Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Froma Harrop: In November, Democrats Need to Be the Third Party (Creators Syndicate)
Widespread displeasure with Donald Trump and his party bodes well for Democrats in November. They have a good chance of retaking the House and a decent one of winning a Senate majority. But to get there, they must be smart. And being smart includes attracting Republicans repelled by Trump.
Marc Dion: Dressing for Disaster (Creators Syndicate)
The worse the country gets, the better I dress.
Garrison Keillor: Firing 30 rounds at a wedding cake
The younger generation has gotten a bad rap, going around with wires in their ears, tattoos on their necks, iPhones in their faces, but if they showed up at campaign rallies with signs that said, "Stop Killing Kids," it would be a step toward maturity. The first rule of politics: stand up for yourself. Time for the 97 percent to make their feelings known.
Ted Rall: Never Mind Millennial Apathy, Here's Generation Z (Creators Syndicate)
Like many other Americans this week, I have been impressed with the poise, passion and guts of the Florida teenagers who survived the latest big school shooting, as well as that of their student allies in other cities who walked out of class, took to the streets and/or confronted government officials to demand that they take meaningful action to reduce gun violence.
Emma Brockes: "John Oliver: 'I'm used to audiences not liking me'" (The Guardian)
How did a foul-mouthed Brit with 'a fifth-grade understanding of American politics' become a hit US TV comedian? John Oliver talks about the secret to satire - and that clash with Dustin Hoffman
Brooke Swanson As Told To Kate Morgan: My Life Not Knowing What Colors Look Like (The Cut)
A few weeks before Christmas, my boyfriend Tiger gave me a present. I'd read about Enchroma glasses, which filter out specific color wavelengths and let people like me see with normal color vision. I'd asked eye doctors about the glasses, and they'd told me to save my money. They were so wrong.
Hadley Freeman: "I'm sick of 'Poor Jen' sexism on repeat. This is The One Where Aniston Was Just Fine" (The Guardian)
Magazines don't talk about poor Leonardo DiCaprio or Jake Gyllenhaal, still not married.
Elena Ferrante: 'Yes, I'm Italian - but I'm not loud, I don't gesticulate and I'm not good with pizza' (The Guardian)
Being Italian, for me, begins and ends with the fact that I speak and write in the Italian language.
The Simpsons Live Action Opening (YouTube)
From Season 17, Episode 15. "Homer Simpson, This is Your Wife."
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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
Current Events
Thoughts and prayers make-up tutorial
Brilliant! Stuart shared the link:
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
BABY STEPS.
SCHOOL DAYZ!
OLD AND IN THE WAY.
SEEN THIS ONE!!? PART TWO.
"DON'T EVER LET THESE COWARDS WRIGGLE OFF THE HOOK."
"GOD WILLING."
DON'T TAKE YOUR GUN TO SCHOOL SON...
Visit JD's site - Kitty Litter Music
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny but colder than seasonal.
Defamation Lawsuit Dismissed
John Oliver
A judge has dismissed a coal mogul's defamation lawsuit against comedian John Oliver and American TV network HBO.
Jeffrey Cramer, a West Virginia Judge, conceded to HBO's argument that Bob Murray ceased to demonstrate the late night talk show host legally defamed him.
Bob Murray, a coal tycoon who is the CEO of coal mining giant Murray Energy Corp, asserted that Oliver portrayed his companies unfairly in a commentary about Donald Trump's treatment of the coal industry.
Oliver, who hosts US show Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, devoted a 24-minute segment last June to remarking on the decline of the coal industry and Mr Trump's pledges to resuscitate it.
The comedian denounced the 78-year-old mining magnate, who is one of the largest independent operators of coal mines in the US, and drew attention to Mr Murray's discussion of Barack Obama's "evil agenda".
John Oliver
Epic Vent
Neil Young
As far as Neil Young is concerned, Google has anything but a heart of gold when it comes to compensating artists.
"Harvest" musician Young vented at Google and other tech companies in a post published by Neil Young Archives on Friday, accusing them of "building their wealth on music's back and paying nothing to the artists."
"Today, in the age of Facebook, Google and Amazon, it's hard to tell how a new and growing musical artist could make it in the way we did," Young wrote. "The Tech Giants have figured out a way to use all the great music of everyone from all time, without reporting an artist's number of plays or paying a f-king cent to the musicians. Aren't they great companies!!! It makes you wonder where the next generation of artists will come from. How will they survive?"
"'Don't be evil.' That was Google's corporate motto as they directed users to pirate sites to get artist's creations and not pay!! Amazing tech breakthrough!! Meanwhile, they reap the bucks from ads people read while listening to music made my artists," Young wrote.
"Google just changed their motto from 'Do the Right Thing,' but haven't changed anything else as they continue to rip off the artist community, building their wealth on music's back and paying nothing to the artists," Young continued. "WOW! Brilliant tech breakthrough! BTW, Google is YouTube. Guess who's next?"
Neil Young
Stolen Painting Found
Edgar Degas
French customs officers have found an impressionist painting by Edgar Degas stowed on a bus more than eight years after it was reported stolen. According to the BBC, the pastel painting, which was found during a random search, is said to be worth 800,000 euros, or nearly $984,000.
The French Culture Ministry said Friday that customs agents in Marne-la-Vallee were surprised to find a work of art bearing the signature "Degas" inside a suitcase in the bus' luggage compartment. The ministry says none of the passengers claimed the suitcase during the Feb. 16 search.
Experts verified the artwork as Degas' "Les Choristes" ("The Chorus Singers"), which depicts a scene from Mozart's opera "Don Giovanni."
The painting was stolen from a Marseille museum in 2009 while on loan from Paris' Musee d'Orsay. At the time, authorities said there was no sign of a break in, according to the BBC.
