Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Froma Harrop: If You Want Fiscal Responsibility, Elect Democrats (Creators Syndicate)
Your writer takes issue with Democrats on several fronts, but on fiscal management, they rock. Responsible leaders can foster a stable, growing economy - and they don't have to take away your health care to do it. If that's what you want, put Democrats back in power.
Mark Shields: Odds and Ends (Creators Syndicate)
The Democrats, in case anyone is interested, have developed in secret a focus group-tested campaign strategy and slogan for this year's midterm elections, which will be unveiled here for the very first time: "Vote for us. We're not in charge. We're the other guys." Doesn't that make you want to stand up and cheer as if you just heard "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall" or "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country"?
Marc Dion: The Last Union Stronghold (Creators Syndicate)
The real aristocrats of the working class aren't bartenders, they're cops - and firefighters. If the place where you live is poor enough, they're $30,000 a year clerks in city hall - and high school janitors. A recent Supreme Court decision is going to make it hard for those workers to exercise power through their unions.
Hadley Freeman: Politicians and media figures are starting to let their roots show (The Guardian)
In 1940, Nazi propaganda described concentration camps as being like youth camps; today, Fox News presenter Laura Ingraham describes migrant juvenile detention centres as being "essentially summer camps". In 1942, Jews were led into showers and gassed to death; in 2018, migrant toddlers are taken away from their parents by US officials who say they need a bath, only to ship them out to a "summer camp" thousands of miles away. Trump himself famously described a neo-Nazi rally in 2017 as being full of "very fine people", yet we continue to be surprised by what he does.
Lenore Skenazy: Kids Waiting in Cars Are Safer Than You Think (Creators Syndicate)
5) Because forgetting kids is the real danger, the best prevention is to put your phone or wallet in the back seat with your child. That way, even if you're distracted, you will open the door to get your item and see your precious child.
Carmel Daga: Harlan Ellison, Award-Winning Speculative Fiction And TV Writer, Dead At 84 (Huffington News)
The prolific but cantankerous author famously penned the "Star Trek" episode "City on the Edge of Forever," in which Kirk and Spock must go back in time.
Lanre Bakare: "'Melania knew what she was putting on': Benicio Del Toro on drugs, Sicario and Trump's border war" (The Guardian)
The actor made his name playing characters on all sides of the drug war. How does he feel that his new film has become a lightning rod for Trump's war on migrant families?
Paul Krugman: "Friday Night Music: Chvrches (Self-indulgent! Not a Column!)" (NY Times Blog)
But I still find great comfort in music, maybe even especially in these times, and my mid-60s wannabe hipster tastes are still expanding. So I'll try to share a few of the bands I'm listening to these days, beginning with Chvrches. (The "v" was to make them findable in Google searches!)
Suzanne Moore: At last, a sex robot that 'wants' you. How sad that anyone would want it (The Guardian)
In this exciting future of automated pleasure, I see only male fantasy made fake flesh.
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Presenting
Michael Egan
said:
has returned to semi-retired status.
In memory.
Reader Suggestion
Michelle in AZ
Reader Comment
Current Events
Rural Studio helps the poor
I had no idea Auburn students and faculty were doing this! (And it has been going on for over 20 years.)
Stuart shared the link for the PBS story:
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
WWJD?
PONCHO TO THE RESCUE.
PROMISES, PROMISES.
'HE'S WAFFEN-SS.'
Visit JD's site - Kitty Litter Music
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Still sunny and seasonal.
Rallies
Protest
"Superstore" star America Ferrera, "Hamilton's" Lin-Manuel Miranda and R&B star Alicia Keys were among the big-name stars who joined the thousands of protesters who gathered on Saturday to protest the Trump administration's immigration policy
In dozens of cities across the country, protesters gathered at various "Families Belong Together" marches to protest the administration's zero-tolerance policy to detain and separate unauthorized migrant parents from their children attempting to cross the U.S.-Mexico border.
"I am here not only as a brand new mother, as the proud child of Honduran immigrants and not only an American who sees it as her duty to be here defending justice," Ferrera said at the gathering in Washington D.C. "I am here as a human being with a beating heart, who can feel pain, who understands compassion and who can easily imagine what it must feel like to struggle the way families are struggling right now."
Miranda sang a lullaby rendition of the "Hamilton" song "Dear Theodosia," which he dedicated to the children who were separated from their parents and detained after crossing into the U.S.
