Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Garrison Keillor: I'm only going to say this once
D.T. is accepted by everyone over the age of ten, even those who love him, as a dishonest sleazeball with ADD issues, and with Democrats conducting hearings from now till the election, he is going to be in the news more or less nonstop as a national embarrassment. Republicans at last week's hearing could only heckle Cohen; none of them stood up for his boss and said what a great American he is. His best hope is that Bernie Sanders be the Democrats' nominee: that's a race D.T. can win in a walk. America doesn't want an angry president; wacko is bad enough.
Paul Waldman: The silly ways Republicans will defend keeping Trump's tax returns secret (Washington Post)
But let's be honest: If Trump's tax returns would reveal nothing more than that he's a shrewd businessman who has amassed great wealth and gives generously to charity, he would have mailed a copy of those returns to every household in the United States. It's precisely because they could provide evidence of wrongdoing, conflicts of interest and perhaps even lawbreaking that he is so determined to keep them secret. His defenders in the administration, in Congress, and in the conservative media understand that perfectly well.
Laurie Marhoefer: "The Freddie Mercury story that goes untold in 'Bohemian Rhapsody'" (The Conversation)
[ ... ] as a gay historian, I keep coming back to [ ... ] the tragic history that's glaringly absent from this movie. Mercury, along with all the other men and women who tested positive for HIV in the 1980s, was a victim not just of a pandemic but of the failures of his own governments and of the scorn of his fellow citizens. The laughable initial response to the HIV pandemic helped seal Mercury's fate. None of that is in the movie.
Kate Gardner: Ari Aster's New Nightmare MidsommarWill Scare You During the Daylight (themarysue)
The trailer is full of horrifying shots, including someone falling from a high place and someone smearing blood on a rock with ancient symbols. Perhaps the most terrifying is the ending though, as a young woman looks through a keyhole. We hear the sounds of screams and noises outside, but we can't make out what she's seeing. Will this be the third act, or is something even more horrifying.
Jedd Beaudoin: "Fighting Above Your Class: Steve Poltz on Songwriting, Loss, Relocation and, Yes, Wrestling" (PopMatters)
Veteran singer-songwriter, Steve Poltz's album Shine Onexemplifies his best artistic tendencies, although he still lets the people do the talking.
Kaila Hale-Stern: Female Cyclist Forced to Halt Race After She-Gasp!-Caught up With the Men (themarysue)
Today in sexist nonsense: a Swiss cyclist was made to stop mid-race after it appeared her surge would take her into the men's competition, which had begun ten minutes prior to the women's race.
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Presenting
Michael Egan
answered:
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
from Bruce
Anecdotes
• Abraham Lincoln was frequently critical of George McClellan, a notoriously unaggressive Union general. When General McClellan complained to him of tired horses, President Lincoln wrote back, "Major-General McClellan: I'm afraid I have just read your dispatch about sore-tongued and fatigued horses. Will you pardon me for asking what your horses have done since the Battle of Antietam that can fatigue anything."
• According to rumor, Elizabeth Chudleigh, Countess of Bristol, had given birth to illegitimate twins. She told the fourth Lord Chesterfield, "My Lord, I hope that you do not believe these abominable rumors about me which are circulating everywhere." Lord Chesterfield replied, "You have no need to be distressed, madame. I very rarely believe more than half of what I hear."
• Richard Brinsley Sheridan's father was an actor, something that didn't sit well with his classmates at Harrow. In fact, the son of a physician insulted Mr. Sheridan because his father was an actor. Mr. Sheridan defended himself by saying, "It is true my father lives by pleasing people, but yours lives by killing them."
• When Cinemascope - which widened the movie screen in an attempt to compete with television - first appeared, some Hollywood talents opposed it. According to George Stevens (director of Shane and I Remember Mama), "It's fine if you want a system that shows a boa constrictor to better advantage than a man."
