Recommended Reading
from Bruce
PAUL KRUGMAN: How Did Economists Get It So Wrong? (nytimes.com)
It's hard to believe now, but not long ago economists were congratulating themselves over the success of their field.
Jack Malvern: "The Bible's bad bits: silent women, mass murder and a weary concubine" (timesonline.co.uk)
Biblical verses apparently endorsing sexism, genocide and the slaughter of sorceresses have been identified by readers of a Christian website as the least endearing parts of the holy book.
Scott Locklin: The Myth of Technological Progress (takimag.com)
Many of you will still be alive in 50 years. It's interesting to think about what life will be like in 50 years technologically and otherwise. Predictions are risky, especially when they're about the future, but I believe we can make some pretty good guesses.
Ted Rall: WE HAVE MET THE NAZIS, AND THEY ARE US
Nazis. Americans are Nazis. We are Nazis. Godwin's Law be damned--it's impossible to read the newly-released CIA report on the torture of Muslim prisoners without thinking of the Third Reich.
roger ebert's journal: The longest thread evolves
A week or so ago I began to receive feedback that posts weren't being displayed on my entry "Win Ben Stein's Mind," from Dec. 3, 2008.
NICHOLAS BAKALAR: "Aging: Moderate Drinking May Help the Brain" (nytimes.com)
People over 60 who consume moderate amounts of alcohol have a reduced risk for Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, according to a large review of studies.
Daniel Gross: The Cupcake Bubble (slate.com)
Better enjoy that vanilla cupcake with espresso-ganache icing today, because the cupcake crash is coming!
Simply Brill: the women who shaped rock'n'roll (guardian.co.uk)
Ellie Greenwich, who died last week, was one of a raft of 60s female songwriters working in New York's Brill Building. Together they transformed pop, says Laura Barton.
20 QUESTIONS: Charlie Louvin (popmatters.com)
Charlie Louvin, Country Music Hall of Fame legend and half of the immortal country duo The Louvin Brothers, tells PopMatters 20 Questions about the best thing he ever got - for only $3.
Mojo Flucke: A Chat with John Leckie, Record Producer for The Stone Roses and Radiohead (bullz-eye.com)
Most people only listen to music on iPods or even little speakers on their laptop. Or in the car, with the windows open. Vinyl is an experience. You don't do anything else. You just sit and listen to it.
The Weekly Poll
Next question will be September 8th as I'm taking a 'birthday' week off (and to aggravate my SallyP(al), haha)...
BadToTheBoneBob
wrote:
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Purple Gene Reviews
'Afghan Star'
Purple Gene's review of the British Documentary "Afghan Star" (2009).
Directed by Havana Marking
Last Weekend it was "Taking Woodstock" as a political/social/musical movie event….this weekend it is "Afghan Star"…..less whimsical and way more serious.
One of the most astounding revelations was that girls were allowed to compete and you could see their faces (4 women and 2000 men) but they couldn't show their hair or mohammed forbid, shake their booty (or even move at all) on stage….one female contestant in a fit of musical joy actually removed her hair veil and took a few dance steps on stage…..she was called a whore by her local holy leader and there were death threats (I wonder what Paula Abdul would have said to her???). The men were allowed to shave their beards (a taboo with the Taliban) and distribute flyers.
We get a chance to see the sad condition of Afghanistan through the optimistic eyes of the contestants. The young people are really tired of constant war and poverty (the grand prize for the "Afghan Star" winner is $5000) and many see some kind of hope in this Cultural phenomenon. Finally the big night comes and the blue eyed Rafi is declared the winner….in a country of 33 million people, there were 11 million votes cast….pretty amazing….But change will take time in Afghanistan…the 2 male finalists have become heroes and household names…whereas the 2 female finalists face the same old religious oppression and violence.
…
"Afghan Star" started out with the camera on a poor blind boy talking about the coming contest and how great it was to have the cultural bans lifted….he said "…if there was no music…humans would be sad…" this rang true for me at the end of the movie as well….let's hope that the American involvement in Afghanistan doesn't continue to exacerbate the suffering these people have had to endure….and there will be another "Afghan Star" next year thanks to the courageous creators and producers of the show.
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Bit cooler, lot less humid.
SCOTUS To Make Call
Campaign Finance Limits
The Supreme Court appears poised to wipe away limits on campaign spending by corporations and labor unions in time for next year's congressional elections in a case that began as a dispute over a movie about Hillary Rodham Clinton.
The justices return to the bench Wednesday - nearly a month early - to consider whether to overrule two earlier decisions that restrict how and when corporations and unions can take part in federal campaigns. Laws that impose similar limits in 24 states also are threatened.
The court first heard arguments in March in the case of whether "Hillary: The Movie," a scathingly critical look at Clinton's presidential ambitions, could be regulated as a campaign ad. The emphasis has shifted away from the 90-minute film.
Now the justices could decide whether corporations and unions should be treated differently from individuals when it comes to campaign spending. Restrictions on corporations have been around for more than 100 years; limits on unions date from the 1940s.
Campaign Finance Limits
Champalimaud Foundation Award
Helen Keller International
The Helen Keller International nonprofit organization has won a $1.4 million prize from a Portuguese foundation for its work in preventing blindness in the developing world, the foundation said Friday.
