Recommended Reading
from Bruce
The Christmas Story as told by year 1 girls (YouTube)
With Christmas around the corner, our year 1 students took the time to retell The Nativity of Jesus in a way that only five-year-olds can.
Anna Breslaw: "Female Neuroscientists Parody That Embarrassing 'Science: It's A Girl Thing' Video" (Jezebel)
A bunch of PhD candidates in neuropsychology at the University of Bristol got together to do a resplendent parody of it, goofy dances and all.
Maureen Dowd: A Lost Civilization (New York Times)
The Mayans were right, as it turns out, when they predicted the world would end in 2012. It was just a select world: the G.O.P. universe of arrogant, uptight, entitled, bossy, retrogressive white guys.
Gail Collins: Twenty and Counting (New York Times)
In the House, 78 women were just elected. True, that's still under 20 percent. Nevertheless, when it comes to the proportion of women in the lower chamber of its national legislature, next year the United States is almost certainly going to soar past the United Arab Emirates and possibly even Indonesia.
Jonathan Mingle: Scientists Ask Blunt Question on Everyone's Mind (Slate)
Why Earth and atmospheric scientists are swearing up a storm and getting arrested.
This column will change your life: don't let an *ssh*le get to you (Guardian)
The challenge, in dealing with people such as phone-shouters, is that it's hard to resist the temptation to fight on their terms, Oliver Burkeman says.
Ryan Grenoble: Jay-Z Chats With Older Lady, 'Ellen,' On The Subway En Route To Barclays Center Show (Huffington Post)
For all the swagger that pours from his lyrics, Jay-Z sure comes across as a nice guy when he rides the subway.
Theodore Dalrymple: Why second-hand bookshops are just my type (Telegraph)
As bookshops are displaced by the internet, the author of a new work on serendipity describes the joys of delving in dusty shelves.
The Seeds: "Can't Seem to Make You Mine" (YouTube)
The Seeds are probably best known for "Pushin' Too Hard."
David Bruce's Amazon Author Page
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David Bruce has approximately 50 Kindle books on Amazon.com.
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Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
BadtotheboneBob will match any donations to the E! page in the month of December up to $100...
C'mon, E! fans, time to pony up...
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Reader Suggestion
Here, Kitty, Kitty
Here, Kitty, Kitty
Best watched in full screen.
How close do you want to get?
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Cloudy and cool.
A Federal Case
Hemingway Cats
Key West has a well-earned reputation as a haven for misfits, outcasts, and free-spirits. The locals don't even consider themselves part of the United States of America. They refer to the place as the Conch Republic.
So it is more than a bit ironic that Key West is also the location of a knock-down, drag-out fight over the federal government's power under the US Constitution's Commerce Clause to regulate… cats.
And not just any cats, either. The cats being subjected to federal oversight are the descendants of the famous six-toed felines raised and cared for by former Key West resident and author Ernest Hemingway.
Mr. Hemingway spent most of the 1930s in Key West completing some of his best work. Now, his former house at 907 Whitehead Street is a museum open to daily tours and the occasional wedding. It also continues to be home to 40 to 50 six-toed cats that are a living legacy of Hemingway.
At some point several years ago, a museum visitor expressed concern about the cats' care. The visitor took that concern all the way to the US Department of Agriculture and, literally, made a federal case out of it.
Hemingway Cats
"Right-To-Work"
Michigan
Union members and others opposed to Michigan becoming a "right-to-work" state plan major protests in the state capital this week to try to stop Republicans from restricting labor unions in the cradle of the unionized U.S. auto industry.
Right-to-work opponents will begin to converge on Lansing on Monday, organizers said, and they expect thousands at the rally on Tuesday when the state legislature reconvenes.
With Republicans in control of the legislature and the governor committed to sign the laws, Michigan could become the 24th right-to-work state by the middle of the week, dealing a stunning blow to the power of organized labor in the United States.
Michigan Republicans surprised labor unions on Thursday by pushing through the legislature in a day a proposal making union membership and dues voluntary in the private sector. The state Senate also voted to apply that to the public sector, except for police and fire unions.
