Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Paul Krugman: Notes on a Butter Republic (NY Times Blog)
The truth is that there are hardly any people in the U.S. who want the government to seize the means of production, or even the economy's commanding heights. What they want is social democracy - the kinds of basic guarantees of health care, protection against poverty, etc., that almost every other advanced country provides.
Matthew Yglesias: Donald Trump is making Medicare-for-all inevitable (Vox)
A market-based solution can't work if Republicans won't let it. The simple fact is that though [Republicans] don't like to admit it, they just disagree with the moral premise that the government has an obligation to ensure that people get the health care they need. And that's going to mean doing it the old-fashioned way - by enrolling as many people as possible, including, ultimately, everyone in government programs that keep operating unless Congress actually repeals them.
Aaron Blake: Vladimir Putin's goal was to destabilize the United States. He's succeeding. (Washington Post)
The even-bigger motivation [for Vladimir Putin's goal was in interfering in the 2016 U.S. election] was about destabilizing the American system of government. "Russian efforts to influence the 2016 US presidential election represent the most recent expression of Moscow's longstanding desire to undermine the US-led liberal democratic order," begins the January 2017 report from the U.S. intelligence community. Trump, by virtue of his controversial style and tendency to destroy societal norms, simply became the most obvious conduit - arguably a near-perfect one, in fact.
Eli Rosenberg: "'The most bizarre thing I've ever been a part of': Trump panel found no widespread voter fraud, ex-member says" (Washington Post)
Maine Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap, one of the 11 members of the commission formed by President Trump to investigate supposed voter fraud, issued a scathing rebuke of the disbanded panel on Friday, accusing Vice Chair Kris Kobach and the White House of making false statements and saying that he had concluded that the panel had been set up to try to validate the president's baseless claims about fraudulent votes in the 2016 election.
Joe Bob Briggs: Hundred-Dollar Bills Make Me Nervous (Taki's Magazine)
So I'm standing behind a guy at the drugstore who says, "I'm sorry, I don't have anything smaller," and he pulls out a roll of hundreds.
Joe Bob Briggs: Oculus Schmoculus (Taki's Magazine)
I'm standing in "The Oculus" on 9/11 and several thoughts are going through my mind.
Like, what the heck is an oculus?
Joe Bob Briggs: Hi! I'm Jocelyn! I'm Passionate About Cloud Storage! (Taki's Magazine)
As founder and CEO of MeCloud, I'm excited to be bringing a consumer-facing enterprise team to application design while using my 35 years as a Certified Life Transformation Coach to establish a soul connection between digital technology and the divinity dwelling inside your hidden Truth Spirit.
David Bruce's Amazon Author Page
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David Bruce has over 80 Kindle books on Amazon.com.
Presenting
Michael Egan
responded:
took the day off.
In memory.
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
Reader Comment
Current Events
Catching up after being felled several days by a migraine. Friend Dan shared the great home improvement suggestion.
Linda >^..^<
We are all only temporarily able bodied.
Thanks, Linda (& Dan)!
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
'GAGLIANI'. CRASH AND BURN!
GOOD RIDDANCE TO BAD RUBBISH!
CONSERVATIVES ARE DISGUSTING ANIMALS!
Visit JD's site - Kitty Litter Music
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
It's so hot the crickets out back sound like little machine guns.
Unreleased Song In Spike Lee's BlacKkKlansman
Prince
Prince may no longer be with us in a physical sense, but his legacy endures - especially considering he left us with an underground bank vault filled with enough unreleased music to last us the next century. One of these recordings, a cover of the early 1900s spiritual "Mary Don't You Weep", is being unearthed all thanks to Spike Lee and his latest film, BlacKkKlansman.
As the Rolling Stone reports, the Prince cover will soundtrack the film's end credits, which features footage from the Charlottesville riots. Originally recorded to cassette, the rendition dates back to the '80s. Lee was able to obtain permission to use it thanks to Troy Carter, a Spotify executive who also serves as an advisor for Prince's estate and helps to sponsor the annual Prince's Born Day Purple People Party.
