Recommended Reading
from Bruce
23 and 1/2 hours: What is the single best thing we can do for our health? (YouTube)
A Doctor-Professor answers the old question "What is the single best thing we can do for our health" in a completely new way.
Loudon Wainwright III: Newt Gingrich is Running for Pres (YouTube)
He's no longer naughty/ Newt's gonna make nice/ Newt didn't lobby/ Just got paid for advice/ Newt Gingrich is running for Pres.
Hadley Freeman: My top 2012 prediction: the Republicans try to ban sex for women (Guardian)
Looking into my crystal ball, I also predict that 2012 will see Newt Gingrich becoming the face of the family values party and Shane Warne literally becoming Elizabeth Hurley.
Froma Harrop: Gifts for the Unemployed (Creators Syndicate)
To many rational economists, holiday gift-giving is "an orgy of wealth-destruction," writes Dan Ariely in The Wall Street Journal. A behavioral economist at Duke University, Ariely makes pro-gifting arguments while acknowledging the bah-humbug view, which goes as follows: Givers often spend money on things others don't necessarily want, and the recipients frequently think the present cost less than the price actually paid for it. 'Tis more rational to give cash.
Susan Estrich: Christmas Choices (Creators Syndicate)
There are plenty of First Amendment issues that make my blood boil, but this isn't one of them. If you want to have an official Christmas tree or menorah or whatever, mazel tov. Too many other things to worry about in this world than giving some of my conservative pals a chance to claim that my liberal friends are waging a war against Christmas.
Tom Danehy: One year into the Arizona Interscholastic Association's 'reorganization,' we have a mess (Tucson Weekly)
We're now one year into the Arizona Interscholastic Association's draconian "reorganization" plan, and the results thus far are even worse than many of those who actually care about high school athletics had feared: blowout losses involving badly mismatched teams; an increase in rules violations involving recruiting and illegal transfers as teams scramble for scarce playoff slots; and small schools canceling athletic programs rather than watching their student-athletes get their heads kicked in by much-larger schools.
Froma Harrop: Driving Under the Influence of Cellphones (Creators Syndicate)
Moving at a stately 30 miles an hour, the woman drove her tank-like vehicle right through the stop sign and almost through me as I crossed the street. Like the psychiatrist assigning mental illness at the mere sound of crazy shouting, I didn't have to look at the motorist. I just knew from her behavior that she was yakking on a cellphone. Sure enough, she was.
David Hagland: Happy Belated and Posthumous 50th Birthday, Bill Hicks (Slate)
A lot of Christians wear crosses around their necks. Do you think if Jesus comes back he ever wants to see a f**king cross? It's kind of like going up to Jackie Onassis wearing a sniper-rifle pendant. "Hey Jackie, just thinking of John. We loved him."
Kristen Gwynne: Happy Birthday, Bill Hicks: Why We Can Still Learn From, And Laugh At, The Great Critic and Comedian (AlterNet)
Hicks was one of America's best stand-up comics, but also established himself as an insightful critic of American politics and mainstream culture.
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."
leave marty a present
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Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Happy Festivus
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny and very windy.
Attended an open house way out on the Palos Verde penisula.
The view is always nice there, but since the wind blew all the crud in the air out to sea, the big-city lights were especially sparkly and twinkly.
Hearing Concludes
Bradley Manning
The Army intelligence analyst suspected of leaking classified files to the WikiLeaks website gave U.S. enemies "unfettered access" to government secrets, a military prosecutor said on Thursday, but a defense lawyer said the soldier had done no harm.
The comments came as lawyers for the two sides made their closing arguments at a hearing to determine whether Army Private First Class Bradley Manning, 24, should be court-martialed on charges including aiding the enemy and wrongfully causing intelligence to be published on the Internet.
Manning's attorney accused military prosecutors of overreaching in bringing 22 criminal charges against him, saying the massive release of documents had caused no harm to national security and the government was trying "to strong-arm a plea from my client."
