Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Paul Krugman: How to Lose a Trade War (NY Times Blog)
… Trump's tariffs are badly designed even from the point of view of someone who shares his crude mercantilist view of trade. In fact, the structure of his tariffs so far is designed to inflict maximum damage on the U.S. economy, for minimal gain. Foreign retaliation, by contrast, is far more sophisticated: unlike Trump, the Chinese and other targets of his trade wrath seem to have a clear idea of what they're trying to accomplish.
Jordan Weissman: Trump's Trade War Is Wreaking Havoc on the Dairy Industry, Ironically (Slate)
So far, the administration's efforts on trade and regulation have ended up hurting the very industries they claim to be helping. The 10 percent tariff Trump placed on aluminum, for instance, has made raw materials more expensive for most of the companies that actually produce aluminum products in the U.S., since they're generally in the business of importing those raw materials and shaping them into more valuable upstream products. Steel tariffs have made pumping crude more expensive for oil companies by adding to the cost of building rigs and buying equipment. […]
Lucy Mangan: You can tell it's a heatwave when ... (The Guardian)
1 Hitherto unsuspected tattoos are on display, often requiring wholesale mental readjustment in social perceptions. It is frequently these, rather than the heat, that are making you dizzy.
David Levari: Why your brain never runs out of problems to find (The Conversation)
One potential strategy: When you're making decisions where consistency is important, define your categories as clearly as you can. So if you do join a neighborhood watch, think about writing down a list of what kinds of transgressions to worry about when you start. Otherwise, before you know it, you may find yourself calling the cops on dogs being walked without leashes.
Samuel Putnam and Masha A. Gartstein: Why are Russians so stingy with their smiles (The Conversation)
In the lead-up to the World Cup, articles appeared noting that Russian workers were being taught how to properly smile at the foreign soccer fans who would soon be visiting their country. One of us - Masha - is a Russian immigrant. She'll be quick to tell you that in Russia, randomly smiling at strangers in public is often viewed as a sign of mental illness or inferior intellect.
Matthew Dessem: Spider-Man Comic Book Artist Steve Ditko Has Died at 90 (Slate)
Comic book artist Steve Ditko has died at the age of 90, the New York Times reports. Ditko was best known for his work creating Spider-Man, who debuted in the Marvel comic book series Amazing Fantasy in 1962. Although Spider-Man was initially conceived by artist Jack Kirby, Kirby's version was similar to another character he'd created, and after Ditko raised concerns, Stan Lee revamped the character. When Spider-Man became a hit, Ditko penciled and inked the first 38 issues of the character's own series, The Amazing Spider-Man, on which he and Lee shared plot duties.
Marissa Martinelli and June Thomas: Two Totally Normal People Explain Why They're Still Playing Pokémon Go (Slate)
It's been two years, but you still gotta catch 'em all.
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David Bruce has over 80 Kindle books on Amazon.com.
Presenting
Michael Egan
took the day off.
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
Reader Comment
Current Events
Linda >^..^<
We are all only temporarily able bodied.
Thanks, Linda!
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
THINGS ARE SERIOUSLY BAD.
WILL SOMEONE PUT THIS ASSHOLE IN JAIL?
"BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING."
BEWARE THE "PRIVATE EQUITY VULTURES".
OUT DAMN TURTLE!
'IT STINKS'.
Visit JD's site - Kitty Litter Music
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Hot & humid. Bitch. Whine.
Created Art Tour Based On Beyoncé and Jay-Z's Video
The Louvre
Have you ever seen regular old museum attendees go apeshit? No? Well, thanks to the Louvre, now you can!
The Paris museum - home to famous works like Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa, and more recently, the music video for Beyoncé and Jay-Z's song, "Apeshit," off the album EVERYTHING IS LOVE - now offers a guided tour that will retrace the steps the power couple took when creating their visual masterpiece.
The tour will examine the 17 pieces of art that were featured in the Carters' "Apeshit" video, directed by Ricky Saiz.
In addition to the Mona Lisa, it will take a look at famous works like The Winged Victory of Samothrace, The Raft of the Medusa, The Coronation of Napoleon, the ceiling of the Galerie d'Apollon, and more.
According to the website, the thematic trail tour, which lasts 90 minutes, is only offered on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays. But the museum also offers a detailed guide to the works, so you can learn more from the comfort of your own home.
The Louvre
Man Booker Prize
'The English Patient'
Michael Ondaatje's "The English Patient" was named the greatest-ever winner of the Man Booker Prize at an event Sunday celebrating five decades of the prestigious literary award.
The Canadian writer's tale of love and conflict during World War II was awarded the Golden Man Booker Prize for fiction after winning a public vote.
"The English Patient" won the Booker in 1992 and was made into a 1996 movie starring Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche that won nine Academy Awards.