Other Hollywood notables who showed up in marches across the country included "Big Little Lies" star Laura Dern, "Orange Is the New Black's" Diane Guerrero and Alysia Reiner, Kerry Washington, Amy Schumer, Padma Lakshmi and Chrissy Teigen.
Protest
US Ambassador To Resign
Estonia
Donald Trump's comments about America's Europan allies have prompted the US ambassador to Estonia to resign.
James D Melville Jr, a career diplomat who serves as the US ambassador to the eastern European country, told friends and family in a private Facebook post that he was cutting his 33 year career as a senior foreign service member short after the president attacked NATO and said that European Union (EU) allies are taking advantage of the US.
"A Foreign Service Officer's DNA is programmed to support policy and we're schooled right from the start, that if there ever comes a point where one can no longer do so, particularly if one is in a position of leadership, the honourable course is to resign. Having served under six presidents and 11 secretaries of state, I never really thought it would reach that point for me," Mr Melville wrote in the post, which was acquired by Foreign Policy magazine.
He added: "For the President to say the EU was 'set up to take advantage of the United States, to attack our piggy bank,' or that 'NATO is as bad as NAFTA' is not only factually wrong, but proves to me that it's time to go."
Who might replace Mr Melville when he officially leaves his post July 29 is unclear.
Estonia
Always A Class Act
Fox "News"
The deadly shooting at the Capital Gazette in Annapolis, Md., that claimed the lives of five journalists was quickly politicized by many members of the media - which is nothing new.
Now, Fox News is facing a backlash after its anchor Trace Gallagher suggested that the Capital Gazette's political affiliation could have made it a target for the attack, though he quickly dismissed the idea, saying the paper "doesn't appear very ideological."
The comment came before Maryland authorities confirmed the identity of the alleged shooter. Jarrod Ramos had a long-running feud with the paper stemming from an article it published about a criminal harassment charge against him.
Still, many were appalled that Fox News would check the paper's political leanings in order to uncover a possible reason for the attack.
Fox "News"
Blood Moon
July
It's hard to follow an act like June's Strawberry Moon, which resulted in stellar views for stargazers and photographers alike. But July's Blood Moon is already slated to make history as the longest total lunar eclipse of the 21st century.
The moon will pass through Earth's shadow on July 27, creating a total lunar eclipse that will last for one hour and 43 minutes. Unlike solar eclipses, viewers don't need instruments to protect their eyes while watching the event. It's completely safe to watch with the naked eye or through a telescope.
The moon won't be completely dark during the eclipse, but rather will display a deep red color. That's because sunlight in Earth's atmosphere will still reach the moon directly, even if Earth is blocking all direct sunlight from illuminating the moon during an eclipse. As the sun's rays extend through the atmosphere, most colors in the light spectrum are filtered out from scattering. Only the red wavelengths are able to reach the moon's face, giving it that reddish hue and the "Blood Moon" moniker.
The total eclipse will begin at 3:30 p.m. Eastern and maintain its signature blush until 5:13 p.m. Eastern. Before and after this nearly-two-hour eclipse, the moon will linger in the lighter part of Earth's shadow, called the penumbra. Including the penumbral time, the event will last four hours with the moon showcasing various shades of red.
The Blood Moon will be completely visible in Eastern Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia, and can be partially seen from West Africa, South America, Europe, and Australia. However, North America will sadly miss out on this celestial happening in their skies. But fear not! The Virtual Telescope Project and will livestream the event, beginning at 2:30 p.m. Eastern on July 27. And the internet will no doubt offer different vantage points of the Blood Moon from all over the world.
July
U.S. State Department
Trafficking in Persons Report
A U.S. State Department report on human trafficking warned on Thursday that removing children from their families made them easy targets for traffickers, raising questions about the Trump administration's policy of separating immigrant children and parents illegally crossing the U.S-Mexico border.
The annual Trafficking in Persons report looked at 187 countries and territories and ranked them into four tiers. In a special section, the State Department said children should only be removed from their families as a "temporary, last resort."
John Sifton, an advocacy director for Human Rights Watch, said the report "is an indictment of the Trump administration's own policies with respect to asylum seekers and others seeking entry into the United States."
Since April, more than 2,300 children have been separated from their parents as a result of U.S. President-for-now Donald Trump's (R-Malevolent) "zero-tolerance" policy for illegal immigrants. Children were kept in shelters while their parents waited to have their cases heard by a judge.
Faced with criticism at home and abroad, Trump signed an executive order on June 20 requiring families be detained together for the duration of legal proceedings, but many could remain apart as legal challenges drag on.
