Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Suzanne Moore: The death of the middle class will undermine our democracy (Guardian)
The squeezed middle yelps. Indeed, on the latest statistics, it is gasping for air. Will they riot, or form an orderly queue to loot Debenhams?
Andrew Tobias: And In Case We DO Live Forever …
(Yesterday's advice: "Invest for the long-term.") I would add: (1) floss (2) moisturize (3) avoid buying stock in companies that write annuities But the main thing?
Matthew Yglesias: Life Expectancy Is a Terrible Way to Judge America's Health Care System (Slate)
If we raised the taxes on alcohol and gasoline and then spent all the revenue on a pointless bridge in Alaska, American life expectency would go up. Not because our health care system would become more efficient, but because fewer people would die in car wrecks and murders. And as it happens, raising those taxes would be a good idea. Fewer people would die in car wrecks and murders!
Adam Gopnik: WHY TEACH ENGLISH? (New Yorker)
Whence, and where, and why the English major? The subject is in every mouth-or, at least, is getting kicked around agitatedly in columns and reviews and Op-Ed pieces. The English major is vanishing from our colleges as the Latin prerequisite vanished before it, we're told, a dying choice bound to a dead subject.
Ben Orlin: You're Not Stupid. You're Slow (Slate)
Teachers use a variety of words to describe failure. Here's what they all mean.
Aisha Harris: You Need Songza in Your Life (Slate)
Songza is free of those automated playlists that pick and choose at random songs that may "sound like" an artist or song, but often don't. There are no audible commercial interruptions-ever. (There are ads displayed on the site, but they are easy to ignore, especially since the service is free.) What you'll get when you arrive at Songza's website is a "music concierge" tailored to suit your life at any given moment.
Eddie Deezen: Elvis Presley in Viva Las Vegas (Neatorama)
Elvis met Ann-Margret on the set at rehearsals and greeted her with "I hear you're the female me." (Ann was being touted as "the Female Elvis Presley" at the time.) By all accounts, the incredible chemistry between the two superstars existed offscreen as well as on. It became apparent to all of Elvis' closest friends that he had fallen head over heels in love with his beautiful, sexy, young co-star.
Rob Bricken: Well, the new Carrie trailer just showed off the whole damn movie (io9)
To be fair, since Carrie is remake of a 1976 movie based on a book published in 1974, saying this new trailer "spoils" the movie probably isn't quite right. But still, maybe they shouldn't have reminded us about every single major event in the book in chronological order? ... What do I know? I'm no Hollywood movie executive. For starters, I don't have a crippling cocaine addiction.
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Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
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In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Hot. Humid. Unpleasant.
Hey - BadtotheboneBob's birthday is today! HB, Robert!

Governors Award - 2013 Creative Arts Emmy Awards
June Foray
She voiced a flying squirrel and a Russian femme fatale, among countless other beloved characters, and now here's something you'll really like: June Foray is getting an honorary Emmy for her 60 years of behind-the-scenes service. Foray, who is 95, has been named the recipient of the 2013 Governors Award, which she'll receive at the Creative Arts Emmys on Sunday, Sept. 15.
Often referred to as "The First Lady of Cartoon Voices," Foray has lent her skills to such animation icons as Rocky the Flying Squirrel and Natasha Fatale on The Bullwinkle Show, Cindy Lou Who from How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Granny, the old woman oblivious to Tweety and Sylvester's ongoing warfare, on The Bugs Bunny Show. Foray also voiced Looney Tunes' Witch Hazel and was the voice of Jokey Smurf on The Smurfs.
Born June Lucille Forer in Springfield, Mass., in 1917, Foray got into voice-over work at the age of 12, performing in a local radio drama. She moved to Los Angeles at 17 and quickly established herself as a popular radio actress on national broadcasts like Lux Radio Theater and The Jimmy Durante Show. Her first major animation role came in 1950, playing Lucifer the Cat in Walt Disney's Cinderella. Among her more unusual gigs, Foray provided the voice of the original Chatty Cathy doll, and later played the Talky Tina doll it inspired in a terrifying chapter of The Twilight Zone.
Foray has never stopped working in Hollywood, moving between TV and film, animation and live action. (She voiced several boys in 1975's Jaws, for example.) But it wasn't until 2012 that Foray received her first Emmy nomination, in the category of outstanding performer in an animated program for her work as Mrs. Cauldron on The Garfield Show. She won.
June Foray

