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Must-see morning clip: George Packer on the decline of American institutions

Fri, 17 May 2013 13:25:00 +0000

New Yorker writer George Packer stopped by "The Daily Show" to discuss his new book, "The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America," which aims to create a portrait of the power of American people and institutions over a generation. Jon Stewart describes it as "a non-fiction book that reads like a documentary film."

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
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Treasury Secretary Jack Lew has improved his signature

Tue, 07 May 2013 21:45:00 +0000

Recently inducted Treasury Secretary Jack Lew has been busy since his confirmation in February, most likely occupied with improving his hilariously bad signature -- the one that could soon have appeared on American dollar bills. But alas, it looks like Lew has an autograph more fitting for a land governed by adults, now:

Salon reached out to a bunch of handwriting experts who weighed in on Lew's puzzling signature, asking via email what the change says (or doesn't say) about Lew.

Graphologist Eileen Page, who said his first signature had "a logo factor," says that his new one "brings up more questions than answers":

“Rocky” musical coming to Broadway

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 12:54:00 +0000

"Rocky" fans will be pleased to hear that the musical adaptation of the classic film is coming to America. Sylvester Stallone, along with Stage Entertainment USA, announced that "Rocky" will open on Broadway early 2014, following a successful world premiere in Hamburg, Germany last fall.

Stallone, who wrote the original 1976 screenplay, said, “The story of Rocky was very much like my life at the time – starting out with nothing, having to fight for roles and recognition."

He continued: "So I put those feelings into the body of a boxer and I had no idea there were so many millions of people that felt the same way. [Play director] Alex Timbers and the entire creative team have not only honored that original impulse, but have made his story as exciting, heart-breaking, and inspiring as it was when Rocky first went the distance onscreen."

The Hollywood Reporter notes that though official opening dates have not yet been announced, the play will open for previews in February and open with full shows in March.

Must-see morning clip: Sudanese refugee says Americans take freedom for granted

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 13:14:00 +0000

When "60 Minutes'" Bob Simon asks Sudanese refugee Abraham Yel Nhial, "What do you like most about America?" his answer is immediate: "Freedom."

"Americans take things for granted, but the freedom we have here--it's what the whole world wants to have," says Nhial.

Steve Harvey says Hollywood is more racist than America

Fri, 15 Mar 2013 17:45:00 +0000

Comedian Steve Harvey is one of the most successful daytime talk show hosts of today. He's also a best-selling author, host of a radio show with 6 million listeners, and is now reviving the ailing game show "Family Feud." In a profile in the March 29 issue of the Hollywood Reporter, Harvey reveals that he has done all of this despite knowing that "Hollywood is still very racist."

THR explains:

"That Harvey could dramatically turn the fortunes of 'Feud' and succeed in daytime where failure is the default -- and the fact that the average African-American spends close to 47 hours a week watching live TV, more than the U.S. average (34 hours), Hispanics (28 hours) and Asians (21 hours), according to Nielsen -- has spurred industry players to say they are on the hunt for 'someone like Steve Harvey' to front their latest programming pitch. Or, in other, less coded words, 'We need a black host.' "

But, "To say Steve Harvey is succeeding because he's black is just racist," says "Family Feud" distributor Debmar-Mercury co-president Ira Bernstein. "He's an extraordinary talent. 'Feud' is not successful because Steve Harvey is black.' "

I came home to a sleeping country

Tue, 29 Jan 2013 01:00:00 +0000

Dear Cary,

After graduating from college, I joined the Peace Corps. This whole growing up thing has been great, by the way! There are more interesting things to learn about and more important things to care about every day. And the older I get, the more I can do.

I was very close to my host family in my country of service. For two years, I lived in a hut in their compound. They were work partners, friends and parents to me. They introduced me to their culture, taught me the local language and showed me more about the meaning of family and community than I could ever hope to communicate with my words or works. As proud as I am of the work that I did there, my relationship with that family and the whole village community is what I'll carry in my heart for the rest of my life.

The work was good, too. When it went well, anyway. Our projects were complicated sometimes, and they were always being carried out in low-resource settings. It could be frustrating. But seeing a village pull together, as I got to over and over again, was a delight. I could go to bed at night, dehydrated and exhausted, truly emptied out, and feel so much joy. I intend to chase that feeling for the rest of my life, and I will follow it anywhere.

America must stop blaming divorce on women

Mon, 07 Jan 2013 23:03:00 +0000

A recent poll revealed a clear tendency to blame women for not keeping their husbands happy and a habit of viewing divorced women as unwanted and pitiable.

That was in the United Arab Emirates. But what about the United States of America? You’d think a more enlightened view of women and marriage might prevail.

Think again. The Huffington Post ran a front-page piece just this week with a headline that would make any old-school patriarch proud: “Women: Five Reasons Your Divorce Is Your Fault.” The author, self-appointed intimacy expert Laura Doyle, spent several paragraphs hectoring women for sins including “Taking the same approach at home as you do at work” and “Rejecting his efforts to make you happy.” She reserves special scorn for present-day Lysistratas who are cruelly “withholding sex” from their partners, as if they were using sex as a punishment rather than simply too tired or not aroused enough to want it. Doyle’s “remedy” for this transgression? “Consider making yourself available for sex at least once a week in support of your mutual goal of connecting.” Problem solved!

