Helaine Olen: Why the world of personal finance needs more politics (Washington Post)
… you'll find the financial literacy advice from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which once protected consumers from Wells Fargo but now under the Trump administration takes apart regulations protecting people seeking payday loans. Then there's Medi-Share, the Christian health-care cost sharing company. It offers less expensive rates than the typical insurance policy. How can it do that? Because it's technically not insurance, it doesn't need to be Affordable Care Act compliant. It's an extremely imperfect individual solution for the healthy and devout for a problem that we're inured to but that, in fact, should never lose its horror: The United States is the only developed country that does not guarantee universal and affordable health care.
Helaine Olen: Elizabeth Warren wrote a book of personal finance advice. How does it hold up? (Washington Post)
Warren understands something almost intuitive about American society that seems to give most other people trouble. Most of us don't want to think about our finances as often as we are forced to. "All Your Worth" is designed to get us to that place. In fact, it's damning - of American society, of the age of inequality - that so many people can try to follow its advice and still find themselves in financial trouble. As I reread this charming and still useful book, it occurred to me that we could say, to borrow the book's phrasing, the United States is profoundly politically and economically out of balance. Warren is running for president to fix that.
Dana Milbank: This is how the Trump administration quietly incapacitates the government (Washington Post)
President Trump spent his summer making war on Denmark, attacking Baltimore, destabilizing the world economy, sending an imaginary hurricane to Alabama and ousting his national security adviser, among other things. But while everybody was watching those fireworks, Trump's underlings - some far more competent than he - were toiling in the shadows to hand over public lands to the tender mercies of oil and gas companies.
A favorite from my childhood, this sandwich is particularly popular in New England and has been proposed as the official state sandwich of Massachusetts. What is it called?
A fluffernutter (also called a "peanut butter and marshmallow sandwich", "peanut butter and marshmallow fluff sandwich", or "peanut butter and marshmallow stuff sandwich") is a sandwich made with peanut butter and marshmallow creme usually served on white bread. Variations of the sandwich include the substitution of wheat bread and the addition of various sweet, salty, and savory ingredients.
The sandwich was first created in the early twentieth century after marshmallow creme, a sweet marshmallow-like spread, was invented in Massachusetts. During World War I, a recipe for a peanut butter and marshmallow creme sandwich, the earliest known example of the sandwich, was published. The term "fluffernutter" was created by an advertising agency in 1960 as a more effective way to market the sandwich.
The sandwich is particularly popular in New England and has been proposed as the official state sandwich of Massachusetts.
A fluffernutter is made by spreading peanut butter on a slice of bread, then spreading an equal amount of marshmallow creme on another slice and finally combining them to form a sandwich.
Source
Mac Mac was first, and correct, with:
Fluffernutter
Mark. said:
Fluffernutter.
Alan J answered:
A Fluffernutter Sandwich.
Kevin K. in Washington, DC, wrote:
We called it a Fluffernutter.
To this day, a good sandwich often has a fluffer and a nutter.
Randall replied:
fluffernutter
Cal in Vermont responded:
Fluffernutter. Ew.
zorch said:
It's called the Fluffernutter and it looks disgusting.
Adam answered:
The Fluffernutter
I'm partial to a grilled peanut butter & banana, myself.
Jim from CA, retired to ID, wrote:
Fluffernutter - peanut butter and marshmallow creme
Kenn B replied:
Fluffernutter
yum, yum
Daniel in The City responded:
Fluffernutter
Deborah said:
Is that a Fluffernutter? What a blast from the past! I never really cared for them; I found them too sweet.
After a few days of cool, autumnal-esque weather, we're heading back into triple digits, oh joy.
Rosemary in Columbus wrote:
Fluffernutter
Joe S answered:
It appears to be a marshmallow fluff and peanut butter sandwich and the only name I can think of for that sandwich is ick.
Dave took the day off.
Michelle in AZ took the day off.
Dave in Tucson took the day off.
DJ Useo took the day off.
Jon L took the day off.
David of Moon Valley took the day off.
Stephen F took the day off.
mj took the day off.
Your Libtard, Snowflake, Socialist friend, Roy in Tyler, TX took the day off.
John I from Hawai`i took the day off.
Micki took the day off.
Barbara, of Peppy Tech fame took the day off.
Ed K took the day off.
Harry M. took the day off.
Marilyn of TC took the day off.
Billy in Cypress U$A took the day off.
Leo in Boise took the day off.
George M. took the day off.
Brian S. took the day off.
Doug from Albuquerque, New Mexico took the day off.
Saskplanner took the day off.
