Ted Rall: "Barack McNamara Obama: Why Can't Obama See His Wars Are Unwinnable?"
Robert McNamara, one of the "best and the brightest" technocrats behind the escalation of the Vietnam War, eventually came to regret his actions. But his public contrition, which included a book and a series of interviews for the documentary "The Fog of War," were greeted with derision.
Tom Danehy: The days of criticizing the City Council on a partisan basis may soon come to an end (tucsonweekly.com)
A man for whom I have great respect sorta sideways called me a Republican the other day. I get this every now and then, as the Democratic Party to which I have belonged for decades continues to drift-not just to the left, but also sometimes in a yz direction on the coordinates, toward a place where the air is thin, and it's easy to become disoriented.
Christopher S. Putnam: The Total Perspective Vortex (damninteresting.com)
Most people think of the "mentally disordered" as a delusional lot, holding bizarre and irrational ideas about themselves and the world around them. Isn't a mental disorder, after all, an impairment or a distortion in thought or perception? This is what we tend to think, and for most of modern psychology's history, the experts have agreed; realistic perceptions have been considered essential to good mental health. More recently, however, research has arisen that challenges this common-sense notion.
Columbo is an American crime fiction TV series, starring Peter Falk as Lieutenant Columbo, a homicide detective with the Los Angeles Police Department. The show popularized the inverted detective story format; almost every episode began by showing the commission of the crime and its perpetrator. Thus, there is no "whodunit" element. The plot mainly revolves around how the perpetrator, whose guilt is known, would finally be exposed and arrested.
Lt. Columbo's battered car is a 1959 Peugeot 403 Cabriolet convertible, which Falk selected personally, after seeing it in a parking lot at Universal Studios When Columbo boasts that it's a rare automobile, he isn't kidding: from June 1956 to July 1961 only 2,050 were produced, and only 504 were produced for model year 1959 In the episode "Identity Crisis", Columbo tells the murderer that his is one of only three in the country.
Columbo damages the car at least four times: in Make Me a Perfect Murder when he t-bones one police car and is hit from behind by another while trying to repair his rear view mirror; in A Matter of Honor when he rear-ends another car; in Caution: Murder Can Be Hazardous to Your Health when it takes him three tries to crash into the killer's car; and in Old Fashioned Murder when he crashes into the back of a police car as he arrives at the murder scene. He also has many other problems with the car
Source
BGRDDAD was first, and correct, with:
Columbo
Alan J answered:
Columbo
Charlie responded:
That was Lieutenant Columbo. The car has since had an application of primer, it appears.
Jim from CA replied:
Columbo
Maria in Chicago replied:
Maria in Chicago
Sally said
So many "Dark Shadows" fans have come out of their world to respond to yesterday's trivia question - how neat!
As for today, I believe it was Columbo who drove a 1959 Peugeot 403 Cabriolet convertible.
PS: We had the strangest storm here on Tuesday night. It lasted for only about 20-minutes, but was as destructive as a mini-tornado with HIGH wind, hail, and was led in by a low wind-shear that actually cut down huge trees! We had one last year, a few miles from here, but such storms have not been seen in this neck of the woods before. Is someone tampering with our weather perhaps? I would not be surprised...
Wednesday morning, however, it was bright and sunny, so the gks and I were off to camp - which was quite pleasant as it was almost cool (temps) to be in the woods, in July! I am SURE I shall have recovered by the WE...
Tom B responded:
Detective Lt. Columbo of LAPD.
MAM noted:
LAPD homicide detective Lt. Columbo (Peter Falk) drove a 1959 Peugeot 403 Cabriolet convertible. One of my most favorite programs! Sad that Peter Falk suffers from Alzheimer's.
Peter Falk as Lt. Columbo
1959 Peugeot 403 Cabriolet convertible
Marian the Teacher responded:
Columbo
Larry up north replied:
I only answer these if I can do it without 'internet' help. Wasn't it Peter Falk playing Columbo?
Jon from Prescott Valley responded:
Well Marty, that would of course be Columbo, and Leigh, also from Arizona (from yesterday), have your people call my people--let's do lunch. I think we may be the only two people in conservative AZ reading B.E.
And, Joe S ("I came to Hollywood and nobody knew me. I was on a coupla TV shows."
~ Peter Falk) wrote:
My favorite TV detective, Colombo. I'll watch reruns 'til it drives my wife crazy. Haven't found any reruns lately.
