Paul Krugman: Springtime for Toxics (New York Times)
Here's what I wanted for Christmas: something that would make us both healthier and richer. And since I was just making a wish, why not ask that Americans get smarter, too? Surprise: I got my wish, in the form of new Environmental Protection Agency standards on mercury and air toxics for power plants.
Susan Estrich: Reality Bites (Creators Syndicate)
Running against Paul for president is a Democrat's dream come true. Having him run as a third-party candidate is almost as good. Believe me, Paul won't be taking votes from Obama.
Mark Shields: Down to Blood Relatives and Paid Staffers (Creators Syndicate)
When the voters' job rating of Congress fell in one national poll this year to just 9 percent positive, Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain explained that "9 percent" meant he and his congressional colleagues were "down to blood relatives and paid staffers."
Richard Roeper: And the winner of the 2011 GOOF Awards is … (Suntimes.com)
A reminder: the GOOF is reserved for the most scandalous, shameless, silly and sinful national celebrities of the year. The first champions were Milli Vanilli. Past winners include Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, Dennis Rodman, Jerry Springer and Monica Lewinsky. (We stay away from the Jerry Sanduskys and Casey Anthonys of the world. Nothing to laugh about there.)
Peter Bradshaw: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo - review (Guardian; 3 stars out of 5)
David Fincher has given 'The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo' a very serious software and operating system upgrade. This new English-language remake, - based on Stieg Larsson's bestselling crime novel - is sleeker, smoother, sexier than its Swedish predecessors. It is a muscular, overwhelmingly confident movie - and its brutal violence is thus even tougher to take.
Roger Ebert: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (American Version; R; 3 ½ starts)
The success of the heroine Lisbeth Salander suggests a hunger in audiences for an action picture hero who is not a white 35ish male with stubble on his chin. Such characters are often effective, but they sometimes seem on loan from other films. There are few characters anywhere like Salander, played here by Rooney Mara and by Noomi Rapace in the original 2009 Swedish picture. Thin, stark, haunted, with a look that crosses goth with S&M, she is fearsomely intelligent and emotionally stranded.
Roger Ebert: Review of "The Iron Giant" (PG; 3 ½ stars)
Imagine "E.T." as a towering metal man, and you have some of the appeal of "The Iron Giant," an enchanting animated feature about a boy who makes friends with a robot from outer space. The giant crash-lands on a 1957 night when America is peering up at the speck of Sputnik in the sky, and munches his way through a Maine village, eating TV antennas and cars, until he finds a power plant. That's where young Hogarth Hughes finds him.
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."
The sunflower is native to Central America. The evidence thus far is that it was first domesticated in Mesoamerica, present day Mexico, by at least 2600 BC. It may have been domesticated a second time in the middle Mississippi Valley, or been introduced there from Mexico at an early date, as maize was. The earliest known examples of a fully domesticated sunflower north of Mexico have been found in Tennessee, and date to around 2300 BC.
Source
Jim from Ca, retired to ID, was first, and correct, with:
Sunflower is an annual plant native to the Americas.
Charlie answered:
Sunflowers (Helianthus annuus) are native to Central America, which is part of North America.
Sally said:
HAPPY KWANZAA TO ALL THE READERS WHO CELEBRATE IN THE COMING DAYS!!!
Now, as for the question dejour: Sunflowers are native to North America!
PS: I survived the holidays, gift wrappings shredded in minutes, and gone in a flash... If you need me, I shall be spending the next few days parked in my chair, getting up only for the necessities of life...
Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, guys!
Marian responded:
North America
BttbB replied:
Sunflowers, whose hulled seeds I do so love to munch, originated in Central America (which is geographically considered part of the North American continent) and were domesticated by the indigenous peoples there about 2600 BCE (Before Common Era). I thank them...
MAM wrote:
North America ~ The sunflower is native to Central America.
Rebecca in the sunflowers in New Mexico
And, Joe S answered:
North America. I've got a story about South Dakota sunflower. I may tell it when my sciatica abates and I can sit at the computer for more than 5 minutes.
CBS begins the night with a RERUN'NCIS', followed by the FRESH, but pre-taped 3 weeks ago and heavily edited 'The 34th Annual Kennedy Center Honors'.
On a RERUNDave (from 11/11/11) are Steve Martin and Felicity Jones.
On a RERUNCraig (from 10/18/11) are Carey Mulligan and Paula Poundstone.
NBC starts the night with a FRESH'Biggest Loser', followed by a RERUN'Parenthood'.
