Special Dispatch
In the Line of Fire
'Best of TBH Politoons'
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Paul Waldman: It's The Conservatism, Stupid (tompaine.com)
Ask a conservative what the biggest problem in America is today, and you'll get answers like overtaxation, a sexualized culture, lack of respect for authority, insufficient church-going or big government running amok. But if you then asked the conservative what the real source of the problem was-the beating heart pumping blood to each and all of these socio-politico-cultural wounds-you'd get the same answer: liberalism.
BOB HERBERT: The Law Gets a Toehold (The New York Times)
Lawyers from the [The Center for Constitutional Rights], a public-interest organization in New York, have fought long and heroically to bring even the most minimal legal protections to the prisoners. Along the way it was learned that the inmates at Guantánamo were far from the worst of the worst. Many of them, it turned out, were no danger to the United States at all.
Robert J. Elisberg
Anyone can ask tough, intricate, confrontational questions. But all that ever does is start an argument, and it gets people nowhere. On the other hand, these are...well, easy. These are friendly questions. These are questions that allow another person to actually explain their thoughts, and explain fully. And to do so in as comfortable, as simple a way as possible.
and
'50 easy questions to ask any Republican'
Joe Conason: Lieberman Misses Point of Opponents
No doubt Mr. Lieberman would do the bidding of the pharmaceutical lobby whether his wife was on their payroll or not, but this kind of coincidence is best avoided by a man who lectures the world about morality and ethics.
Sanford Pinsker: You Probably Don't Remember Me, But.... (irascibleprofessor.com)
Would I be willing to write a dozen or so letters of recommendation to graduate programs ranging from Harvard and Yale to a handful at the bottom of U.S. & World Report's heap? And, sorry about this, but could I please have the letters sent off in 4-day's time?
The real Wolfgang (guardian.co.uk)
It has become fashionable to mock Mozart, and pianist András Schiff is tired of it. He salutes a composer whose music is full of surprises.
Theodore Dalrymple: PC Among the Docs (newenglishreview.org)
Of course, the question as to why so many parents have transferred authority from themselves to their children as young as three years old is a very interesting and important one, to which more than answer can be given, and at more than one level of analysis. This transfer of authority is a mass phenomenon, otherwise the epidemic would not have taken place. Parents no longer seem in control of how much television their children watch, what their children buy with their money or even what they eat at home.
Lucy Atkins: Ten tips to save your life (or at least prolong it) (guardian.co.uk)
If you could do just one thing to improve your health, what should it be? That's the question we asked 10 medical experts. From taking up a new hobby to cleaning your house with vinegar, they came up with some surprising suggestions. . .
David Plotz: Proof That God Loves Bald Men (slate.com)
Best passage of the day: Leviticus interrupts these dire leprous warnings to reassure men that, yes, it's OK to be bald. "If a man loses the hair of his head and becomes bald, he is pure." And it gets better! God also approves of male-pattern baldness. "If he loses the hair on the front part of his head and becomes bald at the forehead, he is pure." So throw out that Rogaine! God loves a cue-ball, baby!
A Free Speech Dictionary (spectacle.org)
Reader Suggestion
Pittsburgh Skyline
Operation Summer Rain
Avery Ant
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Hotter.
Spoke with Michael Dare a couple of times - I'm on stand-by to run out there, but it's a 2-hour trip.
No new flags.
Comedy Central Orders Another Season
'Mind of Mencia'
Comedy Central has ordered a 16-episode third season of "Mind of Mencia," with a premiere date set for the first quarter.
"Mencia" is averaging 2.1 million total viewers in its second season. It is the network's second-highest-rated show this year, behind "South Park."
In the fall, Comedy Central signed a multifaceted deal with Mencia that saw his show renewed for its second season and also included a stand-up special, live-performance tour and first-season DVD release.
'Mind of Mencia'
Helping Military Families
Elmo
With a little help from Elmo, Sesame Street is urging parents to level with their little ones - especially those in military families trying to deal with Mom or Dad's lengthy deployment overseas.
"Our goal is to really get military families with young children ... to talk about the different stages of deployment with their children, not only talk about it but prepare them for it," said Jeanette Betancourt, vice president of content design at Sesame Workshop, which produces Sesame Street.
Sesame Workshop has produced a DVD, in both English and Spanish, that will be distributed free to military families next month. CEO Gary Knell was to announce details Friday in Houston, joined by officials of Wal-Mart, which has committed $1.5 million to the project.
