Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Paul Krugman: "How Much Does Heterodoxy Help Progressives? (Wonkish)" (NY Times Blog)
Their agenda still needs to be tax-and-spend, not just spend.
Helaine Olen: A bully in the White House? (Washington Post)
Last week BuzzFeed and HuffPost published reports that Democratic senator and presidential candidate Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) is a serial office bully. … When it comes to the matter of treating others with respect, we should seek to raise the standard men need to meet, not lower it so women can join in our nation's bullyfest. We don't need to replace one bully with another. We deserve better than that.
Jonathan Chait: Republicans Keep Admitting Everything They Said About Obama Was a Lie (NY Mag)
When somebody says "I'll be the first to admit," it's usually an idiom, suggesting they are not trying to hide a fact that is widely known and frequently confessed. But in this case the sentence construction makes more sense if read literally. Mulvaney may actually be the first person to admit that congressional Republicans did not want to give Obama any legislative successes at all.
Andrew Tobias: If Republican Officials Go To Prison …
… maybe they should be assigned to private prisons. Out of simple fairness. They believe in privatization. They've gone a long way to privatize our prison system. In the meantime, Republican legislators might read Shane Bauer's American Prison: A Reporter's Undercover Journey Into the Business of Punishment.
Alexandra Petri: Profile of Holden Caulfield, an American boy (Washington Post)
Holden Caulfield is a high school senior from New York. Like all boys his age, he thinks a lot about what he wants to do with his life. He wants to just stand in the rye at the edge of a cliff and catch children before they fall off. That's all he would really like to do. But life is never that simple.
Tom Danehy: Valentine's Day Edition (Tucson Weekly)
For St. Valentine's Day, Tom shares his secret to a long and happy relationship
Alison Flood: Unseen Robert A Heinlein novel reworks 'awful' The Number of the Beast (The Guardian)
Science fiction novelist and academic Adam Roberts was less keen. "Heinlein certainly was a major figure in science fiction, and his early novels are still read and still worth reading … But … his later novels are, well, just awful: sprawling, self-indulgent, preachy. And, I'm sorry to say, The Number of the Beast is where the rot sets in. A very bad novel," said Roberts. Referring to a line from the book, where a lady describes a kiss - "Our teeth grated and my nipples went spung!" - Roberts said: "For many science fiction fans, it will always be the 'spung!' book."
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Presenting
Michael Egan
took the day off.
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
Reader Suggestion
A Night At The Garden
The 7 minute video the owner of Faux news is censoring
from Bruce
Anecdotes - Food
• A little boy wondered why at every suppertime, the family had to pray for its daily bread, instead of simply praying once a week. His older brother knew the answer: "We have to pray every day so the bread will be fresh."
• As a youngster, H. Allen Smith's father loved bananas. Once, he got hold of an entire stalk of bananas and ate every one. For the rest of his life, he couldn't stand to be in the same room with a banana, much less eat one.
• Queen Liliukalani of Hawaii once met Queen Victoria of England and told her that she had English blood in her veins. Queen Victoria was surprised to hear this, but Queen Liliukalani explained, "One of my ancestors ate Captain Cook."
• Q: Who thought up the idea of serving whipped cream on iced coffee or hot chocolate? A: The Italian Domenico Barbaja (1778-1841), who made a small fortune after his drinks became fashionable.
• In his old age, Gioacchino Rossini wrote piano pieces to amuse his guests. He titled one Hors d'oeuvres; its movements were titled "Radishes," "Gherkins and Butter," and "Anchovies."
• Wolf Mankowitz' father knew one of the last African Basuto chiefs who had been a cannibal. He asked the chief what human flesh had tasted like, and the chief replied, "It was delicious."
• Mark Twain always ate breakfast, no matter how much work he had to do. According to Mr. Twain, "When I have something that I must do before I get my breakfast, I always get up and get my breakfast first."
• Yogi Berra was once asked if he wanted his pizza cut into four slices, or eight. He replied, "Four. I don't think I can eat eight slices."
