'Best of TBH Politoons'
But Untrue
Strangely Believable
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has biscuits with mustard and a can of Coke for breakfast every morning.
~Jeff Crook
Jeff Crook is the Ceci Connolly of the Left. ~ J. Howard Tuft
Strangely Believable but Untrue is now available online at the Untrue Fact of the Day web calendar. Help spread disinformation and misunderstanding by sharing this with your friends and enemies.
Mr. Hawk Reviews
Battlestar Galactica
If I were to give an Emmy, at this point I would give it to Mary MacDonald
for her leading work in Battlestar Galatica. She has done a stellar job. Her
performance as the president has been the high point of the show. I have to
say after watching the second week I am extremely impressed with the acting
in the series..
This series should be on everyone's must watch or tape list.
The scripting is tight and the cast is first rate.
~ Mr. Hawk
Thanks, Mr. Hawk!
A Fresh Rant
Avery Ant
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Rick Perlstein: The Eve of Destruction (Village Voice, Alternet)
You might wonder - were you someone unfamiliar with or in denial about the ways of the Karl Rove Mafia - how George W. Bush could blunder into nominating someone as attorney general so obviously implicated in the most legally questionable and morally indefensible practices of his administration. You might wonder, too, how the administration seemed to be caught unawares by the bottomless pit of scandal in the past of its initial nominee for Homeland Security secretary.
Linda Perlstein: The Issue Left Behind
Ask any educator about the No Child Left Behind Act and first you'll probably hear, "I agree with what the law is trying to do," because who doesn't want children--all children--to learn more? Then, however, you usually hear a glum "but," followed by a long list of troubles with the law, passed by an enthusiastic, bipartisan Congress in 2001. When the Harvard Civil Rights Project conducted a survey in Virginia and California about the "but" this spring, they found teachers far more likely to say the law is damaging instruction and driving educators out than they are to say it is helping kids.
Annalee Newitz: Sad Mac (AlterNet)
Is this the same Apple of "rip, mix, burn" and "think different" and "our company founders were once acid-dropping phone phreaks"?
None So Blind (The Nation)
A triumphant George W. Bush, emboldened by finally being elected to office, will inaugurate his second term on January 20. Festooned with gospel imagery, his address will rededicate this nation to waging the "war on terror" and championing democracy abroad, and call for building a new "ownership society" at home. His lavish celebration will produce limousine gridlock in the capital, as right-wing Republicans, corporate chieftains, lobbyists and retainers pay tribute to the President who has consolidated their hold on all three branches of government.
Paul Krugman: The Free Lunch Bunch (Click on "Columns," then on "The Free Lunch Bunch.")
Did they believe they would be welcomed as liberators? Administration plans to privatize Social Security have clearly run into unexpected opposition. Even Republicans are balking; Representative Bill Thomas says that the initial Bush plan will soon be a "dead horse." That may be overstating it, but for privatizers the worst is yet to come. If people are rightly skeptical about claims that Social Security faces an imminent crisis, just wait until they start looking closely at the supposed solution. President Bush is like a financial adviser who tells you that at the rate you're going, you won't be able to afford retirement - but that you shouldn't do anything mundane like trying to save more. Instead, you should take out a huge loan, put the money in a mutual fund run by his friends (with management fees to be determined later) and place your faith in capital gains.
Eric Lichtblau: Gonzales excludes CIA from rules on prisoners (New York Times)
Officers of the Central Intelligence Agency and other nonmilitary personnel fall outside the bounds of a 2002 directive issued by President George W. Bush that pledged the humane treatment of prisoners in U.S. custody, Alberto Gonzales, the White House counsel, said in a document.
Steven F. Freeman: Democracy's End (In These Times)
In a democracy, an inauguration should be a day of celebration, not only for the victors, but also for the process-an orderly and peaceful conferring of power based on free and fair elections. The process allows the losers to accept the outcome, knowing that, although disappointed, they can rest assured that they had their chance, and that will soon have another. The process allows the victors to govern legitimately.
Activist shares Iraqi prisoners' horror stories with BBC (The Athens News)
In December, Athens County (Ohio)-based peace activist Peggy Gish, who has been working in Iraq for more than 14 months over the past two years, told the British Broadcasting Corporation about some of the accounts that she has heard from citizens of that country who have been detained by the U.S.-led military force. In an interview with BBC reporter Becky Branford, Gish recounted that some detainees she has spoken with have complained of arbitrary detention, and abuse at the hands of their captors. She is in Iraq with Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT).
