Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Paul Krugman: Donald and the Deadly Deniers (NY Times Column)
Climate policy is the ultimate example of Trumpian corruption.
Helaine Olen: The Sears bankruptcy wasn't inevitable (Washington Post)
Macy's, which is older than Sears and was also considered a dead retailer walking less than five years ago, has seen sales rise following investment in sprucing up both its stores and Internet presence. It took Lampert to take Sears, a company that was a fading but still viable middle-class emporium, and over a decade turn it into a rich man's play thing, his own personal great white whale. About 200,000 positions were lost as Sears cut back time and time again, but Lampert, as largest shareholder, remained on the job.
Paul Waldman: The midterm elections are drowning in money. How worried should that make us? (Washington Post)
… when Sheldon Adelson gives $55 million to help the GOP hold Congress, he expects something in return. He has already gotten it - his personal windfall from the Republican tax cut was almost $700 million, and according to ProPublica, the president of the United States personally lobbied Japan to grant Adelson a lucrative casino license. That's exactly the kind of corruption that campaign finance laws are intended to stop.
Paul Waldman: Saudi Arabia is putting money in Trump's pocket. Is that shaping U.S. policy? (Washington Post)
But here's the reality: This will blow over, not only because of the complex relationship between the two countries, but also because everything in foreign policy is personal with President Trump, and he likes the Saudis. And why does he like them so much? Because they pay him. This is not something Trump has been shy about saying. "Saudi Arabia, I get along with all of them. They buy apartments from me. They spend $40 million, $50 million," he said at a rally in Alabama in 2015. "Am I supposed to dislike them? I like them very much."
Joe Bob Briggs: The New Standard of Lifetime Detention Hall (Taki's Magazine)
Kavanaugh may or may not have committed actual crimes when he was in high school-it's pretty obvious he was an obnoxious prep-school kid who didn't have a lot of restraint-but I know at least a dozen kids from my own high school who did commit felonies and ended up living productive lives. I still believe in the old rules-that it's not healthy for society to punish kids too severely. The message they need to be getting is not "If you screw up in high school, it could follow you around for the rest of your life." The message they need to be getting is "Don't screw up in high school, but if you do, just step up and be honest about it and we'll deal with it in a fair way."
Marc Dion: Age and a Nice Walk (Creators Syndicate)
Being 61 years old, and damn near, kind of, semi-retired, I told my wife I was going to walk every day. "Join a gym," she said. "You can join a gym for $10 a month, and you could go during the day when there are not too many people there." "The only gyms I ever liked were boxing gyms," I said. "They're dirty and comfortable, and they don't have lime green treadmills."
Mary Beard: Newnham's new books? (TLS)
And that was certainly an interpretation left open by the artist when she said: "That
Mary Beard: Sound-bites (TLS)
But the practice is illuminating (correct words but out of context). And it makes me more sympathetic to the awful political rhetoric of soundbites. If they are all you mouth (Education education, education; Brexit means Brexit), then it means that you can't really be misquoted or more to the point accurately quoted by out of context! I guess I will never learn, but I don't want to start going to festivals and public events and watching my words in case they are selectively extracted and used (may be not against me, but at least not remotely as I intended).
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Presenting
Michael Egan
answered:
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
from Bruce
Anecdotes
• The famous writer of haiku, Basho, once decided to visit a place that was famed for its beautiful flowers. While traveling there, he heard about a peasant girl who was famed for her tender devotion to her parents. Basho visited the peasant girl, and discovered that her devotion to her parents had not been exaggerated. Basho then gave her all the money he had saved for his trip and returned home, saying, "This year I have seen something better than flowers."
• The world fell in love with Soviet gymnast Olga Korbut at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich. Not only did she revolutionize gymnastics with high-difficulty and high-risk feats, she exhibited a winning personality to the audience. In the finals of the women's all-around competition, Olga fell off the uneven bars. As Olga was crying afterward, a woman in the audience jumped over a barrier, ran to her, and presented her with a bouquet of flowers.
• During Vatican II, a Dominican father gave a flowery speech praising women. He expected the approval of the women in the audience, but he did not get it. Instead, a woman told him, "Leave out the bouquets. The only thing needed is what women expect: To be recognized and treated as the full human persons they are in the Church, equal in all things."
• Oscar Wilde once went into a florist shop and asked that the flowers in the window be removed. The florist replied, "With pleasure, sir. How many would you like to have?" Mr. Wilde replied, "Oh, I don't want any, thank you. I only asked to have them removed from the window because I thought that they looked tired."
