Lurker > WastelandCowboy

Geisel was a Chicago native and former nursing student at Indiana University.

She and Theodor Geisel, who was 17 years older, were both married to other people when they began an affair in the 1960s. His first wife, Helen, killed herself.

Audrey Geisel sent the two daughters she had with her first husband to boarding school after the Geisels married in 1968. The couple had no children together Seuss was not particularly fond of kids, she said.

He was afraid of children to a degree, Audrey Geisel told AP.

Geisel said she understood the gravity of what she was undertaking when her husband died, but said she was surprised how much work it was to oversee the business and philanthropy of the Dr. Seuss Foundation.

She tooled around tony La Jolla in a Cadillac with a license plate that read: GRINCH. And she showed up at events that celebrated her late husband.

In 2002, Geisel helped unveil bronze sculptures of Seuss and some of his most beloved characters at The Seuss Memorial in his hometown of Springfield, Massachusetts. The works were created by her daughter, Lark Grey Dimond-Cates.

When Audrey Geisel unveiled the sculpture of her late husband seated at his desk, her light blue eyes brimmed with tears as she bent down and kissed it.

Despite any anxiety her husband may have had around children, she wanted kids to crawl on the sturdy works.

"I'd like certain parts of it to get real shiny," she said, "because they have been rubbed so many times by little grubby hands."

In addition to being Seuss' protector and promoter, she also influenced his work.

When Seuss was writing the book that became "The Lorax," he got writer's block and she suggested they take a trip to get unstuck, Nel said. They traveled to Kenya, where workers cutting down acacia trees sparked an idea.

"He thought, 'They can't cut down my Dr. Seuss trees' which he renamed truffula trees and invented the Lorax to protect them," Nel said.

___

Associated Press National Writer Hillel Italie in New York contributed to this report.

December 22, 2018 at 3:26 AM CST - Updated December 22 at 3:26 AM

LOS ANGELES (AP) As Dr. Seuss neared the end of his life, the childrens author told his wife that she would have to look after the Cat in the Hat, the Lorax, the Grinch and all the beloved characters he created.

It was a mission Audrey Geisel embraced for more than a quarter-century. As overseer of Dr. Seuss' prolific and lucrative literary estate, she carefully guarded the whimsical works of the writer and illustrator less known as Theodor Geisel and expanded the Seuss legacy. She promoted a highly profitable multimedia brand, from books and films to theme park rides and the Broadway show "Seussical."

Audrey Geisel, 97, died Wednesday at her home in the La Jolla section of San Diego, Random House Children's Books announced.

Geisel, who founded Dr. Seuss Enterprises, said she took to heart the responsibility her husband left her when he died in 1991.

You keep a firm control as if they really were your children, Geisel told The Associated Press in 1998. I dont want the Cat in a bad part of town, so to speak.

But she went far beyond keeping a tight grip on the empire. She broadly expanded it beyond what her husband cared to do while creating his 47 children's stories.

And, oh, the places she went with it.

More than 10 million Dr. Seuss books sell each year and new works are coming out, such as last spring's "Dr. Seuss's First 100 words," according to Random House.

The 2000 live-action film version of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," starring Jim Carrey, was a box-office smash. But Audrey Geisel and critics despised the 2003 live-action adaptation of "The Cat in the Hat" that starred Mike Myers of "Austin Powers" fame.

"I never saw 'Austin Powers,' but I knew 'Yeah, baby!' and I didn't want 'Yeah, baby!' at all," she told the AP in 2004.

Geisel is credited as executive producer of the animated film "The Grinch," which was released last month and tapped Benedict Cumberbatch to voice the title character.

A poll conducted by AP-NORC earlier this month put "The Grinch" just behind "It's a Wonderful Life" of favorite holiday films or television. It didn't specify if it was the Carrey version or the animated 1966 classic produced by Chuck Jones and narrated by Boris Karloff.

The movies have been lucrative with the recent "Grinch" production earning $245 million at the box office, according to Comscore. Animated film versions of "The Lorax" raked in $214 million and "Horton Hears a Who" made $154 million.

While Geisel has kept a tight rein on productions and merchandising, some of those efforts may have departed from Seuss' spirit, said Philip Nel, an English professor at Kansas State University, who wrote "Dr. Seuss: American Icon."

