Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Tierny Sneed: Boom! Clinton Leads Trump 49-37 In Dramatic New Poll (Talking Points Memo)
A new Bloomberg poll published Tuesday shows Hillary Clinton leading Donald Trump 49 percent to 37 percent among likely voters nationwide. It also showed that 55 percent of those polled said that they would never vote for Trump.
Katherine Krueger: "Pastors Praise Orlando Killings Of 'Vile, Perverted Predators' (VIDEO)" (Talking Points Memo)
After 49 people were gunned down in an Orlando gay nightclub in the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history, pastors in California and Arizona praised the gunman for massacring "perverted predators" and "pedophiles."
Mark Morford: Meanwhile, a female American president (SF Gate)
This just in: A major American political party just (tacitly) nominated an exceptionally qualified, deeply intelligent, extremely popular/enormously unpopular woman to be President of the United States.
Mark Morford: "America: Drunk on hate, dying for love" (SF Gate)
From Jesus to Buddha, the Dalai Lama to MLK, the LGBT community to President Obama himself, in the face of horrendous violence, in the face of relentless stabs of blind hate, homophobia, racism, fear and death and a savage ignorance of God, the simple, but profoundly felt, call to love.
Ann Robinson: "Vitamin myths debunked: what should you be taking?" (The Guardian)
A new report says we spend more on vitamins than painkillers - but are supplements really effective? Plus, we ask the public what they take and why.
Stuart Heritage: I'm being chased around the internet by a shed (The Guardian)
I'm more than happy to be advertised to - but products pursuing you from site to site can feel like a nagging puppy tugging on your trouser leg.
David Ferguson: Cooking is a simple route to joy (The Guardian)
When you head into the kitchen to cook, you are grounding yourself in life and the world through your senses.
Britni Patterson, Mordecai Jones: 5 Groundbreaking Creations That Got People Fired (Cracked)
Some people fail because they have bad ideas. Others fail because their ideas are too good, like that time we had our Super Nintendo taken away because we filled the house with Home Alone traps. That's because great ideas can be unfortunately difficult to recognize but extremely easy to dismiss ... until, of course, it's too late.
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Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
from Marc Perkel
Patriot Act
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
"AFTER THAT, THE FUNERALS WILL BEGIN."
AND THE HEAT GOES ON!
THE KOCH WHORES ARE WATCHING YOU.
WHITE BOYS WILL BE WHITE BOYS.
THIS IS DISGUSTING!
"THIS IS NOT AMERICA!"
PUT YOUR THUMB UP YOUR ASS AND WHISTLE DIXIE!
Visit JD's site - Kitty Litter Music
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
The kid had jury duty at Superior Court in downtown LA - started on Monday.
It conveniently fell in the week between the end of the spring semester and the start of summer school.
He was mighty grateful to be dismissed today.
Song to Benefit Orlando LGBT Center
Broadway
Members of the Broadway community have teamed up for a charity recording of "What the World Needs Now Is Love," performed by a "We Are the World"-style supergoup of theater names and benefiting the victims and survivors of the Orlando shootings.
Led by Seth Rudetsky, the Broadway personality, SiriusXM DJ and and co-creator of musical "Disaster!," and his husband, producer James Wesley, the initiative has lined up a slew of performers that includes Sara Bareilles, Sarah Jessica Parker, Audra McDonald, Sean Hayes, Zachary Levi, Jane Krakowski, Gloria Estefan, Whoopi Goldberg and newly crowned "Hamilton" Tony winners Lin-Manuel Miranda and Renee Elise Goldsberry. A 25-piece orchestra will back the recording, which will be exec produced by Rudetsky, Wesley and Van Dean, and produced by Michael J. Moritz Jr. and Michael Croiter.
The digital single will be sold for $1.99 on the Broadway Records website starting June 20, and available on iTunes soon after that. All proceeds will benefit the LGBT Center of Central Florida, which is located in Orlando.