"Never in a million years did I think that Michigan would ever become a right-to-work state. We are Motown, The Motor City. Michigan was built on unions," said Libby Brown, president of a teachers' union local in Jackson, Michigan, referring to the state's roots in popular music and auto manufacturing.
Michigan
International Humanist and Ethical Union
"Freedom of Thought 2012"
Atheists and other religious skeptics suffer persecution or discrimination in many parts of the world and in at least seven nations can be executed if their beliefs become known, according to a report issued on Monday.
The study, from the International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU), showed that "unbelievers" in Islamic countries face the most severe - sometimes brutal - treatment at the hands of the state and adherents of the official religion.
But it also points to policies in some European countries and the United States which favor the religious and their organizations and treat atheists and humanists as outsiders.
The report, "Freedom of Thought 2012", said "there are laws that deny atheists' right to exist, curtail their freedom of belief and expression, revoke their right to citizenship, restrict their right to marry."
In at least seven U.S. states, constitutional provisions are in place that bar atheists from public office and one state, Arkansas, has a law that bars an atheist from testifying as a witness at a trial, the report said.
"Freedom of Thought 2012"
2013 Season
Spoleto Festival USA
The new season of the Spoleto Festival USA will feature one of its largest and most varied program lineups in recent years, with performances ranging from Greek tragedy to Shakespearean comedy to modern graphic novels.
There is also a chorus singing Verdi, two original operas, Flamenco dancers and contemporary bluegrass.
For 17 days each spring, the festival created by the late composer Gian Carlo Menotti lights up stages across Charleston.
Next year's festival runs from May 24 through June 9 and features 160 performances by 45 artistic ensembles. Last season, Spoleto staged 140 performances.
Spoleto Festival USA
Apologizes To Wallace Family
LAPD
Police detectives apologized to the family of Notorious B.I.G. for failing to warn them about the planned release of his autopsy report more than 15 years after he died in a drive-by shooting, the Los Angeles Police Department said Saturday.
Los Angeles County's Chief Coroner Investigator Craig Harvey said a security hold placed on the report's release was lifted last week. The 23-page report revealed the rapper, whose real name was Christopher Wallace, was hit by four bullets after leaving a music industry event in March 1997, but one that hit his heart, left lung and colon caused his death.
The attorney for the rapper's family complained Friday that he was not given any notice that the report would be released and criticized police for not closing one of Los Angeles' highest-profile unsolved murders.
Both Los Angeles police and the FBI investigated Wallace's killing, which came just months after another rap superstar, Tupac Shakur, was gunned down in Las Vegas. The FBI looked into whether any Los Angeles police officers were involved in Wallace's shooting.
A 2011 book by former Los Angeles police detective Greg Kading claimed both murders had been solved, although no arrests have been made and federal prosecutors in 2005 declined to file charges after a lengthy, bi-coastal investigation. Wallace is from the New York City borough of Brooklyn.
LAPD
Comedian Arrested
Katt Williams
Comedian Katt Williams has been arrested in northern California on a felony warrant related to a police chase.
The Sacramento Bee reports that Williams was arrested Friday night in Dunnigan, about 25 miles north of Sacramento, by Yolo County deputies.
The paper says he was released from the county jail Saturday after posting bail.
The California Highway Patrol says Williams fled officers on a three-wheeled motorcycle on Nov. 25 after being spotted driving on a downtown Sacramento sidewalk.
The CHP said Williams was asked to stop and refused, leading to the pursuit.
Katt Williams
Swayed By Consensus, Not Evidence
Climate Skeptics
Conservatives are less likely to accept the reality of human-caused climate science when presented with supporting scientific evidence. But tell them that 99 out of 100 climate scientists agree on the subject, and conservatives will be more likely to accept that humans are altering the climate, according to a new pilot study.
The findings, presented at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union, suggest that scientists shouldn't break out the graphs and tables when talking climate with conservatives. Instead, climate advocates should emphasize how much of the scientific community agrees on the subject.
In general, those with more conservative views tend to be more skeptical about climate change.
But conservatives haven't always doubted climate change. Global warming only became a polarizing issue after the 1997 Kyoto Protocol negotiations, a United Nations treaty that set targets for countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.
