'Best of TBH Politoons'
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Annalee Newitz: Consumerist Crap for the Holidays (San Francisco Bay Guardian)
If the holidays are a time of reflecting on the past and the future, you might as well hang out with your friends and play Guitar Hero on the Wii. After all, donating to cool charities and supporting local artists is something you should be doing all year.
Jim Hightower: THE E. COLI LOOPHOLE (jimhightower.com)
Step right up, consumers, and get your pre-cooked, USDA-approved package of E. coli beef! Wait. Did he say E. coli? Isn't that the bacteria that live in cow intestines that often contaminate beef at those massive corporate slaughterhouses? And doesn't beef contaminated with this virulent strain of bacteria cause awful problems for people who eat it - problems like screaming cramps, kidney failure, and... death?
Mark Weisbrot: Housing Crash: Why a 'Soft Landing' is Unlikely
Don't let the latest stock market rally fool you.
Robert Parry: Why the Democrats Could Lose in 2008 (Consortium News; posted on AlterNet.org)
Democrats think the public is just interested in new social programs, but voters are looking for something more inspirational.
Courtney E. Martin: Good Calories, Bad Calories (AlterNet.org)
Author Gary Taubes challenges common myths about obesity and explains why Atkins might well have been right.
BRADFORD R. PILCHER: Love, Blood, and the Art of Sports Writing (popmatters.com)
The hallmark of good sports writing is that it rarely confines itself to the action on the field. Bad sports writing, or at least the pedestrian variety peddled in most daily sports pages, is interested almost exclusively on what happened on the field.
Barbara Ehrenreich: Bonfire of the Princesses
Contrary to the rumors I have been trying to spread for some time, Disney Princess products are not contaminated with lead. More careful analysis shows that the entire product line - books, DVD's, ball gowns, necklaces, toy cell phones, toothbrush holders, t-shirts, lunch boxes, backpacks, wallpaper, sheets, stickers, etc. - is saturated with a particularly potent time-release form of the date rape drug.
Mark Morford: The anti-pedophile coloring book (sfgate.com)
Remember kids: Be good, say your prayers and, uh, never be alone with a priest. Praise!
'I'm not good at following rules' (film.guardian.co.uk)
His new film about Iraq has led to him being called 'Bin Laden's best friend'. Paul Haggis talks politics and Bond with Mark Lawson.
Mark Caro: Reluctant celebrity John Cusack goes for a career makeover (Chicago Tribune; Posted on Popmatters.com)
Joyce Piven remembers John Cusack as a high-schooler playing a charismatic anti-hero in the Piven Theatre Workshop's adaptation of J.D. Salinger's short story "Just Before the War with the Eskimos."
Reader Comment
The Traditional Caganer
The Traditional Caganer :
A figurine of a man taking a shit - that has been gracing nativity scenes
since at least the 16th century. This extra little character is often
tucked away in some corner of the model, typically nowhere near the manger
scene, where he is not easily noticed. There is a good reason for his
obscure position in the display, for "caganer" translates from Catalan to
English as "pooper", and that is exactly what this little statue is doing
- defecating.
George W. Bush Caganer
Another George W. Bush Caganer
And Another George W. Bush Caganer
KevKev in Apache Junction
Thanks, KevKev!
2 of those pictures looked familiar - the
first one, shows
up here -
BartCop Entertainment Archives - Thursday, 15 December, 2005, and is slugged
Mud figures of U.S. resident George W. Bush, known as 'caganer' defecator in Catalan, are sold at the Santa Lucia Market, a Christmas market, in central Barcelona, December 14, 2005. Catalans create Christmas Nativity scenes using models and hide the figures in them before inviting friends to find the figures. Catalans believe the 'caganer', by creating feces, fertilises the earth, bringing prosperity and luck for the coming year. Photo by Albert Gea
Haven't had the time to dig through the archives to find the
2nd one, but it was
uploaded last December.
The 3rd one doesn't show up in the archives, but there is one of
the current Pope.
My Christmas Tree
 |
Current Capitals. These are the capital cities of, respectively, Australia, Canada, Angola, West Germany (which doesn't exist anymore) and Kazakhstan.
mj was first, and correct:
I'm pretty sure all but Bonn ar national capitals. I know that's true of Ottawa and Canberra.
