Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Paul Krugman: The Geezers are All Right (NY Times)
The truth is that the long-term outlook for Social Security and Medicare, while not great, actually isn't all that bad. It's time to stop obsessing about how we'll pay benefits to retirees in 2035 and focus instead on how we're going to provide jobs to unemployed Americans in the here and now.
Paul Krugman: We Are Not Having A Serious Discussion, Obamacare Edition (NY Times)
I know that a lot of people wish we lived in a country where debates about things like health care policy were serious, honest discussions of debatable points. I like to hope that by the time I retire I'll actually live in a country like that. But right now, and surely for years to come, it's basically facts versus fraud.
Henry Rollins: Rush Limbaugh Gets It Wrong, Again (LA Weekly)
A few nights ago, in a rare night off, I was on a street I grew up on. A man recognized me and told me that he and his wife had come to America from Serbia and how lucky they felt to be here, and that some music I made meant a lot to him. An hour later, I met him again as he, his wife and their two kids were walking. I pointed out a place I used to live in 40 years ago and noted how cool it was that we both now have this neighborhood in common.
Joanna Rossiter: "Experience: I had a worm in my brain" (Guardian)
'I couldn't stop thinking about the fact that there was a foreign body inside me, feeding off my ability to write and speak.'
Andrew Anthony: The island of long life (Guardian)
On the Greek island of Ikaria, life is sweet… and very, very long. So what is the locals' secret?
Rosanna Greenstreet: "Q&A: Sinéad O'Connor" (Guardian)
"What is the worst thing anyone's said to me? 'Your mother has been killed in a car crash.'"
VINCZE MIKLÓS: The Weirdest and Fiercest Helmets from the Age of Armored Combat (io9)
If you're going to go into battle wearing a full suit of metal armor, you'd better do it in style. Here are some of the most amazing (and bizarre) helmets you've ever seen, from the age of knights and swords.
Scott Burns: The Universal Retirement Tool (AssetBuilder)
Free market competition has delivered to working savers what five decades of legislative effort has failed to provide- virtually universal access to low-cost investing.
David Bruce's Amazon Author Page
David Bruce's Smashwords Page
David Bruce's Blog
David Bruce's Lulu Storefront
David Bruce's Apple iBookstore
David Bruce has approximately 50 Kindle books on Amazon.com.
wrote:
answered:
answered:
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
David E Suggests
Dirtiest Jobs [infographic]
Thanks, David!
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Ahhhh - June gloom.
Best-Written U.S. TV Series
'The Sopranos'
The New Jersey mob saga "The Sopranos" was listed as the best-written U.S. TV series above comedy show "Seinfeld" in a list compiled by the Writers Guild of America.
The guild, which represents writers in the motion picture, broadcast, cable and new media industries, released its ranking of the 101 best-written TV shows based on a poll of its members, with comedies and dramatic series evenly represented in the top 10.
The guild favored recently-produced shows. Only one top 10 entry, third-placed "The Twilight Zone," pre-dated the 1970s and nearly half the entire list aired in the past decade.
In releasing the list on Sunday with "The Sopranos" at the top, the guild's Paul Brownfield said: "No show has been more responsible for TV's storytelling renaissance." In the HBO hit, mobster Tony Soprano, played by James Gandolfini, struggles with domestic life even as he orders mob hits and confides in his psychiatrist.
Comedies joining "Seinfeld" high in the poll included 1970s-era hits as "All in the Family," "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" and "M*A*S*H," along with bar-room comedy "Cheers."
'The Sopranos'
'Edit Wars'
Wikipedia
A behind-the-scenes look at the so-called edit wars on Wikipedia has revealed the topics people argue about the most across the globe. The winners: religion and politics.
Considering that Wikipedia is the result of mass collaboration, with essentially 40 million editors, back-and-forth editing - and even arguments - are bound to occur. But some topics on the site better resemble a battlefield than a publishing house, according to researchers.
The researchers identified the 100 most controversial topics in 13 languages. "Because the method is only based on revision metadata and not the content, it can be easily generalized to different languages," Yasseri said.
Overall, after religion and politics, the most controversial topics were countries and geographical places, followed by sex, gender and race-related topics.
