Thursday, October 10, 2019

MEdia Dragon Gone Viral: 870,000+ Views: Perception matters

The most important thing is to live a fabulous life. As long as it's fabulous, I don't care how long it is. 
- Freddie Mercury

You have reached the pinnacle of success as soon as you become uninterested in money, compliments, or publicity.
~ Thomas Wolfe, born in 1900


Eugeniusz Bodo
He was so popular in Polish films he got an American film contract. Then… | The Book Haven


Quality is a subjective and variable impression of a product or service, instinctively reassessed and recast with each interaction.

wonders within your headWE CAN REMEMBER IT FOR YOU WHOLESALE: Scientists Implant False Memories in Birds to Teach Them Songs They’ve Never Heard.


Sex industry increase in Australian women who buy sex

Today’s Document started as a small feature on the Archives.gov website several years ago, as a way to highlight interesting documents in our holdings—both the well-known and the obscure—and to observe historical events (usually the significant events but sometimes just the curious ones). Today’s Document is now a popular feature and has inspired a new mobile App and even an independent tribute site. Over the years we have received suggestions and requests for new documents and started this blog as a way to collect and discuss those ideas. We’ll select the most highly rated documents and use them to populate future dates…”


Story image for irs whistleblower from CNN

Washington Post: IRS whistleblower report involves Treasury ...

CNN-3 Oct 2019
(CNN) An Internal Revenue Service official alleged in a whistleblower complaint that he was informed of at least one Treasury Department ...



She Accused Him Of Rape. She Then Sent Herself Threatening Messages To Frame Him.
 
        - The Nobel site has now posted a video in which Anders Olsson, 'chair of the Nobel Committee in the Swedish Academy', explains How is the Nobel Prize in Literature decided ? Olsson notes that there are usually about 200 nominations to consider (although the Academy website says"There are usually about 350 proposals each year" ...); it's unclear why he won't even say exactly how many there were this year. At least there is some clarification about this year's selection-process, as he reveals that there is an eight-author-strong list of finalists -- just one list, for both the 2018 and 2019 prizes -- from which the two laureates will be selected. 
       He suggests the Academy won't be as Europe- and male-focused as previously, but they've said that before; it'll be interesting to see how/if that manifests itself .... 

        - The official press invitation is out -- and describes what will happen on Thursday:
The announcement, made by Permanent Secretary Mats Malm, will begin the press briefing. The chair of the Nobel Committee, Academy member Anders Olsson, and other members of the Committee will then present the Nobel Laureates and their works, as well as expounding on the Committee's work.
       The announcement will be streamed live -- and I presume this post-announcement stuff will be as well, so we'll be able to follow this from home. 

        - The odds at Unibet do not appear to have shifted any (suggesting that basically no one is placing bets), but there are now also odds listed at Betsson -- mostly the same names, with a few more (J.K.Rowling ...), and similar odds. 



From the Joseph Heller Book "Catch 22" via BC

"There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for one's safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind. Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions. Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn't, but if he were sane he had to fly them. If he flew them he was crazy and didn't have to, but if he didn't want to he was sane and had to. Yossarian was moved very deeply by the absolute simplicity of this clause of Catch-22 and let out a respectful whistle." (p. 56, ch. 5)


The New York Times – Opinion – They are not partisans but stewards of our constitutional democracy. By Allison Stanger. Dr. Stanger is the author of “Whistleblowers: Honesty in America From Washington to Trump.”
“In accusing the intelligence community whistle-blower of partisanship and treason, President Trump has redefined whistle-blowing to serve his private interests rather than the rule of law. In the American tradition, whistle-blowers expose illegal or unconstitutional acts that the powerful want to keep secret. That the current game-changing official intelligence community whistle-blower complaint has reached the American people is a miracle for which we should be grateful. Americans must focus on the content of the whistle-blower complaint, which the White House has not denied. The president has obvious reasons to spin the complaint, but genuine whistle-blowers are not partisans. They are stewards of our constitutional democracy. Whistle-blower protection is as old as the Republic itself. The Continental Congress passed the world’s first whistle-blower protection legislation in 1778 in an effort to keep American elites honest. The current whistle-blower complaint shines light on an attempted cover-up and an intelligence community that sees the president advancing the Trump brand at the expense of American national security. But the whistle-blower is just the tip of the iceberg. In Mr. Trump’s presidency, there have been unprecedented disclosures from the intelligence community on his behavior. While overturning longstanding intelligence community norms, Mr. Trump has repeatedly charged it with partisanship. But members of the intelligence community swear allegiance to the Constitution, not the president. They serve their country regardless of the party in the White House…”