Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Garrison Keillor: Why you didn't see me at the Oscars
At 76, I am a long shot to host a major awards show but that is what made it seem like a perfect idea. I grew up fundamentalist and was not allowed to go to movies and I did not set foot in a theater until I was 18 and saw Elmer Gantry starring Burt Lancaster as the womanizing evangelist and which might've made a good opening monologue, or might've been a disaster: AGED HOST LEAVES OSCAR CROWD COLD WITH MAUNDERING MONO: "BURT WHO?" MURMUR MANY.
Helaine Olen: Ivanka Trump comes out against all guaranteed jobs except her own (Washington Post)
Ivanka Trump is right about one basic thing: Most of us would prefer to live in a country where we get a fair chance to get ahead on our merits. That's why we read books and consume podcasts telling us how we can do just that. But that country is increasingly not the United States, where Ivanka Trump, born to almost any other family, would more likely have been given the opportunity to sell a clothing line as a sales clerk behind a counter, not as celebrity with her own brand - and where her father is showering tax cuts on the wealthy, while taking the rest of us for chumps. Pity she can't acknowledge that.
Greg Sargent: Democrats start conversation about beating back scourge of disinformation (Washington Post)
… the larger context here is that, with Democrats now in control of the House and heading into a bruising series of intra-party primary battles, the party is feeling its way toward larger conversations about how to shore up democracy against Trumpian degradations of it. … Meanwhile, House Democrats recently introduced a package of reforms that includes a provision requiring major presidential candidates to release their tax returns - positioning Democrats as the party of transparency against precisely the norm-shredding that Trump has employed to corrupt our democracy through untold self-dealing.
Andrew Tobias: Spend Eight Minutes With Tucker Carlson
You may have seen clips of the Dutch history, Rutger Bregman, who spoke truth to power at Davos. Tucker Carlson apparently thought this would fit well this his brand of sticking up for the little guy against the elites, so invited him on his show, as described by TV critic Erik Wemple. But, oh, did it ever go wrong for Tucker. So much so that he decided not to air it. So Bregman did. Take a look.
Tucker Carlson Blows Up at Rutger Bregman in Unaired Fox News Interview (NowThis; YouTube)
Fox News refused to air this full interview with historian Rutger Bregman after Fox News host Tucker Carlson lost his temper, calling his guest a 'tiny brain … moron' during the interview.
Sabina Stent: Born Yesterday review (heyuguys)
The moment Judy Holliday opens her mouth at and screeches "Whaaaaaaat????" in a thick New York accent it is hard to not fall in love with George Cukor's Born Yesterday.
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from Bruce
Anecdotes
• On October 11, 2008 (Coming-Out Day), a Daily Kos reader who is a PFLAG (Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) Mother and who posted using the name "1864 House," wrote about how she acquired two gay sons. Her two straight daughters were the results of hours of birth pains, but her two gay sons were not. Her first gay son (her daughter's best friend) became hers after he came out at age 16. The PFLAG mother writes, "He didn't talk about his situation at home too much, but we weren't surprised when he went home one night and found all his belongings in black plastic trash bags in the back yard. […] The only logical response was to put my arms around him and ask, 'What color do you want to paint your room?' He chose purple. And we chose a son." Her second gay son became hers when her first gay son brought home a gay boy ("R") who was on the streets. This second gay boy was thinking about buying a bus ticket to San Francisco, hoping to be lucky enough to find a place to stay there. The PFLAG mother writes, "We talked to R and convinced him to stay with us for at least a couple of days so we could help him figure out a better, safer plan. He ended up staying for five years, until he moved to the Twin Cities to finish school." Now, all of her children-two straight daughters and two gay sons-are in their late 20s and have moved from her home-and she and her husband are still active in promoting acceptance of gay people. She concludes, "I am proud to say that someone I love is gay."
• In 1983, during Thanksgiving weekend, Catholic parents Casey and Mary Ellen Lopata discovered that their oldest son, Jim, a sophomore in college, was lonely. He told his mother, "Mom, I'm lonely. I'm lonely for another man." This was how Mary Ellen realized that her son was gay, and she told him that his being gay didn't matter and that she loved him. He asked, "Then why are you crying?" She replied, "I don't know." His father didn't know much what to say to him. He asked, "Are you sure?" and "Can you change?" Then he remained silent, wondering if his oldest son could be gay and still be a Catholic. As it turned out, Casey and Mary Ellen Lopata took a long time - nine years - to be comfortable while being open about having a gay son, but eventually they did become comfortable. In addition, they rejected neither their son nor their religion. In fact, Mary Ellen wrote a book titled Fortunate Families: Catholic Families with Lesbian Daughters and Gay Sons about Catholics learning to be open about having gay children. Together, she and her husband founded a group called Fortunate Families to help Catholic parents with gay children. Casey and Mary Ellen Lopata believe that their family has been fortunate in having a gay son, and they believe that having a gay son has made them better Catholics.
