from Bruce
Anecdotes
Ignorant
• Rabbi Isaac Elhanan Spektor received a visit from a young man who was wondering whether he should give up his belief in God and become a free thinker. Rabbi Spektor asked whether the young man had read the Talmud. The answer came back: No. Had he read Maimonides? No. Had he read the Torah? No. Had he read Moses Mendelssohn? No. The Rabbi sighed and said, “Young man, you are too ignorant to call yourself a free thinker. You should call yourself by your correct name — an ordinary ignoramus.”
Marriage
• After a man and woman of Sidon had been married for 20 years without having any children, they were required by law to get a divorce. Rabbi Simeon ben Yohai told them that just as they had had a festive banquet when they got married, so now they should have one as they got a divorce. At the banquet, the husband told his wife that although he was divorcing her, she could have whatever she valued most in what had been their house. That night, as he slept, his divorced wife ordered her servants to remove him from his house to the house of her father. When her divorced husband woke up, he asked, “Where am I?” She told him, and when he asked why he was there, she replied, “Don’t you remember your telling me last night that I may take with me whatever I like best when I return to my father’s house? Nothing in the whole world do I like better than you!” They then went to Rabbi Simeon ben Yohai and remarried. (This time, she became pregnant, after the good Rabbi had prayed for her.)
• A couple of Jewish painters were working inside a Catholic church when they became intrigued by a ritual. After asking what the ritual was, they learned that a nun was being prepared for the ceremony of professional — a ceremony that could be likened to a wedding between the nun and Jesus. After asking permission, the Jews were allowed to be present at the actual ceremony, but a surprised priest asked what they were doing there. The Jews replied, “We’re relatives of the groom.”
• A Quaker thought about proposing, but he hesitated because he wanted to make the right decision. However, while having tea at his loved one’s house, he asked for half a cup of tea, and she filled his cup exactly half full. This so pleased the Quaker that he proposed. Years after they were married, his wife asked him why he had decided to propose to her. He explained the matter of the half a cup of tea, and she replied, “I remember that afternoon well — there wasn’t another drop in the teapot.”
• Abraham Lincoln liked to tell a story about a soon-to-be justice of the peace who gave a marriage certificate to two people although he had not yet been authorized to hold office. The “marriage” certificate read: “To all the world Greeting. Know ye that John Smith and Peggy Myres is hereby certified to go together and do as old folks does, anywhere inside coperas precinct, and when my commission comes I am to marry them good and date em back to kivver accidents.”
• In the old days, women frequently died in childbirth, and their husbands remarried quickly. Only a few months after his first wife had died, Methodist preacher Joshua Thomas, aka “the Parson of the Islands,” proposed marriage to a young woman. She asked, “Isn’t this rather sudden?” He replied, “But I’ve had my eye on you for quite a while.”
• After Sydney Smith was married, he tossed six worn teaspoons into his bride’s lap, and then he explained that he had just fulfilled one of his marriage vows — he had endowed his wife with all his worldly goods.
Mass
• Kathleen O’Connell Chesto tells this story about attending Mass with her two-year-old daughter, Liz. In his homily, the priest described Solomon’s Temple as “magnificent.” Liz recognized the word, so she stood up and told the congregation, “My Daddy calls me magnificent.” The priest stopped his homily and said to the congregation, “Isn’t that what being a Christian is all about? Each of us can say that we have a Daddy Who thinks that we are magnificent.”
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© Copyright Bruce D. Bruce; All Rights Reserved
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Presenting
Michael Egan
U.S.A. said:
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
BRUCE'S RECOMMENDATION
BANDCAMP MUSIC
BRUCE'S RECOMMENDATION OF BANDCAMP MUSIC
Music: "Never Miss Missing You"
Album: KISS THE COOK
Artist: Squirrel Butter
Artist Location: Seattle, Washington
Info: “Based in Seattle, husband & wife duo Squirrel Butter, Charlie Beck & Charmaine Slaven, performs traditional and original music primarily influenced by Appalachian, early country, jug band, and blues artists from the late 1800’s through 1950’s.”