• "A cucumber should be well sliced, and dressed with pepper and vinegar, and then thrown out, as good for nothing." - Samuel Johnson.
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© Copyright Bruce D. Bruce; All Rights Reserved
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Reader Comment
Parity
So today my husband had a procedure to biopsy a lesion on his prostate, a gland that has affected his life for the last 5 years. We get why there are so many commercials about it. Many men are so impacted.
So while he's recovering I have to ask why women still deal with menstruation and peri-menopause and menopause crap. No one has directed researchers to get a fix for hot flashes. But they sure have a solution for my husband's issue, which doesn't affect his life like a hot flash affects a woman. I cannot tell you how sick I am of MEN determining women's health issues. Jesus fuck, give women the power already.
Wine? Guilty.
Deborah
Thanks, Deborah!
Sorta like an employer's insurance can deny birth control for a woman, by law, but not boner pills.
Guess God's will doesn't apply to limp dicks.
Bonus Links
Jeannie the Teed-Off Temp
Reader Comment
Current Events
Linda >^..^<
We are all only temporarily able bodied.
Thanks, Linda!
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
JD is on vacation.
Visit JD's site - Kitty Litter Music
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
2½ inches of rain since Wednesday night.
Award Changes
Oscars
George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Robert de Niro on Thursday joined a growing protest in Hollywood over plans by Oscars organizers to present cinematography, editing and some other awards during commercial breaks at next week's Academy Awards ceremony.
Sandra Bullock, Emma Stone and Jon Hamm also added their names to an open letter signed by directors Martin Scorsese, Spike Lee and Alfonso Cuaron demanding the decision be reversed.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced earlier this week that the Oscars for best cinematography, film editing, short films and makeup/hairstyling would be presented during the commercials in the Feb. 24 telecast. The academy said edited versions of the winner acceptance speeches would be included later in the live broadcast.
The plan is part of an effort to make the Oscar telecast shorter and boost television viewership. A total of 24 Oscars are handed out at the Hollywood ceremony. Organizers have pledged to trim its duration by about 40 minutes to three hours this year.
But the open letter, signed by more than 50 directors, actors and filmmakers, accused the academy of "relegating these essential crafts to lesser status" and insulting the professionals who work in the four areas.
Oscars
Can't Copyright 'Carlton' Moves
Alfonso Ribeiro
"The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" star Alfonso Ribeiro has been denied a copyright for the "Carlton" dance, which he's suing two videogame makers over.
The denial from the U.S. Copyright Office was revealed Wednesday in a motion to dismiss Ribeiro's lawsuit against Take-Two Interactive, the makers of NBA 2K16, which Ribeiro says illegally makes use of the dance. The document denying the copyright says the moves in the "Carlton" represent a simple dance routine rather than a work of choreography, which can be copyrighted.
A hearing on the motion to dismiss is scheduled for March 18.
Ribeiro's dance was popularized through his character, Carlton Banks, on the 1990s sitcom.
He's also suing Epic Games over the use of the dance in "Fortnite," joining several rappers suing the game over dances.
Alfonso Ribeiro
Nickelodeon Reviving 'All That'
Kenan Thompson
"All That" was the show that kept on giving to Nickelodeon over the course of a decade in the 1990s and 2000s. Now the company's president thinks a revival of the sketch-comedy series could be all that - and more.
Nickelodeon will revive the program - a "Saturday Night Live" for the tween set - with an all-new cast. But the show will have callbacks to its past as well. Kenan Thompson, the long-running "SNL" cast member who got his start on television when "All That" launched in 1994, will serve as an executive producer. Nickelodeon expects some former cast members to make appearances in the series.
The sketch comedy show "stayed in the zeitgeist for many years," Brian Robbins, president of Nickelodeon, tells Variety. "People are really fond of it." One regular sketch, "Good Burger," was set in a fast-food restaurant with a clueless cashier, and served up the premise for an original movie in 1997. Kids also loved recurring characters like "Walter the Earboy," "The Spice Boys," and "Baggin' Saggin' Barry."
