from Bruce
Anecdotes
Children
• As you may expect, science-fiction writer Isaac Asimov was a precocious child. He even taught himself to read. His father was proud of him and said to Isaac’s Uncle Joe, “Isaac can find any word in the dictionary.” Uncle Joe replied, “Impossible!” Isaac looked up the word “impossible” in the dictionary and showed it to Uncle Joe. In school later, Isaac ran into a problem. He showed off his intelligence in school, and some bullies disliked him because of that and so they beat him up. Isaac solved this problem by doing the homework of the biggest bully, who then kept the other bullies from beating him up.
• Hillary Rodham Clinton and her brother were not pampered when they were growing up — for one thing, they did not receive an allowance. Hillary’s brother, Tony, remembers doing chores around the house, then at dinner asking their father for a few dollars. However, having grown up during the Depression, their father was not free with money. Instead, he would give Tony an extra potato and say, “That’s your reward.” Hillary’s father was hard to please. Hillary would come home from school with a report card full of A’s, and her mother would be pleased and say, “Oh, that’s wonderful, dear.” However, her father would say, “You must go to a pretty easy school.”
• As a small child, Christina Lessa became entranced by gymnastics and started taking lessons. After a whole week of lessons, she decided to perform an Olympic-level balance beam dismount that takes years to learn. She broke her wrist and gave up her lessons, but as an adult she became a renowned photographer of gymnasts.
• When Muhammad Ali, nee Cassius Clay, was an infant, some of the first sounds he made were “gee-gee.” After he grew up and became a world-famous boxer, he claimed that he had been trying to say “Golden Gloves.” (Mr. Ali won the national amateur boxing tournament known as Golden Gloves twice in his career.)
• Obviously, the White House is very concerned about security. When Caroline Kennedy’s pet hamsters escaped from their cage, JFK’s press secretary, Pierre Salinger, announced at a press conference, “Our security is very tight, but these were extremely intelligent hamsters.”
• A Presbyterian family once visited a Baptist church where the family’s young daughter was very impressed by a stained glass window portraying Jesus. The daughter said, “I always knew God was a Presbyterian — but I didn’t know until today that Jesus was a Baptist.”
• Performance artist Rinde Eckert identifies his pivotal performance as the time he played Peter Rabbit while he was in kindergarten. Whenever he dipped his head so that his bunny ears flopped over his face, the audience laughed.
Church
• Abraham Lincoln once ran for Congress against pioneer preacher Peter Cartwright. Once, Mr. Lincoln attended one of his rival’s sermons. Mr. Cartwright asked everybody who wished to go to Heaven to stand up. Almost everyone stood up. Then he asked everybody who wished to avoid going to H*ll to stand up. At this point, everybody but Mr. Lincoln was standing. Mr. Cartwright then said, “I observe that many of you accepted my invitation to give their hearts to God and go to Heaven. I further observed that all but one of you indicated an aversion to going to H*ll. The sole exception is Mr. Lincoln, who failed to respond to either invitation. May I inquire of you, Mr. Lincoln, where you are going?” Mr. Lincoln replied, “I’m going to Congress.”
• Comedian Dick Van Dyke, who used to be a Sunday School teacher, once imagined a want ad for a Sunday School teacher: “Wanted: Teacher. Must have the wisdom of Solomon, the patience of Job, the courage of David. Must teach like St. Paul, lead like Moses, and stay cool under fire like Shadrach.” By the way, Mr. Van Dyke and his wife taught their young children to say this prayer: “Lord, we thank Thee for our food, for rest and home and all things good, for wind and rain and Heaven above, but most of all for those we love.”
***
© Copyright Bruce D. Bruce; All Rights Reserved
***
Be a Work of Art — Buy
Be a Work of Art — Buy The Paperback
Be a Work of Art — Buy Kindle
Be a Work of Art — Buy Apple
Be a Work of Art — Buy Barnes and Noble
Be a Work of Art — Buy Kobo
Be a Work of Art — Buy Smashwords: Many Formats, Including PDF
Presenting
Michael Egan
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
BRUCE'S RECOMMENDATION
BANDCAMP MUSIC
BRUCE'S RECOMMENDATION OF BANDCAMP MUSIC
Music: "Christmas at the Bolshoi Theatre"
Single: This is a one-sided single.
