Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Paul Krugman: The Tax-Cut Con Goes On (NY Times Column)
Rule of law is definitely on the ballot. So is health care. But voters should realize that the threat to programs they count on is much broader: If the G.O.P. holds its majority, Social Security and Medicare as we know them will be very much in danger.
Paul Waldman: Democrats don't need to impeach President Trump to hold him accountable (Washington Post)
Here's just some of what they can and should do to hold the administration, and Trump personally, accountable if they seize the House: Use their control of the Ways and Means Committee to obtain and release Trump's tax returns so that we finally learn what he has been hiding. Hold hearings on the ways Trump is personally profiting off the presidency and potentially violating the Constitution's emoluments clause. Mount a serious, comprehensive investigation into the Russian attack on the 2016 election and the Trump campaign's cooperation with that attack. Investigate accusations of wrongdoing that have been leveled at Cabinet officials such as Wilbur Ross and Ryan Zinke. Demand answers from the administration on the decision-making process and effects of controversial administration policies, such as …
Paul Waldman: President Trump brings mafia ethics to the GOP (Washington Post)
President Trump has an extraordinary ability to persuade his supporters to upend their prior beliefs about a whole range of questions. If you had said five or 10 years ago that in 2018 being a Republican in good standing would mean insisting that Vladimir Putin is our friend, NATO is nothing more than a nuisance, trade wars are glorious, the FBI is a nest of villainous hoodlums, and paying off a porn star and model to keep their mouths shut is just something a successful man has to do from time to time, no one would have believed you.
Paul Waldman: A taxonomy of ludicrous Trump defenses (Washington Post)
All that's really required is that you provide your people with something to say when the subject comes up, a counter they can make to the president's critics. It doesn't have to be persuasive or even internally coherent. It just needs to be something to cling to.
That will be vitally important as the Trump omniscandal continues. The president believes, not without reason, that if he can hold on to his base, he'll be safe no matter what else happens. He just has to keep feeding them.
Sam Natapoff: Liberalism's greatest benefactor is Donald J. Trump; now say thank you (Salon)
With Donald Trump in the Oval Office, many liberal institutions have never made so much money, had higher ratings or been in a better position to win elections. These groups owe Donald J. Trump their undying gratitude and their unending opposition. Two years ago, these groups were bereft, impoverished and hopeless. Then came Trump. It may be hard to fathom, but when it comes to raising money for liberal organizations, Donald Trump is the GOAT.
Mary Beard: The surprising depths of email (TLS)
But I am puzzled as to what on earth the point of this is. It isn't asking me to pay money for penis enlargement, or to receive an unexpected amount from the private account of some sacked government minister in some distant country. And why not just send me the sexual fantasy message in the first place? Is it the pleasure of getting me to waste my time on a sensible response to a spoof query?
Mary Beard: "Women (and art) in Brazil" (TLS)
I couldn't stay inside at the laptop ALL the time though. So one morning the husband and I went to the central art gallery MASP, which was one of the most amazing art spaces I have ever seen. That was not only because of the holdings, but because of the style of display (which you can see above). As I think you will be able to see, the paintings are not hung on the walls.
Rebecca Bengal: "Smithereens: Breakfast at the Peppermint Lounge" (Criterion)
In 1982, the year Susan Seidelman's feature debut, Smithereens, was released, New York City was still very much a world where it seemed possible to escape where you were from and figure out who you really were. If you were an artist, a punk, a weirdo, a drifter, fleeing a small town or suburb, downtown New York was a mecca and a refuge-dangerous but cheap and full of fellow outsiders.
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Presenting
Michael Egan
replied:
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
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
TRUMP CANNOT CONTROL PECKER.
THE REPUBLICANS ARE ALL CROOKS!
NBD.
THE YEAR THE DUTCH ATE THEIR PRIME MINISTER.
THE RACIST!
Visit JD's site - Kitty Litter Music
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Marine layer hung around most of the afternoon.
Reboot
'Bewitched'
ABC has given a pilot production commitment to a reboot of classic sitcom "Bewitched" from Kenya Barris.
The project hails from ABC Studios and Sony Pictures Television. It was in the works prior to Barris' departure this summer from ABC Studios, where he had been under an overall deal. Earlier this month, Barris signed a three-year agreement with an option for two more additional years at Netflix worth $100 million.
Barris will write and executive produce the project with Yamara Taylor, currently a co-producer on Barris' ABC comedy series "Black-ish." John Davis and John Fox of Davis Entertainment will serve as non-writing exec producers.