The Champalimaud Foundation's annual Vision Award was given to the New York-based organization for its "outstanding achievements," particularly its efforts to combat vitamin A deficiency which is a leading cause of childhood blindness, the foundation said in a statement.
Hellen Keller International was founded in 1915 and runs programs in 21 countries in Africa and Asia, as well as in the United States. It is named for Helen Keller, an American who was left blind and deaf by illness as a toddler, and became a famed author and humanitarian.
The private foundation was created with an endowment from Antonio Champalimaud, one of Portugal's wealthiest businessmen, who bequeathed a quarter of his euro2 billion (US$2.8 billion) estate when he died in 2004. He lost his sight in the final years of his life.
Helen Keller International
Amazon Offers To Replace
George Orwell
Amazon.com Inc. is offering free books or $30 to Kindle customers whose copies of the George Orwell novels "1984" and "Animal Farm" were deleted from their electronic reading devices in July.
When Amazon erased the books from Kindles, citing a problem with the rights to the books, the company issued refunds to the buyers. But the episode startled many Kindle customers, who didn't know Amazon had the neo-Orwellian ability to erase content that had already been purchased and downloaded to their devices.
It prompted an apology from Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, who said deleting the books from Kindles to address the rights question was "stupid, thoughtless, and painfully out of line with our principles."
In an e-mail sent Thursday to Kindle owners whose books were erased, Amazon offered to redeliver the titles to their e-readers for free, along with any annotations users had made. Or the customers can get a $30 Amazon.com gift certificate or a $30 check - which could be worth much more than two Kindle books, because many of them cost $10 or less.
George Orwell
Cuts 2 Cast Members
`SNL'
"Saturday Night Live" has cut a cast member just a day after word of two new hires became public.
Michaela Watkins' publicist confirmed Friday that Watkins' contract was not renewed by the sketch comedy show. NBC declined to comment.
The news was first reported by the Web site Comic's Comic. The site also reported that cast member Casey Wilson had been cut from the show. Wilson's manager and her agent didn't immediately return calls and e-mails for comment.
Watkins joined the program last fall as a featured cast member. Wilson joined "SNL" in 2008 after the Hollywood writers strike.
`SNL'
Upsets Corporate Broadcasters
Obama Speech
President Obama's televised prime-time addresses are becoming a tougher sell to the broadcast networks than his sweeping health care reform has been to Middle America.
A day after news broke of the president's plan to address a joint session of Congress on health care issues in prime time Wednesday, not one of the Big Four networks has said it would carry the address live.
Among other things, the networks have been waiting to hear when the address will start, with sources indicating Thursday night that the White House was leaning toward 8 p.m.
After a brief post-inauguration honeymoon, the broadcast networks have become increasingly frustrated by the frequency of Obama's requests for prime-time coverage. The pre-emptions wreak havoc on the networks' schedules and cost millions of dollars in lost ad revenue.
Obama Speech
Duped By Zorro?
Tom Selleck
Actor Tom Selleck has been awarded more than $187,000 after a California jury found the actor was duped into buying a lame horse.
Selleck accused Del Mar equestrian Dolores Cuenca of trying to pass off a show horse with a medical condition as fit to ride in competitions.
The defense had argued that Selleck didn't check the veterinarian records of the 10-year-old Zorro.
The bulk of the San Diego County jury's award is for the price of the horse. The rest is to cover boarding costs. A second trial next week will determine how much Selleck should be paid in punitive damages.
Tom Selleck
Non-Native Species Overtaking
Ladybugs
A year after they launched a nationwide search for dwindling native ladybugs, New York researchers are breeding colonies of them from insects found by citizen scientists in Oregon and Colorado.
John Losey, an entomologist at Cornell University, launched the Lost Ladybug Project last year to try to figure out why once-common native ladybug species had all but disappeared across the country. The project, funded by the National Science Foundation, recruits citizen scientists - especially children - to search for ladybugs and send photos of them to Losey and his colleagues.
Of particular interest are the nine-spotted, two-spotted and transverse ladybugs, three native species that have declined dramatically in the last decade, possibly because of the release of non-native species to control crop pests.
"Between 1999 and last year when we started the program, less than 10 individuals of the nine-spot were collected anywhere in the country," Losey said. "That used to be the most dominant species across the U.S. and Canada."
Rupert Spins The 'News'
"Death Book"
How did the phony "death book" debate involving Veterans Affairs begin? Simple. Fox News owned Wall Street Journal published an op-ed piece by Jim Towey, former Bush coordinator of anti-abortion activities and political fixer.
Towey is now president of St. Vincent's College, though he has no experience of any kind as an educator.
Further, 80% of the faculty have called for his resignation for falsifying documents. It was Towey, in his WSJ editorial who continually mischaracterized VA attempts to inform patients of choices as an attempt to encourage Gulf War veterans to commit suicide.
The pamphlet itself, Your Life, Your Choices, is far from controversial. In fact it is, if anything, frighteningly conservative and mainstream.
The document is exhaustive in its addressing of faith based decision making. Every imaginable attempt was made to see to it that no group, no matter how "wingnut" or extreme, would find anything to complain about.
The real issue here is how far cheap politicians will go to stir up controversy, even if it involves attacking the credibility of the doctors and nurses at the VA, by far the best part of an institution with serious management problems.
For the rest, "Death Book"
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