Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Tom Danehy: Tom does the ol' things-I'm-thankful-for column to launch the holiday season (Tucson Weekly)
Finally, I'm thankful that I don't live in Spokane, Washington. Setting aside the sucko weather, Spokane is represented in the state legislature by Matt Shea, who is, quite likely, the craziest elected official in all of these United States. Apparently believing that The Handmaid's Tale doesn't go nearly far enough, Shea circulated a memo, entitled "Biblical Basis For War," calling for the United States to become a "Christian theocracy" in which "non-believers" are shot to death.
Greg Sargent: No, Trump isn't putting 'America first.' He's putting himself first. (Washington Post)
The point here, again, is that Trump is placing his prejudices - his determination to implement a white nationalist agenda - over any good-faith effort to determine what the actual impactof this agenda will be on the country. On the migrants, the self-interest runs even deeper than this. The lies about the "caravan" were all about keeping the House in GOP hands - he even used the military as a prop in this exercise - to prevent Democrats from taking the House and subjecting him to accountability.
Helaine Olen: Why some are obsessed with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's finances (Washington Post)
Ever since Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) surprised everyone and got elected to Congress, her finances have been the subject of nonstop gossip. Her parents moved to the suburbs when she was a small child? It was a " very nice home," a conservative blogger sniffed. After she confessed she wasn't moving to Washington because she had no salary until the new congressional session began and less than $7,000 in savings, another male blogger - posting a photo of her from the rear, no less - felt impelled to tweet "that jacket and coat don't look like a girl who struggles." Apparently when you are down to your last few thousand, you are supposed to wear - well, actually, I don't know the answer to that.
Helaine Olen: The problem with Michael Bloomberg's massive donation to Johns Hopkins University (Washington Post)
Here's the good news. Bloomberg can do more. Forbes puts his net worth at an estimated $51.8 billion. After this donation, it's still $50 billion. That's still a lot of dough. Perhaps he can toss another $1.8 billion to CUNY or another public university system. It's the least he could do. As for the rest of us, perhaps a talk about raising the taxes on society's millionaires and billionaires is long overdue.
Alexandra Petri: Lock her up? (Washington Post)
She had done it, the one unthinkable crime. Even she, his only daughter (except Tiffany). The most awful crime a person could commit. Indeed, there were no other crimes. The one thing! The one unforgivable thing! She had sent government emails from her private account. If justice were to remain in the land, any semblance of justice, she must bear the punishment.
Wilfred M. McClay: Being There (The Hedgehog Review)
The compulsive jokiness with which so many modern Americans deflect the subject of aging can get pretty tiresome. But perhaps it's not the worst way to handle the matter. At least one avoids the undignified excesses of self-pity and despair by making light of an admittedly unwelcome condition, even while implicitly confessing one's susceptibility to an all-too-human vanity.
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 Lulu Storefront
David Bruce's Apple iBookstore
David Bruce has over 100 Kindle books on Amazon.com.
Presenting
Michael Egan
replied:
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
from Bruce
Anecdotes
• Jean Little, a young people's author, was born with nystagmus, strabismus, eccentric pupils, and corneal opacities - in other words, she had very bad eyesight. Because of this, her parents thought that she was blind. One day, her mother, a pediatrician, was examining a small child who reached for her stethoscope. She felt sad because little Jean had never reached for anything. However, Jean's parents noticed that she always moved to face the window when she was in bed, no matter how they placed her in the bed, so they realized that she could distinguish light from darkness. Finally, one day when her mother was feeding her, little Jean reached for a spoon, and her mother was so happy that she cried.
• When the ballet Rodeo opened, it was a smash hit with the audience applauding for 22 curtain calls. Even the musicians in the orchestra pit were giving a standing ovation - a sure sign of success. Agnes de Mille, who choreographed the ballet and danced the part of the Cowgirl, was responsible for much of the ballet's success. An unsung hero was her mother, Anna, who supported Agnes through years of struggle. Asked if she was proud of her daughter after Rodeo had opened, Anna replied that she had always been proud of her daughter, including during the times when Agnes could find no one to give her work in dance.
• As a child, violinist Josef Gingold had a mother who was very supportive of his musical interests and of him. One Friday, a truant officer showed up at her house to tell her that Josef had missed school four Fridays in a row and was probably doing such things as playing pool with bums. Mrs. Gingold told the truant officer, "As a matter of fact, he's in the other room practicing." She then picked up a rolling pin and added, "He goes to the New York Philharmonic on Friday afternoons. Do me a favor, and leave this house. Next time I see your face, you're going to get it over the head."
