Richard J. Cross, III: GOP speechwriter may vote for Hillary Clinton (Baltimore Sun)
But weeks after the end of the 2016 GOP convention, I am confronted by an inconvenient fact: Despite what I wrote in that nationally televised speech about Hillary Clinton, I may yet have to vote for her because of the epic deficiencies of my own party's nominee.
According to the Oxford English Dictionaries, the standard collective noun used to refer to a group of domestic cats is a 'clowder,' as in 'a clowder of house cats.' Other sources indicate that there may be other collective nouns that can be applied to cats, though these may be more colloquial in nature. Alternate collective nouns for a group of domestic cats include clutter, pounce, glare, nuisance, cluster and glaring.
There are also collective nouns to describe groups of other types of cats. For example, a group of kittens is usually referred to as a litter, but this adorable grouping can also be referred to as a kindle or an intrigue of kittens, as in, 'There is a kindle of kittens available for adoption at the library today.' Wild cats also have their own collective nouns. A herd of lions is typically referred to as a pride, but can alternately be called a troop or a sawt. A grouping of tigers can be known as a streak or an ambush, while a group of leopards can be called a leap or lepe. Collective nouns for wild cats in general include 'destruction,' as in, 'The school children saw a destruction of different big cats at the zoo today.'
Source
Alan J was first and correct with:
A Dowt or Destruction.
Randall wrote:
a clutter of wild cats
Adam answered:
A Pride? That applies to lions, at least.
Deborah, celebrating her 35th wedding anniversary, replied:
Is it a destruction? The Eenterwebz cannot agree. As a dog person I've never given much thought to what you call a group of cats, domesticated or feral, especially since they are independent and don't often hang out together.
Cooler weather today and this week. It's quite nice.
Marian responded:
dowt or destruction
Jim from CA, retired to ID, said:
Destruction
MAM wrote:
A group of wild cats, the correct terms are 'dowt' and 'destruction'.
Patriot Act NSA Spying Unconstitutional Section 215 National Security Letters Must End
My name is Marc Perkel and I have decided to announce that I will not comply with the so called "Patriot Act" laws requiring me to disclose information about my customers. If I receive a national security letter I will immediately photograph it, post it online everywhere I can, and then make a video of me burning it. I will then await my arrest. If you want to put me in jail then come get me mother fucker.
CBS begins the night with a RERUN'NCIS', followed by a FRESH'Zoo', then a RERUN'NCIS: The 3rd One'.
Scheduled on a FRESHStephen Colbert are Rami Malek, Tika Sumpter, Parker Sawyer, and Diana Gordon.
Scheduled on a FRESHJames Corden, OBE, are Jason Derulo, Ben Schwartz, and Mary Elizabeth Winstead.
NBC starts the night with a FRESH'America's Got Talent', followed by a FRESH'Better Late Than Never'.
Scheduled on a FRESHJimmy Fallon are Dolly Parton and Donald Glover.
Scheduled on a FRESHSeth Meyers are Bob Costas, Dylan Lauren, and Jon Wurster.
On a RERUNCarson 'The Scab' Daly (from 5/26/16) are Akbar Gbajabiamila & Matt Iseman, Summer Cannibals, and Daniels.
ABC opens the night with a FRESH'Bachelor In Paradise', followed by a FRESH'Bachelor In Paradise: After Paradise', then a FRESH'The View'.
Scheduled on a FRESHJimmy Kimmel are Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, Wagner Moura, Kongos, and Robert Randolph.
The CW offers a RERUN'The Flash', followed by a FRESH'MADtv'.
Faux has a RERUN'Brooklyn Nine-Nine', followed by a RERUN'New Girl', then a RERUN'Lucifer'.
MY has 'TMZ (Not So) Live', followed by 'Hollywood Today (Not So) Live'.
A&E has 'Married At First Sight', another 'Married At First Sight', followed by a FRESH'Married At First Sight', then a FRESH'Born This Way'.
AMC offers the movie 'The Conjuring', followed by a FRESH'Halt & Catch Fire', then another FRESH'Halt & Catch Fire'.
