Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Paul Krugman: The Medicare Miracle (NY Times)
After all the talk about how providing health care to the uninsured would be unaffordable and unsustainable, it turns out that it isn't hard at all.
Henry Rollins: American Bigotry Is Alive in Ferguson (LA Weekly)
While most of America gets on with its business, Ferguson, Missouri, burns in archaic flames of exasperating, unresolved anger, for all to see. Once again, the world watches America roil in the mortifying echo of Jim Crow law brutality.
Amanda Mannen, Sara Castro, Christine M.: 5 Unexpected Things I Learned From Having an Eating Disorder (Cracked)
Our culture tends to make the most basic concepts way too complicated, even something as simple as putting stuff in our bodies so we can keep living. In one corner, we have evil food companies who trick you into becoming addicted to foods that will kill you, and in the other corner, in the blue trunks, we have our cultural obsession with things like the ever-elusive "thigh gap." It's no surprise, then, that some people become clinically confused, resulting in drastic measures like starving themselves or having their cake and puking it too.
Smokers Lungs vs Healthy Lungs (YouTube)
Six-second clip.
Alison Flood: Will Self declares George Orwell the 'Supreme Mediocrity' (Guardian)
Novelist takes particular issue with the 'Orwellian language police' who have made plain English an unquestioned virtue.
Alison Flood: Neil Gaiman brings American Gods back to life (Guardian)
Trigger Warnings, a short-story collection due in 2015, features story which revisits the world of his Hugo and Nebula-winning novel.
Robert Evans, Anonymous: "6 Tricks I Learned as a Faith Healer (for Scamming You)" (Cracked)
For some of us, religion is a reason to get up in the morning -- a balm in hard times, an inspiration during bouts of temptation. For others, the only time we encounter it is during sex, football games, and/or award shows. Still others view religion as nothing more than a paycheck or a cynical tool of control. We call these people bastards, monsters, and blasphemers. Some folks simply call them "faith healers." We sat down with a man who learned the conniving ways of a faith healer when he was a teenager. Here's what he told us:
Joseph Luzzi: The Great Unread (Paris Review)
Why do some classics continue to fascinate while others gather dust?
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:
took the day off.
has retired.
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
From The Creator of 'Avery Ant'
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.
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
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Still hot.
Amazon Resurrecting
'The Tick'
In 2002, Fox cancelled superhero TV show The Tick just eight episodes in. Now, over a decade later, Amazon Studios is giving the show a second chance. According to The Wrap and People, star Patrick Warburton (Rules of Engagement, Ted, Seinfeld) has made a deal with rights holders Sony Television to produce a pilot for a rebooted version of The Tick.
In the original show, Warburton played the Tick - a big, blue, and clumsy parody of a superhero. The series was based on a comic of the same name, and a successful '90s animated kids show featuring the hero pre-dated the failed live-action effort on Fox. The show was favorably received by critics at the time - and has since garnered a bit of a cult following - but was cancelled before completion of its first season.
Now that superheroes are making bank at box offices, Amazon's original series arm is giving The Tick a shot. Like other shows that go through Amazon Studios, a pilot episode of The Tick will stream online along with other new shows, and viewers' votes will help decide if it gets produced into a full series for Amazon Prime Instant Video. You can check out the show's original 2001 pilot here.
'The Tick'
Photos Hacked
Jennifer Lawrence
Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Lawrence has contacted authorities to investigate who stole and posted nude images of her online, a spokeswoman said on Monday, part of a reported mass hacking of celebrities' intimate photos.
Online pictures of the actress, 24, who won an Academy Award for "Silver Linings Playbook" and stars in "The Hunger Games" movie franchise, began appearing on Sunday. The source of the hack was unclear.
Images purporting to be of dozens of other female actresses, models and athletes were also posted. The authenticity of many could not be confirmed.
The photos were posted on the image-sharing forum 4chan. Britain's Mirror website quoted the anonymous uploader as saying on the site he or she was a collector, not the hacker.
NBC News said Apple Co iCloud accounts had apparently been hacked to get the photos. Apple spokeswoman Nat Kerris said in an email: "We take user privacy very seriously and are actively investigating this report."
Jennifer Lawrence
Makes You Snack More?
Action-Packed TV
Could action-packed TV fare make you fat? That's the implication of a new study that found people snacked more watching fast-paced television than viewing a more leisurely-paced talk show.
THE SKINNY: Cornell University researchers randomly assigned almost 100 undergraduates to watch one of three 20-minute sessions featuring: "The Island," a 2005 sci-fi thriller starring Scarlett Johansson and Ewan McGregor; that same movie but without the sound; or the "Charlie Rose" show, a public television interview program. The students were all provided generous amounts of cookies, M&M candies, carrots and grapes.
During "The Island," students ate on average about 7 ounces (207 grams) of various snack foods, and 354 calories. That was almost 140 calories more and nearly double the ounces they ate watching interviewer Charlie Rose. Watching the movie without sound, they also ate more - almost 100 calories more - compared with Charlie Rose.
