Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Paul Krugman: "Brexit: The Morning After" (NY Times Blog)
Well, that was pretty awesome - and I mean that in the worst way. A number of people deserve vast condemnation here, from David Cameron, who may go down in history as the man who risked wrecking Europe and his own nation for the sake of a momentary political advantage, to the seriously evil editors of Britain's tabloids, who fed the public a steady diet of lies
Tom Danehy: Tom is just waiting for the day when a tattooed kid sics a dog on him in a grocery store for asking too many questions (Tucson Weekly)
Why do parents allow their underage kids to get tattoos? I'll admit that I've never understood tattoos, but they've been around forever and they're certainly enjoying a booming popularity these days. If an adult wants to get a tattoo, it's simply a matter of personal choice; different strokes. But in my work as a high school coach, I see a shocking increase in the number of boys and girls with tattoos.
Laura Hilgers: What One Rape Cost Our Family (NY Times)
There were other expenses too, but the ones I've listed add up to $100,573.63 out of pocket, and approximately $145,000 in lost wages, for a total of $245,573.63. That's roughly the same as the cost of four years at one of the nation's top colleges.
Evan V. Symon: "Chipotle Didn't Hire Me So I Taught In China: 5 Realities" (Cracked)
5. You Don't Usually Need Credentials To Teach English In China, But If You Do, They'll Forge Them For You
The World's #1 Longevity Food (Blue Zones)
They're Cheap! At about 98 cents per pound, black beans are one of the most affordable protein sources available. Compare that to $4.60/lb for beef and $3.50/lb for chicken. One gram of protein from black beans is one cent, whereas a gram of beef protein will cost about four cents
Marc Dion: Mental Illness and Policy (Creators Syndicate)
I did my mother's grocery shopping last Saturday. She's 88 years old and uses a walker, so most "outside" jobs are mine now. Heading home after I put the groceries way, I thought I'd stop for ice cream.
Froma Harrop: Is Losing the Election Part of Trump's Plan? (Creators Syndicate)
What's Donald Trump really up to? Is he using the election of 2016 to enrich himself, with no intention of assuming the burdens of the presidency? Many wonder. If that's the plan, he's going about it the right way.
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Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
from Marc Perkel
Patriot Act
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
"THE SECOND COMING."
"RIDE 'EM COWBOY!
SHE'S NOT CRAZY. SHE'S SARAH!
PIG BOY DOWN!
WHAT AN IDIOT!
TOM DELAY IS A SCUM SUCKING PIG!
"INCOMPREHENSSIBLE JIZZTRUMPET!"
Visit JD's site - Kitty Litter Music
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
An abundance of early fireworks are keeping the kitties on edge.
First National LGBT Rights Monument
Stonewall
President Obama announced Friday that he had dedicated the area around New York City's Stonewall Inn, perhaps the place most closely aligned with the modern LGBT rights movement, as a national monument. "Stonewall will be our first national monument to tell the story of the struggle for LGBT rights," he said.
Butl while Stonewall is the first, it almost certainly will not be the last national monument dedicated to historic tales of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans. In the next few months, the National Park Service plans to publish what is known as a theme study, with a focus on LGBT issues. Theme studies are essentially research projects in which experts explore and explain physical places in the United States that have historical significance, with the aim of helping those places earn designations as official landmarks recognition on historic registers. This one has been underway since the project was announced in 2014
There have been theme studies on the civil rights movement and the Civil War. There are others currently underway on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, as well as one related to Reconstruction. This one, set to clock in at 1,200 pages, will acknowledge about 500 locations that have historical significance for the estimated 5% of the population that identifies as LGBT.
"The administration values telling the stories of all Americans," said Jeremy Barnum, a National Park Service spokesman. "As we enter our second century of stewardship, we really are making sure national parks are relevant to everyone."
Stonewall
Pens Essay
Aziz Ansari
Aziz Ansari called for an end to Muslim hate speech and gun control legislation in an essay published Friday, in which he argues that not only is Donald Trump's "hate-filled rhetoric" dangerous, but also "makes no sense."
In a New York Times opinion piece called "Why Trump Makes Me Scared for My Family," the Master of None creator and actor explains how the Orlando massacre led to "new levels" of prejudice. The actor says in the essay that "visceral" and "scary" hate speech about Muslim Americans that came after the Orlando attacks, and events like it, makes him afraid for his family of Muslim immigrants.
"In our culture," Ansari writes, "when people think 'Muslim,' the picture in their heads is not usually of the Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar or the kid who left the boy band One Direction. It's of a scary terrorist character from Homeland or some monster from the news."
Ansari remembers being a student in New York after the 9/11 attacks, when someone yelled "Terrorist!" at him from a car window passing by. He argues that knee-jerk reactions and spewing generalized hate at groups like Muslim Americans doesn't solve anything and simply "makes no sense."
"The vitriolic and hate-filled rhetoric coming from Mr. Trump isn't so far off from cursing at strangers from a car window," Ansari says, adding that "xenophobic rhetoric" has been a part of Trump's campaign since the very beginning. "This is a guy who kicked off his presidential run by calling Mexicans "rapists" who were 'bringing drugs' to this country."