• Ambiguous statements can be insulting. Classical scholar Richard Porson was once told that poet Robert Southey had complained about one of his poems, "My 'Madoc' has brought me in a mere trifle; but that poem will be a valuable possession in my family." Dr. Porson commented, "'Madoc' will be read when Homer and Virgil are forgotten."
• General Ulysses S. Grant could speak harshly. Once he was told that a certain officer whom he greatly disliked had been the veteran of 10 campaigns. General Grant replied, "So has that mule, yonder, but he's still a jackass."
• Fresco Thompson once was assigned to share a locker with super hitter but inept fielder Babe Herman, who was unhappy and said, "I don't like dressing with a .250 hitter." Mr. Fresco replied, "And I don't like dressing with a .250 fielder."
• An angry woman once stopped J. B. Keane and told him that she was going to give him a piece of her mind. He replied, "My dear woman, your mind is so small that if you gave me a bit of it you wouldn't have any left for yourself."
• The Ukrainian playwright O.E. Korneychuk wrote plays praising the Communists of the USSR. In one underground joke, Comrade Korneychuk said that he had put a lot of fire into his new play. A theater-goer replied, "It would have been better if it had been the other way around."
• Noël Coward wrote Private Lives, a comedy. Lady Diana Cooper starred in The Miracle, a drama. Lady Diana once told Mr. Coward, "Didn't you write Private Lives? Not very funny." Mr. Coward replied, "Aren't you in The Miracle? Very funny indeed."
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Lost Page of Notes Has Turned Up
Albert Einstein
A never-before-seen page of Albert Einstein's handwritten notes and equations on the unified theory of physics has been discovered in an archive of Einstein manuscripts recently acquired by The Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
According to a statement from the university, the newfound page was part of an appendix that Einstein included with a scientific article on unified field theory - the long-sought theory that unites all the fundamental forces of nature into a single set of equations - which Einstein submitted to the Prussian Academy of Science in 1930.
Previously thought lost, the page of elegantly written notes has never been seen or studied since its original submission, according to the statement.
The long-lost note turned up in an archive of 110 manuscript pages that The Hebrew University recently acquired from a private collector in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Many of the new pages have never been displayed to the public before, including 84 pages of mathematical calculations written from 1944-48, plus a number of letters to Einstein's friends and family.
In one letter, written to Einstein's son Hans Albert in 1935, the physicist expresses his worries about rising Nazi sentiments across Europe. "I read with some apprehension that there is quite a movement in Switzerland, instigated by the German bandits," Einstein wrote. "But I believe that even in Germany things are slowly starting to change. Let's just hope we won't have a Europe war first."
Albert Einstein
Revival Picked Up
'Mad About You'
The long-in-the-works Mad About You revival with original stars Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt has found a home. Charter Communications' premium content platform, Spectrum Originals, has picked up the new Mad About You to air as a limited series. The half-hour comedy, from showrunner Peter Tolan and Sony Pictures Television, is slated for a late 2019 launch.
Hunt will direct the first episode of the revival, with Danny Jacobson, who co-created the original series with Reiser, serving as an executive consultant.
The pickup by Spectrum Originals comes almost a year after the revival of the hit 1990 sitcom came together at Sony TV, with Reiser and Hunt closing deals to reprise their roles as Paul and Jamie Buchman and Tolan coming on board to steer the project. The Mad About You followup was taken out to buyers last spring. There was interest and production commitment offers but I hear the talent and producers were seeking a series order.
While the Mad About You revival was mostly dormant for months, Sony TV kept pursuing a deal, recently zeroing in on Spectrum Originals, which made its first big original series bet with Sony TV's L.A.'s Finest, establishing a relationship with the studio. Lengthy negotiations led to a deal for a limited series order. Meanwhile, Reiser and Hunt remained optimistic throughout the entire process, with Hunt telling Deadline last month that she was confident the revival would happen.
'Mad About You'
To End With Season 8
'Arrow'
The CW's Arrowverse is about to get a little smaller, as "Arrow" will be ending with its upcoming eighth season, TheWrap has learned.
