Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Marc Dion: Who Dies for America? (Creators Syndicate)
The young man on whose grave the nation dances had the last name Khan. Not Cohen. Not Cohan. Cohen is a Jewish name. Cohan is Irish. Jewish boys named Cohen, unable to get into some American colleges, called "Christ killers" in the streets, went ashore at Normandy. Irish boys named Cohan, the Gaelic still thick on their lips, bled to death from belly wounds at Shiloh. Back home in New York, they still faced "No Irish Need Apply" signs. The despised hillbillies of Appalachia left their blood on Iwo Jima.
Lenore Skenazy: Who Decides What's Funny? (Creators Syndicate)
Just a few weeks after the terror attacks of 9/11 Gilbert Gottfried took to the stage of the Friar's Club and explained he had to leave early to catch a plane to California. "I couldn't get a direct flight. We have to make a stop at the Empire State Building." The crowd booed and someone yelled, "Too soon!" But in fact, Gottfried's timing was impeccable. He told the joke before the invention of Twitter - and before outrage became America's consuming passion.
Froma Harrop: The Road to Donald Trump Wasn't Built in a Day (Creators Syndicate)
The implosion is so big it's drowning out the "he said this monstrous thing" or "that easily caught lie." Donald Trump has moved from the chaos candidate to the kamikaze candidate to the crazy-as-a-loon candidate. But none of his behavior is new. He's been incoherent and ignorant - vulgar and indecent - since he started his campaign. The list of Republican defectors is now growing, but what took it so long?
Andrew Tobias: Jobs
Mitt Romney tantalized voters with the prospect of getting the unemployment rate down to 6% by January 2017. Instead, we reelected Barack Obama and - despite the Republican Congress's refusalto put Americans back to work revitalizing our infrastructure - have enjoyed 76 consecutive months of private sector job growth, with the unemployment today reported at 4.9%. And wages are finally even beginning to climb a bit.
Clive James: adventures in box sets, from The West Wing to Weeds (The Guardian)
Clive James loves to read, but nothing beats a box set binge. He salutes his greatest passions.
Andrew Gelman and David Rothschild: Why you shouldn't be fooled by polling bounces (Slate)
What seems like a big change in public opinion turns out to be little more than changes in people's inclination to respond to polls.
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wrote:
took the day off.
has returned to semi-retired status.
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
Reader Contribution
2 Toons
In case you've not already seen them, 2 cartoons are attached.
Linda >^..^<
We are all only temporarily able bodied.
Thanks, Linda!
from Marc Perkel
Patriot Act
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
"REPUBLICAN JERKOFF..!"
JUST SAY NO TO TRUMP!
"IT AIN'T FIT FOR AN ANIMAL."
"DONALD TRUMP WILL LEAVE A LASTING STAIN"
13 ANGRY WHITE MEN!
THE "PEOPLES LAWYER!"
"TRUMPANZEES!"
Visit JD's site - Kitty Litter Music
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Between Me-TV and Heroes and Icons
I can watch 'The Man From U.N.C.L.E.' and 'Star Trek: TOS' 7 days a week.
And the other 4 Star Trek series 6 days a week. All over-the-air!
'Scary Lucy' No More
Lucille Ball
A new statue of Lucille Ball was unveiled in the late actress' hometown on Saturday to replace one that was so hated it was dubbed "Scary Lucy."
Hundreds of fans chanting "Lucy! Lucy!" gathered in Lucille Ball Memorial Park in the western New York village of Celoron to watch as the tarp was removed from the statue made by sculptor Carolyn Palmer.
An unflattering version by another artist was banished after detractors started a Facebook campaign named, "We Love Lucy! Get Rid of this Statue."
The new statue was unveiled on what would have been Ball's 95th birthday. The beloved star's birthday is celebrated every year with the Lucille Ball Comedy Festival in nearby Jamestown.
This year's festival started Friday. Headliners include comics Trevor Noah, Lewis Black and Brian Regan.
Lucille Ball
Well, Shit!