CBS begins the night with a RERUN'Ghost Whisperer', followed by a RERUN'Flashpoint', then a RERUN'Numb3rs'.
Scheduled on a FRESHDave are Rainn Wilson, Larry Miller, and Maxwell.
Scheduled on a FRESHCraig are Ray Romano and Michael Buble.
NBC starts the night with a FRESH'Chopping Block', followed by 'Dateline'.
Scheduled on a FRESHConan are Bob Newhart, Cat Deeley, and Ray LaMontagne.
On a RERUNJimmy Fallon (from 6/9/09) are Will Ferrell, Kyra Sedgwick, and Mos Def.
On a RERUNCarson 'The Scab' Daly (from 3/17/09) are Tom Green and Mishka.
ABC opens the night with a FRESH'Surviving Suburbia', followed by a RERUN'The Goode Family'< then a RERUN'Jim', followed by another RERUN'Jim', then another unwatchable '20/20'.
On a RERUNJimmy Kimmel are Magic Johnson, Jack Black, and Michael Cera.
The CW offers a RERUN'Privileged', followed by a RERUN'Everybody Hates Chris', then a (R) 'The Game'.
Faux has a FRESH'Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?', followed by a FRESH'Mental'.
MY fills the night with a FRESH'WWE Friday Night Steroid SmackDown!'.
PLEASE check local PBS listings for a FRESH'Bill Moyers Journal', and a FRESH'NOW With Bill Moyers David Brancaccio'.
AMC offers the movie 'Blazing Saddles', followed by the movie 'Ghostbusters', then the movie 'Ghostbusters II'.
BBC -
[12:00 PM] You Are What You Eat - Episode 8
[12:30 PM] You Are What You Eat - Episode 9
[1:00 PM] How Clean Is Your House? US - Episode 12
[1:30 PM] How Clean Is Your House? - Episode 14
[2:00 PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares - Ep 9 The Olde Stone Mill
[3:00 PM] Gordon Ramsay's F Word - Episode 8
[4:00 PM] The Hotel Inspector - Episode 2
[5:00 PM] Gordon Ramsay's F Word - Episode 9
[6:00 PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares Revisited - Ep 2 Momma Cherri's
[7:00 PM] BBC World News America
[8:00 PM] Friday Night with Jonathan Ross - Ep 2 Eddie Izzard, Glenn Close, William Shatner, Lily Allen
[9:00 PM] Don't Tell the Bride - Episode 1
[10:00 PM] BBC World News America
[11:00 PM] Friday Night with Jonathan Ross - Ep 2 Eddie Izzard, Glenn Close, William Shatner, Lily Allen
[12:00 AM] Don't Tell the Bride - Episode 1
[1:00 AM] Friday Night with Jonathan Ross - Ep 2 Eddie Izzard, Glenn Close, William Shatner, Lily Allen
[2:00 AM] Don't Tell the Bride - Episode 1
[3:00 AM] Skins - Ep 9 Finale
[4:00 AM] How Clean Is Your House? US - Episode 12
[4:30 AM] How Clean Is Your House? - Episode 14
[5:00 AM] How Clean Is Your House? US - Episode 13
[5:30 AM] How Clean Is Your House? - Episode 15
[6:00 AM] Cash in the Attic - Ep. 4 Norden (ALL TIMES EDT)
Bravo has the movie 'Outbreak', followed by the movie 'Crimson Tide', then the movie 'Crimson Tide', again.
Comedy Central has 'RENO 911!', another 'RENO 911!', still another 'RENO 911!', yet another 'RENO 911!', still another 'RENO 911!', yes, one more 'RENO 911!', and 'Brian Regan: Standing Up'.
FX has the movie 'Big Daddy', followed by the movie 'Night At The Museum', and 'Rescue Me'.
History has 'Modern Marvels', 'Rumrunners, Moonshiners And Bootleggers', and 'Investigating History'.
