Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Henry Rollins: I'm in Trump Country and My Driver Won't Stop Talking (LA Weekly)
For now, the weather is the news. The "it is what it is" starkness of the headlines, the images and stories, seem to obscure anything else happening in America or elsewhere. These storms brought not only pain and misery but a lot of useful information. I hope that as we rebuild, something's being learned.
Hadley Freeman: Let's drop the gender stereotypes - we are all non-binary (Guardian)
No one's a wholly pink butterfly or a blue car. We are all, to varying degrees, purple spaceship onesies.
What I'm really thinking: the other woman (Guardian)
I don't think he's 'having his cake and eating it'. And I don't feel guilty.
Aaron Hicklin: "Steve Buscemi: 'In some ways I feel I haven't fulfilled my true potential'" (Guardian)
From firefighter and bar fly to Hollywood superstar, Steve Buscemi has populated his films with lovable oddballs and cold-blooded killers. But, as Aaron Hicklin finds, it's all been driven by his need to fit in.
I Anonymous: Seattle is becoming a big city. But please don't be an *ssh*le (Stranger)
C'mon, people! So many urban environments have gone the way of total narcissism, especially when they get a massive influx of money, but Seattle has always been different. So let's grow, share the prosperity, and, most importantly, retain our humanity.
I, Anonymous: Does Anybody Even Read the Recycling Guidelines? (Stranger)
I'm more and more appalled at the recycling habits of my apartment neighbors.
CRISTINA CABRERA: Juggalos Flock To DC To Protest FBI Gang Label (TPM)
Fans of the "horrorcore" hip-hop duo Insane Clown Posse, also known as Juggalos, marched into the nation's capital on Saturday to protest being labeled as a gang by the FBI.
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
is experiencing computer difficulties.
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
Reader Observation
Weinermobile
thought it was unusual to see a weinermobile on the road.
gary in pa (maryland trip)
Thanks, Gary!
Bonus Links
Jeannie the Teed-Off Temp
Reader Comment
Current Events
Have you seen the tweet that SOB sent out of him hitting Hillary with a golf ball? Wish I could cut what's left of his tiny, shriveled, orange balls off. Pathetic M'Fer.
Linda >^..^<
We are all only temporarily able bodied.
Thanks, Linda!
from Marc Perkel
Patriot Act
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
HOW TO CREATE A DICTATORSHIP.
TRYING TO MAKE A FORTUNE OFF JESUS.
INTO THE ARCHIVES.
'BIRD BRAIN' TWEETS AGAIN!
TRUMP FINALLY GETS IT.
FIRST THINGS FIRST!
"A DUTY TO WARN."
"THE LIES,THE HEAT, THE MADNESS AND THE FLIES."
Visit JD's site - Kitty Litter Music
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Guess I have to bake a cake. Sigh.
Research Crew Emerges After 8 Months Of Isolation
Mars
Six NASA-backed research subjects who have been cooped up in a Mars-like habitat on a remote Hawaii volcano since January emerged from isolation Sunday. They devoured fresh-picked tropical fruits, vegetables and a fluffy egg strata after eating mostly freeze-dried food during their isolation.
The crew of four men and two women are part of a study designed to better understand the psychological impacts a long-term space mission would have on astronauts.
The data they produced will help NASA select individuals and groups with the right mix of traits to best cope with the stress, isolation and danger of a two-to-three year trip to Mars. The U.S. space agency hopes to send humans to the red planet by the 2030s.
The crew was quarantined for eight months on a vast plain below the summit of the Big Island's Mauna Loa, the world's largest active volcano. After finishing their stint, they feasted on pineapple, mango and papaya.
All of their communications with the outside world were subjected to a 20-minute delay - the time it takes for signals to get from Mars to Earth. The crew was tasked with conducting geological surveys, mapping studies and maintaining their self-sufficient habitat as if they were actually living on Mars.
