Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Paul Krugman: For Whom the Economy Grows (NY Times Column)
G.D.P. is only part of the story, and we need to know the rest.
Greg Sargent: The walls are closing in. And Trump's lawyers know it. (Washington Post)
Put this all together, and here's what you get. Trump's own lawyers believe that Mueller thinks he has already got enough for a strong obstruction case. While there won't be any indictment, they believe Mueller will issue a damning report to Congress, and given their own fears about obstruction, that (in their view) will likely be what makes the report potentially so damaging - helping to supply grounds for impeachment.
Paul Waldman: Photo of young, cool Beto O'Rourke activates the never-ending culture wars (Washington Post)
Politicians come and politicians go, but the culture war is forever. That's the best way to understand a diverting little controversy happening now in Texas, the site of one of the most interesting Senate races this year.
Chavie Lieber: Amazon says Sanders's allegations of low wages and indecent work conditions are "inaccurate and misleading." (Vox)
Amazon says Sanders's allegations of low wages and indecent work conditions are "inaccurate and misleading."
Jonathan Chait: Trump Is a Snob Who Secretly Despises His Own Supporters (NY Mag)
The declassé image of his fan base has rubbed off on Trump, to his evident frustration. He regularly proclaims that his supporters are the true elite, but his unconvincing attempts to make the case usually devolve into boasts that Trump himself is the elite. Here is a typical passage, from a rally in West Virginia: …
Mary Beard: Celebrities, politicians, enemies, the internet and us (TLS)
As I have said before, I suspect, the word I hate most on Twitter (apart, of course, from the aggressive abuse of rape and murder and misogyny) is "disappointed". As in (and you will find it often) "I am so disappointed in Mary Beard here". What that means is that I usually agree with her, but on this occasion I don't .. and I am turning that into HER moral failing. In fact, we just disagree on this, and that is fine. Do we actually want a world in which we all agree? Not likely.
Mary Beard: St. Who …? (TLS)
Radboud appears to have been a teetotaler, but he had a very posh gold-decorated goblet that he filled with water. One day a friend asked if he could share his drink, but as Radboud did not want his abstention widely known, he refused. So the friend 'furtively removed the cup'. When the saint saw what was happening, he made some urgent prayers to God, and the water in the goblet was changed to wine. But, in fact, the friend noticed the change, was overcome with shame and promised never to behave like that again.
Rudy Giuliani in Drag Smooching Donald Trump (YouTube)
Yes, it's former NYC mayor Rody Giuliani in drag having his "breasts" shamelessly violated by "Apprentice" tycoon Donald Trump.
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 100 Kindle books on Amazon.com.
Presenting
Michael Egan
took the day off.
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
from Bruce
Alcohol Anecdotes
• At the Grand Opening of the Denver Press Club, Prohibition was in full force. Since an opening without alcohol is unthinkable for a press club, the reporters began to think about how they could come up with the booze. Red Feeney, a reporter, and Harry Rhoads, a photographer, knew that the District Attorney's office had seized some bonded whiskey. They also knew that the local police officers had a weakness for publicity, so they arranged a photo session outside with the police officers and the whiskey. At the time, photographs were lit with flash guns which created a lot of smoke. Mr. Rhoads used much more flash powder than was necessary for the photographs, and whenever the scene was filled with smoke and coughing police officers rubbing their eyes, Mr. Feeney grabbed a couple of cases of whiskey and put them in his car. The Grand Opening of the Denver Press Club was a success.
• Jim Thornton was an alcoholic; he was also a vaudeville comedian. Once, he went on an alcoholic spree with another vaudeville comedian, George C. Davis. Although both men were alcoholics, they were different kinds of alcoholics. Mr. Thornton could stay drunk for weeks, but still keep himself shaved and clean. Mr. Davis, however, let himself go to seed. The two had drunk up all their money, and they needed more money to buy themselves alcohol, so Mr. Thornton asked to borrow $2 from a vaudevillian they met on the street. The vaudevillian refused to lend them anything, so the clean Mr. Thornton turned to the filthy Mr. Davis and said, "George, throw a louse on him."
