Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Helaine Olen: Alabama's abortion ban doesn't promote life. It exhibits contempt forit. (Washington Post)
That the lecherous Donald Trump is presiding over this sustained rollback of women's reproductive rights and seeming social breakdown is a feature, not a bug. We know that banning abortion doesn't stop it. Instead, it drives women to desperate measures, including dangerous, back-alley procedures. It stands to reason that women will die if the Supreme Court ultimately upholds these laws. Denying a woman a right to a legal abortion is not an expression of love for women and children. It is instead an expression of hatred and contempt.
DAHLIA LITHWICK: Alabama's Extremist Abortion Bill Ruins John Roberts' Roe Plan (Slate)
SCOTUS was all teed up to quietly gut America's abortion rights. Then Alabama happened.
Agnes Callard: Against Advice (The Point)
We live in a glorious era of podcasting, public conversation and boundary-crossing interest in niche academic areas. It's a great time to be a public intellectual, except for one thing: the part of the interview known as the "advice segment." When someone is found to have specialized knowledge that provokes public engagement and interest, you can bet she will be asked to offer suggestions as to how others might follow in her footsteps. And you can bet those suggestions will be useless.
Casey N. Cep: The Hidden Harper Lee (Paris Review)
At the end of the profile that Harper Lee wrote of Truman Capote when he published In Cold Blood, she speculated that "Kansans will spend the rest of their days at the tantalizing game of discovering Truman." It was an odd claim; Capote loved publicity so much that even before he died, there was little left to discover about his time in Kansas, or anywhere else. Lee, by contrast, was so elusive that even her mysteries have mysteries: not only what she wrote, but how; not only when she stopped, but why.
Lux Alptraum: NSFW Videos Are the New Sex-Ed for Adults - OneZero (Medium)
For the past 15 years, Swedish filmmaker Erika Lust has devoted herself to the world of indie adult cinema, using her talents to create stunningly beautiful films that document a variety of intimate relationships and sexual experiences. Through her work, Lust has seen firsthand how ill-equipped many of us are to talk about sex, or even explore our own sexualities. And over the years she's worked to help move the conversation forward.
Tom Danehy: Goodbye Dick Tomey (Tucson Weekly)
Tom says goodbye to the finest football coach the Arizona Wildcats ever had.
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Presenting
Michael Egan
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from Bruce
Anecdotes
• During World War II, almost every weekend Walt Disney would take his children to an amusement park or some other entertainment. His younger daughter, Sharon, remembers, "There was a brass ring on the merry-go-round at Griffith Park, and you'd lean out as far as you could. If you got the brass ring, you got a free ride." On one memorable, magical day, Sharon grabbed the brass ring over and over. She says, "I suspected something was wrong. I found out later that dad had bribed the kid who ran the ride to let me get it." Walt was a kind man in many ways. An employee - an artist - fell ill and was unable to report to work for almost six months. Walt kept sending his paycheck to the artist's home. His brother Roy was also generous. In Walt's early days, before he became a major success and instead was struggling financially, Roy sensed that he needed monetary help. He sent Walt a blank check and a note, "Kid, I haven't heard from you, but I just have a suspicion that you could use a little money. I am enclosing a check. Fill it in with any amount up to thirty dollars." Walt filled it out for $30, which was quite a lot of money back in the early 1920s. In his early, struggling days, Walt once was close to closing a deal to do an educational film for a dentist for $500, but he was unable to meet him to close the deal. When the dentist asked Walt why they couldn't meet right away, Walt replied, "I haven't any shoes." He had had them repaired at a shoemaker's shop, but he couldn't pick them up until he had the money to pay his bill. The dentist paid for the repair to Walt's shoes, had the shoes delivered to Walt, and then the two men met and closed the deal.
• Zora Neale Hurston, author of Their Eyes were Watching God, was her own original person. She once took a nickel from the cup of a blind beggar, promising to pay it back but saying that she really needed the fare for the subway. A man once propositioned her on the elevator. She hit him hard, he fell on the floor, and when the elevator door opened, she walked away without looking back. As a creative person, she often lacked money. One day she was thrown out of her one-room house for non-payment of rent. She had a little money, but she decided to use it to buy new shoes because her old shoes resembled scraps. While she was in the shoe store, she received a telegram offering her a $200 advance for a book. She ran out of the shoe store wearing one old shoe and one new shoe in her hurry to get to a Western Union office and send a telegram accepting the offer.
