from Bruce
Anecdotes
People with Handicaps
• Diana Golden enjoyed skiing, but her leg collapsed under her when she was 12 years old. Doctors investigated, discovered that she had cancer, and told her that her leg would have to be amputated. Diana didn’t believe them at first because most 12-year-olds don’t get cancer. She asked the doctors, “Did you ask my grandfather?” (Her grandfather was also a doctor.) The doctors replied, “He knows. He agrees with us. We’re sorry.” She cried at first, but she was able to laugh when her roommate said, “When you have a fake leg, maybe you’ll be able to turn your foot around backward.” Despite being one-legged, Diana continued her hobby of skiing. One day, a skier with two legs lost control and knocked her over. She shouted at the skier, “Look what you’ve done to my leg!” Ms. Golden was very talented as a skier—she won many gold medals as a member of the United States Disabled Ski Team.
Pitchers
• Satchel Paige won many games as a pitcher, but he also boasted about winning many games as a pitcher. In one game, he had a 1-0 lead in the ninth inning, and he quickly got the first two batters out. However, three straight errors by his teammates led to loaded bases. Mr. Paige was angry because he thought that his teammates had committed the errors on purpose. At first he was going to leave the ballpark, but he thought better of it and returned to the pitcher’s mound. He even made his outfielders sit in back of the pitcher’s mound—then he struck the batter out for the win. In a years-later game in which he did NOT make his outfielders sit in back of the pitcher’s mound, he didn’t get the win. Angry at his boasting, his teammates let an easy-to-catch fly ball fall to the game for a home run that won the game for the other team.
• Babe Ruth had trouble remembering names, so he called other people, including baseball players, such names as “Pal,” “Kid,” and “Doc.” While Babe was pitching for the Boston Red Sox, manager Ed Barrow warned about a Chicago Cub hitter named Les Mann, saying, “The man is tough against lefthanders, Babe. Any time he comes up in a pinch, I want you to be careful. In fact, it won’t do any harm to dust him off a bit, for he takes a heavy toehold on the plate.” During the game, Babe dusted off not Les Mann, but a player named Max Flack. Back in the dugout, he told Mr. Barrow, “I guess I took care of that Mann guy for you.” Mr. Barrow shouted, “Babe, you wouldn’t know General Grant if he walked up with a bat.”
• Sometimes a major-league pitcher will get a little of his own back by throwing a knock-down pitch at a lesser hitter after the big bats have roughed him up. In one 1947 game, the New York Giants—a club with some heavy hitters—got three home runs in a row by Sid Gordon, Johnny Mize, and Walker Cooper. The next batter was Buddy Blattner—not one of the heavy hitters on his team. Mr. Blattner bit the dust twice on knock-down pitches, made an out, then returned to the dugout. Mr. Cooper said to him, “I’ll say one thing, Blattner—they really respect you.”
• Politeness often pays, and lack of politeness often does not pay. Lew Burdette, a pitcher for Atlanta, got into trouble with two runners on base and no outs, so catcher Bob Uecker went out to the mound to give him a few minutes to get settled and then pitch his best. However, Mr. Burdette was in a foul mood, and he told Mr. Uecker, “The only thing you know about pitching is that you can’t hit it.” Big mistake. Mr. Uecker went back to his position as catcher—and told the batter which pitch Mr. Burdette was going to throw.
• A doubleheader in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League of the 1940s and 1950s consisted of a regular game of nine innings followed by a shorter game of seven innings. For one doubleheader, Doris “Sammy” Sams was assigned to pitch the short game, and she had thought that she had been given the easy game. However, that game turned into a mammoth struggle that she did not win until the 22nd inning. After the game, Sammy told her manager, “I don’t want to pitch any more seven-inning games—they’re too long!”