• Each week, William Powell put flowers on the grave of Jean Harlow. When Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio were married, Marilyn requested that he do the same thing for her if she should die before he did. After Marilyn died, although the two were divorced, Joe honored her request.
• Why practice meditation? When Munindra was asked that, his students listened closely to his answer, hoping to hear something profound. Munindra answered, "I practice meditation to notice the small purple flowers growing by the roadside, which I otherwise might miss."
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Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
THE LIAR! CONTINUED.
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In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Found a lost grandma around 4:30am.
She didn't speak English, was impeccably dressed, and walked with a cane.
Called 911, they sent police - 3 SUVs with 6 officers, none with language skills - no one was able to determine what language she was speaking.
A 4th SUV pulled up and they decided to take her to one of the local hospitals - said they were better equipped to deal with the situation.
Got to bed after 6am.
Been haunted by her face all day. Wonder what happened.
Album Honoring Dead Cat
Souris
Bono, Pharrell, Michael Stipe and Laurie Anderson are among a host of musicians who have contributed to a new album from French artist Sophie Calle about her dead cat, NPR reports.
The 37-track project is named for the late feline, Souris, which translates to "mouse" in English. Souris Calle is available to stream via Spotify, while it can also be purchased on triple LP vinyl.
Souris Calle opens with a voicemail ode from Bono, who speaks over a rumbling rock groove: "She seems to hide all looks that have ever fallen into her/ So that like an audience she can look them over/ Menacing and sullen, curls asleep with them/ Then all at once, as if awakened/ She turns her face to yours/ And with a shock you see yourself/ Tiny, inside the golden amber of her eyeballs."
Both Anderson and Pharrell, as well as Jarvis Cocker, contribute short interludes fittingly titled, "A Cat Named Mouse," while Stipe softly croons on the soothing cut, "Souris Nocturne." Other contributors include the National ("Le Violon Blanc de Monsieur Souris"), Juliette Armanet ("Cool Cat"), Casey Spooner ("The Exquisite Corpse of Souris") and the French duo Brigitte ("Souriais-tu Là?").
Calle announced Souris Calle in June and the project debuted at the Perrotin gallery in Paris this month. The exhibit also includes a series of photographs and autobiographical texts Calle wrote about the deaths of not just her cat, but also her close family and friends.
Souris
Sesame Street
Big Bird
One of the original residents of classic US children's programme Sesame Street is moving away after 50 years.
It was announced on Wednesday (October 17) that original Big Bird puppeteer and voice actor Caroll Spinney will be stepping down from the children's show after recording its 50th season for PBS and HBO.
Spinney was one of the last remnants of the classic era of Sesame Street, having been discovered by the late Jim Henson himself and hired for the first season in 1969 as the puppeteer for Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch
Spinney will be handing over the job of voicing Oscar the Grouch to his protege Eric Jacobson, who currently also plays Grover, Bert and Guy Smiley on Sesame Street.
Taking over as Big Bird will be Matt Vogel, who also made headlines this time last year when he became the newest Kermit the Frog puppeteer when the Jim Henson Company controversially sacked Steve Whitmire.
Big Bird
50% Are Young Women
Guitar Players
The future certainly is female, especially for music. A new study by guitar conglomerate Fender reveals that females now account for 50% of young, aspiring guitar players across both the United States and the United Kingdom.
"Today's players have grown up in a different cultural context and popular music landscape, and rising artists like Mura Masa, Tash Sultana, Youngr, Daniel Caesar, Grimes and Ed Sheeran are changing the way guitar is being used," says Fender CEO Andy Mooney. "As a brand, we are committed to creating tools - both physical and digital - that this generation of creators needs for self-expression, now and in the future."
The results echo Fender's previous survey from three years ago in the US, which prompted the company to recalibrate their promotional campaigns, introducing new millennial-focused guitars in 2016 with acts like Warpaint and Bully.
"The fact that 50 percent of new guitar buyers in the U.K. were women was a surprise to the U.K. team," Mooney admits to Rolling Stone, "but it's identical to what's happening in the U.S.
Guitar Players
Sequel Series
'NYPD Blue'
ABC has given a pilot production commitment to an "NYPD Blue" sequel series centered on Andy Sipowicz's son.
Written and executive produced by original series writers Matt Olmstead and Nick Wootton, the new drama will center on Andy Sipowicz's (Dennis Franz's) son Theo as he tries to earn his detective shield and work in the 15th squad while investigating his father's murder.
