Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Carla Herreria: Teachers Reportedly Shot 'Execution Style' With Pellets In Active Shooter Drill (Huffington Post)
Teachers at an Indiana elementary school said they were told to kneel against a wall and then were shot from behind with an airsoft gun without warning.
Paul Krugman: Don't Make Health Care a Purity Test (NY Times)
There are multiple ways to achieve universal coverage.
Jeet Heer: Trump's Stonewall Strategy (TPM)
We have every reason to believe that Donald Trump is the most corrupt American president since at least Warren Harding and perhaps ever.
Mary Beard: How to get into uni? (TLS)
… in the same issue of the Sunday Times, there is an article about personal statements. If it is accurately reported, then UCAS has been using 'plagiarism software' on these and has come up with the predictable answer. Not, in this case, help from Mums and Dads (plagiarism software isn't very good at detecting that!) but good old-fashioned rip off. Apparently 234 applicants for medical subjects used the same anecdote. 'Ever since I accidentally burnt holes in my pyjamas after experimenting with a chemistry set in my 8th birthday, I have had a passion for science.'
Mary Beard: An unknown museum in unknown Italy (TLS)
In the late 1970s when a new autostrada was being built in Molise, a vast deposit of prehistoric bones and flints was discovered, dating back 700,000 years. They were not humans (though, since than a child's tooth - the oldest known Italian - has been discovered), but an array of animals that had once roamed Italy. You can get a flavour from the picture above. There are large fragments lions, and elephants, and hippopotamuses, and rhinoceroses.. as well as the perhaps more predictable bisons and boars.
Robert Politio: Some Detours to Detour (Criterion)
"The world is full of skeptics," Detour's Al Roberts struggles to explain, in voice-over, while on-screen we're pondering Vera's dead body. "I know. I'm one myself . . ."
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Presenting
Michael Egan
took the day off.
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
from Bruce
Anecdotes
• Some people who hear punk music think that it is created by no-talent musicians who can't even tune their guitars. Sometimes, they are right. One of the punk singers with no discernible talent was a nutter named Jon the Postman because his name was Jon and he was a postman. According to punk critic Steven Wells, "He got on stage and screamed his way through whatever song came into his head. He had no discernable talent whatsoever, but he didn't give a f**k. To many, Jon the Postman symbolized what punk was all about." What does that mean? It means that punk is doing it-now. If you wait to get on stage until you're good enough to get on stage, you might never get on stage. So get on stage. Mr. Wells writes, "Jon the Postman did it. He got on stage and he put out records. And everyone who ever saw him perform or listened to his music laughed like a drain. And then thought-"F**k! If he can do it, so can I.' Jon the Postman wasn't anybody special. He was just a postman called Jon. But in 1976 and 1977 he lived his life as if he were a superstar. Jon the Postman WAS punk rock."
• Duke Ellington did not have a lot of rules for his musicians. He did not even call them back to the bandstand after a break was over. Instead, he would go to the piano and play a few dissonant notes that were easy to hear through the noise of wherever the band was performing. A few of his musicians would come to the bandstand, and they would play something soft that Duke had written. More and more of his musicians would come to the bandstand, and they would play something soft that Duke had written. (Duke was always able to come up with something soft to play based on the musicians who were on the stage. In fact, he even wrote tunes that he could play with only a few musicians.) Eventually, everybody would be on the bandstand and then they would play one of Duke's loudest tunes. Bassist Milt Hinton, who played with Cab Calloway's band, says, "The contrast was unbelievable. The guys had gotten back on their own time. They were ready and wanted to be there. So when the full band hit, the earth shook."
• Some music is created simply because the conditions are right. After the Harriott Quintet thought that they were finished recording one day, some of the musicians got ready to dismantle their equipment. However, Pat Smyth doodled at the piano, and Phil Seaman picked up his cowbell and hit it. It was pitched in A, and Mr. Smyth began playing in A. Shake Keane was having a drink, and he tapped the tumbler with a pencil-and the tumbler rang out with A. Coleridge Goode, the bassist, had a feeling that something good could come out of this, and he told the recording engineer, "Run the tape. Run the tape. We've got something here. We're going to play something." Joe Harriott came out of the control box, and everyone started playing, and the result was "Modal," a slow and pretty piece that appeared on the album Abstract.