• When Fred Smith was an undergraduate at Yale University, he wrote a paper for an economics class that proposed the overnight delivery service that became FedEx. The overnight delivery service would have its own planes, depots, posting stations, and delivery vans. His professor gave him a C and wrote, "The concept is interesting and well-formed, but in order to earn better than a 'C,' the idea must be feasible." Mr. Smith started the company anyway, and like many or most beginning companies, it ran into financial difficulties. At one point, FedEx had only $5,000 in its checking account, and it had to pay a $24,000 jet fuel bill. Mr. Smith took the $5,000, flew to Las Vegas, played blackjack, and won $27,000. In 2012, FedEx was worth approximately $28 billion and Mr. Smith was worth approximately $2 billion.
• Vencenzo Lombardi greatly admired the tenor Enrico Caruso and early in Mr. Caruso's career told conductor Leopoldo Mugnone that soon the tenor would be making 1,000 lire a night. Mr. Mugnone disagreed: "Nonsense! When Enrico Caruso makes 1,000 lire a night, I'll be the pope!" Soon afterward, Mr. Caruso was making 1,000 lire a night, and Mr. Lombardi sought Mr. Mugnone. When he found him, Mr. Lombardi pretended to kneel and kiss the conductor's feet. Mr. Mugnone exclaimed, "What the h*ll!" Mr. Lombardi said to him, "Haven't you heard? Caruso is making 1,000 lire a night. You're the pope!"
• An organ grinder once played music from Gioachino Rossini's Barber of Seville under the window of rival composer Fromental Halévy, who told him, "I will give you a Louis d'or if you go and play music from one of my operas under Rossini's windows." The organ grinder replied, "I cannot do that. Rossini has paid me two Louis d'or to play his music under your windows." By the way, some of Mr. Rossini's friends wanted to erect a statue of him. Told that the statue would cost approximately 20,000 liras, Mr. Rossini proposed, "Why don't you give me 10,000 liras, and I will stand on the pedestal myself?"
• We should pay teachers a low wage. Let's say $6 an hour. And let's not pay them for preparation time. We'll just pay for the hours they spend teaching. That would be perhaps five hours a day. So that will be $30 a day for each child in a teacher's classroom. (After all, look at how much childcare costs these days!) Let's say that teachers have 20 children in their classroom. That will be $600 a day. Teachers work only 180 days a year. That means that teachers who teach 20 children should make $108,000 a year. Sounds about right.
• Science fiction writer Ray Bradbury loved theater and produced several of his own plays. He did not make money doing this. When his wife was still alive, every few years he would say to her, "Is this the year we open the window and throw the money out?" She would ask, "You want to do another play?" After he replied, "Yeah," she would say, "Open the window." Mr. Bradbury says, "When I do a play, I throw the money out and it never comes back. And I don't expect it to."
• "Money, if it does not bring you happiness, will at least help you be miserable in comfort." - Helen Gurley Brown
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House Democrats Marathon Reading Session
Mueller Report
Live, from a tiny parlor in the Capitol, House Democrats are reading aloud nearly 400 pages of special counsel Robert Mueller's report.
The marathon is likely to stretch into the wee hours of Friday. The duty will be split among more than two dozen lawmakers.
Democratic Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon of Pennsylvania said "The American people need to hear from the report itself," adding, "summaries won't do."
Mueller did not find evidence that President Donald Trump conspired with the Russians to tip the 2016 election. But he did not answer whether Trump obstructed justice.
The attempt to publicize Mueller's report comes amid uncertainty about whether he will testify to Congress. Democrats have said they are hopeful Mueller will appear, but are willing to subpoena him if necessary.
Mueller Report
Rebooting 'Saw' Horror Franchise
Chris Rock
Lionsgate and Twisted Pictures are teaming up with Chris Rock to bring a new "Saw" film to theaters on Oct. 23, 2020, Chairman of Lionsgate's Motion Picture Group Joe Drake announced on Thursday.
Rock will star in the project that he is also executive producing. The film will be produced by longtime "Saw" producers Mark Burg and Oren Koules. Darren Lynn Bousman, who helmed three of the most successful films in the "Saw" franchise, will direct this reimagining. The screenplay is based on a story by Rock and written by Pete Goldfinger and Josh Stolberg. Daniel Heffner and the original creators of "Saw," James Wan and Leigh Whannell, will also executive produce.
