Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Paul Krugman: The Id That Ate the Planet (NY Times)
Climate change can be countered and the environment saved, but not if the hair spray-obsessed, science denying Donal Trump is elected.
Jamelle Bouie: Why Donald Trump Is Flailing (Slate)
The GOP primary left him ill-prepared for the scrutiny he's finally getting.
David Christopher Bell: 7 Reasons Every Single Movie Is Starting To Look The Same (Cracked)
For movie fans, 2016 started with two grim Westerns, continued with two movies about iconic superheroes getting mad at each other, and will end with way too many continuations to dormant franchises that maybe should have been left alone.
Peter Bradshaw: Only Yesterday review - an utterly beguiling classic (The Guardian)
Daisy Ridley and Dev Patel contribute voice work to this rerelease of Studio Ghibli's 1991 animation about an office worker lost in childhood memories.
Jacon Brogan: In Defense of the Controversial Selfie Statue in Sugar Land, Texas (Slate)
… the statue is all the more richly disquieting for its willingness to celebrate its two subjects in their normalcy. Instead of dismissing it, we should dwell on its strangely arresting familiarity.
Jonathan Jones: James Needham's bathroom painting proves art is doomed in the selfie age(The Guardian)
This portrait of the artist and his wife may be hugely popular on social media, but its intimacy and humanity - just as with a photographic selfie - is fake
Brigid Delaney: "Björk: 'It's no coincidence that the porn industry has embraced virtual reality'" (The Guardian)
Before the world premiere of her new VR work, the Icelandic musician speaks about nature, technology and her habits on Airbnb.
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Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
from Marc Perkel
Patriot Act
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
HE OWES HIS SOUL TO THE COMPANY STORE!
HEE FUCKING HAW!
"RONALD REAGAN WAS ONCE DONALD TRUMP"
"A DREAM OR A NIGHTMARE?'
"LOUIE, LOUIE"
SAVE THE NAUTILUS!
"JUDGE NOT THAT YOU BE JUDGED…"
"CLASS STRUGGLE, US-STYLE."
Bombing Hiroshima changed the world, but it didn't end WWII - LA Times
MAD!
Visit JD's site - Kitty Litter Music
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Unpleasantly hot.
LGBT Bigot
Dobson
Evangelical Christian author James Dobson published a violent screed Tuesday that took transphobia in public restrooms to a horrifying new level.
Taking aim at the Obama administration's historic support of transgender individuals - President Barack Obama issued a declaration in May calling on states to allow trans people to use public facilities that match their gender identity - Dobson falsely equated trans women with sexual predators and offered a thinly veiled solution to the alleged danger they pose in bathrooms: Man up and shoot 'em.
"If you are a married man with any gumption, surely you will defend your wife's privacy and security in restroom facilities," Dobston wrote at WorldNetDaily, which bills itself as having"the largest reach of any Christian website on planet Earth."
"If you are a dad, I pray you will protect your little girls from men who walk in unannounced, unzip their pants and urinate in front of them. If this had happened 100 years ago, someone might have been shot. Where is today's manhood? God help us!"
Dobson also accused Obama of acting "like a king" and trying to "change the way males and females relate to each other."
Dobson
Quantum Weirdness Gets Life Size
Schrödinger's Cat
The quantum absurdity that leads to the notion of Schrodinger's cat - in which a cat can exist in two states simultaneously - could finally be tested in an object visible to the naked eye, a new study demonstrates.
Scientists have created a pendulum-like membrane that is so perfectly isolated from friction and heat "that it would just keep going for 10 years with a single push," said study co-author Simon Gröblacher, a physicist at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. "If you create a quantum state in this object, it will not go away."
This tiny, flea-size swing could allow scientists to finally test whether the quantum effects behind the Schrodinger's cat thought experiment do indeed exist at large scales.
The so-called Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics implied that the radioactive atom is in two states at once, simultaneously decayed and undecayed, until some brave soul opens the box and measures or perturbs the atom. By extension, the cat would be both dead and alive at the same time, until the box was opened.
The weird phenomenon, known as superposition, has been demonstrated time and again with tiny, subatomic particles. Yet scientists have never observed a cat, or any visible object, that was simultaneously in two states or places at once.
Schrödinger's Cat
Rare Stamp Handed Over
'Inverted Jenny'
A rare U.S. postage stamp known as the "Inverted Jenny" was formally handed over on Thursday to the Pennsylvania research library that owns it, six decades after it was stolen from a display case and feared lost forever.
The valuable 1918 stamp is one of a series featuring a Curtiss JN-4 biplane, nicknamed "Jenny," that were mistakenly printed upside down. The image has made the stamp one of the most recognized among stamp enthusiasts and non-collectors alike.
Officials of the American Philatelic Research Library accepted the stamp from federal law enforcement officials during a ceremony at the World Stamp Show in New York.
The famous stamp was one of four Jennys stolen in 1955 when New York arts patron Ethel McCoy put them on display at a show in Virginia. After her death, she had bequeathed their ownership to the Bellefonte, Pennsylvania research library.
