Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Martin Pengelly and agencies: Mickey Mouse and Jesus among write-in votes that helped sink Roy Moore (Guardian)
Votes for Mickey Mouse, football coach Nick Saban and "any other Republican" were among more than 22,000 write-ins in the Senate election the Democrat Doug Jones won this month by a little less than that number.
Sara Boboltz: LA Man Arrested For 'Swatting' Call That Led To Innocent Kansas Man's Death (Huffington Post)
A Twitter argument between two "Call of Duty" gamers is reportedly connected to the death of the unarmed man.
Josh Marshall: Even Trump Knows SALT is a Problem (TPM)
It seems revealing to me that key Republicans are already suggesting that the new GOP tax law was too generous to corporations and the wealthy. This is not to valorize these voices. They knew this a week ago when they voted for the bill. But those who are least principled are often the most sensitive feel for public opinion. That is how to see these day-two faux-second thoughts.
Paul Krugman: The Gambler's Ruin of Small Cities (NY Times Blog)
Some localized industries created fertile ground for new industries to replace them; others presumably became dead ends. And while a big, diversified city can afford a lot of dead ends, a smaller city can't. Some small cities got lucky repeatedly, and grew big. Others didn't; and when a city starts out fairly small and specialized, over a long period there will be a substantial chance that it will lose enough coin flips that it effectively loses any reason to exist.
Peter Bradshaw: Persona review - Ingmar Bergman's enigmatic masterpiece still captivates (The Guardian)
Bergman's sensually brilliant 1966 film about a mute actress and her psychiatric nurse is an endlessly questioning and mysterious disquisition on identity
Richard Skipper: Happy Birthday, Rose Marie! (from 2013)
She went home, called Morey [Amsterdam], and said, "I'm calling about a new show called The Dick Van Dyke Show." His first response was "What's a Dick Van Dyke?" She said, "I don't know, but we're going to do his show." Same thing happened to him that happened to Rose Marie. He was given the part without auditioning and/or reading. She got Morey the job. She and Morey had already been friends for eleven years at that point. He used to write all her material for her act. That was her payback.
Rosanna Greenstreet: "Griff Rhys Jones: 'My best kiss? I kissed all the Spice Girls once'" (The Guardian)
Q: What is the trait you most deplore in others?
A: Deploration. Criticise, by all means. Argue. Dispute. But what is all this public "shaming" and mob sanctimoniousness, because someone has expressed a view that contradicts your own?
Hadley Freeman: From Samantha Bee to Jo Brand, funny women have got me through 2017 (The Guardian)
'We've already got a woman,' female comedian friends of mine are told, still, when auditioning for a show that features five contestants.
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Presenting
Michael Egan
took the day off.
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
Reader Comment
Sue Grafton
Each time I met Sue or talked with her, she was very nice, very kind, Always energetic. The mystery world mourns her loss. I'll miss her:
Bonus Links
Jeannie the Teed-Off Temp
from Marc Perkel
Marc's Guide to Curing Cancer
So far so good on beating cancer for now. I'm doing fine. At the end of the month I'll be 16 months into an 8 month mean lifespan. And yesterday I went on a 7 mile hike and managed to keep up with the hiking group I was with. So, doing something right.
Still waiting for future test results and should see things headed in the right direction. I can say that it's not likely that anything dire happens in the short term so that means that I should have time to make several more attempts at this. So even if it doesn't work the first time there are a lot of variations to try. So if there's bad news it will help me pick the next radiation target.
I have written a "how to" guide for oncologists to perform the treatment that I got. I'm convinced that I'm definitely onto something and whether it works for me or not isn't the definitive test. I know if other people tried this that it would work for some of them, and if they improve it that it will work for a lot of them.
The guide is quite detailed and any doctor reading this can understand the procedure at every level. I also go into detail as to how it works, how I figured it out, and variations and improvements that could be tried to enhance it. I also introduce new ways to look at the problem. There is a lot of room for improvement and I think that doctors reading it will see what I'm talking about and want to build on it. And it's written so that if you're not a doctor you can still follow it. It also has a personal story revealing that I'm the class clown of cancer support group. I give great interviews and I look pretty hot in a lab coat.
So, feel free to read this and see what I'm talking about. But if any of you want to help then pass this around to both doctors and cancer patients. I need some media coverage. I'm looking for as many eyeballs as possible to read these ideas. Even if this isn't the solution, it's definitely on the right track. After all, I did hike 7 miles yesterday. And this hiking group wasn't moving slow. So if this isn't working then, why am I still here?
I also see curing cancer as more of an engineering problem that a medical problem. So if you are good at solving problems and most of what you know about medicine was watching the Dr. House MD TV show, then you're at the level I was at when I started. So anyone can jump in and be part of the solution.
Here is a link to my guide: Oncologists Guide to Curing Cancer using Abscopal Effect
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
Donald Trump's New York Times Interview With Michael Schmidt Is the ...
