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'TBH Politoons'
Thanks, again, Tim!
Baron Dave Romm's Review
The Bush Backlash
By Baron Dave Romm
George W. Bush has the morals of a televangelist without the oratorical skills. As long as he's preaching to the choir, his bumbling and stumbling sermons get polite applause and church bulletins print nice things about him. No one else is fooled. One of the great things about political satire from the center/left is that I can play them on the radio. What passes for conservative political commentary is rude, scatological and ad hominem; language unfit to play on the airwaves as restricted by Jesse Helms and co. While the left is not above the well-placed personal insult, there's usually substance behind it, and often a specific remedy beyond knee-jerk buzzwords. My prediction (you heard it here first) is that the Bush administration will give rise to a new unionization movement. The workers who got shafted by Enron, Worldcom, etc. would still be out of a job -- if the company goes bankrupt, there is no work -- but a strong union would have helped prevent the loss of savings, protected severance pay and been the legal entity to sue the execs who cashed out leaving workers with nothing. Indeed, I predict that the new unions will want to be able to see the books of the company. Republicans are against trial lawyers because their arguments lose in a fair hearing. A union would provide necessary balance and oversight (governance in econo-speak), which would increase the value of the company.
I was therefore tickled pink to find the two strains together in the form of George Mann and Julius Margolin's Hail To The Thief. Buzzflash has been offering the CD as a premium for a while, and rightly so! The CD strikes the right political chords with well-chosen knocks on Bushisms and the stolen election with some well-crafted music. If anything, they're too nice, but the CD was pre-9/11 (I suspect) and the real criminal negligence of Bush and Cheney hadn't come to light. Still, it's fun and only a little cruel. The title song, Hail to the Thief, is a nifty short version of Hail to the Chief played on kazoo and saw. (The saw keeps sounding like a theremin to me; it's played well.) My favorite cuts are It's Hard To Put Food On Your Family, about Bushisms (and only a few of the early ones) and I'm George W., to the tune of Oh Suzanna, "I'm George W., don't you cry for me, I've come all the way from Texas, just as dumb as I can be." This would be funnier if the issues weren't so important. The most serious, heavy-handed but ultimately damning song is The Whitewash, drawing a comparison between the lynching of an innocent black man a hundred years ago to the denying of votes to minorities by Katherine Harris in the 2000 elections. Also on the CD are songs about Corporate Welfare, a hidden track with the chant "three more years", a spiritual and several songs about unions.
George and Julius' Wobbly roots are more directly evident on Miles To Go Before We Sleep. Julius lived through the Depression (caused when a dumb Republican president and GOP controlled House and Senate ignored with the economy while it was collapsing, they made things far worse and... never mind...) and his memories form the introduction to We Demand a Living Wage. With friends of age 82, Julius urges Don't Let Age Get You Down while nearly getting run over by a bicycle followed by a rollerblader leads to A Pedestrian's Lament. Being a computer guy, I like Somebody Robbed the Pension Plan, to the tune of Somebody Robbed the Glendale Train, about IBM's trying to screw their workers in 1999. I'm pleased that folkies know who Tom Watson was. They do nice updated versions of Hobo's Lullaby and We Shall Not Be Moved/This Little Light of Mine. Folk, rock, country and a cause they believe in raises the energy of Woody Guthrie's Union Burying Ground to anthem level.
Ewan McColl died in 1989, but his influence is still being felt. He was a union man all the way, even to the point of being anti-technology in My Old Man. People worked for their bread, and it was good. Black and White, The Definitive Ewan McColl Collection, with several duets with his wife Peggy Seeger, has the songs that became hits (The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face, Dirty Old Town) as well as a bunch of others, 20 in all. (You can order it and hear samples here. His working-class background and distrust of those who would deny work pop out in Ballad of Accounting, My Old Man, Black and White, The Press Gang, Nobody Knew She Was There, Looking for A Job, and so on. Maggie Thatcher may have tamped the unions in the UK, but their spirit (and the reason why they were formed in the first place) has never died.
