Carl Cederstrom: The Dangers of Happiness (NY Times)
"We believe that every American and in every community has a right to pursue happiness," Jeb Bush said in a speech delivered in Detroit in February, presenting his plan to address income inequality. "They have a right to rise." Be wary. When politicians suggest that happiness be made the ultimate aim for society we should remember that they are probably not talking about happiness at all. They are talking about ideology: their own political agendas in disguise.
DAVID J. ALWORTH: THE LOOK OF THE BOOK (Public Books)
The task of the translator, as [Peter Mendelsund, Associate Art Director at the publishing house Alfred A. Knopf] defines it in his recent monograph Cover, is to select a "unique textual detail that, as the subject matter for a book jacket, can support the metaphoric weight of the entire book."
Mark Morford: Denmark or bust! What's YOUR climate change escape plan? (SF Gate)
Have you considered what you might do, where you might go, should the climate situation get so dire, so extreme, so hot/cold/wet/dry/stormy/violent/desperate that you'd feel not merely justifiably cautious, but emotionally compelled - for the sake of your sanity, your health, your kids' future - to get the hell out of the state/country and move somewhere slightly more stable?
Mark Morford: Have anti-GMO activists gone off the rails? (SF Gate)
(By the way and for the record: The argument here, as I read it, is not that GMOs are inherently good. It's that they're not inherently bad; they're safe, have untapped potential, and are already being consumed safely and by the megaton. Also: GMO/not-GMO labeling misses the real problems, and is entirely counterproductive. Just FYI).
Anonymous, Ryan Menezes: 5 Things I Learned Committing A Campus Sexual Assault (Cracked)
[Tim] approached us with his own story of campus sexual assault -- as in, he committed one -- and we confirmed everything he said through the university committee that investigated it. If you want to change a culture, first you need to understand it ... and there are a lot of Tims out there.
Andrew Tobias: "Keeping Perspective: Do The Math"
Even traveling abroad, says the CDC, it's car crashes, not terrorism, you need worry about. (And no, obviously, this does not mean we should in any way fail to do everything we can to keep these numbers low, defeat ISIS, and all the rest. Obviously. But Chris's point, it seems to me, is an important one.)
The triangle, a polygon with three edges and three vertices, is the most stable physical shape. For this reason it is widely utilized in construction, engineering and design.
Source
Alan J was first, and correct, with:
Three.
mj wrote:
I'm taking the word of carbon on this
Six.
Deborah responded:
Oh, had I only paid more attention in geometry.
I want to say a square, but thought that the fewer sides, the more stable, so I'm going with triangle as the most stable physical shape - 3 sides.
HHD!
Lopsided Lois Of Oregon said:
I never got past pre-algebra but guess the answer is THREE. Could not come up with a triangle joke...here's the best I could find:
Q: What does Geometry and my dick have in common? A: They're both hard for you.
Sorry.
Dale of Diamond Springs, Nordricali responded:
Triangles, and with this day, the love kind.
DJ Useo replied:
It's the "triangle", my favorite polygon.
I had a triangle once, but they took it away from me. Lol.
@dale, thanks for the pics. You appear to be awesome!
MAM wrote:
Three ~ A triangle
Little Ricky Santorum
Joe S replied:
Reaching back, way back (way, way back) to high school Geometry and Mechanical Drawing classes and drawing on practical application in "real life," the answer is three. Yes! The triangle!
Oak Flat: The Latest Land Grab From Native Americans This article also mentions that groundwater for miles downstream will be affected; being situated next to the headwaters of normally dry Queen Creek that runs along a 50+ mile course through the SE of the greater Phoenix area; 2 miles South of my place and bisecting the aquifer our drinking water comes from. But it never floods in the Southwest, amirite?
Patriot Act NSA Spying Unconstitutional Section 215 National Security Letters Must End
My name is Marc Perkel and I have decided to announce that I will not comply with the so called "Patriot Act" laws requiring me to disclose information about my customers. If I receive a national security letter I will immediately photograph it, post it online everywhere I can, and then make a video of me burning it. I will then await my arrest. If you want to put me in jail then come get me mother fucker.
Not quite as hot, but still an extra helping of humidity.
