Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Mark Morford: Buy a gun, be a god (SF Gate)
Again with the mad rush to explain. Again with the desperate need to try and figure out why an intelligent, privileged white kid from one of America's wealthiest areas, a young man with every advantage the culture has to offer, would instead deem himself sufficiently vilified and marginalized that the only obvious solution is to buy multiple semi-automatic handguns and several hundred rounds of ammunition, and calmly massacre as many people as possible. And then kill himself.
Michael Hiltzik: Science has lost its way, at a big cost to humanity (LA Times)
Researchers are rewarded for splashy findings, not for double-checking accuracy. So many scientists looking for cures to diseases have been building on ideas that aren't even true.
Karin Klein: Speaking up for the low-profile commencement speaker (LA Times)
High-profile college commencement speakers are under siege this year. One faced a protest for being an alleged imperialist exploiter of Third World nations. Another was accused of sanctioning torture. A third was criticized for his role in breaking up an Occupy demonstration. All three canceled their speeches.
Alison Flood: Fifty Shades of Grey is really a self-help book, says academic (Guardian)
EL James's multimillion selling series of novels 'encodes the aporias of heterosexual relationships', according to Professor Eva Illouz.
JD Cano: 5 Things They Don't Tell You When You Leave the Army (Cracked)
#5. Everything Looks Like a Bomb
John Farrier: 10 Facts You Might Not Know about Angel (Neatorama)
A centuries-old vampire is cursed with a soul. Now he must overcome the guilt of his past to protect people in the city of angels from a hidden world of darkness and supernatural evil. This is the story of Angel, a TV series which ran from 1999 to 2004.
Dana Stevens: The Book Every Movie Lover Should Own (Slate)
The sixth-and possibly last-edition of David Thomson's New Biographical Dictionary of Film.
David Bruce: Wise Up! Authors (Athens News)
Asked to sign one of his first editions, writer Alexander Woollcott asked, "What is so rare as a Woollcott first edition?" His caustic friend Franklin Pierce Adams responded, "A Woollcott second edition."
David Bruce's Amazon Author Page
David Bruce's Smashwords Page
David Bruce's Blog
David Bruce's Lulu Storefront
David Bruce's Apple iBookstore
David Bruce has approximately 50 Kindle books on Amazon.com.
wrote:
has retired.
took the day off.
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
from Marc Perkel
BartCop
Hello Bartcop fans,
As you all know the untimely passing of Terry was unexpected, even by
him. We all knew he had cancer but we all thought he had some years
left. So some of us who have worked closely with him over the years are
scrambling around trying to figure out what to do. My job, among other
things, is to establish communications with the Bartcop community and
provide email lists and groups for those who might put something
together. Those who want to play an active roll in something coming from
this, or if you are one of Bart's pillars, should send an email to
active@bartcop.com.
The most active open discussion is on Bart's Facebook page.
( www.facebook.com/bartcop )
You can listen to Bart's theme song here
or here.
( www.bartcop.com/blizing-saddles.mp3 )
( youtu.be/MySGAaB0A9k )
We have opened up the radio show archives which are now free. Listen to
all you want.
( bartcop.com/members )
Bart's final wish was to pay off the house mortgage for Mrs. Bart who is
overwhelmed and so very grateful for the support she has received.
Anyone wanting to make a donation can click on this the yellow donate
button on bartcop.com
But - I need you all to help keep this going. This note
isn't going to directly reach all of Bart's fans. So if you can repost
it on blogs and discussion boards so people can sign up then when we
figure out what's next we can let more people know. This list is just
over 600 but like to get it up to at least 10,000 pretty quick. So
here's the signup link for this email list.
( mailman.bartcop.com/listinfo/bartnews )
Marc Perkel
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
May gray til mid-day.
Fluffing Wall Street
Amazon
Amazon says a dispute between it and publisher Hachette that has made it more difficult to buy Hachette books on the site could drag out.
It is even saying that customers should go to its competitors if they need a book published by the major New York publishing house quickly.
