M Is FOR MASHUP - July 5th, 2016
Mashup MP3 Melt
By DJ Useo
Here in Austin, Texas, as in much of the country, it's been super hot. Today, while my wife & guests were with me in the restaurant celebrating her birthday, something unexpected happened. I'd left 3 new mashups I've been loving on the dashboard, right in the sun, & when I came back out to the car, they'd melted into one track.
Whereas I'd had three cool new mashups that I was loving, now I had one melted lump of compressed audio that still seemed quite listenable, once it had cooled off enough to put in the player.
Hear it for yourself here
( sowndhaus.com/track/6500/mashup-melt-3-tracks-left-in-the-sun-mp3 )
I call it "Mashup MP3 Melt". It contains these three tracks:
01 - Dj Memphis - Riders on Relax
( Frankie goes to Hollywood vs The Doors )
02 - Boots Leg Pharm - First Eh
( Death Grips vs Oddisee )
03 - SMASH - Me Against Blasphemous Rumours
( Depeche Mode vs Multiple Artists )
The solo mixes are all available from http://audioboots.com if you wish the hear the swell source tracks.
Sorry if you didn't take to this melt mix. It's bound to happen occasionally. I blame it on the heat! Lol.
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Robert Moor: The man who went on a hike - and never stopped walking (The Guardian)
In his 61st year on this earth, the man who calls himself Nimblewill Nomad left home and walked a very long way through the mountains - about 10 million steps, he estimates, or 4,400 miles. Then, he took another, even longer walk. And then another one. And then another. Soon, he had given away almost all of his money and taken to walking almost year-round, roaming the post-industrial wilderness of North America in what he called "a desperate search for peace".
ARIKA OKRENT: Why Did Yankee Doodle Call a Feather 'Macaroni'? (Mental Floss)
Stuck a feather in his cap and called it macaroni...Wait. What? What's going on here? Why would Yankee Doodle do something like that? What's macaroni got to do with anything?
Michael Gregor, MD: What to Eat to Cure High Blood Pressure (Nutrition Facts)
I've talked about the benefits to getting blood pressure down as low as 110 over 70. But who can get that low? Populations centering their diets around whole plant foods. Rural Chinese have been recorded with blood pressures averaging around 110 over 70 their whole lives. They eat plant-based day-to-day, with meat only eaten on special occasions.
Ben Beaumont-Thomas: Ed Sheeran quits Twitter after abuse from trolls (The Guardian)
Multi-platinum-selling singer says he is 'trying to work out why people dislike me so much' after stream of abusive comments.
Nicola Davis: Why Roman concrete still stands strong while modern version decays (The Guardian)
Scientists have cracked the secret to Roman water-based structures' strength - and findings could help today's builders.
Stuart Heritage: How to spot a bad film without even seeing it (The Guardian)
From rumours about Mariah Carey's cameo to embargoed reviews … all the early warning signs were there for Will Ferrell and Amy Poehler's new comedy The House.
By Kathie Meizner, Abby McGanney Nolan and Mary Quattlebaum: Mindfulness, captured beautifully in the children's book, 'Now' (Washington Post)
Antoinette Portis's joyful picture book Now (Roaring Brook, Ages 2-6) perfectly captures a child's lighthearted affection for the here and now. The book, by the author of the award-winning "Not a Box," begins with a young girl dancing in the wind, hands in the air: "This is my favorite breeze." A leaf, a hole in the sand, rain, a missing tooth - the girl declares each her favorite in an exuberant, unstudied celebration of small experiences both concrete and abstract.
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 over 80 Kindle books on Amazon.com.
Presenting
Michael Egan
took the day off.
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
Reader Suggestion
CNN Responds
cnn responds to punkinhead's cnn attack (video)
Bonus Links
Jeannie the Teed-Off Temp
Reader Comment
Mr. GD Twitter Addict
Mr. GD Twitter addict asks Kim Jong Un if he doesn't have "ANYTHING BETTER TO DO WITH HIS LIFE?!" Ye gods, I didn't know Predator was capable of irony!
Linda >^..^<
We are all only temporarily able bodied.
Thanks, Linda!
from Marc Perkel
Patriot Act
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
JD took the day off.
Visit JD's site - Kitty Litter Music
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Had a terrified kitty damn-near velcro'd to my leg for hours - she's not a fan of fireworks.
