Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Paul Krugman: Voters May be Wising Up (NY Times Column)
The Pennsylvania special election vote suggests bait and switch doesn't work like it used to.
Paul Krugman Explains Trade and Tariffs (NY Times Blog)
There's no way to bring back all those steel plants and steel jobs, even if we stopped all imports. Partly that's because a modern economy doesn't use that much steel, partly because we can produce steel using many fewer workers, partly because old-fashioned open-hearth plants have been replaced by mini-mills that use scrap metal and aren't in the same places. So this is all a fantasy.
Julia R Azari: "Pennsylvania election: three key takeaways for Democrats" (The Guardian)
Conor Lamb's apparent victory points to the usefulness of ideologically diverse candidates - and fuels predictions of a coming 'blue wave.'
Tom Danehy: Should NCAA athletes get paid to play ball? Oh, hell no! (Tucson Weekly)
Sports have always been a big part of my life. I'm not sure what I would do without sports. However, if things keep moving in a certain direction, I may have to find out what I will do without two of my favorite sports.
Joe Bob Briggs: Smoking, Toking and Midnight Joking (Taki's Magazine)
Every year Philip Morris, Reynolds American, Imperial Tobacco and British-American Tobacco come out with new products designed to a) reduce nicotine, b) increase flavor, and c) diversify away from smoke inhalation. Every year they get the same response from the FDA and regulatory agencies around the world: No, we won't approve your right to sell it. You need $100 million more in safety research on top of the $100 million you've already spent. We think your new product is a dangerous "gateway." We think you're trying to corrupt children.
Kate Mossman: "Jack White: 'As an artist it is your job not to take the easy way out'" (The Guardian)
As the messiah of analogue and vinyl goes digital on his new solo album, Jack White talks about the need to be contrary, his love of objects - and his dislike of the press.
Thea De Gallier: "'I wouldn't want this for anybody's daughter': will #MeToo kill off the rock'n'roll groupie?" (The Guardian)
Male rock stars of the 1970s and 80s were often notorious for sleeping with young female fans. Now women are starting to see those encounters in a very different light.
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David Bruce has over 80 Kindle books on Amazon.com.
Presenting
Michael Egan
answered:
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
Reader Suggestion
Something Non-political
As one who has worked in a laundry/dry cleaning facility in my late teens, I found this article quite interesting:
Bonus Links
Jeannie the Teed-Off Temp
Reader Comment
Current Events
Congratulations!
You did your civic duty. Rest and celebrate!
Linda >^..^<
We are all only temporarily able bodied.
Thanks, Linda!
Came across a quote that summed up the experience for me - it's from King Lear:
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
PAUL 'THE WEASEL' RYAN.
THE GAME OF 'NATIONS'.
GUN VIOLENCE IN THE MOVIES.
Visit JD's site - Kitty Litter Music
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Supposed to rain some more.
Hits Snapchat
Rihanna
Rihanna on Thursday denounced Snapchat after an advertisement made light of her beating by fellow pop star Chris Brown, sending the company's share prices tumbling.
The social media platform -- which counts 187 million users, especially young people drawn to its quickly vanishing posts -- had featured an advertisement for "Would You Rather?," a game app that asks sometimes provocative questions.
The commercial showed the two singers and asked Snapchat users whether they would rather "slap Rihanna" or "punch Chris Brown."
The company pulled the advertisement and apologized, but Rihanna took to rival platform Instagram to denounce Snapchat.
"You spent money to animate something that would intentionally bring shame to DV (domestic violence) victims and made a joke of it!!!!" she wrote.
Rihanna
Employment Application Sells
Steve Jobs
A job application Steve Jobs filled out in 1973 sold at a Boston auction for nearly $175,000.
Jobs filled out and signed the questionnaire when he was 18 years old, describing his "Special Abilities" as "electronics tech or design engineer."
Years later Jobs co-founded Apple, eventually making him a billionaire. Jobs died in 2011.
The job application sold at Boston-based RR Auction for $174,757.
The winning bidder was an internet entrepreneur from London who chose to remain anonymous, according to the auction house.
Steve Jobs
"Mob Rule"
Terry Gilliam
Director Terry Gilliam believes that the #MeToo movement that has taken over Hollywood has become a "mob rule."
While speaking with AFP on Friday, the director acknowledged that many women have suffered in regards to sexual harassment in Hollywood. But, he said, others are using Harvey Weinstein's downfall as a way to improve their careers.
Gilliam referred to Weinstein as "a monster," though he is not the only person in the film industry guilty of sexual harassment and misconduct. The director said that there are "plenty of monsters out there… There are other people (still) behaving like Harvey." Gilliam also shared that he believes the Weinstein allegations finally came to light because he "is an asshole and he made so many enemies."
His opinion on the #MeToo movement is that it has become "silly." He said, "People are being described in ridiculous terms as if there is no real humanity left anymore."
While the director lacks sympathy for Weinstein, he believes other men in the industry have been unfairly dragged into the movement. "I feel sorry for someone like Matt Damon who is a decent human being," he said. "He came out and said all men are not rapists, and he got beaten to death. Come on, this is crazy!"
Terry Gilliam
Forgoing Engagement Rings
Diamond Piercings
There's a new trend in engagement rings. Instead of a diamond ring around your finger, a diamond is embedded in your finger.
