Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Marc Dion: So You Wanna Be a 'Journalist'? (Creators Syndicate)
Sean Hannity and Alex Jones, two men who pick at American journalism the way small birds peck at the carcass of a pig, are both in legal trouble. Myself, after 34 years as a reporter and columnist, I do not use the word "journalist" if I can stop myself in time. I believe in the crippled, nicotine-stained old newsroom joke which sayeth, "A 'journalist' is an out-of-work reporter."
Susan Estrich: The Woman Who Landed the Plane (Creators Syndicate)
For years, people such as myself have been arguing that gender discrimination doesn't just hurt women: It hurts all of us, our economy, our efficiency, and, yes, even our safety. The stories about the obstacles that Tammie Jo Shults, the now-famous pilot of Southwest Flight 1380, faced in her quest to become a pilot are more than a testament to her tenacity.
Diane Dimond: Punished Because He Asked for Help (Creators Syndicate)
When reading a recent white paper on a Ruderman Family Foundation study, I was struck by the stark reality. The headline on the foundation website announces, "Police and Firefighters Are More Likely to Die by Suicide Than in the Line of Duty." Digest that shocking line for a moment. Our community heroes, the ones who run toward danger while the rest of us run away, are so profoundly good at what they do that they don't die on their dangerous jobs nearly as often as they go home and take their own lives.
Diane Dimond: Beware the Con in Uniform (Creators Syndicate)
Why does this matter? My pal, Gordon Hamel, an Army combat medic with the 25th Infantry Division in Vietnam put it best. "Thousands of vets who served honorably have gone to jail and thousands more are living on the streets," he wrote me in a recent email. "To see some gutless (expletive) wearing decorations that guys who were killed didn't get, eats away at those of us who lived a year of horror."
Froma Harrop: Social Media Spreads Fake Bodies, as Well as Fake News (Creators Syndicate)
Phony "news" stories aren't the only toxic content being spread on social media these days. Bad people are pitching digitally touched-up rear ends and modified thighs as real, dismaying teens and young women unable to attain what's being sold as perfection.
Froma Harrop: Imagine a 2020 Street Fight Between Cuomo and Trump (Creators Syndicate)
Cuomo would be less likely than Hillary Clinton to habitually go on the defensive after attacks. He is not the deer in the headlights. He's the headlights.
Guy Lodge: Who are the real losers in Netflix's war with Cannes? (The Guardian)
The streaming giant has pulled its films out of competition at this year's Cannes festival, leaving both sides feeling vindicated.
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 80 Kindle books on Amazon.com.
Presenting
Michael Egan
answered:
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
Reader Comment
Current Events
Michael Avenatti
The man is so smokin' hot that I would almost be willing to put up with 7 more years of Predator if I can see him every day filing motions, trash talking...just appearing on TV and talking!
Borowitz on Rudy
Mueller Says That Until Yesterday He Had Almost Forgotten to Investigate Giuliani
4/21/18 WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)-The independent counsel, Robert Mueller, told reporters that, prior to news reports on Thursday, he had "almost forgotten" to investigate the former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani.
"Like most Americans, I had totally forgotten about Rudy Giuliani's existence," he said. "But then when he popped up on the news I was, like, 'Hold on-shouldn't we be investigating him?' "
Bonus Links
Jeannie the Teed-Off Temp
Reader Comment
Current Events
barbara bush funeral meme
some guy
Thanks, Guy!
from Marc Perkel
Marc's Guide to Curing Cancer
So far so good on beating cancer for now. I'm doing fine. At the end of the month I'll be 16 months into an 8 month mean lifespan. And yesterday I went on a 7 mile hike and managed to keep up with the hiking group I was with. So, doing something right.
Still waiting for future test results and should see things headed in the right direction. I can say that it's not likely that anything dire happens in the short term so that means that I should have time to make several more attempts at this. So even if it doesn't work the first time there are a lot of variations to try. So if there's bad news it will help me pick the next radiation target.
I have written a "how to" guide for oncologists to perform the treatment that I got. I'm convinced that I'm definitely onto something and whether it works for me or not isn't the definitive test. I know if other people tried this that it would work for some of them, and if they improve it that it will work for a lot of them.
The guide is quite detailed and any doctor reading this can understand the procedure at every level. I also go into detail as to how it works, how I figured it out, and variations and improvements that could be tried to enhance it. I also introduce new ways to look at the problem. There is a lot of room for improvement and I think that doctors reading it will see what I'm talking about and want to build on it. And it's written so that if you're not a doctor you can still follow it. It also has a personal story revealing that I'm the class clown of cancer support group. I give great interviews and I look pretty hot in a lab coat.
So, feel free to read this and see what I'm talking about. But if any of you want to help then pass this around to both doctors and cancer patients. I need some media coverage. I'm looking for as many eyeballs as possible to read these ideas. Even if this isn't the solution, it's definitely on the right track. After all, I did hike 7 miles yesterday. And this hiking group wasn't moving slow. So if this isn't working then, why am I still here?
