Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Sarah Ruiz-Grossman: Immigrants Died In ICE Detention Centers After 'Inadequate' Medical Care (Huffington Post)
A new report details over a half-dozen cases in recent years in which experts found poor medical care likely contributed to immigrants' deaths.
Garrison Keillor: Man takes wife to Europe by ship
A man in love needs to think beyond his own needs and so I took my wife across the Atlantic last week aboard the mighty Queen Mary 2 for six days of glamor and elegance, which means little to me, being an old evangelical from the windswept prairie, brought up to eschew luxury and accept deprivation as God's will, but she is Episcopalian and grew up in a home where her mother taught piano, Chopin and Liszt, so my wife appreciates Art Deco salons and waiters with polished manners serving her a lobster soufflé and an $18 glass of Chablis. If Cary Grant were to sit down and offer her a Tareyton, she'd hold his hand with the lighter and enjoy a cigarette with him.
Jonathan Jones: The blazing masterpiece that could change the royal family's image (The Guardian)
A magnificent self-portrait by Artemisia Gentileschi, who refused to let rape destroy her, has never seemed more relevant. This 17th-century work should hang in the National Gallery - and the Windsors could make it happen.
Kristen Arnett: Librarians Will Guard Your Privacy With Their Lives (LitHub.com)
Your information is secure. We're committed to safekeeping the data. We've even got retention policies! For years I processed InterLibrary Loan at a public library. All that personal information was committed to paper-name, patron ID, telephone number, home address, titles-and every Friday, like clockwork, I sat down and shredded those stacks. That's right, patron who ordered The Mammoth Book of Erotica 14 times. That secret stays between you, me, and the shredder.
John Atkinson: LITERARY CLASSICS RETOLD AS TWO-PANEL COMICS (LitHub.com)
TURNS OUT YOU CAN SUMMARIZE PROUST'S IN SEARCH OF LOST TIME WITH TWO PICTURES.
Stanley Fish: Stop Trying to Sell the Humanities (Chronicle)
Arguments that they're useful are wrong, anti-humanistic, and sure to backfire.
Steven Kurtz: Improv Isn't Totally Terrible (Reason)
But it's not "a great American art."
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Presenting
Michael Egan
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
Reader Comment
Current Events
Linda >^..^<
We are all only temporarily able bodied.
Thanks, Linda!
Bonus Links
Jeannie the Teed-Off Temp
from Marc Perkel
Marc's Guide to Curing Cancer
So far so good on beating cancer for now. I'm doing fine. At the end of the month I'll be 16 months into an 8 month mean lifespan. And yesterday I went on a 7 mile hike and managed to keep up with the hiking group I was with. So, doing something right.
Still waiting for future test results and should see things headed in the right direction. I can say that it's not likely that anything dire happens in the short term so that means that I should have time to make several more attempts at this. So even if it doesn't work the first time there are a lot of variations to try. So if there's bad news it will help me pick the next radiation target.
I have written a "how to" guide for oncologists to perform the treatment that I got. I'm convinced that I'm definitely onto something and whether it works for me or not isn't the definitive test. I know if other people tried this that it would work for some of them, and if they improve it that it will work for a lot of them.
The guide is quite detailed and any doctor reading this can understand the procedure at every level. I also go into detail as to how it works, how I figured it out, and variations and improvements that could be tried to enhance it. I also introduce new ways to look at the problem. There is a lot of room for improvement and I think that doctors reading it will see what I'm talking about and want to build on it. And it's written so that if you're not a doctor you can still follow it. It also has a personal story revealing that I'm the class clown of cancer support group. I give great interviews and I look pretty hot in a lab coat.
So, feel free to read this and see what I'm talking about. But if any of you want to help then pass this around to both doctors and cancer patients. I need some media coverage. I'm looking for as many eyeballs as possible to read these ideas. Even if this isn't the solution, it's definitely on the right track. After all, I did hike 7 miles yesterday. And this hiking group wasn't moving slow. So if this isn't working then, why am I still here?
I also see curing cancer as more of an engineering problem that a medical problem. So if you are good at solving problems and most of what you know about medicine was watching the Dr. House MD TV show, then you're at the level I was at when I started. So anyone can jump in and be part of the solution.
Here is a link to my guide: Oncologists Guide to Curing Cancer using Abscopal Effect
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
"SHITHOLE COUNTRY"
TOO CUTE.
A MAN OF CONSUMMATE EVIL.
TRUMP IS THE ANTI-CHRIST!