A group of books, for example, that use the Cat in the Hat as a conventional educator stray from the character's rebellious roots, Nel said. Another book titled "Seuss-isms for Success" takes Seuss quotes out of context to apply to business situations.

"There's been some pretty great stuff, too," Nel said. "The animated Horton film was really thoughtfully done and understood the Seuss universe really well."

I hope by this time next year those execs will be begging for change on San Francisco's busiest street corner.

The head of a utility watchdog group, while saying the PUC must act, also said its waited too long to take decisive against the company.

It is about time that the CPUC realized there must be fundamental change at PG&E in order to get the safe, reliable power that California customers pay for through the nose, Mark Toney, executive director of the Utility Reform Network, wrote in an email to this news organization. Whether it is a break up, management change, board shake up, or takeover by the state or another companythe one thing we cannot afford is business as usual.

PG&E is also facing approximately 500 lawsuits involving at least 3,100 plaintiffs stemming from Northern California wildfires, according to recent documents on file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Many are from the North Bay fires, where the state blames 12 of the fires on PG&E equipment failures.

Also, Cal Fire is seeking to recoup more than $87 million in costs for putting out the Butte Fire in Calaveras County in 2015, which it blamed on a pine tree coming in contact with an electric line. It claims the contact occurred because of PG&Es failure to properly manage vegetation in the area.

The state Office of Emergency Services, Calaveras County and other agencies are also suing PG&E.

PG&E is the early steps of asking for a rate hike to pay for its troubles. SEC filings show it has $1.4 billion in wildfire insurance for the period of Aug. 1, 2018 through July 31, 2019 and that potential liabilities from the Camp Fire are likely to dwarf that dollar amount.

If the utilitys equipment is determined to be the (Camp Fires) cause, the utility could be subject to significant liability in excess of insurance coverage that would be expected to have a material impact on (the companys) financial condition, results of operations, liquidity, and cash flows, company officials wrote in an SEC filing last month.

SAN FRANCISCO Citing Pacific Gas and Electrics serious safety problems, California utility regulators will now consider replacing its board of directors, breaking up the company in favor of smaller, regional energy suppliers and even taking it over and converting it to a public agency, they announced.

In an extraordinary statement issued late Friday at the start of the holiday weekend, the state Public Utilities Commission announced it will deeply investigate PG&Es safety culture by examining the companys current corporate governance, management, and structure to determine the best path forward for Northern Californians to receive safe energy service.

The announcement comes in the wake of last months Camp Fire in Butte County, the most destructive blaze in state history. It killed 86 people and destroyed the town of Paradise, burning nearly 19,000 structures. CalFire has yet to announce a cause, but it is investigating wind damage to a PG&E transmission tower at the site where the fire started. Numerous lawsuits against the company alleged the tower was poorly maintained.

Following the San Bruno gas pipeline explosion, the North Bay fires last year and other blazes blamed on the utility, regulators will now consider actions PG&E critics have clamored for years.

Commission president Michael Picker expressed caution over what he and other regulators will attempt.

This process will be like repairing a jetliner while its in flight. Crashing a plane to make it safer isnt good for the passengers, Picker said in the announcement.

This is not a punitive exercise. The keystone question is would, compared to PG&E and PG&E Corp. as presently constituted, any of the proposals provide Northern Californians with safer natural gas and electric service at just and reasonable rates, Picker said.

According to its statement, the commission is looking at seven possible actions against the company. It will consider whether:

some or all of the existing PG&E directors be replaced by directors with a stronger background and focus on safety. The 12-member board of directors includes Benito Minicucci, head of Alaska Airlines, Roger Kimmel, vice president of the investment bank Rothchild Inc, Richard Meserve, former president of the Carnegie Institution of Washington and Anne Shen Smith, the former CEO of the Southern California Gas Company.
the company retain new corporate management.
the commission condition PG&Es return on equity on safety performance;
PG&Es natural gas and electric distribution and transmission divisions be split into separate
companies controlled by a holding company.
PG&Es corporate structure be reorganized with regional subsidiaries based on regional distinctions.
should the commission revoke holding company authorization so PG&E is exclusively a regulated utility;
some or all of PG&E be reconstituted as a publicly owned utility or utilities.

380,000 federal employees will be furloughed and another 420,000 will be expected to work without pay. And then there are countless contractors who are locked out as well.

