'Best of TBH Politoons'
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
US debt clock running out of time, space
The national debt clock, as it is known, is a big clock. A spot-check last week showed a readout of 8.3 trillion -- or more precisely 8,310,200,545,702 -- dollars ... and counting. But it's not big enough.
Froma Harrop: 'Too hot not to cool down'
Tom DeLay's good pal Jack Abramoff is crooning to investigators. His former aide, Michael Scanlon, has pleaded guilty to corruption charges and is singing harmony with the Justice Department. Ditto DeLay's former chief of staff, Tony Rudy. And a third aide, Emily Miller, is now doing an aria on the crimes of Michael Scanlon, her ex-fiancé. Scanlon had bought Miller a $4.7 million beach mansion as a wedding present, then jilted her for a 24-year-old waitress. Bad move. There's now more singing from DeLay's former associates than in the tavern scene from Carmen.
Adam Hughes: Bankrupt Nation (tompaine.com)
As the 2007 budget debate moves forward, the complete disregard of the precarious state of our government's finances is, unfortunately, more apparent than ever. The current year deficit is projected to top $400 billion for the second time in history-the first time being two years ago. According to the president's own projections, large and persistent deficits will remain part of the budget landscape for decades if current policies are continued.
CARLIN ROMANO: Can We Talk? (chronicle.com)
There is no such thing as conversation," Dame Rebecca West imperiously announced in The Harsh Voice (1935). "It is an illusion. There are intersecting monologues, that is all."
Jim Hightower: The Upchuck Rebellion (Hightower Lowdown. Posted on Alternet.org)
The Good Food movement is leading the charge against expensive, nutrient-free, artificial, unhealthy, corporate crap-food.
Amy Sullivan: When Would Jesus Bolt? (washingtonmonthly.com)
Meet Randy Brinson, the advance guard of evangelicals leaving the GOP.
Faith in America, Inc. (Scroll down for good ads)
The mission of Faith in America, Inc. is the emancipation of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people from bigotry disguised as religious truth.
Dueling Banjos
United Church of Christ: The Ejector Commercial
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Lovely sunny day with seasonal temperatures.
No new flags.
Hall of Fame
Songwriters
Thom Bell, Mac Davis, Will Jennings, Sylvia Moy and Henry Cosby have been tapped as inductees by the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
The prolific songwriters will accept their awards at the 37th annual induction dinner on June 15 in Manhattan, it was announced Wednesday.
Bell, a two-time Grammy winner and R&B producer-composer, helped to create the "Philly Soul" sound through his work in the '60s with the Delfonics and in the '70s with the Spinners, the O'Jays and the Stylistics. He arranged a string of memorable hits, including the Stylistics' "Stop, Look and Listen" and the O'Jays classic "Love Train."
For more, Songwriters
Time To Probe Video News Releases
FCC
U.S. Federal Communications Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein on Thursday called for an investigation into new accusations that television news broadcasts are not disclosing the source of video news releases they use.
Two consumer advocacy groups released a study that found 77 television stations over a 10-month period ending in March failed to clearly tell viewers when they were using video news releases and said that violated FCC rules that require such disclosure.
"We should immediately open investigations into these possible violations of our rules and prosecute them to the full extent of the law," Adelstein, a Democrat, said at a news conference sponsored by the groups, Free Press and the Center for Media Democracy.
The study's researchers said in some cases, newscasts had reporters reading directly from scripts accompanying video news releases that were prepared by public relations firms.
FCC
In Kenya for HIV Project
Alicia Keys
American Grammy award winning singer Alicia Keys followed up Thursday on projects that she has been funding in Kenya with other celebrities through Keep a Child Alive, a charitable organization committed to supporting HIV patients in Africa.
Keys, who is supporting the project along with Oprah Winfrey, saw first hand how the money was being used at a pediatric HIV clinic at the Coast Provincial Hospital in Mombasa, 275 miles southeast of the capital, Nairobi.
About 400 children are currently benefiting from the program, which is providing them with free anti-retroviral drugs, said Dr. Anderson Kahindi, head of the clinic. He said Keys had been buying the drugs herself and shipping them directly to the hospital since 2004.
Kenyan police and bodyguards prevented journalists from speaking to Keys, whose representatives insisted she was on a private visit and had nothing to say. News of her visit to the hospital spread quickly and fans struggled to get a glimpse of the musician. Her security had a difficult time trying to block people from getting too close.
Alicia Keys
Replacing Katie Couric
Meredith Vieira
A day after Katie Couric announced she was leaving for CBS, NBC has chosen Meredith Vieira as Matt Lauer's new partner on the "Today" show.
A former "60 Minutes" correspondent and co-host on "The View," Vieira's experience matches a morning show host's need to do serious news and interview Hollywood celebrities and do cooking segments. Vieira has also won a Daytime Emmy award for her job as host of the game show "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire."
She's expected to join Lauer on "Today" in September. It will be the first anchor change on morning television's top-rated program since 1997.
Meredith Vieira
Hosting Country Music Awards
Reba McEntire
Reba McEntire is back as host of the Academy of Country Music Awards.
McEntire will preside over the 41st edition of the show, which will air live May 23 on CBS from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, the Burbank-based Academy announced Thursday. It will be the eighth time she has hosted the show.
Reba McEntire
Opens Personal Archive
Sophia Loren
An exhibit of Sophia Loren's family photos, dresses, jewels, awards and career memorabilia opens Friday at the Vittoriano museum in Rome's historic center.
The exhibition, titled "Scicolone, Lazzaro, Loren," begins with photos of her turbulent childhood in southern Italy and follows her rise to stardom.
