Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Andrew Tobias: Build Your Own School
It costs about $30,000, all tax-deductible, and helps not just children in the Third World but also at-risk U.S. youth who travel abroad to help build it. Reason enough to try to get rich - so you can do things like this. … In case you are deciding between the $93,400 top-of-the-line 97mpg Tesla and the $41,450 85mpg Mercedes, I say go with the Mercedes, build your own school, and you'll still have $22,000 left in your pocket- plus the value of the $30,000 tax deduction.
Build a School
Take Action
Robert Evans: Why Pulling 'The Interview' Proves We've All Become Cowards (Cracked)
If you're the kind of person who spends a lot of time on the Internet, you're probably aware that Sony just pulled its upcoming feature film The Interview due to threats of terrorism. (If you're not the kind of person who spends a lot of time on the Internet, welcome to Cracked! We're like the New York Times of stuff you read while you're pooping.)
Marc Dion: Tender Negotiations (Creators Syndicate)
When you're married, it takes a long time to get anything done because negotiations are frequent. But at Christmas, and throughout the year, I am damn grateful I didn't have to spend the rest of my life ordering pizza with Tommy.
Giles Fraser: The Christmas story is all about God divesting Himself of power (Guardian)
… most people were just plain puzzled. Christians believe in some big God up in the sky. Atheists don't. There is no middle path. Surely it's that simple. So Altizer's big idea that the project of the Christian God was progressively to work himself out of existence, found few friends on either side of the God argument.
Michael Sragow: "Tootsie: One Great Dame" (Criterion)
Tootsie is a marvel of big-studio moviemaking from an era when such a thing was no longer considered possible.
Eddie Deezen: 18 Facts You May Not Know about Steven Spielberg
During the filming of a 1969 episode of Night Gallery, Steven gave Joan Crawford the gift of a single red rose in a Pepsi bottle. During a conversation with a reporter for the Detroit Free Press, Joan pointed to Steven and said, "Go interview that kid because he's going to be the biggest director of all-time." She and Steven remained good friends until her death in 1977.
National Geographic: 2014 Photo Contest Winners
David Bruce's Amazon Author Page
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David Bruce has approximately 50 Kindle books on Amazon.com.
wrote:
took the day off.
returned to semi-retired status.
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
Reader Comment
'everything old is new again'
here's another 'everything old is new again' story
Inquiry in Anthrax Mailings Had Gaps, Report Says
A congressional inquiry into the F.B.I.'s scientific work on the anthrax mailings of 2001 has identified major gaps in genetic evidence that purportedly links the germs to Bruce E. Ivins, the Army microbiologist blamed for attacks that killed five people, sickened 17 others and shook the nation.
The Government Accountability Office study, requested in 2010 and made public on Friday, echoes earlier criticism from the National Academy of Sciences. In 2011, its expert panel found that the bureau's analysis of the genetic evidence "did not definitively demonstrate" a firm link between the mailed anthrax spores and a sample taken from Dr. Ivins's laboratory at Fort Detrick in Maryland, and more generally was "not as conclusive" as the bureau had asserted.
The G.A.O. had better access to F.B.I. records and deepened the genetic critique, finding that the bureau's investigation "lacked several important characteristics" that could have strengthened its case. "A key scientific gap," the 77-page report said, was the bureau's failure to investigate whether samples of anthrax spores could naturally mutate enough to obscure their putative links to Dr. Ivins.
Inquiry in Anthrax Mailings Had Gaps, Report Says - NYTimes.com
yup, just like we always said.
secondharmonic
Thanks, 2nu!
Sigh. Getting to be too many days when you just can't be cynical enough.
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
from Marc Perkel
BartCop
Hello Bartcop fans,
As you all know the untimely passing of Terry was unexpected, even by
him. We all knew he had cancer but we all thought he had some years
left. So some of us who have worked closely with him over the years are
scrambling around trying to figure out what to do. My job, among other
things, is to establish communications with the Bartcop community and
provide email lists and groups for those who might put something
together. Those who want to play an active roll in something coming from
this, or if you are one of Bart's pillars, should send an email to
active@bartcop.com.
Bart's final wish was to pay off the house mortgage for Mrs. Bart who is
overwhelmed and so very grateful for the support she has received.
Anyone wanting to make a donation can click on this the yellow donate
button on bartcop.com
But - I need you all to help keep this going. This note
isn't going to directly reach all of Bart's fans. So if you can repost
it on blogs and discussion boards so people can sign up then when we
figure out what's next we can let more people know. This list is just
over 600 but like to get it up to at least 10,000 pretty quick. So
here's the signup link for this email list.
