Barbara Ehrenreich: Smashing Capitalism (commondreams.org)
Somewhere in the Hamptons a high-roller is cursing his cleaning lady and shaking his fists at the lawn guys. The American poor, who are usually tactful enough to remain invisible to the multi-millionaire class, suddenly leaped onto the scene and started smashing the global financial system. Incredibly enough, this may be the first case in history in which the downtrodden manage to bring down an unfair economic system without going to the trouble of a revolution.
Jim Hightower: SCHUMER'S WALL STREET POVERTY PROGRAM (jimhightower.com)
Sen. Chuck Schumer is a Democrat and, by gollies, he's taking a bold stand for poor people in America. Is he proposing a national push for affordable housing? UhŠ no. A jobs program? Uh-uh. What then? Schumer is fighting tooth and nail to preserve a very, very special tax break for billionaire executives at private equity firms and hedge funds.
Amy Guthrie: " Powerfall: For David Lee Edwards, winning the lottery was a wild rocket ride" (browardpalmbeach.com)
In the fall of 2006, David Lee Edwards and his wife, Shawna, decorated their front door for Halloween. But if trick-or-treaters made it to the couple's home, a storage unit in Riviera Beach, no plastic ghost was as scary as what they'd have found inside: two pale, withered junkies from Kentucky living amid dirty clothes, rotting food, and their own filth. And these were lottery winners.
Poor Elijah: The Fourteenth Annual Emperor Awards (irascibleprofessor.com)
As we gear up for September, our Emperor Awards celebrate the outstanding education achievements of the preceding twelve months. They commemorate both the monarch who posed proudly in his underwear, and his admirers, by honoring their kindred spirits in the education world.
Andrew Tobias: MY RUN-IN WITH THE TSA (andrewtobias.com)
I once tried to go through security with a pint of guacamole. It's not exactly a liquid or a gel, and I offered to eat some of it as they watched, but they said I had to eat it all before I attempted to pass through security. There were too many people behind me - and my shoes were off and my computer bag had already gone into the machine - so I sadly offered it up to the TSA, hoping that they would at least enjoy it and not throw it out. It was really good guacamole.
'We're in meltdown' (guardian.co.uk)
Sea ice in the Arctic is approaching a record low - and the locals wear T-shirts in the summer. Inuit activist Sheila Watt-Cloutier tells Louise Johncox how climate change is threatening her people's way of life.
zEN mAN (observing the work of Daniel Czapiewski whol built this house to demonstrate how the rule of Communism in Poland turned everything "up side down")
It was with low expectations and very high temperatures in Oakland that I popped into the air-conditioned Grand Lake Theater on a Tuesday afternoon to see the well hyped underage beer and boner flick written by Seth Rogen ("Knocked Up" (2006) and Evan Goldberg starring 2 characters named Seth and Evan….we'll get to that later….
The theme of this movie is not very new…..dorky dudes trying to get drunk, get loose and get laid with their high school dream puffs before they have to go to college…."American Graffiti" (1973) was all about cruising in cars to get laid…."American Pie" (1999) was about who would be the first to "score" on Prom Night…..and "Superbad" is all about underage guys trying to get booze so they get their girls looped and laid!
DORKS NEED I.D.S TO GET DOWN AND DIRTY!
Seth (Jonah Hill - "40 Year Old Virgin" (2005) - "Pancho's Pizza" (2005) - "Knocked Up" (2006) is a fat horny curly haired nerd who wants to get Jules (Emma Stone) really drunk so she'll let him screw her…Seth is weird…he's obsessed with drawing pictures of dicks and balls …ever since he was 7... now he's hoping for the big score…but he needs booze……cuz Jules is having a party and she asked him to come….with booze for everyone.
Evan (Michael Cera - "I Was A Rat" (2001) - "The Grubbs" (2005) - "Howard Stern: the High School Years" (2006) is a skinny dippy bashful brainiac who really likes Becca (Martha MacIsaac) and is floored when she asks him to the party….she also would love it if he brought a bottle of gold flake vodka…..she likes it and who knows what'll happen if she gets a little TOO LIT.