• Matt Groening, who is most famous for his long-running series of panel cartoons Life in Hell and for TV's Simpsons, is a music lover. As a young man, he loved some kinds of music that drove other people away. He says, "If my friends and I could drive people from the room when we put a record on, that was great." Another favorite activity was attending punk concerts, sitting in the balcony, and watching the audience: "To this day, there's nothing funnier than watching people being outraged by being bumped into while everybody else is slamming." For a while, he worked as a music journalist. He would recommend albums that no one would buy, and eventually he started making up band names and reviewing non-existent albums. One of the band names he invented was Chatterbox Punch Gruffy.
• Steve Baker taught English and drama from 1997 to 2002 to Alex Turner, who became the lead singer of the Arctic Monkeys. After Mr. Baker discovered that Alex had a band, he went to the band's website and wrote, "Well done, lads. I always thought you'd do something creative." Mr. Turner wrote back, beginning his message with "Hello, sir." Mr. Baker says, "Six weeks later, Alex got voted Coolest Man on the Planet by the NME [New Musical Express, a magazine about music], so ever since, I've started all my training sessions with the words, 'The coolest man on the planet calls me sir.'"
• Photographer Jim Marshall was using strobe lights as he took photographs of T-Bone Walker, and he asked Mr. Walker if he minded the lights. Mr. Walker replied that the lights did not bother him. He used to play music behind a wall of chicken wire so he and his fellow musicians wouldn't get hit with bottles and other debris. And one time a guy who had shot somebody came into the bar. The bar manager told them to keep playing, and they did until the shooter passed out and the police arrested him. So, Mr. Walker said, "[T]hem lights don't bother me none."
• Jill Sobule got a big break while she was busking in the street. A flute student had suggested that the two of them busk "for a goof." A man passing by heard them - Jill was singing her songs in public for the first time - and asked if they would play in his nightclub. At first they didn't believe him - "Yeah, right. What club?" - but the offer, and the nightclub, were real. Jill performed there for three months, dropped out of school, and became a professional musician. Her biggest hit - which is pre-Katy Perry - is "I Kissed a Girl."
• YouTube allows viewers to press a button to indicate whether they like or dislike a video. For example, a video of the excellent A Touch of Class song "I'm in Heaven (When You Kiss Me)" was given over 1,500 likes and 24 dislikes. ATC fan Gemgurllove has a very plausible explanation for the 24 dislikes. She commented, "24 people were too busy pressing?the replay button they pressed the wrong button!"
• In 2009, the band known as the xx released their first album, a self-titled album that quickly became critically acclaimed. The xx's early days were rough. They played gigs during which the audience talked all through their songs, which were mostly quiet. Madley Croft remembers, "If there were three people in the front row who were into it, that was a success."
• Actor James Cagney was a class act, even when not acting. When he received his 1942 Oscar for Best Actor for his performance in Yankee Doodle Dandy, he made a short, classy speech: "I've always maintained that in this business you are only as good as the other fellow thinks you are. It's nice to know that you people thought I did a good job. And don't forget that it was a good part, too. Thank you very much."
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Reader Contribution
Lumpy
Hi Marty,
Saw this on Facebook and had to share it with you and your readers!
Barbara
Thanks, Barb!
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Current Events
Linda >^..^<
We are all only temporarily able bodied.
Thanks, Linda!
Selected Readings
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In The Chaos Household
Last Night
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Replied To AOC
Hillary
Brace yourself: AOC and Hillary Clinton have joined forces on Twitter to create a clapback so powerful that you may need to take a some deep breaths to compose yourself.
It went down on Thursday night, when Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted a very straightforward "But his WhatsApp," after it was alleged that Jared Kushner had been communicating with foreign officials using WhatsApp.
