'TBH Politoons'
Thanks, again, Tim!
Baron Dave Romm
Failed Dictators
By Baron Dave Romm
After the fall of Baghdad, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said, "We are seeing history unfold. Saddam Hussein is now taking his rightful place alongside Hitler, Stalin, Lenin and Ceaucescu in the pantheon of failed, brutal dictators."
Well now.
Can we really trust the historical judgment of someone who's big accomplishment between gigs as Defense Sec. was using his political connections to get the approval of Nutrasweet, aka "Rummy Powder"?
No one will argue the "brutal dictator" part, but just what constitutes "failure" on the part of dicatorship? If "being evil" is automatically considered a failure, members of the Bush administration are in deep doo-doo. Other considerations must be used: Did they last long enough to enjoy being a dictator? Did they die still in power, successful and unchallenged? Did they succeed in creating a dictatorship that survived their death? Herein is a quick comparison, using Rummy's list.
| Dictator | Time at the top | Power at death | Legacy | Failure? | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hitler | Twelve years as chancellor/fuhrer | Committed suicide as Allied troops closed in, country in flames | Third Reich failed spectacularly, country divided for over 40 years | Unmitigated Failure | |
| Lenin | Seven years | Died as head of state, still revered today | Soviet Union lasted about 65 years after his death and became the model for many nations | Unqualified Success | |
| Stalin | Twenty Eight years | Died at the peak of his power and influence | Soviet Union lasted almost 40 years after his death | Success | |
| Ceaucescu | Twenty One years | Executed after being overthrown in a coup | While his Communist regime was toppled, what replaced it hasn't worked and former Communists are the second largest political party | Mixed | |
| Saddam Hussein | Forty years: Sixteen as member of Regional Command (1963-1979), Twenty Four as President (1979-2003) | Whereabouts unknown, possibly fled with loot | While his dictatorship is over, what replaced it has yet to be determined | Success |
Play the Failed Dictators Game (tm) at home! Create your own Pantheon of favorite (or least favorite) dictators, and judge how they fared. Tojo, Mussolini, Pol Pot, Idi Amin, Richard Nixon! Use historical figures from different centuries! Mix and match! Trade with your friends!
Baron Dave Romm is a conceptual artist and a noble of Ladonia with a radio show, a very weird CD collection and an ever growing list of political links. He reviews things at random for obscure web sites. You can read all his music recommendations from Bartcop-E here, and you can hear the last two Shockwave broadcasts in Real Audio here (scroll down to Shockwave). Thanks to everyone who has sent me music to play on the air, and I'm collecting extra-weird stuff for a possible CD compilation.
Reader Photo & Comment
'Putter Up'
Our Comandork In Chief
Here is a picture of the Alabama National Guard Warrrior Boy "unwinding" on our White House lawn. Notice to his left is what appears to be a putting green. It looks better than most of the courses that I play in Florida. Nice, that while millions of Americans are out of work, we still spend money on putting green upkeep for someone who is employed, overpayed, underqualified and could well afford the cost of a round of golf. He must already be spending our money that we won't have after he gets his tax cut for the rich.
Also if you look closely, Wonder Boy is using a putter for a regular golf iron or wood swing in the picture. No big deal really, he has distorted everything else and the "public" is too dumb to catch on.
rayboy
Jeez! Thanks, Ray (as I sit here shaking my head at the wonderment of having the adults in charge)!
Monday Special
by Michael Dare
| 
|
| 
|
| 
|
| 
|
| 
|
| 
|
| 
|
Reader Alert
Ebay Sci Fi Auction
Marty,
Have you seen the catalog for E-Bay's
"Ultimate Science Fiction Collection"?
The big ticket item is the original Lost In Space Robot--opening bit
$150,000!
Joe Bacon
Thanks, Joe! Cripes, would that be cool to have sitting in the living room!
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny, mild day.
Cooked. Ate. Ate. Ate some more. Still have dishes to do.
Tonight, Monday, CBS is supposed to open the evening with a FRESH 'King Of Queens', followed by a RERUN
'Yes, Dear', then a RERUN 'Raymond', followed by another RERUN 'Raymond', and then a RERUN 'CSI: Miami'.
On a RERUN Dave (from 4/1/03), are Colin Farrell and Rosanne Cash.
Scheduled on a FRESH Craiggers are David Alan Grier and Sofia Vergara.
NBC is supposed to start the night with a RERUN 'Fear Factor', followed by a FRESH 'Third Watch', then a FRESH
'Crossing Jordan'.
Scheduled on a FRESH Jay are Arsenio Hall and Chantal Kreviazuk.
