Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Paul Krugman: Rationality and Rabbit Holes (NY Times Blog)
Like the vast majority of economists, I was delighted to see Richard Thaler get the Nobel. Anyone with a bit of sense - a group that, believe it or not, includes many economists - knows that people aren't perfectly rational. But the assumption of hyperrationality still plays far too large a role in the field. And Thaler didn't just document deviations from rationality, he showed that there are consistent, usable patterns in those deviations.
Allegra Kirkland: Now Wary Of Holding Big Rallies, White Nationalists Resort To Tiny 'Flash Mobs (TPM)
White nationalist Richard Spencer says he first learned of "flash mobs" from a viral YouTube video that showed dozens of people twirling around Antwerp, Belgium's Central Station in a spontaneous, coordinated performance of the Sound of Music's "Do-Re-Mi."
Josh Marshall: Coming Undone (TPM)
For the last nine months - in some way for the last 28 months - we've been told there was some breaking point coming where President Trump's hold over the GOP, his supporters or some mix of the two was about to come undone. I flagged a few articleslast night that suggested something like that might be coming. I'm not suggesting some major rupture is afoot. But for a few different reasons, I do think this blow up with Bob Corker may be something new and different.
Dave Simpson: "The Young'uns: 'We were out busking and a bystander said, "Shut up singing or I'll glass you"'" (The Guardian)
Teesside trio the Young'uns are setting the folk scene on fire. The band talk about drunken harmonies, upsetting Scotland - and belting out songs about everything from the founder of Marks & Spencer to the fishermen they meet in pubs.
Zoe Williams: Why did no one speak out about Harvey Weinstein? (The Guardian)
As the allegations swirl around the disgraced film mogul, we must ask whose fault it is that his behaviour continued unchallenged for so long - and how we stop the harassers we encounter in our own lives.
Sjón: Top 10 modern Nordic books (The Guardian)
As a year-long festival celebrating the region's writers gets under way in London, Icelandic novelist Sjón selects essential reading from the far north.
Kij Johnson: Writing women into The Wind in the Willows revitalises the canon (The Guardian)
Making imaginative room for another sex in this much-loved classic opened up its world to me.
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Presenting
Michael Egan
answered:
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
Patriot Act
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
"GETTING OUT OF DODGE."
THE 'HEEL WRESTLER'.
COLUMBUS WAS A SLAVE HOLDER AND A MURDERER!
THE RACE FOR WHAT'S LEFT.
"IT'S TIME TO TAKE THE FIRST STEP."
THE CHEATERS.
IT'S DISGUSTING THAT TRUMP CAN SAY WHATEVER IT WANTS.
WISHFUL THINKING.
Visit JD's site - Kitty Litter Music
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Quite like Austin on "Jeopardy".
Slams T-rump
Eminem
Eminem has unleashed a profane lyrical tirade against President-for-how Donald Trump (R-Pendejo) - saying he "came to stomp" and taking aim at Trump's Twitter habits, policy, appearance and supporters.
The rapper on Tuesday unveiled "The Storm," a 4½-minute freestyle rap video recorded Friday in a Detroit parking garage that aired as part of BET's Hip Hop Awards on Tuesday night.
Eminem slammed the Republican president as "a kamikaze who will probably cause a nuclear holocaust" before criticizing Trump's ongoing campaign against NFL national anthem protests.
"But this is his form of distraction, plus he gets an enormous reaction when he attacks the NFL, so we focus on that instead of talking Puerto Rico or gun reform for Nevada. All these horrible tragedies and he's bored and would rather cause a Twitter storm with the Packers," he rapped.
Eminem also took down Trump's recently unveiled plan for tax cuts, questioning: "then who's going to pay for his extravagant trips back and forth with his fam to his golf resorts and his mansions?"
Eminem
Oscars Joke Was Inspired by Friend's Encounter
Seth MacFarlane
Seth MacFarlane says his 2013 Oscars joke about Harvey Weinstein while hosting the awards show was inspired by a real encounter.
The 43-year-old actor took to Twitter on Wednesday to open up about the joke, which seems to have taken on new meaning amid claims that the producer has been sexually harassing women for three decades.
MacFarlane was joined by Emma Stone onstage at the 2013 Academy Awards, where they announced the five actresses in the Supporting Actress category. "Congratulations, you five ladies no longer have to pretend to be attracted to Harvey Weinstein," MacFarlane quipped.
"In 2011, my friend and colleague Jessica Barth, with whom I worked on the Ted films, confided in me regarding her encounter with Harvey Weinstein and his attempted advances. She has since courageously come forward to speak out," MacFarlane wrote on Wednesday. "It was this account in mind that, when I hosted the Oscars in 2013, I couldn't resist the opportunity to take a hard swing in his direction. Make no mistake, this came from a place of loathing and anger."