The FDA will be reducing the number of inspections of food processing facilities, so hope you enjoy food poisoning.

The Department of Agriculture has enough money to continue providing food stamps, but only for about 2-3 months.

The 2013 government shutdown cost over $2 billion in lost productivity alone.

Merry Fucking Christmas!

WastelandCowboy posted...

I never said it was entirely the guy's fault. She fucked up by not listening to him when he told her to give him some time. He fucked up the situation more by repeating the same shit over and over. If someone's telling you something and they're not listening, you should make the mental connection that maybe you shouldn't wait and talk to her now, instead of pissing her off more by being a human record player. Furthermore, when she throws shit at you, don't fucking attack her - that's escalating the situation.

It was self defense since she was still throwing shit and attacking him when he slapped her.

WastelandCowboy posted...

Because clearly simple communication between partners is on the same level as a victim and a rapist.

/sarcasm

I don't see how "Be out in a minute." isn't simple communication. If he wasn't replying at all, that would call for repeating whatever was said.

Kyuubi4269 posted...

WastelandCowboy posted...

Nope. If you're doing something and someone is intentionally trying to communicate with you, don't just keep telling them that you're busy. Clearly, they don't care. Clearly, they want to talk to you. Don't be a dick and just keep repeating "I'll be out soon".

"If somebody wants something, it's your job to give it to them at their convenience because you don't matter."

Imagine this defense in a sexual assault case.

WastelandCowboy posted...

Revelation34 posted...

WastelandCowboy posted...

Who cares? He had a chance to be the better person. He didn't. He escalated things by attacking her.

Oh you're one of those people.

A logical and (mostly) mature adult that tries to look at both sides instead of the one?

You seem to just take the GF sides for the sole reason of her being a woman. And trying to place all the blame on him. Maybe she shouldnt have been a bitch to him. Just because he didnt step up to be the better person as you say doesnt mean all the blame should go to him. He takes his part of the blame and she takes hers. Thats looking at both sides.

WastelandCowboy posted...

Who cares? He had a chance to be the better person. He didn't. He escalated things by attacking her.

Oh you're one of those people.

WastelandCowboy posted...

Nope. If you're doing something and someone is intentionally trying to communicate with you, don't just keep telling them that you're busy. Clearly, they don't care. Clearly, they want to talk to you. Don't be a dick and just keep repeating "I'll be out soon".

She was yelling at him before that even happened. She was also throwing things. So yes it was the other way around.

WastelandCowboy posted...

Nope. If you're doing something and someone is intentionally trying to communicate with you, don't just keep telling them that you're busy. Clearly, they don't care. Clearly, they want to talk to you. Don't be a dick and just keep repeating "I'll be out soon".

"If somebody wants something, it's your job to give it to them at their convenience because you don't matter."

WastelandCowboy posted...

Doesn't matter. Shouldn't have kept instigating her.

Other way around.

SunWuKung420 posted...

Being a father and homemaker stream gamer that didn't care if he died to be a decent person should have been his gimmick, instead he chose to be an abuser.

She was assaulting him before he ever slapped her.

Remember we got 6 more years of this shit to look forward to!

The Outer Worlds is an interesting concept, but I've only got wary optimism at best for it, based on what I've seen and heard. I might get more excited for it as it gets closer or after it's released, but for now... hmm. And Wolfenstein: Youngblood is something I'm paying attention to, but I wouldn't describe it as "anticipated" at this point.

The only other game with a future release I care about at all is Cyberpunk 2077. Pretty much every other confirmed game for 2019 that I'm aware of either doesn't appeal to me in the slightest, or is something I assume is going to be outright terrible and I'm actively hoping for it to fail (like Anthem).

Support among House Republicans began to crack Wednesday night before the Senate vote even occurred.Members of the House Freedom Caucus, some of the most conservative members of Congress, railed against the wall-less spending plan in a string of speeches on the House floor. The group's chairman, North Carolina Republican Mark Meadows, urged Trump to veto the spending measure, saying, "We're going to back you up. If you veto this bill, we'll be there."

The frustration grew Thursday morning during a closed-door meeting of House Republicans. Members emerged confused about the plan for the spending bill, telling reporters that the entire plan for a vote expected later in the day was up in the air.

Ryan stepped out of a closed-door meeting of GOP House members to take a phone call from the president. As that call stretched on, leadership members decided to cancel a regularly scheduled press briefing ahead of the White House meeting.

