Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Marc Dion: Hangover Cure (Creators Syndicate)
What I propose is that the United States elect the president for a two-year term - if it's his FIRST term. If the guy (and so far, it's always a guy) gets re-elected, THEN he gets four years. All other rules and restrictions currently in place would continue to apply.
Susan Estrich: Wanting What You Have (Creators Syndicate)
A new body is not on my list anymore. Nor is a new job. And a new partner, after 17 years alone, seems hopelessly unrealistic. But if I can want what I have, I could be as happy as anyone. Play the hand you are dealt, I have been telling my students for years. How well you play it counts for as much or more than the cards in your hand, studies show. I am talking to myself.
Susan Estrich: Bah Humbug (Creators Syndicate)
It's that time of year when parents of non-Christian children find themselves challenged to explain why they aren't part of the general hoopla. And some respond by becoming part of the hoopla and others by creating hoopla of their own. In my family, we go to the movies and eat Chinese.
Froma Harrop: Let's Skip the War Against Baby Boomers, OK? (Creators Syndicate)
When things get dull, enterprising rousers of rabble promote a war against something or other to gain attention. The war against the baby boom generation is already in full swing.
Froma Harrop: Democrats Should Dial Back Racial Bargaining (Creators Syndicate)
This is not to downplay issues of civil rights and voter suppression that especially concern minority groups. They must be addressed for the sake of the democracy. But to do that, their voters have to show up for every election. Jones was put over the top by African-Americans and white suburban women. It couldn't have happened without both - but others also voted for decency. If you're going to thank anyone, thank everyone.
Froma Harrop: From Dying Malls, Downtown Retailing Grows (Creators Syndicate)
Now online commerce is knocking off the malls, but guess what. Not only is downtown retail coming back but also the stores are proving themselves to be among the fittest of the bricks-and-mortar survivors.
Sara Boboltz: Mystery Novelist Sue Grafton Dies At 77 After Cancer Battle (Huffington Post)
The author of "A is for Alibi" was "surrounded by family" at the time of her death, her daughter said.
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Presenting
Michael Egan
said:
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
Reader Comment
New Year
gary in PA
Thanks, Gary!
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
THE LIAR IN-CHIEF.
TRUMP IS A DOPE!
DUMP TRUMP!
PLEASE WARM UP TO -20.
EASY AS PIE!
THE TRAITORS.
FREE AHED!
ELVIS ON VELVET.
Visit JD's site - Kitty Litter Music
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Still limited in how long I can sit at the computer. Ack.
'Solo' Locks In 'Star Wars' Veteran
John Williams
'Solo' will stay in the 'Star Wars' family with veteran franchise composer John Williams set to write the theme for the standalone film about Han Solo, slated for release on May 25. It will be Williams' ninth assignment.
Williams revealed his involvement in "Solo: A Star Wars Story" during in an interview with Variety about his current "Star Wars" opus, "The Last Jedi." "The present plan is that I'm writing a theme for Han Solo, and John Powell is going to write the score, which he'll do brilliantly," Williams says.
Powell was announced as the primary composer for "Solo" back in July. "His assignment is something I'm very happy about," Williams adds. "What I will do is offer this to John, and to [director] Ron Howard, and if all parties are happy with it, then I will be happy. … John [Powell] will complete the score. He will write all the rest of the themes and all of the other material, which I'm going to be very anxious to hear."
Williams has written the complete scores for all eight of the main "Star Wars" films, winning an Oscar for the 1977 original and nominations for three of the other seven. The earlier "Star Wars" standalone, 2016's "Rogue One," was scored by Michael Giacchino.
Last summer's announcement about Powell indicated that it would be "scored in the style of the original 'Star Wars' movies but retain Powell's distinctive voice."
John Williams
Calm Before The Storm
Reproductive Rights
The year 2017 was supposed to be when reproductive health battles simmering in the states boiled over into national policy.
Not only did Republicans retain control of Congress in last year's election, Donald Trump (R-Corrupt) stocked his administration with people opposed to not only abortion but everything from sex education to insurance coverage for contraception.
But while the administration did make moves that will limit access to abortion and reproductive care, Trump's first year in office was not the all-out assault public health advocates feared.
Perhaps the biggest coup for opponents of abortion rights is one that may not pay dividends for several years. Trump successfully nominated Neil Gorsuch to the US supreme court, where his vote could tip future cases in favor of contraception and abortion restrictions.
