BartCop Entertainment Archives - Friday, 5 September, 2008

Friday

5 September, 2008

(Updated Daily)

[407 days in a row]

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Very Special Bonus!

Hempfest

I Was There and You Weren't

Now in its 17th year, the annual Seattle Hempfest has become the world's most popular protest against the drug war.

By Michael Dare

You can ruin some things by writing about them. When the editor of the LA Weekly asked me to contribute to an article about the best driving shortcuts in the city, I said fuck no, as soon as people start using my shortcuts, they wouldn't be shortcuts anymore. The only thing that makes them shortcuts is there's less traffic. Why would I want to deliberately ruin a good thing by telling every putz who picks up a Weekly where my personal shortcuts were? I suggested an article called "Best places in LA to be alone" so we could ruin the solitude for everybody. It was then I realized that shit, man, journalism's confusing, and what's good for the reading public ain't always good for the writer or the subject of the story.

 Which brings us to the 17th annual Seattle Hempfest, an event so unique in the world it outshines anything Denmark or Canada or any other liberated places have to offer, a cross between Woodstock in the 60s, Renaissance Faires in the 70s, and Amsterdam in the 80s,with nose-rings, bare midriffs, lower back tattoos, and dreadlocks galore,

a celebration of a plant in every possible manifestation and, get this, the authorities let it happen, which makes Seattle the most tolerant city on earth in its attitude towards the insane global war against good medicine, pesticide-free clothing, fossil-free fuel, formaldehyde-free building materials, and Bronner's soap.

August 16 & 17, 2008, Seattle was ground zero of the anti-anti-drug war, a TH symphony where rational thought prevailed and science trumped politics, where we learned the war on drugs is run by moron thugs powered by phony evidence gathered from the same lying street hustlers who gave us the war against Iraq. Attend any of the panel discussions in the Hemposium and you'll discover that none of the government propaganda against marijuana is accurate, and if you're still on the fence concerning its medical value, take a look at a man who put hemp oil on a melanoma only to see it come off three days later. Ignore the phony propaganda used to justify the existence of the DEA and you find marijuana not only doesn't cause cancer, it prevents it and cures it. You find a medicine so beneficial that everyone should have their own little garden in case of emergencies. You find the DEA doesn't need to exist.

"Do not adjust your mind, it is reality that is malfunctioning."
- Robert Anton Wilson -

Let's say you were the lead character in a Twilight Zone given the choice of destroying every plant on earth but one. What plant would you choose to survive? A tree? Mankind is dead, construction materials but not enough sustenance or medical use. Tomatoes? Dead, pasta sauce but no pasta. Cotton? Nice clothes, starving dead bodies. I'm afraid only one plant would provide sustainable energy, food, clothing, and medicine to keep mankind alive, giving our species not only a chance at survival but a nice little buzz to keep the day rolling. You can guess what it is. Any other choice would be specicide, which is what we've got now, an entire species deliberately killing itself.

Like it or not, the scientific results are in. Hemp is the most useful plant on the planet earth, providing clothing, shelter, food, soap, and medicine of unparalleled quality and safety. The argument isn't that it should be treated like any other addiction. The argument isn't that it's harmless. The argument is that it's good for you in absolutely every possible way. You should be wearing it, building things out of it, washing in it, using it for fuel, eating it and smoking it - exploiting its every potential - and anyone who says otherwise is either totally deluded, a gullible idiot, or corrupt and on the take from the billion dollar a year drug war industry.

You don't hear all the good news because generally speaking, here's how it goes. Scientists at the University of Washington in Seattle discovered a way to use hemp for lumber. The lumber they created was as strong as steel beams. After that discovery, the Feds threatened to pull all funding from the university if they did not end their studies.

The Feds don't want you to know there does not exist a rational argument against this plant. If it were any better for you, you'd have to hire someone to help you enjoy it.

The Hempfest is a magnificent blending of music and politics and artisanship, "a pause for the cause because there's flaws in the laws," says Hempfest director Vivian McPeak, the man who actually signs the papers with the city that allows Hempfest to happen, and a stark raving dreadnaughted bearded unapologetic hippie whose passion for this cause has made him the most successful anti-drug war activist in America. He's both ringmaster and tightrope walker in an annual sub-culture circus, bringing together a spectacular array of diverse elements necessary to make it happen. For more than a decade he's kept them all happy: police, sheriffs, firemen, the various city departments, politicians, the Seattle Art Museum with the sculpture garden at the entrance to the park, not to mention hundreds of merchants and artisans who count on the fest to be their largest sales weekend of the year, and the care providers and performers and political speakers, plus all manner of other volunteers from around the world, or the thousands of locals who attend every year expecting to get entertained and educated and high. All happy. A miracle of diplomacy.

The Hempfest is not designed to be experienced from one vantage point. Myrtle Edwards park is long and thin, occupying a prime piece of waterfront north of the piers and downtown, blocks from the Seattle Center, with spectacular views of the Puget Sound, the Space Needle, Mount Rainier, Bainbridge Island, West Seattle, and the glorious Olympic Mountain Range. Anyone bored with the fest can easily find entertainment just sitting on a rock by the water and listening to the music while watching international cargo ships pass by with the yachts and paragliders. Turn the other way and the fest becomes something different, a vast parade of humanity.

Freak out as you discover the other people at the Hempfest aren't just rejects from the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers but normal citizens out for a stroll through the park who just happen to need a new bong. If these are the zombies pot is supposed to turn us into, they're remarkable lively, a vast array of characters from every walk of life, many of whom know each other, who've been doing this for years, the core committee, a family reunion of free thinkers and smokers. Since DNA proves we're all related, we're all invited to the annual reunion.

Nobody knows how many people attend, and here's one of those journalistic moments where you have to weigh your core beliefs against one another, where it's possible to hurt the very cause you believe in by giving away too much. Next year's permits could be withheld for any number of reasons, including the blathering of an idiot journalist who puts things in just the wrong light to the wrong people.

I saw a beautiful woman with her baby in a special stirrup, leaning over a table inspecting glass pipes with a lot of other people, and considered taking her picture, but then I thought, shit, taken out of context that picture could be used in a custody battle, she could lose her kid because I took what I thought was a cute picture, so I took this one instead.

Then let's say I saw fistfuls of joints thrown out over a crowd who all lit up simultaneously creating a powerful blast of smoke that could have freaked out the fire department. If such a thing were true, and I'm certainly not saying it is, all I could do is ruin it by telling the world. Damned if I'm ever going to have anything to do with stopping the free distribution of pot, imaginary or not. As Vivian says, "anyone who blows it makes it harder for all of us." This is a festival that walks that tightrope, the largest anti-drug war rally on earth is certainly not under the radar of the DEA, yet it happens every year as a certified testimony to the power of numbers. They can't possibly arrest everyone in Myrtle Edwards Park; the Feds would have to declare war against thousands of people peacefully assembled in a public park obeying every local law.

