Marc Dion: Christmas Spice (Creators Syndicate)
… after retiring from a 36-year career as a newspaper reporter, I took a job with a local talk radio station. Callers sometimes call me a communist because I don't want homeless panhandlers executed, and today someone called me an "evil old man" because I don't like a local politician, who is currently under indictment. Any kind of news or commentary work offers you the choice of selling out to the worst of the world and covering yourself in money, or just standing in one spot, rotating and gibbering under a shower of hatred. I chose the second option. It seemed more honorable when I was young and walked faster.
Mark Shields: Mike Pompeo Was Definitely NOT a Marine Officer (Creators Syndicate)
When it came to standing up for and standing with the dedicated U.S. ambassador to Ukraine who was being libeled and slandered by his own boss and the boss's private attorney, "Captain" Pompeo was missing in action. […] When the going gets tough, Mike Pompeo apparently goes silent so as not to upset his own self-obsessed commanding officer. No, it's evident: Mike Pompeo was definitely not a Marine Corps officer.
Froma Harrop: Moderation and Good Manners Actually Win Elections (Creators Syndicate)
Moderation along with good manners delivered impressive victories to Democrats this week. Case in point was Andy Beshear's win over Republican incumbent Gov. Matt Bevin in the Kentucky governor's race. Beshear's margin was slim, it is true, but Kentucky is a state that backed Donald Trump in 2016 by 30 points. The president was so alarmed at the closeness of the race that he swooped down on the state the day before to tell his rallygoers that the race was about him. Apparently, it was. Dislike of Trump no doubt played a part in turning out 400,000 more voters than the 2015 governor's race.
Susan Estrich: Could the Trump Haters Quiet Down? (Creators Syndicate)
Ever since Hillary Clinton termed Trump supporters "deplorables," the Trump haters have seemed to heap contempt not only on the man but also on anyone who supports him. Which might be justified if it weren't 45% of the population, according to most polls. And Trump is one of those candidates who "underpolls" - in this climate, it's much easier to give the politically correct answer than the less popular but honest one (to be clear, I'm not against a woman candidate; in fact, I'm for her).
Froma Harrop: Democrats Preside Over Stronger Economies (Creators Syndicate)
Are you worried that the economy grew by only 1.9% in the recent quarter? That's a pretty weak performance. But it would seem downright dismal if you believed Donald Trump's assertion during the 2016 campaign that 1.9% growth during one of Barack Obama's quarters signaled an economy "in deep trouble."
Lenore Skenazy: Releasing Kids Into the Wild (Creators Syndicate)
Here's one last story, this one from a girl: "Everyone says that when you're on an adventure, you'll travel far. I don't believe this to be true. In fact, today my adventure led me to a neighborhood cafe, Cosi. I have been begging my parents to let me go somewhere on my own. Today, they finally caved. They sent me off, cell phone in hand, and told me to have fun. I felt as if I was a bird who had broken free of her cage."
Kiwifruit (often shortened to kiwi outside Australia and New Zealand), or Chinese gooseberry, is the edible berry of several species of woody vines in the genus Actinidia. The most common cultivar group of kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa 'Hayward') is oval, about the size of a large hen's egg (5-8 cm (2.0-3.1 in) in length and 4.5-5.5 cm (1.8-2.2 in) in diameter). It has a thin, hair-like, fibrous, sour-but-edible light brown skin and light green or golden flesh with rows of tiny, black, edible seeds. The fruit has a soft texture with a sweet and unique flavour. China produced 50% of the world total of kiwifruit in 2017.
Kiwifruit is native to north-central and eastern China. The first recorded description of the kiwifruit dates to 12th century China during the Song dynasty. As it was usually collected from the wild and consumed for medicinal purposes, the plant was rarely cultivated or bred. Cultivation of kiwifruit spread from China in the early 20th century to New Zealand, where the first commercial plantings occurred. The fruit became popular with British and American servicemen stationed in New Zealand during World War II, and was later exported, first to Great Britain and then to California in the 1960s.