Elmo
Consolidation Blues
More Media Mergers
Big media deals and strict regulation don't mix well. But will the fear of potential change in control of the White House in 2008 spur mergers and acquisitions before then?
"The regulatory environment is probably as favorable for deals as it is ever going to get -- so companies that are considering deals have to be factoring that in right now," said Paul Gallant, media analyst at Stanford Washington Research Group.
Consolidation in the media sector provokes particularly contentious debate, as consumer groups worry that allowing companies to concentrate media properties squeezes out independent voices and reduces local control.
More Media Mergers
Top Sidekick
Ed McMahon
Greatest sidekick of all time? According to Entertainment Weekly, in the issue hitting newsstands Monday, it's Johnny Carson's longtime couch-warmer, Ed McMahon. The magazine picked what it deemed an all-time top-50 of second bananas.
Rounding out the top five, in order: Robin (Batman's boy wonder), Jerry Seinfeld's pal George Costanza, Han Solo's buddy Chewbacca and Lucy Ricardo's partner-in-crime and sometimes slime, Ethel Mertz.
A few others who did make the list: The diminutive Tattoo, of "Fantasy Island" fame (No. 9); Howard Stern's second-in-command, Robin Quivers (13); Napoleon Dynamite's best bud, Pedro Sanchez (22) and Art Garfunkel, of Simon &... (25).
Ed McMahon
Moving To Vegas
CBGB
CBGBs is to close in September, it has been confirmed.
The legendary New York City club has been at the center of the threat of closure for months, in a dispute between the owners and founder and current tenant Hilly Kristal.
It now seems there is no future for the venue in the city, despite its enormous influence on introducing the likes of Blondie, Talking Heads, and the Ramones onto the '70s music scene.
However, Kristal has now revealed he's planning to relaunch CBGBs in Las Vegas in 2008 and he intends to take the spirit and even the contents of the seminal landmark with him.
CBGB
Hospital News
James Gandolfini
Fans of "The Sopranos" will have to wait a bit longer for the mob drama's final chapter.
Because of "unexpected" knee surgery for series star James Gandolfini, the concluding episodes that were expected to begin in January will be delayed about two months, HBO Chairman Chris Albrecht said.
The surgery alone would have pushed the season start back just a few weeks, but that would have put "The Sopranos" up against the football playoffs and the Super Bowl, Albrecht told a television critics' gathering Wednesday.
A specific air date for the Sunday-night series has yet to be determined but it's likely to be in early March 2007, he said.
James Gandolfini
First Saudi Film Festival
'The Jeddah Visual Show Festival'
The first Saudi Arabian film festival opened this week, but the silver screen remains so controversial in the conservative kingdom that the word "cinema" does not even appear in the title.
"The Jeddah Visual Show Festival" kicked off on Wednesday night with two hours of home-grown short films. The public can see the films three times a week for a month.
Public movie screenings are taboo in Saudi Arabia, where puritanical scholars believe any depiction of the human form is forbidden in Islam and see the U.S.-dominated film industry as an immoral force driven by sex and violence.
'The Jeddah Visual Show Festival'
Suing Michael Jackson
Debbie Rowe
Debbie Rowe, the former Mrs. Michael Jackson, has sued the pop singer, claiming he has failed to pay her what he promised when the two divorced in 1999.
In the lawsuit, filed July 3 in Los Angeles Superior Court, Rowe seeks an immediate payment of $195,000 for attorney fees and $50,000 in living expenses so that she can continue pursuing her child-custody case against him.
Rowe is the mother of Jackson's two children, Prince Michael Joseph Jackson, 9, and Paris-Michael Katherine Jackson, 8. She gave up her parental rights to the children in 2001 but asked a judge to reinstate them in 2003 after she learned of Jackson's arrest on child molestation charges.
Rowe says in the lawsuit that Jackson stopped making his promised payments to her in October, 2003.
Debbie Rowe
South Carolina
'Mount Rockmore'
With rock 'n' roll music blaring and a sand sculpture of music legends as a backdrop, South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford walked off the Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour bus on Thursday and helped break ground for the Hard Rock theme park here.
The $400 million project is expected to add about 3,000 jobs to South Carolina's coast after the park is completed in the spring of 2008. Construction on the somewhat questionable investment begins just months after the beach town's most popular landmark, the Pavilion Amusement Park, announced it would close this fall.