Saturday, the first day of this year's Hempfest, was so sunny a day for Seattle you could have made a killing selling shade. You experience Hempfest from one end to the other, enter either end, head for the opposite, and you'll pass five stages and hundreds of booths and carpet venders selling food and displaying their wares. You stop here and there to further examine a performance, but never get stuck, moving it along, easing into the flow, ingesting the floating fractions of music and public speaking.

"Should you have to get sick to legally use marijuana?" asked horticultural guru Ed Rosenthal from Seeley Stage, who knew just what to say to get a rousing cheer from the crowd. "I use marijuana to enhance my life. Don't you? The medical marijuana cause isn't enough to protect us from the criminality of police departments. Free marijuana for ALL people!"

Recently, a medical marijuana dispensary in Seattle was invaded illegally. In response, both conservative daily papers, the Seattle Times and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, published editorials demanding the authorities return the marijuana to the legitimate patients. One cannot imagine another city in America where this would happen. Since the local police are legally obligated to give marijuana consumption a low priority, they turn a blind eye towards many potential Hempfest shenanigans. The DEA would have to swoop in en masse to arrest somewhere between, 50 and 100 thousand people, each and every one a Rosa Parks in an act of civil disobedience, standing up for their right to use a plant. And the top constitutional lawyers in the country would be right in there with them, ready to defend everybody. Now imagine them trying to arrest the 30 million people across the county who smoke marijuana and you see the core of their problem.

The truth about marijuana is so opposite to common knowledge that many refuse to take it seriously, like we're all a bunch of stoners who just want to lie under a clear blue sky and celebrate every second and not merely out to save the planet from destruction.

How many people were there? I ain't saying and I sure wasn't counting. Estimates are from 100 to 150 thousand but nobody wants to know. It's literally impossible to be sure since so many people are constantly coming in and out from both ends. There are times when certain sections become pretty tight, but the crowd keeps moving and it's never uncomfortable, there's always a bench or a hill or a rock or a patch of grass to sit down and listen to the live music and the speakers. It's probably reached the capacity to fill the Convention Center, but Myrtle Edwards Park is just right, incredibly beautiful surroundings, the Elliott Bay in summer, the only place for a freedom fighter to be. There's plenty of room for the fest to grow north, but the best way for it to grow is to spawn further hempfests leading to an unlikely new world of enlightenment and wonder.

"They say the terrorists hate us for our freedom, so give us more freedom and REALLY piss them off."
- Viv -

It took a very specific set of organic circumstances for something as large as the Seattle Hempfest to manifest itself. It started in 1991 as a wee little hempfest of a few hundred people in Volunteer Park, getting larger, thousands of people moving to the Gasworks at the north end of Lake Union, and finally settling in as a world-class event at Myrtle Edwards.

The focus this year was on industrial uses of hemp, where there is encouraging news in the worlds of textiles and building materials. A fashion show proved hemp material has grown way beyond the rough burlap it's associated with. Now it can be indistinguishable from silk, and new hemp T-shirts feel just as soft as cotton and rayon. There were bathrobes, teenage sweaters, a toque, bright earth colors, a waitress outfit, thin flimsy skirts, from hip-hop to Wall Street, normal Izod leisure wear, even a prom dress and suit that didn't betray their illegal origins in any way.

Chemical free hemp particle board and plywood proved itself more durable and esthetically pleasing than the real thing, making it just a little bit more irrational to ever cut down a tree for construction.

One speaker said the laws against hemp represented a "break in the natural order," and wondered why the tent of the Hemposium itself wasn't made out of hemp. "There's no long term planning. Until recently, industrial hemp was stuck in the last century."

"The DEA is rotting on the inside," said George Rohrbacher, "like the USSR before the fall of the Berlin Wall. They looked unbeatable too."

"We are the first responders," said David Frankel of votehemp.com at the Hemposium. "When we find something is harmful to the planet, we stop using it. When we find something is beneficial, we use it. Hempsters deserve respect. Farmers have had enough. There's a car with hemp fiber in the door panels that's as strong as steel. And Americans can't grow it?"

Apparently Sen. Leahy can change one single line in a current bill that will let the DEA give permission to farmers to grow it, even though there's nothing in any existing bill that specifically forbids them from doing so immediately. One might ask why the Drug Enforcement Agency is involved in any way in the struggle of farmers to grow material for car door panels.

"In Europe, the focus is on harm reduction. They know you don't judge the effectiveness of a policy by the number of people you imprison," said Rick Steves. "Marijuana is classified as a soft drug, like alcohol. In Amsterdam, police have bulletin boards in coffee shops where they warn people about potentially dangerous drugs on the street. I went into a bathroom in a Starbucks and there were no junkies because they had a blue light. Junkies can't see their veins in a blue light so they're directed to go to a cigarette machine across the street that now sells clean syringes. No jail or even the threat. Harm reduction. The choice is tolerate eccentric behavior or build more prisons. We smoke double what the Dutch do. Pot smokers are decent, with nothing to be ashamed of.

"I'm a travel writer," he continued. "High is a place and I want to go there. Don't hide it. Be proud of it. Politicians have got to know it's not political suicide to oppose the drug war. They're blowing billions of dollars to put 80,000 Americans in jail. Real people. The laws are causing more problems than the drug itself. One person in jail for marijuana is one too many. "

At 4:20 at the Share Parker Memorial Main Stage I helped pass out free water bottles to the crowd without bothering to be smug about it while the band Flowmotion blasted out a magnificent version of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, a brilliant choice, just what I wanted to hear, excellent lead guitar, we'd love to take you home tonight, we'd love to take you home, right into a little help from my friends of all persuasion.

Using my trusty official media badge and my bogus "Local Crew - All Access" pass with the picture of planet earth, I managed to pass the volunteer security guard into backstage at Seeley, the northernmost stage with its own special ambience, surrounded by signs saying "You are totally good" and "No prison for pot."

All backstage areas were cordoned off by fences covered in black plastic inside and out, but the inside of the Seeley fence was turned into an art gallery covered in the best tie dye I'd ever seen, great place to hang out, breathe deeply, eat a banana and listen to Los Marijuanos, a perfect example of cross-pollination in music, cholo rap, Mexican hip-hop, extolling us not to be bendejos and "Fire it up," making me get up from my cozy chair, leave backstage to see them from the front, bald, big, Chicano, black hempfest T-shirts, giving away a bong to whoever came to the stage with the biggest joint. Someone showed up with an enormous blunt, enough to last me a year. The lead Marijuano said "Can anyone beat this?" No one could so the guy walked away with the deal of the day.

