'Best of TBH Politoons'
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Froma Harrop: The Mortgage Mogul and His Victims (creators.com)
As banks, money markets and stock exchanges convulse over a sinking American economy, we see the folks sprawled at the bottom of the smoking rubble - debt-crushed American consumers. It is they whose reckless or trusting natures enriched so many, at least for a while, and whose troubled loans have sent markets into panic.
William Saletan: LET'S BE FRANK ABOUT TEEN SEX AND ABORTION (slate.com)
To pro-choicers: Talk about abortion the way you've been talking about teen sex, embracing an ideal number of zero. To pro-lifers: Accept that the best way to advance toward zero is through voluntary prevention.
Bryony Gordon reports from Bridgend, the town where seven young people have committed suicide (telegraph.co.uk)
The truth, say residents of Bridgend, is less sinister, yet no less bleak. As one girl I spoke to outside Bridgend College told me yesterday: "Suicide is just what people do here because there is nothing else to do."
JOSEPH E. STIGLITZ: How to Stop the Downturn (nytimes.com)
AMERICA'S economy is headed for a major slowdown. Whether there is a recession (two quarters of negative growth) is less important than the fact that the economy will operate well below its potential, and unemployment will grow. The country needs a stimulus, but anything we do will add to our soaring deficit, so it is important to get as much bang for the buck as possible.
Daniel Gross: Dear Rich People: (slate.com)
All you wealthy Americans, stop complaining and save the economy!
Jim Hightower: SUBSIDIZING MANURE LAGOONS (jimhightower.com)
Our nation's environmental laws were based for years on the ethical precept that the polluter must pay. Now that's been perverted to the unethical notion that we must subsidize the polluter.
Cathy Heffernan: Being deaf has one big advantage when you're travelling abroad - it breaks down all the barriers (guardian.co.uk)
Deaf travellers go equipped with a lifetime's experience of finding creative solutions to communication obstacles.
Desperately seeking Osama (guardian.co.uk)
Can Morgan Spurlock succeed where the US Army failed? The "Super Size Me" director tells Jeremy Kay about his global quest for Bin Laden.
Richard Roeper: Is 'Fatal Attraction' up for best picture? (suntimes.com; scroll down)
Phags for Phelps is the brainchild of Out Magazine's Josh Kilmer-Purcell, who wrote a column that said, "Fred Phelps and his Westboro Baptist Church family just might be the most important [gay rights] activists since Stonewall. Why? Quite simply, because they give homophobes a bad name. Unlike stealth homophobes, the Phelps ... don't hide their repugnance under a bushel. Every time they appear on the nation's television screens, they show millions of Americans just how ugly unadulterated bigotry is."
Christian Taylor: Fags And Phelps - An Unlikely Combination
Meet Shirley Phelps. She's one of the most public, outspoken leaders of the Westboro Baptist Church in Kansas. ... They've been called the most hated family in America, although now that they plan to picket a Heath Ledger memorial service, you can probably add Australia to that list as well.
The Real State of the Union (Video)
Here Is My Answer ---->
Reader Suggestion
Addendum to Sally Rogers
Herman was Sally's sometimes boyfriend. Herman Glimscher, a weak sort of guy who still lived with his mother (who usually went on Sally and Herman's dates together)
If you think you know a lot about the Dick Van Dyke show, here is a link to a ton 'o trivia.
ducks
Thanks, ducks!
Contributor Comment
TORNADO WATCH IN SOCAL?
WHEN I MOVED TO NASHVILLE THE TORNADO WATCH WARNINGS WOULD SAY THAT IF YOU ARE IN YOUR CAR THAT YOU SHOULD LIE DOWN IN A LOW LYING DITCH. YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING!!!!!!
TWO YEARS AGO THEY CHANGED THAT TO FASTEN YOUR SEAT BELT AND PRAY TO JESUS. WELL. I MADE UP THE "PRAY TO JESUS" PART BUT NEVER THE LESS BE SAFE! A TORNADO IS WORSE THAN A GEORGE BUSH PRESIDENCY!
JD
Thanks, JD!
Weather doesn't scare me any where near as much as a proud republican.
