Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Emily Greenhouse: The Radical Ellen Willis (Dissent Magazine)
In Willis's review of Just As I Thought, she quotes from Paley's visit to the Women's Peace Encampment at Seneca Falls. Paley sees a daughter on the phone with her mother, who is terrified that her child is planning to get arrested. "I wanted to take the phone from her," Paley wrote, "and say, 'Ma, don't worry, your kid's OK. . . . Don't you see she's one of the young women who will save my granddaughter's life?'"
Tom Danehy: Tom isn't a fan of the name change over at (what was known as) St. Gregory (Tucson Weekly)
You know when you have this friend who's doing something that is potentially very embarrassing and you feel the need to nudge him back in the right direction for his own good? Like maybe he bought this Frank Sinatra-looking fedora and wants to wear it in public. You explain to him that it looks good on the skinny guy on "White Collar," but it damn sure doesn't look good on him.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: Bruce Levenson Isn't a Racist; He's a Businessman (Time)
Sure, there are assumptions he makes that are cringeworthy-but the questions about how to attract more white fans were entirely reasonable.
Jacopo della Quercia, Jorden Weir: The 5 Coolest Things Ever Said In The History of War (Cracked)
#5. "Well, buddy, just pull your tank in behind me. I'm the 82nd Airborne, and this is as far as the bastards are going!"
Sarah Boseley: Do you know what too fat looks like? (Guardian)
A study suggests that African American women in the US have a different picture of what unhealthy weight looks like than medical experts, prompting suggestions that pictures should be more widely used with health messages to counter the new normality of excess weight.
Roxane Gay: The Great 2014 Celebrity Nude Photos Leak is only the beginning (Guardian)
There will always be another leak, because there is always curiosity in the bodies of naked celebrity women. There is always danger in being an Other.
Plot of Practically All X-Files Episodes
"Besides the mytharc episodes, this set of pictures by Redditor thepizzapeople basically explain all X-Files Monster-of-the-Week episodes. You know, to think about it, Mulder could've solved his problem of people not believing his stories simply by bringing a video camera with him." - Neatorama
Brian Whitney: Lifelike Sex Robots and Human Immortality Right Around the Corner, Says Novelist (Disinformation)
"Sexbot" by Patrick Quinlan imagines dark, high-tech world "very soon."
David Bruce's Amazon Author Page
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David Bruce's Blog
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David Bruce has approximately 50 Kindle books on Amazon.com.
"Doug's Most Shared Facebook Post" Today
wrote:
replied:
has retired.
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
David E Suggests
David
Thanks, Dave!
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
from Marc Perkel
BartCop
Hello Bartcop fans,
As you all know the untimely passing of Terry was unexpected, even by
him. We all knew he had cancer but we all thought he had some years
left. So some of us who have worked closely with him over the years are
scrambling around trying to figure out what to do. My job, among other
things, is to establish communications with the Bartcop community and
provide email lists and groups for those who might put something
together. Those who want to play an active roll in something coming from
this, or if you are one of Bart's pillars, should send an email to
active@bartcop.com.
Bart's final wish was to pay off the house mortgage for Mrs. Bart who is
overwhelmed and so very grateful for the support she has received.
Anyone wanting to make a donation can click on this the yellow donate
button on bartcop.com
But - I need you all to help keep this going. This note
isn't going to directly reach all of Bart's fans. So if you can repost
it on blogs and discussion boards so people can sign up then when we
figure out what's next we can let more people know. This list is just
over 600 but like to get it up to at least 10,000 pretty quick. So
here's the signup link for this email list.
( mailman.bartcop.com/listinfo/bartnews )
Marc Perkel
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Even hotter.
Drops Football Open
CBS
The debut of CBS' "Thursday Night Football" broadcast was revised because of controversy surrounding the video of Ray Rice knocking his then-fiancee unconscious, CBS Sports Chairman Sean McManus said.
The debut game Thursday, featuring the Pittsburgh Steelers at Baltimore, was eliminating a track of Jay-Z's "Run This Town" featuring Rihanna, McManus said. Other "high-energy" elements and a comedic one also were being dropped.
Asked if Rihanna's own history as a victim of domestic violence was a reason the song was cut, McManus said it was among several factors considered but was not the overriding one. Rihanna was attacked by then-boyfriend Chris Brown before the 2009 Grammy Awards.
CBS Sports had previously announced that "Run This Town," with added narration by Don Cheadle, was to accompany each of the 2014 broadcasts as part of an opening sequence that would be customized for each week's game.
CBS
Ancient Flying Reptile
Ikrandraci avatar
Some of the most visually stunning sequences from director James Cameron's blockbuster movie "Avatar" involved graceful flying creatures that were ridden by blue human-like beings facing ecological destruction on a moon called Pandora.
It turns out that an animal very similar to those "Avatar" creatures, called Ikran, actually did exist here on Earth long ago.
Scientists on Thursday announced the discovery of fossils in China of a new species of flying reptile called a pterosaur that lived 120 millions years ago and so closely resembled the creatures from the 2009 film that they named it after them.
