Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Wayne Besen: Forbidden Sex and Chicken Sandwiches (Truth Wins Out)
The very notion of abstinence-only education is absurd. It is founded on the bizarre idea of telling rebellious teens not to have sex until marriage and believing that they will actually listen.
Any honest parent would tell you that teenagers aren't the best at following the commands of stuffy adults. Yet, on the crucial subject of sex education, many school districts have policies that presume teens will almost always obey preachers posing as teachers.
Mark Morford: Your own private Wisconsin (SF Gate)
Did you hear what happened in Tunisia? Did you hear what happened in Egypt?
Froma Harrop: The Left Wing Needs an Update (Creators Syndicate)
Though I deem myself a sort-of liberal, I don't closely read the left-wing magazine The Nation. Its views don't budge for decades at a time, so one can get by just checking in now and then.
George Lakoff: "The Real Issues: A Wisconsin Update" (Huffington Post)
If the plan to kill public employees' unions succeeds, conservatives will be effectively unopposed in raising campaign funding. This will mean a thoroughly conservative America in every issue area.
Jim Hightower: Someone Call GOVERNOR WALKER!
I wonder if Wisconsin's GOP governor, Scott Walker, is aware that some lunatic is dressing up like him, issuing a rash of stupid statements in his name, and making an unholy mess of his state's government?
David Brooks: The New Normal (New York Times)
Since we have to cut the deficit, we might as well learn to do it wisely. Starting with education.
STANLEY FISH: Watson Still Can't Think (New York Times)
Guest columnists Sean Dorrance Kelly and Hubert Dreyfus argue that in the AI vs. humans debate, it's mattering that matters.
Annie Lowrey: Working on the Railroad (Slate)
Warren Buffett's big bet for the 21st century: trains.
Richard B. Woodward: A Great Living Poet's Rare Art of Reticence (Wall Street Journal)
Richard Wilbur turns 90 on Tuesday, but it's unlikely that many Americans will stop to pay tribute to our finest living poet.
"The Paris Wife" by PAULA McLAIN: Reviewed by KATHERINE A. POWERS
Through Hadley we meet the stock literary figures of 1920s Paris and run through the couple's travels, especially to Switzerland and Spain. We visit such notorious episodes as Hadley's loss of her husband's manuscripts and the treachery of her friend Pauline Pfeiffer in supplanting her.
David Bruce has 41 Kindle books on Amazon.com with 250 anecdotes in each book. Each book is $1, so for $41 you can buy 10,250 anecdotes. Search for "Funniest People," "Coolest People, "Most Interesting People," "Kindest People," "Religious Anecdotes," and "Maximum Cool."
wrote:
responded:
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
Cheech's Picks
You Tubes
YouTube - ASSHOLES ON PARADE (TEA PARTY VERSION) TIMBUK 3
YouTube - Fox News Bites and Rep. Weiner Bites Back
Thanks, Cheech!
BadtotheboneBob
Roxanne The Aardvark
Detroit Zoo introduces new baby aardvark Roxanne
The Detroit Zoo is introducing its new baby aardvark, Roxanne, born on Jan. 8. The baby will be seen with her parents, 2-year-old sister and a 1-year-old male this spring in the zoo's African grasslands habitat, zoo officials said in an announcement today.
(This outdoor exhibit is way cool... as is the zoo as a whole... I especially enjoy the penguinarium) "Babies like Roxanne are special because they're both uncommonly cute and just plain uncommon," Detroit Zoo Chief Life Sciences Officer Scott Carter said, pointing out aardvarks are plentiful in the wild but not in zoos...
Detroit Zoo introduces new baby aardvark Roxanne | Detroit Free Press | freep.com
Meet the Detroit Zoo's Newest Aardvark - Detroit Zoo (With cute video!)
BadtotheboneBob
Thanks, B2tbBob!
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Overcast day, rainy night.
Charged With More Offenses
Bradley Manning
The Army said Wednesday it has filed 22 additional charges against Pvt. 1st Class Bradley E. Manning, the soldier suspected of providing classified government documents published by the WikiLeaks anti-secrecy group.
Army officials said the charges accuse Manning of using unauthorized software on government computers to extract classified information, illegally download it and transmit the data for public release by what the Army termed "the enemy."
