from Bruce
Anecdotes
Fishing
• Fishing enthusiast Bill Barich and his friend Paul Deeds were having no luck catching trout at Hot Creek Ranch, although other fishermen were telling them about all the fish they had caught. Bill said, “They must have a secret.” Paul agreed, “Sure, they do. It’s called lying.” Actually, the two discovered the secret. By allowing a dry fly to become water-soaked and sink below the surface of the water, they could make it behave like an underwater lure known as a nymph—something forbidden at Dry Creek Ranch at that time of the season, but which was exactly the right lure needed to catch trout at Dry Creek Ranch at that time of the season. Dry Creek Ranch had no rules about allowing a dry lure to become water-soaked, so Bill and Paul enjoyed some very good fishing, indeed.
• Mark Anthony wanted to impress Cleopatra with his fishing ability, but unfortunately the fish weren’t biting, so he secretly ordered some fishermen to dive underwater and attach fish to his hook. With this aid, he was able to catch fish after fish in the presence of Cleopatra. However, Cleopatra understood what was going on, so she secretly ordered a fisherman to attach a salted fish to Mark Anthony’s hook.
• The ancient Chinese scholar and teacher Confucius took ethics seriously. He greatly enjoyed fishing, but when he fished, he declined to use a net, reasoning that its use gave him an unfair advantage over the fish.
Food
• Bill Veeck, owner of the Milwaukee Brewers, was very good at thinking up promotions and publicity stunts. He once gave a woman fan 10,000 cupcakes and delivered them to her kitchen. Another time, he gave a dignified man six live baby pigeons. The dignified man managed to hold on to only three during the course of the game—one was in each hand, and the other was between his knees. To show appreciation for the man’s being a good sport, Mr. Veeck sent him a gift of 12 game birds, all ready for the oven. For one game, he let the fans call the plays. For that game, he held up cards suggesting various plays, and whatever sign the fans clapped loudest for was the play the manager called—the Brewers won the game!
• Softball player Dorothy “Dot” Richardson was fiercely competitive. In 1983, as a member of the UCLA softball team, she and the other members of the team hoped to defend their national championship title, but they came down with food poisoning. They lost the title game, but they played hard. Suffering from food poisoning, Dot hit a double, and then she vomited while standing on second base. Her coach, Sue Enquist, said about her, “She would not come out of the game. When you see someone with that kind of courage, it raises the entire team’s game.” In 1996 and 2000, Dot won Olympic gold as a member of the United States softball team.
• While touring the United States following her gold-medal-winning performance in the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, Germany, Soviet gymnast Olga Korbut’s favorite food was ketchup. She smothered hamburgers and eggs with entire bottles of ketchup and once ate pancakes and ketchup instead of pancakes and maple syrup.
Football
• Notre Dame football player George Gipp was athletically gifted in more than one sport. In a baseball game, he was ordered to bunt, but instead he hit a home run. Why? He explained that he didn’t want to spend much time standing on the bases because it was too hot. When he was a star football player, he talked to a newcomer to the varsity team, Roger Kiley, giving him a thrill because a star was noticing him. Unfortunately, Mr. Kiley dropped the first forward pass that Mr. Gipp threw to him in a game. Mr. Kiley hung his head, but Mr. Gipp told him, “Forget it. On the next play, I’m going to throw you a pass so soft that you couldn’t drop it if you tried.” Mr. Kiley caught the next pass and soon became a fine Notre Dame receiver.
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© Copyright Bruce D. Bruce; All Rights Reserved
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Presenting
Michael Egan
U.S.A. said:
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
BRUCE'S RECOMMENDATION
BANDCAMP MUSIC
BRUCE'S RECOMMENDATION OF BANDCAMP MUSIC
Music: "Rock Yo Self (Until You Wreck Yo Self)"
Album: DAWN OF THE DEAF
Artist: The Short Fuses
Artist Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota
Info:
Miss Georgia Peach - Vocals/Bass Guitar
Justin Staggs - Guitar/Backing Vocals
Travis Ramin - Lead Guitar
Justin Staggs also directs music videos.
