Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Jonathan Jones: Why would Trump turn down a golden toilet? Because he already has one (The Guardian)
The 18-karat loo offered to the US president by the Guggenheim is a modern masterpiece - as the 100,000 people who have used it can testify. The White House should plumb it in pronto.
Paul Krugman: The Spendthrift Economy (NY Times Blog)
I'm not predicting a crisis; this doesn't look nearly as bad as the U.S. economy in the housing bubble years. (And I'm trying extra hard, given my election night freakout, not to let my political dismay distort my economic judgment.) But as I said, this growth doesn't look very healthy.
Kate Bowler: What to Say When You Meet the Angel of Death at a Party (NY Times)
After years of living with stage IV cancer, I have some suggestions.
Pauline Bock: France's Nutella riots aren't funny (New Statesman)
They are the symbol of the deep divide between Macron's ideal vision for an energetic, business-oriented France - and the French workers suffering from it.
Josephine Balmer: Emily Wilson sensitively considers The Odyssey's original poetic purpose and resonance (New Statesman)
Not only is this the first English verse translation of the poem by a woman, it is a fluid and immensely readable versification.
Marc Dion: Yankee Doodle (Creators Syndicate)
I am a REAL American. Whew! Glad we got that out of the way. For a minute there, I thought I might be considered disloyal. You can't go to jail for that yet, but you will. And why am I busting with American-ness? Dig it.
Froma Harrop: Bad Date With Ansari Wasn't Really a Bad Date With Ansari Wasn't Really a Date (Creators Syndicate)
Nothing TV star Aziz Ansari did during that now-infamous one-night stand constituted sexual assault. […] Given the fictional name of "Grace," the woman told the website Babe that Ansari had ignored her "non-verbal cues" that she wasn't interested in going all the way. The casual observer might think that sitting naked on a man's kitchen counter - as "Grace" had voluntarily done, along with exchanging oral sex - constituted a non-verbal cue that she was game.
Froma Harrop: A Shutdown Not to Remember (Creators Syndicate)
The shutdown did produce one significant success. It helped solidify a group of moderate Democrats and Republicans who now vow to buck their all-politics-all-the-time leadership and work to solve problems. That's good news for everyone, dreamers included.
Lenore Skenazy: How Some Teens Turn Into Terrorists (Creators Syndicate)
In adolescence, the empathy part of the brain is basically "throbbing," says Temple-Raston. So if your teenager is in tears because you're eating a burger and meat is murder, you shouldn't be that surprised. During those formative years, a cause can become a young person's world - even a cause that looks crazy from the outside.
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Presenting
Michael Egan
replied:
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
Team Coco
#ConanHaiti
Bonus Links
Jeannie the Teed-Off Temp
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
"FASTER HORSES, YOUNGER WOMEN, OLDER WHISKEY, MORE MONEY....
IT'S A DIRTY JOB AND SOMEONE HAS TO DO IT!
"THE DEVIL MADE ME DO IT."
THE 'KING' OF BULLSHIT.
DID THE ALIENS ABDUCT HIM?
WHITE TRASH IN NAVAJO COUNTRY.
"WYNN IS A LOSER!"
The Astonishing Numbers Behind the Republican Crusade Against Pregnant Women
Visit JD's site - Kitty Litter Music
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Dear old dad's 93rd birthday.
Grammy Tribute
Hail to Fleetwood
Bill Clinton has hobnobbed with plenty of musicians but, leading a tribute at the Grammys, he said he always had a special place for Fleetwood Mac.
The former president presented a lifetime achievement award to the rock legends late Friday ahead of the Grammy Awards at a star-studded concert in New York that featured Lorde, Harry Styles, Miley Cyrus, Keith Urban and Imagine Dragons.
Clinton chose Fleetwood Mac's song "Don't Stop," with its hopeful message of progress, as his theme song when he won the White House in 1992.
His success managed to reunite the notoriously turbulent band to play for his inauguration, and Clinton has since frequently taken stage to the song.
On a night full of applause, Clinton drew one of the biggest ovations as he introduced his "date" -- Hillary Clinton, the unsuccessful contender in the 2016 election, who was sitting in the crowd at Radio City Music Hall.
Fleetwood Mac
T-Shirts
'Deportados Brand'
Few people know gate "N" at Mexico City's airport but three times a week it is the arrival point for the latest group of Mexican immigrants deported by the United States.
