Paul Krugman: The Mandate Muddle (nytimes.com)
Barack Obama is storing up trouble for health reformers by suggesting that there is something nasty about plans that "force every American to buy health care."
Jayson Whitehead: "Dennis Kucinich: 'I Am a Candidate of the Mainstream'" (C-Ville Weekl )
Q: If you were elected president, what do you think would be the first thing you would do in office?
A: Cancel NAFTA, get out of the WTO. Bring our troops home. Reintroduce legislation for a not-for-profit health care system and for fully paid two- and four-year college for every American young person. Put in motion legislation to create a full employment economy. I want to create jobs, that's what I want to do. I want to get people back to work and get them in health care, make sure their children have education. This is fundamental.
Jim Hightower: THE COST OF LIVING EXTREMELY WELL (jimhightower.com)
The vast majority of Americans - those making $50,000 a year or less - are stretching to make ends meet these days, but I'll bet they never pause to think about how hard it is for their fellow citizens who're immensely rich. Luckily, we have Forbes' magazine's "Cost of Living Extremely Well Index" to inform us about this hardship.
How not to go crackers this Christmas ... (guardian.co.uk)
Research shows that women suffer huge stress over the festive season. Here, some non-domestic goddesses tell Leonie Cooper how to avoid meltdown - start drinking early and make others do the work.
Bryan Appleyard: Why don't we love science fiction? (timesonline.co.uk)
"The truth is," Aldiss has written, "that we are at last living in an SF scenario." A collapsing environment, a hyperconnected world, suicide bombers, perpetual surveillance, the discovery of other solar systems, novel pathogens, tourists in space, children drugged with behaviour controllers - it's all coming true at last.
I remember my first classic shitter rhyme from my childhood in a Berkeley
jobsite crapper with my Dad _____________________
Now THAT'S an old one! Once as a wee tot when I first saw this missive
written (about 45 years ago) on a stall wall, just underneath it somebody
else had extemporated:
"Here I sat when I heard him fart,
and I knew that cloud would break my
heart ~"
A: The smaller volcano on the island of Hawaii
B: An extinct volcano now known as Crater Lake
C: The largest volcano in Central America
D: The native American name for Mount Whitney Source
ducks was first, and correct, with:
I'm up before the crack of dawn so maybe I have a chance.
It is B - it was a volcano once but now it's a stunning lake known as Crater Lake in Oregon. My adopted home state.
I think I'll go back to bed now.
mj was second, and right, too:
Not to make a mole hole out of a mountain, but the answer is B.
Alan J was third, and right, writing:
Crater Lake. One of the most beautiful sites in the U.S.
Chipshot was correct, too:
If I'm not incorrect, that would be Oregon's famous tourist attraction, Crater Lake. Flew over it once on my way to Fairchild AFB, WA back in the 70s on my way to 'Nam.
Sally P got it right, writing:
When I was young, about 8K years ago, Mt. Mazama began its most destructive eruption. When the air cleared, the summit was gone. Only a great pit, a caldera, was left. Rain and snow accumulated and gradually filled the pit - and thus did Crater Lake come into existence. (Of course, this is a simplified version.)
So my answer is "B"
But may I add, the lake is the deepest lake in the US, and has no inlet or outlet. I have friends in Oregon, and have seen Crater Lake - it is a gorgeous deep blue color - but, alas, it's freezing cold as well. It's a real "must-see" in your travels.
Marian the Teacher was correct, too:
B although I had no idea and had to google it. These questions are terrific if I ever play NTN again.
Dan was also right:
It's now known as Crater Lake.
Joe ("Business knows no pity, and cares for justice only when justice is seen to be better policy. If it had power to control the elements, it would grasp in its iron clutches the waters, sunshine and air and resell them by measure, and at exorbitant prices to the millions of famished men, women and children."
-W. A. Duncan in the Cherokee Advocate, 1892) was late, and right:
B: An extinct volcano now known as Crater Lake.