A half-hour single camera comedy, the new "Bewitched" will be reimagined as a story featuring a bi-racial couple. The original "Bewitched" aired on ABC from 1964 to 1972. It starred Elizabeth Montgomery, a witch with magical powers who marries an ordinary mortal man, Darren, played first by Dick York and later by Dick Sargent. It was created by Sol Saks and produced by Harry Ackerman. Sony Pictures holds the rights to the franchise, which was made into a 2005 feature film starring Nicole Kidman and Will Ferrell. The new project will feature an African-American Samantha who marries a mortal white man.
'Bewitched'
What Democrats Can Learn
Beto O'Rourke
Democrats are taking notes after Beto O'Rourke's comments defending NFL players for kneeling during the US national anthem garnered nationwide support.
The Texas congressman - whose long shot senatorial campaign against Ted Cruz now trails the incumbent by just four per cent, according to the latest polls - made headlines this week when he said he could "think of nothing more American" than peaceful protests like the NFL's national anthem demonstrations.
In a video that has since received millions of views, the Democratic candidate (running in a deeply red state) displayed genuine appreciation at a recent campaign stop for the NFL players carrying out the protests. Political analysts have pointed to the comments as a potentially winning strategy for Democrats faced with answering divisive comments along the campaign trail leading up to the 2018 midterms - from Donald Trump's impeachment, to kneeling during the anthem.
"My short answer is no, I don't think it's disrespectful," Mr O'Rourke said when asked about his thoughts on the matter from a voter. "Here's my longer answer, but I'm gonna try to make sure that I get this right because I think it's a really important question. And reasonable people can disagree on this issue. Let's begin there. And it makes them no less American to come down on a different conclusion on this issue, right?"
"Peaceful, non-violent protests, including taking a knee at a football game point out that black men, unarmed, black teenagers, unarmed and black children, unarmed, are being killed at a frightening level right now, including by members of law enforcement, without accountability, and without justice," he added. "And this problem - as grave as it is - is not gonna fix itself and they're frustrated, frankly, with people like me, and those in positions of public trust and power, who have been unable to resolve this or bring justice for what has been done and to stop it from continuing to happen in this country.
Beto O'Rourke
New Nickname
Dan Rather
Dan Rather came up with a new nickname for President-for-now Donald Trump (R-OfPutin) and those who surround him.
In light of mounting legal troubles - including this week's plea deal by former longtime Trump attorney Michael Cohen and eight convictions against former campaign manager Paul Manafort - the veteran newsman tweeted
Abraham Lincoln - Team of Rivals
Donald Trump - Flock of Felons
Rather also spoke about Trump's presidency on CNN.
"Look at how many people have either pled guilty or in Manafort's case been found guilty," Rather told Don Lemon. "We are on an ocean the likes that which no one has been on and the headwinds right now are against Donald Trump."
Dan Rather
Killer Denied Parole
John Lennon
John Lennon's killer has been denied parole for the tenth time.
Mark David Chapman The killer - who shot the Beatles icon dead outside his New York apartment in December 1980 - must now wait another two years before he's able to apply for parole again.
A New York State parole board panel said that Chapman's the killer's release "would be incompatible with the welfare and safety of society and would so deprecate the serious nature of the crime as to undermine respect for the law".
In a decision obtained by CBS News, the three-person panel explained: "You admittedly carefully planned and executed the murder of a world-famous person for no reason other than to gain notoriety.
John Lennon
Refuses Visa For American Reporter
China
The U.S. Embassy in Beijing said Friday it was "deeply concerned" about Chinese government restrictions on foreign and domestic journalists after authorities refused to issue a new visa for an American correspondent for BuzzFeed News.
Reporter Megha Rajagopalan was compelled to leave the country after her visa application was denied. Media freedom advocates say the move raises concerns China was punishing her for her work on subjects considered sensitive by the communist government.
China says it handles all visa issues in accordance with the law and has denied canceling Rajagopalan's visa, saying on Thursday that unlike other accredited journalists, she was not a resident correspondent, indicating that she had been on short-term visas.
A Foreign Ministry spokesman, Lu Kang, dismissed as speculation questions about whether the move was made in retaliation for her reporting.
During her six years in China, Rajagopalan had reported extensively on human rights abuses and the plight of China's Uighur (pronounced WEE-gur) Muslim minority, among other subjects.
