Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Tom Danehy: Tom's hopes and prayers for the new year-and struggles with Spotify (Tucson Weekly)
So I'm driving along, doing what I find myself doing more and more often these days-yelling at my car because Spotify (in an unholy alliance with whatever electronic stuff in my car is responsible for playing music) sucks the crud from between the toes of the character El Guapo from the movie Three Amigos. It has become a daily, white-knuckle struggle, one in which I should not have to be engaged at my age and at this point in the Age of Technology. I just want to listen to "Uptown Funk"; is that too much to ask?
Helaine Olen: 2018: The year hope began to triumph over Trump's nihilism (Washington Post)
The Trump administration is ending 2018 by engaging in another wanton act of destruction. Late last week, the Environmental Protection Agency announced it would begin the process of rolling back Obama-era rules limiting mercury emissions by coal-burning plants. The health gains to the population, the EPA declared, may not be worth the cost to businesses. Those improvements included less brain damage to children and, for the entire population, fewer asthma attacks and 11,000 fewer premature deaths each year.
Greg Sargent: There's no dealing with Trump. So a long-term plan to save the 'dreamers' is taking shape. (Washington Post)
President Trump, who appears to think nobody will remember anything he has said and done on immigration during the last year, said Wednesday that he's open to negotiating over a path to legalization for young immigrants brought here illegally as children. […] Thankfully, most signs are that Democrats and immigration advocates are treating this as the knee-slapping absurdity that it is. Instead, in behind-the-scenes talks, the bare outline of a long-term plan to save the dreamers is beginning to take shape.
Greg Sargent: The walls around Trump are crumbling. Evangelicals may be his last resort. (Washington Post)
Why does President Trump continue to keep the government shut down over his demand for a border wall, when large majorities oppose it? The most obvious answer is that he senses his long-term political survival depends on keeping his wall-adoring base behind him as his legal travails mount. What is more interesting, though, is that the core of that base support may grow increasingly dependent on the white evangelical Christians who continue fervently supporting Trump no matter what he says and does.
Jordan Crucchiola: 15 Movies to Get You Started With South Korean Horror (Vulture)
Park Chan-wook, Na Hong-jin, Kim Jee-woon, Bong Joon-ho, director Lee, and so many more have spent the last 20 years turning out some of the most adventurous, aesthetically arresting cinema in the world. And if you're a horror-movie fan, they're the crop of directors par excellence when it comes to executing the genre-blending style that defines this modern wave of critically acclaimed art-house horror.
Stephen Moss: "Age against the machine: the secret to enjoying a long life" (The Guardian)
Carl Honoré's 12 steps to help you be happy in later life
1. If you think of yourself as old, you will be old. The media will bang on about dementia and loneliness, but ignore them. Concentrate on the upside.
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Presenting
Michael Egan
sai:
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
Reader Comment
Pelosi/Trump negotiations
Instead of just saying NO to 5 billion dollars for The Wall
perhaps Nancy Pelosi should be asking
"How are you going to pay for it?"
"You've blown a trillion and a half dollar hole in the budget with your tax cuts for the wealthy . . . "
"Are you planning on taking the 5 billion from Social Security? From Medicare?"
and then
"We will consider 5 billion for The Wall IF you're willing to raise taxes on incomes of over 1 million by 1% AND raise the estate tax by 1%"
"But we will not consider any Wall money if it's going to threaten Social Security and/or Medicare"
That would put the ball squarely in Trump's court AND put the Democratic focus on saving Social Security and Medicare.
Randall
Thanks, Randall!
from Bruce
Anecdotes
• When American soldiers shot civilians at My Lai in South Vietnam, Hugh C. Thompson and two crew members, Glenn Andreotta and Larry Colburn, witnessed what was happening from a helicopter overhead. They landed the helicopter between some advancing American soldiers and a group of Vietnamese civilians consisting of children, women, and old men, and they stopped the American soldiers from killing the Vietnamese civilians. Later, Hugh C. Thompson and his crew members took off in the helicopter, and crew member Mr. Andreotta saw movement in a body-filled ditch. They landed the helicopter and rescued a two-year-old child from among the corpses. Why did they intervene to stop as much of the slaughter and save as many lives as they could? Hugh C. Thompson explained that "what was going on wasn't right."
