Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Dr. Mark H. Shapiro: Economic Crisis Hits Higher Education Hard (irascibleprofessor.com)
Colleges and universities across the country have been hit hard by the toxic effects of the economic meltdown that has affected just about every aspect of American life.
Mark Morford: Going Obama-less (sfgate.com)
How I managed to miss the most celebrated event in recent U.S. history.
KACIE GLENN; "Irrational Intelligence; Get Smarter" (chronicle.com)
Ever bought a 12-foot Christmas tree for a 10-foot-high apartment? Picked up a hitchhiker in a nasty part of town? Or, perhaps, taken out a mortgage you couldn't afford? The good news is that poor decision-making skills may have little effect on your IQ score, according to Keith E. Stanovich, author of "What Intelligence Tests Miss: The Psychology of Rational Thought" (Yale University Press). The bad news? He thinks you'd lose a few points on a more-accurate gauge of intelligence.
Daniel Gross: The Quitter Economy (slate.com)
Companies are liquidating; homeowners are mailing in the keys. Have we given up?
John Updike, Author, Dies at 76 (THE ASSOCIATED PRESS)
John Updike, the Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, prolific man of letters and erudite chronicler of sex, divorce and other adventures in the postwar prime of the American empire, died Tuesday at age 76.
Ole! Competing for the title of the world's most bloodthirsty child (guardian.co.uk)
Michelito, an 11-year-old Mexican bullfighter, faces stiff competition from other tiny terrors. Tom Meltzer reports.
Why Picasso's masterpiece is as relevant as it ever was (guardian.co.uk)
As Guernica returns to London, Jonathan Jones argues for its continuing vitality.
Walter Tunis: Tannahill Weavers are true to Scotland (McClatchy Newspapers)
There is a Dutch saying that Roy Gullane is fond of quoting when discussing the 40-plus year career of the Tannahill Weavers: Lekker in je vel.
Chris Riemenschneider: As out of their minds as ever, Slipknot kept everything in state with their latest album (Star Tribune)
A decade since Slipknot released its first major record and went on its masked crusade to shock the world, the scariest thing about the group might be how popular it remains. The nine-member Iowa metal band landed its first No. 1 record in 2008, and it's kicking off another U.S. arena tour.
Greg Kot: Metallica too loud? Too bad, says drummer Lars Ulrich (Chicago Tribune)
Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich has seen "This Is Spinal Tap" and its comical tale of a has-been metal band overstaying its welcome. He has laughed, and he has learned from it. Though irrelevance or self-parody has threatened the mighty, three-decade-old Metallica on its way to selling 100 million records, the joke is not on him or his band - yet. When it is, Ulrich says, "Hopefully we can do what Soundgarden did and kick it in the head and walk away."
Ryan Gilbey: Jonathan Demme's indie hit with Anne Hathaway (timesonline.co.uk)
Foray into new movie field pays off for Rachel Getting Married director, despite missing out on Meryl Streep for cast .
A woman for all seasons (guardian.co.uk)
Kathryn Hunter talks to Mark Lawson about playing Lear, directing Othello and performing as an ape.
Blond Goes Back to Work After 30 Years (4 seconds long; 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
Charlie responded:
Sally said:
also nailed it with:
Contributor Suggestions
Links
BadtotheboneBob found these interesting:
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Back to sunny and warm.
The local Faux O&O's morning show is heavily advertising a contest of 'post your sexiest videos' on their site (and they'll show 'the best' on the show), with prizes of lingerie from that noted bastion of family values, the Hustler store in Hollywood.
House Rejects Switch Delay
Digital TV
The US House of Representatives handed President Barack Obama his first legislative setback on Wednesday, rejecting his call to delay next month's planned nationwide shift to digital television.
The Senate unanimously agreed on Monday to delay the switch from an analog to a digital signal, which had been scheduled for February 17, until June 12 but the House rejected the move in a 258 to 168 vote on Wednesday.
Democrats enjoy a majority in the House but the vote fell short of the two-thirds majority needed for passage of the bill without amendments.