Source
Cal in Vermont was first, and correct, with:
Kiwifruit. Huh.
Mark. said:
Kiwifruit.
Randall wrote:
kiwi fruit
Alan J answered:
Kiwi.
mj replied:
Fruit, not fowl
The Chinese gooseberry is more commonly known as the kiwi fruit, not to
be confused with either the national symbol of New Zealand nor New
Zealanders themselves. The consumption of the former, raw, in salads
would seam unpalatable. Consuming the latter would be frowned upon in
most societies.
Mac Mac responded:
kiwifruit
zorch said:
The Chinese gooseberry is the Kiwi fruit.
Deborah wrote:
Ah, the kiwi, aka Chinese gooseberry. They're tasty, and I like them in small doses. What I'd like to grow is the dragon fruit, which I had in Australia and New Zealand back in January. Yum.
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~~~~~
BANDCAMP MUSIC THAT YOU PROBABLY DON'T HEAR ON THE RADIO
Music: "The Girl from Ipanema" from the album SOMETHING STUPID
Artist: HarmCore Jazz Band
Artist Location: Prague, Czech Republic
Info: "Jazz/swing orchestra from Prague - The Heart of Europe - playing hits from both within and without the Czech Republic, from the wonderful era of swing big band music."
"The Girl from Ipanema" is track 11 of this 12-track album
Price: Song: 40 CZK (approx. $1.80 USA); album 250 CZK (approx. $11 USA)
If you are OK with paying for it, you can use PAYPAL or CREDIT CARD.
• Mexican artists Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo once stayed at a hotel in Detroit, but they discovered that no Jews were permitted there. Mr. Rivera shouted, "But Frida and I have Jewish blood! We are going to have to leave!" In fact, they did have Jewish blood. His paternal grandfather had married a Mexican of Portuguese-Jewish descent, and Frida's mother was a Jewish Hungarian immigrant. Because Diego and Frida were international celebrities, the hotel immediately changed its policy.
• Early in his life, African-American artist Palmer Hayden wanted some experience working with an established artist, so he placed this ad in a newspaper: "Young artist would like a job as an assistant to commercial artist." A commercial artist did want to interview him, but when Mr. Hayden showed up for the job interview, the commercial artist said, "Oh, I didn't know you were colored." End of interview. Despite such treatment, Mr. Hayden kept on creating art.
• For a long time, Edgar Degas thought that women did not know what style was, but when he saw Mary Cassatt's 1886 painting titled Girl Arranging Her Hair, he changed his mind. In fact, he traded one of his own paintings for her painting, and he kept Girl Arranging Her Hair until he died.
Problem-Solving
• Pakistani Nigar Nazar uses cartoons to spread a female-positive message. One of her characters is a perky, 20-something female named Gogi, who wears polka-dotted clothing. Among the many places in which her work appears is buses, for which she designs public murals. Ms. Nazar points out that females have opportunities for education and much freedom in Pakistani cities: "Girls are doing very well in Pakistan, I must say. I mean, there are women in just about every field you can imagine. They are diplomats, they are vice chancellors, they are in the police, they are in the air force, they are pilots." Unfortunately,in rural areas those opportunities are lacking. This has led to a problem. Ms. Nazar explains, "We have this staring problem. Especially from the rural areas, when [the men] come from the rural areas into the city, they just find it odd that women should be freely moving around and all that. So they get in the habit of staring, and it's very annoying." Therefore, to combat the problem, she designed a mural on that topic. However, she understood that some people, including clergy, very conservative men, and mullahs, might object to the mural, so she read the Quran and found a passage that - translated from the Arabic to Urdu (Pakistan's official language) - she put on the mural. In English, this is the passage: "Oh, ye believers, tell these men to lower their gaze, for we know what is in their hearts." She says, "The clergy loved it. The mullahs loved it. … It was the talk of the town."