One charge - of aiding the enemy under the Uniform Code of Military Justice - is a capital offense, but the Army's prosecution team has notified the Manning defense team that it will not recommend the death penalty to the two-star general who is in charge of proceeding with legal action.
In a written statement detailing the new charges, the Army said that if Manning were convicted of all charges he would face life in prison, plus reduction in rank to the lowest enlisted pay grade, a dishonorable discharge and loss of all pay and allowances.
Bradley Manning
Publicity Stunt
Fox RupertFox Rupert News Channel on Wednesday suspended the contracts of on-air contributors Newt Gingrich (R-Philanderer) and Rick Santorum for two months as the men explore a possible White House run.
The network, in an on-air announcement by Bret Baier, said Gingrich and Santorum would be dropped by Fox entirely on May 1 unless they notify the network by then that they are not running for president.
As the top-rated news propaganda network and one with a big Republican audience, Fox is expected to be a big player in the contest for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination. Some critics have suggested that frequent exposure on Fox is a big advantage for Republicans seeking the White House.
Fox did not address the status of Sarah Palin (R-High Maintenance), Mike Huckabee (R-Religiously Insane) and John Bolton (R-Milk Moustache) - others on their payroll who might seek the presidency.
Fox Rupert
Visits Afghanistan
Angelina Jolie
US film star Angelina Jolie has made a surprise two-day visit to Afghanistan to meet refugees in the war-torn country, the UN's refugee agency said Wednesday.
Jolie, star of films such as "Mr & Mrs Smith" and also a UNHCR goodwill ambassador, spent two days meeting refugees, afterwards calling for more to be done to reintegrate former exiles into Afghan society.
Over 5.5 million people have returned to Afghanistan since 2002, the year after the Taliban were ousted by a US-led invasion, according to the UNHCR.
Most of them had fled to Pakistan and Iran and their return has increased the country's population by over 20 percent, it says.
Angelina Jolie
Honorary Citizen Of Budapest
Elvis
Budapest's mayor says Elvis Presley will be declared a posthumous honorary citizen of Hungary's capital and a city landmark will be named after him.
Mayor Istvan Tarlos said Wednesday that Elvis will be commemorated because of his support for Hungary in the wake of the short-lived, anti-Soviet revolution of October 1956.
On the city's website, visitors can pick one of 12 locations to be renamed after Elvis, including street crossings, a small square and a site at the foot of Margaret Bridge, which spans the Danube River. Voting closes March 15.
On Jan. 6, 1957, during his last appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show," Elvis sang a gospel standard, "Peace in Valley," which Sullivan said reflected the singer's preoccupation with Hungarians' plight after the uprising.
Elvis
Resigns As Boston Symphony Nusic Director
James Levine
Conductor James Levine announced Wednesday that he would be stepping down as Boston Symphony Orchestra's music director after seven years because he wants to focus on dealing with lingering back problems.
The resignation is effective Sept. 1, but talks are in progress with the 67-year-old Levine to define a new, permanent role for him, BSO Managing Director Mark Volpe said.
The announcement came a day after Levine withdrew from his remaining BSO schedule this season because of ill effects from a recent procedure intended to fix lingering back problems and complications from a viral infection.
Levine is the BSO's 14th music director since the orchestra's founding in 1881 and the first American-born conductor to hold that position.
James Levine
Lost 85 Pounds
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin says she's lost 85 pounds as part of an ongoing effort to drop weight.
The legendary singer said in a taped interview that aired Wednesday on "The Wendy Williams Show" that she's been trying to shed pounds ever since looking at pictures of herself and deciding she was "entirely too fat."
The 68-year-old Franklin underwent surgery for an undisclosed ailment in December and didn't go into detail about it during the interview with Williams.
The "Queen of Soul" did say a recurring pain in her side last year was her "first inkling that something was not what it should be."
Aretha Franklin
Hospital News
Zsa Zsa Gabor
Zsa Zsa Gabor was rushed to a hospital Wednesday in an ambulance when blood flow stopped to her leg, a publicist said.
Doctors ordered the ailing 94-year-old actress to go to UCLA Medical Center because of the problem with her left leg, publicist John Blanchette said.
Most of Gabor's right leg was amputated in January because of gangrene.
Zsa Zsa Gabor
Files Lawsuit Over FBI's GPS Tracking
Yasir Afifi
A community college student who says he's never done anything that should attract the interest of federal law enforcement officials filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the FBI for secretly putting a GPS tracking device on his car.