And, S. Bennett had a final comment on the gold wire question:
No idea but it reminded me of a story I read back in the 70's when love was free, beer was a buck and AIDS was a diet candy.
I was working as a teletype tech (remember this was the 70's) and came across a story in a tech journal about a team of American engineers in a race with a team of Japanese engineers to see who could make the thinnest strand of wire from gold. One team would get it to what they thought was the thinnest and then send it to the other team who in turn would whittle away and make it even thinner. Eventually the American team got the thing down to where a microscope was needed to even see it. The Americans sent it to the Japanese engineers and they sent it back seemingly unchanged for the dimensions had not changed. It wasn't until the Japanese told the Americans to look at it "end on" that the Americans could see the Japanese had not made the strand thinner but instead had drilled a hole through the middle with this new thing called a laser thus making the strand the world's thinnest gold tube.
Oh how I miss the dollar beer.
CBS begins the night with a RERUN'Ghost Whisperer', followed by a RERUN'NUMB3RS', then '48 Hours'.
NBC starts the night with a RERUN'Chuck', followed by a RERUN'30 Rock', followed by 'SNL: The Best Of Will Ferrell'.
Of course, 'SNL' is a RERUN with Jack Black hosting, music by Neil Young.
ABC opens the night with the movie 'Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas', followed by a RERUN'Women's Murder Club'.
The CW here dumps an hour for freaking infomercials, followed by an old 'Family Guy', then another old 'Family Guy'.
Faux has the traditional 'Cops', 'Cops', and 'America's Most Wanted'.
MY has 'NFL Total Access', followed by 'Control Room Presents'.
A&E has the movie 'Forrest Gump', followed by the movie 'The Matrix'.
AMC offers the movie 'National Lampoon's Animal House', followed by the movie 'Blazing Saddles' (minus the farting scene), then the movie 'Blazing Saddles' (still minus the farting scene), again.
BBC -
[12:00 PM] You Are What You Eat - Episode 4;
[12:30 PM] You Are What You Eat - Episode 3;
[1:00 PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares - Ep 1 La Parra de Burriana;
[2:00 PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares - Ep 2 The Fenwick Arms;
[3:00 PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares - Ep 4 Morgan's;
[4:00 PM] Top Gear - Episode 3;
[5:00 PM] Top Gear - Episode 2;
[6:00 PM] Doctor Who - Doctor Who: The Christmas Invasion (2005);
[7:00 PM] Doctor Who - Ep 1 New Earth;
[8:00 PM] Torchwood - Ep 1 Everything Changes;
[9:00 PM] Torchwood - Ep 2 Day One;
[10:00 PM] The Graham Norton Show - Ep 8 Alan Carr;
[11:00 PM] Torchwood - Ep 1 Everything Changes;
[12:00 AM] Torchwood - Ep 2 Day One;
[1:00 AM] The Graham Norton Show - Ep 8 Alan Carr;
[2:00 AM] Doctor Who - Doctor Who: The Christmas Invasion (2005);
[3:00 AM] Changing Rooms - Episode 9;
[3:30 AM] Changing Rooms - Episode 10;
[4:00 AM] Bargain Hunt - Ep. 25 Detling 32;
[4:30 AM] Bargain Hunt - Ep. 26 Shepton Mallet 12;
[5:00 AM] Cash in the Attic - Ep. 10 Eaton;
[5:30 AM] Cash in the Attic - Ep. 11 Smith;
[6:00 AM] BBC World News. (ALL TIMES EDT)
Bravo has 'Project Runway', followed by the movie 'Antwone Fisher', then the movie 'Antwone Fisher', again.
Comedy Central has 'Scrubs', another 'Scrubs', followed by the movie 'Scary Movie 3', then the movie 'How High'.
FX has the movie 'Gone In 60 Seconds', followed by the movie 'XXX: State Of The Union', then the movie 'White Chicks'.
