Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Your Olympic athlete body match (BBC)
Olympic athletes come in all shapes and sizes, from the lithe limbs of Japan's Asuka Teramoto to the gargantuan frame of China's Zhaoxu Zhang. But how do you measure up in comparison? Try our app below and find out. Why not then share your results with your friends?
Extreme Acts of Kindness (Reddit)
On 27 July 2012, Reddit user Couscousmagoose posted this note: "A homeless man chased me down to return my monthly train ticket worth $163 that I dropped today. Has anyone else experienced random extreme acts of kindness from someone very unlikely?"
Mary X. Smith: The Brave New World of K-12 Virtual Education (Irascible Professor)
Is online school the future of education? I doubt it and I hope not, and this is because the method throws into question the whole notion of what a good education really is. If indeed it is reading the chapter, answering the questions, taking the tests, and doing an occasional project, then online schooling is nirvana. But we educators believe that a stellar education goes far beyond that, into the process of transformation -- another subject for another day.
Paul Constant: The New Tax Form That Might Spell Doom for Romney (The Stranger)
Form 8938 will require Romney to detail all his money in overseas accounts, at the risk of criminal penalty, and could cause a lot of trouble for Romney's campaign this fall.
Andrew Tobias: Spread the Word
If you can't get an SBA loan without submitting three years of returns; if Tom Daschle's appointment to head HHS was scuttled over his failure to report as taxable income the value of his limo perk; and if the nation spent years considering the propriety of the Clintons' $30,000 loss on a land deal; then perhaps it's not inappropriate to ask questions about Swiss accounts, Cayman accounts, $100 million IRAs, and the related taxes paid or not paid.
Kevin Drum: Mitt Romney's Plan to Screw the Middle Class (Mother Jones)
When you combine the decrease in rates and the increase from credits and deductions, millionaires would get a tax cut of 4.1%. Everyone under $200,000 would get a tax increase of 1.2%.
Marc Dion: "The Boss Goes on a World Tour: Romney in a World of Employees" (Creators Syndicate)
Yeah, Mittsy. The boss. And doesn't he sound like one? He likes compassion, but he doesn't like that $378-a-month welfare check compassion. That's weak, liberal compassion, and it destroys people. He likes that manly, strong compassion that lifts up the exhausted rich and helps them into the limo and sends them to lunch at a place with cloth napkins so they can get on with the business of creating part-time, no union, no benefits, $9-an-hour jobs. That kind of compassion makes the dressage industry (I mean America) strong.
Andrew Tobias: $11,700 versus $415,000
Had you invested $10,000 in the S&P 500 under just Republican presidents for the 40 or so years that they controlled the White House since 1929, that $10,000 would have grown to . . . $11,733. Whoop-de-Tea-Party-doo. Had you invested that same $10,000 for the 40 years since 1929 that DEMOCRATS controlled the White House prior to the election of President Obama, it would have grown to $300,671.
David Bruce's Amazon Author Page
David Bruce's Lulu Storefront
David Bruce's Smashwords Page
David Bruce's Blog
David Bruce has 42 Kindle books on Amazon.com with 250 anecdotes in each book. Each book is $1, so for $42 you can buy 10,500 anecdotes. Search for "Funniest People," "Coolest People, "Most Interesting People," "Kindest People," "Religious Anecdotes," "Maximum Cool," and "Resist Psychic Death."
wrote:
took the day off.
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
Bosko Suggests
Fairytale Villages
Have a great day,
Bosko.
Thanks, Bosko!
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Day 29
Gulf Fritillary
Came across some Gulf Fritillary larva
on the back fence, so it looks like we'll have a third year of raising butterflies. : )
Click on any picture for a larger version.
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny with a nice breeze.
Another New Study
Climate Change
The relentless, weather-gone-crazy type of heat that has blistered the United States and other parts of the world in recent years is so rare that it can't be anything but man-made global warming, says a new statistical analysis from a top government scientist.
The research by a man often called the "godfather of global warming" says that the likelihood of such temperatures occurring from the 1950s through the 1980s was rarer than 1 in 300. Now, the odds are closer to 1 in 10, according to the study by NASA scientist James Hansen. He says that statistically what's happening is not random or normal, but pure and simple climate change.
Hansen is a scientist at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York and a professor at Columbia University. But he is also a strident activist who has called for government action to curb greenhouse gases for years. While his study was published online Saturday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, it is unlikely to sway opinion among the remaining climate change skeptics.
The new research makes the case for the severity of global warming in a different way than most scientific studies and uses simple math instead of relying on complex climate models or an understanding of atmospheric physics. It also doesn't bother with the usual caveats about individual weather events having numerous causes.
