Today is Wednesday, May 31, the 151st day of 2017 in the Gregorian calendar, with 214 days remaining. Donald Trump has been President of the United States for 132 days. There are 1,331 days remaining in his term, assuming he doesn't resign or is otherwise removed from office.
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The New York Times' On This Day for today.
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The Johnstown Flood by Charles Guggenheim
1990 Academy Award,
Best Documentary (short subject)
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Among other things today is also Necrotizing Fasciitis Awareness Day.
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Florida woman evicted over massive toy collection.
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Quote of the day:
"Whoever degrades another degrades me, And whatever is done or said
returns at last to me."
-Walt Whitman
(May 31, 1819 -
March 26, 1892)
More
Walt Whitman quotes.
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Sean Hannity is now supporting a boycott of Rachel Maddow. What's going to happen, of course, is that Maddow viewers will contact advertisers and thank them for supporting the only news show that does 15-18 solid minutes of reporting before the first commercial.
In other news-related news, Scott Pelley is out as anchor of the CBS Evening News. Pelley shifts to 60 Minutes fulltime. The move was sudden and unexpected; usually, changes in network anchors are well-planned in advance. (Daily Beast)
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Be careful with that Like button on Facebook... In a landmark ruling, a Swiss court has fined a man for "liking" comments on Facebook accusing an animal rights activist of being a "racist" and an "anti-Semite". (AFP)
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"Of course #covfefe is real word. It was coined during the Bowling Green Massacre." Incoherent Trump tweet roils Twitter... (New York Times)
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A 50th-anniversary deluxe version of
"Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts
Club Band."
Apple Corps Ltd. photo
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The Beatles' 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' at 50: still full of joy and whimsy. I think I've purchased this album at least six times: three vinyl, twice on CD, and digital. The album was released in Britain on May 29, 1967 and on June 2 in the U.S. I remember waiting with my friends at the local record store for the UPS truck to arrive. Rolling Stone noted, "The closest Western Civilization has come to unity since the Congress of Vienna in 1815 was the week the Sgt. Pepper album was released. In every city in Europe and America the radio stations played [it] ... and everyone listened ... it was the most amazing thing I've ever heard. For a brief while the irreparable fragmented consciousness of the West was unified, at least in the minds of the young."
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You have the power to physically reshape your brain. The key is meditation, and the potential benefits are significant. I prefer Woody Allen's observation: "There's nothing wrong with you that can't be fixed with some Prozac and a polo mallet." (Futurism)
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If you're looking to buy a used car, now may be the time. Off-lease used cars are flooding the market, pushing prices down. It may also be a good time to buy a new car, since competition from used cars sales will cause new vehicle prices to drop.(AP)
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Ariana Grande returns to Manchester for a benefit concert, along Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus, Coldplay, Pharrell Williams, Usher, Take That, and Niall Horan. All proceeds from Sunday's concert will go to the We Love Manchester Emergency Fund, which was set up by Manchester city council in partnership with the British Red Cross.
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You've been duped. The Affordable Care Act isn't raising your premiums... Republicans are. The former CEO of a health insurance company, warns publicly what will happen if Trump continues to effectively sabotage the Affordable Care Act. (US News)
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Where are we going, and why are we in this handbasket? "Acclerationists" argue that technology, particularly computer technology, and capitalism, particularly the most aggressive, global variety, should be massively sped up and intensified– either because this is the best way forward for humanity, or because there is no alternative. (The Guardian)
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Can the jokes about France. Unlike some world leaders, French President Macron stands up to Putin face to face. (The UK Times)
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Billionaire helping develop NASA spacecraft says aliens are here... but it's covered up. The business guru revealed being a subscriber to a widely held conspiracy theory that the US Government, and others across the globe, know that aliens are here on Earth, and even interact with them, but it is all kept top secret from the public amid fears over the impact it would have on religion and the rule of law.
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Donald Trump took $19,000 of her money. And she wants him to pay. You may have heard that the class action againt Trump University is settled and is over. Not quite. (Vox)
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Well, this is encouraging. Superman is prominently featured in newly revealed Justice League merchandise. (ComicBookMovie.com)
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A disease's name can cause all sorts of grief. And despite new policies by the United Nation's World Health Organization (WHO), the process is still problematic. (Aeon)
How can we be? The source of human consciousness can't be identified by the fMRI, but it can supply somes clues. (The Times Literary Supplement UK)
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Relentless pressure on corporate America by Wall Street is creating an increasingly Dickensian experience for consumers as companies focus on maximizing profit. And nowhere is the trend as stark as in the airline industry, whose service is delivered in an aluminum tube packed with up to four different classes, cheek by jowl, 35,000 feet in the air. (New York Times)
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Fidelity adds Bitcoin to website and cafeteria as the digital currency hits new record. What a long way we've come since someone bought 2 pizzas with 10,000 bitcoins in 2010. Those 10,000 bitcoins would be worth $20 million today. (LinkedIn/Business Insider)
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IBM's remote work reversal is a losing battle against the new normal. IBM will diminish the quality of its team. As much as 40% of the company's workforce was already remote as of a decade ago, so it's easy to see the new mandate as a way to trim staff without having to actually make layoffs. But if IBM is trying to get rid of people it deems extraneous, it's pretty short-sighted. In all likelihood, what happened to Yahoo will also happen to IBM: The best talent will easily find new jobs with companies that are more open to remote work. (New York Times)
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NASA's Juno reported back, and things are getting weird. Juno has revealed data from its first 5 flybys of Jupiter, and scientists are surprised that much of what we believed about the planet was wrong. Juno's ultimate goal is to reveal more about planet formation and the origins of the Solar System. (Futurism)
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"Toilet tissue police" wins court fight with Kmart. Toilet tissue is exempt from sales tax in Pennsylvania, but a suburban Pittsburgh woman noticed she her purchases were being taxed. Okay, maybe we're scraping bottom here... (WTAE)
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