'Best of TBH Politoons'
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
The Progressive Majority: Why a Conservative America Is a Myth (mediamatters.org)
Conventional wisdom says that the American public is fundamentally conservative - hostile to government, in favor of unregulated markets, at peace with inequality, wanting a foreign policy based on the projection of military power, and traditional in its social values. But as this report demonstrates, that picture is fundamentally false. Media perceptions and past Republican electoral successes notwithstanding, Americans are progressive across a wide range of controversial issues, and they're growing more progressive all the time.
Jonathan Freedland: Bush's Amazing Achievement (nybooks.com)
One of the few foreign policy achievements of the Bush administration has been the creation of a near consensus among those who study international affairs, a shared view that stretches, however improbably, from Noam Chomsky to Brent Scowcroft, from the antiwar protesters on the streets of San Francisco to the well-upholstered office of former secretary of state James Baker. This new consensus holds that the 2003 invasion of Iraq was a calamity, that the presidency of George W. Bush has reduced America's standing in the world and made the United States less, not more, secure, leaving its enemies emboldened and its friends alienated.
Jim Hightower: BUSH'S IMPERIAL DESIGNS ON IRAQ (jimhightower.com)
At last we have a date for the withdrawal of our troops from Iraq... and Bush can't veto this one. It's January 20, 2009. That's when George W's term is up and he has to withdraw from the White House, taking "Buckshot" Cheney with him. The shame is that so many more of our troops will die or be maimed in the months between now and then.
Adam Doster: When College Ends, So Does Activism (inthesetimes.com)
Why selling out is a depressingly rational choice for many graduates.
BOB BARR: Don't Ask, Who Cares (Wall Street Journal)
The bottom line here is that, with nearly a decade and a half of the hybrid "don't ask, don't tell" policy to guide us, I have become deeply impressed with the growing weight of credible military opinion which concludes that allowing gays to serve openly in the military does not pose insurmountable problems for the good order and discipline of the services.
A state of ill health (guardian.co.uk)
Sicko, Michael Moore's latest film, lambasts the failures of America's overwhelmingly private healthcare service. As the cases highlighted here by Ed Pilkington further show, if you're poor or lack insurance, you'll find yourself at the mercy of the world's most expensive medical system.
Garrison Keillor: La pura vida beckons in L.A. (latimes.com)
How an out-of-towner learned to appreciate the paradise of Los Angeles -- traffic, drought and all.
Can't cook, won't cook (guardian.co.uk)
Delia Smith's new mission is to teach us how to cheat in the kitchen using ready-made ingredients. But do we really need her help? Millions of us already assemble most of our meals from shop-bought dishes. How did we grow too lazy for real cooking, asks Zoe Williams.
JEFF STRAUSS: The girls and boys of summer (latimes.com)
A coach's farewell letter to his baseball team.
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny and warmer.
We attended the kid's 8th grade graduation ceremony at Poly High (the auditorium is larger than the one at Washington).
It's where he'll be in the fall, so it gave us a chance to scope the place out.
U.S. Book Tour
J.K. Rowling
British-born "Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling will give four readings in the United States this fall, her first U.S. promotional tour since 2000, when she was just becoming an international sensation and had yet to give birth to her second and third children.
On Oct. 15, she will read at the Kodak Theater in Los Angeles, followed three days later by an appearance at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, then two readings Oct. 19 at New York's Carnegie Hall. Rowling, 41, will take questions at each of the readings and sign books.
Don't bother rushing for tickets. For three of the readings, Scholastic will pick schools to send children. For the fourth reading, at Carnegie Hall, 1,000 fans will be chosen from a Scholastic sweepstakes, with each winner receiving two passes.
J.K. Rowling
Not A Faux Fan
Angelina Jolie
Angelina Jolie's true colors came out Wednesday as she promoted a film about freedom of the press and then tried to censor all her interviews.
Jolie is touting press freedom these days, playing the widow of murdered Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl in a new movie called "A Mighty Heart."
