Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Michael J. Socolow: Mad Magazine's clout may have faded, but its ethos matters more than ever before (The Conversation)
While Mad's legacy lives on, today's media environment is more polarized and diffuse. It also tends to be far more cynical and nihilistic. Mad humorously taught kids that adults hid truths from them, not that in a world of fake news, the very notion of truth was meaningless. Paradox informed the Mad ethos; at its best, Mad could be biting and gentle, humorous and tragic, and ruthless and endearing - all at the same time. That's the sensibility we've lost. And it's why we need an outlet like Mad more than ever.
Joe Bob Briggs: THESE Are Mueller's Questions? (Taki's Mag)
So, yeah, it's kind of obvious why Robert Mueller's "secret questions that he wants to ask Trump" got leaked to the New York Times. I could have written these questions. Because . . . I read the New York Times. Anybody with access to Google Search could have written these questions. Mueller got half of them from reporting in the Times and the Washington Post.
Joe Bob Briggs: American Airlines Is Messing With My Head (Taki's Mag)
I don't care about being the first one to board the plane. In fact, I wanna be the last one to board the plane. The seats in the waiting area are more comfortable, and the Wi-Fi works there. If you're leaving from one of those airports with subways and trams and light rails that carry you out to a distant space-pod satellite terminal, you're likely to end up in a "no service" zone as soon as you settle into your knee-crippling seat. I've actually tried to be the last one on the plane. I've told the gate agent to tell me when everyone else has boarded-only to get a stern "Board with your group."
Matthew Yglesias: diplomacy seriously? (Vox)
All he does is lie and break promises. This will be no different.
Matthew Yglesias: "There's an easier way for California to build greener housing: just build more homes" (Vox)
Rooftop solar on new houses is a big commitment, but building more houses would be better.
P.R. Lockhart: White people keep calling the cops on black people for no reason. That's dangerous. (Vox)
Calling 911 means different things to white and black people.
Andrew Tobias: From Greece to Iran
I can say so many things in Greek! Or at least, as our Acropolis guide put it (on a different topic), "Much more less than before."
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Presenting
Michael Egan
took the day off.
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
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
AND THE DEATH GOES ON.
"THOU SHALT NOT BULLSHIT."
"LET'S PLAY A GAME…"
CHINESE TAKEOUT!
SAVE NET NEUTRALITY!
PEACE AND LOVE.
"HIGH CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS."
Visit JD's site - Kitty Litter Music
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Overcast morning, sunny afternoon.
Tour With Dave Chappelle
Jon Stewart
Jon Stewart, who is in the process of turning the Hockhockson Farm in Colts Neck into an animal sanctuary, has announced a series of co-headlining dates with fellow comedian Dave Chappelle.
The shows, produced by Live Nation, begin June 11 in Boston and also hit Houston and El Paso.
So far, no dates in New Jersey or New York have been announced. Both Stewart and Chappelle starred in hit Comedy Central series, Stewart on "The Daily Show" and Chappelle on "Chappelle's Show."
Stewart, a native of Lawrenceville who lives in Middletown, guested during Chappelle's Radio City Music Hall in New York City last August. More recently, Stewart performed for U.S. troops at the Osan Air Base in South Korea in April, according to Stars and Stripes .
The comedian played drums on the 2017 song "Catastrophes" by the Asbury Park group No Wine for Kittens. Stewart got involved in the single through band drummer, Andy Bova, and he joined members Rick Barry, Emily Bornemann, Justin Bornemann and Bova in November of 2017 at Simple Sound Studios in Oceanport. The track was submitted for the Speak Into My Good Eye 4th Annual 24 Hour Songwriting Challenge. Proceeds benefited the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.
Jon Stewart
South Korean Singing Show
Ryan Reynolds
Over the weekend, Ryan Reynolds was in South Korea on a press tour for "Deadpool 2" and decided to make a surprise appearance on a Korean singing competition called "King of Mask Singer." During the show, two singers battle it out in full disguise so that "only the pure vocal talents shine through."
Reynolds cloaked his identity with the help of a unicorn mask and a glittery rainbow cape.
He also decided to belt out "Tomorrow" from the musical "Annie." Believe it or not, the 41-year-old has a pretty decent voice.
In a second equally surreal clip, Reynolds reveals himself, causing the audience and judges go bonkers.
After his unveiling, Reynolds apologized for this performance ("I'm so sorry about that song") and then shouts out, "Donald Trump? DONALD TRUMP?" after a judge admits that he thought the president was the disguised performer and not Reynolds.
Ryan Reynolds
Aliens May Well Exist
Parallel Universe
Should the search for alien life in our universe come up empty-handed, it might be worth checking in on a neighboring universe instead.