Price: $0.99 (USD) for track; $9.99 (USD) for 12-track album
Genre: Rock. Rhythm and Blues.
Links:
DAWN OF THE DEAF
The Short Fuses on Bandcamp
Justin Staggs on YouTube
Other Links:
David Bruce's Amazon Author Page
David Bruce's Smashwords Page
David Bruce's Blog #1
David Bruce's Blog #2
David Bruce's Blog #3
David Bruce's Apple iBookstore
David Bruce has over 140 Kindle books on Amazon.com.
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
New Venture
Michael Egan
Bonus Links
Jeannie the Teed-Off Temp
Reader Comment
Current Events
Linda >^..^<
We are all only temporarily able bodied.
Thanks, Linda!
that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
My nifty little camera crapped out. Sigh.
Slams Di$ney Response
Scarlett Johansson
As anyone who has seen a Marvel movie or read the comics knows, the Black Widow moves fast and deadly – – and that’s exactly what Scarlett Johansson did this morning.
“After initially responding to this litigation with a misogynistic attack against Scarlett Johansson, Disney is now, predictably, trying to hide its misconduct in a confidential arbitration,” said the Oscar nominee’s main lawyer John Berlinski today after the House of Mouse’s response to Johansson’s scathing profits lawsuit went public.
“Why is Disney so afraid of litigating this case in public?,” added the Kasowitz Benson Torres LLP attorney in what has become a Cuban Missile Crisis level war of words.
“Because it knows that Marvel’s promises to give Black Widow a typical theatrical release ‘like its other films’ had everything to do with guaranteeing that Disney wouldn’t cannibalize box office receipts in order to boost Disney+ subscriptions,” Berlinski adds, as Disney insists Marvel’s contract with Johansson provides for arbitration exactly in the event of a dispute like this one that erupted on July 29. “Yet that is exactly what happened – and we look forward to presenting the overwhelming evidence that proves it.”
In a witching hour filing last night, the Walt Disney Company took Scarlett Johansson to task for daring to make her financial dispute with them over Black Widow public. The Marvel parent company is demanding the whole thing go behind closed doors on the East Coast ASAP.
Scarlett Johansson
Vote No
California
On the latest “Real Time,” Bill Maher spent several minutes talking about the upcoming California recall vote to remove Gov. Gavin Newsom from office, and during the discussion made a convincing case for why people need to vote against it.
First though, he kicked the discussion off with the usual mid show gag, this time where he showed viewers a (fake) list of various weird people trying to become governor of California in the recall who were only slightly weirder than some of the real-life candidates. Which was of course the joke; Maher wanted to make it clear just how stupid and awful this situation is).
After the mid-show gag, Maher got into the ins and outs of the recall itself. Now, a lot of the context was left unsaid during the chat, so to catch those of you who aren’t Californians or just haven’t been paying attention: Critics of the recall have repeatedly noted problems such as the extremely low threshold for recalls to end up on a ballot, the extremely low threshold to pass, and the absurdly undemocratic way the governor’s successor is subsequently chosen if the recall passes.
First, recall petitions are required to only get enough signatures to equal 12% of the total vote in the previous election. Second, Then, the recall wins or loses by simple majority vote — literally anything over 50%. Complicating things, voters are required to vote for or against the recall AND vote for a possible replacement on the same ballot, adding confusion and pressure. And finally, if the recall passes, then the replacement candidate with the most votes, even if it’s a tiny amount of the total, wins. The winner is not required to win a majority of the actual electorate or even just win more votes than the number of people who opposed the recall. Read more about why these things are such a problem here.
Then Maher got to the real reason for voting no: It would allow a party that cannot win elections in California to make decisions — like Senate representation — overruling the wishes of the electorate, which could have generations-long consequences. His way into that topic was far right Republican Larry Elder who has become the leading candidate out of all the possible replacements.
California
Abrupt Exit Rattles a TV Institution
'Jeopardy!'
Mike Richards’ first and, as it turned out, last day of filming as the host of “Jeopardy!” began with a gathering that executives at the long-running quiz show hoped would symbolize a fresh start.