James Berardinelli: The Strange Case of Prozac Nation (Reelviews)
Sometimes, I just don't understand movie distributors. And none is more difficult to fathom than Miramax, which occasionally buys the rights to a film, then allows it to rot away on a shelf. For example, take Hero. In order for that film to see the light of day in North America, it required an act of God (masquerading as Quentin Tarantino). Once there, of course, it was universally praised and earned a pretty penny. This isn't the first (or only) film that Miramax has squirreled away. Consider the strange case of Prozac Nation.
Kate Meier: Commentary: Wild and woolly adventures with Dad and Uncle Fred in Athens (The Athens News)
This wasn't a typical weekend at Ohio University. Something felt different -- the scent of Old Spice and old-man cologne brushed the air.
Mark Fiore presents: Interactive inaugural map
KTMS - Santa Barbara
Afternoon Connection With Paul & Palmer
Tune into 990 AM KTMS Saturday from 3 - 4PM for the "Afternoon Connection With Paul & Palmer." We'll discuss the Bush innauguration and second term with former Senator and Presidential Candidate George Mc Govern.
We'll take your calls at 879-KTMS (5867)
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Still sunny and pleasant.
The cold continues - have a lovely barking cough currently.
Kicks Off Sundance on a Political Note
Robert Redford
The Sundance Film Festival kicked off on Thursday with a political tone struck by founder Robert Redford, who called independent film a voice of dissent and encouraged movie-makers to speak their minds.
The curtain rose at the premier U.S. gathering for independent movies on the same day resident Bush was inaugurated for his second term, which was not lost on Redford, the Oscar winning actor and director of movies like "The Sting" and "Ordinary People."
Redford told a packed house at Sundance's opening-night premier of the tolerance-themed comedy "Happy Endings" that a goal of the festival was to give a platform to a diverse group of filmmakers with something to say about the times.
"This is really a festival about different voices in film that really reflect, a little more accurately, the world we live in," Redford said.
Robert Redford
Raises More Than $18M
NBC's Tsunami Aid
NBC raised more than $18 million for the American Red Cross to send to tsunami victims with its benefit broadcast last weekend, the network said Friday.
Individual NBC stations raised another $10 million through separate telethons, the network said. Stars donated their time and the $2 million in production costs were covered by a corporate sponsor.
NBC's Tsunami Aid
Creating Opera Based on Andersen
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello is creating an opera based on Danish fairy tale writer Hans Christian Andersen's impossible romance with a Swedish woman.
"The Secret Arias" is based on songs written by Andersen for Jenny Lind, a soprano dubbed the "Swedish Nightingale," whom the Dane pined for, despite her never returning his affections, said Henrik Engelbrecht, head of dramaturgy at the Royal Theater.
"Elvis immediately loved the idea and when we met him 18 months ago to discuss it, he had already a clear idea about the opera," Engelbrecht told The Associated Press on Thursday.
It is believed that Andersen wrote his tale "The Nightingale" with Lind in mind.
Elvis Costello
Tour Set to Begin March 28 in San Diego
U2
Irish rock band U2 is set to explode on the road at the end of March, just in time for a beleaguered concert industry desperate for a major buzz-generating tour.
The band will begin its worldwide Vertigo tour March 28 at the San Diego Sports Arena, Billboard has learned. Details will be provided in a Jan. 24 announcement. Tennessee rock band Kings of Leon will open the first leg.
The first U.S. leg will wrap in Boston in late May. The tour, in support of its latest release, "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb," is routed to accommodate multiple shows in many markets.
Following two months of U.S. shows, the Vertigo tour will hit some 30 European stadiums, beginning June 10 in Brussels. The band will stay in Europe through mid-August, then return to North America for another run of 30 arena dates.
U2
'Center of Universe' Out
'Yes, Dear' In
The comedy series "Yes, Dear" is returning to CBS as the low-rated "Center of the Universe" gets bumped out of network orbit.
Starting Feb. 16, "Yes, Dear" will take over the 9:30 p.m. EST Wednesday time slot that had belonged to the John Goodman-Jean Smart freshman sitcom "Center of the Universe."
Extra episodes of "King of Queens" will help fill in at 9:30 p.m. Wednesday until "Yes, Dear" returns.
'Yes, Dear' In
Bad News
Hubble Space Telescope
The White House has eliminated funding for a mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope from its 2006 budget request and directed NASA to focus solely on de-orbiting the popular spacecraft at the end of its life, according to government and industry sources.
NASA is debating when and how to announce the change of plans. Sources told Space News that outgoing NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe likely will make the announcement Feb. 7 during the public presentation of the U.S. space agency's 2006 budget request.
That budget request, according to government and industry sources, will not include any money for Hubble servicing but will include some money for a mission to attach a propulsion module to Hubble needed to safely de-orbit the spacecraft with a controlled re-entry into the Pacific Ocean. NASA would not need to launch such a mission before the end of the decade to guide the massive telescope safely into the ocean.