• Costume designer Edith Head and actress Bette Davis worked together in many films, with good results. Still, mishaps occurred. Fortunately, with some problem-solving the mishaps sometimes resulted in improvements to the costumes. For the film All About Eve, Ms. Head designed a dress with a square neckline, but when the dress was finished (the night before the scene was to be shot, due to a tight deadline) and Ms. Davis put it on before filming a scene, the neckline was too big for her. To fix the dress would take time, and that meant that filming the scene had to be delayed. However, Ms. Head told Ms. Davis that she would tell the director, Joe Mankiewicz, what had happened. But Ms. Davis called Ms. Head back before she left the dressing room. Ms. Davis had pulled the neckline of the dress off her shoulders. She asked Ms. Head, "Don't you like it better like this, anyway?" Ms. Head says, "It looked wonderful, and I could have hugged her. In fact, I think I did." Ms. Davis' off-the-shoulder dress is a well-loved movie costume.
Bit of a heat wave - over 20° warmer than seasonal. Ack.
Tonight, Sunday:
CBS starts the night with '60 Minutes', followed by a FRESH'God Friended Me', then a FRESH'NCIS: The Expendable One' followed by a FRESH'Madam Secretary'.
NBC fills the night with LIVE'Sunday Night Football', then pads the left coast with local crap and maybe an old 'Dateline'.
ABC begins the night with a FRESH'America's So-Called Funniest Home Videos', followed by a FRESH'Kids Say The Darndest Things', then a FRESH'Shark Tank', followed by a FRESH'The Rookie'.
The CW offers a FRESH'Batwoman', followed by a FRESH'Supergirl'.
Faux has an old 'Modern Family', followed by another old 'Modern Family', then a FRESH'The Simpsons', followed by a FRESH'Bless The Harts', then a FRESH'Bob's Burgers', followed by a FRESH'Family Guy'.
MY recycles an old 'How I Met Your Mother', followed by another old 'How I Met Your Mother', then an old 'Big Bang Theory', followed by another old 'Big Bang Theory', then still another old 'Big Bang Theory', followed by yet another old 'Big Bang Theory'.
AMC offers 'The Walking Dead', another 'The Walking Dead', followed by a FRESH'The Walking Dead', then a FRESH'Talking Dead'.
BBC -
[6:00AM] PLANET EARTH: THE BLUE PLANET - SEASON 1 - EPISODE 5-Seasonal Seas
[7:00AM] PLANET EARTH: THE BLUE PLANET - SEASON 1 - EPISODE 6-Coral Seas
[8:00AM] UNDER SIEGE (1992)
[10:30AM] ERASER (1996)
[1:00PM] TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY (1991)
[4:00PM] SAVING PRIVATE RYAN (1998)
[8:00PM] BRAVEHEART (1995)
[12:00AM] SAVING PRIVATE RYAN (1998)
[4:00AM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - SEASON 3 - EPISODE 25-Transfigurations
[5:00AM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - SEASON 3 - EPISODE 26-The Best of Both Worlds (Part 1) (ALL TIMES EST)
Bravo has 'Real Housewives Of Atlanta', followed by a FRESH'Real Housewives Of Atlanta', then something TBA, followed by a FRESH'Watch What Happens Live'.
FX has the movie 'Kingsman: The Golden Circle', followed by a FRESH'The Weekly', and another 'The Weekly'.
History has 'Vietnam In HD', another 'Vietnam In HD', and still another 'Vietnam In HD'.
IFC -
[6:15A] Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
[8:30A] Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
[11:15A] Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
[1:45P] X-Men: The Last Stand
[4:15P] Contact
[7:30P] The Last Witch Hunter
[10:00P] The Last Witch Hunter
[12:30A] Hellboy
[3:00A] Hellboy II: The Golden Army
[5:30A] Pee-wee's Playhouse - The Restaurant (ALL TIMES EST)
CBS is the first U.S. broadcast network to announce its plans to pre-empt regular daytime programming for coverage of next week's first public hearings in the impeachment inquiry. All of the broadcast networks are expected to join cable news channels and news streaming services to cover the hearings, which will start Wednesday with the testimony of Bill Taylor, the top diplomat in Ukraine, and George Kent, deputy assistant secretary in the European and Eurasian Bureau at the State Department.
