Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Matthew Yglesias: The Brett Kavanaugh confirmation fight is also about the future of the economy (Vox)
His jurisprudence would render economic and environmental regulation nearly impossible.
Paul Waldman: A TV ad that crystallizes the biggest GOP lie about health care (Washington Post)
Republicans have never lacked for chutzpah, which is what it takes to file a lawsuit intended to take away protections for pre-existing conditions and then run a soft-focus ad about how committed you are to protecting those with pre-existing conditions. Hawley's position is that what he actually wants to do is take away those protections now, but give them back later with some future piece of legislation, one that does all the things about the ACA you like, but none of the things you don't.
Greg Sargent: This is Trump's most insulting - and revealing - lie about Brett Kavanaugh yet (Washington Post)
Even now, Republicans have largely done everything they can to prevent a full accounting of this episode. They have denied requests for any further witnesses to be called, such as Mark Judge, the man whom Ford claims was present when Kavanaugh allegedly sexually assaulted her. In a perfectly fitting revelation, it turns out that Judge is literally in hiding right now: A Post reporter was able to track him down, finding him holed up at a friend's house nearly three hours away. He refused to say anything, other than: "How'd you find me?"
Greg Sargent: Trump just panned 'globalism.' But his immigration and trade ideas are deeply unpopular. (Washington Post)
President Trump gave a speech today at the United Nations in which he flatly declared that we "reject the ideology of globalism." To bolster the point, he touted his policies in two areas in which he has sought to strike his greatest blows against that "ideology"- trade and immigration. Which gives us an opening to point out a feature of the Trump era that deserves more discussion: The degree to which the broad American mainstream is flatly rejecting the most important features of Trump's xenophobic nationalism.
Julian Borger: Donald Trump is unlikely to forgive the laughter of the UN (The Guardian)
The US president is accustomed to addressing diehard supporters, so the derision of his fellow leaders came as a surprise.
Michael H. Fuchs: Trump is a laughing stock. But if we weren't laughing, we'd be crying (The Guardian)
Trump opened his speech the same way he opens his campaign rallies, TV interviews, and probably conversations with every visitor he meets: "In less than two years, my administration has accomplished more than almost any administration in the history of our country." The response from the leaders assembled in the room? Laughter. The entire world literally laughed at the US president- and they weren't laughing with him. Even Trump himself was taken aback: "I did not expect that reaction …"
Garrison Keillor: Old man goes to hear an old man sing
I got to meet Harry Blackmun for lunch, after which we walked around the block and came back to the Supreme Court and walked through a crowd of angry people protesting the decision he wrote in Roe v. Wade. None of them recognized him; his humility was his shield. His daughters asked me to sing the Whiffenpoof song at his funeral and I did, with the entire Supreme Court in black sitting before me. Everyone in the church sang along, Bill and Hillary and the Blackmun daughters, but not the Justices. They could not bring themselves to sing, "We are little black sheep who have gone astray, baa baa baa," though they had in the Citizens United decision and others.
Jonathan Jones: "'Callous exercises in brutal pornography' - Martin Eder: Parasites review" (The Guardian)
Why has Damien Hirst given his gallery over to a German artist whose daubs of pampered pooches and teenage girls reduce painting to a shower of hate?
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Presenting
Michael Egan
took the day off.
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
David E Suggests
Flags
David
Thanks, Dave!
Bonus Links
Jeannie the Teed-Off Temp
Reader Comment
Judge Kavanaugh
Michael Avenatti whispers into Mitch Mcconnell"s ear, "Merrick Garland says hello!"
Always a fan,
BSmasher
Thanks, Brain!
from Bruce
Anecdotes
• While in prison awaiting her execution, Marie Antoinette was given no privacy - her jailors even watched her dress and undress. Even while she was dressing on the morning of her execution, the guards watched her - until she cried out, "In the name of God and decency, I beg you give me some privacy!" She did not object when the executioner cut off her long hair, but she became upset when she had to ride to the place of execution in a cattle cart rather than a coach. A crowd watched her ride in the cattle cart, and a mother held up her little daughter to see the doomed Queen of France. Not knowing what was going on, the little girl blew her a kiss, and Ms. Antoinette smiled. Standing before the guillotine, Ms. Antoinette accidentally stepped on her executioner's hand, and said, "Pardon me, monsieur. I did not do it on purpose." Those were her last words.
• African-American writer Zora Neale Hurston, author of Their Eyes Were Watching God, influenced other writers, including Alice Walker, the first African-American author to win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. When Ms. Hurston died in 1960, she was buried in an unmarked grave, but Ms. Walker located the grave, cleaned it up, and gave it a headstone on which was engraved: "Zora Neale Hurston/'A Genius of the South'/Novelist Folklorist/Anthropologist/1901-1960."