Waiting to meet them is Adan Jacome. Jacome, 45, goes to the terminal to offer the support of a group of immigrants also repatriated to Mexico, and who are the brains behind "Deportados Brand," a small T-shirt business which aims to reunite families and help deported Mexicans start over.
He is a much-needed helping hand for the many migrants who arrive in a practically foreign country but who must find work quickly, despite the stigma of having just been deported.
Upon returning, "doors are closed to them, because people think they must have killed or robbed someone, or been on drugs," Jacome, who was deported to Mexico after living in Las Vegas for 16 years, told AFP.
"Deportados Brand," whose shirts bear slogans such as "We are all gate 'N'" and "Fuck Trump," was born almost by chance at the end of 2016, as Mexico waited with bated breath for Trump to take office after his election win.
'Deportados Brand'
DCCC Makes First Investment
Pennsylvania
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is making a modest initial investment in support of Conor Lamb, the Democratic candidate running in the special election for Pennsylvania's 18th Congressional district.
The DCCC, which helps elect Democrats to the U.S. House of Representatives, purchased $224,000 of television ads boosting Lamb, HuffPost confirmed with a Democratic source familiar with the ad buy. The ads will air for two weeks beginning on Jan. 30. Election Day is March 13.
The National Republican Congressional Committee, which elects House Republicans, responded on Friday with a $300,000 ad buy of its own. The GOP group blocked out broadcast space from Monday through Election Day to air the campaign spots.
Lamb, a 33-year-old former assistant U.S. attorney and veteran of the Marines, has thus far mounted his underdog bid against Republican Rick Saccone, a 59-year-old conservative state representative, without any meaningful backing from the national party.
Lamb has nonetheless attracted the endorsement of the federal PAC End Citizens United and Daily Kos, a liberal site through which he has raised nearly $49,000.
Pennsylvania
Burned Mountain Lion Cub
California
A burned mountain lion cub rescued from the largest recorded California wildfire will not be released into the wild and will instead live out its life at a wildlife-rescue center, state officials said Thursday.
Two bears also burned in the Southern California wildfire were returned to Los Padres National Forest this month. A vet caring for the mountain lion had initially said Wednesday that the mountain lion also would be released into the wild.
However, the inexperience of the cub - only 5 months old when found alone, skinny and with all four paws burned in December - makes it unlikely he could survive on his own, said Deana Clifford, a senior veterinarian with the California Fish and Wildlife Department.
Winston Vickers, a wildlife veterinarian and mountain lion expert with the University of California, Davis, said he concurs with the state decision.
"We'd always rather return animals to the wild. But I agree in this case it's awfully hard to imagine how it could be done at this stage" of the young animal's life, he said.
California
Leaked Plan Suggests Future Sell-Off
Public Land
President-for-now Donald Trump (R-Crooked) and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke (R-Tool) have repeatedly said they oppose selling off federal lands.
"I want to keep the lands great, and you don't know what the state is going to do," Trump told Field & Stream magazine in January 2016. He re-emphasized this in a subsequent interview with the Outdoor Sportsman Group: "We're not looking to sell off land."
It was over this very issue that Zinke - a former Montana congressman - resigned as a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 2016. And in a speech one day after arriving at his new post, Zinke promised Interior staffers: "You can hear it from my lips. We will not sell or transfer public land."
But a leaked White House infrastructure plan has many conservation groups concerned that Trump and Zinke could soon be singing a different tune: that of the Republican Party, whose platform calls for transferring control of federal lands to states.
The draft plan, which Politico and Axios obtained this week, includes this line: "Disposition of Federal Real Property: would establish through executive order the authority to allow for the disposal of Federal assets to improve the overall allocation of economic resources in infrastructure investment."
Public Land
Changes Driver's License Requirements
Washington State
The Washington State Department of Licensing has issued an emergency rule to change driver's license requirements to help protect undocumented immigrants from a crackdown by federal authorities. Drivers no longer have to identify their place of birth.
State residents who apply for a standard driver's license, instruction permit or I.D. won't have to list a birthplace now, according to the order, which went into effect Friday.
The move is the latest in a West Coast war with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials who are targeting the region.
Last month, California Attorney General Xavier Bercerra warned businesses that they could face up to a $10,000 fine in the sanctuary state if they provide federal officials access to a workplace or employee records without a subpoena. The warning followed a news report that ICE was preparing a major sweep in Northern California aimed at deporting about 1,500 immigrants.