Climate Change
Trial Hurtles Towards Verdict
Pussy Riot
Three young women from the punk band Pussy Riot could face sentence this week in a trial over their "protest prayer" in a church that has transfixed Russia and openedPresident Vladimir Putin to new accusations of a crackdown on dissent.
The first week of hearings divided the mainly Russian Orthodox country. Some believers want tough sentences but many others are calling for leniency, even though few approve of the unsanctioned performance at the altar of Moscow's main church.
The trial for hooliganism, punishable by up to seven years in jail, resumes on Monday in the same Moscow courtroom where oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky faced the second of two trials after defying Putin by taking an interest in politics.
His 13-year sentence has for Putin critics become a symbol of political pressure on the court system, and defense lawyers fear Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, Yekaterina Samutsevich, 29, and Maria Alyokhina, 24, are not getting a fair hearing.
"This trial will define the development of the country as a whole. Either we move toward 'Orthodox sharia law' or remain in a situation of 'velvet authoritarianism'," defense lawyer Nikolai Polozov said.
Pussy Riot
Non-Stop Olympics Coverage Working Just Fine
BBC
While you're busy grumbling about missing the men's 100m final on Sunday because of NBC's tape-delay policies, millions in Britainwill be watching live, and the BBC's non-stop Olympics coveragestrategy is paying off for them in a huge way.
The BBC scored a ratings high (excluding the opening ceremonies) for this year's Summer Olympics during the final leg of British runner Mo Farah's 10,000 meter gold medal win with about 17 million viewers on Saturday. It was the sixth gold medal Britain won on Saturday, their best day at any Olympics since 1908, the last time the games were in London. Don't let anyone tell you home court advantage is a myth. And that audience is only going to grow as the games go on. Sunday's Murray-Federer final will be huge for British audiences, and probably set another peak audience record. The two faced off in this year's Wimbledon final, but Murray failed to become the first Brit to win Wimbledon in over 70 years. Now, back at Centre Court, the two square off in a rematch on the biggest stage possible. Nope, no one in Britain will watch that.
Their overall numbers aren't quite as high as NBC's about the future of Olympics coverage says the organizer's philosophy might to be changing. A sports broadcast analyst told the Times that the quantity of coverage is becoming as important as the quality. "The priority is still to get as many people as possible watching the Olympics," the analyst says, "but now they also want the maximum amount of coverage, to give greater exposure to some of the minor sports." Over 45 million people have tuned in to at least 15 minutes of the BBC's coverage. Someone ended up watching badminton, so we're ready to call this a success.
BBC
Philly Pops Conductor To Step Down
Peter Nero
Philly Pops artistic director Peter Nero will step down in 2013 after more than three decades as the group's leader and most recognizable face.
Under the terms of the deal approved by a bankruptcy judge Thursday, Nero will turn over the rights to the group's name upon his departure. But Nero could regain control of the ensemble if any severance payments are missed.
The Philly Pops called Nero's contract too expensive and sought to severe ties as it dealt with the fallout from a bankruptcy filing by its then-parent organization, the Philadelphia Orchestra.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reports Nero's attorney told the court his 78-year-old client has no intention of retiring and will be free to lead other ensembles.
Peter Nero
Predator Problem
Boy Scouts
Internal documents from the Boy Scouts of America reveal more than 125 cases in which men suspected of molestation allegedly continued to abuse Scouts, despite a blacklist meant to protect boys from sexual predators.
A Los Angeles Times review of more than 1,200 files from 1970 to 1991 found suspected abusers regularly remained in the organization after officials were first presented with sexual misconduct allegations.
Predators moved from troop to troop because of clerical errors, computer glitches or the Scouts' failure to check the blacklist, known as the "perversion files," the newspaper said.
In at least 50 cases, the Scouts expelled suspected abusers, only to discover they had re-entered the organization and were accused of molesting again.
In other cases, officials failed to document reports of abuse in the first place, letting offenders stay in the program until new allegations came to light, the Times reported.
Boy Scouts
Journalists Protest
Burma
Dozens of journalists marched in Myanmar's main city Saturday to protest the suspension of two journals amid fears officials are rowing back on pledges to ease strict junta-era censorship laws, an AFP reporter said.
The Voice Weekly and The Envoy were suspended last week for failing to submit stories for pre-publication scrutiny, the chief censor told AFP Saturday, adding the "temporary suspension" may last for a fortnight.
The reporters, many wearing black T-shirts emblazoned with the slogan "Stop Killing (the) Press" in Burmese and English marched to several sites across Yangon, including the two publishing houses behind the suspended weeklies.
Stifling censorship was one of the key symbols of junta-led Myanmar, where even seemingly innocuous details were scrubbed from public discussion and publications were frequently pulled for comments deemed damaging to the authoritarian rulers.
Burma
Where Are Her FBI Files?
