Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Michael Moore: Use This Moment To Create A World Without Harveys (Huffington Post)
Four suggestions that Hollywood (and our greater society) should act on immediately.
Paul Krugman: Lies, Lies, Lies, Lies, Lies, Lies, Lies, Lies, Lies, Lies (NY Times Blog)
Modern conservatives have been lying about taxes pretty much from the beginning of their movement. Made-up sob stories about family farms broken up to pay inheritance taxes, magical claims about self-financing tax cuts, and so on go all the way back to the 1970s.
Raffaela Kenny-Cincotta : Henry Rollins Wants To Build Your Record Collection (Relix)
For his next venture, Rollins is teaming up with Sound of Vinyl, a new music curation service that sends you personalized vinyl recommendations via text message, and allows you to purchase them right on your smartphone. Rollins' role within the company is that of a music expert and content developer, recommending his favorite albums, sharing stories from his life on the road, and conducting interviews with industry professionals. "You should check out every record that I recommend," he says. "I'm not telling you, I'm begging you."
Henry Rollins: What Happened in Vegas Will Not Stay in Vegas (LA Weekly)
While comrade Trump tossed rolls of paper towels to people in Puerto Rico ("I was having fun, they were having fun") and said to the fake news reporters gathered, "You guys know what this represents? Maybe it's the calm before the storm," he has actually been getting things done. Things that could have devastating impact on millions of Americans. Trump has nominated a reported 17 circuit judges and 39 district court judges. He has a lot more seats to fill and it looks as if he's moving on it. Apparently the Republicans' refusal to confirm President Obama's nominations created the large number of vacancies. Well played.
Average Guy Photoshops Himself Into Celebrities' Lives, Result Is Hilarious (Sad and Useless)
He calls himself Average Rob and he definitely deserves more Instagram followers.
Lucy Mangan on why it's OK to feel vulnerable in these dark times (Stylist)
These days, if I'm really honest, I try and walk on the side of the road with railings in case a car driven by someone intent on hitting pedestrians - and the headlines - mounts the pavement. And where once I was all about the loos and nearest croissant dispensary, I'm now more likely to subtly note the nearest escalator and exits in any new building I'm in. I have friends who quietly gave away concert tickets in the wake of the terrible Manchester Arena deaths, others who can't always deal with the Tube and one or two who have started wearing trainers to work so that they can run if their commute takes a sudden turn for the worse.
Lucy Mangan is exhausted by the "age of extremes" (Stylist)
I offered my six-year-old a choice between half an hour of telly and half an hour of being read to the other day. "Can I have a bit of both?" he said. "I like things to be medium." 'God, mate,' I thought. 'So do I. So do I.'
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Presenting
Michael Egan
answered:
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
Bonus Links
Jeannie the Teed-Off Temp
from Marc Perkel
Patriot Act
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
'IT'S TIME TO PANIC'
KARMA IS A BITCH. HEEHAW!
THE COMMONS.
HE'S OFF THE CHARTS!
OOPS!
HYPOCRITES FOR JESUS.
LET THE SUNSHINE!
THERMONUCLEAR "DICKS".
Visit JD's site - Kitty Litter Music
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Way too toasty.
Ad Prices Soar
'Saturday Night Live'
Colin Jost, Michael Che, Kate McKinnon and Kenan Thompson try each week to make people laugh during various sketches on "Saturday Night Live." They may have reason to smile on their own.
Ad prices for the venerable late-night NBC mainstay have soared over the past season, making the show as expensive a buy for Madison Avenue as some of TV's top-rated primetime programs, according to estimates from media buyers as well as data from Standard Media Index, a tracker of ad spending.
A 30-second spot in the current season of "Saturday Night Live," its 43rd, has sold in recent weeks for between $100,000 and $300,000, according to data from SMI. A person familiar with the matter says NBC has been seeking $230,000 for a 30-second ad in TV's scatter market, when advertisers buy commercial time closer to air date. Meanwhile, the average cost of a 30-second ad in "SNL" during TV's recent upfront sales season was $183,730, according to estimates from ad buyers.
To put those numbers in perspective, a package of ads in AMC's "The Walking Dead" goes for more than $400,000 while a 30-second spot in ABC's "Modern Family" costs more than $200,000. NBC declined to make executives available for comment.
These have not been the normal prices for the decades-old comedy showcase. The average cost of a 30-second ad in the show's 2016-2017 season was $147,000, according to Standard Media Index. In the prior season, the average cost of a 30-second spot was $89,500, and the average cost of a half-minute commercial in the 2014-2015 season came to $92,500.
