'Best of TBH Politoons'
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Barbara Garson: Give my stimulus check to the rich (latimes.com)
Bush has favored the wealthy throughout his administration; why stop now?
Mark Morfofd: Gay marriage is here, but so is the apocalypse (sfgate.com)
The good news: Gas is racing merrily past 4 bucks a gallon, and oil is skipping over a previously unheard-of $130 a barrel and Big Oil execs are snorting like pigs in diamond-crusted mud, and hence people are quickly rethinking their transportive ways...
Kate Clinton: May I Just Say? (huffingtonpost.com)
Then it's time for Gay Pride Month, the month formerly known as June, when I am revitalized at each event by the extraordinary work that so many people are doing for the human rights of all.
Danny Miller: Sock It to Me! (huffingtonpost.com)
It's been 40 years ago since Laugh-In premiered. Frankly, I'm not sure it withstands the test of time, but no one can deny that it broke a hell of a lot of barriers when it came on the air.
Roald's room (books.guardian.co.uk)
Writers' rooms: Quentin Blake remembers Roald Dahl's writing shed.
Hay festival: Kureishi slams creative writing courses (books.guardian.co.uk)
Hanif Kureishi has launched a withering attack on university creative writing courses, calling them "the new mental hospitals."
Joe Queenan: The Nordic Mystery Boom (latimes.com)
Forget Holmes, Marple and Poirot. The Scandinavians have a clue.
Julie Hinds: They're older, but the comically dangerous Kids in the Hall haven't mellowed a bit (Detroit Free Press)
In a new Web video from Kids in the Hall, the middle-aged lads are trying to figure out what will satisfy audiences on their "Live As We'll Ever Be" tour.
Glenn Gamboa: Cyndi Lauper takes a stand with new album and True Colors Tour (Newsday)
Cyndi Lauper doesn't stop trying until she gets what she wants.
Walter Tunis: Blues guitarist Buddy Guy never fails to inspire (McClatchy Newspapers)
It's one thing to marvel at the magnitude of an IMAX-size Rolling Stones in Martin Scorsese's recent concert documentary, "Shine a Light." But you're dealing with an altogether more fearsome beast when Buddy Guy walks on, digs into Muddy Waters' "Champagne and Reefer" and makes the ageless Stones sound more dangerous than they have in years.
20 QUESTIONS: Tanna Frederick (popmatters.com)
Tanna Frederick speaks with PopMatters 20 Questions about the cat's meow, the best hot chocolate money can buy, and her intriguingly dexterous toes.
Luaine Lee: Glenn Close returning for a second season of FX's 'Damages' (McClatchy-Tribune News Service)
When you consider her impressive resume, it's hard to believe that actress Glenn Close was inordinately shy as a kid. She's still battling timidity, she admits.
A: Brooklyn Bridge
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Back to sunny and seasonal.
Donate 400th Playground
Kirk & Anne Douglas
A milestone for actor Kirk Douglas and his wife, Anne.
They've dedicated their 400th school playground -- completing a decade-long effort to give Los Angeles kids a place to frolic.
The 91-year-old actor took a ride down a slide during the unveiling Wednesday at a South Los Angeles elementary school.
Douglas and his wife created a foundation that has provided more than 8 million dollars to build or refurbish play areas in the Los Angeles school district.
Kirk & Anne Douglas
Shocking! Corporate Interference
Jessica Yellin
CNN correspondent Jessica Yellin said Thursday she was referring to her time spent at MSGOP when she said she felt pressure not to report stories critical of the Bush administration during the time leading up to the Iraq war.
Yellin's initial comments, made during a discussion with Anderson Cooper on CNN Wednesday, shifted attention to the news media's performance following release of a critical assessment of the Bush administration by former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan. He wrote that Bush's strategy for selling the war was less than candid and honest.
During her CNN appearance, Yellin said the press corps was under enormous pressure from corporate executives to make sure the war was presented "in a way that was consistent with the patriotic fever in the nation and the president's high approval ratings."
The higher Bush's approval ratings, the more pressure she felt from news executives to put on positive stories about the president, she said. Pushed by Cooper to explain, Yellin said her bosses would turn down critical stories about the administration and try to put on positive pieces.
Jessica Yellin
PSA for UN
George Clooney
George Clooney is marking Thursday's 60th anniversary of U.N. peacekeeping with a public service announcement praising the soldiers who wear the distinctive blue helmets.
Clooney was named a U.N. Messenger of Peace in January by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon with a special focus on U.N. peacekeeping. He has been actively campaigning to end the five-year conflict in Darfur and traveled to visit peacekeepers in Sudan soon after his appointment.
