Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Mark Morford: Come taste my scimitar-horned oryx (SF Gate)
By extension, there exist innumerable subcultures and little eccentric freakshow cultworlds scattered about the American landscape around which my mind simply cannot gain traction, about which my emotional wiring and better reasoning slam into a wall of OMG WTF as my heart slips into a dark pit of you've got to be effing kidding me.
Paul Krugman's Blog: The Cult That Is Destroying America (New York Times)
And yes, I think this is a moral issue. The "both sides are at fault" people have to know better; if they refuse to say it, it's out of some combination of fear and ego, of being unwilling to sacrifice their treasured pose of being above the fray.
Victory for evolution in Texas (National Center for Science Evolution)
Pop the champagne corks. The Texas Board of Education has unanimously come down on the side of evolution. In 14-0* vote, the board today approved scientifically accurate high school biology textbook supplements from established mainstream publishers--and did not approve the creationist-backed supplements from International Databases, LLC.
Froma Harrop: What the Oslo Killer 'Wanted' Doesn't Matter (Creators Sundicate)
Let's get to the bottom of what the Oslo killer probably wanted. He wanted his daddy. In his "manifesto," Breivik complains that his father, long ago divorced from his mother, hadn't spoken to him in 15 years. (The big flashing light in McVeigh's biography is that his mother had packed up and left the family when Timothy was 10.)
Andrew Tobias: The Bully Pulpit
I got an email from the Christian Family Coalition asking me to take part in a survey. The survey question was: "Should House Republican leaders cave in to President Obama's demands and raise the debt ceiling again?" The Christian Family Coalition? I'm frankly not sure this is the loving way Jesus would have framed the question. … It seems to me that "bully pulpit" has in recent years come to take on a whole new meaning. It's bullies, preaching from the pulpit.
Jim Hightower: America's Shameful Leadership
While Washington fiddles with the knobs and levers of budget reduction, America's great working class is being blown down by harsh economic winds. Yet, our country's political and financial elites, sitting in the comfort of their power centers, don't seem to see, hear, or care. If the elites just looked around, here's some of what they find:…
Julie Bindel: "PD James: a lifetime of crime" (Guardian)
The writer talks about sexual violence in literature, the phone-hacking scandal - and why her new book might come as a surprise.
TRACY DAUGHERTY: The War for 'Catch-22' (Vanity Fair)
The tragicomic 1961 novel that sprang from Joseph Heller's experience as a W.W. II bombardier mystified and offended many of the publishing professionals who saw it first. But thanks to a fledgling agent, Candida Donadio, and a young editor, Robert Gottlieb, it would eventually be recognized as one of the greatest anti-war books ever written. In an adaptation from his Heller biography, Tracy Daugherty recalls the tortured eight-year genesis of 'Catch-22' and its ultimate triumph.
Patrick Goldstein: Harry Potter's wand won't conjure an Oscar win (Los Angeles Times)
I hate to ask a question that I already know the answer to, but if you've been wondering whether "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2" is going to win a best picture award next February, the simple answer is: No. On paper, you'd think the movie would have a real shot at Oscar glory.
Cynthia Fuchs: "'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2' Is Awfully Literal" (PopMatters)
For all their focus on magic, the Harry Potter movies are awfully literal. For all the whimsy and dreams the books might inspire, the film franchise again and again limits imaginative possibilities. In part, this is a function of movies: they make the ethereal material.
David Bruce has 42 Kindle books on Amazon.com with 250 anecdotes in each book. Each book is $1, so for $42 you can buy 10,500 anecdotes. Search for "Funniest People," "Coolest People, "Most Interesting People," "Kindest People," "Religious Anecdotes," "Maximum Cool," and "Resist Psychic Death."
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3< 4 5 CaterpillarsGulf Fritillary Butterfly
Gulf Fritillary butterfly
Here are today's pictures:
Caterpillar #1 - pupated (but not looking so good)
Caterpillar #2 - pupated
Caterpillar #3
Caterpillar #4
Caterpillar #5 - the newest addition
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Deep marine layer hung around til mid-afternoon. : )
Sees Merger Killing Competition
Al Franken
Sen. Al Franken is urging regulators to pull the plug on a proposed merger between AT&T and T-Mobile.
The Minnesota Democrat says a marriage of the two companies would mean that only three national wireless carriers would remain.
The deal would leave AT&T in control of 43 percent of the market, with Verizon overseeing 39 percent of the industry. To the left-leaning legislator, that's a dangerous recipe.