'Saturday Night Live'
Amazon Cuts Ties
Weinstein Company
Amazon Studios has reportedly cut ties with The Weinstein Company following allegations of sexual assault against movie mogul Harvey Weinstein.
At least 30 women have made allegations against Weinstein that range from harassment to sexual assault and rape, also prompting the company he co-founded to dismiss him.
The move from Amazon comes in the wake of its own sexual assault scandal, with the head of its movie studio Roy Price suspended this week over allegations of sexual assault made against him by producer Isa Hackett.
In a memo sent to staff on Friday, Jeff Blackburn, the senior vice president of business development at Amazon said: "Amazon does not tolerate harassment or abuse of our employees or our business partners," The Los Angeles Times reported.
The decision by Amazon to cut ties with The Weinstein Company has also spelled the end of an unnamed big-budget TV project featuring Robert De Niro and Julianne Moore and directed by David Russell.
Weinstein Company
Ex-Member Claims
Pussycat Dolls
Former Pussycat Dolls member Kaya Jones has broken her silence regarding the sexual harassment she experienced while she was still part of the girl group.
On Friday, Jones took to social media and made a shocking revelation about the band she was part of in a series of tweets. She claimed that she was forced to have sex with powerful people and take illegal drugs in order to be able to remain a singer. "My truth. I wasn't in a girl group. I was in a prostitution ring. Oh & we happened to sing & be famous. While everyone who owned us made the $," she wrote on Twitter.
"To be a part of the team you must be a team player. Meaning sleep with whoever they say. If you don't they have nothing on you to leverage…Yes, I said leverage. Meaning after they turn you out or get you hooked on drugs they use it against you. Correct. Victimizing the victim again," she added.
She also called the "den mother" of the group to confess why one of the girls committed suicide, while accusing the unnamed member of mentally breaking them. It has been speculated that Jones was referring to G.R.L. singer Simone Battle, who committed suicide in September 2014, E! News reported.
According to Jones, things got so bad that she "walked away from my dreams, bandmates & a 13 million record deal. We knew we were going to #1." At the time, Jones had been too young to fight back, but now that she is an adult, she expressed her intention of fighting for her rights.
Pussycat Dolls
German Soccer Team Kneels In Solidarity
Hertha Berlin
German soccer team, Hertha Berlin, shocked fans when they took a knee on the field before their match Saturday.
Players in the National Football League have been widely criticized for kneeling during the national anthem in protest of racial injustice in the United States. Hertha Berlin players adopted the act as a message of tolerance and a move of solidarity with the protesting NFL players.
"Hertha BSC stands for tolerance and responsibility," the team tweeted. "For a tolerant Berlin and an open-minded world, now and forevermore!"
"We are living in the 21st century, not the 18th century, but there are some people who haven't developed their ideologies accordingly," Hertha player Sebastian Langkamp told Sky Sports. "If we can give them a bit of help in doing so, then that's good."
Hertha Berlin
NFL Kneelers
Most Americans
America gets the movement Colin Kaepernick started even if President-for-now Trump (R-Draft Dodger) doesn't. A new poll released on Saturday by HuffPost/YouGov found 57 percent of Americans knew that players were protesting police violence when they kneeled during the national anthem-up from 48 percent of Americans who knew what kneelers were protesting in September.
Meanwhile, 66 percent of self-described football diehards said they knew NFL protests were in response to police brutality, which was 13 percent more than fans who knew why protesters were kneeling in September. Only 12 percent (down two percent from September's poll) believed, like Trump, that players were protesting the flag; 26 percent (down 20 percent) believed the players were protesting the president.
Although conversations surrounding the protests have been mixed, with viewers split 49 to 36 percent on kneeling during the protests, the majority of Americans (52 percent) disapprove of Trump's rhetoric towards NFL players' decision to protest; only 36 percent agree with him.
Trump launched an attack against the NFL in September when he urged NFL owners and coaches to force players to stand "Wouldn't you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, 'Get that son of a bitch off the field right now. Out! He's fired. He's fired!'" the president said during a rally for Republican Senator Luther Strange.
Following those comment, along with a number of tweets condemning players for exercising their First Amendment right, players, coaches and some owners responded by joining protesters and kneeling during the national anthem.
Most Americans
Dog Whistle For The Haters
T-rump
Donald Trump (R-Serial Adulterer) has told a conference organised by a hard line Christian group that Americans will be allowed to "say Merry Christmas again".
