Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Marc Dion: I Won't Gloat. I Won't Gloat. (Creators Syndicate)
As the toothed trap closes on Donald Trump, he contemplates going coyote, and chewing through his own leg, leaving it behind and limping off into the underbrush to either heal or grow a new one. In other words, he dithers and jitters on the edge of a revolution, beginning, and not timidly, to call for said revolution, a rising up of "We the People." They will, he figures, rise up in their sweatpanted millions, leaving the couch and the Cheetos and the beer, so entranced by the thought of shooting liberals instead of paper gun-range targets that they will cheerfully miss "Monday Night Football," maybe for years.
Froma Harrop: New Yorkers Yelling at New Yorkers (Creators Syndicate)
Respected news sources have described those 16 televised minutes of shouting between Donald Trump and "Chuck and Nancy" as an "altercation" and a "lurid" exchange. To New York ears, it was just a discussion. As Johnny Carson (the late "Tonight Show" host) once said, "anytime four New Yorkers get into a cab together without arguing, a bank robbery has just taken place."
Hadley Freeman: It's the year that celebrities were held to account. But what happens next? (The Guardian)
From Kevin Hart to Lena Dunham to Christmas songs, sometimes it's a good idea to look critically at the past. But you can't just ban everything.
Froma Harrop: Few of Us Are Even Remotely Prepared for Elder Care (Creators Syndicate)
An illuminating piece in Barron's described how these demands can shock even experts on the subject. One was AARP's Amy Goyer. Her parents were relatively well-prepared. They had pensions and long-term care insurance. But when Goyer's mother suffered a stroke and her father was diagnosed with Alzheimer's, their continuing-care retirement center would no longer keep them. Goyer moved to Phoenix to tend to her parents at their home. Her mother died, but she was still taking care of her father 12 years later.
Mark Shields: Most Wasted of All Days: One Without Laughter (Creators Syndicate)
Most American political leaders would agree with the poet e.e. cummings, who wisely wrote: "The most wasted of all days is one without laughter." For example, then-presidential nominee George W. Bush garbled in La Crosse, Wisconsin, on Oct. 18, 2000, "Families is where our nation finds hope, where wings take dream." Once elected, Bush 43 was able to laugh at himself at a press dinner by approvingly quoting humorist Garrison Keillor, who had written: "George Bush's lips are where words go to die."
Lenore Skenazy: Carols to Wring Out 2018 (Creators Syndicate)
Frosty the Traveler had a plane to catch that day,
So he stood in line, feeling mighty fine
Till he met the TSA.
He must've looked suspicious, 'cause he saw the agents frown,
But when he cried "Don't touch down there!"
They began to pat him down!
'A beacon in the dark of winter': the Christmas songs that shaped us (The Guardian)
From singing Mariah Carey with drag queens in the desert to being driven mad by the Asda playlist, Guardianwriters share their most poignant festive music memories.
Suzanne Moore: Pete Shelley wasn't just a genius, he was a relief from the machismo of punk (The Guardian)
Coy, proudly intelligent and too poppy for punk, the Buzzcocks frontman was just what this young music obsessive needed.
"If You See Me Fall" (Wordpress)
Written & performed by George J. Raymond.
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Presenting
Michael Egan
wrote:
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
A Celebration of Marc's Life
Marc Perkel
There will be a webcast of "Celebration of Marc Perkel's Life" that will be taking place on Sunday, December 16th at 2pm in Palo Alto.
