Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Paul Krugman: Did China Just Bribe Trump to Undermine National Security? (NY Times)
An about-face on punishing a Chinese company came as a Chinese state-owned firm announced an investment in a project tied to the Trump organization.
Girish Shambu: "The Other Side of Hope: No-Home Movie" (Criterion)
One of the great pleasures of being an aficionado of auteur cinema lies in the process of gradually discovering a new world-a world created, brick by brick, film by film, by a director over time. The Finnish filmmaker Aki Kaurismäki, who made his first narrative feature thirty-five years ago, is a model auteur: from the very start, his films have been firmly marked by a strong directorial personality.
Mary Beard: Would I watch the royal wedding? (TLS)
I am spared the dilemma of whether or not to turn on the television on Saturday, because it is our annual Newnham, pre-Tripos trip to Paris (Louvre plus lunch). But if I were here, I suspect I would.
Mary Beard: The menopausal economy (TLS)
That said I felt for Mr Broadbent as a human being. There you are, you are giving an interview and you have just used the economic "terminus technicus" - "climacteric". Then you think, "oh shit… no one is going to understand that'. So, on the spot, you produce a synonym that makes the word more comprehensible (and 'climacteric' IS a posh term for the 'menopause'). And in few seconds' thoughtlessness you have messed up. I'm sure I've been there myself.
Michael Gregor, MD: How Much Proof Do We Need to Eat Healthier? (NutritionFacts.org)
Demanding randomized trials makes sense for drugs, since drugs are expensive and risky, and their adverse side effects kill more than a hundred thousand Americans every year. But a healthy diet has no downsides-only good side-effects. So, we shouldn't have to wait on randomized controlled trials to start potentially saving people's lives.
David H. Abramson: Saving Stephen Hawking (Harvard)
I remembered that Harvard had left some supplies in a room nearby so we pushed him there…and discovered that it was also the temporary headquarters of the Secret Service. I quickly learned that you don't rush full speed into a Secret Service headquarters. For a few seconds I think the agents thought I was a crazed terrorist, and I did see weapons, but quickly they recognized what was happening. His nurse and I realized that his tracheotomy was clogged and that was why he was not breathing. Thanks to the medical supplies at hand we were able to get him breathing again. Yes, he would have died.
Emma Brockes: Tom Wolfe and the bonfire of male literary reputations (The Guardian)
The late US author's writing style might seem dated, but at least the obituaries were kind.
David Bruce's Amazon Author Page
David Bruce's Smashwords Page
David Bruce's Blog #1
David Bruce's Blog #2
David Bruce's Blog #3
David Bruce's Lulu Storefront
David Bruce's Apple iBookstore
David Bruce has over 80 Kindle books on Amazon.com.
Presenting
Michael Egan
wrote:
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
Reader Comment
Current Events
There's my laugh for the day!
TX Lt. Governor suggests that every school have a single entry point to prevent shootings--everyone line up and go through one entry where they're scrutinized or searched or whatever! Sure, that ought to work very well! Of course, you better allow an extra two hours to get to school every morning and to go home at the end of the day. And that one choke point will solve everything.
RESIST!!!
Today I've made an additional contributions to the National Abortion Rights Action League and Planned Parenthood. I urge you to consider doing so too. My Body My Choice! Resist oppression!
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
"THE HOME OF THE PUSSY GRABBERS" AND "THE LAND OF REPUBLICAN TYRANTS".
PROVING ONCE AGAIN THAT REPUBLICANS ARE DUMBER THAN HOG DUMP!
TEXAS MANHOOD IS SAFE. HEE HAW!
GUNS AND PRAYERS.
RUDY! RUDY! RUDY!
Visit JD's site - Kitty Litter Music
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Found the first caterpillar of the season.
Makes Film A 'Vintage Genre'
TV
Television is making cinema a "vintage genre", John Travolta said Wednesday at the Cannes film festival, lamenting that films were "not as sought after" as before.
Travolta, 64, was in Cannes for the premiere of his film about notorious New York mafia boss John Gotti -- a family affair in which Travolta is the mob don, his wife Kelly Preston is Gotti's wife Victoria and their daughter Ella plays Gotti's daughter Angel.
The "Grease" and "Pulp Fiction" star, who brought his whole family to Cannes, went from jet black to grey for "Gotti", which is directed by Kevin Connolly.
Addressing film students during a masterclass later Wednesday, the actor, who played O.J. Simpson's lawyer in an American true-crime series in 2016, said television had shaken up Hollywood.