History has 'Modern Marvels', 'History Of Sex', another 'History Of Sex', and still another 'History Of Sex'.
IFC -
[07:30 AM] Samurai 7 Episode #24: The Oaths;
[08:00 AM] The 47 Ronin, Part 1;
[10:00 AM] The Henry Rollins Show #313: Larry Flynt/Placebo;
[10:30 AM] Pumpkin;
[12:30 PM] George Washington;
[02:05 PM] Tadpole;
[03:30 PM] Pumpkin;
[05:30 PM] George Washington;
[07:05 PM] Bread and Roses;
[09:00 PM] Mississippi Burning;
[11:15 PM] Albino Alligator;
[01:00 AM] Intermission;
[02:50 AM] IFC News Special;
[03:00 AM] Mississippi Burning;
[05:15 AM] Bread and Roses. (ALL TIMES EST)
SciFi has the movie 'Kraken: Tentacles Of The Deep', followed by the movie 'Eye Of The Beast'.
Sundance -
[05:00 AM] Commune;
[06:30 AM] I Am Cuba;
[08:45 AM] Ushpizin;
[10:30 AM] Tales of the Rat Fink ;
[12:00 PM] Mutual Appreciation;
[02:00 PM] Sean Penn + Jon Krakauer;
[03:00 PM] Heavy Metal Jr.;
[03:45 PM] Alice et Martin;
[06:00 PM] Episode 5;
[06:45 PM] Agnes Browne;
[08:30 PM] The Life and Hard Times of Guy Terrifico;
[10:00 PM] Joe Gould's Secret;
[12:00 AM] The Heirloom;
[01:45 AM] Amongst Friends;
[03:30 AM] The Last Jews of Libya;
[04:30 AM] Agnes Browne. (ALL TIMES EST)
Actress Alfre Woodard speaks to striking writers at a Writers Guild of America rally at FreeemantleMedia 's North America headquarters in Burbank, California December 7, 2007. FreemantleMedia produces reality television programs, and the writers guild is seeking to represent reality show writers.
Photo by Fred Prouser
Srebrenica massacre surviours joined US actress and activist Mia Farrow in a torch-lighting ceremony Friday to pressure China into using its clout over Sudan to end the "genocide" in Darfur.
An Olympic-style relay organised by the "Dream for Darfur" campaign started in the central African nation of Chad -- which borders Sudan -- in August to urge 2008 Games host China to influence Khartoum into ending the suffering in Darfur.
In the run-up to the Beijing Olympics, China -- which is by far the largest foreign investor in Sudan and absorbs almost two thirds of its oil output -- has been under mounting pressure to use its influence on Khartoum.
"We share our grief with the mothers of Darfur. We pray to God that the Holocaust and genocide never happen again," said Hatidza Mehmedovic, who lost her husband and two sons in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre.
He wrote more than a thousand songs, ranging from his "Dust Bowl" ballads to patriotic incantations like "Pastures of Plenty" to the American classic "This Land is Your Land."
He performed them everywhere he went, from community centers to Broadway theaters to California fields filled with migrant workers. He also recorded dozens on records.
But one thing Woody Guthrie never got around to doing was recording any of his songs in front of a live audience - or so Guthrie's family thought.
Until an odd-looking package with reels of wires showed up unsolicited in the mail one day at the Woody Guthrie Archives.
"Basically, it's an early bootleg," says Nora Guthrie, youngest surviving child of the legendary folk-music balladeer.
Singers Patti Smith and Michael Stipe attend the celebrity designed Lunchbox auction to benefit the Food Bank of New York City and The Lunchbox Fund, Thursday, Dec. 6, 2007 in New York.
Photo by Evan Agostini
Elton John has received a specially made bird-feather cloak for his many visits to Maori communities.
"It's the Maori equivalent to an Academy Award" and means the 60-year-old British singer is an honored member of the Ngati Te Whiti sub-tribe, group chairman Peter Love said Friday in a statement.