CBS Evening News anchor Norah O'Donnell will lead coverage of the hearing and another one scheduled for November 15, with testimony from Marie Yovanovitch, the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine. CBS Evening News also will originate from Washington on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of next week. The newscast is expected to move to Washington permanently by the end of the year.
CBS also said that it will provide coverage on CBSN, its streaming service, along with coverage on CBS News Radio and CBS Newspath. CBS This Morning also will feature interviews and analysis, with co-hosts Gayle King, Anthony Mason and Tony Dokoupil joined by 60 Minutes correspondent John Dickerson with historical perspective.
Others contributing to the network coverage include Face the Nation moderator and senior foreign affairs correspondent Margaret Brennan, chief Washington correspondent Major Garrett, chief congressional correspondent Nancy Cordes, political correspondent Ed O'Keefe and White House correspondent Paula Reid. Contributors Jonathan Turley and Kim Wehle will provide analysis.
Teen climate activist Greta Thunberg is staring down at pedestrians in the heart of San Francisco where an artist is painting a massive mural of the Nobel Peace Prize nominee.
SFGate reports Friday that Argentine muralist Andres Iglesias, who signs his art with the pseudonym Cobre, is set to finish the artwork of the Swedish 16-year-old in Union Square by next week.
Iglesias tells SFGate that he's donating his time to complete the work and that he hopes the mural helps people realize "we have to take care of the world."
He also painted a mural of Robin Williams in downtown San Francisco that has since been demolished.
With a new film picking up box office steam overseas, Woody Allen has ended his $68 million lawsuit against Amazon.
The Jeff Bezos-founded studio and the Oscar-winning director filed paperwork late last night ending the nearly year-old legal action. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed, but sources close to the situation tell me, "there were no winners in this in the end."
The breach-of-contract suit stemmed from Amazon's cancellation of Allen's four-picture deal in the heart of the #MeToo movement. Allen sued in February, claiming Amazon unilaterally backed out of the deal because of allegations by his estranged daughter, Dylan Farrow, that he had molested her when she was seven-years-old. Allen has long denied the charges and has faced no criminal actions stemming from investigations of her claim.
The Allen lawsuit claimed Amazon knew of the allegations and owed him $68 million in guaranteed payments. The studio cancelled the release of his 2018 film, A Rainy Day in New York, and dropped plans for three more.
At least one Wisconsin county official wants to warn any journalists who cover the upcoming release of a regional water quality study: Publish the county's news release summarizing the findings in its entirety without any alterations or risk criminal prosecution.
The Lafayette County Conservation Committee plans to vote Tuesday on the resolution, which would warn reporters to print the upcoming news release without any edits or alterations or face prosecution. It isn't clear which committee member or members wrote the resolution or whether they sought legal advice before proposing it, but the effort looks blatantly unconstitutional, according to experts in media law.
"All I can say is: Wow," UW-Madison journalism instructor Kathleen Bartzen Culver said in an email to The Associated Press. "I am astonished that a local government would find it appropriate, much less legal, to threaten a news organization with prosecution for doing what they are constitutionally protected in doing - representing the public interest by seeking, analyzing and reporting information.
"For the life of me, I'm struggling to envision under what statute a journalist would be prosecuted for covering water test results released by local government."
Federal and state researchers have been working on a joint study measuring contamination in private wells in Grant, Iowa and Lafayette counties, which are in southeastern Wisconsin. They released results in August that found that 32 of 35 tested wells - or 91% - contained human or livestock fecal matter.