"The merger of AT&T and T-Mobile would be a major step toward the creation of an entrenched duopoly in the wireless industry," Franken wrote in a 24-page letter to the Justice Department and the Federal Communications Commission.
"It would concentrate enormous power over the entire telecommunications sector in the hands of only two companies, and it would incentivize AT&T and Verizon to coordinate prices to the detriment of consumers."
Al Franken
Injured Chasing Burglar
Alex Trebek
"Jeopardy!" host Alex Trebek says he snapped his Achilles tendon while running after a burglar who had stolen cash, a bracelet and other items from his San Francisco hotel room.
Trebek tells KGO-TV that he also injured his other leg while falling down during the chase early Wednesday. He was on crutches later Wednesday while serving as host of the National Geographic World Championship at Google headquarters in Mountain View.
San Francisco police Lt. Troy Dangerfield says 56-year-old old Lucinda Moyers was arrested on suspicion of felony burglary and receiving stolen property. The cash and bracelet haven't been found but other items were recovered.
Trebek is scheduled for surgery on Friday and is expected to be in a cast for six weeks.
Alex Trebek
Television Deal With CBS
Epic Poker League
A new poker league hoping to become card sharks' equivalent of professional tennis or golf has a television deal with CBS, with seven hours of network programming planned for the league's inaugural year.
Epic Poker League officials told The Associated Press that the deal will include 20 hours of programming from five poker tournaments, including a $1 million free-roll no-limit Texas Hold 'em championship planned in February in Las Vegas.
The league - led by well-known poker professional Annie Duke and Jeffrey Pollack, a former World Series of Poker commissioner - requires players to qualify for tournaments through past results and recent wins in major live tournaments, in hopes of generating fields of only the toughest poker players. Most major poker tournaments are open events, with players needing only to put up a buy-in to compete.
The television coverage will be hosted by sports announcer Pat O'Brien, a current Fox Sports Radio host and Emmy-winning former TV sports announcer who covered Olympics, Super Bowls and other sports and entertainment.
Epic Poker League
Ohio Diner Sold
'Alice'
The sale of a northwest Ohio diner includes its iconic sign, which would look familiar to fans of the old TV sitcom "Alice."
The sign outside Lester's Diner in Bryan features a tilted neon coffee cup that says "14 OUNCE CUP" and appears to be pouring out a stream of coffee that takes the shape of an arrow. The Blade newspaper of Toledo reports the sign inspired the similar one for Mel's Diner on "Alice," which starred Linda Lavin and aired in the 1970s and '80s.
Lester's aging owners closed the place in May and put it up for sale. The buyers posted a sign outside this week saying the diner would become part of a regional group of Four Seasons restaurants serving American-Greek food.
'Alice'
Tweets
Lauryn Hill
After the birth of her sixth child, Lauryn Hill wants to clear up two things: Rohan (RO'-han) Marley didn't abandon her while she was pregnant, and he's not the baby's father.
The blogosphere has been abuzz after word came last week that the reclusive Grammy winner had a baby boy. Marley, the father of her five other children, sent a message on Twitter "forwarding all well wishes to Ms. Hill on the birth of her new son." That tweet, along with pictures showing him in an embrace with another woman, created speculation.
Hill has rarely discussed their yearslong relationship. She posted a message on Twitter and her website Tuesday defending Marley. She says they've had a "long and complex history" but love their five children together.
Lauryn Hill
Loses UK Battle Over Stormtrooper Helmets
George Lucas
Britain's Supreme Court on Wednesday defeated a bid by George Lucas' company to stop a prop designer making and selling replicas of the iconic stormtrooper helmets from the "Star Wars" films. The court did, however, prevent him from selling them in the United States.
Andrew Ainsworth sculpted the white helmets worn by the sinister galactic warriors in the original "Star Wars" film in 1977, and now sells replica costumes, made from the original molds, over the Internet. Lucasfilm Ltd. has been trying for years to stop him, in a battle that has climbed through the British courts.
Lucasfilm's lawyers argued that the stormtrooper suits are sculptures and therefore works of art covered by British copyright law. Two lower courts ruled in 2008 and 2009 that the costumes were props, not artworks, and so covered by a much shorter copyright period that has now expired.
The country's highest court on Wednesday upheld those decisions. The panel of five judges said "it was the 'Star Wars' film that was the work of art that Mr. Lucas and his companies created. The helmet was utilitarian in the sense that it was an element in the process of production of the film."
But the judges agreed with Lucasfilm's lawyers - and a lower court - that Ainsworth had violated Lucas's copyright in the United States by selling costumes there.