"I knew that I needed an end-credits song," Lee told Rolling Stone. "I've become very close with Troy Carter, one of the executives at Spotify. So I invited Troy to a private screening. And after, he said, 'Spike, I got the song.'"
According to Lee, he felt the High Priest of Pop would've approved of having the recording as part of BlacKkKlansman. Premiered at Cannes to widespread acclaim, the film recounts the true story of Ron Stallworth, an African-American cop who successfully infiltrated the ranks of his local Ku Klux Klan chapter.
"Prince wanted me to have that song, I don't care what nobody says," the renowned director said. "My brother Prince wanted me to have that song. For this film. There's no other explanation to me. This cassette is in the back of the vaults. In Paisley Park. And all of a sudden, out of nowhere, it's discovered? Nah-ah. That ain't an accident [laughs]."
Prince
Retiring From Acting
Robert Redford
Robert Redford, the screen legend and Oscar winner, has announced that he's retiring from acting at the grand old age of 81, with upcoming movie "The Old Man & The Gun" his last gig in front of the camera.
The actor, director and founder of the Sundance Institute and its film festival, began his career on stage 60 years ago, before moving into television and film, and eventually into directing.
"Never say never, but I pretty well concluded that this would be it for me in terms of acting," he told Entertainment Weekly. "(I'll) move toward retirement after this 'cause I've been doing it since I was 21," he said.
"I thought, well, that's enough. And why not go out with something that's very upbeat and positive?"
He had indicated to his grandson in a 2016 interview that his roles in "Our Souls at Night" opposite Jane Fonda and "Old Man & The Gun" would be his last.
Robert Redford
Renew Big Four Deal
Emmys
The Emmys are staying put on traditional TV, renewing the four-network deal with ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox for the next eight years.
A return to "the wheel" has been largely expected, as both broadcast executives and TV Academy brass were keen to keep the awards show on a traditional platform despite its shrinking presence in the Emmys' biggest categories.
The current deal between the TV Academy and the broadcast nets was set to expire with the upcoming 70th anniversary of TV's top prize, airing Sept. 17 on NBC. The new deal keeps the Emmys on broadcast through 2026, with Fox getting the telecast in 2019, followed by ABC, CBS and NBC.
Keeping the Emmys locked in for a relatively long-term deal is no surprise. Despite the telecast's comparatively lackluster ratings in the awards space, live events remain the closest thing to future-proof for traditional TV, and nearly all of the big shows are set to air on their current homes for the foreseeable future.
The 2018 Emmys will be hosted by Saturday Night Live stars Michael Che and Colin Jost.
Emmys
Movie Marathon
Harry Potter
Harry Potter fans will want to buy some new dress robes, because there's a party they will definitely want to attend. To mark the 20th anniversary of the movie adaptation of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, which introduced moviegoers to an ordinary little boy with an extraordinary scar whose life dramatically changed when an invitation came through his mailbox, Cinemark is putting on a massive-and, yes, magical-movie marathon.
Grab your favorite Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw buddies, because, according to PopSugar, muggles across America will be able to watch all eight Harry Potter films, plus Fantastic Beats and Where to Find Them at Cinemark theaters later this month. 141 theaters across the United States will be showing the films during Cinemark's Wizarding World XD Week, which will run from Aug. 31 through Sept. 6.
To make sure the fun is affordable for the whole family, tickets will cost just $5 per film and a $25 festival pass will give fans access to all nine movies, plus a few collectibles like a festival keychain and badge. While there may be no O.W.L.s in moviegoing, this cram session will definitely be a hoot. To buy tickets or passes and find out if theaters near you will be heading to Hogwarts, Diagon Alley, the Quidditch World Cup, and the rest of the world created by J.K. Rowling, visit cinemark.com/wizardingworld.
Harry Potter
NASA Program Canceled
Greenhouse Gas
A NASA program that cost $10 million per year to track carbon and methane, key greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming, has been cancelled, a US space agency spokesman said Thursday.