And this final chapter of the Stephen Amell-led superhero drama will be an abbreviated one, with a 10-episode order set to air during the 2019-20 season.
"This was a difficult decision to come to, but like every hard decision we've made for the past seven years, it was with the best interests of Arrow in mind," executive producers Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim and Beth Schwartz said in a statement. "We're heartened by the fact that Arrow has birthed an entire universe of shows that will continue on for many years to come. We're excited about crafting a conclusion that honors the show, its characters and its legacy and are grateful to all the writers, producers, actors, and - more importantly - the incredible crew that has sustained us and the show for over seven years."
Amell also tweeted the news himself Wednesday, writing: "Playing Oliver Queen has been the greatest professional experience of my life… but you can't be a vigilante forever. Arrow will return for a final run of 10 episodes this Fall. There's so much to say… for now I just want to say thank you."
Currently airing its seventh season, "Arrow" was renewed for another season in January, along with several other CW series, including its companion shows "Supergirl," "The Flash," and "DC's Legends of Tomorrow." At the time, it was not revealed that the upcoming Season 8 would be the show's last.
'Arrow'
Netflix Adapting
One Hundred Years Of Solitude
Netflix has announced they are producing an adaptation of Gabriel Garcia Marquez's bestselling novel One Hundred Years Of Solitude.
First published in 1967, the Spanish-language book is often called a masterpiece and has been translated into 46 languages. An estimated 50 million copies have sold worldwide.
"Netflix has acquired the rights to Gabriel Garcia Marquez's masterpiece One Hundred Years Of Solitude and will adapt it into a series," the streaming service confirmed in a statement.
"This marks the first and only time in more than 50 years that his family has allowed the project to be adapted for the screen."
There have been many attempts to purchase the right to adapt the series, but none have previously been successful. The Nobel Prize-winning novelist's sons Rodrigo and Gonzalo García will reportedly act as executive producers on the series.
One Hundred Years Of Solitude
Compiled List
Customs and Border Protection
Customs and Border Protection has compiled a list of 59 mostly American reporters, attorneys and activists for border agents to stop for questioning when crossing the U.S-Mexican border at San Diego-area checkpoints, and agents have questioned or arrested at least 21 of them, according to documents obtained by NBC station KNSD-TV and interviews with people on the list.
Several people on the list confirmed to NBC News that they had been pulled aside at the border after the date the list was compiled and were told they were being questioned as part of a "national security investigation."
The list, dated Jan. 9, 2019, is titled "San Diego Sector Foreign Operations Branch: Migrant Caravan FY-2019 Suspected Organizers, Coordinators, Instigators, and Media" and includes pictures of the 59 individuals who are to be stopped. The people on the list were to be pulled aside by Customs and Border Protection agents for questioning when they crossed the U.S.-Mexico border to meet with or aid migrants from the Honduran caravan waiting on the Mexican side of the border.
The list includes 10 journalists, seven of them U.S. citizens, a U.S.-based attorney and others labeled as organizers and "instigators," 31 of whom are American. Symbols on the list show that by the time it was compiled 12 of the individuals had already been through additional questioning during border crossings and nine had been arrested.
The documents confirm what many people who report on immigration or provide humanitarian aid and legal counsel to asylum seekers at the southern border have reported anecdotally. They say that CBP is focused on them and increasingly pulling them aside for what is known as a "secondary screening."
Customs and Border Protection
Russian Science
North Korea
Perhaps none of the communist legacies shared by Vietnam and North Korea highlighted during Kim Jong Un's "goodwill visit" to Hanoi is stranger than the embalmed leaders on display in their capital cities, and the secretive team of Russian technicians that keeps the aging bodies looking ageless.
Kim laid a wreath outside Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum in the Vietnamese capital on Saturday, after the conclusion of his shortened summit with U.S. President Donald Trump. Inside the dark interior of the mausoleum, the embalmed corpse of Vietnam's founding father lies displayed in a glass coffin for a steady stream of tourists who silently shuffle by.
