Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Paul Krugman: A Small Silent Majority (NY Times)
The point is that this primary doesn't look like an aberration, in which the GOP majority is losing its way; it looks like an outbreak of honesty, with the GOP majority finally going for candidates saying what it always believed.
HAEYOUN PARK and MATTHEW BLOCH: How the Epidemic of Drug Overdose Deaths Ripples Across America (NY Times)
Deaths from overdoses are reaching levels similar to the H.I.V. epidemic at its peak.
Peter Bradshaw: Dirty Grandpa and the return of Viagra Cinema (The Guardian)
Michael Caine gets intimate with Miss Universe in Youth, Robert De Niro chases bikini-clad beauties in Dirty Grandpa. So is Viagra Cinema back? And will anyone dethrone its champion, Sean Connery?
Michele Hanson: Gender fluidity exists - although with animals it's not always obvious (The Guardian)
Despite all the testosterone-fuelled aggro I've been seeing during walkies in the park, I still think animals can be gender fluid.
Monica Tan: "How David Bowie turned down Coldplay: 'It's not a very good song, is it?'" (The Guardian)
Drummer Will Champion says the music giant refused invitation to collaborate on a track - 'He was very discerning … I'll give him credit for that!'
Moira Fowley-Doyle: Follow your instincts. Take up space. Don't be afraid to make a mess (The Guardian)
I read constantly as a child - from Ann M Martin to Jane Austen and everything in between and beyond. These days I prefer YA to any other category of books. There is such a wealth of beautiful fiction for teens that all somehow comes back to the feelings of firsts and lasts and I don't think these kinds of stories have an age limit.
JM McNab: 7 TV Finales That Went Out Of Their Way To Anger Fans (Cracked)
When a beloved television show ends, it's not unlike the death of a close friend (the kind who tries to sell you bullshit you don't need every ten minutes or so). It's hard to say goodbye after spending years laughing along with the lovable Friends, or solving mysteries with Columbo, or letting the Cheers gang enable your crippling drinking problem.
Raoni Lacerda: 6 Hilarious Insults Developers Snuck Into Video Game (Cracked)
Working environments are stressful places filled with activities you don't like, people you can't stand, and drama you can't escape. A normal employee might remedy this by leaving a passive-aggressive note on the microwave or peeing on the manager's keyboard. But, if you work at a software company, your clever revenge against your coworkers might just get immortalized in a video game instead ...
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Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
M Is FOR MASHUP
Crumplstock 3
By DJ Useo
Hey All -
As I informed you here
( www.suprmchaos.com/bcEnt-Wed-011316.index.html )
Crumplstock 3 : The 3 Day Internet DJ Weekender is coming this weekend.
The final schedule of bootleg & mashup DJ's is out now & Wow!
Provisional timetable for Crumplbangers Stage.
All times GMT (UTC).
Friday
7pm - NeoPink
8pm - DJ Firth
9pm - Alvin Starburst
10pm - Rudec
11pm - DJ Not-In
12 midnight - Nosbic
1am - DJ Hazard
2am - Youtek
3am - Deathwank
4am - DJ Guava
Saturday
11am - KrazyBen Bernard Fortz
12 noon - Grandmaster M.i.F.
1pm - Queerhawk
2pm - Teknicolor
3pm - pomDeter
4pm - Scott Cairo
5pm - Jellee
6pm - YITT
7pm - DJ Rick Lee
8pm - Colatron
9pm - Toynoiz
10pm - Oki
11pm - BorisB
12 midnight - Garbage Boy
01am - Grave Danger
02am - SwissMasterBBQ & MsMiep
03am - GaraGara
Sunday
1pm - DJ Not-I*
2pm - DJ Fruitpunch
3pm - Thomas L Jackson
4pm - ToToM
5pm - Justincredible
6pm - DJ Cougar
7pm - DJ Kal
8pm - Brian Sharp
9pm - Batfreak
10pm - DJ Useo
11pm - GladiLord
12 midnight - DJ Rudec*
* = second set
I hope you'll listen in for my set. Just go here during my set
( crumplebangers.com/crumplstock/ )
Click on my name & you can stream me live!
International mashup DJ's playing for you live! Who could ask for anything more!?
Reader Domment
Yogi & Viagra
Love the Yogi Bear meme on your page yesterday. All I could think was "took the snacks, but he left them with the sex toys people have been sending those thuggish lawbreakers!"
I saw a commercial tonight for Viagra in single dose pouches! Couldn't help wondering if K cups could get in on the deal--a little blue pill brewed with your morning cup of coffee. One cup and he's good to go for 8 hours! (Seriously, isn't this one of the signs of the collapse of our society? This and Slutty Palin teaming up with Trump.)
Linda >^..^<
We are all only temporarily able bodied.
Thanks, Linda!
from Marc Perkel
Patriot Act
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
STOP KILLING THE WORLD!
SWIMMING WITH THE OTTERS?
PEDOPHILE POLITICS!
THE "CLIMATE CHANGE OF THE LIVING DEAD".
