03 July 20
Al Franken | Carl Reiner
Al Franken, Al Franken's Website
Franken writes: "I'm less sad than moved today. From everything I know, Carl Reiner lived an exemplary life, loved by pretty much everyone who knew him, and was an indisputable giant of comedy who leaves behind an astounding body of work."
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Al Franken, Al Franken's Website
Franken writes: "I'm less sad than moved today. From everything I know, Carl Reiner lived an exemplary life, loved by pretty much everyone who knew him, and was an indisputable giant of comedy who leaves behind an astounding body of work."
I first met Carl decades ago when he was spending a lot of time with Steve Martin. Carl, had just directed Steve in The Jerk, giving the hit movie its shape and heart. Steve and Carl had come to see Franken and Davis at the Improv in Hollywood. Tom Davis and I had been a comedy team since high school, and after a five-year stint at SNL, we had booked the Improv to showcase our act for people in Hollywood.
Steve and Carl stuck around after the show, and Carl was very generous with his feedback. It’s hard to express how much that meant to both of us both, but to me especially. I became a comedy writer in no small part because of The Dick Van Dyke Show, which Carl created. Van Dyke played Rob Petrie, a writer for The Alan Brady Show, a fictitious comedy-variety show starring an insecure, volatile egomaniac played by Carl Reiner. The stars of the show were Van Dyke, of course, and Mary Tyler Moore.
The important piece of this is that I loved the show and so did my dad. And by that, I mean we laughed a lot. That’s really why I went into comedy. I loved laughing with my dad.
The Dick Van Dyke Show introduced me to the idea that comedy is written. By comedy writers. When I first started running for the Senate back in 2007, I met with majority leader Harry Reid. Harry wanted to know what I did for a living. He, like many folks, was not aware that the lines that actors and comedians speak are written. Carl Reiner began his career as a writer and was a part of the legendary writing staff for The Sid Caesar Show, which included Carl’s best friend, Mel Brooks.
After the evening at the Improv, I didn’t really see much of Carl until years later when I started running for office. Carl was always very supportive, and, until he got into his 90s, he would show up at fundraisers when I came to LA. But after he stopped making it to the events, Carl and I kept in touch on the phone. He was always very passionate, knowledgeable and up-to-date about politics and public policy.
About six or seven years ago, I found myself in LA with a little time on my hands, and Carl invited me over to his house in the Beverly Hills flats. He took me upstairs to his office where he had been working that day on one of the many books he turned out over the last several years. One of my bookshelves is home to Carl Reiner books. The one I cherish the most is the one about the making of The Dick Van Dyke Show.
Four years ago, Carl invited me to dinner at his house with him and his Mel Brooks. I’m hesitant to put that in here, because it’s not even a humble brag. It’s a flat-out brag! Carl’s housekeeper made us hot dogs, boiled potatoes, and some kind of green vegetable that I don’t recall. I will, however, never forget every other detail of that dinner. Among the things I learned is that when Sid Caesar did one of his foreign characters in pidgin German, French, Japanese, Russian, etc., he always slipped in a Yiddish word.
I was privileged to get to know Carl just a little bit. He lived a helluva great life. Franni and I send out condolences to our friend, Rob, and to all the Reiners.
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Democratic U.S. presidential candidate Biden holds a campaign event in Wilmington, Delaware. (photo: Reuters)
Biden Pulls Together Hundreds of Lawyers as a Bulwark Against Election Trickery
Trevor Hunnicutt, Yahoo News
Hunnicutt writes: "Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said on Wednesday that his party has assembled a group of 600 lawyers and thousands of other people to prepare for possible 'chicanery' ahead of November's election."
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Trevor Hunnicutt, Yahoo News
Hunnicutt writes: "Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said on Wednesday that his party has assembled a group of 600 lawyers and thousands of other people to prepare for possible 'chicanery' ahead of November's election."