On a RERUNLeno (from 12/19/11) are Sandra Bullock, Diablo Cody, and Pink Martini.
On a RERUNJimmy Fallon (from 12/7/11) are Zac Efron, Method Man, and Coldplay.
On a RERUNCarson 'The Scab' Daly (from 11/17/11) are James Bobin, Evan Wright, and We Were Promised Jetpacks.
ABC opens the night with a RERUN'Last Man Standing', followed by another RERUN'Last Man Standing', then a RERUN'The Middle', followed by a RERUN'Suburgatory', then a RERUN'Body Of Proof'.
On a RERUNJimmy Kimmel (from 11/21/11) are Artie Lange & Nick DiPaolo, Atticus Shaffer, and Lady Antebellum.
The CW fills the night with the movie 'Keith'.
Faux has a RERUN'Glee', followed by a RERUN'New Girl', then a RERUN'Raising Hope'.
MY recycles an old 'Cold Case', followed by another old 'Cold Case'.
AMC offers the movie 'Patch Adams', followed by the movie 'The Polar Express'.
BBC -
[6:00AM] BBC World News
[7:00AM] BBC World News
[7:30AM] BBC World News
[8:00AM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares-Ep 6 Hannah & Mason's
[9:00AM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares-Ep 7 Jack's Waterfront
[10:00AM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares-Ep 8 Sabatiello's
[11:00AM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares-Ep 9 Fiesta Sunrise
[12:00PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares-Ep 10 Sante La Brea
[1:00PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares-Ep 11 Cafe 36
[2:00PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares-Ep 12 Casa Roma
[3:00PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares-Ep 1 - Mojito's
[4:00PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares-Ep 2 - PJ's
[5:00PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares-Ep 3 - Bazzini
[6:00PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares-Ep 4 - Flamangos
[7:00PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares-Ep 5 - Hot Potato Cafe
[8:00PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares-Ep 6 - Mama Rita's
[9:00PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares-Ep 7 - Sushi Ko
[10:00PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares-Ep 8 - Lido Di Manhattan Beach
[11:00PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares-Ep 9 - Le Bistro
[12:00AM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares-Ep 10 - Anna Vincenzo's
[1:00AM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares-Ep 11 - Fleming
[2:00AM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares-Ep 10 Sante La Brea
[3:00AM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares-Ep 11 Cafe 36
[4:00AM] Top Gear-Episode 1
[5:00AM] BBC World News (ALL TIMES EST)
Bravo has all 'Tabatha's Salon Takeover' all night.
Comedy Central has '30 Rock', another '30 Rock', 'South Park', 'Futurama''Tosh.0', another 'Tosh.0', still another 'Tosh.0', and yet another 'Tosh.0'.
Jon Stewart is pre-empted.
Colbert Report is pre-empted.
FX has '2½ Men', another '2½ Men', followed by the movie 'Zombieland'.
History has 'MonsterQuest', 'Pawn Stars', another 'Pawn Stars', 'Bigfoot: The Definitive Guide'.
IFC -
[6:00AM] Exam
[8:15AM] Deep Water
[10:15AM] Cache
[12:45PM] Exam
[3:00PM] Deep Water
[5:00PM] Freaks and Geeks-Looks and Books
[6:00PM] Malcolm in the Middle-Dirty Magazine
[6:30PM] Malcolm in the Middle-Hot Tub
[7:00PM] Malcolm in the Middle-Ida's Boyfriend
[7:30PM] Malcolm in the Middle-Softball
[8:00PM] The Boondock Saints
[10:15PM] King of New York
[12:30AM] The Boondock Saints
[2:45AM] Vice Squad
[5:00AM] Freaks and Geeks-Pilot (ALL TIMES EST)
Sundance -
[6:00A] GIRLS WHO LIKE BOYS WHO LIKE BOYS - He Sucks Me In (Nashville)
[6:30A] GIRLS WHO LIKE BOYS WHO LIKE BOYS - Clean, Sexy & Classy (Nashville)
[7:00A] UNLEASHED BY GARO: Can I Pull You a Little Tighter? (Episode 1, Season 1)
[8:00A] UNLEASHED BY GARO: It's Time For Her to Expose Herself (Episode 2, Season 1)
[9:00A] UNLEASHED BY GARO: I'm Never Going to Take it All Off (Episode 3, Season 1)
[10:00A] MY SO-CALLED LIFE - Betrayal (Episode 17, Season 1)
[11:00A] Blue Blood
[12:35P] Frontrunners
[2:00P] Amreeka
[3:40P] Blue Blood
[5:15P] Fighter
[7:00P] MY SO-CALLED LIFE - Betrayal (Episode 17, Season 1)
[8:30P] THE MORTIFIED SESSIONS - Parks and Rec's Nick Offerman & Will & Grace's Megan Mullally
[9:00P] Appropriate Adult
[12:50A] The Business Trip
[2:35A] The New Tenants
[3:00A] GIRLS WHO LIKE BOYS WHO LIKE BOYS - He Sucks Me In (Nashville)
[3:30A] GIRLS WHO LIKE BOYS WHO LIKE BOYS - Clean, Sexy & Classy (Nashville)
[4:15A] Fighter (ALL TIMES EST)
SyFy has the movie 'Friday The 13th', followed by the movie 'Halloween'.