Aiding the enemy is a capital offense that could bring the death penalty but the prosecution has said the maximum it intends to seek is life in prison. Defense Attorney David Coombs said the prosecution needed a "reality check" and focused his closing remarks on urging them to seek no more than 30 years in prison.
Bradley Manning
Colbert Offering To Pay For SC GOP Primary
Stephen Colbert
Comedian Stephen Colbert says he will pay half a million dollars to help fund South Carolina's first-in-the-South GOP presidential primary.
The Palmetto State native wrote in an op-ed Thursday in The State newspaper in Columbia that his super PAC will bridge the gap after state Republicans refused to contribute anything above candidates' filing fees.
Earlier this month, Colbert offered Republicans $400,000 if they'd name the contest after him. The party said no, and Colbert says he started working with state Democrats to get an advisory referendum on the ballot.
The primary is expected to cost $1.5 million.
Stephen Colbert
Odd Holiday Traditions
David Letterman
Think holiday traditions and mistletoe, eggnog and caroling come to mind. David Letterman's Christmas includes target practice at a giant meatball, the Lone Ranger and singer Darlene Love.
Each has become part of CBS "Late Show" lore through the years, their appearances anticipated by fans like wrapped presents under a tree. The traditions return Friday.
Comic Jay Thomas will be back to try to knock a meatball off the top of a Christmas tree with a football and recount his Lone Ranger anecdote again. Love will sing "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" as fake snow flutters to the stage.
Letterman's on-set Christmas tree is frequently decorated with oddities, such as the meatball on top instead of a star, angel or bow.
It all started one night back in 1998 when New York Jets quarterback Vinny Testaverde was a guest. He and Letterman picked up footballs and began tossing them at the tree, aiming for the meatball. Watching their failures impatiently from the wings was Thomas, former quarterback at tiny Central Piedmont Community College in Charlotte, N.C.
David Letterman
Rules Out NYC Mayoral Run
Alec Baldwin
Alec Baldwin says he won't run for New York City mayor -- because he isn't "horny" for the office like other candidates -- and suggested he may stay with "30 Rock," the show he had long been expected to leave after this season.
"I've lost my appetite," Baldwin said on his weekly WNYC podcast Wednesday, adding that the other candidates are "like a guy on a date that you can tell he just can't wait to get his hand up your blouse before even the lights go out in the theater."
He added: "They're all just so horny for it."
Baldwin's "30 Rock" contract ends after this season, and he said in October that he wanted to move on. But he also said at the time that he might do "a piece of the year" after this season.
Alec Baldwin
Leaving CBS News For Cleveland
Russ Mitchell
Network anchor Russ Mitchell is leaving CBS News after 20 years to anchor for the NBC television station in Cleveland.
WKYC-TV says Mitchell will be seen on its 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. newscasts beginning Jan. 16.
He currently anchors the "CBS Evening News" on Sundays and co-hosts the network's "The Early Show on Saturday Morning." In a statement on WKYC's website, Mitchell calls his new job "a unique opportunity to help create the next generation of local news in a great place."
Mitchell joined CBS in 1992 and has had various anchoring and reporting assignments with the network. He was among the candidates considered to replace Katie Couric when she stepped down this year as anchor of the weekday "CBS Evening News," but that job went to Scott Pelley.
Russ Mitchell
Hospital News
Blake Anderson
As one of the stars of Comedy Central's slacker comedy "Workaholics," Blake Anderson might not be a fan of back-breaking labor. Back-breaking recreation, on the other hand ...
Anderson underwent surgery Thursday, after reportedly fracturing his spine while embarking on a most noble endeavor: Leaping from his roof and onto a beer-pong table.
According to TMZ, the incident occurred during a party at Anderson's Los Angeles home Saturday night, the site reports. And because, in this modern age, no example of excessive human stupidity can go un-immortalized on the internet, the golden moment was captured on video.
"Workaholics" wrapped its second season November 22, and has been picked up for a third season -- doctor's orders providing.
