Recommended Reading
from Bruce
PHIL ZUCKERMAN: "The Virtues of Godlessness: The least religious nations are also the most healthy and successful" (chronicle.com)
From Nebraska to Nepal, people praise their deities, attend services, perform holy rites, study sacred texts. Does it really make them better off?
JOEL STEIN: Want fewer elections? Vote more (latimes.com)
When democracy turns into yawnocracy, the special interests rule the day.
Greg Palast: Obama is a two-faced liar. Aw-RIGHT! (suicidegirls.com)
Republicans are right. President Barack Obama treated them like dirt, didn't give a damn what they thought about his stimulus package, loaded it with a bunch of programs that will last for years and will never leave the budget, is giving away money disguised as "tax refunds," and is sneaking in huge changes in policy, from schools to health care, using the pretext of an economic emergency. Way to go, Mr. O!
Paul Krugman: Health Care Now (nytimes.com)
Why has the Obama administration been silent about one of the key promises during the campaign the promise of guaranteed health care for all Americans?
How to survive the apocalypse (guardian.co.uk)
What if the doomsayers are right and society really is about to collapse? Tanya Gold offers an essential survival guide.
Nick Turse: The Financial Crisis Is Driving Hordes of Americans to Suicide (Tomdispatch.com)
Pushed past their breaking points, people are robbing banks to pay the rent, setting homes on fire -- even taking their own lives.
Mark Morford: Life without Bush (sfgate.com)
What's a liberal critic to do without his most beloved target?
Garrison Keillor: Achieving tranquility through unused books (chicagotribune.com)
It is God that has made us and not we ourselves, we are his people and the sheep of his pasture, and George W. Bush is no longer the top sheep. Altogether a cause for rejoicing as we forge ahead in the struggle to achieve inner tranquility, which for me the other morning included misplaced glasses, a madcap dash to the airport, and en route in the taxi a call from my wife saying, "You forgot your billfold." One more sheep with a thorn in its hoof.
Katy Grannan's best shot (guardian.co.uk)
'She wore a white wig and drew all over her face and neck. I knew I'd met my match.'
Steven Rea: Michelle Williams gets to the heart of a forlorn character in 'Wendy and Lucy' (The Philadelphia Inquirer)
Only a few minutes into "Wendy and Lucy," there's no doubt that Michelle Williams - playing a hard-luck vagabond stuck in a Pacific Northwest town when she loses her dog - owns the character of Wendy, deep in her soul.
Tom Danehy: Even on their way to the Super Bowl, the Cardinals don't deserve Tom's love (tucsonweekly.com)
When the Arizona Cardinals completed the trifecta of playoff games leading up to the team's most-improbable appearance in the Super Bowl this coming Sunday, even the most casual sports fan in Arizona appeared poised to jump on the bandwagon. Well, they can have my spot, because I'm not jumping. (People who know me will probably claim that I haven't jumped for any reason in years, but that's beside the point.)
Irene Messina: Football's just as real in the women's leagues (tucsonweekly.com)
With a capacity crowd at its opening game in the 1993 season, the junior-varsity football team at Palo Verde High School took the field to battle Rincon High. The game progressed easily for the home team and they led by a healthy margin at halftime. As the third quarter started, the fans were getting restless.
Barack, Paper, Scissors (youtube.com)
Barack Obama sings Jackie Wilson (youtube.com)
The Weekly Poll
The New Question
The 'All American?' Edition...
Actor/Producer Tom Hanks said at the LA premier of the Mormon polygamy themed HBO series 'Big Love', "The truth is a lot of Mormons gave a lot of money to the church to make Prop-8 happen. There are a lot of people who feel that is un-American, and I am one of them." A few days later he gave a qualified recantation by saying, "Last week, I labeled members of the Mormon church who supported California's Proposition 8 as 'un-American,'" I believe Proposition 8 is counter to the promise of our Constitution; it is codified discrimination. But everyone has a right to vote their conscience; nothing could be more American. To say members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints who contributed to Proposition 8 are 'un-American' creates more division when the time calls for respectful disagreement. No one should use 'un- American' lightly or in haste. I did. I should not have."....