TBS:
On a RERUNConan (from 7/20/11) are Justin Timberlake, Jon Ronson, and Myq Kaplan.
People around the world watch videos on the Internet more than three billion times every day, which added up to more than one trillion video views on YouTube in 2011. From laughing along at celebrities making fun of themselves to crying and sighing over cute babies and animals, we all spent a lot of time watching YouTube this year. So what were the hottest viral videos of 2011? YouTube trends manager Kevin Allocca counted down the top five with "GMA."
#5 Nyan Cat
This video has more than 55 million views, plus thousands of remixes and remakes. "There are actually thousands of parodies," Allocca said. "It's kind of hard to explain."
#4 Talking Twin Babies
Babies and pets are two of the classic genres on YouTube, and these babbling Brooklyn twins have more than 56 million views so far.
In this Saturday, Dec. 24, 2011 photo, Phibada Opera Troupe from North Korea perform the "The Butterfly Lovers" on a stage at a theatre in Lanzhou in northwest China's Gansu province. The state-run troupe canceled their shows in Chongqing after their leader Kim Jung Il's death but later decided to stick to their scheduled performance in China.
Chile's Supreme Court has ordered a newspaper to pay $125,000 to 13 people who suffered burns while trying out a published recipe for churros, a popular Latin American snack of dough fried in hot oil.
The publisher of La Tercera must pay individual damages to 11 women and two men ranging from as little as $279 to $48,000 for one woman whose burns were particularly severe.
The high court's ruling was announced Monday, seven years after the readers burned themselves while trying out the recipe.
Judges determined that the newspaper failed to fully test it before publication, and that if readers followed the recipe exactly, the churros had a good chance of exploding once the oil reached the suggested temperature. Grupo Copesa, which publishes the paper, said it will abide by the ruling.
As far back as he can remember, people told Hari Kishan Pippal that he was unclean, with a filthiness that had tainted his family for centuries. Teachers forced him to sit apart from other students. Employers sometimes didn't bother to pay him.
Pippal is a dalit, a member of the outcast community once known as untouchables. Born at the bottom of Hinduism's complex social ladder, that meant he could not eat with people from higher castes or drink from their wells. He was not supposed to aspire to a life beyond that of his father, an illiterate cobbler. Years later, he still won't repeat the slurs that people called him.
Now, though, people call him something else. They call him rich.
Pippal owns a hospital, a shoe factory, a car dealership and a publishing company. He owns six cars. He lives in a maze of linked apartments in a quiet if dusty neighborhood of high walls and wrought-iron gates.
"In my heart I am dalit. But with good clothes, good food, good business, it is like I am high-caste," he said, a 60-year-old with a shock of white hair, a well-tailored vest and the girth of a Victorian gentleman. Now, he points out, he is richer than most Brahmins, who sit at the top of the caste hierarchy: "I am more than Brahmin!"
An Andean man wearing a mask and a dissected bird is seen before participating in a fight during the "Takanakuy", a traditional festivity at Chumbivilcas province in Cuzco December 25, 2011. "Takanakuy", which means "when the blood is boiling" in Quechua, is an annual and ancient celebration inherited from the pre-hispanic Chanka culture, that gives hundreds of Andean villagers the chance to solve their love, honour and property problems through the force of blows as a way to put differences behind them before the New Year.
Photo by Enrique Castro-Mendivil
More than 1,600 people who filed lawsuits claiming that their health was ruined by dust and smoke from the collapsed World Trade Center must decide by Jan. 2 whether to keep fighting in court, or drop the litigation and apply for benefits from a government compensation fund.