Thompson is one of the people who remembers the series fondly. "It means everything to me," he told Variety. "It was my first job that I ever had. It gave me an opportunity."
Robbins was a co-creator and an executive producer of the original run of the series, which during its time featured Thompson, Kel Mitchell, Amanda Bynes, Nick Cannon and Jamie Spears, among others. Many of the cast members went on to star in other landmark Nickelodeon series, such as "The Amanda Show," "Kenan and Kel" and "Drake and Josh." Thompson said many of the show's stars remain close more than a decade after "All That" went off the air.
Kenan Thompson
Zulu Social Aid & Pleasure Club
Mardi Gras
New Orleans' widely recognized Zulu Social Aid & Pleasure Club says its tradition of using black makeup for its Mardi Gras float riders is not the same as "blackface," a controversy that has embroiled officials nationwide.
The club Wednesday distributed a statement in an effort to head off any criticism of its long-standing custom of parade riders blackening their faces. The statement says Zulu parade costumes bear no resemblance to those worn by "blackface" minstrel performers at the turn of the century. It also says Zulu's costumes are designed to honor garments worn by South African Zulu warriors and notes the tradition hails from poverty in the post-Reconstruction South, when makeup - not masks -was the only option available to them.
The New Orleans Advocate reports the club's statement comes just weeks before it prepares to roll on March 5, Fat Tuesday.
Mardi Gras
Ice Shelves Buckle
Antarctic
The filling and draining of meltwater lakes has been found to cause a floating Antarctic ice shelf to flex, potentially threatening its stability.
A team of British and American researchers, co-led by the University of Cambridge, has measured how much the McMurdo ice shelf in Antarctica flexes in response to the filling and draining of meltwater lakes on its surface. This type of flexing had been hypothesised before and simulated by computer models, but this is the first time the phenomenon has been measured in the field. The results are reported in the journal Nature Communications.
The results demonstrate a link between surface melting and the weakening of Antarctic ice shelves and support the idea that recent ice shelf breakup around the Antarctic Peninsula may have been triggered, at least in part, by large amounts of surface meltwater produced in response to atmospheric warming.
As the climate continues to warm, more and more ice shelves may become susceptible to flex, fracture and break up over the coming century.
Most of the Antarctic continent is covered by the Antarctic Ice Sheet, which is up to four kilometres thick and contains enough ice to raise global sea levels by about 58 metres. Over most of the continent and for most of the year, air temperatures are well below zero and the ice surface remains frozen. But around 75% of the ice sheet is fringed by floating ice shelves, which are up to a kilometre thick, mostly below sea level, but with tens of metres of their total height protruding above the water. In the summer months, when air temperatures rise above freezing, the surfaces of these ice shelves are susceptible to melting.
Antarctic
Same-Sex Couples Sue
Japan
Thirteen gay couples filed Japan's first lawsuit challenging the country's rejection of same-sex marriage Thursday, arguing the denial violates their constitutional right to equality.
Six couples holding banners saying "Marriage For All Japan" walked into Tokyo District Court to file their cases against the government, with similar cases filed by three couples in Osaka, one couple in Nagoya and three couples in Sapporo.
Plaintiff Kenji Aiba, standing next to his partner Ken Kozumi, told reporters he would "fight this war together with sexual minorities all around Japan."
Aiba and Kozumi have held onto a marriage certificate they signed at their wedding party in 2013, anticipating Japan would emulate other advanced nations and legalize same-sex unions.
That day has yet to come, and legally they are just friends even though they've lived as a married couple for more than five years. So they decided to act rather than waiting.
Japan
Estate Cancels Musical's Chicago Dates
Michael Jackson
The Michael Jackson Estate has called off a Chicago run of its jukebox musical, Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough, ahead of the release of the controversial documentary Leaving Neverland. The production was set to open around Halloween; it will now open on Broadway in New York in the summer of 2020.