The Trump administration has already cut more than $213m invested in teenage pregnancy prevention under Obama and is incentivizing programs that focus on abstinence in its place. The health department is weighing a plan to allow individual states to kick Planned Parenthood out of Medicaid; its decision could deal the group a serious blow.
Reproductive Rights
Only Option In L.A.
WeHo
Recreational marijuana sales will be legal in California come Monday morning, but Angelenos will have to wait a day - and will have limited options - if they want to buy cannabis without taking a road trip.
As of Friday afternoon, only two shops in the Greater Los Angeles area had been granted licenses to start recreational sales. Both are in West Hollywood and, at the city's request, will open Jan. 2, not on New Year's Day.
The next-closest options are in San Diego and the Palm Springs area, according to a list of licensees maintained by the California Bureau of Cannabis Control.
The two West Hollywood shops are expecting a rush of business Tuesday, both because of the novelty of legalization and because of the lack of other local options. They've been stocking up on inventory and training workers in advance of what's likely to be a hectic first few days and weeks.
California's new cannabis licensing rules require that pot shops - both medical and recreational - get permits from local authorities before being granted a state license. Because Los Angeles, Long Beach and other cities haven't finalized their local permitting rules, the state has not been able to grant licenses to businesses in those jurisdictions.
WeHo
Construction Workers Discovered 30
Dinosaur Eggs
The holidays are all about happy surprises, and paleontologists got one heck of a shock earlier this week after learning about an unexpected discovery in China. Chinese construction workers digging on Christmas day found a gift that was wrapped 130 million years ago in the form of 30 incredibly preserved dinosaur eggs. The discovery was made in the city of Ganzhou at the future site of a new middle school, but work on the new facility had to be put on hold after the ancient eggs were discovered.
According to state media, the workers reported uncovering "oval-shaped stones" while clearing rock away using explosive blasts. The workers suspected they might be important so they alerted local law enforcement who took command of the site and contacted experts from a nearby museum who confirmed the "rocks" were actually fossilized dinosaur eggs.
The eggs, which are thought to date from the Cretaceous period, are estimated to be as old as 130 million years. The location where they were discovered is believed to have once been an ancient lakeshore, which would have been a pleasant place for the dinosaurs to raise their brood. The Dayu County Museum has since taken possession of the eggs and will study them further.
As the Daily Mail notes, the city of Ganzhou is right in the heart of a rich fossil bed. The area has produced a number of important dinosaur discoveries in the past, including a wealth of fossilized eggs. Many of the remains have been identified as those of Oviraptors, which are two-legged feathered dinosaurs that stood a few feet tall.
Dinosaur Eggs
Revolving Door Of Staff Changes
White House
White House officials, led by chief of staff John Kelly, are reportedly plotting a staff shakeup in the new year, as President-for-now Donald Trump (R-Crook) and his administration continue to weather scandals and defeats, and prepare for what could be tumultuous midterm elections in 2018.
One immediate change will include designating Johnny DeStefano, a former aide to retired House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), to better manage the White House's political outreach, Axios and The Washington Post reported Thursday. Few Trump officials have deep experience and ties to Capitol Hill.
Kelly has sought to create order among Trump's coterie of advisers since taking over for his predecessor, Reince Priebus - one of numerous senior White House officials to leave their positions this year under various circumstances.
The White House did not return a request for comment. Before Christmas, senior administration officials told reporters that it was typical to expect staff departures and changes as Trump approaches the first-year mark of his presidency. They dismissed the frequent resignations and firings, praising Trump and Kelly for having a "well-managed" administration.
Yet Trump's revolving door of officials and advisers has been unusual for modern presidencies, according to analysis of White House staff turnover from Brookings Institution fellow Kathryn Dunn Tenpas. In the first year of Trump's presidency, about 34 percent of senior officials have resigned, been fired or reassigned to other roles, she told the Wall Street Journal.
White House
Shooting At Law Firm
California
A shooter opened fire at a southern California law firm Friday, killing one man and injuring another before fatally turning the gun on himself, police said.
Police found the two men dead inside the law offices in Long Beach. A handgun was recovered at the scene.
The shooter was an attorney a partner who used to work at the firm, Long Beach City Councilman Al Austin, who was briefed by the police, told the Los Angeles Times.
The gunman, who was not identified by police, was recently fired, reported the Orange County Register. He shot two senior partners of the firm Perona, Langer (RIP), Beck (shot), Serbin, Mendoza (shooter) and Harrison, according to the newspaper.
The shooting occurred during an office holiday party, according to the OC Register. Video shows workers running out of the building during the mid-afternoon attack. Streets around the firm were soon blocked off as a SWAT team, fire trucks and ambulances rushed to the scene. No shots were fired by police.