• During World War II, a sailor found a dog, drunk, lying in a gutter. The sailor smuggled the dog on board the Coast Guard cutter Campbell, and the dog, now named Sinbad, charmed everyone so much that the ship's captain allowed him to stay on board. Sinbad was given his own bunk, his data was entered into personnel files, and his name was called during roll call-he yipped when he heard his name. Sinbad did like alcohol, and after being discovered drunk, he was given a trial, and his rank was lowered from Chief Dog to First Class Dog. During battles against German U-boats, he stayed on deck. He retired in 1948, and at a reunion in 1986, his human crewmates remembered that as long as Sinbad served on the ship, none of the sailors on the Campbell was killed in battle.
• War is horrible. After the first Battle of Bull Run, doctors saved as many wounded soldiers as they could, performing amputations as needed. Working with the doctors were Sisters of Charity nuns, who served as nurses. The nurses worked hard, and late at night they went to bed, although Sister Blanche remarked that sleeping would be difficult because of "the odor of death about this place." In the morning, the odor was worse, and it was coming from the room next to where the nuns had slept. Sister Blanche courageously entered the room and found three amputated legs lying on the floor. They were buried, but in a coffin with a dead soldier. One of the Sisters of Charity wrote in her journal, "Yesterday a man was buried with three legs."
• Pastor André Trocmé, the spiritual leader of Le Chambon, a village in southern France that resisted the Nazis and saved the lives of thousands of people, learned about the idea of conscientious objection from a German soldier in World War I. This German soldier worked as a telegrapher during the war, but he refused to carry weapons. Later, during World War II, Pastor André Trocmé did not carry weapons, but nevertheless he was effective in resisting the Nazis and in acting as a role model for others who wished to resist the Nazis.
• During the Vietnam War, a German shepherd named Bruiser became a hero. A soldier named John Flannelly was shot in the chest during a patrol, and although he commanded Bruiser to leave, Bruiser would not leave. Instead, he bit down on Mr. Fannelly's shirt and started pulling. Mr. Flannelly grabbed Bruiser's harness and Bruiser pulled him out of the danger zone, and Mr. Flannelly was able to get the medical care he needed.
• Even during a war, it is possible to respect the environment. The Israeli tank commander Major General Abraham Yaffee did not want to harm the rare wild flowers in a field; therefore, he ordered an encampment to move away from the field so that the flowers would not be trampled. In addition, he once stopped his tank and halted its fire so that a cream-colored courser, a rare bird, would have time to move out of the way.
• During the Korean War, listeners to the popular Aldrich Family radio program had to get used to Henry Aldrich's voice frequently changing from week to week - the actors who played Henry Aldrich kept getting drafted!
• "Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities." - Voltaire
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Reader Comment
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Linda >^..^<
We are all only temporarily able bodied.
Thanks, Linda!
Selected Readings
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In The Chaos Household
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Hits Billboard Chart
Barack Obama
Barack Obama made the Billboard charts this week thanks to Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda. The former president appears on "One Last Time (44 Remix)," a gospel-inspired remix of the Hamilton hit, which landed at Number 22 on Billboard's Hot R&B Songs chart.
The track, which also features Broadway star Christopher Jackson and gospel singer Bebe Winans, was released by Miranda on December 22nd as part of his "Hamildrops" series, which raises money for various nonprofits. The song's title is a reference to Obama, the 44th president of the United States, and showcases the former POTUS delivering George Washington's farewell address.
This is not actually Obama's first time appearing on a Billboard chart. The president has previously charted twice, landing on two now-defunct charts. In March 2009, A Moment in History: The Inauguration of Barack Obama landed at No. 6 on TV DVD Sales chart and in December 2015 he appeared on the Billboard + Twitter Emerging Artists chart for featuring on the song "Pop Off" by JX Cannon.
Obama is known for his love for music, particularly R&B and hip-hop. He recently sharedhis end of year 2018 music list on Facebook, which included tracks by Cardi B, Kendrick Lamar and Leon Bridges.
Barack Obama
Quran Belonged to Thomas Jefferson
Rashida Tlaib
With the swearing in of the 116th Congress on Thursday, January 3, the congressional elects who helped make 2018 a "year of the woman" have been inducted into the halls of power in Washington, DC. And with more than 100 women sworn in, US politics witnessed dozens of history-making firsts.