STUMP FOR TRUMP! HEE HAW!
THE SOLUTION!
"I'M WITH STUPID"
GOOD NIGHT. SLEEP TIGHT. MAYBE.
ME AND TRIGGER.
Visit JD's site - Kitty Litter Music
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny and seasonal.
Governor Calls On Feds
Oregon
Oregon's governor expressed anger Wednesday over federal authorities' handling of the occupation of a national wildlife refuge by an armed group and said she intends to bill the U.S. government for what the occupation is costing state taxpayers.
Gov. Kate Brown said federal officials "must move quickly to end the occupation and hold all of the wrongdoers accountable."
Exasperated by a tense situation that has caused fear among local residents since it began Jan. 2, Brown said, "This spectacle of lawlessness must end, and until Harney County is free of it, I will not stop insisting that federal officials enforce the law."
Brown had originally called the news conference to discuss her agenda for the upcoming legislative session, but she focused on the occupation by Ammon Bundy and his armed group of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in remote southeastern Oregon.
People living in the area strongly voiced their views at a community meeting Tuesday night in Burns, 30 miles north of the refuge. It was the most pointed demonstration yet of local residents' desire that Bundy and his group go home.
Oregon
Thousands Of Years Old
Fairy Tales
Fairy tales such as Beauty And The Beast are much older than previously thought and are actually thousands of years old, academics found in research published Wednesday.
Their analysis indicates that Beauty And The Beast and Rumpelstiltskin are around 4,000 years old while Jack And The Beanstalk can be traced back more than 5,000 years.
Anthropologist Jamie Tehrani from Britain's Durham University and folklorist Sara Graca da Silva of New University Lisbon used techniques initally used in biology to study 275 Indo-European stories.
Their findings suggest that folk tales existed in oral tradition long before they were put down in writing.
This backs up a theory put forward by one of the most famous fairy tale tellers in history, Wilhelm Grimm of the 19th century Brothers Grimm.
Fairy Tales
Meadow Soprano
Jamie-Lynn Sigler
Jamie-Lynn Sigler has been battling multiple sclerosis for the past 15 years.
"The Sopranos" actress tells People magazine she was diagnosed with the degenerative disease when she was 19 years old, ahead of the show's fourth season.
The 34-year-old actress says her symptoms have become worse over the past decade. Sigler noted that she can't run or walk for long periods of time without rest.
"The Sopranos" actress portrayed Meadow Soprano throughout the HBO show's six seasons. She has also appeared in stage productions of "Cinderella" and "Beauty and the Beast."
Sigler married baseball player Cutter Dykstra on Saturday in Palm Springs, California. They have a 2-year-old son, Beau.
Jamie-Lynn Sigler
Toys Generate $700 Million In Sales
'Star Wars'
"Star Wars" toys generated sales of more than $700 million in the United States in 2015, making them the No.1 property in the toy industry during the year, a retail research group said.
Sales of toys such as Kylo Ren light sabers, BB-8 droids and models of the Millennium Falcon spacecraft totaled more than those related to movie franchises "Jurassic World," "Minions" and "Avengers" combined, NPD Group said on Wednesday.
Led by "Star Wars" merchandise, toy sales in the United States rose 6.7 percent to $19.4 billion in 2015, making it one of the strongest performances for toy sales in years, NPD Group said.
Sales took off on Sept. 4, or "Force Friday", when retailers launched merchandise in anticipation of the opening of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," the first Star Wars film produced by Walt Disney Co.
'Star Wars'
Hottest Year 'By Far'
2015
Blistering heat blanketed the Earth last year like never before, making 2015 by far the hottest year in modern times and raising new concerns about the accelerating pace of climate change.
Not only was 2015 the warmest worldwide since 1880, it shattered the previous record held in 2014 by the widest margin ever observed, said the report by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
"During 2015, the average temperature across global land and ocean surfaces was 1.62 Fahrenheit (0.90 Celsius) above the 20th century average," said the NOAA report.
Compared to 2014, last year was 0.29 Fahrenheit (0.13 Celsius) warmer, the "largest margin by which the annual global temperature record has been broken."
NASA said that the temperature changes are largely driven by increased carbon dioxide and other human-made emissions into the atmosphere.
2015
Toxin Increases Risks
Algae
A paper published today suggests chronic exposure to an environmental toxin may increase the risk of neurodegenerative illness.
For the first time, researchers have shown that feeding vervet monkeys a toxin produced by blue-green algae resulted in protein deposits in the brain, consistent with those seen in human Alzheimer's.
Neurodegenerative disease is an umbrella term which includes Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and motor neurone disease (MND). The causes remain largely unknown, and the role of environmental factors is poorly understood.
Owing to its role in an unusual illness suffered by Chamorro villagers on the Pacific island of Guam, researchers have been investigating an algal toxin called BMAA for more than 40 years.
This is the first time researchers have been able to produce Alzheimer's-like protein deposits in an animal model with an environmental toxin.