Ross' Gold
Ross Rebagliati
We all remember Ross Rebagliati, right?
He was the happy-go-lucky fellow who, at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, was briefly stripped of the gold medal in snowboarding for having traces of marijuana in his system.
Well, he eventually got his medal back and is now - 15 years later - looking to cash-in on the infamous incident.
Rebagliati is launching a new company that hopes to sell Ross' Gold branded marijuana cigarettes - and other pot-related products - in Washington and Colorado, the two states that recently voted to end pot prohibition.
The Vancouver-native also intends to set-up medical marijuana dispensaries in Canada, once new rules are implemented in early 2014.
Ross Rebagliati
Vegas Mansion Sold
Liberace
A 15,000-square-foot Las Vegas mansion once owned by Liberace was sold for $500,000 in cash to a British businessman who said he learned to play the piano after being inspired by the flamboyant performer.
The buyer - Martyn Ravenhill - closed the deal on Aug. 23 for $29,000 below its list price and about $3 million less than it was sold for seven years ago.
The two-bedroom, 10-bathroom home was built in 1962 and sits on a half-acre lot in an aging neighborhood near the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Surrounding homes are small and sell for $80,000 to $150,000, which dragged down the value of the home, said real estate agent Brad Wolfe, who represented Ravenhill in the deal.
It features touches reminiscent of Liberace, including chandeliers, a mirror bar etched with his signature, and a room with tile piano keys in the floor.
Liberace's former home does need a little TLC. It doesn't have a working kitchen and is in a state of "functional obsolescence," said Wolfe, adding that a previous owner converted the space into a commercial kitchen but later left it without appliances.
Liberace

Baby News
Axl Jack Duhamel
Fergie is a proud mother. A representative for the singer says she gave birth to 7-pound, 10-ounce Axl Jack Duhamel on Thursday.
Axl Jack is Fergie and actor Josh Duhamel's first child. The 38-year-old singer married the 40-year-old actor in 2009. She officially changed her name from Stacy Ann Ferguson to Fergie Duhamel this month.
Fergie is one-fourth of the Black Eyed Peas. She released her solo debut, "The Dutchess," in 2006. The album launched five big hits, including "Fergalicious" and "Big Girls Don't Cry."
Duhamel has appeared on television shows including ABC's "All My Children" and in movies such as "Transformers."
Axl Jack Duhamel
Artist Seeks Asylum
Konstantin Altunin
A Russian artist said Thursday he has fled to France and is applying for asylum after police seized his painting of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev in women's underwear.
Police on Tuesday raided an exhibition in the northwestern city of Saint Petersburg, which next week hosts the G20 summit, and confiscated works including a painting of Putin in a strappy nightie and Medvedev in a bra and skimpy knickers.
The artist, Konstantin Altunin, 45, said by telephone from Paris that he had requested political asylum and was now gathering the necessary documents.
Altunin said he flew out of Russia as soon as he heard that the exhibition had been shut down on Tuesday evening and the organisers had been detained by police and questioned into the night.
He said that the police had described the exhibition at the newly opened Museum of the Authorities as extremist and he feared criminal charges.
Konstantin Altunin

Veterans Benefits
Title 38
The Supreme Court may have recently struck down the Defense of Marriage Act, seemingly clearing the way for federal recognition of gay and lesbian marriages, but the battle for marriage equality on the federal level rages on-particularly in the military.
According to an August 14, letter from Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki, obtained by the Washington Blade, gay and lesbian military veteran married couples are not eligible to receive federal marriage benefits because of an obscure government code called "Title 38."
"Certain provisions in title 38, United States Code, define 'spouse' and 'surviving spouse' to refer only to a person of the opposite-sex. Under these provisions, a same-sex marriage recognized by a State would not confer spousal status for purposes of eligibility of VA benefits. Although the title 38 definition of 'spouse' and 'surviving spouse' are similar to the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) provision at issue in United States v. Windsor, no court has yet held the title 38 definitions to be unconstitutional."
Shinseki's letter on Title 38 made it clear that both the VA and the Obama Administration are supportive of the Charlie Morgan Act. Title 38 could also be struck down in court, as was DOMA.
Title 38
Pleads Guilty To Perjury
Zimmerman's Wife
The wife of George Zimmerman pleaded guilty Wednesday morning to a reduced charge of perjury for lying in a 2012 Florida court proceeding concerning her husband's arrest in the killing of Trayvon Martin, according to court records.
Circuit Judge Marlene Alva in Sanford accepted a deal in which Shellie Zimmerman agreed to plead guilty to misdemeanor perjury rather than the original charge of felony perjury in an official proceeding.
Zimmerman was ordered to serve one year of probation, perform 100 hours of community service and write a letter of apology to Judge Kenneth Lester, in whose court the perjury occurred.
George Zimmerman was acquitted in July of murder in Martin's death, but his wife still faced the perjury charge for telling Lester that they had no money at a bond hearing. At the time, the couple had accumulated $135,000 from donors to an online legal defense fund.
The Zimmerman's family credit union accounts showed that Shellie Zimmerman had transferred more than $74,000 from her husband's account to her own during the five days before the bond hearing, an investigator with the state attorney's office wrote in an affidavit supporting her arrest.
Zimmerman's Wife