In a taped ceremony Thursday at the Sony Pictures lot in Culver City, California, Sony revealed that the “Jeopardy!” studio would be renamed for Alex Trebek, the beloved host who died last year. Richards smiled as cameras rolled and Trebek’s widow and children looked on.
Less than 24 hours later, Richards had quit his hosting gig, “Jeopardy!” production was placed on hold, and the show’s fans were struggling to understand how a television institution and staple of the U.S. living room could have botched a succession plan after 37 years of stability and success.
Richards stepped down Friday after revelations of offensive and sexist comments he made on a podcast several years ago, just nine days after Sony announced his new role with great fanfare. He wrote in a staff memo that “moving forward as host would be too much of a distraction for our fans and not the right move for the show.”
“Jeopardy!”, which first aired in 1964, is supposed to be TV’s comfort food, an un-glitzy redoubt from politics and tribulations. Richards’ abrupt rise and fall plunged the show into the culture wars of 2021, subjecting it to intense debates, especially on social media, over questions of privilege, diversity and workplace culture.
'Jeopardy!'
Comedy Clip
Larry
Talk radio host and gubernatorial candidate Larry Elder (R-Slappy Jr) is drawing fire for a decades-old clip, recorded at a comedy club, in which he repeatedly uses the N-word, in an apparent impression of O.J. Simpson defense attorney F. Lee Bailey. Elder is the front-runner for governor in the event that Gov. Gavin Newsom is recalled.
The clip, recorded in the mid-1990s at Igby's comedy club in Los Angeles, was aired by Elder on his KABC show shortly thereafter. The recording now in circulation appears to be from Elder's KABC show, during which he played the original comedy-club recording.
It was uncovered by KBLA morning host Dominique DiPrima, who first re-aired the KABC clip during her show July 29. It was re-aired last week by KBLA host Tavis Smiley, who said that “many of our listeners found the Elder comedy skit to be shameful and disgraceful” after it aired on DiPrima’s show.
One issue was Elder's pronunciation of the N-word. He used an exaggerated tone, enunciating the "er" at the end of the word rather than using the "a" pronunciation, which is more commonly accepted among and used by Black people, studies have shown.
"He is using other racial slurs and stereotypes in a very performative, minstrel-y way. It's like a Black man doing blackface. It is highly offensive to me, and it speaks to a consciousness — a willingness to throw us under the bus,” DiPrima said.
Larry
Cosby Ruling Cited
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania prosecutors dropped their case Friday against a jail guard accused of sexually abusing inmates, saying they were hamstrung by the recent state Supreme Court decision that freed Bill Cosby.
The attorney general's office had been seeking to prosecute John Shnipes on charges that he assaulted four female inmates at the Lackawanna County jail in Scranton between 1999 and 2013.
A judge dismissed the case against Shnipes last year, ruling that state prosecutors were bound by a 2013 agreement in which county prosecutors promised Shnipes he would not face charges if he resigned.
A grand jury said Shnipes serially assaulted inmates at the prison in Scranton, forcing them to perform sex acts and giving them cigarettes and other contraband afterward.
One inmate “did what she thought has had to do in order to survive,” the grand jury said. Another testified that she complied with Shnipes' demands to avoid further harassment and punishment. A third said she “felt so ashamed and disgusted that she attempted to commit suicide by hanging herself in her cell," the grand jury said.
Pennsylvania
Geofence Warrants
Google
For the first time, Google has published the number of geofence warrants it's historically received from U.S. authorities, providing a rare glimpse into how frequently these controversial warrants are issued.
The figures, published Thursday, reveal that Google has received thousands of geofence warrants each quarter since 2018, and at times accounted for about one-quarter of all U.S. warrants that Google receives. The data shows that the vast majority of geofence warrants are obtained by local and state authorities, with federal law enforcement accounting for just 4% of all geofence warrants served on the technology giant.
According to the data, Google received 982 geofence warrants in 2018, 8,396 in 2019 and 11,554 in 2020. But the figures only provide a small glimpse into the volume of warrants received and did not break down how often it pushes back on overly broad requests.