The stamp surfaced on April 1 in a consignment put up for sale at the auction firm Spink, the library said. It was then placed under the jurisdiction of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
'Inverted Jenny'
Letter For Sale
JFK
An intimate letter written by President John F. Kennedy to a purported paramour seeking to set up a liaison is one of several Kennedy-related items being sold at auction.
The four-page letter to longtime Kennedy family friend Mary Pinchot Meyer, an artist and former wife of a CIA agent, is thought to have been written in October 1963, about a month before the president's assassination.
The undated letter looks to be written on White House stationery. Although the tops of each page have been cut off, the presidential seal watermarks are visible under light.
The letter was never sent but remained in the collection of Kennedy's longtime personal secretary, Evelyn Lincoln. It originated from the estate of Robert White, a friend of Lincoln's and an avid collector of JFK memorabilia who died more than a decade ago.
Pinchot Meyer was fatally shot nearly a year after Kennedy's assassination. The man charged with killing her was found not guilty.
JFK
Security Risk?
T-rump
Some U.S. intelligence officials are concerned that Donald Trump's "shoot from the hip" style could pose national security risks as they prepare to give him a routine pre-election briefing once he is formally anointed as the Republican presidential nominee.
Eight senior security officials told Reuters they had concerns over briefing Trump, whose brash, unpredictable campaign style has been a feature of his rise as an insurgent candidate. Despite their worries, the officials said the "Top Secret" briefing to each candidate would not deviate from the usual format to avoid any appearance of bias.
Most of the officials asked for anonymity to discuss a domestic political issue.
Intelligence and other security and foreign policy officials are also trying to determine "who on (Trump's) team are trustworthy, the official added. "We've never had a situation like this before. Ever."
T-rump
Pleads Not Guilty
Mark Salling
An actor who starred on the musical dramedy "Glee" pleaded not guilty to federal pornography charges Friday and had his internet usage and travel severely restricted.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Rozella A. Oliver ruled Mark Salling can be released after he posts $150,000 bail, including $100,000 of his own money to guarantee future court appearances. Salling, 33, answered several questions from the judge and entered the not guilty during his court appearance, which also resulted in a July trial date being set.
Salling, who played bad-boy Noah "Puck" Puckerman on the Fox musical dramedy, was charged last week with two counts receiving and possessing child pornography after a grand jury indicted him last week. U.S. Attorney's spokesman Thom Mrozek said investigators found an extensive, carefully organized collection of child pornography during searches of Salling's electronic devices.
Prosecutors initially sought to have Salling held without bail, but reached an agreement with the actor's attorneys to allow bail to be posted. Salling's attorney Alan Eisner surrendered Salling's passport during Friday's hearing.
Salling was arrested at his home last December after Los Angeles police officers and federal agents seized a laptop, hard drive and flash drive they say contained images and videos depicting child pornography.
Mark Salling
12 Years & No Charges
Guantanamo
A Somali prisoner at Guantanamo Bay told a military judge Thursday that he has experienced what he believes are intentional noises and vibrations inside the high-security section of the prison known as Camp 7, echoing the complaints of a defendant in the Sept. 11 war crimes case who alleges he has been subjected to sleep deprivation while in custody.
Hassan Guleed, an alleged member of East Africa Al-Qaida making his first appearance in a U.S. court since his 2004 capture, portrayed the sounds and vibrations as well as chemical odors in testimony at the U.S. base in Cuba as "a kind or pressure" intended to make detainees cooperate with authorities. He contrasted it with other forms of abusive treatment that he and others experienced while held by the CIA in overseas prisons before being taken to Guantanamo.
"We have mental torture in the Camp 7. In the black site, there was physical," Guleed started to say when prosecutors and the judge cut him off to keep him from discussing details about his confinement that are classified as secret.
Guleed, who has never been charged with a crime, denied involvement with al-Qaida. "You are lying to us right now aren't you sir?" Ryan asked. The defendant said he was not.
Guantanamo
Campaign Shenanigans
T-rump
Donald Trump's (R-Grifter) campaign is seeking to deflect criticism of his defunct real estate seminars with testimonials from two former students who have business ties to the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.
The video recently filmed at Trump Tower in New York features Casey Hoban, a Connecticut bottled-water entrepreneur who said he earned "incalculable" profits on real estate deals after attending one of Trump's two-day courses about a decade ago.
Not disclosed by the campaign is that Hoban is also a Trump family acquaintance whose protein-infused water is stocked at Trump's golf courses, restaurants and resorts.
The campaign's video also featured Michelle Gunn of Tennessee, who said she made back her Trump University tuition on her very first real estate deal.
Not mentioned by the campaign is that the celebrity billionaire previously endorsed a self-help book authored by Gunn's teenage son, titled "Schooled for Success: How I Plan to Graduate from High School a Millionaire." A website promoting the book also features a photo of a smiling Houston Gunn posing with Trump in what appears to be the then reality TV star's Trump Tower office.