Steve in Wonderful Sacramento, CA, took the day off.
Gateway Mike took the day off.
Gene took the day off.
G E Kelly took the day off.
Tony K. took the day off.
Paul of Seattle took the day off.
Noel S. took the day off.
James of Alhambra took the day off.
BttbBob has returned to semi-retired status.
~~~~~
• Wynton Marsalis wanted to make his living as a musician, but many, many people advised him not to try. They told him, "Don't major in music because it's too difficult to make a living. You need a 'real' profession to fall back on when the dream dies." Fortunately for music lovers, Wynton followed the advice of his father, a man who knew firsthand how hard it is to make a living as a musician. Wynton writes that his father is "a great musician whom I had seen killing himself to make barely enough to take care of his family." So what is his father's advice? His father said, "Make sure you don't have anything to fall back on … because you will. This is not for the faint of heart."
• As of September 2013, Tori Amos had sold 12 million copies of her 13 albums. Her father was a pastor in Maryland, and when she was 13 years old, he knew that she would benefit from getting experience as a live performer of music. One day, he told her to dress in such a way that she looked older than she was, and then he took her to some bars in Georgetown in Washington, D.C. to look for a place that would allow her to perform. Tori remembers, "Mr. Henry's, a gay bar, gave me my first opportunity. My dad got flak from some parishioners, but he told them, 'I can't think of a safer place for a 13-year-old girl than a gay bar.'"
• Walter Damrosch came from a musical family. His father was the famous conductor Leopold Damrosch. Walter once met in Germany a Royal Highness who was the niece of Emperor William. She knew about his father and asked him if he were "the son of the great Doctor Damrosch." Walter replied that yes, he was. She asked, "He played the viola, did he not?" Walter replied, "No, your Royal Highness, the violin." She said, "No, the viola." Walter wrote in his autobiography, My Musical Life, "This taught me that royalty must never be contradicted, even if they know 'facts' about your own father of which you are not aware."
• When Roseanne Cash was 18 years old, she started to learn to play the guitar and sing country music. Her father, Johnny, heard her and sat down and wrote a list of "100 Essential Country Songs," including songs by Woody Guthrie, Jimmy Rodgers, the Carter family, Hank Williams, and Carl Perkins. He gave her the list and told her that to be a completely educated country musician she needed to learn those songs.
• Not everyone likes modern classical music. As a teenager, caricaturist Sam Norkin was playing Jean Sibelius' First Symphony when his father demanded to know how the record player got broken. After that experience, Mr. Norkin played Sibelius only in the basement.
Food
• Iggy Pop is an open interviewee. In a 1997 interview, he talked about his diet, which he does not regard as especially healthy: "I eat steak, I like a lot of butter on my toast, I like a lot of eggs, and I fart constantly, all day." However, Iggy does practice chi kung, which are Chinese exercises. By the way, his chi kung teacher is in many ways a regular guy. In the same interview, Iggy said, "It's funny because everyone expects him to be a vegetarian and very holy, but he's not. He liked to get f**ked and eat steaks, and he likes money - a lot. He's a guy, you know. He can also kill you in 800 different ways, but he'd rather just take your money legally. He's like that."
• Southern Culture on the Skids (aka SCOTS) is a band that often asks audience members to come on stage and dance for fried chicken. The genesis of this came when the owner of a club they were playing in gave them a bucket of fried chicken. The chicken was on the side of the stage as they played, and a homeless man came into the club, saw the fried chicken, and started eating it. The band members told him, "Hey, that's our dinner, and if you want some of it, you at least have to get up here and dance with us." The audience loved this, and SCOTS kept it in the act. Bass player May Huff says, "It's good to feed a hungry crowd."
The story I was told involved a deranged man on a street corner, cursing up a storm, and swinging a basket full of kittens.
So, we now have 2 new kitties, Frankie & Vinny.
Tonight, Friday:
CBS begins the night with a RERUN'Hawaii Five-0', followed by a RERUN'Magnum PU', then a RERUN'Blue Bloods'.
On a RERUNStephen Colbert (from 8/14/19) are Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, Jillian Bell, and Tori Kelly.
On a RERUNJames Corden, OBE, (from 8/6/19) are Melissa McCarthy, Elisabeth Moss, an Jakob Dylan & Jade.
NBC starts the night with a RERUN'American Ninja Warrior', followed by 'Dateline'.
On a RERUNJimmy Fallon (from 9/5/19) are Kendall Jenner, Desus & Mero, and Tanya Tucker featuring Brandi Carlile.