Tonight, Thursday:
CBS opens the night with a RERUN'Big Bang Theory', followed by a RERUN'Mom', then a FRESH'Big Brother', followed by a FRESH'Under The Dome'.
The programming geniuses at CBS are filling Dave's hour with reruns of 'NCIS: The Third One'.
Scheduled on a FRESHJames Corden, OBE, are Cobie Smulders, Judd Apatow, Mark Duplass, and Life of Dillon.
NBC begins the night with a FRESH'Food Fighers', followed by 'Dateline'.
Scheduled on a FRESHJimmy Fallon are Katie Holmes, David Wain & Michael Showalter, and Sage the Gemini featuring Nick Jonas.
Scheduled on a FRESHSeth Meyers are Jake Gyllenhaal, Ashley Benson, the Yes Men, and David Lovering.
On a RERUNCarson 'The Scab' Daly (from 2/19/15) are Mike Epps, Hundred Waters, and Irvine Welsh.
ABC starts the night with a FRESH'The Astronaut wives Club', followed by a FRESH'Mistresses', then a FRESH'Rookie Blue'.
Scheduled on a FRESHJimmy Kimmel are Colin Farrell and Meghan Trainor.
The CW offers a FRESH'Beauty & The Beast', followed by a FRESH'Dates', then another FRESH'Dates'.
Faux has a FRESH'BOOM!', followed by a FRESH'Wayward Pines'.
MY recycles an old 'The Mentalist', followed by another old 'The Mentalist'.
A&E has 'Beyond Scared Straight', followed by a FRESH'Beyond Scared Straight: Back Talk', then a FRESH'Beyond Scared Straight', followed by a FRESH'American Takedown'.
AMC offers the movie 'Get Smart', followed by the movie 'Erin Brockovich'.
BBC -
[6:00AM] Cash in the Attic - Season 18 - Ep 33 - Sturdy
[7:00AM] Cash in the Attic - Season 18 - Ep 34 - Hanson
[8:00AM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares Revisited US - Season 1 - Ep 1 - Revisited
[9:00AM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares US - Season 2 - Ep 5 - J Willy's
[10:00AM] Doctor Who - Season 6 - Ep 4 - The Doctor's Wife
[11:00AM] Doctor Who - Season 6 - Ep 5 - The Rebel Flesh
[12:00PM] Star Trek: The Next Generation - Season 3 - Ep 17 - Sins of the Father
[1:00PM] Star Trek: The Next Generation - Season 3 - Ep 18 - Allegiance
[2:00PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares UK - Season 5 - Ep 2 - The Dovecote
[3:00PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares Revisited US - Season 3 - Ep 1 - Revisited: Mojito's, The Junction, Bazzini
[4:00PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares US - Season 2 - Ep 9 - Fiesta Sunrise
[5:00PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares US - Season 2 - Ep 3 - Trobiano's
[6:00PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares US - Season 4 - Ep 11 - Oceana
[7:00PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares US - Season 5 - Ep 15 - Zocalo
[8:00PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares US - Season 7 - Ep 8 - Zayna Flaming Grill, Part 2
[9:00PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares US - Season 7 - Ep 9 - Bella Luna
[10:00PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares US - Season 7 - Revisited: La Galleria 33, Olde Hitching Post, Prohibition Gastropub
[11:00PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares US - Season 2 - Ep 9 - Fiesta Sunrise
[12:00AM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares US - Season 7 - Ep 9 - Bella Luna
[1:00AM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares US - Season 7 - Revisited: La Galleria 33, Olde Hitching Post, Prohibition Gastropub
[2:00AM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares UK - Season 5 - Ep 2 - The Dovecote
[3:00AM] Top Gear: Best Of 08-09 - Episode 4
[4:00AM] Top Gear: Best Of 11-12 - Episode 1
[5:00AM] Top Gear: Best Of 11-12 - Episode 2 (ALL TIMES EST)
Bravo has 3 hours of old 'Real Housewives Of OC', 'Real Housewives Of NJ', followed by a FRESH'Watch What Happens Live'.
Comedy Central has 'Jim Gaffigan Show', 'Tosh.0', another 'Tosh.0', still another 'Tosh.0', 'It's Always Sunny In Philly', and another 'It's Always Sunny In Philly'.
