Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Ted Rall: "Why We Lost the Afghan War (Again)" (Creators Syndicate)
Even according to estimates by the Obama-era CIA, Al Qaeda's presence in Afghanistan was more of a coincidence than a fearsome terrorist organization: "about 50 to 100 Qaeda operatives." They could have fit on one bus. We fought a war for this? Now we know the price tag of the invasion and long occupation: 2,400-ish U.S. troops killed, 4,000-ish U.S. civilian contractors killed, 59,000-ish Afghan soldiers and police killed, 31,000-ish Afghan civilians killed, 42,000 "enemy" Afghan soldiers killed, at least 10 journalists killed, 400-ish nongovernmental organization workers killed, 20,000-ish U.S. troops wounded. No one counts the other nonfatal casualties. U.S. taxpayers spent at least $2 trillion … P.S. Afghanistan, it turns out, has vast mineral wealth worth more than $1 trillion. China has locked up the rights to exploit those reserves.
Marc Dion: The First Hit's Free (Creators Syndicate)
If you ever smoked cigarettes, chances are you didn't pay for the first one you ever smoked. You stole one from your mother's pack. Some uncle said, when you were 9 years old, "You wanna puff on my cigarette?" He thought it was cute. You bummed one off an older worker. A friend. Some guy you were dating. Which generally meant you started to buy 'em, and you smoked 'em closer and closer together until you punctuated everything in your life with a cigarette. The end of a meal. A cup of coffee. A work break. The end of the day. Waking up.
Lenore Skenazy: The Dark Place We've Grown Too Accustomed To (Creators Syndicate)
Professor Jonathan Haidt, co-author of "The Coddling of the American Mind" and one of the three people who joined me in founding Let Grow, tweeted last week, "Today, my 9 year old daughter walked to school by herself, for the first time. A half-mile, in NYC. She's been asking to do this for a long time; we worked up to it." He added, bless him, "This would not have happened if I had not met @FreeRangeKids 6 years ago. Thank you Lenore!"
Froma Harrop: The Deep Meaning of Groundhog Day (Creators Syndicate)
Those little white flowers we call snowdrops (or Candlemas bells) are popping out of the ground. However brutal the cold and deep the snowdrifts, snowdrops reassure us that spring has not forgotten us. Just hold on.
Mark Shields: "What America Needs: A Truly Great American Movie" (Creators Syndicate)
That brings me to my sadly untelevised but totally deserved award for the Great American Movie of the Year: "Stan & Ollie." It stars John C. Reilly and Steve Coogan as, respectively, Oliver Hardy and Stan Laurel. They re-create before our eyes the two men who made the most successful double act - forget Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis or Bud Abbott and Lou Costello - in American entertainment history. But first and foremost, this is a story of the friendship, love and caring of these two entirely different men - the British-born Stan, who sailed to the U.S. with Charlie Chaplin, and the Georgia native Ollie - as they, in the twilight of their careers, make, without popular demand, a would-be comeback tour of England and Ireland.
A letter to … my lazy wife and children (The Guardian)
You kids are out of school now: life should be sweet. It isn't.
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Presenting
Michael Egan
took the day off.
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
from Bruce
Anecdotes - Etiquette
• Businesspeople need to take into account different cultures. Comic singer Anna Russell had an American agent, Eastman Boomer, but she toured frequently in England, necessitating that letters be written back and forth between Boomer and an English business manager. Boomer used to complain, "I don't know what the hell he's talking about. He writes two pages about the weather, the London scene, and enquires after my health, and he mentions business in the last paragraph as though it were an afterthought." Meanwhile, the Englishmen complained about Boomer's letters, "What's the matter with Boomer? He writes when he wants the tour, how much, yours faithfully. Hasn't he got any manners?" Ms. Russell was able to convince the Englishman to write more about business in his letters to Boomer, and she got Boomer to throw in some schmaltz in his letters to the Englishmen, with the result that the two men ended up liking each other.
