I just bought a book of short stories from Amazon for my Kindle. It was written by a long-time cyber-friend and member of my online Writers group. Dustin Klein. I had received and read another of his books (signed first edition of Stella's Way) a few years ago but I didn't know until last night that he had published some of his short stories. I am eagerly looking forward to reading the book.
The title is Lost in the Shadows.
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As most citizens know, Americans pay absurdly high prices for health care. But I read in the Washington Post WONKBLOG about the case of the $1,206 toenail clipping, posted by Ezra Klein on April 2, 2013. It's a short piece, and the most ludicrous thing about it is that it's true, and stuff like this happens more often than you might think.
Read it HERE
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THIS DAY IN HISTORY
Jesse James, one of America's most notorious outlaws, was shot to death by Robert Ford, a member of his gang who hoped to collect the bounty on Jesse's head.
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WORD FOR TODAY
socialism
noun
1.
a theory or system of social organization that advocates the vesting of the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution, of capital, land, etc., in the community as a whole.
2.
(in Marxist theory) the stage following capitalism in the transition of a society to communism, characterized by the imperfect implementation of collectivist principles.
Socialists generally believe that capitalism concentrates power and wealth within a small segment of society that controls the means of production and derives its wealth through a system of exploitation. This creates a stratified society based on unequal social relations that fails to provide equal opportunities for every individual to maximize their potential, and does not utilize available technology and resources to their maximum potential in the interests of the public
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CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Born April 3, 1961
Age 51 years old
Age 51 years old
Edward Regan "Eddie" Murphy is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, singer, director, and musician. Box-office takes from Murphy's films make him the second-highest grossing actor in the United States. He was a regular cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1980 to 1984 and has worked as a stand-up comedian. He was ranked No. 10 on Comedy Central's list of the 100 Greatest Stand-ups of All Time.
He has received Golden Globe Award nominations for his performances in 48 Hrs., Beverly Hills Cop series, Trading Places, and The Nutty Professor. In 2007, he won the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor and received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of soul singer James "Thunder" Early in Dreamgirls.
Eddie Murphy's work as a voice actor includes Thurgood Stubbs in The PJs, Donkey in the Shrek series and the Chinese dragon Mushu in Disney's Mulan. In some of his films, he plays multiple roles in addition to his main character, intended as a tribute to one of his idols Peter Sellers, who played multiple roles in Dr. Strangelove and elsewhere. Murphy has played multiple roles in Coming to America, Wes Craven's Vampire in Brooklyn, the Nutty Professor films (where he played the title role in two incarnations, plus his father, brother, mother, and grandmother), Bowfinger, Norbit, and Meet Dave.
Born April 3, 1924
Age 88 years old
Age 88 years old
Doris Day (born Doris Mary Ann Kappelhoff) is an American actress, singer, and animal rights activist.
Day began her career as a big band singer in 1939. Her popularity began to rise after her first hit recording, "Sentimental Journey", in 1945. After leaving Les Brown & His Band of Renown to try a solo career, she started her long-lasting partnership with Columbia Records, which would remain her only recording label. The contract lasted from 1947 to 1967, and included more than 650 recordings
Over the course of her career, Day appeared in 39 films.
Born April 3, 1924
Died July 1, 2004
Died July 1, 2004
Marlon Brando, Jr. was an American screen and stage actor. He is widely regarded as having had a significant impact on the art of film acting. He initially gained popularity for recreating the role as Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), a Tennessee Williams play that had established him as a Broadway star during its 1947-49 stage run; and for his Academy Award-winning performance as Terry Malloy in On the Waterfront (1954), as well as for his iconic portrayal of the rebel motorcycle gang leader Johnny Strabler in The Wild One (1953). Brando was also nominated for the Oscar for playing Emiliano Zapata in Viva Zapata! (1952); Mark Antony in Joseph L. Mankiewicz's 1953 film adaptation of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar; and as Air Force Major Lloyd Gruver in Sayonara (1957), Joshua Logan's adaption of James Michener's 1954 novel.
Born April 3, 1926
Died Jan. 27, 1967
Died Jan. 27, 1967
Virgil Ivan Grissom (Lt Col, USAF), better known as Gus Grissom, born in Mitchell, Indiana, was one of the original NASA Project Mercury astronauts and a United States Air Force pilot. He was the second American to fly in space, and the first member of the NASA Astronaut Corps to fly in space twice.
Grissom was killed along with fellow astronauts Ed White and Roger Chaffee during a pre-launch test for the Apollo 1 mission at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (then known as Cape Kennedy), Florida. He was the first of the Mercury Seven to die.
Apollo 1 crew, White, Grissom, and Chaffee
You can't pay for healthcare if we're sending a trillion dollars a year to dictators.
--Brian Schweitzer
