Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Michael Moore: The Promised Land ...a message from Michael Moore
Eight years is enough. Eight weeks was enough. We have a chance to redeem this country, to prove we're better than this, that which Bush has made of us.
Paul Krugman: The Republican Rump (nytimes.com)
The Republicans' long transformation into the party of the unreasonable right seems likely to accelerate as a result of the impending defeat.
NEIL STEINBERG: Luminary for the little man (suntimes.com)
Unable to find work in television, Studs eked out a living making speeches. But even there, Studs was often hounded by Edward Clamage of the Illinois American Legion, who would tell sponsors of Studs' talks that they were hiring a "dangerous subversive." "Sometimes I would get cancelled and other times they would let me speak," Studs recalled. "Then I'd write a letter to Clamage: 'Clamage, it comes to my attention that you are at it once again. Thanks to you, my fee was raised from $100 to $200. I owe you an agent's fee. Signed Terkel.' It wasn't true of course, but it made him furious. It was a way of getting back."
Roger Ebert: To Studs: With Love and Memories (huffingtonpost.com)
Studs was the most widely and deeply loved man I ever hope to know. If you met him, he was your friend.
Robert J. Elisberg: Studs Terkel Lives On (huffingtonpost.com)
Studs Terkel died on Friday in Chicago at the age of 96. He was too young. But then, whenever he ended up dying, he'd be too young. I'm not quite sure I believe that he actually has died, though. Studs was unique and not given to ordinary convention. And dying is just so not him.
Stephanie Simon: Studs Terkel, writer and radio personality, dies at 96 (latimes.com)
With his loud laugh and raspy voice, plus his inept fumbles with his tape recorder, he set his subjects at ease and tugged from them memories, predictions and simple truths about their everyday existence. Terkel transcribed and edited the interviews, then compiled them into books that were at once intimate and sweeping, among them "Division Street," "Hard Times," "Working," and "The Good War," which won the 1984 Pulitzer Prize for general nonfiction.
William Grimes: Studs Terkel, Listener to Americans, Dies at 96 (nytimes.com)
In "Talking to Myself: A Memoir of My Times," Mr. Terkel took on his toughest interview, and many critics found the book frustrating for its refusal to delve too deeply into its author's personal life and feelings. Mr. Terkel acknowledged the justice of the complaint. "I've met hundreds, no, I've met thousands of interesting people, and I've been so caught up with them and fascinated by them and intrigued with them, it's almost like there's no room inside me to be interested in my own feelings and thoughts," he told an interviewer.
Robert M. Solow: Trapped in the New 'You're on Your Own' World (nybooks.com)
When the Bush-Cheney administration proposed to replace Social Security with a system of individually accumulated, individually owned, and individually invested accounts, my first thought was that its goal was to take the Social out of Social Security. It took a few minutes longer to realize that it also intended to take the Security out of Social Security.
Ali Liebegott: The Poor Woman's Financial Crisis (advocate.com)
Investment banks fail, the stock market plummets, Congress haggles over a solution, and one woman goes food shopping in the supermarket's free bin.
CBS News White House correspondent Mark Knoller: National Debt Soars $500B In Under A Month (cbsnews.com)
It's the surge you won't hear anyone boast about.
MARY FOULK: Betsy Salkind Answers Our Questions (curvemag.com)
Q: What's next for the "pro-lesbian, radical-feminist, animal-loving, sarcastic funny girl"?
A: I have a new book that just went to the printers. It's called "Betsy's Sunday School Bible Classics" and it'll be out for Christmas. I took the classic children's Bible stories, restored all the sick and twisted parts that were removed so children wouldn't run screaming, and then illustrated it.
Brandon Voss: Big Gay Following: Dennis Leary (advocate.com)
Denis Leary can wear a dress and use the word fag -- and get away with it.
COLLEEN M. LEE: "Sabrina Matthews: Exclusive Interview" (curvemag.com)
Side-splitting lesbian comic Sabrina Matthews talks about stand-up, L.A. and groupies.
The truth behind Led Zeppelin (timesonline.co.uk)
No band scaled the peak of debauchery as eagerly as Led Zep. Mick Wall reveals the truth behind the legends and gossip.
The Weekly Poll
Results Delayed
Has there been a particular book or movie that you can say truly changed your life?
Send your response to BadtotheBoneBob (BCEpoll (at) aol.com)
Results on hold - Bob's consultation with the pros from Dover has been extended.
responded:
Reader Suggestion
Another Hockey Mom
Hi Marty,
I realize you can't run this yourself, but it is SO good. This lady, who has an obviously trained voice sings her opinion of Sarah Palin to the tune of "Don't Cry For Me, Argentina." The best Obama clip I've heard to date...
