Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Alexandra Petri: I do have values, I swear, I just can't recall what they are (Washington Post)
Let me make one thing clear: The treatment that children are receiving at the border, reported with horror by those lawyers - this is not against my values. Do not misunderstand! I still have more values than anyone. I am a values voter, with values for days, values that go all the way to the floor, values that wave amberly as far as the eye can see!
Greg Sargent: Democrats are trying to deliver aid to children. Trump is threatening to veto it. (Washington Post)
House Democrats appear to be overcoming deep divisions en route to passing a bill that would deliver some $4.5 billion in emergency aid to the border, much of it designed to alleviate the disastrous conditions that have consumed so much attention of late. President Trump is threatening to veto the measure. It's worth unpacking just how absurd this veto threat really is, before trying to work through the complex issues all this raises.
Garrison Keillor: A June wedding in a faraway village
What I especially remember is the young woman in the wheelchair, unable to walk or talk, but she seemed aware. She was the daughter of the cantor at the church. All evening, she was surrounded by people, uncles, cousins, holding her hand, caressing her cheek, stroking her hair. She laughed at the music. I couldn't take my eyes off her. In this insignificant village in this small country, people care about each other, though some have left for better jobs in France, and their love for the community is exemplified by their care for her: nobody should be left out, no matter if she speaks or not.
Paul Waldman: Why Republicans are growing more willing to embrace discrimination (Washington Post)
Though liberals often like to imagine our history as an unceasing if often slow forward march toward more understanding, more openness and more inclusion, the truth is somewhat more complicated. It's also possible to see a cycle of steps forward and back in which every advance is followed by an often furious reaction.
Vivian Kane: Once Again, Donald Trump Shows the World Exactly How NOT to Respond to Assault Allegations (The Mary Sue)
"She's not my type."
Dawnthea Price: It's Never Too Late to Start Your Avatar: The Last Airbender Journey. Here's a Map. (Slate)
Avatar: The Last Airbender was always going to be something special. Though ostensibly a cartoon made for children, the animated series created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko snuck in adult themes and real-world problems like war, imperialism, abuse, loss, and cabbage-related vandalism alongside kid-friendly humor and silliness. It also featured a richly diverse cast of characters in an unmistakably Asiatic setting.
Terry Teachout: A Fine Mess (Weekly Standard)
I doubt that very many of the present-day locals know who the Collyer brothers were, but there was a time when the names of Homer and Langley Collyer were known to everyone in New York City and a considerable number of people elsewhere in America. In 1947 their rotting corpses were found in the brownstone house that once stood at 2078 Fifth Avenue, where they had lived since 1909, surrounded by a hundred tons of junk, including a canoe, an X-ray machine, 14 pianos, the rusty chassis of a Model T, some 25,000 books, hundreds of bundles of old newspapers, and an assortment of glass jars containing pickled human organs.
Luiza Sauma: "The Wizard of Oz at 80: how the world fell under its dark spell" (The Guardian)
The 1939 classic has inspired everyone from David Lynch to Salman Rushdie. Novelist and super-fan Luiza Sauma explores why the film's message about home still holds such power.
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Presenting
Michael Egan
took the day off.
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
from Bruce
Anecdotes
• Humor writer H. Allen Smith once appeared on a radio interview program. His hostess did a lot of the talking, which he didn't listen to, because he was searching his mind for interesting anecdotes to tell when the hostess allowed him to speak. During much of the interview, Mr. Smith was merely saying "Yes" or "Uh-huh" as the hostess spoke. After the interview was completed, the hostess began laughing and played back part of the tape for him. She had stated, "I'm sure that many of our listeners will agree that Mr. Smith is the foremost humorist in America today, that no one else has given us so much sheer joy as he has." At this point, without thinking and without hearing what his hostess had been saying, Mr. Smith had said, "That's right."
• As a boy, future impresario James W. Morrissey sold tickets at a theater where Charles Dickens was to speak. One afternoon, a gentleman stopped by and asked him how tickets were selling. Mr. Morrissey replied that they were selling very well, and added a few words of high praise for Mr. Dickens. The gentleman replied that he guessed the praise was given in order to sell tickets, and ventured that Mr. Morrissey had never actually seen Mr. Dickens. In fact, Mr. Morrissey was unable to afford to buy a ticket, so the gentleman, saying that he was sick of hearing Dickens, gave him a few tickets. Later, at the lecture, Mr. Morrissey received a surprise - the gentleman who had given him the tickets was Charles Dickens himself.