Some subjects, such as Israel, were heavily debated in all the languages, and some topics were local to different language editions. On the French- and Czech-language Wikipedia sites, scientific topics were the most controversial, whereas sports were the hot topic on Spanish-language sites.
Wikipedia
France's Legion d'Honneur
Bob Dylan
American singer Bob Dylan may soon be awarded France's highest distinction, the Legion d'Honneur, after his nomination was reportedly first tossed out over his marijuana use and opposition to the Vietnam War.
The green light given by the Legion d'Honneur's council means France's minister of culture may soon decorate Dylan - a symbol of 1960s counterculture - with the five-pointed star of the top "Chevalier" order.
He would join the ranks of singers such as Britain's Paul McCartney and France's Charles Aznavour to be so honoured.
The 17-member council determines whether nominations put forward by government ministers conform to the institution's principles. Its grand chancellor, Jean-Louis Georgelin, confirmed it had approved Dylan's nomination.
Bob Dylan
Hospital News
Sharon Jones
Soul singer Sharon Jones has cancer and has canceled plans for an album and tour in 2013.
A Monday news release says Jones has stage-one bile duct cancer and needs immediate surgery.
Jones and her band, the Dap-Kings, had planned to release "Give the People What They Want" on Aug. 6 and were already touring. The singer was forced to miss a few shows recently while looking for a cause of her illness.
The release says that doctors caught the tumor early and that the cancer hasn't spread. They expect the 57-year-old to make a full recovery.
Sharon Jones
Spends More on Lobbying Than Lockheed Martin
Google
Google might actually be fulfilling Julian Assange's nightmares and turning into the Lockheed Martin of 21st century lobbying, having spent more than the military defense company on pushing issues in 2012, with a record $18.2 billion that made it the eighth largest lobbyist in DC. "The company that once had no use for Washington," as The New York Times's Edward Wyett puts it in a profile of Google's chief Washington lobbyist Susan Molinari, has a newfound use for lawmakers, not only as it battles anti-trusts suits with money, but also as chairman Eric Schmidt embarks on his new hobby as a part-time ambassador. "What Lockheed Martin was to the 20th century," Schmidt and Jared Cohen wrote in their book The New Digital Age, "technology and cybersecurity companies will be to the 21st." That's a vision of the future highlighted over the weekend by Assange, another digital futurist, in a blistering Times op-ed as "an expertly banalized version of tomorrow's world." Google's vision also, appropriately, includes making the right connections in the nation's capital.
So far the fruits of Google's lobbying efforts have resulted in a huge win in an anti-trust case, but the company has even bigger plans to prod legislation in its own self-interest. See, back in 2010 Schmidt realized "much of the laws are written by lobbyists," he said during The Atlantic's Washington Idea's Forum. Google hired and funded an army of capable policy crafters, not only to save itself from government fines that don't even make a dent but also to help write Google-powered legislation. In the near future, that means ramped up efforts to influence immigration reform. Schmidt is part of the contentious Silicon Valley group FWD.us, which is lobbying for a very specific type of immigration reform. Google also has Molinari working on updates to the Electronic Communication Privacy Act - that pesky bill the government uses to justify spying on your Gmail without a warrant.
But in the long term, all those billions of dollars will also go toward Schmidt's foreign policy visions, and Google's attempts at worldwide domination outside of Washington. Along with his book, Schmidt has attempted (and so far failed) to broker diplomatic relations with foreign nations, visiting North Korea back in January and Myanmar in March . While he has managed to drum up publicity for The New Digital Age, threatening Kim Jong-un to use the Internet (or else!) hasn't changed the country's relationship with America. Money, however, speaks louder than Schmidt's "humanitarian" words - and could lead to the type of geopolitical change he talks about in the book. Schmidt may hope to save countries from totalitarianism via Android equipped phones and Google Glass, but Assange sees the political vision differently: "... while Mr. Schmidt and Mr. Cohen tell us that the death of privacy will aid governments in 'repressive autocracies' in 'targeting their citizens,' they also say governments in 'open' democracies will see it as 'a gift' enabling them to 'better respond to citizen and customer concerns," Assange writes. "In reality, the erosion of individual privacy in the West and the attendant centralization of power make abuses inevitable, moving the 'good' societies closer to the 'bad' ones."
Google
Sues Stone Temple Pilots
Scott Weiland
Scott Weiland has countersued his former band mates in Stone Temple Pilots claiming they had no right to expel him and shouldn't be allowed to perform with a new lead singer.