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Cooler, but still sunny.
This year we got a whole lot less election-related crap in the mail - maybe a quarter as much.
For the first time, our house was not visited a single canvasser for any initiative or candidate.
Election-related TV advertising seems down in these parts, too, except for a couple of state-wide initiatives that have attracted shitloads of funding from out-of-state religious nutjobs.
Prop. 4 is about rolling back the present law that doesn't require parental notification of minors seeking abortions. The nutjobs have perverted the message to 'stop child predators'.
In one ad, a sleazy white-boy talks to the camera about how sweet the law is currently because he can use it to cover up statutory rape and the state pays for the abortion, too.
The other, Prop. 8, is about taking the right to marry away from the gay community. This, the nutjobs have altered to 'restore marriage'.
One ad mentions how it infringes on their religious freedom.
Yeah, wasn't it Jesus who said 'all animals are equal, but some are more equal than others'?
Crashes LA Rally As 'Bruno'
Sacha Baron Cohen
Sacha Baron Cohen went undercover as his alter ego Bruno on Sunday by crashing a rally in support of a ballot measure that would ban gay marriage in California.
The British comedian is working on a film based on the fictional character Bruno, a gay Austrian fashion reporter who conducted gag interviews on HBO's "Da Ali G Show."
Cohen, in disguise in a blond wig and preppy outfit, marched with demonstrators who support Proposition 8 while being trailed by cameras in a rally across from City Hall.
When photographers and reporters realized who he was and tried to approach the star, members of his film crew tried to shield him, and he was eventually whisked away in a van.
Sacha Baron Cohen
Writers Defend
Milan Kundera
Four Nobel literature laureates are among 11 internationally-known authors who on Monday came to the defence of Czech writer Milan Kundera, accused of being a police informer under communist rule.
A Czech institute last month published a police report saying Kundera as a student had in 1950 denounced a young pilot who deserted to become a Western intelligence agent and was later sentenced to 22 years in prison.
The signatories included Salman Rushdie, Philip Roth, Carlos Fuentes, J.M. Coetzee and Nadine Gordimer.
The text in support of Kundera was also signed by Orhan Pamuk of Turkey, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, France's Jean Daniel, Juan Goytisolo and Jorge Semprun of Spain and Pierre Mertens of Belgium.
Milan Kundera
NYC Marathon run
Beth Ostrosky
Newlywed shock jock Howard Stern was on hand to cheer his new bride complete the New York City Marathon in style.
Beth Ostrosky finished Sunday in 4 hours, 15 minutes - much better than the five-hour target the 36-year-old former model was aiming for.
"This was the happiest day of my life," said Ostrosky, who ran to raise money for Long Island's North Shore Animal League.
Ostrosky said what kept her going most through the more than 26-mile course was, "I just kept thinking about seeing Howard and Ashley on the finish line."
Beth Ostrosky
Opts Out New Bob and Doug Cartoon
Rick Moranis
Canada's iconic comic duo Bob and Doug don't sound quite like they used to.
The beloved hosers, immortalized on "SCTV" by comedians Dave Thomas and Rick Moranis, are set to return next year in an animated series but only Thomas - who plays Doug - is lending his voice.
Moranis's character, Bob, will be voiced by former "Full House" star Dave Coulier.
Thomas says Moranis is staying behind the scenes as executive producer and just isn't interested in appearing on the show.
Rick Moranis
Recent Pickups
More Episodes
Broadcasters have made the first two comedy pickups of the fall season, with ABC ordering more episodes of "Samantha Who?" and NBC picking up its low-rated rookie "Kath & Kim."
The Christina Applegate vehicle "Samantha Who?" is averaging a modest 10.5 million viewers so far this season, while "Kath & Kim" is lagging with just 6.3 million viewers.
Still, "Samantha Who?" gives ABC a known-quantity comedy from which it can build when the network premieres half-hour efforts later this season. It has "Better Off Ted," "The Goode Family," "Scrubs," "Single With Parents," "In the Motherhood" and "According to Jim" (which returns December 2) waiting in the wings.
"Kath & Kim," starring Molly Shannon and Selma Blair in a remake of an Australian show about an oddball mother-daughter pair, was pronounced DOA by many critics before its premiere.