• Celebrity publicist Howard Bragman has helped a number of actors and athletes to come out of the closet. One of the actors was Dick Sargent, who played the second Darren on the TV sitcom Bewitched. After Mr. Sargent made his decision to come out, Mr. Bragman arranged for Entertainment Tonight to interview him. This made Mr. Sargent laugh because he figured that Entertainment Tonight would not be interested; after all, it had been years since he had been on TV. However, Entertainment Tonight was interested, and after the interview appeared Mr. Sargent received many, many letters thanking him for coming out of the closet and living his life honestly. In addition, he started getting a lot more acting jobs. Mr. Bragman says, "Typically, when actors come out, good things happen. In fact, every person I worked with who came out ended up happier in their new life."
• If you are a gay boy, having a lesbian for a sister can be advantageous, and vice versa. World-famous Barney's window-dresser Simon Doonan grew up knowing he was gay, and his sister discovered that she was a lesbian later in her life. They often traded gifts. He would say to her, "I'll give you this toy airplane if you'll give me your plastic lacy parasol." And she would say to him, "I'll give you my golliwog, the one in the gingham dress with the two rows of rickrack on the hem, if you'll give me your toy shovel." While they were kids, they played Robin Hood and Maid Marian. She was Robin Hood, and he was Maid Marian.
• Both comedian Amy Poehler and singer Liza Minnelli have huge gay fan bases. Ms. Poehler and a pregnant friend saw a concert by Ms. Minnelli and afterward they visited Ms. Minnelli in her dressing room. Ms. Poehler says, "I told my friend, who was pregnant at the time, that Liza had to bless her baby so that it would either be gay or be a big supporter of the gays for the rest of his or her life."Ms. Minnelli agreed. She put her head down by the pregnant friend's belly and sang a couple of slightly altered lines from Cabaret: "What good is sitting alone in your womb? Come hear the music play!"
• Len Evans, a publicist for Project Publicity, came out to his mother on a Thanksgiving Eve. He and his mother were watching an episode of Will and Grace in which the gay character Jack is trying to hide his gayness from his mother, and his friends Grace and Karen are pretending to be his girlfriends. Len's mother turned to him and said, "This show reminds me of you and your friends. Is there something you want to tell me?" He then admitted that he was gay. He says, "She hugged me and said she had been waiting for me to tell her for years. I guess it's true that a mother always knows…."
• "I grew up in San Francisco. I know many same-sex families. I tell people, 'They raise their children the same way you do - they love them. There are many kinds of family, not just the Norman Rockwell kind.'"-comedian Robin Williams.
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George R.R. Martin
George R.R. Martin-a sweet man who loves dragons and killing heroes-is pretty busy these days, what with the beloved epic fantasy series that fans have been waiting more than two decades for him to finish. He also has a little side project in helping HBO pull off one of the biggest television phenomenas of this century in Game of Thrones, the adaptation of his "A Song of Ice and Fire" saga. On top of that, there's the appearances, the interviews, oh, and the multiple spinoffs and prequels in the works based off the world and characters he created.
So, when HBO invited him to have a cameo in the final season of Game of Thrones, he had a pretty good reason to turn it down: Martin still has an epic fantasy series to finish writing (even if the books have passed the movies).
"David and Dan invited me to a cameo in one of the final episodes, which I was tempted to do," Martin told Entertainment Weekly. "But I didn't think just for the sake of a cameo I could take the time to return to Belfast."
"There was a cameo in the original pilot that was cut," Martin told EW. "I was a guest at Dany's wedding. But that was when she was played by Tamzin Merchant so all that footage got thrown out when we recast with Emilia Clarke."
George R.R. Martin
Fox Rupert Loses Profit Dispute"Bones"
An arbitrator has ordered 21st Century Fox to pay $179 million in a dispute over profits with the stars of the long-running TV show "Bones," saying Fox executives engaged in "intentional fraud and malice."
The decision was reached earlier this month and revealed in a court petition from the plaintiffs Wednesday demanding that Fox pay, a decision Fox said it would contest.
Arbitrator Peter Licthman, a retired Los Angeles Superior Court judge, rebuked top Fox executives by name for self-dealing and deceit and his decision includes $128 million in punitive damages, calling the sum "reasonable and necessary to punish Fox for its reprehensible conduct and deter it from future wrongful conduct."
The overall figure is among the largest ever for a dispute over a television show and comes in a case that shines a light on finances within Hollywood conglomerates.
Lichtman said that Fox executives "engaged in a pattern and practice of fraudulent self-dealing by which it enriched itself" at the expense of the "Bones" producers and stars, who were owed a cut of profits.
"Bones"
Renewed for Season 7
'Brooklyn Nine-Nine'
Less than two months after moving into its new precinct, "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" has been renewed for another season to air during the 2019-20 slate. This upcoming installment will be the seventh season for the Andy Samberg and Andre Braugher-led series overall and the former Fox sitcom's second year on its new network.
"It's been one of our great joys as a network to give 'Brooklyn Nine-Nine' a second life," Lisa Katz and Tracey Pakosta, co-presidents of scripted programming, NBC Entertainment, said. "Cheers to Dan Goor, Mike Schur, Luke Del Tredici and David Miner, and our amazing cast and crew who each week turn New York's finest into New York's funniest."