Edgar Degas
Uncovers Ancient Necropolis
Egypt
Egyptian archaeologists have discovered an ancient necropolis containing 40 stone sarcophagi, about 1,000 small statues and a necklace charm bearing the hieroglyphic inscription "happy new year".
Antiquities minister Khaled El-Enany said on Saturday the discovery near Tuna al-Gabal, south of Cairo, consisted of a large number of burial shafts dating from the late Pharaonic period to the early Ptolomaic era.
The site, which is more than 2,000 years old, is expected to take another five years to excavate.
"It's only the beginning," said Enany. "We are very soon going to add a new archaeological attraction to Middle Egypt."
The number of tourists visiting the country rose 54 percent to 8.3 million last year, still below the 14.7 million who came in 2010.
Egypt
Accepts NRA Award
Ajit Pai
Since accepting the NRA's "Charlton Heston Courage Under Fire Award" at CPAC yesterday, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has retweeted messages about Olympics curling from Mr. T and a cleverly-worded obituary of a Blues Brothers fan.
But still nothing addressing questions raised about the appropriateness of actually accepting the rifle-shaped award.
"Just when you thought @NRA could not be more out of touch with the overwhelming majority of Americans," tweeted California congressman Ted Lieu last night, "it turns out the NRA randomly supports repealing net neutrality. What's next, is the NRA going to support repealing seat belts?
In making the presentation - which, unlike previous years, did not actually include handing over the weapon - NRA official Carolyn Meadows said that the Kentucky long rifle would remain at the organization's Virginia museum. The award, she said, recognizes those who have "stood up under pressure with grace and dignity and principled discipline."
Past recipients of the award include Phyllis Schlafly, Mike Pence and Sheriff David Clarke.
Ajit Pai
Urged To Pull
NRA TV Channel
Amazon, Apple, Roku and YouTube are facing increased calls to drop the National Rifle Association's TV channel from their streaming services, as backlash against the organization grows following a Florida school shooting last week that killed 17 people.
The NRA describes its NRA TV channel as a source "for the most comprehensive coverage of the Second Amendment and firearms related issues." That includes everything from coverage of the Conservative Political Action Conference to far more incendiary videos that border on outright calls for violence.
A 2017 analysis of the channel by the nonprofit Media Matters noted that while NRA TV presents itself as a news outlet, its news and firearms coverage has diminished and instead it "has largely become a platform for far-right conservative talking points that are often unrelated to gun policy."
For example, among a long list of other things, NRA TV hosts have said they're happy to see the "rat bastards" in the media get "curb-stomped"; claimed that the head of Women's March, a female empowerment group, "believes in overthrowing the U.S. government for Sharia law"; and said punishing gun owners who fail to store their firearms properly is "like shaming a rape survivor."
NRA TV Channel
Reprimands InfoWars
YouTube
A far-right site known for its false and outlandish conspiracy theories has reportedly been reprimanded by YouTube after it posted a video which suggester survivors of the Florida school shooting were actors.
InfoWars' biggest YouTube account, The Alex Jones Channel, is reported to have received one strike from the video-sharing site for the video.
YouTube's community guidelines stipulate the account will be shut down altogether if it gets three strikes in the space of three months, a source told CNN.
The channel, which is hosted by far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, posted a video about David Hogg, who survived the Valentines Day bloodshed which left 17 dead.
The video - titled "David Hogg can't remember his lines in TV interview" - was removed by YouTube for breaching its policies on bullying and harassment.
YouTube
New US Tax Law
Warren Buffett
Berkshire Hathaway, the holding company of US billionaire investor Warren Buffett, received a stunning $29 billion check last year from the US government, thanks to a new tax law that massively lowered corporate tax rates.
In his much-anticipated annual letter to shareholders, Buffett explained that the company's net gain of $65.3 billion in 2017 was only partly due to his employees' efforts.
The new law, greatly touted by President Donald Trump, lowered the tax rate paid by US corporations from 35 percent to 21 percent, allowing many to undertake major new outlays and others to book significant fiscal gains.
Berkshire Hathaway wholly owns dozens of companies -- from Dairy Queen to Duracell -- and holds significant shares in large and diverse corporations including American Express, Apple, Bank of America, Charter Communications, Coca-Cola, Delta Air Lines, General Motors, Goldman Sachs, Moody's, Wells Fargo and Southwest Airlines.
Warren Buffett
Strange, Ancient Sculptures
Saudi Desert
There's a place in the desert where the ghosts of camels seem to loom out of ancient rocks. Their faint smiles, humped bodies and even their heads are so old and eroded that a visitor could be forgiven for thinking their eyes were playing tricks on them. But the camel reliefs, along with perhaps some horse-like creatures, are real, the faded remnants of at least two schools of ancient sculptors on the Arabian Peninsula.
The Camel Site, as researchers call it, is spread across the Sakaka basin in Saudi Arabia's Jawf province. Time, human interference and erosion have worn away all tool marks and other signs of the camel reliefs' creation, making their authors difficult to identify and their origin difficult to date, according to a paper published Feb. 9 in the journal Antiquity.
The researchers estimate the creatures were sculpted some time between 100 B.C. and A.D 100, based on the similarities in artistic style with cultures that flourished during that era.
It's not clear exactly what purpose the camels served, but they likely had religious significance to the culture that created them centuries before the arrival of Islam, the researchers wrote. Certain societies of the era practiced rituals that involved touching body parts on graven images, and possibly supporting that idea is the smoothing - evidence of lots of humans' touches - on the front of some of the camels' faces.
The large stone images would also have been highly visible landmarks in the years after their creation, before the long passage of time, the researchers wrote; the carvings likely signaled the start of a well-traveled route through the desert.
Saudi Desert
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