Intelligent People
Were you annoyed as a kid, when your parents told you to clean your room, sent you to bed early and scolded you for cursing? There might be a reason for your behaviour. Studies suggest, that it can be linked to an increase of your IQ.
You always hear, that people who swear have a "limited vocabulary". But if you think about it, those who don't use any swear words are the ones who limit their own vocabulary, because they intentionally use fewer words than others.
In fact, there is a study deconstructing that myth about curse words. The result showed that people who could name the most swear words within a minute also tend to score higher on an IQ test. The study concludes that a rich vocabulary of swear words is a sign of rhetorical strength rather than the attempt to hide verbal deficits.
Like to stay up late? This also could be a sign for intelligence. Scientific research has linked night owls with higher IQ scores for quite some time now. President Obama, Charles Darwin, Winston Churchill, Keith Richards and Elvis Presley are all famous for nocturnal activities. If you tend to go to sleep rather late, you're definitely in good company.
A
study by the University of Minnesota suggests, that the messy desk of geniuses is actually linked to their intelligence. If you don't spend much time cleaning and organizing everything around you, your mind is obviously occupied with more important stuff.
Intelligent People
Last Two Journalists Leave Fleet Street
London
Three decades after media mogul Rupert Murdoch (R-Evil Incarnate) instigated its demise as the centuries-old home of Britain's newspaper industry, London's Fleet Street bade farewell on Friday to its last two journalists.
Known as the "Street of Shame", Fleet Street once housed thousands of reporters, editors and printers working for the country's biggest national papers as well as international and provincial publications.
While the British press is still collectively known as "Fleet Street", from Friday there will no longer be any working journalists there after the Scottish-based Sunday Post newspaper closed its London operation.
The thoroughfare became synonymous with publishing from 1500 when Wynkyn de Worde established a printing press. The first daily newspaper, the Daily Courant, launched in 1702.
In the shadow of St Paul's Cathedral, the street was ideally located for journalists, being in walking distance of the city's financial district, the Royal Courts of Justice and politicians in Westminster.
London
Whale Predates The Titanic
J2 Granny
She was in ocean waters before the Titanic made its voyage across the Atlantic. She's lived through two world wars, and is even older than women's right to vote.
And last week, J2 Granny - the whale that turned 105 this year - was seen swimming in high spirits in waters near Washington state, according to Orca Network.
KIRO 7-TV in Seattle reported that she is believed to have been born in 1911, making her the oldest known living orca, also known as killer whale. Though Orca Network stated there is a 12-year margin around her age, meaning she could be as young as 90, she still surpasses the average lifespan of a wild orca, which is between 60 and 80 years.
In her lifetime she has been spotted mainly in waters around Washington and Canada. In between swims, she's found time to dabble in politics. Granny was recently the Honorary Mayor of Eastound, Wash., and gave her last mayoral address on June 25.
But Granny doesn't swim alone - she's frequently seen traveling in the J-pod, a group of roughly 25 orcas, according to the Orca Network. Researchers spot her by her dorsal fin, along with a gray patch right behind it, according to the Center for Whale Research in an article by The Dodo.
J2 Granny
Just Pray
Priest
A 95-year-old Catholic priest admitted to sexually abusing boys decades ago on Guam. He said he confessed his sins to other priests on the island at the time but none told him to specifically stop.
Instead, the Rev. Louis Brouillard said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press on Saturday morning that the other priests told him to "do better" along with regular penance, such as saying Hail Mary prayers.
Brouillard served in Guam from the 1940s through the 1970s, teaching at San Vicente and Father Duenas Memorial schools while he was a priest. He said he molested "a couple of boys" during that time.
"At that time, when I was that age, I got the impression that kids liked it, so I went ahead. But now of course, I know it's wrong and I'm paying for it," Brouillard said.
Brouillard's admissions come after three former altar boys and the mother of another filed a $2 million libel and slander lawsuit against former Guam Archbishop Anthony S. Apuron and the archdiocese, saying they were called liars when they raised allegations that Apuron sexually abused boys in the 1970s.
Priest
Indicted On New Federal Charges
Lee Baca
Former Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca, who withdrew his guilty plea to a charge of lying to federal investigators in a corruption probe, was indicted on Friday on three new criminal counts, prosecutors said.