As TheWrap reported earlier today, "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" is attracting 1 million more viewers per episode on its new channel than the old.
Through six NBC episodes this season, "Brooklyn" is averaging a 1.4 rating among adults 18-49 and 3.918 million viewers. Those Nielsen numbers count a week of delayed viewing for each episode, and they are up 8 percent and 34 percent, respectively, vs. the same point in the 2017-18 season.
'Brooklyn Nine-Nine'
Starts New Job
Sully
Lifting his thick paw to shake, former President George H.W. Bush's service dog took an oath to serve at Walter Reed National Medical Center on Wednesday, embarking on a new job helping disabled American veterans and active-duty service members.
Sully H. W. Bush became famous as canine caretaker and constant companion to the 41st U.S. president in the final stages of his life. In the Capitol rotunda after Bush's death in 2018, Sully faithfully laid down beside Bush's casket.
In his new role as a hospital "foreman" in a Walter Reed facility outside Washington, Sully's duties are to provide support, comfort and cheer to wounded veterans, their families and facility staff, thus reducing stress and increasing positive feelings, the medical center said.
The yellow Labrador is one of seven dogs working at the facility in Bethesda, Maryland. Collectively, they "average 2,500 contacts and over 200 working hours per month," according to the medical center. He is about 2-1/2 years old, according to America's Vetdogs, the organization that trained him.
Sully was named after Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, the pilot who landed a U.S. Airways passenger jet in the Hudson River after both engines lost thrust when the aircraft struck a flock of geese while taking off from New York's LaGuardia Airport.
Sully
Dead Humpback Whale
Amazon
When local fishermen were walking through a mangrove forest in Brazil, they came across something that shouldn't be there: the carcass of a humpback whale.
The baby whale likely was lost at sea and died of starvation or some unknown cause, according to nonprofit research group Bicho D'agua.
The tides washed the whale's body to shore at Araruna Beach in the city of Soure, said Bicho D'agua oceanographer Maura Sousa. It's located on the island of Marajo, which sits at the mouth of the Amazon River.
"During this season, the tide normally rises twice a day to almost 13 feet and floods the mangrove forest, bringing lots of trash, including trash from ships from a lot of places in the world," Sousa said. "This explains why an inflated carcass, due to the gases of the decomposition, was dragged into the mangrove forest," she said.
The 26-foot-long whale likely died four or five days before fishermen found it in the mangroves on Friday, she said. The fishermen notified the research group of the whale's carcass, which lay some 50 feet from shore.
Amazon
'Back Into Coal'
Carbon Capture
Scientists have managed to turn CO2 from a gas back into solid "coal", in a breakthrough which could potentially help remove the greenhouse gas from the atmosphere.
The research team led by RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, developed a new technique using a liquid metal electrolysis method which efficiently converts CO2 from a gas into solid particles of carbon.
Published in the journal Nature Communications, the authors say their technology offers an alternative pathway for "safely and permanently" removing CO2 from the atmosphere.
Current carbon capture techniques involve turning the gas into a liquid and injecting it underground, but its use is not widespread due to issues around economic viability, and environmental concerns about leaks from the storage site.
The new technique results in solid flakes of carbon, similar to coal, which may be easier to store safely.
Carbon Capture
Australian Siblings
Semi-Identical Twins
A pair of Australian siblings are some of the rarest humans ever documented, according to their doctors. The brother and sister are said to be semi-identical twins, sharing the exact same DNA from their mother's side, but only a portion of their father's genetic makeup. The children are thought to be only the second case of semi-identical twins discovered, and the first to be identified during pregnancy.
The story of the twins was detailed in a case report published Wednesday in The New England Journal of Medicine. According to the authors, the siblings are a class of twins called sesquizygotic, something of a midpoint between fraternal and identical twins.
Fraternal twins happen when two different sperm cells fertilize two different eggs, creating two different zygotes, both of which end up implanted in the uterus as developing embryos. So they're as genetically similar (roughly 50 percent) as any two average siblings would be-they're just born at the same time. Identical twins, on the other hand, are made when the same sperm fertilizes the same egg, but then that zygote splits into two embryos, each sharing the same genetic mix of DNA from mom and dad.
But in this case, the authors theorize, two sperm cells simultaneously fertilized the same egg. Ordinarily, that sort of mistake quickly results in a miscarriage, since humans usually can't develop with three different sets of chromosomes. Somehow, though, the resulting zygote incorporated an equal split of DNA from all three sets, with three groups of cells forming afterward: Cells containing the mother's DNA and DNA from sperm 1; cells with the mother's DNA and DNA from sperm 2; and cells containing DNA from only sperm 1 and 2. Over time, the third group of sperm-only cells was effectively crowded out by the cells containing DNA from both parents. Then, even more unexpectedly, the bundle of cells divided into two embryos, creating the twins.
"They are 100 percent identical on the mother's side and 78 percent identical the father's side, so this averages out to being 89 percent identical," lead author Michael Gabbett, a geneticist at Queensland University of Technology, told Gizmodo.?
Semi-Identical Twins
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