Reader Comment
Re: FSM
(© by R. Adams, Chipshot Grafix, Inc.)FSM appears to meWhile this may be difficult for you to believe, last night I dis-covered the unmistakable image of the Supreme Deity of thePastafarians, the Flying Spaghetti Monster him/itself in myplate of pasta! As soon as I spooned on the sauce, I was filledwith his awesome noodliness and was moved to take thispicture to share with you.
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Overcast, but not much rain.
In Love With Obama
Scarlett Johansson
Scarlett Johansson returned from the Persian Gulf with a whole lot of soldiers' trinkets and a delusion of her own engagement - to Barack Obama.
"I am engaged ... to Barack Obama," Johansson joked in an interview with The Associated Press on Thursday. "My heart belongs to Barack, and that is who I am currently, finally, engaged to. Yes."
Johansson, who showed her support for the Democratic presidential candidate at the Iowa caucus earlier this month, was really just deflecting a question about rumors she might be engaged (to actor-beau Ryan Reynolds).
The 23-year-old actress talked about the warm welcome she received while visiting troops stationed in the Persian Gulf last week. Johansson dropped by U.S. bases in Kuwait on Jan. 17 and Jan. 18 as part of a USO tour in which she met about 3,500 men and women in uniform.
Scarlett Johansson
Use Your Seatbelt
Smartphones & The Fourth Amendment
When Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone as a "revolutionary" device, he probably wasn't thinking of its effect on the Fourth Amendment. But a new paper by Adam Gershowitz, a professor at the South Texas College of Law, argues that unless courts or legislators make significant changes to the rules governing law enforcement searches, the increasing ubiquity of devices like Apple's übergadget will permit police to routinely gather massive amounts of citizens' sensitive personal data without a warrant.
The Fourth Amendment guarantees that Americans will not be subject to "unreasonable searches and seizures." Normally, this means police must show a judge that there is "probable cause" to believe a search will uncover evidence of a crime before tapping our phones or digging through our papers. But the courts have always recognized a variety of special circumstances under which a search may be reasonable even without a court warrant. One important such exception is for "search incident to arrest." This allows police to search the person and immediate vicinity of anyone being placed under arrest, to ensure that the arrestee can't destroy evidence or pull a concealed weapon.
The problem with this, argues Gershowitz, is that with the proliferation of iPhone-like devices, the officer digging through your coat pocket suddenly has access to gigabytes worth of potentially sensitive e-mail, videos, photographs, browsing histories, and other documents. If you're in the habit of keeping your passwords saved, they may even be able to reach bank statements, file servers, and that Nerve Personals account you opened "just for fun." Though the underlying rationale for searches incident to arrest is officer safety, courts have adopted a "bright line" rule permitting an arresting officer to search any object in a suspect's possession, such as a cigarette pack, even if it unlikely to conceal a miniature Glock. And since the Supreme Court has ruled that police have broad authority to arrest people for even trivial infractions, such as failure to wear a seat belt, the current rule gives law enforcement officers broad discretion to transform a routine traffic stop into a highly intrusive excavation of your digital life.
Smartphones & The Fourth Amendment
Quits UB40
Ali Campbell
Singer Ali Campbell said Friday he has quit pop-reggae band UB40 after almost 30 years, citing management problems.
His bandmates, however, said Campbell had left to pursue solo projects. In a statement on his website, Campbell said that "management difficulties, which have been ongoing for almost five years, had become intolerable."
UB40 was founded in Birmingham, central England, and fused reggae and pop to popular effect, notably on hit versions of "Red Red Wine," "I Got You Babe" and "(I Can't Help) Falling In Love With You."
The band was named after Unemployment Benefit Form 40, the government document used by welfare claimants.
Ali Campbell
Hospital News
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert, who has undergone a series of cancer surgeries, was recovering Friday after having yet another operation.
The 65-year-old film critic had successful surgery Thursday in Houston to address complications from previous operations, his lawyer said in a statement.
"Chaz and Roger Ebert are grateful to everyone for the continued prayers and concern," lawyer Eliot Ephraim said Friday. "The surgery went well, and the Eberts look forward to giving you more good news about Roger's recovery in the days to come."
Roger Ebert
Inks Deal With Writers
RKO Pictures
RKO Pictures has signed an interim deal with the striking Writers Guild of America.