Jesse Bocho, son of "NYPD Blue" co-creator Steven Bocho, who died in April after a long battle with leukemia, will direct and executive produce. Dayna Bochco, Steven's widow, will produce the drama, which hails from ABC Studios and 20th Century Fox TV.
Created by Steven Bochco and David Milch, "NYPD Blue" ran for 12 seasons on ABC between 1993 and 2005. The police procedural was praised for pushing the boundaries of serialization, and is widely regarded as one of the most influential dramas in TV history. In total, the show earned 80 Emmy nominations and 20 wins, including a drama series win in 1995.
Throughout its 12 seasons, the drama saw a number of series regulars come and go, including Franz, David Caruso, James McDaniel, Amy Brenneman, Nicholas Turturro, Gordon Clapp, Jimmy Smits, Kim Delaney and Henry Simmons.
'NYPD Blue'
Pando Quaking Aspen Colony
"Trembling Giant"
One of the largest organisms in the world, a Utah forest of genetically identical trees, is slowly being devoured by deer.
The Pando quaking aspen colony, also known as the "Trembling Giant," has likely survived for thousands of years. But about 80 percent of it is in a perilous state, according to a new paper published today (Oct. 17) in the journal PLOS One.
The trembling giant, weighing 13 million lbs. (5.9 million kilograms) and covering 106 acres (0.42 square kilometers) of Utah's Fishlake National Forest, consists of over 47,000 genetically identical stems that grow from a single underground parent clone.
In this new study, a group of researchers measured the health of various parts of the forest, such as by counting the number of living versus dead trees, counting the number of new stems and tracking the feces of animals that dropped in for a bite. They found that the biggest obstacle to the strongest indicator of the forest's health - whether new sprouts could survive - was mule deer.
It's natural that the older stems are dying off, lead author Paul Rogers, the director of the Western Aspen Alliance and adjunct associate professor at Utah State University,told Live Science. What's unnatural is that new stems aren't growing, he said. For the past couple of decades, mule deer and cattle have been eating all the new stems that sprout from the underground mama aspen. In most areas, there's no "young or middle-aged trees at all," he said. So the forest, to use human terms, is made up "entirely of very elderly senior citizens," Rogers said.
Rogers and his team also compared aerial photographs of the area that spanned 72 years and found that the aspen forest has been thinning. Back in 1939, the tree crowns all touched, but starting in the 1970s, "you see a lot of spaces between the trees," he said. This means that the old trees are dying and new ones aren't coming in to fill in the gaps.
"Trembling Giant"
Final Book
Stephen Hawking
From his desk at Cambridge University and beyond, Stephen Hawking sent his mind spiraling into the deepest depths of black holes, radiating across the endless cosmos and swirling back billions of years to witness time's first breath. He viewed creation as a scientist, and when he was called to discuss creation's biggest puzzles - Where do we come from? What is our purpose? Are we alone? - he answered as a scientist, often to the chagrin of religious critics.
In Stephen Hawking's final book "Brief Answers to Big Questions," published Tuesday (Oct. 16) by Bantam Books, the professor begins a series of 10 intergalactic essays by addressing life's oldest and most religiously fraught question of all: Is there a God?
Hawking's answer - compiled from decades of prior interviews, essays and speeches with the help of his family, colleagues and the Steven Hawking Estate - should come as no surprise to readers who have followed his work, er, religiously.
"I think the universe was spontaneously created out of nothing, according to the laws of science," Hawking, who died in March, wrote. "If you accept, as I do, that the laws of nature are fixed, then it doesn't take long to ask: What role is there for God?"
"Did God create the quantum laws that allowed the Big Bang to occur?" Hawking wrote. "I have no desire to offend anyone of faith, but I think science has a more compelling explanation than a divine creator."
Stephen Hawking
Newly Discovered Form Of Natural Flight
Dandelion
The extraordinary flying ability of dandelion seeds is possible thanks to a form of flight that has not been seen before in nature, research has revealed.
The discovery, which confirms the common plant among the natural world's best fliers, shows that movement of air around and within its parachute-shaped bundle of bristles enables seeds to travel great distances -- often a kilometre or more, kept afloat entirely by wind power.
Researchers from the University of Edinburgh carried out experiments to better understand why dandelion seeds fly so well, despite their parachute structure being largely made up of empty space.
Their study revealed that a ring-shaped air bubble forms as air moves through the bristles, enhancing the drag that slows each seed's descent to the ground.
This newly found form of air bubble -- which the scientists have named the separated vortex ring -- is physically detached from the bristles and is stabilised by air flowing through it.
Dandelion
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