60. 5/26/17

A1 FOR MANCHESTER, AS FOR ITS THOUSANDS OF LIBYANS, A TEST OF FAITH

"'And there's hard times again on these streets of our city,' Mr. Walsh read. 'But we don't take defeat and we don't want your pity, because this is a place where we stand strong together, with a smile on our face, Mancunians forever'."

A1 YANKEES' WINS DO NOT EXTEND TO TICKET SALES

"[T]icket sales and suite revenues through last season had fallen by a staggering $166 million since the end of 2009 ..."

Aah! Poor babies! Let's all feel sorry for the mighty Yankees. Are you kidding me?

A1 COURT REJECTS REVISED TRAVEL BAN AS SESSIONS VOWS APPEAL TO TOP

"Describing President Trump's revised travel ban as intolerant and discriminatory, a federal appeals court on Thursday rejected government efforts to limit travel to the United States from six predominantly Muslim nations. Attorney General Jeff Sessions quickly vowed to appeal to the Supreme Court."

Talk about gluttons for punishment!

A1 TRUMP'S MESSAGE TO NATO IS PAY UP, NOT "ALL FOR ONE"

"President Trump punctured any illusions that he was on a fence-mending tour of Europe ..."

C22 FILM SERIES IN NYC THIS WEEK

From 1959, Yasujiro Ozu's great masterpiece, Ohayo ("Good Morning"), playing at the Metrograph this weekend. If you can't make it, Criterion just released this wonderful film on blu-ray.

C6 A LONG WALK OFF A SHORT PLANK

"This movie would be a rip-off even if someone paid you to see it."

B2 HEART "BUMPING," A GO MASTER AGAIN LOSES TO GOOGLE

"'Maybe because I was too excited I made some stupid moves'."

"AlphaGo of course has no heart and feels no nerves ..."

Your brain on Go

A26 PRESIDENT TRUMP FAILS NATO

" ... he sees NATO as essentially a transactional arrangement, not as an indisputably important alliance that has kept the peace for 70 years and whose value cannot be measured in dollars and cents."

Asshat.

A26 MR. KUSHNER'S BELEAGUERED TENANTS

" ... '[I]n business, you don't necessarily need heart,' [Trump] said. 'In fact, in business you're actually better off without it.'

He said that wasn't true in government. But the president's actions prove otherwise. His budget plan would gut programs ... [like] the Legal Service Corporation, which represents poor tenants fighting to stay in their homes. That would be one less concern for Mr. Kushner's family."

Asswipe.

A26 OUTRAGE OVER THE MANCHESTER BOMB PHOTOS

I always appreciate it when The Times owns up to its mistakes. This letter's a start; now they need to dedicate some serious column space to the fuckup.

TIME MACHINE
May 26, 1990
27 years ago

SCIENTISTS URGE RAPID ACTION ON GLOBAL WARMING

"A panel of scientists warned today that unless emissions of carbon dioxide and other harmful gases were immediately cut by more than 60 percent, global temperatures would rise sharply over the next century, with unforeseeable consequences for humanity."

Not so unforeseeable, 27 years later.

59. 5/25/17

A18 TRUMP'S CUTS WOULD MAKE JOB "IMPOSSIBLE," U.N. SAYS

"The United States contributes 22 percent of the United Nations' core operating budget of $5.4 billion. That share is set by an international agreement and is based on the size of the American economy."

Poor Nikki. She's said that she "wants the U.N. to use American taxpayer money more efficiently," but has "also expressed opposition to what she has called a slash-and-burn approach to budget reductions." She keeps flipping coins and hoping that they'll all land on the edges ...

B1 WHERE NESTLÉ GUZZLES WATER

"Last year, for the first time, bottled water outsold carbonated soft drinks in the United States."

"Nestlé persuaded officials to look at the data differently ..."

Until they discovered the footnote with the dollar sign and all those zeroes.

A20 QUESTIONS FOR THE D.E.A. AFTER THREE FATAL SHOOTINGS

"In the late 1980s and 1990s, the D.E.A.'s Operation Snowcap put agents through military training so they could join local forces in places like Peru and Bolivia to target airstrips used for smuggling and to destroy jungle labs."

"The D.E.A. said ... that it had shut down the program, the Foreign-deployed Advisory Support Team (FAST)."

Not fast enough for the two women in the above photo.

A20 AFTER 7 STAYS SINCE 1983, ALABAMA INMATE HOPES TO STAVE OFF EXECUTION

"According to the Death Penalty Information Center, 60 percent of death-row exonerations since 2012 involved cases at least 20 years old."

The details of this guy's case are so perverted and nebulous. Life in prison without parole.

B5 TAKE A LOAD OFF. THE ROBOTS THAT FOLD LAUNDRY ARE COMING.