Aziz Ansari
Estate Sale
Jerry Lee Lewis
There's a whole lot of sellin' going on at the home of rock 'n' roll pioneer Jerry Lee Lewis.
An estate sale continues Saturday at Lewis' home in the Mississippi suburbs of Memphis, Tennessee.
Lewis' son, Jerry Lee Lewis III, wrote on Facebook that his father and stepmother, Judith, aren't moving. But they want to sell excess furniture and memorabilia that the 81-year-old has accumulated during a career spanning seven decades.
WMC-TV reports that fans came from as far away as Germany and Australia on Friday to try and buy something that had belonged to the pianist and singer. They were already lining up at 1:30 a.m.
Some of the items for sale included vintage records, custom jackets, and a Rolls Royce.
Jerry Lee Lewis
Mobster's Possessions Fetch $100,000 At Auction
'Whitey' Bulger
Former mob boss James "Whitey" Bulger's personal possessions - including a pen holder designed to look like a rat and a three-carat, heart-shaped diamond ring - fetched more than $100,000 at an auction in Boston on Saturday.
Law enforcement officials sold off hundreds of items seized when federal agents captured the fugitive mobster in an apartment in Santa Monica, California, in 2011.
The items sold on Saturday ranged from the mundane to the unique. Three pairs of sneakers, along with a pair of black slippers and a pair of sandals, went for $210; a punching bag shaped like a man drew $4,900; and an enormous collection of books, many of them focused on World War II and the Holocaust and containing Bulger's handwritten notes, sold for thousands of dollars in all.
The white bucket hat Bulger was wearing at the time of his capture went for $6,400.
The proceeds of the auction will go to his victims, according to the U.S Marshals Service, which is overseeing the auction.
'Whitey' Bulger
Abandons Ship
George Will
Two prominent Republicans made a dash for the exit this week, refusing to follow their party's embrace of presumptive nominee Donald J. Trump (R-Grifter) to face off against Hillary Clinton in November.
First up was former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, appointed by resident George W. Bush, who on Friday wrote an unambiguous condemnation of his party's choice of nominee in the Washington Post.
"The GOP, in putting Trump at the top of the ticket, is endorsing a brand of populism rooted in ignorance, prejudice, fear and isolationism," Paulson wrote. "This troubles me deeply as a Republican, but it troubles me even more as an American. Enough is enough. It's time to put country before party and say it together: Never Trump."
"This is not my party," Will said during a luncheon at the Federalist Society, explaining that he dropped his Republican affiliation in Maryland to "unaffiliated."
Will specified House Speaker Paul Ryan's endorsement as the final nail in his party's coffin and the event that inspired him to make the leap.
George Will
Experts Demand More Effort To Save
Coral Reefs
As the largest international gathering of coral reef experts comes to a close, scientists and policy makers are moving ahead with plans for action to save the world's reefs, which are being rapidly damaged.
"We are not ready to write the obituary for coral reefs," James Cook University professor Terry Hughes, who is also the president of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies in Australia, said about the "unprecedented" move by the scientific community. Scientists are not known for their political activism, he said, but they felt this crisis warranted such action.
A call to action from three Pacific island nations whose reefs are in the crosshairs of the largest and longest-lasting coral bleaching event in recorded history was presented Friday at the conclusion of the International Coral Reef Symposium in Honolulu. The Associated Press was given advance access to the call for action and the scientific community's response.
The heads of state from Palau, Micronesia and the Marshall Islands attended the conference and will provide a plan to help save their ailing coral reefs, which are major contributors to their local economies and the daily sustenance of their people. The call to action, signed by the three presidents, asked for better collaboration between the scientific community and local governments, saying there needs to be more funding and a strengthened commitment to protecting the reefs.
But the panel of scientists emphasized the progress they have made over the past 30 years and stressed that good research and management programs for coral reefs are available. The scientists said they just need the proper funding and political will to enact them.
Coral Reefs
Files For Bankruptcy
F. Lee Bailey
Famed defense attorney F. Lee Bailey, whose legion of high-profile cases includes the O.J. Simpson murder trial, has filed for bankruptcy in Maine in an effort to discharge an IRS debt of more than $5 million.
Debts to the IRS aren't normally discharged in bankruptcy proceedings, but the 83-year-old Bailey said Friday that they can be if one abides by certain conditions, such as filing and paying his taxes on time since the original taxes and penalties were assessed.
The debt stems from a dispute of his reportable income from 1993 to 2001, The Portland Press Herald reported.
Bailey was disbarred in Florida in 2001 over mishandling client assets, and Massachusetts issued a reciprocal disbarment in 2003. Bailey's bid to gain admission to the Maine bar failed in 2014, when the Maine Supreme Judicial Court reversed a judge's ruling that would have allowed him to practice law in Maine.
F. Lee Bailey
Asians Fastest-Growing Racial Group
Census
Asians remain the fastest-growing racial group in the United States, according to new information from the Census Bureau.