The e-commerce giant said late Tuesday it has been ordering less stock from Hachette and stopped letting customers pre-order books by Hachette authors, which include J.K. Rowling, James Patterson and Michael Connelley. Hachette said the changes affect about 5,000 titles. The changes had been widely reported but Amazon had not commented on them previously.
"Hachette has operated in good faith and we admire the company and its executives," Amazon said in a statement. "Nevertheless, the two companies have so far failed to find a solution."
Amazon shares rose $1.73 to $312.55 during midday trading.
Amazon
Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices
Maine
Maine's ethics panel fined a national anti-gay marriage group more than $50,000 on Wednesday and ordered it to reveal the donors who backed its efforts to repeal the state's gay marriage law.
The Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices found that the National Organization for Marriage violated campaign finance laws by failing to properly register as a ballot question committee and file financial reports in the 2009 referendum that struck down gay marriage. Same-sex unions were legalized by voters in 2012.
The commission also ruled that the organization must file a campaign finance report, which would force it to disclose the names of its donors. The National Organization for Marriage has fought for years to keep its donor list secret, saying doing so would put its contributors at risk for harassment and intimidation.
Under Maine law, groups must register if they raise or spend more than $5,000 to influence a statewide ballot question.
The National Organization for Marriage gave nearly $2 million to Stand for Marriage Maine for the 2009 referendum, or more than 60 percent of the political action committee's expenditures, ethics investigators said in a report released earlier this month.
Maine
Top Scientists Warn WHO
E-Cigarettes
A group of 53 leading scientists has warned the World Health Organisation not to classify e-cigarettes as tobacco products, arguing that doing so would jeopardize a major opportunity to slash disease and deaths caused by smoking.
The UN agency, which is currently assessing its position on the matter, has previously indicated it would favor applying similar restrictions to all nicotine-containing products.
In an open letter to WHO Director General Margaret Chan, the scientists from Europe, North America, Asia and Australia argued that low-risk products like e-cigarettes were "part of the solution" in the fight against smoking, not part of the problem.
Leaked documents from a meeting last November suggest the WHO views e-cigarettes as a "threat" and wants them classified the same way as regular tobacco products under the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).
E-Cigarettes
Grosses Up 11.4 Percent
Broadway
New musicals, original plays, revivals and star performers boosted Broadway's grosses this season more than 11 percent and pushed attendance up 5.6 percent, according to figures released on Tuesday.
Forty-four productions opened during the 2013-2014 season, which began on May 27 last year and ended May 25, including 16 musicals, 25 plays and three specials, said the Broadway League, which represents producers and theater owners.
Grosses were up 11.4 percent to $1.27 billion since last season and total attendance reached 12.21 million, after slumping to 11.57 million last season.
Musicals such as "The Lion King," "Book of Mormons" and "Wicked" are among most popular productions on Broadway but dramas also attracted large audiences.
Broadway
'We Like Sports'
Beastie Boys
Beastie Boys rapper Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz had an easy answer Wednesday for a lawyer asking why the hip-hop group refuses to endorse products but licensed its music for a watch company's snowboarding video.
"We like sports," Horovitz told the lawyer for beverage-maker Monster Energy Co. He said snowboarding, skateboarding and surfing are all hits with the band he started with two others in the 1980s when he was a teenager.
The company admits it violated the Beastie Boys' copyrights by including its songs in a video that was online for five weeks. But it insists it should owe no more than $125,000, partly because it was viewed fewer than 14,000 times. The band wants over $2 million.
He said it was also natural that the band would support outdoor sports. The music included at least three Beastie Boys songs and accompanied video of snowboarders doing stunts and speaking on camera.
Beastie Boys
'Clueless' Actress Joins Fox "News"
Stacey Dash
Stacey Dash, the actress best known, perhaps, for her role in the 1995 Amy Heckerling-helmed film "Clueless," will join Fox "News" Channel as a cultural commentator, the 21st Century Fox-owned Rupert Murdoch-controlled cable network said Wednesday.
Dash is to offer cultural analysis and commentary across Fox "News"' daytime and primetime programs, the network said.
