Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Jimmy Kimmel's Shocking Discovery About Trump Merchandise (YouTube)
Trump and his fellow Republicans suffered a major loss in Pennsylvania last night with Democrat Conor Lamb beating Republican Rick Saccone in a district that Trump won by 20 points. The loss came only a week after the President made a very blatant attempt to woo voters in Pennsylvania by calling for heavy tariffs on foreign aluminum and steel. Trump wants to focus on American made products and goods, so we wondered how things were going on his family website trumpstore.com. Jimmy ordered a bunch of stuff and it turns out, a lot of it isn't even made in America.
New Rule: The Problem with Democrats | Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO) (YouTube)
In his editorial New Rule, Bill calls on Democrats to step up and fight like Republicans.
Alex Clark: "Will Self: 'The novel is absolutely doomed'" (The Guardian)
The award-winning author, currently writing a memoir of his early years, on reading digitally and why he's making a list of the female greats.
Evan V. Symon: This Is What Happens When They Film Porn In Your House (Cracked)
We know what you're usually thinking about when you watch pornography, but have you ever wondered about those homes they're shot in? If they're not soundstages, then who allows strangers to have sex on their actual furniture? And how can you ever sit on that couch the same way again? To find out, we talked to Greg and Laura, who own a SoCal house which they rent to movie productions, most of which are porn. They told us ...
Candid Camera Classic: Remembering Mister Rogers (YouTube)
Fred Rogers, the acclaimed kids TV host, is being honored in PBS specials and an upcoming movie with Tom Hanks. Here, the affable Mister Rogers is caught on Candid Camera.
Gareth Rees: Stars, I have seen them fall
Analysis of the poem by A.E. Housman.
Why Ribena fans have been left with a bad taste in their mouths (The Guardian)
Drinks companies had to decide whether to pay the UK government's sugar tax or to reformulate - which explains why our favourite purple drink now has a slightly odd flavor.
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Presenting
Michael Egan
wrote:
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
Reader Comment
Current Events
5 people having a worse Monday than you
Fun reading, but totally worth it for the 20 min embedded John Oliver clip trashing Mike Pence and ending with a nice bit of the audio version of the gay bunny book!
Bonus Links
Jeannie the Teed-Off Temp
from Marc Perkel
Marc's Guide to Curing Cancer
So far so good on beating cancer for now. I'm doing fine. At the end of the month I'll be 16 months into an 8 month mean lifespan. And yesterday I went on a 7 mile hike and managed to keep up with the hiking group I was with. So, doing something right.
Still waiting for future test results and should see things headed in the right direction. I can say that it's not likely that anything dire happens in the short term so that means that I should have time to make several more attempts at this. So even if it doesn't work the first time there are a lot of variations to try. So if there's bad news it will help me pick the next radiation target.
I have written a "how to" guide for oncologists to perform the treatment that I got. I'm convinced that I'm definitely onto something and whether it works for me or not isn't the definitive test. I know if other people tried this that it would work for some of them, and if they improve it that it will work for a lot of them.
The guide is quite detailed and any doctor reading this can understand the procedure at every level. I also go into detail as to how it works, how I figured it out, and variations and improvements that could be tried to enhance it. I also introduce new ways to look at the problem. There is a lot of room for improvement and I think that doctors reading it will see what I'm talking about and want to build on it. And it's written so that if you're not a doctor you can still follow it. It also has a personal story revealing that I'm the class clown of cancer support group. I give great interviews and I look pretty hot in a lab coat.
So, feel free to read this and see what I'm talking about. But if any of you want to help then pass this around to both doctors and cancer patients. I need some media coverage. I'm looking for as many eyeballs as possible to read these ideas. Even if this isn't the solution, it's definitely on the right track. After all, I did hike 7 miles yesterday. And this hiking group wasn't moving slow. So if this isn't working then, why am I still here?
I also see curing cancer as more of an engineering problem that a medical problem. So if you are good at solving problems and most of what you know about medicine was watching the Dr. House MD TV show, then you're at the level I was at when I started. So anyone can jump in and be part of the solution.
Here is a link to my guide: Oncologists Guide to Curing Cancer using Abscopal Effect
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
HERE'S THE PLAN.
'THINGS THAT DON'T NECESSARILY NEED TO BE TRUE'.