On a RERUNSeth Meyers (from 9/5/19) are Sen. Bernie Sanders, Julio Torres, and Deray Mckesson.
Carson 'The Scab' Daly is pre-empted.
ABC opens the night with a RERUN'American Housewife', followed by a RERUN'Fresh Off The Boat', then a RERUN'Reef Break', followed by '20/20'.
On a RERUNJimmy Kimmel (from 9/4/2019) are Dr. Phil McGraw, Method Man, and Shaed.
The CW offers a RERUN'EA Sports Madden NFL 20 Classic', followed by a FRESH'Peaking', then another FRESH'Peaking'.
Faux has a RERUN'BH90210', followed by a RERUN'MasterChef'.
MY recycles an old 'CSI: Miami', followed by another old 'CSI: Miami'.
A&E has 'Live PD', followed by a FRESH'Live PD: Rewind', and 'Live PD'.
AMC offers the movie 'Friday The 13th', followed by the movie Friday The 13th', again.
BBC -
[6:00AM] DIRK GENTLY'S HOLISTIC DETECTIVE AGENCY - SEASON 1 - EPISODE 8-Two Sane Guys Doing Normal Things
[7:00AM] THE X-FILES - SEASON 5 - EPISODE 14-The Red and the Black
[8:00AM] THE X-FILES - SEASON 5 - EPISODE 15-Travelers
[9:00AM] THE X-FILES - SEASON 5 - EPISODE 16-Mind's Eye
[10:00AM] THE X-FILES - SEASON 5 - EPISODE 17-All Souls
[11:00AM] THE X-FILES - SEASON 5 - EPISODE 18-The Pine Bluff Variant
[12:00PM] THE X-FILES - SEASON 5 - EPISODE 19-Folie a Deux
[1:00PM] THE X-FILES - SEASON 5 - EPISODE 20-The End
[2:00PM] THE X-FILES - SEASON 6 - EPISODE 1-The Beginning
[3:00PM] THE X-FILES - SEASON 6 - EPISODE 2-Drive
[4:00PM] THE X-FILES - SEASON 6 - EPISODE 3-Triangle
[5:00PM] A KNIGHT'S TALE (2001)
[8:00PM] THE PATRIOT (2000)
[11:30PM] A KNIGHT'S TALE (2001)
2
[:30AM] THE PATRIOT (2000) (ALL TIMES EDT)
Bravo has the movie 'Tyler Perry's A Madea Christmas', followed by the movie 'Boo! A Madea Halloween', then the movie 'Boo! A Madea Halloween', again.
Comedy Central has 2 hours of old 'The Office', followed by 'The Comedy Central Roast Of Bruce Willis'.
FX has the movie 'Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie', followed by the movie 'Despicable Me 2'.
IFC -
[6:00A] A Night at the Roxbury
[8:00A] Revenge of the Nerds IV: Nerds in Love
[10:00A] Revenge of the Nerds III: The Next Generation
[12:00P] Knocked Up
[3:00P] That '70s Show - Red's Last Day
[3:30P] That '70s Show - Velvet Rope
[4:00P] That '70s Show - and the Professor
[4:30P] That '70s Show - Halloween
[5:00P] That '70s Show - Van Stock
[5:30P] That '70s Show - I Love Cake
[6:00P] Two and a Half Men - It Was Mame, Mom
[6:30P] Two and a Half Men - A Low, Guttural Tongue-Flapping Noise
[7:00P] Two and a Half Men - I Always Wanted a Shaved Monkey
[7:30P] Two and a Half Men - A Sympathetic Crotch to Cry On
[8:00P] Two and a Half Men - That Old Hose Bag Is My Mother
[8:30P] Two and a Half Men - Squab, Squab, Squab, Squab, Squab
[9:00P] Two and a Half Men - Does This Smell Funny to You?