The spending measure, also known as a continuing resolution, would fund nine Cabinet-level departments and several independent agencies through Feb. 8, when Congress would again be forced to confront the issue. But Democrats, who will control the House in the next Congress, have adamantly refused to provide money for a wall.

In a speech Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said he was "sorry that my Democratic colleagues couldn't put the partisanship aside and show the same good-faith flexibility that the president has shown in order to provide the resources our nation needs to secure the integrity of our borders as well as the safety of American families."

The temporary spending bill does include $1.3 billion for border security. Pelosi released a statement on Wednesday indicating she supports the stopgap bill, and it's likely most House Democrats will vote for the legislation.

Asked about the possible next steps after Thursday morning's developments, Pelosi told reporters she was reluctant to comment but then jabbed, saying we're in "the middle of a meltdown on the part of Republicans."

A presidential veto would mean that hundreds of thousands of federal employees including Border Patrol, FBI and DEA agents and TSA officers would continue to work over the Christmas holiday but without pay, while hundreds of thousands of other federal workers would be furloughed.

There are serious questions about whether Republicans have enough votes to pass the wall money in the House. The issue is so divisive that GOP leaders have avoided scheduling stand-alone votes on that funding to avoid a potentially embarrassing failure to pass one of Trump's biggest demands. But after Thursday's White House meeting they were left with little choice, given the president's refusal to accept a stopgap measure without the money.

House Republicans face an even greater challenge this week with more than a dozen GOP members absent from the most recent vote.

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders issued this statement after the meeting:

"President Trump just met with Republican Members of the House. Not surprisingly, they all feel strongly about Border Security stopping the flow of drugs, stopping human trafficking, and stopping terrorism. We protect nations all over the world, but Democrats are unwilling to protect our nation. We urgently need funding for border security and that includes a wall."

Plans for a speedy vote on a short-term-spending bill crumbled ahead of a Friday night deadline as some House Republicans threatened to pull their support for any spending measure that does not include additional border security money.

House GOP leaders struggled to persuade members to support a bill to extend current spending levels through Feb. 8. Many are concerned that Republicans will not have another chance to fulfill Trump's demand for $5 billion to build a wall on the border with Mexico. The Senate approved the measure Wednesday night.

Conservatives such as Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala., say voting on the short-term-spending bill without border wall money amounts to a surrender on one of Trump's signature campaign promises. Brooks said he is confident that the House could uphold a veto if a spending bill does pass and Trump refuses to sign it. But Brooks, like most Republicans, said they have no clear sign from Trump about what he is willing to support.

"That is the $5 billion question," Brooks said. "I wish we had clarity on that; that would help us decide what to do."

Trump tweeted Thursday morning that Democrats know "Steel Slats (Wall) are necessary for Border Security" and are "putting politics over Country" by refusing to fund the wall. He also threatened "not to sign any of their legislation, including infrastructure, unless it has perfect Border Security."

In a tweet later in the morning, Trump said he was "promised the Wall and Border Security" by congressional leadership when he signed a spending package last year and that "it didn't happen!"

Frustration with the spending bill extends beyond a core group of conservatives who typically oppose spending bills. Some reliable leadership allies, such as Rep. Steve Womack, R-Ark., also expressed concerns about the spending bill.

"This is a different circumstance. We're about to lose the majority and we've made promises that haven't been kept," Womack said. "If we aren't willing to fight now on the way out of the majority, then when are we willing to fight?"

Republican leaders had hoped to easily approve the spending measure to avoid a last-minute panic over spending. Funding for about a quarter of the government will run out at midnight on Friday, and the government will be forced to partially close unless the spending measure is agreed to.

Updated at 8:26 p.m. ET

The House has passed a short-term funding bill Thursday night that includes the money for additional border security President Trump wants but the measure is unlikely to pass the Senate, raising the likelihood of a partial government shutdown that would begin Friday at midnight.

Trump signaled earlier Thursday he would not sign a temporary funding measure from Congress that doesn't include funding that could be used to pay for his trademark border wall, torpedoing the bill the Senate passed earlier this week without any wall funding that would have kept the government funded through early February.

"I've made my position very clear any measure to fund the government has to include border security. Not for political purposes but for our country, for the safety of our community," Trump reiterated ahead of a signing ceremony for the farm bill, adding that "a nation without borders is a nation not at all."