Sanford, Hard Rock officials and investors gathered in front of "Mount Rockmore," a sand sculpture of Elvis Presley, Bob Marley, Jimi Hendrix and John Lennon for the ceremony, using Gibson guitars with silver shovel heads to turn over the dirt.
'Mount Rockmore'
Salary Bump
Hugh Laurie
"House" star Hugh Laurie is joining the ranks of the top drama actors on television.
After a two-month renegotiation, the British actor will earn about $300,000 per episode when the hot medical drama begins its third season on Fox, sources said.
The renegotiation also adds an additional year to the actor's current contract for "House." Ths show already is in production on its third season.
Hugh Laurie
First Folio Fetches $5.2 Million
Shakespeare
A rare mint condition First Folio edition of William Shakespeare's plays fetched 2.8 million pounds ($5.2 million) at an auction on Thursday.
The result at Sotheby's in London was toward the lower end of estimates of between 2.5 and 3.5 million pounds, and fell short of the saleroom record for a comparable copy of $6.2 million made at Christie's, New York, in 2001.
Shakespeare
'Jacob the Jeweler'
Yakov Arabov
The man known throughout the hip-hop world as Jacob Arabo or "Jacob the Jeweler" pleaded not guilty Wednesday to money laundering charges.
Yakov Arabov was arrested June 15 at his store in New York on a warrant issued in Detroit by federal authorities, who accuse him with conspiring with others to launder money in connection with a jewelry business.
Arabov, a Russian immigrant, became popular among hip-hop and R&B artists in the mid-1990s after he attracted the attention of Notorious B.I.G., according to the Jacob & Co. Web site. Sean "Diddy" Combs, Kanye West, Madonna and Sir Elton John have all worn his gem-encrusted baubles.
Yakov Arabov
Going Celibate
Paris Hilton
Paris Hilton is giving up sex for a year. The hotel heiress has imposed the ban on herself because she is convinced abstaining from all carnal activity will help her "rediscover" herself.
She said, "I'm doing it just because I want to. I feel I'm becoming stronger as a person. Every time I have a boyfriend, I'm just so romantic, and I'll put all my energy into the guy, and I don't really pay attention to myself."
Paris, who is releasing her first single "Stars Are Blind" this month, recently revealed she doesn't believe in one night stands - because they are "gross."
Paris Hilton
Cold War Bunker Reopens
Greenbrier
The once-secret shelter built to house Congress after a nuclear attack will reopen to tourists after a two-year renovation, but the $15 million monument to the Cold War still has some secrets.
About 70 percent of the 112,000-square-foot bunker, deep under the posh Greenbrier resort, will become a secure repository for data and documents.
That means the new tour route covers less ground than those that began in 1995, after the bunker was publicly exposed.
Still, there's plenty to see in a facility the size of two football fields stacked atop one another, including a new exhibit hall and the first public display of two dozen historic photographs. Resort guests can begin touring on Monday, and the public can tour on Wednesdays and Sundays, beginning Aug. 20.
Greenbrier
Announce Tour
The Who
It's been almost 25 years since the Who blasted their way through a major concert tour, so they should be ready. This fall, they'll give it another go, band members Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey announced Thursday.
Opening date will be Sept. 12 in Philadelphia.
The legendary band will then wind its way through the U.S. and Canada before jumping next year to South America, the Far East, Australia and Europe.
The Who
Republican Family Values
Pete Coors
Beer company executive, chief commercial pitcher and former Senate candidate Pete Coors confirmed Thursday he was cited in May for allegedly driving under the influence of alcohol after leaving a friend's wedding celebration.
The citation, first reported by The Denver Post, happened in Golden, the longtime hometown of the Adolph Coors Co. just west of Denver. The company has since become the Molson Coors Brewing Co. after a 2005 merger.
He was arrested for suspicion of driving under the influence and cited for failing to obey a traffic control device.
Coors, a tall, silver-haired figure familiar to many as the face of the Coors television ads, was a political novice in 2004 when he decided to seek the Senate seat being given up by Republican Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell. He won the GOP primary but was defeated in the 2004 general election by Democrat Ken Salazar.
Pete Coors
Police Seize Newspaper's Photos
Anchorage Daily News
Police seized more than 100 unpublished Anchorage Daily News photos taken at a shooting scene, then returned them a few hours later after learning the action violated federal law.
A similar warrant was served at KTVA-TV*, and police also later returned a video of aired footage that was taken.