KOBACH IS A LOSER!
A TEDDY BEAR, A BABY BOTTLE AND A CHAIN LINK FENCE.
"WAKE UP AND PEE! THE WORLD'S ON FIRE REPUGS!
"SUFFER LITTLE CHILDREN TO COME UNTO ME."
TRUMP IS GOING TO URANUS!
Visit JD's site - Kitty Litter Music
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunnier. Hotter.
Goes Off Script
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen has always been open about his disdain for President Trump, and on Tuesday, the singer went off script during his Broadway show, "Springsteen on Broadway," to slam the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" policy at the U.S.-Mexico border. The rocker expressed dismay about the separation of immigrant parents and children, which Mr. Trump later backed away from, and said he wanted to remind his fans that "passion [is] alive and well and still there at the center of the beating heart of our country."
The singer said, "We are seeing things right now on our American borders that are so shockingly and disgracefully inhumane and un-American that it is simply enraging. And we have heard people in high position in the American government blaspheme in the name of God and country that it is a moral thing to assault the children amongst us. May God save our souls." Springsteen later published his comments on his website.
"There's the beautiful quote by Dr. King that says the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice," he continued. "Now, there have been many, many days of recent when you could certainly have an argument over that. But I've lived long enough to see that in action and to put some faith in it. But I've also lived long enough to know that arc doesn't bend on its own. It needs all of us leaning on it, nudging it in the right direction day after day. You gotta keep, keep leaning.
Springsteen said, "I've played this show 146 nights with basically the same setlist, but tonight calls for something different," before launching into "The Ghost of Tom Joad." He rarely plays the song during his Broadway show; the lyrics talk about disenfranchised people with "no home, no job, no peace, no rest."
Springsteen has been playing his one-man show on Broadway since last October.
Bruce Springsteen
Slams Family Separation Policy
George Takei
Star Trek actor George Takei, who was detained in a Japanese American internment camp when he was 5 years old, said Tuesday that the Trump Administration's family separation policy is worse "in one core, horrifying way."
"At least during the internment of Japanese-Americans, I and other children were not stripped from our parents. We were not pulled screaming from our mothers' arms. We were not left to change the diapers of younger children by ourselves," Takei wrote in a column for Foreign Policy. "At least during the internment, we remained a family, and I credit that alone for keeping the scars of our unjust imprisonment from deepening on my soul."
"These images are eerily reminiscent of the internment camps for U.S. citizens and noncitizens of Japanese descent during World War II, now considered to have been one of the most shameful episodes in U.S. history," former First Lady Laura Bush wrote in a Washington Post column this week, condemning the family separation policy.
"The internment happened because of fear and hatred, but also because of a failure of political leadership," Takei wrote in his column. "In 1941, there were few politicians who dared stand up to the internment order. I am hopeful that today there will, should be, must be, far more people who speak up, both among our leaders and the public, and that the future writes the history of our resistance - not, yet again, of our compliance."
Read Takei's full column here.
George Takei
'Sons of Anarchy' Creator
Kurt Sutter
Kurt Sutter is the latest television showrunner in the Fox family to lash out against Fox News Channel in the wake of the network's controversial coverage of Donald Trump's zero-tolerance immigration policy. Sutter's critical opinions of Fox News follow similar comments made by Seth MacFarlane, Judd Apatow, and "Modern Family" creator Steve Levitan.
"The political decision made by this administration was heinous. But I don't consider what Fox airs as 'news,'" Sutter said in a statement to Deadline. "It's manipulative propaganda, run by oligarchs, delivered by puppets, to control the fearful."
Sutter has had a celebrated career in television over the last 16 years thanks to Fox. The creator broke out as a writer, director, and producer of FX's "The Shield" under the guidance of showrunner Shawn Ryan. Sutter went on to create FX's long-running drama "Sons of Anarchy," which ran for seven seasons and 92 episodes, as well as the short-lived "The Bastard Executioner." Sutter is returning to FX later this year with the "Sons of Anarchy" spinoff series "Mayans MC." The showrunner stressed FX is not influenced by Fox News.
"What I do with FX and Fox 21 is not influenced by that energy," Sutter said. "Yes, we are all owned by the parent company, but contrarily, at FX, other artists and myself are given the freedom to tell stories that address real issues in a truthful way. I guess we just learn to live with the sad irony that our fiction is more truthful than Fox News' facts."