Mr Trump was the first sitting President to address the Values Voter Summit, hosted by the Family Research Council, who have been classified as an anti-LGBT hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Centre (SPLC).
"How times have changed, but you know what, now they are changing back again, just remember that," Mr Trump told the cheering crowd.
The President bemoaned the use of the phrase "Happy Holidays" as a secular seasonal greeting and vowed a return to "Merry Christmas".
Summit organisers also gave out a leaflet on the "health hazards of homosexuality," authored by MassResistance, another group designated as hateful by the SPLC.
T-rump
Protest Gender Rights Law
Greek Clerics
Church bells have rung "in mourning" across a western Greek diocese to protest the passing of a law making it easier for people to officially change their gender.
Under the guidance of Metropolitan Amvrosios of Kalavryta, a fiery conservative Orthodox bishop, clerics in his diocese decided that starting Sunday church bells are to ring every day, through Saturday, at noon for three minutes. They also called for the repeal of the "anti-Christian and anti-Greek" law.
"It is an outrageous inspiration for someone to change his gender in a few minutes, with a simple declaration, so contrary to what God has gifted people with ... whoever has 'gender dysphoria' is mentally ill," says a statement adopted by the Kalavryta diocese's clerics Saturday.
The statement, which also condemns homosexuality as a "deadly sin" and rails in general against "every kind of bestial deviation," also expressed worries that legislation allowing adoption by same-sex couples will be next.
The law, passed with 171 votes in favor in the 300-member parliament last week, allows Greeks over the age of 15 to change the gender listed on their identity cards and other official documents following a simplified procedure in court. Until now, they had to prove they had undergone sex-change surgery and psychiatric assessment.
Greek Clerics
You May Be ...
'Neanderthal'
A female Neanderthal who lived in what is now Croatia 52,000 years ago is revealing that our "caveman" relatives may have passed on genes that play roles in cholesterol levels, eating disorders, arthritis and other diseases today, the researchers who sequenced her genome say.
And some modern humans are carrying around more Neanderthal DNA than scientists had thought: The study found that the genomes of modern human populations that originated outside Africa hold between 1.8 and 2.6 percent Neanderthal DNA. That's much higher than previous estimates of 1.5 to 2.1 percent.
Neanderthals were the closest extinct relatives of modern humans. Research over the past decade has revealed that Neanderthals interbred with the ancestors of modern humans who migrated out of Africa, contributing variants of genes that play a wide variety of roles in modern human biology, such as in depression, heart attacks, nicotine addiction and obesity.
By extracting DNA from Neanderthal fossils, researchers sequenced the genomes of five Neanderthals. However, until now, just one of these yielded high-quality data - that of a woman found in Denisova Cave, in the Altai Mountains in Siberia. The fossil of the woman, who lived about 122,000 years ago, is known as the Altai Neanderthal.
Now, scientists have fully sequenced the genome of another female Neanderthal - this one from Vindija Cave, in Croatia - who lived about 52,000 years ago. Prior work suggested that Neanderthals lived in Vindija Cave until relatively late in their history. Scientists estimate that Neanderthals in Europe went extinct around 40,000 years ago.
'Neanderthal'
Weekend Box Office
'Happy Death Day'
The box office might be struggling this year, but the horror genre is alive and well.
This weekend the "Groundhog Day"-like horror pic "Happy Death Day" scored a first-place finish, surpassing expectations and blowing the much costlier and star-driven "Blade Runner 2049" out of the water.
Studio estimates Sunday show "Happy Death Day" took in $26.5 million from 3,149 North American theaters. With a $5 million production price tag, "Happy Death Day" is already a hit.
Jackie Chan's "The Foreigner" debuted in third place with $12.8 million from 2,515 screens, while "It" landed in fourth place in its sixth weekend in theaters.
The Kate Winslet and Idris Elba disaster pic "The Mountain Between Us" rounded out the top five with $5.7 million.
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 are also included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1."Happy Death Day," $26.5 million ($5 million international).
2."Blade Runner 2049," $15.1 million ($29.3 million international).
3."The Foreigner," $12.8 million ($5.2 million international).
4."It," $6.1 million ($10.4 million international).
5."The Mountain Between Us," $5.7 million ($4.1 million international).
6."American Made," $5.4 million ($3.2 million international).
7."Kingsman: The Golden Circle," $5.3 million ($15.6 million international).
8."The Lego Ninjago Movie," $4.3 million ($9.5 million international).
9."My Little Pony: The Movie," $4 million ($4.9 million international).
10."Victoria and Abdul," $3.1 million ($1.9 million international).
'Happy Death Day'
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