Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Paul Krugman's Column: Euro Zone Death Trip (New York Times)
… European policy makers … don't seem at all ready to acknowledge a crucial fact - namely, that without more expansionary fiscal and monetary policies in Europe's stronger economies, all of their rescue attempts will fail.
Froma Harrop: Obama Has It Right in Deficit Plan (Creators Syndicate)
President Obama's deficit-cutting plan is not perfect, but close to it. It's fiscally smart and politically smart.
Andrew Tobias: Just Do It
I inherited the happy gene but I'd be happier still if we would just stop - and by "we," I mean the Republicans - inflicting needless harm on ourselves. We didn't have to squander the huge looming surplus President Clinton left President Bush and his Republican Congress. We didn't have to invade Iraq. We didn't have to manufacture this summer's debt ceiling crisis. And we don't have to sit paralyzed as our bridges and schools crumble while so many people eager to fix them are out of work.
Froma Harrop: The Housing Bust Has a Good Side (Creators Syndicate)
Anyone who has seen a friend kick an addiction - be it to alcohol, drugs or cigarettes - knows the extreme discomfort and force of will required. America has long suffered repeated bouts of binging on real estate. The booms inevitably trigger busts, one of which we're now in deep.
Tom Danehy: Tom reflects on 25 years of the Best of Tucson® - and predicts what Best of Tucson® 50 will be like (Tucson Weekly)
Former University of Arizona basketball star Steve Kerr was playing for the Chicago Bulls when, one night, his teammate, the legendary Michael Jordan, went off for 50 points. Kerr managed to throw in a couple of shots as well. After the game, Kerr told reporters that he looked forward to telling his grandkids about the night that he and Michael Jordan combined for 55 points.
Roger Ebert's Journal: How to win friends and influence people
I've been on Twitter for about two years. It's a part of my life. A small part, but a nice diversion for someone who publicly claimed, "I will never be a twit!"
Robert Evans: 7 Ruthless Criminals Who Turned Good When Nobody Was (Cracked)
#7. Carjacker Defeats Terrorism
Mark Shields: For Red Sox Fans, the 'Bad' Old Days (Creators Syndicate)
?You learned early as a Red Sox fan that life was not going to work out the way you hoped. In the movies, the orphaned, hardworking night-school graduate might get the big promotion. But in real life, the Boss's spoiled, feckless son-in-law would instead be given the prize. And the decent, loyal guy doesn't always get the girl - and that the considerate, self-effacing girl too often ends up with a selfish, self-centered guy.
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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Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny and warmer.
2012 Class Nominations
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Long ago, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts professed their love for rock 'n' roll. It's time to see if the feeling runs both ways.
The iconic rock act is on the list of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominees for the 2012 class released Tuesday. Women who rock feature prominently among first-time nominees. Joining Jett, whose "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" remains a classic rock standard 30 years after its release, are sister act Heart and Rufus with Chaka Khan.
They're joined by Guns 'N Roses, hip-hop pioneers Eric B. & Rakim, glum glam Goths The Cure and The Small Faces/The Faces, which includes Rod Stewart. Bluesman Freddie King and The Spinners are also first-time nominees on the ballot for the hall's 2012 class.
Previous nominees up again include The Beastie Boys, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Donna Summer, Laura Nyro, Donovan and War and its an eclectic group, running from lush British folk to classic early beats and bone-crushing power rock.
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Publisher Stands Behind Book
'The Rogue'
A publisher is standing behind a book about Sarah Palin, a day after Palin's attorney threatened to sue over it.
Crown Publishers spokesman Stuart Applebaum says the company is confident the reporting in Joe McGinniss' book is "solid, reliable, and well-substantiated." Applebaum says Crown stands behind McGinniss and the book, "The Rogue: Searching for the Real Sarah Palin."
Palin attorney John Tiemessen, in a letter to Crown Publishing Group Monday, claims the book defames the Palins and contains "lies and rumors."
Tiemessen says McGinniss' book contains "most of" the stories that "amounted to the wishful fantasies of disturbed individuals."