Seth MacFarlane was the first Fox showrunner to speak out against the network, saying he was embarrassed to be associated with the company after Fox News host Tucker Carlson told viewers not to trust the word of rival news stations on the issue. Steve Levitan voiced his support for MacFarlane and said he was "disgusted to work" at Fox after Laura Ingraham referred to some child detention centers as "summer camps [or] boarding schools." Apatow, meanwhile, called for a boycott and encouraged Fox-backed actors, executives, and more to speak out against Fox News.
Kurt Sutter
Sues National Rifle Association
Anish Kapoor
Anish Kapoor is done playing nice. After the artist noticed that the National Rifle Association had used one his pieces-Cloud Gate, more commonly referred to as "the Bean," in Chicago's Millennium Park-in an ad, he demanded that they remove images of the work. That was in March, when Kapoor wrote about it in an open letter for the nonprofit Everytown for Gun Safety. Three months later, the NRA hasn't complied, and Kapoor is now suing them for copyright infringement.
The ad, which debuted a year ago, with the title "The Clenched Fist of Truth," "seeks to whip up fear and hate," according to Kapoor's initial statement, as Artnet notes. "It plays to the basest and most primal impulses of paranoia, conflict and violence, and uses them in an effort to create a schism to justify its most regressive attitudes," Kapoor said. "I am disgusted to see my work-in truth the sculpture of the people of Chicago-used by the NRA to promote their vile message."
Kapoor, who filed suit with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, is not only demanding the removal of the sculpture from the NRA's propaganda, he's also ordering a retirement of the ad. Plus, in the lawsuit, which refers to the ad as "a clear call to armed violence against liberals and the media," he's seeking financial compensation in the form of $150,000 per infringement, attorney fees, and a cut of the profits and donations the NRA made and received from new members captured by the ad, per The Chicago Tribune.
"Since publishing my feelings about the NRA's unauthorized use of my work Cloud Gate in their publicity video, I have been overwhelmed and moved by the support of so many people who, like me, are appalled by the NRA's divisive and hate-filled campaign against the democratic and humane values of the people of America," Kapoor said in his most recent statement following the lawsuit. "In light of this solidarity and support I am encouraged to confront this organization and hold it to account for its blatant copyright infringement."
Anish Kapoor
Won't Fight
Culture War
There's nothing Fox News enjoys more than a good culture war. When President-for-now Trump (R-Crooked) first attacked protesting NFL players, Fox happily piled on, yakking about millionaire athletes for hours and hours. Any time a celebrity blows off steam, from Samantha Bee to Robert De Niro, you can be sure Fox & Friends, Tucker Carlson Tonight, and The Ingraham Angle will be hooting and hollering in ridicule. Now there are new targets for Fox News: Prominent producer-writers like Seth MacFarlane, Judd Apatow, Modern Family's Steve Levitan, and How I Met Your Mother creators Carter Bays and Craig Thomas have all been tweeting against Trump's policy of separating migrant children from their parents at the border. But there has been virtually no derision from the Fox talking heads. Why? Because Apatow has done something no prominent celebrity has done before: He has made the connection between Fox News, Fox's entertainment division, the Rupert Murdoch family that owns 21st Century Fox, and their unceasing support of everything Trump says and does.
This is crucial. Apatow is articulating for millions of his followers what some of us have been saying on a smaller scale: that the misinformation and anger stirred up by Fox News every single day is having a terrible effect on the country, making millions of people less knowledgable about the facts and far more rude in civic discourse. Beyond that, Apatow's tweets connect to the business motives behind this.
Apatow began with tweets about the immigration crisis, writing: "It's important to speak up when your boss is the propaganda arm which promotes putting children in cages and holding them hostage so Trump can build a wall. What other stars, showrunners or executives from Fox will speak up against this madness?" But now he has broadened his attack: "People don't want to deal with the fact that when you work for any part of Fox you are supporting a family which has made billions lying and manipulating our citizens for their personal financial gain. Now that includes supporting the kidnapping of children." Apatow has starting using the hashtag #boycottfox and tweeting, "You can't just boycott Fox News. You have to boycott Fox everything. Movies, TV, sports, business, books. Shut it all off. Stop buying. They support the kidnapping of children and babies…"
Apatow's ideas are spreading. That's almost certainly why Trevor Noah did this Daily Show segment Tuesday night, which concluded with him exhorting his viewers to "get on the phone and call the people who can do something about this. I'm not talking about Congress. I'm talking about the policy makers at Fox News." He ran Fox's phone number on the screen.
