Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Sara R. Collins: What Are the Potential Effects of the Graham-Cassidy ACA Repeal-and-Replace Bill? Past Estimates Provide Some Clues (commonwealthfund.org)
The Graham-Cassidy bill, like the earlier Senate and House bills, reaches well beyond the ACA and makes the deepest cuts in the Medicaid program since its inception in 1965. Like those prior bills, it places a per-enrollee cap on what the federal government provides to states for their programs. This cap would threaten the health care of an additional 65 million people who depend on the program, including the elderly, disabled, children, pregnant women, and very poor adults.
Matt Fuller: John McCain Can Stop This Health Care Bill (Huffington Post)
But will he?
Researchers Say Most Alzheimer's Disease Cases Are Preventable-Find Out How (Blue Zones)
What we know from the research is that when one spouse is affected, the other spouse has 600% the risk of developing the disease. That shows that it's not genetics-it's lifestyle and environment. This includes food, lack of physical activity, stress, and sleeping patterns.
Christine: 10+ Animals That Look Like They're About To Drop The Hottest Albums Of The Year (Goodfullness)
Animals come in a number of shapes and sizes and these majestic creatures can inspire some amazing photography. Let's take a closer look at the following animals and the potential album art that they have inspired, shall we?
This newspaper has written a headline that deserves some kind of award (The Poke)
"Vandal paints self-phttps://www.thepoke.co.uk/2017/09/19/newspaper-written-headline-deserves-kind-award/ortrait on car bonnet [American hood]."
Angels in Heaven - Chris Rodrigues & the Spoon Lady (YouTube)
"Anyone can play spoons, but it takes a lot of practice and dedication to play them this well. But Abby the Spoon Lady is more than just a spoon player." - Neatorama
Gabriella Paiella: The Story Behind the Greatest Internet Recipe Comment of All Time (The Cut)
"This has been my go-to brownie recipe for 30 years. In the '80s, an acquaintance in Germany to whom I brought some of the brownies, and who considered herself a great cook, asked for the recipe but was never able to get it to work. She kept asking me what she was doing wrong and I was never able to solve her problem. Eventually, she moved to the U.S. and stole my husband!"
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Presenting
Michael Egan
answered:
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
Bonus Links
Jeannie the Teed-Off Temp
from Marc Perkel
Patriot Act
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
THE SMELL OF SULPHUR IN THE WHITE HOUSE.
CHICKEN SHIT REPUBLICANS!
"CHRIST ON A CRUTCH" SEND THE KIDS TO SCHOOL.
BLOW UP THE WORLD AND THEN WE CAN PLAY GOLF.
"ROCKET MAN" MEETS "HONKY CAT".
THE RETURN OF ADOLF.
Visit JD's site - Kitty Litter Music
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
I've finally figured out a work-around for the computer problem.
But it involves putting the page together on an old computer with no internet connection.
Everything has to be imported on a flash drive.
The computer is so old there are only 2 portals on the back that'll accept the flash drive - one of the portals is where the mouse goes, and the other is for the keyboard.
That means I have to climb (literally) on top of the piano to access the back of the computer to swap the keyboard's cable with the flash drive,
transfer the info, then climb back up on the piano and re-connect the keyboard.
If anyone sends me anything after I've already gone to the old computer, I have to repeat the climb, swap the cables, and repeat.
So, for now, please don't send anything after 9pm PDT, 10pm MDT, 11pm CDT, or midnight on the east coast.
Odds are it'll be left for the following day.
Feel free to insert one of my fine eyetalian whines here.
Sigh.
Unlikely Leader In Fight To Save Obamacare
Jimmy Kimmel
For a second night in a row, the late-night talkshow host Jimmy Kimmel dedicated his opening monologue to excoriating a US senator who represents one half of a renewed push to tear up the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
After Kimmel accused Bill Cassidy, a Republican from Louisiana, of having "lied to my face" about his position on healthcare, Cassidy, a former doctor, went public to say Kimmel did not understand the bill.
But Kimmel, joking that he did not want this to turn into a "Kanye-and-Taylor-Swift-type situation", refused to back down.
"Which part don't I understand?" Kimmel countered, in a 10-minute rebuttal. "The part where you cut $243bn dollars from federal healthcare assistance? Am I not understanding the part where states would let insurance companies price you out of coverage for having pre-existing conditions?
"Could it be, Senator Cassidy, that the problem is that I do understand and you got caught with your G-O-Penis out? Is that possible?"
Jimmy Kimmel
Says Supreme Court Term 'Will Be Momentous'
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg hailed herself as "a flaming feminist litigator" as she vowed to take on the majority-conservative Supreme Court as it returns next month to tackle controversial issues such as gay civil rights, President Donald Trump's travel ban and partisan gerrymandering.
