M Is FOR MASHUP - May 9th, 2018
What's your Favorite Mashup?
By DJ Useo
This week I'm asking you to do something. Nothing difficult, I hope, but it could work out very well for all of us. Simply send me your link to what you consider your favorite mashup. I'll run the links next wednesday, & we'll all feel the benefit.
I know I'll enjoy seeing what types of tunes you like mashed up. Send your links to me at
useo8@yahoo.com
To get you started, here's the track that got me into making mashups.
Go Home Productions - "Paperback Believer" ( Beatles vs Monkees )
( www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4EJpUKEPYI )
Have fun in the process, & I'll be sure & include your names. Enjoy this wonderful May weather.
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Paul Krugman: Gnawing Away at Health Care (NY Times Column)
At the beginning of 2017, Republicans promised to […] destroy [Obamacare] with one devastating blow. But a funny thing happened: Voters realized that repealing the Affordable Care Act would mean taking health insurance away from tens of millions of Americans. They didn't like that prospect - and enough Republicans balked at the backlash that Obamacare repeal fizzled. But Republicans still hate the idea of helping Americans get health care. […] Rather than trying to eliminate Obamacare in one fell swoop, they're trying to undermine it with multiple acts of sabotage - while hoping voters won't realize who's responsible for rising premiums and falling coverage.
Jonathan Chait: Why Mueller Has to Expose Trump's Crooked Business Empire (NY Mag)
Money laundering would be criminal activity. If you are involved in criminal activity, you are subject to blackmail. And if the criminals who can blackmail you have connections to a foreign government - say, Russia - then that government has blackmail leverage. Ten years ago, Donald Trump Jr. casually said, "Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets."
Jonathan Chait: Oliver North and the Creation of Donald Trump (NY Mag)
The North saga prefigured many things, large and small, about conservative politics in the present moment. It reveals the naïveté of the common belief that President Trump would never dare to take the Fifth Amendment in the Russia investigation, or that doing so would carry an unbearable political price. Of course Trump's base would tolerate, or even celebrate, his refusal to testify. Conservatives rallied to North's defense because he was on their side, next to which the breaking of "technical laws" was a trifling concern.
Jonathan Chait: Before It Stopped Cooperating With Mueller, Ukraine Hired GOP Lobbyists. Hmm. (NY Mag)
After the United States agreed to sell Ukraine some weapons, the Ukrainian government halted all cooperation with Robert Mueller's probe. (Ukraine had previously supplied investigators with important evidence, like incriminating details of Paul Manafort's secret payments from a Russian-backed party.) The weapons sale was the stated reason for this turnabout. I suggested the weapons sale might have been, at least in part, a bribe intended to induce Ukraine to withhold cooperation from Mueller.
Matthew Yglesias: Trump's Stormy Daniels tweets show how easy he is to blackmail (Vox)
A man who dispenses cash for secrets this easily is a risky man to have in office.
Frank Rich: The Original Donald Trump (NY Mag)
The New York Establishment will ignore unscrupulous acts to serve its interests - just look how it treated Roy Cohn, onetime lawyer to the president.
Suzanne Moore: The self-care industry is peddling exhausting, dangerous drivel (The Guardian)
Many of us will deal with anxiety, depression and cancer in our lives, and it's not because we don't love the trees enough or don't perform endless mini-declutters.
Ian Sample: Embrace Mediterranean or Nordic diets to cut disease, WHO says (The Guardian)
The traditional Mediterranean diet is rich in fruit, vegetables, nuts, cereals and olive oil, includes a moderate amount of fish and poultry, and has very little dairy, red meat, processed meat and sweets. The Nordic diet is similar, focusing on vegetables, berries, pulses, whole grain cereals and fatty fish such as herring, mackerel and salmon. Instead of olive oil, the Nordic diet favours rapeseed oil.
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David Bruce has over 80 Kindle books on Amazon.com.
Presenting
Michael Egan
answered:
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
David E Suggests
The Psychology of Dogs
David
Thanks, Dave!
Bonus Links
Jeannie the Teed-Off Temp
Reader Comment
Current Events
Linda >^..^<
We are all only temporarily able bodied.
Thanks, !
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
"…THAT MEMBRANE OF MENDACITY."
STARTING A WAR.
"…A SHEEP IN SHEEPS CLOTHING.
THE STUPID LEADING THE BLIND.
WHEN THE CRIMINALS RUN THE COUNTRY!
Visit JD's site - Kitty Litter Music
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny and breezy.
Drag Queen Protest
Britain
Drag queens in the U.K. plan to hold a mass protest to coincide with President Donald Trump's (R-Shameless) state visit to Britain in July, to rally against the administration's record on LGBT rights.