This week's poll has two questions...
Should Mr. Hanks have made that recantation?
and...
If banning gay marriage is discrimination isn't it the same to ban polygamy (or polyandry) between consenting adults?
Send your response, and a (short) reason why, to
Results Tuesday
Charlie responded:
MAM 
also nailed it with:
Reader Comment
R3: Elk Bridge
Marty
My daughter, Rebecca, and her three children live in Metaline, WA, just south of the crossing. They have been up to see the elk. She says it is an awesome sight. The have snow and more snow where she lives. However, she says that she knows spring is coming because the deer are out wandering around!
Reader comment
Re: Elk Bridge
Hi Marty,
I had to do a double take when perusing your page today - I saw the photo and came to a dead stop: What a great idea: An elk bridge!
Around here (remember, I am 12 miles across the Hudson River from the heart of NYC) the problem is deer! Would you believe that we have more of a problem with them here, than I did when I lived in Denver? (In CO they stay to the foothills of the mountains.) On several occasions over my past 5-years in northern New Jersey, I have seen them on my lawn in the early morning hours, and only this last fall, we had an entire deer family grazing the lawns on a Sunday afternoon!
The big problem (aside from trampling our gardens) is their coming out at night, and when crossing the back roads, "freezing" in the headlights of the occasional car. The dumb drivers then "honk" their horns - which usually does nothing. The driver panics, and jumps on his/her cell phone and calls "911!" The dispatcher calmly tells them that what you have to do, is turn your headlights off and they will move on - but, these are easterners after all...
Thanks for the photo and story, B2BB - loved it!
Sally P
Thanks, Sally!
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny and much warmer.
Obama To Sign Bill
Analog Shutdown
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs says President Barack Obama will sign a bill to give consumers more time to get ready for the switch from analog to digital television broadcasts. The switch under current law is set for Feb. 17.
The Senate earlier this week passed the bill to delay that until June, but it failed in the House under a procedure that required a two-thirds vote for passage.
The Senate passed the bill again Thursday night, and the House plans to take another run at it next week under regular procedures. That means a simple majority vote is required.
Gibbs said Obama will sign the bill because he wants more time to ensure that people don't lose their television signals.
Analog Shutdown
Calls Wal-Mart Deal A Mistake
Bruce Springsteen
In an interview with Sunday's New York Times, Bruce Springsteen says he shouldn't have made a deal with Wal-Mart. This month, the store started exclusively selling a Springsteen greatest hits CD.
Some fans were critical because Springsteen has been a longtime supporter of worker's rights, and Wal-Mart has faced criticism for its labor practices.
Springsteen told the Times that his team didn't vet the issue as closely as he should have, and that he "dropped the ball on it."
Springsteen went on to say: "It was a mistake. Our batting average is usually very good, but we missed that one. Fans will call you on that stuff, as it should be."
Bruce Springsteen
Recession Rocks Showbiz Papers
Hollywood
For more than 75 years, Daily Variety and The Hollywood Reporter have battled to be the movie industry's top newspaper, but recent layoffs due to the recession and competition from Internet blogs has Hollywood wondering if it will soon become a one paper town.
Publishers of the showbusiness newspapers say advertising has plunged, even during the current Oscar season when movie studios pay well to hype their films with cover page ads.
Moreover, the papers face increased competition from bloggers providing a daily diet of Hollywood news and gossip, such as Nikki Finke's DeadlineHollywoodDaily.com, Tina Brown's TheDailyBeast.com and David Poland's MovieCityNews.com.
MovieCityNews editor Poland said he expects The Hollywood Reporter will become a Web-only news outlet, and Daily Variety will cut back to publishing twice weekly. Both have long histories, and can raise revenue online from their archives.
Hollywood
NOLA King Of Bacchus
Val Kilmer
"Batman Forever" star Val Kilmer will reign as celebrity king when the Krewe of Bacchus parade rolls through New Orleans on Feb. 22, two days before Mardi Gras.
