Recommended Reading
from Bruce
This is what Bill S.1867 is about (YouTube)
Many of us have wondered if directed to; would our own military turn on us? It appears that this is the plan and has been all along, yet the question remains......would they actually do it if ordered to?
Paul Krugman: Depression and Democracy (New York Times)
It's time to start calling the current situation what it is: a depression. True, it's not a full replay of the Great Depression, but that's cold comfort. Unemployment in both America and Europe remains disastrously high. Leaders and institutions are increasingly discredited. And democratic values are under siege.
Patrick Fitzgerald - Knox College Commencement Address: June 6, 2009
The second point is that sometimes I think we give public servants - and particularly law enforcement - too much credit. And there's a danger in that. And the reason there's a danger in that is that we take away some of the responsibility society has to deal with larger problems. If you give someone else credit, you give them responsibility. And in a subtle way, society can walk away from some of the things we need to address. And I'll make that concrete.
John Yates: Bank fees that overdraw teen's account have mom seeing red (Chicago Tribune)
Daniel Ganziano went from having $4.85 to owing more than $200.
Susan Estrich: The New Frontrunner (Creators Syndicate)
Newt has lots of baggage. And we insiders already know about some of it: the three wives; the affairs; leading the impeachment fight against Clinton while he was, married at the time, having an affair with the congressional staffer who is now his wife. Yes, we on the inside know about it. And Newt, no Herman Cain he, has done everything he can to pack those bags well. Even so. Lots of Americans don't know and may not think well of it.
Catherine Foster: "Experience: My toddler stopped breathing" (Guardian)
'He lay in my lap as stiff as a doll.'
Mark Morford: Please text me your naked email URL (SF Gate)
And so I thought, I need to reconnect with her. Need to send her a note. Need to say hi and see what's what and how wildly her world is spinning. So I reached for the phone to... wait, no, I clicked on the link to... no no, I opened the chat window to... um, text her an email about the Facebook photo I was about to Skype in the... dammit, wait a second.
Henry Rollins: NO FEAR OF A BLACK FRIDAY
Now, if The Terrorists are reading this right now, please take the events of Black Friday to be your last warning. Listen up, you extremists: you see what we Americans will do for great savings-just imagine what we will do to you.
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
Cold and rainy.
George Clooney Producing Movie
Smothers Brothers
Oscar winner George Clooney -- a current awards season favorite with "The Descendants" -- has added another project to his packed upcoming movie slate: Clooney and Smokehouse Pictures partner Grant Heslov will produce a movie about the Smothers Brothers and their groundbreaking TV series.
Clooney and Heslov are teaming with Sony to turn David Bianculli's 2009 book "Dangerously Funny: The Uncensored Story of 'The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour'" into a film.
Bianculli confirmed the project on his site, TV Worth Watching. He called Clooney his dream choice for the movie adaptation of his book about the Smothers and their 1967-69 variety hour series.
"The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" -- which counted Steve Martin and Rob Reiner among its writers -- drew the ire of CBS censors by including social commentary about the Vietnam War and politicians. It was canceled by the network in 1969.
Smothers Brothers
"Citizen Kane" Oscar Returns To Auction
Orson Welles
Orson Welles' Oscar for writing "Citizen Kane" -- regarded as one of the best films ever made -- is going up for auction again later this month in a hot market for Hollywood memorabilia.
Los Angeles auction house Nate D. Sanders said on Monday it was selling the best screenplay Academy Award statuette won by Welles in 1942.
Although tarnished by age, the Oscar will carry a reserve price of between $600,000 and $1 million when it goes under the hammer on December 20, auction house spokesman Sam Heller said.
The statuette -- the only Oscar given to "Citizen Kane" -- has a storied history and failed to meet its undisclosed reserve price when it was last up for auction at Sotheby's New York in 2007. At that time it was expected to sell for around $1 million.
Orson Welles
Vogue Cover
Meryl Streep
Meryl Streep may be considered one of the finest actresses around, yet she says she believed her career was over 20 years ago.
Streep, now 62, tells Vogue magazine she was offered three different roles to play a witch after turning 40. She believed it meant women in her age group were "grotesque on some level," and told her husband, "It's over."
Streep played the editor of the fictional Vogue-like magazine Runway in the movie "The Devil Wears Prada." She graces the January cover of Vogue magazine for the first time and jokes in the magazine she's the "oldest person" to do so.
Next, she plays the former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the new film "Iron Lady." She'll portray Thatcher from age 49 to 85. The film opens January 13.
Meryl Streep
Portrait At NYC's Steinway Hall
Billy Joel
A Billy Joel portrait has been unveiled in New York City at Steinway Hall, home to the famed piano maker Steinway & Sons.
Joel is one of only two living artists included in a collection featuring greats such as Hungarian composer Franz Liszt. He's the only non-classical performer.