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© Copyright Bruce D. Bruce; All Rights Reserved
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Presenting
Michael Egan
U.S.A. said:
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
BRUCE'S RECOMMENDATION
BANDCAMP MUSIC
BRUCE'S RECOMMENDATION OF BANDCAMP MUSIC
Music: "Like I Love You"
Album: SWAMP FUZZ TAVERN
Artist: Kirby Walsh
Artist Location: UK
Record Company: Aldora Britain Records
Record Company Location: Rothley, UK
Info:
“AB Records is an e-zine and record label that promotes the music and work of authentic independent or underground artists from all around the world. Originally established in 2013, they revamped themselves in 2018 with a brand new approach. Their first weekly compilation, aptly titled THE SECOND COMING, was released in late 2019. They now also release original singles, EPs and charity projects.”
Price: £2.40 (GBP) for 23-track album by various artists
Genre: British New Wave. Various.
Links:
SWAMP FUZZ TAVERN
Aldora Britain Records
Other Links:
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 Apple iBookstore
David Bruce has over 140 Kindle books on Amazon.com.
Reader Suggestion
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Michael Egan
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Current Events
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In The Chaos Household
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Are Listening
Siri and Google
Tech companies have long encouraged putting listening devices in homes and pockets, attempting to convince consumers to rely on their voice assistants for any little need that pops up. But some are growing concerned that these devices are recording even when they're not supposed to - and they're taking their fears to the courts.
On Thursday, a judge ruled that Apple will have to continue fighting a lawsuit brought by users in federal court in California, alleging that the company's voice assistant Siri has improperly recorded private conversations.
The judge said that most of the lawsuit could move forward, despite Apple's request to have it thrown out. Judge Jeffrey S. White, of federal district court in Oakland, did dismiss one piece involving users' economic harm. But he ruled that the plaintiffs, who are trying to make the suit a class action case, could continue pursuing claims that Siri turned on unprompted and recorded conversations that it shouldn't have and passed the data along to third parties, therefore violating user privacy.
The case is one of several that have been brought against Apple, Google and Amazon that involve allegations of violation of privacy by voice assistants. The technologies, often referred to by their names - Siri, Alexa and, predictably, Google - are meant to help with everyday tasks. They connect to speakers and can play music, or set a timer or add an item to a shopping list. (Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.)
The companies deny that they are listening to conversations for any purpose other than the intended ones of helping with tasks or playing music. Amazon did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Apple pointed to court filings, and Google said it will fight the lawsuit.
Siri and Google
SAG-AFTRA Elects President
Fran Drescher
After a hard-fought battle during yet another contentious national election, Fran Drescher has been elected SAG-AFTRA’s next president, prevailing over rival Matthew Modine.
Joely Fisher was also elected to succeed Camryn Manheim as the union’s secretary-treasurer, besting Anthony Rapp. Drescher received 16,958 votes and Modine, 15,371 votes. For the post of secretary-treasurer, Fisher received 18,547 votes and Rapp, 13,593 votes. A total of 122,154 ballots were mailed, 26.49 percent were returned.
The SAG-AFTRA political party affiliated with Drescher and Rapp, Unite for Strength, has held the presidency for the last 12 years, the final five with outgoing president Gabrielle Carteris. When Carteris announced that she had decided not to run for re-election to the top role in July, she backed The Nanny and Star Trek: Discovery stars’ campaign, saying in a statement, “It’s bittersweet to move on, but I do so with gratitude and great confidence in Fran and the remarkable Anthony Rapp.” During her campaign, Drescher argued that her background as an activist in Washington and founder of a nonprofit would serve her well, particularly expressing to The Hollywood Reporter her wish to unify the membership, enlist more high-profile SAG members in contract negotiations and strengthen ties with the larger labor movement. For his part, Rapp spoke about his desire to create an internal code of conduct as well as production protocols to guide on-set personnel on issues facing trans and nonbinary actors, among other issues.
Rival party Membership First, backing Modine and Fisher, which last election made significant gains on the Los Angeles board, spotlighted the pair’s experience on union boards and committees and the importance of “repairing our union’s foundation,” as Modine told The Hollywood Reporter. Among other issues, the Membership First platform argued for the need to end “pre-paid residual” contracts (where potential future backend earnings are bought out in one initial payment), change streaming residual calculations and the union’s split pension plan.
