Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Paul Krugman: The Long-Run Cop-Out (NY Times)
In today's economic and political environment, dismissing the here and now is craven and irresponsible.
Barbara Ellen: Are we creating a lost generation with no prospects? (Guardian)
When I was whingeing about posh kids feeling entitled to resits, I forgot those who genuinely need more than one attempt
Robert Evans, Anonymous: 5 Things I Endured as a Legal Brothel Worker (Cracked)
We didn't expect to become the Internet's primary source for insider perspectives on sex workers, but life is funny that way. In our quest to understand society's weird love/hate relationships with prostitutes, we've talked to those working outside the law and the few who ply their trade in legal brothels, and the consistent theme seems to be that it can be an awful job, but only because polite society insists on making it awful.
Monica Tan: "The Veronicas: we don't equate success with how popular we are" (Guardian)
Lisa and Jessica Origliasso on why Taylor Swift doesn't belong on Triple J and how boy bands may just be manufactured distractions by the new world order.
Jacques Berlinerblau: Teach or Perish (Chronicle of Higher Education)
In this spirit, I submit a re-visioning of an American college professor's job description: The successful candidate will be skilled in, and passionately devoted to, teaching and mentoring 18- to 22-year-olds, as well as those in other age groups. Additionally, she or he will show promise as an original and creative researcher.
Adam Thirlwell: Can art still shock? (Guardian)
Is Grayson Perry right - can we no longer be outraged by art and literature? From Manet's Olympia to Pussy Riot and Houellebecq, Adam Thirlwell presents a short history of shock.
Michele Hanson: Don't listen to Russell Brand: refusing to vote will bring five more years of Tory government (Guardian)
Rightwing types always vote, so we leftwingers will only have ourselves to blame if electoral apathy leads to a Conservative victory in May.
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Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
Gare Says...
Star Guide for Valentines Day
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Follow Up
Re: a minority report
Thanks Marty!
Unlike what you experienced (seemingly all the time) in your youth,
when the chicken-pox was making its rounds in our neighborhood, my
mother took us over to visit them kids, because this comparatively
marginal disease was considered a good way to boost ones immunity to
small-pox. I got chicken-pox, was in bed for a few days, don't
remember it being any worse than having a cold ... with small lesions
on the skin that went away and did not scar.
As far as the other vaccines, I didn't receive any until I was well
into school-age, which probably prevented me from developing autism.
America is in the clutches right now of a MEDICAL INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX
which doesn't really have our best interests at heart. You don't
trust non-vacc'ers, Well I have absolutely no faith at all in the
global corporate medical paradigm. Autism is an epidemic nowadays
that DID NOT EXIST before children started getting juiced up with
multiple vaccines before their first birthday.
http://drhyman.com/blog/2011/04/29/the-dangers-of-the-medical-industrial-complex/
Ultimately? It's all about dependencies.
Military-Industrial-Complex, Prison-Idustrial-Complex,
Medical-Industrial-Complex, so many laws out the wazoo, where
EVERYBODY is breaking laws that they know nothing about and shouldn't
be on the books ... except that its the best, last-gasp strategy that
our loving government uses for producing enough revenue to keep its
own 1% living comfortably, while the rest of us deals with the
deadliest consequences that our private
Corporate-Media-Industrial-Complex invariably chooses to hide from us
(after all, they're all incestuously related to each other on Wall
Street)..
The CDC is a government operation that has morphed into a revenue
enhancement scam. When a government scientist's ability to collect
wages for himself relies on questionably altered science, AND HIS BOSS
SAYS USE IT ANYWAY, that motherfucker is just as weak as any other
wage-slave.
https://suite.io/victoria-anisman-reiner/22jd280
http://vactruth.com/2012/04/27/nurses-and-vaccinations/
http://www.facmedicine.com/swine-flu-vaccination-according-to-professionals
Meanwhile, the cartoons you run in the E-page are just ad-hominem
attacks that viciously stigmatize without any logical explanation. I
look at it as a kind of
"Hang-them-niggers-cause-they's-lookin'-at-the-white-wimmen" kind of
witch-hunt.