Jolie told Paramount Pictures publicists to ban FOX News Channel and all FOX News affiliates from covering the "Mighty Heart" premiere on the red carpet. It was only with the intervention of mortified Paramount staff that an FNC camera crew was allowed to be present.
For the rest of Faux's whine - Angelina Jolie
Tops Forbes' List Of Power Players
Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey continues to take over the world. The media mogul is back on top of Forbes' annual "Celebrity 100 Power List," which ranks the rich and famous based on earnings and buzz.
Golf tycoon Tiger Woods, who pulled in $100 million, ranks second. Madonna, absent from the list last year, is No. 3. The pop star's "Confessions" world tour - the highest-grossing tour by any female artist in history, Goldman said - and her adoption of a baby boy in the African country of Malawi put her back in the spotlight.
The Rolling Stones dropped from No. 2 to No. 4. Brad Pitt, who secured $35 million in earnings, ranks fifth - up 15 spots from last year - in part because of his status as one of the most talked-about celebrities in the world, Goldman said. (Girlfriend Angelina Jolie is No. 14.)
Johnny Depp placed sixth and was the year's highest-paid actor with his take of $92 million. Elton John, who earned a total of $53 million thanks to concerts and revenue from Broadway hits such as "The Lion King," ranks seventh. Power player Tom Cruise - the world's No. 1 star last year - slipped to No. 8.
Oprah Winfrey
People's Hottest Bachelor
Matthew McConaughey
Matthew McConaughey - frequently photographed shirtless and exercising on the beach - is People magazine's "bachelor of the year." "I love warm weather and summertime," the 37-year-old actor says in the magazine's "Hottest Bachelors" issue, on newsstands Friday. "What better way to enjoy it than at the beach, where few people wear shirts?"
The magazine also names "sexy and sizzling" bachelors such as Adrian Grenier, Zach Braff, Justin Timberlake, Ryan Reynolds, Ludacris and Apolo Ohno.
David Spade, who starred on the "Just Shoot Me!" television series, also makes the cut.
Matthew McConaughey
Picks Up NASA Video
Baby Monitor
An elementary school science teacher in this Chicago suburb doesn't have to turn on the news for an update on NASA's space mission. She just turns on her video baby monitor.
Since Sunday, one of the two channels on Natalie Meilinger's baby monitor has been picking up black-and-white video from inside the space shuttle Atlantis. The other still lets her keep an eye on her baby.
Summer Infant, the monitor's manufacturer, is investigating what could be causing the transmission, communications director Cindy Barlow said. She said she's never heard of anything similar happening.
Baby Monitor
Pill Bottle At Auction
Elvis Presley
A prescription drug bottle once owned by Elvis Presley is getting a lot of attention in advance of a celebrity memorabilia auction in California.
The bottle, which until recently contained about a dozen assorted pills, is among 15 objects connected to Presley that will be part of Julien's Auctions Entertainment Sale in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Saturday.
"We'd planned to sell the bottle with the pills but the Los Angeles Police Department told us it would be a federal crime to do it, so sad to say we had to remove the pills," auction house president Darren Julien said.
Elvis Presley
Charged With Bank Fraud
Lou Pearlman
Lou Pearlman was forced out of hiding Thursday after being expelled by Indonesian authorities and turned over to the FBI. He was flown to Guam to appear before a judge, officials said.
Pearlman's arrest on one felony count of bank fraud ended several months of hiding for the boy-band mogul, who created the Backstreet Boys and 'N Sync. He also faces several lawsuits and two involuntary bankruptcy proceedings, but hasn't responded to court subpoenas and doesn't have an attorney in either bankruptcy case.
Banks are hounding Pearlman and his companies for more than $120 million, according to bankruptcy court documents. It wasn't entirely clear how he allegedly committed bank fraud in the federal charges, which were filed in a criminal complaint March 2 and sealed until Thursday.
Lou Pearlman
Loses Job After Panning Movie
Jesse Morrison
A projectionist at a Memphis theater chain has lost his job after writing an unauthorized early review of "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer" for the Web site Ain't It Cool News.