• A judge got very drunk, then took off his robe and lay under a tree half-naked to sleep. Mulla Nasrudin came along, saw the judge, and took his cloak. Later, the judge sobered up, returned to his village and saw Nasrudin wearing his cloak. "Is that your cloak?" the judge asked. "No, it is not," Nasrudin replied. "I saw a very drunk man lying under a tree, asleep, and I took his cloak so that robbers would not steal it. I should like very much to find that man so that I can return his cloak." Fearing lest his friends and neighbors find out that it was he who had been drunk, the judge replied, "Such a drunken fellow deserves what happens to him," then left Nasrudin and the cloak alone.
• As a young girl, Alicia Markova danced for Sergey Pavlovich Diaghilev. For a long time, she wasn't allowed to attend the receptions the other members of the ballet troupe attended, but on her 18th birthday, Mr. Diaghilev asked her to come to his table in the ballroom of the hotel the troupe was staying at in Monte Carlo. There, the troupe held a small coming-of-age party for her, she drank her first glass of champagne, and afterward she was allowed to attend the receptions the other members of the troupe attended.
***
© Copyright Bruce D. Bruce; All Rights Reserved
***
Bonus Links
Jeannie the Teed-Off Temp
Reader Comment
Annual Pay Raises
This makes me livid. His short-sightedness in his tax cut FOR THE RICH (he takes care of his own) is why the budget can't give the raise to those who sweep those hallowed halls, clean the restrooms, wash the windows in the National Parks, Congress, et al. Argyle-bargle. #Basta
CNN Politics: Trump cancels annual pay raises for federal employees, saying budget can't support it
Trump cancels annual pay raises for federal employees, saying budget can't support it
President Donald Trump told lawmakers on Thursday he wants to scrap a pay raise for civilian federal workers, saying the nation's budget couldn't support it.
Reader Comment
Current Events
Wonkette's Evan on Predator rallies
A tweet about the last Predator rally--The president is talking about a hypothetical Indiana rally that would have been held by "Crooked Hillary" if she'd won the election two years ago. He says this hypothetical rally would have had a small and bad crowd.
To which Evan says--Oh Donald. If Crooked Hillary was president, she wouldn't be doing Hitler rallies every other night in order to soothe her wounded ego. She would be at work. Novel concept, TRY IT!
Trump Thinks You Can't Impeach Presidents Who Are Doing A 'Great Job.' Evan's comment--He said this verbatim in his fuckbonkers "Fox & Friends" interview last week, so just letting the record show that Grandpa has a new phrase he gets caught in loops repeating over and over again, like the senile hamster dick he is.
REMEMBERING MARC PERKEL
Marc Perkel
Marc died August 1st after a brave battle with lung cancer.
Marc was one of the good guys. The REALLY GOOD GUYS.
WHO THE HELL IS MARC PERKEL
Marc has hosted this site on his server for 15 years.
He will be greatly missed.
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
JD took the day off.
Visit JD's site - Kitty Litter Music
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
If you've ever thought about sending good old Marty a donation this would be an excellent time.
Explains Michael Jackson 'Simpsons' Cameo
Matt Groening
Matt Groening finally explained how "The Simpsons" landed one of their biggest celebrity cameos, settling once and for all a debate that torn apart schoolyards since the 1990s. Did Michael Jackson actually lend his voice to the show?
"We really did have him," Groening told Australian TV show "The Weekly."
Jackson's cameo on the 1991 episode "Stark Raving Dad" has been one of the longest-running fan theories in the Fox comedy's history. That's because Jackson wasn't credited for his appearance. Instead, the King of Pop used the pseudonym "John Jay Smith."
Groening finally set the record straight: "He did the show, he didn't want credit for it - it was some kind of deal with his record company or whatever."
So here's what actually happened, per Groening: Jackson called him up and said he wanted to do the show, but that Groening thought it was a prank so he hung up. "He said he loved Bart and wanted to be on the show." It was Jackson's voice during Kompowsky's speaking lines, but, due to a contractual obligation with his record company, a stand-in had to sing the actual song.
