'Best of TBH Politoons'
Reader Review
'Olympic Whoring'
The hubby and I had settled in for a mellow Friday evening with plans to watch the Opening Ceremony for the Olympics . Since my husband is in the scenic/staging bizness we always are into the technical aspects of the event. Most of the time it's good theatre. However, last night's spectacle crossed the line with mind-numbing mainstream media lapdoggery.
Let me start out by saying straight up that Brian Williams is a whore. It was beyond comprehension how over the top he was. Brian Williams was making everything about the opening ceremonies into a political statement of liberal vs. conservative. He yammered about Canada electing a conservative AT LAST and how Italy is one of the Iraq Coalition. The whore brought up the cartoon protests when the Danish athletes arrived. This was the point my hubby who is not known to get riled announced that he was appalled by the whoring of Williams and was "almost indignant". I swear - I didn't get him riled up this time. That's how bad and obvious it was. The hubby was ranting about it all night and is STILL ranting about it.
The UK showed up and Williams the The Media Whore brought up the London bombings after they got the 2012 Summer Olympic bid and they panned to a shot of Laura there with the Brits. Nice touch. The Iraqi delegation of athletes paraded in and Williams went into orgasmic political whoring. When Israel showed up he got moist bringing up Munich and terrorism. Lebanon paraded in and the man went full lather about the Beirut bombings. He then drooled about how Bush went to visit Mongolia for 4 hours and "how much it meant to them". Whatever Dude.
The Russians arrived and Williams followed up with a Reagan-esque diatribe on how things have changed since "we were kids" and had how we'd always had "visions of the athletes who had been changed by the games going back into the darkness" of the Iron Curtain. DAMN MAN - the Cold War is over - get a grip!!!
The US delegation showed up and they showed bug-eyed Laura Bush waving a flag and Williams had to wax poetic over that too. Every chance the man had he brought up the noble cause in Iraq. He's a BIG-TIME whore.
I mean, the Olympics with Bob Costas is always bad enough - constant color commentary that borders on mundane and maudlin. He's always got a story for every country that illustrates an "Olympic moment". The man truly has a sound byte for every nation via one athlete who has a sad story - "they sold the family goat to be here and live his dream of winning Gold ". He also loves to point out all the pro athletes and talk about the music or culture of a generation he has NO CLUE about in a feeble attempt to make himself look hip. It doesn't work. Basically, last night Bob Costas didn't shut up except when Brian The Whore had something to say that was sucking up to the GOP.
The disco music during the parade of athletes was weird and the selections they were playing were definitely odd at best. I could not believe I was hearing The Buggles - Video Killed the Radio Star . It was surreal enough to make Costas, the master of all things obvious, bring it up in his inane oratory and say they were playing "80's dance music" and his night would be complete if he heard Kim Carnes - Bette Davis Eyes. (Another nice try at hipness). Then to his, and everyone else's, amazement they played Y.M.C.A. - VILLAGE PEOPLE !!! This was all getting a little too bizarre. At that point the US athletes paraded in to Think by Aretha Franklin. Hmmmm... that was an odd choice. The Italian athletes arrived wearing some SERIOUS gold lamé parkas and they got to have an obviously popular Italian disco song to parade in to instead of the lame English ones. Lucky bastids.
However, on an entertainment level the people-animated ski jumper and the flying trusses rocked. The choreography of the ski jumper boggled my mind - speaking of choreopgraphy - the ballet dancers were awesome- the "Prince Charming" lead was good and the other dancers all en pointe on the ice boggled my mind as well. The Moonface balloons were creepy/cool. OMG - they had a couple of Grindermen!!!! That was fun. So was the Ferrari on the stage raising up smoke off the ice. Nice touch.
The flying acrobats who worked the net and formed a dove were the most amazing!!! Having Yoko Ono come out and continue the peace theme with words from "Imagine" was nice. I liked the peace touch.
They had a cool chandelier during Pavorotti's performance which was remarkable and a real crowd pleaser. The finale was great and the staging was incredible. The technical aspect of the rigging of the trusses for the Olympic rings was nothing short of remarkable according to my husband. The long awaited torch lighting and ensuing fireworks were very cool. They rocked it OLD SCHOOL.
Of course the network did some vignettes on athletes and I have go to admit that I think Shaun White - the snowboarder - is adorable and now my favorite. I also will fess up to having a weak spot for gangly long-haired redheads. I also like Bode as he is a rebel who embodies the NH motto of Live Free or Die.
THE BEST PART - there is a contingency from Kenya!!! They are competing in X-country skiing which of course Bob Costas had a GREAT story about.
