Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Paul Krugman: Springtime for Bankers (NY Times)
The government saved Wall Street but left the real economy behind.
Matt O'Brien: The odds you'll join the ranks of the long-term unemployed (Washington Post)
Long-term unemployment is a terrifying trap that, even in the best of times, is difficult to escape. And it's a trap that you can get stuck in for no reason other than bad luck.
Henry Rollins: The Salad Days (LA Weekly)
It occurs to me now, well into my 50s, that some aspects of my nature are not going to change. I can safely say that they will only get worse. I have not at any point made any effort whatsoever to "get better" or seek rehabilitation into a way of life that is more presentable and adult.
J.F. Sargent: 7 Movies That Put Insane Work Into Details You Didn't Notice (Cracked)
These are seven instances where the creators poured their blood, sweat and several other more unsavory fluids into creating something and put it right in front of your face ... and you didn't even notice.
Oliver Burkeman: "This column will change your life: good advice from bad people" (Guardian)
'Leaving aside criminals and charlatans, you could argue we're better off taking advice from those who've struggled with whatever they're addressing.'
Tom Shone: "John Turturro interview - 'I had a threesome back in the 70s. I was young. It was awkward'" (Guardian)
As he stars in new film about a middle-aged gigolo, John Turturro talks about sex, looks, and being pimped by Woody Allen.
Jason Iannone, MJ Stacey: The 6 Strangest Things Nobody Tells You About Life in Korea (Cracked)
As an American teaching English in South Korea, I expected to run into at least a few cultural differences. I did my homework. I knew people over there actually took the "Gangnam Style" guy seriously, and ... I guess that was about it. Wait, no -- StarCraft! Boom. Nailed the whole culture. Needless to say, I was ill prepared for what I found when I actually got there.
Nathan Birch: 20 Fascinating Facts You May Not Know About 'The Legend Of Zelda' (uproxx)
Shigeru Miyamoto may be most known for Mario today, but Zelda is his most personal series. Here are a few things you might not know about the game that would invent the action-adventure genre and spawn the most acclaimed video game franchise of all time…
David Bruce's Amazon Author Page
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David Bruce has approximately 50 Kindle books on Amazon.com.
wrote:
said:
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Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
David E Suggests
World Cup
David
Thanks, Dave!
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Reader Recommendation
Restful Getaway
A restful getaway for minutes or hours
Team Coco
CONAN
Idaho GOP Debate spoof
Idaho's GOP Debate Is Even Weirder Than You Thought
Rick Reilly on Obama & fantasy football, Clinton & golf
Sports columnist Rick Reilly remembers fantasy football with Obama and golfing with Clinton, who got lots of "Billigans"
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.
So - to let you know what's going on, the guestbook on bartcop.com is
still open for those who want to write something in memory of Bart.
I did an interview on Netroots Radio about Bart's passing
( www.stitcher.com/s?eid=32893545 )
The most active open discussion is on Bart's Facebook page.
( www.facebook.com/bartcop )
You can listen to Bart's theme song here
or here.
( www.bartcop.com/blizing-saddles.mp3 )
( youtu.be/MySGAaB0A9k )
We have opened up the radio show archives which are now free. Listen to
all you want.
( bartcop.com/members )
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
Thanks, Marc!
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny and a bit cooler.
Opposes AT&T-DirecTV Deal
Al Franken
You thought that rally outside the FCC's headquarters last week in Washington in support of net neutrality was large?
AT&T's proposed $49 billion acquisition of DIRECTV, made public on Sunday, has Internet activists all but frothing at the mouth. Afterall, Common Cause, the Consumers Union, Public Knowledge and Free Press, to name but a few, are already quite busy attempting to amass public opposition to Comcast's proposed $45 billion deal for Time Warner Cable.
Add to those two oversized deal is FCC Commissioner Tom Wheeler's uncertain position on net neutrality and the Supreme Court's pondering of Aereo, the upstart operator of an online-subscription service that delivers over-the-air broadcast television to your favorite platform. The general picture is one of seismic changes in how news and entertainment are delivered, changes that may produce a further concentration of the country's telecommunications networks.
Sen. Al Franken (D-MN), struck quickly this morning, declaring that an AT&T-DIRECTV merger is likely to lead to higher prices, fewer incentives for better residential service, and the domination of the Internet by a few very large media companies.
"I'm skeptical that this deal is in consumers' best interests," Franken said in a statement. "We're moving toward an industry with fewer competitors -- where corporations are getting bigger and bigger and gaining more and more control over the distribution of information. This hurts innovation, and it's bad for consumers."