"A SIGN OF THE TIMES."
PAUL RYAN STILL HATES AMERICA.
AN EGG FOR THE AGES.
REPUBLICANS ARE THE PARTY OF FASCISM.
"PAVE PARADISE. PUT UP A PARKING LOT!"
"THE US IS AN HONEST BROKER."
DIE FOTHERMUCKERS!
HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM THAT MADCAT JD, PURPLE GENE, DJ SMOKEY & THE KIDS
Visit JD's site - Kitty Litter Music
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Santa Ana road trip!
Leaving 'The X-Files'
Gillian Anderson
One of TV's most iconic characters is reportedly hanging up her flashlight for good. According to a new TV Insider interview, Gillian Anderson is leaving The X-Files after Season 11. There's no word on whether or not the series will continue without Anderson's Agent Scully, but series creator Chris Carter told TV Insider that the Season 11 finale is not meant to be a series finale. That being said, it's hard to imagine The X-Files without Scully. Anderson has starred in 11 seasons and two feature films for the sci-fi franchise, and her skeptic character is an essential part of the formula.
However, Anderson has every right to move on from Scully if that's what she chooses to do. She's been playing Scully on and off since 1993, which means she has devoted a large portion of her career to a single character. There's no denying that Dana Scully is one of the great TV characters, but an actor as talented as Anderson is always seeking out new challenges as her performances in series like The Fall and America Gods demonstrates.
This isn't the first time that Anderson suggested Season 11 would be her farewell season. She previously announced the news in October at the New York City Comic-Con, and it doesn't sound like she's changed her mind. Anderson told TV Insider,
"I've said from the beginning this is it for me. I was a bit surprised by people's [shocked] reaction to my announcement… because my understanding was that this was a single season." It's too bad Carter doesn't seem to feel the same way, because Anderson seems committed to the idea of giving Scully a proper sendoff. "Given the importance The X-Files had in people's lives, it's great to have one more opportunity to end on a high," Anderson said in her interview.
Gillian Anderson
Contemporary Twist To Fairytales
British Panto
A figure styled as Donald Trump is booed off stage by a rowdy audience enjoying the thrills of British pantomime, bringing a contemporary twist to traditional fairytales.
Up and down the country over the festive season, children and adults alike flock to theatres to watch a "panto" -- complete with princesses, political jibes and innuendo.
Audiences attending pantomimes instinctively know when to yell out stock phrases such as "He's behind you!", while newcomers quickly learn when to join the collective hissing or cheering.
Pantomime traces its origins to the 16th-century "Commedia dell'Arte", a form of Italian street theatre which travelled to Britain, according to London's Victoria and Albert Museum.
British Panto
Shuts Down Domestic Ivory Trade
China
China, one of the world's largest markets for elephant ivory, will close out 2017 by shutting down its domestic ivory trade in an effort to curb poaching and ensure a future for the imperiled species.
A ban on all ivory sales kicked in Sunday, a year after China announced a four-step plan to end its legal market.
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or CITES, an international treaty to prevent animal trafficking and species extinction, celebrated the new law taking effect in a post to Twitter.
WildAid, an environmental organization working to end the wildlife trade, called the move the "greatest single step toward reducing elephant poaching."
Conservation groups estimate that some 30,000 African elephants are killed by poachers each year; their tusks carved into trinkets, chopsticks, jewelry and other items purchased by some Chinese consumers. They say China's legal market has allowed for an illegal one to also thrive.
China
Aspen Vacation
Pences
Vice President Mike Pence was welcomed to Colorado with snow-dusted pines, cool mountain air and a bright rainbow banner with the words, "Make America Gay Again."
Neighbors who live next door to the Aspen property where Pence and his wife are staying on vacation hung the flag on a pillar fronting the two homes' shared driveway, according to the Aspen Times.
"You couldn't miss it," Pitkin County Sheriff's Deputy Michael Buglione told the newspaper.
Pence is a a long-time opponent of LGBTQ rights. As a member of Congress, he supported "conversion therapy" and said gay marriage would signal "societal collapse." And as governor or Indiana he signed a law that allowed businesses to discriminate against LGBT people, only to reverse course in the face of widespread criticism.
The LGBTQ banner was hung by the daughters of the couple who live next door, along with one of their girlfriends, according to the Aspen Times. The parents reportedly brought chili and corn muffins to officers and Secret Service agents guarding the home where the vice president is staying.
Pences
Looks To Cash In
T-rump
Donald Trump (R-Crooked) is throwing a lavish party tonight, as he does every New Year, at Mar-a-Lago, his private club in Palm Beach, Florida.
But this year, with the host also serving as US president-for-now, he faces questions over the conflation of his business interests and his official responsibilities.
At $600 for dues-paying members and $750 for their guests, ticket prices are up from last year, when, as president-elect, Trump charged $525 for members and $575 for guests.