"When Chris Rock came to us and described in chilling detail his fantastic vision that reimagines and spins-off the world of the notorious Jigsaw Killer, we were all-in," Drake said in a statement. "'Saw' is one of the highest grossing horror franchises of all-time and it's one of Lionsgate's most successful film series. This upcoming film will still be as mind bending and intense as all the previous 'Saw films.' Chris conceived this idea and it will be completely reverential to the legacy of the material while reinvigorating the brand with his wit, creative vision and passion for this classic horror franchise."
Rock added: "I've been a fan of 'Saw' since the first film in 2004. I am excited by the opportunity to take this to a really intense and twisted new place."
Rock is a comedian who has won four Emmy Awards and three Grammy Awards as a writer and stand-up. He will next be seen in "Molly" as well as Netflix's "Dolemite is My Name!" He will soon go into production for the fourth season of "Fargo."
Chris Rock
Ordered Back To Jail
Chelsea Manning
Fresh off a 62-day incarceration for defying a grand jury subpoena, Chelsea Manning, the former U.S. Army intelligence analyst and anti-secrecy activist, was remanded again Thursday afternoon after a federal judge held her in contempt of court.
United States Marshals took Manning back into custody at the U.S. District Courthouse in Alexandria, Virginia, Thursday afternoon after she refused to cooperate, yet again, with a subpoena to testify before another secret federal grand jury.
Manning was set free last Thursday when the first grand jury's term expired. Upon release, however, prosecutors hit her with a second subpoena to appear Thursday before a separate grand jury.
At a short press conference prior to a Thursday hearing, Manning said she was prepared to return to jail "indefinitely" rather than testify.
Manning's latest confinement will persist until she complies with the subpoena or until the grand jury expires, U.S. Judge Anthony Trenga said in court on Thursday. Unlike her first confinement, after 30 days, Manning will be subject to a daily fine of $500. After 60 days, Manning will face a fine of $1,000 per day.
Chelsea Manning
Strange Canary Yellow Glass
Libyan/Egyptian Desert
A strange kind of yellow, exotic glass found across some of the world's desert regions has finally had its mysterious origins identified - almost 30 million years after it formed on Earth.
Libyan desert glass is a naturally occurring kind of glass that's found in the eastern stretches of the Sahara desert, in eastern Libya and western Egypt. Its rare yellow colour has seen it used decoratively going back to the age of Tutankhamun, but desert glass has been around a lot longer than that.
The formation of this strange glass has been dated as far back as some 29 million years ago, but it's never been entirely clear what forces brought the material into existence on Earth, although two major hypotheses have dominated the conversation.
"It has been a topic of ongoing debate as to whether the glass formed during meteorite impact, or during an airburst, which happens when asteroids called Near Earth Objects explode and deposit energy in the Earth's atmosphere," says geologist and planetary scientist Aaron Cavosie from Curtin University in Australia.
In a new study, Cavosie examined small grains of the mineral zircon embedded in samples of the Libyan desert glass. The analysis turned up trace evidence of another mineral called reidite, which forms in high pressure, but only during meteorite impacts (as it's found solely in impact craters), not from airbursts.
Libyan/Egyptian Desert
Unstable Ice
West Antarctic
By combining 25 years of European Space Agency satellite altimeter measurements and a model of the regional climate, the UK Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling (CPOM) have tracked changes in snow and ice cover across the continent.
A team of researchers, led by Professor Andy Shepherd from the University of Leeds, found that Antarctica's ice sheet has thinned by up to 122 metres in places, with the most rapid changes occurring in West Antarctica where ocean melting has triggered glacier imbalance.
This means that the affected glaciers are unstable as they are losing more mass through melting and iceberg calving than they are gaining through snowfall.
The team found that the pattern of glacier thinning has not been static. Since 1992, the thinning has spread across 24% of West Antarctica and over the majority of its largest ice streams -- the Pine Island and Thwaites Glaciers -- which are now losing ice five times faster than they were at the start of the survey.
The study, published today in Geophysical Research Letters, used over 800 million measurements of the Antarctic ice sheet height recorded by the ERS-1, ERS-2, Envisat, and CryoSat-2 satellite altimeter missions between 1992 and 2017 and simulations of snowfall over the same period produced by the RACMO regional climate model.
West Antarctic
Nuclear 'Coffin'
Marshall Islands
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres raised concerns Thursday that a concrete dome built last century to contain waste from atomic bomb tests is leaking radioactive material into the Pacific.