"Last year, about 17 million washers and dryers were sold in the United States, according to the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers."

video

A1 HUNT FOR BOMBER'S ACCOMPLICES EXTENDS TO LIBYA

"The police accelerated their hunt Wednesday for co-plotters of the Manchester concert bombing, making at least a half-dozen arrests in Britain, searching for a possible clandestine bomb factory and extending the investigation to Libya, where two of the bomber's relatives were detained."

"In 2015 ... an imam at the mosque ... delivered a sermon condemning terrorism for political causes. The sermon prompted a heated discussion among congregants and some, including Mr. Abedi, objected to it."

So did the imam condone terrorism for non-political causes? gpac

A6 MIGRANTS WITH MEANS ARE SMUGGLED BY YACHT

"About 181,000 migrants, mostly sub-Saharan Africans, risked the treacherous crossing from Libya and Egypt to Sicily last year, dying by the hundreds nearly every week."

Meanwhile, everybody gets paid.

C4 WHY THAT MUSIC KEEPS TRUCKIN' ON

"Jerry Garcia, founder of the band the Grateful Dead, was such a cheerleader for psychedelic use that his nickname was 'Captain Trips'."

"I don't like the saggy fonts they use."

TIME MACHINE
May 25, 1908
109 years ago

Page 16 EAST ORANGE TRIES NEWEST BLUE LAW

"The new Sunday law in East Orange, N. J., or, as its enemies have named it, 'the anti-Sabbath observance act,' went into full operation yesterday, and because the delivery of ice cream on the Sabbath is tabooed by the new ordinance, hundreds of persons had to make their own ice cream. The police were on the lookout to catch any one who broke the new blue law, many of them being out on bicycles to watch for offenders."

Watch out for that rocky road!

Page 14 PLANNING MORE WORK FOR PRESENT SUBWAY

"One of the fundamental defects of the Subway ... is 'that it fails to carry sufficient passengers upon a fixed 5-cent fare to justify the large investment which was finally found necessary to produce this splendid means of transportation'."

58. 5/24/17

A23 ROXCY BOLTON, 90, FIGHTER FOR EQUALITY, INCLUDING IN NAMING STORMS, IS DEAD

"A study published in 2014 in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that storms named after women have historically killed more people than those named for men."

An amazing woman. Among other things, "she was instrumental in elevating the prevention and treatment of rape into priorities for law enforcement and health professionals; persuaded National Airlines to grant maternity leave to pregnant flight attendants rather than firing them; and pressured Miami department stores to eliminate the men-only dining sections" ... she did have her negatives: "she split from the national leadership [of N.O.W.] when it embraced a lesbian caucus. (Some liberated women, she said, 'forget their responsibilities to family and children.')"

A22 RAND CASTILE, 78; OPENED U.S. DOORS FOR ASIAN ART

"The first Grand Sumo Tournament in the United States was held in 1981 at Madison Square Garden."

"He was an expert fencer in college and later tutored the author Yuko Mishima in the art of the épée in exchange for lessons in Japanese calligraphy."

The Asian Art Museum in San Francisco is one of a kind. In 2009, we saw the Beyond Golden Clouds exhibition of Japanese screens. Breathtaking.

A6 ANTI-CONSPIRACY BILL ADVANCES IN JAPAN

"An appendix to an anti-conspiracy bill that just passed the Japanese House of Representatives includes unlicensed bike racing and stealing plants from forest preserves, exposing those involved in the planning of such activities to prosecution."

Bicycle racing is big business in Japan.

A11 AMONG ATTACK'S VICTIMS, GIRLS AS YOUNG AS 8, OFTEN WITH MOTHERS IN TOW

"The traumatizing effects put the attack in the same category as the Beslan school siege in Russia, the Peshawar school massacre in Pakistan and the mass kidnapping of schoolgirls in Chibok, Nigeria."

I can't believe the writers didn't include Newton in that catalogue.

Georgina Bethany Callander. "An 18-year-old health and social care student known for her big smile and love of pop music."

A1 RUSSIA-TRUMP TIE WAS BIG CONCERN OF EX-C.I.A. CHIEF

"John O. Brennan, the former C.I.A. director, described on Tuesday a nerve-fraying few months last year as American authorities realized that the presidential election was under attack and feared that Donald J. Trump's campaign might be aiding that fight."

And Trump may have fucked it up for presidents (and European leaders) in the future:

"'Even though the election is over,' [Brennan] said, 'I think Mr. Putin and Russian intelligence services are trying to actively exploit what is going on now in Washington to their benefit and to our detriment'."

A4 CHINESE STUDENT, GRADUATING IN MARYLAND, SETS OFF A FUROR BY PRAISING THE U.S.