George W. Bush's dismal failure as a leader and hostility to labor unions is already drawing parallels with Hoover, and if the consequences are the same then the solutions will be similar. While I don't see anyone of FDR's stature on the horizon, one may have to rise to the job.
Aside: My favorite current Bushism, to quote from the second page of this report: Making the London rounds is the anecdote of a bemused Tony Blair hearing George W. Bush's simple explanation for France's economic decline. In this account of an aside at a recent summit, Bush told Blair that "the French trouble is that they don't have a word for entrepreneur."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.
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
The sun never broke through today, and the temperature didn't even get up to 70!
Took down the tent and put it back with the earthquake stuff.
Watched Anna Nicole tonight. Should have had a disclaimer on the tongue-piercing incident.
Tonight, Monday, CBS has reruns of 'King Of Queens', 'Yes, Dear', 'Raymond', 'Becker', and an out-of-place 'CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'.
Scheduled on a fresh Dave are Matthew Perry and the Vines.
Scheduled on a fresh Craiggers are Jay Mohr and Knoc-turn'al.
NBC starts the night with a rerun 'Fear Factor', then a fresh 'Dog Eat Dog', and a fresh 'Meet My Folks'. All late night TV on NBC is a rerun this week.
On a rerun Jay, the scheduled guests are Robin Williams and Tommy Lee.
On a rerun Conan, the scheduled guests are Frankie Muniz, John C. McGinley, and Hank Williams Jr.
On a rerun Carson Daly (from 4/29/02), are Jeffrey Ross and Lit.
ABC has 'NFL Preseason', where the 49-ers are visiting the Broncos in Denver. On the west coast, we'll then be treated to the movie 'John Sandford's Mind Prey'.
The WB has reruns of '7th Heaven' and 'Smallville'.
Faux rolls the previously taped, but unaired '2002 Teen Choice Awards'.
UPN has reruns of 'The Parkers', 'One On One', 'Girlfriends', and another 'One On One'.
Anyone have any opinions?
Or reviews?
(See below for addresses)
Perilous Times
O'Really
Bill O'Reilly isn't amused by a new Web site called oreilly-sucks.com whose mission is to "expose Mr. O'Reilly as the right-wing spin doctor that he
truly is." Fox News Channel lawyer Dianne Brandi recently sent a letter to the site's creator warning that it violates O'Reilly's civil rights by using his name "for
trade or advertising purposes." Brandi demands that the site "immediately discontinue using Mr. O'Reilly's name in any way . . . To the extent that you ignore
this request, you do so at your own peril."
O'Really
O'Reilly Sucks.com (www.oreilly-sucks.com)
Spencer Tunick
Helsinki, Finland
1.500 Finlandais ont posé nus dimanche matin dans les rues d'Helsinki pour le photographe américain Spencer Tunick.
Photo by Sandro Campardo.
Cool Site
Arbusto.com
Arbusto.com (formerly the Washingtoon Times)
Supposedly Trustworthy Now
Voter News Service
Voter News Service, an elections consortium of six media organizations, is developing and testing a new system to count votes that will be running for November's midterm elections, VNS officials say.
The member organizations — ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, Fox and The Associated Press — reviewed the changes at a board meeting last week.
VNS began work on the new system after its information was used in making wrong calls on the presidential election in 2000.
VNS counts votes and conducts election place polling, using the material to help its members project winners. The consortium hired Battelle Memorial Institute, an Ohio-based company, to help build a new
system after its members decided against scrapping VNS entirely. VNS had been in touch with Battelle about updating its service even before the 2000 election.
The AP conducts its own vote count, independent of VNS, and for the first time the VNS computer system will have the AP material available as a backup to its own data.
If you care, here's more - Voter News Service
Suing On Behalf Of Springsteen & Bon Jovi
ASCAP
"The Boss" doesn't hit town on tour until December, but a lawsuit filed on behalf of Bruce Springsteen and rocker Jon Bon Jovi has already arrived in federal court.
The rockers, both members of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, are suing a local bar for allegedly playing their music without a license.
The lawsuit, filed Friday by the ASCAP on behalf of Springsteen, Bon Jovi and Universal-Polygram International Publishing Inc., says RPM's in Bridgeville is not allowed to play
music by ASCAP members without paying an annual $2,818 fee.