• When writer Ben Hecht was a young boy, his grandmother Tante Chasha took him to the Yiddish theater. All went well until a certain point in the play being performed on stage - one character was accused of stealing a diamond bracelet that had been stolen by another character. This outraged young Ben, and he began shouting for the police on stage to arrest the correct character. Ushers came running, and Ben and his grandmother were taken to the lobby, where the theater manager demanded an apology from Ben's grandmother. She replied, "Yes, I owe you an apology and here it is." Then she hit the theater manager with her umbrella. Later, she told Ben: "Remember when you grow up - that's the only way to apologize."
• Ballet impresario Sergei Diaghilev paid little attention to time. When the young Alicia Markova was dancing for him, he invited her and her governess out for a ride in the country to see some Spanish dancing and to enjoy tea, but he arrived for the engagement late. Alicia and her governess waited an hour for him, then left, and he arrived an hour after they had left. The next day, young Alicia told him calmly, "You broke your appointment, Sergypop. I know that you are a busy man, but that is no excuse for not turning up when you invite a friend to go out with you." Mr. Diaghilev apologized, then he made a new appointment for the following day, and when Alicia and her governess arrived, he was waiting for them.
• While conducting at the Salzburg Festival, Arturo Toscanini took pains to preserve his privacy. One day, he went to an obscure restaurant where he hoped not to be noticed, but he was recognized instantly. The proprietor of the restaurant gave the Maestro the best seat, and then he brought him the best wine available at the restaurant. A friend tasted the wine, discovered that it was awful, and advised Toscanini (in a foreign language the proprietor didn't understand) not to drink it. However, Toscanini drank the wine anyway, and complimented the proprietor on it. Later, he explained that he could not refuse the wine, bad as it was, for the proprietor's sake: "He was so kind. I could not refuse."
• Many people who tell stories have the bad habit of stopping repeatedly to ask the listener if he or she has heard the story before. Henry Irving was one such person. In telling a story to Mark Twain, he stopped three different times to ask if Mr. Twain had heard the story before. Finally, Mr. Twain could stand it no longer and said, "I can lie once, I can lie twice for the sake of politeness, but there I draw the line. I not only heard the story - I invented it."
• During a performance of Lohengrin, tenor Leo Slezak still had not met the woman playing Elsa of Brabant. During the performance, following the script, he said, "Elsa, I love thee," and raised her from her kneeling position and placed her head against his chest, then whispered, "Allow me to introduce myself; my name is Slezak." The woman playing Elsa then whispered in reply, "Delighted to know you; my name is Ternina."
• Pope John XXIII regarded some old customs as nuisances, but having respect for tradition, he modified them instead of entirely doing away with them. He was embarrassed by his attendants' kneeling three times before him whenever they entered or departed from his presence, so he changed the custom so that they kneeled to him only once in the morning and once in the evening.
• Sholom Aleichem (1859-1916) was a Yiddish humorist. Among the characters he created in his stories were those that became the basis of Fiddler on the Roof. In 1906, he came to the United States, where he met Mark Twain, to whom he was introduced as the "Jewish Mark Twain." Mr. Twain then said that he would like to be introduced in Yiddish to Mr. Aleichem as the "American Sholom Aleichem."
• Choreographer George Balanchine always wanted the members of his New York City Ballet to behave with consideration in whatever place they visited. Once he became very annoyed in West Berlin when some members of his company boarded a bus after carrying out from a restaurant some china cups filled with coffee.
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Vice and McClatchy Cut Jobs
The Media
The media industry is facing more hard news, with Vice Media cutting 250 jobs globally and McClatchy reportedly offering buyouts to 10 percent of workers at its 29 newspapers. It is the latest round of layoffs as the media industry contracts.