Mars
Nepal Survey To Remeasure Begins
Mount Everest
Nepal has begun remeasuring Mount Everest to check if the height of the world's tallest peak was altered by a powerful earthquake that struck the nation in 2015, the government said Friday.
The official height of Mount Everest -- which lies in the Himalayan range, straddling the border between Nepal and China -- is 8,848 metres (29,029 feet), first recorded by an Indian survey in 1954.
"Nepal has never measured Everest on its own although the world's highest peak lies in its territory. So we want to prove to our people that Nepal is capable of measuring Everest," Ganesh Prasad Bhatta, head of the government's survey department, told AFP.
A team of Nepali and foreign experts have begun refining the methodology for the new survey, which is expected to take two years, Bhatta said.
A team of Sherpas will take measuring equipment to the summit either in April, the beginning of the spring climbing season, or October, another period of good weather on Everest.
Mount Everest
Pot Shampoo To Cannabis Sommeliers
Marijuana Business
Entrepreneurs looking to cash in on California's new marijuana gold rush flocked to Los Angeles this week for the city's Fourth Annual Cannabis World Congress & Business Exposition, taking in advice and pitches from venture capitalists to a marijuana "sommelier".
Workshops were conducted, business cards were swapped with more than 200 bustling booths - exhibiting everything from pot paper, to shampoo and even suppositories - at the LA Convention Centre. It was a spirited free-for-all that anticipated one thing: 1 January 2018 - a date that puts dollar signs in many a Californian's eyes.
Oils-free, biodegradeable plastics from hemp were touted as a potential "$400bn global market" in the "Hemp MBA In A Day" seminar - a number which would seem pie-in-the-sky for now at least.
Though the sky seemed the limit, the Expo's takeaway messages were sometimes contradictory. Caution hung just under the surface of many of the big sells, with California's marijuana business still very much in flux while it prepares for the big day and a future that is difficult to predict.
At the "How To Buy Equity In A Cannabis Business: What To Look For, What To Avoid" workshop, a how-to for both pot newbies and more experienced investors, another speaker warned "The industry has a lot of smoke and mirrors," but only after suggesting that certain investment returns could go as high as 150 per cent.
Marijuana Business
Lead Carver Honored
Mount Rushmore
The chief carver of Mount Rushmore who was responsible for refining the expressions on the faces of the monument's four presidents was honored Saturday with a plaque that recognizes his work.
Luigi Del Bianco was an Italian immigrant and stone carver whose job included the challenging tasks of sculpting Jefferson's lips and Lincoln's life-like eyes. With the help of Del Bianco's descendants, the National Park Service unveiled a bronze plaque Saturday in his honor. It will be on display at the Lincoln Borglum Visitor Center.
Almost 400 people worked on Mount Rushmore during 14 years of construction. The National Park Service said workers hoisted others up and down the face of the mountain, drilled, hammered, carved and blew up rock to construct the memorial, which draws more than 3 million visitors from around the world each year.
Del Bianco talked about carving Lincoln's eyes in a 1966 interview with the Herald Statesman in Yonkers, New York.
"I could only see from this far what I was doing, but the eye of Lincoln had to look just right from many miles distant," he said. "I know every line and ridge, each small bump and all the details of that head (Lincoln's) so well."
Mount Rushmore
Feds Auctioned Off Days Before Hurricane Harvey Hit
Disaster-Response Trailers
The US federal government auctioned off disaster-response trailers at very low prices in the days before Hurricane Harvey devastated southeast Texas, according to a new investigation.
More than 100 trailers - which are used to house people made homeless in emergencies or disasters - were sold in the two days before the hurricane made landfall.
While one trailer sold on 23 August went for $500, 4,500 newly ordered one-bedroom trailers are expected to cost around $40,000 each.
Around 300 trailers have been sold by the federal government since the start of the year, leaving just 1,700 for use. About 79,000 homes were flooded by Hurricane Harvey, according to Michael Byrne, disaster recovery coordinator for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
"There's a vast chasm between what they can supply and what is actually needed," said Dr Irwin Redlener, director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University, adding that he found the trailer auctions an "unfortunate decision."?