"It's not so good for us who have established ourselves in human drama on the big screen, because they're not as sought after, those dramas and types of movies."
TV
'Cursed' Film
Terry Gilliam
A Paris court gave Terry Gilliam the go-ahead Friday to release "The Man Who Killed Don Quixote" in cinemas, a victory for the Monty Python member in the long-running legal battle over the apparently cursed film.
The comedy, which is due to close the Cannes film festival on Saturday, was supposed to come out in French cinemas on the same day.
But Paul Branco, a former producer of the disaster-hit production, made a last-minute court bid to halt its general release.
Branco, who claims his Alfama Films owns exclusive rights to the movie, has waged a lengthy legal campaign to stop the Hollywood director from releasing the final version starring Jonathan Pryce and "Star Wars" actor Adam Driver.
Paris judges are due to rule next month on a wider case over who owns the rights, and courts in France and Britain have previously sided with Portuguese-born Branco in the long-running dispute.
Terry Gilliam
Street Name In Detroit
Michael Jackson
The king of pop will be honored in Motown with a street named Michael Jackson Avenue, officials announced on Thursday in Detroit.
The city, which has a rich history of nurturing American musical talent, will rename a portion of its Randolph Street in the downtown theater district in honor of the late entertainer.
The tribute comes 50 years after his family group known as the "Jackson 5" birthed their career with a successful recording contract audition in the Motor City.
The street renaming will take place June 15, coinciding with the Detroit Music Weekend outdoor festival, which Tito, Marlon, Jackie and Jermaine Jackson are scheduled to headline.
The city honored another American music royalty during last year's festival -- naming a street after queen of soul Aretha Franklin.
Michael Jackson
Stands By Co-Star
'Arrested Development'
The creator and executive producer of "Arrested Development" acknowledges that some people will not like his decision to keep Jeffrey Tambor on the show after allegations of sexual misconduct surfaced last October.
"Good people will find this offensive," explained Mitchell Hurwitz. "I, too, get worked up when I hear about Harvey Weinstein and other people who have taken advantage of people. But I also believe very strongly that we don't want to live in a world where accusations ruin people's lives. We have tried that as a human race and it doesn't always, doesn't work out great, you know? So accusations are very different than proof and, you know, we obviously are going to support people that haven't done, that haven't been proved guilty."
Hurwitz said production was nearly wrapped on season five when news broke of the allegations made by Tambor's former assistant and an actress on his other show, "Transparent."
"Not only do I support him as a friend, but I've known him for 20 years. I've worked with him for 20 years and I've never seen any behavior like that described. I've never, even in private, he's never been in any way inappropriate about, we don't talk about women or objectify. It's just not who he is, and he's got a lot of things that I'd like to list, a lot of really bad qualities I'd like to list for you now, but nowhere in there, in my experience, is any kind of creep," said Hurwitz.
The "Arrested Development" cast unanimously supported the 73-year-old actor at the Los Angeles premiere Thursday for the cult comedy's new season. The event also marked one of the first public appearances for Tambor in recent months. Tambor posed for photos with his wife, Kasia Ostlun, but didn't do interviews with the press.
'Arrested Development'
Congressman Explains
Sea-Level Rise
A member of Congress has suggested that the White Cliffs of Dover tumbling into the English Channel was causing rising sea levels.
Republican Mo Brooks (R-Bag of Hammers) of Alabama pushed back at the notion that rising sea levels were the result of global warming in a hearing of the House Science, Space and Technology on Wednesday.
Instead, Brooks pointed to silt deposition as well as erosion as a cause of rising sea levels. Questioning scientist Phil Duffy of the Woods Hole Research Center, Brooks postulated that silt and mud washed by rivers into the ocean caused water levels to rise as it settled on the sea floor. "Now you have got less space in those oceans because the bottom is moving up," he said.
He went on: "What about the White Cliffs of Dover … [and] California, where you have the waves crashing against the shorelines, and time and time again you have the cliffs crashing into the sea? All of that displaces water which forces it to rise, does it not?"
The questioning went on as Brooks argued the Antarctic ice sheet was actually growing. A recent study reported that the ice sheet had shrunk by 1,463km from 2010 to 2016.
Sea-Level Rise
Misplaced Blame
Family Splits
President-for-now Donald Trump (R-Crooked) is wrongly blaming Democrats for a law that he says is forcing migrant children to be taken from their parents at the border. The decision to separate families was made by the Trump administration.
