'Best of TBH Politoons'
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Victor Davis Hanson: "The new learning that failed: On the value of classical learning" (newcriterion.com)
Ten years ago John Heath and I wrote a lament for the decline of classical learning in the university-Who Killed Homer? The Demise of Classical Education and the Recovery of Greek Wisdom. We sounded three simple themes. First, that the study of Western civilization and the appreciation of its literature, art, values, and ideas hinge on acknowledging the singular contributions of the classical Greeks and Romans.
Andrew Tobias: You Only Thought You Were Republican (Harvard MBA '72)
"When CEOs make 500 times what their employees make, there is an upper class."
JIM KUHNHENN: AFSCME, MoveOn Ad Targets McCain On Iraq War (AP; Posted on huffingtonpost.com)
WASHINGTON - A major labor union and the liberal organization MoveOn.org are joining forces to air a provocative new ad portraying John McCain's Iraq policy as a prolonged presence that would involve a new generation of Americans.
Joan Blades: "John McCain: About My Alex" (huffingtonpost.com)
As I watch the mom in the MoveOn "Alex Ad" tell McCain he can't have her baby son, I'm reminded of how naive I was eight years ago. I had no idea I was working to keep my son out of war at the time.
Linda Stone: Phone in the Toilet? (huffingtonpost.com)
Last week, a high school sophomore told me that she brings her phone into the shower with her -- in a Ziploc bag. She didn't want to miss an incoming text message.
Age shall not wither her (lifeandhealth.guardian.co.uk)
Some of the most exciting artists of our time are women over 60. Emine Saner asks Paula Rego, Gillian Ayres and others how age has affected their work, while guest editor Natalie d'Arbeloff explains what prompted her to commission this piece.
Chauncey Mabe: Author Alan Furst explores Europe's dark days, intrigue and spies (South Florida Sun-Sentinel)
Rare is the novelist who gets to invent a new subgenre, and rarer still the one who coins a name for it.
Howard Cohen: Too many facts dull tale of musical icon Willie Nelson (McClatchy Newspapers)
Willie Nelson's first name really is Willie. Not William. Just Willie. That's about the simplest fact about this complex American musical icon, which means it's a Herculean task to put the singer/songwriter into context. Noted Texan author Joe Nick Patoski tries in his new biography, and though he secures interviews with Nelson and family and doesn't miss a fact, he comes up short in creating an intimate portrait.
JENNIFER KELLY: "Clearer Vision: An interview With David Berman of the Silver Jews" (popmatters.com)
In between his fifth and sixth albums as Silver Jews, David Berman underwent eye surgery that both physically and metaphorically extended his range of vision. He explains, "The changeover to sight, for me, is accompanied by a larger agenda -- being able to take on more, being able to see farther, but also having more confidence about any number of things because I can see."
Melanie M. Bianchi: Lily Allen gets the last laugh (mountainx.com)
Like other British women before her, pop star uses words as a weapon.
Will Harris: A Chat with Dennis Leary (bullz-eye.com)
(On those who claim he plagiarized Bill Hicks) "They are never going to get over it. They are probably going to look at my book when it comes out and claim that there is Bill Hicks material in there, which is fine. I just continue to work, and I wish the guy was around, because I think he was a brilliant comedian."
A: George Burns
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Way too hot, and it's only going to get better - lots of humidity on the way to complete the picture. Ack.
Hollywood Rallies
Obama
Many Hollywood heavyweights who had supported Hillary Clinton are rallying behind Barack Obama, pledging money and star power to his U.S. presidential bid before a big fundraiser next week.
Experts say that since Clinton conceded defeat this month after a grueling Democratic nominating contest, celebrities have quickly united behind Obama.
The result, they said, could be a campaign cash windfall for the senator from Illinois, but star support doesn't necessarily translate directly to votes.
Presumptive Republican candidate Sen. John McCain also has his celebrity endorsers, including actors Robert Duvall, Jon Voight and Sylvester Stallone.
Obama
Voted Items Are Secret - WTF?
FCC
When the Federal Communications Commission votes on something at a public meeting, the document they are voting on isn't necessarily for public consumption, the agency said Wednesday.
The document was an order establishing rules that would govern the conduct of a planned auction of television airwaves that would later raise nearly $20 billion.
AP filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act seeking a copy of the document "as approved by the commission ... prior to editorial revisions." The agency rejected the request and AP appealed.
FCC
Hancock, Schneider Take Top Honors
Jazz Awards
Pianist Herbie Hancock was honored as musician of the year at the Jazz Awards, just months after he took home the best album Grammy for "River: The Joni Letters," but the big winner was Maria Schneider, who won four trophies.
