Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Paul Krugman: Budgets, Bad Faith and 'Balance' (NY Times Column)
These days, the G.O.P. basically lies about everything.
Digby: Kushner's crushing debt is a security risk
But Kushner has one big problem that may just be the underlying reason he's considered to be such a risky employee that Trump's lawyers reportedly told the president last fall that he needed to let Kushner go: He is drowning in debt.
Helaine Olen: Louise Linton's antics are far more revealing than she knows (Washington Post)
"I'm just a regular girl," said Linton, who grew up in [a] Scottish castle courtesy of her wealthy developer father and is now married to a man with an estimated net worth of $300 million, and (infamously!) filled her now shuttered Instagram account with hashtags like #prada and #valentino.
Helaine Olen: This provision in Trump's budget infantilizes poor people (Washington Post)
The budget the Trump administration released Monday is horrific for anyone who actually needs help from the government. It slashes spending on Medicaid, disability insurance, housing and food stamps - after Trump and Republicans delivered a huge tax cut to the wealthy. But the ideological underpinning of these proposals is a particular view of poor people: People who receive benefits deserve to have their lives managed for them by the government.
Jeremy Binckes: The Stormy Daniels saga just got a lot more interesting (Salon)
Stormy Daniels says that she is now free to talk about her alleged affair with President Trump.
Guy Lodge: 'Full of heart but devoid of life': is Crash really the worst Oscar winner ever? (YouTube)
The 2004 drama's unsubtle look at race relations has critics drawing parallels with Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. Will this year's best picture nominee suffer the same fate as its forebear?
Molly Haskell: Time's finally up for Hollywood's Lolita complex (The Guardian)
Male directors have endlessly projected their sexual fantasies in films starring child actors having relationships with older men. Does #MeToo mark a watershed for the creeps?
Girl proposes to nurse on anesthesia!!! (YouTube)
Actually, the young woman, not the nurse, is on anesthesia.
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 over 80 Kindle books on Amazon.com.
Presenting
Michael Egan
said:
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
Sunday 2/18
Gare
Gare's Upcoming Radio Appearance Sunday 2/18
People With Ears! I will be interviewed on
WPVC Radio Station 94.7 Sunday 2/18 from 11am - Noon. The program is "The Sunday Morning Wake-Up Call" and is hosted by the estimable Sean M McCord. We will be discussing creativity and how we keep it in our lives. I need to making up some excuses! I will be reading from my book, "Final Callback". Sean says we will probably discuss my one-act plays, one of which he directed so finely. I've listened to several of this past programs and found them very interesting despite the fact that they were not about me. So, tune up and tune in!
Live on 94.7 WPVC Charlottesville
and available for podcast later that day.
Thank you!
Gare
Go get 'em, Gare!
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
A TRUMP SUPPORTER.
THE CENTER FROM HELL.
TRUMP TAKES ONE TO THE GUT!
PENCE THE PERFIDIOUS.
"LET THERE BE LIGHT."
INFRASTRUCTURE WEAK.
"YOU DIRTY RAT."
Visit JD's site - Kitty Litter Music
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Running really late - again.
Doing 'Worse Than Nothing'
Jimmy Kimmel
Jimmy Kimmel pleaded with President-for-now Donald Trump (R-Crooked) to take action on gun control after Wednesday's mass shooting at a Florida high school.
His voice cracking with emotion, Kimmel called out Trump on Thursday night for offering platitudes instead of solutions.
"You still haven't done anything, nothing, you've literally done nothing," Kimmel said. "Actually, you've done worse than nothing."
Kimmel then defused Republicans' standard reaction to mass shootings, which is to blame mental health issues rather than guns:
"You like to say this is a mental health issue but one of your very first acts as president, Mr. Trump, was to actually roll back the regulations that were designed to keep firearms out of the hands of the mentally ill. You did that. Your party voted to repeal the mandates on coverage for mental health. So, I agree, this is a mental illness issue because if you don't agree we need to do something about it, you're obviously mentally ill."
Jimmy Kimmel
No Wedding Gifts, Please
Amy Schumer
Comedian Amy Schumer had a request on Thursday for any friends and followers who might be thinking about sending her wedding gifts: Consider donating to the anti-gun violence organization Everytown for Gun Safety instead.
