Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Henry Rollins: Existing in the Moment (LA Weekly)
I have been trying for years to make the most out of what I have left. Trying to be in the present and to make the hours count. Some days are better than others, of course, but more and more I am able to make time feel more dense and pass more meaningfully. Another upside is that this process elevates my mood, to where I feel pretty good when I'm working, no matter how tough it is.
Scott Burns: "Websites: One Billion and Counting?" (AssetBuilder)
No one rang a bell. And you may not have noticed. But sometime in late July the number of websites in the world may have surpassed one billion. That's: 1,000,000,000.
Paul Constant: "Don't Go See the Towering Pile of Garbage That Is Sin City: A Dame to Kill For" (The Stranger)
This is an eminently disposable movie that just takes up space, with no reason to exist. It's not even fun enough to be trash cinema; it's just trash.
Dave Segal: "Whoever Wrote This Song Has a Strange Idea of Butts" (The Stranger)
A Music Snob Reviews the Billboard Top Ten.
"You tell a story because a statement would be inadequate (Flannery O'Connor)" (Biblioklept)
When you can state the theme of a story, when you can separate it from the story itself, then you can be sure the story is not a very good one.
Robert Downey Jr. Arrives in South Korea (YouTube)
"A lot of people joke about wanting to be "rich and famous," but if it happened to them, how many would wish it had not, once they realize what their daily life is like? In a video that makes me anxious and want to scream "RUN!" Robert Downey Jr. arrives at the airport in South Korea and is soon surrounded by a throng of screaming people. He proceeds to be good natured about it and dives into what is sure to be a long (and loud) autograph and photo session." - Neatorama
23 Reasons Why Kids Are The Meanest People In The World (Manchester Entertainment)
"Dear Valerie, Get out of my life."
Angela Clayton: Making a Gothic Butterfly Crown (YouTube)
Not quite a tutorial, more a live action demo of the making process with a little info on the process. I do however have a tutorial for the project on my blog: ? doxiequeen1.wordpress.com/?
David Bruce's Amazon Author Page
David Bruce's Smashwords Page
David Bruce's Blog
David Bruce's Lulu Storefront
David Bruce's Apple iBookstore
David Bruce has approximately 50 Kindle books on Amazon.com.
wrote:
said:
has retired.
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
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Hot and way too effing humid.
World Falls Behind In Efforts
Climate Change
The world's major economies are falling further behind every year in terms of meeting the rate of carbon emission reductions needed to stop global temperatures from rising more than 2 degrees this century, a report published on Monday showed.
The sixth annual Low Carbon Economy Index report from professional services firm PwC looked at the progress of major developed and emerging economies toward reducing their carbon intensity, or emissions per unit of gross domestic product.
"The gap between what we are achieving and what we need to do is growing wider every year," PwC's Jonathan Grant said. He said governments were increasingly detached from reality in addressing the 2 degree goal.
Almost 200 countries agreed at United Nations climate talks to limit the rise in global temperatures to less than 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial times to limit heat waves, floods, storms and rising seas from climate change. Temperatures have already risen by about 0.85 degrees Celsius.
Carbon intensity will have to be cut by 6.2 percent a year to achieve that goal, the study said. That compares with an annual rate of 1.2 percent from 2012 to 2013.
Climate Change
No Need For Successor
Dalai Lama
The Dalai Lama has told a German newspaper that he should be the last Tibetan spiritual leader, ending a centuries-old religious tradition from his Himalayan homeland.
His comments to the Welt am Sonntag newspaper echo his previous statement that "the institution of the Dalai Lama has served its purpose", but were even more explicit.
"We had a Dalai Lama for almost five centuries. The 14th Dalai Lama now is very popular. Let us then finish with a popular Dalai Lama," he said.
He also said: "Tibetan Buddhism is not dependent on one individual. We have a very good organisational structure with highly trained monks and scholars."
Asked by the German newspaper how much longer he may carry on his advocacy duties, the 79-year-old said: "The doctors say I could become 100 years old. But in my dreams I will die at the age of 113 years.
Dalai Lama
Isolated Tribe Risks Human Contact
Peru
Six Mashco Piro tribeswomen crouched low as they escaped back into the jungle after raiding a remote lodge in Peru's Manu National Park in the western Amazon, clutching newly prized tools: metallic cooking pots.
The brazen daytime foray into the tourist retreat in May was a rare appearance by one of the world's most reclusive tribes that is increasingly chancing contact with the outside world.
But in the past three years there has been a spike in sightings near the Manu National Park as the Mashco Piro, clad only in loin cloths and armed with bows and arrows, emerge during the dry season in clearings along the Alto Madre de Dios River.
Peru's government prohibits physical contact with the Mashco Piro and another dozen so-called "uncontacted" indigenous tribes, primarily for their wellbeing. Their immune systems carry little resistance to illnesses that other humans carry.
Peru
Rebuilt 18th Century Ship
The Hermione
A reconstruction of the 213-foot (65-meter) frigate used by France's Marquis de Lafayette to bring reinforcements to American revolutionaries in 1780 has tested the waters for the first time.
The test run at high tide Sunday was a key step in an ambitious 17-year project aimed at sending the ship next year across the Atlantic, retracing Lafayette's journey and the foundation of French-American relations.
Maritime and history experts and aficionados have made rebuilding the Hermione a major project for the French port of Rochefort in southwest France.
Ship builders and researchers have painstakingly rebuilt the ship using the same construction materials and methods as those used to build the original, from the pulley systems to the massive oak hull.
The Hermione
'Meteorite' Smashes Into Nicaraguan Capital
"2014 RC"
A mysterious explosion that rocked Nicaragua's crowded capital Managua, creating a large crater, appears to have been caused by a small meteorite, officials said Sunday.
