Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Paul Krugman: Will China Break (New York Times)
I hope that I'm being needlessly alarmist here. But it's impossible not to be worried: China's story just sounds too much like the crack-ups we've already seen elsewhere. And a world economy already suffering from the mess in Europe really, really doesn't need a new epicenter of crisis.
Pennsylvania police officer filmed firing taser at teenage girl - video (Guardian)
CCTV footage shows a police officer pushing a 14-year-old girl against a parked car and firing a taser at her groin. Shortly before the taser was fired the teenager is seen raising her hands in surrender. She received hospital treatment after the incident in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
Jessica Rasdall: "Experience: I killed my best friend" (Guardian)
'I desperately wanted to say goodbye, but her parents told me I wasn't welcome at her funeral.'
Michael Moore: A Man in Tunisia, a Movement on Wall Street, and the Soldier Who Ignited the Fuse
People across the world devoured the information Bradley Manning revealed, and it was used by movements in Egypt, Spain, and eventually Occupy Wall Street to bolster what we already thought was true. Except here were the goods -- the evidence that was needed to prove it all true. And then a democracy movement spread around the globe so fast and so deep -- and in just a year's time! When anyone asks me, "Who started Occupy Wall Street?" sometimes I say "Goldman Sachs" or "Chase" but mostly I just say, "Bradley Manning."
Juan Cole: Post-American Iraq by the Numbers
Percentage of Iraqis who lived in slum conditions in 2000: 17
Percentage of Iraqis who live in slum conditions in 2011: 50
What I see in the mirror: Rolf Harris (Guardian)
'If you turn a smiling face on the world, you've got a chance of finishing up a good-looking old person.'
What I'm really thinking: The professional Santa (Guardian)
'I don't drink too much - seeing Santa nipping off to the toilet might break the spell.'
Lenore Skenazy: Quit Jazzing Up the Christmas Carols (Creators Syndicate)
Could we please stop pimping the carols? Carols are just fine the way they were written - and particularly fine the way Nat King Cole sang them.
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."
took the day off.
answered:
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
Bosko Suggests
9 Odd Towns
Have a great day,
Bosko.
Thanks, Bosko!
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
some guy
Match-O-Matic
OTUS - Match-O-Matic
some guy
Thanks, Guy!
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Gray and overcast.
ABFT - WGA Restores Credit To Blacklisted Writer
Dalton Trumbo
Blacklisted writer Dalton Trumbo, who penned the screenplay for the classic film "Roman Holiday," had his credit restored by a Hollywood writers group on Monday, reversing history 58 years after the movie's release.
Trumbo, the writer behind the original story for the 1953 film starring Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck, was part of the Hollywood Ten, a group of industry writers and directors who were accused of being Communist sympathizers by the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Un-American Activities.
Following his blacklisting, Trumbo moved to Mexico to work anonymously and used fellow screenwriter Ian McClellan Hunter as a frontman for his writing in Hollywood. Hunter, whose name appears on the credits for "Roman Holiday," submitted Trumbo's script and collected the studio's payment on his behalf.
Hunter was later blacklisted, too.
Chris Trumbo and Tim Hunter, sons of both screenwriters, approached the WGA in 2010 to propose that Dalton Trumbo be recognized as the original writer of "Roman Holiday."
Dalton Trumbo
Visits O'Really Tonight
Bill Clinton
Why has Bill Clinton finally agreed to be interviewed by Bill O'Really (R-Loofah Specialist) on "The O'Reilly Factor"? Perhaps it's a last-minute push for his recent book, "Back to Work," as a Christmas gift?
Whatever the reason, Clinton's first appearance on O'Reilly's Fox News show should make for lively conversation, as O'Reilly has long called Clinton and former George W. Bush vice president Dick Cheney the top two guys on his guest wish list.
Among the talking points likely to be covered in the chat between the Bills: President Obama, the 2012 election, the Republican contenders, unemployment, and Clinton's ideas for strengthening the country's economy, which he writes about in "Back to Work."
The Clinton/O'Reilly chat will air at 8 p.m. on Fox News Tuesday.