The suit seeks $750 to $30,000 in damages and a permanent ban on the use of ASCAP music at RPM's.
ASCAP
Northern Ireland
Belfast
A new colorful Irish Republican-Palestinian mural painted on a wall on the Falls Road west Belfast, Northern Ireland, August 14, 2002. In support of the situation in the
Middle East, Palestinian flags are being flown in Catholic areas of Belfast while the Israeli flags are being flown in Loyalist Protestant areas.
Photo by Paul McErlane
'Free Willy' Star
Keiko
The killer whale star of "Free Willy" is swimming free.
The orca's keepers were tracking him as he swam in the wild and had their last close-up look July 30, officials said.
Charles Vinick of the Ocean Futures Society in Iceland told The Oregonian that Keiko could still return to his pen off the Icelandic coast and that keepers could lead
him there if it appears he needs help.
However, "He's clearly free because he's not in our control. He's truly out with whales," Vinick said.
On Friday, satellite data found Keiko more than 250 miles from Iceland, some 100 miles north of the easternmost point in the Faroe Islands.
Keiko
N.Y. Surveillance Tour
Bill Brown
As if there weren't enough reasons to look over your shoulder in New York City these days, take a walk through Midtown with surveillance camera tour guide Bill Brown. He'll
give you dozens more excuses to be anxious.
"I'm just an average person who is trying to figure out what is going on in the city I was born in and love," explained Brown, a native of the city's Brooklyn borough. "I
don't think I'm paranoid — I think the people who are paranoid fill the streets with cameras."
Part performance artist, part privacy advocate, Brown, 43, a free-lance copy editor, has been giving free walking tours of Manhattan's most camera-dense neighborhoods on Sundays for the last two years.
Focusing on such areas as Times Square, Chelsea, the United Nations, Washington Square Park and Fifth Avenue, Brown tells his tour groups there are roughly 5,000 cameras watching the
streets of Manhattan. And those are just the ones he can see.
Brown says 90 percent of Manhattan's surveillance cameras belong to private companies concerned about protecting property and lower insurance rates.
Others, he claims, are police cameras — such as one at Eighth Avenue and 14th Street, which at first glance looks like a streetlight.
Police don't dispute his claim, but won't discuss their methods. "Any security-related issues we don't comment on," said Officer John Sullivan, a spokesman.
For a lot more, Bill Brown
Brown's Web site
NYCLU surveillance camera project
In The Kitchen With BartCop & Friends
Ravers Jam France-Italy Road
Teknival
Traffic jams caused by thousands of revelers heading to Europe's biggest rave party have turned the event on an isolated part of the Franco-Italian border into a safety risk, authorities warned Saturday.
Up to 18,000 revelers had already joined the unauthorized "Teknival" party on the Larche pass just inside the Italian border by Saturday and organizers expect a total 30,000 by the event's climax Sunday.
French officials said there was a six-mile back-up on the local road heading toward the party site and police had closed the route to further traffic.
"Teknival" is normally held in the south of France and draws a predominantly French audience.
This year organizers chose the isolated site a short walk from the border into Italy after France's new conservative government warned it could ban the event and confiscate their costly sound equipment.
Teknival
Vegan No More
Drew Barrymore
Drew Barrymore has fallen off the vegetarian wagon. The former animal-rights activist is eating meat again. "I still don't eat a ton of meat, and
I don't wear a ton of leather, but I just don't put strict limitations on myself anymore," Barrymore is quoted on IMDb.com. "I didn't wear certain
designers because I didn't want any animals to suffer for beauty and stuff, and so I literally was dressed by Old Navy at one point . . . eventually,
I got tired and wanted to play again. Dressing is like an art form - it's so much fun."
Drew Barrymore
For The Devout
Full-Body Swimsuits
Hafize Erdogan, a devout Muslim, proudly sports her new blue swimsuit — a full-body outfit that covers her arms down to her wrists, her legs to her ankles and even much of her head.
The 30-year-old mother of two said she bought the suit so she could swim with her family while also observing religious rules about modesty.
