Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Garrison Keillor: Why I left home and crossed over the river
And now I am old enough to see how lucky I am. Big honors are a heavy burden and have stunted the careers of many. It's like being the Paris of the Midwest: people expect you to be trčs chic and not just a chicken on a tray. I was worried this year that I'd hear from Stockholm that I'd won the Nobel Prize in Literature and it was a relief when they decided not to award it. Every morning, I go to work feeling young and enterprising, hoping to make my mark. Minneapolis is full of people like me. I wish us all well.
Paul Waldman and Greg Sargent: Two new developments again confirm that Trump's defenses are cracking (Washington Post)
For the first 70 years of his life, Donald Trump had all the reason in the world to believe that the rules didn't apply to him and he could get away with pretty much whatever he wanted. That is no longer true, and [Dec. 18] he's getting two very significant indicators that his defenses against accountability are falling away. Let's begin, as many Trump stories do, in a courtroom: …
Alexandra Petri: No, not the Trump Foundation! (Washington Post)
The loss of the Trump Foundation is a blow to us all. Too few people accept the premise that the best way to help those in need is by giving rich people more money to spend. And by too few people I mean, sadly, only a slight majority of the current Congress; that is still not EVERYONE.
Nicky Woolf: Sarah Huckabee Sanders is killing the White House briefing. Should we mourn it? (New Statesman)
There is something to be said for the argument that under an administration that is completely comfortable with lying - more, an administration that is unworried about being caught lying, and which moreover seeks to publicly demonise the press as individuals and as an institution - there is little point in sending reporters to the briefing room anyway.
Ella Nilsen: Senate Democrats join the push for sweeping anti-corruption legislation (Vox)
Here are some of the provisions in Udall's 2017 bill: A new public campaign finance system powered by small donors modeled on New York City's small donor program that would reward candidates who agree to take small donations and forgo corporate PAC money. Closing disclosure loopholes, forcing outside groups to report any campaign spending that's $10,000 or more to the Federal Election Commission. Significantly cracking down on corporations with ties to foreign government spending in US elections. Ending partisan gerrymandering by mandating that states establish independent redistricting commissions powered by citizens, rather than state lawmakers. Creating automatic voter registration, online voter registration, and same-day voter registration for eligible voters. …
Rachel Vorona Cote: Everything Is Possible in Mary Poppins Returns (New Republic)
The new film conjures wonder in the face of grief and money troubles-despite its overly neat ending.
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Presenting
Michael Egan
said:
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
Reader Comment
Health Insurance
Marty,
If what this guy ruled about making health insurance mandatory is unconstitutional, wouldn't one assume the same applies to automobile insurance? I haven't had a claim against my insurance company in more than 30 years, and I sure could use the $92.64 monthly premium payment.
Just askin'!
Sincerely,
Your multicolored Yellow Dog Blue Texan,
Roy Adams in Tyler, TX
Thanks, Roy!
Bonus Links
Jeannie the Teed-Off Temp
from Bruce
Anecdotes
• Soprano Lily Pons once was supposed to sing several performances in Mexico City, but she became ill due to the high altitude. Nevertheless, she completed the first performance. The people who had hired her knew that she was ill, and they were afraid that she would leave without performing again, and so they locked her trunks and possessions in the opera house! Ms. Pons' manager took action to get her property back so she could leave. Ms. Pons said, "My manager hid backstage until five o'clock in the morning. When the night watchman was in another part of the house, the manager packed up my things and carried two big trunks down a creaking staircase. He loaded them on a flower cart drawn by a donkey, and hid them in the cellar of a friend's house." As it turned out, her manager did not need to do this. Ms. Pons adjusted to the high altitude and felt much better and so was able to complete the other performances.
• Some music promoters would not pay the musicians who did gigs for them. Ragtime Billy Tucker was one of them; he owed money to many, many musicians in Los Angeles-maybe all of them. Two musicians he owed money to were Joe Darensbourg and Gus DeLuce, who played a gig for him from which Mr. Tucker disappeared without paying them. About six months later, the two musicians found out that Mr. Tucker was playing a wild man at the Circus Museum. He wore a wig, chains, and a leopard skin, he had a long beard, and he was in a locked cage that had straw on the floor. Mr. Darensbourg and Mr. DeLuce asked him for their money, but Mr. Tucker pretended not to know them, so Mr. DeLuce said, "Billy, you won't talk to us, so we're gonna fix you." He lit a match and prepared to set the dry straw on fire. Mr. Tucker said, "You dirty bastards, you gonna set a man on fire for 25 dollars apiece?" Mr. DeLuce said, "Yes." Mr. Tucker then yelled for help. The promoter ran to the cage, and Mr. Tucker said, "You give these people their money before they set fire to this damn hay. I owe them 25 dollars each. " Mr. Darensbourg and Mr. DeLuce were among the few musicians who got the money that Mr. Tucker owed them.