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Utah National Guard soldiers line the street as demonstrators gather to protest the death of George Floyd, Wednesday, June 3, 2020, near the White House. (photo: Alex Brandon/AP)
Top Military Chief Says Soldiers Were Issued Bayonets for DC Unrest, Documents Show Some Were Not Trained in Riot Response
Associated Press
Excerpt: "The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has confirmed a report by The Associated Press that some of the service members who were mobilized to Washington, D.C., last month in response to civil unrest over the killing of George Floyd were issued bayonets."
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Associated Press
Excerpt: "The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has confirmed a report by The Associated Press that some of the service members who were mobilized to Washington, D.C., last month in response to civil unrest over the killing of George Floyd were issued bayonets."
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A young man, sitting with other immigrants inside a holding cell, cries as he says he will be killed if he gets sent back to Honduras, June 16, 2019. (photo: Rebecca Blackwell/AP)
Hamed Aleaziz, BuzzFeed
Aleaziz writes: "The US agency that oversees and administers key facets of the immigration system, including the processing of citizenship, green cards, and asylum applications, has taken its first steps to dramatically roll back its capabilities by issuing furlough notices to more than 13,000 employees."
In November, USCIS officials pushed a proposal to increase fees for those applying for citizenship and other benefits, while also charging for asylum applications as a way to collect more funds. At the time, the agency proposal explained that the increase in fees was necessary because it projected “operating costs to exceed projected total revenue.”
Some experts and advocates pointed part of the blame for the lack of necessary funds to policies implemented under the Trump administration that have led to more onerous processing and additional interviews for certain visas. The administration also pushed through a policy that allowed the government to deny permanent residency or restrict certain visas to immigrants who officials believe are likely to use public benefits.
Tourists visit Mount Rushmore National Monument on Wednesday. President Trump is expected to visit the federal monument in South Dakota and give a speech before a fireworks display on Friday. (photo: Scott Olson/Getty)
The Untold History of Mount Rushmore: A KKK Sympathizer Built Monument on Sacred Lakota Land
Democracy Now!
Excerpt: "As tribal governments call on President Trump to cancel his Mount Rushmore Independence Day celebration, we look at why Native Americans have long pushed for the removal of the monument carved into the sacred Black Hills and designed by a sculptor with ties to the Ku Klux Klan."
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Democracy Now!
Excerpt: "As tribal governments call on President Trump to cancel his Mount Rushmore Independence Day celebration, we look at why Native Americans have long pushed for the removal of the monument carved into the sacred Black Hills and designed by a sculptor with ties to the Ku Klux Klan."
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Members of the U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne Division and the Colombian National conduct exercise simulating the securing of an airfield at Tolemaida Air Base, in Nilo, Colombia, January 25, 2020. (photo: U.S. Army/Sgt. Andrea Salgado-Rivera)
teleSUR
Excerpt: "The Third Section of the Administrative Court of Cundinamarca, Colombia, ruled on Wednesday in favor of a legal action issued by opposition senators against president Ivan Duque, regarding the presence in the country of U.S. military troops."
When it comes to the entrance of foreign troops into the country, the decision has to be debated in the Senate first, a procedure that Ivan Duque deliberately violated.
he Third Section of the Administrative Court of Cundinamarca, Colombia, ruled on Wednesday in favor of a legal action issued by opposition senators against president Ivan Duque, regarding the presence in the country of U.S. military troops.
In Colombia, citizens are allowed to appeal under a rule named Tutela Action, by which citizens can demand respect for their constitution. When it comes to the entrance of foreign troops into the country, the decision has to be debated first in the Senate, a procedure that Ivan Duque deliberately violated.
After senators Iván Cepeda, Castro, Roosvelt Rodríguez, Antonio Sanguino, José Ritter López, Wilson Arias, Guillermo García Realpe, Victoria Sandino, Temístocles Ortega, Narváez, Aida Avella, Gustavo Petro Urrego, Alexander López Maya, Criselda Lobo Silva, Alberto Castilla, Julián Gallo, Jorge Londoño, Iván Marulanda, Feliciano Valencia, Jorge Guevara, Angélica Lozano Correa, Gustavo Bolívar, José Aulo Polo Narváez, Jorge Robledo, Israel Zúñiga, Pablo Catatumbo and Andrés Cristo issued the demand, Cundinamarca´s court has backed the plaintiffs.