Erdogan is evidence of a growing trend in Turkey, where devoutly religious consumers are looking to combine their beliefs with Western pasttimes.
Erdogan's $25 bathing suit includes a headscarf, a long-armed top and full-length pants. It fits loosely so as not to show off the outlines of her body and is made of a synthetic material that dries quickly. It
features a design that looks like denim dotted with yellow shooting stars.
In the past, religious women in Turkey either didn't go to the beach or wore regular street clothing into the water. Most women at beaches in secular Turkey wear Western-style bathing suits.
The top company producing Islamic bathing suits, Hasema, says it sold 25,000 bathing suits last year and can't produce them quick enough to keep pace with demand. The company exports to Egypt, North America, England, and Australia.
Full-Body Swimsuits
BartCop TV!
Cheered by Well Wishers
Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston says he was overwhelmed by the concern — including calls from resident Bush and former first lady Nancy Reagan — after his announcement that he has symptoms consistent with Alzheimer's disease.
In his first interview since the Aug. 9 videotaped announcement, the Oscar-winning Heston said a telephone call from Bush last week meant "a great deal."
"He wished me well and was proud of what I had done for my country," the actor told the Los Angeles Times in the interview published Sunday. "Which is, perhaps, overstating it a little."
Nancy Reagan gave Heston and his wife, Lydia, her private phone number and encouraged them to call.
When asked what he meant when he said in his announcement that he was facing the future with courage and surrender, Heston said: "Sooner or later, the man with the scythe comes along and says 'It's time.'"
Charlton Heston
Commissioned Saturday
U.S.S. McCampbell
Crew members of the U.S. Navy destroyer U.S.S. McCampbell stand at parade rest in front of the ship during its commissioning ceremony in San Francisco on Saturday,
Aug. 17, 2002. The U.S. Navy Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyer, McCampbell, honors the late Navy Capt. David McCampbell (1910-1996) who is the Navy's top
ace with 34 confirmed aerial victories and recipient of the Medal of Honor.
Photo by Justin Sullivan.
The name rang a bell, so I did some googling.
'' July, 2000 - Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright is the ship's
sponsor and will deliver an address during the ceremony. In the
time-honored Navy tradition, Albright will break a bottle of
champagne across the bow to formally christen McCampbell.
McCampbell is the 35th of 58 Arleigh Burke class destroyers
currently authorized by Congress. ''
McCampbell Christening
Then, David McCampbell, Top Navy Ace. It's well worth the effort.
Florida International University Judo Team
Hollywood Carjacker
Florida judo team members beat and doused an alleged carjacker with gasoline then handed over the grimacing, moaning 20-year-old to police officers on Sunday.
Tyrone Jermaine Hogan of Los Angeles was holding his ribs and wincing in pain as TV news crews recorded his arrest.
At 1:30 p.m., Hogan allegedly carjacked a couple, punching the driver in the face, pulling him out of his car and driving away with the woman passenger, said police Sgt. Karlene Gibson.
Hogan allegedly tried to steal the woman's purse. Failing, he shoved the woman out of the car. Witnesses followed him but lost sight of him.
Hogan reappeared about six blocks away at a Hollywood gas station.
Meanwhile, the athletes, who were in town to teach a self-defense class, had taken a tour of Hollywood just before stopping for gas on their way to Los Angeles International Airport to return home.
One of the student athletes told police Hogan began harassing another couple before making eye contact with him.
"We had this guy like a pretzel on the ground," said Nestor Bustillo, the team's judo instructor. The team then doused him with gasoline and placed him in a "Boyd Hold" Bustillo said.
Hollywood Carjacker
Cutty Sark Tall Ships Race 2002
Tall Ships
Tall ships take part in the parade of sail in the Solent off Portsmouth, Sunday, Aug. 18, 2002. A fleet of 65 sailing ships has been assembled in the historic naval dockyard celebrating the climax
of the Cutty Sark Tall Ships Race 2002 since Thursday. Many of the vessels from 15 competing nations are training ships carrying young people on the voyage of a lifetime which started in Alicante,
Spain in early July.
Photo by Chris Ison
'The Osbournes'
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 3
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 2
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 1