London-based drag queen Cheddar Gorgeous is among activists organizing the event in the British capital, which will be attended by those opposed to policies including the ban on transgender personnel serving in the military.
Over 1,000 users have clicked "going" on the protest's Facebook event, and almost 7,000 others have said they are interested in attending the rally on July 13. A location has not yet been set.
"Calling all drag kings, queens, queers and our allies to march against President Donald Trump's UK visit," organizers wrote on the Facebook page.
In an article for The Guardian, Cheddar Gorgeous cited the ban on transgender military personnel, the rollback of legal protections for trans workers and students, and support for businesses who refuse to serve gay customers on the grounds of religious beliefs as among the reasons for the protest.
Britain
Flips On Firearm Promise
B Of A
Bank of America has been accused of breaking a promise to stop lending money to companies that sell military-style firearms to civilians after news that the bank agreed to provide critical financing to bankrupt gunmaker Remington.
The North Carolina-based bank is among seven financial institutions that have committed to provide Remington, which filed for bankruptcy in March, with an almost $200 million lending package, reported Reuters on Sunday. Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Regions Bank each are forking out $43.2 million in loans to help put debt-plagued Remington on "stable footing," Reuters said. The gunmaker's bankruptcy exit plan was recently approved by a Delaware judge.
Terms of the loan agreement were drawn up in late March - a few weeks before Bank of America pledged to stop underwriting or financing businesses that manufacture military-style weapons for civilian use. The bank said it made the promise after "intense conversations" with its gun-manufacturer clients ? a dialogue prompted by the February massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
Remington makes Bushmaster assault-style rifles. In 2012, one of them was used by a gunman to kill 20 children and six teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut. Families of the victims sued Remington to hold the gunmaker accountable for the damage caused by the weapon.
The bank chose to abide by its loan commitment to Remington because it predated the April pledge, which was meant to kick in on a "go forward" basis, a person familiar with Bank of America's thinking told HuffPost on Tuesday.
B Of A
Offers To Stand
O'Really
Former Fox News host Bill O'Reilly (R-Predator) reportedly offered to stand next to White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R-Spokesliar) to take on inquisitive reporters.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, O'Reilly made the offer to Sanders at a party over the weekend.
"I said, 'Ms. Sanders, with all due respect, if you ever need me to stand next to you in those press briefings, I will volunteer to do that. And, if somebody gets out of line, I will tell them exactly what I think of their behavior.'"
When Sanders laughed, O'Reilly assured her that President Donald Trump was "just flamboyant enough" to sign off on the plan.
O'Reilly also tweeted that the press was "not treating her well but the folks know she's a patriot" and that "she has the toughest job in the country right now."
O'Really
Rescinds Prizes
Kennedy Center
The Kennedy Center trustees have voted to rescind Bill Cosby's Kennedy Center Honors and Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, two of the nation's top artistic prizes, following his sex assault conviction, the organization said on Monday.
"As a result of Mr. Cosby's recent criminal conviction, the Board concluded that his actions have overshadowed the very career accomplishments these distinctions from the Kennedy Center intend to recognize," the Washington D.C. organization said in a statement.
The Kennedy Center joins several U.S. universities that have revoked honorary degrees bestowed upon the 80-year-old "The Cosby Show" star.
A Pennsylvania jury last month found the comedian guilty of drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand, a former director of operations for the Temple University women's basketball team. Cosby had pleaded not guilty and his attorneys said they would appeal. [nL1N1S41OB]
Last week, Hollywood's Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which hands out the Oscars, expelled Cosby.
Kennedy Center
Court Blocks Transfer
American Detainee
A U.S. appeals court on Monday blocked President Donald Trump's administration from immediately transferring an American citizen accused of being an Islamic State member from military custody in Iraq to an unidentified country, apparently Saudi Arabia.
The man, who holds dual U.S.-Saudi citizenship and whose name has not been released, was captured in Syria and had been held in Iraq without legal representation until the American Civil Liberties Union intervened on his behalf in U.S. federal court last October.
The administration was seeking to transfer custody of the man even though U.S. courts had not resolved the legal challenge to win his release. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled 2-1 on Monday to uphold U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan's ruling last month that had stopped the planned transfer.
Saudi Arabia is believed to be the country to which the United States wants to send the detainee, based on media reports and a reference in a court filing.
The ACLU filed a so-called habeas corpus petition on the man's behalf, saying the United States had no legal right to detain a U.S. citizen without charges and that he had the right to challenge his detention in court. The ACLU has argued that his detention violates the U.S. Constitution's promise of due process of law.