• Ken Chenault is the Chair and CEO of American Express, and his father is a problem-solver. His father, Dr. Hortenius Chenault, is also a dentist, and in 1939 he made the highest score ever recorded when he passed the New York State dental licensing exam. He wanted to join the United States Army Dental Corps to help during World War II, but he was black, the U.S. Army was segregated, and he was not allowed to join the U.S. Army Dental Corps. Dr. Hortenius told his children much later, "No one was going to tell me what I could do." As a problem-solver, he did some research and he did some thinking and he learned French. He then joined the Allied Forces Dental Society, which was based in Europe and was not segregated. Ken says that he learned much from his father, lessons that he passes on to others: "As my father taught me, work hard, don't ever let anyone stop you or keep you down, focus on what you can control, and you can accomplish an extraordinary amount."
• Philippe Rameau helped create the opera Hippolyte et Aricie, which was first performed in Paris in 1733. Audiences loved it; critics did not. Sarah Caldwell wanted to produce the opera in 1966, and she wanted to find the orchestra parts, which she was sure existed, in the Paris Opera, a large part of whose music was not catalogued. She and opera company business manager John Cunningham went to the Paris Opera Library, where they were assured that the music they wanted did not exist. Because Ms. Caldwell was sure that the music existed and was there, Mr. Cunningham romanced with wine and flowers a single lady who worked at the library while Ms. Caldwell looked jealous. Mr. Cunningham got access to the stacks in the library (which were normally closed to members of the general public), and soon he found the music that he and Ms. Caldwell wanted.
• How can an artist survive financially? One way is by trading art for other things. British artist Frank Bowling remembers about his friend the late American pop artist Larry Rivers, "Larry was one of the first artists who was able to trade his art for a Cadillac. He paid his doctors, his psychiatrist, everybody, by giving them art." This, Mr. Bowling says, is something to be emulated. He calls this form of commerce "marvelous. I ate in a restaurant for years without having to pay-the [owner] got three of my paintings."
***
© Copyright Bruce D. Bruce; All Rights Reserved
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Reader Comment
Current Events
Christmas revenge Alabama style
This woman must have taken lessons from my beloved mother. The most terrifying words she could say, and she always did it quietly and calmly--You will regret this.
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
JD is on vacation.
Visit JD's site - Kitty Litter Music
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Mostly sunny and seasonal.
Forbes List
10 Richest Celebrities
George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and Oprah Winfrey have topped Forbes' annual list of America's richest celebrities. And with a net worth estimated by Forbes of $5.4 billion, mainly thanks to selling Lucasfilm to Disney, "Star Wars" creator Lucas is in a galaxy far, far away from anyone else on the list.
Though his peer Steven Spielberg comes in at second place, with a net worth of $3.7 billion. This year, sci-fi fantasy "Ready Player One" was one of his highest grossing movies in years, and in April, Comcast and NBC acquired his DreamWorks Animation.
New to the list is Kylie Jenner, who Forbes says is now on track to be the youngest self-made billionaire ever at just 21-years-old, in part because of her company Kylie Cosmetics. She's valued at $900 million currently, and tied with Jay-Z for the fifth spot, who Forbes adds was also the biggest earner in 2018 with him adding $90 million to his pocketbook.
Rapper Diddy is also on the list at No. 8, athletes Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods are both on the list, and its rounded out by magician David Copperfield and novelist James Patterson.
Forbes says that the combined total of the 10 American celebrities comes out to $18.7 billion, which is greater than the GDP of Iceland.
10 Richest Celebrities
Dons Santa Hat
Barack Obama
A Santa hat-clad Barack Obama made spending the holidays in the hospital a little cheerier on Wednesday when he surprised young patients and staff at Children's National hospital.
The former president, whose love of interacting with kids was pretty obvious throughout his time in office, brought jigsaw puzzles, toy car sets, remote-control cars, glittery nail polish and other gifts to the Washington, D.C., hospital, The Washington Post reported.
"As a dad of two girls, I can only imagine in that situation - to have nurses and staff and doctors and people who are caring for them and looking after them and listening to them and just there for them and holding their hand - that's the most important thing there is," Obama told the crowd of hospital staff assembled around the nurses' station. "What a great reminder of what the holiday spirit is supposed to be all about."
He later tweeted out his gratitude to hospital staff, patients and visitors for humoring him as their "stand-in Santa."
Barack Obama
New Industrial-Themed Artwork Appears
Banksy
World-famous street artist Banksy has visited Port Talbot in Wales, leaving a new artwork behind that appears to comment on the town's industrial heritage.
The painting appeared on two walls of a garage in the Taibach area overnight and shows a child playing in the falling ash and smoke from a fire in a skip.