BBC -
[6:00AM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - SEASON 1 - EPISODE 26-The Neutral Zone
[7:00AM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - SEASON 2 - EPISODE 1-The Child
[8:00AM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - SEASON 2 - EPISODE 2-Where Silence Has Lease
[9:00AM] DOCTOR WHO: VOYAGE OF THE DAMNED
[10:00AM] DOCTOR WHO - SEASON 4 - EPISODE 1-Partners in Crime
[11:00AM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - SEASON 7 - EPISODE 2-Liaisons
[12:00PM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - SEASON 7 - EPISODE 3-Interface
[1:00PM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - SEASON 7 - EPISODE 4-Gambit (Part 1)
[2:00PM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - SEASON 3 - EPISODE 17-Sins of the Father
[3:00PM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - SEASON 3 - EPISODE 18-Allegiance
[4:00PM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - SEASON 3 - EPISODE 19-Captain's Holiday
[5:00PM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - SEASON 3 - EPISODE 20-Tin Man
[6:00PM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - SEASON 3 - EPISODE 21-Hollow Pursuits
[7:00PM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - SEASON 3 - EPISODE 22-The Most Toys
[8:00PM] DINNER FOR SCHMUCKS (2010)
[10:30PM] DINNER FOR SCHMUCKS (2010)
[1:00AM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - SEASON 7 - EPISODE 3-Interface
[2:00AM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - SEASON 7 - EPISODE 4-Gambit (Part 1)
[3:00AM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - SEASON 3 - EPISODE 17-Sins of the Father
[4:00AM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - SEASON 3 - EPISODE 18-Allegiance
[5:00AM] STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - SEASON 3 - EPISODE 19-Captain's Holiday (ALL TIMES EDT)
Bravo has 'Don't Be Tardy ... ', another 'Don't Be Tardy ... ', 'Real Housewives Of NYC', 'Real Housewives Of NJ', and 'Real Housewives Of OC'.
Comedy Central has 'Futurama', another 'Futurama', and 3 hours of old 'Tosh.0'.
On a RERUNThe Daily Show (from 8/9/16) are Riki Lindhome and Natasha Leggero.
On a RERUN@Midnight (from 8/18/16) are Flula Borg, Gina Yashere, and Milana Vayntrub.
FX has the movie 'The Twilight Saga: Part 1: Breaking Dawn', followed by the movie 'The Twilight Saga: Part 2: Breaking Dawn', then the movie 'The Twilight Saga: Part 2: Breaking Dawn', again.
History has 'Counting Cars', another 'Counting Cars', still another 'Counting Cars', followed by a FRESH'Counting Cars', then a FRESH'Forged In Fire', followed by a FRESH'Milwaukee Blacksmith', then another FRESH'Milwaukee Blacksmith'.
IFC -
[6:00AM] THE THREE STOOGES-Back to the Woods
[6:30AM] THE THREE STOOGES-Pardon My Scotch
[7:00AM] THE THREE STOOGES-Uncivil Warriors
[7:30AM] CADDYSHACK
[9:45AM] HONEY, I SHRUNK THE KIDS
[11:45AM] RENO 911!: MIAMI
[1:45PM] CADDYSHACK
[4:00PM] HONEY, I SHRUNK THE KIDS
[6:00PM] THAT '70S SHOW-Eric's Stash
[6:30PM] THAT '70S SHOW-Hunting
[7:00PM] THAT '70S SHOW-Red Gets a Job
[7:30PM] THAT '70S SHOW-Burning Down the House
[8:00PM] THAT '70S SHOW-The First Time
[8:30PM] THAT '70S SHOW-Afterglow
[9:00PM] THAT '70S SHOW-Kitty and Eric's Night Out
[9:30PM] THAT '70S SHOW-Parents Find Out
[10:00PM] THAT '70S SHOW-Kiss of Death
[10:30PM] THAT '70S SHOW-Kelso's Serenade
[11:00PM] THAT '70S SHOW-Eric's Stash
[11:30PM] THAT '70S SHOW-Hunting
[12:00AM] THAT '70S SHOW-Red Gets a Job
[12:30AM] THAT '70S SHOW-Burning Down the House
[1:00AM] THAT '70S SHOW-The First Time
[1:30AM] THAT '70S SHOW-Afterglow
[2:00AM] THAT '70S SHOW-Kitty and Eric's Night Out
[2:30AM] THAT '70S SHOW-Parents Find Out
[3:00AM] THAT '70S SHOW-Kiss of Death
[3:30AM] THAT '70S SHOW-Kelso's Serenade
[4:00AM] TEXAS CHAINSAW 3D (ALL TIMES EDT)
Sundance -
[6:00AM] Spy Game
[9:00AM] The Firm
[12:00PM] The Dead Pool
[2:00PM] Hoosiers
[4:30PM] The Untouchables
[7:00PM] Casino
[11:00PM] Gran Torino
[1:30AM] Spy Game
[4:30AM] The Writers' Room-Scandal
[5:00AM] The Firm (ALL TIMES EDT)
SyFy has the movie 'Hulk', followed by the movie 'Push', then the movie 'Lake Placid'.