Bill Clinton
Auctions Top $157 Million
Elizabeth Taylor
Auctions of Elizabeth Taylor's collection of jewels, gowns, art and memorabilia broke records last week on their way to totaling more than $150 million worth of live and online sales, Christie's said on Monday.
Four days of live auctions in New York and a 10-day online auction from the Hollywood film legend's collection took in a total of $156,756,576, or more than three times expectations.
Taylor's world-renowned collection of diamonds, rubies, sapphires, pearls, emeralds and more accounted for the vast majority of the haul, selling for a combined $137 million and becoming by far the most valuable jewelry sale ever.
Taylor's couture gowns and apparel sale also set a record for the most valuable private collection ever sold at auction, taking in more than $5 million including commission.
Among the highlights of the sale: every one of the 1,778 lots offered sold; 26 items sold for more than $1 million and six sold for over $5 million; final prices soared to as many as 400 times their pre-sale estimates; bidders at the live auctions spanned 36 countries.
Elizabeth Taylor
Booted From Its Park Perch
L.A. Audubon Society
After decades of operating in West Hollywood's Plummer Park, the Los Angeles Audubon Society has been evicted as part of a controversial $41-million park renovation.
Los Angeles Audubon for years has had an office and bookstore in the Great Hall/Long Hall building, a community center built by the Works Progress Administration during the Great Depression. Now it's all slated to be bulldozed to clear the way for added green space.
Los Angeles Audubon is now looking for a new headquarters, and employees - including two full-time staffers - are working out of their homes, said Travis Longcore, the group's president. The group's library has been packed up and put in storage.
Los Angeles Audubon has been operating out of the park since 1937 and has kept its headquarters in the park since the 1940s, according to the Western Tanager, the society's newsletter. The group, which has more than 2,100 members, still holds its regular meetings and evening programs at the park and elsewhere.
L.A. Audubon Society
Headed To Broadway
William Shatner
William Shatner is best known for his TV work now, but the actor began his career on the stage, and that's where he'll return for his next project.
Shatner's rep confirms to TheWrap.com that he will debut his one-man show, "Shatner's World: We Just Live in It," next year, though no specific dates or theaters have been confirmed.
The New York Post, however, reports Shatner will open the show for a limited run at the Music Box in New York City in February, before continuing on for a 15-week national tour with "We Just Live in It."
The show will be based on Shatner's frequent interactions with fans of "Star Trek," "T.J. Hooker," "The Practice" and "Boston Legal" while he was promoting projects like the books "Up Till Now: The Autobiography" and "Shatner Rules: Your Guide to Understanding the Shatnerverse and the World at Large," and "The Captains," the Shatner-penned and directed documentary about the actors -- and actress Kate Mulgrew -- who have played "Star Trek" commanders.
William Shatner
Writer's Partner Chides Marketing
'Dragon Tattoo'
The longtime partner of the late Swedish crime writer Stieg Larsson says he wouldn't have approved of an H&M clothing line and other merchandising linked to this week's release of a Hollywood adaptation of his hit novel, "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo."
Eva Gabrielsson told The Associated Press on Monday that Larsson would have used the buzz around his work to call attention to violence and discrimination against women, not to market products.
She expressed concern that the political dimension of his books, including the feminist undertones, would be overlooked in the hype.
Gabrielsson and Larsson weren't married and he didn't leave a will, so it was Larsson's brother and father who inherited the rights to his works when he died at age 50 in 2004. The movie opens in the U.S. on Tuesday.
'Dragon Tattoo'
Finale Breaks Showtime Record
"Homeland"
Showtime posted some killer ratings Sunday night, apropos of its bleak content.
The 90-minute finale of the Claire Danes terrorism drama "Homeland" was the cable station's highest-rated finale for a freshman series, drawing 1.71 million total viewers with its initial 10 p.m. airing, and grabbing 2.03 viewers overall across the night's multiple airings.
Sunday night's finale also represented a 58 percent increase over the series' October premiere, and a season high for the series.
Over the course of its first season, "Homeland" has become Showtime's second-highest-rated series, behind only "Dexter."