Then Los Marijuanos pulled off the most extreme cross-pollination of all, turning into Allan Sherman, singing "Mr. Weedman, bring me some weed" to the tune of "Mr. Sandman" while a woman dressed as a butterfly flitted across the stage. They continued doing unlikely pot satires of songs across the decades, cracking me up, distracting me from my one opportunity to talk to Keith Stroup, the head of NORML, who was no longer backstage when I went back, and thank God I did. Deborah from the kitchen served chili that was an 11 on Nigel's scale of 1 to 10, which is one certain reason behind the success of the Hempfest. Guests are never lacking in the creature comforts, good food, plenty of drink, bathrooms, free massages, and wholesale congeniality.

Everyone's a volunteer, including the bands, which is a pretty lame excuse for why major national acts aren't on the bill. Many have been asked, and many have made promises to show, but none have made it, and perhaps it's just as well. Hempfest works best as a venue for local talent. If you're from out of town, you'll hear nothing but incredible music from bands you've never heard of.

Though the atmosphere was definitely pro-Obama, the only actual politician in sight was Paul Richmond, running for Congress in the 6th congressional district. His open stance against the Patriot Act, the war in Iraq, and the war on drugs would make him a major leader in the movement if he gets elected.

Just as the NAACP helped rid America of the stereotypes of Amos and Andy, so Hempfest resolves to rid us of the stereotypes of Cheech and Chong, neither of whom have never appeared at the festival despite invitations.

Blame it on the stigma of pot they themselves created, the cartoon vision of Cheech and Chong, two cliché characters invented by Cheech and Chong forty years ago, with the emphasis on invented. Cheech and Chong are as accurate a portrayal of stoners as Laurel and Hardy are of piano movers. Assuming that smoking the herb turns you into Cheech and Chong is as ridiculous as assuming listening to rap turns you into Amos and Andy. When real people get high, the only resemblance between them and Cheech and Chong is a sense of humor that allows them to laugh at Cheech and Chong, who can be pretty funny. Anything that increases the individual's sense of humor should not be illegal, or so said Ms. Euro Kane Mybook, a speaker at this year's Hempfest.

Not that Hempfest lacked in comic relief, which was provided by the cast of "Reefer Madness," a musical based upon the ludicrous anti-marijuana film of the same name. If this was Woodstock, they were Sha-Na-Na, providing old fashioned show biz glitz and theatricality, not to mention scantily clothed women, clever songwriting, and Broadway singing.

Local reggae heroes, the Herbivores, have played every Hempfest and are worth the trip themselves. Vains of Jenna, thin guys with their shirts off, did a brain searing Jumpin' Jack Flash, loud enough to be heard by passing cruise ships on their way from Elliot Bay to Alaska, massive and elaborate, floating skyscrapers with great views of the Hempfest.

And then I met Violet Victoria the Clown who wants the US to "End the predator/prey model," and her two cohorts, Angela and Ginger, one of whom was topless, in purple and black, breasts painted like mushrooms, explaining that the cops should have something better to do, and that the parties need to get bigger.

Actual overheard conversation next to a pile of horse droppings…

"Wow, the cops won't even clean up their own shit."

"That was me. Sorry, dude."

Sorry to say I didn't have the journalistic integrity to stand around and find out who finally cleaned it up. In any case, Segways for Hempfest cops instead of horses is my new motto.

"I'm not going to paint my balls black for no chick… ever again," explained Roland A. Dooby of marijuanaman.com. "I smoked pot in the 80s and I thought to myself, you know, this would be good at any temperature." Roland went on to tell us a surefire way of getting pot past the authorities. Just go out and buy a dildo, take out the batteries, put your pot inside, close it, smear chocolate sauce on it, put it in a plastic Ziplock bag and seal it. No security person on the planet earth is going to open that Ziplock bag.

If you were there when I was, you caught Tony B's Hip-Hop Review from Tacoma, featuring Lae-Z Boi and lots of others, a parade of new talent, the sudden wind blowing the batik flags of all religious symbols, a peace sign, a star of David, an ankh, yin and yang. Even stranger than the rapping Indians and hip-hop Mexicans was the constant deaf translator downstage left, full of attitude while trying to translate lyrics impenetrable to the fully hearing. How do you translate na na na na for the deaf?

My favorite bands were Impenetrable Scribble and Total Devastation, though I'm not sure if that last was a band or a bong.

There's a spot, a secret unofficial spot, a room, hidden from view, and you'd have to torture me to tell you where it is, and then I'd still have to kill you, where a certain genre of people aggregate and everyone's got a piece and a nug jug and they all get passed around to everybody, in a circle, in both directions, and when you leave you will never be the same. I would NEVER enter such a room, but if I did I'd have excellent conversations with total strangers.

In preparation for Hempfest going national, there's no doubt Wal-Mart and China have already got a 99 cent bong somewhere in the development pipeline, but till then Hempfest remains the premiere display of handcrafted masterpieces of the paraphernalia art, glass sculptures of complexity and originality masquerading as pipes longer than your body.

Among the more fabulous inventions on display at Hempfest is alwaysLit, a contraption that "keeps your lighter attached to your cigarette pack or pipe at all times," with a retractable chord that guarantees you'll never go flameless again during a smoke emergency. It means no one will ever steal your lighter without also stealing your cigarettes or pipe and your alwayslit.

I had a serious theological question for the inevitable Jesus freak telling us we were all going to hell. "According to Genesis 38:6-10 and Deuteronomy 25:5-10, if a married man dies without children, his brother is obligated to marry the widow. If he refuses to marry his brother's widow or deliberately does not give her children, he must pay a fine of one shoe. Now really, do you think one shoe is enough? I mean ever since Wal-Mart made buddies with China, the price of shoes has gone WAY down. Don't you think maybe the fine should go up to at least a blender or a couple of Rangers season tickets?"

And he looked at me like I was the crazy one.

As soon as the Brothers of the Baladi started playing, I dropped what I was doing and ran up front to find out who was making that insanely good world music, part George Harrison, part Peter Gabriel, part Juluka, Arabic, Indian, Turkish with a touch of Eurythmics, spooky and sinuous rhythms, spiritual chants floating in and out of different languages, with cosmic lyrics involving peace of mind and other unattainable goals. Their version of Buffalo Springfield's "For What it's Worth," there's something happening here, what it is ain't exactly clear, was my most transcendent musical moment.

Backstage at the main stage was party headquarters, though I didn't know what to make of the silver bust of a boy with what I must conclude was a unicorn horn sticking through his forehead, unless the boy was me and the unicorn horn was that last bong hit, in which case it's brilliant, illuminating the momentary collapse of all synaptic barriers, sweeping me into the eddy of illusion, lashed to the creative unknown like a ghostbuster on steroids.

Salvation was on the way. You heard it here first. Pay attention Famous Amos, Mrs. Fields, and the Keebler Elves. From my taste buds to your ears, I was sitting backstage minding my own business when I was offered a "bacon chocolate chip cookie" (with a cinnamon glaze) made by Eileen that was out of this world.