• Charles Emory Smith was the Postmaster General under Presidents William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt, and he was a newspaper publisher. He once was asked to give an after-dinner speech, but after drinking liberally at the affair he was so drunk that he was unable to stand up. The next day his own newspaper reported on the dinner and on the many speeches that had been made at it. The newspaper mentioned that Mr. Smith had been asked to make a speech, and that his remarks would be printed on the following page - which was blank except for a tiny line at the bottom: "What else could he say?"
• While on a lecture tour, Mark Twain got a shave in a local barber shop. The barber knew that he was shaving a stranger, but he didn't recognize Mr. Twain, so he said, "You've come into town at the right time. Mark Twain is lecturing tonight." When Mr. Twain said that he was planning to attend the lecture, the barber asked if he had bought his ticket yet. Hearing that he had not, the barber said that he would have to stand, as most of the tickets were already sold. Mr. Twain sighed and then said, "That's my luck. Whenever that fellow gives a lecture, I always have to stand."
• Mark Twain once told a story that illustrated why speakers should be brief: Mr. Twain said he attended a church when a missionary began to speak. At first Mr. Twain was fired up with enthusiasm for the missionary's work and wanted to donate the $400 he had and borrow all he could to give to the missionary. However, the missionary kept talking, and the longer the missionary talked, the less enthusiastic Mr. Twain became - when the offering plate was finally passed around, Mr. Twain stole ten cents from it.
• Hillaire Belloc could be very imposing. He once arrived late at a lecture he was giving, but told everyone present, "I am half an hour late. It is entirely my fault. I do not apologize."
• Abba Eban, the Israeli diplomat, was once introduced in this way: "I'm honored to introduce Mr. Abba Eban, who is well known throughout the civilized world as well as here in the Bronx."
• Daniel Purcell had the reputation of being a punster. Once he was challenged to make a pun on the spot. "Upon what subject?" he asked. On hearing the reply, "The King," Mr. Purcell replied, "The King is not a subject."
• When California Governor Earl Warren was campaigning for re-election, he told his audience, "I'm pleased to see such a dense crowd here tonight." A man from the audience called out, "Don't be too pleased, Governor. We ain't all dense."
• Comedienne Eddie Cantor was invited to speak at many dinners. Once, 14 speakers spoke before him, and when it was his turn to talk, he said, "My dear friends, when I came here, I was a young man."
• After Calvin Coolidge had made a speech, a woman came up to him and said, "I enjoyed your speech so much that I stood up the entire time." Coolidge replied, "So did I."
• Sir Winston Churchill knew that he was a great orator. When he wrote his speeches, he wrote notes where he anticipated the crowd's responses; for example, "Cheers," "Ovation," and "Prolonged cheering."
• A politician made a speech in front of a hostile crowd. Someone in the crowd threw a tomato at the politician, who deftly caught it and told the crowd, "I take these things with a grain of salt."
• Richard Pryor had a unique way of handling hecklers during his performances. He simply looked at them and said, "F**k you."
• "Keep using my name in vain, I'll make rush hour longer." - God.
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Bonus Links
Jeannie the Teed-Off Temp
Reader Comment
Current Events
Not sure why he still has teeth
Although I kept shouting at the TV for reporters to turn their microphones off and walk away from the bastard, I hope someone transcribes his answer to the questions about the babies in jails and specifically the father and daughter who just drowned.
MF'er started out blaming the Democrats. After perhaps 15 seconds of saying the father was"probably a good guy," he moved on to talking about all the rapists--projecting his OWN RAPIST WAYS onto others. (Surprised he didn't pause to speculate on the father being an MS-13 gang member.) Then he immediately started bitching about Democrats trying to question witnesses being a "do over" and whining about harassment of him.
Not one scintilla of empathy or humanity. It's all about him, him, him.
Microphones should have been turned off! That crap doesn't need broadcasting. In a proper or decent universe, as they turned their backs and walked away, someone should have paused just long enough to knock those dentures or implants down his godawful throat. He is not human.
Linda >^..^<
We are all only temporarily able bodied.
Thanks, Linda!