Yasir Afifi, 20, says a mechanic doing an oil change on his car in October discovered the device stuck with magnets between his right rear wheel and exhaust. They weren't sure what it was, but Afifi had the mechanic remove it and a friend posted photos of it online to see whether anyone could identify it. Two days later, Afifi says, agents wearing bullet-proof vests pulled him over as he drove away from his apartment in San Jose, Calif., and demanded their property back.
Afifi's lawsuit, filed by the Council on American-Islamic Relations, claims the FBI violated his civil rights by putting the device on his car without a warrant. His lawyers say Afifi, who was born in the United States, was targeted because of his extensive ties to the Middle East - he travels there frequently, helps support two brothers who live in Egypt, and his father was a well-known Islamic-American community leader who died last year in Egypt.
Afifi, who is a business marketing major at Mission College and works as a computer salesman, said at a news conference to announce the suit that the agents never gave him a clear answer as to why he was being monitored.
The lawsuit says the agents who showed up to collect the device were "hostile," threatening to charge Afifi if he didn't immediately cooperate and refusing his request to have a lawyer present. The suit also says agents showed they knew private details about his life, such as which restaurants he dined at, the new job he'd just obtained and his plans to travel abroad.
Yasir Afifi
Sentenced For Fraud
The Other Kenneth Starr
A judge on Wednesday sentenced a former financial adviser to the stars to seven years and six months behind bars for a multimillion-dollar fraud, suggesting he was blinded by love for a woman half his age when he stole investor money to fuel a lavish lifestyle.
Kenneth Starr "lost his moral compass ... partly as a result of his infatuation with his younger fourth wife," U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin said before imposing the prison term.
The judge was referring to 34-year-old Diane Passage, a former stripper who sat in the first row of the gallery while her 67-year-old spouse sought mercy.
Federal prosecutors had argued that Starr - the one-time financial adviser to Wesley Snipes, Sylvester Stallone and Martin Scorsese - deserved at least 10 years for using the spoils from his fraud to buy a $7.5 million luxury condo on the Upper East Side of Manhattan and for other personal expenses. The defense wanted five years.
The Other Kenneth Starr
Ordered To Stand Trial
John Galliano
Paris prosecutors on Wednesday ordered John Galliano to stand trial over alleged racial insults - a development welcomed by the famous fashion designer's attorney, who said his client has been the victim of a "veritable lynching" in the court of public opinion.
The trial could take place between April and June, and Galliano could face up to six months in prison and (EURO)22,500 ($31,000) in fines if convicted, the prosecutors office said in a statement.
Capping a five-day whirlwind of scandal around the designer, the prosecutors said he will face allegations of "public insults based on the origin, religious affiliation, race or ethnicity" against three people.
The news came shortly after the talented 50-year-old designer apologized for his behavior after top-tier house Christian Dior sacked him as creative director over anti-Semitic remarks.
Video of an inebriated Galliano praising Hitler and the subsequent firing of one of the industry's most talented and moneymaking designers have sent shock waves through Paris Fashion Week, which began Tuesday.
John Galliano
Keith's Daughter Arrested In NYC
Theodora Richards
A daughter of Rolling Stones rocker Keith Richards has been arrested on minor drug charges after she was seen by patrol officers painting graffiti on the side of a Manhattan building.
Theodora Richards was arrested on charges of unlawful possession of marijuana, making graffiti and possession of a graffiti instrument. She was awaiting arraignment in Manhattan criminal court. Officers on patrol said they noticed the 25-year-old model painting the letters "T-N-A" on the side of a building in the swank SoHo section of Manhattan on Tuesday around 10:45 p.m.
When they arrested her, they found a small amount of marijuana and a paint marker, police said.
She has modeled for Burberry and Tommy Hilfiger and lives in SoHo. Richards and her sister, Alexandra, are daughters of Keith Richards and his longtime wife Patti Hansen. The leathered, craggy guitarist has two other children. One of the best-known rockers alive, Keith Richards has a best-selling memoir "Life" about his hard-living days with the Rolling Stones and frontman Mick Jagger.
Theodora Richards
Donated Gadhafi Performance Fees
Beyonce
Beyonce says she donated money she received for performing for the Gadhafi clan to Haiti relief efforts more than a year ago.