T-rump
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. Madonna; $5,426,437; $261.22.
2. Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band; $3,057,200; $121.17.
3. Maroon 5; $2,198,012; $58.39.
4. Justin Bieber; $1,789,158; $100.43.
5. Ricky Martin; $1,255,474; $75.76.
6. Black Sabbath; $1,225,288; $92.75.
7. Rihanna; $1,122,978; $85.15.
8. Iron Maiden; $1,030,057; $62.82.
9. The Who; $1,007,815; $90.78.
10. Mariah Carey; $974,031; $82.66.
11. Carrie Underwood; $739,129; $66.97.
12. Little Mix; $696,986; $49.02.
13. Jason Aldean; $514,310; $61.32.
14. Ellie Goulding; $478,294; $46.25.
15. James Taylor; $472,134; $79.22.
16. Bryan Adams; $446,774; $59.74.
17. Fall Out Boy; $445,225; $49.50.
18. Brad Paisley; $393,252; $46.25.
19. "Riverdance"; $359,219; $58.12.
20. Jeff Dunham; $343,414; $48.61.
Global Concert Tours
In Memory
Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali, the eloquent, colorful, controversial and brilliant three-time heavyweight boxing champion who was known as much for his social conscience and staunch opposition to the Vietnam War as for his dazzling boxing skills, died Friday. He was 74.
Once the most outrageous trash talker in sports, he was largely muted for the last quarter century of his life, quieted by a battle with Parkinson's Disease.
Born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. on Jan. 17, 1942, in Louisville, Ky., Ali learned to box after his bicycle was stolen when he was 12 years old. When young Clay vowed to "whoop the behind" of the thief, a local police officer encouraged him to learn to box to channel his energy.
He would go on to become known as "The Greatest," and at his peak in the 1970s was among the most recognizable faces on Earth.
He was known for his tendency to recite poems while making predictions about his fights - "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. The hands can't hit what the eyes can't see." - as well as for giving opponents often unflattering nicknames. He referred to Sonny Liston as "the big ugly bear," George Chuvalo as "The Washerwoman," Floyd Patterson as "The Rabbit" and Earnie Shavers as "The Acorn."
But Ali's boxing career came to a screeching halt after that fight. He'd refused induction into the U.S. Army because he stated he was a conscientious objector.
Ali had converted to Islam in 1964 after the first of his two wins over Liston, and changed his name from Cassius Clay. He said Islam was a religion of peace and that he had no desire to engage in combat with those who'd done him or his family no harm.
This all went down at the height of the civil rights movement.
"Shoot them for what?" Ali asked in an interview after he refused induction. "They never called me nigger. They never lynched me. They never put dogs on me. They didn't rob me of my nationality, rape and kill my mother and father. What do I want to shoot them for, for what? Why do I want to go shoot them, poor little people and babies and children and women? How can I shoot them? Just take me to jail."
He went on trial in Houston on June 20, 1967. The jury deliberated for only 21 minutes before finding him guilty. He was fined $10,000, faced five years in jail and had his passport taken.
He was stripped of the crown and deprived from making a living, but he wasn't silenced. Ali would go on a lecture circuit, speaking at colleges for as little as $1,500 and as much as $10,000.
Despite his financial difficulties, Ali never lost the courage of his convictions. At one of his speeches, he insisted he had no regrets.
While many tried to convince him of the errors of his ways, he remained steadfast and resolute. He told the crowd that sticking for his beliefs led him to come out on top.
"There have been many questions put to me about why I refused to be inducted into the United States Army," Ali said in the speech to students. "Especially, as some have pointed out, as many have pointed out, when not taking the step I will lose so much. I would like to say to the press and those people who think I lost so much by not taking the step, I would like to say I didn't lose a thing up until this very moment. One thing, I have gained a lot. Number one, I have gained a peace of mind. I have gained a peace of heart. I now know I am content with almighty God himself, whose name is Allah. I have also gained the respect of everyone who is here today.
"I have not only gained the respect of everyone who is here today, but worldwide. I have gained respect [from] people all over the world. By taking the step, I would have satisfied a few people who are pushing the war. Even if the wealth of America was given to me for taking the step, the friendship of all of the people who support the war, this would still be nothing [that would] content [me] internally."
The Supreme Court would reverse Ali's conviction in 1971 by an 8-0 vote. But by then, Ali was already back in the ring.
He actually returned from exile in 1970. Georgia didn't have an athletic commission and so he wasn't banned there. He faced Jerry Quarry on Oct. 26 in Atlanta, a fight Ali won via a third-round stoppage.
As he aged, Ali began to think of his role in the world and what he could do to improve it. And he talked on "Face the Nation" about his desire to do charitable acts.
For the rest of his life Ali worked to promote the cause of peace and charity. In December 2015, he condemned ISIS and took a shot at Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump (without mentioning Trump's name) when Trump suggested temporarily banning all Muslims from entering the U.S.
Muhammad Ali
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