Waxman left open the possibility that the bill may return to the House floor under rules which would allow for its passage by a simple majority.
Digital TV
Final Ballots In Mail
Oscars
The ballots are in the mail for the 5,810 members of Hollywood's elite who get to vote on the Academy Awards.
Wednesday's final ballots include nominees in 19 categories, among them best picture, director and the four acting prizes.
Ballots in five other categories - feature-length and short documentaries, foreign-language film, animated shorts and live-action shorts - are available only after academy members verify that they attended screenings of the nominees.
The deadline is Feb. 17 for Oscar voters to return ballots to the accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers. The big show itself comes five days later.
Oscars
Interview Canceled
BBC
The chief U.N. nuclear inspector has canceled a BBC interview to protest the network's refusal to air an appeal for Gaza.
Mohamed ElBaradei's office said Wednesday that not broadcasting it "violates the rules of basic human decency which are there to help vulnerable people irrespective of who is right or wrong."
The British Broadcasting Corp. and Sky News decided not to air the appeal from the Disasters Emergency Committee, an umbrella group of non-governmental humanitarian agencies.
BBC officials have said carrying the appeal would have damaged the network's impartiality in coverage of the conflict.
BBC
Loses German Court Battle
Zappa Family
Gail Zappa, widow of U.S. rock legend Frank Zappa, has failed in her bid to stop a German music festival from using her husband's name and image.
Zappa and her family trust had launched a lawsuit against the German Frank Zappa fan club over its annual Zappanale festival, demanding the removal of a bronze sculpture of Zappa at the festival site in Bad Doberan and damages of $325,000 if the festival continues to use the Zappanale name.
But the higher court in Dusseldorf ruled January 21 that festival organizers may continue to use Zappa's name and his image on the festival logo and related merchandise such as T-shirts and baseball caps. It ruled that Gail Zappa's rights were not violated and that she could not prove she uses the Zappa brand in Germany herself. The court found that she has had knowledge of the festival since it began in 1990. Frank Zappa died in 1993.
The Zappanale festival, which features various bands performing composer/guitarist Zappa's music, had 6,800 visitors in 2008. The 2009 edition is scheduled for August 12-16.
Zappa Family
Get Retirement Pay
Alaska Territorial Guard
The Secretary of the Army has authorized emergency funds to supplement a reduction in retirement pay for veterans of a largely Native militia formed to guard the territory of Alaska during World War II, Alaska's congressional delegation said Wednesday.
The reduction was a result of misinterpretation of a federal law that recognized the Alaska Territorial Guard's service as federal active duty, Army officials said last week. A new interpretation of the law says service in the five-year guard no longer counts toward the military's 20-year minimum for retirement pay.
According to the congressional delegation, Army Secretary Pete Geren will use an emergency fund to cover the retirement benefits for 26 former members of the largely Native guard. The monthly pay amounts to as much as $557.
The territorial guards - nicknamed Uncle Sam's Men and Eskimo Scouts - received no pay or benefits for the job. Many took jobs as scouting patrols or did construction work on military airstrips.
Alaska Territorial Guard
Cousin Of 'Guitar Nipple'
'Cello Scrotum'
"Cello scrotum," a nasty ailment allegedly suffered by musicians, does not exist and the condition was just a hoax, a senior doctor has admitted.
Back in 1974, in a letter to the British Medical Journal, Elaine Murphy reported that cellists suffered from the painful complaint caused by their instrument repeatedly rubbing against their body.
The claim had been inspired by reports in the BMJ about the alleged condition guitar nipple, caused by irritation when the guitar was pressed against the chest.
But Murphy, now a Baroness and a former Professor of Psychiatry of Old Age at Guy's Hospital in London, has admitted her supposed medical complaint was a spoof.
'Cello Scrotum'
Judgmental Decision
Christian School
A California appeals court has ruled that a Christian high school can expel students because of an alleged lesbian relationship.