Artist: Girl Over Planet
Artist Location: Ykaterinburg, Russia
Info:
“Girl Over Planet is a foursome from Russia with great original surf tunes. They have a highly honed sound that sometimes wanders into the vibe of Los Straitjackets and Laika & Cosmonauts. Intelligent guitars and spacey keys create a more modern sound of surf music.”
Price: $1 (USD) for one-track single
Genre: Christmas. Surf Instrumental.
Links:
“Christmas at the Bolshoi Theatre”
Girl Over Planet on Bandcamp
Girl Over Planet on YouTube
Girl Over Planet — Topic on YouTube
Other Links:
Bruce’s Music Recommendations: FREE pdfs
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
Reader Contribution
Some Guy
Sorry, but I couldn't resist
..... some guy
Thanks, Guy!
New Venture
Michael Egan
Bonus Links
Jeannie the Teed-Off Temp
Reader Comment
Current Events
Greene as Wonder Woman
A fun read (written by the wonderful Evan), but truly worth it to watch the embedded video clip of "Marjorie Taylor Greene" as Wonder Woman battle Black Lives Matter! Once you watch it, you're pretty much speechless in awe:
that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny but brisk (for these parts).
Dropped From ‘Bob’s Burgers’
Jay Johnston
Actor and comedian Jay Johnston has been dropped from the cast of the Fox animated show “Bob’s Burgers” over claims that he participated in the Jan. 6 Capitol riots based on photos taken from the attack, according to The Daily Beast.
The Beast reports Fox has “banned” Johnston from playing Jimmy Pesto, the business rival to Bob Belcher, who runs a pizzeria across the street from Bob’s burger grill. Jimmy last appeared on a “Bob’s Burgers” episode that aired on May 12 but hasn’t appeared during the show’s current 12th season.
Johnston, whose credits include “Mr. Show” and “Arrested Development,” has spoken his support for Donald Trump. And, in 2015, Johnston appeared on a podcast hosted by Gavin McInnes, founder of the far-right extremist group Proud Boys, which had several dozen of its members participate in the Jan. 6 attacks.
Back in March, two actors who worked with Johnston on the podcast “Harmontown” identified Johnston as an individual in a green jacket listed as wanted by federal authorities in an FBI tweet.
The Beast reports that the “Bob’s Burgers” team and Fox are trying to not make “a big deal” out of Johnston’s ousting from the show.
Jay Johnston
Fire Damages Distribution Center
QVC
A fire ripped through a distribution center in North Carolina for the QVC home-shopping television network early Saturday, causing extensive damage to the facility, officials said.
More than 300 employees were working at the facility near Rocky Mount when the fire was reported shortly after 2 a.m., The News & Observer reported. No injuries were immediately reported.
QVC representatives reported that all employees safely evacuated the warehouse and were accounted for except for one who hadn’t contacted family yet, according to Edgecombe County Manager Eric Evans. Earlier Saturday, Evans had said all of the center’s employees appeared to be accounted for.
QVC said in a subsequent statement that it was working with local authorities to confirm the safety of all employees and contractors at the site. It said it had close to 2,000 “team members” working at the complex, spread over three shifts.
Evans said a “main section” of the 1.2 million-square-foot (365,000-square-meter) facility appears to be destroyed. Crews from nearly 45 fire departments were still fighting the blaze more than 12 hours after it began.
QVC
Blowout Is ‘Scam’
ESPN
An Ohio school whose legitimacy was scrutinized after its supposedly top-tier football team got clobbered in an ESPN-televised game didn’t live up to its billing educationally either: It turned out to be “a scam,” according to an investigation by the Ohio Department of Education.
Republican Gov. Mike DeWine (R-Dupe) said he is asking the attorney general and other officials to determine whether any laws were broken by what claimed to be the Columbus-area Bishop Sycamore High School. DeWine also said he’ll work with state education officials and lawmakers on enacting changes recommended by the department to avoid a repeat of the situation.
