Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Marc Dion: Don't Get Shot By the Cops! Wear Tweed! (Creators Syndicate)
Recently, police in the city where I live shot a 19-year-old Hispanic man in circumstances that remain under investigation, as they say while waiting for the public to lose interest. Of course, as soon as the guy died, people whose agendas have eaten their souls found the young man's Facebook page and before you could say, "The little spic deserved it," they were posting pictures of him shirtless, in a logo cap with the brim straight across, waving a bottle of Hennessey cognac.
Paul Krugman: Days of Greed and Desperation (NY Times Blog)
… many Republicans now see themselves and/or their party in such dire straits that they're no longer even trying to improve their future electoral position; instead, it's all about grabbing as much for their big donors while they still can. Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose; in the GOP's case, that means the freedom to be the party of, by, and for oligarchs they always wanted to be.
Josh Marshall: There's a Digital Media Crash. But No One Will Say It (TPM)
Like I said, it's a crash. It's largely because scale hasn't worked in most cases. But it's definitely a crash. Just no one's willing to say so yet.
MICHAEL TOMASKY: At Snopes, a Peek Down the Right-Wing Rabbit Holes (Daily Beast)
Fake news is a perfect marriage of corrupt capitalism (make-a-buck pranksters) and corrupt constitutionalism (people who lie under protection of the First Amendment).
Laura Snapes: "Charlotte Gainsbourg: 'Maybe Lars von Trier is capable of that. But he didn't do it with me'" (Guardian)
The actor and singer has long wrestled with the taboo-tackling legacy of her father Serge's songwriting. But as her new album Rest is released, has she finally found her confidence? And what does she make of the allegations against her Nymphomaniac director?
Peter Robinson: The bland leading the bland: Maroon 5 and the other most popular bands of the 21st century (Guardian)
Data from the Billboard charts shows us the top pop groups in the States since 2000. It doesn't make for edifying reading.
Rebecca Newberger Goldstein: The Odyssey and the Other (Atlantic)
What the epic can teach about encounters with strangers abroad and at home.
Jenny Kleeman: "'It tears every part of your life away': the truth about male infertility" (Guardian)
Men are facing a fertility crisis, so why is most practical and emotional support offered to couples struggling to conceive aimed at women?
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Presenting
Michael Egan
took the day off.
wrote:
In memory.
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
Bonus Links
Jeannie the Teed-Off Temp
from Marc Perkel
Marc's Guide to Curing Cancer
So far so good on beating cancer for now. I'm doing fine. At the end of the month I'll be 16 months into an 8 month mean lifespan. And yesterday I went on a 7 mile hike and managed to keep up with the hiking group I was with. So, doing something right.
Still waiting for future test results and should see things headed in the right direction. I can say that it's not likely that anything dire happens in the short term so that means that I should have time to make several more attempts at this. So even if it doesn't work the first time there are a lot of variations to try. So if there's bad news it will help me pick the next radiation target.
I have written a "how to" guide for oncologists to perform the treatment that I got. I'm convinced that I'm definitely onto something and whether it works for me or not isn't the definitive test. I know if other people tried this that it would work for some of them, and if they improve it that it will work for a lot of them.
The guide is quite detailed and any doctor reading this can understand the procedure at every level. I also go into detail as to how it works, how I figured it out, and variations and improvements that could be tried to enhance it. I also introduce new ways to look at the problem. There is a lot of room for improvement and I think that doctors reading it will see what I'm talking about and want to build on it. And it's written so that if you're not a doctor you can still follow it. It also has a personal story revealing that I'm the class clown of cancer support group. I give great interviews and I look pretty hot in a lab coat.
So, feel free to read this and see what I'm talking about. But if any of you want to help then pass this around to both doctors and cancer patients. I need some media coverage. I'm looking for as many eyeballs as possible to read these ideas. Even if this isn't the solution, it's definitely on the right track. After all, I did hike 7 miles yesterday. And this hiking group wasn't moving slow. So if this isn't working then, why am I still here?