"There is only one prediction that is entirely safe about the upcoming term, and that is it will be momentous," the 84-year-old said at Georgetown Law on Wednesday. She pointedly dubbed herself the "flaming feminist" in response to a question about her background fighting for liberal causes.
American liberals will be counting on Ginsburg to hold her ground as the high court takes on major cases this year, including the hot-button case of a Colorado baker who refused to create a wedding cake for a gay couple on the grounds that being forced to legitimize a same-sex union violated his First Amendment rights to freedom of religion and speech.
Ginsburg's apparent concern stems from the court's current balance of power, with four solidly conservative voices-Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch (Trump's pick)-and one mostly right-of-center swing vote, Anthony Kennedy.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Neighbor Caught on Tape
Kathy Griffin
The CEO of homebuilder KB Home this past weekend unleashed a sexist and homophobic rant against comedian Kathy Griffin that was caught on tape.
According to audio obtained by The Huffington Post, KB Home CEO Jeffrey Mezger confronted his neighbors Griffin and partner Randy Bick on Saturday after the couple reportedly filed a complaint about noise coming from Mezger's Bel Air property.
Mezger's expletive-filled tirade, in which he referred to Griffin as a "fucking bald dyke" and a "fucking cunt," was picked up on security cameras at Griffin and Bick's residence. Bick shared the recording with The Huffington Post. (Griffin had recently shaved her head in solidarity with her sister, who was receiving chemotherapy treatment and who died on Thursday.)
"Let's declare war," Mezger is heard saying, "'cause we got a lot to go for. Let's bring it on." He punctuates the passage with several more expletives.
As the recording made the rounds on Tuesday, it prompted backlash against the chief executive. Personal finance guru Suze Orman, for one, called out Mezger's "disgraceful talk."
Kathy Griffin
Donates $20Million To Battle Climate Change
Leonardo DiCaprio
Leonardo DiCaprio has announced he will be giving $20m to climate change charities and took a swipe at Donald Trump (R-Crooked) in the process.
The philanthropic actor will distribute the money through his foundation to nearly 100 environmental organisations.
The Titanic and Revenant star made the announcement at the Yale Climate Conference in New Haven, Connecticut, part of slew of events during New York Climate Week and the United Nations General Assembly.
In a dig at Mr Trump, DiCaprio commented that though the President appears undeterred on the topic in light of the devastation caused by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria, he still believes the US has "the potential to lead the world on this issue...We can only hope that the President begins to see it too, before it is too late."
DiCaprio called the Trump administration's stance on the environment "willful ignorance," even with "the independent scientific warnings, and the mounting economic price tag."
Leonardo DiCaprio
For-Profit Prison Company Sued
GEO Group, Inc.
The state of Washington sued a private prison company on Wednesday for allegedly exploiting immigrant detainees by paying them $1 per day for their labor - or sometimes compensating them only with candy or chips instead.
State Attorney General Bob Ferguson (D) said the GEO Group, Inc. has profited off of violating state minimum wage laws for more than a decade at the Northwest Detention Center, where it detains as many as 1,575 immigrants at a time on behalf of the federal government. Those detainees do "virtually all" of the non-security work at the Tacoma, Washington, facility, and are barely compensated for it, he said. It is the only immigrant detention center in the state.
The payment scheme is common at detention centers around the country, and immigrants and their allies have sued on similar grounds before. But this time, they have a state attorney general ? and the weight and resources that provides - on their side. If Washington state prevails, it could have massive repercussions for GEO by forcing them to pay an $11 per hour minimum wage and give up past profits - and send a message to the for-profit immigrant detention business as a whole, which is likely to grow under President Donald Trump.
Immigrant detention differs from jails or prisons in that it relates to civil, not criminal, offenses and is not meant to be punitive. Jails and prisons routinely pay below minimum wage, and the practice is permitted even in states with far-reaching minimum wage laws, like Washington state. But Ferguson said there are no such exemptions in the state minimum wage law for facilities like the Northwest Detention Center, which is privately-run, for-profit and holds civil detainees.
The GEO Group denied any wrongdoing and said they will fight the lawsuit. Spokesman Pablo Paez said the Tacoma facility and all other Immigration and Customs Enforcement centers operated by GEO meet requirements "set exclusively by the Federal government under mandated performance-based national detention standards," including for the work program they claim is voluntary.
GEO Group, Inc.
Boards Ship
Greenpeace
Greenpeace activists boarded a ship arriving in Britain on Thursday to stop the delivery of more than 1,000 Volkswagen cars from Germany while others sought to immobilise vehicles at a port in anti-diesel protests.
VW admitted cheating diesel emissions tests in 2015, triggering political and consumer pressure that has caused a slump in sales of diesel cars in major markets, with governments announcing plans to ban vehicles powered by conventional combustion engines.
