'Best of TBH Politoons'
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
DALE McFEATTERS: Bush's bald-faced hypocrisy on leaks (capitolhillblue.com)
The Bush White House sternly and piously denounced leaks of classified and sensitive information even as the president and his aides were assiduously and selectively leaking secrets that would help make their case.
FREDERIC J. FROMMER: Comedian Al Franken to run for Senate (Associated Press)
Comedian Al Franken has decided to run for the U.S. Senate from Minnesota in 2008, a senior Democratic official from Minnesota said Wednesday.
Annalee Newitz: Bias on eBay (alternet.org)
Buyers in the U.S. usually give positive feedback or no feedback at all, inflating people's eBay "reputations."
Beth Quinn: At long last, Bush is a uniter, not a divider (recordonline.com)
There were a lot of things to love about the president's State of the Union address last week. Here are just a few of them: The president did not smirk. There is, after all, nothing smirkable just now.
Mark Morford: How to Make Yourself Smarter (sfgate.com)
In an age of bland evil and dumbed-down everything, how to inflame your shriveled brain?
Mark Morford: Who Will Kill The Evil Germs? (sfgate.com)
Microwave your sponge, kill bacteria dead. Note: Does not yet work on people. Or life
Texas liberal political wit Ivins dies of cancer (Reuters)
HOUSTON (Reuters) - Molly Ivins, the best-selling author and columnist who aimed her razor-sharp barbs at politicians and dubbed President George W. Bush "Shrub," died on Wednesday. She was 62.
Charles Babington: Clocks to spring forward early
Technicians are scrambling to fix automated systems after Congress extended daylight savings time by four weeks. ... It's one thing to arrive an hour late for church on the first day of daylight saving. It's another for a security system to log the wrong time of crucial events, for pilots to misunderstand their takeoff times or international communications components to stop synchronizing.
'Bruce blew my cover' (guardian.co.uk)
Pete Seeger was just another legendary US folk singer living out his twilight years by the Hudson. Then 'the Boss' came along. By Edward Helmore.
By Zeus! (guardian.co.uk)
After a break of 16 centuries, Greek pagans are worshipping the ancient gods again - despite furious opposition from the Orthodox church. Helena Smith asks them why they're so keen to revive the old religion.
Hubert's Poetry Corner
SHRUB-A-DUMB-DUMB
Purple Gene Reviews
'Friends of God'
Purple Gene's review of the HBO documentary movie "Friends of God: A Road Trip with Alexandra Pelosi" (2007).
Written, directed and narrated by Alexandra Pelosi:
[view trailer]
I just happened to see the Speaker of the House of the United State's daughter Alexandra Pelosi, on the FOX "No Spin Zone" going head to head with Bill O'Reilly and as he was head butting and bullying her, the camera closed in on her squinty be speckled face as she interrupted "His Highness of Hype" and said "Bill, you're destroying the world !"
Well the 37 year old spawn of the most powerful woman in the world is back with another weird flick…..She did "Journeys with George" (2002) climbing into Bush's Jet and gabbing. She did "Diary of a Political Tourist" (2004) climbing onto John Kerry's Jet Skis. Now she's just completed a road trip into the darkest reaches of the "Bible Belt" to cozy up to the 50 million strong Evangelical Christian Coven.
My brother, J.D. Smith wrote a song back in the 80's called "Without Jesus, you ain't got a Prayer"! I never realized how powerful these Crazy Christians had become until the advent of George Bush via Evangelical fanatics like Falwell, Robertson and Dobson. These men not only preach the word of God as interpreted from the Good Book…..but tell their faithful who God wants them to vote for…..throw in Evolution, Gay Marriage and Abortion Rights, and you have a potent political force.
Just like she did with George and John, Alexandra went deep….I'm sayin' deep South….Haggard country…and I don't mean Merle. Ted Haggard….The head of the 30 million strong National Association of Evangelicals (the same Ted Haggard that got disgraced for hiring a male prostitute and buying speed) ….Alexandra,while interviewing in her dry, dulcet tones, asks Ted about Christians and SEX…..He proceeds to enlighten her about what a fabulous sex life Christian men have…"That's why they have so many kids"….ha ha ha.
Alexandra goes into the house of a faithful family with 10 kids and really allows the people to talk freely about their lives…..This is not "Borat" or "Candid Camera" but rather a trusting setting that Ms.Pelosi has managed to establish with all the folks she interviews….it also allows the person viewing her films to draw their own conclusions and see a clear vision of these true believers.
Alexandra takers us to Christian Wrestling, Christian Rock Concerts, Christian Bars, Christian Kids Bible Study groups, and Christian Bible theme parks (with dinosaurs on Noah's Ark).