Baca, who pulled out of a plea agreement with prosecutors this week after a judge ruled that the recommended six-month prison term was too lenient, could face a maximum of 20 years in prison if convicted on all three counts handed down in a U.S. District Court grand jury indictment.
Those counts include conspiring to obstruct justice, obstruction of justice and lying to the federal government.
Baca served as the top elected law enforcement official in Los Angeles for 15 years before retiring in January 2014 amid a federal investigation of inmate abuse and other wrongdoing, including cover-up attempts, at two downtown lockups.
He pleaded guilty in February to a charge of making false statements to investigators when he asserted in 2013 that he had no prior knowledge of his deputies' efforts to harass a Federal Bureau of Investigations agent and thwart a criminal probe of his department.
Lee Baca
Just A Burp
CERN
Eight months after raising hopes that they may have found an intriguing new particle that cannot be explained by the existing main physics theory, disappointed scientists are saying: Never mind.
It was just a statistical burp, not a breakthrough, researchers reported Friday.
"Basically we see nothing," said Tiziano Camporesi, a chief scientific spokesman at the European Center for Nuclear Research .
Early unconfirmed readings of a new particle in December by physicists at the center, called CERN, set the physics world abuzz. Scientists there had discovered the Higgs boson or "God particle" in 2012, and two new readings from the Large Hadron Collider made it seem as though they may had found a revolutionary new particle.
In the months that followed, scientists pored over more data from high-speed atom crashes while theorists tried to figure out what it all means. But the new data ruled out any particle existing at the energy level they had been looking at.
At a Chicago physics conference , Dave Charlton, another CERN chief scientific spokesman, said the additional data showed that what they had seen earlier was just a random "statistical fluke."
CERN
Divers Recover Hong Kong's Oldest
Maritime Artifact
In the waters around Hong Kong, divers recently recovered a 1,000-year-old granite anchor stock - the oldest maritime artifact ever found in the Chinese territory - and a European-made cannon from the early 19th century, which may have been used on a merchant ship to defend against pirates, according to archaeologists.
The recent discoveries hint that a trove of undiscovered relics could lurk beneath the waves of the harbor city.
The 6-foot-long (1.8 meters) granite stock - the upper crosspiece found on some anchors - was recovered from the seabed, beneath about 10 feet (3 m) of water, near the base of a cliff on Hong Kong's High Island.
It is the same style and material as anchor stocks used during China's Song Dynasty, which lasted from A.D. 960 to 1279, according to Encyclopedia Britannica. An anchor stock that dates back to the Song Dynasty is on display at the Maritime Silk Road Museum of Guangdong in Yangjiang, located about 200 miles (320 kilometers) southwest of Hong Kong, on the Chinese mainland.
Maritime Artifact
Top 20
Global Concert Tours
The Top 20 Global Concert Tours ranks artists by average box office gross per city and includes the average ticket price for shows Worldwide. The list is based on data provided to the trade publication Pollstar by concert promoters and venue managers.
1. Beyonce; $5,976,666; $128.27.
2. Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band; $4,885,269; $103.87.
3. Paul McCartney; $3,230,728; $130.21.
4. Dead & Company; $2,007,082; $75.18.
5. Kenny Chesney; $1,895,520; $69.93.
6. Sting / Peter Gabriel; $1,650,172; $112.73.
7. Jeff Lynne's ELO; $1,648,038; $109.18.
8. Rod Stewart; $1,633,434; $106.52.
9. Justin Bieber; $1,630,862; $99.07.
10. Pearl Jam; $1,372,159; $68.10.
11. Rihanna; $1,290,890; $89.38.
12. Lionel Richie; $1,211,477; $95.98.
13. Iron Maiden; $997,131; $75.90.
14. Luke Bryan; $934,873; $55.39.
15. Dave Matthews Band; $921,930; $58.57.
16. The Cure; $833,506; $56.11.
17. Andre Rieu; $806,334; $80.24.
18. Mumford & Sons; $792,779; $53.56.
19. Dixie Chicks; $758,158; $65.91.
20. Carrie Underwood; $727,285; $67.21.
Global Concert Tours
In Memory
Pete Fountain
Clarinetist Pete Fountain, whose Dixieland jazz virtuosity and irrepressible wit endeared him to his native New Orleans and earned him decades of national television fame, died Saturday of heart failure. He was 86.
