SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:55 P.M. ET:

THE NEW SHOW BUSINESS – FROM NOTTINGHAMPOST.COM:  Have you ever watched a film and wished the direction in which it is going would change?  Well, a new brain-controlled movie has now been launched, which picks up reactions from the viewer via an electroencephalogram (EEG) headset and switches the storyline depending on their response.  The film, called 'The Moment', has been developed by the University of Nottingham's computer science PhD researcher and creative director Richard Ramchurn.  It is being officially launched at Sheffield Doc/Fest on June 7.   Now we need a device that will change Hillary Clinton's speeches if we just tell our brains that we're bored.

IVANKA ON THE TRAIL – FROM THE HILL:  Ivanka Trump is set to headline two fundraisers for House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) in California next month, according to a Friday report in Politico Playbook.  President Trump's daughter and senior adviser will appear alongside McCarthy at events in Fresno and Los Angeles on June 18. The proceeds will go to Protect the House, McCarthy's joint-fundraising committee with Vice President Pence.  “At the request of House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Ivanka Trump will be headlining a June 18 Protect the House fundraiser with the Leader in California," a statement from Ivanka Trump's office reads, according to Playbook.  Don't underestimate her.  This may be practice for future campaigns...with her as the candidate.

MAJOR DIETARY NEWS – FROM AFP:  Paris (AFP) - Still looking for the secret to effortless weight loss? It may be as simple as chewing gum while walking, Japanese researchers suggested on Saturday.
In experiments, they said, the heart rate of 46 people, aged 21 to 69, increased when they were given gum to chew while walking at a natural pace.  And while masticating caused a measurable physical difference in participants of both genders and across all age groups, it was most pronounced in men over 40, the team reported at the European Congress on Obesity in Vienna.  "Combining exercise and gum chewing may be an effective way to manage weight," the researchers said -- particularly in countries such as Japan where walking is the "most widely performed movement".  Previous research had found that gum chewing boosts heart rate and energy expenditure in people at rest.   So walking and chewing gum at the same time is actually beneficial?  But what happens to people who can't do it?  Liberals.

May 25,  2018