In Pyongyang, Kim Jong Un's grandfather and father are on similar display in the loftily named Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, a monument to the cult of personality that surrounds North Korea's ruling family.
All three leaders were originally preserved by a team of specialists from the so-called "Lenin Lab" in Moscow, which first embalmed and displayed Vladimir Lenin's body in 1924.
The Soviet Union may have collapsed, and socialism in both Vietnam and North Korea has taken on forms barely recognizable to the ideology's first thinkers, but that same lab still performs annual maintenance on Ho, and according to at least one researcher, still helps North Korea keep the Kims looking fresh.
North Korea
Shaking Antarctica
'Icequakes'
For part of the summer in parts of Antarctica, the ice melts into a swampy, slushy stew and refreezes as the temperatures rise and fall. As it melts, it generates hundreds of thousands of tiny little "icequakes."
Now, scientists have captured the daily pattern of these miniature tremors using the same kind of seismographs used to detect earthquakes. They find that the icequakes are caused by the sudden snap of frozen films of ice covering pools of slush.
"In these ponds, there's often a layer of ice on top of melted water below, like you see with a lake that's only frozen on top," University of Chicago glaciologist Douglas MacAyeal said in a statement. "As the temperature cools at night, the ice on the top contracts, and the water below expands as it undergoes freezing. This warps the top lid, until it finally breaks with a snap."
MacAyeal and his team were interested in the daily rhythms of the ice because little is known about the mechanics of a breakup of a large ice sheet. Such breakups have occurred in Antarctica multiple times over the past several decades. The Larsen C ice shelf calved an enormous iceberg into the Weddell Sea in 2017. The nearby Larsen B shelf collapsed unexpectedly in 2002. When floating ice sheets collapse, they don't directly contribute to sea-level rise, because they were already in a marine environment. But they do allow the landbound glaciers behind the ice sheets to flow faster, dumping meltwater into the sea.
The researchers were also interested in testing seismometers as a way to monitor melting ice. They deployed two near McMurdo Station, at the edge of the McMurdo Ice Shelf. One seismometer station was positioned at a dry location where the surface was covered with firn - previous years' snow slowly hardening and compacting into glacial ice. The other was put at a wet, boggy location where the ice was rotten and partially melted. At the wet location, the surface was often coated with a thin layer of ice over pools of slush and meltwater big enough to swallow an adult.
'Icequakes'
Magnetic Field
Earth
Imagine a bar magnet inside Earth, more or less aligned with the axis, where the ends of that magnet lie close to the geographic North and South poles of the planet. The magnetic field lines travel from the north pole of the magnet, looping back around to go back in toward the south pole. At each pole, the magnetic field lines are nearly vertical.
While there is definitely not a magnetic bar inside Earth, the same phenomenon occurs around the Earth, creating a protective area around the entire planet called the magnetosphere, according to NASA. Earth's magnetosphere protects us from harmful cosmic radiation and solar wind and is responsible for the beautiful auroral displays seen at the high latitudes of the Northern and Southern hemispheres.
Earth's magnetic and geographic poles are situated opposite of one another. In other words, Earth's magnetic south pole is actually near the geographic North Pole. So when we use a compass to determine our location, the compass needle actually points toward the south magnetic pole when in the Northern Hemisphere and toward the north magnetic pole in the Southern Hemisphere.
The magnetic poles aren't fixed and wander a bit across the surface of the planet with respect to the geographic poles. About 75 percent of the intensity of Earth's magnetic field is represented by the "magnetic bar." The other 25 percent of the intensity of Earth's magnetic field, which can be thought of as smaller bar magnets that are moving around, comes from smaller portions of moving magma and may be what allows the poles to move.
Earth's dynamo is persistent, but unstable. Right now, the magnetic field is rapidly changing, with the magnetic north pole making a sudden jump toward Siberia. Since the 1990s, the magnetic north pole has shifted about 35 miles (55 km) per year, on average, according to a 2019 study published in the journal Nature.
Earth
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