'Best of TBH Politoons'
Reader Suggestion
Harry Smith
Harry Smith has tough questions for White House Spokesman Tony Snow about the fired federal prosecutors scandal. He wants to know why administration officials will not testify publicly under oath. (CBSNews.com)
Good for Harry Smith.
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Terry McDermott: Blogs can top the presses (latimes.com)
Talking Points Memo drove the U.S. attorneys story, proof that Web writers with input from devoted readers can reshape journalism.
Andrew Delbanco: Scandals of Higher Education (nybooks.com)
It is hardly surprising that lots of rich kids go to America's richest colleges. It has always been so. But today's students are richer on average than their predecessors. Between the mid-1970s and mid-1990s, in a sample of eleven prestigious colleges, the percentage of students from families in the bottom quartile of national family income remained roughly steady- around 10 percent. During the same period the percentage of students from the top quartile rose sharply, from a little more than one third to fully half. If the upscale shops and restaurants near campus are any indication, the trend has continued if not accelerated.
Peter Singer;Russell Roberts; Sam Webb: Can you be too rich? (latimes.com)
Current asked a philosopher, an economist and the leader of the Communist Party USA to share their thoughts on the subject of income inequality.
Gregg Easterbrook: Cheapskate billionaires (latimes.com)
The super-rich have more money than they can possibly spend, so why do they give so little?
Bill McKibben: Why Having More No Longer Makes Us Happy (Mother Jones; Posted on AlterNet.org)
The formula of human well-being used to be simple: Make money, get happy. So why is the old axiom suddenly turning on us?
Joel Stein: End the presidential pardon (latimes.com)
Letting Thanksgiving turkeys off is stupid; giving convicted crooks a free pass mocks justice.
And Now, a Commercial Break That Doesn't Seem Like One (nytimes.com)
ABC is considering changes in the decades-old way it interrupts programs for commercial breaks. The goal is to encourage viewers to stick around rather than reaching for the remote or racing to the refrigerator.
Andrew A. Skolnick: Natasha Demkina: The Girl with Very Normal Eyes (Skeptical Inquirer; Posted on livescience.com)
Now comes a teenage girl from Saransk, Russia, who claims to have X-ray-like vision, which lets her see inside of human bodies, to make diagnoses that often are more accurate than those of doctors. First widely hailed in Russia as "the girl with X-ray eyes," 17-year-old Natasha Demkina has a growing following of patients, doctors, journalists, and others who are convinced her powers are real.
Speed Reading Just a Gimmick (livescience.com)
When you read, your eyes act like spotlights on a stage. The construction of your eyes only allows them to focus on one small area on the page at a time, so the idea of speed reading is bunk, according to several studies published in the Journal of Vision this month.
To avoid colon cancer, eat more fruit, study finds (Reuters)
People who eat a diet high in fruit and low in meat reduce their risk of developing colon cancer, researchers reported on Wednesday.
The Democratic Party
David Dvorkin
The Incredible Shrinking Publishing Industry
Marty,
This may not be depressing to anyone other than writers, but it
should be because it's behind the constant decrease in the diversity
and originality of what's being published.
Purple Gene Reviews
'Pussycat Dolls: The Search for the Next Doll'
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Clear and sunny with a nice breeze.
Brian Grazer Caught In The Middle
Los Angeles Times
The editorial page editor of the Los Angeles Times abruptly quit on Thursday after the paper killed a special edition of its opinion section that had been edited by a Hollywood producer with ties to his girlfriend.
Andres Martinez, in an angry note posted on his Times blog, said the paper's decision to scrap the section edited by movie producer Brian Grazer and planned for publication on Sunday "amounts to a vote of no confidence in my continued leadership."
Critics accused the paper of a conflict of interest after word surfaced that Martinez's girlfriend, Kelly Mullens, works for the public relations firm representing Grazer and his Imagine Entertainment.
Martinez said the paper was overreacting because Mullens had no influence in his selection of Grazer.
"I accept my share of the responsibility for placing the Times in this predicament," Martinez wrote. "But I will not be lectured on ethics by some ostensibly objective news reporters and editors who lobby for editorials to be written on certain subjects or who have suggested that our editorial page coordinate more closely with the newsroom's agenda ..."
Los Angeles Times
LA Times Version
'LA Times Names Guest Editor Brian Grazer' - BartCop Entertainment Archives - Saturday, 17 March, 2007
Dissed In Tennessee
Justin Timberlake
Justin Timberlake won't be bringing sexy back to the Tennessee Legislature.
State Sen. Ophelia Ford had introduced the resolution to honor Timberlake, a Tennessee native, "for his highly successful music career and for his meritorious service to the State of Tennessee."
But Sen. Raymond Finney, R-Maryville, removed it from a list of resolutions that is expected to get unanimous support in the Senate.
Republican senators took issue with calling attention to Timberlake's latest album, "FutureSex/LoveSounds," and to song titles such as "SexyBack" and "Rock Your Body."