THE THEORY: The faster paced TV seemed to distract viewers more, contributing to mindlessness eating, said Cornell researcher Aner Tal, the study's lead author. The results suggest that a steady diet of action TV could raise risks for packing on pounds.
Action-Packed TV
May Help
Pistachios
For people who may be headed for type 2 diabetes, regularly eating pistachios might help turn the tide, according to a new trial from Spain.
People with so-called prediabetes have blood sugar levels higher than normal but not yet in the diabetes range. If they do nothing, 15 to 30 percent will develop diabetes within five years, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In the new Spanish study, people with prediabetes who ate about two ounces of pistachios daily showed significant drops in blood sugar and insulin levels and improvements in insulin and glucose processing. Some signs of inflammation also dropped dramatically.
Although the trial specifically involved pistachios, many previous studies have found encouraging evidence that eating nuts may be linked to a lower risk of heart disease and lower cholesterol, the authors write in Diabetes Care.
Pistachios
Pay Fight
Fast-Food
McDonald's, Wendy's and other fast-food restaurants are expected to be targeted with acts of civil disobedience that could lead to arrests Thursday as labor organizers escalate their campaign to unionize the industry's workers.
Kendall Fells, an organizing director for Fast Food Forward, said workers in a couple of dozen cities were trained to peacefully engage in civil disobedience ahead of this week's planned protests.
Fells declined to say what exactly is in store for the protests in around 150 U.S. cities. But workers involved in the movement recently cited sit-ins as an example of strategies they could use to intensify their push for higher pay and unionization. Past protests have targeted a couple of restaurants in each city for a limited time, in many cases posing little disruption to operations.
The "Fight for $15" campaign has gained national attention at a time when growing income disparities have become a hot political issue. President Barack Obama renewed his push for Congress to raise the minimum wage at a Labor Day appearance in Milwaukee.
Many fast-food workers do not make much more than the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. That equates to around $15,000 a year for 40 hours a week. But workers are often subject to unpredictable schedules and don't know how many hours they'll be given from week to week, since restaurants are careful to avoid paying overtime.
Fast-Food
Electorate Poised To 'Keep The Bums In'
2014
A surly electorate that holds Congress in even lower regard than unpopular President Barack Obama is willing to "keep the bums in," with at least 365 incumbents in the 435-member House and 18 of 28 senators on a glide path to another term when ballots are counted Nov. 4.
With less than 10 weeks to the elections, Republicans and Democrats who assess this fall's midterm contests say the power of incumbency - the decennial process of reconfiguring congressional maps and hefty fundraising - trumps the sour public mood and antipathy toward gridlocked Washington.
"Despite the incredibly low polling, favorable ratings for Congress, it's still an incumbent's world," said Sheila Krumholz, executive director of the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics that tracks political money.
That leaves many voters angry, not only with the political reality but their inability to change it.
The voter disgust is palpable, evident in blistering comments at summertime town halls and middling percentages for incumbents in primaries. Yet no sitting senator has lost and only three congressmen got the primary boot. Come Election Day, only a fraction of the electorate will be motivated enough to vote - if history is any guide.
2014
Rich V. Poor
Diet Gap
Americans' eating habits have improved - except among the poor, evidence of a widening wealth gap when it comes to diet. Yet even among wealthier adults, food choices remain far from ideal, a 12-year study found.
On an index of healthy eating where a perfect score is 110, U.S. adults averaged just 40 points in 1999-2000, climbing steadily to 47 points in 2009-10, the study found.
Scores for low-income adults were lower than the average and barely budged during the years studied. They averaged almost four points lower than those for high-income adults at the beginning; the difference increased to more than six points in 2009-10.
The widening rich-poor diet gap is disconcerting and "will have important public health implications," said study co-author Dr. Frank Hu of the Harvard School of Public Health. Diet-linked chronic diseases such as diabetes have become more common in Americans in general, and especially in the poor, he noted.
Hu said the widening diet gap reflects an income gap that deepened during the recent financial crisis, which likely made healthy food less affordable for many people. Hu also noted that inexpensive highly processed foods are often widely available in low-income neighbourhoods.
Diet Gap
Admits Concealing Side Effects
Novartis
The Japanese unit of Swiss pharma giant Novartis has admitted it did not report more than 2,500 cases of serious side effects in patients using its leukaemia and other cancer drugs, reportedly including some fatalities.
The revelations, which marked the latest in a string of scandals at the company's Japanese subsidiary, come after local authorities slapped the firm on the wrist, saying it had to clean up its operations.
On Friday, Novartis issued a statement saying it had failed to report to regulators at least 2,579 cases where patients had suffered serious potential side effects from its drugs.
The news comes about four months after Novartis replaced the top executives at its Japanese arm over allegations it did not properly disclose the possible side effects of its leukaemia treatments.