"There were 328,547 students from China studying at higher education institutions in the United States during the academic year that ended in 2016, nearly one-third of all international students in the country."

Yang Shuping video

B7 N.F.L. EASES CELEBRATION RULES. TWERKERS REJOICE.

"In a nod to the N.F.L.'s crackdown on on-field celebrations last season, Andrew Hawkins of the Cleveland Browns marked one touchdown by stiffly placing the ball on the turf and robotically walking away."

Watch out for that Elvis Pelvis move, Mr. Brown.

A8 THE WHITE HOUSE IS SPLIT AS COMMANDERS ASK FOR MORE TROOPS IN AFGHANISTAN

"The United States spends $3.1 billion a month in Afghanistan."

A month.

"General Nicholson has warned lawmakers that the United States and its NATO allies faced a 'stalemate' in Afghanistan, where the general has said he already faced a shortfall of a 'few thousand' troops. Other commanders and experts on military planning say even that prognosis is too optimistic.

'The reality is that the Taliban have the initiative,' General Keane said. 'They have the momentum. They attack when they want, where they want, and the outcome is usually successful for them'."

And the conundrum, explained:

"Deploying more troops would cost billions of dollars, and there is no guarantee of a clear victory ... yet without a strong American military role, the Taliban and more extreme groups ... would most likely gain ground."

Sounds like the definition of "stalemate."

A1 A JOYFUL NIGHT, THEN A LOUD BANG AND BLOOD "SPLATTERED ALL OVER"

"'How do we go back to normal after this?' [Louise Reid, 48] asked. 'The tragedy shows that this can happen anywhere, at any time'."

And that is very very scary. How many gullible Americans voted for Trump because of boasts like this one, 8 days after his inauguration?

A1 BRITAIN ON EDGE AS TERROR ALERT HITS TOP LEVEL

"A senior member of the Muslim community in Manchester, and a law enforcement official who requested anonymity said Mr. Abedi had been barred from the mosque in 2015 for expressing his support for the Islamic State, and he came to the attention of intelligence agencies at the time as 'a person of interest'."

That's very very disturbing.

B1 AN OVERSEAS KICK-START

"India has a 100 percent tariff on imported motorcycles."

"'We're proud of you! Made in America, Harley-Davidson,' Mr. Trump said ... but even as he praised Harley-Davidson's all-American credentials, the company was busily building a new plant -- in Thailand."

D1 THE SEARING TRUTH

"Roughly 180 million Americans have some kind of grill in the yard, on the patio or sitting out on the deck."

Charcoal, for sure.

TIME MACHINE
May 24, 1863
154 years ago

ITEMS FROM THE SOUTH

"I have heard with great interest the reports of the Congressional Committee, recommending the repeal of the law requiring the mails to be carried on the Sabbath, and I hope that you will feel it a duty, as well as a pleasure, to urge its repeal. I do not see how a nation that arrays itself by such a law against God's holy day can expect to escape his wrath. The punishment of national sins must be confined to this world, as there is no nationality beyond the grave."

PROBABLE CAPTURE OF VICKSBURGH

Detailed dispatches about this famous Civil War battle.

57. 5/23/17

A1 TERROR IS CITED IN DEADLY BLAST AT U.K. CONCERT

"The Islamic State claimed responsibility on Tuesday for the bombing at Manchester Arena, the deadliest terrorist assault in Britain since 2005, as the death toll rose to 22."

RIP, Saffie Rose Roussos.

TIME MACHINE
May 23, 1911
106 years ago

Page 11 WILL STOP PIANO FOR SICK BOY'S SAKE

"John Roth of the New York Fire Department made his second appearance in Yorkville Court yesterday to answer the complaint of H. W. Stout, who had told the court that his son was dying of heart disease in the Stout apartment next door to that of the Roths at 1,504 Second Avenue, and that little Edna Roth, 10 years old, continued to play on the piano even after her father had been told that with each note the sick boy was made worse."

The Magistrate then pleads with Roth, ending on this -- er -- note:

"Magistrate House explained that three years ago he was dangerously ill. He lived near the Subway. The noise from that did not worry him, nor did the street noises.

'But,' he added, 'the instant a note was struck on a piano, I became fairly crazed. My physician requested that the playing be stopped. It was stopped immediately.'"

That's a lot of piano-averse stuff for such a small sample size.

56. 5/22/17

Happy Birthday to my big sister!

 A10 CHINA'S GIFT TO GERMANY: A GIANT STATUE OF MARX

"Karl Marx is officially revered in China, the last major Communist state after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991."