Kushner's behavior is obviously problematic on any number of levels, not least of which is that his father-in-law, President Donald Trump, ran his campaign against Hillary Clinton almost exclusively on the charge that she'd used a private email server while she was secretary of state. Lock her up, etc.
AOC's tweet was a twist on the well-worn "But her emails" meme, which pops up on political Twitter every time the Trump administration does something shady.
So it was especially potent when Hillary herself replied to AOC's tweet with a succinctly satisfying, "Tell me about it."
Hillary
Renewed for Season 2
'The Conners'
ABC has renewed its highest-rated new show, "The Conners," for a second season, Variety has learned.
The show's stars, including John Goodman, Sara Gilbert, Lecy Goranson, Ames McNamara and Laurie Metcalf, are all set to return to Lanford, after several of them signed a new deal with the network on Thursday.
The comedy's freshman season achieved an average of 9.5 million total viewers per episode and a 2.2 rating in the key 18-49 demo. The show's debut, sans Roseanne, achieved a 2.3 rating and 10.5 million viewers.
Season one ran for 11 episodes and included a large lineup of guest stars, including Matthew Broderick, Juliette Lewis, Katey Sagal, Mary Steenburgen, Justin Long, Jay R. Ferguson and Sarah Chalke, among others.
The show is a reboot of "Roseanne," which was abruptly cancelled in March, 2018, following racially-charged remarks made earlier in the year by Roseanne Barr.
'The Conners'
To End After Season 15
'Supernatural'
"Supernatural" is ending after 15 seasons.
Series stars Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles, and Misha Collins made the announcement in a video posted on Instagram on Friday. "We just told the crew that even though we're very excited to be moving into our 15th season, it will be our last," Ackles said. "15 years of a show that has certainly changed my life, I know it's changed these two guys' lives, and we just wanted you to here from us that though we're excited about next year, it will be the finale."
The final season will consist of 20 episodes. "Supernatural" has been a cornerstone of The CW throughout its run and remains one of the most popular shows on the network. It was renewed for its 15th season back in January along with 10 other CW shows, including "Charmed" and "Riverdale."
At the time of its series finale, the series will have aired over 320 episodes. It began airing when The CW was still The WB Network and is the lone WB series to still be on the air. "Supernatural" was created by Eric Kripke and is executive produced by Robert Singer, Andrew Dabb, Phil Sgriccia, Jeremy Carver, Eugenie Ross-Leming, and Brad Buckner. Warner Bros. Television produces in association with Wonderland Sound and Vision.
This is the latest popular CW series to set its final season. "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" is set to end after its current season, which will end in April, while "Jane the Virgin" is set to end after its fifth season, which debuts on March 27. Most recently, The CW also announced that DC Comics show "Arrow" would end after its upcoming eighth season.
'Supernatural'
Sackler Family
Tate Galleries
Britain's Tate group of galleries won't accept future donations from the charitable arm of a family embroiled in the U.S. opioid crisis.
The Tate says the Sackler family has given generously in the past but under "the present circumstances we do not think it right to seek or accept further donations."
Members of the Sackler family own Stamford, Connecticut-based Purdue Pharma, maker of the prescription painkiller OxyContin. Purdue has been criticized for downplaying the addictiveness of OxyContin, but the company says its products were approved by regulators and prescribed by doctors.
The statement marks the second time this week that a British museum has shunned money from the Sackler Trust. The National Portrait Gallery and the trust issued a statement Tuesday saying a 1 million-pound ($1.3 million) donation wouldn't proceed.
Tate Galleries
Teachers Demand Change
Indiana
Teachers in Indiana have demanded legislative change after being forced to endure execution-style shootings by local law enforcement using pellet guns during an active-shooter drill.
The elementary school teachers in Monticello, Indiana suffered physical wounds, including bruises, welts and abrasions when they were shot by the plastic pellets, according to a new report.
The teachers reportedly screamed in horror and pain during the training, as they were told to face the walls of their classrooms and kneel down before being shot by the officers.
"The teachers were terrified, but were told not to tell anyone what happened," the group said in a statement. "Teachers waiting outside that heard the screaming were brought into the room four at a time and the shooting process was repeated."
