'Best of TBH Politoons'
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
A PAIR OF PERFORMANCE GAPS (dailyhowler.com)
Why do voters want a Democratic president-until the candidates' names are mentioned? [Washington Post columnist E.J.] Dionne doesn't say, but we'll offer an obvious answer: This "performance gap" is a reaction to the mainstream press corps' messaging in the past several years-messaging in which demon tales have been dumped on Big Dems, with hero tales fashioned for Reps.
Jim Hightower: CASUALTIES OF BUSH'S CONTRACT ARMY (jimhightower.com)
Here comes another dirty little secret about the Bushites' disastrous Iraq war: Many more American troops have died there than they have admitted. These troops aren't part of the Army or other official military units. They are part of the hidden "contract army" that Bush has quietly sent to war. While there are about 150,000 U.S. military personnel in Iraq, there are more than 120,000 other men and women serving alongside the military, but drawing their paychecks through such Pentagon contractors as Halliburton, Blackwater, DynCorp, and Custer Battles.
Jim Hightower: OUTSOURCING AMERICA (jimhightower.com)
Economist Alan Binder, a former top official at the Federal Reserve, says: "We have, so far, barely seen the tip of the offshoring iceberg, the eventual dimensions of which may be staggering." How staggering? Binder says that up to 42 million American workers - about one-third of us - are looking at a rude awakening.
Joel Stein: The 'Law & Order' candidate (latimes.com)
If Fred Thompson runs, will fans of his TV show be left in the dark?
Mark Morford: Who Loves Designer Vaginas? (sfgate.com)
This just in: Science and nature are mocking America's fickle God. Please, no screaming.
James Renner: A Funkier Winkerbean (freetimes.com)
Life, Death And Time Travel In The Most Real Fictional World On The Funny Pages.
Miracle worker (guardian.co.uk)
Smokey Robinson has been a soul legend for almost half a century - as a chart-topping singer, a prolific songwriter and one of the pillars of the Motown label. What's kept him going? On the eve of his UK tour, he tells Laura Barton about God, drugs and the love of two good women.
On the offensive (guardian.co.uk)
Bernard Manning, who died this week, clung to a shameful, outdated idea of comedy with his racist and sexist routines. At least, that's what his critics said. But bigotry is thriving in stand-up, reports Stephen Armstrong.
Claudia Eller: Will knowing the ending keep 'Harry' fans from theaters? (latimes.com)
The seventh and last book comes out shortly after the fourth movie sequel. Warner says it's not worried.
Anne Ellinger, Christopher Ellinger: Why Don't Affluent Baby Boomers Give More Money Away? (AlterNet.org)
People between 51 and 64 donate less than three-fourths of one percent of their investment assets, on average -- significantly less than those either younger or older than them.
Scott Kahan: Why Americans Keep Getting Fatter (The Baltimore Sun; Posted on AlterNet.org)
The USDA grossly underfunds the healthiest foods while pouring billions into a farm bill that supports many of the foods its dietary recommendations warn against.
Study Debunks Myth That Women Want Sex Less (livescience.com)
Bachelors might have sex on their minds more than their single female counterparts, but once in a committed relationship, men and women have similar attitudes toward the act, a new study finds.
Viewing Suggestion
Instant Dogma
Hi:
Here is a video we made about returning soldiers.
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Lots of sun and a nice breeze.
Benefiting The King Memorial
Dream Concert
Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin and Carlos Santana are among the headliners announced Thursday for a concert to raise money to build a memorial to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. on the National Mall.
Quincy Jones, Russell Simmons and Tommy Hilfiger are organizing the Dream Concert, which will be held Sept. 18 at New York's Radio City Music Hall.
Other scheduled performers include Robin Thicke, Bebe Winans, Cece Winans and Jessye Norman.
"Today" show weatherman Al Roker will appear as a presenter, and Ben Affleck, Shaquille O'Neal and LaDainian Tomlinson have agreed to join the concert's host committee.
Dream Concert
Emergency Appendectomy
Jimmy Kimmel
Jimmy Kimmel, host of ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live," was in good shape after having an emergency appendectomy on Wednesday night in Los Angeles.