TBS:
Scheduled on a FRESHConan are John Krasinski, Judy Greer, and Blood Orange.
A statue is dressed up like Toots Thielemans as an homage to the jazz musician at the Grand Place, Grote Markt, in Brussels on August 22, 2016. Thielemans died today at the age of 94.
Photo by Maarten Weynants
Officiating a wedding a serious responsibility, best left to religious officials, close friends and fictional wizards.
Sir Ian McKellen, best known for playing Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings, was offered $1.5 million to officiate Sean Parker's wedding as the wizard, The Daily Mail reports. Parker, a billionaire who founded Napster and was Facebook's first president, first made the offer three years ago.
"I was offered $1.5 million dollars to marry a very famous couple in California, which I would perhaps have considered doing, but I had to go dressed as Gandalf," McKellen told The Daily Mail. "So I said, 'I am sorry, Gandalf doesn't do weddings.'"
Parker's fantasy-themed wedding to singer Alexandra Lenas, which caused some expensive damage to the redwood forest in which it was held, cost approximately $1.5 million dollars. Guests at the time included Sting, Sean Lennon and Emma Watson.
Each guest was custom-fitted in a Tolkienized Lord of the Rings costumes, because nothing says eternal love like cosplay.
Singer and actress Cher stops to talk to media as she leaves a fundraiser for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton at the Pilgrim Monument and Provincetown Museum in Provincetown, Mass., Sunday, Aug. 21, 2016.
Photo by Carolyn Kaster
A plaque honoring David Bowie was unveiled on Monday at the home where the late rock star lived during his stay in Cold War-era Berlin.
Bowie, who died in January, moved to Berlin in the mid-1970s. He lived there while he worked on albums "Low", "Heroes" and "Lodger".
Fans gathered at the building on Monday, laying flowers and candles outside, before Berlin Mayor Michael Mueller unveiled the plaque reading "David Bowie (1947-2016) lived in this house 1976-1978". The plaque also quotes a line from "Heroes".
"I think one can say David Bowie and West Berlin had quite a special partnership," Mueller told the crowd.
A £1 million mural by British street artist Banksy which mocked government surveillance has been destroyed during building works on the house on which it appeared in 2014, the local council said Monday.
The piece, titled "Spy Booth", depicted three men in trench coats using listening devices to tap into conversations at an actual public telephone box in Cheltenham, southwest England.
It was located just three miles (five kilometres) from the UK government listening post GCHQ, which was the subject of a series of revelations by fugitive former US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden.
The local council said the owner had confirmed the mural was damaged during urgent works on the end-of-terrace home, which was given protected status after the mural appeared overnight in April 2014.
A picture on Twitter appeared to show the wall stripped back to the brickwork.
San Francisco police are searching for a relic believed to trace back to 325 AD that went missing from a Catholic church on Thursday.
According to ABC San Francisco affiliate KGO, officials are investigating the disappearance of what is believed to be an ancient religious artifact from St. Dominic's Catholic Church.
The leaders of the church and local parishioners say they are praying that the artifact will be safely returned to the parish.
According to St. Dominic's website, the relic is a "treasured place of prayer that has brought consolation to those who are weighed down by the crosses of their lives."
There were no security cameras inside the church and no witnesses.
A large rift is widening across an increasingly fragile Antarctic ice shelf, scientists found. The crack is spreading across the Larsen C Ice Shelf at an increased rate, threatening to carve out an iceberg the size of Delaware while destabilizing a larger area of ice roughly the size of Scotland.
When this iceberg calving event happens - no one knows exactly when it will occur, except that it's getting closer - it will be the largest calving event in Antarctica since 2000, the third-biggest ever recorded and the largest from this particular ice shelf, scientists say.
About 10 to 12 percent of the Larsen C Ice Shelf is expected to break off during such an event, leaving the larger ice shelf even more vulnerable to melting from increasing air and ocean temperatures.
The iceberg and ice shelf melting would not, however, increase sea levels, since the ice is already resting in the ocean, like an ice cube in a glass.
However, while the Larsen C Ice Shelf may not be a sea level rise concern, rising temperatures and changes in land and sea ice across the Antarctic Peninsula are affecting native wildlife and may help disrupt regional - and possibly even global - ocean circulation.