Weiland's suit was filed Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court, one week after his former collaborators sued to get him to stop using the band's music in solo performances.
The singer's case claims the three other members of Stone Temple Pilots had no right to oust him from the band and are damaging his solo career. He is seeking more than $5 million in damages, although any award would have to be determined by a judge or jury.
The lawsuits are the latest development in the band's public breakup. Weiland was ousted from the group in February and said he learned of the decision when it was reported in the media.
Scott Weiland
Bedtime Tiff
Pia Zadora
Singer-actress Pia Zadora was arrested at her Las Vegas home over the weekend following a rapidly escalating attempt to impose a bedtime on her teenage son.
The 61-year-old entertainer, whose career peaked in the 1980s, was arrested shortly before noon Sunday, some six hours after police responded to a call at her home.
The spat, which ended with the one-time blond bombshell scratching the faces of her 16-year-old son and husband, began with her attempt to hustle her son to bed so she could get some rest, according to a police report released Monday.
Zadora's son was hanging out with her husband and his son when she asked him to turn in. When he protested, she sprayed him and his step-brother with a hose, according to her statement to police.
She then began scratching and punching her husband, Michael Jeffries, and his son as they tried to calm her down, according to the 16-year-old's statement to police.
Pia Zadora
Sending Migrants To Third Country
Israel
Israel has reached an agreement to send thousands of African migrants to an unidentified country, according to a court document obtained Monday, a plan that has elicited criticism over its potential harm to the migrants.
The plan, if implemented, is an attempt to address one of Israel's more pressing issues: what to do with an influx of roughly 60,000 African migrants who have sneaked into Israel from Egypt over the past eight years.
Their arrivals have put Israel in a bind. Many Israelis believe that the Jewish state, founded in part as a refuge for Holocaust survivors after World War II, has a responsibility to help the downtrodden. But others fear that taking in tens of thousands of Africans will threaten the country's Jewish character and question the extent of Israel's moral obligations beyond those of other nations.
Most of the migrants have come from Eritrea or Sudan, some fleeing repressive regimes and others looking for work.
Israel
Raises Prices, Again
Di$neyland
When you wish upon a star, be sure to bring your wallet. Di$neyland has raised its ticket prices.
Di$ney said in a statement that starting Sunday, a one-day adult ticket to one park will cost $92, a $5 increase. Kids' tickets also jumped $5, to $87.
The prices apply to either Di$neyland Park or Di$ney California Adventure Park. Buyers of annual passes will see similar increases.
The Di$neyland statement says the price hikes were brought on by a variety of factors, but the tickets represent a great value given the breadth and quality of attractions and entertainment at the parks unbridled greed.
Di$neyland
A 10-year old child is considered an adult at Di$neyland and must purchase an adult ticket.
In Memory
Senator Frank Lautenberg
Frank Lautenberg, a self-made multimillionaire businessman who became a leading liberal in the U.S. Senate and championed smoking bans, gun control, airline safety and rail transportation, died on Monday at 89, an aide said.
Lautenberg, who was the Senate's last surviving World War II veteran, died from complications of viral pneumonia, the aide said. His office said in February 2010 that he had been diagnosed with cancer and would have chemotherapy and that June he said he had recovered completely.
A co-founder, former chairman and chief executive of the payroll services company Automatic Data Processing, he was elected as a Democrat by New Jersey voters to five six-year terms in the Senate.
He was first elected in 1982, running after incumbent Democrat Harrison Williams quit in a bribery scandal.
Lautenberg retired from the Senate in 2000, saying he was tired of chasing campaign contributions. But in 2002 he came out of political retirement at age 78, filling the seat of Robert Torricelli who dropped his re-election bid amid corruption charges involving improper gifts from a businessman.
Lautenberg was re-elected in 2008 at age 84.
Lautenberg had numerous legislative accomplishments. A former smoker, he convinced Congress to bar smoking on domestic airline flights and in federal buildings. He was a strong supporter of gun control and author of a 1996 law prohibiting people convicted of domestic abuse from having guns.
For years a leader on transportation subcommittees, Lautenberg obtained funds for Amtrak, the national passenger railroad, and for New Jersey's commuter railroad to enable it to expand its network. A key rail station on the Northeast Corridor rail line was named in his honor.