Maybe for her next movie Alexandra will go deep into Muslim Country and interview Emirs and goat herders and Burka covered women.
Purple Gene gives "Friends of God: A Road Trip with Alexandra Pelosi" 8 little holy neon crosses out of 10 for shining a clear light on Evangelical Christians…and for kicking Bill O'Reilly's ASS in the process!
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Mostly overcast and cold.
Punxsutawney Groundhog Club
Nominated For Nobel Peace Prize
Al Gore
Former Vice President Al Gore was nominated for the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for his wide-reaching efforts to draw the world's attention to the dangers of global warming, a Norwegian lawmaker said Thursday.
"A prerequisite for winning the Nobel Peace Prize is making a difference, and Al Gore has made a difference," Conservative Member of Parliament Boerge Brende, a former minister of environment and then of trade, told The Associated Press.
Brende said he joined political opponent Heidi Soerensen of the Socialist Left Party to nominate Gore as well as Canadian Inuit activist Sheila Watt-Cloutier before the nomination deadline expired Thursday.
Al Gore
Foot-In-Mouth Disease
Joe Biden
Backpedaling furiously, Sen. Joe Biden said he really meant to say "fresh" instead of "clean" in describing Democratic presidential rival Sen. Barack Obama.
Appearing on Comedy Central's "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" late Wednesday, Biden said: "Look, the other part of this thing that got me in trouble is using the word clean. I should have said fresh. What I meant was that he's got new ideas, he's a new guy on the block ... "
But then Biden trailed off as he stared into Stewart's deadpan face. "It's not working, right?" the Delaware senator asked to much laughter from the show's audience.
Joe Biden
Humanitarian Award
Clint Eastwood
Academy Award-winning director Clint Eastwood will receive the Motion Picture Association of America's inaugural humanitarian award, the association announced Thursday.
Eastwood, 76, will be presented the Jack Valenti Humanitarian Award at a private dinner Tuesday in Washington, D.C.
The humanitarian award was named after the MPAA's longtime chief, Valenti, who helped choose Eastwood as its inaugural recipient.
Clint Eastwood
Final Book Due In July
Harry Potter
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," the last of seven installments of the boy wizard's adventures, will be published July 21, author J.K. Rowling said Thursday.
Rowling announced the publication date on her Web site.
Bloomsbury, her British publisher, said it would publish a children's hardback edition, an adult hardback, a special gift edition and an audio book on the same day.
Harry Potter
Aboriginal Actor
David Gulpilil
Aboriginal actor David Gulpilil is a household name in Australia as a movie star -- and as a man caught up in a real-life role reflecting his country's tragic culture clash.
Despite a glittering career in film, Gulpilil's high-profile brushes with the law on alcohol and weapons offences underscore the plight of the indigenous people 200 years after the arrival of the first settlers.
In 1987, the now 54-year-old star of films such as "Walkabout" in 1971 and international hits such as "Crocodile Dundee" was honoured with the Australia Medal for his contribution to the arts.
But on January 10 he seemed a fragile, isolated figure in the magistrate's court in the far northern city of Darwin, capital of the Northern Territory, as he answered charges of brandishing a machete during a drunken scuffle.
David Gulpilil
Wants To Speed Up Divorce
Whitney Houston
Whitney Houston wants to fast-track her divorce from Bobby Brown. The singer, who filed divorce papers in October, requested a default judgment in a document filed on Dec. 28 in Orange County Superior Court.
A checked box on the two-page document indicates that there are "no issues of division of community property" in the divorce.
Houston, 43, has asked for custody of the couple's 13-year-old daughter, Bobbi Kristina, and that Brown, 37, be allowed visitation rights.
Whitney Houston
TV Bounty Hunter Sued
Duane "Dog" Chapman
A woman has filed a lawsuit against Duane "Dog" Chapman, alleging the TV bounty hunter and his crew threw her down a flight of stairs and broke her back while apprehending her boyfriend.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Audrey Emery and seeks unspecified damages to be determined by at trial.
It accuses Chapman and his fellow bounty hunters of injuring Emery at her Pearl City apartment on Jan. 26, 2005 in the course of arresting Stuart Calistro and filming for the A&E reality series "Dog the Bounty Hunter"
"They're filming this TV segment and she is upset because you have these thugs breaking into her apartment and she doesn't want them in there, so they decide the convenient thing is to throw her down the stairs," Emery's attorney Richard Turbin said Thursday.