The URL for the webcast will be :
tinyurl.com/marcperkelmemorial
from Bruce
Anecdotes
• Some Rabbis sought Abba Hilkiah to ask him to pray for rain. For a long time, he ignored them-at work, during his journey home, and while he and his family were eating-but then he and his wife went up on the roof of their home, stood at different ends, and prayed for rain, and soon rain clouds came from the direction that his wife was standing and rain began to fall. Abba Hilkiah, who had also done things that he knew puzzled the other Rabbis, explained his behavior to them. The Rabbis had greeted him with "Peace," but because he was working for pay, he did not talk to the Rabbis but instead kept working because he wanted to give his employee a decent day's work for a decent day's pay. When he went home, he carried his cloak on one shoulder and some twigs on the other instead of carrying the twigs in the cloak because he had borrowed the cloak so that he could wear it and not so that he could carry twigs in it. On his way home, he had carried his shoes except for when he had crossed water because on the path he could see what lay before him but he could not see what was in the water. When he had come to bushes with thorns, he had lifted up his pants legs because his flesh could heal but his clothes could not. When he sat down to eat with his family, he did not ask the Rabbis to eat with them because there was not enough food to go around. Seeing that, the Rabbis would have declined to eat, and he didn't want credit for offering them something that he knew that they would decline. When he portioned out the food, he gave the younger son twice as much food as the older son because the older son had eaten at school while the younger son still stayed home all day. Finally, he answered the last question they were thinking: Why did the rain clouds come from the direction where his wife was? Abba Hilkiah said, "Because she is always in the house and gives bread to the poor who come to the house, and the enjoyment of bread is immediate; while I give money, the enjoyment of which is not immediate. Or perhaps it is because of the bandits who were in our neighborhood. I prayed to God that they should die, but she prayed that they should repent."
• A man came to R. Mendel and asked him to pray for him to gain a livelihood. R. Mendel replied, "Pray to God yourself, and He will give you a livelihood." The man then admitted that he did not know how to pray. R. Mendel was astonished by this and by the man's priorities: "You do not know how to pray and yet you complain that you have no livelihood? You want a minor wish granted and are not worried about the major problem?"
• Muslims say five daily prayers. This may seem like a lot to non-Muslims, but the number of daily prayers could have been much higher. The angel Gabriel visited the prophet Muhammad in Mecca and took him first to Jerusalem and then to the heavens, where Muhammad crossed the threshold leading to the Divine Presence. When Muhammad left to return to Earth, he left with instructions about daily prayers, of which there were 50. However, on his way back to Earth Muhammad met Moses, who advised him to return and cross the threshold again into the Divine Presence and ask for a reduction in the number of daily prayers. This happened a number of times, and when Muhammad finally returned to Earth, the number of obligatory daily prayers had been reduced to five, which Muslims still say each day.
• The Buddhists believe in a realm of being that is populated by "hungry ghosts." They have enormous bodies but very small mouths, so they are constantly feeding themselves to fill up the emptiness inside. Thich Nhat Hanh, a Buddhist teacher in Vietnam, was once asked what the realm of the hungry ghosts is like. He replied, "America."
• The motherhouse of Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity had no stoves, no washing machines, no electric fans, no air conditioners. Mother Teresa explained, "I do not want them. The poor we serve have none." When she first had the idea of starting the Missionaries of Charity, she even thought that she would allow the nuns to eat only the kind of food the very poorest people ate - rice and salt. However, she asked advice from Mother Dengal, who told her, "How do you expect your sisters to work, if their bodies receive no sustenance?" As a result of the advice, Mother Teresa allowed her nuns to eat well, but to eat only simple food.
• A group of Soviet Communists visited the United States and toured an American car factory which had a parking lot filled with cars. The Communists were informed that the factory belonged to Henry Ford but that the cars in the parking lot were owned by the workers. Later, a group of American Capitalists visited the USSR, where they toured a car factory that had a parking lot with only one car in it. The Capitalists were informed that the factory belonged to the workers but that the car was owned by the factory manager.
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© Copyright Bruce D. Bruce; All Rights Reserved
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Selected Readings
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In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Running late.
Renewed for Season 2
David Letterman
Netflix is keeping David Letterman in the talk-show game a little longer. The streamer announced Friday it has renewed the late-night legend's "My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman" for a second season.
Letterman's series will return with six new episodes in 2019, "combining humor, curiosity and in-depth conversations with extraordinary people." Guests for Season 2 will be announced at a later date.
The first season of "My Next Guest Needs No Introduction" launched in January 2018, with Netflix releasing six episodes (usually one per month), each featuring one guest. Over the course of Season 1, Letterman sat down with Barack Obama, Jay-Z, Malala Yousafzai, George Clooney, Tina Fey, and Howard Stern.