Scheduled on a FRESHJon Stewart is Ta-Nehisi Coates.
Scheduled on a FRESH@Midnight are Horatio Sanz, Jerry Minor, and Matt Besser.
FX has the movie 'Here Comes The Boom', followed by the movie 'Grown Ups'.
History has 'Mountain Men', another 'Mountain Men', followed by a FRESH'Mountain Men', then a FRESH'Alone'.
IFC -
[6:00AM] GARFUNKEL AND OATES-FIRST LOOK
[6:15AM] THE SPOILS OF BABYLON-THE FOUNDLING
[6:45AM] THE SPOILS OF BABYLON-THE WAR WITHIN
[7:15AM] QUARANTINE
[9:15AM] POLTERGEIST
[11:45AM] 28 DAYS LATER
[2:30PM] QUARANTINE
[4:30PM] TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY
[7:30PM] TERMINATOR 3: RISE OF THE MACHINES
[10:00PM] MARON-STEEL JOHNSON
[10:30PM] COMEDY BANG! BANG!-BRIE LARSON WEARS A BILLOWY LONG-SLEEVE SHIRT AND WHITE SADDLE SHOES
[11:00PM] MARON-STEEL JOHNSON
[11:30PM] COMEDY BANG! BANG!-BRIE LARSON WEARS A BILLOWY LONG-SLEEVE SHIRT AND WHITE SADDLE SHOES
[12:00AM] PORTLANDIA-DOUG BECOMES A FEMINIST
[12:30AM] PORTLANDIA-HOUSE FOR SALE
[1:00AM] MARON-STEEL JOHNSON
[1:30AM] TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY
[4:30AM] MARON-STEEL JOHNSON
[5:00AM] COMEDY BANG! BANG!-BRIE LARSON WEARS A BILLOWY LONG-SLEEVE SHIRT AND WHITE SADDLE SHOES
[5:30AM] MALCOLM IN THE MIDDLE-POKER II (ALL TIMES EST)
Sundance -
[6:00AM] The New World
[9:00AM] Born on the Fourth of July
[12:00PM] Once Upon a Time in Mexico
[2:00PM] Two for the Money
[4:30PM] The Bank Job
[7:00PM] The Fugitive
[10:00PM] Rectify-Episode 3
[11:00PM] Law & Order-Disappeared
[12:00AM] Law & Order-Burden
[1:00AM] Rectify-Episode 3
[2:00AM] The Fugitive
[5:00AM] Rectify-Episode 3 (ALL TIMES EST)
SyFy has the movie 'Robo Shark', followed by a FRESH'WWE Steroid SmackDown', then a FRESH'Dominion'.
TBS:
On a RERUNConan (from 3/24/15) are Kevin Hart, Roman Reigns, and Hippo Campus.
Actors Christopher Lloyd (l), Michael J Fox (c) and Lea Thompson (r) pose at a media conference for the 30th anniversary of their film "Back to the Future" at the London Film and Comic-Con in London, Britain July 17, 2015.
Photo by Neil Hall
The MacArthur Foundation, a prominent American non-governmental organization that has operated in Russia for more than two decades, announced Wednesday it was leaving Russia because of the government's crackdown on foreign groups.
In a statement, the foundation said it has decided to close its office in Russia because of the new laws and the implications for its staff in Russia. The organization has funded projects to further education and raise awareness of human rights abuses.
"The recent passage and implementation of several laws in Russia make it all but impossible for international foundations to operate effectively and support worthy organizations in that country," the statement said.
President Vladimir Putin in May signed a bill giving prosecutors the power to declare foreign and international organizations "undesirable" in Russia and shut them down if they threaten Russia's defense or constitutional order. Russia's upper house of parliament this month urged authorities to investigate whether some prominent foreign organizations, including MacArthur, are a threat to Russia.
Paul Rudd, left, and Amy Poehler attend the premiere of Netflix's new original series, "Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp," at the SVA Theater on Wednesday, July 22, 2015, in New York.
Photo by Charles Sykes
Letterman, Seinfeld Pull Endorsements From Biography
Cosby
Count David Letterman and Jerry Seinfeld among those backing away from Bill Cosby.