Earlier this month, The Seattle Times reported that Washington's Department of Licensing had been providing residents' personal information to ICE that could be used to arrest and deport undocumented immigrants. On Jan. 15 Gov. Jay Inslee ordered the practice halted immediately when he was alerted to it by the newspaper. Such information will now be provided only if agents obtain a court order.
Washington State
Lawmakers Vote To Outlaw References
'Polish Death Camps'
The lower house of the Polish parliament approved a bill Friday that prescribes prison time for defaming the Polish nation by using phrases such as "Polish death camps" to refer to the killing sites Nazi Germany operated in occupied Poland during World War II.
The bill passed Friday is a response to cases in recent years of foreign media using "Polish death camps" to describe Auschwitz and other Nazi-run camps.
Many major news organizations are sensitive to the issue and ban the language, but it nonetheless crops up in foreign media and statements by public officials. Former U.S. President Barack Obama used it in 2012, prompting outrage in Poland.
Many Poles fear such phrasing makes some people, especially younger generations, incorrectly conclude that Poles had a role in running the camps.
The legislation calls for prison sentences of up to three years. It still needs approval from Poland's Senate and president.
'Polish Death Camps'
Auctioning 3 Tons Of Hippo Teeth
Tanzania
Authorities in Tanzania plan an auction of 3.5 tons of hippo teeth next week, drawing criticism from conservation groups who say the sale could encourage increased killing of the vulnerable species for its body parts.
Licensed dealers on Monday can bid for the 12,500 pieces of hippo teeth at the tourism and natural resources ministry in the East African nation's commercial hub of Dar es Salaam, according to Tanzanian wildlife authorities. Buyers will receive documents confirming ownership.
Many hippo populations across Africa face intense pressure from hunting for their ivory and meat, the WWF conservation group said.
"Therefore, even though some countries still have healthy populations, WWF discourages the consumption of hippopotamus ivory and are disappointed to see auctions such as this taking place," said Colman O'Criodain, a WWF expert in wildlife trade.
Another conservation group, Born Free, said it was concerned there could be more demand for hippo ivory as efforts to end the trafficking of elephant ivory intensify.
Tanzania
Ancient Graves
Gaza
When Abdul Karim al-Kafarnah went to check the rainwater gushing down a hole in his garden he was in for quite a shock -- hidden steps led him down to an ancient grave complex.
The 24-year-old lives in the Beit Hanoun district of the Gaza Strip by the Israeli border which suffered intensive bombardment during the 2014 conflict between the Israeli army and Palestinian militants.
The family home was destroyed and the surrounding plots heavily churned up, leaving extensive craters in the ground.
The flash-flooding earlier this week led him to one particular spot, where, on removing a large stone, he found a staircase leading four metres (13 feet) down into an ancient tomb.
As he descended he found a total of nine graves, with piles of bones in some of them -- seemingly containing more than one body each. He also found votive lamps and other pottery.
Gaza
In Memory
Mort Walker
Mort Walker, the creator of a comic strip that brought laughter to millions by showing the foibles of a lazy G.I., and who later founded the first museum dedicated to cartooning, has died. He was 94 and passed way from pneumonia at his Stamford, Conn. home, according to Bill Morrison, president of the National Cartoonists Society.
Walker drew his daily comic strip for 68 years, longer than any other US artist in the history of the medium. It debuted in 1950 and eventually became a US Postal Service stamp in 2010.
Debuting in 1950, "Beetle Bailey" was distributed by King Features Syndicate and eventually reached 200 million readers in 1,800 newspapers in more than 50 countries. Beetle and company appeared in comic books, television cartoons, games and toys and were also featured in a musical with the book by Walker.
Set in the fictional "Camp Swampy," Beetle Bailey was a spindly G.I. always running afoul of his nemesis, the easily enraged (and fooled) Sgt. Snorkel. Beetle always had his eyes covered by his cap visor or helmet, and he interacted with such characters as Gen. Halftrack, the base leader; the voluptuous Miss Buxley, Halftrack's secretary; Cookie, the hairy-shouldered camp cook; and Pvt. Zero, perhaps the only soldier less sophisticated than Beetle.
'Beetle Bailey' was one of the first "gag-a-day" strips, a model that replaced the serial comics for most of the ensuing decades. Although the cartoon was set on a military base, it remained unaffected by outside conflicts, and never featured combat or even suggested that war was going on. In the comic, it was always post-World War II, and Walker said once that the military setting was merely a stage for the comic's exam of the human pecking order.
Mort Walker
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