Hubble Space Telescope
Shooting Inside Louvre
'Da Vinci Code'
France will allow U.S. film director Ron Howard to shoot scenes in the famed Louvre museum for a film adaptation of the worldwide bestseller "The Da Vinci Code," the Culture Ministry said on Friday.
The movie version of Dan Brown's thriller will feature Tom Hanks as Professor Robert Langdon and is scheduled to start shooting in May, according to the Internet Movie Database (IMDb).
'Da Vinci Code'
To Judge 'Entertainer'
Wayne Newton
Wayne Newton says he won't need a panel of judges to decide the winner of his new talent contest, "The Entertainer," which debuts Sunday on E! Television Network.
Newton is the only judge, but the 62-year-old singer promises that he won't be as nasty as, say, Simon Cowell, the tart-tongued judge on Fox's "American Idol."
The winner of the talent contest will appear in Newton's show at the Las Vegas Hilton.
Wayne Newton
'SNL' Producer Through 2012
Lorne Michaels
Lorne Michaels, founding executive producer of "Saturday Night Live," has agreed to a contract extension to keep him running the comedy institution through 2012, NBC said on Friday.
NBC, which frequently seeks to sign its executive and on-air talent to long-term contracts, also has a development deal with Michaels for prime-time projects.
Lorne Michaels
Reach Deal With Producers
Actors Unions
Hollywood's two major actors unions announced late Thursday they have agreed to a new contract with film and TV producers worth $200 million over three years.
The Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists had been immersed in negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers since Dec. 6. The unions have nearly 200,000 members nationwide.
Under the agreement, which still needs final approval, actors will get a 9 percent minimum pay raise over three years, increased money for the unions' health and pension plans and greater protections for stunt actors and extras, SAG said in a statement.
However, actors did not get a larger share of DVD residuals, which unions representing writers and directors had tried unsuccessfully for in their recent contract negotiations.
Actors Unions
Investigated in Alleged Petty Theft
Paris Hilton
Paris Hilton is being investigated for suspicion of petty theft, authorities said. "There was an incident, and she is alleged to have taken something," sheriff's Deputy Steve Suzuki said without disclosing further details.
On its Web site, the TV show "Celebrity Justice" posted a security video taken last month of Hilton as she bought several magazines at a newsstand and was given change. It goes on to show her grabbing her infamous sex video and walking off with it.
Gerry Castro, an employee at Swing News in West Hollywood, told "Celebrity Justice" that Hilton became enraged after spotting the sex video "One Night in Paris" on sale at the newsstand.
"She threw her 80 cents change at me and took the video and said, `I'm taking this and I'm not buying it,'" Castro told the show.
"Nobody steals on my shift," Castro said.
Paris Hilton
Toilet-Trained Elephant
Diew
Meet Diew the elephant - the world's first potty-trained pachyderm.
Visitors to a Thai elephant camp were treated to a call of nature with a difference yesterday, as five-year-old Diew demonstrated how to use and flush an oversized toilet.
The massive but immodest beast had no problem posing for the cameras as he went about his business.
Diew
U.S. OKs Expanded Oil Drilling
Alaska
Citing a need for domestic energy, the government plans to open for exploratory drilling thousands of acres on Alaska's North Slope that have been protected for decades because of migratory birds and caribou.
The Bureau of Land Management has concluded that oil and gas exploration in the northeastern corner of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska can be conducted with "minimal impact" on the area's wildlife.
The Fish and Wildlife Service, which like the BLM is part of the Interior Department, has said the area around Lake Teshekpuk in the northeast corner of the NPRA is among the most important molting areas in the entire Arctic for wild geese. It is also used for calving and insect relief by herds of caribou.
The BLM, however, has concluded that more than 400,000 acres surrounding Lake Teshekpuk should be opened for exploratory drilling with restrictions. The government estimates the area contains about 2 billion barrels of economically recoverable oil and 3.5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
Alaska
Stepping Down in March
Michael Powell
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell said on Friday he plans to resign after four years of mixed success in pushing a deregulatory approach to the telecommunications and media industries.
Powell, the son of retiring Secretary of State Colin Powell, relaxed ownership restrictions on media conglomerates hoping to expand, and was able to ease telephone network sharing rules benefiting the big local carriers.
Powell told Reuters that he would leave after the FCC's March 10 meeting and was satisfied he had largely completed the agenda he set when he became chairman.
He said he has no immediate plans for the future but may someday run for political office. Some speculate Powell may become president of his alma mater, the College of William & Mary, in Williamsburg, Virginia.
Michael Powell
Confused by Bush Salute
Norwegians
