Mark Morford: Study retracted: 20 minutes actually CAN'T change a homophobe's mind (SF Gate)
There are, at present, only a few semi-reliable ways to change a staunch anti-gay conservative's very narrow mind on an issue like gay marriage. The most successful is to reveal to said homophobe that his own child is, in fact, homosexual, and this child would furthermore like to marry his beloved, and would even furthermore like to have his parents' blessing, and support, and even love, perhaps all resulting in said parents' shell-shocked, soul-searched realization that …
Interview by George Yancy: "Peter Singer: On Animal Rights and Human Rights" (NY Times)
Speciesism is an attitude of bias against a being because of the species to which it belongs. Typically, humans show speciesism when they give less weight to the interests of nonhuman animals than they give to the similar interests of human beings. Note the requirement that the interests in question be "similar." It's not speciesism to say that normal humans have an interest in continuing to live that is different from the interests that nonhuman animals have.
FRANCIS X. CLINES: Bernie Sanders Comes Clean (NY Times)
Voters should be grateful for the government transparency laws that required Senator Bernie Sanders, a rival to Hillary Rodham Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination, to reveal how much he made last year in speaking engagement fees. The total is $1,867.42 for three appearances, a grand sum that is chump change in presidential politicking but enough for the senator to respectably donate the money to charity.
Marriage Equality: Bring Your Family With You (YouTube)
Irish LGBT youth and parents coalition call for a Yes vote in the forthcoming marriage equality referendum. The BeLonG To lead coalition call on everyone to talk to their family and friends about why marriage equality is so important and to work for a Yes vote.
The prevalence of cigar smoking varies depending on location, historical period, and population surveyed, and prevalence estimates vary somewhat depending on the survey method. The U.S. is the top consuming country by far, followed by Germany and the UK; the U.S. and western Europe account for about 75% of cigar sales worldwide.
Source
Alan J was first, and correct, with:
United States.
Lois Of Oregon wrote:
What country consumes the most cigars? I'm gonna take a wild
guess and say the same country that consumes most
EVERYTHING! USA! USA! USA! We're number one.
Jim from CA, retired to ID, said:
The U.S. is the top consuming country by far, followed by Germany and the UK
Deborah responded:
I'm going with a WAG and claiming that Cuba consumes the most cigars.
Your caterpillars look healthy.
Dale of Diamond Springs, Norcali replied:
The good ole USA consumes more cigars than any other country. Ain't they lookin pretty & sexy! Personally, I used to enjoy an occasional stogie when upon I indulged in tobacco. I sure don't miss it!
DJ Useo said:
Me not know answer. Not smoked cigars for many years.
Just as guess, me say Russia.
MAM, wrote:
United States of America
Joe S answered:
I forgot completely to answer yesterday's quiz. I knew the answer too, because I watched Tiny Tim marry Miss Vicky on Johnny Carson. I enjoyed it thoroughly. So anyway, I forgot.
As for today's question I have to ask Barney. What's the answer Barney?
PS That Leland is a really good lookin' fella
Patriot Act NSA Spying Unconstitutional Section 215 National Security Letters Must End
My name is Marc Perkel and I have decided to announce that I will not comply with the so called "Patriot Act" laws requiring me to disclose information about my customers. If I receive a national security letter I will immediately photograph it, post it online everywhere I can, and then make a video of me burning it. I will then await my arrest. If you want to put me in jail then come get me mother fucker.
CBS opens the night with a RERUN'Big Bang Theory', followed by a RERUN'The Truly Awful Odd Couple', then a RERUN'Mom', followed by a RERUN'Mike & Molly', then a RERUN'Elementary'.
The programming geniuses at CBS are filling Dave's hour with reruns of 'The Mentalist'.
On a RERUNJames Corden, OBE (from 4/30/15) are Idina Menzel, Kumail Nanjiani, and Manic Street Preachers.
NBC begins the night with 'Dateline', followed by a FRESH'Aquarius'.
On a RERUNJimmy Fallon (from 4/9/15) are Madonna and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau.