Kilmer will be decked out in royal apparel as he rides through the city on a float in the annual parade.
Kilmer will visit Children's Hospital, a tradition every reigning Bacchus has participated in for the past three decades, Brennan said.
Danny Kaye was the first Bacchus in 1969. Past Bacchus kings also include William Shatner, Billy Crystal, James Gandolfini, Bob Hope, Nicolas Cage, Kirk Douglas, Charlton Heston and Ron Howard.
Val Kilmer
Drug-Addled Pervert Calls Shots
Pigboy
For all the talk of new politics and a new start with a new administration, the media person whore who has emerged as the chief voice of opposition during the first week of Barack Obama's presidency - Rush Limbaugh - has been doing this for 20 years.
The talk-radio titan bloviating drug-addled pervert said, days before Obama was sworn in, that he hoped Obama failed because he didn't believe in the incoming president's policies.
It's kept him in the headlines ever since, to the point where MSNBC on Thursday asked: "Is Rush running the GOP?" The day before, every Republican House member voted against Obama's economic stimulus plan, a bill the porcine Limbaugh has ridiculed as the "porkulus" plan.
Pigboy
Cuts 400 Positions
Disney/ABC
The Walt Disney Co.'s television division is cutting 400 jobs, or about 6 percent of the unit's work force, due to the slumping economy.
The cuts include 200 layoffs, while another 200 vacant positions will not be filled in a division that employs 6,500 to 7,000 people, said a Disney executive who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the number of job cuts had not been made public.
The job reductions, to be implemented in the coming months, were the latest announced at the family entertainment company, which is grappling with weak consumer sentiment and a declining advertising market.
The eliminated positions were at all levels and made across the group, which includes the ABC network, ABC Studios, and cable channels including Disney Channel, SOAPnet and ABC Family.
Files 'Button' Suit
Adriana Pichini
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" got a little stranger Friday after an attorney representing an Italian office worker filed legal papers alleging that the screenplay was based on a story she wrote in 1994.
The David Fincher film, nominated for 13 Oscars, features Brad Pitt in the role of Benjamin Button, a man who ages backward. It was inspired by -- but not based on -- a 1921 short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Adriana Pichini, a Roman office worker, said the film seems to be based on a story she wrote 15 years ago called "Il ritorno di Arthur all'innocenza" (Arthur's Return to Innocence). The story was officially registered with the proper Italian copyright authorities in 1994 and even sent to publishers in the U.S., but was never published.
According to Gianni Massaro, Pichini's lawyer, a file was opened with the Rome Tribunal Court, which means a judge will watch the film and read the story. If the judge determines there are enough similarities to warrant an investigation, the court will launch one.
Adriana Pichini
Bart Simpson Robo-Calls
Nancy Cartwright
Bart Simpson is known for prank calls, but Nancy Cartwright, who provides Bart's voice on "The Simpsons," has been heard this week in a phone message using the voice of the cartoon fourth-grader to promote Scientology.
Cartwright, long a member of the church, recorded her 60-second robocall to boost attendance at a Scientology event scheduled for Saturday.
Although she identifies herself, much of the spiel is delivered in Bart's voice, wrapping up with, "See you there, man!"
The Fox network would not comment, but "Simpsons" executive producer Al Jean said the message wasn't authorized by the show, which has never "endorsed any religion, philosophy or system of beliefs any more profound than Butterfinger bars."
Nancy Cartwright
Museum Opens In Stuttgart
Porsche
The art of the sports car takes center stage at the new Porsche museum in Stuttgart.
Set to open to the public Saturday at the automaker's headquarters in the city's Zuffenhausen district, the museum is a sprawling monument to 60 years of German engineering.
Engines, interactive displays, Porsche memorabilia and 80 cars - including prototypes and icons like the 911, all polished to a mirror-sheen - are parked on two floors of pristine, white galleries.
Three dramatic concrete pillars support the museum building, designed by the Viennese architecture firm Delugan Meissl, which seems to float above its industrial surroundings.
Porsche
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