Enter the 3rd mouseketeer …..Fogell (Christopher Mintz-Plasse - Virgin) who, when on his way downtown to get a "False I.D., becomes Seth and Evan's Party Pal….Well the whole deal almost goes south when Fogell comes back with a Drivers License with his new one word name printed on it…."McLovin"….25 years old ! Fogell really looks like a goofy under aged be speckled geek…who's gonna sell to him? Oh Shit !
HOLY HIGH SCHOOL HELL BREAKS LOOSE!
This whole movie turns into one gigantic prat-fall-filled chase scene…..McLovin gets the booze but the store gets robbed…and the Keystone Kops kum…they decide to really really fuck with McLovin…so they throw him in the back of the cruiser and proceed to guzzle beer, do donuts and run red lights…Officer Michaels (Seth Rogen - "Donnie Darko" (2001) - "Knocked Up" (2006) and Officer Slater (Bill Hader - "Knocked Up" (2006) - "Hot Rod" (2007) are totally insane and act like they never got through High School…..
Meanwhile Seth and Evan think McLovin has been arrested so they go alone on their booze hunt…things get crazier and crazier and they end up getting a ride to a college party and try to steal booze (keep an eye out for 2 porn stars, Aurora Snow - "Ass Bandits" (2006) and Jenna Haze - "Anal Angels" (2002)….. well the crude language (fuck is said 186 times), the creepy characters and the amazing amount of asinine angst comes to a crescendo when they all get to the girls party….with booze….what happens next is really stupid and really sweet.
Purple Gene gives "Superbad" 9 gnarly nerdy nuggies on the nose out of 10 for being so damn dumb and adolescently entertaining.
PS….don't get this confused with "Superbad" the best of "Blaxploitation" album with Isaac, Quincy and James…funk soul classic
Got a hair cut - was nearly to my waist, but now it's about an inch long.
Decided that my 'wall of hair' was holding in too much heat.
Tonight, Friday:
CBS begins the night with LIVE'NFL Preseason Football' (Patriots vs. Panthers), then pads the left coast with local crap.
Scheduled on a FRESHDave are Tom Arnold, Kristen Gore, and Jim McDonald.
Scheduled on a FRESHCraig are Holly Hunter, Adam Goldberg, and Ferraby Lionheart.
NBC starts the night with the FRESH'Miss Teen USA 2007', followed by a RERUN'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'.
On a RERUNLeno (from 7/12/07) are Jessica Biel, Bill Engvall, T-Pain and and Yung Joc.
On a RERUNConan (from 5/25/07) are Dane Cook, Apolo Anton Ohno, and Mando Diao.
On a RERUNCarson Daly (from 7/13/07) are Chelsea Handler and Black Light Burns.
ABC opens the night with a FRESH'Set For Life', followed by a RERUN'George Lopez', then another RERUN'George Lopez', followed by '20/20'.
On a RERUNJimmy Kimmel (from 8/7/07) are Jackie Chan, Chris Tucker, Fred Savage, and Eldar.
The CW offers LIVE'NFL Preseason Football' (Lambs vs. Raiders).
Faux fills the night with the movie 'The Animal'.
MY here has FRESH'MLB Baseball', with the Blue Jays visiting the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim California Angels.
PLEASE check local PBS listings for a FRESH'Bill Moyers Journal', and a FRESH'NOW With Bill Moyers David Brancaccio'.
A&E has 'CSI: The 2nd One', another 'CSI: The 2nd One', still another 'CSI: The 2nd One', and 'Intervention'.
AMC offers the movie 'Dante's Peak', followed by the movie 'Bounce', then the movie 'Halloween'.