Marilyn Monroe
Like many of the stars of her era, Marilyn Monroe's movements, relationships and comments weren't just devoured by fans - they were followed closely by the FBI.
Records kept on Monroe, many of which were filed under "Foreign Counterintelligence," have intrigued many who have sought to learn more about the film star, including those who investigated her death.
In connection with the 50th anniversary of Monroe's death on Aug. 5, The Associated Press has attempted under the Freedom of Information Act to obtain the most complete record of the bureau's monitoring of Monroe.
Nearly nine months later - after several requests and an appeal - obtaining a more complete record of how the FBI investigated Monroe in the months before she died have been stymied by an effort to simply find the files.
The FBI says it no longer has the files it compiled on Monroe; the National Archives - the usual destination for such material - says it doesn't have them either.
Marilyn Monroe
Heat Kills Fish
Midwest
Thousands of fish are dying in the Midwest as the hot, dry summer dries up rivers and causes water temperatures to climb in some spots to nearly 100 degrees.
About 40,000 shovelnose sturgeon were killed in Iowa last week as water temperatures reached 97 degrees. Nebraska fishery officials said they've seen thousands of dead sturgeon, catfish, carp, and other species in the Lower Platte River, including the endangered pallid sturgeon. And biologists in Illinois said the hot weather has killed tens of thousands of large- and smallmouth bass and channel catfish and is threatening the population of the greater redhorse fish, a state-endangered species.
So many fish died in one Illinois lake that the carcasses clogged an intake screen near a power plant, lowering water levels to the point that the station had to shut down one of its generators.
The fish are victims of one of the driest and warmest summers in history. The federal U.S. Drought Monitor shows nearly two-thirds of the lower 48 states are experiencing some form of drought, and the Department of Agriculture has declared more than half of the nation's counties - nearly 1,600 in 32 states - as natural disaster areas. More than 3,000 heat records were broken over the last month.
Midwest
Perfume Heist
Givenchy
French police say 1 million euro ($1.2 million) worth of Givenchy perfume has been recovered after it was stolen by masked thieves from a warehouse in the middle of the night.
The scented bounty was taken a week ago from Beauvais, near Paris, and was discovered on Tuesday, according to local police official Jean-Marie Salsat.
Salsat, who revealed details of the perfume heist Friday, said the bottles were found unused, with the stoppers still in.
The Sipa news agency, quoting unnamed police sources, reports that several robbers had overpowered a perfume warehouse night watchman. They later loaded trucks with the fragrances produced by the French house Givenchy, part of fashion giant LVMH.
Givenchy
Bees Swarm On Plane's Wing
Pittsburgh International Airport
A beekeeper says he had to be called into gather up a swarm of thousands of bees that delayed a Delta Air Lines flight from Pittsburgh International Airport to New York.
Master beekeeper Stephen Repasky tells KDKA-TV he was called out on Wednesday when the bees gathered on the wing of the plan as crews were getting ready to fuel the plane.
Repasky says such swarms form when colonies become too large and the queen leaves half of her bees behind to find a new home. Some swarms can contain 25,000 to 30,000 bees.
Repasky says it's likely there's a wild honeybee colony at the airport somewhere.
The beekeeper was called to remove the insects because they're a protected species that cannot legally be killed.
Pittsburgh International Airport
Weekend Box Office
"The Dark Knight Rises"
"The Dark Knight Rises" topped the box office for the third week in a row, making $36.4 million this past weekend.
"Total Recall," starring Colin Farrell in a new take on the thriller that provided Arnold Schwarzenegger with one of his best-loved actions roles in 1990, opened in second place with $26 million, Columbia Pictures said.
And the Fox family comedy "Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days" debuted at No. 3 with $14.7 million.
Also this week, the Universal Pictures comedy "Ted" made an additional $5.5 million to cross the $200 million mark domestically; it also had a huge weekend internationally, taking in $32 million. "Family Guy" creator Seth MacFarlane directs for the first time and provides the voice of a foul-mouthed, pot-smoking teddy bear who's the lifelong best friend of Mark Wahlberg's character.
Estimated ticket sales were for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Where available, latest international numbers are also included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1. "The Dark Knight Rises," $36.4 million. ($67 million international.)
2. "Total Recall," $26 million. ($6.2 million international.)
3. "Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days," $14.7 million. ($2.8 million international.)
4. "Ice Age: Continental Drift," $8.4 million. ($32.8 million.)
5. "The Watch," $6.35 million.
6. "Ted," $5.5 million. ($32 million international.)
7. "Step Up Revolution," $5.7 million. ($7.9 million international.)
8. "The Amazing Spider-Man," $4.3 million. ($6.1 million international.)
9. "Brave," $2.9 million. ($16.5 million international.)
10. "Magic Mike," $1.4 million. ($3.7 million international.)
"The Dark Knight Rises"
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