Matt Groening
Former Producer Speaks Out
Ronan Farrow
Rich McHugh is speaking out against NBC News just a few weeks after leaving the company's investigative unit. McHugh, a producer for NBC News, worked with Ronan Farrow on the investigation into Harvey Weinstein's history of sexual abuse and harassment for an NBC News story, but he says the network effectively killed the investigation.
"At a critical juncture in our reporting on Harvey Weinstein, as we were about to interview a woman with a credible allegation of rape against him, I was told not to do the interview and ordered to stand down, thus effectively killing the story," McHugh said in the statement to CNN.
McHugh maintains NBC told him to stop the story three days before he was set to interview a credible source. The producer alleges NBC ordered him "not to interview" the woman with rape allegations against Weinstein and "to stand down on the story altogether."
NBC News responded via spokesperson to McHugh's claim by saying "the assertion that NBC News tried to kill the Weinstein story while Ronan Farrow was at NBC News, or even more ludicrously, after he left NBC News, is an outright lie."
Ronan Farrow worked on the Weinstein story under NBC News for eight months, the network said in a statement. NBC News says Farrow believed in August 2017 that his reporting was "ready for air," but the network disagreed because "he did not yet have a single victim of - or witness to - misconduct by Weinstein who was willing to be identified."
Ronan Farrow
Hits Back
Peter Dinklage
Peter Dinklage has slapped back accusations of 'white-washing' in the forthcoming HBO biopic movie about Fantasy Island and Bond movie star Hervé Villechaize.
The Game of Thrones star plays Villechaize in My Dinner With Hervé, penned and directed by Sacha Gervasi, who personally spent three days interviewing Villechaize when he was a young journalist in the early 90s.
Following the casting of Dinklage, there was some criticism that a white actor had been cast in the role, backed by claims that Villechaize was reputedly 'half-French, half-Filipino'.
"The funny thing about the backlash is it addresses what we address in the film about not judging a book by its cover. Hervé was judged by how he looked, and cast and perceived to be who he is accordingly. It says [Villechiaze was half-Filipino] on Wikipedia. Family members can't change information on there. My daughter's name was 'Zelig' on Wikipedia for a long time. Her name is not Zelig. I don't know who is able to put information up, but there are so many things on there that aren't true.
"There's this term 'whitewashing.' I completely understand that. But Hervé wasn't Filipino. Dwarfism manifests physically in many different ways. I have a very different type of dwarfism than Hervé had. I've met his brother and other members of his family.
Peter Dinklage
Casting Marching Band Alumni
'Stranger Things'
Want to relive your glory days of marching band and play an extra in one of Neftlix's top shows?
'Stranger Things' is looking for extras ages 18-30 with real marching band experience for a shoot this October in Atlanta.
You'll need to learn and play 2 songs for the shoot for the episode set to air in the next season.
Here's the official casting call .
'Stranger Things'
Proposed Sexual Misconduct Guidelines
Betsy
Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos is expectted to propose a controversial set of sexual misconduct rules for schools across the country -- and survivors' advocates are not happy.
DeVos is preparing new Title IX policies that would "bolster the rights of students accused of assault, harrassment or rape, reduce the liability for institutions of higher education and encourage schools to provide more support for victims, " according to an explosive New York Times report published Wednesday.
The potential new regulations for the Title IX (the federal civil rights law created to ensure gender equality in education) include several changes that have advocates up in arms, including narrowing the definition of sexual misconduct and allowing assailants to cross-examine their accusers during mediation process. Title IX regulations apply to all levels of schooling, but advocates are focusing on universities due to the epidemic of sexual violence that takes place on campuses.
Almost all of the known proposed regulations would put survivors at risk, but one stands out as particularly alarming. The potential new Title IX guidelines would only hold universities accountable for sexual misconduct that is "said to have occurred on their campuses," according to the Times.