'The Rogue'
Living In A Van
Sly Stone
If Sly Stone ever decides to take his show on the road and tour again, at least he won't have to walk far to the van.
The Sly & the Family Stone frontman, known for such hits in the late '60s and early '70s as "Dance to the Music," "Everyday People" and "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)," is currently homeless, and living in a van in Los Angeles' rough-and-tumble Crenshaw district, according to a report co-written by Stone documentarian William Alkema for the New York Post.
According to the article, as little as four years ago, the 68-year-old musician -- born Sylvester Stewart -- lived in a lavish Napa Valley home complete with a vineyard, and had several cars. But in recent years, a drug habit (Stone has been arrested multiple times for cocaine possession) and fiscal difficulties (last year he sued his former manager, Jerry Goldstein, for $50 million, claiming that Goldstein had defrauded him) led Stone into his current situation. Not that he appears to mind.
And despite it all, he's still recording music, on a laptop computer in his van -- and with reportedly hundreds of songs currently in the can, the musician is hoping that today's hit-makers will reach out and help him stage a comeback.
Sly Stone
CBS Sends Out To Pasture
Andy Rooney
Andy Rooney, the curmudgeonly "60 Minutes" contributor who once said he would only leave the show if he "dropped dead," will announce the end of his regular appearances on Sunday's edition of the CBS newsmagazine.
Rooney has been featured on "60 Minutes" since 1978, contributing 1,096 of his signature "essays." CBS News chairman Jeff Fager said that while it's been hard for the 92-year-old to contribute to the weekly show, Rooney "will always have the ability to speak his mind on '60 Minutes' when the urge hits him."
Rooney's pending exit was first reported by TVNewser.com .
Andy Rooney
Goes Global With 37 Plays In 37 Languages
The Bard
All the world's onstage - a single stage - as theater troupes from around the globe perform all of Shakespeare's plays in three dozen languages in the Bard's symbolic London home.
Shakespeare's Globe theater announced details Tuesday of a festival that will see all 37 of William Shakespeare's plays performed in 37 languages, from Urdu to Swahili, over six weeks in 2012.
The "Globe to Globe" festival includes companies from six continents, including the world's most populous countries, China and India, and the youngest - South Sudan, which became an independent nation in July.
The festival, part of the cultural warmup to next summer's 2012 London Olympic Games, reflects the ability of Britain's most famous playwright to reach audiences in myriad languages and cultures.
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The Bard
Archived Blockbusters To Get Treatment
3D
Following the surprising success in North America of the recent re-release of The Lion King in 3D hitting the top of the box office, plans are in the works for such classics as Star Wars, Titanic and Top Gun to be converted to 3D format for theatrical release.
George Lucas is overseeing the 3D versions of his six Star Wars titles and expects to rerelease Star Wars: Episode 1, The Phantom Menace to theaters in February 2012, with the other five films released in 3D at the rate of one a year. The Blu-ray version of Star Wars, released in mid-September, broke records.
The company behind the process, Legend3D, is converting catalog titles to 3D, which costs about $10 million per film to complete the process thoroughly. Prices are dropping -- conversion did cost $100,000 per minute and is now as low as $25,000 a minute.
The Lion King in 3D, which cost less than $10 million to convert, has earned $60 million so far with the new release. A Blu-ray will follow in October.
3D
'Course Correction':?
Fox News
'Roger Ailes wants his network to tack closer to the political center and be less inflammatory, reports Howard Kurtz in Newsweek. Skepticism abounds
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n the latest Newsweek, media reporter Howard Kurtz gives us a "revealing" look at Fox News chief Roger Ailes, charting what Ailes calls the network's quiet, months-long "course correction" from its recent hard-right conservatism toward a more broadly appealing - and thus more lucrative - center-right posture. Of course, Fox News risks "alienating its most rabid right-wing fans," says Kurtz, but Ailes is spending his last few years at the network "acting not like a political operative but as a corporate chieftain," putting the bottom line first. Here, six takeaways from Kurtz's "glowing" profile of Ailes:
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1. Ailes is edging Fox "back toward the mainstream"
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"The Left has long branded Fox a propaganda arm for Ailes' pugnacious conservatism," says Kurtz. But as "Obama's popularity has plummeted and the country has grown increasingly sick of partisan sniping, something unexpected happened. Roger Ailes pulled back a bit on the throttle." Glenn Beck, whose contract wasn't renewed, and Sarah Palin "are singled out as the troublemakers in this regard," says Glynnis MacNicol at Business Insider. For Ailes, this isn't so much an ideological correction as a business one, says Alex Alvarez at Mediaite . His "finely attuned" sense tells him that today's public wants a subtly toned-down Fox News.