Jesse Morrison, the projectionist, claims that the film's distributor, 20th Century Fox, was behind the decision by Malco Theatres Inc. to suspend him for an undetermined period. The studio denied the charge.
While studios and filmmakers have endured early reviews of their movies, both negative and positive, on Web sites since the early days of the Internet, the incident might mark the first time someone working in the entertainment industry has lost a job for voicing an early opinion online.
A 29-year-old film, video and journalism major at the University of Memphis, Morrison worked for $7 an hour at the Ridgeway Four, next door to Malco's home office. He picked up further compensation by readying movie prints for exhibitor and press screenings, which allowed him during the past year to write reviews of such movies as "Disturbia," "Vacancy" and "Spider-Man 3" for Ain't It Cool. He also wrote reviews for Malco's movie blog and a circular distributed at the theater.
Jesse Morrison
NBC Truncates Reality Show
Posh Spice
Former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham's upcoming NBC reality series will instead run as an hour-long special, the network said Wednesday.
"Victoria Beckham: Coming to America" will air at 8 p.m. July 16. As the title suggests, it will focus on Posh Spice's relocation to Los Angeles from London with her husband, soccer star David Beckham.
NBC announced the project as a six-episode series in February. But there was recent speculation in the British media about problems on the show once David Beckham was recalled to play with the English national team late last month. He is set to play with Major League Soccer's Los Angeles Galaxy after his contract with Real Madrid expires June 30.
Posh Spice
Heirs Must Share Royalties
Richard Strauss
A court has ordered descendants of composer Richard Strauss to share royalties with the heirs of librettist Hugo von Hoffmansthal for nine collaborations, including the popular operas "Der Rosenkavalier" and "Elektra."
In a decision made public Thursday, the Munich state court found that letters and agreements between the two men made it clear they intended to share the income.
While restoring royalty payments for the Hoffmansthal side, the judges turned back requests for royalties from record sales and performances that did not include text.
Richard Strauss
Painting Stolen In Australia
Frans van Mieris
A 17th century Dutch painting valued at more than $1 million was stolen from an Australian state gallery during viewing hours over the weekend, and police suspect an inside job, officials said Thursday.
"A Cavalier" by Baroque-era artist Frans van Mieris, disappeared from a small room in the Art Gallery of New South Wales. An oak panel painted in oil, the picture depicts a man believed to be the artist seated on a chair and dressed in a feathered hat and frilled sleeves.
The room had no security cameras, but the 11-by-16 framed painting, insured for $1.17 million, was screwed to the wall. Security measures were being reviewed.
Police said they had questioned gallery staff and one or more employees may have been involved in the theft, believed to have occurred between 10 a.m and 12:30 p.m. on Sunday. They estimated up to 6,000 people visited the gallery that day.
Frans van Mieris
In Deep Decline
Backyard Birds
Some common U.S. birds -- like sparrows, chickadees and meadowlarks -- are in deep decline due to suburban sprawl, big agriculture and pesticides, the National Audubon Society reported on Thursday.
Twenty of the most familiar "backyard birds" in North America have lost more than half their populations in the last four decades, said Greg Butcher, the society's conservation director.
The Northern Bobwhite quail has declined by 82 percent since 1967, according to the Audubon report, which relies on figures from the U.S. Geological Survey's breeding birds survey and the society's 107-year-old Christmas bird count.
Others in steep decline include the Evening Grosbeak, the Northern Pintail, the Greater Scaup, the Boreal Chickadee, the Eastern Meadowlark, the Common Tern, the Loggerhead Shrike and the Field Sparrow.
Backyard Birds
Five-Second Rule?
Dropped Food
A man drops a brownie on the floor. If he picks it up within five seconds, should he still eat it? Two U.S. students claim the answer is yes. In fact, they say he could wait half a minute.
First they dropped Skittles candy and apple slices on the school's dining hall floor for different lengths of time.
Their conclusions may be a relief to those who rescue fallen food: it took more than 30 seconds for bacteria to cultivate on the apple slices, which represented wet food.
As for the Skittles, which stood in for dry food, it took longer than a minute.
Dropped Food
| CURRENT MOON lunar phases |