Tom C was second, and right, too:
The answer is D:Bonn. All of the others are capitals of countries. Bonn was formerly the capital of West Germany. Berlin is now the capital of the united Germany.
Charlie nailed it:
Canberra is the capital of Australia.
Ottawa is the capital of Canada.
Luanda is the capital of Angola
Astana the capital of Kazakhstan
Bonn was the capital of West Germany, but since Germany has reunified, Berlin is capital of Germany.
So the answer is D: Bonn
Paul missed it:
It has to be Luanda.. it's the only one with a capital C and a colon in front of it.
Sally P was right, also:
Okay, today's Trivia answer appears to be too easy - therefore, I am worried.
A) Canberra is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Australia.
B) Ottawa is the capital of Canada.
C) Luanda is the capital of Angola.
E) Astana is the Capital of Kazakhstan.
Since Berlin is the capital of the Federal Republic of Germany - and not Bonn - I will say that the answer is: "D."
Thanks to Baron Dave for the Ultra Duper questions.
Hubert's Poetry Corner
I'LL BE CLONED FOR CHRISTMAS - AND THEN SUM
xxx MULTIPLYING YULE TIME MADNESS? xxx
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny, but brisk for these parts.
Here're all the Golden Globes Nominations - 2008
State Obvious
Al Gore
Nobel laureate Al Gore said Thursday the United States is "principally responsible" for blocking progress at the U.N. climate conference, and European nations threatened to boycott U.S.-led climate talks next month unless Washington compromises on emissions reductions.
The former vice president urged delegates to take urgent action to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases blamed for global warming, and told them that the next U.S. president will likely be more supportive of international caps on polluting gases.
"My own country, the United States, is principally responsible for obstructing progress here in Bali," said Gore, who flew to Bali from Oslo, Norway, where he received the Nobel Peace Prize for helping alert the world to the danger of climate change.
White House press secretary spokesliar Dana Perino said Thursday Gore was wrong in blaming the United States for holding up progress. "I think he is incorrect," she said opined.
Al Gore
Urges China
Steven Spielberg
Film director Steven Spielberg, artistic advisor to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, sent a letter to China's president on Thursday urging Beijing to press ally Sudan to accept peacekeepers in war-torn Darfur.
"I write to you now with a renewed sense of urgency in the hope that China will redouble its efforts to pressure Sudan to join in a fair peace agreement and, at last, bring an end to the genocide," said the letter to President Hu Jintao.
"Please urge Sudan to accept -- and rapidly facilitate -- the United Nations authorized hybrid force," said the letter, released by Spielberg spokesman Andy Spahn.
With time running out for Darfuris as Sudan resists deployment of the U.N. and African Union force, "the world needs China to lead here," wrote the director, who in July had threatened to quit his Beijing games post over Darfur.
Steven Spielberg
Class Of 2008
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Pop star Madonna, folk rock singer songwriter Leonard Cohen, rock hit John Mellencamp, pop group The Dave Clark Five and instrumental rockers The Ventures will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008.
The five inductees, announced on Thursday and chosen by 600 music industry professionals, beat out disco queen Donna Summer, New York-based funk group Chic, rap pioneer Afrika Bambaataa and hip-hop group The Beastie Boys for the honor.
Along with the five performer inductees, producers Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff will be inducted in the non-performer category and the late Little Walter in the so-called "sideman" category for his "pioneering use of the microphone (that) helped establish the modern blues harmonica."
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Fairy Tale Sells For $4M
J.K. Rowling
A book of fairy tales created, handwritten and illustrated by J.K. Rowling sold for nearly $4 million at auction Thursday.
The buyer, London art agent Hazlitt, Gooden and Fox, now has one of only seven copies of "The Tales of Beedle the Bard," which is leather bound with silver mounts.
The book originally had been expected to sell for about $100,000. The standing-room-only crowd at Sotheby's auction house applauded as bidding topped the 1 million pound ($2 million) mark.