Amazingly, in a sprawling city of 1.2 million people, the impact near the international airport did not cause any known injuries, but it did leave a crater measuring 12 meters (39 feet) across and was felt throughout the capital late on Saturday.
Nicaraguan authorities believe it was a piece of the small asteroid dubbed "2014 RC," which passed very close to Earth on Sunday and was estimated by astronomers to be about 20 meters big, or the size of a house.
People who live near the crater told local media they heard a blast they took for an explosion, and that liquid, sand and dust were blown through the air, which smelled like something had burned.
"2014 RC"
5 Times As Likely
Injuries
Black Americans are five times as likely to be sent to the emergency room with police-caused injuries as their white counterparts, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data compiled by the Sunlight Foundation. The rate of injuries also appears to be rising for black people, while it's barely budged among white Americans since 2001.
The data provides yet another example of the racial disparities in the criminal justice system. The disparities have been getting much more attention following the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, but, as the chart shows, they've been a nationwide problem for years.
Some federal officials are now giving the disparities more attention. The Department of Justice, for instance, has taken on more than double the civil rights investigations of police departments in the past five years than the previous five.
Injuries
Starts Pacific 'Research' Whaling
Japan
A fleet of four Japanese ships left the northern main island of Hokkaido on Sunday to start the seasonal "research" whaling hunt in Pacific coastal waters, local media said.
Japan's Fisheries Agency has said whalers planned to kill up to 51 minke whales in waters off Kushiro city through the end of October.
Japan has hunted whales under a loophole in the 1986 global moratorium that allows lethal research on the mammals, but has made no secret of the fact that their meat ends up in restaurants and fish markets.
The smaller scale Pacific coastal whaling comes as Japan hopes to resume its Antarctic Ocean hunt next year, despite an order from the UN's top court to stop all whaling in the area.
Tokyo was forced to abandon its 2014-15 hunt in March when the International Court of Justice (ICJ) said the annual expedition was a commercial activity masquerading as research.
Japan
French Farmers Furious
Lavender
The sweet smell of lavender is tinged with bitterness this year in the south of France, as farmers who harvest the flower protest European regulations linking the plant to chemical toxins.
Billboards proclaiming "Lavender is not a chemical" dot fields that yield what in Provence is known as blue gold - lavender oil, worth over 100 euros a kilogram ($60 a pound). The plant is cultivated by around 1,500 producers, representing 30,000 full-time jobs that include catering to the millions of tourists in the south of France who come for the panoramic views of purple fields.
For many, Provence is synonymous with lavender, both fine lavender - used for perfumes, cosmetics and aromatherapy - and hybrid lavender, called lavandin. Lavandin is cheapest and used to scent soaps, detergents and air fresheners.
And they fear European Union rules adopted last year and due to come in force by 2018 will threaten that. According to regulators, lavender oil's potential to produce allergies places it firmly within regulations on chemical toxins. That means lavender products will have to bear labels involving bold black and red warning labels with messages such as "CAN BE FATAL IF SWALLOWED OR INHALED."
French producers don't oppose mentioning a potential allergy risk on their product, Vidal said, but they are adamantly against the kinds of dire labels that can be found on chemicals used in industrial processes, such as hydrochloric acid or cleaning products.
Lavender
Weekend Box Office
'Guardians of the Galaxy'
"Guardians of the Galaxy" continues to rule the box office universe. The cosmic Marvel adventure arrived in first place at the box office for a fourth weekend with $10.2 million, according to studio estimates Sunday. The domestic haul for "Guardians," which features Chris Pratt and Zoe Saldana as intergalactic do-gooders, now stands at $294.6 million after six weeks of release.
Paramount's "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" sliced off second place in its fifth weekend with $6.5 million, bringing the domestic total of the live-action superhero reboot starring Megan Fox and Will Arnett to $174.6 million.
The Warner Bros. young-adult novel adaptation "If I Stay," starring Chloe Grace Moretz, took third place in its third weekend with $5.7 million.
The weekend's only new release, Freestyle's musical drama "The Identical," dismally debuted in 11th place with $1.9 million. The film starring Ray Liotta and Ashley Judd failed to achieve the successes of similar faith-based films as "Heaven Is for Real," ''God's Not Dead" and "Son of God" released this year.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theatres, according to Rentrak. Where available, the latest international numbers are also included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1. "Guardians of the Galaxy," $10.2 million.
2. "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles," $6.5 million.
3. "If I Stay," $5.7 million.
4. "Let's Be Cops," $5.4 million.
5. "The November Man," $4.2 million.
6. "As Above, So Below," $3.7 million.
7. "When the Game Stands Tall," $3.7 million.
8. "The Giver," $3.6 million.
9. "The Hundred-Foot Journey," $3.2 million.
10. "Lucy," $1.9 million.
'Guardians of the Galaxy'
In Memory
Molly Glynn
Molly Glynn, an accomplished Chicago theater actress who also played a recurring role as a doctor on the TV series "Chicago Fire," has died after a tree toppled by a powerful storm struck her as she rode her bike in a forest park. She was 46.
Glynn was with her husband, Joe Foust, when the storm rolled quickly into the area, just north of Chicago, the executive director of First Folio Theatre and a close family friend, David Rice, said Sunday.
Glynn had an audition earlier in the day Friday and she and her husband had decided to go for a ride. The inclement weather took them by surprise and the tree slammed into Glynn as the couple sought to ride to safety, Rice said.
"It was a freak accident and a matter of being in the wrong place at the wrong time," he said.
Glynn grew up in Hartford, Connecticut, Rice said. In addition to her husband, she is also survived by two teenage sons.
Molly Glynn
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