The actress, whose films include "Renaissance Man' and "View from the Top," endorsed then-Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney (R-1%) on her personal Twitter account in 2012, a move that sparked some controversy and backlash. Since the election, Dash has continued to take to the media to offer opinion on pop culture, national news and politics.
Stacey Dash
Salmonella Outbreak - No End A Year Later
Foster Farms
An outbreak of antibiotic-resistant salmonella linked to a California chicken company hasn't run its course after more than a year, with 50 new illnesses in the past two months and 574 people sickened since March 2013.
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says there are about eight new salmonella illnesses linked to the outbreak a week, most of them in California. So far, there has been no recall of Foster Farms chicken.
The Agriculture Department says it is monitoring Foster Farms facilities and that measured rates of salmonella in the company's products have been going down since the outbreak began. The department threatened to shut down Foster Farms' facilities last year but let them stay open after it said the company had made immediate changes to reduce salmonella rates.
The CDC said 37 percent of victims were hospitalized, and that the outbreak is resistant to many antibiotics. In addition, the CDC said that 13 percent of the victims had developed blood infections, almost three times the normal rate. Victims came from 27 states and Puerto Rico.
Foster Farms
Drug Of Choice
Heroin
Anna Richter played high school basketball and grew up near a golf course in Centreville, Virginia, where the average family makes more than $100,000 per year.
She was 15 or 16 when she began popping prescription painkillers to get high. A couple of years later, she snorted heroin for the first time.
Not only was heroin cheaper than pills like OxyContin or Vicodin, it gave her a euphoric high like none she had ever experienced.
"In the past, heroin was a drug that introduced people to narcotics," said lead study author Theodore Cicero, a researcher at Washington University.
"But what we're seeing now is that most people using heroin begin with prescription painkillers such as OxyContin, Percocet or Vicodin, and only switch to heroin when their prescription drug habits get too expensive."
Heroin
Prime-Time Nielsens
Ratings
Prime-time viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen for May 19-25. Listings include the week's ranking and viewership.
1. "Dancing With the Stars" (Monday), ABC, 15.66 million.
2. "Dancing With the Stars" (Tuesday), ABC, 15.07 million.
3. "The Voice" (Monday), NBC, 11.7 million.
4. "The Voice" (Tuesday, 9 p.m.), NBC, 11.69 million.
5. "Dancing With the Stars: Road to the Finals," ABC, 11.64 million.
6. "American Idol" (Wednesday), Fox, 10.53 million.
7. "Modern Family," ABC, 10.45 million.
8. "Survivor," CBS, 9.55 million.
9. "The Big Bang Theory," CBS, 9.09 million.
10. "The Middle," ABC, 7.85 million.
11. NBA Playoffs: Miami vs. Indiana (Tuesday), ESPN, 7.54 million.
12. "The Voice" (Tuesday, 8 p.m.), NBC, 7.52 million.
13. "Blue Bloods," CBS, 7.26 million.
14. "The Bachelorette, ABC, 7.17 million.
15. "Survivor Reunion," CBS, 7.14 million.
16. "Mike & Molly," CBS, 7.05 million.
17. Auto Racing: Nascar Sprint Cup, Fox, 6.96 million.
18. "Maya Rudolph Show," NBC, 6.84 million.
19. NBA Playoffs: Indiana vs. Miami, ESPN, 6.82 million.
20. "American Idol" (Tuesday), Fox, 6.76 million.
Ratings
In Memory
Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou was gratified, but not surprised by her extraordinary fortune.
"I'm not modest," she told The Associated Press in 2013. "I have no modesty. Modesty is a learned behaviour. But I do pray for humility, because humility comes from the inside out."
Her story awed millions. The young single mother who worked at strip clubs to earn a living later danced and sang on stages around the world. A black woman born poor wrote and recited the most popular presidential inaugural poem in history. A childhood victim of rape, shamed into silence, eventually told her story through one of the most widely read memoirs of the past few decades.