The nation's Asian population grew at 3.4 percent between July 2014 and 2015, with migration responsible for the majority of the growth, government officials said Thursday. There are now 21 million Asians in the United States, with Hawaii as the nation's only majority Asian state.
Sam Garrow, a Census Department demographer, said Asians have been the fastest-growing race group since about 2000, and the main driving force is international migration. In 2013, China replaced Mexico as the top sending country for immigrants to the United States, officials said.
Other minority groups grew as well. The Hispanic population grew by 2.2 percent to 56.6 million, and New Mexico had the largest percentage of Hispanics in the country at 48 percent. The African-American population grew by 1.3 percent to 46.3 million, with Mississippi holding the nation's largest percentage at 38.3 percent. And the American Indian and Alaska native population grew 1.5 percent to a total of 6.6 million, with Alaska having the largest percent at 19.5 percent.
The second fastest-growing racial group was those who claim two or more races, government officials said. The number of people who claimed two or more races grew 3.1 percent to 6.6 million. This group was also the youngest group of all racial or ethnic groups with a median age of 20 years old.
Census
Skeletons, Coins Found
Pompeii
Italian and French archaeologists have discovered four skeletons and gold coins in the ruins of an ancient shop on the outskirts of Pompeii, officials said Friday.
The skeletons are those of young people, including an adolescent girl, who perished in the back of the shop near the ancient Roman town when Mount Vesuvius erupted and covered it in ash in 79, said a statement from the area office of the famous archaeological site near Naples.
Three gold coins and a necklace's pendant were scattered among the bones. In the workshop was an oven which archaeologists think might have been used to make bronze objects.
The excavation of that and a second ancient shop started in May near a necropolis in the Herculaneum port area. Archaeologists are puzzling over what kind of business the second shop did. It features a circular well accessible by a spiral staircase and dug out of the terrain.
Officials said there was evidence the shop had been ransacked by clandestine diggers after the eruption, presumably "on the hunt for treasures buried under the ashes." The coins and the gold-leaf-foil pendant, in the shape of a flower, apparently escaped the eyes of those pillaging the shop, the archaeologists said.
Pompeii
In Memory
Michael Herr
Michael Herr, the author and Oscar-nominated screenplay writer who viscerally documented the ravages of the Vietnam War through his classic nonfiction novel "Dispatches" and through such films as "Apocalypse Now" and "Full Metal Jacket," died after a long illness. He was 76.
His death Thursday in an upstate New York hospital was confirmed by publisher Alfred A. Knopf, which released "Dispatches" in 1977, two years after the U.S. left Vietnam.
A native of Syracuse, New York, with a knack for eavesdropping and a reverence for Ernest Hemingway, Herr was part of the New Journalism wave that included Tom Wolfe, Truman Capote and Norman Mailer and advocated applying literary style and techniques to traditional reporting. "Dispatches" is often ranked with Tim O'Brien's novel "The Things They Carried," Neil Sheehan's "A Bright Shining Lie" and Stanley Karnow's "Vietnam: A History" as essential reading about the war.
"If you think you don't want to read any more about Vietnam, you are wrong," critic John Leonard of The New York Times wrote when "Dispatches" came out.
"'Dispatches' is beyond politics, beyond rhetoric, beyond 'pacification' and body counts and the 'psychotic vaudeville' of Saigon press briefings. Its materials are fear and death, hallucination and the burning of souls. It is as if Dante had gone to hell with a cassette recording of Jimi Hendrix and a pocketful of pills: our first rock-and-roll war, stoned murder."
Herr spent much of his 20s traveling and working for magazines before convincing Esquire magazine editor Harold Hayes, in 1967, to let him travel to Vietnam and write a monthly column. He ended up staying more than a year, producing few columns at the time, but gathering the material for what became "Dispatches," profane, impassioned and knowing reports that helped capture a generation's sense of outrage and disillusion.
"I keep thinking about all the kids who got wiped out by 17 years of war movies before coming to Vietnam and getting wiped out for good," he wrote in a chapter prefaced with lyrics from a Bob Dylan song.
"You don't know what a media freak is until you've seen the way a few of these grunts would run around during a fight when they knew there was a television crew nearby; they were actually making war movies in their heads, doing little guys and glory Leatherneck tap dances under fire, getting their pimples shot for the networks."
Although he loved writing and storytelling, and as an undergraduate at Syracuse University contributed to a magazine edited by Joyce Carol Oates, Herr only published a handful of books. He struggled with depression before "Dispatches" and found the fame from his acclaimed Vietnam work disorienting.
He moved to London and for years traveled little and gave few interviews.
Admirers of "Dispatches" included some prominent filmmakers, and Herr began a career in movies. He helped write the voiceover narration for Francis Ford Coppola's "Apocalypse Now" and co-wrote the Oscar-nominated screenplay for Stanley Kubrick's "Full Metal Jacket." Herr became friends with Kubrick, one of the industry's most reclusive and demanding directors.
Herr is survived by his wife, Valerie; daughters Catherine and Claudia; and siblings Steven Herr and Judy Bleyer.
Michael Herr
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