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Recommended Reading
from Bruce
'You won't find chimps having this debate' (guardian.co.uk)
After the demonstrations and court battles, isn't it time to talk calmly about animal testing? We ask two leading philosophers to debate the rights and wrongs
PAUL KRUGMAN: Some of All Fears (The New York Times)
Back in 1971, Russell Baker, the legendary Times columnist, devoted one of his Op-Ed columns to an interview with Those Who - as in "Those Who snivel and sneer whenever something good is said about America." Back then, Those Who played a major role in politicians' speeches.
Bruce Reed: Party of Won (slate.com)
As George Bush and Karl Rove have learned to their chagrin, what drives a party's fate over the long haul is the quality of its vision and how well its ideas actually work. A party that searches its soul for ways to solve the country's problems will win over grandparents, college students, and all ages in between.
'People think it's a mental illness' (guardian.co.uk)
In the Middle East, coming out as a homosexual is often unthinkable. Brian Whitaker talks to young gay and lesbian Arabs about their secret private lives
Anya Kamenetz: You Are Not Your Credit Rating (TomPaine.com. Posted on Alternet.org)
It's no secret that America is an increasingly debt-ridden nation. But that's no reason to allow creditors to discriminate against the people who have the most to lose.
Norman Solomon: Why Pretend That Hillary Is Progressive?
Tasini points out that Hillary Clinton remains for the war in Iraq, for so-called "free trade" agreements and for the death penalty. She supported the notorious 2001 bankruptcy bill, "has never been for single-payer health insurance" and has worked hard to undermine a host of other progressive positions.
Nick Gillespie: What's Your Favorite Novel? (reason.com)
In a sense, then, we read novels about Meursault and Heathcliff, Montana Wildhack and Elizabeth Bennett, because they allow us to practice what we do elsewhere in our lives: Figure out the world by figuring out, or at least trying to figure out, what other people are thinking and feeling.
Take it as read: men prefer angst - but a study shows women like some passion between the covers
THE novel that means most to men is about indifference, alienation and lack of emotional response. The novel that means most to women is about deeply held feelings and a struggle to overcome circumstances and passion.
CHARLES TAYLOR: Rebel Belles: The Dixie Chicks hold their ground and then some (thephoenix.com)
Anyone who can't admit that it took courage for Natalie Maines to say she was ashamed George W. Bush came from Texas, and for her band mates Martie Maguire and Emily Robison to back her up, should have to answer this question: has your life ever been threatened for expressing a political opinion?
The Dixie Chicks
Hubert's Poetry Corner
PLANS OF ADAN GARCIA
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Warm summer day.
The kid is down to his last 2 days of school.
No new flags.
Training 1,000 Messengers
Al Gore
Al Gore hopes to train 1,000 messengers he hopes will spread out across the country and present a slide show about global warming that captures the essence of his Hollywood documentary and book.
The former vice president, a Democrat, said on Monday that by the end of the summer he would start a bipartisan education campaign to train 1,000 people to give a version of his slide show on global warming featured in the film "An Inconvenient Truth" and book of the same name.
The book is an expanded version of the film. Both are based on a slide show he has given more than 1,000 times over the past 30 years on the dangers of global warming. He says climate change is a crisis that has become a moral issue.
Al Gore
ELLA Award
Johnny Mathis
Pop singer Johnny Mathis will receive the 15th annual ELLA Award from the Society of Singers, the group announced.
The award, named after its first recipient, jazz great Ella Fitzgerald, honors entertainers for their professional success and contributions to charitable and humanitarian causes. Mathis, 70, is celebrating 50 years in show business.
He will received the ELLA Award on Sept. 12 at the Beverly Hilton.
Johnny Mathis
Funding From Worldwide Pants
'Strangers With Candy'
When secret investors pulled out from Strangers With Candy, a comedy starring Amy Sedaris and Stephen Colbert, director Paul Dinello turned to late-show host David Letterman's production company, Worldwide Pants Inc.
"We needed to get money in a week. We called Worldwide Pants and they said, 'We'll pay for the whole thing and you guys can do what you want,' " Dinello said at the CineVegas film festival last week. "The only thing we had to do was we had to put in Explod-O-Pop."