Geofence warrants are also known as "reverse-location" warrants, since they seek to identify people of interest who were in the near vicinity at the time a crime was committed. Police do this by asking a court to order Google, which stores vast amounts of location data to drive its advertising business, to turn over details of who was in a geographic area, such as a radius of a few hundred feet at a certain point in time, to help identify potential suspects.
Google has long shied away from providing these figures, in part because geofence warrants are largely thought to be unique to Google. Law enforcement has long known that Google stores vast troves of location data on its users in a database called Sensorvault, first revealed by The New York Times in 2019.
Sensorvault is said to have the detailed location data on "at least hundreds of millions of devices worldwide," collected from users' phones when they use an Android device with location data switched on, or Google services like Google Maps and Google Photo, and even Google search results. In 2018, the Associated Press reported that Google could still collect users' locations even when their location history is "paused."
Google
Hiding Election Official From FBI
MeinPillow
MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell has said he is providing a safe house for a Colorado county clerk amid an FBI investigation into her role in an alleged plot to leak election data to a QAnon leader, according to Vice News.
The official at the center of the probe, Mesa County clerk Tina Peters, is accused of compromising voting machines and allowing someone to share sensitive data with QAnon figurehead, Ron Watkins, Insider previously reported.
Peters, a so-called "Trump Truther," permitted surveillance cameras to be turned off for up to two months, it is alleged.
She is under investigation by the Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, and on Tuesday, the FBI said it was also looking into it. The FBI announced that it was working with Colorado's District Attorney's office "to determine if there was a potential federal criminal violation," FBI Denver office spokeswoman Courtney Bernal told the Denver Post.
"She's worried about her safety. These people are ruthless," Lindell told Vice News.
MeinPillow
Allows Third Child
China
China will now allow couples to legally have a third child as it seeks to hold off a demographic crisis that could threaten its hopes of increased prosperity and global influence.
The ceremonial legislature on Friday amended the Population and Family Planning Law as part of a decades-long effort by the ruling Communist Party to dictate the size of families in keeping with political directives. It comes just six years after the last change.
From the 1980s, China strictly limited most couples to one child, a policy enforced with threats of fines or loss of jobs, leading to abuses including forced abortions. A preference for sons led parents to kill baby girls, leading to a massive imbalance in the sex ratio.
The rules were eased for the first time in 2015 to allow two children as officials acknowledged the looming consequences of the plummeting birthrate. The overwhelming fear is that China will grow old before it becomes wealthy.
However, China’s birth rate, paralleling trends in South Korea, Thailand and other Asian economies, already was falling before the one-child rule. The average number of children per mother tumbled from above six in the 1960s to below three by 1980, according to the World Bank.
China
'Doomsday Glacier'
Antarctica
West Antarctica is one of the fastest-warming regions on Earth. For evidence, you need look no further than Thwaites Glacier — also known as the "Doomsday Glacier."
Since the 1980s, Thwaites has lost an estimated 595 billion tons (540 billion metric tons) of ice, single-handedly contributing 4% to the annual global sea-level rise during that time, Live Science previously reported. The glacier's rate of ice loss has accelerated substantially in the past three decades, partially due to hidden rivers of comparatively warm seawater slicing across the glacier's underbelly, as well as unmitigated climate change warming the air and the ocean.
Now, new research suggests that the warming ocean and atmosphere aren't the only factors pushing Thwaites to the brink; the heat of the Earth itself may also be giving West Antarctica's glaciers a disproportionately nasty kick.
In a study published Aug. 18 in the journal Communications Earth & Environment, researchers analyzed geomagnetic field data from West Antarctica to create new maps of geothermal heat flow in the region — essentially, maps showing how much heat from Earth's interior is rising up to warm the South Pole.
The researchers found that the crust beneath West Antarctica is considerably thinner than in East Antarctica — roughly 10 to 15 miles (17 to 25 kilometers) thick in the West compared with about 25 miles (40 km) thick in the East — exposing Thwaites Glacier to considerably more geothermal heat than glaciers on the other side of the continent.
Antarctica
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