Disaster-Response Trailers
Expands Hunting, Fishing On Public Lands
Zinke
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke (R-Grandstander) signed an order on Friday to expand hunting and fishing on federal land, saying it would improve wildlife management and conservation.
Environmentalists dismissed it as "a do-nothing order."
The order directs the Fish and Wildlife Service and other agencies to produce a plan to expand access. It also calls for changes to management plans for national monuments to ensure the public's right to hunt, fish and target shoot.
Zinke called hunting and fishing "a cornerstone of the American tradition."
But the public already has the right to hunt and fish on federal lands, and states have primary authority to regulate hunting and fishing in those areas, said Matt Lee-Ashley, a former Interior official who is now a senior fellow at the left-leaning Center for American Progress.
Zinke
Can Re-Enlist In Military - For Now
Transgender Troops
New guidance released Friday by the Pentagon makes it clear that any transgender troops currently in the military can re-enlist in the next several months, even as the department debates how broadly to enforce a ban on their service ordered by President-for-now Donald Trump (R-Draft Dodger).
In a memo to top military leaders, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said a high-level panel will determine how to implement Trump's ban on transgender individuals in the military. Trump directed the military to indefinitely extend the ban on transgender individuals enlisting in the service, but he left it up to Mattis to decide if those currently serving should be allowed to stay.
Members of Congress have already sent a letter to Trump calling on him to reconsider the ban.
Sen. John McCain, the Republican chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Friday he backed legislation that would bar the Trump administration from forcing transgender troops out of the armed forces.
"When less than 1 percent of Americans are volunteering to join the military, we should welcome all those who are willing and able to serve our country," McCain said.
Transgender Troops
Cancels Talk
Seminary
Citing a social media backlash, the seminary at the Catholic University of America has canceled a talk by a popular Jesuit priest whose latest book advocates for more compassion for gays within the church. In a rare public rebuke, the university's president said Saturday that he opposed the seminary's decision.
The Rev. James Martin, editor at large at the Jesuit magazine America and author of several books on Catholicism, said he had planned a seminary talk on Jesus, not his recent book on LGBT people, "Building a Bridge," which has been backed by two U.S. cardinals and three bishops.
Far-right Catholic sites such ChurchMilitant.com and some conservative Catholic writers have denounced the book, and that had led to online campaigns to pressure Catholic institutions against hosting Martin.
The seminary in the nation's capital, called the Theological College, said it had experienced "increasing negative feedback from various social media sites" about Martin's talk and, as a result, decided to cancel the event.
The Catholic University president, John Garvey, said in a statement that the university administration did not support the cancellation, and noted that that Martin has spoken before at the school, which was founded by the U.S. bishops and is under their supervision.
Seminary
Warm Waters Has Lingering Effects For Salmon
West Coast
The mass of warm water known as "the blob" that heated up the North Pacific Ocean has dissipated, but scientists are still seeing the lingering effects of those unusually warm sea surface temperatures on Pacific Northwest salmon and steelhead.
Federal research surveys this summer caught among the lowest numbers of juvenile coho and Chinook salmon in 20 years, suggesting that many fish did not survive their first months at sea. Scientists warn that salmon fisheries may face hard times in the next few years.
Fisheries managers also worry about below average runs of steelhead returning to the Columbia River now. Returns of adult steelhead that went to sea as juveniles a year ago so far rank among the lowest in 50 years.
Scientists believe poor ocean conditions are likely to blame: Cold-water salmon and steelhead are confronting an ocean ecosystem that has been shaken up in recent years.
Marine creatures found farther south and in warmer waters have turned up in abundance along the coasts of Washington and Oregon, some for the first time.
West Coast
Weekend Box Office
'It'
The Stephen King adaption "It" continues to scare up record ticket sales, taking in an estimated $60 million in its second week and leaving a paltry $7.5 million for Darren Aronofsky's audacious genre-bending psychological thriller "mother!"