Here's the full roster of performers scheduled to participate in the recording, either in New York or remotely from L.A. or Miami: Sara Bareilles, Roger Bart, Kristen Bell, Wayne Brady, Matthew Broderick, Andréa Burns, Ann Hampton Callaway, Liz Callaway, Len Cariou, Paul Castree, Michael Cerveris, Joshua Colley, Lilla Crawford, Carmen Cusack, Darius de Haas, Fran Drescher, Gloria Estefan, Christopher Fitzgerald, Sutton Foster, Kimiko Glenn, Whoopi Goldberg, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Joel Grey, Sean Hayes, Heather Headley, Nina Hennessy, Megan Hilty, James Monroe Iglehart, Bill Irwin, Carole King, Jane Krakowski, Judy Kuhn, Nathan Lane, Anika Larsen, Jennifer Lewis, Zachary Levi, Jose Llana, Rebecca Luker, Andrea Martin, Audra McDonald, Idina Menzel, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Brian Stokes Mitchell, , Jessie Mueller, Donna Murphy, Rosie O'Donnell, Kelli O'Hara, Rory O'Malley, Orfeh, Sarah Jessica Parker, Rosie Perez, Bernadette Peters, Billy Porter, Alice Ripley, Chita Rivera, Keala Settle, Kate Shindle, Christopher Sieber, Jennifer Simard, Will Swenson, Rachel Tucker, Tommy Tune, Jonah Verdon, Lillias White, Marissa Jaret Winokur, BD Wong and Tony Yazbeck.
Broadway
UN Goodwill Ambassador
Anne Hathaway
Oscar-winning actress Anne Hathaway was appointed a goodwill ambassador Wednesday for the U.N. agency promoting gender equality and the empowerment of women.
UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, who announced the appointment, called her a longstanding supporter of women's and girls' rights.
She said Hathaway will put the spotlight on women's work at home caring for their families as a key barrier to equality.
Hathaway, who won the Academy Award for best supporting actress in 2013 for her role in "Les Miserables," said in a statement that she feels "honored and inspired by this opportunity to aid in advancing gender equality.
Anne Hathaway
Gravitational Waves Detected For Second Time
Einstein 2.0
The ground-breaking detection of gravitational waves, ripples in space and time postulated by Albert Einstein 100 years ago, that was announced in February was no fluke. Scientists said on Wednesday that they have spotted them for a second time.
The researchers said they detected gravitational waves that washed over Earth after two distant black holes spiraled toward each other and merged into a single, larger abyss 1.4 billion years ago. That long-ago violent collision set off reverberations through spacetime, a fusion of the concepts of time and three-dimensional space.
These gravitational waves were observed by twin observatories in the United States late on Dec. 25, 2015 (early on Dec. 26 GMT). The detectors are located in Livingston, Louisiana, and Hanford, Washington.
The first detection of gravitational waves was made in September and announced on Feb. 11. It created a scientific sensation and was a benchmark in physics and astronomy, transforming a quirky implication of Einstein's 1916 theory of gravity into the realm of observational astronomy.
The waves detected in September and December both were triggered by the merger of black holes, which are regions so dense with matter that not even photons of light can escape the gravitational sinkholes they produce in space.
Einstein 2.0
Announces Sale
Johnson Publishing
Ebony and Jet magazines, which have chronicled African-American life for the past 71 years, have been sold to an Austin, Texas-based private equity firm.
Johnson Publishing Co. announced Tuesday that Ebony and digital-only Jet were sold to Clear View Group. The sale of the magazines was closed in May, and no sale price was disclosed.
Johnson Publishing will retain its Fashion Fair Cosmetics business and Ebony photo archive, which is for sale, according to The Chicago Tribune.
The sale of the magazines allows the publishing company to reduce its debt associated with the media industry, Johnson Publishing CEO Desiree Rogers said in a statement.
Johnson Publishing
Charge Dropped
Texass
A misdemeanor charge accusing an anti-abortion activist of trying to buy human organs while making an undercover video looking into Planned Parenthood practices has been dismissed, and his attorneys said Tuesday they are working to have a felony count the activist faces thrown out as well.
David Daleiden, 27, and fellow activist Sandra Merritt, 63, were each indicted in January on a felony charge of tampering with a governmental record for allegedly using fake driver's licenses to conceal their identities while dealing with Planned Parenthood at a Houston clinic.
