Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Amelia Gentleman: "Food banks: 'Most people at the school gates have used them'" (Guardian)
Five years ago, food banks were a rarity. Now there are more than 1,000 across the UK. Who uses them, who donates, and how do they feel about it? Amelia Gentleman follows the journey of one tin of tuna to find out.
Charles Wood: "Pulling Focus: Looking past technique and technology to discover the drama of life" (Medium)
In trying to create a technically perfect image - I almost missed a dramatically perfect moment.
Hadley Freeman: what is a beach body anyway? (Guardian)
The 'Are you beach body ready?' advertising campaign backfired spectacularly earlier this week. Which just goes to show women are not as stupid, or as weight-obsessed, as we're made out to be.
Stephanie Rafanelli: "Rebel Wilson: 'Comedy has been a boys' club - until now'" (Guardian)
Bridesmaids made her a star, but does Hollywood know what to make of Rebel Wilson? The Australian actor talks about overcoming rubbish roles, being mistaken for 'Jonah Hill in drag' - and her friend Jennifer Lawrence's naked selfies.
Oliver Burkeman: Does life have a beginning, middle and an end? (Guardian)
'Does every scene of your life - childhood summers, first kisses, bereavements - have a connecting thread? Or are they different chapters?'
Cracked Staff, Chris Radomile: "6 Reasons (Beyond Racism) Why Cops Keep Killing People" (Cracked)
In the time it took us to research and write this article, a man named Freddie Gray went from living anonymously in Baltimore, to lying comatose with spinal cord injuries after
a ride in the back of a police van, to having his funeral spark protests and civil unrest in his city. And by the time we publish this, the cycle may have started over again with someone else.
Robert Evans, Anonymous: "5 Insane Things I Did As A Cop (They Don't Show On TV)" (Cracked)
#5. Lying Is Both Legal And A Necessity
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"Doug's Most Shared Facebook Post" Today
, wrote:
replied:
has returned to semi-retired status.
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
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
JD's computer took an unexpected vacation.
Visit JD's site - Kitty Litter Music
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny and cooler.
Their Own Temples
Presidents
It's not easy for a world leader to create a public image that will last long after he or she leaves office. But it's a bit easier for American presidents.
Those who spend time living at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue then have the privilege of setting up a presidential library, housing their papers for public study, coupled with a museum -- all in an architectural monument to their glory years.
Often, these libraries are located in the president's home state -- Ronald Reagan's is in Simi Valley, California; Bill Clinton's is in Little Rock, Arkansas; and George W. Bush's library, which was inaugurated in April 2013, is in Dallas, Texas.
Almost two years before he leaves office, Barack Obama seems to have settled on a spot, according to media reports: Chicago, where he launched his political career as a community organizer.
Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was president from 1933 until his death in 1945, launched the now time-honored library tradition as a way to preserve his archives for generations to come.
Presidents
Statue Marks Centennial
'In Flanders Fields'
War poet John McCrae, who helped make the poppy an enduring symbol of the sacrifices of the First World War, has received his own enduring monument.
A larger-than-life bronze statue of Lt.-Col. McCrae was unveiled next to the National Artillery Memorial on a hillside overlooking the Ottawa River, about a 15-minute walk east of Parliament Hill.
The site is apt: before he was a physician, McCrae was an artillery officer and his heart remained with the gunners, even as he tended to the wounded.
The statue by renowned sculptor Ruth Abernethy imagines McCrae at the moment he looks up from the notebook where he has just signed his name to what would be published as "In Flanders Fields."
He is sitting on a broken tree branch, his cap perched on his medical bag in front of him, with a scattering of poppies at his feet.
'In Flanders Fields'
Kumari Survives Quake
Kathmandu
When a devastating quake hit Nepal last week, a nine-year-old girl worshipped as a living goddess was preparing to receive devotees at her home in the heart of Kathmandu's Durbar Square.
As the earth shook, the ancient temples and statues that packed the square collapsed, sending a massive cloud of rubble and dust into the air. But the home of the living goddess, or Kumari, escaped with just a few cracks.
"She protected us," said Durga Shakya, the 55-year-old caretaker of the Kumari house, who like all her entourage is from the Newar community indigenous to the Kathmandu valley.
"Even inside, nothing has fallen down, everything is fine."
The Kumari, a pre-pubescent Newar girl, lives in isolation in her small palace and emerges only on feast days when she is paraded through Kathmandu in ceremonial dress.
Kathmandu
Britain's Newest Princess
Feng Shui
Britain's new princess will be strong-willed and innovative, a free spirit who will re-energise the royal family, Chinese fortune tellers predicted on Sunday.
Prince William and his wife Kate's daughter was born Saturday, falling under the Chinese zodiac sign of the sheep and with a personal element of earth, according to the ancient Chinese practice of feng shui.
Her birthday combination is "a very strong one", feng shui expert Thierry Chow told AFP.
"It indicates that she will give good luck to her family, being born in the sheep year has certainly helped to create this lucky combination."
Feng Shui
Small Earthquake Shakes Region
Los Angeles
A mild earthquake rattled the Los Angeles area on Sunday morning, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), causing no reported damage.
The quake with a magnitude of 3.9 struck at about 4 a.m. (7 a.m. ET) and was centered near View Park-Windsor Hills, about 10 miles southwest of downtown Los Angeles, the USGS said.
