Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Greg Sargent: Don't sugarcoat this. Trump just called for 32 million people to lose health coverage. (Washington Post)
But now Trump has confirmed that he is indeed for full repeal, full stop - which would result in 32 million fewer covered - without any guaranteed "replacement" providing any cover to advance the lie that millions wouldn't lose coverage.
Marc Dion: Make America Great Again for $2.60 an Hour (Creators Syndicate)
I was at an event in a local restaurant, notebook in hand, doing my job as a reporter on a midsized daily newspaper. The event was being held by the local anti-poverty agency, which runs a program employing income-eligible senior citizens to work at local nonprofit organizations. The same agency runs the Foster Grandparents Program, which send seniors into schools and day care centers to read to, mentor and befriend kids.
Philip Kemp: "The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog:The First True Hitchcock Movie" (Criterion)
We are so used to thinking of Alfred Hitchcock as the Master of Suspense that it comes as a surprise to realize that he was nearly a decade into his career as a director before he definitively latched on to the genre that was to become his stock-in-trade. Not until the first version of The Man Who Knew Too Much, released in 1934, did he embark on the string of suspense thrillers that would make his international name and become, with only rare exceptions, his chosen territory for the best part of the next half century.
Vanessa Thorpe: What lies beneath the brave new world of feminist dystopian sci-fi? (The Guardian)
From the Bailey-prize-winning The Power to the bleakly compelling The Handmaid's Tale, Leading writers explain why the genre is thriving.
Hadley Freeman: Vogue has a new editor. Bad news, it's not me - but here's my advice (The Guardian)
Listen up, Edward Enninful: British style is about so much more than rich people and skinny models.
Rosanna Greenstreet: "Andy Serkis: 'How would I like to be remembered? Not as the guy who played Gollum'" (The Guardian)
The actor on his family, being a workaholic and Brexit.
Mark Savage: "Halsey: I lost a sense of who I was" (BBC)
Her first album, Badlands, went platinum in the US, thanks to its so-called "millennial anthem" New Americana ("We are the new Americana / High on legal marijuana / Raised on Biggie and Nirvana / We know very well / who we are"). Last year, her career received an unexpected shot in the arm thanks to her contribution to The Chainsmokers' ubiquitous hit single, Closer.
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Presenting
Michael Egan
took the day off.
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
Reader Comment
Current Events
Maybe if someone slipped him some melatonin or a sleeping pill he would sleep past the early morning grumpy hours. But then evidently there's no cure for being a misogynistic pig and a crude bully with tiny hands.
Linda >^..^<
We are all only temporarily able bodied.
Thanks, Linda!
Bonus Links
Jeannie the Teed-Off Temp
from Marc Perkel
Patriot Act
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
"TRUMP IS AWESOME"
"THE CRACK IN THE LIBERTY BELL"
"HEAL THE SICK!" "HEAL THE SICK!" "HEAL THE SICK!"
DONALD TRUMP EATS GARBAGE!
"THE RUN-ON OF TIME"
HOW TO BE A FASCIST.
''COUNTERING TRUMP'S CLIMATE CRIMES!"
"THEY CAN GO JUMP IN THE GULF OF MEXICO"
Visit JD's site - Kitty Litter Music
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Can't help but think that Bart would be in Vegas right now.
Sues Over 'Feud' Depiction
Olivia de Havilland
Hollywood great Olivia de Havilland has launched her own sequel to the TV series "Feud" - a lawsuit.
The double Oscar-winning actress filed suit Friday against FX Networks and producer Ryan Murphy's company, alleging the drama inaccurately depicts her as a gossipmonger and is an invasion of privacy.
The suit was filed in Los Angeles on Friday - one day before de Havilland turns 101. The actress, whose credits include the role of Melanie Hamilton in "Gone with the Wind," lives in Paris.
De Havilland's suit alleges that "Feud: Bette and Joan," about the testy relationship of Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, used her name and identity without permission or compensation.
While De Havilland is "beloved and respected by her peers" and has a reputation for integrity and honesty, the series depicts her as "a hypocrite, selling gossip in order to promote herself" at the Academy Awards, the suit says.
Olivia de Havilland
Escalates Personal Feud
T-rump
Donald Trump (R-Crooked) escalated an intensely personal feud with two high-profile talk show hosts Saturday, suggesting without evidence that their network is biased against him.
The president's stream of insults has pained politicians from both parties who have appealed to him, without apparent success, to stop the 140-character bursts of character attacks and focus on running the country.
Trump lashed out at Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, co-hosts of MSNBC's "Morning Joe," on Twitter on Saturday. From his New Jersey golf club, he said: "Crazy Joe Scarborough and dumb as a rock Mika are not bad people, but their low rated show is dominated by their NBC bosses."
Trump also said that Greta Van Susteren lost her nightly show on MSNBC because she "refused to go along w/ 'Trump hate!'" MSNBC confirmed this week that Van Susteren, previously a longtime anchor at Fox News, was being replaced.
NBC declined comment on all the tweets Saturday from the president. "Morning Joe" just finished the highest-rated quarter in the show's history. MSNBC never officially gave a reason for replacing Van Susteren's show; it did, however, lag in the ratings compared with the network's other shows.
T-rump
R2-D2, Darth Vader's Helmet Sold
Auction
An R2-D2 droid unit used in the filming of several "Star Wars" movies sold for nearly $3 million at a memorabilia auction on Wednesday.
The 43-inch tall droid unit, made from components used throughout the original trilogy as well as "Episode I," sold for $2.76 million at an auction, according to the Profiles in History auction house.
Profiles in History had previously said that it expected the droid to sell for between $1 million and $2 million.
Separately, Luke Skywalker's lightsaber sold for $325,000, according to the auction house.