I also see curing cancer as more of an engineering problem that a medical problem. So if you are good at solving problems and most of what you know about medicine was watching the Dr. House MD TV show, then you're at the level I was at when I started. So anyone can jump in and be part of the solution.
Here is a link to my guide: Oncologists Guide to Curing Cancer using Abscopal Effect
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
JDTTDO
JD Took The Day Off.
Visit JD's site - Kitty Litter Music
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Short page tomorrow - field trip to the LA Times Festival of Books at USC.
Fox "News" Isn't
News
Earlier this week, Fox News declared its "full support" for Sean Hannity after it was revealed the conservative commentator was also a client of Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's personal attorney.
Although Hannity has spent months defending Cohen on his nightly program, his failure to divulge such information to his viewers or to his bosses has not jeopardized his standing with the network. It does make clearer, however, the extent of Fox News' corruption as a propaganda mill for the Trump presidency and its dishonesty as a news organization.
That corruption was evident in both Hannity's actions and Fox's defense of itself, as the network said it was "unaware" and "surprised" to learn of the Hannity-Cohen connection. It's a shocking admission for what is supposed to be a news outlet. It's also fully in keeping with an organization that is more devoted to stoking conservative indignation than to carrying out truthful investigations and that has a history of turning a blind eye to inconvenient truths. As David Frum pointed out in his recent book Trumpocracy, this is the same media organization that claimed "nobody knew" its former chief Roger Ailes had been sexually harassing women in its own offices for decades.
The channel's coverage of the president, particularly in its heavily watched morning and evening opinion shows, provides a steady stream of cheerleading and flattery for the president who they know is a regular viewer. Trump has responded in kind, lavishing frequent praise on Fox.
Aside from the puffery, the network engages in constant counterprogramming against damaging or unflattering news about the Trump presidency. In just one recent example, for more than 12 hours following White House staffer Rob Porter's resignation after his two ex-wives accused him of abuse, Fox News did not mention his name. Instead, Fox & Friends, the morning program that often gives Trump material for his first tweets of the day, devoted its show to criticizing opponents of Trump's plans for a military parade and other unserious matters.
News
Magical 'Harry Potter' Taunt
J. K. Rowling
J. K. Rowling cast a spell over Twitter with her latest diss of Donald Trump (R-Crooked).
The author likened the president to a Boggart - a shape-shifting character from her fictional Harry Potter books - in a tweet she shared online Friday:
"Warning: there is a Boggart on the loose in Times Square," she captioned a photograph of an unidentified performance artist dressed as Trump in New York.
Per Rowling's Pottermore website, a Boggart assumes the form "of whatever most frightens the person who encounters it" and may be found "lurking in woods and around shadowy corners." It can be defeated, however, by the "Riddikulus" spell, which "involves making the creature into a figure of fun, so that fear can be dispelled in amusement."
Rowling has previously said her most evil Harry Potter character, Voldemort, is "nowhere near as bad" as Trump.
J. K. Rowling
Backed Out Of Prize Over Netanyahu
Natalie Portman
Hollywood actress Natalie Portman said she was backing out of a Jerusalem ceremony where she was to receive a $2 million prize to protest against the policies of Israel's prime minister.
"I chose not to attend because I did not want to appear as endorsing Benjamin Netanyahu, who was to be giving a speech at the ceremony," Portman said in a statement posted late Friday on Instagram.
She also denied accusations by Israeli Culture Minister Miri Regev who on Friday said Portman subscribed to the ideology of the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.
"I am not part of the BDS movement and do not endorse it," the Oscar-winning US-Israeli actress said.
"Like many Israelis and Jews around the world, I can be critical of the leadership in Israel without wanting to boycott the entire nation," she said.
Natalie Portman
Puddy Revs Up Devils' Crowd
Patrick Warburton
The New Jersey Devils won their first Stanley Cup in the '90s, so what better way to pump up a crowd than to have their craziest fan from that decade's biggest sitcom return?
Patrick Warburton, who played the face-painting Devils fanatic David Puddy on "Seinfeld," appeared in character Wednesday at a Devils playoff game in Newark.
The 53-year-old actor even stripped off his jersey.
Puddy's antics might have upset girlfriend Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) back in the day.
But the hometown throng ate it up, although New Jersey lost 3-1to the Tampa Bay Lightning to fall behind 3 games to 1 in their first-round series.
Patrick Warburton
Evidence DVD
Michael Avenatti
In an appearance on HBO's Real Time With Bill Maher Friday, Stormy Daniel's lawyer Michael Avenatti claimed that a DVD of evidence of Daniels' affair with President Donald Trump is "locked and loaded."
In the comments about the DVD on the online-only Overtime segment of the show, Avenatti was quizzed about a mysterious DVD he had tweeted a picture of with the message If "a picture is worth a thousand words," how many words is this worth?????"
Avenatti has described the picture of the DVD as a "warning shot" to Trump.
Avenatti was also asked his views on revelations earlier in the week that Cohen has also worked for Fox News host Sean Hannity.