Benny Harrell, Fountain's son-in-law and manager, said Fountain was in hospice care in New Orleans when he died early Saturday.
With his ready wit and infectious laugh, Fountain was the epitome of the New Orleanian who knew how to "let the good times roll." He was well known to television fans through his appearances on the Lawrence Welk and Johnny Carson shows. Even his blues had a happy note.
In New Orleans, he opened his first Bourbon Street club in 1960, later moving to a larger location on the bawdy thoroughfare before settling in for a long run at the nearby Hilton on Canal Street in the 1970s.
In a tradition-drenched city, his annual trek through the French Quarter with his "Half-Fast Walking Club" was a raucous New Orleans ritual - one he rarely missed even when he was in failing health.
Fountain started playing professionally on Bourbon Street in his teens. He once called the street of strip clubs, music joints and bars his "conservatory." In his early years he toured nationally with the Dukes of Dixieland and the late trumpeter Al Hirt. Real fame came in 1957 when he joined "The Lawrence Welk Show" as a headliner.
He expressed deep appreciation for the exposure Welk gave him and his music. Still, Fountain also joked that his Bourbon didn't mix with Welk's champagne. There was, for example, the night Fountain overfilled the bubble machine, stranding Welk on live television in a virtual storm of blowing bubbles.
Fountain's freewheeling personality and swinging performances contrasted sharply with Welk's rigidly orchestrated polkas and pop hits. The breakup came in 1959 after Welk chastised him for jazzing up an arrangement of "Silver Bells" in a Christmas performance.
Fountain and his wife, Beverly, were to celebrate their 65th wedding anniversary in October, Harrell said. In addition to his wife, survivors include three children, six grandchildren and five great grandchildren.
Musically, Fountain traced his style to Benny Goodman, for drive and technique, and Irving Fazola, for the round, full tone. Fountain grew up listening to Goodman's records, but Fazola was playing in the French Quarter where Fountain could listen in person. The result was Fountain's distinctive combination of swing and Dixieland.
After the Welk show, he was in demand for guest appearances and performed for stars like Ed Sullivan, Bing Crosby, and Bob Hope, and played with jazzmen like Louis Armstrong, Harry James and Harry Connick Jr.
He made 58 appearances with Johnny Carson on "The Tonight Show." But he didn't leave his home base for long and kept a band steadily employed at the clubs where he performed.
Pete Fountain
In Memory
Ricci Martin
Ricci Martin, a musician, entertainer and youngest son of show-business legend Dean Martin, was found dead Wednesday at his Utah home, The Hollywood Reporter can confirm. The cause of death has not yet been determined, family members announced on Saturday. He was 62.
In recent years, Martin had been performing in a touring tribute show to his famous father. In the 1970s, he released the single "Stop, Look Around" and album Beached, collaborating with Carl Wilson of The Beach Boys, who produced the album and would later become his brother-in-law.
Martin performed at the MGM Grand hotel in Las Vegas and other clubs in the 1990s with Desi Arnaz, Jr. and Billy Hinsche, taking the place of his late brother Dean Paul, who in the 1970s had formed a successful rock band called Dino, Desi and Billy with the others. Dean Paul Martin was killed in a military jet crash in 1987.
Martin authored a 2002 book, That's Amore, about growing up in Beverly Hills, Calif., as part of his large and colorful family. In the memoir, he recalled a party that was thrown at his family's home for his 21st birthday that was attended by, among others, John Lennon, Ringo Starr, Elizabeth Taylor, David Bowie and Elton John.
He was born on Sept. 20, 1953. Divorced, he is survived by three daughters, Pepper, Montana and Rio; by his mother, Jeanne Martin; an older brother, Craig, and by four sisters, Gail, Deana, Gina and Sasha.
Ricci Martin
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