"The surgery was a success," Kimmel's publicist, Lewis Kay, said in an e-mail Thursday. "The rest of this week's tapings of `Jimmy Kimmel Live' have been canceled until he is back on his feet. He is resting comfortably and is looking forward to getting back to work."
Jimmy Kimmel
Directing LA Opera
Woody Allen
Woody Allen, directing an opera? In Los Angeles?
It will happen in September 2008, according to Placido Domingo, general director of the Los Angeles Opera.
"I have no idea what I am doing," Allen said in a statement Thursday. "But incompetence has never prevented me from plunging in with enthusiasm."
Allen is scheduled to direct "Gianni Schicchi," part of Puccini's "Il Trittico," a trio of one-act operas.
Woody Allen
Hollywood Walk O'Fame
2008 Inductees
Hollywood's honorary mayor Johnny Grant announced the list of 2008 inductees on Wednesday, noting recipients were chosen from hundreds of nominations received by the Walk of Fame Committee.
Movies: Angela Bassett, Cate Blanchett, Tim Robbins, Stan Lee, the Munchkins (from "The Wizard of Oz") and the Westmores of Hollywood, a longtime show-business makeup family.
Television: Howie Mandel, Susan St. James, Bill Geist, Kate Linder, Howie Mandel, Sherwood Schwartz, Vince McMahon and, posthumously, Brian Keith.
Recording: Brooks & Dunn, Ricky Martin, Christina Aguilera, Red Hot Chili Peppers and, posthumously, George Harrison.
2008 Inductees
Janet Reno Compilation
Song Of America
The Black Crowes, Devendra Banhart, and Martha Wainwright are among the artists contributing to a three-disc compilation that tells stories of American history through song.
The idea was originally proposed by U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno, and has taken shape in the form of Song Of America, which is due out in the U.S. on September 18.
The songs on the compilation tell stories of Native Americans, the arrival of European immigrants, the American Revolution, the Civil War, and two world wars, as well as major events leading up to the present day.
Also contributing to the compilation are John Mellencamp, Blind Boys Of Alabama, and Andrew Bird.
Song Of America
Opens South Beach Eatery
Danny DeVito
Danny DeVito has opened DeVito South Beach, an Italian chop house on trendy Ocean Drive. The signature meal: a $325 trio of steaks from Japan, Australia and the United States that serves three people.
DeVito had a hand in developing the classic-meets-contemporary Italian menu, focused on prime meats and fresh seafood.
"Fish is really big for me - sushi, a nice branzino or spigola (sea bass). Or pasta with some great cheese like pecorino or romano with some prosciutto or salami," he said. "If you haven't noticed, I'm not one to pass up a meal."
Danny DeVito
Birthplace Up For Auction
Bronte Sisters
The Yorkshire house where the Bronte sisters were born is up for auction after the current owner, herself a novelist, decided to retire.
Charlotte, Emily and Anne were born in the front sitting room of the house in the hillside village of Thornton, four miles west of Bradford.
They lived there for five years before moving to nearby Haworth where Charlotte wrote "Jane Eyre", Emily penned "Wuthering Heights" and Anne saw "Agnes Grey" published.
The current owner, detective-story writer Barbara Whitehead, has restored many of the house's original features and opened its doors to visitors.
Bronte Sisters
Embroiled In Copyright Fight
Perez Hilton
Popular Internet gossip columnist Perez Hilton had his Web site shut down for several hours after the company hosting it received a flurry of complaints about copyrighted photos being posted on PerezHilton.com.
After being silenced on Tuesday, the site was back online Wednesday but hosted by a different Internet service provider.
The gossip columnist, whose real name is Mario Lavandeira, is the target of several lawsuits by paparazzi and others who claim he posts their photos and video content on his site without permission.
The Web site routinely posts tabloid photos of celebrities and adds scribbled commentary and rudimentary doodles.
Perez Hilton
Stolen Statue Found
Homer Simpson
Two college students believed to be over-exuberant fans of "The Simpsons" stole a life-sized figurine of Homer Simpson from a cinema, but police tracked them down and forced them to return it Thursday.
The fiberglass replica of Homer holding a TV remote control was part of a promotional display at a local cinema for the upcoming big-screen version of the U.S. TV cartoon series.