Daleiden was also indicted on the misdemeanor count related to purchasing human organs. Video footage from the two activists showed them posing as representatives of a company called BioMax, which purportedly procured fetal tissue for research. Planned Parenthood has said the fake company offered to pay the "astronomical amount" of $1,600 for organs from a fetus. The clinic said it never agreed to the offer.
But Harris County Criminal Court at Law Judge Diane Bull on Monday dismissed the misdemeanor count Daleiden faced, ruling the indictment was flawed because prosecutors had failed to make reference within the indictment to any exceptions to the law prohibiting the purchase or sale of human organs. Under the law, there are several exceptions including if fees were being paid to a doctor or hospital for their services.
Daleiden, who is the founder of a group called the Center for Medical Progress, was not at Tuesday's news conference. But in a statement, the center said the dismissal "is the latest confirmation that the indictments from a runaway grand jury in Houston were a politically motivated sham all along."
Texass
New Lawsuit Rooted In Trump Hair Story
Gawker
A Gawker deep dive into Donald Trump's hair -- which the news and gossip site speculated was a "$60,000 weave" -- has prompted a new kerfuffle between the embattled media giant and the lawyer of Hulk Hogan, the retired wrestler who took down Gawker Media with a lawsuit resulting a $140 million payout.
But this time, according to a New York Times report, Hogan lawyer Charles Harder is filing a complaint on behalf of another client: Ivari International, the hair restoration clinic that a Gawker reporters alleged was responsible for providing Trump with his trademark hairdo.
In a May investigation, Gawker claimed a "tipster" alerted them that "Trump's hair is not his own, costs tens of thousands of dollars for installation and upkeep, and comes from a man as mysterious as Trump is bombastic."
The article -- titled "Is Donald Trump's Hair a $60,000 Weave? A Gawker Investigation" -- explored at length the possibility that the presumptive GOP nominee underwent a process called a "microcylinder intervention" to get the mane he currently sports. It further tied Ivari International to an office location in Trump Tower in New York City.
Harder, however, charged that the Gawker article made "numerous false and defamatory statements about my clients," according to a New York Times report. Gawker, Harder claimed, invaded the privacy of owner Edward Ivari and has interfered "with actual and prospective business relations." The attorney further demanded Gawker retract the article.
Gawker
Shipwreck Badly Deteriorated
Andrea Doria
The wreck of the Italian ocean liner the Andrea Doria off Nantucket may be more badly deteriorated than previous sonar images suggest, with its bow nearly broken off, a team of undersea explorers said Monday.
OceanGate, a Washington-based crew that mans an underwater vessel, spent two full days at the wreck earlier this month capturing more than a dozen sonar images of the liner, which went down in 1956 after colliding with another ship.
Stockton Rush, OceanGate's CEO, said the images, which are still being processed, suggest a large section of the bow has broken off since the last time a sonar image of the ship was taken two years ago by another organization.
"It looks so dramatically different," he said, speaking at Boston's Long Wharf, where the underwater vessel rested on a docked boat. "When you look at the shape of the hull, it appears a lot has come off."
Rush said it's not clear when the bow started breaking up. He said previous sonar images were taken from the surface and are not as detailed as the ones being produced by his team.
Andrea Doria
'Mysterious Object'
'Extinct' Meteorite
A newly uncovered meteorite may be the first-ever "extinct" meteorite - a member of a class of meteorite that no longer falls to Earth. The ancient rock may yield insights on a cosmic impact that created most of the meteorites that now crash on Earth, and which may have influenced the evolution of life on Earth, researchers said.
The most common meteorites on Earth, which make up about 85 percent of the rocks that fall onto this planet from space, are known as ordinary chondrites. Chondrites are made up of tiny round pellets known as chondrules, which form when molten mineral droplets quickly cool in space. These stony meteorites are thought to come from similarly rocky asteroids.
The most common kind of ordinary chondrite is known as the L-type, which makes up about 47 percent of those rocks. Previous research on meteorites embedded in ancient marine limestone revealed that about 470 million years ago, there was an at least hundredfold rise in the number of L-type chondrites that crashed onto Earth. This suggested that the parent asteroid of all the L-type chondrites experienced a major collision with another asteroid at about that time.