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from Bruce
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PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS: Nuking the Economy (counterpunch.com)
Last week the Bureau of Labor Statistics re-benchmarked the payroll jobs data back to 2000. Thanks to Charles McMillion of MBG Information Services, I have the adjusted data from January 2001 through January 2006. If you are worried about terrorists, you don't know what worry is. Job growth over the last five years is the weakest on record
Roger Phillips: Idaho hunters say there's no such thing as a firearms accident (idahostatesman.com)
Vice President Dick Cheney's hunting accident could easily have been avoided if he followed basic rules, said Idaho Hunter Education Association President Walter Rost of Homedale.
BOB HERBERT: Mr. Vice President, It's Time to Go (The New York Times)
Dick Cheney is a constant reminder of those things the White House would most like to forget: the bullying, the intelligence failures, the inability to pacify Iraq, the misuse of classified information and the breathtaking incompetence that seems to be spread throughout the administration.
Andrew Lam: Consumerism vs. Frugality (Pacific News Service. Posted on Alternet.org)
For his first job in America my eldest brother worked in a supermarket. Among his many chores he found one particularly distasteful: throwing expired food into the garbage bin nightly, then pouring Clorox on top to discourage scavengers and the poor.
Annalee Newitz: Interbreeders (AlterNet.org)
A breakthrough theory reimagines human origins and debunks the whole concept of 'pure races.'
Joel Stein: Marriage by the numbers (latimes.com)
... when eHarmony, the Pasadena-based online dating service, last week started a Marriage Wellness Service that rates you on a "Marriage Index" between 1 and 100, I immediately laid down my $50. More than 45 minutes into the 310-item questionnaire, I seriously questioned how much I cared about my marriage.
Joel Stein: Bag man to the stars (latimes.com)
The weirdest part of the night was that even though I was party to one of the most obscene gestures the invisible hand of capitalism had ever made, there was something sweet about seeing celebrities all excited and grateful. Unlike money or fame, the tactility of free stuff returned them to their pre-famous selves, able to appreciate how ridiculously fortunate they'd become.
Parke Brewer: US Skater Donates Gold Medal Winnings to Darfur Refugees (voanews.com)
American long track speedskater Joey Cheek won the men's Olympic 500-meters gold medal Monday night in Turin. And VOA Sports Editor Parke Brewer reports he will donate his bonus money to an African nation.
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Smugman (A Dick Cheney Poem)
This is the Cheney version of 'Smugman' (The Donald Rumsfeld verion) from 2004
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Mostly overcast & cool.
Left hand is still out of commission - although I can almost make a fist today.
Added the 125th new flag - Dominica 
Honors Black History Month
Smokey Robinson
Smokey Robinson turned down the music and celebrated lesser-known black Americans while speaking in honor of Black History Month at the University of Memphis.
Young people know "the Beyonces and the Shaqs because that's what they see," Robinson was quoted as saying in The Commercial Appeal. He was referring to singer Beyonce Knowles and pro basketball player Shaquille O'Neal.
"They don't realize for every one of those there are millions of kids who don't make it," he said. "Go to any church and you'll find people who made marvelous contributions. Our kids need to know that."
Smokey Robinson
Salutes End Of Real MASH
Alan Alda
As star of the landmark TV comedy "M*A*S*H," Alan Alda played as big a role as anyone in transforming the acronym for Mobile Army Surgical Hospital into a pop-culture buzzword.
Thus, the actor best known for playing the wisecracking Army surgeon "Hawkeye" Pierce was surprised, and a bit wistful, at learning on Thursday the last real-life MASH unit had been decommissioned by the U.S. Army and handed over to Pakistan.
In keeping with the acerbic wit of his TV alter ego, Alda was ready with a wry suggestion for how he and former "M*A*S*H" castmates who portrayed doctors and nurses on the show might be of service to Pakistan's newly owned field hospital.
"Before they hand it over, I hope they leave a phone number on the desk so they can call us in case (fugitive al Qaeda leader Osama) bin Laden drops in for a checkup."
Alan Alda
Madame Tussauds' Wax Museum
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Add Hillary Rodham Clinton to the pantheon of luminaries immortalized in Madame Tussauds' wax museum.
A life-size figure of the former first lady-turned-senator was set to be unveiled Thursday, complete with a campaign-style balloon drop, flags and a full-throated rendering of "Hail to the Chief."
A Clinton figure had been on Tussauds' visitor request list for "a long, long time," museum manager Janine DiGioacchino said. But the looming Presidents Day holiday and the buzz surrounding Clinton's possible 2008 presidential bid sped up her addition to the collection.
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Wins Damages
Elton John
Elton John won undisclosed libel damages and an apology from a British newspaper on Thursday over a story which said the singer had acted "in a self-important, arrogant and rude manner" at one of his AIDS charity functions.
At London's High Court, John's lawyer told the judge the rock star had sued over a 2005 article in the Sunday Times headlined "Rock royals get too grand" about his AIDS Foundation Summer Ball.
The story said the singer had issued a "bizarre and absurd edict to guests at his annual charity fundraising White Tie and Tiara summer ball not to address him unless spoken to."