In the spot entitled "Peace is Hard," Clooney reminds viewers that some 100,000 U.N. peacekeepers protect civilians, oversee elections and disarm ex-combatants to ensure peace in many dangerous and politically volatile regions from Congo and Liberia to Haiti and Lebanon.
George Clooney
La Scala To Stage New Opera
'Inconvenient Truth'
First it was the film and the book. Now the next stop for Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" is opera.
La Scala officials say the Italian composer Giorgio Battistelli has been commissioned to produce an opera on the international multiformat hit for the 2011 season at the Milan opera house. The composer is currently artistic director of the Arena in Verona.
'Inconvenient Truth'
Joins 'The Sarah Connor Chronicles'
Shirley Manson
Scottish musician Shirley Manson, lead singer with the rock group Garbage, has joined the cast of Fox's "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles," which begins its second season in the fall.
The flame-haired vocalist will play Catherine Weaver, the CEO of a cutting-edge high-tech company. The "Terminator" movie spinoff stars British actress Lena Headey in the title role and youngster Thomas Dekker as future rebel leader John Connor.
Garbage, famed for the tunes "Only Happy When It Rains" and "Stupid Girl" from its self-titled 1995 album, has been quiet since releasing a hits package last year.
Shirley Manson
Behind-The-Scenes Film To Auction
Marilyn Monroe
Want a behind-the-scenes look at the set of Marilyn Monroe's last fully produced feature? Better call the bank.
Two reels of silent, 8-millimeter color film titled "On Set With 'The Misfits'" is going on the auction block, with bids starting between $10,000 and $20,000. Julien's Auctions is listing the 47-minute film next month at Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in Las Vegas.
According to the Julien's Auctions Web site, it's the original film by amateur photographer Stanley Floyd Kilarr, who shot scenes of the stars and crew during the making of "The Misfits" - the final completed film for both its stars, Monroe and Clark Gable.
Kilarr was part of the "Misfits" crew and shot his own film throughout production. "On Set With 'The Misfits'" features candid moments with Monroe and Gable, as well as Montgomery Clift, Thelma Ritter and director John Huston. The video shows the actors preparing for scenes, chatting with crew members and others on the set, and relaxing between takes.
Marilyn Monroe
TV Sweaters Up For Auction
Bill Cosby
Some of Bill Cosby's legendary patterned sweaters his long-running television hit "The Cosby Show" will be auctioned off next month to benefit a charity set up in memory of the actor's late son, organizers said on Thursday.
Never available to the public before, three of the iconic sweaters worn by Cosby's character, Dr. Heathcliff Huxtable, on the show in the 1980s and '90s will be sold on eBay's Giving Works charity listing arm from June 2-12. Opening bids will start at $5,000 per item on www.eBay.com/cosby.
The proceeds will benefit the education charity Hello Friend/Ennis William Cosby Foundation, which was established in 1997 by the Cosby family to continue the legacy of Cosby's son Ennis after his murder in Los Angeles.
Bill Cosby
Faux News Hazard
Bedbugs
A Fox News employee who says she suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder after being bitten by bedbugs at work filed a lawsuit on Thursday against the owner of the office tower where she worked.
Jane Clark, 37, a 12-year veteran of Fox News, a unit of News Corp, said she complained to human resources after being bitten three times between October 2007 and April 2008. She said she was ridiculed and the office was not treated for months.
Clark, who says she's been diagnosed with PTSD and can no longer work, has filed a separate workers compensation claim with News Corp, and the company is paying her medical bills and lost wages. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Bedbugs
Issues Climate Report 4 Years Late
White House
Under a court order and four years late, the White House Thursday produced what it called a science-based "one-stop shop" of specific threats to the United States from man-made global warming.
While the report has no new science in it, it pulls together different U.S. studies and localizes international reports into one comprehensive document required by law. The 271-page report is notable because it is something the Bush administration has fought in the past.
Andrew Weaver, a Canadian climate scientist who was not involved in the effort, called it "a litany of bad news in store for the U.S."
White House
Appeasing Michelle Malkin
Rachael Ray
Dunkin' Donuts has pulled an online advertisement featuring Rachael Ray after complaints that a fringed black-and-white scarf that the celebrity chef wore in the ad offers symbolic support for Muslim extremism and terrorism.
Critics, including conservative commentator Michelle Malkin, complained that the scarf wrapped around her looked like a kaffiyeh, the traditional Arab headdress. Critics who fueled online complaints about the ad in blogs say such scarves have come to symbolize Muslim extremism and terrorism.
Amahl Bishara, an anthropology lecturer at the University of Chicago who specializes in media matters relating to the Middle East, said complaints about the scarf's use in the ad demonstrate misunderstandings of Arab culture and the multiple meanings that symbols can take on depending on someone's perspective.