• Children's book writer Phyllis Reynolds Naylor grew up during the Depression, when money was hard to come by. Entering kindergarten, she had only two dresses: one with red checks and one with blue checks. Her mother told her that if she alternated the dresses, wearing one the first day and another the second day and so on, then everyone would think that she had more dresses than she really had. This made young Phyllis think how clever her mother was.
• Some young children are surprised that older adults have parents, too. Librarian Jeanette C. Smith once made friends with a 10-year-old girl who often came into the Minnesota public library where she worked. One day, Ms. Smith's mother visited her, leaving as the 10-year-old girl arrived. The 10-year-old girl asked who the visitor had been, and when Ms. Smith explained that the visitor had been her mother, the 10-year-old girl exclaimed, "YOU HAVE A MOTHER!"
• The family of golfer Nancy Lopez was very supportive of her. Young Nancy was not allowed to wash dishes because she needed to protect her hands, and so her mother washed the dishes instead. In fact, her mother once decided not to buy a dishwasher so that she could use the money to pay for Nancy to play in tournaments instead. The sacrifice paid off. As an adult Nancy became a superstar golf player, and at age 10 she won a tournament by 110 strokes!
***
© Copyright Bruce D. Bruce; All Rights Reserved
***
Bonus Links
Jeannie the Teed-Off Temp
Reader Comment
Current Events
Linda >^..^<
We are all only temporarily able bodied.
Thanks, Linda!
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
"HAPPY THANKSGIVING" MR. KHASHOGGI.
Giving Thanks at the Precipice
Visit JD's site - Kitty Litter Music
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Running late.
Amazon Accidentally Streamed Episode Early
Doctor Who
This is either an unfortunate mistake (most likely), or, given the context, a moment of extremely hilarious pettiness (less likely, but fun to imagine).
Last week, Doctor Who's 11th season aired an episode called "Kerblam!" about a futuristic online retailer that was, basically, space-Amazon. Jeff Bezos' ubiquitous company didn't get a name drop but honestly, it didn't need it-it was an incredibly unsubtle jab. So it's darkly funny that, if you were in the U.S. last night and wanted to watch "Kerblam!" on Amazon Video (the only way to stream Who's latest season outside of BBC America's app)...you instead got another episode entirely. In fact, you got "The Witchfinders", which is set to air in the UK and the US this coming Sunday.
On top of that, if you tried to watch the episode with closed captions on, you actually got the captions for "Kerblam!" rather than "The Witchfinders", leading to very bizarre situations where people from 17th century Lancashire were talking about delivery robots and warehouse conveyors. Here's some incredibly out of context and pretty much spoiler-free screengrabs, but if you're looking to avoid anything from the episode, consider this your warning:
The problem was widespread. Whether you tried to purchase "Kerblam!" as a standalone episode, or tried to view it as part of your season pass for Doctor Who, for a period of hours last night you instead got "The Witchfinders" days before anyone else could see it. Which, when you think about it, trying to go back in time-even if only to last Sunday-and instead getting a taste of the future is itself a very Doctor Who experience.
Doctor Who
Blasted By Massive Asteroid Explosion
Sodom
An asteroid that burst in a searing aerial explosion may have destroyed the Bronze Age city of Tall el-Hammam 3,700 years ago, archaeologists reported Saturday.
The city, which lies in the Middle Ghor region of the Jordan Valley, is considered a plausible site for the biblical city of Sodom by some researchers. But this conclusion is hotly debated within the field.
The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed by God for their sinful behavior, according to the Christian Bible.
Scientists presented their preliminary findings at the annual meeting of the American Schools of Oriental Research in Denver, Colorado.
Excavations and radiocarbon dating at Tall el-Hammam suggested most of its mud-brick walls vanished about 3,700 years ago. It's thought that several Middle Ghor sites were inhabited for 2,500 years or more before the proposed impact.
Sodom
Previously Hidden Region
Human Brain
It turns out we humans may have an extra type of thinky bit that isn't found in other primates. A previously unknown brain structure was identified while scientists carefully imaged parts of the human brain for an upcoming atlas on brain anatomy.