The 4th District Court of Appeal in Riverside on Monday upheld California Lutheran High School's right as a private, religious organization to exclude students based on sexual orientation.
Two girls sued claiming they were discriminated against after they were expelled from the Wildomar school in 2005. A lower court said the school isn't bound by the same anti-discrimination laws as a business establishment.
John McKay, attorney for California Lutheran, says the school's goal is to educate based on Christian principles.
Christian School
Sues Michael Jackson Over 'Thriller'
John Landis
The director of the influential music video "Thriller" has sued pop star Michael Jackson over his share of profits from the 14-minute work.
Filmmaker John Landis, who co-wrote and directed the 1983 "Thriller" video, filed a breach of contract lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court just days before Broadway producers announced this week they had bought the rights to adapt the video for the stage.
The 14-minute "Thriller" video, featuring dancing zombies and Jackson himself, was first aired in 1983 and remains one of the most influential music videos worldwide. Landis also made a documentary about the making of the "Thriller" video.
Landis, director of movies including "An American Werewolf in London" and "The Blues Brothers," said in his lawsuit that he had not received his 50 percent share of the profits from "Thriller" -- including licensing rights -- for at least the past four years from Jackson's now-defunct company Optimum Productions.
John Landis
Ties Severed
Vatican
Israel's chief rabbinate severed ties with the Vatican on Wednesday to protest a papal decision to reinstate a bishop who publicly denied 6 million Jews were killed during the Holocaust. The Jewish state's highest religious authority sent a letter to the Holy See expressing "sorrow and pain" at the papal decision.
"It will be very difficult for the chief rabbinate of Israel to continue its dialogue with the Vatican as before," the letter said. Chief rabbis of both the Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews were parties to the letter.
The rabbinate, which faxed a copy of the letter to The Associated Press, also canceled a meeting with the Vatican set for March. The rabbinate and the state of Israel have separate ties with the Vatican, and Wednesday's move does not affect state relations.
Pope Benedict XVI, faced with an uproar over the bishop, said Wednesday he feels "full and indisputable solidarity" with Jews and warned against any denial of the full horror of the Nazi genocide.
Vatican
Cuts 8 Percent Of Workforce
Reader's Digest
The Reader's Digest Association Inc is cutting about 8 percent of its staff as it tries to strengthen itself against the world financial crisis.
Reader's Digest, which publishes 50 editions of its namesake magazine around the world as well as other magazines, books and videos, also will force some employees to take time off without pay, it said in a statement released Wednesday.
It also will stop matching contributions to U.S. employees' 401(k) retirement plans.
Reader's Digest
Cutting 700 Jobs
AOL
Time Warner Inc's AOL will cut about 700 jobs, or 10 percent of its workforce, as it copes with an advertising slump, in a move that could make the slimmed-down company more attractive to possible merger partners like Yahoo Inc.
The Internet unit will also eliminate merit-pay increases this year to help minimize layoffs, AOL Chief Executive Randy Falco said in a memo circulated to employees on Wednesday. A copy of the memo was obtained by Reuters.
Most of the job cuts will be made in the United States and will be finalized by the end of March, he said. The rest will be made abroad over the next several quarters.
AOL
Buy! Now!
ShamWows
I'd like to talk to you about a man whom I've dubbed "Headset Vince". He's the guy from the ShamWow commercials. He wears a headset for reasons no one other than Vince can understand… maybe he's expecting a phone call? From his agent offering him a better gig? Maybe his mom is calling to tell him that Stella from Bingo saw him on the teevee? I don't know. What I do know is that this guy is someone who I, until now, felt the need to mock at any and every conceivable opportunity.
Turns out, Headset Vince is actually one of the good guys, a hero. We need to stop mocking him and start celebrating him. And we need to buy his towels and nut choppers and his DVDs.
Headset Vince is actually a guy named Vince Offer. It sounds like he should be a cartoon bear-dog hybrid drawn onto the corners of coupons you get in the mail, but he is not a cartoon. In real life, Vince was an aspiring filmmaker - not a very good one, but his lack of filmwriting, directing, and acting skills were not about to hold him back from a career making talkies for the big screen. And yet, you notice I'm using the past tense. He was an aspiring filmmaker… but now he wears a headset in TV commercials and makes you feel like a dick for not already owning German-made spongetowels. So what happened?