The show, which is free, runs through May 7.
Sophia Loren
Guesting On 'Law & Order: Criminal Intent'
Whoopi Goldberg
Oscar winner Whoopi Goldberg is set to guest-star on the NBC drama "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" in a potential recurring role.
She will play Chesley Watkins, a foster mother gone bad.
The character, shaped up as a criminal nemesis to Detective Mike Logan (Chris Noth), will be introduced in an episode of "CI" slated to air in May.
Whoopi Goldberg
Back In Jail
Leif Garrett
Former teen idol Leif Garrett, arrested earlier this year for possession of heroin, has been sent back to jail for 45 days after failing drug tests, prosecutors said on Thursday.
Garrett, who had hits with "I Was Made for Dancing" and a remake of "Surfin' USA" in the 1970s, was jailed again last week after a judge was notified of the positive drug tests, Los Angeles County District Attorney spokeswoman Jane Robison said.
Robison said she did not know which substances Garrett, 44, tested positive for using. He was ordered back to court on May 11 for a progress report.
Leif Garrett
Filmmaker Death Ruled Murder
James Miller
A British filmmaker fatally shot in Gaza by an Israeli soldier was murdered, a coroner's jury decided Thursday.
James Miller, 34, was shot in the neck by a soldier in the Gaza-Egypt border area of Rafah in May 2003 while filming a documentary about the impact of violence on children in the region.
The coroner, Andrew Reid, told the 10-member inquest jury at King's Cross Coroner's Court that an unlawful killing verdict was the only one they could reach.
James Miller
Wingnuts & Wal-Mart
'Brokeback Mountain'
Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, went ahead with plans this week to sell DVD copies of the gay-themed film "Brokeback Mountain" despite protests from a Christian advocacy group.
The American Family Association, which called last month for a boycott against Ford Motor Co., for advertising in gay publications, recently began pressing Wal-Mart to refuse to carry the award-winning movie in its 3,700-plus U.S. stores.
The film is not the first media product to put the group at odds with Wal-Mart.
According to the LA Times, the association led a campaign in 2003 pressing Wal-Mart to stop stocking magazines they considered indecent. As a result Wal-Mart halted sales of some men's magazines and placed plastic shields over others.
'Brokeback Mountain'
Tells Police She Was Assaulted
Paula Abdul
Police are investigating a report by "American Idol" judge Paula Abdul that a man assaulted her at a private party over the weekend.
On Tuesday, Abdul filed a report at the Hollywood station claiming she had been a victim of battery about 1 a.m. Sunday, police Lt. Paul Vernon said Thursday.
"According to Abdul, the man at the party argued with her, grabbed her by the arm and threw her against a wall," Vernon said. "She said she had sustained a concussion and spinal injuries."
Abdul provided police with the name of the man, but Vernon withheld it pending further investigation. The man had not been charged, Vernon said.
Paula Abdul
Gives Maple Syrup In Thanks
Canada
Grateful Canadians have given five tonnes of maple syrup to a Norwegian coach as thanks for helping cross-country skier Sara Renner win an Olympic silver medal after her pole broke during the women's team sprint race.
Bjoernar Haakonsmoen became a hero in Canada for handing Renner a new pole at the Turin Games on February 14, especially because the Norwegian team finished fourth.
"It was a reflex action. I didn't even think about what I was doing," Haakonsmoen told Reuters on Wednesday after a ceremony at the Canadian embassy in Oslo to hand over a truckload of 7,400 cans of maple syrup donated as sugary thanks.
"Much of the news we read is bleak...but your action embodied the spirit of the Olympics," Richard Page, one of the organisers of the drive to collect the cans, told Haakonsmoen. Many donors wrote messages of thanks on the cans.
Canada
Masterpiece Sets Record
J.M.W. Turner
A Venice canal scene by J.M.W. Turner sold for $35.8 million at Christie's on Thursday, setting an auction record for a work by a British artist.
The painting, "Giudecca, La Donna della Salute and San Giorgio," from 1841, was bought by a private collector bidding over the telephone.
It was sold by the St. Francis of Assisi Foundation, a nonprofit institution in New York that receives donations to support the missionary effort of the Capuchin order of friars. A private collector had bought the painting in 1992 and donated it to the foundation, which did not display it to the public.
J.M.W. Turner
Dublin Celebrates Centenary
Samuel Beckett
The Irish capital has come alive with a giant arts festival to celebrate the centenary of the absurdist author Samuel Beckett's birth.
Dublin is hosting a wealth of plays, films, paintings, sculpture and music throughout April to mark the life of its Nobel laureate son, who was born on April 13, 1906 and died in 1989.
The festival's website details all the events taking place to mark what would have been the renowned writer's 100th birthday.
Samuel Beckett
Supersized Maxim Cover
Eva Longoria
For air travelers flying over southern Nevada this week, the view offers more than miles of dusty desert. A giant, bikini-clad Hollywood star perched on the desert sands isn't a mirage, but a recreation of a Maxim magazine cover.
The cover is made of a vinyl-mesh screen and reads, "THE ONLY MAGAZINE BIG ENOUGH TO BE SEEN FROM SPACE - AND ONLY IN VEGAS!" A barely dressed Eva Longoria, star of ABC's "Desperate Housewives," graces the 75-by-110-foot display just outside Primm, near the California state line.
The cover is part of several days of events celebrating the magazine's 100-issue milestone, including poker and golf tournaments at the Wynn Las Vegas hotel-casino, a Maxim public relations representative said this week.
Eva Longoria
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