Federal lawmakers set aside $2.76 billion last winter for people who developed illnesses after spending time in the ash-choked disaster zone.
But to be considered for a share of the aid, all potential applicants must dismiss any pending lawsuits by the deadline and give up their right to sue forever over Sept. 11, 2001, health problems. Anyone with a lawsuit still pending on Jan. 3 is barred from the program for life.
The government program is attractive because it spares the sick from having to prove that their illness is related to Sept. 11, and that someone other than the terrorists put them in harm's way. But applicants won't know for months, or even years, how much money they might eventually receive from the program. That means some people may give up their lawsuits and find out later that they only qualify for a modest payment.
Others face a deeper problem. People exposed to trade center dust have blamed it for hundreds of illnesses, but currently the fund only covers a limited number of ailments, including asthma, scarred lungs and other respiratory system problems. That list does not currently include any type of cancer, which scientists have yet to link to trade center toxins.
The tycoons of cyberspace are looking to bankroll America's resurgence in outer space, reviving "Star Trek" dreams that first interested them in science.
Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen made the latest step Tuesday, unveiling plans for a new commercial spaceship that, instead of blasting off a launch pad, would be carried high into the atmosphere by the widest plane ever built before it fires its rockets.
He joins Silicon Valley powerhouses Elon Musk of PayPal and Jeff Bezos of Amazon.com Inc. in a new private space race that attempts to fill the gap left when the U.S. government ended the space shuttle program.
Musk, whose Space Exploration Technologies will send its Dragon capsule to dock with the International Space Station in February, will provide the capsule and booster rocket for Allen's venture, which is called Stratolaunch. Bezos is building a rival private spaceship.
During the heady days of the Dolce Vita in the 1960s, Rome's Cafe de Paris was one of the preferred watering holes of starlets and sultans.
Later, one of the places that gave the world the word paparazzi fell into decline along with the rest of Rome's famed Via Veneto and two years ago it hit bottom when police discovered it was a mafia money-laundering front and confiscated it.
It marked a rebirth on Monday when, in association with one of Italy's leading anti-Mafia groups, the famed sidewalk cafe and restaurant started serving wines, pasta and other foods produced on lands confiscated from the Mafia throughout southern Italy.
Now, visitors to Rome can eat and drink to the Mafia's bad health in the same place that inspired the late director Federico Fellini to make the classic 1960 film "La Dolce Vita," while helping Italy's anti-mafia movement.
Nepalese Tharu ethnic community women take part in an inauguration rally of the elephant festival in Sauraha, Chitwan, 170 kilometers (106 miles) south of Katmandu, Nepal, Monday, Dec. 26, 2011. The three-day elephant festival where elephants take part in race, soccer game, and a beauty pageant began Monday.
Photo by Niranjan Shrestha
For more than a decade they toiled in the strange, boxy-looking building on the hill above the municipal airport, the building with no windows (except in the cafeteria), the building filled with secrets.
They wore protective white jumpsuits, and had to walk through air-shower chambers before entering the sanitized "cleanroom" where the equipment was stored.
Few knew the true identity of "the customer" they met in a smoke-filled, wood-paneled conference room where the phone lines were scrambled. When they traveled, they sometimes used false names.
At one point in the 1970s there were more than 1,000 people in the Danbury area working on The Secret. And though they worked long hours under intense deadlines, sometimes missing family holidays and anniversaries, they could tell no one - not even their wives and children - what they did.
"Ah, Hexagon," Ed Newton says, gleefully exhaling the word that stills feels almost treasonous to utter in public.
Mexican character actor Pedro Armendariz Jr. died Monday at the age of 71. There was no immediate confirmation of the cause of death.
Armendariz was best known for playing sly, sometimes cynical characters he endowed with wit and charisma. Armendariz played Gov. Riley in the 2005 movie "The Legend of Zorro," and had roles in 1989's "Old Gringo" and "Once Upon a Time in Mexico" in 2003.
The Mexican government news agency Notimex reported he died in New York City of cancer, but said his family had asked for their privacy to be respected.
He acted in more than 100 films, including the Mexican hit "The Crime of Father Amaro."
He had been married and divorced twice and is survived by several children.
Armendariz' father bore the same name and was a movie star during the "golden age" of Mexican films in the 1940s and 50s.
A tourist records video on ice sculptures during the lights testing period of the 13th Harbin Ice and Snow World in Harbin, Heilongjiang province December 25, 2011. The Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival will be officially launched on January 5, 2012.
Photo by Sheng Li
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