milk, it doesn't cause protein allergies, and it's high in insulin," said Ulrich Wernery, the scientific director of Dubai's Centre for Veterinary Research Laboratory.
Similar in taste and appearance to cow's milk, he said camel milk is closer in composition to human milk, making it a healthier option than cow milk.
Camel Milk
Weekend Box Office
'The Twilight Saga: Eclipse'
"The Twilight Saga: Eclipse" has risen to an $82.5 million haul over the long Fourth of July weekend and lifted its total to $175.3 million after just six days, according to studio estimates Monday.
The vampire romance from Summit Entertainment finished at No. 1 over the four-day weekend, despite a steep drop in its daily take after a $68.5 million start last Wednesday, the second biggest opening day ever.
Coming in second for the weekend with $53.2 million from Friday to Monday was Paramount's action fantasy "The Last Airbender," pushing its total to $70.5 million since opening Thursday. The movie did strong business despite terrible reviews.
Disney's Pixar Animation blockbuster "Toy Story 3," which had been No. 1 the two previous weekends, slipped to third-place with $42.2 million, raising its domestic total to $301.1 million.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Monday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Tuesday.
1. "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse," $82.5 million.
2. "The Last Airbender," $53.2 million.
3. "Toy Story 3," $42.2 million.
4. "Grown Ups," $26.5 million.
5. "Knight and Day," $14 million.
6. "The Karate Kid," $11.5 million.
7. "The A-Team," $4.3 million.
8. "Get Him to the Greek," $1.7 million.
9. "Shrek Forever After," $1.3 million.
10. "Cyrus," $1 million.
'The Twilight Saga: Eclipse'
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