Blake Anderson
Judge Upholds Extradition
Bruce Beresford-Redman
A Los Angeles federal judge on Wednesday upheld former reality show producer Bruce Beresford-Redman's extradition to Mexico to face charges in his wife's death.
U.S. District Judge Philip S. Gutierrez wrote that there are many pages of competent evidence supporting prosecution claims that the producer killed his wife during a family vacation in Mexico last year.
The Emmy-nominated producer of "Survivor" has been jailed in Los Angeles since November on a fugitive warrant.
If he is convicted of aggravated homicide in Mexico, Redman faces 12 to 30 years in a Mexican prison.
Bruce Beresford-Redman
Finnish Police Detain
Adam Lambert
Finnish police say they detained Adam Lambert after he assaulted people who tried to break up a fight between the former "American Idol" star and his boyfriend in downtown Helsinki.
Detective Superintendent Petri Juvonen said the fight spread from a popular gay bar early Thursday into the street where Lambert was suspected of hitting two people who tried to break it up.
Juvonen said that Lambert's boyfriend, "Finnish Big Brother" star Sauli Koskinen, also was held for questioning. He said no weapons were used, no one was seriously hurt and that it was not "a very serious incident."
Police said the two men were released after a few hours and that no further action would be taken.
Adam Lambert
Column Collapse Revives Concerns
Pompeii
A courtyard column of a Roman house in Pompeii collapsed on Thursday, renewing concerns about the state of the site which was frozen in time when Mount Vesuvius erupted 2,000 years ago, burying inhabitants alive and preserving their homes.
Last year the Italian government was accused of neglecting the UNESCO World Heritage site near Naples in southern Italy when part of the "House of the Gladiators" fell down.
That collapse, along with three others in 2010, and the subsequent accusations of neglect and mismanagement, helped trigger a no-confidence vote against former culture minister Sandro Bondi in January.
Bondi, a member of former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's centre-right government, survived the vote but quit in March.
Officials said the latest part of the site to crumble was one of several columns that once held up wooden trellises in the house where Loreio Tiburtino, a Roman nobleman, lived.
Pompeii
Drops On Namibia
"Space Ball"
A large metallic ball fell out of the sky on a remote grassland in Namibia, prompting baffled authorities to contact NASA and the European space agency.
The hollow ball with a circumference of 1.1 metres (43 inches) was found near a village in the north of the country some 750 kilometres (480 miles) from the capital Windhoek, according to police forensics director Paul Ludik.
With a diameter of 35 centimetres (14 inches), the ball has a rough surface and appears to consist of "two halves welded together".
It was made of a "metal alloy known to man" and weighed six kilogrammes (13 pounds), said Ludik.
Several such balls have dropped in southern Africa, Australia and Latin America in the past twenty years, authorities found in an Internet search.
"Space Ball"
Cable Nielsens
Ratings
Rankings for the top 15 programs on cable networks as compiled by the Nielsen Co. for the week of Dec. 12-18. Day and start time (EST) are in parentheses:
1. NFL Football: St. Louis vs. Seattle (Monday, 8:30 p.m.), ESPN, 7.13 million homes, 9.88 million viewers.
2. "Republican Presidential Debate" (Thursday, 9 p.m.), Fox News, 5 million homes, 6.71 million viewers.
3. "The Closer" (Monday, 9 p.m.), TNT, 3.98 million homes, 5.29 million viewers.
4. "Republican Debate Analysis" (Thursday, 10:55 p.m.), Fox News, 3.97 million homes, 5.38 million viewers.
5. NFL Football: Dallas vs. Tampa Bay (Saturday, 8:29 p.m.), NFL Network, 3.75 million homes, 5.61 million viewers.
6. "Pawn Stars" (Monday, 10:30 p.m.), History, 3.74 million homes, 5.23 million viewers.
7. "Pawn Stars" (Monday, 10 p.m.), History, 3.7 million homes, 5.21 million viewers.