California
Bans Solo Climbers From Everest
Nepal
Nepal has banned solo climbers from scaling its mountains, including Mount Everest, in a bid to reduce accidents, an official said Saturday.
The cabinet late Thursday endorsed a revision to the Himalayan nation's mountaineering regulations, banning solo climbers from its mountains -- one of a string of measures being flagged ahead of the 2018 spring climbing season.
"The changes have barred solo expeditions, which were allowed before," Maheshwor Neupane, secretary at the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, told AFP.
The ban is likely to anger elite solo mountaineers, who enjoy the challenge of climbing alone, even eschewing bottled oxygen, and who blame a huge influx of commercial expeditions for creating potentially deadly bottlenecks on the world's tallest peak.
The cabinet also endorsed a ban on double amputee and blind climbers, although Everest has drawn multitudes of mountaineers wanting to overcome their disabilities and achieve the formidable feat.
Nepal
Fired After Parents Complain
Art Teacher
A former Utah elementary school art teacher says administrators were wrong to fire him after he allowed students to sift through several famous historical painting post cards -- and one parent called the police.
Mateo Rueda was the Lincoln Elementary School art teacher until on Dec. 4 he asked students to peruse an "Art Box" of Phaidon postcards depicting classical works ranging from Leonardo Da Vinci's Mona Lisa, Vincent Van Gogh's Sunflowers, and works by artists including by Botticelli, Gauguin, Monet and others, the Herald Journal reports. Rueda tells local news outlets that he was not aware of three or four pieces of the nearly 100 postcards that showed nudity.
The Cache County Sheriff's Office says that pornography charges were even considered after at least one parent filed a police report.
His Dec. 4 color study exercise "used some materials from the school that were there in the library," said Rueda. One student in the class, 5th-grader Bella Jensen, told Fox 13 Now that Rueda "explained to us that there might be some pictures that we'll find uncomfortable" before starting the color assignment.
At least one parent of a student in the class complained, with Venessa Rose Pixton saying that she took issue with Rueda's entire handling of the classroom art assignment.
Art Teacher
Slidell, Louisiana
'Nigerian Prince'
Anyone with an email address has likely gotten a message from a Nigerian prince or two offering hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars in secret inheritances or, in some cases, payment for assistance laundering ill-gotten gains from mining conglomerates or royal treasuries.
Police in Slidell, Louisiana, say they finally caught up with one of the people behind some of those emails. He's not exactly Nigerian royalty, either, police wrote in a Facebook post.
Michael Neu, 67, of Slidell, Louisiana, faces 269 counts of wire fraud and money laundering following an 18-month investigation, police wrote. They say Neu took part in hundreds of financial transactions involving phone and online scams to con money from people across the United States.
In these scams, the supposed Nigerian prince (or other official) asks for the person's personal banking information in order to speed the transfer of the purported inheritance or temporarily hold the allegedly pilfered funds. The information can then be used to withdraw funds from the victim's accounts.
While Neu might lack a royal title, at least some of the money obtained in his scams did go to co-conspirators in Nigeria, police wrote. Investigators are continuing to untangle Neu's web of scams, but many other leads also connect to people outside the U.S., the post says.
'Nigerian Prince'
In Memory
Recy Taylor
Recy Taylor, a black Alabama woman whose rape by six white men in 1944 drew national attention, died Thursday. She was 97.
Taylor died in her sleep at a nursing home in Abbeville, her brother Robert Corbitt said. He said Taylor had been in good spirits the previous day and her death was sudden. She would have been 98 on Sunday.
Taylor was 24 when she was abducted and raped as she walked home from church in Abbeville. Her attackers left her on the side of the road in an isolated area. The NAACP assigned Rosa Parks to investigate the case, and she rallied support for justice for Taylor.
Two all-white, all-male grand juries declined to indict the six white men who admitted to authorities that they assaulted her.
In a 2010 interview, Taylor told The Associated Press that she believes the men who attacked her are dead, but she still would like an apology from officials.
"It would mean a whole lot to me," Taylor said. "The people who done this to me, ... they can't do no apologizing. Most of them is gone."
The Alabama Legislature passed a resolution apologizing to her in 2011.
Taylor's story, along with those of other black women attacked by white men during the civil rights era, is told in "At the Dark End of the Street," a book by Danielle McGuire released in 2010. A documentary on her case, "The Rape of Recy Taylor," was released this year.
Recy Taylor
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