On a RERUN Conan are Ellen DeGeneres, MC Hammer, and Simple Plan.
On a RERUN Carson Daly (from 2/26/03), are Phil Donahue and Fischerspooner.
ABC is supposed to begin the night with 'John Stossel: Help Me! I Can't Help Myself', followed by a FRESH 'The Practice', then a
RERUN 'The Practice'.
Scheduled on a FRESH Jimmy Kimmel are John Ritter, Mo Rocca, and this week's guest co-host Jamie Kennedy.
The WB offers a FRESH '7th Heaven', followed by a FRESH 'Everwood'.
Faux has a FRESH 'American Idol Special Edition' (a compilation show to stretch the season), followed by the Series Premiere of 'Mr. Personality' (AKA: 'The Monica Lewinsky Show').
UPN has a FRESH 'The Parkers', followed by a FRESH 'Half & Half', then a FRESH 'Girlfriends', followed by another FRESH
'Half & Half'.
Anyone have any opinions?
Or reviews?
(See below for addresses)
Falconer Thomas Cullen releases Starbuck, a Harris Hawk into the trees of Bryant Park in Manhattan, New York, Friday, April 18, 2003. Starbuck is part of a new project by park officials to deter pigeons from frequenting the park.
Photo by Gregory Bull
Protests Closings of Firehouses
Steve Buscemi
Before he made it in Hollywood, Steve Buscemi was a New York City firefighter from 1980 to 1984 — and he continues to be a vocal and high-profile supporter.
The actor featured in "Fargo" and "Con Air" joined about 50 demonstrators Saturday to protest a cost-cutting proposal to close eight firehouses.
"I think it's a slap in the face, after all that they've done and all that they continue to do. They're just starting to come back," Buscemi said, referring to the 343 firefighters killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. "This is just terrible — a terrible message to firefighters because they want to save $10 million or $11 million a year."
Mayor Michael Bloomberg, seeking to close a $3.4 billion budget deficit, has proposed eliminating eight firehouses and said last week at least 30 more may have to be closed if the city does not receive state or federal financial assistance.
Steve Buscemi
The Information One-Stop
Moose & Squirrel
Receiving Honorary Degrees
Steven Tyler And Brian Wilson
You'll have to address Aerosmith's lead singer as "Doctor" Steven Tyler soon. Tyler will be given an honorary Doctor Of Music degree from Boston's Berklee College of Music on May 10. Tyler will address the graduates and guests at the school's commencement exercises, which will be held at the Reggie Lewis Track And Athletic Center in Boston. Jazz vocalist Dianne Reeves will also being honored at the ceremony.
Additionally, Beach Boys founding member and songwriter Brian Wilson will receive an honorary degree at the June commencement of Northeastern University's Class of 2003, at Boston's FleetCenter.
Steven Tyler And Brian Wilson
Jakub Moravcik sells hand-made wicker-rods, (in Slovakia known as 'kourbash') used by men to whip-lash women as part of an old Easter custom, in the grounds of the 'Museum of the Slovak village' near the village of Pribylina, April 20, 2003. 'Whip-lashing' and 'watering' of women form part of traditional Slovak Easter celebrations.
Photo by Joe Klamar
Anti-War Celebrities Boycott List
Limp Bizkit
A columnist at the New York Post has run an article called "Don't Aid These Saddam Lovers" in an attempt to start a boycott against celebrities who have made their anti-war feelings known.
Richard Johnson--who usually writes gossip for the tabloid-style newspaper--has apparently branched out into political commentary, and urges his readers to stop supporting movies, television shows, concerts, and albums by artists Johnson deems unpatriotic. Among the targeted stars are Fred Durst and his band, Limp Bizkit--whose fans, Johnson implies, are too stupid to even "know what Iraq is"--as well as Samuel L. Jackson (called a "drone" in the article), Danny Glover, Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Janeane Garofalo, Susan Sarandon, and Laurence Fishburne.
The article is in violation of a recent directive from the Screen Actors Guild, which reminded media outlets of their impartial stance and warned against "blacklisting" behavior reminiscent of 1950s-era McCarthyism.
Limp Bizkit
Won't Quit Even When He's 64
Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney has no plans to quit even "When I'm 64" -- and said on Sunday he'll keep singing in small-town taverns if that's the only place anyone will have him once his concert-playing days are over.
The author of the 1967 pop hit "When I'm 64" isn't at all worried about "losing his hair" or any of the lyrics in his song on the Beatles Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album.
McCartney has been performing 22 Beatles songs at each of his world tour dates, almost twice as many as the pioneering 1960s-era band ever played during its own British shows.
