'Best of TBH Politoons'
In The Mail
A New Song
A new song, for a new nation. I own all the rights to this piece. I am
the composer and lyricist. My name is David.
In it's first week, this song has already been played on Air America
and the Thom Hartmann Show. I wrote it for The People to pass around
the country, and it's already flying around the internet. (And to poke
both O'Reilly and Limbaugh in the eye. They're in the third verse.)
It's a song that is NOT about Christianity... but, about hypocrisy.
It's EASY to take the wrong way. (I'm kinda countin' on it... wink.)
I'm not really a country artist. I had to write this song in that genre
to hit 'em where they live... the essence of satire.
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Paul Armentano: Not Your Parent's Drug Test (Reason; Posted On Alternet)
A surge in the number of Americans peeing on demand has coincided with an explosion of alternative drug testing technology.
Losing Faith in Compassionate Conservatism (Think Progress)
David Kuo, former deputy director of the President's Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, has decided to speak candidly about his experience. His message: this administration doesn't care about the poor.
Eric Alterman: Slandered in the Globe
A number of people have written in to ask me of my response to Cathy Young's attempt to smear me as an anti-Semite, (or a self-hating Jew), who blames Holocaust victims for Arab misery-yes she really said that--on the op-ed page of The Boston Globe.
Domino movie angers its real-life lesbian heroine (The Advocate)
It's not the first time that real-life homosexuality has been erased for the movie version, but Domino Harvey--whose life is being turned into a big-budget action movie--objects to the fact that she's being portrayed on the screen as a heterosexual, reports the London Sunday Telegraph.
Malinda Lo: Interview with Kate Clinton (AfterEllen) (An Older Interview)
Kate Clinton has been performing as an out lesbian comedian for over 23 years.
On Their Own Terms: A Talk With Bill and Judith Moyers (An Older Interview)
Beliefnet interviews the journalists about the PBS special and their views on dying in America.
Belief-O-Matic
Beliefnet
Bush and Bald Heads
Proof That Iraq Has WMD
The Little Nun
Words and music by Gene Heart
Who shot the Little Nun
In the Middle of the Amazon?
Was it the Lumbermans' thugs that shot her in the face
Paid by Corporations that are raping this place
Supported by the public they're getting to purchase
All the precious resources we can never replace?
Who shot the little Nun
In the middle of the Amazon?
Was it all the politicians just turning away
From environmental issues that affect us today
She was only one person - So easy to slay
What good did her bible do her that day?
Who shot the little Nun
In the middle of the Amazon?
I can't help but wonder if he stood here today
And saw her dead body - what would Jesus say?
Who shot the little Nun
In the middle of the Amazon?
Another Rant
Avery Ant
Avery Cookies Baked by Spud!!!
the teeth are marshmallows
(we think they look absolutely delicious)
A New Savory "Joyce's Inane Head"
'once-in-a-lifetime' chance to win a fun-filled
week at Avery's Ant Farm & Spa.
That or win a t-shirt. It could go either way.
For all the jiggy details, check out:
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Started sunny, rain by noon.
Adopts Liberal Programming
(22 Stations Out Of 1220+)
Clear Channel
The day before resident Bush's inauguration, listeners tuning in to the Detroit sports station WXDX-AM were suddenly greeted by the sound of braying donkeys. By the time Bush was taking the oath of office, the radio station had new call letters and a full schedule of liberal talk shows.
WXDX-AM - now known as WDTW-AM - is one of 22 stations owned by Clear Channel Communications Inc. that have switched to a liberal talk format in the last year. This month, KTLK-AM in Los Angeles became the latest Clear Channel station to adopt the format.
Those who track broadcasting trends say there's money to be made in liberal talk radio. Todd Webster, a consultant for Washington-based liberal talk show producer Democracy Radio, said Clear Channel is expected to introduce the left-leaning format on 20 more stations by the end of the year.
Clear Channel
TV Mogul
Jon Stewart
Comedy Central is banking on fans wanting more than a daily dose of Jon Stewart. Literally.
TV's anti-Walter Cronkite has obtained financing from his home base cable network to resurrect his long-dormant Busboy Production shingle. In exchange, Stewart will give Comedy Central first crack at picking up all the projects it develops, network president Doug Herzog announced Tuesday.
Stewart will run the company with Daily Show executive producer Ben Karlin, a former Onion editor who joined the fake news anchor's staff in 1993, became head writer in 1999 and with whom Stewart cowrote his New York Times bestseller, America (The Book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction. (The tome, a parody of civics textbooks, owes a measure of its success to Wal-Mart, which banned the book for its naked illustrations of the Supreme Court justices, in turn pumping up sales.)