The cloak was "gifted as recognition of the enjoyment Sir Elton John's music has given to Maori over the years and his loyal continuance to return to Aotearoa to entertain," he said. Aotearoa is the Maori name for New Zealand.
NBC has rejected a TV ad by Freedom's Watch, a conservative group that supports administration policy in Iraq, that asks viewers to remember and thank U.S. troops during the holiday season.
NBC said it declined to air the ad because it refers to the group's Web site, which the network said was too political, not because of the ad's message.
The spot was to be part of a seven-figure campaign that includes newspaper ads and television commercials. The ads are to run on CNN and Fox News Channel and are running in various newspapers. The New York Times ran a full-page Freedom's Watch ad Friday that said "Thank You!" and depicted a soldier reading a letter. The newspaper ad also contained the Web site address.
A rare daguerreotype of abolitionist John Brown was bought Friday by an unidentified bidder for $97,750, an auctioneer said.
The buyer, who bid by telephone, declined to be identified or to talk about the purchase, auctioneer Wes Cowan said.
Cowan, an occasional appraiser on the PBS show "Antiques Roadshow" and host of the public television series "History Detectives," had estimated a sale price of $60,000 to $80,000.
The photo auctioned Friday was in Brown's family for five generations until descendants contacted Cowan, asking him to broker the sale to help them pay medical bills, he said.
• The last new "Pushing Daisies" airs on ABC Wednesday.
• There's just one more new episode of ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" (yet to be scheduled).
• ABC's "Desperate Housewives" has one new episode, likely airing in January.
___
A FEW TO GO:
• The "Crime Scene Investigation" trio, "NCIS," "Criminal Minds," "Without a Trace" and "Cold Case" are down to a couple of new episodes apiece on CBS.
• NBC's comedy "30 Rock" has a fresh episode Thursday, with one more after that, as yet without an airdate.
• Just three new episodes of ABC's "Ugly Betty" are left.
___
STUCK IN REPEATS:
• NBC dramas "Heroes" and "Life" are kaput.
• NBC's "The Office" is closed for business, as is ABC's "Private Practice."
• "Big Bang Theory" has run dry, along with fellow CBS sitcoms "How I Met Your Mother," "Two And a Half Men" and "Rules of Engagement."
A trumpet player was found dead with his hands and feet bound and a nylon bag over his head in southern Mexico, in what authorities said was apparently the country's third murder of a musician in less than a week.
Jose Luis Aquino, 33, had been hit repeatedly on the head, a spokesman for the Oaxaca state attorney general's office said Thursday - the same day that two other slain musicians received posthumous nominations for Grammy Awards.
Aquino played for Los Conde, which was founded in Tututepec, Oaxaca, and later moved to the resort town of Puerto Escondido, according to its Web site. The band has recorded a half-dozen albums, and members appeared in the early-1990s film "Mafioso pero Gracioso," or "Funny Mobster."
A wave of organized crime violence has terrorized many parts of Mexico and the latest victims appear to be popular musicians.
The cover of the original 1978 solo single 'Run Rudolph Run' by Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards in an image rereleased on Thursday. Richards is reissuing the single on iTunes just in time for the holidays, his spokeswoman said on Thursday.
Gary Collins has been sentenced to four days in jail after he pleaded no contest to charges in a drunken driving case.
Collins was arrested in an October crash in Sherman Oaks that involved an 89-year-old motorist. The actor-TV host wasn't found at fault in the collision, but officers said they smelled alcohol on his breath.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Commissioner Rebecca Omens instructed Collins, 69, to surrender by Jan. 10 to start serving his sentence.
She also ordered Collins to serve four years' probation upon his release, pay a $500 fine, perform 100 hours of community service, enroll in an 18-month alcohol education program and attend 26 Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.
German federal and state interior ministers declared the Church of Scientology unconstitutional on Friday, opening the door for a possible ban on the organization.