The exhibit included the rest of the Simpson family - Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie - sitting on a couch at a multiplex lobby in a popular suburban shopping mall near Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia's largest city.
Homer Simpson
Renewed For Another Year
'American Dad'
"American Dad!" is staying in the Fox animated family for another year. The network has picked up the series for a fourth season with a 22-episode order. Since its 2005 launch, the show has become an integral part of Fox's Sunday animated block alongside stalwarts "The Simpsons" and "Family Guy." "Dad" comes from "Family Guy" creator Seth MacFarlane, Mike Barker and Matt Weitzman.
'American Dad'
Sues Pauly Shore
Wes Craven
Wes Craven sued his neighbor Pauly Shore, alleging that water from the comedian's home seeped down a slope and damaged the director's property.
Craven claimed that a landslide occurred on his property in December after Shore upgraded his home with a pool, spa, landscaping and other improvements, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court.
The director of "A Nightmare on Elm Street" and the "Scream" series claimed the seeping water has destabilized the land and lowered the value of his property. His lawsuit alleges negligence and nuisance.
Wes Craven
Missing: Lake
Patagonia
A lake in southern Chile has mysteriously disappeared, prompting speculation the ground has simply opened up and swallowed it whole.
The lake was situated in the Magallanes region in Patagonia and was fed by water, mostly from melting glaciers.
It had a surface area of between 4 and 5 hectares (10-12 acres) -- about the size of 10 soccer pitches.
"In March we patrolled the area and everything was normal ... we went again in May and to our surprise we found the lake had completely disappeared," said Juan Jose Romero, regional director of Chile's National Forestry Corporation CONAF.
Patagonia
Alaskan Pleads Guilty
Oosiks
An Alaska man has pleaded guilty to selling more than 100 fur seal "oosiks" -- or penises -- to a local gift shop that intended to sell the items as an aphrodisiac.
Michael Richard Zacharof, an Aleut and former tribal president from the Bering Sea village of St. Paul, pleaded guilty this week to one count of violating the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
Federal law forbids the sale of any raw marine mammal parts unless they have been crafted into pieces of Alaska Native artwork.
In Zacharof's case, the former tribal leader sold the raw seal penises to a gift shop catering to customers from Asia. The shop then sold the items for about $100 each, according to the Justice Department.
Oosiks
Nielsen Cable Rankings
Ratings
Rankings for the top 15 programs on cable networks as compiled by Nielsen Media Research for the week of June 11-17. Day and start time (EDT) are in parentheses.
1. "WWE Raw" (Monday, 10 p.m.), USA, 4.08 million homes, 6.32 million viewers.
2. "WWE Raw" (Monday, 9 p.m.), USA, 3.74 million homes, 5.68 million viewers.
3. Auto Racing: Nextel Cup/Michigan (Sunday, 2 p.m.), TNT, 3.65 million homes, 5.22 million viewers.
4. Movie: "SpongeBob: The Movie" (Saturday, 9 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 3.39 million homes, 4.38 million viewers.
5. "Army Wives" (Sunday, 10 p.m.), Lifetime, 2.92 million homes, 3.84 million viewers.
6. "WWE Raw" (Monday, 8 p.m.), USA, 2.84 million homes, 4.3 million viewers.
7. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Monday, 4 p.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.81 million homes, 3.83 million viewers.
8. Movie: "SpongeBob: The Movie" (Friday, 8 p.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.76 million homes, 4.04 million viewers.
9. "The Starter Wife" (Thursday, 9 p.m.), USA, 2.76 million homes, 3.55 million viewers.
10. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Friday, 9:30 p.m.), 2.73 million homes, 3.88 million viewers.
11. Baseball: Mets vs. Yankees (Sunday, 8 p.m.), ESPN, 2.72 million homes, 3.56 million viewers.
12. "Law & Order" (Monday, 9 p.m.), TNT, 2.67 million homes, 3.4 million viewers.
13. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Sunday, 9:30 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.58 million homes, 3.27 million viewers.
14. "Drake & Josh" (Wednesday, 4 p.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.51 million homes, 3.2 million viewers.
15. "Law & Order" (Monday, 10 p.m.), TNT, 2.5 million homes, 3.2 million viewers.
Ratings
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