China
Seeks Death Penalty For Woman Activist
Saudi
Saudi Arabia's public prosecutor is seeking the death penalty against five human rights activists, including, for the first time a woman, campaigners say.
The five stand accused of inciting mass protests in mainly Shiite areas of the Sunni-ruled kingdom's oil-rich Eastern Province and human rights groups charged that the execution threat was a calculated bid to stifle dissent.
It comes as Saudi Arabia takes an increasingly combative approach to international criticism of its human rights record, imposing a raft of sanctions against Canada after it spoke out earlier this month.
Female activist, Israa al-Ghomgham, who has documented the protests in Eastern Province since they began in 2011, would be the first woman activist to face the death sentence for rights-related work.
She was arrested at her home along with her husband in December 2015, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said in separate statements this week.
Saudi
Face Dire Situations
Puerto Ricans
Since fleeing her native Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria tore through her roof and cut off her power last fall, Myrna Reyes has been staying in a government-subsidized hotel in New York. But the federal funds paying for that housing are scheduled to stop on Aug. 31, stranding the 62-year-old, who suffers from diabetes, asthma and high blood pressure.
Reyes is one of 2,436 displaced Puerto Ricans on the U.S. mainland still in hotels paid for by the Federal Emergency Management Association (FEMA)'s Transitional Sheltering Assistance program. In response to a lawsuit from the advocacy group Latino Justice, a federal judge has repeatedly extended the program, most recently through the end of August.
That judge is expected to weigh in yet again sometime in the next week about whether the program should be extended once again.
If the program isn't extended, displaced Puerto Ricans face grim options: accept the government's offer to pay for a ticket back to Puerto Rico, or stay in the U.S. mainland and face possible homelessness.
"It's a choice between the lesser of two evils," said Peter Gudaitis, executive director of nonprofit New York Disaster Interfaith Services, which has been helping Maria evacuees. "Stay here and be homeless, or move to Puerto Rico and be unemployed or have no home and struggle there."
Puerto Ricans
Isolated Tribe
Brazil
In the sprawling greenery of the Brazilian Amazon, near the border with Peru, a group of people -- small in the distance -- walk through a clearing.
These are isolated tribe members, and little do they know, they're being watched -- drone footage revealing their existence to the world.
The video -- recorded in 2017, but published this week -- is just one element of the material that Brazil's National Indian Foundation (FUNAI) collected during missions to the Javari Valley.
The hard-to-access area of southwestern Amazonas state is home to the majority of the more than 100 confirmed isolated tribes in the vast South American nation.
FUNAI has made contact with eight in the Javari Valley -- but says that there are 11 more, detected via signs including a huge hut, handmade axes and canoes crafted out of palm tree trunks.
Brazil
Can Reverse Poles Ridiculously Quickly
Earth's Magnetic Field
Like the invisible force shield around the Death Star, Earth's magnetic field surrounds and protects our planet from the hottest, most statically charged particles the sun can throw our way. This shield - the natural product of molten iron swirling around the planet's core - has had our backs for billions of years, and prevented Earth from becoming an irradiated, electrified wasteland. Every now and then, though, that shield lets down its guard.
A few times every million years or so, Earth's magnetic field reverses polarity. Imagine a giant bar magnet inside our planet got flipped upside down; iron molecules in Earth's outer core would switch direction, the magnetic North Pole would become the magnetic South Pole, and the invisible currents of energy that make up our planet's magnetic armor would tangle and break, potentially reducing the shield's protective strength by up to 90 percent, previous studied have suggested. [6 Visions of Earth's Core]
Luckily, full reversals are uncommon and unfold slowly over thousands of years. (The last full reversal occurred about 780,000 years ago.) But according to a new study published Monday (Aug. 20) in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, partial or temporary shifts in Earth's magnetic poles can occur much, much faster than was previously thought possible - potentially, within a single human lifetime.
In the new study, an international team of scientists analyzed 16,000 years of geomagnetic history coded into the atoms of an ancient stalagmite in China. This story written in stone told them that once, about 98,000 years ago, the planet's magnetic field suddenly flipped polarity in as little as 100 years - roughly 30 times faster than the generally expected rate, and 10 times faster than what was thought to be the fastest rate possible.
The team found that Earth's magnetic polarity shifted several times during that 16,000-year period, which was no surprise to them. The shock emerged about 98,000 years ago, when a huge shift in polarity occurred in a period of less than 200 years - possibly within 100 years.
Earth's Magnetic Field
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