Paul McCartney
In The Kitchen With BartCop & Friends
California Fire
1916 Rauch and Lang Electric
A fire at a storage yard destroyed five rare cars and trucks, including a 1916 electric vehicle that may have been one of only a handful left in the world.
The 1916 Rauch and Lang Electric, a boxy car that resembled a horse-drawn buggy, was lost when a blaze broke out early Friday at the L&N Uniform Supply Co. storage yard.
Leonard Nowakowski, 83, believes the Electric, which he spent eight years restoring, was one of only three or four remaining. The value of the car couldn't be determined.
Nowakowski, 83, of Santa Ana, founded the uniform company and owns a fleet of 30 antique cars. Besides the Electric, the fire destroyed a 1906 International Harvester Hi-Wheel; a 1923 Ford panel truck; a 1952 Studebaker and a 1972 Volvo Sportwagon.
1916 Rauch and Lang Electric
A cycling pack passes by the St. Hubertus windmill during the 38th Amstel Gold Race near Valkenburg, The Netherlands, Sunday, April 20, 2003.
Photo by Bas Czerwinski
Snarky Gossip
Diandra Douglas
Diandra Douglas has been snubbed. The elegant ex-wife of Michael Douglas didn't get an invitation to the premiere of their son Cameron's movie "It Runs in the Family." The night before
the screening, Cameron - who stars in the flick with dad and granddad Kirk - scrambled to correct the oversight. A seat was found for Diandra, but it was way, way, way back. To cap it off,
a glad-handing Michael didn't speak to her afterward. It was particularly offensive considering some of the photos used in the film were from a scrapbook she gave Michael on their 20th anniversary.
Diandra Douglas
Hints At Ending Show
Ray Romano
Emmy award winning comedian Ray Romano is hinting next season, the ninth, may be the last for his "Everybody Loves Raymond."
Answering a question on how he keeps the TV series fresh and original, Romano joked: "You stop after one more year."
"The trick is to get out when you're still wanted," said Romano, 45. "Not too soon, but not too late."
Ray Romano
Formerly 'The Vidiot'
Concert Benefits Children
Tiger Jam
Despite a disappointing loss at the Masters, top-rated golfer Tiger Woods was all smiles at a benefit concert to raise money for his Tiger Woods Foundation.
The sixth annual Tiger Jam concert featured Bon Jovi and a performance by the Goo Goo Dolls.
Bon Jovi donated $25,000, Woods said.
With funds raised from the concert, the Tiger Woods Foundation will partner with the VH1 Save the Music Foundation to adopt the music program at Jim Bridger Middle School in Las Vegas. Additional proceeds will help fund other local charities as well as GRAMMY in the Schools and the VH1 Save the Music Foundation.
Tiger Jam
Tiger Woods Foundation
Tiger Jam
VH1 Save the Music
Leaders from a Vodou rara band walk on the main highway near Pont Sonde, Haiti, on Saturday, April 19, 2003. Rara processions - when Vodou practicioners and others dance, sing and perform rituals along the way - take place during Lent and culminate on Easter Sunday. After over 200 years of persecution and harrassment, the Haitian government officially recognized Vodou as a religion on April 4, 2003.
Photo by Daniel Morel
Show Will Finally Air
'Millionaire' Cheat
Britons will finally get the chance on Monday to see a British army major, his wife and a college lecturer cheating their way to the jackpot on the worldwide hit TV quiz show "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?."
Major Charles Ingram and his wife Diana were found guilty earlier this month of hatching a plan to use a system of coded coughs from lecturer Tecwen Whittock to win the million pound ($1.58 million) top prize.
The bizarre story and trial gripped the country for months but the episode on which Ingram "won," recorded in September 2001, has never been broadcast.
Commercial channel ITV1, which broadcasts "Millionaire," said it would air a feature-length documentary on Monday about the cheats along with the unseen footage from the show.
'Millionaire' Cheat
Celebrates 20 Years
Disney Channel
"Over the past 10 years, Disney Channel has gone from practically being ignored on the playground circuit to actually setting the agenda for kids' lives," says Gary Marsh, executive vp original programming and production, who has been with the network since 1988.
Marsh agrees that "Lizzie" was exactly what the network desperately needed, but he also insists that the channel's overall strategy -- spearheaded by Anne Sweeney, president of ABC Cable Networks Group and Disney Channel Worldwide, and Disney Channel president Rich Ross -- is what put the network on the path to its current success.
Targeting the tween market is just one aspect of the network's programming strategy. Just as important to the channel are a pair of younger demographics: 6-11 and 2- to 5-year-old preschoolers. The latter group is offered, among others, "The Wiggles," "Stanley" and "Rolie Polie Olie" in the Playhouse Disney block of programming.