George Lucas
Admits Dodgy Practices
Piers Morgan
Embattled CNN host Piers Morgan-whose years as editor of the News of the World and the Daily Mirror are coming under increasing scrutiny amid Britain's phone-hacking and police bribery scandal-has spent much of the past week denying any involvement in questionable journalistic tactics and lashing out at his critics.
But in a nearly forgotten interview on a BBC radio program two years ago, Morgan admitted to knowing of some of the news- and gossip-gathering practices that are now under investigation by the U.K. government as well as by a Justice Department probe in the United States. He did not specifically admit to the interception or "hacking" of voicemail messages, one of the practices under official investigation since the revelation that the News of the World hacked the cellphone of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler in 2002.
But two years before the exposure of Fleet Street's methods rocked the British body politic, Morgan didn't disagree that that phone-"tapping" and other "down-in-the-gutter" tactics might have been employed in attainment of sensational scoops.
In the June 7, 2009, broadcast on BBC Radio 4 of "Desert Island Discs"-in which guests select musical works, books, and luxury items for an imaginary marooning on a remote island-interviewer Kirsty Young pressed the former Fleet Street editor about tabloid tactics that were being widely condemned at the time in Parliament and elsewhere.
Piers Morgan
Legal Woes
Golden Globes
Looks like the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. will keep the court system humming for a little while longer.
A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge will allow large portions of two separate suits against the Golden Globes producer to go forward.
Judge Kevin Brazile ruled Wednesday that a $2 million breach of contract suit filed by the HFPA's former publicist Michael Russell had demonstrated sufficient evidence that the organization had failed to make payments and violated the terms of their contract to continue up the legal chain.
In addition, Brazile ruled that Stars for a Cause, a non-profit group that is also squaring off against the annual awards show producer, had presented adequate evidence of unfair business practices, defamation, and intentional interference with economic advantages claims to continue along with its $1 million damages claims.
Golden Globes
Ending Shows At Tokyo Disneyland
Cirque du Soleil
Entertainment company Cirque du Soleil will withdraw from Tokyo Disney Resort at the end of the year, the theme park's operator said Monday, citing the impact of the March 11 quake-tsunami disaster.
"It is with regret... that due to the effects of the Great East Japan Earthquake, the business environment for this theatre has greatly changed," amusement park operator Oriental Land said in a statement.
Performances of the circus company's "ZED" show will end on December 31, it said, adding that it had enjoyed strong business success since Cirque du Soleil opened a permanent theatre in October 2008 in the Disney Resort.
Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea closed for 20 days after the quake and tsunami hit eastern Japan, depressing the combined visitor figure for the 2010 fiscal year to March 31 by 1.8 percent on-year to 25.4 million people.
Cirque du Soleil
Color For FIU Football
Rick Sanchez
Florida International University says former CNN anchor Rick Sanchez will be a radio announcer for the upcoming football season.
FIU announced Wednesday that the Miami native will be the new color analyst on WMCU-1080 AM. He will join play-by-play man Tony Calatayud.
Sanchez said in a news release that he was honored when FIU asked him to be part of the broadcasts. Two of Sanchez's sons will be attending FIU this fall.
Shortly after graduating from the University of Minnesota, Sanchez began his television career in Miami at WSVN. CNN fired him last after six years with the network following a rant in which he called The Daily Show's Jon Stewart a bigot.
Rick Sanchez
Reverse Shirt
Dollywood
A lesbian couple is asking for changes at Dollywood after an employee asked one of the women to turn her T-shirt reading "marriage is so gay" inside-out to avoid offending others on a recent visit to the Tennessee theme park complex.
Olivier Odom and Jennifer Tipton said Tuesday they want the park to be more inclusive of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender families after Odom was asked to reverse her shirt when they visited Dollywood Splash Country next to the Pigeon Forge amusement park. The story was first reported by WBIR-TV in Knoxville.
Dollywood spokesman Pete Owens said on Tuesday that Dollywood is open to all families, but their dress code policy is to ask people with clothing or tattoos that could be considered offensive to change clothes or cover up.
Owens said the couple was not asked to leave and complied with the rules to reverse the shirt when asked.
Odom said she complied so as not to make a scene in front of the children, but felt offended.
Dollywood
Cable Nielsens
Ratings
Rankings for the top 15 programs on cable networks as compiled by the Nielsen Co. for the week of July 18-24. Day and start time (EDT) are in parentheses:
1. "The Closer" (Monday, 9 p.m.), TNT, 4.87 million homes, 6.47 million viewers.