The state found no evidence that Bishop Sycamore enrolled multiple students this year and concluded it didn’t meet minimum standards, including for academic offerings and student safety, according to the ODE investigation launched after the team’s televised 58-0 loss to Florida-based powerhouse IMG Academy in August.
Bishop Sycamore’s report filed with the department for this school year listed only one enrolled student and stated its physical address as a home in a residential neighborhood.
ODE concluded Bishop Sycamore wasn’t a school but “a way for students to play football against high school teams and potentially increase students’ prospects of playing football at the collegiate level.”
ESPN
Impending Industry Collapse
California
Leading California cannabis companies warned Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday that the state’s legal industry was on the verge of collapse and needed immediate tax cuts and a rapid expansion of retail outlets to steady the shaky marketplace.
The letter signed by more than two dozen executives, industry officials and legalization advocates followed years of complaints that the heavily taxed and regulated industry was unable to compete with the widespread illegal economy, where consumer prices are far lower and sales are double or triple the legal business.
Four years after broad legal sales began, “our industry is collapsing,” said the letter, which also was sent to legislative leaders in Sacramento.
The industry leaders asked for an immediate lifting of the cultivation tax placed on growers, a three-year holiday from the excise tax and an expansion of retail shops throughout much of the state. It’s estimated that about two-thirds of California cities remain without dispensaries, since it's up to local governments to authorize sales and production.
“The opportunity to create a robust legal market has been squandered as a result of excessive taxation,” the letter said. “Seventy-five percent of cannabis in California is consumed in the illicit market and is untested and unsafe.”
California
‘Stop the Steal’ Founder Spilled
Jan. 6
Reps. Mo Brooks (R-Hear Evil), Paul Gosar (R-Speak Evil), and Andy Biggs (R-See Evil) all interacted with Ali Alexander, the founder of the pro-Trump “Stop the Steal” movement, in the lead up to Jan. 6, Alexander’s attorney said in a suit filed late Friday.
Alexander shared this information with the House select committee investigating Jan. 6, his attorney wrote in the filing, which was reported by Politico. According to the suit, Alexander told the committee he participated in “a few phone conversations” with Gosar and spoke with Biggs in person “and never by phone, to the best of his recollection.” Alexander additionally said he texted with Brooks. Alexander’s attorney said in the filing that the text has been turned over to the committee. Alexander also spoke on the phone to Brooks’ staff “about a ‘Dear Colleague’ letter and how his activists could be helpful” in objecting to the election certification.
Alexander has previously bragged about his interactions with Brooks, Gosar, and Biggs. “I was the person who came up with the Jan. 6 idea with Congressman Gosar, Congressman Mo Brooks, and Congressman Andy Biggs,” Alexander said in a since-deleted video. “We four schemed up putting maximum pressure on Congress while they were voting, so that [representatives] who we couldn’t lobby, we could change the hearts and minds of Republicans who were in that body hearing our loud war from outside.”
On Jan. 6, the suit says, Alexander spoke with Kimberly Guilfoyle (R-Sniff), a former Fox News anchor and current girlfriend of Donald Trump Jr. (R-Lock Him Up) who has bragged about raising money for the Stop the Steal rally that morphed into the Capitol attack. The suit described the exchange as a “short and pleasant call” during which Guilfoyle “thanked Alexander for being a leader on voting rights and creating the ‘Stop the Steal’ movement.” They additionally discussed “the ongoing Georgia election and the GOP primaries that would take place in 2022,” per the suit. Alexander has shared details from the call with the committee, according to the suit.
Alexander filed the suit in order to stop the House Jan. 6 committee from obtaining his phone records from Verizon. Contained in those records, the suit contended, are Alexander’s interactions with people who would be protected by privilege.
Jan. 6
Engineer Pleads Guilty
Los Angeles
An train engineer who intentionally derailed a locomotive near a U.S. Navy hospital ship that was deployed in Los Angeles harbor to help during the COVID-19 pandemic pleaded guilty Thursday to committing a terrorist attack.