Thanks for reading.
DanD
A bouquet of butterflies to a bucket of horse-apples, I'll bet you the
corporate media will NOT report the measles event at Disney's even if
it is discovered how many already-vaccinated-children still got the
disease. After all, we all still remember how well it did with
Saddam's non-existent nuclear weapons ~
http://www.westonaprice.org/press/studies-show-that-vaccinated-individuals-spread-disease/
DanD
... corporate media will NOT report the measles event ACCURATELY at ...
Thanks, Dan!
But I'm more concerned with the growing level of drug-resistant bacteria and the over-use of antibiotics in our food supply.
Thanks to modern industrial farming, we have the 'fecal bath' so nearly half our chicken it tainted by chicken shit.
There's also a neurological virus that's affected over 1,100 kids that isn't getting much traction.
It's going to be interesting to watch this needless measles outbreak spread.
We might even end up with a lesson in evolution, too.
As to Disney, they are one of the 6 corporate media owners, where news is assigned to the entertainment division, and expected to turn a profit.
Disney does nothing if there's no profit in it. Nothing.
Reader Comment
Six More Weeks of Winter
from Marc Perkel
BartCop
Hello Bartcop fans,
As you all know the untimely passing of Terry was unexpected, even by
him. We all knew he had cancer but we all thought he had some years
left. So some of us who have worked closely with him over the years are
scrambling around trying to figure out what to do. My job, among other
things, is to establish communications with the Bartcop community and
provide email lists and groups for those who might put something
together. Those who want to play an active roll in something coming from
this, or if you are one of Bart's pillars, should send an email to
active@bartcop.com.
Bart's final wish was to pay off the house mortgage for Mrs. Bart who is
overwhelmed and so very grateful for the support she has received.
Anyone wanting to make a donation can click on this the yellow donate
button on bartcop.com
But - I need you all to help keep this going. This note
isn't going to directly reach all of Bart's fans. So if you can repost
it on blogs and discussion boards so people can sign up then when we
figure out what's next we can let more people know. This list is just
over 600 but like to get it up to at least 10,000 pretty quick. So
here's the signup link for this email list.
( mailman.bartcop.com/listinfo/bartnews )
Marc Perkel
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny.
Newbery & Caldecott Medals Announced
American Library Association
Kwame Alexander's "The Crossover," a novel in verse about basketball and coming of age, has won the John Newbery Medal for the year's best children's book. Author-illustrator Dan Santat's "The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend," a fantasy featuring an island for pretend playmates, received the Randolph Caldecott Medal for best picture book.
The awards were announced Monday in Chicago by the American Library Association, currently hosting its annual midwinter meeting. The Newbery and Caldecott awards are widely regarded as the highest honours in children's publishing, near-guarantors of increased sales and lasting places on school and library shelves. Both books were out of stock on Amazon.com as of midday Monday.
Another coming-of-age story in verse, Jacqueline Woodson's "Brown Girl Dreaming," won the Coretta Scott King author prize for outstanding work by an African-American. Woodson, last fall's winner of the National Book Award, was a finalist Monday for the Newbery medal and the Sibert medal for "most distinguished informational book."
Other honours Monday included lifetime achievement awards for Sharon M. Draper and Donald Crews. Marjorie Agosin's "I Lived on Butterfly Hill" received the Belpre author award for best Latino book, while the Belpre illustrator prize went to Yuyi Morales' "Viva Frida."
American Library Association
Fight Over Estate
Robin Williams
Robin Williams' children and wife have gone to court in a fight over the late comedian's estate.
In papers filed in December in San Francisco Superior Court, Williams' wife, Susan, accuses the comedian's children from two previous marriages of taking items without her permission and asks the court to exclude the contents of the Tiburon home that she shared with Williams from the jewelry, memorabilia and other items Williams said the children should have.
The children, Zachary, Zelda and Cody, counter that Susan Williams is "adding insult to a terrible injury" by trying to change the trust agreement and rob them of the late actor's clothing and other personal items.
