Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Matthew Yglesias: Republicans don't care if Kavanaugh is guilty because they don't think what he did was wrong (Vox)
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell vowed to "plow right through" Christine Blasey Ford's allegation that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her when they were in high school before even listening to any testimony. Soren Midgley of the Federalist put it even more bluntly, publishing a story Tuesday morning titled, "Why Brett Kavanaugh should be confirmed to the Supreme Court even if he's guilty."
Greg Sargent: President Trump and the war on men (Washington Post)
But the flip side of this is that the cultural, racial and gender schisms that Trump is very consciously trying to widen, through deliberate provocations of one kind or another, may only be deepening his bond with non-college-educated white men. When Trump presents Kavanaugh as the true victim in this situation, and when he sweepingly declares that the moral of the Kavanaugh story is that men across America are in great danger of unfair persecution, he seems to know exactly what he's doing.
Paul Waldman: Trump has deeply damaged America's global image. How much does it matter? (Washington Post)
My guess is that […] the main reason their view of Trump is so poor - and it's rubbing off on their view of the United States - is that he's a lying, racist, xenophobic, buffoonish demagogue. One could imagine a president who shared his "America First" beliefs without being so personally repellent; that president might not harm the country's image as much. But this is the president we have, and the result may be a kind of lost period in international relations, in which we miss opportunities to reinforce our status and our values while China's influence grows.
Jonathan Chait: The New York Times Proves President Trump Is a Crook (NY Mag)
The New York Times has published a massive investigation of President Trump's finances, revolving around two important revelations. First, Trump was given far more financial support by his father than previously known - at least $413 million in today's dollars, not the measly $1 million he claims to have received. Second, the mechanisms by which he received these transfers often crossed the line from aggressive or creative maneuvering into illegality. That the Times presents these conclusions so baldly - accusing him of "outright fraud" in the first sentence - in the face of Trump's famous litigiousness, is a testament to the power and clarity of its findings.
Vote 'Em Out! Willie Nelson LIVE with Beto in Austin, TX 9/29/18 (YouTube)
"If you don't like who's in there, vote 'em out / that's what Election Day is all about / and the biggest gun we got / is called the ballot box / if you don't like who's in there / vote 'em out."
Garrison Keillor: Columnist salutes a brother columnist, a red one
George Will is a great American conservative essayist and I am an aging liberal doing the best I can, but even in divisive times I am capable of appreciating him, and his recent column for the Washington Post is so excellent, a new prize is needed, the Pulitzer isn't good enough, we need a Seltzer or a Wurlitzer. You can Google this at your leisure; "Abolish the death penalty" is the title.
Jonathan Jones: Bruegel review - beer, pancakes, and the limitless genius of Bruegel (The Guardian)
Prado in Madrid has lent Bruegel's Triumph of Death and on this evidence - the fullest anyone is ever likely to see - it is, in every sense, his ultimate masterpiece. People are shoved into giant coffins by armies of skeletons under a diseased sky. A knight draws his sword to fight death off, but the hordes of the lifeless are unrelenting. All must succumb to the bony onslaught. The end is coming, but we can make the best of things with beer, pancakes and the life-giving genius of Bruegel.
Emily Temple: Did the Creator of The Twilight Zone Plagiarize Ray Bradbury? (LitHub.com)
Bradbury may not have been lying, but Eller does not really see plagiarism in the episodes that bothered Bradbury-though he does see a strong influence. But maybe that wasn't really the issue. "Bradbury's fundamental wariness of Serling was not so much based on notions of plagiarism as on his firm belief that Serling did not have a true feel for the genre he was pioneering on television," Eller writes.
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Presenting
Michael Egan
took the day off.
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
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from Bruce
Anecdotes
• When the U.S. women's national soccer team won the first Women's World Cup in 1991, team member Julie Foudy thought that women's soccer would immediately become very popular in the United States. She was wrong, although later women's soccer did become much more popular. No one met the team at the airport, and when one of her Stanford professors learned what she had done, the professor said, "You won the World Cup? Oh. That's wonderful. Welcome back. Here is your final exam in human biology."