Officers conducting the voluntary training did not initially inform the school teachers they would be shot at with plastic pellets, according to a report published in the Indianapolis Star.
Indiana
Flight Attendant Detained For Over A Month
ICE
Undocumented flight attendant Selene Saavedra Roman, a DACA recipient who was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for over a month, has been released, according to her husband. Her release came after the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA sponsored a petition to urge the Department of Homeland Security to release her. She was detained by ICE upon returning to the U.S. from a flight from Mexico.
According to the travel site The Points Guy, Saavedra Roman had raised concerns with her employers about traveling outside of the country, given her immigration status. But Mesa Airlines, which operates regional flights for American Airlines and United Airlines, insisted that Saavedra Roman could legally travel outside of the country.
After the flight from Mexico on Feb. 12, Saavedra Roman was pulled aside by customs officials and then detained by ICE. According to the petition calling for her release, she had spent over a month in a detention center under "inhumane" and "prison" conditions.
Saavedra Roman, who emigrated from Peru when she was 3 years old, is married to a U.S. citizen and has no criminal history. The Points Guy reported that Saavedra Roman's DACA status is good until November 2019.
Hillary Clinton also brought attention to Saavedra Roman's plight on Twitter, raising the flight attendant's national profile.
ICE
Longtime Hollywood Fixer, Released From Prison
Anthony Pellicano
Notorious Hollywood fixer and private investigator Anthony Pellicano was released from prison on Friday - his 75th birthday - after serving 15 years at Terminal Island Federal Correctional Institution in San Pedro, California.
Pellicano had an A-list clientele of Hollywood stars and executives that included Michael Jackson, CAA co-founder Michael Ovitz and Tom Cruise. Pellicano spent more than a decade in prison after being convicted of 78 crimes, including wiretapping, racketeering and wire fraud.
Pellicano was accused of bribing police to run the names of celebrities including Garry Shandling and Kevin Nealon through law enforcement databases, and of tapping others' telephones and recording the conversations of his clients' business and litigation opponents.
The FBI investigation into Pellicano's activities began in 2002 when then-L.A. Times journalist Anita Busch reported finding a dead fish with a rose in its mouth and a note reading, "Stop" on her car's windshield after she wrote articles about Ovitz, who was one of Pellicano's most powerful clients at the time.
Busch settled her longstanding legal dispute with Ovitz in January 2018.
Anthony Pellicano
Bodies Emerging As Snow Thaws
Mount Everest
As many as 300 bodies of climbers who died on Mount Everest could soon emerge as warm weather melts glaciers.
Their remains have been buried buried in ice and snow, some for many years, serving as ghoulish landmarks for the number of people who have died trying to climb the world's largest mountain.
Some of the bodies are thought to have lain on the mountain for decades, well-preserved by the freezing conditions on the 29,000-ft mountain.
'Because of global warming, the ice sheet and glaciers are fast melting and the dead bodies that remained buried all these years are now becoming exposed,' said Ang Tshering Sherpa, former president of Nepal Mountaineering Association.
Nearly 300 people have died on the mountain since the first attempt - and more than 4,800 have successfully climbed Mount Everest.
Mount Everest
When Vengeful Gods Appeared
Ancient Societies
"For we know Him who said, 'And I will execute great vengeance upon them with furious rebukes; and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall lay my vengeance upon them.'" Ezekiel 25:17.
The God depicted in the Old Testament may sometimes seem wrathful. And in that, he's not alone; supernatural forces that punish evil play a central role in many modern religions.
But which came first: complex societies or the belief in a punishing god?
A new study suggests that the formation of complex societies came first and that the beliefs in such gods helped unite people under a common higher power.
The scientists analyzed the relationship between social complexity and moralizing gods in 414 societies spanning the past 10,000 years from 30 regions across the globe. Researchers examined 51 measures of social complexity, such as the size of the largest settlement and the presence of a formal legal code, and four measures of supernatural enforcement of morality, such as the concept of a supernatural force that monitors and punishes selfish actions.
Ancient Societies
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