If the Hempfest had never happened and they were to apply today for a permit for this brand new event in which thousands of hippies would play loud rock music in the park and openly get high and sell paraphernalia and dance and celebrate and give political speeches against the government, the city would probably laugh in your face. Hempfest could only have happened this way, in increments. It's the 17 year history of peaceful co-existence, slow and steady growth, each year pushing the limits a little further, plus Vivian McPeak's remarkable negotiating power, that keeps it alive. It could only happen here, the greatest political event of the year, the world's largest protestival and celebration of freedom masquerading as a mere hempfest.

And Viv's there every second, the MC of main stage, in T-shirt, utility belt and jeans, Rasputin the Plumber, reminding us why we're there and to clean up and donate and volunteer in between those tasty, sticky, gooey, pungent nugs of bright green enlightenment.

 


Vivian McPeak

I learned from Vivian and all the other speakers at hempfest that I never, ever, had anything to be ashamed about, no reason to hide in the shadows while indulging secret smoke, what a crock, forced to behave like a criminal because I do something that makes me feel better, that makes pain go away, pain in every sense of the word. The anti-drug war movement parallels the gay rights movement in that step one is coming out and admitting your behavior, always difficult when your behavior could bring social ostracizing, jail, a beating, or any combination of the above.

The Stephen Colbert Report got it right, the movement has shifted from solidarity to solitarity, millions of individual pods who'd rather link together than march together. The political climate in the United States simply makes it too damn scary to stand up and declare yourself an enemy combatant in the war against insanity. Everywhere but Seattle.

"The first rule of being subversive is not letting anyone know you're being subversive."
- Bob Dylan: Theme Time Radio Hour #47 -

 

GUIDE TO NEXT YEAR'S HEMPFEST

Show up on Thursday or Friday and volunteer to help set it up. Come on, it's just a day or two. What else do you have to do? It's not all heavy lifting. You can be a traffic ogre and just stand there waving people by, and you get a cool free T-shirt too.

Please oh please enter from the north and avoid the mammoth crush of flesh at the south end. Park in any supermarket parking lot in Ballard and take the 15 bus. Dress as freaky as possible and the bus driver will surely know where you're going and ache to get rid of you.

Don't miss stonedhenge or the rose garden, great places for people watching, just plant yourself somewhere and watch the parade while someone shouts from the stage in totally justified anger over the continued exploitation of the proletariat by the fuckin' bourgeoisie.

Stick around Monday and Tuesday to help clean up. It's not all heavy lifting and you get an entirely different cool free T-shirt.

Be observant and absorbent. Just because the atmosphere is relaxed doesn't mean it's okay to be stupid. No blowing pot smoke in the faces of cops, and if the guy riding the horse that just plopped a Republican in front of your booth is wearing a uniform, the proper response is "thank you, sir, may I have another?" The national authorities might not be interfering, but two guys were definitely watching with binoculars from a crane across the tracks from the park.

"The only people who've ever died from marijuana were shot by a cop."
- Jack Herer -




dareland.blogspot.com


www.dareland.com/


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HAIKU HEADLINES

"HAPPINESS IS A

WARM GUN"....IN THE HANDS OF A

BIKINI BIMBO

zEN mAN
(observing the new darling of the smug repugs in her traditional vice presidential outfit........she's a female Rambo gun dog)

zEN mAN archives


zEN mAN



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Palin: I'd Oppose Abortion Even if My Daughter's Raped By a Moose


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The Weekly Poll

The current question:

Who would make the best Secretary of State when (not if) Obama takes the helm in January 2009?

   A. Hillary Clinton
   B. Zbigniew Brzezinski
   C. Bill Richardson
   D. Chris Dodd
   E. Evan Bayh
   F. Your choice



Send your response to BadtotheBoneBob ( BCEpoll 'at' aol.com )



Results Tuesday



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Baron Dave Romm

Live from Mpls

Baron Dave Romm is an accredited journalist for the RNC!

Watch his LiveJournal for updates.

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Recommended Reading

from Bruce

Associated Press: Military donations favor Obama
U.S. soldiers have donated more presidential campaign money to Democrat Barack Obama than to Republican John McCain, a reversal of previous campaigns in which military donations tended to favor GOP White House hopefuls, a nonpartisan group reported Thursday. Troops serving abroad have given nearly six times as much money to Obama's presidential campaign as they have to McCain's, the Center for Responsive Politics said.


Mark Morford: God ditches the GOP (sfgate.com)
This just in: Even the Lord has abandoned the desperate, shameful Right.


Jonah Lehrer: Daydream achiever (boston.com)
A wandering mind can do important work, scientists are learning - and may even be essential.


Connie Ogle: Fulfilled promise brings grandma's secrets to light (McClatchy Newspapers)
Sadia Shepard grew up just outside Boston with a Muslim mother and a Christian father in a household that celebrated Christmas and Ramadan. But at 13, she learned just how multicultural her family was. She discovered that her mother's mother, who "wore saris and cooked the same food as everyone else in the family," had been born Rachel Jacobs, a descendant of the Bene Israel, a small Jewish community whose members believe they are one of the lost tribes, shipwrecked in India 2,000 years ago.


Connie Ogle: Her Brazil has moral bandits and hard choices (McClatchy Newspapers)
Frances de Pontes Peebles would like us all to understand something about Brazil, where she was born: "It's not just samba and soccer and the Amazon."


Glenn Gamboa: "Squeeze play: After current tour, band members will go different ways" (Newsday)
No, Glenn Tilbrook says, he was never tempted. "There were a lot of offers for us to get back together," the Squeeze singer says, calling from his London home. "The money was tempting. But we didn't do it because we felt we were honoring the memory of the band.


Mark Edwards: "Meet Glen Campbell (again)" (timesonline.co.uk)
Many a pensioner pop star is rediscovering his mojo. Glen Campbell is releasing an album of covers songs by younger artists.


Shay Quillen: The Morning Benders surprised by warm reception for debut album (San Jose Mercury News)
While other high school kids in Santa Monica, Calif., were listening to Green Day and starting up garage bands, Chris Chu was immersing himself in the Beatles and the Beach Boys and educating himself in music theory.


Will Harris: A Chat with Pete Byrne, Naked Eyes singer (bullz-eye.com)
I used to love seeing a band play for 20 to 25 minutes. When you're just going out there to play a hits show, it's like you're being shot out of a cannon. You're out there, and, bang, everybody's going crazy.


Andrew Billen: "Johnny Rotten: Respect is my motto" (timesonline.co.uk)
He was an Antichrist. He was an anarchist. Now the combustible Sex Pistol John Lydon has turned his back on disrespect.