Angelou, a Renaissance woman and cultural pioneer, died Wednesday morning at her home in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, her son, Guy B. Johnson, said in a statement. The 86-year-old had been a professor of American studies at Wake Forest University since 1982.
"She lived a life as a teacher, activist, artist and human being. She was a warrior for equality, tolerance and peace," Johnson said.
The world was watching in 1993 when she read her cautiously hopeful "On the Pulse of the Morning" at President Bill Clinton's first inauguration. Her confident performance openly delighted Clinton and made publishing history by making a poem a bestseller, if not a critical favourite. For resident George W. Bush, she read another poem, "Amazing Peace," at the 2005 Christmas tree lighting ceremony at the White House. Presidents honoured her in return with a National Medal of Arts and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the country's highest civilian honour. In 2013, she received an honorary National Book Award.
Her very name as an adult was a reinvention. Angelou was born Marguerite Johnson in St. Louis and raised in Stamps, Arkansas, and San Francisco, moving back and forth between her parents and her grandmother. She was smart and fresh to the point of danger, packed off by her family to California after sassing a white store clerk in Arkansas. Other times, she didn't speak at all: At age 7, she was raped by her mother's boyfriend and didn't talk for years. She learned by reading, and listening.
At age 9, she was writing poetry. By 17, she was a single mother. In her early 20s, she danced at a strip joint, ran a brothel, was married, and then divorced. But by her mid-20s, she was performing at the Purple Onion in San Francisco, where she shared billing with another future star, Phyllis Diller. She also spent a few days with Billie Holiday, who was kind enough to sing a lullaby to Angelou's son, Guy, surly enough to heckle her off the stage and astute enough to tell her: "You're going to be famous. But it won't be for singing."
After renaming herself Maya Angelou for the stage ("Maya" was a childhood nickname, "Angelou" a variation of her husband's name), she toured in "Porgy and Bess" and Jean Genet's "The Blacks" and danced with Alvin Ailey. She worked as a co-ordinator for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and lived for years in Egypt and Ghana, where she met Nelson Mandela, a longtime friend; and Malcolm X, to whom she remained close until his assassination, in 1965. Three years later, she was helping King organize the Poor People's March in Memphis, Tenn., where the civil rights leader was slain on Angelou's 40th birthday.
Angelou was little known outside the theatrical community until "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings," which might not have happened if James Baldwin hadn't persuaded Angelou, still grieving over King's death, to attend a party at Jules Feiffer's house. Feiffer was so taken by Angelou that he mentioned her to Random House editor Bob Loomis, who persuaded her to write a book by daring her into it, saying that it was "nearly impossible to write autobiography as literature."
"Well, maybe I will try it," Angelou responded. "I don't know how it will turn out. But I can try."
Angelou's memoir was occasionally attacked, for seemingly opposite reasons. In a 1999 essay in Harper's, author Francine Prose criticized "Caged Bird" as "manipulative" melodrama. Meanwhile, Angelou's passages about her rape and teen pregnancy have made it a perennial on the American Library Association's list of works that draw complaints from parents and educators.
Angelou appeared on several TV programs, notably the groundbreaking 1977 miniseries "Roots." She was nominated for a Tony Award in 1973 for her appearance in the play "Look Away." She directed the film "Down in the Delta," about a drug-wrecked woman who returns to the home of her ancestors in the Mississippi Delta. She won three Grammys for her spoken-word albums and in 2013 received an honorary National Book Award for her contributions to the literary community.
In North Carolina, she lived in an 18-room house and taught American Studies at Wake Forest University. She was also a member of the board of trustees for Bennett College, a private school for black women in Greensboro. Angelou hosted a weekly satellite radio show for XM's "Oprah & Friends" channel.
She remained close enough to the Clintons that in 2008 she supported Hillary Rodham Clinton's candidacy over the ultimately successful run of the country's first black president, Barack Obama. But a few days before Obama's inauguration, she was clearly overjoyed. She told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette she would be watching it on television "somewhere between crying and praying and being grateful and laughing when I see faces I know."
Maya Angelou
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