Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Paul Krugman: Days of Fear, Years of Obstruction (NY Times Column)
Why did the slump last so long? Cynical, bad-faith Republican politics.
Paul Krugman: Botching the Great Recession (NY Times Blog)
Why the slump went on so much longer than it should have.
Paul Krugman: ON the Debt Non-Spiral (NY Times Blog)
Secular stagnation means even less reason to worry.
Mary Beard: Romans in Morocco (TLS)
Even more interesting for me was the head of Cato the Younger, enemy of Julius Caesar and bloody minded Republican ideologue, who disembowelled himself in North Africa in 46 BC in the face of Caesar's victory.
Mary Beard: More Romans in Morocco (TLS)
However much you hate the Roman, or British, empire, the stuff in Morocco was eye-opening and touching. And indeed there is something affecting about seeing the same stuff along Hadrian's Wall and in the UK…it doesn't justify Roman imperialism that's for sure. But it reminds us of a world without "illegal immigrants", and one in which territory was claimed in different ways … hope we will sort it out!
Paul Waldman: The GOP's cruelty toward the poor is paying dividends in suffering (Washington Post)
It isn't about helping people find work, and it's not about promoting "personal responsibility." It's a philosophy that says that poor people are morally deficient and they must be punished and shamed. If they're going to get assistance it's going to come with conditions and requirements - in this case, a bureaucratic obstacle course they have to run through - and if they fail to satisfy them, then they get tossed off. The party that says it hates government bureaucracy uses bureaucracy as a weapon against the poor.
Greg Sargent; Trump really hates apologizing for misogyny and racism. New reporting explains why. (Washington Post)
President Trump does not believe that people - that white men like himself - should have to apologize for their public displays of misogyny or racism. But this isn't simply because he doesn't want to give ground to critics out of stubbornness or a fear of displaying weakness. Rather, the refusal to apologize for these things is itself a political statement, even a statement of values. And you can bet that many of his supporters hear it in precisely this way.
Andrew Tobias: Is Democracy WORTH Saving?
I have high hopes for November 6. I think much of the country is horrified. I think we can win Senate seats in Tennessee and Mississippi and Texas - seats you don't normally expect Democrats to win. I think the excitement Andrew Gillum is generating in Florida, as he runs for governor, will help produce the turn-out needed to hold Bill Nelson's Senate seat. I think we can flip the Senate seat Jeff Flake is vacating in Arizona. I think we will flip a great many seats in the House. And in a state legislative chambers. Or not. We'll see.
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Presenting
Michael Egan
responded:
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
Reader Comment
FB
Hi Marty,
Saw this on Facebook and had to share. It's from "Funny Times" magazine.
Cheers,
Barbara
Thanks, Barb!
Bonus Links
Jeannie the Teed-Off Temp
from Bruce
Anecdotes
• In 2013, Thane Chiquinho Scarpa, one of the richest men in Brazil, announced that he was planning to bury a million-dollar Bentley. Why? So he could ride around in style in the afterlife. Actually, this was a publicity stunt to draw attention to a worthy cause: organ donation. On the day that he was supposed to bury his Bentley, Mr. Scarpa said, "People condemn me because I wanted to bury a million dollar Bentley; in fact, most people bury something a lot more valuable than my car. They bury hearts, livers, lungs, eyes, kidneys. This is absurd. So many people waiting for a transplant and you will bury your healthy organs that can save so many lives. This is the biggest waste in the world. My Bentley is worthless in comparison to life-giving organs. There is no wealth more valuable than an organ, because there is nothing more valuable than life. I officially announce I am an organ donor this week. I'm an organ donor, are you? Tell your family."
• Basso Ferruccio Furianetto has taken care of his voice over the years, turning down roles that he felt his voice was not ready for. Conductor Herbert von Karajan once asked him to sing the role of Escamillo, which is a role for a baritone. Immediately, Mr. Furianetto changed the subject to something that he knew Mr. Karajan would want to talk about: "Maestro, did you see the new Porsche that just came out?" Today, Mr. Furianetto says, "That Porsche saved me!"
• Following the wartime austerity of World War II and the rise of making much money playing rock and roll, some British performers began - of course - spending money on cars. British jazz musician George Melly and early British rocker Tommy Steele met backstage once, and Mr. Steele learned that Mr. Melly did not have a car. Mr. Melly remembers, "He looked at me with the sort of pity usually reserved for the badly deformed."
• In the 1970 World Series, Cincinnati Reds catcher Johnny Bench played very well, but Baltimore Orioles third baseman Brooks Robinson played spectacularly, and the Orioles won the Series. Still, Mr. Bench was funnier than Mr. Robinson. When Mr. Robinson won a new car by being named the Series MVP, Mr. Bench said, "If we'd have known he wanted a new car that badly, we'd have chipped in and bought him one."