The plug for the microwavable popcorn that Letterman gives to guests and sells at the CBS online store was a nice gesture, not a condition for funding, Dinello said. Besides, Letterman adores Sedaris as a comedian, he said.
'Strangers With Candy'
Annecy International Animation Festival
'Renaissance'
The winning feature film at this year's Annecy International Animation Festival was director Christian Volckman's striking black-and-white futuristic thriller "Renaissance."
The film's title is an apt reflection of the unprecedented boom taking place in the French cartoon business.
A report released last week by the Center National de la Cinematographie showed eight French animated films were completed in 2005, double the number in any of the previous four years.
'Renaissance'
10th Annual
Webby Awards
Billionaire basketball team owner Mark Cuban was a no show, but the head of UNICEF made it and pop star Prince rounded off the evening by throwing a guitar over his head.
The occasion was the 10th annual Webby awards -- the self-proclaimed Oscars of the Internet -- which drew a large and varied group of winners from across the cyberspace world to their industry's big night out Monday in the heart of New York's financial district.
Nearly 70 awards -- chosen from a record 5,500 entries from more than 40 countries -- were handed out to websites specialising in everything from fashion and film to politics and business.
Webby Awards
Getting Rare Tribute
Olivia de Havilland
Olivia de Havilland, the last surviving star of the 1939 classic "Gone with the Wind" and two-time winner of the Oscar as best actress, will receive another accolade Thursday evening - a rare tribute from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
On a recent afternoon, de Havilland sat for an interview in her daughter Giselle's sunswept garden in Malibu, shaded by a towering red bougainvillea tree. Dressed smartly, only her snow-white hair gave hint of her age. Unlike some divas, she makes no secret of how old she is.
"I'll be 90 on July 1," she announced. "I can't wait to be 90! Another victory!"
For the interview - Olivia de Havilland
Baby News
Unnamed Baby Boy Black
Jack Black and his wife, Tanya Haden, are parents of a baby boy, the actor said.
The couple's first child was born on Saturday, Black told "Access Hollywood" Monday evening at the Mann Grauman's Chinese Theatre premiere for his new movie, "Nacho Libre."
Haden, 35, is a cellist and the daughter of jazz great Charlie Haden.
Unnamed Baby Boy Black
Hospital News
Jonathan Davis
Korn canceled the rest of the international leg of its tour because lead singer Jonathan Davis was hospitalized, suffering a blood disorder.
"The doctors have determined that this was an isolated incident and that after a few weeks my recovery will be complete. I will be ready to rock on the Family Values Tour this summer," the 35-year-old Davis, who was released from a London hospital after four days of treatment, said Tuesday.
On Korn's Web site Monday, Davis said he was diagnosed last weekend with an infection that prevents blood from clotting normally because of a low number of platelets, cells produced by bone marrow. It was brought on by an allergic reaction to medication, he said.
Jonathan Davis
40 Arrested At Eviction
LA Urban Garden
Sheriff's deputies evicted people from an urban community garden to make room for a warehouse Tuesday, touching off a furious protest in which actress Daryl Hannah and others climbed into a walnut tree or chained themselves to concrete-filled barrels. More than 40 people were arrested.
Authorities cut away branches and used a fire truck to bring down the "Splash" actress and another tree-sitter, who raised their fists as they were removed. Hannah was arrested.
About 350 people grow produce and flowers on the 14 acres of privately owned land, in an inner-city area surrounded by empty warehouses and railroad tracks. The garden has been there for more than a decade, but the landowner, Ralph Horowitz, now wants to replace it with a warehouse.
At daybreak Tuesday, 120 deputies, some with batons and riot helmets, showed up to serve an eviction order that a judge signed last month. Deputies used saws to cut down the chain-link fence around the site.
LA Urban Garden
Appeals Court Affirms Ruling
'Flashdance'
The woman whose life inspired the 1983 movie "Flashdance" has lost another court bid to gain a copyright interest in the film, which has grossed more than $150 million domestically.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco affirmed Monday a lower court's decision that Maureen Marder gave up her rights to the film when she signed a release with Paramount Pictures Corp. on Dec. 6, 1982, giving up her interest in the project for $2,300.