20 QUESTIONS: Handsome Dick Manitoba (popmatters.com)
Punk rock godfather and legend Handsome Dick Manitoba likes to kick back in the ol' Barcalounger and enjoy the comforts of home, as he reveals to PopMatters 20 Questions.


Dan Brown: Don LaFontaine, "The Voice" of Movie Trailers, Has Passed On at 68 (huffingtonpost.com)
Don LaFontaine, a man with perhaps the most widely recognized and imitated voice in the English-speaking world, has died. He was "The Voice" of over 5,000 movie trailers. [Be sure to watch the YouTube video.]


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GOP Base Sends Message: McCain Stood Up to N. Vietnamese, But Not to Us


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Trivia Question Of The Day

Introduced at the St. Louis World's Fair, "Fairy Floss" met with great success. What is 'Fairy Floss'?

   A:    Cotton Candy
   B:    Mercerized Thread
   C:    Small Wiglet
   D:    Steel Wool Pads
   E:    Waxed Dental Floss



Send your answer to Marty






Trivia Question from Yesterday

What group's motto is 'Blood and Fire'?

   A:    American Red Cross
   B:    Irish Republican Army
   C:    Jesuits
   D:    Los Angeles Fire Department
  E:    Salvation Army                 Source







Alan J was first, and correct, with:
   Salvation Army



Charlie answered:
   E: Salvation Army
  I'm hardly the religious type, but they do some good work




~ Tony In Philly wrote:
   My guess:
  B: Irish Republican Army




mj responded:
   I'm certain they weren't the pacifists of dear mother Church
  But I don't know the motto. I'm guessing C.




Sally replied:
   As Gloria Gaynor would sing, "I Have Survived," 3-days of hyper, "pre-first-day-of-school" g/kids, and have lived to tell the tales...
  How perfect is this question after last night's Republican, "Dog and Pony" show? I ask you?
  I take you back to the early 1950s, when "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown," and "Blood Pressure" (two short stories by Damon Runyon) found composer and lyricist Frank Loesser and Abe Burrows (a radio and television writer with no theatrical experience) et al., who in turn, introduced to Broadway (and the world) Sergeant Sarah Brown, a straight-walking sister at the, "Save a Soul Mission" (based on the Salvation Army, whose motto (E) "Blood and Fire" is quite visible on their flag) which opposes gambling.
  Sound vaguely familiar? Maybe you will get more into the venue if I give you the Broadway Show title, "Guys and Dolls?"
  And, if Mrs Sarah Palin isn't Jean Simmons (who portrayed Sergeant Sarah Brown in the movie version) I don't know who better to fill the role.

  Jean's on the right with Marlon Brando, back when he was a looker...
Sigh...
  PS: Can Palin drag her voice out of her sinuses for just one God damned minute when she speaks her Right-wing dribble? I also ask you that...




Ted ("To admit ignorance is the first step in the search for wisdom") said:
   A truly worthwhile organization...The Salvation Army......Ted



Vic in AK wrote:
   My favorite place to shop E: Salvation Army
  Thanks to The repugs I am a cripple who has no recourse but to shop there (OK,I shopped there even when I was hale and hearty) But with being disabled and living on $280 a month I have to scrimp and scrape just to keep a roof over my head and can only pay for a couple of the prescriptions the docs say I need. My public access TeeVee show is done on a shoestring budget ,meaning no money at all, re-using old tapes and bumming DVD+rs from friends and family. If my camera or computer sh*ts the bed, thats it...no more show. We NEED to keep these idiots out of power or people like me will disapear down the drain...forgotten and left to die from lack of "caring"




socdan responded:
   "Blood and Fire" is the motto of the Salvation Army. It's on their patches. Beir bua.



Marian the Teacher replied:
   Salvation Army




  

Thanks to Charlie and Sally for the pictures.






Coming Monday! - 'The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour' on DVD!










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Reader Comment

'Melting Pot'

Marty,

With all due respect to my republican acquaintances: Is one greedy bastard psyching up a convention full of other greedy bastards a surprise????

This is news? Sounds like an Amway meeting. I never considered that the term "melting pot" meant that we were aiming for the same IQ score.

Save us,
Willow


Thanks, Willow!

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http://dareland.


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Selected Readings

from that Mad Cat, JD

SAME OLD REPUG SHIT, DIFFERENT TOILET!

THE LIARS CONVENTION!

DICK CHENEY'S PIG GETS BUSTED!

BIMBO IN CHIEF!

FOUR MORE YEARS OF THIS? GOD HELP US!

SHE HAS ALL THE EARMARKS OF AN EYESORE!

A NOUN, A VERB AND BULLSHIT!

SHE EATS MOOSEBURGERS AND HAS A PREGNANT OUT OF WEDLOCK DAUGHTER! I GUESS THESE ARE THE THINGS THAT REPUGS LOOK FOR IN A PRESIDENT!

THE McBUSH BUMP!

WALNUTS GOES NAZI!

THE CREEPY REPUGS JUST WON'T TAKE OUT THE GARBAGE!

BLAME IT ON TINA!

DID YOU KNOW THE THAT McBUSH WAS A POW?

WHAT THE FUCK IS UP AMERICA???

THE HYPOCRITES!

HONKY LAND!



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Ark Of Darkness

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In The Chaos Household

Last Night

It's not the heat, it's the humidity.



Tonight, Friday:

CBS begins the night with the FRESH 'Stand Up To Cancer', followed by the FRESH informercial 'CBS Fall Preview', then a RERUN 'Old Christine', and a FRESH 'Swingtown'.
Scheduled on a FRESH Dave are John Malkovich, Hayden Panettiere, and Steve Earle performs in a tribute to Warren Zevon.
Scheduled on a FRESH Craig are Eva Longoria and Jamie Lidell.

NBC starts the night with the FRESH 'Stand Up To Cancer', followed by the FRESH informercial 'NFL Opening Kickoff 2008', then 'Dateline'.
Scheduled on a FRESH Leno (R-Enabler) are Eva Mendes, Chris Matthews, and Shinedown.
Scheduled on a FRESH Conan are Jerry O'Connell and Christian Lander.
On a RERUN Carson 'The Scab' Daly (from 6/10/08) are Maria Menounos, Benjamin Nugent, and Local H.

ABC opens the night with the FRESH 'Stand Up To Cancer', followed by a RERUN 'America's So-Called Funniest Home Videos', then another unwatchable '20/20'.
Scheduled on a FRESH Jimmy Kimmel are Taye Diggs, Sarah Jane Morris, and Black Kids.

The CW fills the night with a FRESH 'WWE Friday Night Steroid SmackDown!'.

Faux has a FRESH 2-hour 'Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?' .

MY has 'The Academy', followed by 'Paradise Ho-Tell'.

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 'The Cleaner'.

AMC offers the movie 'Timecop', followed by the movie 'The Dead Pool', then the movie 'The Dead Pool', again.

