'Best of TBH Politoons'
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Jim Hightwer: CORPORATE AMERICA'S "CHEAP" IMPORT ADDICTION (jimhightower.com)
Goodness gracious, China - clean up your act!
Bill Gallagher: GEARING UP FOR A NEW WAR IN IRAN (niagarafallsreporter.com)
Like the boys from Delta House in the film classic "Animal House," President George W. Bush is planning a "road trip" to boost morale and attempt to salvage a sense of achievement for his unraveling presidency.
Annalee Newitz: Anti-authoritarian Cities
Archaeologists have discovered that Brak, a Syrian city and one of the oldest urban areas in the world, was built in a way that completely defies conventional wisdom about how cities grow.
Ethan Sacks: When major movie stars appear in smaller films (New York Daily News; Posted on popmatters.com)
Director James Mangold managed to rustle up quite a posse to help bring his movie "3:10 to Yuma," opening Friday, into theaters. Without lassoing Russell Crowe for the role of the notorious rogue Ben Wade, or Christian Bale as a one-legged rancher commissioned to bring the outlaw to jail, the taut, character-driven drama might never have gotten made.
Too much to bare (guardian.co.uk)
Nicole Kidman is an award-winning actor. So too is Maggie Gyllenhaal. So why do they - and other talented female Hollywood stars - still have to expose their bodies in order to get into the public eye? Kira Cochrane despairs.
Queen of the stone age (guardian.co.uk)
To her fans, Michelle Paver is the next JK Rowling. Her tales about a stone age orphan and his wolf friend are such a hit with children that Hollywood has bought the rights to the entire series before it's even complete. Will it all go to her head? Stephen Moss meets her.
Money Angles and Disposable Cups (andrewtobias.com)
As I sleepwalked towards the coffee machine Monday morning I grabbed a paper cup to pour that sweet elixir, I wondered what was the thermo implications of using this paper cup rather than bringing a coffee mug to work?
Silly Putty University (sillyputty.com)
Contributor Suggestion
Welcome to Washington DC
Presumably, this will be updated as necessary.
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
My old pal Coastal Eddy provided a lovely marine layer.
One of the cat trappers dropped off 2 more kittens. Anybody need a sweet little kitty? Or 2?
Humor, Australian Style
'Chaser'
A television comedy show penetrated tight security around the Asia-Pacific summit in Sydney on Thursday, driving a fake motorcade unchallenged through two security check points.
Members of Australia's Chaser television comedy programme, drove three cars, accompanied by motorcycles, near the city centre, where thousands of police and high fences have been installed to protect world leaders.
Australia's ABC, which broadcasts the Chaser programme, said the fake motorcade made it to within metres of the hotel where U.S. resident George W. Bush is staying during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) group forum.
Two cast members were detained by police. Another of the show's cast, Chris Taylor, told the ABC the motorcade had been made to look like it was carrying Canadian delegates.
Chaser thrives on pulling off madcap stunts, and earlier in the week tried to breach APEC security by delivering silly outfits for the leaders to wear. They once successfully delivered a Trojan horse, with fake warriors inside, to an Australian army barracks.
'Chaser'
TV Land Honors 'The Bob Newhart Show'
Suzanne Pleshette
Suzanne Pleshette is very much alive, and ever her saucy self.
In a rare public appearance Wednesday night for a 35th-anniversary tribute to "The Bob Newhart Show" (1972-78), her most enduring work, the veteran actress showed that a year of serious personal and health matters hasn't dampened her spitfire personality.
"I'm cancer-free, my (breasts) are great and ... I'm extremely, extremely rich," she told The Associated Press, generating howls of laughter from a packed audience during a panel discussion featuring the beloved sitcom's cast and crew.
The tribute, co-hosted by the TV Land cable network and the Paley Center for Media, attracted most of the show's principals, as well as legendary-comic guests Don Rickles and Tim Conway. But Pleshette's attendance had been a question mark.
TV Land airs a 35th-anniversary marathon of "The Bob Newhart Show" on Monday, running eight episodes selected by Newhart, from 8 p.m. to midnight.
Suzanne Pleshette
Statue Planned
Wallace And Gromit
Plans have been unveiled to erect a statue of Wallace and Gromit in the home city of their creator Nick Park.
The bronze tribute will be built in Preston, Lancashire - and the city's council is hoping it will give the area a "boost".
Mr Park, who came up with the characters when he was a student, said the statue would be "a wonderful honour".
Wallace And Gromit
Thanks, Rupert!
Sex And Violence
Americans are being subjected to more sex, violence and profane language during the traditional, early-evening "family hour" of broadcast television viewing, a U.S. watchdog group said on Wednesday.