Now researchers say they may have discovered a meteorite that is a remnant of the asteroid that smashed into the parent of the L-type chondrites.
The newfound meteorite is a rock about 3.15 inches (8 centimeters) long that is about 470 million years old. It was unearthed in Thorsberg quarry near the Swedish village Österplana alongside more than 100 L-type chondrites of similar age.
'Extinct' Meteorite
Seven Positions
Frogs
This just in from the Department of Amphibian Philandering:
For years, scientists have thought frogs and toads used only six positions to mate. It turns out they may be wrong. In a forest in India, researchers say, they've documented a seventh.
This latest entry in the Kermit Sutra is called the dorsal straddle. Like other positions - but unlike mammal sex - it's aimed at letting the male fertilize eggs outside the female's body.
Researchers spent 40 nights in a dense forest, finding male Bombay night frogs by listening for their mating calls and filming the action when a female showed up.
Frogs
In Memory
Ann Morgan Guilbert
Ann Morgan Guilbert, beloved as the next-door neighbor on "The Dick Van Dyke Show" and seen recently on CBS' comedy "Life in Pieces," has died.
Guilbert died of cancer in Los Angeles on Tuesday, her daughter Nora Eckstein said. She was 87.
Recent TV appearances included a starring role on the hospital comedy "Getting On" and a guest shot on "Grey's Anatomy." She was a regular as feisty Grandma Yetta on the 1990s sitcom "The Nanny," and in the early 1960s, played Millie Helper, Laura Petrie's gabby pal, on the acclaimed "Van Dyke" series.
She starred in Nicole Holofcener's 2010 Sundance Film Festival selection, "Please Give."
Guilbert had extensive theater credits, including the 2005 Broadway play, "A Naked Girl on the Appian Way," and productions of "The Matchmaker," ''Arsenic and Old Lace," ''Waiting for Godot," ''To Kill a Mockingbird" and "Harvey."
She began her career in the Los Angeles musical variety cabaret act originated by composer Billy Barnes, which toured throughout California. In 1959, "The Billy Barnes Revue" opened in New York as an off-Broadway production, then moved to Broadway.
One of its fans was writer-producer Carl Reiner, who remembered Guilbert when he was assembling his cast for "The Dick Van Dyke Show."
A native of Minneapolis, Guilbert graduated from Stanford University's Department of Speech and Drama, where she met the late producer-actor George Eckstein. They married and had two daughters, actress Hallie Todd ("Lizzie McGuire") and Eckstein, a writer, actress and acting teacher.
After her 1966 divorce, she married actor Guy Raymond, who died in 1997.
Guilbert is survived by her two daughters.
Ann Morgan Guilbert
In Memory
Ronnie Claire Edwards
Ronnie Claire Edwards, who portrayed the shopkeeper's busybody wife Corabeth Walton Godsey on the iconic CBS drama The Waltons, has died. She was 83.
The Waltons, created by Earl Hamner Jr., ran for nine seasons from September 1972 through June 1981 and continued with several telefilms. Edwards joined the series near the end of season three as the cousin of John (Ralph Waite), coming to Walton's Mountain after the death of her character's mother. Corabeth eventually married Ike Godsey (Joe Conley), and they adopted a daughter.
Edwards also played a secretary in a legal office on the 1985 Gary David Goldberg NBC series Sara, starring Geena Davis and Alfre Woodard, and appeared as Aunt Dolly on another Hamner show, Boone, which revolved around country music and aired on NBC from 1983-84.
She also showed up on a 1994 episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation and on other series including Dallas, Hamner's Falcon Crest and Designing Women.
A native of Oklahoma City, Edwards didn't pick up acting until after she turned 30 and made her onscreen debut in the 1963 film All the Way Home. Her movie résumé also included Nobody's Fool (1986) and The Dead Pool (1988).
She was the author of the memoirs The Knife Thrower's Assistant and Mr. Godsey Asked Me to Marry Him and I Said: "Yes!": (Exit Sobbing), the latter with a foreword by Hamner.
Edwards restored a 1911 Catholic church on Swiss Avenue in Dallas and made it her home after selling her mansion in Los Angeles to Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea in 2008.
Ronnie Claire Edwards
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