BBC  -   
 [12:00 PM]    How Clean Is Your House? - Episode 3
 [12:30 PM]    How Clean Is Your House? - Episode 4
 [1:00 PM]    Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares Revisited - Ep 2 The Fenwick Arms
 [2:00 PM]    Cash in the Attic - Ep 10 Collins
 [3:00 PM]    Bargain Hunt - Ep. 32 Ardingly 25
 [3:30 PM]    Bargain Hunt - Ep. 33 Carmarthen 29
 [4:00 PM]    You Are What You Eat - Episode 1
 [4:30 PM]    You Are What You Eat - Episode 2
 [5:00 PM]    How Clean Is Your House? - Episode 5
 [5:30 PM]    How Clean Is Your House? - Episode 6
 [6:00 PM]    Newsnight - Episode 27
 [7:00 PM]    BBC World News America
 [8:00 PM]    Monty Python's Flying Circus - Ep. 3 The Money Programme
 [8:40 PM]    Monty Python's Flying Circus - Ep. 4 Blood, Devastation, Death, War and Horror
 [9:20 PM]    Star Stories - Catherine Zeta Jones & Michael Douglas
 [10:00 PM]    Newsnight - Episode 27
 [11:00 PM]    Monty Python's Flying Circus - Ep. 3 The Money Programme
 [11:40 PM]    Monty Python's Flying Circus - Ep. 4 Blood, Devastation, Death, War and Horror
 [12:20 AM]    Star Stories - Catherine Zeta Jones & Michael Douglas
 [1:00 AM]    Monty Python's Flying Circus - Ep. 3 The Money Programme
 [1:40 AM]    Monty Python's Flying Circus - Ep. 4 Blood, Devastation, Death, War and Horror
 [2:20 AM]    Star Stories - Catherine Zeta Jones & Michael Douglas
 [3:00 AM]    The Graham Norton Show - Ep 11 John Malkovich, Alan Davies and Sharleen S
 [4:00 AM]    Bargain Hunt - Ep. 32 Ardingly 25
 [4:30 AM]    Bargain Hunt - Ep. 33 Carmarthen 29
 [5:00 AM]    Cash in the Attic - Ep. 31 Burdett
 [5:30 AM]    Cash in the Attic - Ep. 32 Hinchcliffe
 [6:00 AM]    BBC World News    (ALL TIMES EDT)

Bravo has 'Million Dollar Listing', followed by the movie 'Dave', then the movie 'While You Were Sleeping'.

Comedy Central has 'Scrubs', another 'Scrubs', last night's 'Jon Stewart', last night's 'Colbert Report', 'Chappelle's Show', another 'Chappelle's Show', and 'Bill Engvall: 15 Degrees Off Cool'.
Scheduled on a FRESH Jon Stewart - Nazi Con coverage concludes.
Scheduled on a FRESH Colbert Report is David Paterson.

HBO offers a FRESH Real Time with Bill Maher - scheduled guests include Kerry Washington (D-Hot), fmr. White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan (R-Liar), fmr. Lt. Gov. Michael Steele (R-MD), Gov. Charlie Crist (R-FL), and Real Time correspondent Dan Savage.

FX has the movie 'The Family Stone', followed by the movie 'Maid In Manhattan', then the movie 'Maid In Manhattan', again.

History has 'Modern Marvels', another 'Modern Marvels', 'Gangland', and a FRESH 'Shockwave'.

IFC  -   
 [7:45 AM]    IFC News Special
 [8:00 AM]    Town & Country
 [9:50 AM]    Danny Deckchair
 [11:35 AM]    Dinner Rush
 [1:20 PM]    Town & Country
 [3:15 PM]    Danny Deckchair
 [5:00 PM]    Dinner Rush
 [6:45 PM]    Made
 [8:30 PM]    The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou
 [10:30 PM]    Z Rock
 [11:00 PM]    The Whitest Kids U'Know
 [11:30 PM]    Gunslinger Girl
 [12:50 AM]    IFC in Theaters
 [1:00 AM]    Solaris
 [3:50 AM]    IFC News Special
 [4:00 AM]    The World According to Shorts
 [5:40 AM]    Trauma    (ALL TIMES EST)

SciFi has 'Stargate SG-1', 'Stargate Atlantis', another 'Stargate Atlantis', followed by a FRESH 'Stargate Atlantis'.

Sundance  -   
 [04:30 AM]    Ab-Normal Beauty
 [06:15 AM]    Saving Jazz
 [07:15 AM]    Reach the Rock
 [09:00 AM]    The Staircase: Chapter 5. A weak case
 [10:00 AM]    It's Not Easy Being Green Season 2: Episode 6
 [10:35 AM]    Somba Ke: The Money Place
 [11:35 AM]    Big Ideas for a Small Planet - Season 1: Paper or Plastic?
 [12:05 PM]    The Legacy
 [01:20 PM]    Travellers & Magicians
 [03:05 PM]    Mary, Queen of Scots
 [05:20 PM]    Bodies, Rest & Motion
 [07:00 PM]    I Want You
 [08:30 PM]    The Danish Poet
 [09:00 PM]    Live From Abbey Road - Season 2: Brian Wilson, Martha Wainright and Teddy Thompson
 [10:00 PM]    New York Doll
 [11:30 PM]    Be Quiet
 [12:00 AM]    13 Tzameti
 [01:30 AM]    Heavy Metal Jr.
 [02:00 AM]    Live From Abbey Road - Season 2: Brian Wilson, Martha Wainright and Teddy Thompson
 [03:00 AM]    John Safran vs. God: Episode 1
 [03:30 AM]    City of Men - Season 4: Episode 4: Looks Can Lie
 [04:15 AM]    The Idiots (1998)     (ALL TIMES EST)

TCM:
 [6:45 AM]      Living On Velvet (1935)
 [8:15 AM]      If You Could Only Cook (1935)
 [9:30 AM]      Adventure in Manhattan (1936)
 [10:45 AM]      More Than a Secretary (1936)
 [12:15 PM]      Bonjour Tristesse (1957)
 [2:00 PM]      Please Don't Eat The Daisies (1960)
 [4:00 PM]      The Party (1968)
 [6:00 PM]      Gunga Din (1939)
 [8:00 PM]      Swiss Family Robinson (1960)
 [10:30 PM]      The Little Hut (1957)
 [12:00 AM]      The 3 Worlds of Gulliver (1960)
 [2:00 AM]      The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies!!? (1964)
 [3:30 AM]      Rat Pfink a Boo Boo (1966)
 [4:45 AM]      Bride of the Monster (1955)     (ALL TIMES EST)


Saturday  -  09/06/08

TCM spends the night with Robert Mitchum
 [6:00 AM]      Kings Row (1942)  [WARNING: stars Ronald Reagan] 
 [8:30 AM]      Nothing Sacred (1937)
 [10:00 AM]      The Awful Truth (1937)
 [12:00 PM]      Quentin Tarantino (2008)
 [12:30 PM]      The Rounders (1965)
 [2:00 PM]      The Big Country (1958)
 [5:00 PM]      The Best Years Of Our Lives (1946)
 [8:00 PM]      The Night Of The Hunter (1955)
 [10:00 PM]      Track of the Cat (1954)
 [11:45 PM]      The Red Pony (1949)
 [1:30 AM]      Man With the Gun (1955)
 [3:00 AM]      Thunder Road (1958)
 [4:45 AM]      Out of the Past (1947)
    (ALL TIMES EST)


USA has a FRESH 'Monk', followed by a FRESH 'psych'.