Neuroscientist George Paxinos and his team at Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA) have named their discovery the endorestiform nucleus - because it is located within (endo) the inferior cerebellar peduncle (also called the restiform body). It's found at the base of the brain, near where the brain meets the spinal cord.
This area is involved in receiving sensory and motor information from our bodies to refine our posture, balance and movements.
"The inferior cerebellar peduncle is like a river carrying information from the spinal cord and brainstem to the cerebellum," Paxinos told ScienceAlert.
"The endorestiform nucleus is a group of neurons, and it is like an island in this river."
Human Brain
Leda and the Swan
Pompeii
Archeologists have discovered a painting of an ancient Roman myth after excavating a home in the volcano-struck ancient Roman city of Pompeii.
The fresco painting unearthed on Friday depicts the ancient Roman myth of Leda, the wife of King Tyndareus. Leda was seduced by the god Jupiter, who had transformed himself into a swan, and she was said to have given birth to the twins Castor and Pollux as a result of her respective encounters with Tyndareus and Jupiter.
Around 10,000 to 20,000 people were believed to have lived in the ancient Roman city of Pompeii in Campania, Italy, to the southeast of Naples, when it was engulfed by Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE. Massimo Osanna, archeological park director of Pompeii told Italian news agency ANSA, according to the Associated Press, that the image of Leda being impregnated by the swan was a common motif in homes in the city before it was destroyed by the volcanic ash and debris of Vesuvius.
This piece is special however, Osanna argued, as Leda looks out of the painting at its viewer. Usually, Leda is shown standing and not engaged in intercourse as she appears to in this latest discovery, according to the Pompeii website.
The discovery was made as part of work to repair Pompeii from general wear and tear, including damage wrought by the weather. It was found in a bedroom near the entrance corridor of a home in the devastated city. Archeologists unearthed a depiction of Priapus the god of fertility, in a similar spot at the nearby House of Vettii.
Pompeii
Largest Margin In History
Midterm Elections
Democrats are set to pull off the largest midterm elections victory in history, according to a breakdown of the popular vote in races for the House of Representatives.
The party leads the Republicans by more than 8.9 million votes across the US, raw data compiled by the Cook Political Report, an independent, non-partisan political analysis website.
Previously, the largest margin of victory was 8.7 million, which came in the 1974 midterm elections after the Watergate scandal and Richard Nixon's resignation.
It means the party is on the brink of flipping 40 seats in the House, reaffirming the emerging assessment that this month's midterms amounted to a "blue wave".
As of Thursday, Democratic candidates had polled 59,351,147 votes in House seats across the country in the 2018 midterms, compared to Republicans' 50,438,143, according to the Cook Political Report.
Midterm Elections
But That Doesn't Mean
MDMA
The club drug MDMA - also called ecstasy or molly - is often said to increase feelings of emotional closeness to others and empathy. Now, a new study from England suggests that the drug really does have an effect on how people feel and act toward others.
In the study, the researchers found that MDMA made people more cooperative, but only with those who were deemed trustworthy.
In other words, MDMA doesn't make people natively trusting of others, the researchers said.
The study also found that taking MDMA led to increased brain activity in areas of the brain thought to be involved in social interaction and the understanding of other people's thoughts and intentions.
And because MDMA is also being studied as a treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the new findings are "an important and timely step" leading to a better understanding of the social and emotional effects of the drug, the researchers wrote in their paper, published Nov. 19 in The Journal of Neuroscience.
MDMA
Super-Colony
Termites
A termite super-colony which spans an area the size of Great Britain has been under construction since the time of the pyramids in ancient Egypt, scientists have found.
Researchers studying the vast landscape of 200 million cone-shaped mounds in northeast Brazil sampled soil from 11 locations and found that some began construction around 3,820 years ago.
At around 2.5 metres tall, 9 metres wide at the base, and spread across 230,000 square kilometres, it represents a vast earth-moving endeavour - but the mounds are not individual termite nests.
Instead, each one is a "waste point" where termite workers dump soil and other matter excavated in the production of a vast subterranean tunnel network which they have used to traverse the landscape in search of food for millennia.
The authors of a new study, published in the journal Current Biology, said the "biological wonder" was akin to those of the ancient world, but with the civilisation that built it still in residence.
"This is apparently the world's most extensive bioengineering effort by a single insect species," said Roy Funch of Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana in Brazil, one of the authors of the report.
Termites
| CURRENT MOON lunar phases |