The money will benefit The Children's Voice, a charity co-founded in 2005 by Rowling and Baroness Nicholson, a member of Britain's House of Lords.
J.K. Rowling
Collapses On Stage
Liza Minnelli
Liza Minnelli collapsed on stage during a performance in Sweden and was rushed back to the United States for medical treatment, concert organizers said Thursday.
The singer was performing in a Christmas show Wednesday in Goteborg, Sweden's second biggest city, but collapsed as she walked off stage after finishing her fourth song, said Zlakto Nedanovski, a spokesman for the concert's organizers.
"As she walked down the steps, she passed out. She was taken immediately to her hotel where a doctor was waiting," Nedanovski told The Associated Press.
He said Minnelli was flown to the United States on Thursday on the advice of her doctors there.
Liza Minnelli
Annoy FCC Chief
Senators
The head of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission flatly refused on Thursday to delay a vote next week on a plan to ease U.S. media ownership rules despite a barrage of criticism from Senate lawmakers.
Members of the Senate Commerce Committee took FCC Chairman Kevin Martin (R-Rupert's Bitch) to task at a hearing on the contentious issue, asking why he was intent on pushing forward with the media ownership rule change at the agency's December 18 meeting.
Democrat John Rockefeller of West Virginia, complained that the FCC "appears to be more concerned about making sure the policies they advocate serve the needs of the companies they regulate and their bottom lines rather than the public interest."
Senators also noted that the FCC has come under criticism for not doing enough on another issue that they said was more pressing: preparing TV viewers for the switch-over to digital television in 2009.
Senators
Prosecutors Drop Charge
Scott Stapp
Prosecutors have dropped a domestic battery charge against Scott Stapp after the rocker completed terms of an agreement including a requirement that he participate in anger management counseling.
The former frontman for Creed was arrested in May after his wife, Jaclyn Nesheiwat, called police to their Boca Raton home. She accused Stapp of taking drugs and throwing a bottle at her, according to a tape of her 911 call.
Stapp was originally charged with aggravated assault with intent to commit a felony, but the charge was later reduced to a misdemeanor.
Scott Stapp
Preserving Internment Camps
National Park Service
Bob Fuchigami was 12 years old when he and his family were told to leave their 20-acre farm in northern California. The peach trees that his immigrant parents had planted were about to yield their first big crop.
It was May 1942, five months after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Fuchigami and his parents and siblings were among more than 100,000 Japanese-Americans ordered to report to internment camps. The Fuchigamis ended up at one in dusty southeastern Colorado.
He and his family, like many others held in the camps during World War II, never returned to their previous lives and were left with only memories. And the 10 camps themselves, quickly dismantled at the end of the war, also became memories.
Now, the National Park Service is asking former internees like Fuchigami how it can preserve what is left of the camps and the stories they hold. The Service stands to get $38 million to help cities and groups develop educational programs.
National Park Service
Ship Found
Captain Kidd
A U.S. underwater archaeology team announced Thursday it has likely discovered the shattered remnants of a ship once captained by the notorious buccaneer William Kidd off a tiny Dominican Republic island.
The barnacled cannons and anchors found stacked beneath just 10 feet of crystalline coastal waters off Catalina Island are believed to be the wreckage of the Quedagh Merchant, a ship abandoned by the Scottish privateer in 1699, Indiana University researchers say.
The Dominican government has licensed the U.S. university to study the wreckage and convert the sea floor where the cannons and anchors are marooned into an underwater preserve, where it will be accessible to divers and snorkelers.
Captain Kidd
Donates Pickled Cow
Damien Hirst
Multi-millionaire English artist Damien Hirst said on Thursday he was donating four major works to Britain's Tate Gallery, including a sliced and pickled cow and calf.
It is the first time Hirst, who recently sold a diamond-encrusted skull for $100 million, has made a major donation to a museum.
The donated works include The Acquired Inability to Escape and the sculpture Life Without You. Both are from 1991.
The works also include one of the first in Hirst's series of fly paintings, Who is Afraid of the Dark? 2002, and the exhibition copy of Mother and Child Divided, 2007 -- a sliced and pickled cow and calf.
Damien Hirst
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