Federal Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble and 16 state interior chiefs agreed "that we do not consider Scientology an organization that is compatible with the constitution," Ehrhart Koerting, Berlin's interior minister and chairman of a ministers' conference in Berlin, told reporters.
Germany does not recognize Scientology as a religion. seeing it as a cult masquerading as a church to make money. Scientologists reject this view.
The government permits the Church of Scientology to operate in Germany as an organization, and in January it opened a six-storey headquarters in the heart of west Berlin.
Actress Joyce DeWitt attends the celebrity designed Lunchbox auction to benefit the Food Bank of New York City and The Lunchbox Fund, Thursday, Dec. 6, 2007 in New York.
Photo by Evan Agostini
Actor Ray Liotta has pleaded no contest to a reckless driving charge after police say he drove into two parked cars. Liotta, who is perhaps best known for playing gangster Henry Hill in the 1990 film "Goodfellas," entered the plea Wednesday as part of a deal with prosecutors, city attorney's office spokesman Frank Mateljan said Thursday.
Liotta initially was charged with misdemeanor driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol. He could have faced up to six months in jail if convicted of that charge, Mateljan said.
Under the terms of his plea, Liotta was placed on three years' probation and ordered to enter a 12-hour alcohol education program, according to court documents.
Canada's largest outdoor-goods chain has pulled water bottles and food containers made of polycarbonate plastic from its shelves over worries about the chemical bisphenol A, which has been linked to cancer and reproductive problems in animals.
Vancouver-based Mountain Equipment Co-op became the first major Canadian retailer to stop selling products that contain bisphenol A over fears the chemical can leach from plastic food and water containers.
The chemical, which can mimic the effects of the hormone estrogen in cells, has been surrounded by controversy. Some North American researchers and environmentalists have shown it can cause several types of cancer as well as developmental, neural, behavioral and reproductive harm in animals.
Norway and the European Union are also reviewing the product. Japanese manufacturers decided voluntarily to stop making products using polycarbonate plastic five to six years ago.
Author John Grisham announces the arrival of Democratic presidential hopeful, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y. during a rally at Union Station Thursday, Dec. 6, 2007, in Washington.
Photo by Jose Luis Magana
The Museum of Modern Art and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation asked a court Friday to declare them the rightful owners of two Picasso paintings that a Jewish scholar claims were the rightful property of a relative persecuted in Nazi Germany.
The two institutions said they took the step to fend off an expected lawsuit from Julius H. Schoeps, a German who has been waging a legal fight to recover artwork and property once owned by his great uncle.
Schoeps demanded on Nov. 1 that the museums hand over both works, "Boy Leading a Horse," which is in MoMA's collection, and "Le Moulin de la Galette," in the Guggenheim's collection.
A new species of giant spitting cobra, measuring nearly nine feet and possessing enough venom to kill at least 15 people, has been discovered in Kenya, a conservation group said on Friday.
WildlifeDirect said the cobras were the world's largest and had been identified as unique. The species has been named Naja Ashei after James Ashe, who founded Bio-Ken snake farm on Kenya's tropical coast where the gigantic serpents are found.
Ashe, now deceased, was the first to catch a larger-than-normal spitting cobra in the 1960s and suggest it belonged to a different species.
Two baby lions play in their enclosure in the Berlin zoo December 7, 2007. The young lion generation was born on October 31.
Photo by Hannibal Hanschke
You have reached the Home page of BartCop Entertainment.
Make yourself home, take your shoes off...
Go ahead, scratch it if it itches.
The idea is to have fun.
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Anything that increased your blood pressure, or, even better,
amused or entertained?
Do you have a great album no one's heard?
How about a favorite TV show, movie, book, play, cartoon, or legal amusement?
A popular artist that just plain pisses you off?
A box set the whole world should own?
Vile, filthy rumors about Republican musicians?
Just plain vile, filthy rumors?
This is your place.