Natasha Lyonne, left, and Chloë Sevigny attend the LA Premiere of "Antibirth" held at Cinefamily on Sunday, Aug. 21, 2016, in Los Angeles.
Photo by John Salangsang
A ship its operator calls the "first-ever luxury cruise" to sail through Canada's Northwest Passage was set to depart on Tuesday, part of a growing Arctic tourism industry spurred by rising temperatures and receding ice.
The ship Crystal Serenity was to depart from Anchorage, Alaska, and cut through frigid northern waters before reaching New York in one month, according to a schedule from its American operator, Crystal Cruises.
The route was first navigated more than a century ago by Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen, but has been ice-free only in recent years. The journey raises questions about further human degradation of a region disproportionably affected by climate change, where temperatures are rising twice as quickly as the world average.
The cruise was priced at a minimum of $19,755 per passenger, which is more than $600 per day higher than last year's average daily cruise price of $168.43, according to the industry analytics firm Cruise Market Watch.
The Arctic has been warming quickly because a thaw of white ice and snow exposes darker ground and water below that absorb more of the sun's heat.
A giant dummy of Charlie Chaplin is carried in a carnival during inauguration of Tehran-Mobarak 16th International Puppet Festival in downtown Tehran, Iran, Monday, Aug. 22, 2016. The festival kicked off on Monday with a happiness carnival of puppets, songs and music in the streets of downtown Tehran and runs from August 22nd to August 28th. 57 Iranian theater groups and 9 from abroad including Netherlands, Russia, India, Afghanistan and Poland are participating in the event.
Photo by Vahid Salemi
US tycoon Steve Wynn Monday opened a $4 billion mega-resort in Macau -- complete with giant lake, musical fountains and cable cars -- as the Chinese casino enclave battles to turn around its fortunes.
At a ceremony attended by 1,000 guests, he launched the Wynn Palace: six million square feet (560,000 square metres) of entertainment with a central casino, more than 50 shops, 13 restaurants and 1,700 hotel rooms starting at under $300.
The fanfare included dancing fountains, and a carousel and Ferris wheel made from flowers.
Also on display was a rare quartet of Qing dynasty vases, which a company statement said had been installed in the resort "as part of Steve Wynn's efforts to bring Chinese artwork home".
Wynn is gambling on Macau even as it faces a downturn following a corruption crackdown by China's President Xi Jinping and a slowdown in the Chinese economy.
DJ/Producer Marshmello performs at the 2016 Billboard Hot 100 Music Festival at Nikon at Jones Beach Theater on Sunday, Aug. 21, 2016, in Wantagh, N.Y.
Photo by Scott Roth
Anette Mattsson had bid 200,000 euros ($226,500) for a prized gray Arabian mare but soon stopped. With the price rising rapidly and no sign of other bidders, she sensed that something strange was going on at the annual Pride of Poland sale on Aug. 14.
Mattsson, a Swedish breeder with 27 years of auction experience, was not alone in suspecting something was off in the bidding for a purebred Arabian named Emira. In the week since, the sale has become a political scandal, making Emira a household name and prompting calls for a criminal investigation.
Whatever truly happened, the suspicions have dealt a blow to the reputation of an Arabian horse breeding program considered among the best in the world and which many Poles cherish as a national treasure.
Many people suspect that someone made fake bids to drive prices higher at the auction on the famed Janow Podlaski stud farm, a state-run enterprise in eastern Poland, an allegation the authorities strongly deny. Those who suspect wrongdoing believe that state officials would have acted to ensure a successful auction, which was considered a major test of new management.
After Mattsson pulled out, Emira's price kept rising, finally declared as sold for 550,000 euros. Unlike the other sales that evening, no buyer was identified. At the end of the auction, Emira was brought back and put up for sale again.
Russian artist Vasily Slonov fits an item of his new collection of art called "Chemical Punk" based on iron headwear called "Kokoshnik", the traditional Russian female headdress, on a model at his workshop in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia, Russia, August 22, 2016.
Photo by Ilya Naymushin
Fancy buying a World War II tank? Then make tracks to a museum in Normandy, France, which is closing its doors and selling off its entire collection.
One of the star lots of the 130 being auctioned off by the Normandy Tank Museum is an American M4 Cadillac tank made in 1942 which is listed at between 80,000 euros and 140,000 euros (between $90,500 and $158,350).