Justin Timberlake
'Stand Up And Speak Out'
Elton John
Elton John has paid tribute to gay rights campaigners and urged others around the world to "stand up and speak out" against homophobia.
The British singer, who tied the knot with long-term partner David Furnish in a civil ceremony, said people must stand up for the human rights of homosexuals.
"Whether the bigot is in our local pub or a thousand miles away, we should all stand up and speak out for these basic human rights."
Elton John
Put Out To Pasture
Hollywood Christmas Parade
Officials announced Wednesday that after 75 years, the Hollywood Christmas Parade has been cancelled due to rising costs and loss in revenue. "This is a very difficult thing for us to have to do," said Jeff Briggs, chairman of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce's board of directors. "We're disappointed and sad. But we're out of the parade business."
The chamber started the parade in 1928 to lure shoppers to Hollywood Boulevard by decorating it with live trees and Christmas ornaments. It grew in size and crowds over the years, attracting people who wanted to see movie stars ride on elaborate floats.
But in recent years, the parade struggled to attract celebrity participants and a national television audience.
The chamber, which is supported by member dues, said it lost about US$100,000 in producing last year's US$1 million event.
Hollywood Christmas Parade
Likes Gore More
Madonna
Pop superstar Madonna would throw her support behind Al Gore if he decided to run for US president in 2008.
Madonna told German weekly newspaper Die Zeit she had "deep respect for Hillary Clinton as a woman," but thought Gore was a "great guy."
"I would publicly support him if he joins the race," Madonna said, adding she had been impressed by his stance on environmental issues.
Madonna
Sued Over YouTube Removal
Viacom
Activist groups sued the parent company of Comedy Central on Thursday, claiming the cable network improperly asked the video-sharing site YouTube to remove a parody of the network's "The Colbert Report."
Although the video in question contained clips taken from the television show, MoveOn.org Civic Action and Brave New Films LLC argued that their use was protected under "fair use" provisions of copyright law.
The parody "Stop the Falsiness," a play on host Stephen Colbert's use of the term "truthiness," was jointly produced by MoveOn and Brave New Films, an activist production company that has made documentaries on the Iraq war, Wal-Mart and the Fox News Channel.
Viacom
When Mario Vargas Llosa Slugged Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Literary Shiner
With one right hook, an epochal friendship was destroyed and a rift opened between two of Latin America's most celebrated authors.
At a 1976 movie premiere in Mexico City, Peruvian novelist Mario Vargas Llosa - with no apparent provocation - landed a punch to the left eye and nose of his once inseparable Colombian friend, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, who six years later was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature.
But just in time for a series of tributes this month to Garcia Marquez, who turned 80 on March 6, a new photo and details about the incident have emerged along with the beginning of a reconcilation between the two literary giants.
Literary Shiner
DUI Arrest
Vivica A. Fox
Vivica A. Fox was released from jail early Wednesday after she was arrested for investigation of driving under the influence, authorities said. The 42-year-old actress was pulled over late Tuesday after her vehicle passed a patrol car on the Hollywood Freeway at 80 mph, California Highway Patrol Officer Leland Tang said.
Fox was arrested after failing a field sobriety test, he said. Breathalyzer tests also indicated her blood-alcohol level was greater than .08 percent, the legal limit, Tang said.
Vivica A. Fox
Opens Secret UFO Files
France
France became the first country to open its files on UFOs Thursday when the national space agency unveiled a website documenting more than 1,600 sightings spanning five decades.
The online archives, which will be updated as new cases are reported, catalogues in minute detail cases ranging from the easily dismissed to a handful that continue to perplex even hard-nosed scientists.
"It is a world first," said Jacques Patenet, the aeronautical engineer who heads the office for the study of "non-identified aerospatial phenomena."
Of the 1,600 cases registered since 1954, nearly 25 percent are classified as "type D", meaning that "despite good or very good data and credible witnesses, we are confronted with something we can't explain," Patenet said.
France
Sues Disney
Starz
Liberty Media Holding Corp.'s Starz Entertainment cable network said on Thursday it is suing a unit of Walt Disney Co. for allowing other movie download services to sell titles while they were exclusively licensed to Starz.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, was brought by Starz against Disney's Buena Vista Television, which this year signed deals to sell movies on Apple Inc.'s iTunes online store and Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s new movie download site.
According to the lawsuit, Disney is barred under a 2005 licensing agreement with Starz from selling some of its films, such as the blockbuster "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest," for transmission over the Internet before and during a period of exclusivity agreed upon for Starz.
Starz
Judge Issues Warrant
Foxy Brown
An arrest warrant was issued for rapper Foxy Brown on Thursday after she failed to appear in court on charges stemming from a scuffle in a beauty supply store.
Brown was applying beauty products in the bathroom of Queen Beauty Supply when an employee told her the business was closed and it was time to leave, according to the arrest report. She refused and threw hair glue at the employee, then spat at the man as he called 911, the report said.