Schneider's big band CD "Sky Blue," which includes the Grammy-winning instrumental composition "Cerulean Skies," was chosen album of the year, besting other CDs like Hancock's Joni Mitchell tribute in voting among the more than 400 members of the Jazz Journalists Association.
Drummer Roy Haynes had a double win. His boxed set "A Life In Time: The Roy Haynes Story," which traces his storied career spanning almost 60 years, was chosen reissue/historical boxed set of the year.
The only other double-winner was Ornette Coleman for alto saxophone and small ensemble.
For the rest - Jazz Awards
Cheeta Gets Screwed, Again
Hollywood Walk of Fame
Hollywood will enshrine an eclectic bunch in its famous curbside Walk of Fame next year, including Hugh Jackman, Ben Kingsley, The Village People and fictional Tinkerbell.
Recipients of the sidewalk stars also include Felicity Huffman, William H. Macy, Cameron Diaz, Robert Downey Jr., Tim Burton, Leslie Caron, Charles Durning, Ralph Fiennes, William Petersen, Kyra Sedgwick, John Stamos, Mark Burnett, Chuck Lorre, Kenny "Baby Face" Edmonds, Dave Koz, The Miracles, Doug Morris, Rush, Shakira, KFI radio personality Bill Handel and KCRW host Harry Shearer, who also provides voices for characters on "The Simpsons."
Cheeta isn't on the list. The animal actor, whose credits include the 1967 comedy "Doctor Dolittle" and the "Tarzan" movies, was trying for the seventh time to get a sidewalk star.
Guinness World Records has called the 76-year-old chimp the oldest living, non-human primate. Cheeta is retired and lives in Palm Springs.
Hollywood Walk of Fame
Beijing's Olympic Mascots
'Curse of the Fuwa'
Floods sweeping southern China seem to have fulfilled the final stanza of an Internet curse involving Beijing's Olympic mascots, but censors have been quick to remove postings that might fuel the superstition.
After a devastating earthquake struck Sichuan province last month, Internet users tied four of the five "Fuwa" mascots to the calamities that have struck China in the run-up to the Games, which begin in August. One Fuwa is a panda, the totem of Sichuan.
The others resemble a torch, reminding netizens of the protests against the international Olympic torch rally; a Tibetan antelope tied to widespread demonstrations in Tibetan areas; and a swallow that looks like a kite, linked to a deadly train crash in Shandong province.
The final Fuwa, sporting a fish, was left unexplained in the original superstition as a curse yet to come.
Unexplained, that is, until widespread flooding in southern and central China claimed dozens of lives in June.
'Curse of the Fuwa'
Bike Sale Exceeds Estimates
John Lennon
A Honda bike owned by John Lennon and Ringo Starr has been sold for five times its estimate.
The 1970 Honda 160Z monkey bike was sold for £36,000 as part of Bonhams Entertainment Memorabilia sale in London.
Lennon bought the bike as a fun way of getting around his home at Tittenhurst Park. The bike was among many items inherited by the subsequent owner, Starr.
John Lennon
Rescinds Apology
Joan Rivers
Comedienne Joan Rivers has revoked her apology for swearing on live television on Tuesday.
The outspoken star sparked outrage after she called actor Russell Crowe a "f**king s**t" while speaking to co-hosts of daytime talk show Loose Women.
She says, "Lemme get this straight. Bin Laden's top man has been released. The price of petrol is through the roof. There's inflation, depression. And people are hysterical because I said f**k?
"I was having a great time and everybody was laughing. Then these people - these idiots - came running onto the set and ripped me off my seat and dragged me off.
Joan Rivers
Johnny's Parents Former Home On eBay
Ray and Carrie Cash
The former Tennessee home of Johnny Cash's parents is on sale for $1.4 million - and that includes a gold record from "The Man in Black."
Johnny Cash's brother Tommy says Ray and Carrie Cash relocated there from California in 1969 and lived in the home until they died.
According to the listing on eBay, the buyer will get several Cash collectibles, including a gold record of "I Walk the Line," guitars and a locket with pictures of Johnny and June.
Ray and Carrie Cash
Sues Over 'Godfather' Profits
Anthony Puzo
The son of "The Godfather" creator Mario Puzo sued Paramount Pictures on Wednesday, claiming the studio failed to pay royalties from a 2006 video game based on the book and movie characters.
Anthony Puzo of New York claims in a court filing that he represents his father's estate and is seeking more than $1 million in damages for breach of contract.
The suit seeks damages for a game created by Electronic Arts, which was not named in the lawsuit that prominently features elements of the film.