[9:30P] Two and a Half Men - Weekend in Bangkok With Two Olympic Gymnasts
[10:00P] Two and a Half Men - Principal Gallagher's Lesbian Lover
[10:30P] Two and a Half Men - Carpet Burns and a Bite Mark
[11:00P] Two and a Half Men - Your Dismissive Attitude Toward Boobs
[11:30P] Two and a Half Men - We Called It Mr. Pinky
[12:00A] Two and a Half Men - The War Against Gingivitis
[12:30A] Two and a Half Men - Palmdale, Ech
[1:00A] That '70s Show - Red's Last Day
[1:30A] That '70s Show - The Velvet Rope
[2:00A] That '70s Show - Laurie and the Professor
[2:30A] Sherman's Showcase - Ray J's Showcase
[3:00A] Sherman's Showcase - White Music
[3:30A] Sherman's Showcase - July 8, 1995
[4:00A] Revenge of the Nerds III: The Next Generation (ALL TIMES EDT)
Sundance -
[6:10am] The Andy Griffith Show
[6:45am] The Andy Griffith Show
[7:15am] The Andy Griffith Show
[7:45am] The Andy Griffith Show
[8:15am] The Andy Griffith Show
[8:45am] Carrie
[11:00am] Enough
[1:00pm] Ghost
[4:00pm] Law & Order
[5:00pm] Law & Order
[6:00pm] Law & Order
[7:00pm] Law & Order
[8:00pm] Law & Order
[9:00pm] Law & Order
[10:00pm] Law & Order
[11:00pm] Law & Order
[12:00am] This Close - Three's Company
[12:40am] This Close - Wait Until Dark
[1:21am] Ghost
[4:20am] The Andy Griffith Show
[4:55am] The Andy Griffith Show
[5:30am] The Andy Griffith Show (ALL TIMES EDT)
SyFy has the movie 'The Hunger Games: Catching Fire', followed by a FRESH'Killjoys'.
John Prine's winning streak has continued at the Americana Music Association's annual awards ceremony in Nashville, though his two-year reign as Americana artist of the year has ended.
The 72-year-old folk singer-songwriter took home two major honors on Wednesday at Nashville's historic Ryman Auditorium. Prine won album of the year for "The Tree of Forgiveness," his first collection of new material in 13 years, and a song he wrote with Pat McLaughlin, "Summer's End," won song of the year.
Prine, who had won artist of the year the previous two years and had battled health problems recently, was joined on stage by Bonnie Raitt for a stirring duet of "Angel from Montgomery," the Prine song that became a show-stopper for both artists. In his first acceptance speech, Prine joked that he could use the speeches he wrote for the Grammys, where he was nominated but did not win.
Americana artist of the year honors for 2019 went to Brandi Carlile, the first woman to win it since Gillian Welch claimed the title in 2012. The award topped off a stellar run for the earthy singer-songwriter whose album, "By the Way, I Forgive You," won three Grammy awards earlier this year. Carlile was one of several winners to sing the praises of producer Dave Cobb, who had a hand in the work of multiple winners and nominees.
Prine wasn't the only elder statesman to be honored. Eclectic rocker Elvis Costello won a lifetime achievement award for songwriting, roadhouse warrior Delbert McClinton was recognized with a lifetime achievement award for performance, and Maria Muldaur won a trailblazer award for her experimental adventures in American roots music.
Donates To University of Edinburgh For MS Research
JK Rowling
JK Rowling has donated £15.3m to the University of Edinburgh to help improve the lives of people with multiple sclerosis (MS).
The university has announced that the investment from the Harry Potter author will help create new facilities and fund new research into MS and similar conditions.
Funds will be spent on building new centres at the the Anne Rowling Regenerative Neurology Clinic, which was set up after a previous donation from Rowling in 2010.
The building is named after her mother who died of MS at the age of 45.
Rowling's donation is designed to help secure the aid of top researchers looking into a cure for MS.
"Saturday Night Live" is adding three new cast members for its upcoming 45th season, including the show's only Asian American performer.
Bowen Yang, who joined NBC's "SNL" last season as a staff writer, will be a featured player, NBC said Thursday. Yang is co-host of a podcast, "Las Culturistas."
Also joining the show as featured players are Chloe Fineman and Shane Gillis (really?). Fineman has been a regular performer with the Groundlings improv company, and both she and Gillis were featured as "New Faces" at the Just for Laughs Festival in Montreal.
Former players Fred Armisen and Rob Schneider both are one-quarter Asian, but neither has been widely recognized for their Asian ancestry. Among hosts, the long history of "SNL" includes a short list of Asian or Asian Americans, with Awkwafina, Aziz Ansari and Jackie Chan among them.
The show returns Sept. 28 with host Woody Harrelson and musical guest Billie Eilish.
Comedy Central and South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone have reached a deal for three additional seasons of the Emmy- and Peabody Award-winning animated comedy series. The three-season, 30-episode renewal comes just two weeks ahead of the premiere of South Park's 23th season, during which the iconic comedy will hit its milestone 300th episode.
It will take the longest-running primetime scripted series in cable though a record 26th season and at least 327 episodes
South Park has been the highest-rated cable comedy in Primetime for six consecutive years. Across its historic 22-season run fans have viewed over 18.3 billion episodes on Comedy Central, the equivalent of over seven billion hours. The series also has over 48 million fans across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube, making it the most-popular cable comedy series on each platform. On social platforms, South Park generated 111 million streams in 2018 with massive growth on Instagram (+586% vs. prior year) and YouTube (+78%).