She later struggled with a responding police officer, the report said. She was released on a $1,500 bond.
Foxy Brown
Poison Dart Shooter Found At Race Track
Happy Valley
Police in Hong Kong are investigating an elaborate device found embedded in the turf at a world-famous horse track apparently designed to shoot poison darts at the animals at the start of a race.
A track supervisor unearthed the device on Wednesday morning while making routine checks of the starting points for races scheduled that evening at the Happy Valley racetrack, the Hong Kong Jockey Club said in a statement.
The remote controlled shooter included 12 metal tubes, each a foot long, filled with darts buried in the grass under the spot where the starting gates would be situated for 1,200 metre (3,937 ft) races on Wednesday night.
The tubes, spaced so each would aim up at a horse, were wired together and linked to a wireless receiver, according to a local newspaper and a police source who declined to be identified.
Happy Valley
Sues Ex-Husband
Terry McMillan
Terry McMillan is suing her former husband for $40 million, alleging that he tried to smear her reputation during their highly publicized 2005 divorce.
McMillan, 55, filed the complaint Wednesday in Contra Costa County Superior Court against Jonathan Plummer, 32, who inspired her best-selling 1996 novel, "How Stella Got Her Groove Back." The book, later adapted into a movie starring Angela Bassett and Taye Diggs, chronicled the adventures of a 40-something woman who falls for a guy half her age.
The lawsuit claims Plummer, a Jamaica native, married McMillan in 1998 only to become a U.S. citizen. He later announced that he's gay.
Terry McMillan
Estate Battling Music Publisher
Rick James
The estate of Rick James has sued the late R&B singer's former music publisher, claiming it entered into contracts with European firms even after it was told its contract was not being renewed.
The complaint, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, claims Brooklyn Music Publishing continues to collect commissions from the European publishers and has refused to turn over all the documents and information to the trust and its new publisher, Wixen Music Publishing.
After James died in 2004, the trust (which exists under the singer's real name, the James Ambrose Johnson Jr. 1999 Trust), became unhappy with the administration of publishing rights by Brooklyn, claiming its expenses were too high.
Prior to the contract's expiration, the trust gave notice to Brooklyn that the agreement would not be renewed.
Rick James
Kin Wants Body Exhumed
Harry Houdini
For all his death-defying stunts, Harry Houdini couldn't escape the Grim Reaper: He died on Halloween 1926, apparently from a punch to the stomach that ruptured his appendix. But rumors that he was murdered have persisted for decades. Eighty-one years after Houdini's death, his great-nephew wants the escape artist's body exhumed to determine if enemies poisoned him for debunking their bogus claims of contact with the dead.
Houdini's family scheduled a news conference for Friday to give details on the plans. Prominent New York lawyer Joseph Tacopina is helping clear any legal hurdles to the exhumation.
The generally accepted version was that Houdini, 52, suffered a ruptured appendix from a punch in the stomach, leading to a fatal case of peritonitis. But no autopsy was performed.
Harry Houdini
Basic Cable
Ratings
Rankings for the top 15 programs on cable networks as compiled by Nielsen Media Research for the week of March 12-18. Day and start time (EDT) are in parentheses.
1. "WWE Raw" (Monday, 10 p.m.), USA, 4.1 million homes, 6.32 million viewers.
2. "WWE Raw" (Monday, 9 p.m.), USA, 3.52 million homes, 5.2 million viewers.
3. Movie: "Scooby-Doo 2" (Friday, 8 p.m.), Nickelodeon, 3 million homes, 4.5 million viewers.
4. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Saturday, 9:30 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.91 million homes, 3.72 million viewers.
5. "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (Thursday, 9 p.m.), USA, 2.89 million homes, 3.66 million viewers.
6. "Fairly Odd Parents" (Saturday, 10 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.81 million homes, 3.57 million viewers.
7. "The Suite Life of Zack & Cody" (Friday, 7:30 p.m.), Disney, 2.697 million homes, 3.63 million viewers.
8. "Riches" (Monday, 10 p.m.), FX, 2.692 million homes, 3.84 million viewers.
9. "Fairly Odd Parents" (Sunday, 10 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.66 million homes, 3.6 million viewers.
10. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Saturday, 9 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.64 million homes, 3.13 million viewers.
11. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Sunday, 9:30 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.62 million homes, 3.57 million viewers.
12. "I Love New York" (Monday, 9 p.m.), VH1, 2.58 million homes, 3.7 million viewers.
13. "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" (Thursday, 10 p.m.), USA, 2.51 million homes, 3 million viewers.
14. "Family Guy" (Sunday, 10:30 p.m.), Adult Swim, 2.49 million homes, 3.25 million viewers.
15. "Family Guy" (Wednesday, 11:30 p.m.), Adult Swim, 2.47 million homes, 3.31 million viewers.
Ratings
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