Williams' trust granted his children his memorabilia and awards in the entertainment industry and some other specific personal items, according to court documents. Susan Williams says that because he wanted her to continue to live at the Tiburon home, it makes sense that he intended only for his children to have the specific personal items he delineated that were kept at another home he owned in Napa.
Robin Williams
Sorcery Fears In Texass
One Ring
A nine-year-old boy in Texas was suspended last week after threatening to make a classmate disappear with his "One Ring."
According to the New York Daily News, Aiden Steward had watched "The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies" days earlier, and he imagined that he had the magical ring that was formed in fictional Middle Earth's Mount Doom.
But the school, Kermit Elementary in Kermit, Texas, took the threat seriously. Principal Roxanne Greer refused to comment on the fourth-grader's suspension.
"I assure you my son lacks the magical powers necessary to threaten his friend's existence," Jason Steward wrote in an e-mail. "If he did, I'm sure he'd bring him right back."
One Ring
Investors Nightmare
Euro Disney
When Edith Zemirou bought Euro Disney stock two decades ago, she expected a decent return and her own small share in Mickey Mouse magic.
In 1989, the Walt Disney Company announced a public share offering of its young European arm. It was the continent's largest-ever IPO to that point and analysts said Euro Disney stock promised "good long-term returns."
Zemirou bought in, and has regretted it ever since. Her original 1992 investment would have lost 95 percent of its value by now. "It's too bad they didn't give us paper share certificates," said the grandmother and former high school principal, who still has 100 shares worth about 3 euros ($3.4)each. "At least we could have framed them, as souvenirs."
Zemirou says she feels duped. She heads Euro Disney's investor club and is one of 1,000 or so investors who are furious at the way Euro Disney, which is raising fresh capital in the face of insolvency, has been run. The Paris-listed firm has recorded losses in 16 of its 23 years, despite owning Europe's top tourist destination with about 14 million visitors per year.
Shareholders do not dispute there are difficulties, but point to another factor: U.S.-based Walt Disney Company, which owns 40 percent of Euro Disney, extracts tens of millions of euros annually from the European firm by charging it a host of fees and royalties for everything from operating a call center to the use of intellectual property.
Euro Disney
'Power Rangers' Actor Arrested
Ricardo Medina
An actor who co-starred in the "Power Rangers Wild Force" television series has been arrested on suspicion of stabbing a roommate to death with a sword in Southern California, authorities said on Monday.
The slaying on Saturday afternoon in Palmdale, California, north of Los Angeles, stemmed from an argument between the suspect and the victim that turned violent, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said in a statement.
According to an account of the incident provided by sheriff's deputies, the suspect, Ricardo Medina, 36, retreated to his bedroom with his girlfriend during the altercation, but his roommate, Joshua Sutter, followed them and forced open the door.
Medina is then accused of stabbing Stutter, 36, once in the stomach with a sword kept next to his bedroom door. Police say Medina then called emergency 911 and remained at the scene until sheriff's deputies arrived.
A spokeswoman for the department confirmed that Medina is the actor who played the Red Lion Wild Force Ranger on the "Power Rangers Wild Force" TV series in 2002.
Ricardo Medina
Judge: Evidence Tainted
Las Vegas
Undercover FBI and Nevada regulatory agents misled a federal judge and violated the rights of a wealthy Malaysian businessman and his son by posing as Internet repairmen to get into Las Vegas Strip hotel rooms in a gambling probe last summer, a U.S. magistrate judge said.
In a case with Fourth Amendment implications, U.S. Magistrate Judge Peggy Leen said evidence the agents collected as a result of the ruse didn't justify the deception in the case involving Wei Seng "Paul" Phua and his son, Darren Wai Kit Phua.
The magistrate judge faulted FBI Agent Minh Pham for failing in his application for a warrant to mention that the repairmen ruse had been used to collect material to describe what investigators believed was an Internet gambling boiler room.