IFC -
[6:00 AM] Umberto D
[7:35 AM] IFC Short Film Showcase
[8:35 AM] Shattered Glass
[10:15 AM] Miller's Crossing
[12:15 PM] Umberto D
[1:45 PM] Shattered Glass
[3:25 PM Tyger
[3:30 PM] Miller's Crossing
[5:30 PM] Hurricane Streets
[7:00 PM] The Break
[8:45 PM] Moulin Rouge
[11:00 PM] Ideal
[11:30 PM] The Whitest Kids U'Know
[12:00 AM] Pumpkinhead
[1:30 AM] This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse
[3:20 AM] Food Party
[3:35 AM] The Break
[5:15 AM] Moulin Rouge (ALL TIMES EDT)
SciFi has the movie 'The Mummy', followed by a FRESH'Eureka', and 'Primeval'.
Sundance -
[05:30 AM] Shotgun Stories
[07:00 AM] Avenue Montaigne
[08:45 AM] The Puffy Chair
[10:10 AM] The Angelmakers
[10:45 AM] Noise (2007)
[12:35 PM] Starting Out in the Evening
[02:35 PM] Avenue Montaigne
[04:30 PM] The Puffy Chair
[06:00 PM] The Tiger and the Snow
[08:00 PM] Shameless Season 2: Episode 5
[09:00 PM] Drop Back Ten
[10:20 PM] The Angelmakers
[11:00 PM] Live From Abbey Road - Season 1: Jamiroquai, Damien Rice & The Goo-Goo Dolls
[12:00 AM] Slingshot Hip Hop
[01:30 AM] Milwaukee, Minnesota
[03:10 AM] Water Lilies
[04:35 AM] Drop Back Ten (ALL TIMES EDT)
Actor George Clooney poses with firefighters as he tours earthquake damage on the sidelines of a G8 summit, in St. Eusanio, near L'Aquila, Italy, Thursday, July 9, 2009.
Photo by Luca Bruno
The share of Americans who see science as the nation's greatest achievement is down sharply, even as the public continues to hold scientists in high regard. A new Pew Research Center poll indicates that 27 percent of Americans say the nation's greatest achievements are in science, medicine and technology, more than any category other than don't know.
But that's down from 47 percent in a similar study a decade ago, the center reported Thursday.
The era of "Big Science," like the moon landings, has receded into history, while one-time wonders such as organ transplants seem increasingly routine and the battle against cancer drags on.
Most Americans - 64 percent - see this country's science as "above average," but with advances by other countries getting increasing attention, just 17 percent say it's the best in the world. Indeed, the European Union currently published more scientific papers than the United States.
The University of Utah says the HBO series "Big Love" can't use the school's name or logo without its permission.
University officials say they learned an episode of the show displayed a document with the school name and logo. They say the document made it seem like the university is affiliated with the program about a fictitious polygamous family that lives in a Salt Lake City suburb.
University President Michael K. Young says Collegiate Images, the university's agent, has sent a cease-and- desist letter to HBO, demanding the logo be removed from the episode and not be used in the future.
HBO said it was confident that nothing in the program violates anyone's rights and that it "will be responding in due course."
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi shut the door Thursday to a resolution honoring Michael Jackson because debate on the symbolic measure could raise "contrary views" about the pop star's life.
Lawmakers are free to use House speeches "to express their sympathy or their praise any time that they wish," said Pelosi, D-Calif. "I don't think it's necessary for us to have a resolution."
A resolution sponsored by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, cites some of the singer's charitable acts and proclaims him an American legend, musical icon and world humanitarian.
Unbowed, Jackson Lee said she will seek support from colleagues who thanked her when she introduced the measure June 26, one day after Michael Jackson died. She said honorary resolutions don't often "pass the next day."
Plan to spend your staycation watching vlogs and webisodes? Or perhaps you plan to signal a flash mob for a quick bite of shawarma.
If you're not entirely certain what all that means, turn to the latest edition of the Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, which has added about 100 new words that largely reflect changing trends in American society.
John Morse, president and publisher of the Springfield-based dictionary publisher, said many of this year's new words are tied to changes in technology, increasing environmental awareness and aging baby boomers' concerns about their health and have become part of the general lexicon.
Some words that just now made the cut have been around for generations. The term "sock puppet" - a false online identity used for deceptive purposes - was tracked to 1959 but has taken on new popular use with people using fake IDs on social networking sites.
US saxophonist David Sanborn performs on the Stravinski Hall stage at the 43rd Montreux Jazz Festival in Montreux, Switzerland, late Thursday, July 9, 2009.
Photo by Martial Trezzini
From superstars to tribal dancers, thousands of African artists are celebrating their troubled continent's culture and potential in an epic festival - and looking back at what they've accomplished and squandered in four decades of freedom from colonial rule.