Eduardo Moreno, 45, who worked at the Port of Los Angeles, acknowledged in his plea agreement that on March 31, 2020, he drove a locomotive at full speed off the end of the tracks near where the Mercy was docked because he believed it might be involved in a sinister conspiracy, the U.S. attorney's office said in a statement.
Moreno told port police that he was suspicious of the Mercy “and believed it had an alternate purpose related to COVID-19 or a government takeover," the U.S. attorney's office said, citing court documents.
Moreno said he knew the derailment would bring media attention and he wanted to “wake people up," according to an affidavit filed with the criminal complaint.
The train smashed through concrete, steel and chain-link barriers and slid through a parking lot before coming to a stop about 250 yards (228 meters) from the Mercy, officials said.
Los Angeles
Since 1980s
White Christmas
A white Christmas seems to be slowly morphing from a reliable reality to a dream of snowy holidays past for large swaths of the United States in recent decades.
Analysis of 40 years of December 25 U.S. snow measurements shows that less of the country now has snow for Christmas than in the 1980s.
That’s especially true in a belt across the nation’s midsection — from Baltimore to Denver and a few hundred miles farther north. And snow that falls doesn’t measure up to past depths.
Scientists say the decline in the number of white Christmases is relatively small and caution about drawing conclusions. But it’s noticeable and matters mightily to some people like George Holland.
The average December temperature in the continental U.S. was a tad below freezing from 1981 to 1990, federal weather records show. And from 2011 to 2020, it was up to an average slightly above 35 degrees (just under 2 degrees Celsius), considerably above the freezing mark.
White Christmas
Will Record Planet's Demise In Minute Detail
Earth's Black Box
Every commercial flight you have ever taken has been recorded. Every tug on the yoke and every adjustment of the throttle has been dutifully logged by a little recording device tucked away in the tail of the aircraft. It's the infamous "black box" that search and rescue crews scan the crash site for any time an aviation incident occurs. Its observations are a clear account of how the whole thing went down.
Next year, our planet will get one of these disaster recorders as well.
Called Earth's Black Box, the project is meant to painstakingly record every step on the way to our planet's demise.
The solar-powered vault will be roughly the length of a school bus and the shape of an upside-down curb stop, and the entire thing will be encased in 3-inch-thick (7.5 centimeters) steel designed to withstand catastrophe, just as an airplane's black box is built to withstand an impact. And just like a black box is tucked away in the safest part of a plane, Earth's Black Box will be placed in the most secure location on Earth, which is Tasmania, apparently. When it goes online, Earth's Black Box will be filled with hard drives recording and storing climate-related information, ABC News Australia reported.
This project, which is a collaboration between the University of Tasmania, a communications firm called Clemenger BBDO, and an art collective called the Glue Society, is slated to begin construction in early 2022.
Earth's Black Box
Secret Passage Beneath Panama
'Wind'
A geological secret passage beneath Panama may explain why rocks from Earth's mantle are found more than 1,000 miles (1,609 kilometers) from where they originated.
This opening, located some 62 miles (100 km) below Earth's surface, may allow a flow of mantle materials to travel all the way from beneath the Galápagos Islands to beneath Panama.
This never-before-discovered form of transport may also help explain why Panama has very few active volcanoes. On the west coast of Central America, the Cocos tectonic plate is diving down and pushes oceanic crust under the continental crust of the North American, Caribbean and Panama tectonic plates, a process called subduction. This subduction zone creates a line of volcanoes called the Central American Volcanic Arc where lava pushes through the boundaries. But the volcanism stops in western Panama, which sits on the Panama plate , said David Bekaert, a postdoctoral scholar in marine chemistry and geochemistry at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts.
This relative peace has long been a mystery. Now, Bekaert and his colleagues report in a new study published Nov. 23 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that the culprit may be a window-like opening in the Cocos tectonic plate that's being pushed down toward Earth's center.
Bekaert and his colleagues are trying to understand more about how subduction works near Central America. The subduction of the Cocos plate under North America has the capacity to cause large earthquakes, including the 2017 Chiapas quake, a magnitude-8.1 temblor that killed dozens.
'Wind'
| CURRENT MOON lunar phases |