The 62-year-old pop legend joked Monday about his painting's proximity to Vladimir Horowitz's, saying he doesn't know "how crazy" Horowitz is about having him that close.
Joel's painting features him standing upright in a leather jacket, with a Steinway in the foreground.
Billy Joel
Gets 2,455th Star On Hollywood Walk O' Fame
Steve Guttenberg
A humble Steve Guttenberg received the 2,455th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame Monday, recalling the start of his acting career 35 years ago and thanking his parents for their support.
Guttenberg's star was placed in front of the Hollywood Police Activities League office at 6411 Hollywood Blvd., near Cahuenga Boulevard, in connection with his starring role in four "Police Academy" films from 1984-87.
Guttenberg, 53, called his acceptance speech a "love letter" to his parents, Ann and Jerome.
The ceremony coincided with Guttenberg's starring role on Broadway in "Relatively Speaking."
Guttenberg
Hospital News
Barry Manilow
Barry Manilow has been shaking his hips on stage for decades, and now he has to have those muscles repaired.
A spokeswoman for Manilow says the 68-year-old entertainer was hospitalized Monday for surgery to remove fluid and repair torn muscles in his hips.
Manilow waited until he performed his 1,000th Las Vegas concert and ended his seven-year run at two resorts there before having the surgery.
Publicist Annie Jeeves says Manilow will be in recovery for six weeks before performing in Chicago on Feb. 2.
Barry Manilow
Defends Intolerance
Lowe's
U.S. home improvement chain Lowe's Monday defended its decision to pull advertising from reality TV show "All-American Muslim" amid charges the company had given in to bigotry.
"All-American Muslim," which airs on TLC, follows several Muslim families in and around the Detroit suburb of Dearborn, Michigan, which is home to one of the largest Muslim populations in the United States and its largest mosque.
It has been accused by one Florida group to be propaganda. But the decision by Lowe's sparked an outcry by defenders of the show.
Lowe's employed its Facebook page to defend itself and called "All-American Muslim," a "lightning rod" for "strong political and societal views."
Lowe's spokeswoman Karen Cobb said the company was one of "dozens" of companies to pull their advertising late last month. Names of other companies were not immediately available.
Lowe's
Not A Noot Fan
Michael "Savage" Weiner
Popular right-wing talk-radio host Michael "Savage" Weiner (R-Irrelevant) has offered Newt Gingrich $1 million to drop out of the race for the GOP nomination because he doesn't believe the former Speaker of the House can beat President Barack Obama.
"While it's true that (Mitt) Romney is not a strong a conservative as many would like him to be, the most pressing issue before America today is defeating Barack Obama. And that is something Newt Gingrich cannot do," the nationally syndicated Savage said on his blog.
Savage has a long list on his blog, including Gingrich's ads with Nancy Pelosi, his past infidelity and the fact that -- no matter his intelligence -- when he appears on TV "he will come off badly compared to Obama and look like nothing more than what he is: a fat, old, white man."
So, after a lengthy diatribe in all caps, Savage offered Gingrich $1 million to "set his ego aside" and "take the money ... and don't run."
Michael "Savage" Weiner
Fourth 'No-Adultery Pledge'
Noot
Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich this week signed a pledge to uphold conservative values from the Iowa-based group The Family Leader and vowed to restrict federal dollars from paying for abortion overseas, uphold the Defense of Marriage Act and stay true to his wife, Callista.
"I will also oppose any judicial, bureaucratic, or legislative effort to define marriage in any manner other than as between one man and one woman," Gingrich wrote in a letter to The Family Leader announcing his support of the group's pledge. "I also pledge to uphold the institution of marriage through personal fidelity to my spouse and respect for the marital bonds of others."
That would actually be the fourth time Gingrich has taken a no-adultery pledge. He took the first one in 1962 when he married Jackie Battley, and then again in 1981 when he married Marianne Ginther and made a third one to Callista Bisek (now Gingrich) in 2000.
Gingrich, whose first two marriages ended because he was having an affair a woman who would later become his wife, addressed his history of infidelity at the ABC News/Yahoo! Republican debate on Saturday, where he said that he has sought forgiveness for his mistakes.
Noot
Executes Sorceress
Saudi Arabia
Saudi authorities have executed a woman convicted of practicing magic and sorcery.
The Saudi Interior Ministry says in a statement the execution took place Monday, but gave no details on the woman's crime.
The London-based al-Hayat daily, however, quoted Abdullah al-Mohsen, chief of the religious police who arrested the woman, as saying she had tricked people into thinking she could treat illnesses, charging them $800 per session.
The paper said a female investigator followed up, and the woman was arrested in April, 2009, and later convicted in a Saudi court.
