Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Paul Krugman: Hard-Money Men, Suddenly Going Soft(NY Times)
Trumpism trumps everything, even Ayn Rand.
Mary Beard: How to get rid of a book (TLS)
I have two things I should be doing urgently: writing a lecture for a big conference in January, and finishing the penultimate chapter of my Emperors book (if any of you nice people at Princeton University Press are reading this , note "penultimate"..!). But I reluctantly came to the conclusion that unless I could see the floor of my study, through the unsorted, miscellaneous piles of books (and got them back onto shelves in some reasonable order), both those tasks would progress slowly.
Mary Beard: Social media, online lectures - and the problems of permanence (TLS)
The bigger point here is the question of whether everything we say in conversation (which is what social media now is) has to be something which can be written down and used in evidence against. People post things in which they go too far, in which they are misunderstood, in which they make a joke which doesn't work, or are just flying a kite. If this is the new conversation, we want them to do that, without it being immortalised and held either for, or against, them.
Paul Waldman: It's not easy being a culture warrior in the era of Trump (Washington Post)
… now we live in a more diverse country, where considering the wishes and feelings of everyone is something that we think about. Corporations looking to maximize profits think about it too. Signs say "Happy Holidays," since a lot of Americans don't celebrate Christmas. Customer service lines let you hear the menu in Spanish, since a lot of Americans speak Spanish. Not only that, music and fashion and other forms of pop culture may be unfamiliar and disagreeable to you if you're of a certain age.
Paul Waldman: Good riddance, Paul Ryan (Washington Post)
The problem, though, is that his policy agenda was unceasingly vicious and cruel. Had he succeeded in full, the amount of human suffering he would have caused would have been positively monumental: millions more without health coverage, millions more without the ability to feed their families, millions more without retirement security, all with nothing to comfort them but some stern lectures about the value of personal responsibility and vigorous bootstrap-pulling. The wealthy and corporations, on the other hand, never had a truer friend. Even apart from his deficit flimflammery, that is Ryan's true legacy.
Jonathan Jones: Is this how parliament ends - not with a bang but a row about a whisper? (The Guardian)
This picture shows what we love and hate about parliament - its aura of history. To anyone who's considered that long history, things are now looking scary. The scale of our crisis, with Brexit theatening to consume the very way we govern ourselves, resembles the kind of breakdown last seen in the 17th-century civil war. If MPs can't solve this, their fate may be sealed. They will be locked up in their chamber to have their meaningless impassioned arguments while the country move on - to what? A citizen's assembly, say optimists. But it's hard to see how the destruction, by plebiscite, of the world's most enduring representative system is somehow going to result in a new dawn for democracy. This picture shows us MPs fiddling while British democracy burns.
Jonathan Jones: What happened next? How Banksy's shredder proved he is a serious, important artist (The Guardian)
The self-destructing masterpiece was the art world's funniest joke. Was it really an act of sabotage or has it doubled the piece's value?
Lisa Dombrowski: "Forty Guns: High-Riding Woman" (Criterion)
Then the woman and her forty guns are gone, as fast as they arrived. The men in the wagon gaze at the receding dust trail in shock. "That was no ordinary woman," they seem to be thinking. And we realize: this will be no ordinary western.
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Presenting
Michael Egan
said:
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
from Bruce
Anecdotes
• Tucson Weekly columnist Tom Danehy once wrote, "I'd like to have a member of the Jehovah's Witnesses come to my door, find out that I'm Catholic and say, 'OK, we won't knock on your door any more. See you in heaven some day.'"
• Authors and illustrators often acquire special knowledge. For example, Paul Goble, who retells Native American folk tales in his books for children, has learned, "I cannot be creative when using a machine." Therefore, he writes his stories in longhand, then uses an old typewriter to type what he has just created. (Of course, other people are able to be creative when using machines such as personal computers.) He does like old things, such as the recorders that his father, a maker of harpsichords, made in the 1930s and 1940s. Paul and Robert, his son, played duets on these recorders. Another thing that Paul has learned is that it is sometimes better to draw something rather than to take a photograph of it because drawing requires the artist to look closely. Yet another thing that he has learned is that the spirits will help you if you are persistent. A Native American woman once wrote him, "I've always thought the wanga(spirits) are close to you. Some of your illustrations reveal that the ancestors come to visit you in your dreams."