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Fox News
Shocks Northern Ireland Farmer
Rihanna
Northern Ireland farmer Alan Graham says he doesn't know who Rihanna is but she must keep her top on while performing on his land.
Graham says he enforced a dress code as he watched Rihanna shoot a video Monday in his wheat field in Bangor, east of Belfast, for her new single, "We Found Love." She's in Northern Ireland this week to perform three concerts.
The 23-year-old switched from a flannel checked shirt into a stars-and-stripes bikini, a red bra, a mesh black top, and finally went topless before Graham climbed off his tractor to protest.
"The state of undress was becoming inappropriate," Graham says. "I had a conversation with Rihanna. I hope she understands where I'm coming from. We shook hands."
Rihanna
Ousted Director Continues To Support 'Spider-Man'
Julie Taymor
Now that the worst part of "Spider-Man" is behind her, Julie Taymor says she's proud of what she accomplished with the Broadway musical.
"You're going to take flack for it" whenever there's a risk taken on "such a wide-open scale," she said.
Still, director, who won two Tonys for "The Lion King," feels the media treated her poorly. "There were lots of misconceptions" in news reports about the show and safety concerns stemming from it.
Taymor says that the show didn't change much after she left and that she's no longer bitter. The $70 million extravaganza does brisk business, grossing more that $1 million per week.
Julie Taymor
Bigot Apologizes
Patti Stanger
"Millionaire Matchmaker" star Patti Stanger made a less-than-ideal match on Sunday when she introduced her foot to her mouth.
Stanger was on the defense Monday after offending some with her comments on Sunday's episode of "Watch What Happens Live."
Stanger's televised faux pas began when she asserted that gay men have trouble committing to monogamy.
Stanger also said that Jewish men are dishonest on the show -- which, like "Millionaire Matchmaker," is broadcast by Bravo.
Patti Stanger
Senator Blocks Bill
Pipeline Safety
A senator who opposes federal regulation on philosophical grounds is single-handedly blocking legislation that would strengthen safety rules for oil and gas pipelines, a bill that even the pipeline industry and companies in his own state support.
Republican Sen. Rand Paul's opposition to the bill hasn't wavered even after a gas pipeline rupture last week shook people awake in three counties in his home state of Kentucky.
Paul, a tea party ally who shares with his father, Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, a desire to shrink the role of the federal government, won't discuss his role in stymieing the bill. But industry lobbyists, safety advocates and Senate aides said he is the only senator who is refusing to agree to procedures that would permit swift passage of the measure.
A deadly gas pipeline explosion near San Francisco last year - along with other recent gas explosions and oil pipeline spills - has created consensus in Congress, as well as in the industry, that there are gaps in federal safety regulations.
Pipeline Safety
Lobbyists Distance Company
Google
The day after a former Google executive asked President Obama to raise his taxes at a town hall meeting in California, representatives from the tech company distanced themselves from the encounter, saying they were making an effort to engage both sides of the political spectrum.
"He doesn't work here anymore!" Lee Dunn, who works for Google's federal lobbying team, told a group of conservative bloggers Tuesday at a luncheon at The Heritage Foundation. "It sometimes pains me as a Republican to see ex-Google executives standing up asking for more taxes."
