from Bruce
Anecdotes
Church
• Ludwig Bemelmans, author/illustrator of the Madeline series of children’s books, had an Uncle Joseph who was a priest. Very few things upset him, but late arrivals to church services did. At the end of services, when Uncle Joseph walked down the aisle and blessed worshippers with holy water, he used to take a big dip of water and douse anyone who had come to services late.
• For a long time Russian ice skater Ekaterina Gordeeva was afraid of churches, even while visiting Western countries, because while she was growing up, to believe in God was illegal. (Despite the law, many families hung a religious icon on a wall at home — but in a room where ordinary visitors were not admitted.)
Conversions
• According to the Quakers, speaking in unprogrammed meeting is not something that can be planned; instead, it is a matter of divine inspiration. At least once, remaining silent resulted in a convert. Richard Jordan was a renowned Quaker preacher. Living near him was William Williams, who wanted to hear Mr. Jordan speak. He attended several First-day meetings, but Mr. Jordan remained silent. Thinking that perhaps Mr. Jordan spoke only during weekday meetings, Mr. Williams attended several weekday meetings, but again Mr. Jordan remained silent. However, the meetings — even though Mr. Jordan remained silent — had an effect on Mr. Williams, and he became a Quaker. Only then did the Holy Spirit again move Mr. Jordan to speak during meetings.
• In 18th-century Germany, Suss Oppenheimer, the finance minister of the Duke of Württemberg, was sentenced to death after false accusations were made against him. He was told that he could save his life if he converted to Christianity, but although he was not an observant Jew, he replied, “I am a Jew and I will remain a Jew. I would not become a Christian even if I could become an emperor. Changing one’s religion is a matter for consideration by a free man; it is an evil thing for a prisoner.” He died while speaking the words of the Sh’ma.
Courage
• The first three Muslims honored by Israel for risking their lives to save the lives of Jews during the Holocaust were Mustafa Hardaga; his wife, Zayneda; and his father-in-law, Ahmed Sadik. In 1941, the Nazi army attacked Yugoslavia. Mr. Hardaga was a merchant in Sarajevo, and one of his friends was a Jewish factory owner named Yosef Kabilio. The Germans destroyed the apartment building where Mr. Kabilio and his family lived, so Mr. Hardaga invited the Kabilios to move into his house with him and his family. He kept them there, safe from the Nazis, until they were able to move into the Italian-controlled part of Yugoslavia, which was safer. Meanwhile, Mr. Sadik was doing the same thing for the Papo family, who were friends of the Kabilios. This kind of heroism was dangerous, for the Nazis killed people who helped the Jews. Mr. Sadik himself died in a concentration camp because he had been found guilty of helping Jews. When Sarajevo was torn apart by war in 1994, the Muslims were endangered, and the Israeli government brought Mrs. Hardaga, by then a widow, to safety in Israel.
• Muhammad Ali had courage out of the ring as well as in. After Mr. Ali converted to Islam, a fight promoter said that Mr. Ali would have to publicly renounce his faith or he would not be allowed to fight. Mr. Ali absolutely refused to do this, and the promoter was forced to back down.
Deafness
• The Englishman Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892), a Baptist preacher, was a wit. Once, an irate woman cornered him and gave him a tongue-lashing, but he merely smiled and said, “Yes, thank you; I am quite well. I hope you are the same.” The woman continued to tongue-lash him, and this time Mr. Spurgeon said, “Yes, it does look rather as if it is going to rain; I think I had better be getting on.” Deceived by Mr. Spurgeon’s pretending to be deaf, the woman finally gave up and left him in peace, saying, “Bless the man! He’s as deaf as a post; what’s the use storming at him?”