Schumer, who tied the knot with chef Chris Fischer on Tuesday, made the request via Instagram just a day after 17 people were killed by a gunman at a Parkland, Florida, high school. Mayci Breaux and Jillian Johnson died in a 2015 shooting at a Lafayette, Louisiana, theater that was showing Schumer's movie "Trainweck."
And Everytown for Gun Safety formed shortly after the 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.
According to the advocacy group, the Parkland incident marks the eighth school shooting this year that has resulted in injury or death. In total, U.S. schools are averaging an alarming one shooting every 60 hours this year.
Amy Schumer
Talk Show Cancelled
Harry Connick Jr.
Harry Connick Jr. is done talking: The actor/singer's daytime talk show Harry has been cancelled after two seasons, according to our sister site Variety.
"Harry is ending its run after two seasons," a NBCUniversal Domestic Television spokesperson said in a statement. "Harry is a phenomenal talent, and it's been a great partnership working with the Fox stations and other supportive groups on this truly unique show."
Launching in September 2016, Harry was a family-friendly blend of celebrity interviews, games and inspirational segments, capitalizing on Connick Jr.'s charms as a performer. It was nominated for five Daytime Emmys for its freshman run, and was renewed this past fall for a second season. Harry will continue to tape from New York City through September.
Connick Jr. recently reprised his role as Grace's former beau Leo on NBC's Will & Grace revival, and also served as a judge for three seasons alongside Jennifer Lopez and Keith Urban on Fox's American Idol.
Harry Connick Jr.
Firing Was Legal
Google
Google did not violate federal labor law when it fired James Damore, a lawyer for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) concluded in a lightly-redacted memo made public Thursday. The former senior software engineer was fired from Google in August after internally circulating a ten-page memo arguing in part that women are not as biologically suited for coding jobs as men. After he was terminated, Damore filed a complaint with the NLRB, arguing that Google had violated his right to participate in protected activity, namely addressing problems in his workplace. The NLRB memo disagrees with Damore's complaint, and recommends dismissing it, were it not withdrawn.
Damore dropped the NLRB complaint last month to instead focus on a class action lawsuit he and another former Google employee brought against the company accusing it of discriminating against white, male, and conservative employees. The NLRB memo released Friday was written by attorney Jayme Sophir in January-less than ten days after Damore filed his lawsuit.
Sophir concluded that Damore's memo contained both protected statements (like criticizing Google) and not protected statements (perpetuating stereotypes about women), and that Google ultimately fired Damore for things he said that were not protected under federal law. Sophir wrote in her memo that workplaces should have the ability to "'nip in the bud' the kinds of employee conduct that could lead to a 'hostile workplace.'"
She also said that Damore's statements about women in his memo "were discriminatory and constituted sexual harassment, notwithstanding effort to cloak comments with 'scientific' references and analysis, and notwithstanding 'not all women' disclaimers. Moreover, those statements were likely to cause serious dissension and disruption in the workplace." Sophir's memo also cites two instances in which women withdrew their candidacy for engineering positions at Google after learning about the existence of Damore's memo.
Google
People Yell At Him Too Much
Pruitt
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt (R-Exxon) frequently flies in first and business class because he's regularly confronted by angry members of the public during his travels, according to a report in Politico on Thursday.
The EPA's Office of Criminal Enforcement told Politico that Pruitt was "approached at the airport numerous times, to the point of profanities being yelled at him," which spurred the expensive bookings.
"The team leader felt that he was being placed in a situation where he was unsafe on the flight," Henry Barnet, the office's director, told Politico. In one instance, someone approached Pruitt and yelled, "You're fucking up the environment," Barnet said.
Pruitt has come under fire this week after The Washington Post reported that the administrator was regularly booked in premium cabins, often costing thousands of dollars more than equivalent seats in coach. The report, citing EPA receipts obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, noted several flights cost more than $90,000 in total during a few weeks last June.
The EPA briefly said this week Pruitt had a "blanket wavier" to travel first class but later rolled back its statement when Politico noted that the regulations state that such travel must be approved on a "trip-by-trip basis." A spokesman later clarified to the news site that Pruitt's office submitted a waiver seeking an exemption before each trip, citing security concerns.
Pruitt
Beliefs Are Clear
Pence
A debate has again ensued in recent days over whether or not Vice President Mike Pence supports conversion therapy ? something that's come up time and again in the past. One conservative outlet, The Federalist, actually claimed this week that there is "no proof" that Pence is anti-LGBTQ at all.