On a RERUNSeth Meyers (from 5/11/15) are Louis C.K., Sharon Osbourne, and Joy Williams.
On a RERUNCarson 'The Scab' Daly (from 4/2/15) are Peter Facinelli, The Wolf, and Maz Jobrani.
ABC starts the night with a FRESH'500 Questions', followed by a RERUN'Jimmy Kimmel'.
On a RERUNJimmy Kimmel (from 5/18/15) are Mariah Carey and Alexandra Daddario.
The CW offers a RERUN'iZombie', followed by a RERUN'The Vampire Diaries'.
Faux has a RERUN'Bones', followed by a FRESH'Wayward Pines'.
MY recycles an old 'The Mentalist', followed by another 'The Mentalist'.
A&E has 'The First 48', followed by the movie 'Cleveland Abduction', then the FRESH'Cleveland Abduction: Beyond The Headlines'.
AMC offers the movie 'The Bucket List', followed by the movie 'National Lampoon's Vacation', then the movie 'National Lampoon's European Vacation'.
BBC -
[6:00AM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares UK - Season 2 - Ep 7 - Oscars
[7:00AM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares US - Season 2 - Ep 12 - Casa Roma
[8:00AM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares US - Season 2 - Ep 11 - Cafe 36
[9:00AM] Top Gear - Season 5 - Episode 9
[10:00AM] Top Gear - Season 13 - Episode 1
[11:00AM] Top Gear - Season 13 - Episode 2
[12:00PM] Star Trek: The Next Generation - Season 3 - Ep 23 - Sarek
[1:00PM] Star Trek: The Next Generation - Season 3 - Ep 24 - Menage a Troi
[2:00PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares UK - Season 1 - Ep 2 - Glass House
[3:00PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares US - Season 5 - Ep 9 - El Greco
[4:00PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares US - Season 1 - Ep 4 - Finn McCool's
[5:00PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares US - Season 5 - Ep 4 - Luigi's D'Italia
[6:00PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares US - Season 5 - Ep 2 - Leone's
[7:00PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares US - Season 6 - Ep 3 - Mama Maria's
[8:00PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares UK - Season 6 - Ep 1 - Mayfair
[9:00PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares UK - Season 6 - Ep 2 - Le Deck
[10:00PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares UK - Season 6 - Ep 3 - La Granada Divino
[11:00PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares UK - Season 6 - Ep 4 - Quelcuttis
[12:00AM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares UK - Season 6 - Ep 1 - Mayfair
[1:00AM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares UK - Season 6 - Ep 2 - Le Deck
[2:00AM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares UK - Season 6 - Ep 3 - La Granada Divino
[3:00AM] Top Gear - Season 5 - Episode 9
[4:00AM] Top Gear - Season 13 - Episode 1
[5:00AM] Top Gear - Season 13 - Episode 2 (ALL TIMES EST)
Bravo has 'Real Housewives Of OC', 'Real Housewives Of Atlanta: Kandi's Ski Trip', followed by a FRESH'Real Housewives Of Melbourne', and 'Real Housewives Of NYC'.
Comedy Central has 'Inside Amy Schumer', 'Tosh.0', 'South Park', another 'South Park', followed by the movie 'Liar Liar'.
Scheduled on a FRESHJon Stewart is Matt Harvey.
Scheduled on a FRESH@Midnight are Nick Swardson, Whitney Cummings, and Chris D'Elia.
FX has the movie 'Horrible Bosses', followed by the movie 'Identity Thief', then a FRESH'The Comedians', followed by a FRESH'Louie'.
History has 'Pawn Stars', another 'Pawn Stars', still another 'Pawn Stars', yet another 'Pawn Stars', followed by a FRESH'Pawn Stars', then another FRESH'Pawn Stars', followed by a FRESH'Lost In Transmission'.