The first-look deal allows Stewart and his team to create new comedy series that mine the habitual funnyman's trademark brand of humor. If Comedy Central passes on the shows, Stewart is free to shop them to other channels.
Jon Stewart
PBS Censoring Soldiers
'Frontline'
PBS is distributing "clean" and "raw" versions of next Tuesday's "Frontline" documentary about the Iraq war, titled "A Company of Soldiers," and is warning it can't insure stations against FCC fines stemming from the language.
The documentary contains 13 expletives spoken by soldiers. "Frontline" producers decided to leave them in because it presented a true picture of how these men and women react to the fear and stress of war, said David Fanning, the show's executive producer.
The producers also made a separate version of the documentary with the words edited out, for use by some of PBS's 170 stations in more conservative parts of the country. "Frontline" is produced by Boston's WGBH, which will air the raw version.
Instead, PBS decided to send the clean version out to all of its stations. The raw version will also be made available, but station managers will have to make a special effort to tape it in advance.
Next Wednesday, PBS is re-airing the HBO movie "Dirty War," about a terrorist attack in London, and will alter a scene to avoid showing the front of a nude woman being scrubbed down after a fictional chemical attack.
'Frontline'
Launches New Star-Studded AIDS Concert
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela, who last year announced he was bowing out of public life, promised on Thursday to attend an international concert to raise money to fight AIDS/HIV among women in South Africa.
A host of international stars have agreed to perform for free at the concert, dubbed 46664 after Mandela's prison number, on March 19 in George, 250 miles from Cape Town.
The March concert will feature 150 local and international stars including Queen's Brian May and Roger Taylor.
Mandela said U.S. film actor Will Smith, a 46664 ambassador, would be master of ceremonies and introduce the international stars, including Annie Lennox, Katie Melua and India Arie.
Nelson Mandela
Remembers Gannon/Guckert
Ari Fleischer
Former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer was so concerned about Talon News reporter James Guckert's potential ties to the Republican Party that he stopped calling on him at press briefings for about a week in 2003, Fleischer told E&P today.
"I found out that he worked for a GOP site, and I didn't think it was my place to call on him because he worked for something that was related to the party," Fleischer said in a phone interview. "He had the editor call me and made the case that they were not related to the Republican Party. He said they used the GOP name for marketing purposes only."
He said he resumed calling on Guckert, who used the alias Jeff Gannon, after Bobby Eberle, owner of both GOPUSA and Talon News, "assured me that they were not part of the Republican Party." Eberle is a Texas Republican activist and served as a delegate to the 2000 Republican National Convention.
Fleischer served as Bush press secretary from January 2001 to July 2003. Guckert, who has become a center of controversy after it was learned he had used an alias at the White House and had ties to several male escort sites, started at Talon News in February 2003 and resigned last week.
Fleischer said he did not know much about Guckert and could not recall exactly when he started covering press briefings. He said he played no part in approving Guckert's requests for daily press credentials (which were handled by his office) and could offer no further comment on that.
Ari Fleischer
Sell for Big Bucks in NY Sale
Kennedy Knickknacks
Lovers of Kennedy lore paid $5.5 million for some common possessions of former President John F. Kennedy and his family in an auction of art, furniture and other effects from their homes, Sotheby's said on Thursday.
A Chippendale-style slant-front secretary bookcase inlaid with the initials JFK and a version of the United States seal sold for $452,000. A portrait of Jacqueline Kennedy with her children Caroline and John Jr. painted by Aaron Shikler in 1968 fetched $216,000.
The least expensive item sold in the auction was a lot of three animal horns for $390.
Kennedy Knickknacks
NAACP Vanguard Award
Prince
Prince will be honored with the NAACP Vanguard Award, to be presented March 19 during the 36th annual NAACP Image Awards in Los Angeles.
The award is given to those "whose groundbreaking work increases our understanding and awareness of racial and social issues." It has been presented only twice previously, to filmmakers Stanley Kramer and Steven Spielberg.
The ceremony at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion will be taped for broadcast March 25 on Fox.
Prince
Shakes Up White House Staff
Pickles
Behind the scenes, first lady Laura 'Pickles' Bush is making big changes for the next four years.
In the past two months, Mrs. Bush has hired a new social secretary and chief of staff -- and fired chef Walter Scheib III, who had been at the White House for 11 years.