"Homeland"
IM Handle
Julian Assange
It was an eventful day at the fourth hearing of alleged WikiLeaker PFC Bradley Manning in Ft. Meade, Maryland Monday. Military prosecutors are attempting to court martial the former military analyst on 22 charges of violating military law in relation to his alleged disclosure of hundreds of thousands of secret government documents.
Manning's defense caught a potential break during the cross-examination of a Special Agent David Shaver, a forensic investigator with the Computer Crimes Investigations Unit. On Sunday, Shaver testified that he found 10,000 U.S. cables on Manning's computer. But in today's cross-examination Shaver said none of those cables matched the cables that WikiLeaks published. "If the cables found on Manning's computer don't match the ones WikiLeaks has, the defense can argue that Julian Assange's outfit may have had a different source for the documents," observes The Atlantic's Alexis Madrigal, saying it could become a "lynchpin of the defense's case."
Bringing Assange closer to the case, one of the files found on Manning included contact information for Assange and instructions on uploading data to WikiLeaks, reports The Guardian. That's important because anything connecting Assange and Manning will be critical to the potential prosecution of Assange, notes the newspaper. "One of the huge questions surrounding Manning's prosecution is whether he could have done what he is accused of having done - downloaded the largest leak of state secrets in American history - without the help of go-betweens connecting him with Julian Assange."
In today's most unexpected development, famous whistleblower and transparency activist Daniel Ellsberg showed up at the trial and was escorted out after trying to speak to Manning during the hearing, CNN reported.
Julian Assange
More Hacking
Rupert
The brother of one of the whistleblowers at the center of Britain's phone hacking scandal says illegal practices also took place at The Sun newspaper.
Stuart Hoare told Britain's media ethics inquiry Monday that his late brother had told him that phone hacking and a practice known as "pinging," where police were bribed to track the location of people's cell phones, took place at The Sun as well as the News of the World.
His brother Sean Hoare was the first ex-News of the World journalist to publicly accuse his former editor Andy Coulson of being at the hub of a culture of wrongdoing at the paper.
Sean Hoare, who struggled with drinking problems, died in July.
Rupert
NYU Professor Files Lawsuit
James Franco
Did James Franco get an NYU professor fired?
That's what Jose Angel Santana is alleging in a lawsuit against his former employer.
Santana gave Franco a D in "Directing the Actor II" because the Hollywood star only attended two of the 14 classes.
Franco hired Jay Anania, another one of his professors, to write and direct "William Vincent," which starred Franco.
Moreover, John Tintori, the chairman of the graduate film department at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts also made a cameo in a film financed by Franco.
James Franco
Ohio Judge OKs Sale
Tony Packo's
An Ohio hot dog eatery made famous on the TV series "M.A.S.H" is getting a new owner.
A judge has signed off on a deal transferring ownership of Tony Packo's Inc. to a private restaurant group in Toledo.
The decision was announced Monday. It comes days after the founder's grandson was charged with stealing from the family business, where he's poised to play a major role in the new ownership.
Actor Jamie Farr made Packo's famous in the 1970s when he portrayed a homesick U.S. soldier in the Korean War who longed for its hot dogs.
Tony Packo's
Buys Twitter Stake
Saudi Prince
Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, the Saudi billionaire and an investor in some of the world's top companies, has bought a stake in microblogging site Twitter for $300 million, gaining another foothold in the global media industry.
Alwaleed, a nephew of Saudi Arabia's king who was estimated by Forbes magazine this year to have a fortune of over $19 billion, already owns a 7 percent stake in Rupert's News Corp and plans to start a cable news channel.
The Twitter stake, bought jointly by Alwaleed and his Kingdom Holding Co investment firm, resulted from "months of negotiations," Kingdom said.
The investment was a secondary market transaction, meaning that Alwaleed and Kingdom Holding bought the Twitter shares from existing shareholders, rather than making a direct investment, according to a person familiar with the matter. The financing took place at around the same time as a $400 million venture-capital investment in Twitter that closed in September, but was part of a separately arranged transaction, another person familiar with the matter said.