Along with Ilhan Omar, Palestinian-American Rashida Tlaib is one of the first two Muslim women to be elected to the House. And at her swearing in, the representative from Michigan chose to take her oath of office using a Quran that was owned by founding father Thomas Jefferson.
Jefferson's Quran was translated by George Sale in 1734, part of a two-volume translation that resides in the Congressional Library. Although no religious text is mandatory for the swearing in of new congresspeople, the symbolic gesture is one that many members of Congress opt into to mark their first day in legislature.
Tlaib also wore a traditional Palestinian garment called a throbe during Thursday's jovial first session of Congress. The garment - often hand-embroidered - features designs emblematic of the wearer's family history. In Tailb's case, her throbe was handed down by her mother, and features design elements that relate to the family's ancestral home in Beit 'Ur al-Foqa, near Ramallah.
As for Tlaib's choice to use a Quran, she says it was political and not necessarily religious. "I believe in secular government (and) my swearing in on the Koran is about me showing that the American people are made up of diverse backgrounds and we all have love of justice and freedom," she told the Detroit Free Press in December. "My faith has centered me. The prophet Mohammed was always talking about freedom and justice."
Rashida Tlaib
More Popular Than Country Albums
Latin Albums
Latin artists were responsible for eight of the 10 most viewed videos on the planet in 2018. But Latin music's striking display of streaming power was not limited strictly to video, according to a new year-end report from BuzzAngle, a data company which tracks music consumption.
The genre accounted for 9.4 percent of all album listening in the U.S. in 2018 - measured by combining physical and digital sales, song downloads (10 downloads is equal to one album) and on-demand streams (1,500 to one). This is notable: The growth means Latin albums are now more popular here than their counterparts in country music, which took up 8.7 percent of all album consumption. (Last year, country's share of album-listening exceeded Latin music's, 8.1 percent to 7.5 percent.) Latin artists are off to a strong start in 2019 as well, as fans continue to stream X100Pre, the captivating Christmas Eve release from Puerto Rican star Bad Bunny.
Individual Latin tracks also became more popular, growing from 9.5 percent in 2017 to the new level of 10.8% in 2018. (Country is at 7.9 percent.) However, BuzzAngle does not include passive listening, i.e. radio play, in song consumption - their measure only incorporates sales and on-demand streams. While Latin music outstrips country in those categories, major country radio hits still reach north of 30 million listeners a week. Still, when it comes to on-demand, Latin music is closing in on both R&B (11.2 percent) and rock (11.7 percent). That's part of the reason why everyone from Cardi B to David Guetta to Drake wanted to collaborate with Spanish-speaking artists this year.
Pivoting back to video: Latin acts accounted for 21.8 percent of all video streams in 2018, second only to rappers. That is significant, because video appears to be gaining in importance in the modern music landscape. On-demand video streams went up 24.3 percent in 2018, accelerating further after a 21.9 percent jump up in 2017. This suggests that Latin music is well positioned to expand on its gains in the coming year.
Latin Albums
'StarTalk' Pulled
Neil deGrasse Tyson
National Geographic Channel has pulled its long-running Neil deGrasse Tyson chat show, "StarTalk," off the air, at least for now, following allegations of sexual misconduct against the famed astrophysicist. "StarTalk" will remain on hiatus as a Fox Networks Group investigation into the multiple claims continues.
"StarTalk" returned for its fifth season in November and had aired just three episodes, out of a 20-episode order, when new allegations against Tyson emerged. The website Patheos reported that two women had accused Tyson of inappropriate behavior: Bucknell University's Dr. Katelyn N. Allers claimed Tyson groped her at an event in 2009, while a former assistant, Ashley Watson, said Tyson made repeated inappropriate sexual advances toward her.
"Star Talk" was scheduled to air original episodes through December and up until now, but hasn't been seen on Nat Geo since November 26. The StarTalk page on Nat Geo's website features the first three episodes of Season 5, but makes no mention of the show's current hiatus.