Richard Painter, the former top ethics lawyer in the George W Bush administration, believes that the party - as with Trump's continued use of the club - offers presidential access to anyone that can afford its $200,000 initiation fee.
"Trump continues to combine his personal business with his official work," says Painter. The real problem, he says, is that Trump is at his so-called 'Winter White House' so often that he is effectively conducting official business while promoting his own property.
T-rump
Law Firm Shooting
Long Beach
Police were trying to learn Saturday what motivated a partner in a law firm to shoot two of his colleagues before turning the gun on himself.
The shooter was identified Saturday as John Mendoza, 58, of Redondo Beach. He shot the two men before killing himself, police said.
Major Langer, 75, of Rolling Hills, was shot in the upper body and died at the scene.
A friend told the Long Beach Press-Telegram that the wounded man was another partner in the firm, Ronald Beck, who was driven to the hospital by his son. The 68-year-old injured man was shot in the torso and lower body, police said. He remained hospitalized in stable condition and was expected to survive.
Beck ran day-to-day operations at the law firm of Perona, Langer, Beck, Serbin, Mendoza and Harrison. He also was managing partner of the Larry H. Parker law firm that worked with Perona and Langer. Beck and Parker have appeared in well-known Southern California television commercials for Parker's firm that conclude with Parker promising: "We'll fight for you!"
Long Beach
He Has A Name
Egyptian Mummy
An 3,000 year old Egyptian mummy can "live forever" after his name was discovered written on his sarcophagus, a curator has claimed.
The desicated remains of the man formerly known as Irethoreru are held by Chiddington Castle, Kent, but his precise identity had always remained a mystery - until now.
His name, which means "The eye of Horus is against them", and is thought to date from between 664 BC and 30 AD, was discovered thanks to a scanning technique developed by British researchers from University College London and the University of Manchester along with collaborators in the United States.
They were able to read hitherto invisible hieroglyphics painted on scraps of papyrus used to make the case for the mummified body by shining light of various frequencies onto them.
The new technique was developed using fabricated scraps designed to mimic the 'waste' ancient materials, including ancient shopping lists and tax returns, which were recycled into sarcophagi.
Egyptian Mummy
Santa Ana
New Year's Day
Looking to buy cannabis on New Year's Day without a medical marijuana card? Head to Santa Ana.
Seven cannabis dispensaries there will be able to start selling pot to California adults Monday morning - and they'll be the only such shops open for business in the greater Los Angeles area.
Permits for those shops were issued over the weekend as state and local officials, and cannabis business owners, sprint toward the opening of California's legal cannabis market.
As of Friday afternoon, the state had issued 47 permits for recreational marijuana retailers, and two shops in West Hollywood were the only ones in greater Los Angeles. Those shops, plus a third West Hollywood dispensary licensed over the weekend, won't open until Tuesday.
That makes Santa Ana the only New Year's Day option, unless buyers are willing to trek to San Diego or the Palm Springs area, where several shops are licensed to begin recreational sales on Monday.
New Year's Day
Weekend Box Office
'Star Wars: The Last Jedi'
On the last day of the calendar year, Star Wars: The Last Jedi surpassed Beauty and the Beast as the top grossing film in North America in 2017. It also topped the charts for the weekend for the third time, but just barely - Dwayne Johnson's Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle is close on its tail.
According to studio estimates on Sunday, The Last Jedi will add $52.4 million over the weekend bringing its domestic total to $517.1 million. Beauty and the Beast, also a Disney release, netted out with $504 million for the year.
With the weekend's earnings, The Last Jedi will also cross the $1 billion mark globally - even before it opens in China on Jan. 5.
But Star Wars is facing some hefty competition still, from the likes of The Rock, Jack Black and Kevin Hart, whose Jumanji sequel took in $50.6 million in its second weekend in theaters to take second place. The Columbia Pictures film has earned a stunning $169.8 million to date and could even reach $300 million domestically by the end of its run.
The acapella franchise Pitch Perfect 3 took third place in weekend two, with $17.8 million, bringing its total to $64.3 million - still less than what Pitch Perfect 2 earned on its opening weekend alone in May 2015 ($69.2 million).
Another musical, The Greatest Showman, with Hugh Jackman as P.T. Barnum, came in fourth place with $15.3 million after adding 310 screens. The animated kids film Ferdinand took fifth with $11.7 million.
1. Star Wars: The Last Jedi, $52.4 million.
2. Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, $50.6 million.
3. Pitch Perfect 3, $17.8 million.
4. The Greatest Showman, $15.3 million.
5. Ferdinand, $11.7 million.
6. Coco, $6.6 million.
7. All the Money in the World, $5.5 million.
8. Darkest Hour, $5.3 million.
9. Downsizing, $4.6 million.
10. Father Figures, $3.7 million.
'Star Wars: The Last Jedi'
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