Duane "Dog" Chapman
Celine Dion's Husband
Rene Angelil
In an attempt to set the record straight about one of its best customers, Caesars Palace took the unusual step Thursday of disclosing the casino losses of Celine Dion's husband and manager, Rene Angelil.
It did so because of a report in London's Observer that quoted a senior official of Caesars' corporate parent as saying that Angelil gambled as much as $1 million a week. Jan Jones, senior vice president of communications and government relations for Caesars owner, Harrah's Entertainment Inc., later said she was speaking hypothetically and that she did not know how much he gambled. She also apologized for referring to him by name.
Caesars said Thursday that Angelil's casino losses in 2005 and 2006 totaled exactly $230,300, but were offset by his tournament poker winnings of $259,079. The casino said it released the totals with his permission.
Rene Angelil
Files Suit
Tomi Rae Hynie
The woman who claims to be James Brown's fourth wife wants half of the singer's estate and to be allowed back into the South Carolina home she was locked out of soon after his death.
Tomi Rae Hynie's lawyer said she filed a petition in Aiken County probate court Thursday, claiming that she is the surviving spouse of the singer and entitled to part of his estate, according to court documents obtained by the Associated Press.
She wants the court to allow her to return to Brown's Beech Island home to retrieve "personal possessions" that belong to her and their 5-year-old son, including furniture she picked out for the home, according to the court papers.
Tomi Rae Hynie
Slams Bush
Hugo Chavez
President Hugo Chavez dismissed Washington's concerns that Venezuela's democracy is under threat, saying a "dictatorship" led by resident Bush poses a true threat to democracy around the world.
Condemning the war in Iraq, the Venezuelan leader said that Bush and John Negroponte, a former director of national intelligence who is designated for the No. 2 position in the State Department, should be tried for "war crimes" committed by the U.S. military across the globe.
"The two of them are criminals. They should be tried and thrown in prison for the rest of their days," Chavez told a news conference.
"If he had any dignity, the president of the United States would quit. The U.S. president doesn't have the political or moral capacity to govern," he added.
Hugo Chavez
Trial Set
`Sahara'
A Hollywood partnership between best-selling author Clive Cussler and Denver billionaire Philip Anschutz had the potential to spawn a lucrative action-film franchise such as the "Indiana Jones" series. Instead, the collaboration went sour and led them to a California court room.
Anschutz gave Cussler creative control - a rarity in Hollywood - over films based on his books featuring his fictional alter ego, Dirk Pitt.
In return, the writer would be paid $10 million for each book that became a movie and receive consultation and approval rights.
The good will between the two, however, ended in a dustup during the production of "Sahara," starring Matthew McConaughey and Penelope Cruz. Cussler claimed the adaptation of his book was ruined by bad scripts. Anschutz countered the author was irrational and difficult.
`Sahara'
In Memory
Gian Carlo Menotti
Gian Carlo Menotti, who composed a pair of Pulitzer Prize-winning operas and founded the Spoleto arts festivals in the United States and Italy, died Thursday at a hospital in Monaco, his son Francis said. He was 95.
The Italian composer won Pulitzers for a pair of the 20th century's more successful operas: "The Consul," which premiered in 1950 in Philadelphia, and "The Saint of Bleecker Street," which opened at New York's Broadway Theater in 1954. "The Consul" also earned him the New York Drama Critics Circle award as the best musical play of the year in 1954.
He also wrote the Christmas classic "Amahl and the Night Visitors" for NBC, which was broadcast in 1951 and may have been the first opera written for television. Menotti also authored the libretto for "Vanessa," which was composed by Samuel Barber, and revised the libretto for Barber's "Antony and Cleopatra." In addition to working together, Barner and Menotti shared a house in Westchester, a New York suburb, for many years.
His Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto, Italy, and Spoleto Festival USA, of Charleston, S.C., sought to bring together fresh creative forces in U.S. and European culture. The tradition launched young artists into impressive careers. Shirley Verrett sang her first performance of Bizet's "Carmen" in Spoleto in 1962; in 1959, Patrice Chereau launched his opera career with a much-praised production of Rossini's "L'Italiana in Algeri"; and Tennessee Williams' "The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore" premiered in 1962. From Spoleto's stages, dancers such as Paul Taylor and Twyla Tharp went on to shape the direction of contemporary dance.
Born July 7, 1911, in Cadegliano near Lake Maggiore and the Swiss border, he was the sixth child of Alfonso and Ines Menotti.
Menotti, who lived in both Monaco and Scotland, returned to the Spoleto festival every year to celebrate his birthday, including this past July.
Although he held Italian citizenship, Menotti called himself an Italian-American.
Gian Carlo Menotti
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