I also see curing cancer as more of an engineering problem that a medical problem. So if you are good at solving problems and most of what you know about medicine was watching the Dr. House MD TV show, then you're at the level I was at when I started. So anyone can jump in and be part of the solution.
Here is a link to my guide: Oncologists Guide to Curing Cancer using Abscopal Effect
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
MOORE PROBLEMS.
HOME OF THE SNIVELING AND THE LAND OF THE GREED!
THE TRIUMPH OF EVIL.
SOON HE WILL BE SELLING FRENCH FRIES FOR THE DEVIL.
BABY "SAUSAGE ROLL".
"THE HISTORY OF IDIOCY"
"BACK TO THE FUTURE"
VENGEANCE IS MINE SAYETH THE REPUGS.
"IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT AND I FEEL FINE".
TRUMPS LAUNDROMAT.
FAKING IT.
Visit JD's site - Kitty Litter Music
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny and getting warmer.
Man With An Opinion
Bill Maher
Bill Maher had his say on the controversy engulfing his friend Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) on Friday's broadcast of "Real Time."
Maher acknowledged that Franken, who anchorwoman Leeann Tweeden has accused of groping and kissing her without consent during a USO tour in 2006, had done "a bad thing" and deserved the universal condemnation he's received.
But Maher said Franken didn't deserve to be "lumped in" with other prominent figures facing sexual misconduct allegations, such as the GOP's Alabama Senate nominee Roy Moore, Hollywood actor Kevin Spacey, movie mogul Harvey Weinstein and President Donald Trump.
"Trump called his accusers liars, threatened to sue them, did long riffs at his rallies where he'd say they were too ugly for him to assault," said Maher. "Plus, with Al Franken we're talking about one incident. Trump has 16 accusers. Roy Moore has nine."
Maher also called for the launch of another #MeToo campaign, but one in which people can tell "two unlike things apart."
Bill Maher
Triumphs Over Nuns
Katy Perry
Pop superstar Katy Perry on Friday was awarded nearly $1.5 million as she prevailed anew in her drawn-out bid to move into a former convent in Los Angeles.
The singer of "Roar" and "I Kissed a Girl" has more Twitter followers than anyone else in the world at 106 million but had struggled to win the hearts of two elderly nuns who used to live in the convent.
The Roman Catholic archdiocese had agreed to sell the property, which lies vacant, to Perry. But the two nuns were unmoved, even when Perry visited and sang for them, and insisted they had authority to sell the former convent to a restaurant owner, Dana Hollister.
A Los Angeles jury decided Friday after a day of deliberation that Hollister intentionally interfered with the sale to Perry, including by falsely claiming the title to the property.
It awarded $1.57 million to Perry and $3.47 million to the archdiocese to cover the costs of their lawyers.
Katy Perry
Citizenship Process Time Nearly Doubles
Immigrants
For immigrants, the road to U.S. citizenship has always been a long and difficult one. But things could be getting worse.
The average processing time for naturalization applications has almost doubled, from about five months in early 2016 to an average of almost nine months today, according to a report from the National Partnership With New Americans.
The wait has undermined people's access to critical rights, John C. Yang, president and executive director of nonprofit Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC, told HuffPost in an email.
Many of these individuals want "to be engaged in the American political process," Yang said. "We must remember that they are citizens-in-waiting; almost all of them have been in the country for many years and have been fully integrated into American society."
Immigration experts say the rise in processing times could be due in part to the influx of naturalization applications around the presidential election, which has created a lengthy backlog. Over the past year, 1,028,647 lawful permanent residents have applied for citizenship, according to the National Partnership With New Americans report ? an increase of almost 11 percent over the prior year. The backlog has increased by more than 35 percent over last year, the report says.
Immigrants
Successfully Carried Out
Human Head Transplant
The world's first human head transplant has been carried out on a corpse in China in an 18-hour operation that showed it was possible to successfully reconnect the spine, nerves and blood vessels.