• On April 2, 1917, President Woodrow Wilson stood in the Capitol Building in front of members of the House of Representatives, the Senate, and the Supreme Court, and he called for a declaration of war against Germany, which meant that the United States would join in the fighting of World War I. Everyone shouted, cheered, and waved flags. Afterward, President Wilson said, "My message today was a message of death for our young men. How strange it seems to applaud that." Then he wept.
• Sir Winston Churchill planned his own funeral and made sure it reflected the promise of resurrection. For example, Sir Winston directed that immediately after a bugler played "Taps," which is played at military funerals, another bugler would play "Reveille," which is the call to get up.
• Late in Judy Garland's career, she grew erratic, often showing up late or not showing up at all for performances. At Judy's funeral, comedian Alan King made her daughter Liza Minnelli smile when he said, "This is the first time your mother has ever been on time for a performance."
• Rhythm and blues artist Aretha Franklin often sang one of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King's favorite songs, "Precious Lord," for him. The last time Ms. Franklin sang it especially for him was in April of 1968 - at his funeral.
• Little Joe Monoghan, who stood only five foot tall, was an Old West personality with a fast draw and a secret. After Little Joe died of natural causes, the undertaker discovered that Little Joe was actually a woman.
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© Copyright Bruce D. Bruce; All Rights Reserved
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Reader Comment
Current Events
Linda >^..^<
We are all only temporarily able bodied.
Thanks, Linda!
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
"THE COMMANDER OF FEAR"
"pulling a BHP"
"IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT AND I FEEL FINE"
Visit JD's site - Kitty Litter Music
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Good day for popcorn.
Grand Ole Opry Debut
Bill Murray
Bill Murray has already been the unofficial president of the John Prine fan club. He's also been a buddy of the bluegrass-based SteelDrivers since they appeared together in a movie eight years ago. The chance to appear with both acts at once was enough to lure the actor into making his Grand Ole Opry debut Tuesday night, singing backup on "Paradise," a song from Prine's 1971 debut.
The appearance by Prine was surprise enough, before Steeldrivers banjo player Richard Bailey further teased the crowd by saying, "We have another old friend of the band who we actually appeared in a movie with" - referring to the 2009 Murray/Robert Duvall "Get Low," which had the group appearing on screen as well as on the Alison Krauss-curated soundtrack album.
Instagram searches revealed Murray had posed for photos with surprised and delighted locals and tourists when he passed through the Nashville International Airport earlier in the week. Posted Karen Swallow Prior of Virginia, "So this kind gentleman helped us with our car door at the Nashville airport and after we got in, I said, 'He looks like Bill Murray.' And my friend said, "That IS Bill Murray!' So we got out of the car and asked if we could take a picture. Once again, he was a gentleman."
The Opry appearance wasn't the first example of Murray's Steeldrivers boosterism: Last year, he'd given away tickets to one of the band's shows in front of a Charleston theater.
More recently, he'd taken to stumping online for Prine. Last December, he posted a video on YouTube about how listening to Prine helped him get his sense of humor back, after a recommendation from Hunter S. Thompson.
Bill Murray
An Evening Of Stand-Up And Investment Tips
Conan
Conan O'Brien will hit the road for the first time since 2010 with Team Coco Presents Conan & Friends: An Evening of Stand-Up and Investment Tips tour.
Tour launches on Friday, Nov 2 at the Warner Theatre in Washington, D.C. , and wraps Saturday Dec 15 at The Masonic in San Francisco,.
"There are a lot of exciting changes coming up for me in 2019 and I wanted to kick it off this fall with an 18-city live tour," Conan said in today's announcement, adding, "The idea that I hit the road for seven weeks was pitched by my wife, with the full backing of my children."
Conan will be joined by various comics each night, from a pool that includes Rory Scovel ( I Feel Pretty), Deon Cole ( Barbershop, Black-ish), Ron Funches ( Curb Your Enthusiasm, Black-ish), Laurie Kilmartin ( Conan, Last Comic Standing), Taylor Tomlinson (Netflix's The Comedy Lineup), Marina Franklin (HBO's Crashing), James Veitch ( Conan), Moses Storm ( Father of the Year), and Flula Borg ( Pitch Perfect 2, Curb Your Enthusiasm).
Conan is gearing up for a new 30-minute show format on TBS, premiering January 2019. The tour, like the new format, gives O'Brien the flexibility to experiment and have fun with his in new ways.
Conan
1956 Thunderbird To Auction
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe is still a hot property.
More than half century after the Some Like It Hot star's tragic death on Aug. 5, 1962, a black 1956 Ford Thunderbird she once owned is expected to fetch between $300,000 and $500,000 at an upcoming auction. Julien's Auctions will sell the piece as part of its "Icons & Idols: Hollywood" event on Nov. 16-17 in L.A. and online at JuliensLive.com.