More Episodes
Doesn't Owe Paparazzo
Keanu Reeves
It's a most excellent outcome for Keanu Reeves: The "Matrix" actor doesn't owe a dime to the paparazzo who sued him. After deliberating for less than three hours, jurors unanimously rejected the civil lawsuit Monday, ruling that Reeves is not responsible for the photographer's alleged injuries. Alison Silva had asked the jury to award him $711,974, which includes medical bills, lost wages and punitive damages.
"I respect the jury's decision," Silva told reporters outside the Los Angeles County Superior Court after the verdict was read. "That's what we were here for since the beginning."
Jurors heard how Silva gave contradictory statements about what happened and even saw a video of the celeb shooter using his supposedly damaged hand to scale down a chain link fence after getting video of Britney Spears.
The panel of jurors - six men and six women - was a decidedly Hollywood bunch. One of the jurors said he is an animator for "The Simpsons," while another helps coordinate movie shoots in public parks. A pair of actresses and a former voice-over artist were eliminated from the jury pool.
Keanu Reeves
Retired NYPD Officer Testifies
Phil Specter
A security guard for Joan Rivers testified Monday that music producer Phil Spector was ejected from two of the star's Christmas parties for brandishing a gun and declaring that all women should be shot.
Vincent Tannazzo, a retired New York City police detective who now occasionally works for Rivers, testified that Spector at a party turned toward a woman leaving and said, "I ought to put a bullet in her head right now."
He also said Spector was "ranting" and that he used an obscenity to describe women.
Tannazzo testified Spector repeatedly used the word at two holiday parties a year apart and that Spector said, "They all deserve a bullet in their heads." He said he didn't know whether Rivers was notified of the incidents but her manager Dorothy Melvin, who was dating Spector, asked Tannazzo to eject Spector from one Christmas party.
Phil Specter
Stevens' Lying Juror
Marian Hinnant
A juror who vanished during Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens' corruption trial told the judge Monday she lied about her father dying and flew to California to see horse races.
U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan ordered Marian Hinnant, identified as juror No. 4, to return to court to explain why she disappeared during jury deliberations. Hinnant, 52, brought a stack of handwritten notes with her to the court Monday along with public defender A.J. Kramer, and told the judge that her father hadn't died and she was at the Breeders' Cup in Arcadia, Calif.
She apologized for lying, and then started a long rambling story about horses, which included references to horse breeding, the Breeders' Cup, drugs, President Ford's son Steven and her condo in Florida being bugged.
Hinnant told court officials late on Oct. 23 that her father had died and that she had to fly to California the next morning. Sullivan halted the deliberations, which had started the day before, to give her a chance to take care of her father's affairs. However, Hinnant refused to return telephone calls from court officials.
Marian Hinnant
Final Push
Bush Team
As the U.S. presidential candidates sprint toward the finish line, the Bush administration is also sprinting to enact environmental policy changes before leaving power.
Whether it's getting wolves off the Endangered Species List, allowing power plants to operate near national parks, loosening regulations for factory farm waste or making it easier for mountaintop coal-mining operations, these proposed changes have found little favor with environmental groups.
The one change most environmentalists want, a mandatory program to cut climate-warming greenhouse gas emissions, is not among these so-called "midnight regulations."
Even some free-market organizations have joined conservation groups to urge a moratorium on last-minute rules proposed by the Interior Department and the Environmental Protection Agency, among others.
Bush Team
Cancels Quickie Vote
Kevin Martin
The head of the Federal Communications Commission has canceled a controversial Election Day vote on a proposed overhaul of telecommunications regulations that many consumer advocates feared would lead to higher phone bills.
Abandoning the vote is a setback for FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, one of three Republicans on the five-member commission, who had hoped to pass his proposal before power changes hands in Washington. Martin pulled the item from the agenda for Tuesday's FCC meeting amid mounting opposition from many corners of the telecommunications industry, consumer groups, Congress - and even his fellow FCC commissioners.
Martin's four fellow FCC commissioners objected to addressing his proposal before seeking public comments on the issues that it raises.
In a joint statement Monday, the four commissioners - Democrats Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein and Republicans Robert McDowell and Deborah Tate - said Martin could have waited for public comment and still scheduled a vote on his plan at the FCC's Dec. 18 meeting. They said public review was especially important "in light of the difficult economic circumstances currently facing our nation."
Kevin Martin
Could Be Gone in 20 Years
Tasmanian Devils
An Australian zoologist is leading a national project to help save the endangered Tasmanian devil from extinction, a situation that could arise within the next 20 years, experts predict.
Jeremy Austin will lead the project, which has received $168,000 Australian (Australian dollars currently are about two-thirds the value of U.S. dollars) from that nation's government. The research will rely on genetic procedures to examine the impact of an infectious cancer, devil facial tumor disease, on Tasmanian devils.