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
JD is on vacation.
Visit JD's site - Kitty Litter Music
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Marine layer burned off early.
The Cast
"The Prom"
Where can you see Ariana Grande and James Corden acting alongside Keegan-Michael Key, who plays Meryl Streep's love interest? On Netflix, the place where producer Ryan Murphy's wildest dreams are coming true. Murphy signed a five-year deal with the streaming service, and one of the productions he's come up with is "The Prom," according to Deadline.
Murphy, who is the man behind "Glee," "American Horror Story," and "Pose," will direct and produce the film adaptation of the Tony-nominated Broadway musical. "The Prom" is set to be released both on Netflix and in theaters in late 2020. Casting is already underway, and Murphy isn't exactly scraping from the bottom of the barrel for actors.
An all-star cast - including Streep, Corden, Grande, Key, Nicole Kidman, Awkwafina, and Andrew Rannells - has signed on for the film, so far.
The show follows two Broadway actors who star in a musical about Eleanor Roosevelt that flops so badly their careers are at stake. To revive their stardom, the actors set out to "take up a cause," and improve their public image. They end up traveling to a school in Indiana, where a prom has been canceled because a girl named Emma wanted to take her girlfriend.
"The Prom"
Message To Mitch
Adam Scott
Actor Adam Scott isn't mincing words: He doesn't want Mitch McConnell (R-Party Over Country) to tweet out GIFs featuring his face under any circumstance except one.
The "Parks and Recreation" star was livid on Wednesday after he discovered the Senate majority leader's Twitter account had used Scott's image in this tweet Monday.
Scott was not happy that McConnell used a cheeky reaction shot of him to comment on the story and made his opinion known on Wednesday.
McConnell's camp responded to the suggestion of a "humiliating defeat" with a photo of a fictional newspaper article involving Scott's "Parks and Recreation" character Ben Wyatt, a former small-town mayor who was impeached after bankrupting the community with a giant ice facility.
Scott fired back with a real photo of McConnell back in the 1990s, posing in front of a Confederate flag.
Adam Scott
Magazine Condemns Family Separations
Highlights
Popular children's magazine Highlights has taken a stance on an issue affecting many children and their parents - separations of migrant families at the U.S.-Mexico border. Highlights CEO Kent Johnson released a statement this week, saying this "not a political statement about immigration policy," but one about human decency.
"As a company that helps children become their best selves - curious, creative, caring and confident - we want kids to understand the importance of having moral courage. Moral courage means standing up for what we believe is right, honest and ethical-even when it is hard," the statement said.
It also highlighted the company's core belief: "Children are the world's most important people."
"With this core belief in mind our minds and hearts, we denounce the practice of separating immigrant families and urge our government to cease this activity, which is unconscionable and causes irreparable damage to young lives," the statement said.
Johnson invited readers, regardless of their political leanings to "join us in speaking out against family separation and to call for more humane treatment of immigrant children currently being held in detention facilities. Write, call, or email your government representatives."
Highlights
Shuts Down NRATV
NRA
A high-ranking executive at the National Rifle Association resigned Wednesday, the same day the NRA announced the end of NRATV amid turbulent relations with its advertising firm, Ackerman McQueen. Chris Cox, the gun group's chief lobbyist and principal political strategist for the Institute for Legislative Action -- the association's lobbying arm -- stepped down from his position Wednesday.
The move comes about a week after the NRA placed him on leave over accusations he tried, unsuccessfully, to extort Chief Executive Wayne LaPierre (R-Draft Dodger). The NRA didn't immediately respond to CBS MoneyWatch's request for comment.
LaPierre, in a statement on the NRA's website, blamed advertising firm Ackerman McQueen, from which it has split, for the end of NRATV as it's currently known. "Whether and when we return to 'live' programming is s a subject of ongoing analysis," LaPierre said in the statement.
Ackerman claims the NRA owes it several millions of dollars worth of delinquent payments for work that has already been completed. "They are refusing to pay, in part to harm AMc, but also because the NRA probably is having trouble meeting its financial obligations in large measure due to massive unbudgeted legal costs," the company said in a statement to CBS MoneyWatch. In 2017 alone, the NRA paid Ackerman $40 million.
NRA
Star Wars Attractions
Disneyland
Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge, Disneyland's newest attraction, will likely thrill some Star Wars fans and frustrate others.