A series of contests for donors to Donald "Lumpy" Trump (R-Grifter)'s election campaign to win a prize of sharing breakfast, lunch or dinner with the US president have been condemned as a "fraud".
Media reports this week have cast doubt on whether the competitions produce real winners, fueling speculation that Trump, accused of swindling the public in past ventures such as Trump University, is at it again.
Richard Painter, a former White House chief ethics lawyer, spoke out amid deepening questions over the fundraising lotteries that, so far, the Trump campaign has been unable to answer.
The issue was first raised by the Popular Information website run by Judd Legum, former editor-in-chief of ThinkProgress, a progressive news site. It scrutinized at least 15 contests the Trump campaign has run since last year offering the chance to win breakfast, lunch or dinner with the president.
"Supporters are enticed to donate to Trump's campaign with promises of free travel, accommodations, and an 'epic' meal with Trump at various locations across the country," the site said. "An investigation by Popular Information, however, did not uncover evidence that anyone has ever actually won."
After an upsurge in racially motivated attacks around the world, other countries are beginning to regard the United States as an exporter of white supremacism, a senior U.S. counterterrorism official said Friday.
"For almost two decades, the United States has pointed abroad at countries who are exporters of extreme Islamist ideology," Russell Travers, acting director of the National Counterterrorism Center, told an audience in Washington, D.C. "We are now being seen as the exporter of white supremacist ideology. That's a reality with which we are going to have to deal."
Travers said there is now a global movement of what he termed "racially motivated violent extremism," or RMVE (pronounced "rem-vee"), fueled by a wide variety of motivations and facilitated by social media and other online communications.
Having spent the years since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, honing their skills at combating Islamist groups, U.S. counterterrorism officials are playing catch-up when it comes to the burgeoning white supremacist threat, according to Travers.
Former Trump campaign manager and White House strategist Steve Bannon testified in the Roger Stone trial on Friday, and it did not go well for Stone. Bannon, who was subpoenaed as a witness, told the court that Stone claimed to be in contact with Wikileaks prior to the release of Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta's emails, something Stone denied to the Mueller investigation and Congress.
"He had a relationship, or told me he had a relationship with WikiLeaks," Bannon, who was sporting his trademark look of too-many-shirts told the jury. "It was something I think he would frequently mention."
But more than that, according to Bannon, Stone also said he was in touch with Wikileaks' top brass. "I was led to believe he had a relationship with WikiLeaks and [its founder] Julian Assange," Bannon said.
Explaining Stone's tactics, Bannon testified, "Roger is an expert in the tougher side of politics. When you're this far behind, you're going to have to use every tool in the tool box… opposition research, dirty tricks, the kind of things campaigns use when you need to make up some ground."
Descendants of Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés and Aztec emperor Moctezuma met Friday in Mexico City to mark the 500th anniversary of their forebearers' first encounter.
Federico Acosta, a Mexican who traces his lineage back 16 generations to Moctezuma's daughter, embraced Ascanio Pignatelli of Italy in a bear hug.
Acosta is quite sure of his lineage: up until the 1930s, his family received a pension granted by the government to Moctezuma's descendants.
And Pignatelli's family had inherited one of Cortes' noble titles, until they sold it.
Dozens of cadets and youngsters from Russia's Youth Army have been getting up close and personal with perhaps the world's most iconic firearm as their country marks the centenary of the birth of Mikhail Kalashnikov, inventor of the legendary AK-47 rifle.
At Victory Museum in western Moscow, visitors including the young cadets are invited to assemble Kalashnikovs and pose for selfies at the exhibition dedicated to the ubiquitous automatic weapon.
On Sunday, the 100th anniversary of Kalashinkov's birth is to be marked by a number of events, including the museum display and a biopic.
The military engineer, who died in 2013 at the age of 94, is seen in Russia as a national hero and symbol of the country's proud military past.
His assault rifle has become a weapon of choice for both guerrillas and governments the world over. It is also a staple of military education in Russia.
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