• While attending college, Steven Spielberg made a film titled Amblin'that attracted the notice of Sidney Sheinberg, head of television production at Universal Studios. When Mr. Sheinberg offered young Steven a job, he objected that he hadn't graduated from college yet. Mr. Sheinberg asked, "Do you want to go to college or do you want to direct?" Mr. Spielberg said later, "I quit college so fast, I didn't even clean out my locker."
• As a female student in medical school in the late 19th century when that was unusual, Maria Montessori showed unusual dedication. When a snowstorm battered Rome, Ms. Montessori still made it to class, even though the bottom of her dress was wet from the deep snows. That day, she was the only student to show up for the class - the professor did not cancel the class, but instead lectured to her alone.
• As a young girl, future Secretary of State Madeleine Albright attended the Kent School for Girls in Denver, Colorado, where she once won an eighth-grade contest by listing all 51 member states of the United Nations in alphabetical order. At every school she attended, she started a new club to study foreign policy - she admits that one advantage of starting a new club is that you can name yourself president.
• While living in Burr Oak, Iowa, Laura Ingalls Wilder, author of Little House on the Prairie, used to live above a grocery store. In the afternoons, she and her sister Mary practiced elocution - reading out loud with feeling - for school. They didn't know it, but grocery store customers used to come by regularly and stand where they could hear the girls read exciting stories and poems.
• Even after releasing a single titled "It's Like That" in March of 1983, the members of the rap group Run-D.M.C. weren't sure that their music career would continue, so they enrolled in college. Jay "Jam Master Jay" Mizell later explained, "Everyone said rap was a fad. I knew death wasn't a fad, so I majored in mortuary science."
• Jackie Bouvier, who was later known as Jackie Kennedy Onassis, attended Miss Porter's Finishing School in Farmington, Connecticut. That was a good idea, as she did need finishing. At the school, she once dumped a chocolate pie - upside down - onto the lap of a teacher she disliked.
• International students make major contributions to the colleges and universities where they study. In 1981, the University of Texas - El Paso won the NCAA Track and Field Championships. Not one of its 70 points was scored by a USAmerican.
• Trinity College at the University of Cambridge is known for its arrogance. When one of its Fellows won a Nobel Prize, the Master began his speech by saying, "Anywhere else, I could say that is a very special occasion."
• Colin Powell was accepted by both New York University and the City College of New York in 1954. Deciding which college to attend was easy - yearly tuition at NYU was $750, while yearly tuition at CCNY was only $10.
• Gymnast Mary Lou Retton was once asked whether training for the Olympics and missing school had hurt her education. She replied, "While other kids were reading about the Great Wall, I was walking on it."
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© Copyright Bruce D. Bruce; All Rights Reserved
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Reader Comment
WTF?
Hey, Marty! I'm wondering WTF Trump's "Emergency alert" message that everyone
received on their cellphones today at 1:18 CDT? I've seen the story on both Inside
Edition and on my local noon news, but nowhere did it explain what it is and/or what
it's for! I know that I'm paranoid, BUT this seems like the perfect way to track
people's phones, or install some kind of software on people's phones. Der Fuhrer
would have LOVED something like this!! For all we know, it could be some type of
subliminal thing, instructing people to approve Brett Kavanaugh's appointment to the
SCOTUS or to LOVE Trump and elect him for another 4 years! Anything to do with Trump
I simply don't trust, esp. when there's no good explanation as to what the hell it
is. I don't have a cellphone, and when I saw this, I was glad I don't! Check out the
story:
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
A BOOBY TRAPPED WHEEL CHAIR?
'MISSY GRAHAM GETS UPPITY'
HOW DISGUSTING. A REPUBLICAN NAMED 'JOHN KENNEDY'.
"A HIGH-END RATFUCKER."
Visit JD's site - Kitty Litter Music
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
The rumored rain has missed us, so far.