Al Franken
Third Worst-Rated Week
Fox "News"
If viewers notice extra yelling on Fox News lately, it might be because two recent weeks were among the cable channel's lowest-rated since before 9/11. The only weeks to do worse were Christmas's 2012 and 2013.
During the week of May 5, 2014 - the most recent for which numbers are available - Fox News delivered an average of 180,000 viewers in the key 25-54 demographic in live-plus-same-day measurement across the total day. That measures programming from 6 a.m. until the following 6 a.m. Fox pulled the same number the previous week, the week of April 28.
Over this past Christmas week, Fox News caught 176,000 viewers on average. The week of Dec. 24, 2012, Fox News pulled in 167,000.
In total viewers, Fox News Channel ranked No. 7 across total day. Competitors CNN and MSNBC ranked No. 36 and No. 31, respectively, for the week of May 5.
Fox "News"
Slowed By Illegal Action
Online Gambling
Internet gambling in the United States is off to a slower start than many had imagined, held back, experts say, by illegal offshore operators who are continuing to draw users and siphon off millions of dollars.
A year since the first legal online U.S. poker company opened, the industry's growth has been slowed by a number of factors, including technical hurdles as well as laws limiting players to the three states where Internet gambling is legal.
"Internet gambling exists in all 50 states today," said David Rebuck, director of the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, speaking Monday at the East Coast Gaming Congress in Atlantic City. "It's just not regulated."
Proponents of online gambling have organized into a group called Coalition for Consumer and Online Protection, arguing that legalizing and regulating the practice will protect people from unscrupulous operators.
"Banning online gaming will only make it less safe and drive it deeper into the shadows," said Mary Bono (Mack), a former Republican congresswoman from California and the group's co-chair.
Online Gambling
8 Years
304,805 Letters
Patience, consistency, dedication. Look up any of those words in the dictionary, and you could easily see a picture of Richard Epstein, amateur Torah scribe.
The member of the Chabad Shul of Potomac, Maryland, recently penned the entire Torah (that's 304,805 letters) by hand using a feather quill on parchment made from sheepskin, the Washington Post reported.
It took Epstein about eight years from start to finish. A professional can pen a Torah in about a year, according to Chabad.org.
One mistake can invalidate the text, making accuracy far more important than speed, according to HaSoferet.com. Mistakes - if noticed - can be corrected, provided the mistake doesn't involve G-d's name, according to Epstein, who starred in a short documentary about his endeavor.
304,805 Letters
Supreme Court Revives Lawsuit
'Raging Bull'
The Supreme Court ruled Monday that a copyright lawsuit over the 1980 Oscar-winning movie "Raging Bull" can go forward, a decision that could open Hollywood studios to more claims from people seeking a share of profits from classic films and TV shows.
In a 6-3 decision, the justices said that Paula Petrella, daughter of the late screenwriter Frank Petrella, did not wait too long to file her lawsuit against Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer claiming an interest in the film.
Petrella's father collaborated with legendary boxer Jake LaMotta on a book and two screenplays, which inspired the movie directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Robert DeNiro. The elder Petrella died in 1981 and the copyrights passed to his daughter.
She sued MGM in 2009 seeking royalties from continuing commercial use of the film. But a federal judge said she waited too long because she had been aware of the potential to file a lawsuit as early as 1991. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed, relying on the studio's argument that Petrella's delay of nearly two decades in bringing the case was unreasonable.
The Supreme Court reversed that ruling, giving Petrella a chance to resurrect her lawsuit. The ruling was a blow to movie studios, which have long relied on the legal doctrine of unreasonable delay to prevent distant relatives and estates from bringing copyright claims years or decades after movies have been released.
'Raging Bull'
Racist Police Commissioner Resigns
Wolfeboro, New Hampshire
A police commissioner in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, resigned on Monday under fire from town officials and residents after he called President Barack Obama the "N" word and refused to apologize, a police official said.
Police Commissioner Robert Copeland was overheard using the racial slur at a restaurant in the town in March and later admitted it in an email to colleagues, saying: "For this, I do not apologize - he meets and exceeds my criteria for such."
The incident caused an uproar in the town, a popular summer tourist destination on Lake Winnipesaukee. Residents harangued Copeland, who is 82 and white, at a public meeting last week, and Town Manager David Owen issued a statement on Friday urging Copeland to step down and "save the Town any further embarrassment of his making."