It's been 40 years since the first Panafrican Festival in Algiers. Since then, there has been so much bloodshed, instability and financial turmoil across the continent that nobody was in a position to organize a second one, until now.
The opening parade this week made for a staggering one-and-a-half-hour show, with several hundred performers from Congo's Pygmy hunters to Kenya's Masai and Mali's Peuhl tribesmen mixing their dances and songs with Arab fighters galloping through the stage on horseback, fire-eaters and trapeze artists.
Some 8,000 dancers, singers and other artists are gathering with academics for symposiums, plays and writing seminars at the second Panafrican Festival, which lasts until July 20 at hundreds of venues throughout Algeria.
A British horse racing track said Thursday it asked the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra to give a recital at its finishing post, hoping to wow spectators and spur the animals to quicken their pace.
Kempton Park race course, just south of London, staged the unique event on Wednesday, as the orchestra played the "William Tell" Overture, the "Lone Ranger" theme song, during a horse race.
Organizers said it was the first race staged with a live soundtrack.
Hopes that the music would encourage a speedier race were dashed - winning horse Action Impact covered that one mile, three furlong course (2.2km) in two minutes and 20.34 seconds, more than two seconds off the record pace.
Police said on Thursday they would not reopen investigations into the interception of celebrities' mobile phone voicemails by journalists, despite new allegations against a Rupert Murdoch newspaper. Skip related content
According to a report in The Guardian, reporters at Murdoch's best selling News of the World worked with private investigators to access "two or three thousand" private mobile phones belonging to celebrities, MPs and public figures.
The story generated a political storm and Prime Minister Gordon Brown said there were "serious questions to be answered." But police said they would not reopen a 2005 investigation that led to the jailing of two men, News of the World reporter Clive Goodman and a private investigator, for hacking into the phones of staff working for the royal family.
Labour Party politicians called for an inquiry into the police's actions, Murdoch's newspapers and the Conservative Party, which hired former News of the World editor Andy Coulson as its communications chief in May 2007.
U.S. actor John Malkovich smiles as he attends a public discussion at the 44th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in Karlovy Vary July 9, 2009.
Photo by David W Cerny
Paris Hilton hated her 2006 movie "Pledge This!" and refused for months to make promotional appearances for it despite a contract requiring her to do so, lawyers for the film's investors said as trial opened Thursday in an $8 million lawsuit against her.
With Hilton nodding vigorously from her defense table seat, her attorney Michael Weinsten insisted she did numerous appearances for the movie but was unavailable to meet many requests by the film's producers because of her extremely busy schedule. Hilton also had the right to refuse some promotion events that might harm her "brand" and never agreed to plug the DVD release of the movie from December 2006 through May 2007, he said.
Hilton, a 28-year-old heiress, actress and model, is expected to testify Friday. She traveled to Miami for the trial from Dubai, where she has been filming episodes of her "My New BFF" reality show. Wearing a sleeveless black-and-white dress with a large bow on the back, Hilton sat quietly at the defense table during opening statements, occasionally taking notes or fiddling with her twin ponytails.
The lawsuit seeks $8.3 million in damages, essentially to recoup the money spent to make and distribute the film. It was filed by attorney Michael Goldberg, a court-appointed receiver for a now-defunct Miami company that was the movie's key investor. That company was shut down as a $300 million Ponzi scheme by the Securities and Exchange Commission, with its operator now living in Brazil.
Sen. John Ensign (R - Philanderer) said Thursday his parents gave his mistress and her family nearly $100,000 "out of concern for the well being of longtime family friends during a difficult time," providing his first public acknowledgment that the woman received payments tied to the affair.
In a statement through his attorney, Ensign described the April 2008 payment as a single check for $96,000 given to Cindy and Doug Hampton and two of their children. The Hampton family received the check after the senator told his parents of his affair with Cindy Hampton, a campaign aide and longtime friend.
The statement comes a day after Doug Hampton told a Las Vegas television show that Ensign paid Cindy Hampton more than $25,000 in severance when she left her job as treasurer for two Ensign-controlled campaign committees.
Ensign, a 51-year-old conservative Christian lawmaker, confessed to the affair last month, after Doug Hampton sought money from the senator through an attorney and began to take his story to the media.
