Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Henry Rollins: Column #2 Mississippi (henryrollins.com)
One of the upsides of comrade Trump's appearance at the opening of the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum in Jackson was that at least millions of people in America now know that it exists. How many in the state or from outside of it pay a visit remains to be seen.
Henry Rollins: Column #1 An Americano In Europa (henryrollins.com)
I will be living in a hotel. Most of my fellow guests are staying for a day or two but I'll be here for weeks. I'm like a local in a tourist town. Within a few days, I have developed a rapport with the restaurant staff, who have figured out that their hotel has been invaded by a bunch of weirdo actors.
Rollins leaves LA Weekly, details emerge on new leadership (Punk News)
Last week, nearly all of the paper's staff was fired after sale of the paper to a new entity. After pressure, the the new owners who had been keeping themselves secret, revealed their identity. Despite the high turnover, apparently the paper asked Rollins to continue writing for the publication. Rollins declined. In a short statement, Rollins said: "I have decided to leave the LA Weekly. It was a great experience and I was lucky to work with such talented and dedicated people. Thanks for reading the column."
Tom Sietsema: Ranking America's top 10 chain restaurants (Washington Post)
1. Cracker Barrel. Grade: A. Especially after eating a lot of food that tasted as if it came from a factory rather than a kitchen, it was clear: No other chain restaurant in my months-long survey comes as close to home cooking as this operation. If the chicken dumplings are a little doughy and the corn bread muffins prove a tad salty, just about everything else that crossed my lips in this barn-size dining room dressed with lanterns and license plates is something I'd be happy to try again.
Avner Geller: I Often Overhear People Say Funny Things, So I Started Illustrating Them (Bored Panda)
The idea for "#ThingsThatiHear" arrived when I was visiting a cookware store in Los Angeles. A young woman was looking at her phone and gave a big sigh, turned to her friend decisively and exclaimed, "He wants to go to Bali. But I say Fiji!" I couldn't help but laugh. The absurdity of this "first world problem" was too much.
207. STEPHEN KING: The desk (Zen Pencils)
By the '80s King and his family were living in a beautiful house in Bangor, Maine, and King was writing at his dream, massive oak desk. However, he was also an alcoholic and a drug addict. He would write all hours of the day strung out on cocaine and medicate at night with a whole case of 16-ounce beers. In 1985 and at risk of losing his family, Tabitha held an intervention and gave King an ultimatum: get help or get out of the house. Thankfully, King managed to get clean and put his family life back together. And thankfully for us, through it all, he never stopped writing.
Jerry Saltz: 11,000 People Have Demanded the Met Remove This Painting. They Aren't Going To. Nor Should They. (Vulture)
One of the things that makes art so rich, infinite, and all-embracing is that there's always something to offend someone somewhere sometime. When that ends, so will art.
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Presenting
Michael Egan
took the day off.
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
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
"CHILDREN OF STONES"
"GO WASH YOUR MOUTH OUT WITH SOAP".
"…SPECULATION OVER HIS NEXT MOVE IS RIFE."
SEVEN DIRTY WORDS.
TED IS GETTING SOME COMPETION.
BAN REPUBLICANS! PROBLEM SOLVED.
"DEMOCRACY AND THE MACHINATIONS OF MIND CONTROL."
Visit JD's site - Kitty Litter Music
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Mmmmmm - Panettone season.
Justice Blocks Newspaper From Reporting Court Records
Iowa
An Iowa Supreme Court justice has taken the unusual step of temporarily ordering the state's largest newspaper not to publish the contents of court records legally obtained by one of its reporters.
Press freedom advocates protested the order against the Des Moines Register and investigative reporter Clark Kauffman, and called on the full court Friday to immediately lift the stay.
The Iowa Freedom of Information Council, which represents media organizations and advocates for government transparency, called the action by Justice David Wiggins "extraordinary and very troubling."
"We are hopeful the entire Supreme Court will quickly conclude that Justice Wiggins' order goes too far and is an impermissible prior restraint on a free press," said executive director Randy Evans.
Wiggins granted a temporary stay Monday that blocked the newspaper from publishing information obtained from records relating to Des Moines attorney Jaysen McCleary. McCleary argued the records contained private information about his disabilities and finances and were never intended to be public.
Iowa
Second Director Says Weinsteins Blacklisted Actress
Terry Zwigoff
A second director has stepped forward this week with claims that Harvey and Bob Weinstein blacklisted actress Mira Sorvino and prevented her from being cast in films.
Terry Zwigoff, director of "Bad Santa," wrote on Twitter on Saturday that he'd been interested in casting Sorvino in the 2003 comedy. Zwigoff alleged, however, that every time he mentioned her name "over the phone to the Weinsteins," the sibling producers would immediately hang up.
"I'm really sorry Mira," the director wrote.