The three-judge panel noted in its ruling that the agreement, in hindsight, "appears to be unfair," but said "there is simply no evidence that her consent was obtained by fraud, deception, misrepresentation, duress or undue influence."
'Flashdance'
Suit Over Stolen Hebrew Text
Bibilotheque Nationale de France
France's national library has launched a suit against a New York man for the return of an important 13th century Hebrew manuscript stolen several years ago, library officials said.
The manuscript, known as Hebrew 52, is a complete Bible in Hebrew, and believed to be one of the oldest surviving examples of the Pentateuch or the five books of the Torah which had belonged to the French national collection since 1668.
It was allegedly stolen in 1998 by a trusted curator at the BNF, who sneaked it out of the country to Britain using a customs autorisation he had signed himself. It is believed he had managed to sell it for some 80,000 dollars.
The book eventually ended up in the United States and was sold by someone else via Christie's in New York in May 2000 for some 350,000 dollars to Josef Goldman before anyone knew it was missing.
Bibilotheque Nationale de France
Judge Orders Lawsuit Amended
'Crash'
A judge has dealt movie executive Bob Yari a major setback in his legal bid to share in producer credits for the Oscar-winning film "Crash."
Attorneys in the case said on Monday that the Producers Guild of America and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences scored a key victory against Yari's lawsuit, forcing him to amend his court challenge or face its dismissal.
Yari sued the two organizations in March claiming he was denied a fair proceeding when they refused to grant him a credit on "Crash," which went on to win the best picture Academy Award for fellow producers Cathy Schulman and Paul Haggis, the film's director. Haggis also shared an Oscar for his work on the screenplay of the acclaimed racial drama.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Edward Ferns ruled last Thursday in favor of PGA and AMPAS, which had argued that there was no legal basis for Yari's suit. At the same time, Ferns gave Yari 10 days to amend his complaint, which his attorney, Patricia Glaser, said she intends to do.
'Crash'
VIP Visitors
Graceland
Resident George W. Bush and Japan's Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, a huge Elvis Presley fan, will visit Graceland Mansion on June 30 to pay homage to the king of rock and roll.
Presley moved into the 13-acre (5 hectare) estate in Memphis, Tennessee, in the 1950s and died there in 1977, aged 42. Graceland draws Elvis fans from all over the world and ranks officially as a U.S. historic landmark.
Koizumi, 64, and Presley were both born on January 8.
Graceland
Scorsese Documentary Wins At Banff
Bob Dylan
Martin Scorsese's 2005 documentary "No Direction Home: Bob Dylan" was the big winner at the 27th Banff Rockie Awards on Monday night, taking home the grand prize and the arts documentary prize at the Banff World Television Festival.
For the second straight year, British producers grabbed the bulk of trophies, beating out U.S. producers during their traditional Banff Rockie award shootout.
British independent producers came away with seven Banff Rockie awards in all, either for programs the British produced on their own or as part of co-productions.
Bob Dylan
Newport International Film Festival
'The Road to Guantanamo'
Michael Winterbottom and Mat Whitecross' political docudrama "The Road to Guantanamo" took home best narrative feature and best ensemble acting honors at the ninth annual Newport International Film Festival.
At the awards ceremony, held Saturday in Rhode Island, actors Diane Ladd and Brian Dennehy were given lifetime achievement awards.
'The Road to Guantanamo'
In Memory
Robert Donner
Robert Donner, a comedian and character actor known for his roles in TV's "Mork and Mindy" and "The Waltons" and movies including "Cool Hand Luke," died Thursday of a heart attack, said his former agent, Michael Belson. He was 75.
Donner played Exidor on "Mork and Mindy" and Yancy Tucker on "The Waltons." He also guest starred on such TV series as "Bonanza," "Columbo," "The Six Million Dollar Man," "Dharma & Greg" and "Matlock." In addition to "Cool Hand Luke," his film credits included "Bite the Bullet," "Vanishing Point" and John Wayne westerns including "El Dorado" and "Chisum."
He also was a founding member of Harvey Lembeck's comedy-improv group, The Crazy Quilt Comedy Company.
Robert Donner
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