BBC -
[12:00 PM] Cash in the Attic - Episode 5;
[1:00 PM] Everything Must Go - Episode 22;
[1:30 PM] Everything Must Go - Episode 23;
[2:00 PM] The Weakest Link - Episode 2;
[3:00 PM] How Clean Is Your House? - Episode 4;
[3:30 PM] How Clean Is Your House? - Episode 5;
[4:00 PM] How Clean Is Your House? - Episode 8;
[4:30 PM] Whose Line Is It Anyway? - Episode 5;
[5:00 PM] Whose Line Is It Anyway? - Episode 6;
[5:30 PM] Whose Line Is It Anyway? - Episode 7;
[6:00 PM] My Family - Ep. 7 Waiting To Inhale;
[6:30 PM] My Family - Ep. 8 Misery;
[7:00 PM] BBC World News;
[7:30 PM] How Clean Is Your House? - Episode 7;
[8:00 PM] The Office - Episode 3;
[8:40 PM] Little Britain - Episode 3;
[9:20 PM] Absolutely Fabulous - Ep. 3 Week in Provence;
[10:00 PM] Coupling - Ep. 5 The Freckle, the Key, and the Couple Who W;
[10:40 PM] The World Stands Up - Episode 20;
[11:00 PM] The Office - Episode 3;
[11:40 PM] Little Britain - Episode 3;
[12:20 AM] Absolutely Fabulous - Ep. 3 Week in Provence;
[1:00 AM] Coupling - Ep. 5 The Freckle, the Key, and the Couple Who W;
[1:40 AM] The World Stands Up - Episode 20;
[2:00 AM] The Weakest Link - Episode 3;
[3:00 AM] Hollyoaks - Episode 60;
[3:30 AM] Changing Rooms - Ep. 20 St. Leonards;
[4:00 AM] Bargain Hunt - Ep. 3 Detling;
[4:30 AM] Bargain Hunt - Ep. 2 Malvern 2;
[5:00 AM] Cash in the Attic - Ep. 24 Pender;
[5:30 AM] Cash in the Attic - Ep. 25 Sheehan;
[6:00 AM] BBC World News. (ALL TIMES EDT)
Comedy Central has 'Scrubs', another 'Scrubs', last night's 'Jon Stewart', last night's 'Colbert Report', 'Reno 911!', 'Chappelle's Show', 'Comedy Central Presents', and another 'Comedy Central Presents'.
HBO offers a FRESHReal Time with Bill Maher - scheduled guests include Tim Robbins, Stephen Hayes, Michel Martin, and presidential candidate former Governor Mike Huckabee (R-Insane).
FX has the movie 'The Replacement Killers', followed by the movie 'Bulletproof Monk', and 'That 70s Show'.
History has 'Modern Marvels', 'Non-Lethal Weapons', 'Dogfights', and 'Human Weapons'.
IFC -
[06:30 AM] The Big Kahuna;
[08:10 AM] No Telling;
[09:50 AM] A Slipping-Down Life;
[11:45 AM] The Big Kahuna;
[01:25 PM] No Telling;
[03:05 PM] A Slipping-Down Life;
[05:00 PM] Mansfield Park;
[06:55 PM] IFC News Special: Comic-Con Chronicles;
[07:25 PM] Bright Young Things;
[09:15 PM] Employee of the Month;
[11:00 PM] The Henry Rollins Show #319: Guest TBD;
[11:30 PM] Samurai 7 Episode #9: The Bandits;
[12:00 AM] Humanoids from the Deep;
[01:25 AM] The Final Cut;
[03:00 AM] Humanoids from the Deep;
[04:25 AM] The Henry Rollins Show #319: Guest TBD;
[04:55 AM] Samurai 7 Episode #9: The Bandits;
[05:25 AM] Bright Young Things. (ALL TIMES EDT)
SciFi has 'Stargate SG-1', followed by a FRESH'Doctor Who', then a FRESH'Flash Gordon', and a FRESH'Painkiller Jane'.