At a press conference in Vienna on Friday morning, Italian Professor Sergio Canavero, director of the Turin Advanced Neuromodulation Group, announced that a team at Harbin Medical University had "realised the first human head transplant" and said an operation on a live human will take place "imminently".
The operation was carried out by a team led by Dr Xiaoping Ren, who last year successfully grafted a head onto the body of a monkey.
Prof Canavero, said: "The first human transplant on human cadavers has been done. A full head swap between brain dead organ donors is the next stage.
Although Russian computer scientist Valery Spiridonov, who suffers spinal muscular atrophy, had volunteered to become the first head transplant patient, the team have since said the first trial is likely to be carried out on someone who is Chinese, because the chance of a Chinese donor body will be higher.
Human Head Transplant
Slipped Into Tax Bill
'Flimflam' Paid Leave
Tucked inside the Senate Republicans' latest tax bill is a proposal they're touting as a paid family leave plan.
It's not.
The provision, as written in the version of the bill released Wednesday, offers companies a small tax credit for giving workers as little as two weeks of paid time off for family and medical leave. What's covered by "family and medical leave" is not clearly defined. The concept is modeled on similar legislation pushed by Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) for the past few years.
While the measure is certainly a sign that paid leave has finally become a major bipartisan issue, what's on offer here will do little to address the needs of new parents in the United States, according to family advocates, some conservative economists and, well, common sense.
"It's a flimflam," said Ellen Bravo, co-director at Family Values@Work, a national coalition of paid leave advocates. "It's pretending to say we're giving you something new that people urgently need when, in fact, it's a giveaway to the bigger corporations that can already afford to do it."
'Flimflam' Paid Leave
Fundraiser In Trump Hotel
Bible Museum
A Bible Museum opening in Washington DC has come under fire for organising a $50,000 (£37,915) per table fundraising gala at a Trump hotel amid questions over its political affiliations.
The museum, which opened its doors to the public on Friday, has promoted itself as a non-political institution but critics have questioned its decision to host a fundraiser at a hotel owned by President-for-now Donald Trump's (R-Corrupt) company.
The $500 million Museum of the Bible spans an entire block of the city, making it the largest museum dedicated to the holy book in the world.
But controversy has surrounded the museum's main financial backers, the deeply religious and conservative Green family (R-Eye Of A Needle), who own the $4 billion arts and craft chain Hobby Lobby.
Steve Green, president of Hobby Lobby, said the institution he largely funded is meant to educate, not evangelise, though critics are dubious.
Bible Museum
Starts Paying His Own Legal Bills
T-rump
U.S. President-for-now Donald Trump (R-Crooked) has begun paying his own legal bills related to the Russia investigation and will no longer cover the costs using political donations to his re-election campaign or the Republican Party, his attorneys confirmed on Friday.
Trump defense lawyer John Dowd said that following payments by the Republican National Committee, the president began paying the bills and now wants to make the party "even." The RNC confirmed it is no longer paying the bills.
The expenses cover personal lawyers representing Trump in special prosecutor Robert Mueller's probe of possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia in last year's election. Moscow has denied meddling in the election, and Trump has denied any collusion.
The investigation has hounded Trump's presidency. Mueller already has secured an indictment of Trump's former campaign chief and another aide, while a third former adviser pleaded guilty.
Additionally, Trump's re-election campaign paid more than $300,000 this year in bills to lawyers representing his son, Donald Trump Jr., according to public disclosures. The campaign did not respond to a request for comment on whether it will continue to pay for Trump Jr's legal expenses.
T-rump
More Conservative Family Values
Ohio
An Ohio lawmaker known for his devotion to "family values" has stepped down after allegedly engaging in "inappropriate conduct with another man" in his office.
State Rep. Wes Goodman (R-Cardington) resigned Tuesday after a witness reported the incident to Ohio House chief of staff Mike Dittoe, according to the Columbus Dispatch. Specifics of the alleged incident are unclear.