The Emmy-nominated series is Letterman's first since he vacated his seat at CBS' "The Late Show" in 2015.
Letterman hosts and executive produces "My Next Guest Needs No Introduction," which is also executive produced by Lydia Tenaglia, Sandy Zweig, Chris Collins, and Chris Cechin-De la Rosa for Zero Point Zero Productions and Tom Keaney and Mary Barclay for Worldwide Pants.
David Letterman
Court Quotes
Dr. Seuss
A federal court has vacated an environmental permit that would have allowed The Atlantic Coast Pipeline to cross two national forests, according to a court opinion filed Thursday with the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.
The opinion quotes Dr. Seuss' The Lorax, saying: "We trust the United States Forest Service to 'speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues.' " A review of the permit records led the court to decide that the Forest Service "abdicated its responsibility to preserve national forest resources."
"This conclusion is particularly informed by the Forest Service's serious environmental concerns that were suddenly, and mysteriously, assuaged in time to meet a private pipeline company's deadlines," the opinion reads.
The court granted a petition to review the Forest Service's Record of Decision and Special Use Permit, vacate the Forest Service's decisions and remand to the Forest Service for proceedings consistent with the new opinion.
The filing is the second recent environmental permit setback for the 600-mile $5.5 billion project. On Dec. 7, construction for the project was halted when the same court denied another key environmental permit.
Dr. Seuss
Largest Diamond Ever Found
North America
The largest diamond ever found in North America has been unearthed in Canada.
The 552-carat yellow diamond was found at Diavik Diamond Mine, northeast of Yellowknife in October and measures about the size of a chicken-egg.
"This incredible discovery showcases what is truly spectacular about Canadamark diamonds," said Kyle Washington, Chairman of Dominion Diamond Mines.
The gemstone, which measures 33.74mm x 54.56mm, was discovered while passing through the initial screening process at Diavik's recovery plant.
The company said the find "far surpasses" the previous record held for a North American diamond. In 2015 a two billion-year-old 187.7-carat diamond dubbed "Foxfire" was unveiled.
North America
Loses Sponsor
Little Tucker
Insurance company Pacific Life will stop airing advertisements on Tucker Carlson Tonight, after the Fox News host suggested that immigrants make America "poorer and dirtier."
Carlson opened Thursday's broadcast by discussing mass immigration, arguing that it is "insane" and "indefensible," from an economic standpoint, to allow immigrants into America.
"Instead, our leaders demand that you shut up and accept this," Carlson continued. "'We have a moral obligation to admit the world's poor,' they tell us, even if it makes our own country poorer and dirtier and more divided…. Huddled masses yearning to breathe free? Nope. Cynical shakedown artists who've been watching too much CNN."
Carlson's immigration segment was immediately followed by a promo for Pacific Life, which has been sponsoring Tucker Carlson Tonight for just over a year.
This is not the first time advertisers have fled from Fox News programming. Earlier this year, multiple sponsors pulled their ads from Laura Ingraham's show after she posted a tweet that mocked David Hogg, a survivor of the Parkland, Fla. school shooting.
Little Tucker
Landmark House Demolished
San Francisco
A man who illegally demolished a San Francisco house designed by modernist architect Richard Neutra was ordered this week to rebuild it exactly as it was.
The city Planning Commission also ordered Ross Johnston to add a sidewalk plaque telling the entire saga of the house's origins in the 1930s, its demolition and replication.
It's not known whether he will follow through. A call and email message seeking comments from Johnston's lawyer has not been returned.
Johnston had received permission only to remodel the two-story house he bought for $1.7 million in 2017 with a design that would have largely kept the first floor intact, the San Francisco Chronicle reported .
Instead, everything but the garage door and frame of the house was knocked down.
San Francisco
Disney Actor Fired
Stoney Westmoreland
Disney Channel actor Stoney Westmoreland has been fired after he was arrested in Salt Lake City for allegedly attempting to have a sexual relationship with an online acquaintance he believed was 13 years old.
In a statement Saturday, Disney announced that the 48-year-old Westmoreland had been dropped from the sitcom "Andi Mack," on which he plays the grandfather of the teen-age title character. The show films in Utah.