Since then, Republicans and Democrats have been sharply divided on the issue: a recent Pew Research Poll found that 85 percent of Democrats believe in climate change while less than half of Republicans do. And a study by the Union of Concerned Scientists found that conservative media outlets like FOX News and the Wall Street Journal routinely present misleading information on the state of climate science, while free-market organizations such as the Heartland Institute have planned anti-climate change educational programs.
Climate Skeptics
The Worst Company To Work For
Clear Channel
Unless you have several bonuses in the bank and a considerable salary at one of these big banks, I can't imagine they're the greatest places in the world to work. Lots of the Citi causalities probably weren't making a ton of money. Branch closures makes it obvious that quite a few did not earn much at all.
This sort of thing resonates with me because I used to work in radio. There's not a crappier industry. The competition for poster child of all things crappy in radio -- and corporate America for that matter -- begins and ends with Clear Channel CCMO. Clear Channel makes the big banks, airlines and even Wall Street look chill.
Here's a company with a shocking $20 billion in debt, $6 billion in revenue, $1 billion in cash and tens of millions in quarterly losses. Yet Clear Channel manages to find a way to fly its CEO Bob Pittman around in a private jet. (footnoted has a great story on that from last year).
Not a day goes by without, at the very least, rumors of mass firings at one or more Clear Channel stations. They don't care who you are -- a beloved talent with great ratings or an intern in the promotions department -- if they pay you money, you're fair game to get cut loose in the next round of goodbyes.
It has to be this way, however. It has been this way for as long as I can remember. That's what years of mismanagement and ineptitude do to businesses and, in traditional radio's case, an entire industry.
Clear Channel
Weekend Box Office
'Skyfall'
James Bond is in a box-office photo finish with Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny over what looks to be the last slow weekend of the holidays.
According to studio estimates Sunday, Sony's Bond tale "Skyfall" took in $11 million to move back to No. 1 in its fifth weekend.
That put it narrowly ahead of Paramount's "Rise of the Guardians," the animated adventure of Santa, the Easter Bunny and other mythological heroes that pulled in $10.5 million.
The weekend's only new wide release, Gerard Butler's romantic comedy "Playing for Keeps," flopped with just $6 million, coming in at No. 6.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Where available, latest international numbers are also included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1. "Skyfall," $11 million ($20.3 million).
2. "Rise of the Guardians," $10.5 million ($26 million international).
3. "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2," $9.2 million ($23.5 million international).
4. "Lincoln," $9.1 million.
5. "Life of Pi," $8.3 million ($23.8 million international).
6. "Playing for Keeps," $6 million ($500,000 international).
7. "Wreck-It Ralph," $4.9 million ($5.8 million international).
8. "Red Dawn," $4.3 million.
9. "Flight," $3.1 million.
10. "Killing Them Softly," $2.7 million ($1.4 million international).
'Skyfall'
In Memory
Patrick Moore
British astronomer and broadcaster Patrick Moore died Sunday, according to friends and colleagues. He was 89.
He died at his home in the coastal town of Selsey in southern England, according to a statement released Sunday. No specific cause of death was given, but he had heart problems and been confined to a wheelchair.
Moore was well known for his long-running BBC television show "The Sky at Night," which was credited for popularizing astronomy with generations of Britons. He had presented the show for more than half a century.
The statement said he was briefly hospitalized last week when it was determined no more treatment would help him. Instead, his wish to spend his final days at home were honored.
It was signed by various staff members and friends, including Queen guitarist Brian May. May said Moore was irreplaceable and had stirred millions through his broadcasts.
In its obituary, the Daily Telegraph reported that Moore believed he was the only person to have met the first man to fly, Orville Wright, as well as the first man in space, Russian Yuri Gagarin, and the first man on the moon, the late Neil Armstrong.
Moore, who received a knighthood in 2001, had recently celebrated the 55th anniversary of his program. He only missed one episode, because of an illness caused by food poisoning. He was known for his trademark monocle and his occasional xylophone performances and his frequently professed love of cats.
He wrote dozens of books using a 1908 typewriter he received as a gift when he was 8.
Patrick Moore
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