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© Copyright Bruce D. Bruce; All Rights Reserved
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Presenting
Michael Egan
U.S.A. said:
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
BRUCE'S RECOMMENDATION
BANDCAMP MUSIC
BRUCE'S RECOMMENDATION OF BANDCAMP MUSIC
Music: "Ig Ha Gnuae"
Album: BLUES TRASH (SWISS GERMAN VERSION)
Artist: Reverend Beat-Man And The New Wave
Artist Location: Bern, Switzerland
Info: “Born in 1967 and former Wrestling Rock'n'Roll One Man Band Activist Lightning Beat-Man (1992-1999) Turned into a Primitive Rock'n'Roll Blues Preacher in the Millennium Change and released countless recordings on several Labels 2017 he had a hand full of songs to record this album, the idea was to record it with several musicians and not showing them the songs, they went to the studio and Reverend Beat-Man played the songs on the guitar one time, then they had two takes for recording without rehearsal to keep it fresh. Anyway the idea was Free Style and so is that whole album, the result was a mix of Blues Trash, New Wave, Folk, Dark, No Wave, Garage, Punk, and Rock'n'Roll.”
Reverend Beat-Man and the New Wave — “If I Knew”
Reverend Beat-Man — “Jesus”
Price: €1 (EURO) for track; €7 (EURO) for 12-track album
Genre: Sui Generis. Blues. Rock.
Links:
BLUES TRASH (SWISS GERMAN VERSION)
Reverend Beat-Man on Bandcamp
If It’s Too Loud, You’re Too Old
Voodoo Rhythm Records on Bandcamp
VOODOO RHYTHM RECORDS on YouTube
Other Links:
David Bruce's Amazon Author Page
David Bruce's Smashwords Page
David Bruce's Blog #1
David Bruce's Blog #2
David Bruce's Blog #3
David Bruce's Apple iBookstore
David Bruce has over 140 Kindle books on Amazon.com.
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
New Venture
Michael Egan
Bonus Links
Jeannie the Teed-Off Temp
Reader Comment
Current Events
Linda >^..^<
We are all only temporarily able bodied.
Thanks, Linda!
that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Not as hot, but still too toasty.
Two-Month Summer Hiatus
Trevor Noah
Is Trevor Noah going back to the studio in September? Possibly.
Comedy Central has revealed that The Daily Show will have a “brand new look and feel” from September 13 but was cryptic as to whether Noah would leave his cubby hole in his apartment and return to the studio. The Daily Show is the last of the nightly shows to return to the studio.
What is clear is that Noah is taking a slightly longer summer hiatus – ala Jimmy Kimmel.
The South African will begin his summer hiatus on Friday June 18 with the show returning September 13. This is longer than his usual break in previous years.
The network said that the show would continue to air new and original content from the news team including field packages, sketches and explainers during the break.
Trevor Noah
Rejected Offer
Roger Waters
Roger Waters don't need no Facebook money.
The Pink Floyd co-founder revealed he recently received a "huge" offer from Facebook to use the band's song "Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2" in an ad for Instagram — and he turned it down with some pointed words for CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
"It arrived this morning with an offer of a huge, huge amount of money," Waters said, per CNN. "And the answer is, 'F--- you. No f---ing way!'"
Waters went further by blasting Facebook's "insidious movement" to "take over absolutely everything," declaring he will "not be a party to this bulls---" while mockingly quoting from Zuckerberg's "missive" to him and blasting the Facebook boss as a "little prick." He made his comments at a pro-Julian Assange event, Rolling Stone reports.
"How the f--- did he get any power in anything?" Waters asked of Zuckerberg. "And yet here he is, one of the most powerful idiots in the world."
Roger Waters
Week of June 7-13
Ratings
ABC was the most-watched network in prime time, averaging 3.1 million viewers. CBS had 2.9 million viewers, NBC had 2.7 million, Fox had 2 million, Univision had 1.3 million, Ion Television had 980,000 and Telemundo had 910,000.
TNT led the cable networks with an average of 2.13 million viewers. Fox News Channel had 2.12 million, ESPN had 2.1 million, MSNBC had 1.33 million and HGTV had 1.18 million.