Any opinions?

Or reviews?







(See below for addresses)

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Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences president Sid Ganis, left, and U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Jeffrey E. Phillips pose with an Oscar statuette during a ceremony honoring the 1942 Academy award winning Frank Capra documentary 'Prelude to War' in Los Angeles on Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2008. The Academy returned the statuette, which was originally presented to cinematographer Joseph Lipkowitz, after it was put up for auction at Christie's last June.
Photo by Matt Sayles

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Click Here!

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New Film Online For Free

Michael Moore

Inspired by Neil Young and Radiohead, Michael Moore will release his new film online and for free.

The film, "Slacker Uprising," follows Moore's 62-city tour during the 2004 election to rally young voters. It will be available for three weeks as a free download to North American residents, beginning Sept. 23. An official announcement of the film is planned for Friday.

Moore said he considered releasing "Slacker Uprising" theatrically as "Michael Moore's big election year movie" as he did with 2004's "Fahrenheit 9/11," which was highly critical of resident Bush.

Instead, Moore opted for a symbol of gratitude to his fans as he approaches the 20th anniversary of his first film, 1989's "Roger & Me."

Michael Moore

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In this image released by Sony Pictures Television, actor Larry Thomas, who played the character, the Soup Nazi, on the NBC comedy series, 'Seinfeld,' poses in front of the Seinfeld Campus Tour bus during a stopover in Union Square Park, part of a 26-city college campus tour, Thursday, Sept. 4, 2008, in New York. Thomas posed for photos with fans, signed autographs and offered tours of the bus, filled with 'Seinfeld' memorabilia.
Photo by Julie Klein


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Venice Film Festival

Obama

Filmmaker Kathryn Bigelow cast her vote for US presidential hopeful Barack Obama on Thursday as she presented her gut-wrenching Iraq war movie "The Hurt Locker" at the Venice film festival.

"I hope and pray" that US forces will be withdrawn "immediately" from Iraq, she said, adding: "And only one man is capable of doing that, and that's (US presidential hopeful) Mr. Barack Obama."

The comment came a day after compatriot Jonathan Demme said his film "Rachel Getting Married" reflected the multi-cultural "America that I love."

"That's the America I love," said the Oscar-winning director of "The Silence of the Lambs" (1991), adding: "I saw that America recently last week at Barack Obama's induction" as the Democratic nominee for president.

Obama

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Memorabilia Sold

Jimi Hendrix

A guitar set alight onstage by Jimi Hendrix during a concert in London was sold at auction on Thursday for $497,500 to a U.S. collector.

The scorched Fender Stratocaster was the star lot at an auction of music memorabilia that also included The Beatles' first contract and a gun permit application made out by Elvis Presley.

Specialist auction house The Fame Bureau said Hendrix's guitar, which he set alight during a concert at London's Astoria in March 1967, was purchased by enthusiast Daniel Boucher, from Boylston, Mass.

A copy of The Beatles' first contract with manager Brian Epstein sold for more than $426,000, the auctioneers said.

Jimi Hendrix

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bartcook

In The Kitchen With BartCop & Friends

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

'For Better or For Worse'

Lynn Johnston

For most of our lives cartoonist Lynn Johnston has had us hanging on every plot twist and complication she could pack into 29 years of "For Better or For Worse."

Take one of the biggest, longest-running ones: Would Elizabeth, seriously challenged in picking men, finally dump that silly helicopter flyboy boyfriend of hers and just marry Anthony, for God's sake? He'd been her sweetheart off and on since their grade-school days and had rescued her from the crazy would-be rapist she once worked with. So forget that the mustache Anthony grew in recent years made him look so much like a dork that even other comic strips began making fun of it. Life is, as Johnston would say, for better or for worse.

But then the cartoonist pulled the rug completely out from under us Sunday with a plot twist that made even the heartbreaking death of the Patterson family dog Farley (as he saved little April from drowning) seem pale in comparison. Even the comic strip that outraged readers by the thousands in 1993 when Lawrence acknowledged he was gay couldn't top this.

Lynn Johnston

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Canadian comedian Howie Mandel, the host of the TV game show, 'Deal Or No Deal,' holds a plaque presented to him in a briefcase as he poses in stocking feet at his new star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, during dedication ceremonies in Los Angeles, Thursday, Sept. 4, 2008.
Photo by Reed Saxon

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Baby Daddy

David Spade

David Spade is the father of Playboy playmate Jillian Grace's newborn daughter, Spade's representative said Thursday.

The baby girl was born Aug. 26 in Missouri, and Spade plans to visit her on his first break from filming the CBS sitcom "Rules of Engagement," publicist Meredith O'Sullivan said.

The 44-year-old comedian told TMZ.com earlier this year that he had a brief relationship with Grace, and would accept responsibility if confirmed to be the father of her child.

David Spade

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I'm Pissed
(formerly 'The Vidiot')

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

4 More Years!

Jack Abramoff

Jack Abramoff, the once powerful lobbyist convicted of illegally trading expensive gifts for political favors, was sentenced to four years in prison Thursday by a federal judge who said the corruption scandal Abramoff spawned had shattered public confidence in the political system.

Abramoff, who declared himself a broken man, appeared crestfallen as the judge handed down a sentence longer than even prosecutors had sought.

Still, Abramoff received a dramatic reduction in his sentence. U.S. District Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle could have sent him to prison for 11 years but she credited Abramoff with becoming the key FBI witness in his own corruption scandal. With his help, the Justice Department has convicted a congressman and several Capitol Hill aides and Bush administration figures.

Jack Abramoff

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People look at the largest mosaic made of corks created by Albanian artist Saimir Strati in Tirana September 4, 2008. Strati glued 229,764 corks of various shapes and colours over a plastic banner measuring 12.94 metres by 7.1 metres to make the artpiece "Romeo with a crown of grapes playing the guitar while dancing with the sea and the sun". He worked 14 hours a day for 28 days and completed his project on Thursday.
Photo by Arben Celi

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wave Bye-Bye

New York Sun

The New York Sun, a daily newspaper launched six years ago as an often conservative-leaning alternative to The New York Times, may stop publishing by the end of September unless it gets additional financial backing.