While donations from Google's political action committee are divided fairly evenly between the major political parties, the company's employees and executives give heavily to Democrats. Doug Edwards, the former executive who asked for higher tax rates, for instance, has donated $300,000 to Democratic causes over the past decade. Google employees are some of the most generous donors to President Obama's election campaign. Marissa Mayer, a Google vice president, hosted a fundraiser for the president at her home last October.
So you can see why Google may have been wading into dangerous waters by addressing a lunch group of hungry conservative bloggers.
Google
Endorses Obama
Ed Koch
Ed Koch endorses Obama after fighting him on Israel That was fast.
Two weeks ago, former New York City mayor Ed Koch was citing President Obama's Israel policy as the reason why he crossed party lines (Koch has crossed them before) to endorse Republican Bob Turner in the special election in New York's 9th Congressional district election .
Koch's decision, combined with similar sentiment in the district, helped to spark a nationwide debate about the president's standing with Jewish voters.
Today, Koch endorsed Obama for president.
The New York Times' City Room blog reports that Obama's speech to the United Nations last Wednesday, in which the president did not voice support for the Palestinian bid for statehood, in addition to a special reception hosted by the president and First Lady, turned things around for Koch .
Ed Koch
Sentenced To 10 Lashes For Driving
Saudi Woman
They may have gained the right to vote but Saudi Arabia is still no friend to women. On Tuesday, a court sentenced Shaima Ghassaniya with 10 lashes for defying the country's ban on women driving, according to Saudi activists. There aren't any specific laws prohibiting women from taking to the road but religious leaders have banned its practice. There is some novelty to the punishment in this particular case, the Associated Press reports :
Najalaa Harriri, who is also facing court for driving, told The Associated Press she needed to drive to take better care of her children. Tuesday's verdict is the first of its kind in Saudi Arabia. Other women were detained for several days, but had not been sentenced by a court.
According to the BBC, the woman has already filed an appeal to the ruling. The disappointing news comes just days after Saudi King Abdullah announced that Saudi women will get the right to vote and can run for office in local elections in 2015.
Saudi Woman
Berkeley College Republicans
Bake Sale
Student Republicans at the University of California at Berkeley have stirred up the famously left-wing campus with plans for a sale of baked goods priced according to the race and gender of buyers.
A Facebook promotion of the event, set for Tuesday, has drawn cries of racism and misogyny on the social networking site, and student body president Vishalli Loomba called what the Berkeley College Republicans were doing offensive.
The school's chancellor, Robert Birgeneau, weighed in on Monday night with an open letter condemning the planned bake sale as contrary to campus "Principles of Community" that call for debate to be conducted in a respectful manner.
Organizers say their "Increase Diversity Bake Sale" is meant as satiric political commentary on new legislation that would again allow California's public universities to consider the race, gender, ethnicity and national origin of admissions applicants.
The sale is scheduled to take place near a campus phone bank set up by supporters of the bill, SB 185, to lobby for Democratic Governor Jerry Brown to sign the measure into law.
Bake Sale
Treasure Hunters Eye Huge Silver Haul
SS Gairsoppa
When the SS Gairsoppa was torpedoed by a German U-boat 70 years ago, it took its huge silver cargo to a watery grave. US divers are working to recover what may be the biggest shipwreck haul ever, valued at some $210 million.
Florida-based Odyssey Marine Exploration on Monday confirmed the identity and location of the Gairsoppa, and cited official documents indicating the British ship was carrying some 219 tons of silver when it sank in 1941 in the North Atlantic some 300 miles (490 kilometers) off the Irish coast.
Valued then at 600,000 pounds, the silver today is worth about $210 million, which would make it history's largest recovery of precious metals lost at sea, Odyssey said.
The 412-foot (125-meter) Gairsoppa had been sailing from India back to Britain in February 1941 bearing a cargo of silver, pig iron and tea, and was in a convoy of ships when a storm hit. Running low on fuel, the Gairsoppa broke off from the convoy and set a course for Galway, Ireland.
It never made it, succumbing to a German torpedo in the contested waters of the North Atlantic. Of the 85 people on board, only one survived.