• Mid-1950s Metropolitan Opera conductor Fritz Stiedry loved cars. His Oldsmobile Super-88 even told him its name. According to Mr. Stiedry, "One night that car appeared to me in a dream. Above the radiator I saw a girl, a blonde beauty who said to me, 'Fritz, don't you know my name? I am called Philomela.'" From then on, Mr. Stiedry called the car Philomela.
• Wynonie Harris was a rhythm and blues star of the 1940s and 1950s who made a lot of money and spent a lot of money. He bought two Cadillacs and hired two chauffeurs, and people used to go out on the sidewalk at 4 a.m. when he left the Baby Grand in Harlem after a performance just to see which Cadillac he would choose to ride home in.
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© Copyright Bruce D. Bruce; All Rights Reserved
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Reader Comment
Current Events
Kavanaugh & sexual assault
WHY is there a time limit on sexual assault?! Oh it happened decades ago--that means it didn't happen? There's some sort of expiration date on sexual assault?!
From Wonkette--
"There is no other kind of crime in which "Hey, he didn't do it to me!" is any kind of defense. If someone robs a bank, you don't find 65 other banks that the person didn't rob in order to prove their innocence."
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
LET'S MAKE A DEAL!
WAR CRIMINALS!
Visit JD's site - Kitty Litter Music
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
If you've ever thought about sending Marty a love offering this would be an excellent time.
Weighs In On Kavanaugh
Anita Hill
Twenty-seven years ago, Anita Hill became one of the first women to publicly accuse a powerful Supreme Court nominee of sexual harassment, shifting the public eye toward the poor treatment of women in the workplace.
On Friday, Hill spoke out again in the wake of accusations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
Hill, now a professor at Brandeis University, called for the Senate Judiciary Committee to investigate the sexual assault claims in a "fair and neutral way."
"The reluctance of someone to come forward demonstrates that even in the #MeToo era, it remains incredibly difficult to report harassment, abuse or assault by people in power," Hill said in a statement.
The New Yorker on Friday reported the bombshell allegation of a woman who said that Kavanaugh held her down and "attempted to force himself on her" in the presence of a classmate of his while at a party in high school.
Anita Hill
'Charged' Exit
'Hawaii Five-0'
Former "Hawaii Five-0" star Grace Park, who left the CBS procedural last year amid uproar over the show's racial pay disparity, is finally speaking out about her exit.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly ahead of her new ABC drama "A Million Little Things," Park described her choice to leave the long-running CBS cop show as a matter of "integrity," but did not directly address the fact that she and co-star Daniel Dae Kim were making less than their white co-stars at the time of their departure.
"I'm grateful for the lessons learned, but I chose what was best for my integrity," the actress said, explaining that there were "a number of factors" that led to her decision to leave.
Kim previously framed his departure from "Hawaii Five-0" as a matter of "self-worth."
"It's possible to be grateful for the opportunity and respectful of the colleagues and the people that I work with, and maintain a steadfast sense of your self-worth," he said last year, explaining in a Facebook post that he and CBS "weren't able to agree to terms on a new contract."
'Hawaii Five-0'
That Ever Lived
Largest Birds
Humans are suspected to have killed off the largest birds that ever lived. Regardless of whether that's true, however, new evidence shows that they coexisted for thousands of years.
Ancient bones of extinct elephant birds (Aepyornis and Mullerornis) found in a marsh site in Madagascar bear traces of cut marks, chop marks and fractures that probably arose from butchering and hunting, according to a new study published yesterday (Sept. 12) in the journal Science Advances.
Elephant birds probably stood nearly 10 feet (3 meters) tall and weighed over a thousand pounds (half a metric ton), according to BBC Earth.
Though scientists suspected that humans had wiped out this species, they didn't realize how long our prehistoric ancestors actually coexisted with the giant birds. Indeed, the cut marks revealed that humans arrived in Madagascar over 6,000 years earlier than was previously thought.
Lemur bones and archaeological evidence had originally led scientists to date the arrival of humans to Madagascar to around 2,400 to 4,000 years ago, the researchers said in a statement. Through radiocarbon dating of the elephant bird bones, this new study found that humans were actually present on the island around 10,500 years ago.
Largest Birds
Formed From Part Of France
Cornwall
Most of Cornwall and parts of Devon were formed millions of years ago when a section of France collided with Great Britain, according to a new study.
England, Wales and Scotland were previously thought to have formed when the ancient landmasses of Avalonia and Laurentia merged over 400 million years ago.
Now, geologists from the University of Plymouth have found evidence in the rocks of southwest England that suggests the region is quite distinct from the rest of the country.
Deposits left by underground volcanic eruptions across the region suggest the landmass of Armorica, which contains modern-day France, also played a part in creating Britain.
Dr Arjan Dijkstra, who led the study, said this was a "completely new way of thinking about how Britain was formed".