The Estate and producers Columbia Live Stage blamed the cancellation on scheduling difficulties related to a recent strike by the actors' union, Actors Equity. The strike, which was declared on January 7th, ended on February 8th.
Meanwhile, doc Leaving Neverland, in which two men claim the Jackson sexually molested them as youngsters, is set to premiere on HBO on March 3rd. The four-hour film will run in two installments, with the second on March 4th.
Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough features a book by Lynn Nottage, who has twice won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for 2009's Ruined and 2017's Sweat. Director Christopher Wheeldon is leading the project and handling its choreography; he won a Best Choreography Tony for his adaptation of An American in Paris. They intend to hold a developmental work session in New York this fall.
Michael Jackson
Massive Earthquake Reveals Mountains
Bolivia
Most schoolchildren learn that the Earth has three (or four) layers: a crust, mantle and core, which is sometimes subdivided into an inner and outer core. That's not wrong, but it does leave out several other layers that scientists have identified within the Earth, including the transition zone within the mantle.
In a study published this week in Science, Princeton geophysicists Jessica Irving and Wenbo Wu, in collaboration with Sidao Ni from the Institute of Geodesy and Geophysics in China, used data from an enormous earthquake in Bolivia to find mountains and other topography on the base of the transition zone, a layer 660 kilometers (410 miles) straight down that separates the upper and lower mantle. (Lacking a formal name for this layer, the researchers simply call it "the 660-km boundary.")
Big earthquakes are vastly more powerful than small ones -- energy increases 30-fold with every step up the Richter scale -- and deep earthquakes, "instead of frittering away their energy in the crust, can get the whole mantle going," Irving said. She gets her best data from earthquakes that are magnitude 7.0 or higher, she said, as the shockwaves they send out in all directions can travel through the core to the other side of the planet -- and back again. For this study, the key data came from waves picked up after a magnitude 8.2 earthquake -- the second-largest deep earthquake ever recorded -- that shook Bolivia in 1994.
The technology depends on a fundamental property of waves: their ability to bend and bounce. Just as light waves can bounce (reflect) off a mirror or bend (refract) when passing through a prism, earthquake waves travel straight through homogenous rocks but reflect or refract when they encounter any boundary or roughness.
The researchers were surprised by just how rough that boundary is -- rougher than the surface layer that we all live on. "In other words, stronger topography than the Rocky Mountains or the Appalachians is present at the 660-km boundary," said Wu. Their statistical model didn't allow for precise height determinations, but there's a chance that these mountains are bigger than anything on the surface of the Earth. The roughness wasn't equally distributed, either; just as the crust's surface has smooth ocean floors and massive mountains, the 660-km boundary has rough areas and smooth patches. The researchers also examined a layer 410 kilometers (255 miles) down, at the top of the mid-mantle "transition zone," and they did not find similar roughness.
Bolivia
Dirty Jokes in Latrine Mosaics
Ancient Romans
As men relieved themselves at the public toilets in the coastal city of Antiochia ad Cragum some 1,800 years ago, they probably would have been amused by dirty scenes crafted into floor mosaics, archaeologists have found.
The second-century mosaics, found inside a Roman latrine in Turkey, show scenes that clearly play on myth: Narcissus fascinated with his own phallus and Ganymede getting his genitals sponged clean by a bird.
"We were stunned at what we were looking at," said Michael Hoff, an archaeologist at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. "You have to understand the myths to make it really come alive, but bathroom humor is kind of universal as it turns out."
The two mosaic scenes twist common tropes in Greek and Roman art. Narcissus is typically shown falling in love with his own reflection in water. In the mosaic at Antiochia ad Cragum, which was likely created in the second century, only half of the scene is preserved -but, Hoff told Live Science, "it's the good half."
The latrine would have had clean water channels as well as seats made of marble or wood, which are now lost. Hoff said he suspects the public bathroom would have been used primarily by men. It shared a wall with the grand bath and was next to the bouleuterion, or council house, and "should have served the large crowds with its location," said Birol Can, a mosaic expert at Usak University in Turkey, who worked on the excavation.
Ancient Romans
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