Sundance -
[04:00 AM] She Killed in Ecstasy;
[06:00 AM] The Rock and Roll Kid;
[07:00 AM] Dallas 362;
[08:00 AM] Crossing Arizona;
[10:00 AM] Episode 6;
[10:00 AM] Inheritance: A Fisherman's Story;
[12:00 PM] Episode 6;
[12:00 PM] Gilaneh;
[02:00 PM] Milo 55160;
[02:00 PM] Dallas 362;
[04:00 PM] Where Angels Fear to Tread;
[06:00 PM] Sixteen Years of Alcohol;
[08:00 PM] Half Nelson;
[10:00 PM] Freeze Frame;
[11:00 PM] Iota;
[12:00 AM] Tout Va Bien;
[01:00 AM] Screwback;
[02:00 AM] Kasabian, Josh Groban & The Good The Bad and The Queen;
[03:00 AM] Wishing Stairs;
[04:00 AM] Writer of O. (ALL TIMES EDT)
Actors, Richard Gere, left, and James Brolin pose for a photo before the premiere of 'The Hunting Party' in New York on Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2007.
Photo by Rick Maiman
Who would have thought that the cynical adage "no news is good news" could in fact be the best calling card Britain's BBC might have when knocking on the door of the potentially gigantic U.S. market for its storied news operations?
But the fact is that the perceived dearth of international news and analysis on U.S. mainstream broadcasters is one of the big marketing ploys the BBC is using to create a bigger footprint in the U.S. for its global TV news. BBC World News' slogan is "See the world you've been missing."
The campaign approach follows a recent research study carried out by U.S. pollster Frank Luntz for BBC World News, which outlines viewers' dissatisfaction with stateside news outlets' provision of international news and sees them as "sensationalist," "superficial" and offering only a "narrow news agenda," according to executives at "the Beeb."
Cast member Peter Coyote and his wife Stefanie pose at the premiere of "Resurrecting the Champ" at the Samuel Goldwyn theatre in Beverly Hills, California, August 22, 2007. The movie opens in the U.S. on August 24.
Photo by Mario Anzuoni
Eve Ensler has just returned from hell. That's how the author of "The Vagina Monologues" describes her trip to Congo, where thousands of women have been sexually attacked and mutilated in the African nation's civil war.
The 54-year-old playwright has joined with the United Nations in a campaign against what a U.N. expert called the worst violence against women in the world.
She spent weeks at the Panzi Hospital in the city of Bukavu, in eastern Congo, where Dr. Denis Mukwege is helping to repair the broken bodies of war victims. The hospital sees about 3,500 women a year suffering fistula and other severe genital injuries.
A U.N. human rights expert said last month that the sexual atrocities in Congo's volatile province of South Kivu extend "far beyond rape" and include sexual slavery, forced incest and cannibalism.
Queen guitarist Brian May was on Thursday awarded a doctorate, more than 30 years after he first began studying a highly specialised area of astronomy.
May first started his thesis -- titled, "Radial Velocities in the Zodiacal Dust Cloud" -- at Imperial College London in 1974, but abandoned it when Queen's prospects began to brighten.
He finally dusted off his notes last year and handed in his 48,000-word doctoral thesis about three weeks ago to Imperial's head of astrophysics Professor Paul Nandra.
He plans to celebrate his new title -- he will now become Dr Brian May -- by having a private meal with friends and family but will not be presented with his qualification until a ceremony at London's Royal Albert Hall next May.
A music industry group Thursday said it would cap "per channel" fees for major Internet radio companies streaming music on multiple channels.
SoundExchange, which collects royalties from Webcasters and distributes them to artists and record labels, said it would limit fees - at $50,000 a year - for online radio station companies that offer more than 100 channels to customers.
This deal comes two days after SoundExchange offered discounted royalty rates to small Webcasters - with less than $1.25 million in gross annual revenue and a certain audience size - through 2010. That offer, which expires Sept. 14, also only applies to SoundExchange members.
Here's news that Fox's series "Anchorwoman" wouldn't want to deliver: It's been canceled after one low-rated airing.
The debut of the reality show about Lauren Jones' attempt to turn herself into a news anchor for a Texas TV station drew an estimated 2.7 million viewers Wednesday, according to preliminary figures from Nielsen Media Research.
That number is about a third of the viewership Fox attracted a week earlier with the finale of its popular "So You Think You Can Dance."