French tourists are the worst in the world, coming across as bad at foreign languages, tight-fisted and arrogant, according to a survey of 4,500 hotel owners across the world.
They finish in last place in the survey carried out for internet travel agency Expedia by polling company TNS Infratest, which said French holidaymakers don't speak local languages and are seen as impolite.
The Japanese ranked top of the Best Tourist survey, with the British and the Germans judged the best of the Europeans.
But French tourists received some consolation for their poor performance, finishing third after the Italians and British for dress sense while on holiday.
Some hand-painted Mickey Mouse figurines are displayed during the opening of a Mickey Mouse art exhibition in Hong Kong Thursday, July 9, 2009. The exhibition, held by Hong Kong Times Square shopping mall, is an international line-up of 50 artists from all over the world.
Photo by Vincent Yu
Death won't still the voice of Billy Mays or his mighty powers of persuasion. Viewers will continue to find the boisterous, bearded TV pitchman hawking household products for the indefinite future.
And at least one of his commercials is being introduced posthumously.
"Just stretch, wrap and it fuses fast," says Mays, demonstrating a product called Mighty Tape on a kitchen drain pipe in the new commercial. Moments later, he's seen, still wearing his signature sport shirt and khaki slacks but accessorized with scuba gear, as he repairs a hole in another diver's air hose underwater using Mighty Tape.
The commercial will begin airing July 20. Mays' advertising for other products in the Mighty brand line returned to the air earlier this week. The commercials were pulled after Mays' death June 28 of an apparent heart attack.
Fancy 80,000 dollars a year on a stress-free job with flexible working hours and no need to wear a suit?
Well, grab your black pointy hat, take out that rusty black hessian drape from the back of the wardrobe and refresh your memory on how to turn your grumpy neighbor into a mouse. Somerset tourist attraction Wookey Hole caves is advertising for a "witch" and has already received 100 applicants since the beginning of the week.
The successful candidate, who will be living in a "spacious" cave, has to cackle, not be allergic to cats and will be asked to perform "a range of tasks" including magic at an open audition scheduled for July 28.
In keeping with modern times, the role is open to men, women and trans-gender witches to comply with sexual discrimination laws.
Rankings for the top 15 programs on cable networks as compiled by Nielsen Media Research for the week of June 29-July 5. Day and start time (EDT) are in parentheses:
1. "Hannah Montana" (Sunday, 8 p.m.), Disney, 4.89 million homes, 6.9 million viewers.
2. "The Closer" (Monday, 9 p.m.), TNT, 4.61 million homes, 6.29 million viewers.
3. "WWE Raw" (Monday, 10 p.m.), USA, 3.98 million homes, 6.24 million viewers.
4. "NASCAR Post Race Show" (Saturday, 11:15 p.m.), TNT, 3.76 million homes, 5.47 million viewers.
5. "Sonny With a Chance" (Sunday, 9 p.m.), Disney, 3.74 million homes, 5.16 million viewers.
6. "WWE Raw" (Monday, 9 p.m.), USA, 3.63 million homes, 5.68 million viewers.
7. Auto Racing: "Sprint Cup/Daytona" (Saturday, 8:05 p.m.), TNT, 3.56 million homes, 5.27 million viewers.
8. "NCIS" (Monday, 8 p.m.), USA, 3.28 million homes, 4.4 million viewers.
9. "Hannah Montana" (Sunday, 7:30 p.m.), Disney, 3.05 million homes, 4.09 million viewers.
10. (tie) "Jonas" (Sunday, 9:30 p.m.), Disney, 3.014 million homes, 4.03 million viewers.
10. (tie) "Army Wives" (Sunday, 10 p.m.), Lifetime, 3.014 million homes, 3.62 million viewers.
12. "NCIS" (Monday, 7 p.m.), USA, 2.67 million homes, 3.24 million viewers.
13. "Wizards of Waverly Place" (Sunday, 10 p.m.), Disney, 2.655 million homes, 3.58 million viewers.
13. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Tuesday, 5 p.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.655 million homes, 3.51 million viewers.
15. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Monday, 1 p.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.63 million homes, 3.63 million viewers.
An eight-day-old White Rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum) calf stands next to her mother Shoba at their enclosure at the Singapore Zoo July 9, 2009. This female White Rhinoceros calf is the seventh to be born in captivity at the Singapore Zoo.
Photo by Tim Chong
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