Zwigoff's tweet comes on the heels of recent comments made by "Lord of the Rings" director Peter Jackson describing how the Weinstein brothers orchestrated a "smear campaign" against Sorvino and actress Ashley Judd ? both of whom are among multiple women who have have come forward of late to accuse Harvey Weinstein of sexual harassment.
Jackson said that Miramax, the film company co-founded by the Weinsteins, had told him Sorvino and Judd were "a nightmare to work with and we should avoid them at all costs" when he was considering actors for the "Lord of the Rings" series.
Terry Zwigoff
Reopens Ancient Library
Egypt
Egypt reopened on Saturday an ancient library which holds thousands of centuries-old religious and historical manuscripts at the famed St. Catherine Monastery, a UNESCO World Heritage site, in South Sinai.
The inauguration ceremony, attended by Egyptian and western officials, comes after three years of restoration work on the eastern side of the library that houses the world's second largest collection of early codices and manuscripts, outnumbered only by the Vatican Library, according to Monk Damyanos, the monastery's archbishop.
The ancient library holds around 3,300 manuscripts of mainly Christian texts in Greek, Arabic, Syriac, Georgian, and Slavonic among other languages. It also contains thousands of books and scrolls dating to the 4th century.
At least 160 of the manuscripts include faint scratches and ink tints beneath more recent writing, according to Kazamias, who believes the palimpsests were likely scraped out by the monastery's monks and reused sometime between the 8th- 12th centuries.
"The most valuable manuscript in the library is the Codex Sinaiticus, (which) dates back to the fourth century," said the Rev. Justin, an American monk working as the monastery's librarian. "This is the most precious manuscript in the world," referring to the ancient, handwritten copy of the New Testament.
Egypt
End Of Days
'Zombie Nativity'
A ghoulish holiday tradition outside of Cincinnati will soon come to a close after an Ohio man said he won't put up his "zombie Nativity" scene after this year.
Sycamore Township's Jasen Dixon said he originally wasn't planning to install the display this Christmas season.
"But I get hundreds of emails from people, local fans," he told the Cincinnati Enquirer. "It's almost like a cult following."
Dixon installed the display complete with zombie Mary and zombie baby Jesus in early December. He said he'll put it in storage or sell it after it's taken down sometime after Christmas.
Sycamore Township in previous years took Dixon to court for alleged zoning violations because of the structure built over the display but eventually dropped the case.
'Zombie Nativity'
Republicans Refuse to Continue
T-rump Investigation
Republicans are refusing to name new witnesses in the Congressional investigation into the Trump campaign's alleged collusion with Russia during the 2016 election and may be prematurely winding down the probe, according to the ranking Democrat in the House Intelligence Committee.
Firing off a nine-tweet thread on Friday, Adam Schiff (D-California) warned he had become "increasingly worried Republicans will shut down the House Intelligence Committee investigation at the end of the month," before going on to explain that the Majority hasn't lined anyone up to testify after Dec. 22.
"Yet, Republicans have scheduled no witnesses after next Friday and none in 2017. We have dozens of outstanding witnesses on key aspects of our investigation that they refuse to contact and many document requests they continue to sit on," he wrote.
He also said Republicans are skirting their duties to obtain the documents they need for the investigation, which has been ongoing since January.
He wrote that Republicans have further complicated the investigation by planning to interview two witnesses out-of-state next week, forcing lawmakers to choose between attending the depositions or voting on the tax bill. He added that the witnesses were able to come to Washington, D.C.
T-rump Investigation
In US Custody
Immigrant Teens
President-for-now Donald Trump's (R-Crooked) administration is blocking two pregnant teens in the country illegally and being held in federal custody from obtaining legal abortions, the American Civil Liberties Union said Friday, a repeat of the situation that led to a high-profile court fight earlier this year.
Both girls arrived in the country as unaccompanied minors and are being held in federal shelters, the ACLU said, though it didn't say where. The ACLU earlier this year represented a pregnant teen in the same circumstances in Texas, helping her obtain an abortion following a lawsuit.
On Friday evening, the ACLU filed court papers updating the lawsuit filed in that earlier case to include the two additional teens, saying the facts of their cases are similar. The ACLU is asking a federal judge to order the government not to interfere with or obstruct the girls' access to abortions.
"Both minors have asked their respective doctors and their shelters for an abortion, but to date," the government has "not allowed them to access abortion," the ACLU wrote.
The judge overseeing the case has set a hearing for Monday. The same judge previously ruled in favor of the ACLU's first plaintiff, referred to as Jane Doe.
Immigrant Teens
Issues Warning
Vatican
Those looking for gifts for Catholic loved ones this Christmas should steer clear of websites and shops peddling saintly remains, with the Vatican reminding sellers Saturday that hawking relics is forbidden.