IFC -
[6:00AM] WHITEST KIDS U'KNOW
[6:15AM] DARKMAN II: THE RETURN OF DURANT
[8:15AM] DARKMAN III: DIE DARKMAN DIE
[10:15AM] CONAN THE BARBARIAN
[1:00PM] CHAOS
[3:30PM] BLOOD DIAMOND
[6:45PM] THE DEPARTED
[10:00PM] MARON-EX-POD
[10:31PM] BASEKETBALL
[12:45AM] COMEDY BANG! BANG!-CRAIG ROBINSON
[1:00AM] MARON-EX-POD
[1:30AM] THE DEPARTED
[4:45AM] COMEDY BANG! BANG!-TONY HAWK WEARS A PLAID SHIRT AND SILVER WATCH
[5:15AM] COMEDY BANG! BANG!-JOSH GROBAN WEARS A SUIT AND STRIPED SOCKS
[5:45AM] WHITEST KIDS U'KNOW (ALL TIMES EST)
Sundance -
[6:00AM] The Staircase-Last Chance - Final Appeal
[7:00AM] Barney's Version
[10:00AM] The Game
[12:45PM] Don't Say a Word
[3:15PM] Troy
[6:45PM] Top Gun
[9:00PM] Sixteen Candles
[11:00PM] Behind the Story With the Paley Center-The Big Bang Theory
[12:00AM] Behind the Story With the Paley Center-The Big Bang Theory
[1:00AM] Sixteen Candles
[3:00AM] Basic Instinct
[5:45AM] Love Lust-Love Lust & Sex Symbols (ALL TIMES EST)
SyFy has the movie 'Die Another Day', followed by a FRESH'WWE Steroid SmackDown', then a FRESH'Lost Girl'.
TBS:
On a RERUNConan (from 2/23/15) are the cast of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" and In the Valley Below.
Actor Martin Sheen, executive producer Howard J. Morris, actors Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda and executive producer Marta Kauffmann pose on the red carpet at the "Grace and Frankie" Q&A Screening at the Pacific Design Center on Tuesday, May 26, 2015 in West Hollywood, Calif.
Photo by Vince Bucci
The Westboro Baptist Church probably wishes they had access to an invisibility cloak right about now.
J.K. Rowling, the author behind the "Harry Potter" book series, took the hate group to task when they criticized a tweet Rowling posted about Gandalf and Dumbledore now being able to marry in Ireland.
A Twitter account associated with the WBC posted a reply featuring the group's trademark "God Hates Fags" slogan and saying it would picket the wedding ceremony between the two fictional characters.
Rowling replied:
Alas, the sheer awesomeness of such a union in such a place would blow your tiny bigoted minds out of your thick sloping skulls.
Director Brad Peyton and Archie Panjabi seen at New Line Cinema presents the Los Angeles World Premiere of "San Andreas" at TCL Chinese Theatre on Tuesday, May 26, 2015, in Hollywood, CA.
Photo by Eric Charbonneau
It'll be a long time before we see anything on CBS' late night schedule that was as moving and powerful as the Late Show's final montage during David Letterman's last episode. And the network won't even be trying, as it's taken a somewhat odd approach to filling the pre-Late Late Show with James Corden gap on the way to Stephen Colbert taking over later this year. Instead of figuring out a way to work anything talk show-related into it, they're just airing drama repeats.
In the weeks prior to The Late Show with Stephen Colbert's debut on September 8, CBS is airing episodes of its most popular dramas, with The Mentalist having taken on the first shift until early June. They will then begin airing shows such as NCIS, NCIS: Los Angeles, NCIS: New Orleans, Scorpion, and Blue Bloods. It seems like it might be a damaging way to lead in to James Corden's show, which is slowly growing in popularity, but CBS isn't worried.
Given that Letterman's Worldwide Pants owned his Late Show library, there was no chance of any of the retired icon's episodes getting the repeat treatment. It's still strange, however, that CBS execs didn't follow in their own footsteps by letting a revolving door of celebrities take on guest-hosting spots, the same way they did in between Craig Ferguson's absence and Corden's arrival. I guess they were too busy throwing all of the Late Show furniture and set dressing out.
