Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Paul Krugman: No, Donald Trump, America Isn't a Hellhole (NY Times Column)
The Republican nominee has delusions of a dystopia.
Peter Bradshaw: "The Purge: Election Year review - emetic, unsubtle grindhouse horror" (The Guardian)
James DeMonaco tries to up the political ante in his grisly franchise about US citizens caught up in an annual slaughter. And fails.
Catherine Shoard: "Woody Allen: 'There are traumas in life that weaken us. That's what has happened to me'" (The Guardian)
The prolific director returns next month with Café Society and a TV series. Here, he talks exclusively about sex, antisemitism, the impact of that abuse allegation - and his dream of racing Usain Bolt.
Robert B. Weide: HARD QUESTIONS FOR RONAN FARROW - AN OPEN LETTER
… two separate, thorough investigations, conducted by highly-regarded teams of professionals, whose job it is to determine whether there is credible evidence to charge someone of a crime,
concluded that the incident never happened.
Dave Simpson: UB40, Stiff Little Fingers and Yes: the bands that split in half (The Guardian)
Most bands end by breaking up. Not many carry on as two separate acts and land themselves in a bitter dispute about which is the 'real' group.
Interview by Angela Wintle: "Dick Van Dyke: 'In therapy, I realised I was repeating my father's mistakes'" (The Guardian)
The veteran actor talks about his father, who was on the road a lot and eventually quit drinking, and the women in his life.
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Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
from Marc Perkel
Patriot Act
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
WAH!
THE SLEAZY, CRIMINAL REPUGS STRIKE AGAIN!
THE 'ALT-RIGHT' ?
CHARGE IT!
CALIFORNIA LEADS THE WAY!
"YOU'RE PACKIN' HEAT, I'M PACKING MEAT."
TRUMP TOILET PAPER!
MORE TOILET PAPER FROM DONALD!
Visit JD's site - Kitty Litter Music
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Working 7 days a week sucks.
Rates Swipe
Politifact
Earlier this week, Donald Trump (R-Pendejo) took a swipe at Hillary Clinton's Hollywood supporters - he said that in many cases they were personalities who "aren't very hot anymore."
Politifact, the fact-checking website run by the Tampa Bay Times, actually looked in to Trump's claim, and their conclusion is that it is "mostly false."
"The data doesn't lie. Many prolific Clinton-backing stars remain popular according to several metrics: social media influence, earning potential, and popularity on celebrity news blogs and websites. Supporters like Katy Perry, Justin Timberlake, Meryl Streep and George Clooney are arguably the most visible and enthusiastic."
The site consulted with E-Poll Market Research, which measures celebrity likability, and found that Clinton's 200 most politically active Hollywood backers had an "E-Score" of 86 out of 100. Trump's backers fared worse, with a score of 64 out of 100. (Topping his list was Chuck Norris, whose score was 99 out of 100).
Perhaps confusing to Trump is that 900 celebrities have endorsed Clinton, meaning that there are plenty of names on her list venturing into the "Where Are They Now?" territory. But judging by Trump's numbers, he has a number of names that are, as an E-Poll official told them, "obscure."
Politifact
Broke The Conservative Media
Lumpy
Sean Hannity, sitting comfortably in his air-conditioned New York studios on a hot August afternoon, was on a fiery rant.
The Fox News host and conservative personality was fed up with Republican leaders in Washington - and he wasn't hiding it from the millions of listeners tuned into his radio program.
The bombastic diatribe against the so-called GOP establishment was nothing new from Hannity. For years, he had cast himself as an outside crusader defending conservative values and principles from a liberal president and, even worse, cowardly Republicans who would allegedly bow to that president's demands.
But in 2016, the criticism from Hannity and a vocal faction of the conservative news media reached a fever pitch. The occasional needling of Republicans morphed into full-blown, searing criticism. Even figures like Ryan and Cruz, considered by most to have iron-clad conservative credentials, were no longer safe.
In fact, throughout the election season, it has appeared that Republicans have fielded more attacks from their supposed friends on the right than their political opponents on the left. It's an incidental twist, considering how Republicans helped foster the growth of the conservative news media in order to avoid the skewering of mainstream journalists.