It beat four other novels in an online poll that drew 9,000 votes in all. Organizers didn't give a breakdown of votes for the books, each of which represented one of five decades.
The 1970s finalist was "In a Free State" by Trinidad-born V.S. Naipaul, while "Moon Tiger" by British writer Penelope Lively was the 1980s contender. Hilary Mantel's Tudor saga "Wolf Hall" and George Saunders' U.S. Civil War symphony "Lincoln in the Bardo" were the finalists from the 2000s and 2010s.
'The English Patient'
Wife Spread Conspiracy Theories About 'Blacks'
Bill Shine
The wife of Bill Shine - former Fox News co-president who just joined the Trump administration as White House communications chief - has a lengthy history of defending racists, promoting unfounded anti-vaccination conspiracies, writing about "Islamic Insanity," and making racially-charged remarks on her social media pages.
Darla Shine made these remarks primarily on her Twitter account, @darlashine, which was deleted as soon as the White House announced that her husband was officially joining the Trump administration.
On her personal website, Shine (who, like her husband, did not respond to requests for comment) says that she got her start in media by working as a "TV reporter and producer." After giving birth to her first child, that site asserts, she opted to leave the office and become a stay-at-home mom while her husband stayed in the news industry. She eventually jumped back into media - authoring the book Happy Housewives in 2005 and starting a blog called "Darla Shine's Happy Housewives Club." On this site, Shine advocated for stay-at-home moms, whom she claims are "the most disrespected" people in America.
A number of her posts seem to be focused on holding celebrities of color responsible for crimes committed by black people.
The most prominent issue Shine had with the black community isn't crime, however. It's the idea that people of color can say the N-word but she can't.
Bill Shine
Linked To Viral Twitter Attacks
Russian Bots
It what may be an early onslaught of Kremlin-linked Twitter attacks ahead of the U.S. midterm elections, Russia bots appear to be fueling a wave of criticism targeting Democrats over alleged intimidation in political confrontations and a lack of "civility," according to bot trackers.
Attacks with the hashtag #WalkAway purport to be from a "grassroots" wave of one-time Democrats who have left the party in part because they say they are so incensed by the hateful and divisive behavior of party members. The message is to "walk away" from ugly confrontations, "intolerance" and hate - and from the Democratic Party.
Arc Digital has made the same connection in the "strikingly similar" tweets pushing a "familiar narrative" of Democratic "bullying." Arc traced the campaign from a Facebook group in May and subsequent tweets whose traffic suddenly began to explode late last month.
Amplification of tweets by bots does not necessarily mean content is created by Kremlin-linked operators. But bots typically grossly exaggerate Twitter traffic - and influence - by replicating chosen messages tens of thousands of times.
The aim of such a campaign is to manipulate public opinion by "gaming online algorithms" to rocket content to the top of internet searches, noted Arc Digital.
Russian Bots
Another Proud Chapter In US History
Kids
The 1-year-old boy in a green button-up shirt drank milk from a bottle, played with a small purple ball that lit up when it hit the ground and occasionally asked for "agua."
Then it was the child's turn for his court appearance before a Phoenix immigration judge, who could hardly contain his unease with the situation during the portion of the hearing where he asks immigrant defendants whether they understand the proceedings.
"I'm embarrassed to ask it, because I don't know who you would explain it to, unless you think that a 1-year-old could learn immigration law," Judge John W. Richardson told the lawyer representing the 1-year-old boy.
The boy is one of hundreds of children who need to be reunited with their parents after being separated at the border, many of them split from mothers and fathers as a result of the Trump administration's "zero-tolerance policy." The separations have become an embarrassment to the administration as stories of crying children separated from mothers and kept apart for weeks on end dominated the news in recent weeks.
Critics have also seized on the nation's immigration court system that requires children - some still in diapers - to have appearances before judges and go through deportation proceedings while separated from their parents. Such children don't have a right to a court-appointed attorney, and 90 percent of kids without a lawyer are returned to their home countries, according to Kids in Need of Defense, a group that provides legal representation.
Kids
According To T-rump
The World
Normally an American president would enjoy warm relations at the first meeting and get a frostier reception at the second. But as the United States, its traditional allies and the rest of the world have learned over the past 18 months, Donald Trump (R-Compromised) is not a normal president - which is raising concerns that he will alienate NATO members and then cozy up to Russia's Vladimir Putin.
"Our allies support the United States. Our adversaries are trying to undercut us. I don't know how to turn that around for him," said Heather Conley, who served in the State Department under resident George W. Bush and now runs the Europe Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "That's why we're so nervous about the summit."