Title IX advocates and sexual assault survivors agree that this regulation could potentially be disastrous: A whopping 87 percent of college students live off campus. Additionally many social events take place off campus at bars, Greek life houses, apartment complexes and sports teams' houses.
Betsy
Freezing Accounts
Bank of America
Saeed Moshfegh woke up earlier this month to discover the strangest thing: though he had plenty of money in his Bank of America account, he couldn't access it.
An Iranian getting his Ph.D in physics at the University of Miami, Moshfegh used the account for everyday transactions. All he had to do to maintain the account was show proof of legal residency every six months.
That Thursday, Moshfegh went to his local branch near South Miami. He was told that the documentation he had provided could not be accepted. Bank officials insisted he produce a different form, according to Moshfegh. The bank was wrong, he maintains, because the form he had supplied was the correct one based on his current status as a student nearing graduation.
Locked out of his account, Moshfegh couldn't pay his rent, which was due that week. Credit card payments were suddenly rejected.
His case isn't unique. In recent months, Bank of America has been accused of freezing or threatening to freeze customers' accounts after asking about their legal status in the U.S.. In July, the Washington Post reported that multiple customers had been locked out of their accounts after Bank of America questioned whether the account holders were U.S. citizens or dual citizens.
Bank of America
'Unusual Mortality Event'
NOAA
The federal government is declaring the deaths of hundreds of seals off the New England coast this summer to be an "unusual mortality event."
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has said tests indicate dead seals found in New England tested positive for avian flu and phocine distemper.
More than 240 seals have been found dead off the Maine coast in July and August, while more than 80 have been reported off New Hampshire and Massachusetts in those months.
NOAA said Friday it will investigate the "elevated strandings of harbor and grey seals in the Northeast attributed to disease."
The agency says that declaring a marine mammal die-off as an "unusual mortality event" means the deaths will be prioritized for investigation and response.
NOAA
Grizzly Hunt Blocked
Yellowstone
The first public grizzly bear hunt in the Rocky Mountains for decades has been temporarily blocked by a federal judge.
Dana Christensen ruled the hunting season, which had been due to open in Wyoming and Idaho this weekend, should be delayed while he considered whether the government was wrong to lift federal protections on the animals.
The order means planned hunts - the first in either state since 1974 - will be prohibited for 14 days.
"The threat of death to individual bears posed by the scheduled hunts is sufficient" to justify a delay in the states' hunting seasons, Judge Christensen said.
The move was welcomed by wildlife protection campaigners, who joined Native American tribes in legal action over the US Fish and Wildlife Service's (FWS) decision to lift federal protections for the roughly 700 grizzly bears in and around Yellowstone National Park.
Yellowstone
Russia Opening A "Jurassic Park-Style" Research Lab
Siberia
Welcome to ??? click here (that's Russian for Jurassic Park). After a relatively brief 10,000-year absence, could wooly mammoths be roaming the depths of snowy Russia in the not too distant future? This new research facility in Siberia would like to think so.
At the 4th Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok next month, Russia will unveil their plans to open a $5.9 million lab in the Siberian city of Yakutsk that hopes to quickly become a "world-class paleo-genetic scientific center," according to The Siberian Times.
Together with the South Korean SOOAM Biotech Research Foundation, Russian scientists from the Northern-Eastern Federal University are set to research the genetics of a number of extinct species once native to the area, such the woolly mammoths, woolly rhinoceros, cave lions, and breeds of extinct horses. Although their end goal is still a fair few years from completion, they say their research will help bring these extinct species out of extinction.
The sub-zero temperatures of this part of the world mean it's a prime location for this "breed" of research. Around 80 percent of soft tissue samples of extinct animals from the Pleistocene and Holocene have been unearthed in this area. That's namely thanks to permafrost, which helps preserve the tissue like a prehistoric refrigerator.
Still, only one animal has ever been cloned after going extinct, the Pyrenean ibex, which first died off in 1997. The de-extinct individual died after just seven minutes of life, meaning it was also the first animal to go extinct twice.
Siberia
| CURRENT MOON lunar phases |