Instead, it appears their plan of using friendly pundits to tap directly into the vein of red-blooded Americans sympathetic to their political views has backfired. That has boosted the candidacy of Donald Trump, who last week named Steve Bannon, the former chair of the Trump-friendly Breitbart News, as his campaign's CEO.
Lumpy
Water Pollution
Washington
When Shawn Yanity, chairman of the Stillaguamish Tribe of Indians, talks about how he reconnected with his ancestral community, he begins the story 161 years ago.
That's when the Stillaguamish and more than 20 other tribes signed the Point Elliott Treaty with Washington state, ceding their land in exchange for reservations and the right to continue fishing in the rivers.
Yanity's tribe scattered after that. Some members moved onto reservations. Others assimilated into neighboring tribes. Yanity's family wound up in Alaska. "I grew up surrounded by indigenous communities up there," the chairman told TakePart. "I had an understanding of living off the land and taking care of the elders."
The tribe was nearly lost, but members have worked since the last century to resurrect the community: reconnecting with descendants, petitioning and winning federal recognition, and crucially, practicing traditional ceremonies and customs around salmon and river life. In recent years, part of that cultural preservation has meant protecting the long-ago-negotiated right to fish.
The tribe is now headquartered about 50 miles north of Seattle and has more than 200 members. Yanity, who is in his 50s, speaks earnestly about what he sees as a contemporary threat to the health of his community: a water-quality rule issued by the state in August that overhauls standards for businesses that discharge wastewater. The Stillaguamish and other tribes say the rule fails to protect people who regularly eat local fish.
Washington
Secret Recipe Revealed?
KFC
Has Colonel Sanders' nephew inadvertently revealed to the world the secret blend of 11 herbs and spices behind KFC's fried chicken empire?
The company says the recipe published in the Chicago Tribune is not authentic. But that hasn't stopped rampant online speculation that one of the most legendary and closely guarded secrets in the history of fast food has been exposed.
It all started when a reporter visited with Joe Ledington, a nephew of Kentucky Fried Chicken founder Colonel Harland David Sanders.
The reporter was working on a story for the Tribune's travel section about Corbin, Kentucky, where the colonel served his first fried chicken. At one point, Ledington pulled out a family scrapbook containing the last will and testament of Sanders' second wife, Claudia Ledington.
On the back of the document is a handwritten list for a blend of 11 herbs and spices to be mixed with two cups of white flour. While Joe Ledington initially told the reporter that it was the original recipe, he later said that he didn't know for sure.
KFC
Governor Unhinged
Maine
Maine's bombastic Republican governor has built a reputation on his unfiltered comments, but his obscene tirade unleashed on a liberal lawmaker prompted Democratic lawmakers Friday to warn that the governor was coming unhinged and to call for a political intervention.
Gov. Paul LePage apologized to "the people of Maine" - but not to the legislator - after he left a voicemail message for Democratic Rep. Drew Gattine that said "I am after you" and then told reporters he wished he could challenge Gattine to a duel and point a gun "right between his eyes."
LePage said the angry outburst was justified because Gattine had called him racist - something Gattine denied.
The voicemail followed a controversy that bubbled up Wednesday when LePage, who's white, said at a town hall in North Berwick that photos he's collected in a binder of drug dealers arrested in the state showed that 90 percent of them "are black and Hispanic people from Waterbury, Connecticut; the Bronx; and Brooklyn." He displayed the binder at a Friday news conference.
After leaving the voicemail, LePage invited reporters to the governor's mansion, where he said he wished he could turn back the clock so he and Gattine could face off in a duel.
"When a snot-nosed little guy from Westbrook calls me a racist, now I'd like him to come up here because, tell you right now, I wish it were 1825," LePage said, according to the Portland Press Herald. "And we would have a duel, that's how angry I am, and I would not put my gun in the air, I guarantee you, I would not be (Alexander) Hamilton. I would point it right between his eyes."
Maine
U.S. Dept. of Education Drops Hammer
ITT Tech
ITT Educational Services, one of the United States' largest and most expensive for-profit institutes of higher education, was hit hard by the U.S. Department of Education on Thursday with devastating restrictions that some believe could spell the end of the schools.
The Education Department barred the parent company of ITT Tech from accepting any new students who rely on federal student loans or grants -- effectively a renouncement of the organization by the U.S. government.