Summer TV used to be all about repeats anyway, so it's not like CBS' plan is truly crazy. Their shows are among the most highly-rated programs on TV, and their heavy promotional campaign for The Late Show during the next few months should result in Stephen Colbert getting an enviable crowd when he takes over.
A project to build a giant telescope near the summit of Mauna Kea has the right to move forward, but Hawaii has failed the mountain in many ways, Gov. David Ige said Tuesday.
Amid protests and arrests of opponents blocking construction workers from accessing the site, construction has been halted since last month on the $1.4 billion Thirty Meter Telescope. Ige said it's up to the nonprofit telescope company to determine when construction will resume. "And we will support and enforce their right to do so," he said.
Ige also vowed that there will be major changes in stewardship of Mauna Kea, held sacred by Native Hawaiians. The University of Hawaii, which leases the land, must do a better job in its stewardship, he said, listing 10 actions he's asking the university to take.
They include beginning to decommission as many as possible of the telescopes already on the mountain, with at least 25 percent of the 13 telescopes gone by the time Thirty Meter Telescope is ready for operation; legally commit that this is the last area on the mountain where a telescope will be considered; restart the environmental review process for the university's lease extension; and significantly limit noncultural access to the mountain.
People watch balloons made by the 'ONE' campaigning organisation depicting leaders of the countries members of the G7 in front of the Frauenkirche cathedral in Dresden, Germany, May 27, 2015. Dresden hosts the G7 finance ministers and central bankers meeting. The ballons show Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, British Prime Minister David Cameron, French President Francois Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, U.S. President Barack Obama and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi.
Photo by Fabrizio Bensch
A judge in Georgia agreed on Wednesday to appoint a mediator to help settle a dispute between the late Martin Luther King Jr.'s children over whether to sell his 1964 Nobel Peace Prize medal and the Bible he carried during the civil rights movement.
The fight pits the slain civil rights leader's sons Martin Luther King III and Dexter King, who want to sell the medal and Bible, against King's surviving daughter, Bernice King, who opposes the sale of items she calls "sacred" to the family.
Attorneys for the King estate and Bernice King said they were close to settling a lawsuit filed against her by the estate.
A court-ordered mediator would help the parties put the "final touches" on an agreement, Eric Barnum, Bernice King's lawyer, told Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney during a hearing. McBurney said he would appoint a mediator, with a goal of completing an agreement by Sept. 30.
A U.S. judge in California allowed a class action lawsuit to proceed on Wednesday against satellite-radio company Sirius XM Holdings Inc over the payment of royalties for songs produced before 1972, in a case that is being closely watched for its implications for digital media.
The ruling by U.S. District Judge Philip Gutierrez marks another win for members of the 1960s band the Turtles, known for the hit "Happy Together," and means the company could face claims from a broader group of artists.
"Sirius XM treats every single owner of a pre-1972 song the same, namely it doesn't pay them, so it was appropriate for this court to grant class certification," said Henry Gradstein, attorney for Flo & Eddie Inc, a company controlled by founding Turtles members Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman.
Gutierrez ruled last September that, under California state law, New York-based Sirius XM was liable for copyright infringement by airing the band's pre-1972 songs without paying royalties.
Flo & Eddie also sought to certify a class action against the company to bring in other artists in a similar situation. Sirius XM argued against certification because it said damages would be difficult to calculate accurately for different members of the class.
The Bolshoi Theater soloists Maria Allash and Denis Rodkin perform during a Gala Concert in the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, May 27, 2015.
Photo by Pavel Golovkin
Actor-comedian Tracy Morgan has settled his lawsuit against Wal-Mart over a highway crash that killed one man and left Morgan and two friends seriously injured.
A filing in federal court in Newark on Wednesday refers to a confidential settlement reached by the two sides.
Bentonville, Arkansas-based Wal-Mart Stores Inc. called it an "amicable settlement." Details weren't disclosed.