On June 1, 2020, the U.S. sent 53 soldiers of a so-called Security Force Assistance Brigade (SFAB) to Colombia to assist the military in counternarcotics operations in war-torn areas.
After the demand, Magistrate Bertha Lucy Ceballos Posada issued a ruling by which the President of the Republic is given 48 hours to report to the Senate information on the presence of SFAB in Colombian territory as well as suspending all activity of the U.S. brigade within the country.
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Fireworks in Philadelphia. (photo: AP)
Popular Fireworks Emit High Levels of Lead and Toxins
Jordan Davidson, EcoWatch
Davidson writes: "A new study shows that shooting off fireworks at home may expose you and your family to dangerous levels of lead, copper and other toxins."
Jordan Davidson, EcoWatch
Davidson writes: "A new study shows that shooting off fireworks at home may expose you and your family to dangerous levels of lead, copper and other toxins."
ireworks have taken a lot of heat recently. In South Dakota, fire experts have said President Trump's plan to hold a fireworks show is dangerous and public health experts have criticized the lack of plans to enforce mask wearing or social distancing. Now, a new study shows that shooting off fireworks at home may expose you and your family to dangerous levels of lead, copper and other toxins.
The study, published Wednesday in the journal Particle and Fibre Technology, analyzed 12 different retail fireworks and found that once set off, five of them released particle emissions that could damage human cells and animal lungs, as CNN reported.
The metals are used to give the fireworks their vibrant colors when they explode. However, those same metals are hazardous to humans and animals. The study said that blue fireworks can be made of copper and red fireworks can contain strontium, which gives a brilliant red light.
"While many are careful to protect themselves from injury from explosions, our results suggest that inhaling firework smoke may cause longer-term damage, a risk that has been largely ignored," said Terry Gordon, environmental medicine professor at New York University's Grossman School of Medicine, as the New York Daily News reported
The study acknowledged that people are typically exposed to these emissions a few times a year, usually around July 4th and New Year's Eve. And yet, even that exposure means people are inhaling much more harmful toxins than what people breathe in normally.
The researchers looked at 14 years of air quality samples taken at dozens of locations across the U.S. by the Environmental Protection Agency throughout the years. The researchers noticed that levels of toxic metals tended to peak in samples taken near Independence Day and New Year's Eve celebrations. The concentration of airborne toxic metals was much higher during those years than at any other time.
"Although people are only exposed to these substances for a short time each year, they are much more toxic than the pollutants we breathe every day," said Dr. Gordon in an NYU press release.
"I could hypothesize that people could have, especially susceptible people like asthmatics, increased episodes," Gordon said to CNN.
To conduct the study, the scientists detonated fireworks in a laboratory chamber. They tested roughly a dozen types of fireworks commonly sold in the U.S., including the Black Cuckoo, the Color-Changing Wheel and the Blue Storm firecracker. They then tested mice and human lung cells with the captured particles.
The Black Cuckoo, a fountain-style firework, registered the most toxic of the group, at 10 times more damaging to human cells than a nontoxic saline solution, according to the findings, as NYU said in a statement.
Gordon said that the firework emitted lead particles at 40,000 parts per million, which is exceedingly high. Normally, lead should not be emitted at all, he said, as CNN reported.
Families looking to set off fireworks this weekend should be particularly mindful of children's developing lungs and brains. Parents should make sure their kids are far away from the fireworks smoke and any potential lead exposure.
"Allow the adults to be the ones to set off the fireworks and stay upwind from it so that the smoke is blowing in the breeze," said Kristin Van Hook, chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics section on pediatric pulmonology and sleep medicine.
She told CNN she has seen cases where children who have asthma breathed in fumes from fireworks and ended up in the emergency room.
Gordon also said that families should be aware what their children are exposed to and that everyone should try to stay downwind from fireworks. He added that the fireworks industry must increase its safety regulations.
"Given what we've found, I propose that ... they make sure they are importing safer fireworks and that that's what the consumers use," Gordon said to CNN.