"I think that a right-wing blogger making an association between a kaffiyeh and terrorism is just an example of how so much of the complexity of Arab culture has been reduced to a very narrow vision of the Arab world on the part of some people in the U.S.," Bishara said in a phone interview. "Kaffiyehs are worn every day on the street by Palestinians and other people in the Middle East - by people going to work, going to school, taking care of their families, and just trying to keep warm."
Rachael Ray
Relaunches Web Site
Spike TV
MTV Networks is relaunching Spike.com on Friday, stocked with online-only original programming from content providers including Playboy Enterprises.
The online arm of the young men's cable channel also will be supplemented with a high-resolution full-episode player that allows viewing of the channel's TV series as well as social networking.
Spike.com will also have exclusive content contributions from YouTube sensation the Angry Video Game Nerd, as well as webisodes of "The Crew," "MMA Girls" and a blog from UFC star Evan Tanner.
Spike TV
Site Briefly Hacked
Comcast
Hackers took over Comcast Corp.'s Web portal for several hours overnight, denying 14.1 million subscribers access to the cable company's site for e-mail, news and technical support.
The front page of Comcast.net went down shortly before 11 p.m. EDT Wednesday and was replaced with a note saying the hackers had "RoXed" Comcast, according to postings at BroadbandReports.com.
The hackers appeared to have seized control of the Comcast.net domain name at registrar Network Solutions Inc. and redirected it to other servers, Comcast spokeswoman Jennifer Khoury said.
Comcast
Side With Congress
Ex-Prosecutors
Twenty former U.S. attorneys from both political parties sided with Congress and asked a federal judge on Thursday to settle a subpoena fight with the White House.
The former prosecutors filed a friend-of-the-court brief in a lawsuit over whether Congress can demand documents and testimony from resident Bush's closest aides.
The House Judiciary Committee wants to know whether some U.S. attorneys were fired for political reasons, an issue that helped lead to the resignation of former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. The White House says the president's former counsel Harriet Miers and chief of staff Josh Bolten do not need to comply with the subpoenas, citing executive privilege, the principle that one branch of government can't make another branch do something.
Ex-Prosecutors
Bad Karma
Sharon Stone
French fashion house Christian Dior said Thursday it has dropped Sharon Stone from its Chinese ads and released a statement from the actress apologizing for saying China's earthquake may have been bad karma for its treatment of Tibet.
The 50-year-old actress said she was "deeply sorry" for causing anguish and anger among Chinese people with her remarks in an interview last week. Stone models for Christian Dior SA, and the company's Shanghai office issued the statement.
Chinese media have erupted in indignation over foreign criticism of the country ahead of the Beijing Olympics in August. During the international leg of the Olympic torch relay, many Chinese reacted strongly to protests over China's rule of Tibet.
Sharon Stone
Uncontacted Tribe Photographed
Amazon
Amazon Indians from one of the world's last uncontacted tribes have been photographed from the air, with striking images released on Thursday showing them painted bright red and brandishing bows and arrows.
The photographs of the tribe near the border between Brazil and Peru are rare evidence that such groups exist. A Brazilian official involved in the expedition said many of them are in increasing danger from illegal logging.
Of more than 100 uncontacted tribes worldwide, more than half live in either Brazil or Peru, Survival International says. It says all are in grave danger of being forced off their land, killed and ravaged by new diseases.
Amazon
Buys Land To Restore Prairie
Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux
A 30-acre field where corn and soybeans were once grown is now covered with Canada wild rye, big bluestem, Golden Alexander and compass plant - the same grasses and flowers the pioneers saw as they pushed westward across the American prairie in the 1800s.
This small patch of prairie next to a condominium complex in suburban Minneapolis did not suddenly appear on its own. Instead, it was painstakingly restored at great cost by the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux tribe.
Flush with cash from its nearby casino, the tribe has bought up about 125 acres of farmland and wetlands just outside the big city over the past few years and has returned them to the way they looked before the white man herded the Indians onto reservations.
For the Mdewakanton, who own about 2,400 acres in all, the prairie restoration process is laborious and expensive.
Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux
Israel Names National Bird
Hoopoe
It may not be kosher, but the Hoopoe was chosen on Thursday as Israel's national bird.
The Hoopoe, or "Duchifat" in Hebrew, is listed in the Old Testament as unclean and forbidden food for Jews.
President Shimon Peres declared the pink, black and white-crested bird the winner of a competition timed to coincide with Israel's 60th anniversary. It beat out rivals such as the Yellow-vented Bulbul and the Palestine Sunbird.
The Book of Leviticus groups the Hoopoe with birds such as the eagle, vulture and pelican that are "abhorrent, not to be eaten".
Hoopoe
In Memory
Joseph Pevney
Joseph Pevney, who directed some of the best-loved episodes of the original "Star Trek" television series, has died. He was 96.