He wrote the law that required U.S. states to set 21 as the drinking age as a condition of getting federal highway aid, a move he said had saved tens of thousands of lives.
He worked to block privatization of the U.S. air traffic control system and sought improved security for airports, seaports and railroads. He pushed renewable energy development and fought tax breaks for oil companies.
In 1996, Lautenberg worked for a law enabling victims of terrorism to bring legal action against foreign governments that sponsor terrorist acts.
He was not serving in the Senate when Congress voted in October 2002 to authorize resident George W. Bush to launch the Iraq war but said at the time that he supported military action.
After returning to the Senate, Lautenberg was critical of the Bush administration's handling of the war. He also criticized Bush's Defense Department for awarding no-bid contracts to Halliburton, the company that Vice President Dick Cheney ran from 1995 to 2000.
Known for a feisty, combative approach in legislative battles and when campaigning, Lautenberg also was described by his Senate colleagues as affable and quick with a joke.
Lautenberg was born in Paterson, New Jersey, to poor Polish and Russian Jewish immigrants, moving often with his family when he was a child. He served in Europe during World War Two as an Army communications specialist and attended college on the G.I. Bill, which paid for the education of returning veterans.
He graduated from Columbia University in New York, and in 1952 co-founded ADP, which became a large U.S. corporate payroll processing firm. It made him a multi-millionaire.
Lautenberg often spoke of his belief that those who succeed financially in America, as he did, should pay their fair share of taxes and was a proponent of progressive taxation. He voted to repeal the Bush tax cuts on capital gains.
As a businessman, his contributions to Democratic presidential nominee George McGovern in 1972 landed him on Republican President Richard Nixon's infamous "enemies list."
In 2010, his personal fortune topped $40 million. But his charitable foundation lost millions of dollars after investing with New York Ponzi scheme swindler Bernard Madoff.
Senator Frank Lautenberg
In Memory
Mandawuy Yunupingu
Mandawuy Yunupingu, the former lead singer of Australian indigenous band Yothu Yindi and one of the country's most famous Aborigines, has died, Australia's prime minister said Monday. He was 56.
Yunupingu, who gained worldwide fame in the 1980s and 1990s with his hits "Treaty" and "Tribal Voice," died Sunday night at his home in a tiny Outback Aboriginal settlement in the Northern Territory, Indigenous Health Minister Warren Snowdon said. Officials haven't released a cause of death, but Yunupingu struggled for years with kidney disease.
Yunupingu began his career as a teacher, and became the first indigenous Australian to be appointed a school principal. He developed what he called the "both ways" educational philosophy, which utilized both Western and Aboriginal teaching techniques.
His penchant for blending cultures carried over to his music career, with the formation of his band Yothu Yindi in 1986. The group included both Aboriginal and white musicians and won fans with its unique combination of traditional indigenous sounds and modern pop and rock. Yothu Yindi, which released six albums, toured the United States and Canada as a support act to Midnight Oil and toured Australia with Neil Young.
The band's most famous song, "Treaty," was written in response to an unrealized promise then-Prime Minister Bob Hawke made in 1988 - the bicentennial of European settlement in Australia - to formalize a treaty between the government and Aborigines. In 1992, Yothu Yindi performed the song in New York at the launch of the United Nations' International Year of the World's Indigenous People.
Yunupingu was named the 1992 Australian of the Year for his role in "building bridges of understanding between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people."
In recent years, he was forced to undergo dialysis three times a week as he struggled with kidney disease. In 2009, Yunupingu told Australian Broadcasting Corp. television that he had battled alcoholism before he was diagnosed. Alcohol was not the direct cause of his kidney failure, but worsened his other health problems.
"I had the whole world in front of me, and this small, little kidney problem got me right where it hurts," he told the ABC. "I have to be dependent on a machine. I never thought it would happen to me."
Aborigines, who make up 2.3 percent of Australia's 23 million people, die more than a decade younger than other Australians. They are four times more likely to die of chronic kidney disease than other Australians, and are far less likely to receive an organ transplant, according to a 2011 report by the government's Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.
Yunupingu is survived by his wife Gurruwun Yunupingu and six children.
Mandawuy Yunupingu
| CURRENT MOON lunar phases |