"It's amazing, an incredible addition to Port Talbot," said Rachel Honey-Jones, 33, who lives in The Mumbles on the other side of Swansea Bay.
"Everything about it is political messaging, the way the boy has been drawn, the positioning near the steelworks, the fact it was done just after the (Severn Bridge) tollswent down.
"People have already taken sledgehammers to it and tried to throw paint on it," she said, referencing an artist friend who was tipped off to the location overnight and stayed to keep guard.
Banksy
Details Harassment
Eliza Dushku
Eliza Dushku has written an op-ed for The Boston Globe in which she goes into detail about the sexual harassment she faced from actor Michael Weatherly during her time on the set of the CBS series "Bull." The New York Times reported last week that Dushku received $9.5 million to settle a sexual harassment complaint, and the actress said she declined to give a statement to The Times because she "wanted to honor the terms of [the] settlement with the network."
Dushku was under the impression neither Weatherly or "Bull" writer-producer Glenn Gordon Caron would give statements to The Times. Weathlery ended up apologizing to Dushku in a statement, saying he "made some jokes mocking some lines in the script" and stopped after the actress told him she wasn't comfortable. In her op-ed for The Globe, Dushku said that was not the case.
"The narrative propagated by CBS, actor Michael Weatherly, and writer-producer Glenn Gordon Caron is deceptive and in no way fits with how they treated me on the set of the television show 'Bull'' and retaliated against me for simply asking to do my job without relentless sexual harassment," Dushku writes. "This is not a 'he-said/she-said' case. Weatherly's behavior was captured on CBS's own videotape recordings."
The actress writes Weatherly's harassment started "early on." Weatherly's inappropriate behavior allegedly included asking Dushku to his "rape van, filled with all sorts of lubricants and long phallic things." Dushku writes her co-star constantly name-called her, played "provocative songs" on set when she approached her set marks, and made a comment to her about having a threesome.
"There was daily undeniably demeaning conduct that is unacceptable in an absolute sense," Dushku writes. "Everyone should be allowed to work without harassment. Weatherly sexually harassed and bullied me day-in and day-out and would have gotten away with it had he not been caught on tape, and had the CBS lawyers not inadvertently shared the tapes with my counsel, Barbara Robb."
Eliza Dushku
More Murdered Than Killed Covering War
Journalists
The number of journalists murdered for their reporting almost doubled in 2018, contributing to another deadly year for the profession after a period of declining casualties.
The rising toll, together with the record numbers of journalists jailed around the world over past three years, amounts to a "global crisis of press freedom", the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday.
The brutal murder of Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi captured the world's attention this year. But he was just one of 34 journalists murdered because of their work in 2018, up from 18 the year before.
The press rights group said the rise in killings was partly due to changes in technology that have meant more people can practice journalism. But it also singled out a lack of international leadership on the safety and rights of journalists, particularly from the administration of US president Donald Trump (R-Corrupt).
"The White House, traditionally a strong defender of global press freedom, has equivocated on the blame for Khashoggi's murder," the CPJ said in its end-of-year report. "Essentially, Trump signaled that countries that do enough business with the United States are free to murder journalists without consequence," it added.
Journalists
Federal Judges Dismisses
83 Ethics Complaints
A specially appointed panel of federal judges has dismissed all 83 ethics complaints against Justice Brett Kavanaugh brought against him at his confirmation hearings, according to Fortune.
The complaints against Kavanaugh ranged from allegations that he mislead the Senate about his activities in the George W. Bush White House, to his statements denying charges of sexual assault while in high school.
At the confirmation hearings in September, Kavanaugh blamed Democrats of engaging in a liberal conspiracy as part of payback for his role as a prosecutor against then-president Bill Clinton.
After the hearings were over, a special judicial council from the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals looked into the complaints against Kavanaugh.
On Tuesday, December 18th, Chief Judge Tim Tymkovich said that while the complaints "are serious", the panel was obliged to dismiss them because a lower court cannot investigate or discipline a Superme Court justice.
83 Ethics Complaints
Pink Dwarf Planet Discovered
"Farout"
For the first time, an object in our solar system has been found more than 100 times farther than Earth is from the sun.
The International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center announced the discovery Monday, calling the object 2018 VG18. But the researchers who found it are calling it "Farout."
They believe the spherical object is a dwarf planet more than 310 miles in diameter, with a pinkish hue. That color has been associated with objects that are rich in ice, and given its distance from the sun, that isn't hard to believe. Its slow orbit probably takes more than 1,000 years to make one trip around the sun, the researchers said.
The distance between the Earth and the sun is an AU, or astronomical unit - the equivalent of about 93 million miles. Farout is 120 AU from the sun. Eris, the next most distant object known, is 96 AU from the sun. For reference, Pluto is 34 AU away.
Farout's orbit is yet to be determined.
"Farout"
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