A 1944 Jeep MB is also going under the hammer for an estimate of 25,000 euros, while a military Caterpillar D-8 bulldozer is available for between 4,000 euros and 6,000 euros in the sale on September 18 overseen by the Artcurial auction house.
For smaller budgets, dummies used in the museum dressed in the uniforms of tank drivers and US Navy pilots can be snapped up for around 200 euros.
The museum, which opened three years ago in Catz near the D-Day beaches on the Normandy coast, is shutting because of a 30-percent drop in visitors this year which it blames on the terror attacks on France in the past two years.
Belgian musician Toots Thielemans, who turned the lowly harmonica into a virtuoso jazz instrument during an illustrious career that saw him perform with such legends as Charlie Parker, has died. He was 94.
Thielemans, who also made a mark on pop culture with solos on movies and the theme for TV's "Sesame Street," died in his sleep in a Belgian hospital on Monday, his manager said. He was hospitalized last month after a fall, but had been in good spirits after an operation on his shoulder.
Thielemans hung up his harmonica in 2014 as health problems made it more difficult for him to take to the stage.
Although his name wasn't widely known outside the jazz world, many heard his harmonica playing, including generations of children who grew up with the opening theme to "Sesame Street."
His harmonica was also prominently featured on movie soundtracks, including those of the Oscar-winning "Midnight Cowboy," ''The Pawnbroker," ''Jean de Florette," and "The Sugarland Express." Also adept as a whistler, he could be heard on the Old Spice after-shave commercials. He performed and recorded with Benny Goodman, Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald, Oscar Peterson, Herbie Hancock, Quincy Jones, Paul Simon and Billy Joel, among many others.
Despite suffering from asthma much of his life, Thielemans breathed artistic life into an instrument many dismiss as a toy. In the jazz world, he was the first to use the harmonica to blow complex bebop lines. He played a custom-made Hohner chromatic harmonica - different from the diatonic harmonica used by blues players - which has a slide making it possible to play three octaves in all keys.
His zest for life was apparent in his only major hit that moved into the popular mainstream -the upbeat "Bluesette" which he first recorded in 1962, on which he showcased his signature style of whistling and playing guitar in unison.
Thielemans was beloved in his native Belgium, not least because he always took pride in his humble background growing up in Brussels' Marolles neighborhood.
He was ennobled by Belgium's King Albert II with the title of baron in 2001 and received the U.S. National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters award in 2009, the nation's highest jazz honor.
Born in Brussels on April 29, 1922, Jean-Baptiste Frederic Isidore Thielemans began playing the accordion at age 3.
He discovered jazz after the German occupation began in 1940. But after sitting in with local combos, his friends advised him to get "a real instrument."
He taught himself to play guitar, mostly by listening to records of the legendary Belgian-born Gypsy jazz guitarist, Django Reinhardt.
In 1945, as he was making a name for himself as a guitarist in local jazz clubs and dance halls, friends decided that his given name wasn't hip enough. So he became "Toots."
When the first bebop records by Parker and Dizzy Gillespie reached Belgium in the postwar years, Thielemans found his musical "prophets."
In 1948, he made his first visit to the United States, and stopped off in New York on his way home. An agent heard him sitting in with Howard McGhee's band at a local club, and a few months later, he received a letter at his Brussels home, inviting him to join Benny Goodman's band.
Union rules prevented the Belgian from joining the clarinetist in New York, but he appeared with Goodman's band in Europe in 1949 and 1950. Thielemans moved to New York in 1952, getting a chance to play with Parker's All-Stars.
From 1953 to 1959, he played guitar and some harmonica with pianist George Shearing's quintet, then one of the top jazz combos. While with Shearing, he added whistling to his repertoire.
His first U.S. album as a leader, "The Sound," came out in 1955. One of his favorite records was "Affinity," a 1979 session on which he played with pianist Bill Evans' trio.
Although mostly recording straight-ahead jazz albums, he released two albums in the 1990s as "The Brasil Project," featuring such prominent Brazilian artists as Dori Caymmi, Gilberto Gil, Milton Nascimento and Caetano Veloso.
A jazz festival held in his name was due to take place from Sept. 9-11 in the town of La Hulpe, about 25 kilometers (16 miles) southeast of Brussels, where Thielemans lived.
Uniformed soldiers of the King of Norway's Guard parade for inspection by their mascot, king penguin Nils Olav, at Edinburgh Zoo, Monday, Aug. 22, 2016. It was announced that the penguin who had previously been knighted has been promoted and given the new title of "Brigadier Sir Nils Olav".
Photo by Jane Barlow
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