"Trading in" or "selling relics is absolutely forbidden," the Catholic Church's saint-making office said in a new guide on how to verify relics' authenticity and preserve them.
The bones, hair, fingernails and skin of Roman Catholic saints have been preserved and cherished through the centuries, including the tongue of Anthony of Padua, head of Catherine of Siena and a vial containing the blood of pope John Paul II.
While it would be difficult to sell famous relics such as the Holy Shroud of Turin -- seen by many as Christ's burial shroud -- on the black market, there are antique shops and popular websites selling the so-called relics of minor saints.
Not only should they not be sold, relics can be displayed in churches only with a certificate attesting to their authenticity, said the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, which oversees the complex process of canonisation.
Vatican
Somewhere In Las Vegas
UFOs
Let's be clear: "U.F.O." is an acronym for "unidentified flying object." It doesn't necessarily mean aliens.
A Saturday report in the New York Times lays out the details of a secret, Defense Department-funded "Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program," formed to investigate UFO reports. Among the more sensational details is the revelation that a number of buildings in Las Vegas were modified to house "metal alloys and other materials ... from unidentified aerial phenomena."
It's a seemingly minor detail in a much larger story about a program that was established in 2007 under the guidance of then-Senate majority leader Harry Reid. The Nevada Democrat turned an interest in space phenomena into a DoD-funded $22 million investigation.
Reid confirmed the existence of the program, as did Pentagon officials, though the latter claim that the program ended in 2012.
Although the Pentagon confirms that funding for the program came to an end in 2012, former military intelligence official and program administrator Luis Elizondo claims that research efforts continue.
UFOs
Weekend Box Office
"Star Wars: The Last Jedi"
"Star Wars: The Last Jedi" will happily settle for second.
Rian Johnson's second installment in the third "Star Wars" trilogy rocketed to a debut of $220 million at the North American box office, according to studio estimates Sunday. That gives "The Last Jedi" the second-best opening ever, slotting in behind only its predecessor, "The Force Awakens."
Fox, as it happens, was the only studio to open another new wide-release film against "The Last Jedi." Its family film, "Ferdinand," was essentially stampeded by "The Last Jedi," grossing $13.3 million. "Ferdinand" and other upcoming holiday season releases will look for more room in the coming weeks, once the "Star Wars" tsunami has waned.
Disney and Fox combined for five of the top 10 movies on the weekend and together accounted for approximately 90 percent of ticket sales.
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. "The Last Jedi," $220 million ($230 million international).
2. "Ferdinand," $13.3 million ($6.2 million international).
3. "Coco," $10 million ($27.4 million international).
4. "Wonder," $5.4 million ($9.4 million international).
5. "Justice League," $4.2 million ($5.3 million international).
6. "Daddy's Home 2," $3.8 million ($5.8 million international).
7. "Thor: Ragnarok," $3 million ($1.1 million international).
8. "The Disaster Artist," $2.6 million.
9. "Murder on the Orient Express," $2.5 million ($10.8 million international).
10. "Lady Bird," $2.1 million.
"Star Wars: The Last Jedi"
In Memory
Keely Smith
Keely Smith, the Grammy winning singer known for her solo recordings of jazz standards as well as her partnership with her first husband, Louis Prima, died Dec. 16 in Palm Springs, Calif. She was 89 and had been suffering from heart failure, according to her publicist, Bob Merlis.
Her hits included "Bei Mir Bist Du Schön" and "I've Got You Under My Skin." "That Old Black Magic," which she reprised with Kid Rock at the 2008 Grammy awards, made a big impression on pop culture: Kermit the frog, wearing a wig, performed as Smith on the early Muppets show "Sam and Friends," singing "That Old Black Magic." Smith and Prima also performed the hit at John F. Kennedy's inauguration.
Born Dorothy Jacqueline Keely in Norfolk, Va., she was of Cherokee and Irish parentage. She started out singing at a naval air station band and got her first paying job at age 15 with the Earl Bennett band.
She was hired as "girl singer" in Prima's big band when still a teenager, and went on the road with the band in 1948. Smith and Prima married and had two children.
The duo won a Grammy in 1959, the first year of the awards, for best pop vocal performance by a duo or group for "That Old Black Magic," which stayed on the charts for 18 weeks. They had hit albums with "The Wildest!" and "The Wildest Show at Tahoe."
She was also Grammy-nommed later in life for the 2001 album "Keely Sings Sinatra."
Smith also sang in several movies including "Hey Boy! Hey Girl!," "Ocean's 11" and "Thunder Road."
She launched as a solo artist in 1957 with "I Wish You Love," produced by Nelson Riddle, and she followed that with "Swingin' Pretty" and "The Intimate Keely Smith," which was re-released last year. The album was produced by Jimmy Bowen, whom she married in 1965 after divorcing Prima in 1961.
Survivors include her children Toni Prima and Luanne Prima.
Keely Smith
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