Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Charles P. Pierce: This Nation Is Beginning to Realize the Full Extent of What It Did to Itself in November 2016 (Esquire)
The members of the governing party, uneasy about the prospects for this year's midterms anyway, are fairly trembling at the moment, seeing in their mind's eyes a hundred 30-second spots of weeping toddlers behind chain-link walls.
Helaine Olen: The Trump administration's corruption train rolls on (Washington Post)
At least once a week, a member of the Trump administration demonstrates in an entertaining way that public service can be a great way to make a buck. This week's installment is a double feature, starring Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.
Joe Bob Briggs: Pope Forgets the Lake of Fire (Taki's Mag)
Pope Francis was chatting with a flamboyant Italian journalist named Eugenio Scalfari several months ago, and in the course of chewing over the eternal verities, presumably while sipping some appropriate Tuscan wine, the Pope said something that Eugenio heard as denying the physical existence of hell.
Joe Bob Briggs: I'm Fact-Checking Your Brain, Dude (Taki's Mag)
You and I know that Trump talks like a guy in a bar, not a lawyer establishing a legally defensible court record.
Joe Bob Briggs: How to Think Trump (Taki's Mag)
I don't wanna say Donald Trump has contempt for established rules, but he's planning his third term.
Joe Bob Briggs: Trump Gets as Serious as Texas (Taki's Mag)
Out on the western edge of town, right before you hit the empty prairie that runs all the way to Albuquerque, there's a big, sprawling clothing store in the Cavender's chain where they have about five long racks of "Concealed-Carry Vests and Jackets."
Matthew Yglesias: Trump changed the electoral map; new polling shows it's changing back (Vox)
The Midwest doesn't like Trump anymore; the South likes him fine.
Laura McGann: Sarah Sanders is upset because a restaurant wouldn't serve her. She's okay with it happening to gays. (Vox)
"Restaurant-gate" is really about the Trump administration's commitment to courting divisiveness.
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Presenting
Michael Egan
replied:
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
David E Suggests
Link Building
David
Thanks, Dave!
Bonus Links
Jeannie the Teed-Off Temp
Reader Comment
Current Events
Slippery slopes everywhere
Forget due process for aliens. His supporters continue backing him on that insane suggestion? After all, they're just animals infesting us. So what's next? No due process for gays? For any brown person? For women?
The man is well on the way to being our first king, autocrat, fascist dictator and the GD base is lapping it up and showing more and more support. ARE we going to survive this man and all he has unleashed?
It creeps up on you...
It creeps up on you like bad underwear! One year my best friend and I went to the Holocaust Museum the day after Thanksgiving. It turned out that it was a good day to go--everyone was at sales and the museum had abnormally small crowds. We could take our time seeing everything instead of feeling the need to move on.
One display was a scrolling display of laws passed against the Jews--one sentence summing up what the law said or did.
Normally, we might have read 4 or 5, tsk tsked and moved on, but we decided to stay there and read until the cycle repeated. I felt myself being more hemmed in, constricted, hated. Oh, it's just a law about wearing a star. Oh, it's just a law about bakers. But it went on and on and on.
Such a small part of the exhibit, but sharing that experience with Kathy had a profound effect on me.
First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out-
Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out-
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out-
Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me-and there was no one left to speak for me.
Martin Niemöller (1892-1984) was a prominent Protestant pastor who emerged as an outspoken public foe of Adolf Hitler and spent the last seven years of Nazi rule in concentration camps.
Linda >^..^<
We are all only temporarily able bodied.
Thanks, Linda!
Reader Comment
Current Events
Fire Season
The smoke from this fire is drifting eastward…it's not that far from us. I know a few people who have been evacuated but haven't heard if they lost anything. I'm hopeful that the cooler temperatures and increased humidity will give firefighters a chance to get control of this fire.
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
"FILTHY RESTAURANTS."
TOUGH SHIT YOU DICKS!
"WHY WE LOVE SCOTLAND!