HUCKABOOBOO'S PORTRAIT!
Visit JD's site - Kitty Litter Music
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Supposed to start raining again.
Announces Run For New York Governor
Cynthia Nixon
Tony-award winning actress Cynthia Nixon announced on Monday through an ad on her Twitter account that she is running for New York state governor.
Nixon, known for her role on HBO's "Sex and the City," will be running as a Democrat against incumbent Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) in the state's primary election, set for September. The actress is a newcomer to campaigning, but has been involved in politics, especially education policy, for years.
"We want our government to work again, on healthcare, ending mass incarceration, fixing our broken subway. We are sick of politicians who care more about headlines and power than they do about us," Nixon said in her announcement.
In her two-minute announcement, Nixon focused on her longtime advocacy for public education, reminding voters that she and her three children attended New York City public schools. She also touched on the city's deteriorating subway system, a topic that has plagued Cuomo for years.
Nixon has been involved in New York City politics since 2014, when Mayor Bill de Blasio placed her on the advisory board for the Mayor's Fund To Advance New York City. Christine Marinoni, Nixon's wife, became the special adviser for community partnerships with the city's Department of Education that same year.
Cynthia Nixon
Wimbledon Commentary
Martina Navratilova
Tennis great Martina Navratilova said her salary for Wimbledon commentary was no match for John McEnroe's ? and she's slamming the BBC for the disparity.
Navratilova said in a BBC Panorama documentary to air Monday that McEnroe earned at least 10 times more than she did for BBC coverage of the Grand Slam tournament.
"It's hard to really compare exactly because some people work a little longer days, maybe a few more programs or whatever," Navratilova said in a preview clip of "Britain's Equal Pay Scandal," posted by BBC Panorama (watch above). "But overall, it was a shock because John McEnroe makes at least 150,000 pounds. I get about 15,000 pounds for Wimbledon. And unless John McEnroe's doing a whole bunch of stuff outside of Wimbledon, he's getting at least 10 times as much money than I am for very comparable work."
Navratilova made about 10 appearances compared with 30 for McEnroe during Wimbledon, BBC Panorama estimated, per the Telegraph.
McEnroe's earnings came to light last year when the BBC published a list of its highest-paid personalities, putting his pay between £150,000 and £199,999 ($210,560 to $280,740), HuffPost UK reported. The tennis championships last about two weeks.
Martina Navratilova
Half-Century And Counting
Kool and the Gang
The funk classics of Kool and the Gang have found eternal life in everything from stadium pump-up songs to hip-hop samples to wedding parties. Yet more than 50 years after forming, the group itself has hardly slowed down.
"We do about 100 shows a year, all around the world, in every place you could imagine," Ronald Bell, one of four founding members of the group who is still active, said as Kool and the Gang passed through New York.
Hailing from just across the Hudson River in Jersey City, Kool and the Gang has toured North America, Europe and Asia incessantly, sometimes playing three or four shows in a single weekend.
The group has also found fans playing in countries less frequented by US musicians including Algeria, Cuba, Kenya, Peru and Uganda.
"That is phenomenal to me, to have that music cross all cultures like that," Bell said.
Kool and the Gang
Civil War Gold
Dents Run
The FBI has come up empty at the rural Pennsylvania site where Civil War gold is rumored to be buried.
State officials and members of a treasure-hunting group joined the FBI at the site where local lore has it a gold shipment was lost or hidden during the 1863 Battle of Gettysburg.
The FBI said in a statement Monday night that it conducted a "court-authorized excavation" at Dents Run, a heavily forested area about 135 miles (217 kilometers) northeast of Pittsburgh.
The FBI isn't confirming that its dig had anything to do with the legendary Civil War treasure. But the agency says it didn't find whatever it was looking for.
The FBI won't release additional details, saying the dig was related to an "ongoing investigation."
Dents Run
Sets Record Low
Approval Rating
President-for-now Donald Trump (R-Crooked) may have seen his approval rating get a slight bump this month, but he is lagging well behind his predecessors at this point of his presidency, a new poll shows.
The NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released on Sunday shows Trump's approval rating stands at 43 percent, an increase of 4 percent from the same poll taken in January.
Unfortunately for President Trump, the poll shows the majority (53 percent) continue to disapprove of his performance.