Shaking described as weak could be felt east to Riverside and south to Irvine, it said.
A stronger quake of 4.2 struck on Saturday at midday near Kalamazoo, Michigan, the USGS said.
Weak shaking could be felt as far as Detroit, Grand Rapids, Toledo, Ohio and South Bend, Indiana.
Los Angeles
Pesticide OK'd
Oyster Beds
For decades, oyster growers in southwest Washington have battled to control native shrimp that burrow in the mudflats and make it hard for oysters to grow.
Now, after getting state approval, a group of shellfish farmers plan to spray a widely-used neurotoxic pesticide on up to 2,000 acres of commercial shellfish beds in Grays Harbor and Willapa Bay. They insist it's a safe way to keep in check a threat to the area's multimillion-dollar shellfish industry.
But critics, including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, worry about unintended harm to other species. The plan is premature, they say, with too many unknowns about the pesticide's effects on other organisms, including those that are a food source for threatened species.
In comments to the state, NOAA noted that state Department of Ecology "is clearly aware that imidacloprid is a persistent broad spectrum pesticide that will kill nearly all benthic (sediment-dwelling) organisms on acreage directly treated."
Research "clearly indicate that effects and damages will not be limited to the treatment sites," added the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Oyster Beds
CDC Cautions
Ebola Survivors
U.S. health officials are now recommending people avoid contact with the semen of Ebola survivors after a woman in Liberia contracted Ebola through sexual intercourse with a survivor of the disease.
In a report issued on Friday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said a review of the 44-year-old woman's case now suggests that the Ebola virus persists longer in semen that previously thought.
CDC said it is conducting further studies to see how long the virus can remain viable in body fluids of male and female survivors and the likelihood of sexual transmission.
Until more information is known, CDC recommends that if male survivors choose to have sex - oral, vaginal, or anal - they should use a condom every time.
Ebola Survivors
Weekend Box Office
"Avengers: Age of Ultron"
The Avengers are mighty, but not enough to beat themselves. The Marvel and Disney sequel earned a staggering $187.7 million in its debut weekend, making it the second biggest U.S. opening of all time according to Rentrak estimates Sunday.
But "Avengers: Age of Ultron" failed to top the all-time record of the first film's $207.4 million debut in 2012.
With $168 million in international sales this weekend, "Avengers: Age of Ultron" has grossed $627 million globally in just 12 days. The film has yet to open in China and Japan.
The rest of the top five was populated with holdovers, "The Age of Adaline," ''Furious 7," ''Paul Blart: Mall Cop," and the animated "Home."
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Rentrak. Where available, the latest international numbers for Friday through Sunday are also included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1. "Avengers: Age of Ultron," $187.7 million ($168 million international).
2. "The Age of Adaline," $6.3 million.
3. "Furious 7," $6.1 million ($52.8 million international).
4. "Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2," $5.6 million ($4.3 million international).
5. "Home," $3.3 million ($17 million international).
6. "Cinderella," $2.4 million ($7 million international).
7. "Ex Machina," $2.2 million.
8. "Unfriended," $2 million ($3.6 million international).
9. "The Longest Ride," $1.7 million ($3.5 million international).
10. "Woman in Gold," $1.7 million.
"Avengers: Age of Ultron"
In Memory
Grace Lee Whitney
Grace Lee Whitney, who played the loyal Janice Rand, the personal assistant who served Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) aboard the USS Enterprise during the first season of Star Trek, has died. She was 85.
Whitney, who reprised her role as Rand in four Star Trek films and in a 1996 episode of Star Trek: Voyager, died Friday at her home in Coarsegold, Calif., her son told The Fresno Bee.
The attractive blond also appeared in two Billy Wilder films that starred Jack Lemmon: 1959's Some Like It Hot (as one of the members of the all-girl band) and as Kiki the Cossack in 1963's Irma la Douce.
There was much sexual tension between Whitney's Yeoman Rand and Shatner's Kirk as the actress appeared in eight of the first 13 episodes of the 1966-69 NBC space drama. But then she suddenly was released from her contract.
"There was a scene that Shatner and I did - and I remember when it happened - that scared the producers, because they said, 'Uh-oh, they're getting too close. This is getting too hot,'" she recalled in a 2011 interview. "We have to remove her because he's going to look like he's cheating when he falls in love with other women on other planets."
Whitney wrote in her 1998 book, The Longest Trek: My Tour of the Galaxy, that she was sexually assaulted by an executive at Desilu, the production company behind Star Trek, and suffered from drug and alcohol abuse for years before turning her life around.
She was welcomed back as Chief Petty Officer Rand in Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979), followed by appearances in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984), Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986) and, as a lieutenant, in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991).
A native of Ann Arbor, Mich., Whitney landed a job as a teenage singer on a radio station in Detroit and later played Chicago nightclubs with the likes of Buddy Rich and Billie Holliday. In 1951, she appeared on Broadway in the musical comedy Top Banana, starring Phil Silvers, and appeared in the 1954 movie version as well.
Also in the early 1950s, she served as the inspiration for the Chicken of the Sea mermaid in ads for the canned tuna.
Whitney had roles on such TV shows as The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, The Real McCoys, The Outer Limits, The Rifleman, Batman (as King Tut's pretty accomplice) and Bewitched. She also did a pilot episode for Police Story, a drama that never made it to series; it was written by Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, and that led her to being cast as Rand.
Grace Lee Whitney
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