Salt Lake police detective Greg Wilking told The Associated Press that Westmoreland was on his way to what he believed would be a sexual encounter when he was arrested Friday and charged with enticing a minor and sending inappropriate materials, including nude images. A message left with Westmoreland's agent, Mitchell Stubbs, was not immediately returned.
Westmoreland's other acting credits include "Scandal" and "Breaking Bad."
Stoney Westmoreland
Vanishing Ice
Alaska
There's a line in the 2018 Arctic Report Card that I keep coming back to.
Released this week by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, it notes with alarm the record low extent for virtually the entire ice season in the Bering Sea.
The line brings me back to a sunny midsummer morning in Teller, Alaska. I'm standing with Mayor Blanche Obanoke-Garnie, just above Teller's shoreline. I had traveled 4,000 miles north as a National Geographic explorer to listen and learn how Americans were responding to the dynamic and dangerous shifts along our coastlines as sea levels rise.
As we looked out into sea's wide expanse, Blanche explained that ice, and the protection it brings, had always been a given for Teller.
Teller sits on the most north-western edge of the North American continent. A remote town of around 230 Iñupiat residents, the community is built on a gravel spit that juts out into the Bering Strait. Sea ice is critical to the survival of the village, which is surrounded on three sides by water.
Alaska
Don't Form Like Meteorologists Thought
Tornadoes
Picture a tornado forming. Does the funnel cloud in your mind's eye reach down from the sky like a malicious, spindly finger?
If so, that mental picture may be all wrong. New research suggests that tornadoes form not from the clouds down, but from the ground up.
In a new study presented yesterday (Dec. 13) at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union in Washington, D.C., Ohio University meteorologist Jana Houser argued that of four tornadoes observed in enough detail with a rapid radar technique, not a single one started its rotation in the sky. Instead, Houser and her team found, the tornado rotation began rapidly near the ground.
"Tornadoes do not appear to form from the traditional, top-down mechanism," Houser told reporters at a news briefing.
Meteorologists know that tornadoes form when the winds in a strong storm begin to rotate. Predicting exactly when this will happen, and which storms will spawn strong tornadoes, is more difficult. A study from more than two decades ago using radar of tornado formation found that 67 percent of tornadoes formed from rotation in the clouds that extended toward the ground, Houser said. But that radar was relatively slow: It scanned each area of the horizon only every 5 minutes. Houser and her team used a rapid-scanning mobile radar unit that takes readings every 30 seconds and found that tornadoes formed far more rapidly than that, on the order of 30 seconds to 90 seconds.
Tornadoes
4,400-Year-Old Tomb Discovered
'Divine Inspector'
A 4,400-year-old tomb constructed for a "divine inspector" named "Wahtye" and holding at least 55 statues has been discovered at Saqqara in Egypt, the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities announced this morning (Dec 15).
The tomb is "exceptionally well preserved and [colorful] with sculptures inside," Egyptian antiquities minister Khaled El-Enany said at the press conference. Beneath the tomb, archaeologists found five hidden shafts, one of which, they said, could hold Wahtye's sarcophagus.
Wahtye was a high-ranking priest who carried the title of divine inspector, said Mostafa Waziri, the general secretary of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities who led the Egyptian team that discovered the tomb. Wahtye worked for a pharaoh named Neferirkare (reign ca. 2446-2438 B.C.), Waziri said.
The tomb contains two levels with 24 statues on the upper level and 31 statues on the lower level, Waziri said. Most, if not all, of the statues, show humans or deities, with some appearing life-size and others appearing to be less than about 3 feet (1 meter) tall.
The hieroglyphs discovered in the tomb often mention Wahtye's mother "Merit Meen," a name that means "the lover of the god Min, the god of fertility in ancient times," Waziri said. The hieroglyphs also mention Wahtye's wife "Nin Winit Ptah," a name that means "the greatest of the god Ptah," Waziri said. Ptah was a creator god associated with Memphis, an ancient Egyptian capital near Saqqara.
'Divine Inspector'
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