American Detainee
Surge Of Trespassing and Blockades
US Abortion Clinics
America's abortion clinics experienced a major upsurge in trespassing, obstruction and blockades by anti-abortion activists in 2017, according to an annual survey by an industry group.
The National Abortion Federation report chronicled a litany of actions that ranged from coordinated trespassing efforts by abortion opponents, repeated brick-throwing at windows of a Cleveland clinic and an attempted bombing in Illinois.
The report found that there was an overall decrease in acts of vandalism against clinics but a significant increase in activities aimed at disrupting services and intimidating patients and providers. Acts of trespassing increased from 247 in 2016 to 823 in 2017, instances of obstruction tripled to 1,704 and threats of death or other harm nearly doubled to 62.
"The protesters are feeling emboldened by the political environment and seeing what they could get away with," said the federation's president, Vicki Saporta. "They want to make it more difficult to provide care, without going to very extreme forms of violence."
In part, because of the legal and financial challenges, the number of abortion clinics in the U.S. has been declining. As of 2014, when the last comprehensive tally was made, there were 788 clinics.
US Abortion Clinics
Abortion Referendum
Ireland
Leading Irish actors have urged voters in a video posted online Sunday to legalise abortion in the country, as campaigning intensifies ahead of a referendum later this month on the issue.
The black-and-white video features an ensemble of screen stars voicing their opposition to laws making abortion illegal in Ireland unless there is a real and substantial risk to the life of the mother.
"In Ireland today", begins "Game of Thrones" actor Liam Cunningham, "if the woman sitting next to you is pregnant" continues local TV star Peter McDonald, "she does not have full rights over her own body" adds Owen McDonnell, famous for playing a fictional police sergeant on Irish TV.
Staring into the camera, a host of other actors -- from Cillian Murphy, lead in the BBC hit show "Peaky Blinders", to Andrew Scott, star of its "Sherlock" series -- continue to deliver short messages in the more than two-minute video. It concludes with Oscar-nominated actress Saoirse Ronan's blunt appeal: "Please, vote yes!"
Hollywood big-name Liam Neeson also gave his backing to the campaign, in an open letter to the Irish Independent newspaper Monday.
Ireland
Readies Base For Battle
Defiant NRA
John Lott, the National Rifle Association's favorite academic and gun researcher, had a question for the mostly older, white, male crowd seated in front of him.
How many of them had heard someone say that federal gun research has been stymied for years because of Congress? Or that the U.S. has a uniquely high rate of gun homicide compared to other nations? Or that guns make suicide easier?
All those claims were lies, he said, told by gun control advocates and repeated by an unquestioning media intent on pushing an anti-gun agenda.
Over the weekend the NRA held its 147th annual convention, and Lott, whose highly discredited book More Guns, Less Crime, is considered the bible of the gun lobby, addressed a packed room inside the Kay Hutchison Convention Center here in downtown Dallas. For three days, gun rights enthusiasts gathered to peruse the newest firearms and gear, attend educational seminars such as "Refuse to be a victim: Crime prevention strategies," and "14 factors impacting your shooting performance under duress," and to simply have fun.
The NRA is now on the defense as it faces off against a country that is mostly fed up with current gun control laws that did not prevent horrific mass shootings like those that took place in Las Vegas, Sutherland Springs, Texas, and most recently in Parkland, Florida.
Defiant NRA
Prime-Time Nielsens
Ratings
Prime-time viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen for April 30-May 6. Listings include the week's ranking and viewership.
1. "The Big Bang Theory," CBS, 12.93 million.
2. "NCIS," CBS, 12.36 million.
3. "Young Sheldon," CBS, 11.67 million.
4. "Roseanne," ABC, 10.43 million.
5. "Bull," CBS, 10.38 million.
6. "60 Minutes," CBS, 9.12 million.
7. "The Voice" (Monday, 8 p.m.), NBC, 8.82 million.
8. "American Idol" (Sunday), ABC, 8.65 million.
9. "Mom," CBS, 8.63 million.
10. "Dancing With the Stars," ABC, 8.48 million.
11. "NCIS: New Orleans," CBS, 8.13 million.
12. "Blue Bloods," CBS, 7.77 million.
13. "NCIS: Los Angeles, 7.71 million.
14. "Survivor," CBS, 7.68 million.
15. "The Voice" (Tuesday), NBC, 7.64 million.
16. "Hawaii Five-0," CBS, 7.04 million.
17. "Instinct," CBS, 6.96 million.
18. "Grey's Anatomy," ABC, 6.66 million.
19. NBA Playoffs: Toronto at Cleveland, ABC, 6.35 million.
20. "Life in Pieces," CBS, 6.25 million.
Ratings
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