Original movies make up the third significant facet of the Disney Channel programming assault. Last year's debut film "Cadet Kelly" scored the highest marks for any 2002 cable telecast with ages 6-14. The network found similar success last year with "Gotta Kick It Up" and "The Scream Team."
For a lot more puff, Disney Channel
On Display
Giant Egg
A museum in southern France has given an antique twist to Easter by exhibiting a two millennia old gigantic egg of an elephant bird from Madagascar, the subject of legends from Sinbad the Sailor to Marco Polo.
The egg of the aepyornis maximus measuring 30 by 20 centimeters (12 by 8 inches), was part of an illegal cargo of 315 eggs found in a ship container by customs officials in the French port of Le Havre in 1999.
As they were considered to be part of the cultural heritage of the Indian Ocean nation, according to UNESCO conventions, and were unaccompanied by an export permit, the eggs were returned to Madagascar.
To thank the French customs officials, Madagascar gave one specimen to a museum in Le Havre and the other to the customs museum in Bordeaux.
The now extinct aepyornis maximus gained the elephant bird moniker because it had huge feet, could grow as tall as 3.5 meters (11.5 feet) and weigh as much as 500 kilos (1,100 pounds), making it arguably the biggest bird in the world.
Giant Egg
North American Box Office
Top 10 Movies
Following are the top 10 movies at the North American box office for the April 18-20 weekend, according to studio estimates collected on Sunday by Reuters. Final data will be issued on Monday.
1 (1) Anger Management ............ $25.6 million
2 (*) Holes ................................... $17.1 million
3 (*) Malibu's Most Wanted .......... $13.1 million
4 (*) Bulletproof Monk ................. $ 8.6 million
5 (2) Phone Booth ....................... $ 5.7 million
6 (3) What A Girl Wants .............. $ 4.8 million
7 (4) Bringing Down the House ... $ 3.3 million
8 (5) A Man Apart ........................ $ 2.6 million
9 (9) Chicago ............................... $ 2.5 million
10 (7) House of 1000 Corpses ....... $ 2.4 million
NOTE: Last weekend's ranking in parenthesis.
"*" = new release.
Top 10 Movies
In Memory
Karen Morley
Karen Morley, the blond star of 1930's movies whose career was cut short in 1947 when she refused to answer questions at a Congressional hearing about her possible involvement with the Communist Party, has died. She was 93.
Morley died March 8 at the Motion Picture Country House in Woodland Hills, a friend, Marvin Paige, said Saturday. Her grandson, John Vidor, said she died of pneumonia.
Born Mildred Linton in Ottumwa, Iowa on Dec. 12, 1909, she was adopted by a well-to-do family who moved to Los Angeles in the mid-1920's. She enrolled at Hollywood High School and studied for a career in medicine at UCLA, but a class in theater changed her career ambitions.
After studying at Pasadena Playhouse, she was signed by Fox Studios and her big chance came when producer Howard Hughes selected her to play the blond moll in the 1932 crime epic
"Scarface (1932)."
Morley was put on a contract by MGM and starred in such early 1930's movies as
"Mata Hari" (1931) (with Greta Garbo),
"Arsène Lupin" (1932) (with John Barrymore),
"Dinner at Eight" (1933)
(with Jean Harlow), as well as films with Lionel Barrymore, Wallace Beery and Boris Karloff.
In 1934, Morley left MGM after arguments about her roles and her private life, including her intention to start a family and her marriage to director Charles Vidor. She continued working as a freelance performer, appearing in
King Vidor's
"Our Daily Bread" (1934), Michael Curtiz'
"Black Fury (1935)",
"The Littlest Rebel (1935)", (with
Shirley Temple) and
"Pride and Prejudice" (1940).
In 1947, her screen career came to a halt when she testified before the House Committee on Un-American Activities and refused to answer questions about her possible enrollment in the Communist Party. Afterward, she continued promoting left-wing causes and married actor Lloyd Gough. In 1954, she ran unsuccessfully as a New York lieutenant governor candidate for the American Labor Party.
Survivors include two grandsons, a granddaughter, a great-grandson and a great-granddaughter.
Karen Morley
Two young seals swim in a pool. Andy the Scottish seal is still evading capture in Edinburgh, and fishermen are threatening to shoot him. The SSPCA wants to get him and return him to his fellow seals.
Photo by Soeren Stache
'Ark of Darkness'
Chapter 1, Part 2 - Fresh on 18 April.
'The Osbournes'
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 4
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 3
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 2
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 1