The cuts affect about 10 percent of Vice's 2,500 staff, said company spokeswoman Danielle Carrig. But she said Vice plans to add jobs as well in departments including sales and digital news as it focuses on its units with potential for growth. Separately, McClatchy is said to be offering voluntary buyouts, according to The Hill. Its publications include the Kansas City Star, Idaho Statesman, Fresno Bee and Charlotte Observer.
The media industry has been facing a wave of layoffs as Facebook and Google gobble up the bulk of digital advertising dollars. Digital media company BuzzFeed said last week it is cutting 200 people. Verizon is cutting about 800 jobs in its media division, which includes Yahoo and HuffPost.
Vice has grown from a Canadian magazine to a global media company based in New York. Some news outlets reported last year that the privately-held company instituted a hiring freeze and might seek a reduction in staff through attrition, but that was not confirmed.
Vice will structure itself around its five businesses: studios, news, digital, TV and Virtue, Vice's advertising segment. Its current structure is organized around its different international offices.
The Media
1958 Porsche
Jerry Seinfeld
Jerry Seinfeld has been sued by a company claiming it bought the comedian's 1958 Porsche for $1.5 million only to discover it was a fake.
Fica Frio Limited's lawsuit was filed in Manhattan federal court Friday against a comic known for his love of vintage cars.
Seinfeld mixes his affection for fancy vehicles with his love of comedy in his series "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee."
The lawsuit said Fica Frio's representatives paid $1.54 million at a March 2016 auction in Florida.
The lawsuit, seeking unspecified damages, said they learned the car was not authentic.
Jerry Seinfeld
Ancient Desert Tomb Reveals 50 Mummies
Egypt
A pharaonic tomb containing 50 mummies has been discovered by Egyptian archaeologists.
The mummies, 12 of which were children, were found inside four nine-metre deep burial chambers in the desert province of Minya, south of Cairo.
The chambers, which were cut out of rock, belonged to a middle-class family who probably lived during the Ptolemaic period (305-30BC).
Their identities are still unknown, but the mummification method suggests they held important or prestigious positions.
Pottery, papyri and colourful mummy cases were also unearthed.
Egypt
Anti-Semitic Views
Henry Ford
A Detroit-area historical group is protesting a mayor's decision to stop it from sending out the latest issue of its publication, which delves into Ford Motor Co. founder Henry Ford's anti-Semitism.
Officials with the Dearborn Historical Commission say the latest edition of The Dearborn Historian, a city-financed quarterly journal, should be sent to its roughly 200 subscribers and that Mayor Jack O'Reilly should reverse his decision to cut ties with longtime Detroit journalist Bill McGraw, who wrote the Ford piece.
The story, which can be read online, highlights Ford's writings and views on Jews and explores how they still influence modern neo-Nazi groups. The cover of the halted edition noted that Ford bought a publication called the Dearborn Independent 100 years ago and "used it to attack Jews." It added, "the hate he unleashed flourishes in the Internet age."
The Dearborn-based automaker disavowed its founder's views before he died in 1947 and sought to make amends with Jews and Israel.
Andrew Kercher, assistant chief curator of the city's history museum, told The Detroit News that Ford is "obviously Dearborn's favorite son."
Henry Ford
Finding Their Families May Be Impossible
Migrant Children
The Trump administration said in a court filing that reuniting thousands of migrant children separated from their parents or guardians at the U.S.-Mexico border may not be "within the realm of the possible."
The filing late Friday from Jallyn Sualog, deputy director of the department of Health and Human Services' Office of Refugee Resettlement, was an ordered response in an ACLU lawsuit challenging the government's separation of at least 2,737 children of migrants detained at the border since summer 2017.
Sualog said her office doesn't have the resources to track down the children, whose numbers could be thousands more than the official estimate.
Lee Gelernt, the ACLU's lead attorney in the suit being heard by U.S. District Court Judge Dana Sabraw in San Diego, called the response "shocking."