• It is important to show respect for other cultures. When Val Halamandaris compiled his book titled Faces of Caring, he wrote about 100 caring people who lived throughout history (and some legendary figures). Along with the text, he included a drawing or a photograph of the person he was writing about. However, for Muhammad, the prophet of Allah and the founder of Islam, he did not include a portrait. Why not? According to Islam, images of Muhammad are forbidden. Therefore, instead of a portrait of Muhammad, Mr. Halamandaris used a verse from the Qu'ran. Translated, the verse says, "I seek refuge with the Lord of the Dawn." One of Muhammad's sayings is this: "Every good act is charity. A man's true wealth hereafter is the good that he does in this world for his fellow man."
• Bahlool the wise fool once announced that he was a prophet. Of course, his countrymen were skeptical, so Bahlool told them that a fair test that he really was a prophet would be if he could read their minds. His countrymen agreed that if he could read their minds that this would prove that Bahlool was in fact a prophet. Bahlool then said, "You are thinking that I am a fake and not a prophet at all, aren't you?"
• A man questioned the Buddha, asking, "Are you God?" The Buddha replied, "No." The man then asked the Buddha if he was the son of God. Again, the Buddha answered, "No." Next the man asked the Buddha if he was a saint or a holy man. Again, the Buddha answered, "No." Finally, the man asked, "What are you, then?" The Buddha answered, "I'm awake."
• As a very young girl, modern dance pioneer May O'Donnell found confessing her sins a "trial." The problem was not that she had horrible sins to confess. Instead, the problem was that she couldn't think of any sins she needed to confess-so she used to make up sins to confess to the priest.
• Tenor Richard Tucker was Jewish, and he stayed Jewish, declining to wear a cross for any of his roles. For example, in Boris Godunov , instead of wearing a cross, he wore a brass medallion with no religious significance at all. When his character was blessed, the character was not blessed with the sign of the cross but with two hands.
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In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Running late.
Entertainer of the Year
Netflix
Netflix has been named Entertainer of the Year by The Associated Press.
The streaming service started 2018 with almost 118 million subscribers and went on to win its first feature-film Oscar. It briefly surpassed Disney as the most valuable U.S. media company and lured the likes of superstar show runners Shonda Rhimes and Ryan Murphy, not to mention Barack and Michelle Obama.
Netflix's chief content officer Ted Sarandos says the company is 'humbled' by the honor.
Netflix topped other candidates including Donald Glover, Ariana Grande, Bradley Cooper and Michelle Obama, among others.
Netflix
President Barack H. Obama Highway
California
Signs have gone up naming a section of a Los Angeles-area freeway as the President Barack H. Obama Highway. The signs posted Thursday on State Route 134 apply to a stretch running from State Route 2 in Glendale, through the Eagle Rock section of Los Angeles to Interstate 210 in Pasadena.
The former president attended Occidental College in Eagle Rock from 1979 to 1981 and lived in Pasadena. He then transferred to Columbia University in New York, where he graduated in 1983.
The designation was authorized in 2017 when the Legislature signed off on a resolution introduced by state Sen. Anthony J. Portantino, a Democrat whose district includes the area.
Los Angeles will soon also name Rodeo Road, which is located in a largely African-American area of the city, after Obama.
California, the state that launched the political careers of Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon, is now one of the most Democratic states in the country. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti is considered a potential candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020.
California
Reboot
"Beverly Hills, 90210"
"Beverly Hills, 90210" is making a comeback with an "untraditional reboot," ET reports. Some of the original "Beverly Hills, 90210" cast members are reportedly making a return to the show, but they will not reprise their original characters.
A source told ET that CBS Television Studios is developing the show, and that some of the writers from 2008's "90210" reboot were spotted with the cast. That has fans wondering if the teen drama will have original actors playing entirely new characters on the show.
Original "Beverly Hills, 90210" stars Jason Priestly, Jennie Garth, Tori Spelling, Ian Ziering and Brian Austin Green were spotted having coffee together in Hollywood after a series of pitch meetings with execs at Netflix, Amazon and Hulu, according to TMZ. Luke Perry and Shannon Doherty were not in attendance, so it's not clear if they will return to the series.
A "Riverdale" source told ET that Perry won't be able to join the "90210" reboot because of scheduling conflicts with "Riverdale."
"Beverly Hills, 90210"
Decorated Roadside Weed
Toledo
A few weeks ago it was just another overgrown street corner weed. Now it's decked out with Christmas lights and ornaments and sprouting holiday goodwill.
The Christmas weed, as it's affectionately known across Toledo, has become an overnight holiday attraction, bringing out hundreds of children and adults who have been lining up for selfies and leaving behind donations for the needy.
It all began when one family decorated the weed to spread some Christmas cheer. But the sad and scraggly weed has grown into something bigger.
The weed, which once stood 4 feet high (1.2 meters high) and shoots out from the edge of a traffic island, started out with just a bit of tinsel and garland nearly two weeks ago.