Trafficking in Persons Report
Immigrant Detentions Centers
Abuse
A new report sheds light on over 800 instances of abuse motivated by hate or bias against immigrants held in detention centres across the US since Donald Trump was elected president.
Migrants reported experiencing physical assault, verbal abuse and discrimination from officials associated with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and private prison contractors like GEO Group and CoreCivic. Freedom for Immigrants, the advocacy group behind the report, told The Independent there has been a rise in abuses throughout detention centres under Mr Trump, despite the DHS failing to properly track such incidents in recent decades.
"Abuses have always been perpetrated under every administration, however what we've seen is an increase in the vitriol in abuses perpetrated under the Trump administration," said Rebecca Merton, national visitation network coordinator and independent monitor at Freedom for Immigrants. "We believe the dehumanizing language and rhetoric he and his administration uses has had an impact in which guards are encouraged to make hateful statements to the immigrants being held in detention centres."
Many reported abuses were based on discriminations against race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability and nationality.
Guards at the Brooks County detention centre - a GEO prison in Falfurrias, Texas - threw an entire group of detainees' meals onto the floor each time they were heard speaking in Spanish.
Abuse
Repeats Lie
ICE Director
The acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Friday perpetuated President-for-now Donald Trump's (R-Racist) lie that Congress is responsible for the Trump administration's zero tolerance policy of separating young, undocumented immigrant children from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border.
"If the American public wants to know who to blame for family separations, the first people they need to blame is Congress," Thomas Homan said on "Fox & Friends," in an interview before his retirement on Friday.
In recent weeks, Trump has falsely blamed Congress, particularly Democrats, for the border separations - despite his administration's decision to embark on the policy, part of an aggressive anti-immigration push that officials have called a "zero tolerance" enforcement of immigration laws at the border.
In deeming Trump's claim false, PolitiFact noted that the policy is entirely of his administration's making, as there is "no law mandating that children be separated from their parents."
When we asked for evidence of policies separating families, the White House referred us to items determining what happens to unaccompanied immigrant minors. But none of the children in question would be deemed unaccompanied if the Trump administration did not decide to prosecute their parents.
ICE Director
Harder To Rebuild
Infrastructure
President-for-now Donald Trump (R-Flaccid) wants to rebuild the nation's transportation infrastructure. He also wants to strengthen the U.S. steel industry through tariffs on imports.
But that second goal could make it more costly to accomplish the first.
Since Trump announced the tariffs in March, prices have been rising for the American steel used to build bridges, reinforce concrete highways and lay the rails for mass transit systems. Though many of this summer's big construction projects had locked in pre-tariff prices, concerns are mounting among contractors and some transportation officials that the tariffs could raise costs and delay work that is still in the planning stages.
In Kansas City, for example, voters recently approved higher sales and property taxes to fund a streetcar extension that had been estimated to cost at least $250 million. Though the project had been in the works for a year, officials are now recalculating.
Trump in February announced a $1.5 trillion infrastructure plan that would use $200 billion in federal funds to leverage state, local and private-sector investment. The proposal had yet to gain traction in Congress when the president announced tariffs of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminum imported from most countries. After a temporary exemption, the metal tariffs hit the U.S. allies of Canada, Mexico and the European Union on May 31.
Infrastructure
Ancient Tomb
Mesopotamia
About 5,000 years ago, the Mesopotamians buried two 12-year-olds - a boy and a girl - and surrounded their slender bodies with hundreds of bronze spearheads and what appears to be eight human sacrifices, a new study finds.
The eight human sacrifices were positioned just outside the tomb, located at the site of Basur Höyük in southeastern Turkey, the researchers said. The team determined the age of six of the human sacrifices and found that the victims ranged in age from 11 to 20 years old.
These two 12-year-olds, along with the eight human sacrifices, "had been deposited in a single event, and furnished with an unprecedented number of high-status grave goods for the period and the region," the researchers wrote in a study published online yesterday (June 28) in the journal Antiquity.
The mysterious tomb was discovered in 2014, said the study's two researchers, Brenna Hassett, a post-doctoral researcher of archaeology at the Natural History Museum in London; and Haluk Saglamtimur, an archaeology professor at Ege University in Izmir, Turkey. [25 Cultures That Practiced Human Sacrifice]
And while the evidence isn't 100 percent clear, scientists are fairly certain that the eight people were sacrificed.
Mesopotamia
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