The former "Late Show" and "Seinfeld" stars are pulling their endorsement blurbs from the 2014 Bill Cosby biography "Cosby: His Life and Times."
Seinfeld's blurb reads, in part, "Whenever I think of why my life as a comedian happened, the first name I think of is Bill Cosby. I know certain religions forbid idol worship. If anyone ever told me I had to stop idolizing Bill Cosby, I would say, 'Sorry, but I'm out of this religion.'"
Letterman's laudatory quote reads, "Bill Cosby has contributed more to comedy, television, education, and humanitarian causes than any person I know. Actually any hundred people I know. And he's still funny. It's really not fair."
French actress Brigitte Bardot has condemned an Australian plan to cull two million feral cats to stop them harming native animals, a proposal animal rights groups said Wednesday was unlikely to be successful.
Feral cats have been identified as the main culprit behind Australia's high rate of mammal extinction, with more than 10 percent of species wiped out since Europeans settled here two centuries ago.
Environment Minister Greg Hunt has said the advice he has received is that the cats number 20 million across the country and devour countless native animals every night.
Hunt said a target of eradicating two million feral cats had been set for 2020, in addition to creating feral-free enclosures to aid the recovery of birds and mammals among other measures.
The government has stressed the eradication of cats will be carried out humanely, but Bardot urged the government to reconsider the plan which she said was "appalling" to the international community.
Apache activist dancer performs in a rally to save Oak Flat, land near Superior, Ariz., sacred to Western Apache tribes, in front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, July 22, 2015. The land sits on top of a large copper deposit and Resolution Copper Mine enlisted the help of Sen. John McCain. McCain, R-Arz., who attached a provision into a defense bill in December 2014 that transferred 2,400 acres of federal land to them in exchange for 5,300 acres of land owned by the company. McCain heralded the bill as a compromise that protects 800 acres of sacred land along Apache Leap, allows access to Oak Flats campgrounds and requires the mine to undergo an Environmental Impact Statement before it receives the land.
Photo by Molly Riley
A British university disclosed Wednesday that scientific tests prove a Quran manuscript in its collection is one of the oldest known and may have been written close to the time of the Prophet Muhammad.
The announcement by the University of Birmingham thrilled Muslim scholars and the local community, which boasts one of the country's largest Muslim populations. The find came after questions raised by a doctoral student prompted radiocarbon testing that dated the parchment to the time of the prophet, who is generally believed to have lived between 570 and 632.
"This manuscript could well have been written just after he died," David Thomas, a professor of Christianity and Islam at the University of Birmingham said of the fragment written in ink on goat or sheepskin.
Thomas said the tests conducted by Oxford University suggest the animal from which the parchment was taken was alive during the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad or shortly afterward.
The two parchment leaves contains parts of suras, or chapters, 18 to 20. The manuscript is written with ink in an early form of Arabic script known as Hijazi.
Rapper Flavor Flav has been charged with DUI and other counts after being arrested in May near the Las Vegas airport.
Clark County prosecutors charged the reality television star on July 16 with driving under the influence involving cocaine, speeding and having an open container of alcohol.
The performer's legal name is William Jonathan Drayton.
The Nevada Highway Patrol said he was pulled over on a freeway on-ramp on May 21 near McCarran International Airport for travelling 87 mph in a 65 mph zone.
Musician Annie Clark aka St. Vincent attends the premiere of "Paper Towns" at AMC Loews Lincoln Square on Tuesday, July 21, 2015, in New York.
Photo by Evan Agostini
Two months ahead of his first trip to the U.S., Pope Francis' approval rating among Americans has plummeted, driven mostly by a decline among political conservatives and Roman Catholics, according to a new Gallup poll released Wednesday.
Fifty-nine percent of Americans said this month they had a favorable view of the pope, compared to 76 percent in February 2014, Gallup reported. The share of Americans who disapproved of the pope increased from 9 percent to 16 percent in the same period. The changes were most dramatic among political conservatives, whose opinion of Francis nosedived by 27 percentage points to 45 percent. Among Catholics, Francis' approval dropped by 18 percentage points to 71 percent.