ABC’s “World News Tonight” led the evening news ratings race, averaging 7.6 million viewers last week. The “NBC Nightly News” had 6.1 million and the “CBS Evening News” had 4.8 million.
For the week of June 7-13, the most popular prime time programs, their networks and viewerships:
1. “America’s Got Talent,” NBC, 7.22 million.
2. “60 Minutes,” CBS, 6.51 million.
3. “Celebrity Family Feud,” ABC, 4.84 million.
4. NBA Playoffs: Phoenix at Denver (Sunday), TNT, 4.22 million.
5. NBA Playoffs: Utah at L.A. Clippers (Saturday), ABC, 4.11 million.
6. “New Amsterdam,” NBC, 4.1 million.
7. NBA Playoffs: L.A. Clippers at Utah (Thursday), ESPN, 4.07 million.
8. “NCIS,” CBS, 4 million.
9. “The Good Doctor,” ABC, 3.99 million.
10. NBA Playoffs: Phoenix at Denver (Friday), ESPN, 3.96 million.
11. “United States of Al,” CBS, 3.92 million.
12. “America’s Funniest Home Videos,” ABC, 3.87 million.
13. “Young Sheldon,” CBS, 3.84 million.
14. NBA Playoffs: Brooklyn at Milwaukee (Thursday), ESPN, 3.79 million.
15. “The Bachelorette,” ABC, 3.77 million.
16. NBA Playoffs: Denver at Phoenix (Monday), TNT, 3.69 million.
17. “The Chase,” ABC, 3.66 million.
18. NBA Playoffs: Atlanta at Philadelphia, (Tuesday), TNT, 3.628 million.
19. NBA Playoffs: L.A. Clippers at Utah (Tuesday), TNT, 3.626 million.
20. “The Neighborhood,” CBS, 3.621 million.
Ratings
Former Child Star Protested Outside
Foo Fighters
Anti-vaccine protesters demonstrated on Tuesday outside a Foo Fighters concert in California that allowed only vaccinated fans, Variety reported.
On Saturday, the rock band announced an intimate show at the Canyon Club in Agoura Hills ahead of a larger performance with similar requirements at Madison Square Garden in New York City on June 20.
Attendees had to show proof that they were 21 or over and vaccinated in order to pick up their nontransferable tickets at the club on Sunday, Rolling Stone reported.
Variety reported that the protesters appeared to be joined by Ricky Schroder, a former child star.
"Dave Grohl is an ignorant punk who needs slapped for supporting Discrimination," Schroder wrote in a Facebook post on Sunday, referring to the Foo Fighters front man. "Ignorance comes in all shapes & sizes. Kurt Cobain is laughing at you Dave along with Millions of Patriots....Fool."
Foo Fighters
Party Über Alles
First Responders
The House passed a bill Tuesday to award Congressional Gold Medals to honor the Capitol Police officers and others who protected the U.S. Capitol during a pro-Trump riot Jan. 6 by a vote of 406-21.
"The desecration of the U.S. Capitol, which is the temple of our American Democracy, and the violence targeting Congress are horrors that will forever stain our Nation's history," the legislation says.
The 21 "no" votes came from Republicans, including Andrew Clyde of Georgia, who downplayed the violence during a hearing last month.
"There was an undisciplined mob. There were some rioters and some who committed acts of vandalism. But let me be clear: There was no insurrection, and to call it an insurrection, in my opinion, is a bald-faced lie. Watching the TV footage of those who entered the Capitol and walked through Statuary Hall showed people in an orderly fashion staying between the stanchions and ropes taking videos and pictures," Clyde said then.
Also voting "no" were Paul Gosar of Arizona, who said the fatal shooting of Ashli Babbitt, one of the rioters, was "an execution," Lauren Boebert of Colorado and Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, who had pointed to Jan. 6 as a "1776" moment before the riot.