It is called Ikrandraci avatar, meaning "Ikran dragon" from "Avatar." And this pterosaur is noteworthy for more than just its resemblance to a movie creature.
This Cretaceous Period pterosaur boasted an unusual blade-like crest on its lower jaw like the one on the movie creatures.
Ikrandraci avatar
Ted Cruz Doesn't Have to Worry
Lorne Michaels
Sen. Ted Cruz returned to the public eye this week when he argued - falsely - that a constitutional amendment proposed by Senate Democrats would allow the government to arrest Saturday Night Live members for making fun of politicians.
The amendment bill, sponsored by Democratic Sen. Tom Udall, would give Congress and states greater authority to regulate campaign financing. It's in response to the 2010 Citizens United ruling that lifted restrictions on how much corporations can donate to political campaigns. But, Cruz argued, since NBC is a corporation, what's stopping the government from clamping down on SNL's freedom of speech? "Lorne Michaels could be put in jail under this amendment for making fun of any politician."
Richard Albert, an assistant professor at the Boston College School of Law, told The Wire that's pretty unlikely. The bill as he read it referred to how people express their views (through money), not what those views are. "I don't see this as being a content based bill," he said.
And while Udall's amendment was dead on arrival, Albert noted that there have been times when Congress and the states worked together to pass amendments that overturned judicial decisions that people oppose (examples being the 13th Amendment, which ended slavery, and the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote).
After years of polls it's become clear that people also oppose the court's Citizens United ruling. One month after the January 2010 ruling, eight in 10 Americans said they disagreed with the ruling. Talking about Citizens United helps Democrats because people don't like the ruling. Undoing it is another story.
Lorne Michaels
Catholic League Quits
St. Patrick's Day Parade
A conservative Roman Catholic group severed its 20-year ties with the New York City St. Patrick's Day Parade on Thursday, a week after event organizers took the unprecedented step of allowing a gay group to march under its own banner in the procession.
The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights said it pulled out of the March 2015 event because the parade committee denied an anti-abortion group from marching with banners while bending its rules to allow the gay group to do so, League President Bill Donohue said in a statement.
"For the past two decades I have been the parade's most vocal defender of its rules," Donohue said. "Repeatedly, I have said that gays have no more been banned from marching than pro-life Catholics have."
Organizers for the parade, which began in 1762, were not immediately available on Thursday to respond to Donohue's comments.
St. Patrick's Day Parade
U.S. Seeks Up To 16 Months
Dinesh D'Souza
The U.S. government wants conservative author and filmmaker Dinesh D'Souza (R-Weasel) to be sentenced to as much as 16 months in prison, following his guilty plea to a campaign finance law violation.
In a Wednesday court filing, federal prosecutors rejected defense arguments that D'Souza was "ashamed and contrite" about his crime, had "unequivocally accepted responsibility," and deserved a sentence of probation with community service.
D'Souza, 53, admitted in May to illegally reimbursing two "straw donors" who donated $10,000 each to the unsuccessful 2012 U.S. Senate campaign in New York of Wendy Long, a Republican he had known since attending Dartmouth College in the early 1980s.
The government said a 10- to 16-month prison sentence was appropriate for D'Souza, and necessary to deter others from abusing the election process, including "well-heeled individuals who are tempted to use their money to help other candidates."
It also said D'Souza waited to "the last possible moment" prior to trial before admitting guilt, and then went on TV shows and the Internet to complain about being "selectively" targeted for prosecution, and having little choice but to plead guilty.
Dinesh D'Souza
'Gay Conversion' Therapy Ban Upheld
New Jersey
A federal appeals court on Thursday upheld New Jersey's ban on counseling intended to change the sexual orientation of gay and lesbian children.
By a 3-0 vote, a panel of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the ban, which Republican Governor Chris Christie signed into law in August 2013, did not violate the free speech or religious rights of counselors offering "gay conversion therapy" to convert homosexual minors into heterosexuals.
The panel also said the plaintiffs, who included licensed therapists and a Christian counseling group, lacked standing to pursue claims on behalf of their minor clients.
Circuit Judge D. Brooks Smith said the ban, the second in the country after California's, appropriately advanced New Jersey's legitimate interest in protecting people under the age of 18 from harmful or ineffective professional treatment.
New Jersey
Military Exercise With Russia Canceled
Air Force
An Air Force exercise involving the U.S., Canada and Russia was canceled because of Russia's military intervention in Ukraine, a spokesman for NORAD said.
The North American Aerospace Defense Command is comprised of U.S. and Canadian forces and is charged with detecting and responding to airborne threats to those countries.
Since 2007, NORAD and the Russian Federation Air Force had cooperated on the "Vigilant Eagle" exercise. Typically, exercises have been held in August or September near Alaska. The most recent iterations involved fighter jets intercepting a mock hijacked passenger airliner passing from Russia airspace into Alaska's, or vice versa.