Efforts to avoid a partial shutdown were thrown into chaos earlier in the day by the president. The House looked ready to pass the Senate's short-term-spending bill, trying to avoid a messy fight just ahead of Christmas and as many lawmakers were eager to get home. But then House GOP leaders went to the White House and emerged saying that Trump had said he wouldn't sign the measure.

Now, Trump finds himself in a standoff with Congress over his signature campaign promise. House GOP leaders, in their last few days wielding the majority, acquiesced to the president and put the new measure, which included $5.7 billion to fund Trump's border wall and $7.8 billion for disaster relief, to a vote. Democratic congressional leaders had argued last week such a bill couldn't pass in the House, but it did by a vote of 217-185. Eight Republicans opposed the bill.

However, the House bill is expected be dead on arrival in the Senate, where Republicans have only a two-seat majority and any legislation needs 60 votes to move forward.

Trump has not specified a dollar figure and suggested that the money could be used to build "steel slats" rather than a traditional wall to give lawmakers "a bit of an out." The distinction is not likely to sway any Democrats or moderate Republicans who oppose approving new money for any kind of physical barrier on the border.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., likely to be the next House speaker, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said GOP leaders told them Trump had pledged on Wednesday to support the continuing resolution to keep the government open, but the two leading Democrats argued the president had been swayed instead by conservative pundits on Fox News and elsewhere to be obstinate instead.

"President Trump is throwing a temper tantrum and creating a Trump shutdown of the government," said Schumer.

"The president is doing everything he can to shut down the government," Pelosi added.

Republican leaders introduced legislation late Thursday afternoon that included $5 billion in border wall funding and $8 billion in disaster aid. The decision to package it all together was a last-minute reversal from a plan outlined by Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise, the No. 3 Republican leader.

Scalise originally told Republicans that lawmakers would have a chance to vote on the border wall and disaster funding as a separate amendment. Now, House members will have to choose to reject the package or send the bill to the Senate, where Democrats are certain to block it.

And you trusted him with your hair? lol

And this whole time he coulda cut your ear off.

also that "time off for school or work" should really just be school. don't most jobs only give you christmas day and sometimes eve, off? only kids get to vacation for 2 weeks. adults get just 1 or 2 days off, no more than a normal weekend. and most people go back to work on the 26th

It's America so people will find other ways to shoot each other more deader

papercup posted...

1) Good

2) Unfortunately this is probably going to get shot down.

Yeah, the National Riflemaker's Association is gonna be all over this.

The NRAs Jennifer Baker reacted to absence of a grandfather clause by saying:

We are disappointed that this final rule fails to address the thousands of law-abiding Americans who relied on prior ATF determinations when lawfully acquiring these devices. As we recommended to the ATF in our comments on the proposed rule Congress made it possible for the Attorney General to provide amnesty for firearms regulated under the National Firearms Act. The Attorney General should have exercised that authority to provide a period of amnesty under this rule.

The Trump administration is banning bump stocks, the firearm attachment that allows a semiautomatic weapon to shoot almost as fast as a machine gun.

The devices, also known as slide fires, came under intense scrutiny after they were used by the gunman who opened fire on a country music concert in Las Vegas last year, killing 58 people.

The massacre touched off a public outcry, including from some lawmakers, for the accessories to be banned.

Under a new federal rule announced Tuesday by the Justice Department, bump stocks will be redefined as "machine guns" and therefore outlawed under existing law.

The new regulations, which were signed by acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker, will take effect 90 days after being published in the Federal Register. A Justice Department official said that would likely happen Friday.

Current bump stock owners will have the 90 days before the new rule takes effect to either destroy the devices they own or turn them in to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

The new regulations could face legal challenges from the National Rifle Association, bump stock owners or manufacturers. A Justice Department official said the department is confident in its analysis and is prepared to defend the new rule in court if needed.

Justice Department officials say they don't know exactly how many bump stocks are privately owned, but they estimate the number in the tens of thousands.

Trump ordered the Justice Department to ban the devices in March. The department followed up by proposing a federal rule change that would reclassify bump stocks so they fell under the definition of a "machine gun," as it's now doing.

Fully automatic machine guns are strictly controlled in the U.S. It is illegal under federal law for a private citizen to own a machine gun that was manufactured after 1986.