Visit JD's site - Kitty Litter Music
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Hits Back
Jimmy Fallon
Donald Trump (R-Bald) and Jimmy Fallon are getting into it on Twitter, following revelations of the late night host's regret over a pre-election interview from 2016.
Fallon revealed to The Hollywood Reporter that he would've done the interview differently, after receiving immense criticism for giving the now-president a softball interview, which included a bit where the host messed up Trump's hair.
Amid furor over his administration's border policies and threats to trade partners, Trump tweeted his displeasure at Fallon's regret on Sunday, telling the TV host to "be a man."
Shortly after Trump's tweet, Fallon declared on Twitter that he would be donating to RAICES, a Texas-based educational and legal service for refugees and immigrants.
The donation will be made under the president's name, in "honor" of the tweet.
Jimmy Fallon
33rd Annual
Farm Aid
Chris Stapleton is joining performers for the 33rd annual Farm Aid in Connecticut.
Organizers announced Monday the benefit for farmers will take place Sept. 22 at the Xfinity Theatre in Hartford.
Stapleton won a Grammy for best country album in February. He'll join Farm Aid regulars Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, Neil Young and Dave Matthews.
Other performers include Kacey Musgraves, Sturgill Simpson and Margo Price.
Farm Aid has raised more than $53 million for grants to aid family farmers and to lobby on their behalf.
Farm Aid
To Reunite On Nickelodeon
Kenan and Kel
Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell are coming to back to Nickelodeon for an episode of the revived game show "Double Dare."
Thompson and Mitchell starred on a pair of Nickelodeon shows in the 1990s, first its "SNL"-like sketch comedy series, "All That," and "Kenan & Kel." The duo also starred on the big screen in "Goodburger," which was based off an "All That" sketch. Since then, Mitchell has stayed largely out of the public eye, while Thompson has been a mainstay on "SNL," where he has been a cast member since 2003.
The new version of "Double Dare" premieres Monday with actress Liz Koshy as host, and with original host, Marc Summers on hand to give color commentary.
"Double Dare" features two teams competing to win prizes by answering brain-bending trivia questions, completing messy, physical stunts and ultimately facing the infamous obstacle course: The human hamster wheel, the classic gigantic mouth, the wringer and the iconic "Double Dare" nose, per Nick's official description.
Kenan and Kel
Mural Blitz In Paris
Banksy
The mysterious British street artist Banksy appears to have taken aim at the French government's crackdown on migrants in a series of new murals in Paris.
The world's best known graffiti painter apparently "blitzed" the French capital over the last few days, leaving as many as six works on walls across the city.
None of the works were signed -- as has been Banksy's wont in recent years -- but experts told AFP that they look genuine.
The most political takes issue with France's tough anti-migrant policy, with nearly 40 makeshift camps razed in Paris in the last three years and President Emmanuel Macron determined that the city does not become a magnet for refugees.
Banksy, who has not yet confirmed the works are his on Instagram, has been a long-time supporter of the refugee cause.
Banksy
$12 Million Photo Op
Singapore
Singapore said on Sunday it spent S$16.3 million ($12 million) on hosting the summit between U.S. President Donald Trumpand North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, less than earlier reports that had angered some locals.
Most of the money went on security, the foreign ministry said, without giving a detailed breakdown.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong had earlier estimated the event cost Singapore S$20 million. Foreign minister Vivian Balakrishnan had said that included the cost of Kim's hotel room.
Those reports drew anger from some Singaporeans on social media - though one commentator said it was a small price to pay - the cost of a chicken-rice dish for each citizen - to contribute to regional peace.
Marketing experts said the publicity generated from hosting the summit could be worth more than 10 times the cost to the tiny Southeast Asian city-state.
Singapore
Family Feud
Buzz Aldrin
Astronaut Buzz Aldrin is suing two of his children and a business partner for elder exploitation and fraud while accusing them of "slander" for suggesting the 88-year-old Aldrin has dementia and Alzheimer's disease.
Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon, claims that his son Andrew and daughter Janice, who oversee both a private company and a non-profit in Aldrin's name, have been using his legacy along with company funds "for their own self-dealing and enrichment". According to the suit filed in Florida,Andrew has pilfered nearly half a million dollars from his father's personal account in the last two years.
Aldrin's adult children deny the allegations and in a statement said they were "deeply disappointed and saddened by the unjustified lawsuit that has been brought against us individually and against the foundation that we have built together as a family to carry on Dad's legacy for generations to come".
Previously Aldrin's children had applied for co-guardianship over their father on the basis that he is in "cognitive decline". Aldrin is scheduled to undergo a competency examination on Tuesday and Wednesday, according to his lawyers. "Nobody is going to come close to thinking I should be under a guardianship," Aldrin said in an interview last week, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Also named in the suit is Christina Korp, who like Aldrin's children is an administrator in both the for-profit and non-profit Aldrin organizations. Korp is a board member of the Buzz Aldrin Space Foundation and vice-president of marketing at Buzz Aldrin Enterprises.
Buzz Aldrin
Study Claims
Testosterone
A man's testosterone levels are largely determined by his childhood environment rather than by genetics, new research suggests.
Scientists at Durham University say men who grow up in more challenging conditions - where they are exposed to infectious diseases or greater levels of poverty - are more likely to have lower traces of the hormone than those who spend their childhoods in healthier environments.
The study, published in the Nature Ecology and Evolution journal, challenges the theory that testosterone - commonly associated with aggression - is controlled by hereditary factors or race.
It suggests the difference is linked to the body's energy use: it may only be possible to have high levels of the hormone if there are fewer other demands placed on the body like fighting illness.
The study collected data from 359 men on height, weight and age of puberty, along with saliva samples to examine their testosterone levels.
Testosterone
New Role
Russell Crowe
Ailes was the controversial figure who started Fox News, molding it into the political force that helped foster the rise of the American right--and the platform that embraced the ascension of Donald Trump.
Still untitled, the production will be based on reporter Gabriel Sherman's best-seller "The Loudest Voice in the Room." Sherman's book began through the regular coverage he wrote for New York magazine; he co-wrote the first episode.
Showtime gave the go-ahead for an eight-episode limited series in April 2017. The Oscar-winning Rusell Crowe (for the film "Gladiator") has newly been announced to star, making his U.S. television debut.
Along with revisiting his meeting with Richard Nixon, and the sexual harassment accusations and settlements that brought his Fox News reign to an end, the show will examine how Ailes--who died in 2017--became "the Republican Party's de facto leader" (as Deadline calls him), explored through multiple points of view and focusing on the past decade.
Russell Crowe
After 60-Year Hiatus
Royal Observatory Greenwich
After a 60-year hiatus, astronomers at the Royal Observatory Greenwich in London are studying the sky again.
The observatory, which is home to the Prime Meridian of the World and Greenwich Mean Time, has installed a new telescope that will allow astronomers to study the surface of the sun, star clusters and perhaps even exploding stars in other galaxies. The telescope is named after Annie Maunder, one of the first women scientists to work at the Royal Observatory Greenwich.
The Royal Observatory was founded in 1675 by King Charles II and it was a working observatory until 1957, when its instruments were moved to Herstmonceux in Sussex, England. The observatory then became a museum and place that educates the public about modern astronomy. With the new telescope, the site will go back to being a working observatory.
Some of the world's largest telescopes are located in very isolated places with little light pollution, such as the Atacama desert in Chile, but with new technology Londoners can look at the stars through the Annie Maunder Astrographic Telescope despite the city's light pollution.
The new instrument has several cameras and the images it captures will be available to the public via live-streams and workshops. The Royal Observatory is also inviting volunteers with research ideas to use the telescope. The instrument can be used to study the sun that gives life to Earth as well as asteroids and comets that can threaten it. It can be used to look at our own solar system as well as other galaxies. Kerss said it is important to do this type of research because it is a way of getting a better understanding of ourselves.
Royal Observatory Greenwich
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