A Wal-Mart truck slammed into the back of a limo van carrying Morgan and the others back from a show in Delaware last June. Comedian James "Jimmy Mack" McNair was killed. Morgan suffered head trauma, a broken leg and broken ribs.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday it is investigating what the Pentagon called an inadvertent shipment of live anthrax spores to at least one, and perhaps as many as nine, laboratories that expected to receive dead spores.
A Pentagon spokesman, Col. Steve Warren, said the suspected live anthrax samples were shipped from Dugway Proving Ground, an Army facility in Utah, using a commercial delivery service.
Warren said the government has confirmed one recipient, a laboratory in Maryland, received live spores. It is suspected, but not yet confirmed, that anthrax sent to labs in as many as eight other states also contained live spores, he said.
The anthrax samples were shipped from Dugway to government and commercial labs in Texas, Maryland, Wisconsin, Delaware, New Jersey, Tennessee, New York, California and Virginia.
Traditonally dressed Australian Aboriginal performers hold gum-tree leaves as they dance on Sydney's Coogee Beach as they participate in a 'Corroboree' showcasing traditional dance during an event to mark National Reconciliation Week May 27, 2015.
Photo by David Gray
Japanese fishermen vowed Wednesday to continue their dolphin hunt, despite a pledge by zoos and aquariums not to buy animals caught with the controversial method.
"We will never stop it," Yoshifumi Kai of the fisherman's cooperative in the western Japanese town of Taiji, where the hunt takes place, told reporters.
The press conference came a week after Japan's zoos and aquariums voted to stop using dolphins caught by the so-called "drive hunt" method, as demanded by the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA).
WAZA regards drive hunt fishing -- where pods of cetaceans are herded into a bay by a wall of sound before being butchered -- as "cruel", a charge local fishermen reject.
The top U.S. telecommunications regulator wants to make it harder for telemarketers and other businesses to place unwanted robocalls and text messages under changes to autodialing rules proposed on Wednesday.
The Federal Communications Commission plans to vote on June 18 on the proposal, which would give legal cover to telephone companies to offer consumers technologies that would block robocalls, regardless of where they originate.
The proposal would also reassert that consumers have to agree to receive automated calls and texts and clarify that they can revoke their consent in any "reasonable" way, including a simple request for calls to stop, without the need to file convoluted paperwork.
Robocalls and robotexts are by far the most common cause of consumer complaints at the FCC, topping 215,000 in the last year alone. Consumer advocates and the majority of U.S. states attorneys general had pressed the FCC to clarify the robocall rules.
Road markings appear distorted as the asphalt starts to melt due to the high temperature in New Delhi, India, May 27, 2015. More than 1,150 people are reported dead from a heat wave sweeping across south India and Andhra Pradesh state was the worst hit, where 884 people had died of heatstroke since 18 May. Weather officials said northwesterly dry and hot winds from the desert state of Rajasthan were responsible.
Photo by Harish Tyagi
In 1974, anthropologists in Ethiopia found the astonishing fossilised remains of a human-like creature who last walked the planet some 3.2 million years ago.
Was "Lucy," as the hominid was called, the direct ancestor of Homo sapiens? Was she "The Mother of Mankind," as some headlines claimed?
Over the years, the dramatic assertion has come under attack by doubters, who point to ancient yet inconclusive finds in Kenya and Chad.
But a new fossil, reported on Wednesday, may have dealt Lucy's claimed status an irreversible blow.
Another species of hominid lived at the same time and in the same Afar region of Ethiopia, according to the paper, published in the journal Nature. Named Australopithecus deyiremeda, the hominid and Lucy are probably only part of a wider group of candidates for being our direct forerunners, the finders said.
Khari, a female cheetah, rests with two of her three cubs at the Metro Richmond Zoo, in Moseley, Va., Tuesday, May 26, 2015. The cubs were born at the zoo on April 29 and are doing well. The Metro Richmond Zoo says nine cheetah cubs from two litters were born in the past month.
Photo by P. Kevin Morley
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