In July, Japanese prosecutors laid charges against the unit over claims that falsified data was used to exaggerate the benefits of a popular blood-pressure drug.
Novartis
Poaching War
Kenya
With camouflage uniforms, assault rifles, night vision goggles, thermal imaging devices and radios, wildlife rangers in Kenya's Ol Jogi rhino sanctuary prepare for night patrol in the "war" against poaching.
As the late afternoon sun creeps towards the horizon and shadows lengthen on the sweeping plains dotted with rocky outcrops, Ol Jogi's armed rangers get set for another tough night on patrol.
"It sounds crazy, but it's actually a war," said Jamie Gaymer, head of security for the vast reserve. "It is organised crime on an international level and it is completely out of control. And these are the guys on the frontline who are having to put their lives at risk in order to protect these animals."
Trained by the Kenya Wildlife Service and police, the 32 men in the security force are also reserve police officers, allowed to carry weapons.
Kenya
School Retires Racist Mascot
Coachella Valley
A Southern California high school has retired a controversial Arab mascot.
The bearded, snarling mascot with a large hooked nose who wears a head scarf did not appear at Coachella Valley High School's season opening football game on Friday. A belly-dancing genie that often appears with the mascot during halftime was also retired.
The Arab mascot has existed since the 1920s to recognize the desert region's reliance on date farming, a traditionally Middle Eastern crop. Over the years, the mascot evolved from a turban-wearing horseman carrying a lance to a standing figure with a scowl and a traditional head covering.
It came under fire last November when the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee sent a letter to the school district complaining that the mascot was stereotypical.
The district refused to change the school's "Arabs" nickname, but it agreed to redesign the Arab face on the school logo.
Coachella Valley
Weekend Box Office
"Guardians of the Galaxy"
The intergalactic misfits of "Guardians of the Galaxy" are the summer's box-office superheroes.
Marvel's cosmic romp topped the Labor Day box office with a three-day take of $22 million - its third time in first place since its release five weeks ago, according to studio estimates Monday. With North American ticket sales of more than $280 million so far, "Guardians" is also the summer's - and the year's - top-grossing film to date domestically.
Last summer broke box-office records with the success of "Iron Man 3," ''Star Trek," ''The Heat" and "Despicable Me 2." Next summer is expected to make history again with hotly anticipated releases including "Star Wars," ''Avengers: Age of Ultron" and Pixar's "Inside Out."
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Monday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Rentrak. Where available, the latest international numbers (through Sunday) are also included. Final domestic figures will be released on Tuesday.
1. "Guardians of the Galaxy," $22.2 million ($19.7 million international).
2. "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles," $15.7 million ($13 million international).
3. "If I Stay," $11.6 million ($4.6 million international).
4. "Let's Be Cops," $10.5 million ($6.6 million international).
5. "As Above, So Below," $10.3 million ($1.4 million international).
6. "The November Man," $10.2 million.
7. "When the Game Stands Tall," $8 million.
8. "The Giver," $6.9 million.
9. "The Hundred-Foot Journey," $6.3 million.
10. "The Expendables 3," $4.5 million ($8.8 million international).
"Guardians of the Galaxy"
In Memory
Jimi Jamison
Jimi Jamison, the lead singer of Eighties rock bands Cobra and Survivor, passed away August 31 after suffering a heart attack, TMZ reports. He was 63. Jamison's booking manager confirmed to TMZ that the former Survivor singer had died. Jamison served as Survivor's lead singer from 1984 until 1988, proving the vocals for the band's hits like "The Moment of Truth" from The Karate Kid, "Is This Love," and "Burning Heart" from Rocky IV. As a solo artist, he recorded the track "I'm Always Here," which became the memorable theme song for the TV series Baywatch.
Jamison joined Survivor after their then-lead singer, David Bickler, was forced to leave the group after developing polyps on his vocal chords shortly after Survivor recorded their biggest hit, the Grammy-winning Rocky III cut "Eye of the Tiger." In 1984, following the dissolution of Cobra, Jamison stepped in as Survivor lead singer, recording three albums with the band, 1984's Vital Signs, 1986's When Seconds Count and 1988's Too Hot to Sleep. Survivor disbanded in 1989, but reformed in 1993 with Bickler back at the microphone. Jamison would eventually rejoin Survivor in 2000 for another six years.
In the Nineties, the band was mired in legal issues as Jamison toured under the Survivor moniker even though his former bandmates, who had reunited with Bickler, also performed as Survivor. This lead to lawsuits between the two groups, which weren't resolved until guitarist Frankie Sullivan assumed ownership of the Survivor name. The band eventually made amends and, in recent years, Survivor toured with both Jamison and Bickler.
At press time, neither Survivor's Twitter nor Facebook accounts had commented on Jamison's death. The band had performed in Morgan Hill, California on August 30. They were scheduled to begin another tour on September 12 in Parker, Colorado.
Jimi Jamison
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