ShamWows
Cable Nielsens
Ratings
Rankings for the top 15 programs on cable networks as compiled by Nielsen Media Research for the week of Jan. 19-25. Day and start time (EST) are in parentheses:
1. "President Obama's Inaugural Oath and Speech" (Tuesday, 12:05 p.m.), CNN, 5.7 million homes, 8.6 million viewers.
2. "Inauguration of Obama" (Tuesday, 12 p.m.), CNN, 5.15 million homes, 7.79 million viewers.
3. "Inauguration of Obama" (Tuesday, 11 a.m.), CNN, 4.69 million homes, 6.73 million viewers.
4. "Obama Inaugural Address" (Tuesday, 12:07 p.m.), Fox News Channel, 4.2 million homes, 5.57 million viewers.
5. "Inauguration 2009" (Tuesday, 12 p.m.), Fox News Channel, 4.09 million homes, 5.29 million viewers.
6. "WWE Raw" (Monday, 10 p.m.), USA, 4.014 million homes, 6.16 million viewers.
7. "Inauguration of Obama" (Tuesday, 1 p.m.), CNN, 4.01 million homes, 6 million viewers.
8. "Situation Room" (Tuesday, 6 p.m.), CNN, 3.98 million homes, 5.67 million viewers.
9. "Situation Room" (Tuesday, 5 p.m.), CNN, 3.97 million homes, 5.72 million viewers.
10. "Burn Notice" (Thursday, 10 p.m.), USA, 3.828 million homes, 5.12 million viewers.
10. "Inauguration 2009" (Tuesday, 12:28 p.m.), Fox News Channel, 3.82 million homes, 4.95 million viewers.
12. "Anderson Cooper 360" (Tuesday, 9 p.m.), CNN, 3.71 million homes, 5.09 million viewers.
13. "Inauguration of Obama" (Tuesday, 3 p.m.), CNN, 3.589 million homes, 5.27 million viewers.
14. "WWE Raw" (Monday, 9 p.m.), USA, 3.587 million homes, 5.17 million viewers.
15. "Monk" (Friday, 9 p.m.), USA, 3.584 million homes, 4.96 million viewers.
Ratings
In Memory
Billy Powell
A keyboardist for the southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd has died at his northeast Florida home.
Keyboard player Billy Powell called 911 about 12:55 a.m. Wednesday saying he was having trouble breathing. Rescue crews performed CPR, but he was pronounced dead at 1:52 a.m., said Orange Park Police Lt. Mark Cornett.
Powell, 56, who has a history of heart problems, missed a Tuesday appointment with his doctor for a cardiac evaluation. A heart attack is suspected. No autopsy will be performed because Powell's cardiologist will sign the death certificate, Cornett said.
The Jacksonville-based band was formed in 1966 by a group of high school students - famously, it took its name from a P.E. teacher they disliked, Leonard Skinner. Powell joined the group around 1972, the year before they released their first album, "Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd."
The band was decimated on Oct. 20, 1977, when their chartered plane crashed in a swamp near McComb, Miss.
Six people were killed - lead singer Ronnie Van Zant; guitarist Steve Gaines; and his sister, vocalist Cassie Gaines; as well as an assistant road manager, the pilot and co-pilot.
Powell was one of the survivors.
Two years after the accident, Powell and fellow members Allen Collins, Gary Rossington and Leon Wilkeson formed the Rossington-Collins Band. It broke up in 1982.
Powell was on hand again in 1991 when a revived version of the band put out a new album, "Lynyrd Skynyrd 1991" and launched a tour in Baton Rouge, La., where the band was headed in 1977 when the plane crashed. Fans who kept their tickets from the canceled 1977 concert were admitted free.
Billy Powell
| CURRENT MOON lunar phases |