Vegas Casino Seeks Free Publicity
The Act
The Palazzo hotel-casino on the Las Vegas Strip is trying to evict a 10-month-old nightclub for shows it says are so raunchy that they violate obscenity laws. It says actors - some nearly naked - toss condoms into the crowd and simulate sex acts and bestiality on stage.
The club is seeking a restraining order to halt the closure, arguing that simulated sex acts don't constitute obscenity.
Casino officials "were well aware of our brand," said Sean Dunn, special events director at The Act, in an email statement, adding that representatives of the hotel-casino have frequently attended shows and did not complain.
The Act remains open for business while a district judge considers its fate, but the fight over its future has exposed an underlying reality in Vegas: While the city sells itself as a racy, no-holds-barred destination, there are limits.
"I think there's the perception that anything goes in Vegas - there's no boundaries, no lines," said Lynn Comella, a professor of sexuality and women's studies at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. "In reality, nothing could be further from the truth."
The Act
Ban Upheld
3-0 Ruling
A federal appeals court on Thursday upheld the nation's first-of-its-kind law in California prohibiting health practitioners from offering psychotherapy aimed at making gay youth straight.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled that the state's ban on so-called conversion therapy for minors doesn't violate the free speech rights of licensed counselors and patients seeking treatment.
The activities of pastors and lay counselors who are unlicensed but provide such therapy through church programs would not be covered under the law.
The case before the appeals court was brought by professionals who practice sexual-orientation change therapy, two families who say their teenage sons benefited from it, and a national association of Christian mental health counselors. They argued the ban infringes on their free speech and freedom of association and religious rights. The counselors also argue it jeopardizes their livelihoods.
However, in a 3-0 ruling, the court panel held that California has the power to prohibit licensed mental health providers from administering therapies deemed harmful, and the fact that speech may be used to carry out those therapies does not turn such bans into prohibitions of speech.
3-0 Ruling

Weight Gain
Smokers
Nervous nibbles alone do not explain the weight that people tend to gain when they give up smoking, Swiss researchers said Thursday, turning the spotlight instead on a bacterial shift in the intestines.
Studies have shown that quitting smoking leads to an average weight gain of four to five kilogrammes (nine to 11 pounds) in the first year.
But according to researchers at Zurich University Hospital, former smokers who bulk up may not be eating more than before they kissed their cigarettes goodbye.
Noting that even people who cut back on calorie intake after quitting smoking tend to gain weight, Professor Gerhard Rogler said he and his colleagues had discovered another potential explanation: a change in the composition of the intestinal flora among smokers who kick the habit.
Their study, supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation and published in peer-reviewed scientific journal PLoS One, found that when a person stops smoking, the diversity of bacterial strains in their intestines shifts. It more resembles the gut flora found in people with obesity.
Smokers
Ride For Peace
New Zealand Bikers
Five motorcyclists from New Zealand made a rare crossing of the world's most militarized border on Thursday as part of a ride for peace from the top of North Korea at Mount Baekdu to the South Korean island of Jeju.
On a journey home from Russia's Far East, the bikers were allowed by the two Koreas to cross along a corridor near the west coast that has been cleared of landmines and is used by South Koreans visiting the jointly run Kaesong factory zone.
"Korea really is one country. The issue we all face is how do we get back to that?" he said after crossing into the South on the trip that his group calls "The Long Drop."
Morgan said earlier the group had "an amazing amount of cooperation" from the North. Foreign visitors to the reclusive North are rarely allowed access to parts of the country without government minders tailing them.
New Zealand Bikers

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