Times Newspapers Ltd accepted that the allegation was untrue and should not have been made. It has agreed to publish an apology, and pay damages to John which he will donate to his AIDS Foundation.
Elton John
Visit High School
Oprah & Bill
Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates and talk show host Oprah Winfrey visited a high school on Wednesday, surprising some of its students.
Gates and his wife, Melinda, spent about three hours at San Diego High School and met with nine students for an upcoming segment of "The Oprah Winfrey Show" about the billionaire's school reform efforts.
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation gave $11 million to the San Diego Unified School District in 2003 to reform three large high schools, said Music McCall, a spokeswoman for the district.
Oprah & Bill
Hospital News
Art Buchwald
Columnist and novelist Art Buchwald, 80, is in a Washington area hospice with an amputated leg, an assistant said Thursday.
Cathy Crary asked that the hospice not be named, saying, "We don't want him swamped."
The amputation, below the knee, was caused by a vascular condition; the leg wasn't getting enough blood, she explained. She added that it was not connected with a kidney problem, which was less severe than expected, and that Buchwald was not undergoing dialysis.
Art Buchwald
Wedding News
Presley - Lockwood
Lisa Marie Presley, daughter of rock 'n' roll king Elvis Presley, has married guitarist and music producer Michael Lockwood in a ceremony in Kyoto, Japan, her publicist said Thursday.
Presley, 38, and Lockwood exchanged vows in a traditional Japanese ceremony on Jan. 22, spokesman Paul Bloch said.
It was Presley's fourth marriage. She was previously married to Nicolas Cage, Michael Jackson and Danny Keough, who is the father of her two children.
Presley - Lockwood
Ease Media Ownership Rules, Again?
FCC
U.S. communications regulators should quickly relax ownership restrictions on the radio and broadcast television industry, Rep. Fred Upton, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on communications, said on Thursday.
Upton, a Michigan Republican, cited the proliferation of broadcast stations, cable, satellite television and radio and the Internet as evidence that consumers have sufficient choices to justify allowing companies to own more outlets.
"Common sense tells us that this explosion of media sources should eliminate any concern over a lack of diversity of views in the marketplace and competition," Upton lied in a speech to the Media Institute.
FCC
FX Reality Series - Families Swap Races
'Black.White.'
When writer John Howard Griffin turned his skin from white to dark and travelled the U.S. south in 1959 for a first-hand look at the depths of racism, he relied on a simple medical treatment and his wits.
In the 21st century, such a journey requires Hollywood makeup wizardry, the well-honed conventions of both reality TV and documentary filmmaking, and two families, one black, one white, acting as undercover race detectives in southern California.
As superficially different as FX's Black.White. and Griffin's landmark book Black Like Me appear to be, they are brothers under the skin.
Black.White. proceeds with open-minded seriousness as it leads viewers to a conclusion both obvious and powerful: race counts, for better and worse. Expressions of racism and racial identity change, but that bedrock truth remains.
'Black.White.'
Renames Danish Pastries
Iran
Iranians love Danish pastries, but when they look for the flaky dessert at the bakery they now have to ask for "Roses of the Prophet Muhammad."
Bakeries across the capital were covering up their ads for Danish pastries Thursday after the confectioners' union ordered the name change in retaliation for caricatures of the Muslim prophet published in a Danish newspaper.
Iran's Danish renaming wasn't the first time a food name has become a symbol of protest. A Republican congressman from North Carolina helped lead an effort to make sure Capitol Hill cafeterias changed their menus to advertise "freedom fries" instead of french fries after France opposed the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.
Iran
Hired By Disney
Michelle Kwan
Days after dropping out of the Winter Games, ending her epic quest for Olympic gold, figure skating champion Michelle Kwan accepted a new job on Thursday as celebrity representative for the Walt Disney Co.
Kwan, who recently declined an offer from rival media company NBC Universal to join its Olympics broadcast, will take part in promotions, advertising and public service messages involving all of Disney's businesses, the company said.
The deal also calls for her to make guest appearances on original TV programming and make personal appearances at live company events. Disney owns the ABC television network.
Michelle Kwan
New Video
Kid Rock & Scott Stapp
A videotape showing Kid Rock and former Creed frontman Scott Stapp engaging in explicit sexual activity with four female fans on a tour bus has been acquired by California company Red Light District, the distributor of the notorious 2004 Paris Hilton sex tape "One Night in Paris."
The company has launched a 40-second preview clip of the 45-minute tape at the Web sites KidRockSexTape.com and ScottStappSexTape.com and says it plans to release the entire video at some point this year.
Red Light District president David Joseph told Billboard.com he purchased the tape, which was shot in 1999 while Rock and Creed were on tour, from "a third-party source who was about to put it out for free on the Internet. I basically stopped him from doing that."
Kid Rock & Scott Stapp
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