"The Trump administration's response is a shocking concession that it can't easily find thousands of children it ripped from parents, and doesn't even think it's worth the time to locate each of them," he said in a statement. "The administration also doesn't dispute that separations are ongoing in significant numbers."
Migrant Children
Considered The Possibility
Deutsche Bank
Deutsche Bank refused Donald Trump (R-Grifter) a loan during the 2016 campaign partly out of concern that he was too divisive a candidate, The New York Times reported on Saturday.
The then-Republican candidate sought the loan for the Trump Organization to finance work on a golf property in Turnberry, Scotland, the report said.
The request was examined by the bank's top brass, including Christian Sewing, the former head of the wealth management unit who is now CEO. They concluded that Trump's campaign rhetoric made him a risky borrower, and public knowledge of the loan arrangement could hurt the bank's reputation. They also weighed the risks of the possibility that the bank would have to seize a president's assets in the event of a loan default, the Times reported.
Deutsche Bank and Trump have a longtime financial relationship and had other loans outstanding when the campaign-season request was made. Trump previously tapped Deutsche's private-banking unit to finance his Chicago skyscraper.
The Times' report came barely a week after Deutsche Bank disclosed that the US House Financial Services and Intelligence Committees had sent the lender inquiries regarding its ties to Trump.
Deutsche Bank
Agents Were Reportedly Warned
Intelligence
Some intelligence officers have been warned not to give President Donald Trump (R-OfVlad) assessments that contradict his public comments, according to a new report from TIME.
Multiple intelligence officers told TIME that Trump often has trouble paying attention to, or wholly disregards assessments from agents. The officers said they frequently try to hold Trump's attention by using visual aids and repeating his name and title often, and they said Trump grows angry when he's told information that contradicts his views.
Trump's disregard for US intelligence gathered across several key agencies is also reflected in his public contradictions and angry hits out at agents who deliver security assessments that do not agree with his past rhetoric.
Most recently, Trump lashed out at the media after a key intelligence assessment that undermined most of his administration's rhetoric about global threats to the US.
Last week, an upcoming report from the Pentagon reportedly said ISIS fighters in Syria could regain control of a sizeable region in six to 12 months squarely contradicted Trump's expressed reasons behind his decision for a rapid troop withdrawal from Syria.
Intelligence
We Might Have Been Wrong
Ocean Circulation
It may be the biggest wild card in the climate system. Scientists have long feared that the so-called "overturning" circulation in the Atlantic Ocean could slow down or even halt due to climate change - which would have enormous planetary consequences.
But at the same time, researchers have a limited understanding of how the circulation actually works, since taking measurements of its vast and remote currents is exceedingly difficult. And now, a major new research endeavor aimed at doing just that has suggested a dramatic revision of our understanding of the circulation itself.
A new 21-month series of observations in the frigid waters off Greenland has led to the discovery that most of the overturning - in which water not only sinks but returns southward again in the ocean depths - occurs to the east, rather than to the west, of the enormous ice island.
If that's correct, then climate models that suggest the circulation will slow as the climate warms may have to be revised to take this into account.
The magnitude of the scientific surprise, on a scale of 1 to 10, is pretty large, said Susan Lozier, an oceanographer at Duke University who was lead author of the research published Thursday in Science.
Ocean Circulation
Found In Potato Shipment
Hand Grenade
A First World War-era hand grenade was destroyed by police after it was discovered in a shipment of potatoes.
The explosive, thought to be of German origin, was found at a food-processing plant in the city of Tseung Kwan O, in Hong Kong, on Saturday.
Police said bomb disposal experts detonated the 2.2lb device at the Tseung Kwan O industrial estate after it was unearthed in the shipment from France.
The discovery comes after a man in the Netherlands was treated in hospital last month after he spent two and a half hours lying on top of a bomb.
His girlfriend said he was almost hypothermic after lying on the object, thought to be a grenade or shell dating from the Second World War, as temperatures plummeted until explosive experts were able to free him.
Hand Grenade
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