The paper, which began publishing in 2002, has been losing substantial amounts of money, Sun editor Seth Lipsky wrote in a letter to readers published on the paper's website on Wednesday. The losses reflected advertising declines that are hurting nearly every U.S. newspaper amid wider economic problems such as the U.S. housing market slump and the global credit crisis.

The Sun is co-owned by Lipsky, Stoll and a group of investors whom Stoll declined to name. Previous reports have named hedge fund operator and philanthropist Michael Steinhardt as an investor, as well as Bruce Kovner, founder and chairman of hedge fund Caxton Associates LLC and chairman of conservative think tank the American Enterprise Institute.

New York Sun

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Another Record!

Army

Soldier suicides this year could surpass the record rate of last year, Army officials said Thursday, urging military leaders at all levels to redouble prevention efforts for a force strained by two wars.

So far this year, there are 62 confirmed suicides among active duty soldiers and Guard and Reserve troops called to active duty, officials said. Another 31 deaths appear to be suicides but are still being investigated.

To try to stem the continuing high number of suicides, the Army continues to increase the number of staff psychiatrists and other mental health staff as well as chaplains, is issuing a new interactive video for troops and will be adding a new program to basic training starting in January, said Brig. Gen. Rhonda L. Cornum, an assistant Army surgeon general.

Army

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Religiously Insane

Sister Sarah

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R-Oil Industry) told ministry students at her former church that the United States sent troops to fight in the Iraq war on a "task that is from God."

In an address last June, the Republican vice presidential candidate also urged ministry students to pray for a plan to build a $30 billion natural gas pipeline in the state, calling it "God's will."

A video of the speech was posted at the Wasilla Assembly of God's Web site before finding its way on to other sites on the Internet.

"I can do my job there in developing our natural resources and doing things like getting the roads paved and making sure our troopers have their cop cars and their uniforms and their guns, and making sure our public schools are funded," she added. "But really all of that stuff doesn't do any good if the people of Alaska's heart isn't right with God."

Sister Sarah

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


A tattoo of the name 'Bristol' is seen on the left ring finger of Levi Johnston, boyfriend of Bristol Palin, right, daughter of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn., Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2008.
Photo by Paul Sancya

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We're Number 1!

Arms Exports

U.S. government-brokered overseas arms sales are expected to total about $34 billion in the current fiscal year, up more than 45 percent from the year before, the Pentagon agency in charge said on Wednesday.

"Our program is growing by leaps and bounds," Jeanne Farmer of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency told an international defense industry conference.

Among the biggest government-to-government buyers in fiscal 2008, which wraps up at the end of this month, were Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Egypt and Iraq, Farmer said.

Critics say booming sales reflect a failure of U.S. diplomacy and show a need for the United States to rethink how it handles foreign policy.

Arms Exports

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Burning Down The House

Cats

Chattanooga firefighters rescued several cats during a house fire that investigators say was probably caused by the cats themselves.

Fire department spokesman Bruce Garner said firefighters responded to an alarm Thursday morning and found a fire in the kitchen. While no one was home, they found about 10 cats inside.

Capt. Lesley Morgan said the cause of the fire appears to be accidental and most likely from a cat knocking over an unattended candle in the kitchen.

Cats

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cable Nielsens

Ratings

Rankings for the top 15 programs on cable networks as compiled by Nielsen Media Research for the week of Aug 25-31. Day and start time (EDT) are in parentheses:

    1. Democratic National Convention coverage (Thursday, 10 p.m.), CNN, 5.80 million homes, 8.06 million viewers.
    2. "The Closer" (Monday, 9 p.m.), TNT, 5.54 million homes, 7.42 million viewers.
    3. Democratic National Convention coverage (Thursday, 9 p.m.), CNN, 4.25 million homes, 5.53 million viewers.
    4. Democratic National Convention coverage (Wednesday, 10 p.m.), CNN, 3.93 million homes, 5.38 million viewers.
    5. Auto Racing: NASCAR Sprint Cup (Sunday, 8 p.m.), ESPN, 3.77 million homes, 5.64 million viewers.
    6. Democratic National Convention coverage (Wednesday, 9 p.m.), CNN, 3.71 million homes, 4.93 million viewers.
    7. Democratic National Convention coverage (Tuesday, 10 p.m.), CNN, 3.67 million homes, 4.80 million viewers.
    8. "Saving Grace" (Monday, 10 p.m.), TNT, 3.41 million homes, 4.27 million viewers.
    9. Democratic National Convention coverage (Thursday, 11 p.m.), CNN, 3.25 million homes, 4.32 million viewers.
   10. Democratic National Convention coverage (Monday, 9 p.m.), CNN, 3.24 million homes, 4.53 million viewers.
   11. Democratic National Convention coverage (Monday, 10 p.m.), CNN, 3.10 million homes, 4.24 million viewers.
   12. NFL exhibition game: Seahawks vs. Chargers (Monday, 8 p.m.), ESPN, 3.043 million homes, 4.01 million viewers.
   13. "The O'Reilly Factor" (Friday, 8 p.m.), Fox News Channel, 3.042 million homes, 3.91 million viewers.
   14. Democratic National Convention coverage (Thursday, 10 p.m.), CNN, 3.040 million homes, 4.23 million viewers.
   15. "Happening Now" (Friday, 12 noon), Fox News Channel, 2.95 million homes, 3.86 million homes.

Ratings

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In Memory

Francoise Demulder

French war photographer Francoise Demulder, the first woman to win the prestigious World Press Photo award, has died aged 61, her friend US journalist Phyllis Sipahioglu said Thursday.

She died Tuesday of a heart attack at her home in the Paris suburb of Levallois, Sipahioglu and other friends said at the Perpignan photojournalism festival in southwestern France.

Demulder, known as Fifi to her friends and colleagues, covered many of the major wars of the latter part of the last century, and her pictures featured in magazines such as Time, Stern, Paris Match and Newsweek.

She won the World Press Photo prize in 1976 for a black and white picture of a Palestinian refugee woman pleading with a masked gunman in a war-ravaged district of Beirut.

She worked briefly as a model after studying philosophy in Paris but soon fell in love with Asia.

Demulder was one of a very small number of Western journalists in Saigon when communist North Vietnamese entered the city on April 30, 1975, marking the end of the Vietnam War.

Francoise Demulder

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In this photo released by the Wildlife Conservation Society, a new Caledonian crested gecko uses his tongue to moisten his eye at 'The World of Reptiles' in New York City's Bronx Zoo, Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2008. The docile gecko has no eyelids, but the tiny points at the top of its eyes look like little eyelashes.
Photo by Julie Larsen Maher

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You have reached the Home page of BartCop Entertainment.
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