Speaking to students in Fiji, Guterres described the structure on Enewetak atoll in the Marshall Islands as "a kind of coffin" and said it was a legacy of Cold War-era nuclear tests in the Pacific
In the Marshalls, numerous islanders were forcibly evacuated from ancestral lands and resettled, while thousands more were exposed to radioactive fallout.
The island nation was ground zero for 67 American nuclear weapons tests from 1946-58 at Bikini and Enewetak atolls, when it was under US administration.
The tests included the 1954 "Bravo" hydrogen bomb, the most powerful ever detonated by the United States, about 1,000 times bigger than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.
Marshall Islands
West Coast
Gray Whales
Dozens of gray whales have been found dead along the U.S. West Coast in recent weeks and some scientists believe the cause lies far to the north, in the heated-up Arctic waters off Alaska.
Fifty-eight gray whales have been found stranded and dead so far this year in sites stretching from California to Alaska, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
The latest discovery announced on Wednesday by NOAA was a dead gray whale in Turnagain Arm, a narrow glacier-fed channel off Anchorage where gray whales rarely venture.
"They're moving north from their wintering grounds in Mexico and appear to be running out of steam," Michael Milstein, a spokesman for NOAA's Fisheries Service, said on Thursday.
Dead whales examined so far have been malnourished, and the current hypothesis is the animals failed to eat enough last year in their summering grounds in the Bering and Chukchi seas off Alaska, Milstein said.
Gray Whales
Underground Network Of Microbes
'Wood Wide Web'
Trees, from the mighty redwoods to slender dogwoods, would be nothing without their microbial sidekicks. Millions of species of fungi and bacteria swap nutrients between soil and the roots of trees, forming a vast, interconnected web of organisms throughout the woods. Now, for the first time, scientists have mapped this "wood wide web" on a global scale, using a database of more than 28,000 tree species living in more than 70 countries.
Before scientists could map the forest's underground ecosystem, they needed to know something more basic: where trees live. Ecologist Thomas Crowther, now at ETH Zurich in Switzerland, gathered vast amounts of data on this starting in 2012, from government agencies and individual scientists who had identified trees and measured their sizes around the world. In 2015, he mapped trees' global distribution and reported that Earth has about 3 trillion trees.
Inspired by that paper, Kabir Peay, a biologist at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, emailed Crowther and suggested doing the same for the web of underground organisms that connects forest trees. Each tree in Crowther's database is closely associated with certain types of microbes. For example, oak and pine tree roots are surrounded by ectomycorrhizal (EM) fungi that can build vast underground networks in their search for nutrients. Maple and cedar trees, by contrast, prefer arbuscular mycorrhizae (AM), which burrow directly into trees' root cells but form smaller soil webs. Still other trees, mainly in the legume family (related to crop plants such as soybeans and peanuts), associate with bacteria that turn nitrogen from the atmosphere into usable plant food, a process known as "fixing" nitrogen.
Local climate sets the stage for the wood wide web, the team reports today in Nature. In cool temperate and boreal forests, where wood and organic matter decay slowly, network-building EM fungi rule. About four in five trees in these regions associate with these fungi, the authors found, suggesting the webs found in local studies indeed permeate the soils of North America, Europe, and Asia.
'Wood Wide Web'
Top 20
Global Concert Tours
The Top 20 Global Concert Tours ranks artists by average box office gross per city and includes the average ticket price for shows Worldwide. The list is based on data provided to the trade publication Pollstar by concert promoters and venue managers. Week of May 15, 2019:
1. Eric Church; $2,791,730; $96.01.
2. Elton John; $2,318,293; $138.34.
3. Justin Timberlake; $2,117,752; $130.88.
4. Metallica; $2,102,293; $117.72.
5. Fleetwood Mac; $2,015,325; $146.25.
6. Michael Bublé; $1,517,024; $124.47.
7. Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band; $1,332,152; $112.72.
8. Cher; $1,327,800; $113.21.
9. Bad Bunny; $1,275,100; $95.23.
10. Arctic Monkeys; $1,233,530; $60.77.
11. KISS; $1,232,200; $105.33.
12. Post Malone; $1,190,646; $77.10.
13. Travis Scott; $1,164,791; $82.48.
14. Mumford & Sons; $1,081,829; $75.48.
15. Blake Shelton; $1,044,392; $89.58.
16. Marc Anthony; $1,040,213; $108.98.
17. Shawn Mendes; $995,521; $69.67.
18. Florence + The Machine; $972,584; $68.37.
19. Kenny Chesney; $953,200; $81.71.
20. André Rieu; $946,419; $80.78.
Global Concert Tours
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