Both parties promised to prioritize gains in the upcoming TV/theatrical agreement (whose negotiations will begin in 2023), promote diversity and safety from sexual harassment and tackle a recent restructuring of the union-affiliated SAG-AFTRA Health Plan that is ultimately expected to strip thousands of their previous health benefits. (The changes are at the heart of an ongoing class-action lawsuit led by the late Ed Asner, which charges that the Health Fund and its board of trustees breached fiduciary duty and stepped afoul of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. A spokesperson for the SAG-AFTRA Health Plan has said, “We are confident that the courts will ultimately reject this meritless litigation.”)
And as is usual in SAG-AFTRA contests, stars split over the election: Unite for Strength landed endorsements from figures including Tom Hanks, Rosario Dawson, J.K. Simmons and Debra Messing, while Membership First was supported by Whoopi Goldberg, Mark Hamill, Margaret Cho and Diane Keaton.
Fran Drescher
Half-Shredded Art To Auction
Banksy
A Banksy artwork that sensationally self-shredded just after it sold for $1.4 million is up for sale again — at several times the previous price.
Auctioneer Sotheby’s said Friday that “Love is in the Bin” will be offered at a sale in London on Oct. 14. The piece has a pre-sale estimate of 4 million pounds to 6 million pounds ($5.5 million to $8.3 million).
It consists of a half-shredded canvas bearing a spray-painted image of a girl reaching for a heart-shaped red balloon.
Then known as “Girl With Balloon,” the work was sold at Sotheby’s in October 2018. Just as an anonymous European buyer made the winning bid, a hidden shredder embedded in the frame by Banksy whirred to life, leaving half the canvas hanging from the frame in strips.
The buyer decided to go through with the purchase — a decision that would be vindicated if the picture achieves its estimated price.
Banksy
Prices Skyrocket
Collectibles
Americans have become obsessed with collectibles, bidding up prices for trading cards, video games and other mementos of their youth. The frenzy has brought small fortunes to some, but a deep frustration for those who still love to play games or trade cards as a hobby.
Among the items most sought after — and even fought over — are the relics of millennials’ childhoods. These include copies of trading cards such as Pokemon’s Charizard and Magic: The Gathering’s Black Lotus as well as Nintendo’s Super Mario Bros. game cartridges. Some cards are selling for hundreds of thousands of dollars and an unopened Super Mario game recently sold for an astonishing $2 million.
This is more than a case of opportunistic collectors looking to cash in on a burst of nostalgia triggered by the pandemic. Everyone seemingly is angling for a piece of the pie.
The corporations who own franchises such as Pokemon are rolling out new editions as quickly as they can print them; internet personalities are hawking the products and raking in advertising money; companies that tell collectors how much their possessions are worth are doing unprecedented businesses — and in at least one case getting financial backing from a prominent private equity firm looking to get in on the action.
The collectibles frenzy has been fueled partly by a self-fulfilling cycle of YouTube personalities driving hype around collecting and the rising prices of collectibles. This can lead to big paydays as advertisers notice the frenzy stirred up among the influencer's dedicated followers.
Collectibles
Big Tech Stays Silent
Texass
Two-thirds of "top talent" said Texas' abortion ban would discourage them from taking a job in the state, according to a recent survey commissioned by the Tara Health Foundation.
More than half of respondents said they would want their employer to speak publicly about restrictive abortion policies. For most Texas companies, that has not been the case.
Despite the tech industry's record of speaking out on political issues such as LGBTQ and immigration rights, only two tech CEOs with offices in Texas immediately responded to the state's abortion ban. Both are women.
Lyft CEO Logan Green tweeted Friday that the ban "threatens to punish drivers for getting people where they need to go- especially women exercising their right to choose," adding that Lyft "created a Driver Legal Defense Fund to cover 100% of legal fees for drivers sued under SB8 while driving on our platform."
Website hosting provider GoDaddy told anti-abortion group Texas Right for Life that its anonymous abortion tip line violated its terms of service on Friday.