Has The 'Trust' Advantage Over T-rump
CNN
Even as controversy continues over Donald Trump's (R-Buffoon) tweet of a video showing him beating up a personified version of CNN, a poll released Tuesday shows the cable news outlet edging him in trust among most Americans.
The survey also showed the New York Times, Washington Post and the broadcast television networks faring better than Trump in trustworthiness. But the poll, conducted by Survey Monkey and published by Axios, also illustrates the stark political divide in the U.S.
The poll, conducted between last Thursday and Monday, showed that 50 percent of American adults trust CNN more than Trump, with 43 percent favoring the president. Trump posted his disparaging CNN tweet on Sunday.
The poll also found that by a nine-percentage-point margin, American adults trust the Post and the Times ? lumped together ? more than Trump. And ABC, CBS and NBC are more trusted by an 11-point margin over the president.
In the Trump-CNN battle, though, Republicans and Democrats are on completely different pages. The poll reported that 89 percent of Republicans in the survey trust Trump over CNN, with only 9 percent favoring media outlet. Among Democrats, the results are even more one-sided ? 91 percent give CNN the trustworthiness nod, with just 5 percent choosing Trump.
CNN
Still Lacks Website For Spanish Speakers
T-rump
The Trump White House no habla español. Well, un poquito.
After a succession of administrations that embraced Spanish-language content, Donald Trump's (R-Crooked) White House is all but ignoring Spanish speakers even though he has a robust online presence in English.
His administration has yet to offer a Spanish White House website. It has eliminated the position of director of Hispanic media outreach. And its Spanish-language Twitter account is heavy with English text and features sloppy translations.
White House press secretary Sean Spicer said in January that the administration had its "IT folks working overtime" to roll out a new Spanish language site after WhiteHouse.gov/espanol went dark in the hours after Trump took office.
"Trust me, it's going to take a little bit more time, but we're working piece by piece to get that done," Spicer said at the time. More than five months later, the site still urges readers to "STAY TUNED."
T-rump
Quarters Discovered
Sally Hemings
In a discovery that might throw more light on the infamous relationship between Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings, archaeologists have discovered Hemings' living quarters in what was once Jefferson's plantation home in Monticello, Virginia, reported NBC News Monday.
This is said to be the first physical space devoted to Hemings, whose life till date remains a half-solved puzzle.
Historians have debated Hemings' role in the former president's life, ever since it was claimed during his first term that he fathered children with her. According to Monticello.org, the claim was made in a report published in September 1802 by political journalist James T. Callender, an estranged ally of Jefferson.
Although there were rumors of a sexual relationship between Jefferson and an enslaved woman before 1802, Callender's article spread the story widely and was published in many newspapers during the remainder of Jefferson's presidency. Jefferson apparently offered no public explanation or comment on the claim. The entire episode came to be known as the Jefferson-Hemings controversy.
A glimpse into Hemings' history suggests she was born to Elizabeth Hemings in 1773 and was probably named Sarah. According to NBC, there are only four known descriptions of her. Enslaved blacksmith Isaac Granger Jefferson recalled Hemings was "mighty near white . . . very handsome, long straight hair down her back." It is not known if she was literate as she left no known written accounts. History.com says that her father was John Wayles, Jefferson's father-in-law. She came into the Jefferson's household as part of Jefferson's inheritance from the Wayles estate in 1774, and probably served as a nurse to Jefferson's younger daughter Maria.
Sally Hemings
WWI Mystery
Lawrence of Arabia
Hidden in a non-descript barn on a Vermont backroad is an under-construction replica of the Rolls-Royce used during a critical moment in the birth of the modern Middle East by one of the most famous British Army officers of World War I: Lt. Col. T.E. Lawrence, better known as Lawrence of Arabia.
And the men who are involved in the reconstruction of the Rolls Royce Silver Shadow say they have learned the car's origins, solving a World War I mystery. It was built in 1909 and originally purchased by a British businessman who later died in the 1912 sinking of the Titanic.
They've traced the car, named Blue Mist, prior to its wartime service when Lawrence requisitioned it for use during the uprising he helped lead against the Ottoman Empire.
During World War I, Lawrence was sent to what is now known as the Middle East to encourage Arab revolt against the Ottoman Empire, which was allied with Germany. After the war, with the help of the revolt, the empire collapsed and the borders of the present day Middle East were drawn.
Lawrence of Arabia
State Laws Expand
Concealed Guns
Starting Saturday, concealed guns are allowed at college campuses in Georgia and Kansas, more public buildings and bus stations in Tennessee, and at the Iowa state Capitol as new laws took effect continuing the steady expansion of gun rights in Republican-controlled states.