According to a new pair of studies in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, there's a decent chance that life-fostering planets could exist in a parallel universe - even if that universe were being torn apart by dark energy.
The idea that our universe is just one of many, perhaps infinite, other universes is known as the multiverse theory. Scientists have previously thought that such parallel universes, if they exist, would have to meet an extremely strict set of criteria to allow for the formation of stars, galaxies and life-fostering planets like those seen in our own universe.
In the new study, researchers ran a massive computer simulation to build new universes under various starting conditions. They found that the conditions for life might be a little broader than previously thought - especially when it comes to the mysterious pull of dark energy.
Not only is our universe expanding, thanks to the constant, invisible push of dark energy, but the rate of that expansion is also getting faster and faster every day. It's thought that, as more empty space appears in the universe, even more dark energy appears to fill it. (Dark energy is not the same as dark matter, which is an abundant, invisible form of matter thought to be responsible for some very weird gravitational phenomenaaround space.)
Parallel Universe
$7.97 Million For Wrongful Termination
Chipotle
For years, Jeanette Ortiz was a loyal, hardworking general manager for Chipotle Mexican Grill on Shaw Avenue across from the Fresno State campus.
But in January 2015, Ortiz was fired, accused of stealing $626 in cash from the restaurant's safe, said a lawyer for Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. There was even video evidence to prove Ortiz's theft, the lawyer said.
But when Ortiz denied stealing the money and asked to see the video evidence, her bosses at Chipotle declined. Instead, the company destroyed the video evidence, said Fresno attorneys Warren Paboojian and Jason Bell, who represent Ortiz in a wrongful termination case she brought against the fast-food giant.
On Thursday, Fresno County Superior Court jurors ordered Chipotle to pay Ortiz nearly $8 million in damages, ruling that she was not a thief, but was a victim of a scheme to fire and defame her for filing a worker's compensation claim for a job-related injury to her wrist caused by carpal tunnel syndrome.
Ortiz is entitled the punitive damages because the jury found that Chipotle upper management had maliciously fired her.
Chipotle
Embassy Ceremonies
White House
Hours after the ceremonial opening of the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem Monday, deputy White House press secretary Raj Shah faced questions about past comments made by three religious leaders with roles in the events - including one who is known for saying that Jews, presumably including most Israelis, are going to hell.
Shah said the comments were not "embraced" by the White House. But he refused to say how the three - two American Protestant pastors and the chief Sephardic rabbi of Israel - came to participate in the embassy events.
At the daily White House briefing on Monday, Shah initially was asked about the Rev. Robert Jeffress, who leads the influential First Baptist Dallas and delivered the opening prayer at the embassy opening. Jeffress has a long history of controversial comments, including statements suggesting the Catholic Church is a "counterfeit religion" that is used by Satan and the comment that "religions like Mormonism, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism … lead people to an eternity of separation from God in Hell."
The Rev. John Hagee, the founder of Christians United for Israel, delivered a benediction at the embassy opening. Hagee made headlines in the 2008 presidential election when Republican candidate John McCain repudiated his endorsement after tapes surfaced of a 1999 sermon where Hagee suggested Hitler was an instrument of God's will because he pushed many Jews to return to Israel.
"God says in Jeremiah 16: 'Behold, I will bring them the Jewish people again unto their land that I gave to their fathers. … Behold, I will send for many fishers, and after will I send for many hunters,'" Hagee said. "'And they the hunters shall hunt them.' That would be the Jews. … Then God sent a hunter. A hunter is someone who comes with a gun and he forces you. Hitler was a hunter."
White House
Disgraced Ex-Congressman's Lucrative Lobbying Post
Texas
Former Republican U.S. Rep. Blake Farenthold has accepted a lucrative position lobbying for a port in his ex-Texas district - mere weeks after resigning in disgrace amid fallout from using public funds to settle a past sexual harassment complaint.
The Calhoun Port Authority announced Monday that Farenthold would promote its interests in Washington and assist "in resolving funding issues."
"Blake has always been a strong supporter of the Calhoun Port Authority and is familiar with the issues facing the port," it said in a statement. Port Director Charles R. Hausmann said Farenthold's annual salary will be $160,000.
Farenthold abruptly quit Congress on April 6, as the House Ethics Committee investigated his using $84,000 in taxpayer funds to settle an ex-staffer's 2014 sexual harassment claim.
Farenthold at first denied wrongdoing when he settled a lawsuit in which a former communications aide accused him of sexual harassment and retaliation. He eventually pledged to reimburse the money - but still hasn't.