In addition, the president is seeing a far lower approval rating than his predecessors at this point during his presidency, NBC News reported, stating the average approval rating at 14 months into a president's first term is around 58 percent-15 percent higher than Trump's rating. Indeed, CNN reported, Trump is one point below Gerald R. Ford, who had a 44 percent approval rating at this point in his presidency.
Additionally, the new poll shows Democrats are currently 10 points ahead of the GOP in Congressional preference going into the 2018 midterms.
Approval Rating
Staffers Can Never Spill
Nondisclosure Pacts
President-for-now Donald Trump (R-Corrupt) has pressured senior White House staff members to sign nondisclosure agreements that are more sweeping than ever demanded by a president, The Washington Post reported.
The agreements are applicable to staffers while they're working in the White House and "at all times thereafter," meaning they continue to apply even after Trump's presidency, according to a draft agreement examined by Post deputy editorial page editor Ruth Marcus.
The draft agreement says staffers could be fined as much as $10 million for unauthorized release of confidential information. Marcus wrote in an op-ed on Sunday that she suspects the penalty is lower in signed agreements.
All of Trump's senior staffers appear to have signed the agreements, with some believing it unenforceable, Marcus reported. Trump, enraged by leaks, pressed for compliance early last year.
Marcus called such agreements that gag White House staff members even after the president's term "not only oppressive but constitutionally repugnant."
Nondisclosure Pacts
Scott Kelly's DNA Did Not Change
NASA
NASA issued a clarification on reports indicating that astronaut Scott Kelly's DNA has changed after spending over a year in space.
NASA says what really changed is Kelly's gene expression and that the change is very minimal.
Headlines in the past weeks captured NASA's preliminary findings on the Twins Study and interpreted it as a change in Kelly's DNA. The U.S. space agency wants to correct the information and maintained that Scott is still identical to his twin brother, Mark.
Deoxyribonucleic acid or DNA is the hereditary material in humans and all organisms. It is considered as a person's genetic code. Nearly every cell in a person's body has the same DNA and Scott's DNA did not change.
"Mark and Scott Kelly are still identical twins; Scott's DNA did not fundamentally change. What researchers did observe are changes in gene expression, which is how your body reacts to your environment. This likely is within the range for humans under stress, such as mountain climbing or SCUBA diving," reads an official update from NASA.
NASA
Iceland's Vikings
A massive volcanic eruption helped convert Iceland's Vikings to Christianity more than a thousand years ago, according to new research.
Memories of the largest lava flood in the history of Iceland, recorded in a medieval poem, were used to drive the island's conversion to Christianity, suggests the study.
A team of scientists and historians, led by Cambridge University researchers, has used information contained within ice cores and tree rings to accurately date the massive eruption, which took place soon after the island was first settled.
Having dated the eruption, the researchers found that Iceland's most celebrated medieval poem, which describes the end of the pagan gods and the coming of a new, singular god, describes the eruption and uses memories of it to stimulate the Christianisation of Iceland.
The eruption of the Eldgjá in the 10th Century is known as a lava flood: a rare type of prolonged volcanic eruption in which huge flows of lava engulf the landscape, accompanied by a haze of sulphurous gases.
Iceland's Vikings
Startling Discovery
LSD
Scientists in Switzerland dosed test subjects with LSD to investigate how patients with severe mental disorders lose track of where they end and other people begin.
Both LSD and certain mental disorders, most notably schizophrenia, can make it difficult for people to distinguish between themselves and others. And that can impair everyday mental tasks and social interactions, said Katrin Preller, one of the lead authors of the study and a psychologist at the University Hospital of Psychiatry in Zurich. By studying how LSD breaks down people's senses of self, the researchers aimed to find targets for future experimental drugs to treat schizophrenia.
Depression, she said, also relates to the sense of self. Whereas people with schizophrenia can lose track of themselves entirely, people with depression tend to "ruminate" on themselves, unable to break obsessive, self-oriented patterns of thought.
"If you want to investigate self-experience, you have to manipulate it," Preller said. "And there are very few substances that can actually manipulate sense of self while patients are lying in our MRI scanner."
One of the substances that can, however, is LSD. And that's why this experiment happened in Zurich, Preller said. Switzerland is one of the few countries where it's possible to use LSD on human beings for scientific research. (Doing so is still quite difficult, though, requiring lots of oversight.)
LSD
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