“Featuring mostly original music written by Charlie Beck, this 14-track album includes many guest musicians for a full band sound on most of the tracks.”
Squirrel Butter performs “Whiskey and Wine” from their BANJO CLOG album.
Price: $1 (USD) for track; $12 (USD) for 14-track album
Genre: Americana
Links:
KISS THE COOK
Squirrel Butter on Bandcamp
Other Links:
David Bruce's Amazon Author Page
David Bruce's Smashwords Page
David Bruce's Blog #1
David Bruce's Blog #2
David Bruce's Blog #3
David Bruce's Apple iBookstore
David Bruce has over 140 Kindle books on Amazon.com.
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
Reader Suggestion
Look
Hi Marty,
Here's a little something from The Lincoln Project. Be sure to "look at" the comments below the video!
New Venture
Michael Egan
Bonus Links
Jeannie the Teed-Off Temp
Reader Comment
Current Events
Evan on Biden's daily routines
LOVE the way Evan expresses himself.
"Pause to note how this is kind of adorable when the president is a competent, compassionate man who loves this country and is not a criminal, whereas if this were Donald Trump we'd be mocking it mercilessly. Kinda like how we were like AWWWW YAY when Biden got to go to Michigan and drive a truck, as opposed to when they'd throw Truck Day for Trump. Then again, Biden's Truck Day would never be followed by one million leaks from White House officials about how they had Truck Day because the baby was in a fit of rage and needed to be distracted from the witch hunts."
that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Late May in Southern California and the tomatoes at the grocery store are from Canada? Extra crunchy, too.
The One Where
‘Smelly Cat’
“Smelly Cat” is undoubtedly one of the most iconic musical moments of modern classic sitcom “Friends” and now, thanks to the HBO Max reunion special, the ditty has been updated for a whole new generation of fans.
It wasn’t quite a remix, but Lady Gaga added her signature belt to the closest thing to a hit Phoebe Buffay (Lisa Kudrow) ever had.
Kudrow first sang “Smelly Cat” on the second season of “Friends,” in an episode entitled “The One With the Baby on the Bus.” The actor sat down on the recreated coffeehouse set to strum the tune almost 26 years since that first performance during “Friends: The Reunion.” She noted she should “be Phoebe for this” and sang the first verse alone. But, a simple trip down memory lane got a boost of star power when Gaga popped into Central Perk, guitar in hand, and joined Kudrow in the rendition of the song.
Midway through the song, Kudrow told Gaga, “That was not bad.” The singer also made a nod to her Ally character in “A Star Is Born” by drawing her finger down her nose. They were also joined by a backing gospel choir to finish the number. After the performance, still in character as Phoebe, Kudrow mumbled, “I still think it’s better when it’s just me.” Gaga agreed, at which Kudrow laughed and replied, “You heard it!”
“Smelly Cat” was a running gag on “Friends” and was featured as such subsequent episode plots as Phoebe recording a professional version of the song and Phoebe’s ex-singing partner (E.G. Daily) selling it as a jingle for cat litter. The song was written by “Friends” writers Adam Chase and Betsy Borns, as well as Kudrow and musician Chrissie Hynde. Hynde appeared in “Smelly Cat’s” debut episode as Stephanie, a professional musician who is hired to sing at Central Perk and ends up sitting on the orange couch and dueting with Phoebe, not unlike how Kudrow and Gaga took on the number in “Friends: The Reunion.”
‘Smelly Cat’
‘Doggface’
Nathan Apodaca
Idaho’s cranberry-juice-sipping TikTok star has found a new way to help his home state.
Nathan Apodaca, better known by his social media handle Doggface, is preparing to rent out his famous trailer to raise money for Idaho’s homeless. The project was inspired by his own experience living in a tent in 2019.