The survey was conducted from July 8 to 12, three weeks after the pope released his bombshell teaching document proclaiming climate change largely man-made and excoriating an economic system he said drives global warming and exploits the poor. The survey of more than 1,000 adults had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
When the poll was under way, Francis, the first Latin American pope, was on a homecoming tour through South America that especially unsettled conservatives.
In his July 9 speech in Bolivia - an address that the Rev. Jim Martin, editor at large of the Jesuit magazine America, called Francis' most revolutionary so far - the pope called for radical reform of the global economy and solidarity with the poor, while naming labor, lodging and land as "sacred rights."
American saxophonist Joel Frahm performs at the Five Continents Marseille Jazz festival in Marseille, southern France, Monday, July 20, 2015.
Photo by Claude Paris
Eruptions of ash at five volcanoes shrouded the skies over parts of the Indonesian archipelago Wednesday, forcing three airports to close.
Mount Raung on Java island blasted ash and debris up to 2,000 meters (6,560 feet) into the air after rumbling for several weeks, government volcanologist Surono said.
Ash erupted also from Gamalama and Dukono mountains on the Moluccas islands chain, Sinabung volcano on Sumatra island and Mount Karangetang on Siau island, darkening the skies, Surono said.
An eruption of Raung early this month sparked chaos as the airport in the tourist hotspot of Bali and four other airports in the region were shutdown, stranding thousands of holiday-goers.
Daughter of Violette Szabo, Tania Szabo, left, and actress Virginia McKenna who played Violette in noted 1958 movie "Carve Her Name With Pride", hold the George Cross awarded to Violette, at the medal auction in London Wednesday July 22, 2015. The George Cross and four others medals awarded to the Anglo-French undercover agent, Violette Szabo, for heroism after she was captured, tortured and murdered by the Nazis in World War II, sold for 312,000 pounds (US dlrs 446,691) including commission at the auction Wednesday. The medals are being sold by her daughter, Tania Szabo, and will now go on display at the Imperial War Museum in London.
Photo by Lauren Hurley
Eva Monroy bought a mini pig for her family and fed it what the breeder instructed: a half-cup of food in the morning and a half-cup at night.
But the piglet named Hammond started raiding the pantry and digging through the trash. A veterinarian told Monroy that he was behaving badly because he was starving.
The breeder promised the diet would keep him a mere 12 inches tall. But when Hammond grew to 20 inches and 180 pounds, "my husband couldn't handle it any more. 'Either the pig goes or I go,'" Monroy, of El Monte, California, says he told her.
So she took the animal to Lil' Orphan Hammies, a rescue about 130 miles northwest of Los Angeles.
It's a common story playing out nationwide, leaving thousands of pet pigs homeless and rescues packed. The crunch has led many sanctuaries to limit how many pigs they will accept or stop taking them completely.
Participants of the traditional dance of Los Historiantes perform during the festivity held in honour of Saint James, in Santiago Nonualco July 22, 2015. The traditional dance was brought to Latin America by the Spanish, and participants each dramatise an episode of the battles between the Christians and the Moors that took place on the Iberian Peninsula about eight centuries ago, according to the dancers.
Photo by Jose Cabezas
Peru will try to make contact for the first time with an Amazonian tribe that largely lives isolated in the jungle, part of a bid to ease tensions with nearby villages after a bow-and-arrow attack in May, authorities said on Tuesday.
Government anthropologists will try to talk with a clan of Mashco Piro Indians to understand why they have been emerging from the forest, said deputy culture minister Patricia Balbuena.
In recent years the Mashco Piro have increasingly been spotted seeking machetes and food outside their jungle enclaves in the Manu National Park in southeastern Peru.
Villagers, Christian proselytizers and tourists have all interacted with the tribe, often giving them clothes and food.
Peru prohibits contact with the Mashco Piro and another dozen "uncontacted" tribes, mainly because their immune systems carry little resistance to common illnesses.
In this July 17, 2015 photo provided by the San Diego Zoo, a male, 2-month-old African serval kitten plays with one of his new enrichment items at the San Diego Zoo in San Diego. A video posted to the zoo's account Friday, July 17, shows the young black-spotted African serval chomping plants alongside the caption "eat your greens" and hashtag "serval kitten cuteness." The video had about 2,400 likes as of Monday morning.
Photo by Ken Bohn
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