Auction
The Top 5 Names
New Crayola Crayon
Crayola has asked people to help name its newest crayon shade, and the top five choices are in.
The top five names are Dreams Come Blue, Bluetiful, Blue Moon Bliss, Reach for the Stars and Star Spangled Blue.
People can vote for the winning shade name from July 1 through Aug. 31. Voters will also be entered to win one of six grand prizes for a paid trip for four to the Orlando Crayola Experience. There will also be a daily prize drawing for the Crayola Air Maker Sprayer.
The winning name, along with the grand prize winners, will be revealed in September. The new color itself will start appearing in Crayola products in late 2017 through early 2018.
The color is a shade of blue inspired by a new pigment discovered by scientists at Oregon State University
New Crayola Crayon
Launches New Unit
EPA
The White House is planning on using military concepts to conduct an "at-length evaluation of US climate science".
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt (R-Bought & Paid For) is pushing an initiative that will use so-called "red team, blue team" tactics to discuss climate science, a method developed within the military that pits two competing ideas against one another in order to try and find vulnerabilities in field operations.
"The administrator believes that we will be able to recruit the best in the fields which study climate and will organise a specific process in which these individuals… provide back-and-forth critique of specific new reports on climate science," a source at the EPA told the web site EENews.
The program is in line with frequent suggestions from the administration recently that they plan on reviewing climate science outside of the established peer-to-peer processes. Energy Secretary Rick Perry (R-SockPuppet) - who said that he would like to open a dialogue with the other side during a White House press briefing this week - also reportedly favours the program.
The new approach may leave the door open for the Trump administration to conduct an even bigger assault on environmental protection rules in the country.
EPA
Court Questions Benefits For Gay Spouses
Texass
Gay spouses may not be entitled to government-subsidized workplace benefits, the Texas Supreme Court ruled Friday in a unanimous decision that was quickly condemned by gay-rights groups.
The court overturned a lower court's decision that favored same-sex marriage benefits, ordering the issue back to trial. Social conservatives hope the case will help them chip away at the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark ruling legalizing gay marriage.
Gay rights groups denounced the ruling as an "absurd distortion" of established law regarding marriage equality.
"Marriage is marriage and equal is equal. We will take steps to protect these families," said Kenneth Upton Jr., Dallas-based attorney for Lambda Legal.
Friday's decision was a major reversal for the all-Republican Texas high court, which previously refused to even consider the benefits case after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution grants gay couples who want to marry "equal dignity in the eyes of the law."
Texass
Pope Removes German Cardinal
Sex Abuse Crisis
Pope Francis sacked the head of the Vatican office that handles sex abuse cases Saturday, just days after he released another top Vatican cardinal to return home to stand trial for alleged sexual assault.
The developments underscored how the Catholic Church's sex abuse crisis has caught up with Francis, threatening to tarnish his legacy over a series of questionable appointments, decisions and oversights in his four-year papacy.
Perhaps sensing a need to change course, Francis declined to renew the mandate of German Cardinal Gerhard Mueller as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican office that processes and evaluates all cases of priests accused of raping or molesting minors.
Francis named Mueller's deputy, Monsignor Luis Ladaria Ferrer, a Spanish Jesuit, to run the powerful office instead.
During Mueller's five-year term, the congregation amassed a 2,000-case backlog and came under blistering criticism from Irish abuse survivor Marie Collins, who had been tapped by Francis in 2014 to advise the church on caring for abuse victims and protecting children from pedophile priests.
Sex Abuse Crisis
Running Out Of Opportunities
U.S. Farmers
U.S. farmers who have been holding out for higher prices for their corn may finally sell their grain below target levels in the next few weeks as a government report released on Friday underscores the huge supplies left in storage bins around the country, analysts said. The U.S. Agriculture Department said that farmers still had 2.841 billion bushels of corn in their storage bins as of June 1, the fifth most ever for that time period. It was the highest June 1 on-farm corn storage recording in 29 years and an indication that the market could remain under pressure until harvest.
Total corn stocks as of June 1 stood at 5.225 billion bushels, the third biggest ever for the period and the most in 30 years.
The large stocks persisted even though farmers moved 2.067 billion bushels of corn out of their storage bins between March and June, according to the USDA. It was the third-largest removal of stocks for the period on record.
The massive supplies have hung over the market since last autumn's harvest and allowed grain dealers to keep their basis bids weak. The market weakness is likely to persist as dealers expect the Midwest to be flush with grain again once farmers start rolling their combines.
Farmers who have been waiting for rally will need to clear out storage bins to make room, regardless of price, said Brian Hoops, analyst at Midwest Market Solutions.
U.S. Farmers
No Surprise
T-rump
Anyone surprised by Donald Trump's (R-Corrupt) tweeted attack on Mika Brzezinski early Thursday must have missed the 2016 presidential campaign.
Just as feminist writers saw a presidential campaign that raised Twitter trolling to an art form as an outgrowth of the sexist alt-right Twitter attacks they'd been living with for years, Hillary Clinton's experience with Trump now looks like a curtain raiser for the president's approach to powerful female critics.
From his icy press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel to his mocking "low I.Q. Crazy" Brzezinski for "bleeding badly from a face-lift" - despite there being no evidence of anything like that in a photo taken the evening in question - Trump as president has proved as unable to contain his emotions when it comes to women as he was during the campaign.
This lack of self-control appears to be longstanding and is something he boasted of in the off-camera 2005 "Access Hollywood" tape released in October. He dismissed the lewd talk as "locker room talk."
His inability to restrain himself and consider his position and the standards of behavior expected of a U.S. president showed again this week, when he gestured to a female reporter to leave the press pack to join him before the cameras during a foreign leader call, to compliment her "nice smile."
T-rump
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