The superstar made the revelation in a statement Wednesday to The Associated Press. Her announcement comes days after singer Nelly Furtado tweeted that she had gotten $1 million from the Gadhafi clan to perform in Italy in 2007. Furtado says she's donating that money to charity.
Beyonce's publicist says she performed at a private party on the island of St. Barts on New Year's Eve in 2009. Once it was revealed that the performance was linked to the Gadhafi family, she gave the money and commissions to earthquake relief in Haiti.
Beyonce
Judge Delays Criminal Trial
Dr. Conrad Murray
A judge has postponed the trial of a doctor charged in Michael Jackson's death until early May.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor announced the delay Wednesday after meeting in chambers with prosecutors, defense attorneys, and Dr. Conrad Murray.
The move came after the judge asked defense attorneys at previous hearings why they hadn't turned over more information on potential witnesses to prosecutors.
The trial had been scheduled to begin with jury selection on March 24.
Dr. Conrad Murray
Sued By Former Lawyers
Prince
Musician Prince is being sued by his former lawyers who say he owes them more than $700,000, according to court documents.
The firm, Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler, said in documents filed in Manhattan Supreme Court Tuesday that Prince -- whose real name is Prince Rogers Nelson -- paid only $125,000 for their legal services during Prince's divorce and three other court cases in California, New York and Ireland.
"The Nelson Parties have failed to pay an additional $708,687.04 due to PBWT," court documents said. "PBWT has repeatedly but unsuccessfully requested payment from the Nelson Parties."
Prince
Charges Dropped
Gary Collins
A case charging television host and actor Gary Collins with a dine-and-dash felony in Mississippi has been dismissed after the complaint against him was withdrawn on Wednesday.
Collins, 72, is married to Mary Anne Mobley, a former Miss America from Brandon, Mississippi, and they spend some of their time in the state. Collins had been a host of the Miss America pageant.
The employee of Jazzeppi's restaurant who filed an affidavit over a $59.35 bill in January withdrew his complaint against Collins in court, and after questioning the employee, Judge Albert Fountain dismissed the case.
Anything more than $25 is a felony in Mississippi, and Collins had been charged with defrauding an innkeeper.
Gary Collins
Visit Stirs Controversy
Vargas Llosa
The choice of Nobel laureate Mario Vargas Llosa to inaugurate Argentina's annual book fair is turning into a political challenge for President Cristina Fernandez.
Key supporters of the populist president are angry that the Vargas Llosa will open the fair given his criticism of Fernandez and other populist leaders in Latin America.
The director of Argentina's National Library wrote an open letter calling on the fair to disinvite Vargas Llosa. The president then called him twice to get him to pull back the letter and spread her word that it should be clear "without the most minimal doubt" that anyone can speak freely in Argentina.
But her Cabinet chief apparently wasn't ready to let go on Wednesday. Anibal Fernandez called the Peruvian novelist a "reactionary right-winger," in a radio interview, and said "Vargas Llosa is an enemy of popular governments, particularly that of Argentina, which he has insulted millions of times gratuitously and for no reason."
Vargas Llosa
Hair Clippings Sell
Justin Bieber
Justin Bieber's hair is officially the stuff of legend: His hair clippings have sold for more than $40,000 on eBay.
After the 17-year-old pop sensation chopped off some of his famous locks, he brought the clippings to the "Ellen" show. Host Ellen DeGeneres put them on eBay.
When the bidding ended, the clippings went for $40,668. The proceeds are being donated to The Gentle Barn, which rescues neglected and abused animals and uses them to help disadvantaged kids.
Justin Bieber
Legendary Japanese Dog - Mystery Solved
Hachiko
Scientists have settled a decades-old mystery by naming a cause of death for Japan's most famous dog, Hachiko, whose legendary loyalty was immortalized in a Hollywood movie starring Richard Gere.
They say Hachiko died of cancer and worms, not because he swallowed a chicken skewer that ruptured his stomach - as legend had had it.
For years, Hachiko used to wait at Shibuya train station for its master, a professor at the University of Tokyo. Even after the professor died, the dog went to the station to wait for his master every afternoon for a decade until he finally died.
Tokyo residents were so moved that they built a statue of Hachiko at the station, which remains a popular rendezvous spot for Japanese today. He was also the hero of Japanese children's books.
Hachiko was considered such a model of devotion that his organs were preserved when he died in 1935.
Hachiko
| CURRENT MOON lunar phases |