The end of the program -- called the Carbon Monitoring System (CMS) -- which tracked sources and sinks for carbon and made high-resolution models of the planet's flows of carbon -- was first reported by the journal Science.
"Now, President-for-now Donald Trump's (R-Fossil Fool) administration has quietly killed the CMS," the report said, describing the move as the latest in a "broad attack on climate science" mounted by the White House.
The journal said NASA "declined to provide a reason for the cancellation beyond 'budget constraints and higher priorities within the science budget.'"
It also quoted US space agency spokesman Steve Cole as saying there was no mention of the CMS in a budget deal signed in March, which "allowed the administration's move to take effect."
Greenhouse Gas
Risks Tipping Into 'Hothouse' State
Earth
The planet urgently needs to transition to a green economy because fossil fuel pollution risks pushing the Earth into a lasting and dangerous "hothouse" state, researchers warned on Monday.
If polar ice continues to melt, forests are slashed and greenhouse gases rise to new highs -- as they currently do each year -- the Earth will pass a tipping point.
Crossing that threshold "guarantees a climate 4-5 Celsius (7-9 Fahrenheit) higher than pre-industrial times, and sea levels that are 10 to 60 meters (30-200 feet) higher than today," cautioned scientists in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
"Hothouse Earth is likely to be uncontrollable and dangerous to many," said the article by scientists at University of Copenhagen, Australian National University and the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany.
Rivers would flood, storms would wreak havoc on coastal communities, and coral reefs would be eliminated -- all by century's end or even earlier.
Earth
Kicks Out Canadian Ambassador
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia has issued a sharp rebuke to Canada for criticizing recent arrests of human rights and women's activists.
The Saudi foreign ministry on Sunday gave the Canadian ambassador 24 hours to leave the country and froze all new trade and investment transactions with Canada.
The retaliation followed a statement posted on the Canadian Global Affairs Twitter account on Friday saying it was "gravely concerned" about "additional arrests of civil society and women's rights activists," and urging the Saudi government to release them.
The Saudi government replied with a statement calling Canada's comments "a grave and unacceptable violation of the Kingdom's laws and procedures."
Saudi Arabia
Wildfires
California
As California wildfires claimed their seventh victim, Donald Trump (R-OfPutin) finally weighed in on the tragedy with one of his most confounding tweets ever, blaming California for the blazes because it "diverts" water to the Pacific Ocean.
He also blamed the state's "bad environmental laws" - the most protective in the nation - and trees. He called for a "tree clear to stop fire spreading."
He failed to express condolences to the families of the victims, thank firefighters, or offer comfort to Californians afraid for their lives, homes and communities.
It's unclear what the president meant by water "diverted" into the Pacific. California allocates water among residents, agricultural and industrial use, and for wetlands and wildlife, including water mandated to protect endangered species. But state waters eventually drain into the ocean. As one tweeter responded: "Water running into the Pacific Ocean is called a river." And firefighters haven't complained of a lack of water for battling the blazes.
The tweet could be a muddled indication of support for a GOP battle in Washington for a larger water allocation to farmers, many of them Republican voters, in the drought-stricken state's central valley. But it's unclear how that would help staunch California fires. The scientific consensus is that fires are becoming more common because of climate change, which Trump once called a Chinese "hoax."
California
Heart Attack Gender Gap
Women
Women suffering from heart attacks have their odds of death slashed if they are treated by female doctors, researchers found.
In a study looking at more than half a million heart attack cases, researchers found the "gender gap" in heart attack patient survival rates more than tripled when male doctors were in charge.
Past research has found a far greater risk of death after heart attack in women, and the new results suggest a reason why this gender inequality exists.
Professor Seth Carnahan of Washington University in St Louis, one of the researchers behind the study, said the results reflected broader gender disparities in medicine and the workplace.
They found that generally women were less likely to survive heart attacks than men, but this effect was far stronger when men were treating them.
Women
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