2. "Rizzoli & Isles" (Monday, 10 p.m.), TNT, 4.69 million homes, 6.39 million viewers.
3. "Pawn Stars" (Monday, 10 p.m.), History, 4.54 million homes, 6.66 million viewers.
4. "Pawn Stars" (Monday, 10:30 p.m.), History, 4.47 million homes, 6.39 million viewers.
5. "American Pickers" (Monday, 9 p.m.), History, 3.796 million homes, 5.57 million viewers.
6. "Burn Notice" (Thursday, 9 p.m.), USA, 3.790 million homes, 5.39 million viewers.
7. "Swamp People" (Thursday, 9 p.m.), History, 3.63 million homes, 5.51 million viewers.
8. "Royal Pains" (Wednesday, 9 p.m.), USA, 3.62 million homes, 5.02 million viewers.
9. "Storage Wars" (Wednesday, 10:30 p.m.), A&E, 3.46 million homes, 5.08 million viewers.
10. "True Blood" (Sunday, 9:02 p.m.), HBO, 3.4 million homes, 5.26 million viewers.
11. "Good Luck Charlie" (Sunday, 8:30 p.m.), Disney, 3.32 million homes, 4.93 million viewers.
12. "WWE Raw" (Monday, 10 p.m.), USA, 3.3 million homes, 4.98 million viewers.
13. "Covert Affairs" (Tuesday, 10 p.m.), USA, 3.24 million homes, 4.54 million viewers.
14. "Suits" (Thursday, 10 p.m.), USA, 3.21 million homes, 4.37 million viewers.
15. "WWE Raw" (Monday, 9 p.m.), USA, 3.16 million homes, 4.17 million viewers.
Ratings
In Memory
Polly Platt
Polly Platt, a producer, Oscar-nominated production designer, writer -- and ex-wife of filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich -- died Wednesday morning in Brooklyn, NY., according to published reports. She was 72 and had ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease.
Platt was nominated for an Oscar for set decoration for the 1983 movie "Terms of Endearment."
As recently as this year, she executive produced the documentary "Corman's World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel." Her other credits include producing the 1989 film "Say Anything" and executive producing the 1987 movie "Broadcast News."
As a production designer, she worked on Bogdanovich's "Targets," "The Last Picture Show," "Paper Moon" and "What's Up, Doc." On the set of "The Last Picture Show," however, her marriage to him collapsed.
I
In fact, the 1984 film "Irreconcilable Differences" was loosely based on her divorce.
Polly Platt
In Memory
Gil Bernal
Versatile saxophone player Gil Bernal has died at age 80. He performed on the 1950s pop song "Smokey Joe's Cafe" and worked with Spike Jones, Lionel Hampton and Ry Cooder.
His family tells the Los Angeles Times that Bernal died of congestive heart failure on July 17 at a Glendale hospital.
Bernal was born in the Watts area of Los Angeles. He joined a band after high school, then sang with Lionel Hampton's band, leaving in the early 1950s to form his own group and later joining bandleader Spike Jones.
A tenor saxophonist, Bernal worked on several projects with Ry Cooder, including his 1997 Cuban music album, "Buena Vista Social Club."
Gil Bernal
In Memory
John Chervokas
John Chervokas, an advertising man and wordsmith who was credited with introducing a toilet paper slogan into popular culture with his "Please Don't Squeeze the Charmin" campaign, has died at age 74.
Chervokas, who lived in Briarcliff Manor, died Saturday of a stroke at a Manhattan hospital, said his son, journalist Jason Chervokas. He had battled Parkinson's disease for five years.
Chervokas was a junior copywriter at Benton & Bowles in 1964 when, he said, the image of housewives squeezing fruit in a supermarket inspired the toilet tissue campaign.
The campaign featured television commercials in which a supermarket employee, Mr. Whipple, was assigned to keep shoppers from squeezing the Charmin. Whipple, played by actor Dick Wilson, became one of TV's best-known characters. And Charmin became the best-selling toilet paper by 1969, Procter & Gamble Co. said. Advertising Age said it was among the top 100 campaigns of the 20th century.
Chervokas had a long career in advertising, including a stint as editor in chief of Madison Avenue magazine. He retired in 1994.
His son said he was never bothered by his link to the famous toilet paper slogan.
"Embarrassed? Never," Jason Chervokas said. "To know him was to know he was proud of it."
Chervokas was born in Norwood, Mass., and graduated from Fordham University. He is survived by his wife of 48 years, Roseanna; sons Jason and Joshua; and daughter Jessica Hoyer.
John Chervokas
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