"We don't usually think of Laura Bush as firing anybody," said Ann Gerhart, a political reporter for The Washington Post's style section. "She is just as loyal as everybody else in the Bush family."
Pickles
Makes Britain a Hotbed for Illicit TV Downloads
'24'
Britain has emerged as the world's biggest market for downloading pirated TV, driven by tech-savvy fans who are unwilling to wait for popular U.S. shows such as "Desperate Housewives."
According to Envisional, Britain accounts for about one-fifth of TV downloads through file-sharing networks such as BitTorrent and eDonkey, more than any other country, followed by Australia and the United States.
Episodes of the espionage drama "24" show up on the popular file-trading network BitTorrent within minutes after they air in the U.S., according to Envisional, and a typical episode is downloaded by about 100,000 users.
The company said that "24" is the most pirated show online, with "The Simpsons," "The OC" and a host of sci-fi programs including "Stargate SG-1" and "Enterprise" also popular.
'24'
Believed Henry Kissinger was Deep Throat
John Ehrlichman
In three decades of speculation about the identity of legendary Watergate source Deep Throat, few prominent members of the Nixon administration swept up in the scandal have endorsed a likely suspect. Even John Dean has hedged and offered multiple guesses. But now E&P has learned that former top Nixon aide, John Ehrlichman, who went to prison for his role in Watergate, felt strongly that he knew the identity of Deep Throat.
His candidate: Henry Kissinger.
This revelation comes from Walter Anderson, the chairman and CEO of Parade magazine and a close friend of the former Nixon aide, who died in 1999. Ehrlichman, Anderson said, identified Kissinger as Deep Throat in a conversation with him more than 20 years ago.
He was absolutely convinced of it, Anderson said, when asked by E&P to comment on the recent surge in speculation about the identity of Deep Throat. He added that Ehrlichman's view of Kissinger as Deep Throat has never surfaced before, as far he knows.
For more, John Ehrlichman
Buying About.com for $410 Million
New York Times
The New York Times Co. on Thursday said it will buy online information portal About.com for $410 million from publisher Primedia Inc. as it looks for new ways to build advertising revenue over the Internet.
Primedia bought About.com for $690 million in stock in late 2000, as it worked to meld its traditional publishing business with online media. But the publisher struggled to steer About.com through the Internet downturn and noted on Thursday that the portal is "completely distinct" from its other Web sites.
New York Times
WB Updating Characters for 'Loonatics'
Bugs Bunny
Bugs Bunny and his pals are being updated for the future - way in the future. The WB network will take the famed Looney Tunes characters as models for a new children's series, "Loonatics," that will air on Saturday mornings starting this fall. The characters' descendants - Buzz Bunny and the like - will be superhero action figures for the cartoon set in the year 2772.
The network's animators have re-imagined Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and Wile E. Coyote as sleek new figures for a modern age.
Bugs Bunny
Nebraska High Schools Turn Down Offer
MTV
Two high schools turned down offers from MTV to film a re-creation of a class prank in which a group of students parked a car outside the door to the principal's office.
"It's not part of school life that we need to promote," McCook Public High School Principal Jerry Smith said.
Smith told the cable television station the school would not participate in "High School Stories" because the 2003 prank was not part of the district's curriculum or goals for students' education.
MTV officials then asked permission to film the segment at nearby Arapahoe High School, but board members from that school district also declined.
MTV
In Memory
Otto Plaschkes
Otto Plaschkes, producer of films including "Georgy Girl" and "Hopscotch," died Monday, his family said Thursday. He was 75.
Plaschkes, an arts-loving socialist who belied the popular image of the brash film producer, died of a heart attack, minutes after watching a film in London's West End.
One of his teachers at school was writer William Golding, and classmates swore that Plaschkes was the model for plump, sensitive schoolboy Piggy in Golding's "The Lord of the Flies" - a claim the author neither confirmed nor denied.
After study at Oxford and Cambridge universities, Plaschkes got a job at Ealing Studios and eventually graduated to production roles, including on "Exodus" in 1960 and "Lawrence of Arabia" two years later.
His first feature as producer was "Georgy Girl," the 1966 film starring Lynn Redgrave that helped popularize the image of "swinging London" in the 1960s.
He produced a string of thoughtful movies for the American Film Theater in the 1970s, including "The Homecoming," "Butley" and "In Celebration." In 1980, he produced "Hopscotch," a thriller starring Walter Matthau and Glenda Jackson that was his most commercially successful film.
Otto Plaschkes