Apodaca, 38, first shot to fame in September after his TikTok video went viral. It showed him sipping Ocean Spray’s Cran-Raspberry and lip-syncing to Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams” while skateboarding through Idaho Falls.
The video has been viewed more than 100 million times across all platforms. It skyrocketed the 1977 “Dreams” to No. 1 on iTunes and was the second-most-watched TikTok video of 2020. Apodaca has since starred in commercials with Snoop Dogg, skateboarded with Wiz Khalifa and filmed a segment for President Joe Biden’s virtual inauguration parade.
And while his video was an instant hit, it was Apodaca’s humble story that most endeared him to the public. After going viral, Apodaca revealed in interviews that he was living in a trailer with no running water. Parked in his brother’s front yard, he would walk inside every time he needed to shower or use the bathroom. His trailer has since become “iconic,” according to Apodaca; a representation of how far he has come in the last eight months.
Nathan Apodaca
Petition Denied
Cosby
The Pennsylvania Parole Board has turned down comedian Bill Cosby's petition to be released from a 10-year prison sentence for aggravated indecent assault, citing his refusal to participate in a therapy program for sexually violent predators.
Laura Treaster, a spokeswoman for the state parole board, confirmed the decision, which was made on May 11 and first reported on Thursday by Nicole Weisensee Egan, author of the book "Chasing Cosby," on her Facebook page.
Cosby, now 83, would have become eligible for parole on Sept. 25 after completing the three-year minimum term of his sentence. He was sentenced to 3 to 10 years in prison and designated a sexually violent predator on September 25, 2018, after being convicted earlier in the year of the rape of Andrea Constand, his former friend at Temple University, in 2004.
The once-beloved comedian known as “America’s Dad” has been serving his sentence in the State Correctional Institution at Phoenix, a suburb in Philadelphia.
Treaster said the board would not consider Cosby for parole again unless he completes the sexual violent predator therapy. He must also overcome a recommendation against parole from the state Department of Corrections and maintain a clear conduct record. Cosby was also told to develop “parole release plan.”
Cosby
Attorney Sues
Netflix
Attorney and Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz is suing Netflix for $80 million over his portrayal in the streaming service’s “Filthy Rich” series about sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Miami federal court, contends that Netflix intentionally misled Dershowitz, one of the lawyers once representing Epstein, regarding his appearance in the series. The suit also claims Netflix defamed him by falsely asserting that he had sex with one of Epstein’s many victims.
Dershowitz, now mainly retired in Miami Beach, says in the lawsuit that accusations by Virginia Giuffre that they had sex are false and that Netflix knew it. Giuffre has been one of Epstein’s most vocal victims.
Dershowitz was one of the lawyers who negotiated a deal allowing the wealthy financier to escape a federal indictment in return for a guilty plea to state prostitution charges in Florida in connection to the dozens of teenage girls authorities say he molested over the years.
Netflix
Pose Security Risk
Election Falsehoods
A U.S. judge said there is a risk that Donald Trump (R-Lock Him Up)'s supporters could still carry out attacks similar to the deadly Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol, noting the former president's "near-daily fulminations" about his election loss have not subsided.
U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson made the remark in a written decision on Wednesday explaining why she would continue to jail Cleveland Meredith Jr. while he awaits trial on charges that he texted about "putting a bullet" in U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's head.
"The steady drumbeat that inspired defendant (Meredith) to take up arms has not faded away; six months later, the canard that the election was stolen is being repeated daily on major news outlets and from the corridors of power in state and federal government, not to mention in the near-daily fulminations of the former President," Jackson said in her partially redacted ruling.
Jackson noted that the charges against Meredith were particularly serious.
"Not only did defendant threaten to wreak mayhem in general in the nation’s capital, he used graphic and misogynistic language to threaten to kill particular public figures in the District in specific and violent ways," Jackson said.