Parker and Stone will continue to write, direct and edit every episode of South Park, as they have since the premiere of the series in 1997. Parker, Stone, Anne Garefino and Frank C. Agnone II executive produce the series. Eric Stough, Adrien Beard, Bruce Howell and Vernon Chatman are producers. Chris Brion is the Creative Director of South Park Digital Studios.
A former student who Dennis Hastert sexually abused decades ago breached an unwritten $3.5 million hush-money agreement with the former U.S. House Speaker by telling family members and a friend about it, an Illinois judge ruled this week.
But Kendall County Judge Robert Pilmer declined to enter an immediate judgment in favor of either Hastert or the now-adult victim who sued the Illinois Republican, saying decisive questions in the civil case can only be answered at a trial.
Hastert's victim, referred to only as James Doe in filings, brought the breach-of-contract lawsuit in 2016 in a bid to force Hastert to pay the unpaid balance of the hush money, nearly $2 million. Hastert's lawyers said the 2010 deal was void after Doe spoke about it to others.
Pilmer agreed only in part with Hastert's position, saying the man who sued did have "an obligation" not to discuss the agreement.
But the judge added that only jurors or, if it's a bench trial, a judge can determine if Doe's breaches were significant enough to absolve Hastert from having to pay the outstanding money.
Anyone who's ever said they felt scared to their bones might have been speaking more literally than we knew. A new study out Thursday seems to show that in both mice and humans, bones secrete a hormone in reaction to stressful situations. What's more, this bone hormone seems crucial to our fight-or-flight response, in a way completely separate from other well-known stress chemicals like adrenaline.
Gerard Karsenty, a geneticist at Columbia University, and his colleagues have long been interested in studying how our skeleton keeps us alive and healthy-not just by supporting us physically, but through the interactions it has with the rest of the body. Their work has centered on osteocalcin, a hormone produced by some of the same cells that make up bone. His and others' earlier research has suggested that osteocalcin helps regulate diverse functions such as metabolism, muscle function during exercise, and fertility.
In this sense, osteocalcin works like a lot like other hormones produced by the glands and organs that make up our endocrine system. Because of this, Karsenty and his team have argued that the skeleton should be considered an endocrine organ. That line of thinking led Karsenty's team to theorize that our skeletons could have evolved to help us better respond to stress, too, since that's another pivotal function of the endocrine system. And if that's the case, then osteocalcin should play a leading role there as well.
To test this theory, they first experimented with mice. They exposed the poor rodents to various sources of acute stress, such as by restraining them or having them sniff the urine of foxes, a common predator. Judging by their blood tests, the team found that stressed-out mice produced more osteocalcin within minutes of their ordeal.
They then moved on to people. But since fox urine doesn't have quite the same effect on us, Karsenty instead asked volunteers to do some public speaking and then take questions. As expected, people's blood pressure and heart rate went up, as did their levels of osteocalcin.
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 September 11, 2019:
1. The Rolling Stones; $13,544,597; $228.41.
2. Ed Sheeran; $7,841,775; $87.49.
3. Pink; $6,641,718; $110.34.
4. Metallica; $5,228,960; $98.20.
5. Paul McCartney; $4,736,387; $155.40.
6. Muse; $3,892,630; $81.99.
7. Dead & Company; $2,919,881; $88.69.
8. Eagles; $2,383,648; $134.92.
9. Jennifer Lopez; $2,226,025; $137.05.
10. Phish; $2,053,497; $65.24.
11. Ariana Grande; $2,012,197; $119.46.
12. Jonas Brothers; $1,984,263; $122.45.
13. Queen + Adam Lambert; $1,946,470; $123.74.
14. John Mayer; $1,603,299; $106.69.
15. Def Leppard; $1,554,865; $122.24.
16. Michael Bublé; $1,524,032; $115.26.
17. Hugh Jackman; $1,473,290; $101.85.
18. Dave Matthews Band; $1,424,394; $71.76.
19. Take That; $1,371,330; $95.15.
20. Florida Georgia Line; $1,335,082; $70.92.
You have reached the Home page of BartCop Entertainment.
Do you have something to say?
Anything that increased your blood pressure, or, even better, amused or entertained?
Do you have a great album no one's heard?
How about a favorite TV show, movie, book, play, cartoon, or legal amusement?
A popular artist that just plain pisses you off?
A box set the whole world should own?
Vile, filthy rumors about Republican hypocrites?
answered:
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