With $218.7 million to date, "It" is now the highest grossing September release ever, and a much-needed hit to follow a summer box office that slumped to a historically bad August. "It," starring Bill Skarsgard as the evil clown Pennywise, also added $60.3 million internationally.
Paramount Pictures' "mother!" has horror elements, too, so it was risky to schedule it right behind "It." But Aronofsky's film is a more art-house proposition, made for about $30 million. For star Jennifer Lawrence, it's the worst wide-release opening of her career.
The counterterrorism thriller "American Assassin," from Lionsgate and CBS Films, edged out "mother!" for second place with $14.8 million. That was a solid result for the film starring Dylan O'Brien and Michael Keaton.
In limited release, the Mike White-directed comedy "Brad's Status," starring Ben Stiller, opened in four theaters with a good per-screen average of $25,045. Annapurna will expand the film in coming weeks.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters according to comScore. Where available, the latest international numbers also are included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1. "It," $60 million ($60.3 million international).
2. "American Assassin," $14.8 million ($6.2 million international).
3. "mother!" $7.5 million ($6 million international).
4. "Home Again," $5.3 million.
5. "The Hitman's Bodyguard," $3.6 million ($4.1 million international).
6. "Annabelle: Creation," $2.6 million ($4.1. million international).
7. "Wind River," $2.5 million ($1 million international).
8. "Leap!" $2.1 million.
9. "Spider-Man: Homecoming," $1.9 million ($15.1 million international).
10. "Dunkirk," $1.3 million ($5.7 million international).
'It'
In Memory
Baron Dave Romm
David E. Romm, AKA Baron Dave, a much-loved and respected writer, science-fiction fan, photographer and world traveler, died in Minneapolis last week of an apparent heart attack.
He became a baron of the micro-country of Ladonia in 2001.
Baron Dave hosted Shockwave Radio Theatre on KFAI-AM and archived the podcasts on his website.
He was active in science fiction conventions, and was at the World Con in Helsinki last month.
Baron Dave also wrote a weekly column for the E! page, for 12 years, starting back in 2002.
He was born 13 April, 1955 and is survived by his mother, Ethel, and brothers Joe and Daniel.
Baron Dave was one of the really good guys - unfailingly perceptive, smart, funny, and kind.
His presence will be greatly missed.
Here are some links to his early columns, starting with August, 2002.
Spoken Word
|
Spoken Word 2
|
The Bush Backlash
|
Shockwave Distribution CDs
|
Lionel Hampton - An Appreciation
|
The National Space Society CD
|
Children's Music, Part V
|
Bush Knew I
|
Bush Knew II
|
Top 11 Reasons - Reasons Osama bin Laden wants the US to Invade Iraq
|
Bush Impeachment Watch II
|
Vote!
|
Perspectives - Placing Election 2002 in historical context
|
Klingon Klezmer
|
Compilations 1
|
Nifty Gifts
|
Nifty Gifts II
|
Nifty Gifts III
|
Dr. Demento
|
Auld Lang Syne
|
When Pigs Fly and weirder songs
|
JRR Tolkien
|
Irving Burgie
|
Country With A Twist
|
Hussein as Noriega
|
Were Bush's Great-Grandfather and Grandfather Nazis?
|
Songs Inspired By Literature
|
The Great Luke Ski
|
Baron Dave Will Sell Out
|
Panama vs. Iraq
|
Joe Scruggs I
|
Joe Scruggs II
|
Failed Dictators
|
General George C. Marshall
|
Bing Crosby
|
Music for Moms
|
How To Write A Letter To The Editor
|
Memorial Day Impeachment Watch
|
Political Satire
|
How To Write A Letter To The Editor, part 2
|
How To Write A Letter To The Editor (part 3)
|
How To Write A Letter To The Editor, part 4
|
How To Write A Letter To The Editor, part 5
|
The Knights Templar
|
Salem bin Laden
|
Happy New Year! - Year of our Moon Landing 34
| CURRENT MOON lunar phases |