Election Falsehoods
Satan-Worshiping Pedophiles
Almost A Quarter
Nearly a quarter of Republicans say they believe that the US government, media, and financial sector are controlled by a group of Satan-worshipping pedophiles who run a global child sex trafficking operation, according to new polling from the non-partisan Public Religion Research Institute.
This belief is a core tenet of the far-right QAnon conspiracy theory, which continues to dominate far-right thinking months after former President Donald Trump left office. An even larger share of Republicans -- 28% -- believe in two other tenets of QAnon: that a coming "storm" will oust powerful elites and restore the country's rightful leaders, and that "patriots" may have to use violence to save the US.
Overall, between 15 and 20% of Americans say they completely or mostly agree with the three tenets of QAnon. The polling found that a host of factors, including political orientation, news consumption, religious beliefs, and socioeconomic and demographic profile, correlate with belief in the conspiracy theory. Republicans are significantly more likely than Independents and Democrats to believe in QAnon.
Right-wing news consumption is the strongest predictor of belief in QAnon. Those who say they trust far-right media the most are nearly nine times more likely to believe in QAnon than those who most trust broadcast networks including ABC, CBS, and NBC.
Certain groups of Christians are also much more likely to believe in QAnon. Hispanic Catholics and Hispanic Protestants are almost three times as likely as non-religious Americans to believe in the conspiracy theory. White Catholics, evangelical Protestants, and mainline Protestants are about twice as likely as to subscribe to QAnon.
Almost A Quarter
Prehistoric Cemetery
Sudan
All was not well among the peoples who inhabited the east bank of the Nile River in northern Sudan some 13,400 years ago, as revealed by the battered bodies buried in a cemetery at one of the world's oldest sites showing human warfare.
Researchers said on Thursday a re-examination of remains from the Jebel Sahaba cemetery excavated in the 1960s provides new insight into this prehistoric bloodshed, including evidence that there had been a succession of violent encounters rather than a single deadly showdown as previously believed.
Of the skeletal remains of 61 men, women and children, 41 bore signs of at least one injury, mainly from projectile weapons including spears and arrows. Some wounds had healed, indicating the person survived the fighting.
Sixteen of them had both healed and unhealed wounds, indicating they survived one fight only to die in another. A microscopic examination identified wounds with remnants of stone weapons embedded in the bone.
The extensive and indiscriminate violence affected men and women equally, with children as young as 4 also wounded, said paleoanthropologist Isabelle Crevecoeur of the French National Centre for Scientific Research at the University of Bordeaux, lead author of the study published in the journal Scientific Reports.
Sudan
Baby Squid and Tardigrades
NASA
NASA is preparing to rocket around 5,000 tardigrades — those adorably pudgy "water bears —" and 128 glow-in-the-dark baby squid into space.
The animals are heading to the International Space Station (ISS) next week as part of SpaceX's 22nd cargo resupply mission.
SpaceX is set to launch the microscopic critters onboard a Falcon 9 rocket on June 3 1:29 p.m. EDT from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Tardigrades are tiny, just 0.04 inches (1 millimeter) long, and get their popular nickname from their tubby, bear-like appearance when viewed through a microscope. And these little guys are no pushovers — capable of surviving extreme radiation; pressures six times those found in the deepest parts of the ocean; and the total vacuum of space, making the microscopic animals much tougher than their ursine namesakes. In fact, the Israeli spacecraft Beresheet was carrying thousands of dehydrated tardigrades onboard when it crashed into the moon during a failed landing attempt on April 11, 2019. If any life-form could survive the crash, perhaps these creatures would, especially since they were in their dehydrated "tun" state from which they could be resuscitated.
It's these abilities that make the tardigrades such a useful research organism aboard the ISS, where astronauts hope to identify the specific genes responsible for the teensy animals' remarkable feats of adaptation to high stress environments. This should, in turn, give us some vital insights into the health impacts of long-duration space travel.
NASA
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