The gun laws reflect divided public preferences, highlighted by a recent Pew survey that found people nearly evenly split on whether gun control or gun rights were more important.
For decades, the National Rifle Association pushed for state laws allowing people to carry concealed guns with permits. Having succeeded nationwide, gun-rights advocates now are gradually expanding where those weapons can be taken. Yet even some of the new laws contain exceptions.
Georgia's law allows people with concealed handgun permits to take their weapons into classrooms but not dormitories, and college sports fans can pack weapons while tailgating but not inside stadiums.
Concealed guns are now allowed at college campuses in Kansas as a result of a 2013 law that applies to public buildings lacking heightened security such as metal detectors and guards. A four-year exemption for universities expired Saturday. But in a setback for the NRA, a law that Republican Gov. Sam Brownback is allowing to take effect without his signature will make permanent a similar exemption for public hospitals and mental health centers.
Concealed Guns
Twitter Battle
T-rump
Whether by whim or design, Donald Trump (R-Corrupt) keeps adding fuel to his incendiary Twitter battle against the media. The press is an easy target for the Republican president, and one his supporters love to hate.
But the escalating conflict has diverted attention not just from Trump's failures but his claimed successes as well.
It's his own campaign against the press, though, that keeps changing the subject from that more substantive policy debate Trump claims to crave. And it has hindered Trump's ability to push his agenda through Congress, where Republicans complain about the president's lack of focus as his health-care plan is struggling, work on next year's budget is stuck and talk of a big infrastructure deal is fading.
Trump's latest bash was a repurposed old video he tweeted on the weekend of him fake-pummeling a wrestling promoter whose face had been replaced by the CNN logo.
It was unprecedented, even for Trump: a sitting president, in effect promoting physical assault of a media stand-in. Media watchdogs quickly called him out.
T-rump
Shocking! Male Employees Paid More Than Women
White House
Women employees at the White House get paid 20 percent less than male employees, a study has revealed.
The analysis by Roll Call also showed there are more male employees in the White House than women - approximately 200 men as compared to 174 women.
The annual report to Congress on White House office personnel, released Friday, showed women earned an average of $84,500 a year as compared to men who earned $105,000. According to the statistics, women, on an average, earned about $20,995 less compared to men.
The report also adds that gender pay gap among the White House employees has barely changed throughout the past three presidential administrations.
The report also added that the analysis omitted three White House employees from the survey as they do not take home any salary - President Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump, her husband Jared Kushner and a former Baltimore real estate developer, who has not been publicly identified.
White House
Shell Removes Cutouts
Malaysia
Energy giant Shell said it is removing life-sized cutouts of a Malaysian woman in a headscarf from its petrol stations in the Muslim-majority country after photos of men groping the figure started circulating online.
The adverts featuring a female employee, wearing a red T-shirt with a Shell logo, black trousers and a black headscarf, smiling and with her thumb raised in the air, had been placed at Royal Dutch Shell's stations in Malaysia.
But images of men kissing the cardboard cutouts, holding her hand and grabbing her chest and crotch started circulating on Facebook in recent days, in what Shell blasted as "distasteful and suggestive acts".
The Anglo-Dutch group said in a statement that "we do not condone this disrespectful act, which is completely against the culture of Malaysians and Shell's core values. We urge netizens and members of the public to refrain from sharing these images further.
Malaysia
Reveal Groups' Distinctive Facial Features
Roman Skulls
Forensic techniques that are used to solve modern homicide cases helped American anthropologists reveal family resemblances in 2,000-year-old skulls from the Roman Empire.
The study used a statistical technique known as geometric morphometrics to identify similarities in skulls from three Italian graveyards dating from between the first and third centuries A.D., when the Roman Empire was at its height.
Precise three-dimensional measurements of dozens of skulls from two of the graveyards showed distinct regional differences, which the researchers interpreted as a sign of a common ancestry among many people in those regions.
One of the graveyards chosen for the study is located on Isola Sacra, a tiny island in what's now central Italy southwest of Rome, which was a burial place for mainly middle-class people during the Roman Empire.
Another was at Velia, on the southwestern Italian coast, where the researchers expected to see traces of ancestry from Greeks who colonized that region after the eighth century B.C., before Rome grew from a small city-state to take over the rest of the region Italy occupies today.
Roman Skulls
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