Anthony Puzo
Hotel Sues Over Unpaid Bills
Phil Specter
A Los Angeles hotel is suing Phil Specter, his wife and agent for failing to pay more than $100,000 in accommodations for lawyers and expert witnesses in his murder trial.
In court papers filed Wednesday, the Westin Bonaventure Hotel and Suites allege the defendants agreed in a written contract to reserve rooms for the duration of the trial. The lawsuit claims that by the time Specter's trial ended with a hung jury in September, the defendants owed the hotel more than $104,000.
The lawsuit alleges fraud, breach of written contract and other charges.
Phil Specter
Sues Label Over Royalties
Poison
Members of the rock band Poison claim their recording label has consistently underpaid royalties to the group throughout their career, according to a lawsuit.
The suit, filed Wednesday against Capitol Records and EMI Music Marketing, says the companies breached contracts with the band by improperly categorizing certain record sales and miscalculating everything from producer royalties to foreign taxes.
According to the band's lawsuit, they signed a contract with Enigma Records in 1986, which later transferred control to Capitol Records.
The band stated in its lawsuit that it cannot determine how much money it is owed and asked a judge to order Capitol Records to allow a full accounting review of the band's records.
Poison
Purported Tracks Hit The Web
Guns N' Roses
Nine purported "mastered, finished" tracks from Guns N' Roses' 14-years-in-the-making album "Chinese Democracy" have been leaked online by the Web site Antiquiet.com, prompting a quick cease-and-desist from the band's handlers and the removal of the links.
Six of the songs have already leaked in one unfinished form or another: "Better," "The Blues," the title track, "Madagascar," "IRS" and "There Was a Time." But these versions appear to be much further along on the path toward completion, and feature new touches like organ and tambourine on "IRS" and a beefed-up chorus with multi-tracked vocals on "Madagascar."
"Chinese Democracy," the follow-up to the 1991 "Use Your Illusion" albums, will likely go down as the album with the most troubled birth in rock history. Work began way back in 1994, and since then, Rose has burned through a reported $13 million in production costs as well as every original member of the group.
Guns N' Roses
Hawaiian Kingdom Government
Mahealani Kahau
Surrounded by royal guards and the occasional tourist, Her Majesty Mahealani Kahau and her government ministers hold court every day under a tent outside the palace of Hawaii's last monarch, passing laws and discussing how to secure reparations for the Native Hawaiian people.
Kahau and her followers are members of the self-proclaimed Hawaiian Kingdom Government, which is devoted to restoring the Hawaiian monarchy overthrown in 1893. Nearly two months ago, they stormed the gates of the old Iolani Palace, and they have politely occupied the grounds ever since, operating like a government-in-exile.
The Hawaiian Kingdom Government, which was founded seven years ago and claims 1,000 followers, uses its own license plates and maintains its own judicial system. In recent years, members have voted to dissolve the state of Hawaii, its land titles, welfare programs and public schools. They also claim the right to confiscate all bank assets in Hawaii.
Hawaii has about 200,000 Native Hawaiians out of a population of 1.3 million. The Hawaiian Kingdom Government is just one of several native organizations that claim sovereignty over the islands, tapping into a strong sense among Native Hawaiians that they were wronged by history.
Mahealani Kahau
South Carolina License Plates
'I Believe'
A group that advocates separation of church and state filed a federal lawsuit Thursday to prevent South Carolina from becoming the first state to create "I Believe" license plates.
The group contends that South Carolina's government is endorsing Christianity by allowing the plates, which would include a cross superimposed on a stained glass window.
Washington-based Americans United for Separation of Church and State filed the lawsuit on behalf of two Christian pastors, a humanist pastor and a rabbi in South Carolina, along with the Hindu American Foundation.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for South Carolina, asks a judge to stop the state from making the plates and rule that the law allowing them violates the First Amendment.
'I Believe'
Monument To The Enema
Russian Spa
A monument to the enema, a procedure many people would rather not think about, has been unveiled at a spa in the southern Russian city of Zheleznovodsk. The bronze syringe bulb, which weighs 800 pounds and is held by three angels, was unveiled at the Mashuk-Akva Term spa, the spa's director said Thursday.
"There is no kitsch or obscenity, it is a successful work of art," Alexander Kharchenko told The Associated Press. "An enema is almost a symbol of our region."
The Caucasus Mountains region is known for dozens of spas where enemas with water from mineral springs are routinely administered to treat digestive and other complaints.
Kharchenko, 50, said the monument cost $42,000 and was installed in a square in front of his spa on Wednesday. A banner declaring: "Let's beat constipation and sloppiness with enemas" - an allusion to a line from "The Twelve Chairs," a famous Soviet film comedy - was posted on one of the spa's walls.
Russian Spa
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