Monroe bought the cool ride in 1955, the year before she married her third husband, playwright Arthur Miller. According to Julien's, "A published report at the time suggests that Monroe and Miller drove this vehicle to their civil wedding ceremony on June 28, 1956, and likely their private wedding on June 30, 1956," though many online sources say the wedding was on June 29.
In 1962, Monroe reportedly gave the car to John Strasberg, the son of her acting coach and close friend, Lee Strasberg, as a birthday gift. Monroe died of a drug overdose a few months later.
She ended up leaving most of her estate to the elder Strasberg. After he died in 1982, Lee's third wife, Anna, inherited Monroe's belongings and sold them to a company called CMG Worldwide. According to NPR, Anna Strasberg worked with Christie's to auction off some of the late actress's possessions in 1999, kicking off the frenzy for Monroe auctions.
Marilyn Monroe
'Distracted Boyfriend Meme' Is Sexist
Sweden
It's one of the most iconic memes of the past couple of years: the distracted boyfriend.
Now, however, the 'distracted boyfriend' meme - in which a young man's head is turned by a passing woman, leaving the woman whose hand he's holding aghast - has been criticised for being sexist by an advertising watchdog.
According to Sweden's Advertising Ombudsman, the use of the meme, by a company looking to recruit new employees, is "degrading" to both men and women.
Bahnhof, a Swedish internet service provider, posted the meme with the girlfriend labelled as 'your current workplace,' the distracted boyfriend as 'you' and the passing woman as 'Bahnhof.'
The meme, which first went viral in summer 2017, was shared on Facebook alongside a caption encouraging people to apply for jobs as "salespeople, technicians and skilled web designers".
Sweden
Younger Veterans
Suicide
The number of suicides among younger veterans increased "substantially" from 2015 to 2016, according to a new report to be released Wednesday by the Department of Veterans Affairs.
The new VA National Suicide Data Report, which shows that suicide among veterans continues to be higher than the rest of the population, reveals younger veterans are particularly at risk. For every 100,000 veterans age 18 to 34, 45 committed suicide in 2016 - up from 40.4 for every 100,000 in 2015.
The suicide rate also increased among female veterans from 2015 to 2016, the data shows. The suicide rate for female veterans is 1.8 times greater than for other women.
Overall, there were more than 6,000 veteran suicides each year from 2008 to 2016. Veterans accounted for 14 percent of all suicides in the United States in 2016, yet veterans make up only 8 percent of the population, the VA found.
In 2016, guns were used in nearly 70 percent of veteran suicides. For the rest of the population, firearms were used in 48 percent of suicides that year.
Suicide
Another Grim Statistic
Arctic Ice
Sea ice in the Arctic has just about melted to its lowest point of 2018, and this reinforces a trend of dwindling ice atop the globe - where the climate is warming two to three times faster than the rest of the planet.
As of last week, it's the sixth-lowest ice extent - known as the sea ice minimum - in nearly 40 years of satellite records, and with the summer's end it's likely to keep that ranking. This statistic alone might not carry the bite of 2012's extreme Arctic melt, in which the ice thawed to its lowest point ever recorded. Yet, a closer examination of what's transpired in the great north this year reveals the Arctic's ever-accelerating disappearance.
"I don't want the story to be 'This was a ho-hum year'," Jeremy Mathis, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientist who has led the agency's Arctic Research Program, said in an interview. "Even though the ice didn't break an all-time record, it was still well below the historical average."
In fact, each of the last 12 years have been the lowest 12 years on the satellite record, Walt Meier, a senior research scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center, said in an interview.
Some of the thickest, oldest Arctic ice, which is anchored in a compacted mass off the frigid north Greenland shore, broke apart this year.
Arctic Ice
Thames Whale
'Benny'
They came from far afield: from across Britain and from media organisations across the world. They came by train, by car and even by helicopter, descending on sleepy Gravesend. They came and they stayed, peering through scopes and cameras through the day in hope of a glimpse of the animal.
Most of the people who arrived were birders, off the back of a slow year of twitching produced by the strange weather. Instead, they turned their scopes downwards and watched for the animal now known as Benny - a quick glimpse at the beluga whale that swam into the Thames and became famous around the world.
At first the beluga would only be seen as a flash: a glimpse of what one of the many TV news presenters said looked like a white inner tube. It could easily be mistaken for the white of a wave.
But then it would pop back up, and pop back up once again. After half an hour or so at the riverside, watchers would get used to the whale's particular rhythm: hide for three to four minutes, then pop up three times, then retreat back again before beginning the whole thing again.
For now, there is little they can do but watch. Helicopters thunder overhead as TV news tries to hunt down the whale, despite the pleas of experts that the animal be given space. Volunteers from British Divers Marine Life Rescue spent the day tailing the animal as it popped up and down, hoping to check on Benny's health and ward off any passing ships.
'Benny'
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