Certain attractions require same-day reservations. Those looking to get food or drinks at Oga's Cantina or to build a lightsaber at Savi's Workshop will need to book ahead of time with a credit card, but they'll charged if they miss their slot.
In response to an inquiry from MarketWatch, Disney said that credit cards are required to book most experiences that require reservations, not just those in Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge. The company said it would make exceptions to the cancellation policy on a case-by-case basis.
Visitors with reservations for Savi's Workshop must check in no earlier than 15 minutes prior to their reservation. If they're late or miss their reservation, they will still have to pay $199.99 per builder (each reservation accommodates one builder and two additional non-builder guests.) Cancellations are not accepted, and reservations may not be exchanged, sold or bartered.
Those who book a table at Oga's Cantina will face a $10 per person penalty if they're late or forget to check in for their reservation. Every person in the party must be present when checking into the restaurant. What's more, there's a two-drink limit per person, and parties may only be in the restaurant for 45 minutes once seated.
Disneyland
More Overcollection
NSA
The National Security Agency's beleaguered phone data collection program suffered from a previously undisclosed glitch that caused it to over-collect records in October 2018, months after the agency said publicly it was purging hundreds of millions of records improperly provided by telephone companies.
It is the latest snag for a controversial program that current and former U.S. officials have indicated is already, and perhaps justifiably, moribund.
In late June 2018, the NSA said it was expunging almost 700 million call detail records, acquired since 2015, because of "technical irregularities" that caused the agency to receive data it was not authorized to collect. Those records included information about telephone numbers involved in a call or text, including their date and time, but none of their content.
At the time of that disclosure, NSA indicated it had addressed the "root cause" of the problem - but new documents obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union indicate a similar problem occurred again just months later.
The NSA declined to offer additional details about the October anomaly and why, unlike the agency's announcement regarding over-collection in June, no public disclosure was made.
NSA
Hubble Spots In Space
Buckyballs
Pure carbon comes in many different forms, from the graphite in your pencil to diamonds, the hardest proven material. Another peculiar form of carbon happens when 60 atoms are arranged into a spherical molecule. These molecules have the most excellent name of Buckminsterfullerene, or "Buckyballs", and while they are commonly found in high-combustion soot, astronomers have also spotted them in space.
In a new study, published in The Astrophysical Journal, researchers report the first observation of electrically charged buckyballs within the interstellar medium (ISM), the gas and dust that fills the space between stars.
Molecules in the ISM are the building blocks for the material that will eventually become asteroids, planets, and even life forms. For this reason, understanding the chemical composition of the ISM matters when you want to work out how life might have started.
But some patterns don't match anything we have seen before, suggesting peculiar molecular structures. These are known as diffuse interstellar bands, or DIB, first discovered by Mary Lea Heger in 1922. The Buckyballs observed by Hubble make up a few of these DIBs, but there are over 400 out there with no confirmation of what they are made of.
While buckminsterfullerene is not very common on Earth, it might be extremely common around the galaxy.
Buckyballs
56 Lakes Discovered
Greenland's Ice Sheet
Fifty-six previously uncharted lakes below Greenland's Ice Sheet have been mapped by researchers using aerial imaging tools, lending a deeper understanding to how the world's icescape may change in the face of climate change.
Altogether, it's the first inventory of subglacial lakes below the Greenland Ice Sheet and brings the total number in the region to 60, making the deposits of water more common than previously believed.
"This study has for the first time allowed us to start to build up a picture of where lakes form under the Greenland Ice Sheet," said lead author Jade Bowling, from Lancaster University, in a statement. "This is important for determining their influence on the wider subglacial hydrological system and ice-flow dynamics, and improving our understanding of the ice sheet's basal thermal state."
Subglacial lakes are lakes that form below ice masses and play a role in rising global sea levels, contributing to our understanding of where water occurs in the world and how it drains. To determine the role of Greenland's Ice Sheet on the planet's hydrologic system, researchers analyzed 500,000 kilometers (over 310,000 miles) of airborne echo sounding data to image the bed of Greenland's Ice Sheet, which measures about seven times the size of the UK. They found the lakes range from 0.2 to 5.9 kilometers (0.1 to 3.7 miles) in length and are mostly found below slow-moving ice away from the interior. By contrast, more than 400 subglacial lakes have been detected beneath the Antarctic ice sheet - before now, the science community had only confirmed four underneath Greenland's.