Texas
Lawyer Proclaimed Him Guilty
New Trial
The US Supreme Court ordered a new trial on Monday for a Louisiana man whose lawyer told a jury he had committed a triple murder despite his claims of innocence.
In a 6-3 ruling, the top US court said the lawyer in the case should have abided by the wishes of accused murderer Robert McCoy.
McCoy, now 44, was convicted in 2011 of shooting to death the mother, stepfather, and son of his estranged wife, Yolanda, in May 2008 in their Bossier City, Louisiana, home.
Despite a preponderance of evidence and a dubious alibi, McCoy insisted that he was innocent of the murders.
During his trial, McCoy's lawyer, Larry English, ignored his client's objections and told the jury McCoy had killed the three victims.
New Trial
Feet Keep Washing Up
Canada
In Canada, the mystery of the dismembered feet continues.
A man was out for a Sunday afternoon stroll on a British Columbia beach when he made a gruesome discovery: a human foot in a hiking boot, lodged in pile of wood.
Authorities aren't saying much more about the foot. But it's the 14th found washed up on a shoreline over the past decade in or around the Salish Sea between Vancouver Island and the British Columbia mainland.
Nine of the 14 feet have been identified, and officials determined they belonged to six people. According to the British Columbia Coroners Service, no foul play was involved in the previous cases.
Why are only feet washing ashore? Authorities say it's because of the way human bodies decompose and how feet are protected by shoes from the elements and marine creatures.
Canada
"The Marin" Withdrawn From Sale
Pablo Picasso
A Picasso self-portrait estimated to be worth $70 million and due to go under the hammer in New York on Tuesday, has been "accidentally damaged" and withdrawn from auction, Christie's said.
The 1943 masterpiece called or "The Sailor" had been a highlight of Christie's marquee impressionist and modern evening art sale. According to US media, it belongs to former casino magnate Steve Wynn.
Christie's said the damage happened on Friday "during the final stages of preparation."
"After consultation with the consignor today, the painting has been withdrawn from Christie's May 15 sale to allow the restoration process to begin," it added.
The auction house gave no further details on the incident or the extent of the damage.
Pablo Picasso
In Memory
Margot Kidder
Margot Kidder, who is probably best known for portraying Lois Lane opposite Christopher Reeve in the 1970s and '80s Superman movies and starred in many other films including The Amityville Horror while struggling with mental illness, has died. She was 69.
Kidder appeared with many of Hollywood's leading men during her 50-year career, including Robert Redford and James Garner, it was her role as the plucky Daily Planet reporter with a penchant for finding trouble in Superman (1978), Superman II(1980), Superman III (1983) and Superman IV (1987) that shot her to fame.
Born on October 17, 1948, in Yellowknife, Canada, Kidder started her career in TV in the late 1960s, guesting on such shows as McQueen and The Mod Squad. She starred opposite Gene Wilder in the 1970 film Quackser Fortune Has a Cousin in the Bronx before landing a regular role on the 1971-72 NBC drama Nichols starring Jim Garner. She continued to work mostly in TV until appearing in four films in 1974, including The Great Waldo Pepper.
Her other films of that era included The Reincarnation of Peter Proud, The Gravy Train with Stacy Keach and opposite Peter Fonda in 92 in the Shade. After the runaway success of the first Superman movie - "You'll believe a man can fly" was the tagline 40 years ago - Kidder starred in Shoot the Sun Down (1978) with Christopher Walken before playing Kathy Lutz alongside James Brolin and Rod Steiger in the 1979 classic creepshow The Amityville Horror.
After the first Superman sequel, Kidder toplined the 1981 road-trip movie Heartaches and co-starred with Richard Pryor in Some Kind of Hero the following year. Following that, she and the legendary comic re-teamed in Superman III, in which Pryor played Gus Gorman who learned how to create Kryponite.
Kidder continued to make films and do TV steadily, including starring in the short-lived 1987 CBS dramedy Shell Game. But a serious car crash in 1990 left her in a wheelchair and she couldn't work for two years, forcing her into bankruptcy.. She found some success as a voice-over artist for the series Captain Planet and the Planeteers and Phantom 2040.
In 1996, Kidder was involved in a bizarre off-screen incident that made internationals headlines. She had been working on an autobiography when a virus infected her computer and caused her to lose three years worth of writing. After a data-retrieval company failed to restore her lost work, Kidder became manic depressive, convinced that the federal government and her then-husband/novelist Thomas McGuane were plotting to kill her.
The incident made her lifelong struggle with mental illness a public affair, but she continued to work as an actress, including a six-episode role on Boston Common in 1996-97. Her most recent role was in 2017 with the indie The Neighborhood.
Margot Kidder
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