In the past few days, others have added lights, candy canes and glass ornaments - leaving little of the weed visible - while surrounding it with canned goods, blankets, clothes and wrapped gifts. A dead potted plant draped with Santa hats and bows has been added to the collection.
Toledo
Altar Of The 2nd Amendment
Child Gun Deaths
As many as eight children are killed by guns each day in the United States, according to a study revealing firearms are the second biggest cause of death among young people after car crashes.
The latest figures from 2016 released in the New England Journal of Medicine show 20,360 children and teens died in the U.S. that year. Sixty percent of the deaths were caused by preventable injuries, the authors said.
Some 4,074 young people aged 19 or younger died in motor vehicle incidents, amounting to a fifth of total deaths. Meanwhile at 15 percent, 3,140 deaths were caused by a firearm.
Between 2013 and 2016, firearm deaths spiked by 28 percent to four in 100,000 per year among those aged 19 or younger.
Dr. Rebecca Cunningham, Professor of Emergency Medicine at the University of Michigan Medical School and lead author of the study, told Newsweek the 2017 data on gun deaths was released after the study was submitted. But the numbers indicate they have risen again to 4.4 in 100,000.
Child Gun Deaths
Opp, Alabama
Satan
A US police department has blamed crime on young people having "turned away from God and embraced Satan".
In a now-deleted Facebook post on Tuesday police in the town of Opp, Alabama, detailed a number of killings in the area over the past year, before offering an unusual explanation.
"THESE MURDERS HAVE BEEN DONE BY OUR YOUNG PEOPLE," read the post, which was all in capital letters.
"THIS IS HAPPENING BECAUSE WE HAVE TURNED AWAY FROM GOD AND EMBRACED SATAN. WE HAVE NOT MEANT TO DO SO BUT, WE HAVE.
The message was criticised by Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRT), a group that opposes mixing government and religious faith.
Satan
Lifted
Sanctions
The Trump administration is lifting sanctions on three companies controlled by a Russian oligarch with links to Vladimir Putin.
Following an aggressive lobbying campaign, led by a British lord who chairs one of the firms, the Treasury Department announced it would end sanctions against aluminium producer Rusal, its parent En+, and JSC EuroSibEnergo.
In return their owner, Oleg Deripaska, agreed to reduce his stakes in them to less than 50 per cent, the treasury said. The billionaire businessman, who has been accused of links to organised crime, will remain on the sanctions list.
Mr Deripaska, his companies, and a number of other figures with close ties to the Kremlin were hit by the sanctions in April in retaliation for alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 US presidential election.
Sanctions
Cop Arrested On 40 Counts
Louisiana
A Louisiana police officer turned himself in Wednesday on warrants alleging he had sex multiple times with an animal and filmed himself doing it.
Terry Yetman, 38, of Bossier City, is charged with 20 counts of sexual abuse of animals by performing sexual acts with an animal and 20 counts of sexual abuse of animals by filming sexual acts with an animal, according to the Louisiana State Police. Yetman was booked into the Bossier Max Correctional Center.
A news release indicated that state troopers began an investigation in August after receiving a tip. The investigation led to a search warrant for electronic devices belonging to a Bossier City police officer.
Those devices belonged to Yetman, the news release said. Investigators found evidence of animal sex pornography on the devices.
Investigators did not specify what species of animal was involved or if multiple animals were abused.
Louisiana
Christmas Consumerism
Lithuania
Lithuanian artists on Thursday said they have placed a giant plastic bag over a fir tree in the capital Vilnius to warn against consumerism taking over the holiday season.
"This is a Christmas tree but we are using it as a piece of art to protest against the negative effects of hyper-consumerism," reads the message printed on the plastic.
Adorned with breathing masks, the art installation is located at the Vilnius railway station, which the city has turned into an alternative Christmas market this year.
"People who do not feel comfortable at traditional Christmas markets or shopping malls are most welcome here," said Dominykas Ceckauskas, one of the artists behind the installation.
The youth-oriented market also features train cars used as bars and restaurants, techno music instead of Christmas pop songs and local street artists, designers and second-hand merchants selling their wares.
Lithuania
In Memory
Audrey Geisel
Audrey Geisel, the widow of children's author Dr. Seuss, has died.
Random House Children's Books announced that she died Wednesday at age 97. Additional information wasn't immediately available.
Geisel helped oversee the literary estate of her late husband, whose real name was Theodor Geisel and who died in 1991. Two years later, she founded Dr. Seuss Enterprises. Along with numerous publishing projects, she served as executive producer for some film adaptations of his work, most recently "The Grinch," which came out last month.
She was a Chicago native who had two children from a previous marriage.
Audrey Geisel
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