8. "Storage Wars" (Tuesday, 10 p.m.), A&E, 3.694 million homes, 5.2 million viewers.
9. "Gold Rush" (Friday, 9 p.m.), Discovery, 3.693 million homes, 5.38 million viewers.
10. "Rizzoli & Isles" (Monday, 10 p.m.), TNT, 3.65 million homes, 4.9 million viewers.
11. "American Pickers" (Monday, 9 p.m.), History, 3.4 million homes, 4.85 million viewers.
12. "Storage Wars Texas" (Tuesday 10:30 p.m.), A&E, 3.26 million homes, 4.28 million viewers.
13. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Saturday, 10:30 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 3.14 million homes, 4.37 million viewers.
14. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Saturday, 10 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 3.13 million homes, 4.32 million viewers.
15. "WWE Raw" (Monday, 9 p.m.), USA, 3.01 million homes, 4.49 million viewers.
Ratings
In Memory
John Chamberlain
An artist known for turning automotive scrap metal into sculpture has died in New York City. John Chamberlain was 84.
The Gagosian Gallery represented Chamberlain and says he died Wednesday in Manhattan.
Chamberlain's career spanned decades. He started working with junked car metal in the late 1950s, gaining admirers and critics. He also worked with materials as wide-ranging as paper bags, aluminum foil and foam rubber.
Chamberlain's work has been exhibited all over the world. His first retrospective was at the city's Guggenheim Museum in 1971.
The Guggenheim announced earlier this month another retrospective of his work will be on exhibit from February to May of next year. The exhibit will include 95 of Chamberlain's works from throughout his career.
John Chamberlain
In Memory
Robert Easton
Character actor and Hollywood dialect coach Robert Easton, whose successes include teaching Forest Whitaker to speak like Idi Aminin the 2006 movie "The Last King of Scotland," has died in Los Angeles. He was 81.
Daughter Heather Woodruff Perry tells the Los Angeles Times that Easton died of natural causes on Monday at his home.
Easton's movie credits include "Paint Your Wagon," ''Pete's Dragon," ''The Loved One," and "Primary Colors."
When he was younger, he mainly played country bumpkins on TV shows because of his Southern drawl.
He feared being typecast, so he worked on different accents and learned he could mimic regional speech patterns.
Robert Easton
In Memory
Ed Roman
As a guitar-maker for the stars, Ed Roman found a platform for fierce opinions about his commercially manufactured competition, exhorting musicians to drop what he called "misdirected ignorant brand loyalty."
His own guitars found their way into the hands of everyone from Ted Nugent to British rockers Eric Burdon of The Animals and John Entwistle of The Who. Roman, sometimes likened to a Viking for his red hair, was unafraid to unleash self-described politically incorrect opinions about foreign-made products, chain stores and corporate guitar manufacturers.
But his daughter remembers a soft side to his big, brash personality. She remembers him taking care of her pet hamster, letting the critter roll around in a plastic ball amid an office brimming with expensive guitars.
"He had a very kind, gentle heart," Lindsey Star Roman said.
Roman died Dec. 14 at his home following an illness, his daughter said. He was 61.
Roman, whose critiques found an outlet on the voluminous "Guitar Rants" section of his personal website, started playing the instrument as a youth in Stamford, Conn. His inspiration was Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees The Ventures, a prolific instrumental combo most active in the 1960s.
Roman worked on motorcycles before turning to guitar building in 1976, because "he always wanted to make something better," his daughter said.
Roman, tired of East Coast winters and observing that "everyone eventually comes to Vegas," moved to Las Vegas in 2000 and opened a large shop there in 2001, according to his daughter.
His time in Sin City brought him - and his wide range of custom guitars - close to other famous musicians, including Marie Osmond and country musician Keith Urban.
Also a singer and a bassist, Roman was in the process of recording albums of his own before his unexpected death last week.
Roman's Las Vegas store remains open. In lieu of a funeral, a memorial concert is planned for Roman's birthday, Feb. 24.
Ed Roman
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