Greenpeace said its volunteers had boarded the ship in the Thames Estuary in an attempt to stop it unloading at the port of Sheerness in the southeast of England.
The ship had moved to an anchorage point off the coast of Margate on Thursday afternoon, VW said.
Two Greenpeace activists were still on board, having unfurled a banner with the words "Ditch Diesel" alongside an image of a young girl suffering from a respiratory illness, a spokesman for the environmental pressure group said.
Greenpeace
Return To The Skies
California Condors
In a remote, rugged valley overlooking the Pacific Ocean, researchers closely monitor an endangered icon: the California condor.
The giant vultures flap their wings and circle the sky before perching on branches and observing their observers. Wildlife biologist Amy List uses a handheld antenna to track the birds, which wear radio transmitters and numbered tags.
Three decades after being pushed to the brink of extinction, the California condor is making a comeback in the wild, but constant vigilance is needed to ensure the endangered bird doesn't reverse course.
One of the world's largest birds with a wingspan up to 10 feet, the condor once patrolled the sky from Mexico to British Columbia. But its population plummeted in the 20th century due to lead poisoning, hunting and habitat destruction.
In 1987, wildlife officials captured the last remaining 22 condors and took them to the San Diego and Los Angeles zoos to be protected and bred in captivity.
California Condors
1,000-Year-Old Tomb Discovered in Guatemala
Maya King
Archaeologists digging under a Maya palace in Guatemala say they have opened the tomb of a royal and found a jade mask and bones, both painted bright red.
The tomb was unearthed at the site of El Perú-Waka' in the rainforest of northern Guatemala. Though the dense city was filled with hundreds of buildings, including pyramids, palaces, plazas and houses, it was only rediscovered in the 1960s, when petroleum workers stumbled upon the ruins.
The site was occupied during the Classic Maya period (from around A.D. 200 to 800), and it had close ties to the nearby Maya rival capitals Tikal and Calakmul. A wealthy royal family once ruled Waka' and controlled what was a major trade route along the San Pedro River.
A team of American and Guatemalan archaeologists have been excavating Waka' since 2003. They've found several burials of kings and queens (as well as some potential human sacrificial offerings).
In the latest finding from this past summer, the researchers tunneled beneath the city's palace acropolis and found what might be the oldest royal burial at the site. Based on the style of pottery found at the tomb, they think the burial dates to A.D. 300-350.
Maya King
17th-Century Letter Deciphered
'Possessed' Nun
A mysterious letter written more than 300 years ago by a Sicilian nun who claimed to be possessed by Satan has finally been deciphered. Scientists used a deep-web code breaker to read the letter.
The message - indeed devilish - describes God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit as "dead weights," the researcher said.
It was penned by Sister Maria Crocifissa della Concezione, a 31-year-old nun living at the convent of Palma di Montechiaro in Sicily. On Aug. 11, 1676, she was found on the floor of her cell, her face covered in ink, holding a note written in an incomprehensible mix of symbols and letters, according to historical records. Sister Maria apparently said the letter was written by the devil in an attempt to get her to turn away from God and toward evil, historical accounts suggest. [In Photos: 'Demon Burials' Discovered in Poland Cemetery]
The message, just 14 lines of jumbled, archaic letters, has for centuries defied every attempt at understanding its meaning.
Now, scientists at the Ludum science museum in Sicily have used an intelligence-grade code-breaking software to solve the mystery. They also looked at historical records of the nun and her life, to learn more about the woman.
'Possessed' Nun
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.
1. U2; $8,024,692; $116.20.
2. Coldplay; $7,780,885; $88.60.
3. Guns N' Roses; $6,037,026; $102.14.
4. Celine Dion; $3,640,420; $143.73.
5. Lady Gaga; $3,455,069; $118.48.
6. Depeche Mode; $3,052,902; $75.30.
7. Dead & Company; $1,934,271; $73.49.
8. Roger Waters; $1,741,453; $122.57.
9. Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers; $1,613,912; $96.74.
10. André Rieu; $1,527,343; $86.82.
11. Bruno Mars; $1,436,486; $85.51.
12. Ed Sheeran; $1,427,243; $84.10.
13. The Weeknd; $1,339,353; $90.28.
14. Neil Diamond; $1,338,844; $101.20.
15. Queen + Adam Lambert; $1,263,097; $97.44.
16. Enrique Iglesias / Pitbull; $1,259,920; $94.87.
17. Tim McGraw / Faith Hill; $1,197,839; $84.92.
18. Kendrick Lamar; $1,164,889; $88.88.
19. Florida Georgia Line; $1,081,894; $51.68.
20. Tool; $1,077,322; $77.19.
Global Concert Tours
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