'We Are Probably All Going To Die'
Eric Idle And James Corden
Late-night TV host James Corden griped Tuesday that current events are getting him down and "nothing's funny" anymore. Enter English comedian Eric Idle.
The two teamed up on Tuesday's "Late Late Show" to perform a duet of the Idle-written "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life," which his character sang as he was being crucified in Monty Python's "Life of Brian." (It's also the name of the book Idle just released.)
But the lyrics took a turn as text messages bearing bad news kept interrupting the pair until they were compelled to change the chorus to: "We are probably all going to die."
"The planet's getting wrecked / There's one good side effect / We'll stop discussing Trump on every show / Goodbye to all our strife / 'Cause in the afterlife / We'll be tap dancing with Elvis and van Gogh."
Eric Idle And James Corden
$129 Million Fine
Fan Bingbing
China ordered its most famous actress, Fan Bingbing, who has not been seen for months, to pay a massive fine over tax evasion, state media reported Wednesday.
Fan must pay about $128.7 million in back taxes and fines after an investigation found the actress and her company avoided paying millions in taxes, according to state news agency Xinhua and state-owned broadcaster CGTN.
Chinese tax authorities said they began investigating Fan in June after members of the public accused Fan of using contract fraud to evade taxes, Xinhua reported. According to authorities, she evaded personal income and business taxes while working on the Chinese movie "The Bombing," also known as "Air Strike." CGTN reported she concealed income through a "secret contract" for her work on the film.
Fan, who had disappeared from public view since early June, on Wednesday apologized on the Weibo social media site.
The actress will not face criminal penalties if she pays the fines and back taxes, Xinhua reported.
Fan Bingbing
The Musical
Tina Turner
After opening in London in April, "Tina" is heading to Broadway.
The musical, based on the life of legendary artist Tina Turner, is set to open in the fall of 2019, with the theater to be announced at a later date, according to a statement released Wednesday morning.
Adrienne Warren played the singer, now 78, in the lead role for the London production on the West End, with Kobna Holdbrook-Smith as Ike Turner.
"Tina" is directed by Phyllida Lloyd and written by Katori Hall with Frank Ketelaar and Kees Prins; choreography is by Anthony van Laast, with set and costume designs by Mark Thompson; musical supervision, additional music and arrangements are by Nicholas Skilbeck; lighting is by Bruno Poet; sound is by Nevin Steinberg; projection design is by Jeff Sugg; and orchestrations are by Ethan Popp.
The musical will feature performances of some Turner's biggest hits, including "River Deep Mountain High," "Let's Stay Together" and "Private Dancer."
Tina Turner
Netflix Set To Develop
'The Chronicles of Narnia'
After triumphing with the affairs of the Royal family, Netflix is turning its attention to the Kings and Queens of Narnia.
The streaming service, which has won plaudits for its original series The Crown, has signed a multi-year deal to adapt C.S Lewis's classic children's novels.
It marks the first time that rights to all seven Narnia books, including The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe, have been held by the same company.
Multiple television and film projects are planned, with stories developed from across the Narnian universe.
'The Chronicles of Narnia'
Halted
Visas
A new Trump administration visa policy appears to give the partners of same-sex diplomats a difficult ultimatum: get married, or get out.
As of Monday, the U.S. State Department will no longer issue visas to the same-sex partners of foreign diplomats or staffers of U.S.-based international organizations like the United Nations, unless they are married.
According to a notice posted on the State Department website, the U.S. will now consider applications from same-sex partners of diplomats and international officials the same way it does for heterosexual partners. The shift requires same-sex partners to apply for a spousal visa, also known as the G-4 visa, and is "effective immediately."
But that could put pose a problem for couples ineligible to legally marry in their home country.
Only 25 countries recognize some form of same-sex marriage, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW), while in more than 70 others, same-sex relationships are punishable by law.
Visas
Revokes Honorary Citizenship
Canada
Canada's Parliament formally stripped Aung San Suu Kyi of her honorary Canadian citizenship on Tuesday for complicity in the atrocities committed against Myanmar's Rohingya people.