Algae
Release Delayed To Dec. 2017
'Star Wars: Episode VIII'
The release of "Star Wars: Episode VIII" has been delayed from May 2017 to Dec. 15, 2017, the Walt Disney Co. announced Wednesday. The date change postpones the next "Star Wars" installment set to follow the box-office hit "The Force Awakens."
Though "Star Wars" was once synonymous with the summer blockbuster, the date change means that the franchise will again look to dominate movie theatres in the holiday season. It has proven a lucrative match for "The Force Awakens," which has made a record $861 million domestically and $1.88 billion globally in five weeks of release.
Disney offered no reason for the delay, but rumours have recently swirled that writer-director Rian Johnson ("Looper"), who is taking over for J.J. Abrams, is rewriting the script. Production is set to begin next month in London.
The new date sets up a potential but unlikely head-to-head between "Star Wars" and "Avatar." James Cameron's "Avatar 2" had been planned for Christmas 2017, though few expect 20th Century Fox to hit that date with the much-delayed "Avatar" sequel. A spokesman for Fox didn't immediately respond to an email Wednesday.
'Star Wars: Episode VIII'
Allegations Against Judge
Arkansas
An Arkansas disciplinary panel said Tuesday that more victims have come forward with allegations against a judge accused of carrying on inappropriate sexual relationships with defendants.
The Arkansas Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission filed new civil administrative charges against Cross County District Court Judge Joe Boeckmann after more accusers came forward to say Boeckmann offered them reduced sentences and later took or requested inappropriate photos of them.
Boeckmann is accused of showing preferential treatment and handing out off-the-books sentences that included picking up trash at his home. He allegedly took inappropriate photographs of some defendants during those punishments.
One accuser, whose name was withheld, said Boeckmann offered him $300 to pose nude in the same position as Michelangelo's statue of David.
Other men said they narrowly escaped the requests because they brought female family members with them to the scheduled community service.
Arkansas
Oldest Evidence Of Warfare
Prehistoric Massacre
Scientists said on Wednesday they had found the oldest evidence of human warfare, fossils of a band of people massacred by a troop of attackers with weapons including arrows, clubs and stone blades on the shores of a lagoon in Kenya about 10,000 years ago.
The remains of 27 people from a Stone Age hunter-gatherer culture were unearthed at a site called Nataruk roughly 20 miles (30 km) west of Lake Turkana in northern Kenya.
One man's skeleton was found with a sharp blade made of a volcanic glass called obsidian still embedded in his skull. Another man had wounds from two blows to the head apparently with a club, crushing his skull. A woman in the last stages of pregnancy appeared to have been bound by her hands and feet.
University of Cambridge paleoanthropologist Marta Mirazón Lahr said evidence indicates these people, who hunted animals, caught fish and gathered edible plants, were slain in a premeditated attack by raiders, perhaps from another region.
There were remains of 21 adults and six children, most under age 6. There were no older teenagers. "Whether they managed to escape, or were taken, we will never know," she said.
Prehistoric Massacre
Good Evidence
9th Planet
Scientists reported Wednesday they finally have "good evidence" for Planet X, a true ninth planet on the fringes of our solar system.
The gas giant is thought to be almost as big as Neptune and orbiting billions of miles beyond Neptune's path - distant enough to take 10,000 to 20,000 years to circle the sun.
This Planet 9, as the two California Institute of Technology researchers call it, hasn't been spotted yet. They base their findings on mathematical and computer modeling, and anticipate its discovery via telescope within five years or less.
The two reported on their research Wednesday in the Astronomical Journal because they want people to help them look for it.
9th Planet
Prime-Time Nielsens
Ratings
Prime-time viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen for Jan. 11-17. Listings include the week's ranking and viewership.
1. NFL Playoff: Green Bay at Arizona, NBC, 33.73 million.
2. "NFL Playoff Post-Game," (Pittsburgh at Denver), CBS, 31.17 million.
3. College Football Championship: Alabama vs. Clemson, ESPN, 25.67 million.
4. "College Football Championship Post-Game," ESPN, 23.65 million.
5. "NFL Playoff Pre-Game," (Green Bay at Arizona), NBC, 21.81 million.
6. "60 Minutes," CBS, 20.62 million.
7. "The Big Bang Theory," CBS, 15.75 million.
8. "NFL Playoff Post Game" (Kansas City at New England), CBS, 13.72 million.
9. "Madam Secretary," CBS, 11.87 million.
10. "College Football Championship Pregame," ESPN, 11.73 million.
11. Republican Presidential Debate, Fox Business Network, 11.09 million.
12. "NCIS," CBS, 10.97 million.
13. "Blue Bloods," CBS, 10.62 million.
14. Democratic Presidential Debate, NBC, 10.16 million.
15. "American Idol" (Wednesday), Fox, 9.77 million.
16. "Hawaii Five-0," CBS, 9.48 million.
17. "Criminal Minds," CBS, 9.33 million.
18. "Life in Pieces," CBS, 9.15 million.
19. "The Good Wife," CBS, 8.97 million.
20. "The Big Bang Theory" (Monday), CBS, 8.87 million.
Ratings
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