"There is nothing more abhorrent and indefensible than abuse of power such as this," he continued of the allegations of sexual misconduct against Weinstein. "I respect and applaud my friend Jessica and those sharing their stories for their decision to come forward, and for being champions of truth."
Seth MacFarlane
Executives Quashed Harvey Weinstein Story
NBC
In mid-August, Ronan Farrow, an NBC News contributor, had secured an interview with a woman who was willing to appear on camera, in silhouette, her identity concealed, and say Harvey Weinstein had raped her, according to four people with close knowledge of the reporting. It was a pivotal moment in a testy, months-long process of reporting a story that had bedeviled a generation of media and Hollywood reporters.
Farrow had a lot of material already. In March, he had acquired a damning and much-coveted audio recording in which Weinstein admits to having groped an Italian model. He had interviews with former executives and assistants who'd worked closely with Weinstein who spoke about the culture of harassment and abuse he perpetrated. And now he had someone ready to accuse Weinstein of rape, on camera.
But at that moment Farrow was also caught in the pincers of an NBC News edict. He had been told by executives at NBC News that he didn't have enough reporting to go on air with his Weinstein story, according to four sources, and he had been told by the network to stop reporting on it. NBC tried to put a stop to the interview with the woman accusing Weinstein of rape. The network insisted he not use an NBC News crew for the interview, and neither was he to mention his NBC News affiliation. And so that was how Ronan Farrow wound up paying out of his own pocket for a camera crew to film an interview.
As a project for NBC News, Farrow's story was effectively dead. Later that month, he received permission to take his reporting to another news organization. The story that resulted, published Tuesday by The New Yorker, was a blockbuster: multiple women accusing Weinstein of rape and other sexual misconduct, accompanied by the audio of Weinstein admitting to sexual assault.
In October 2016, NBC News had the now infamous "Access Hollywood" tape of Trump saying he liked to grab women "by the pussy." While the footage was owned by NBC, it was ultimately published by The Washington Post.
NBC
Replaces Kathy Griffin
Andy Cohen
Andy Cohen will co-host CNN's New Year's Eve celebration with Anderson Cooper. Cohen, best known as host and EP of Bravo's Watch What Happens Live, will join Cooper in Times Square in New York City. "New Year's Eve Live with Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen" on Sunday, December 31st.
"Andy is the life of the party wherever he goes, and what bigger party is there than New Year's Eve? It is going to be a blast!" said Cooper in today's announcement, while Cohen said, "I've been friends with Anderson for twenty-five years. We've traveled the world together and performed in 30 plus cities with "AC2? and it's all led to this one huge night!"
Terrible canned quotes aside, the two men have a great rapport, as recently evidenced when Cohen was a guest on Cooper's primetime CNN show, offering to produce a Real Housewives-ish reunion show for CNN in which The Wives Of Donald Trump (R-Odious) could thrash out their differences, literally. His suggestion came the day Ivana called herself Trump's First Wife and therefore First First Lady while plugging her book; Melania Trump was not amused.
Now in its 11th year, CNN's New Year's Eve show is a global celebration featuring contributions from CNN correspondents across the country and around the world.
Andy Cohen
Fallout Continues
Megyn Kelly
Megyn Kelly reportedly has people "alarmed" at the "Today" show.
According to a revealing Page Six report, Kelly's "plummeting" ratings have begun to effect the hours of the "Today" show around her, particularly Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb's hour, for which "Megyn Kelly Today" serves as a lead-in.
"Not only are ratings plummeting since Megyn Kelly joined the 'Today' franchise," a source said. "But the numbers show Kelly's lead-in has also affected Kathie Lee and Hoda Kotb's show, which follows straight afterwards."
As Page Six pointed out, Kelly's hour is down 32 percent from last year, while Kathie Lee and Hoda's is down 26 percent.
The ratings for Kelly's new morning show don't necessarily come as a surprise, as it has been plagued with controversy from her first episode last month when her comment to a "Will & Grace" superfan was condemned online by fans, as well as by actress Debra Messing. Since then, the former FOX News anchor has faced major criticism for saying that she's "done" with politics and focused on light fare that comes across as unnatural and forced.
Megyn Kelly
Dresses Down T-rump
Neil Cavuto
Fox News host Neil Cavuto has a warning for President-for-now Donald Trump (R-Crooked): Get it together or risk losing everything.
Cavuto, known for giving the president some tough advice in the past, called out Trump for the recent public feud with Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.).
"Last time I checked, you are the president of the United States, so tweeting out these tacky insults just seems beneath you," Cavuto said. "You are running out of friends faster than you are running out of time. You might not like Bob Corker, but a lot of senators do, and you need those senators, sir."
Trump and Corker have been trading insults since the weekend, when the president tweeted that the senator "begged" for a re-election endorsement. Corker, who said he is not seeking re-election, denied the claim and called the White House "an adult day care center."