Trump has already offered hints about his likely approach. Last month, after refusing to sign onto a joint statement from other leaders of industrialized economies at the G-7 summit, Trump fired off letters to a number of NATO nations complaining that they were not spending enough on their militaries.
It is a theme Trump has hammered on for years: that the rest of the world takes advantage of the United States through alliances and trade agreements skewed in their favor. Many times, Trump has falsely claimed that other NATO members are not paying "what they owe" to NATO and that their dereliction puts an unfair burden on U.S. taxpayers ? which is a fundamental misrepresentation of how the treaty organization works.
Trump in his first meeting with NATO leaders last year famously failed to pledge his support for the alliance's mutual defense clause. This came at the unveiling of a new NATO headquarters memorial to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks against the United States - the only time that Article 5 of the alliance's charter has ever been invoked. And that decision wound up putting thousands of NATO troops in Afghanistan for going on two decades.
The World
Protesters Asking
'Where Are The Babies?'
For the second time in as many weeks, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Asshole) was challenged Saturday by protesters who confronted him over the Trump administration's zero-tolerance border policy.
McConnell was leaving a Louisville restaurant after having lunch with Jonathan Shell, the outgoing majority leader of Kentucky's House of Representatives, when he was approached by a group of demonstrators, reported the Courier-Journal.
As shown in a video recording of the encounter, the protesters chanted "Vote you out" and "Abolish ICE," referring to the controversial Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.
One man is heard asking McConnell: "Where are the babies, Mitch?" - an apparent reference to the migrant children who have yet to be reunited with their families despite President Donald Trump's executive order last month ordering an end to family separations among undocumented immigrants at the U.S.-Mexico border.
The senator did not appear to acknowledge the protesters.
'Where Are The Babies?'
On A Mission
Turtlehead
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Partisan Hack) was upbeat the night after Justice Anthony Kennedy announced he was retiring from the Supreme Court.
The Kentucky Republican had already led the Senate in confirming more circuit court judges in the first year of Donald Trump's presidency than in that of any other president in history. Now McConnell had the chance to confirm a second Supreme Court justice, a thrilling prospect for his party.
More than any other accomplishment, including the passage of the GOP's tax cuts, the remaking of the judiciary is fast becoming the cornerstone of the Republican leader's legacy. It's something he's been working on for a long time.
With McConnell leading the way in the Republican-controlled Senate, Trump is seeking to put his imprint on the federal judiciary for generations to come. While the latest opening on the Supreme Court is commanding all the attention, with Trump set to announce his pick on Monday night, the nominees to the lower courts are also consequential. More than 40 federal district and circuit court judges have been confirmed to lifetime appointments so far during Trump's term, and those judges will have enormous sway in shaping legal arguments nationwide.
Nearly 100 other judicial nominees are awaiting Senate confirmation. In all, there are more than 150 vacancies on the courts.
Turtlehead
Weekend Box Office
'Ant-Man and the Wasp'
Despite its heroes' diminutive size, "Ant-Man and the Wasp" opened with typical Marvel might at the box office, with an estimated $76 million in ticket sales.
According to studio estimates Sunday, the "Ant-Man" sequel easily surpassed the $57 million debut of the 2015 original in North America. The 20th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe - and the 20th to debut no. 1 at the box office - "Ant-Man and the Wasp" comes on the heels of two mammoth Marvel successes this year: "Black Panther" and "Avengers: Infinity War."
Befitting the summer season, the weekend's top five films were all sequels. The weekend's other new wide release was Blumhouse Productions' "The First Purge," the fourth film in the low-budget horror franchise about an annual 12-hour period of lawlessness. With July 4th falling on a Wednesday and thus depriving Hollywood of a holiday weekend, Universal opted to release "The First Purge" on Wednesday, while "Ant-Man" waited for the customary Thursday night previews.
"The First Purge" debuted with $32 million over the five-day frame, and $18.5 million for the weekend. Particularly following 2016's "The Purge: Election Year," the franchise has made satirical jabs at social commentary. "First Purge," a Staten Island-set prequel, focuses on the ritual's origins as a method of culling minorities.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to comScore. Where available, the latest international numbers for Friday through Sunday also are included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1. "Ant-Man and the Wasp," $76 million ($85 million international).
2. "Incredibles 2," $29 million ($35.7 million international).
3. "Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom," $28.6 million ($27.6 million international).
4. "The First Purge," $17.2 million ($10.9 million international).
5. "Sicario: Day of the Soldado," $7.3 million ($3 million international).
6. "Uncle Drew," $6.6 million.
7. "Ocean's 8," $5.3 million ($7.7 million international).
8. "Tag," $3.1 million ($2.9 million international).
9. "Won't You Be My Neighbor," $2.6 million.
10. "Deadpool 2," $1.7 million.
'Ant-Man and the Wasp'
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