The lakes below Greenland's Ice Sheet also differ from Antarctica's in that they are mostly small and stable; an estimated 40 percent of Antarctic lakes are active compared to just under 7 percent of Greenland's. Writing in Nature Communications, the researchers identified three zones of formation: stable lakes in the northern and eastern regions away from the interior, hydrologically active lakes recharged by surface meltwater, and small, seasonally active lakes that form over the winter and drain during the melting season.
Greenland's Ice Sheet
Sex Binges After Their Genitals Fall Off
Cicadas
In latest gruesome nature news, scientists have discovered new details on a fungus that compels its cicada hosts to mate long after their genitals have gone and their bodies have turned into what one researcher colourfully describes as 'flying salt shakers of death'.
The fungus is called Massospora cicadina, and its effects read like an abstinence campaign for cicadas. But it also appears that it affects the sex-crazed cicadas by sending them on one heck of a drug trip.
A team of researchers from the US has analysed the biochemistry in periodical cicada populations infected with pathogenic fungi, finding evidence of a plant-associated amphetamine and a psychoactive chemical found in magic mushrooms.
Spore-spreading horror shows like M. cicadina have been in the research books for more than a century, with recent investigations further fleshing out the processes they use to complete their life cycle.
Today we understand that a small fraction of cicadas are first infected by spores on their body and in the soil as they emerge as adults.
Cicadas
In Memory
Steve Dunleavy
Longtime New York Post reporter and columnist Steve Dunleavy, who made a name for himself with exclusive reports on Elvis Presley's drug use and an interview with the mother of Robert F. Kennedy's assassin, died at 81 on Monday. No cause of death was given.
Dunleavy, a native of Australia who spent most of his life in the U.S., was remembered in his own paper as a "hard-hitting, hard-drinking" journalist. New York Post owner Rupert Murdoch (R-Evil Incarnate) called Dunleavy "one of the greatest reporters of all time" in the paper's obit.
Born in Sydney, Dunleavy quit school at 14 and began working as a copy boy at The Sun. By the late 1960s he'd settled in the U.S. and linked up with Murdoch, writing for several of the media mogul's outlets. While at Murdoch's National Star in 1974, he scored perhaps the biggest scoop of his career by flying to California and convincing several members of Presley's entourage to discuss the singer's drug issues. The report pushed the tabloid's circulation from 2 million to 3 million, and ultimately led to a best-selling book.
Steve Dunleavy
In Memory
Max Wright
Veteran actor Max Wright, best known as the father in 1980s sitcom ALF, died today after a long cancer battle. He passed away in his Hermosa Beach, Calif. home at age 75.
Wright played Willie Tanner on the puppet-driven sitcom, which ran for four seasons on NBC.
But Wright had a long resume in other venues, appearing in television shows like Cheers, Misfits of Science and Norm, among others.
His film credits included All That Jazz, Reds, The Sting II, Soul Man, and The Shadow.
Max Wright
In Memory
Billy Drago
Billy Drago, who played Frank Nitti in Brian De Palma's "The Untouchables," died in Los Angeles on Monday from complications of a stroke, his agent confirmed to TheWrap. He was 73.
Born William Eugen Burrows Jr. in Kansas, Drago took his stage name from his grandmother's maiden name. After a brief career as a radio host, he joined a theater company that took him to Canada and New York before starting his screen career in 1979 with the TV movie "No Other Love"
Drago had guest TV roles on shows like "Hill Street Blues" and "Walker, Texas Ranger," and in 1985, he earned a role in Clint Eastwood's "Pale Rider" as one of six corrupt deputies who meet their end at Eastwood's gun. But it was in 1987 that Drago got his big break in "The Untouchables," playing Al Capone's ruthless right-hand man.
In the following years, Drago's performance in that film would land him more villainous roles, including one in a 2000 episode of "The X-Files" and as the villainous outlaw John Bly in "The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr." But his most famous TV role was as the demon Barbas in "Charmed," a role that was only intended for a single episode but was brought back six more times after rave reception from fans.
Later roles include "Tremors 4," the 2006 remake of "The Hills Have Eyes," and an appearance on the TV series "Supernatural."
Billy Drago
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