The timing of the allegations put Nat Geo in a tough position. Not only had it just promoted the return of "StarTalk," but its much-anticipated 13-episode series "Cosmos: Possible Worlds," the latest edition of the "Cosmos" revival hosted by Tyson, is set to premiere on March 4.
"Cosmos: Possible Worlds" will also air on the Fox network, premiering on March 3, the night before its Nat Geo launch. With just two months before air, it would be virtually impossible for Fox and Nat Geo to replace Tyson on "Cosmos." Not only does he narrate the series, but he's incorporated on-camera throughout the show. Nat Geo has touted the fact that "Cosmos: Possible Worlds" will air as a global event on National Geographic in 172 countries and 43 languages, making it an important centerpiece for the network. Should Fox and Nat Geo opt to part ways with Tyson, it would require time and effort to recut the show with a new host (such as, say, executive producer Seth MacFarlane).
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Equality Push Fails
Hollywood
Only 8 percent of Hollywood's top films in 2018 were directed by women, down from 11 percent the prior year, despite high-profile efforts to improve gender equality, a study released on Thursday showed.
The percentage is roughly unchanged from two decades ago, according to the annual study, which found a "radical underrepresentation" of women in the industry.
"The study provides no evidence that the mainstream film industry has experienced the profound positive shift predicted by so many industry observers over the last year," study author Martha Lauzen, executive director of San Diego State University's Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film, said in a statement.
The center has been producing the "Celluloid Ceiling" report for 21 years.
The overall percentage of women in behind-the-scenes movie roles rose to 20 percent from 18 percent in 2017. Women were most represented as producers, making up 26 percent of the total. Just 4 percent of cinematographers were female.
Hollywood
Untouched For 700 Years
Water Molecules
Some 700 years ago, before mankind began pumping carbon into the atmosphere and warming the climate, the Earth chilled in a centuries-long cooling event called the Little Ice Age.
Today, new research finds, the depths of the Pacific still hold memories of this colder time. Just over a mile (2 kilometers) down, the Pacific Ocean is getting a tad cooler as waters that were last at the surface during the Little Ice Age are only just now mixing with deeper, warmer waters.
This eerie echo of temperatures from a past era is important for modern climate scientists because the ocean's capacity to hold heat matters for what happens in the atmosphere and on land, said study researcher Jake Gebbie, a physical oceanographer at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts.
Gebbie and his colleague at Harvard University, Peter Huybers, had previously found that the deep waters of the Pacific are very old indeed. Below about 1.5 miles (2.5 km) beneath the surface, the waters of the deep Pacific last saw the surface around 1,000 years ago, the researchers reported in 2012. What this means, Gebbie said, is that you should be able to detect hints of what the past ocean surface was like by examining the ocean's deep waters.
The problem is that it's hard to study the bottom half of the ocean, Gebbie said. Since 2002, an international consortium called the Argo Program has used floating instruments to measure temperature, salinity and other ocean features around the globe; those instruments, however, don't go below 1.2 miles (2 km). The last global deep survey was something called the World Ocean Circulation Experiment in the 1990s, Gebbie said.
Water Molecules
Code-Name 'Corona'
Ancient Middle East
When the United States launched its first secret "spy satellites," in the 1960s, the onboard cameras captured never-before-seen views of Earth's surface. Though once used for uncovering critical military secrets of U.S. foes, those now-declassified images recently found a new purpose: providing archaeologists with an important window into the past.
Scientists are using the satellites' decades-old photos of the Middle East to reconstruct archaeological sites that disappeared many years ago, erased by urbanization, agricultural expansion and industrial growth, researchers reported in December at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union (AGU).
By comparing these "spy" images to more-recent satellite photos, scientists can track settlements and historically important sites that have since been obscured or destroyed, the researchers explained at AGU.
Code-named "Corona," the satellite initiative took shape in the late 1950s, helmed by experts with the U.S. Air Force and the CIA, according to a CIA archive.
Corona captured images of nearly the entire globe, but its main objective was photographic surveillance - primarily of the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China. From 1960 to 1972, Corona shot individual images that each covered a ground area of 10 miles by 120 miles (16 km by 193 km) on average. The project collected more than 800,000 photos that President Bill Clinton declassified in 1995, making the images available to the public through the U.S. Geological Survey, the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) reported.
Ancient Middle East
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