Saudi Arabia
Released From Prison
Richard Hatch
Reality television star Richard Hatch has been released from a Rhode Island prison after serving a nine-month sentence for failing to pay back taxes.
A state prison official says the winner of the first season of the CBS reality show "Survivor" was released Monday.
Hatch served six weeks at a state minimum-security facility as a transition after spending most of his sentence in federal prison. The Newport resident had spent more than three years in prison for not paying taxes on his $1 million "Survivor" winnings. He was released in 2009 and ordered to refile his 2000 and 2001 taxes and pay what he owed.
The 50-year-old went back to prison in March for violating the terms of his supervised release by failing to settle his tax bill.
Richard Hatch
Stolen Guitar Found, But...
1972 Fender Telecaster
Police in Vermont say a stolen 1972 Fender Telecaster electric guitar autographed by members of Pearl Jam for a teenager with a brain tumor has been recovered - but the signatures are gone.
The Burlington Free Press reports two men have been jailed on charges of possession of stolen property. Police say the autographs were sanded off.
Ben Hardy said his ailing brother Josh received the guitar autographed by members of Pearl Jam in 1991 in Seattle. It was arranged by the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Josh died several months later at the family's home in Durham, N.H.
The guitar and other items were taken from Hardy's home between Thanksgiving and Dec. 5 while he was away.
1972 Fender Telecaster
American's In-Flight Entertainment
"30 Rock"
Could Alec Baldwin manage to get Liz Lemon, Tracy Jordan and Kenneth the Page tossed off of American Airlines' flights, too?
Flight attendants at American have inquired about having Baldwin's "30 Rock" removed from the company's in-flight entertainment, following the actor's on-board hissy-fit and subsequent digs at the airline, its employees and modern-day air travel in general, a spokesperson for the airlines has confirmed to TheWrap.
Sadly for the aggrieved attendants, it doesn't appear that Jack Donaghy will be removed as easily as was the actor who plays him.
A spokesperson for the Association of Professional Flight Attendants union confirms that the anti-Baldwin initiative is unlikely to take off. According to the spokesperson, the union has no intention of throwing its weight behind the drive to have "30 Rock" pulled -- and the union feels the Baldwin situation is being handled properly as it is.
"30 Rock"
Fetches $7.4M
1787 Gold Brasher Doubloon
An exceedingly rare 1787 gold Brasher doubloon has been sold for $7.4 million, one of the highest prices ever paid for a gold coin.
Blanchard and Co., the New Orleans-based coin and precious metals company that brokered the deal, said the doubloon was purchased by a Wall Street investment firm. Identities of the buyer and seller were not disclosed.
Minted by Ephraim Brasher, a goldsmith and neighbor of George Washington, the coin contains 26.66 grams of gold - slightly less than an ounce. Worth about $15 when it was minted, the gold value today would be more than $1,500.
The Brasher doubloon is considered the first American-made gold coin denominated in dollars; the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia didn't begin striking coins until the 1790s.
1787 Gold Brasher Doubloon
Moves Formula
Coca-Cola
The Coca-Cola Company has moved its secret formula for the first time in 86 years, taking it from a bank vault to a new repository on exhibit at its downtown Atlanta museum.
The world's largest beverage maker says the new vault containing the formula will be on display for visitors to its World of Coca-Cola museum. However, the 1886 formula itself will remain hidden from view.
Atlanta-based Coca-Cola says the decision to move the formula from a vault at SunTrust Banks Inc. had nothing to with the bank's decision in 2007 to sell its long-held stake in Coca-Cola.
Coca-Cola
In Memory
John Atterberry
A music industry executive died Monday after being shot last week by a rampaging gunman in the heart of Hollywood, a hospital spokeswoman said.
John Atterberry, who has worked with the Spice Girls, Jessica Simpson and others, died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, spokeswoman Simi Singer said.
The 40-year-old executive was shot in the face and upper body as he drove his Mercedes-Benz during Friday's random attack near Vine Street and Sunset Boulevard.
Atterberry was the only seriously injured victim of 26-year-old Tyler Brehm, who police say fired nearly 20 bullets in the air and at cars as he screamed that he wanted to die. He was killed by police minutes later.
Brehm's ex-girlfriend has said she and Brehm had recently broken up. But police say they're still looking for a motive for the attack.
Brehm walked down the middle of Sunset, firing on motorists with no clear target and injuring three of them before two police officers who just happened to be in the area - an off-duty motorcycle officer working movie set security and an LAPD detective - shot and killed him, authorities said.
In amateur video taken at the shooting scene, the gunman appeared to have short hair and wore jeans and a white tank top. He paced back and forth near the busy intersection with Vine, firing from what appeared to be a .40 caliber handgun, police said.
The officers ordered the suspect to stop and drop his weapon. He was shot when he pointed his weapon at the officers, police said.
John Atterberry
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