The latest discussion erupted last month, when gay U.S. Olympic skater Adam Rippon criticized the fact that Pence would lead the U.S. delegation in the Pyeongchang Winter Games. Rippon brought up the issue of conversion therapy ? a scurrilous practice that attempts to turn LGBTQ people heterosexual, and that every reputable medical, psychiatric and psychological organization has discredited as both ineffective and harmful.
And USA Today reported last week that Rippon, who's become an icon in the LGBTQ community for his stance, had refused a meeting with the vice president, according to Rippon's agent.
In a statement, Pence denied that he had reached out for meeting. On Twitter, he claimed it was "fake news" and a "nonstory" to purport that he had supported conversion therapy, which has been banned for minors in several states across the country. As they have in the past, Pence's spokespeople also denied that he had ever supported conversion therapy.
But it's ludicrous to debate whether Pence showed support for conversion therapy - as he did in a statement on his campaign site in 2000 , when he was a U.S. House member ? without looking at Pence's larger, blood-curdling record on LGBTQ rights and the extreme pronouncements he's made in promoting bigoted policies in the name of his religious faith.
Pence
Irony Alert
Behind Closed Doors
President-for-now Donald Trump (R-Oink) signed a bill into law on Wednesday afternoon that aims to protect amateur athletes from sexual assault in the wake of the Larry Nassar sex abuse scandal.
Nassar, the former team doctor for USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University, has been given two concurrent sentences of 40 to 175 years and 40 to 125 years in prison for sexually abusing hundreds of young athletes.
Several of Nassar's victims helped create the Protecting Young Victims from Sexual Abuse and Safe Sport Authorization Act, which was sponsored by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.). The measure received a big push after 265 women delivered victim impact statement during Nassar's sentence hearings in January.
Trump signed the bill behind closed doors in the Oval Office as his administration deals with its own abuse scandal. White House staff secretary Rob Porter and speechwriter David Sorensen both resigned last week after facing allegations of domestic abuse. Trump ? who has been accused of sexual misconduct by 21 women ? defended Porter even after the allegations against him were made public and only said Wednesday that he is "totally opposed to domestic violence of any kind."
Behind Closed Doors
3 Years Of Arguing
Ryan
House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Bought & Paid-For) has been arguing against what he calls a "knee-jerk" political response to mass shootings for years.
MSNBC's Chris Hayes presented a video mashup Thursday of the times Ryan has argued against "taking away" America's gun rights.
Ryan has presented an almost identical speech again and again - and again. He repeated it Thursday after the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, killed 17. "We don't just knee-jerk before we even have all of the facts and the data," Ryan said in an interview with Indiana radio station WIBC
Roll tape. Ryan used the "knee-jerk" argument after the California mass shooting in San Bernardino in 2015 that claimed 14 lives, and after the shooting at the Umpqua Community College in Oregon the same year, which killed nine.
One thing Ryan did express concern about is mental illness. Last year, Congress passed, and President-for-now Donald Trump (R-Corrupt) signed into law, a measure that rescinded barriers to gun ownership for the mentally ill.
Ryan
Why So Powerful?
NRA
Compared with others, the 145-year-old lobby group isn't a vast spender - but it has the power to mobilize a grassroots support and make Washington listen
Why is the National Rifle Association so powerful? Here's a clue: it's not (just) about the money.
The vast majority of Americans support gun control, and yet Congress has failed to toughen laws even in the wake of a series of mass shootings. With the NRA pouring money into political races at record levels it is an easy argument to make that the gun lobby has bought Washington - but that fails to paint a full picture.
In 2017, the NRA spent at least $4.1m on lobbying - more than the $3.1m it spent in all of 2016. That's real money, but for comparison, the dairy industry has spent $4.4m in the same period, according to the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP). The National Association of Realtors, one of the biggest spenders, has paid out $32.2m lobbying on housing issues. The US Chamber of Commerce, the largest spender of all, has spent $104m.
The NRA's influence does not stem solely from lobbying. Thanks to the supreme court's Citizens United decision, the spigot is now wide open for "independent expenditures" allowing groups and individuals to back - or attack - candidates, as long as those campaigns are not made in cooperation with, or at the request of, a candidate.
NRA
| CURRENT MOON lunar phases |