Founded in 1969, ITT Tech operates more than 130 campuses in 38 states and enrolled 45,000 new students last year -- many of whom had just one option to pay for it: federal loans and grants. Going forward, however, those students will have to find another place to swap that money for an education.
Thursday's action -- which was largely the result of repeated concerns from the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools, which accredits ITT -- followed several years of scrutiny by federal regulators, including strict oversight of what some view as the company's shaky finances.
If the ACICS pulls its accreditation, ITT Tech could be run out of business and its students would receive federal loan forgiveness. For that reason, federal officials ordered ITT in June to set aside more money to cover that scenario. ITT has a reported credit line of $124 million but Education officials want a figure twice that amount.
ITT Tech
Ban On Swimming With Dolphins
Hawaii
US federal officials are seeking a ban on swimming with Hawaii's spinner dolphins, saying the encounters popular with tourists are harming the nocturnal creatures' sleeping habits.
The proposal by the National Marine Fisheries Service of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) would ban swimming with Hawaiian spinner dolphins or approaching the animals within 50 yards (45 meters).
The measure would affect highly popular excursions that allow tourists to swim with the marine mammals or get near them by boat.
Officials say the creatures have faced intense pressure in recent years from dolphin-viewing activities that disrupt their resting time.
The proposed ban would be implemented within two nautical miles from shore of all main Hawaiian islands and in designated waters between the islands of Maui, Lanai, and Kahoolawe, where the dolphins are found throughout the day.
Hawaii
Affirms Support For Paramount Studio Head
Viacom
Viacom Inc affirmed its support for Brad Grey as head of its Paramount Pictures movie studio in a statement Friday.
The company said that its vice chair, Shari Redstone, the Viacom board and its new interim CEO Thomas Dooley believe the studio's leadership "can return Paramount to success."
The statement comes amid speculation within the industry that Viacom may replace Grey on the heels of a shakeup at the media company, which owns Paramount, Nickelodeon and Comedy Central.
On Saturday, Viacom announced a settlement with controlling shareholder Sumner Redstone, by which its Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman had been replaced by his longtime right-hand man, Chief Operating Officer Thomas Dooley. Dooley will be interim CEO until Sept. 30, the end of Viacom's fiscal year.
Under the settlement, Dauman will stay on as non-executive chairman through Sept. 13 and be allowed to present to the Viacom board his plan to sell a 49-percent stake in Paramount Pictures.
Viacom
Underwater Expedition Reveals Sunken Warship
California
An underwater expedition along the California coast has revealed for the first time a sunken World War II-era aircraft carrier once used in atomic tests in the Pacific.
The expedition led by famed oceanographer Robert Ballard captured on Tuesday the wreckage of the USS Independence, located half a mile under the sea in the Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary.
Scientists aboard the ocean research ship Nautilus lowered two unmanned submersibles to the ocean floor to find a Hellcat fighter plane, anti-aircraft guns, hatches and the ship's name on the hull.
Scientists plan to explore the wreckage of a historic steam yacht from 1886 and the freighter Dorothy Windermote as part of the four-month expedition.
To watch round-the-clock video of the expedition, visit www.nautiluslive.org
California
In Memory
Marvin Kaplan
Marvin Kaplan, a character actor known for the sitcom "Alice" and his voice-over work as Choo-Choo on the animated series "Top Cat," has died. He was 89.
He died of natural causes on Wednesday in his home in Burbank, Calif., according to a statement released by Theatre West.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, Kaplan's made his film debut in 1949's "Adam's Rib" starring Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. Known for his sarcastic and deadpan delivery, Kaplan was featured in a variety of films, TV shows and animated series throughout his 60+ year career.
Apart from "Top Cat," Kaplan was well-known for his recurring role on the CBS series "Alice" as Henry Beesmeyer, a phone company employee named who often visited Mel's Diner. He also appeared in small roles in films such as "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World," "The Great Race" and "A New Kind of Love."
In addition to acting, Kaplan served as AFTRA Los Angeles local president for eight years and Performers' Governor on the Television Academy. He was also a member of the California Artists Radio Theatre, Motion Picture Academy and the Academy of New Musical Theatre.
A memorial service has been planned at Theatre West in Los Angeles. A date and time has yet to be announced.
Marvin Kaplan
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