"We notice lately a lot of people coming looking for that," said Sam Abbas, who owns NYC Ink Studio in the West Village.
Abbas said there could be problems if the person doesn't take care of the piercing, such as cleaning it two to three times a day and making sure the piercing artist has experience.
A piercing artist marks the spot with a pen, cleans with alcohol and iodine, uses a tool to remove a small patch of skin, and then inserts an anchor made of titanium or gold, which holds the gem.
The whole process takes about 10 minutes and costs around $100 for the piercing. The diamond you choose is a separate cost.
Diamond Piercings
Challenge To GOP's Recalls
Nevada
A Nevada judge on Thursday allowed voters to remove their signatures from petitions seeking recalls of two Democratic lawmakers, possibly dooming a controversial Republican effort to flip the state Senate to GOP control.
Republicans last year circulated petitions to recall state Sens. Nicole Cannizzaro and Joyce Woodhouse and appeared to narrowly obtain enough signatures to place the elections on the ballot. No official reason was given for the recalls, and some conservatives were open about hoping Republicans gain partisan advantage.
Some feared that if the effort went forward, it could undermine elections across the U.S. and lead the losing party to turn to recalls to keep control of influential statehouses.
Nevada Democrats contacted some voters who signed the recall petitions and convinced them to withdraw their names, which would likely drop the petitions below the minimum threshold to qualify for the ballot.
Nevada
Takes On Liz
Edward Snowden
National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden has jumped into the fray over Donald Trump's (R-Corrupt) pick to head the CIA and her role in the CIA's waterboarding program.
Current CIA Deputy Director Gina Haspel was reportedly involved in a controversial CIA "black site" operation in Thailand that involved waterboarding detainees, and she was accused of destroying evidence of the gruesome operation. A number of legislators have raised concerns about Haspel. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has said he won't confirm the "head cheerleader for waterboarding" to replace Mike Pompeo, who has been tapped by Trump to become secretary of state after the firing of Rex Tillerson.
Snowden joined the debate Thursday on Twitter, knocking down glowing reviews of Haspel by Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.). Cheney said Haspel has "spent her career defending the American people." She said Paul, on the other hand, is "defending terrorists."
Snowden shot down as "an easily demonstrable lie" Liz Cheney's claim that "enhanced interrogation" techniques were no different than those that some members of the U.S. military were subjected to as part of their Survival, Evasion, Resistance, Escape (SERE) training. Cheney also claimed the tactics led to valuable intelligence. A 2014 Senate investigation found that torture led to no useful intelligence.
Snowden concluded: "Listen, you can defend torture or you defend the Constitution. Not both. To defend torture is to attack the Constitution."
Edward Snowden
Rips Liz
Meghan McCain
After Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) appeared to explain the value of so-called "enhanced interrogation" tactics to Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) this week, McCain's daughter Meghan stepped in.
"My father doesn't need torture explained to him," Meghan McCain tweeted at Cheney on Thursday. The senator, who fought in the Vietnam War, was held in solitary confinement and tortured while imprisoned in Hanoi for more than five years.
The senator had tweeted earlier in the week in response to news that President-for-now Donald Trump (R-Crooked) had nominated CIA deputy director Gina Haspel to lead the agency. Haspel was reportedly involved in a controversial CIA program in the early 2000s that involved torturing detainees. She allegedly was also involved in destroying evidence of such interrogation techniques.
McCain called the United States' use of torture against detainees "one of the darkest chapters in American history."
Cheney responded to McCain by defending the CIA's use of "enhanced interrogation" and saying it had "saved lives, prevented attacks."
Meghan McCain
Skeleton To Be Auctioned
Mystery Dinosaur
The fossilized skeleton of an unidentified type of dinosaur is set to be auctioned in Paris in June, and could fetch up to 1.8 million euros ($2.22 million), auctioneers said.
Almost nine meters long, the skeleton is unusually complete, at almost 70 percent whole. It is believed to be from the carnivorous, theropod group of dinosaurs, which had hollow bones and three-toed feet, said Eric Mickeler, a paleontological expert working with auction house Aguttes.
But beyond that scientists are still stumped and have spotted differences with known species, he added.
The skeleton, now on show in the French city of Lyon to possible buyers such as museums or private collectors before the June 4 auction, is estimated to be worth between 1.2 million and 1.8 million euros.
It was found in Wyoming, in the United States, in 2013 and belongs to an unnamed British businessman.
Mystery Dinosaur
But Is It Dr. Terwilliker Approved?
Pickle Juice Slushes
Want a pickle juice slush? Well, Sonic made one anyway.
The fast food chain will debut a bright green pickle juice snow cone slush for a limited time in June, Scott Uehlein, Sonic's vice president of product innovation and development, told USA TODAY.
"Sweet and tangy, the bright brine compensates for the over-savoriness you might have been worried about ... Our only gripe is that the slush is a bit too sweet," Maria Yagoda of Food and Wine writes.
Love the pickle flavor? Sonic will let customers add a squirt of the pickle syrup to any menu item, Food and Wine reports.
Go ahead, order a pickle sundae with a side of pickled tots.
Pickle Juice Slushes
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