NORAD spokesman John Cornelio told The Associated Press that the decision isn't new, saying the Defense Department and Harper announced in March that military-to-military activities with Russia would be put on hold because of the situation in Ukraine. He said nothing has changed since then, and cancellation of the exercise is in keeping with that.
Air Force
Poachers
Doves
Poachers will take aim at all kinds of valuable animals, from rhinos to elephants to your average deer. But doves? Well, that's apparently what happened last week in Kansas, where four men were found with 209 doves in their possession.
It's dove season in Kansas, but the limit under state law is 15 birds per hunter per day. That put each of the hunters-whose names and residences have not been disclosed-about 37 doves over the daily limit. Authorities caught the men on Sept. 2, one day after hunting season opened.
Mourning doves are one of the most plentiful bird species in North America, and between 15 and 20 million of them are legally hunted every year, according to the National Cooperative Dove Hunter Survey, which was published in July. They are, however, federally protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918, which governs more than 800 avian species that travel between states and nations. Under that law, the four hunters could face penalties of up to $100,000 in fines, one year in jail, or both.
None has been formally charged, however, and their motivation for killing so many doves is a mystery. Capt. Dan Melson of the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism told The Wichita Eagle that law enforcement officials are deciding whether to use state or federal law to charge the hunters. State law punishments would probably be light: In a similar case in Texas in 2011, 26 dove poachers paid a total of $15,000 in fines and fees.
Doves
Top 20
Concert Tours
The Top 20 Concert Tours ranks artists by average box office gross per city and includes the average ticket price for shows in North America. The previous week's ranking is in parentheses. The list is based on data provided to the trade publication Pollstar by concert promoters and venue managers.
1. (New) One Direction; $7,363,916; $86.14.
2. (1) Beyonce/Jay-Z; $6,001,611; $115.31.
3. (2) Paul McCartney; $3,229,604; $131.84.
4. (3) Katy Perry; $1,648,451; $112.43.
5. (6) Dave Matthews Band; $1,579,568; $74.56.
6. (4) Bruno Mars; $1,388,115; $91.18.
7. (5) Cher; $1,077,388; $88.03.
8. (7) Zac Brown Band; $1,015,540; $47.17.
9. (8) Michael Buble; $910,823; $88.51.
10. (10) Motley Crue; $747,134; $51.08.
11. (11) Journey/Steve Miller Band; $725,306; $56.88.
12. (12) James Taylor; $629,601; $72.03.
13. (14) Brad Paisley; $538,767; $34.96.
14. (13) Rascal Flatts; $535,853; $34.71.
15. (15) Tim McGraw; $478,998; $37.06.
16. (16) Florida Georgia Line; $454,272; $38.68.
17. (17) Backstreet Boys; $414,616; $46.04.
18. (18) "Vans Warped Tour"; $382,503; $30.79.
19. (19) Widespread Panic; $313,800; $44.81.
20. (New) Steely Dan; $280,613; $91.74.
Concert Tours
In Memory
Cosimo Matassa
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member Cosimo Matassa, who recorded New Orleans rock and rhythm and blues from the 1950s to the 1970s, has died. He was 88.
Matassa, who had been ailing since suffering a stroke in 2009, died on Thursday, granddaughter Mia Matassa told The Associated Press.
The musician was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012, two years after the organization named his original J&M studio - now a laundromat but with "J&M Music Shop" still on the threshold - as its 11th historic American rock and roll landmark.
It said 21 gold records and about 250 singles that made national charts were recorded in Matassa's studio, including nearly every Fats Domino hit. Hits by others included Lloyd Price's "Lawdy Miss Clawdy" and Ernie K-Doe's "Mother in Law."
Matassa's recording business grew out of a jukebox business run by his father, John Matassa, and business partner Joe Mancuso. After selling used jukebox records, Matassa went into business with Mancuso as J&M Music Shop, according to a biography at the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities' "Encyclopedia of Louisiana" website. Their venture was a hit.
Matassa set up recording equipment in a back room in 1945 or 1946, making his earliest recordings for DeLuxe Records, a New Jersey label whose owners learned about his studio during a scouting trip to New Orleans for new jazz and blues musicians.
Paul Gayten, whose hits "True" and "Since I Fell For You" were recorded at Matassa's studios, was also its main director and arranger early on. Dave Bartholomew and Allen Toussaint were later producers.
Matassa-recorded hits included Little Richard's "Tutti Frutti," Big Joe Turner's "Shake, Rattle and Roll," Professor Longhair's "Mardi Gras in New Orleans," Smiley Lewis' "I Hear You Knockin'" Frankie Ford's "Sea Cruise" and Chris Kenner's "Land of 1,000 Dances."
He created his own label, Dover Records, in the 1960s. He retired from music in the 1980s and returned to work at Matassa's Market, which his sons John and Louis had renamed after buying Johnny's Grocery and Bar from their grandfather.
He is survived by sons John, Louis and Michael as well as seven grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.
Matassa's wife Jennie died in 2009.
Cosimo Matassa
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