Tasmanian devils became extinct on the Australian mainland about 400 years ago and are now found only on the Australian island state of Tasmania. Unlike Tasmanian tigers, devils survived initial human impacts following European colonization but in the past decade their numbers have fallen drastically.
"We have lost over half our devils in the past 10 years, with an estimated population of 20,000 to 50,000 mature devils left. Extinction within the next 20 years is a real possibility unless we find a vaccine, eradicate the disease and establish captive colonies," Austin said.
Tasmanian Devils
With Endorsements Like This...
Don King
Famed boxing promoter Don King, who backed George W. Bush in the 2004 US presidential election, urged Americans to set aside race issues and support Barack Obama's historic bid for the White House.
"If Barack Obama was white, it would be a landslide win in this election," King said.
"To my fellow Americans who feel they just can't vote for a black man, I want you to know that I am emphatic, sympathetic and commiserate with your plight," King said.
"After more than three centuries of being taught, conditioned and indoctinated to hate the black man as your inferior, it is unrealistic to think that now you can just change to respect him. That's easier said than done.
Don King
In Memory
Yma Sumac
Yma Sumac, the Peruvian-born soprano who wowed international audiences in the 1950s with her stunning vocal range and modern take on South American folk music, has died.
Sumac's friend and personal assistant Damon Devine says she died Saturday at an assisted-living home in Los Angeles after an eight-month bout with colon cancer.
Dubbed the "Peruvian Songbird" and the "Nightingale of the Andes," Sumac's soaring, warbling voice - reported to span well over three octaves - was matched by her flamboyant outfits designed to make her look like Incan royalty.
Her first album, "Voice of the Xtabay" in 1950, launched a decade of worldwide fame.
Yma Sumac
In Memory
Madelyn Payne Dunham
Barack Obama's grandmother, whose personality and bearing shaped much of the life of the Democratic presidential contender, has died, Obama announced Monday, one day before the election. Madelyn Payne Dunham was 86.
Last month, Obama took a break from campaigning and flew to Hawaii to be with Dunham as her health declined.
Obama said the decision to go to Hawaii was easy to make, telling CBS that he "got there too late" when his mother died of ovarian cancer in 1995 at 53, and wanted to make sure "that I don't make the same mistake twice."
The Kansas-born Dunham and her husband, Stanley, raised their grandson for several years so he could attend school in Honolulu while their daughter and her second husband lived overseas. Her influence on Obama's manner and the way he viewed the world was substantial, the candidate himself told millions watching him accept his party's nomination in Denver in August.
"She's the one who taught me about hard work," he said. "She's the one who put off buying a new car or a new dress for herself so that I could have a better life. She poured everything she had into me."
Obama's nickname for his grandmother was "Toot," a version of the Hawaiian word for grandmother, tutu. Many of his speeches describe her working on a bomber assembly line during World War II.
Madelyn and Stanley Dunham married in 1940, a few weeks before she graduated from high school. Their daughter, Stanley Ann, was born in 1942. After several moves to and from California, Texas, Washington and Kansas, Stanley Dunham's job landed the family in Hawaii.
It was there that Stanley Ann later met and fell in love with Obama's father, a Kenyan named Barack Hussein Obama Sr. They had met in Russian class at the University of Hawaii. Their son was born in August 1961, but the marriage didn't last long. She later married an Indonesian, Lolo Soetoro, another university student she met in Hawaii.
Obama moved to Indonesia with his mother and stepfather at age 6. But in 1971, her mother sent him back to Hawaii to live with her parents. He stayed with the Dunhams until he graduated from high school in 1979.
Madelyn Dunham, who took university classes but to her chagrin never earned a degree, nonetheless rose from a secretarial job at the Bank of Hawaii to become one of the state's first female bank vice presidents.
"Every morning, she woke up at 5 a.m. and changed from the frowsy muumuus she wore around the apartment into a tailored suit and high-heeled pumps," Obama wrote.
After her health took a turn for the worse, her brother said on Oct. 21 that she had already lived long enough to see her "Barry" achieve what she'd wanted for him.
Madelyn Lee Payne was born to Rolla and Leona Payne in October, 1922, in Peru, Kan., but lived much of her childhood in nearby Augusta.
She was the oldest of four children, and she loved to read everything from James Hilton's "Lost Horizon" to Agatha Christie's "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd."
Dunham and her husband were "vicious" bridge players, according to her brother Jack. After retirement, the two of them would take island cruises and do little but play bridge and a more difficult version called duplicate bridge.
Madelyn Payne Dunham
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