The Phuas were released two weeks after their arrests on a combined $2.5 million bail posted by friends, including poker professional Andrew Robl and 10-time World Series of Poker champion Phil Ivey.
The government also impounded Wei Seng Phua's $48 million Gulfstream jet as collateral. The father and son have remained in Las Vegas, wearing GPS monitors.
Las Vegas
Casinos Suffer With Anti-Graft Push
Macau
The world's gambling capital Macau saw another month of decline in casino revenues in January, figures showed Monday, as a corruption crackdown by the Chinese government reins in big spenders.
Official figures published by the former Portuguese colony showed that gaming revenues fell 17.4 percent year-on-year to 23.75 billion patacas ($2.97 billion) in January -- cementing an eight month losing streak for the gambling hub.
Revenues plunged a record 30.5 percent in December and 2.6 percent overall in 2014 -- the first annual decline since figures were first released in 2002.
The slowdown has mostly been attributed to a high-profile corruption crackdown spearheaded by Chinese President Xi Jinping that has reined in high-rollers from the mainland.
Macau
China Chimes In
Dalai Lama
China warned the United States on Monday that it was opposed to any country meeting the Dalai Lama "in any manner" after the White House said U.S. President Barack Obama would attend an event with the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader whom Beijing brands a separatist.
The White House said last week that Obama would deliver remarks at a Feb. 5 prayer breakfast in Washington about the importance of religious freedom. The Dalai Lama is due to attend.
"China is opposed to any nation or government using the Tibet issue to interfere in China's domestic affairs, and opposed to any country's leader meeting with the Dalai Lama in any manner," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said at a daily news briefing.
"China hopes the U.S. side abides by its promises on the Tibet issue, and proceeds to appropriately handle the issue on the basis of the overall condition of bilateral relations."
Dalai Lama
Data Declassified After Watchdog Dispute
Afghanistan
The U.S.-led force in Afghanistan is to make recently classified data on the Afghan security forces available to the public after a U.S. government watchdog complained about undue secrecy surrounding reconstruction efforts.
The U.S. watchdog had challenged the U.S. military's assertion that releasing data on topics ranging from recruitment of women to salaries and attrition could be of tactical benefit to Taliban insurgents, and called the decision to classify it "inexplicable".
The watchdog Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) accused the U.S. military of depriving the American people of an essential tool to measure the success or failure of the U.S.-led rebuilding effort.
The United States has spent over $100 billion on aid to Afghanistan, about $65 billion of it on the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF). The data on ANSF capabilities was classified in the final quarter of 2014.
Afghanistan
Saudi Royal Hunt For Protected Birds
Houbara Bustard
Pakistani authorities are finalising arrangements for a Saudi prince to visit its southwestern desert region to hunt the Houbara bustard, a bird supposedly protected by law, officials said Monday.
An advance party has already been reached the Yak Much desert in the province of Baluchistan along with falcons which will be used to catch the bustard, officials said.
Saudi Prince Fahd bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz is expected to join the group in coming days. He led a hunting party to Baluchistan last year that officials said killed more than 2,000 bustards.
The birds are listed as "vulnerable" and declining in numbers by the International Union for Conservation of Nature's "Red List" of threatened species. Hunting them is banned in Pakistan.
But authorities issue special permits to wealthy visitors from Arab countries. Permit holders are in theory restricted to hunting a maximum of 100 of the protected birds over 10 days, but only in certain areas.
Houbara Bustard
Marriage License To Expire
Charlie Manson
A 26-year-old woman with the nickname Star who says she is going to marry 80-year-old mass murderer Charles Manson will have to wait a while longer.
Afton Elaine Burton and Manson got a marriage license last year to stage a wedding inside a visiting room at California State Prison, Corcoran.
However, it expires Thursday, meaning they missed their chance to tie the knot over the weekend, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation spokesman Jeffrey Callison said Monday.
Weddings are not held on weekdays at the prison.
If the wedding is ever going to happen, the couple must register for a new Kings County marriage license.
Charlie Manson
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