North Korea says it has detained a U.S. citizen

Fri, 21 Dec 2012 15:41:00 +0000

PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) -- North Korea said Friday that an American citizen has been detained after confessing to unspecified crimes, confirming news reports about his arrest at a time when Pyongyang is facing criticism from Washington for launching a long-range rocket last week.

The American was identified as Pae Jun Ho in a brief dispatch issued by the state-run Korean Central News Agency in Pyongyang. News reports in the U.S. and South Korea said Pae is known in his home state of Washington as Kenneth Bae, a 44-year-old tour operator of Korean descent.

An expert said he is likely to become a bargaining chip for the North, an attempt to draw the U.S. into talks. Five other Americans known to have been detained in North Korea since 2009 were all eventually released.

North Korean state media said Pae arrived in the far northeastern city of Rajin on Nov. 3 as part of a tour.

Rajin is part of a special economic zone not far from Yanji, China, that has sought to draw foreign investors and tourists over the past year. Yanji, home to many ethnic Korean Chinese, also serves as a base for Christian groups that shelter North Korean defectors.

Weird news: Americans prepare for “12-12-12″

Tue, 11 Dec 2012 22:46:00 +0000

A Michigan sixth-grader will put aside her nerves and get her ears pierced on her 12th birthday. Two law-enforcement officials will exchange wedding vows at 12:12 p.m. in Pittsburgh's federal courthouse. And gamblers can take advantage of promotions some casinos are using to lure in patrons who want to test their luck.

With a once-a-century date arriving Wednesday, some people across the United Stated are betting on good fortune for 12-12-12.

In New England, Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut will offer $12 in free slots play to rewards cards members who sink $12 into the slots.

A southwestern Michigan casino is also betting that 12-12-12 is going to be a lucky day for opening its new hotel. A ribbon-cutting is planned for 12:12 p.m. Wednesday for the eight-story, 242-room hotel at FireKeepers Casino near Battle Creek.

Hours later, Anna Gandy, of Battle Creek, Mich., will head to the Lakeview Square Mall after school lets out. She realized last year that she would turn 12 on 12-12-12, her father Bryan Gandy said Tuesday. But between her sports team commitments and nerves, Anna decided to wait until Wednesday to get her ears pierced.

America’s forgotten war

Fri, 23 Nov 2012 15:00:00 +0000

IN THE EUPHORIC FIRST WEEKS after the fall of the Berlin Wall, East German protesters who had risked everything to overthrow their government and were now jockeying for position in the emerging new Germany were puzzled by a growing number of news reports from the other side of the Atlantic.

American conservatives, they kept hearing, were claiming credit for ending the Cold War and “liberating” them from the yoke of Soviet communism.

They were puzzled not just because the names of these conservatives — Gingrich, Buchanan, Kemp — were unfamiliar. What baffled them was more fundamental: they hadn’t received American help at all. The CIA, by its own later admission, was entirely absent during the long months and years when East German dissidents organized covert meetings in churches and semi-derelict apartment buildings, usually no more than a step or two ahead of the Stasi, the all-pervasive secret police.

New reason to move to Canada: More Twinkies

Wed, 21 Nov 2012 17:22:00 +0000

Americans started to panic after Hostess Brands, makers of Twinkies and Ding Dongs, moved to liquidate their assets last Friday. Although it's not clear what will happen to the now-endangered American species, the Canadian breed is doing just fine.

Reuters reports that Saputo Inc., Canada’s largest dairy processor, "has the trademark and brand rights to Hostess CupCakes and Hostess Twinkies." Sandy Vassiadis, a spokeswoman for Saputo, said, "It’s totally separate." She added, "We own the rights in Canada so what’s happening in the U.S. doesn't affect us.”

In other words, now the people who complain about Obamacare have another reason to move to Canada.

h/t Consumerist.

Even losers go to Disneyland

Wed, 21 Nov 2012 15:15:00 +0000

Many wondered how GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney would fare after the election. Much to America's surprise, Romney has been doing a lot of stuff that the 47 percent might do: Watching "Twilight" with his wife, hanging out at Disneyland and pumping his own gas, for example. And he seems to be having a good time (well, except while pumping gas).

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Does TV actually brainwash Americans?

Tue, 30 Oct 2012 13:26:00 +0000

Historically, television viewing has been used by various authorities to quiet potentially disruptive people—from kids, to psychiatric inpatients, to prison inmates. In 1992, Newsweek (“Hooking Up at the Big House”) reported, “Faced with severe overcrowding and limited budgets for rehabilitation and counseling, more and more prison officials are using TV to keep inmates quiet.” Joe Corpier, a convicted murderer, was quoted, “If there’s a good movie, it’s usually pretty quiet through the whole institution.” Both public and private-enterprise prisons have recognized that providing inmates with cable television can be a more economical method to keep them quiet and subdued than it would be to hire more guards.