( mailman.bartcop.com/listinfo/bartnews )
Marc Perkel
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Mostly overcast and cool.
Not Big News In Japan
Sony Hack
Japan's biggest newspaper, Yomiuri Shimbun, featured a story about Sony Corp. on its website Friday. It wasn't about hacking. It was about the company's struggling tablet business.
Over at newswire Kyodo News, just after the FBI formally blamed North Korea for the cyberattack, mega pop group AKB48 topped headlines online instead.
While American journalists have extensively covered the fallout from the unprecedented Sony hacking attack, it hasn't exactly been massive news in Japan. Stories certainly surfaced after President Barack Obama weighed in on the issue at his year-end press conference Friday. But overall it has received relatively modest attention, mostly in short stories on the inside pages of Japan's major newspapers.
Japan's newspapers, which have the highest daily circulations in the world, are inclined to avoid news that is technologically complex. Like hacking. Nobuyuki Hayashi, a veteran freelance tech journalist and consultant based in Tokyo, said the tendency stems from reporters and editors who often don't have a deep understanding of technology. And neither do their aging readers.
Sony Hack
Turns Tables
Obama
President Barack Obama ended his final press conference of the year by giving reporters something to talk about. He answered eight questions, from eight female reporters.
Though the president did not announce that he'd be calling solely on women, the move seemed deliberate as he passed over the typically attention-grabbing front row of mostly network TV correspondents to hear from Politico's Carrie Budoff Brown, Cheryl Bolen of Bloomberg, Julie Pace with the Associated Press, Lesley Clark from McClatchy, Reuters Roberta Rampton, the Wall Street Journal's Colleen McCain Nelson and Juliet Eilperin with the Washington Post.
As the press conference came to a close, a male reporter asked about the president's New Year's resolutions. Obama ignored him and called on April Ryan from American Urban Radio, who had a question about race relations.
The historic significance of Obama's ladies-only round of questioning is evidenced by the excitement and buzz it generated on Twitter before the press conference had even ended.
Obama
Unleashes Massive Solar Flare
Sun
The sun fired off a massive solar flare late Friday (Dec. 19), after days of intense storms from our nearest star.
The huge solar flare registered as an X1.8-class event, one of the most powerful types of flares possible, and was captured on camera by NASA's powerful Solar Dynamics Observatory. The flare triggered a strong radio blackout for parts of Earth as it peaked Friday at 7:28 p.m. EST (0028 Dec. 20 GMT), according to an alert from the U.S. Space Weather Prediction Center overseen by NOAA.
The solar flare erupted from a sunspot region classified as Active Region 2242, and more sun storms could occur from the region.
Friday's solar flare capped an active week of sun storms. Earlier in the week, another active sunspot region called AR 2241 fired off two intense M-class (moderate) flares, one late Tuesday (Dec. 16) registering as an M8.7-class sun storm, and the other on Thursday (Dec. 18) that ranked as an M6.9 solar flare. Sunspots are regions of intense magnetic field activity on the sun that can trigger solar flares.
X-class solar flares are the strongest solar flares the sun can unleash. When aimed directly at Earth, they can disrupt communications and GPS navigation systems on Earth, and even pose a threat to satellites and astronauts in space.
Sun
Dog Dyed To Deceive
Coco
Coco, a reddish-brown pit bull with white markings, went missing from her Southern California home on Thanksgiving. Nearly a month later, she was found and reunited with her owners - but she was a different color.
Riverside County animal services officials made the match when they scanned a stray, black dog for an implanted microchip and found she was listed as an 8-month-old reddish-brown pit bull adopted in October from a San Jacinto shelter, the Press-Enterprise reported.
Officials believe Coco was stolen and dyed in an act of deception to make it harder for owners Christopher Ingrassi and Heather Lowry to find her, said Riverside County Field and Shelter Deputy Director Frank Corvino. Officials believe the dog escaped from the thief's property.
"The dye job is not very good," Corvino said in a statement. "But it would work if someone's looking for their missing, reddish-brown dog."
Coco
Contempt Of Court
Sea Shepherd
Radical environmentalists who threw acid and smoke bombs at Japanese whalers were found in contempt of court for continuing their relentless campaign to disrupt the annual whale hunt off the waters of Antarctica.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Friday ordered a commissioner to determine how much Paul Watson and members of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society he founded owe Japanese whalers for lawyer fees, damage to their ships and for violating the court order to stop their dangerous protests.