Goodman regularly displayed photos of himself and his wife on his website, where he also wrote about protecting family values. The site appeared to be down as of Friday afternoon, and Goodman's Twitter account has been set to private.
"The ideals of a loving father and mother, a committed natural marriage, and a caring community are well worth pursuing and protecting," he wrote on his official website, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.
Goodman also served as the managing director of the Conservative Action Project, which fought for "conservative principles" like "repealing Obamacare" and "religious liberty," according to the AP.
Ohio
Conservative Congressman "Misled" Authorities
Montana
A Montana congressman misled investigators about his assault on a reporter the day before he was elected and claimed that the "liberal media" was "trying to make a story" out of it, according to documents released Friday.
U.S. Rep. Greg Gianforte, a Republican, told an officer in the aftermath of the attack that Guardian newspaper reporter Ben Jacobs had grabbed him by the wrist and pulled both of them to the floor, according to notes from a Gallatin County sheriff's officer who interviewed the politician the night of the attack.
Multiple witnesses contradicted that account, and Gianforte later pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault. The attack occurred the day before his victory in a May 25 special election, by which time many voters already had cast ballots by mail.
More than 100 pages of documents, photos and audio from the investigation were released under a court order following requests from The Associated Press and other news organizations.
The documents include interviews with members of a Fox News crew who were in the room with Gianforte and Jacobs at the politician's Bozeman campaign office. They said Gianforte became enraged over what he perceived as biased coverage before body-slamming Jacobs, throwing him to the ground and punching him.
Montana
In Memory
Ann Wedgeworth
Ann Wedgeworth, a Tony Award-winning actress most widely known for roles on sitcoms Evening Shade and Three's Company, died Thursday following a lengthy illness at a New York area nursing home, her family has announced. She was 83.
Wedgeworth, who won a National Society of Film Critics Award for her tough but poignant performance in 1985's Sweet Dreams - she played the mother of Jessica Lange's Patsy Cline - won the 1978 Tony Award for best featured actress in a play for Neil Simon's Chapter Two.
Born in Abilene, Texas, Wedgeworth moved to New York City in the late 1950s and soon joined The Actors Studio. She debuted on Broadway in 1958's Make a Million, and went on to take roles is such stage productions as Period of Adjustment and Blues for Mister Charlie. She appeared in A Lie of the Mind, Sam Shepard's off-Broadway play, in 1985. Her costar in the production, Geraldine Page, had married Wedgeworth's ex-husband, actor Rip Torn.
Wedgeworth's other credits include Scarecrow, Bang the Drum Slowly, Thieves, Steel Magnolias, Hard Promises, Love and a .45, and 1977's Handle with Care, for which she won her first National Society of Film Critics Award.
Among many TV roles, including Filthy Rich and Roseanne (she played the mother of John Goodman's Dan), Wedgeworth's Lana Shields of ABC's Three's Company became one of her best know. The character was essentially a substitute for Audra Lindley, who had been spun off for her own sitcom The Ropers.
Wedgeworth is survived by husband Ernie Martin, daughters Danae Torn and Dianna Martin. Tony Torn, Danae Torn's brother, tweeted news of Wedgeworth's passing yesterday.
Ann Wedgeworth
In Memory
Malcolm Young
AC/DC guitarist Malcolm Young has died aged 64, the band announced Saturday.
Young founded the Australian rock group with his brother Angus, who said he will leave "an enormous legacy".
Best known for their hit song Highway to Hell, AC/DC formed in 1973 and went on to produce 17 studio albums, selling more than 200 million records.
Malcolm had been suffering from dementia for the last three years, and was replaced in the band by his nephew Stevie Young.
Elder brother George, who the band described as a mentor, died earlier this year.
The three brothers were born in Scotland.
They emigrated to Australia as children with their family, although their eldest brother remained in the UK.
Malcolm Young
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