The Senate voted unanimously to strip Suu Kyi, Myanmar's civilian leader, of the symbolic honor bestowed on her in 2007.
The upper house's move follows a similar unanimous vote in the House of Commons last week.
Suu Kyi is the first person to have her honorary Canadian citizenship revoked.
Canada
Hangs Up "For Sale" Sign
Barnes & Noble
Barnes & Noble is hoping for a storybook ending. The ailing bookseller said Wednesday that it's exploring strategic alternatives, including a possible sale of the company.
One possible buyer: Barnes & Noble founder and Chairman Leonard Riggio, the company said in a news release, while noting that "multiple parties" had expressed interest in bidding for the company.
Barnes & Noble, which is publicly listed, is the nation's largest retail book vendor, operating 629 stores across the U.S. It also operates Nook, a digital bookstore, as well as the website barnesandnoble.com.
Barnes & Noble shares, which before news of the possible sale were down 30 percent for the past year, vaulted 21 percent in Wednesday's after-hours trading to $6.64. In announcing that it's weighing a possible sale, the company noted that an unknown investor has been rapidly acquiring its stock.
Annual revenue, which topped $7 billion in 2012, has since fallen to $3.7 billion amid ferocious competition from Amazon and other e-commerce companies. In September, Barnes & Noble reported quarterly revenue of $795 million, down nearly 7 percent from a year ago, as store sales continued to sink. It lost $17 million for the period.
Barnes & Noble
In Memory
Geoff Emerick
Geoff Emerick, the audio engineer who worked on several Beatles classics including Sgt. Pepper's and Abbey Road, died Tuesday. Emerick's agent, David Maida, confirmed the engineer's death to Rolling Stone, adding that the cause of death was a heart attack. He was 72.
Emerick first worked with the Beatles in September 1962 when he was just 16 and had only started as an assistant at EMI Studios - later known as Abbey Road - the day before. Over the next few years, Emerick worked a variety of jobs at EMI - lacquer cutter, mastering engineer, balance engineer - and periodically helped out on early Beatles sessions that produced classics like "She Loves You" and "I Want to Hold Your Hand." Martin officially asked Emerick to serve as the Beatles' sound engineer in 1966, and the first track he helped cut was Revolver's "Tomorrow Never Knows."
Emerick also worked on Sgt. Pepper's - for which Emerick won the Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical - and Abbey Road, though he famously resigned during the "White Album"sessions, claiming he could not handle the tensions between the band members; the engineer eventually rejoined the Beatles during the recording of "The Ballad of John and Yoko" and stayed on their final albums together. During his tenure at EMI, Emerick also served as engineer on the Zombies' classic Odessey & Oracle.
After the Beatles broke up, Emerick shifted from EMI to the band's Apple Corps., where he oversaw construction of Apple Studios in the label's Savile Row headquarters. As engineer, Emerick continued to work regularly with Paul McCartney and Wings, as well as an array of other artists including Elvis Costello (producer on 1982's Imperial Bedroom), Cheap Trick (engineer on the George Martin-produced 1980 LP All Shook Up), Jeff Beck and Kate Bush.
In 2006, Emerick penned his autobiography Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of the Beatles, a tome that caused controversy in the Beatles community for its unflattering view of the non-McCartney Beatles, with George Harrison especially cast in the harsh light. However, Emerick remained active on the Beatles nostalgia circuit, with the engineer lining up several speaking engagements this fall in anticipation of the 50th anniversary reissue of the "White Album."
Emerick spoke of his personal highlights working with the Beatles in a 2017 interview with Variety. "Revolver is a high point because of what it represented. It led to Pepper. And perhaps the greatest peak of all was the production of 'A Day in the Life' on Sgt. Pepper," Emerick said. "John first played an acoustic version of the song for George Martin, and I heard it and told a colleague, 'Wait until you hear this.' I still had the shivers. And the night we put the orchestra on it, the whole world went from black and white to color."
Geoff Emerick
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