Texass
Anti-Choice Corporate Donors
Texass
A Texas law banning abortions after six weeks of pregnancy went into effect on Wednesday. It comes as the conservative-led Supreme Court is set to consider a case that could upend Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion.
Recent data revealed that 86 companies in the Fortune 250 gave $5.9 million to candidates seeking office in the Texas legislature in 2020, and seven of those companies gave over $100,000 to sponsors of the abortion law.
On August 2, UltraViolet, an organization that fights to expand women's rights, released an analysis of public data on corporate political spending in Texas. It reports that nine of the primary sponsors of SB8, the abortion law, received more than $100,000 from corporations like AT&T and UnitedHealth Group. While those companies did not take a stand on the abortion law, their contributions were significant in electing the lawmakers who sponsored it.
Here are the seven companies that made the largest cumulative donations to the sponsors and cosponsors of SB8: AT&T, Charter Communications, Berkshire Hathaway, Exelon, UnitedHealth Group, Union Pacific, Chevron.
Texass
'Normal People'
Madi
North Carolina GOP Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-Too Pretty) has doubled down on his defense of the Capitol rioters.
In an exclusive September 2 interview with Smoky Mountain News, a local news outlet based in North Carolina, Cawthorn said the rioters were mostly "normal people" who were "kind of wandering in."
"I believe a group of people within the January 6 protestors, a small minority who literally were the ones that endangered people's lives, ones who got very aggressive, who were the ones busting down the doors, were going bare-knuckle fisticuffs with the Capitol Police. Those people, I believe are dangerous individuals," Cawthorn said in the interview.
"But the overwhelming majority of the people of the January 6 thing were just normal people, there for a normal protest to redress their government. And then they saw an open door at the top of the Capitol, and they were just kind of wandering in," Cawthorn said.
The North Carolina lawmaker also made the news earlier week when he called the Capitol riot suspects "political hostages." Speaking at an August 29 event in Franklin, North Carolina, Cawthorn said he wanted to "try and bust them out of jail."
Madi
North American Ranchers
Drought
When Canadian rancher Dianne Riding strides across her brown pasture, sidestepping cracks and popping grasshoppers, she has less company than usual.
Record-setting heat and sparse rain left Riding with too little grass or hay to feed her cattle near Lake Francis, Manitoba. She sold 51 head at auction in July, about 40% of her herd. The sales included 20 heifers, young cows that have not given birth, that were potential breeding stock.
"That's your future. As my herd goes down, so does my income," Riding said. "It's gut-wrenching."
Such liquidations of breeding stock are expected to limit cattle production in the coming years, tightening North America's beef supply and driving up consumer prices, according to two dozen ranchers and cattle experts.
The drought spanning much of western North America - from western Canada to California and Mexico - has cooked pastures and hay crops that fatten cattle. The ranchers' plight is one impact of many from the punishing drought, which has also damaged wheat across North Dakota and cherries in Washington state, weakened bee colonies, and forced California to shut a major hydroelectric plant. In British Columbia, an entire town burned, while California is expected to see a record number of acres go up in flames this year.
Drought
Drilled a 'Perfect' Rock Sample
Perseverance
Following a failed first attempt last month, NASA's Perseverance rover has successfully drilled and captured a perfect rock core from the Red Planet. This puts scientists one big step closer to their goal of someday returning the rock sample to Earth, in order to study it for signs of ancient microbial life, according to NASA.
Perseverance (or "Percy" to its friends) made its latest drill attempt on Wednesday (Sept. 1), after selecting a large, thick-looking rock that NASA researchers nicknamed "Rochette".
The boulder sits on a ridge overlooking the nearby floor of Jezero crater, where it has endured the elements of Mars for potentially millions of years.
That endurance is exactly what the Perseverance team was looking for; the rover's first attempt to collect a rock core several weeks ago ended in disappointment, as the rock sample proved too crumbly and literally disappeared from the rover's grasp.
But new images of the Rochette drilling operation show that, this time around, there were no surprise disappearances.
Perseverance
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