Jones was a Barker Beauty on "The Price Is Right," Miss New York and featured WWE Diva before the series put her into the newsroom of KYTX Channel 19 in Tyler, Texas.
"Cinema Paradiso" director Giuseppe Tornatore got mugged while he was walking in an upscale neighborhood in central Rome.
Tornatore, 51, was taken to a hospital in the Italian capital after two young men attacked him Tuesday evening, the daily newspaper Corriere della Sera quoted the director as saying.
He suffered head trauma as well as several minor injuries, the news agency ANSA reported.
Palestinians sit at Stars and Bucks Cafe smoking water pipes in the the center of the West Bank city of Ramallah, Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2007. The Stars and Bucks cafe is a takeoff of the American Starbucks chain.
Photo by Muhammed Muheisen
Children chase a man dressed as a devil through a street during "Fiesta del Demonio" in the northern Spanish town of Pontevedra August 23, 2007.
Photo by Miguel Vidal
Lindsay Lohan reached a plea deal Thursday on misdemeanor drunken driving and cocaine charges that calls for her to spend one day in jail, serve 10 days of community service and complete a drug treatment program.
She was also placed on 36 months probation, is required to complete an 18-month alcohol education program, pay hundreds of dollars in fines and must complete a three-day county coroner program in which she'll visit a morgue and talk to victims of drunken drivers.
"She's getting what everyone else would get," Deputy District Attorney Danette Meyers said after an hourlong hearing in Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge H. Chester Horn Jr.'s courtroom. Terms of the plea bargain were worked out in chambers.
A painted model poses for photographers at an exhibition stand at the Games Convention 2007 fair in the eastern German city of Leipzig August 23, 2007. The Games convention, Europe's leading fair for computer games, runs from August 22 to 26.
Photo by Hannibal Hanschke
A pregnant Nicole Richie checked into jail Thursday to serve a 90-hour sentence for driving under the influence of drugs. She was arrested in December after California Highway Patrol officers found her parked car turned in the wrong direction on a freeway, authorities said.
Nicole Richie was released from jail Thursday, just 82 minutes after the pregnant TV reality star checked in for what started out as a 90-hour sentence for driving under the influence of drugs.
The reality show star, who checked into jail in this Los Angeles suburb at 3:15 p.m., was released at 4:37 p.m. "based on her sentence and federal guidelines," Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy Maribel Rizo said without elaborating.
Poet and short story writer Grace Paley, a literary eminence and old-fashioned rebel who described herself as a "combative pacifist," has died. She was 84.
A published writer since the 1950s, Paley released only a handful of books over the next half century, mostly short stories and poems. Among her story collections were "Enormous Changes at the Last Minute," 1974, and "Later the Same Day," 1985.
In many ways, Paley wasn't a typical American writer. Her characters did not suffer "identity crises." Instead of living on the road, they stayed home, in Greenwich Village. They discussed politics, dared to take sides and belonged to clubs anxious to have them as members.
Born Grace Goodside in New York in 1922, she was one of three children of Russian Jews. She started writing poems early and continued to do so even as she married a movie cameraman, Jess Paley, had two children, worked part time as a typist and became involved in community affairs around Greenwich Village.
She began writing prose in the 1950s. Novels seemed too long - she never wrote one - so she turned to short stories. Although many of her pieces were rejected by magazines, an editor at Doubleday learned of her work and her first collection, "The Little Disturbances of Man: Stories of Men and Women at Love," was published in 1959.
At the same time, Paley was a self-described "combative pacifist" who joined the War Resisters League in the '60s and visited Hanoi on a peace mission. She was arrested in 1978 during an anti-nuclear protest on the White House lawn and for years could be found every Saturday passing out protest leaflets on a street corner near her New York apartment.
A member of the San Diego Zoo?s giant panda team examines a 20-day-old giant panda cub for the first time, in San Diego August 23, 2007. Veterinarians will likely announce the sex of the cub after getting another look at it during its second exam. The newborn cub is the fourth giant panda born at the San Diego Zoo since 1999. Picture taken August 23, 2007.
Ken Bohn
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