Unless I've missed it, there hasn't been much of a specific response to Apatow's or MacFarlane's tweets on Fox. Certainly there have been none of the usual Fox segments, complete with interviews from sympathetic voices, eager to tear down the latest "liberal" plot. That's partly due to the fact that the subject framing this - the immigration crisis - is running heavily against Trump and Fox in public sentiment: It's no longer a "liberal" or "conservative" issue. But it's also due, I think there's no doubt, to the fact that Carlson and his colleagues have to tiptoe around direct criticism of their bosses. Tweet away, Judd!
Culture War
Have Made Millions
Businesses
President-for-now Trump's (R-Amoral) controversial child separation policy is being carried out with the help of private businesses who have received millions of dollars in government contracts to help run the shelters where young migrants are being held away from their parents.
The government has released few photos of the shelters where the children are being detained and at times declined to allow media and even elected officials access to the facilities. Amid this secrecy, many of the businesses participating in the program have remained behind the scenes without being identified.
However, by reviewing publicly available contracts data, Yahoo News was able to identify five companies that are participating in the operation of the shelters, including two companies that have not previously been tied to the program. And in response to inquiries, one of the companies said it would cease participation in a program that required it to "maintain readiness" to transport young migrants to government facilities.
The Trump administration has given a series of conflicting explanations for the child separations with the president repeatedly falsely blaming it on Democrats. In reality, the situation is the result of a "zero tolerance" policy announced by Attorney General Jeff Sessions in April that requires authorities to treat all border crossings outside official ports of entry as crimes. This means that adults are arrested when they cross the border and, typically, when a parent is jailed, their children are taken from them.
According to Kenneth Wolfe, a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Service's Administration for Children and Families (ACF), the agency currently operates "100 shelters across 17 states." Citing "the safety and security of children in the program," Wolfe declined to provide further details about the locations where the young migrants are being held. As of Tuesday morning, Wolfe said 11,786 children were being held as part of the "unaccompanied alien children program." This program, which is run by ACF's Office of Refugee Resettlement, is designed to offer "unaccompanied alien children entering the United States" a variety of services including "classroom education, health care, socialization/recreation, vocational training, mental health services, family reunification, access to legal services, and case management." While this program was designed for "unaccompanied" children, who are typically teenagers driven out of their homes in Central America by poverty, abuse or gang violence, since the beginning of the Trump administration's zero tolerance policy, there have been widespread reports of children as young as toddlers being taken away from their parents and brought to shelters. Wolfe told Yahoo News his agency defines "unaccompanied" as "any minor referred by [the Department of Homeland Security] to HHS for our unaccompanied alien children program."
Businesses
Angela Merkel
Starburst Candies
During his controversial meeting with leaders of the G-7 less than two weeks ago, President-for-now Donald Trump (R-Feckless) allegedly threw two pieces of Starburst candies on the table in front of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, saying "Here, Angela. Don't say I never give you anything."
The exchange, described on CBS News by Eurasia Group President Ian Bremmer, sheds further light on the tense atmosphere depicted in the now famous photograph of the meeting, in which Trump appears with his arms crossed and a defiant scowl across his face.
The annual G-7 meeting-which brings together the leaders or representatives of the United States, Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Japan-was held in Canada from June 8-9. Trump had decided to arrive late and leave early, and he ultimately refused to sign the joint communiqué that the G-7 leaders sign each year. Merkel had called Trump's decision "sobering and a little depressing," while French President Emmanuel Macron had also referred to "fits of anger" when describing the meeting. But Bremmer's account demonstrates an even clearer picture of how terrible Trump's relationship with Merkel and other U.S. allies is.
"It was at this point, towards the end of the summit, that Chancellor Merkel of Germany and Prime Minister Trudeau of Canada got together with some of the allies and really wanted to press Trump directly to sign the communiqué, that talked about the commitment to a rules-based international order. Trump was sitting there with his arms crossed, clearly not liking the fact that they were ganging up on him. He eventually agreed and said OK he'll sign it. And at that point, he stood up, put his hand in his pocket, his suit jacket pocket, and he took two Starburst candies out, threw them on the table and said to Merkel, 'Here, Angela. Don't say I never give you anything,'" Bremmer described to CBS.
Following the meeting, Trump not only refused to sign the communique but also lashed out at Canada's prime minister on Twitter over his country's trade policy. Trump also showed increasing disdain for Merkel, using an internal dispute within her party this week to criticize Germany's immigration policy.
Starburst Candies
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