The environmentalists' exploits have been documented on the long-running Animal Planet reality TV series "Whale Wars."
In February 2013, the 9th Circuit appointed a commissioner to investigate whether Watson and members of the Sea Shepherd should be held in contempt. The commissioner concluded on Jan. 31 that the Sea Shepherd wasn't in violation of the court order because the harassment campaign was being managed outside the United States. The same month, the group's "Steve Irwin" vessel with Watson aboard collided with a Japanese whaler.
On Friday, a three-judge panel rejected the commissioner's findings. The 9th Circuit ruled that the transfer of assets and control of the Sea Shepherd to Australia and other countries didn't change its 2012 order to the group to cease its dangerous activities.
Sea Shepherd
Jury Tells Catholics All Life Is Sacred
IVF
A federal jury ruled Friday that a northern Indiana Roman Catholic diocese discriminated against a former teacher in one of its schools by firing her after church officials learned she was trying to get pregnant through in vitro fertilization.
The group of five women and seven men announced its decision in favor of Emily Herx late Friday afternoon after beginning deliberations about 10:30 a.m., finding she was the victim of discrimination when the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend declined to renew her contract at St. Vincent de Paul School in 2011. Her attorneys had argued that male teachers accused of violating the moral teachings of the church had been allowed to keep their jobs.
The jury awarded Herx $1.75 million for emotional and physical damages, $125,000 for medical expenses, $75,000 for lost wages and $1 in punitive damages, WANE-TV reported.
The diocese had contended Herx violated the terms of her contract and plans to file an appeal of the decision, according to the station. The diocese argued that, according to church teachings, in vitro fertilization is gravely evil, no circumstance can justify it, and those beliefs apply to men and women who participate in the procedure.
IVF
USDA Report Says They're Yummy
Pesticide Residues
More than half of food tested by the U.S. government for pesticide residues last year showed detectable levels of pesticides, though most were within levels the government considers to be safe, according to a report issued Friday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The USDA looked at fresh and processed fruits and vegetables as well as infant formula, apple juice, and other products.
Before allowing a pesticide to be used on a food commodity, the Environmental Protection Agency sets "tolerance levels," for how much of a pesticide can remain in the food that reaches the consumer. The USDA's sampling is designed to help ensure that pesticide residues are kept within those tolerance levels.
As has been the case with past analyses, the USDA said it did not test this past year for residues of glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup herbicide and the world's most widely used herbicide.
Pesticide Residues
Overseas Tip Led To Recover
Stolen Art
An overseas tip investigators received six years after one of the biggest art heists in Los Angeles led to the return of nine stolen paintings, including works by Marc Chagall and Diego Rivera, collectively worth as much as $24 million, police and FBI said on Friday.
The paintings were recovered in an FBI sting operation in which a suspect, Raul Espinoza, 45, was arrested after he tried to sell the stolen artwork to undercover agents at a Los Angeles-area hotel in October for $700,000, authorities said.
Espinoza was charged with receiving stolen property and more suspects are being sought, investigators said at a news conference where they disclosed new details of the case and displayed the artwork. Espinoza has pleaded not guilty and is still in custody.
The nine paintings were part of the private collection of an elderly Los Angeles couple who have since died. They were home when the paintings were snatched in August 2008 but were bedridden and unaware of the theft at the time, police said.
Among the pieces recovered were the Chagall painting "Les Paysans" and Rivera's "Mexican Peasant." Except for the Chagall, dated from about 1976, all the works date from the first half of the 20th century.
Stolen Art
Game Moving Forward
'Glorious Leader!'
The creator of a satirical video game that depicts Kim Jong Un as a gun-toting, unicorn-riding hero has no plans to cancel his zany creation following a cyberattack and threats of violence against Sony Pictures that the FBI has attributed to North Korea.
In fact, "Glorious Leader!" creator Jeff Miller is now more motivated than ever to finish his game.
While North Korea forces have frequently been depicted as the adversary in games, such as "Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon 2" and "Homefront," ''Glorious Leader!" cast the nation's leader as the protagonist - with cameos from such folks as Dennis Rodman and Kim Jong Il.
The retro-style, run-and-gun game comically puts players in the shoes of a super-powered Kim Jong Un as he battles waves of American drones and soldiers with weapons like a machine gun and bazooka. Miller is planning levels set in such locations as the streets of Pyongyang and atop Paektu Mountain. He's now planning another on the Sony Pictures backlot.
'Glorious Leader!'
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