Cornwall
'Character Assassination'
Botham Jean
The lawyer for the family of the Dallas man fatally shot by a police officer in his own apartment says police are trying to discredit the victim.
Botham Shem Jean, 26, died on Sept. 6 after off-duty officer Amber Guyger walked into his apartment, allegedly thinking she was in hers (which is located one floor below) and shot him twice.
Attorney Lee Merritt, who represents Jean's family, criticized the police's search warrant, which was obtained in the hours following the shooting, as an attempt to discredit Jean after his death.
Attorney Benjamin Crump, who is also representing Jean's family, told NBC DFW that Jean's family does not know who the marijuana belongs to. Still, Crump maintained that the seized drugs were "nothing but a disgusting attempt to assassinate his character now that they have assassinated his person."
Botham Jean
Still Closed
Sunspot Solar Observatory
An observatory in the mountains of southern New Mexico that is dedicated to unlocking the mysteries of the sun has found itself at the center of a mystery that is creating a buzz here on earth.
The Sunspot Solar Observatory has been closed for more than a week. Authorities remain tightlipped Friday, saying only that an undisclosed security concern was behind the decision to abruptly vacate and lock up the remote facility on Sept 6.
The FBI referred all questions to the group that manages the site, the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy. Officials there say they're working with authorities.
The association said in an update Friday that it has "decided that the observatory will remain closed until further notice due to an ongoing security concern. The rest of the National Solar Observatory facilities remain open and are operating normally."
Located atop Sacramento Peak, the observatory was established in 1947. It overlooks the Tularosa Basin - an expanse of desert that includes the city of Alamogordo, Holloman Air Force Base, White Sands Missile Range, White Sands National Monument and the site of the world's first atomic bomb test.
Sunspot Solar Observatory
Country Open To Foreigners
Japan
Japan is gearing up to accept more foreign workers as its own population is on the brink of a steep decline, Foreign Minister Taro Kono said Friday.
Kono told a World Economic Forum meeting in Hanoi that Japan gains "value added" by accepting foreigners, especially since its aging population and low birth rate mean the country is shrinking by a half-million people a year.
"We cannot sustain our society like that," he said in response to a question during a panel discussion. "We are opening up our country. We are opening up our labor market to foreign countries. We are now trying to come up with a new work permit policy so I think everyone shall be welcome in Japan if they are willing to assimilate into Japanese society."
Japan has traditionally resisted accepting migrant workers, at times easing such restrictions but then re-imposing them during economic downturns. Many Japanese are uncomfortable with outsiders who might not speak their language or conform to expectations for how to behave.
Still, there are millions of foreigners living in Japan, including those who work in technical training-related programs or labor-short industries such as restaurants, construction and elder care.
Japan
Ice Age Wolf Pup
Canada
Melting permafrost around the world continues to reveal surprises and treasures, the most recent of which is the incredibly well-preserved remains of an ice age wolf pup. The specimen was found in 2016 in Canada's Yukon territory, it also joined by the mummified remains of a caribou calf. Researchers estimate that both specimens are more than 50,000 years old.
Both specimens were preserved with incredible detail; the wolf pup includes fur, its full body, intact skin, and tail. Though the caribou calf isn't in as good of shape, only featuring its front half, it still offers an incredible look at the ancient creature. According to researchers, it is very rare to find remains like this that contain skin, fur, and muscle.
The discovery provides researchers with both the predator and the prey, a unique situation amplified by the high level of preservation due to permafrost. The specimens' presence in the ice indicates they had lived in a cold, likely dry period of time, helping lead to the preservation.
Future research will help shed light on the creatures, potentially turning up things like gut bacteria possibly preserved by the cold, as well as a look into the creatures' DNA. A similar discovery was made in Siberia where melting permafrost revealed a well-preserved foal.
Current estimates put the wolf pup's age at around 8 weeks old when it died. The remains were turned over to the Canadian Conservation Institute and they'll spend the rest of this month on display at the Dänojà Zho Cultural Centre, according to CBC.
Canada
Produces Electricity
Bacteria
There may not be butterflies in your stomach, but there are certainly sparks in your gut.
Some types of bacteria that are either commonly consumed or already found in our guts can create electricity, according to a new study published Wednesday (Sept. 12) in the Journal Nature.
Electricity-generating, or "electrogenic," bacteria aren't something new - they can be found in places far away from us, like at the bottom of lakes, said senior author Daniel Portnoy, a microbiologist at the University of California, Berkeley.
But until now, scientists had no idea that bacteria found in decaying plants or in mammals, especially farm animals, could also generate electricity - and in a much simpler manner, Portnoy said.
There are several reasons why some bacteria generate electricity, such as to remove electrons produced by metabolism, according to a statement. But the main purpose is to create energy, Portnoy said.
Bacteria
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