A study conducted by the non-profit Parents Television Council found that instances of violence during family-hour broadcast TV had increased by 52.4 percent since it conducted a similar study in 2001, while the amount of sexual content grew by 22.1 percent.
The group tagged the Fox network as the "worst offender," saying it counted 20.78 instances of violent, sexual or profane content per hour. And it singled out Fox's American Dad as the most objectionable, with 52 instances per hour.
Parents Television Council said CW was the "cleanest" network overall, with 9.44 instances of objectionable content per hour. It said the only shows with no objectionable content were game shows and reality shows, such as NBC's Deal or No Deal.
Sex And Violence
Thanks, Rupert! Part 2
'Good Morning Philadelphia'
Two morning TV show anchors apologized on-air for a movie promotion that involved giving away a jacket riddled with fake bullet holes.
"Good Morning Philadelphia" anchors Clayton Morris and Sue Serio had promoted the new Clive Owen movie "Shoot 'Em Up" with the jacket and other paraphernalia.
They were subsequently criticized by Philadelphia Daily News columnist Jill Porter, who wrote that the promotion was inappropriate in a city besieged by gun deaths and on pace to record its highest murder total in a decade.
The anchors, whose show airs on the Fox affiliate WTXF-TV, cited the column in their apology on Wednesday's show.
'Good Morning Philadelphia'
Target Of Director
Rudy!
A filmmaker who was behind documentaries that bashed Rupert Murdoch and Wal-Mart is now focusing on Rudy Giuliani, creating an "online viral video campaign" about the presidential candidate timed to coincide with the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attack.
Robert Greenwald on Thursday launched the first of four short videos about Sept. 11 and the Republican former mayor. The others are planned to launch throughout the month.
The videos attack Giuliani by saying he failed to prepare New York City for a major disaster, he ignored sick ground zero workers after the terrorist attack and he profited financially from his association with the tragedy after leaving office in 2001.
Greenwald, a Brooklyn native and registered independent, has made a number of documentaries, including "Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism" and "Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price."
Rudy!
Scientists Project Huge Loss
Sea Ice
An analysis of 20 years' worth of real-life observations supports recent U.N. computer predictions that by 2050, summer sea ice off Alaska's north coast will probably shrink to nearly half the area it covered in the 1980s, federal scientists say.
Such a loss could have profound effects on mammals dependent on the sea ice, such as polar bears, now being considered for threatened species status because of changes in habitat due to global warming. It could also threaten the catch of fishermen.
In the 1980s, sea ice receded 30 to 50 miles each summer off the north coast, said James Overland, a Seattle-based oceanographer for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Sea Ice
Suicide Rate Soars
U.S. Girls
The suicide rate among preteen and young teen girls spiked 76 percent, a disturbing sign that federal health officials say they can't fully explain.
For all young people between ages 10 to 24, the suicide rate rose 8 percent from 2003 to 2004 - the biggest single-year bump in 15 years - in what one official called "a dramatic and huge increase."
The report, based on the latest numbers available, was released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and suggests a troubling reversal in recent trends. Suicide rates had fallen by 28.5 percent since 1990 among young people.
The study also documented a change in suicide method. In 1990, guns accounted for more than half of all suicides among young females. By 2004, though, death by hanging and suffocation became the most common suicide method. It accounted for about 71 percent of all suicides in girls aged 10-14; about half of those aged 15-19; and 34 percent between 20-24.
U.S. Girls
New Virus?
Bees
A newly discovered virus may be killing bees or may be making some bees vulnerable enough to disappear, U.S. researchers reported on Thursday.
While the virus probably does not alone account for what scientists call colony collapse disorder, or CCD, it could help explain what is happening to bees across the United States, they said.
The virus, called Israeli acute paralysis virus, or IAPV, was discovered in Israel in 2004 and is new to science.
CCD hit an estimated 23 percent of all beekeeping operations in the United States during the winter of 2006-7. "These beekeepers lost an average of 45 percent of their operations," the researchers wrote in their report, published in the journal Science.
Bees
Nielsen Cable
Ratings
Rankings for the top 15 programs on cable networks as compiled by Nielsen Media Research for the week of Aug. 27-Sept. 2. Day and start time (EDT) are in parentheses.
1. "The Closer" (Monday, 9 p.m.), TNT, 5.77 million homes, 7.78 million viewers.