"Here's what I think: I think that when the documents actually come out, and there are documents - there's no question in my mind, there are documents with Sean Hannity's name on them - the extent of that relationship, when it finally surfaces, I think will be very embarrassing to Sean Hannity," Avenatti said.
Michael Avenatti
Science Revamp
EPA
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officials are concerned that companies may be required to publicly disclose confidential data used in crafting government regulations, under an initiative by the agency's chief to eliminate "secret science," internal emails showed.
EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, who is spearheading a push to relax or undo Obama-era environmental rules, said in March he would no longer allow the agency to use studies with nonpublic scientific data to develop rules on public health and pollution. Scientists and environmentalists have argued that this would constrain key research because many public health and pollution studies rely on confidential medical information.
Pruitt had instructed staff to complete the guidelines by the end of February, according to the emails obtained by scientific advocacy group Union of Concerned Scientists and shared with Reuters. On Friday, the guidelines were submitted for review at the White House Office of Management and Budget.
In the emails, EPA officials discussed how new guidelines could complicate the way companies submit data. EPA relies on scientific research underpinned by sensitive medical and public health information or confidential industry data to craft rules to reduce chemical exposure and combat air and water pollution.
The emails show senior political EPA officials had been working with Republicans on the U.S. House of Representatives science committee since January on the new policy. It is likely to be based on similar legislation passed by the House three times that never got a Senate vote.
EPA
Conversion Therapy
California
California lawmakers are considering a bill that would make selling or advertising gay conversion therapy a violation of the state's consumer fraud laws.
The state Assembly passed Bill 2943 on Thursday. The legislation, which targets the practice of trying to change a person's sexual orientation, now heads to the state Senate. If enacted, the bill would make "advertising, offering to engage in, or engaging in sexual orientation change efforts" to the list of fraudulent business practices already banned in California.
Assemblyman Evan Low, a leader of the legislature's LGBT Caucus and a survivor of conversion therapy himself, proposed the bill.
Major mental health associations have thoroughly discredited conversion therapy. The American Psychological Association has said that attempts to change sexual orientation through therapy have "serious potential to harm young people."
A 2012 law already bars mental health providers from attempting conversion therapy on minors, The Associated Press reported. Low's bill seeks to offer consumer protections to adults who accuse people of defrauding them by advertising sexual orientation change efforts.
California
Smallville Actor Charged
Allison Mack
Allison Mack, an actor best known for her role in the US TV show Smallville, has been charged with sex trafficking and conspiracy.
She has been accused of recruiting women as sex slaves as part of a secret society which portrayed itself as a self-help group.
She was also accused of having a high up role in the Nxvim group, which was run by Keith Raniere, 57, who also faces charges after being arrested last month and charged with sex trafficking.
Ms Mack was arrested on Friday and has since pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Fellow Smallville actress Kristin Kreuk also recently denied any involvement in the "inner circle" of the organisation. She said she took part in an Executive Success Program with NXIVM but left years earlier and said she was "deeply disturbed" to hear of the allegations.
Allison Mack
Exploding Ants
Colobopsis explodens
Treetop-dwelling ants from Southeast Asia have an explosive defensive move: The insects take down their foes by blowing themselves up. If that sounds gut-wrenching to you, just imagine what it feels like to the ant.
Commonly known as "exploding ants," workers in this group respond to threats by deliberately (and fatally) rupturing their body walls, spattering rivals with toxic fluid.
Exploding ants are typically lumped together into a species group called Colobopsis cylindrical, but researchers recently determined that there are at least 15 species of these self-sacrificing insects - including one previously unknown species in Borneo, which they described in a new study.
Many animals engage in chemical warfare, stewing toxic brews in their own bodies to subdue prey or scare off enemies. Venomous creatures - which include snakes, spiders, insects, fish, cephalopods, amphibians, reptiles and even some types of mammals - deliver their toxins with stings, stabs or bites.
The new ant species - Colobopsis explodens - was formerly called "yellow goo," after the brightly colored gunk produced by its exploding worker ants. Their colonies can contain thousands of individuals, inhabiting the leafy canopies of trees that stand as tall as 197 feet (60 meters), and covering an area of at least 26,900 square feet (2,500 square meters), the study authors reported.
Colobopsis explodens
In Memory
Verne Troyer
Verne Troyer, the actor widely known for his role as Mini-Me in Austin Powers, has died aged 49.
Troyer starred as Griphook in the first Harry Potter film, and made a series of appearances on reality TV programmes, including Celebrity Big Brother in 2009.
In 2004, he appeared as Mini-Me in the music video for rapper Ludacris' "Number One Spot". Following his death, the musician said in an Instagram post: "RIP Verne Troyer aka Mini Me. You made it to that #1 Spot. Glad we got to make history together."
Last year in April, Troyer spoke his difficulties with alcohol, releasing a statement saying: "I've battled alcohol addiction in the past and while it's not always been an easy fight, I'm willing to continue my fight day by day."
Verne Troyer
| CURRENT MOON lunar phases |