First Responders
Loan Relief Granted
Defrauded College Students
The U.S. Education Department said Wednesday it’s erasing student debt for thousands of borrowers who attended a for-profit college chain that made exaggerated claims about its graduates’ success in finding jobs.
The Biden administration said it is approving 18,000 loan forgiveness claims from former students of ITT Technical Institute, a chain that closed in 2016 after being dealt a series of sanctions by the Obama administration. The new loan discharges will clear more than $500 million in debt.
The move marks a step forward in the Biden administration’s effort to clear a backlog of claims in the borrower defense program, which provides loan forgiveness to students who were defrauded by their colleges. Claims piled up during the Trump administration, which stalled the program and only started processing claims after a federal court demanded it. There are now more than 100,000 pending claims.
In announcing the new action, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona vowed to continue standing up for students who are deceived by their schools.
It follows another round of loan discharges in March, when the Education Department cleared $1 billion in federal student debt for 72,000 borrowers. Those claims all came from former students of for-profit colleges.
Defrauded College Students
A Cold Spot And A Stellar Burp
Betelgeuse
In December 2019, astronomers noticed a strange, dramatic dimming in the light from Betelgeuse, a bright red star in the Orion constellation. They puzzled over the phenomenon and wondered whether it was a sign that the star was about to go supernova. Several months later, they had narrowed the most likely explanations to two: a short-lived cold patch on the star's southern surface (akin to a sun spot), or a clump of dust making the star seem dimmer to observers on Earth. We now have our answer, according to a new paper published in the journal Nature. Dust is the primary culprit, but it is linked to the brief emergence of a cold spot.
As Ars' John Timmer reported last year, Betelgeuse is one of the closest massive stars to Earth, about 700 light years away. It's an old star that has reached the stage where it glows a dull red and expands, with the hot core only having a tenuous gravitational grip on its outer layers. The star has something akin to a heartbeat, albeit an extremely slow and irregular one. Over time, the star cycles through periods when its surface expands and then contracts.
One of these cycles is fairly regular, taking a bit over five years to complete. Layered on that is a shorter, more irregular cycle that takes anywhere from under a year to 1.5 years to complete. While they're easy to track with ground-based telescopes, these shifts don't cause the sort of radical changes in the star's light that would account for the changes seen during the dimming event.
In late 2019, Betelgeuse dimmed so much that the difference was visible to the naked eye. The dimming persisted, decreasing in brightness by 35 percent in mid-February, before brightening again in April 2020.
Telescopes pointed at the giant were able to determine that—rather than a tidy, uniform drop in luminance—Betelgeuse's dimming was unevenly distributed, giving the star an odd, squished shape when viewed from Earth. That raised lots of questions about what was going on with the giant, with some experts speculating that because of Betelgeuse's size and advanced age, the strange behavior was a sign of a supernova in the making.
Betelgeuse
New Part Found
Thale Cress
One of the best studied plants in science is a small, unassuming weed. Thale cress, or Arabidopsis thaliana, is a model organism, which basically makes it the lab rat of the plant world.
Therefore, it's quite surprising that researchers have found a whole new part of the Arabidopsis plant which we'd somehow missed for over 100 years.
Even if you're not a plant scientist, you probably know what thale cress looks like. The weed is native to Europe, Asia, and Africa, where it will happily sprout in sandy soils or even just gaps in concrete.
In the science world, it's been a fabulous plant genetics workhorse for decades. A. thaliana was the first plant to have its genome sequenced, it has been grown on the International Space Station, attempted to be grown on the Moon, and has even helped us study ourselves.
This newly discovered structure, which the team has called a 'cantil', isn't hidden or too small to see. Typically, the flower-bearing stalk grows out of the main stem of the plant; by contrast, a cantil juts out horizontally from the stem, holding the flower stalk farther out - much like its architectural namesake, the cantilever.
Thale Cress
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