"In China, there are two completely different voices in the debate over the statue ... one is that Germany is now a wholly capitalist state that has abandoned Marxism. Sending the statue is tantamount to sending his ideas back to try to reignite the spark of revolution ... The other is that Marx's theory of class struggle had a very negative effect on China. Sending the statue is symbolically returning defective goods."

That guy in the lower left is definitely a relative!

C1 IN PURSUIT OF NEWS TO SKEWER

"The writing staff of TBS's 'Full Frontal With Samantha Bee' uses the shorthand 'Scalia' for a last-minute show adjustment, a reference to the rewrite that had to be undertaken when Justice Antonin Scalia died in February 2016."

The best of these jesters will be the ones who can quickly react to the constantly "breaking news" with wit, originality and oppo energy. Samantha gets my vote.

A24 ON CLIMATE, LOOK TO CHINA AND INDIA

"India is expected to obtain 40 percent of its electricity from non-fossil fuel sources by 2022, eight years ahead of schedule."

"The Trump administration seems determined to destroy or undermine every initiative on which President Obama based his pledge in Paris to substantially reduce America's greenhouse gases ..."

America leads by example. In theory. So much damage can be done in just a few short years. Perhaps irreversible.

A1 SHIFTING TONE, PRESIDENT SAVES DARK WORDS FOR A FAITHS FRINGE

"President Trump on Sunday pivoted away from his strident assessment of Islam as a religion of hatred as he sought to redefine American leadership in the Middle East and rally the Muslim world to join him in a renewed campaign against extremism."

"We are not here to lecture ..."

Marco Rubio: "It's in our national security interest to advocate for democracy and freedom and human rights."

"'Drive them out,' [Trump] said. 'Drive them out of your places of worship. Drive them out of your communities. Drive them out of your holy land. And drive them out of this earth.'"

He was referring to extremists, not special prosecutors, btw.

B1 SOURED ON UBER

"Parking fees make up about 15 percent of revenue for the city of Pittsburgh."

And the driverless car pulled up to this:

A25 HATE THE SUBWAY? BLAME CUOMO

"New York City subway riders contend with more than 70,000 delays a month (well over a delay every minute)."

Toto needs to tug at that curtain. Riders Alliance.

B6 WYOMING WIND PROJECT ENVISIONS COAL MINERS AS ITS NEW WORK FORCE

"The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that national employment for mining and geological engineers will grow by 6 percent between 2014 and 2024, while employment for wind turbine technicians is expected to grow by 108 percent."

Let's hope they deliver on their promises.

C1 A "BACHELORETTE" BIBLE

"There is a mantra often repeated on 'The Bachelor' and its spinoff, 'The Bachelorette': 'Here for the right reasons'."

And there's even a Fantasy League. Of course there is.

A25 THE UNFREEING OF AMERICAN WORKERS

"Almost one in five American employees is subject to some kind of noncompete clause."

"Creeping along the road to serfdom, yoked to corporate employers the way Russian peasants were once tied to their masters' land."

And if you happen to live in a "Right to Work" state ... 

C6 ALBEE ESTATE REJECTS BID TO CAST BLACK ACTOR

"The late playwright Edward Albee exercised such control over professional productions of his plays that directors were often required to submit headshots of proposed casts before getting the rights to mount them."

The Conan Doyle estate has always been very picky about granting rights, but seems more relaxed lately. Sherlock becomes public domain in 2023. The Albee estate will become more flexible as their own PD date approaches!

Here's a great page about copyright law in theatre.

TIME MACHINE
May 22, 1996
21 years ago

COLORIZING THE OREO. PASTEL, NO LESS.

"How long will it take for a return to 'classic white'?"

I don't remember these.

JOURNAL; A GAY RIGHTS VICTORY MUFFLED

The brouhaha over the Defense of Marriage Act. The Times did not let Clinton off the hook, either:

"The bill also forces Mr. Clinton, who says he opposes both same-sex marriage and anti-gay discrimination, into a corner. If he vetoes it, his opponents can portray him as a proponent of same-sex marriage; if he signs it, he endorses the gay-bashing that the bill transparently is. He's presumably praying it will never reach his desk ... If Mr. Dole's cynicism is deplorable, so is Mr. Clinton's cowardice, which fans the flames."

COMPANY NEWS; ACER PLANS AN INTERNET-READY PERSONAL COMPUTER

Quaint, huh?

AFTER "L.A. LAW," A PURSUIT OF PASSIONS FOR FOOD AND LIFE

A very cool celebrity-couple piece. My favorite Tucker role is as Woody Allen's father in Radio Days.

NEW JERSEY DAILY BRIEFING; CLERK GUILTY IN POSTAL FRAUD

"After selling postage, Dale Agar of Lafayette altered computer records to make the purchase look smaller, leaving her with an excess of cash."

$108,000? That's a lot of postage.