Pevney directed 14 episodes of the 1960s series, including "The City on the Edge of Forever," in which Capt. Kirk and Spock travel back in time to the Depression, and "The Trouble With Tribbles," in which the starship Enterprise is infested with cute, furry creatures.
Pevney had made his movie debut playing a killer in 1946's "Nocturne." As an actor, he made several other film noir appearances but then turned to directing with 1950's "Shakedown."
Pevney went on to direct more than 35 films, including two memorable movies from 1957: "Man of a Thousand Faces," which starred James Cagney as silent star Lon Chaney, and "Tammy and the Bachelor," a romantic comedy starring Debbie Reynolds that spawned her No. 1 hit record, "Tammy."
In the 1960s and '70s Pevney turned to television, directing dozens of episodes of series such as "Wagon Train," "Fantasy Island," "The Incredible Hulk" and "Trapper John, M.D."
Born in 1911 in New York, Pevney began his entertainment career as a boy soprano in vaudeville. For several years in the 1930s and '40s, he acted in or directed Broadway productions. He came to Los Angeles after serving in the army in the Second World War.
He is survived by his wife, Margo, and son, Jay.
Joseph Pevney
In Memory
Alexander Courage
Alexander "Sandy" Courage, an Emmy-winning and Academy Award-nominated arranger, orchestrator and composer who created the otherworldly theme for the classic "Star Trek" TV show, has died. He was 88.
Over a decades-long career, Courage collaborated on dozens of movies and orchestrated some of the greatest musicals of the 1950s and 1960s, including "My Fair Lady," "Hello, Dolly!" "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers," "Gigi," "Porgy and Bess" and "Fiddler on the Roof."
But his most famous work is undoubtedly the "Star Trek" theme, which he composed, arranged and conducted in a week in 1965.
He and Lionel Newman shared Academy Award nominations for their adapted scores for 1964's "The Pleasure Seekers" and 1967's "Doctor Dolittle."
A friend and colleague of movie composers John Williams and Jerry Goldsmith, he also provided the orchestration for such movies as "The Poseidon Adventure," "Jurassic Park," "Basic Instinct" and "The Mummy" and supplied arrangements for the Boston Pops while Williams was conductor in the 1980s and early 1990s.
Courage was born Dec. 10, 1919, in Philadelphia and raised in New Jersey. After graduation from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y., in 1941, Courage enlisted in the Army Air Corps.
Beginning in the 1960s he composed music for TV shows, including "The Waltons," "Lost in Space" and "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea," although the only themes he created were for "Star Trek" and "Judd For the Defense."
Alexander Courage
In Memory
Harvey Korman
Harvey Korman, the tall, versatile comedian who won four Emmys for his outrageously funny contributions to "The Carol Burnett Show" and on the big screen in "Blazing Saddles," died Thursday. He was 81.
A natural second banana, Korman gained attention on "The Danny Kaye Show," appearing in skits with the star. He joined the show in its second season in 1964 and continued until it was canceled in 1967. That same year he became a cast member in the first season of "The Carol Burnett Show."
After 10 successful seasons, he left in 1977 for his own series. Dick Van Dyke took his place, but the chemistry was lacking and the Burnett show was canceled two years later. "The Harvey Korman Show" also failed, as did other series starring the actor.
His most memorable film role was as the outlandish Hedley Lamarr (who was endlessly exasperated when people called him Hedy) in Mel Brooks' 1974 Western satire, "Blazing Saddles."
He also appeared in the Brooks comedies "High Anxiety," "History of the World: Part I" and "Dracula: Dead and Loving It," as well as two "Pink Panther" moves, "Trail of the Pink Panther" in 1982 and "Curse of the Pink Panther" in 1983.
Korman's other films included "Gypsy," "Huckleberry Finn" (as the King), "Herbie Goes Bananas" and "Bud and Lou" (as legendary straightman Bud Abbott to Buddy Hackett's Lou Costello). He also provided the voice of Dictabird in the 1994 live-action feature "The Flintstones."
In television, Korman guest-starred in dozens of series including "F Troop," "Diagnosis Murder," "Perry Mason," "The Wild Wild West," "The Muppet Show," "The Love Boat," "The Roseanne Show" and "Burke's Law."
Harvey Herschel Korman was born Feb. 15, 1927, in Chicago. He left college for service in the U.S. Navy, resuming his studies afterward at the Goodman School of Drama at the Chicago Art Institute. After four years, he decided to try New York.
In 1960 Korman married Donna Elhart and they had two children, Maria and Christopher. They divorced in 1977. Two more children, Katherine and Laura, were born of his 1982 marriage to Deborah Fritz.
Harvey Korman
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