2. Auto Racing: NASCAR Nextel Cup (California) (Sunday, 8 p.m.), ESPN, 4.15 million homes, 6.38 million viewers.
3. NFL Exhibition: Cincinnati vs. Atlanta (Monday, 8 p.m.), ESPN, 3.98 million homes, 5.22 million viewers.
4. "Saving Grace" (Monday, 10 p.m.), TNT, 3.57 million homes, 4.51 million viewers.
5. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Sunday, 9:30 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 3.24 million homes, 3.88 million viewers.
6. "The Hills" (Monday, 10 p.m.), MTV, 3.23 million homes, 4.15 million viewers.
7. "WWE Raw" (Monday, 10 p.m.), Sci Fi, 3.02 million homes, 4.15 million viewers.
8. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Saturday, 9:30 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.98 million homes, 3.82 million viewers.
9. "Hannah Montana" (Saturday, 10 p.m.), Disney, 2.93 million homes, 3.87 million viewers.
10. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Sunday, 9 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.866 million homes, 3.48 million viewers.
11. "The Suite Life of Zack & Cody" (Sunday, 9 p.m.), Disney, 2.865 million homes, 3.74 million viewers.
12. "Hannah Montana" (Tuesday, 7 p.m.), Disney, 2.84 million homes, 3.89 million viewers.
13. "WWE Raw" (Monday, 9 p.m.), Sci Fi, 2.81 million homes, 4.04 million viewers.
14. "The Suite Life of Zack & Cody" (Sunday, 9:30 p.m.), Disney, 2.78 million homes, 3.65 million viewers.
15. Movie: "Ice Princess" (Monday, 8 p.m.), Disney, 2.69 million homes, 3.42 million viewers.
Ratings
In Memory
Luciano Pavarotti
Luciano Pavarotti, opera's biggest superstar of the late 20th century, died Thursday. He was 71. He was the son of a singing baker and became the king of the high C's.
His wife, Nicoletta, four daughters and sister were among family and friends at his side, manager Terri Robson said.
Pavarotti's charismatic persona and ebullient showmanship - but most of all his creamy and powerful voice - made him the most beloved and celebrated tenor since the great Caruso and one of the few opera singers to win crossover fame as a popular superstar.
Pavarotti, who seemed equally at ease singing with soprano Joan Sutherland as with the Spice Girls, scoffed at accusations that he was sacrificing his art in favor of commercialism.
"The word 'commercial' is exactly what we want," he said after appearing in the "Three Tenors" concerts. "We've reached 1.5 billion people with opera. If you want to use the word 'commercial,' or something more derogatory, we don't care. Use whatever you want."
His name seemed to show up as much in gossip columns as serious music reviews, particularly after he split with Adua Veroni, his wife of 35 years and mother of their three daughters, and then took up with his 26-year-old secretary in 1996.
The son of a baker who was an amateur singer, Pavarotti was born Oct. 12, 1935. He had a meager upbringing, though he said it was rich with happiness.
In his teens, Pavarotti joined his father, also a tenor, in the church choir and local opera chorus. He was influenced by the American movie actor-singer Mario Lanza.
In 1961, Pavarotti won a local competition and with it a debut as Rodolfo in Puccini's "La Boheme."
He followed with a series of successes in small opera houses throughout Europe before his 1963 debut at Covent Garden in London, where he stood in for Di Stefano as Rodolfo.
Pavarotti's major debuts followed - at La Scala in Milan in 1965, San Francisco in 1967 and New York's Metropolitan Opera House in 1968.
Pavarotti liked to mingle with pop stars in his series of charity concerts, "Pavarotti & Friends," held annually in Modena. He performed with artists as varied as Ricky Martin, James Brown and the Spice Girls.
During the 1992-95 Bosnia war, he collected humanitarian aid along with U2 lead singer Bono, and after the war he financed and established the Pavarotti Music Center in the southern city of Mostar to offer Bosnia's artists the opportunity to develop their skills.
He performed at benefit concerts to raise money for victims of tragedies such as an earthquake in December 1988 that killed 25,000 people in northern Armenia.
Pavarotti was preparing to leave New York in July 2006 to resume a farewell tour when doctors discovered a malignant pancreatic mass. He underwent surgery in a New York hospital, and all his remaining 2006 concerts were canceled.
Fans were still waiting for a public appearance a year after his surgery. In the summer, Pavarotti taught a group of selected students and worked on a recording of sacred songs, a work expected to be released in early 2008, according to his manager. He mostly divided his time between Modena and his villa in the Adriatic seaside resort of Pesaro.
He will be remembered in Italy as "the last great Italian voice able to move the world," said Bruno Cagli, president of the Santa Cecilia National Academy in Rome.
Luciano Pavarotti
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