SS Gairsoppa
Prime-Time Nielsens
Ratings
Prime-time viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen for Sept. 19-25. Listings include the week's ranking and viewership.
1. "Two and a Half Men," CBS, 28.74 million.
2. NFL Football: Pittsburgh at Indianapolis, NBC, 20.36 million.
3. "NCIS," CBS, 19.96 million.
4. "2 Broke Girls," CBS, 19.37 million.
5. "Dancing with the Stars," ABC, 19.03 million.
6. "NCIS: Los Angeles," CBS, 16.71 million.
7. "Sunday Night NFL Pre-Kick," NBC, 15.98 million.
8. "The Big Bang Theory"-Special, CBS, 14.94 million.
9. "Dancing with the Stars"-Results, ABC, 14.79 million.
10. "Modern Family," ABC, 14.54 million.
11. "Modern Family"-Special, ABC, 14.52 million.
12. "The Big Bang Theory," CBS, 14.30 million.
13. "Criminal Minds," CBS, 14.14 million.
14. "Unforgettable," CBS, 14.09 million.
15. "The Mentalist," CBS, 13.56 million.
16. "Person of Interest," CBS, 13.33 million.
17. "Castle," ABC, 13.28 million.
18. "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," CBS, 12.74 million.
19. "The X Factor" (Thursday), Fox, 12.52 million.
20. "The X Factor" (Wednesday), Fox, 12.49 million.
Ratings
In Memory
Arch West
The man credited with creating Doritos will be buried along with some of his beloved snack chips, his family told Reuters on Tuesday.
Arch West died September 20 of natural causes at a Dallas hospital. He was 97.
His remains were cremated, and the family plans to bury the urn inside a burial box at a local cemetery on Saturday.
The family requested that friends and relatives who attend the graveside service be allowed to toss Doritos around the box as a tribute.
"He would think it is hilarious," said his daughter Jana Hacker, a resident of the Dallas area. "The cemetery does not mind because they are biodegradable."
Doritos were first introduced in Southern California in 1964 and nationally in 1966, said Frito-Lay spokeswoman Aurora Gonzalez.
West, a marketing executive for the Frito-Lay, as eager to produce a salty snack chip after sampling a crunchy, "tortilla-type chip" at the roadside stand while on vacation in Southern California in the early 1960s, Hacker said.
"The company didn't really like the idea, but Dad managed to direct some (research and development) money into the project," Hacker said.
Doritos is the second-best selling chip of Frito-Lay's brands, behind Lay's potato chips, nationally and internationally.
The Nacho Cheese flavor is the most popular Doritos flavor, Gonzalez said.
Global sales of Doritos were about $5 billion in 2010, Gonzalez said.
West retired from Frito-Lay in 1971.
Arch West
In Memory
David Croft
Television writer David Croft, who helped create much-loved British sitcoms such as "Dad's Army" and "Are You Being Served?," died Tuesday. He was 89.
Croft's agent Tim Hancock, said the writer died at his holiday home in Portugal. Croft's family said in a statement that he "died peacefully in his sleep," but did not give a cause.
The son of actors, Croft served with the Royal Artillery during World War II before starting a showbiz career, eventually moving into TV as a producer, director and writer.
Several of his comedies had military settings, including "It Ain't Half Hot Mum" - set in wartime India and Burma - and "Dad's Army," about a hapless World War II Home Guard unit.
Co-created with Jimmy Perry, "Dad's Army" is considered a comedy classic, and is still frequently rerun more than 40 years after its debut.
Croft and Perry had another long-running hit with "Hi-de-Hi!" set in a 1950s holiday camp.
With Jeremy Lloyd, Croft wrote several series in the 1970s and 80s, including "'Allo 'Allo!" - set in the unlikely comic environment of Nazi-occupied France - and the perennially popular department-store sitcom "Are You Being Served?"
The shows drew viewers in the millions with their mix of memorable characters, nostalgic settings, catch phrases and double entendres.
In 1978, Croft was named an Officer of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II, for services to television.
He is survived by his wife and children. Funeral details were not immediately available.
David Croft
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