Cavuto warned Trump that members of Congress will eventually get fed up with what's become a public shaming ritual for the president.
Neil Cavuto
How the CIA Helped the Bolivian Army Kill
Che Guevara
Cuba remembered the 50th anniversary of the death of a key figure in the Marxist revolution that overturned U.S.-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista and brought the Fidel Castro-led regime to power.
Ernesto "Che" Guevara was executed in Bolivia on October 9, 1967, and the CIA's role in his death remains controversial.
"His captors cared nothing for the dignity and etiquette his revolutionary legacy demanded, and [he] was vilely murdered. But history only remembers the cowardice of those murderers, while the colossal example of Che lives on and multiples day after day," Cuba's vice president, Miguel Diaz-Canel-a likely successor to the Castro brothers as the island's president-noted at a commemoration rally on Sunday.
The secret services had trained and were involved with the battalion that would capture and kill Guevara, as declassified CIA documents archived by the George Washington University showed.
According to one debriefing document, the order to kill Guevara and other Marxist fighters trying to bring the Cuban revolution to Bolivia came on the morning of October 9 and marked a departure from previous orders. The first soldier who was given the task to execute Guevara was "unable to carry out the order," so it was passed on to another soldier who "fortified his courage with several beers."
Che Guevara
Will Allow Girls, But ...
Boy Scouts
In line with the changing times, girls can now participate in some Boy Scout programs, the organization announced Wednesday.
The Boy Scouts of America is known for its focus on preparing for manhood and improving outdoorsmanship, so it's huge that its board of directors "unanimously approved" welcoming girls to join the organization starting in the upcoming 2018 program year. The organization says they decided to open up their ranks in response to parents wanting their kids participating together in the same activities, as well as "years of receiving requests from families and girls," according to a statement.
Despite how heartening this sounds, some caveats do exist that allow the Boy Scouts to, in their words, "maintain the integrity of the single gender model." That idea doesn't exactly mesh with a supposed desire to incorporate daughters and sons into the same program.
Girls in first through fifth grade will be allowed to join Cub Scouts. However, Cub Scout "dens" - the small, single-grade groups that meet weekly - will remain single-gendered. That means if there are only one or two girls in a neighborhood who want to join the Cub Scouts, they will have to have their own meetings and complete their own activities without much of a crew. Additionally, the Cub Scout "packs" - larger meetings of multiple dens in the area - can choose whether to admit girl dens to their pack, or flat out reject their membership. Without including girls being a mandatory, it remains to be seen whether it will actually happen.
So this may be a case of an initiative that offers girls the chance to be Scouts, but when examined on a little deeper, it won't necessarily have them building fires with boys. The Boy Scouts of America did not respond to a request for comment by the time this article was published.
Boy Scouts
Mysterious Hole
Antarctica
A massive hole called a polynya recently appeared in Antarctica's frozen sea ice. The hole is unusual because it's huge and far from the coast where such open water patches more frequently appear. Another larger version of this polynya was observed in the mid 1970s.
This Weddell polynya, however, is somewhat remarkable.
No one knows why it formed, and the hole is located quite far from the sea ice coastline, where such openings more frequently appear. And despite being exposed to freezing wintry winds over the past month, the polynya has persisted - so whatever force caused it to form is strong enough to keep it from refreezing.
But it's not the first time this particular hole has appeared. Scientists observed a similar polynya in the same area of Antarctica in 1974, according to NASA Earth Observatory. It reappeared during the austral winters of 1975 and 1976, then disappeared and it didn't re-emerge for decades. It re-appeared again in August 2016, though significantly smaller than it had been in the 1970s.
Now it's back and bigger than last year. The largest estimates of the hole's current size put it around 80,000 square kilometers or just over 30,000 square miles - almost as big as South Carolina. That's still far smaller than the 1970s version, which reached 300,000 square kilometers, about the size of Arizona.
Antarctica
One-Day Sandwich
Arby's
When Arby's decided to take a 2016 venison sandwich promotion national for hunting season this year, the fast-food chain faced one problem: Where to find enough venison?
The quest ended up taking most of a year and led the fast-food chain to a New Zealand supplier that sells grass-fed free-range venison, the company said. Jim Taylor, Arby's chief marketing officer, told USA Today it was the "biggest venison promotion in the world any restaurant" has ever done.
The venison sandwiches, previously offered at select restaurants in six states in 2016, will be sold Oct. 21 at all 3,300 Arby's restaurants across the U.S., according to the company. The chain also will offer elk sandwiches at restaurants in Thornton, Colorado, Casper, Wyoming, and West Billings, Montana.
The venison sandwich features crispy onions and juniper berry sauce on a toasted roll, while the elk sandwich has a blackberrry port wine sauce. Taylor told USA Today that the company worked with hunters and wild game enthusiasts to come up with the recipes.
Arby's
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