Wolfeboro, New Hampshire
What A Putz
Macklemore
Rapper Macklemore posted an apology on his website late Monday, saying he didn't mean to mock Jewish people by wearing a costume that some say was anti-Semitic during a performance in Seattle last week.
Macklemore wrote that he randomly chose the pieces of the costume he wore at Friday's performance so that he could disguise himself and move freely around during the secret show. He said it wasn't meant to be a caricature of a Jewish man.
Grammy Award winners Macklemore & Ryan Lewis made the appearance at the EMP Museum in their hometown to help celebrate the debut of a new exhibition.
Photos from the concert show Macklemore wearing a black wig and beard and a fake hooked nose. Macklemore and Lewis gained widespread fame with a message supporting diversity, and their hit song "One Love" calls for tolerance and support for members of the gay community.
Macklemore
Manga Inspires Radiation Debate
Japan
A journalist finds his nose doesn't stop bleeding after visiting the meltdown-stricken Fukushima nuclear plant. He also learns others suffer similar symptoms.
The scene from popular manga comic "Oishinbo," published last month, has set off a hot public debate in Japan - a nation still traumatized by the world's worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.
Local governments immediately protested the comic, saying it fosters unfounded fears of radiation.
Editor Hiroshi Murayama acknowledged he had been unsure about publishing the manga, subtitled "The Truth of Fukushima," because he anticipated people would be offended. But he had decided that voice needed to be heard, he said.
Japan
Hitler-Obama Analogy
Home Depot
Home Depot founder and billionaire GOP donor Ken Langone is back in the news for invoking the Nazis again, another stilted analogy relating the plight of the current American rich to 1930s Germany.
Back in March, Langone lamented the rising political focus on income inequality and what he saw as the vilification of the top 1 percent. "I hope it's not working," he told Politico. "Because if you go back to 1933, with different words, this is what Hitler was saying in Germany. You don't survive as a society if you encourage and thrive on envy or jealousy." After an uproar, he apologized for his remarks the next day.
But today he took back that apology and tried to clarify his original, flawed point. "[Hitler] came to power through a totally democratic process. So I simply said that just because we're a democracy that doesn't mean we can't do bad things!" Langone told Capital New York. "I simply said just because we're a democracy doesn't mean you can't have bad results," he added. "That's all! I stand on what I said."
Langone continued, taking aim at Rob Astorino, a Republican gubernatorial candidate in New York who previously criticized Langone's Hitler comments. "Then Astorino said, Governor Cuomo should repudiate that statement from Ken Langone. What statement did I make? My statement was that a democratic process could have bad results. You want proof? Go back to 1933. It was horrible results! I was only saying that we are, thank God, a democracy, and when our leaders pit group against group, it's not constructive."
It's clear from these comments that Langone does not regret his analogy to Nazi Germany, an argument popular among billionaires. Thankfully, Langone went on to clarify that he thought Hitler was indeed a bad person.
Home Depot
Voting On Name Change
Castrillo Matajudios
The village of Castrillo Matajudios in northern Spain will vote on Sunday on whether to change the name it has had for 400 years and purge a vestige of the religious persecution meted out by the Roman Catholic Inquisition.
The name in English means Kill Jews Fort.
Village Mayor Lorenzo Rodriguez has led the drive to rename it Castrillo Mota Judios, or Hill of Jews.
The town's name dates to the period after Catholic monarchs King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella ordered the expulsion of Jews in 1492.
Castrillo Matajudios
Rediscovered on Volcanic Island
Clarion Nightsnake
A mysterious species of snake has been rediscovered lurking in volcanic rocks on an island off Mexico
The elusive, nocturnal Clarion nightsnake was first discovered more than 80 years ago on Clarion Island, but was then lost to science.
"The rediscovery of the Clarion nightsnake is an incredible story of how scientists rely on historical data and museum collections to solve modern-day mysteries about biodiversity in the world we live in," lead author Daniel Mulcahy, a researcher at the National Museum of Natural History, in Washington, D.C., said in a statement. "Proper identification is the first step toward conserving this snake, and we plan to continue monitoring this species to learn more about the role it plays in the delicate Clarion Island ecosystem."
In 1936, naturalist William Beebe first unearthed a lone nightsnake, dubbed Hypsiglena ochrorhyncha unaocularus, on Clarion Island, which is one of the four Revillagigedo Islands in the Pacific Ocean. The reptile's speckled, brownish-black camouflage blended in with the black lava rock on the island, making it difficult to spot.
Clarion Nightsnake
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