We all liked Jack Klugman, and here's another reason why.

Just read this very nice piece over on Wonkblog, remembering Jack Klugman not just for his acting chops but for a little known piece of his life. He helped get the Orphan Drug Act of 1982 through an obstreperous congress.  Sometimes we can feel a bit irreverent towards stars and their causes, but on the right issue, it's all to the good.You can read all about it HERE.



 

Don Hertzfeld animation

I caught this over on Slate, where you can read all about it and link to more.


 

Michael Wolf's Tokyo Compression

Slate has launched a new photo blog and I think this piece about the lot of Tokyo's commuters was an arresting way to start.

It makes me feel a bit bad about how much I gripe about my ten minute bus ride that drops me off halfway up to the university campus. It's been packed sometimes, but not like this.

Rolling Jubilee starts November 15

And here I was, thinking Occupy Wall Street had lost some of its momentum...shows how little I know.

How many people with your name?

I'm not on Facebook, but if I was, I would check out this fun tool to discover how many people with my name have already voted.

Fairly safe to say that in my case, there is at least one...

Josh Whedon on Romney

I'm not exactly in the core demographic for Whedon's filmwork, but I might rethink that...

 

George McGovern, R.I.P.

News that former senator and presidential hopeful George McGovern has died will stir some memories for people of a certain age. I hadn't remembered that he lost the presidential race in one of the biggest landslides in history. And I guess as a cautionary tale, I'll point out that the People, in all their wisdom, decided to re-elect the scoundrel Richard Nixon and his ilk instead.

Anyway, Slate has a very good piece by Ron Rosenbaum, conjecturing that the failure of the press to get off the campaign bus and out on the trail of more newsworthy stories may have contributed to this sorry state of affairs.

It hasn't been a good week for journalists, I'm afraid. Adrian McKinty put up a great blog post excoriating sports journalism for its failure to bring out the truth on Lance Armstrong earlier.

At the behest of my book group, I'm reading an entertaining old collection of Molly Ivins new stories called Molly Ivins Can't Say That, Can She?

We could sure use you right about now, Molly...