Prince Alwaleed
Malaysia Islamic TV Show
"Solehah"
A Malaysian Muslim woman was crowned the best preacher in a televised Islamic reality TV show that aims to change conservative mindsets on the role of women in Muslim societies, passing tests on lecturing as well as renovating mosques.
The 13-episode prime time program titled "Solehah," an Arabic word meaning "pious female," judged young Muslim women on their religious knowledge, oratory skills and personality.
The show followed on the heels of the hit Islamic-themed show "Imam Muda," or Young Imam, which has taken place on a rival TV station to seek the best Imam, or male Muslim leader.
From auditions in June that drew at least 600 Muslim women aged between 20 to 30, the program weeded them down to 10 finalists for the final broadcast in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur on Friday.
The winner was 25-year-old Amie Sofia Ahmad, an Egyptian-trained Quranic studies graduate, the announcement of her victory greeted by a rain of confetti as she and two other finalists embraced.
"Solehah"
OKs 7 New Saints
Pope Benny
Pope Benedict XVI has approved seven new saints for the Catholic Church, including Hawaii's Mother Marianne and a 17th-century Native American, Caterina Tekakwitha.
Benedict signed decrees Tuesday approving miracles attributed to the intecession of the seven, clearing the last hurdle before their canonizations.
Benedict also signed decrees that 65 Catholics died as martyrs during Spain's civil war and will be beatified, one step shy of possible sainthood.
Marianne cared for leprosy patients on Hawaii's Molokai peninsula in the late 1880s, soon after the death of Father Damien, who was canonized in 2009. Tekakwitha, who lived from 1656-1680 in the U.S. and Canada, became the first Native American to be beatified in 1980.
Pope Benny
Underground Railroad Museum Struggles
Cincinnati
Cincinnati's National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, which opened with great fanfare along the banks of the Ohio River in 2004, is struggling with a $1.5 million revenue shortfall this year.
The Center's exhibits memorialize the escape of slaves from the American South. Just across the river from the slave state of Kentucky, Cincinnati was a major stop on the "underground railroad" that helped slaves go north to Canada.
The museum also has an exhibit examining contemporary slavery, which includes such practices as forced child labor and sex trafficking.
Attendance at the museum for 2011 was 113,543, up from last year but about a third of the original preopening projection of 300,000 a year.
Cincinnati
One-Third Of Young U.S. Adults
Arrested
Close to one in three American teens and young adults get arrested by age 23, according to a new study that finds more of them are being booked now than in the 1960s.
Those arrests are for everything from underage drinking and petty theft to violent crime, researchers said. They added that the increase might not necessarily reflect more criminal behavior in youth, but rather a police force that's more apt to arrest young people than in the past.
Though violent crimes might be on the rarer end of the spectrum of offenses, the study's lead author pointed to the importance of catching early warning signs of criminal behavior in adolescents and young adults, saying that pediatricians and parents can both play a role in turning those youngsters around.
Robert Brame of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and his colleagues analyzed data from a nationally-representative youth survey conducted between 1997 and 2008.
Arrested
In Memory
Eva Ekvall
Former Miss Venezuela Eva Ekvall, who appeared bald and without makeup in a recent book about her struggle against breast cancer, died in Houston on Saturday after losing her battle with the disease, according to Venezuelan TV news network Globovision. She was 28.
The former beauty queen had worked to promote cancer awareness since being diagnosed in 2010.
Ekvall won the Miss Venezuela title in 2000 and was a third runner-up for Miss Universe in 2001. She also worked as an actress and television anchor.
Although known for her beauty, Ekvall was depicted bald and without makeup in her book Fuera de Foco (Out of Focus) released this year, which chronicled her fight with breast cancer for readers around the world. Photographer Roberto Mata showed the beauty queen throughout her cancer treatment and as her illness regressed. She wrote the text of the book.
Ekvall is survived by her husband, her daughter, her parents and her brother, according to SenosAyuda, a Caracas-based breast cancer awareness organization.
Eva Ekvall
| CURRENT MOON lunar phases |