The Daily News has offered police more than three dozen published photos, editor Patrick Dougherty said. He said the newspaper would resist a subpoena for unpublished photos as a matter of policy.
Federal law prohibits almost all searches of newsrooms. News organizations served with a subpoena have the right to argue before a judge why the information should be kept confidential.
Anchorage Daily News
*
I worked at KTVA - CBS for Alaska, as they used to bill themselves.
In Memory
Kasey Rogers
Kasey Rogers, an actress who was a regular on television shows like "Bewitched" but was best known for an appearance in Alfred Hitchcock's "Strangers on a Train," has died. She was 80.
Using the name Laura Elliott, Rogers played Farley Granger's estranged wife, Miriam, who is strangled by the psychotic character in "Strangers on a Train."
Born Imogene Rogers on Dec. 15, 1925, in Morehouse, Mo., Rogers moved with her family to Burbank as a child. She earned the nickname Casey, a reference to "Casey at the bat," because of her hitting prowess in grade-school baseball. Later she changed the C to a K.
Among her films are "Special Agent," "Denver and Rio Grande," "Silver City" and "Two Lost Worlds."
On television, she appeared in numerous series, including "Wanted: Dead or Alive," "Bat Masterson," "Cheyenne," "Maverick," "Perry Mason," "77 Sunset Strip," "Adam-12" and "Bewitched."
Twice married and divorced, Rogers is survived by her brother, four children, six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Kasey Rogers
In Memory
Red Buttons
Red Buttons, the carrot-topped burlesque comedian who became a top star in early television and then in a dramatic role won the 1957 Oscar as supporting actor in "Sayonara," died Thursday. He was 87.
With his eager manner and rapid-fire wit, Buttons excelled in every phase of show business, from the Borscht Belt of the 1930s to celebrity roasts in the 1990s.
His greatest achievement came with his "Sayonara" role as Sgt. Joe Kelly, the soldier in the post-World War II occupation forces in Japan whose romance with a Japanese woman (Myoshi Umeki, who also won an Academy Award) ends in tragedy.
Buttons' Academy Award led to other films, both dramas and comedies. They included "Imitation General," "The Big Circus," "Hatari!" "The Longest Day," "Up From the Beach," "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" "The Poseidon Adventure," "Gable and Lombard" and "Pete's Dragon."
Along with dozens of other future stars, including Mario Lanza, John Forsythe, Karl Malden and Lee J. Cobb, Buttons was enlisted for "Winged Victory," the play that famed director-playwright Moss Hart created for the Air Force. Buttons also appeared in the 1944 film version, directed by George Cukor.
Discharged in 1946, Buttons returned to nightclub and theater work. In 1952, CBS signed him for a weekly show as the network's answer to NBC's Milton Berle.
"The Red Buttons Show" was first broadcast on CBS Oct. 14, 1952, without a sponsor since the star was virtually unknown. Within a month, the show became a solid hit and advertisers were clamoring.
Buttons drew on all his past experience for monologues, songs, dances and sketches featuring such characters as a punch-drunk fighter, a scrappy street kid, a Sad Sack GI and a blundering German. The hit of the show was a silly song in which he pranced about the stage singing, "Ho! Ho!... He! He!... Ha! Ha!... Strange things are happening!" It became a national craze.
Over the years Buttons remained a steady performer on television, appearing on such series as "Knots Landing," "Roseanne" and "ER." He also took his act on the road, appearing at Las Vegas, Atlantic City, conventions, and returning to his beginnings in the Catskills.
Still in good health at 76 ("They call me the only Yiddish leprechaun"), he appeared in New York in 1995 with an autobiographical one-man show, "Buttons on Broadway."
Buttons was born Aaron Chwatt on Feb. 15, 1919, son of an immigrant milliner, in a tough Manhattan neighborhood where, he once said, "you either grew up to be a judge or you went to the electric chair."
In later years, Buttons became a favorite at testimonial/roast dinners with his roaringly funny "Never had a dinner" routine. He cited famous figures who had never been so honored. Examples: "Abe Lincoln, who said `A house divided is a condominium,' never had a dinner"; "(Perennial presidential candidate) Jerry Brown, whose theme song is `California, Here I Go,' never had a dinner." (When he did "Buttons on Broadway," he altered the routine and named people who never did one-man shows.)
Buttons was married three times and divorced twice. He is survived by his children, Amy and Adam, and a sister.
Red Buttons
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