THE FACTS: Not so. No law that "the Democrats gave us" mandates the separation of children from their parents at the border.
A 2008 law designed to combat child trafficking has been described by Trump and his administration as a principal reason for "catch-and-release" policies that he's trying to end at the border.
The law says children traveling alone from countries other than Mexico or Canada must be released in the "least restrictive setting" - often to family or a government-run shelter - while their cases slowly wind through immigration court. It was designed to accommodate an influx of children fleeing to the U.S. from Central America.
And it had full-throated support from Republicans and Democrats alike, passing both houses of Congress unanimously. Republican George W. Bush signed it into law as one of his last acts as president.
Family Splits
Increasingly Arresting Immigrants Without Criminal Convictions
ICE
Immigration and Customs Enforcement is arresting more immigrants, and increasingly they have not been convicted of crimes, according to data released on Thursday by the agency.
About two-thirds of those arrested by ICE from October 2017 to the end of March had no criminal convictions - up from 21 percent during the same period the year before and only 13 percent the year before that. ICE officials noted that some of the arrested immigrants had been charged with a crime but not convicted.
The new figures, which reflect the first two quarters of the 2018 fiscal year, demonstrate that ICE is carrying out the crackdown on unauthorized immigrants that President Donald Trump promised. That means ICE officers are picking up more people with clean records, even if they were previously allowed to remain in the country.
ICE arrested nearly 80,000 people from October to the end of March, compared with about 63,000 in the same period the year before. By comparison, the agency arrested about 54,000 people in the first half of the 2016 fiscal year, when Obama's priority enforcement policies and instructed agents to focus on undocumented immigrants with criminal histories.
While ICE's arrests were up, deportations were slightly down - from about 126,000 in the first half of the 2017 fiscal year to about 117,000 in the same period in fiscal year 2018. For both periods, about 54 percent of those removed were convicted criminals.
ICE
Something Is Sucking Iron
Earth's Crust
What makes the Red Planet red? The answer, as Sherlock Holmes might say, is elementary. And that element is iron.
The continental crust of Mars is so iron-rich that, over billions of years, surface rocks actually rust when exposed to the meager oxygen in the planet's atmosphere. The result is a rust-coated planet that appears red, even from Earth.
Earth might rust, too, for that matter, if just a fraction more iron was present in the planet's continental crust. But something, deep underground, is stealing Earth's iron.
For decades, scientists have pegged the case of the missing iron on a process involving volcanoes, and a mineral called magnetite that sponges up iron from molten magma pools deep underground. Now, a new paper published May 16 in the journal Science Advances points the finger at a new culprit for Earth's missing iron. The true thief is not magnetite, researchers from Rice University in Texas say, but a sparkly mineral we all know and love: garnet.
"The accepted wisdom is that magnetite pulls iron from the [magma] melt before the melt rises and gets erupted out at continental [volcano] arcs," study author Ming Tang, an assistant professor at Rice University, said in a statement. "Iron depletion is most pronounced at continental arcs, where the crust is thick, and much less so in island arcs, where the crust is thin."
Earth's Crust
Top 20
Global Concert Tours
The Top 20 Global Concert Tours ranks artists by average box office gross per city and includes the average ticket price for shows Worldwide. The list is based on data provided to the trade publication Pollstar by concert promoters and venue managers.
1. Justin Timberlake; $3,329,623; $143.04.
2. Pink; $2,352,887; $134.02.
3. "Springsteen On Broadway" ; $2,189,511; $508.90.
4. Luis Miguel; $1,681,144; $97.49.
5. Kendrick Lamar; $1,489,005; $88.86.
6. Bon Jovi; $1,359,573; $97.84.
7. Romeo Santos; $1,351,928; $99.97.
8. Blake Shelton; $997,285; $78.17.
9. Harry Styles; $901,450; $75.77.
10. Demi Lovato; $898,787; $75.36.
11. Maluma; $891,355; $97.08.
12. The Killers; $869,201; $60.29.
13. Kid Rock; $855,888; $88.43.
14. Imagine Dragons; $828,979; $61.28.
15. The Script; $786,789; $57.44.
16. André Rieu; $744,428; $85.23.
17. Kevin Hart; $717,288; $72.41.
18. Lana Del Rey; $702,600; $77.37.
19. Miranda Lambert; $583,098; $58.47.
20. Bad Bunny; $579,562; $76.10.
Global Concert Tours
| CURRENT MOON lunar phases |