Details were not released, but the guild says the agreement announced Friday includes fair and respectful compensation for writers for work used on the Internet and other new media.
The agreement follows separate guild pacts reached with other independent production companies, including Lionsgate, Marvel and The Weinstein Co.
RKO Pictures
'The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus' On Hold
Terry Gilliam
Terry Gilliam's "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus," which was to shoot special effects work in Vancouver next week, has halted production indefinitely after the death of co-lead Heath Ledger.
The $30 million fantasy movie started production in December in London. The Vancouver shoot of interior and bluescreen scenes, scheduled to begin Monday, has been put on hold.
One person involved in the production told The Hollywood Reporter, "All who had started working on the film were told to go home. They're looking at possibly picking it up at a later date. At this point, it looks pretty bleak."
Terry Gilliam
20-Years On Broadway
'The Phantom of the Opera'
"The Phantom of the Opera," already the longest-running musical in Broadway history, will mark its 20th anniversary in New York on Saturday with two performances.
The Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, which won seven Tony awards in 1988, has grossed nearly $675 million over its record run of over 8,300 performances. Worldwide, "Phantom" has raked in over $5 billion since opening in London in 1986.
The show became the longest-running Broadway musical in 2006 when it surpassed "Cats," which also was composed by Lloyd Webber.
Only one member of the original cast, George Lee Andrews, who has played several smaller roles, remains with the production.
'The Phantom of the Opera'
Burmese Poet Arrested
Saw Wai
A Myanmar poet known for his odes to love was arrested after penning a Valentine's Day poem that carried a hidden message criticizing the leader of the country's military junta, Senior Gen. Than Shwe, colleagues said Thursday.
The poet, Saw Wai, was arrested Tuesday, a day after his poem "February 14" was published in the popular weekly entertainment magazine "A Chit," or "Love," according to friends and colleagues who spoke on condition of anonymity fearing reprisals.
The eight-line poem in Burmese is about a man brokenhearted after falling for a fashion model, whom he thanks for having taught him the meaning of love.
But if read vertically, the first word of each line forms the phrase: "Power crazy Senior General Than Shwe."
Saw Wai
Lawsuit Settled
Judith Regan
The war is over: Judith Regan, the publisher fired in the wake of her efforts to release O.J. Simpson's hypothetical "confession," has settled her $100 million lawsuit with Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation.
"The parties are pleased that they have reached an equitable, confidential settlement, with no admission of liability by any party," according to a joint statement issued Friday.
Regan's ReganBooks imprint at HarperCollins published a long list of racy best sellers, including Jose Canseco's "Juiced" and Jenna Jameson's "How to Make Love Like a Porn Star." But she was fired took the fall in December 2006, less than a month after Murdoch canceled her plans to publish O.J. Simpson's allegedly fictional murder confession, "If I Did It." The book and a companion Fox television interview were greeted with widespread public outrage.
The settlement spares both sides from what could have been a nasty trial. At the time of Regan's firing, her attorney had promised "war," not an unrealistic threat from the famously temperamental publisher.
Judith Regan
Kevin Wants More Consolidation
FCC
The head of the Federal Communications Commission is pressing for the agency to quickly approve plans by AT&T Inc to purchase $2.5 billion worth of wireless airwaves from a privately held partnership, sources said on Friday.
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin (R-Ruupert's Bitch) circulated an order on Thursday among the agency's four other commissioners that would allow AT&T to buy the spectrum from Aloha Partners, said the sources with knowledge of the draft order.
Martin circulated the order just before the start of a big FCC auction of valuable government-owned your 700-megahertz airwaves in which AT&T is one of the potential bidders.
AT&T has said the Aloha licenses have coverage for a potential 196 million customers in 281 markets, including 72 of the top 100 U.S. markets in the same 700-megahertz frequency band. Aloha obtained the spectrum in a previous FCC auction.
FCC
Slate Remains Intact
NBC
NBC has opted to keep all of its commissioned scripts, bucking the trend set by CBS, Fox and the CW, which significantly trimmed their program development slates during the past few days, citing the effect of the writers' strike.
"Our goal has been to be a very writer-friendly network," NBC executive VP Teri Weinberg said. "We have faith in the writers with whom we made deals, and we want to give them the opportunity to deliver their scripts."
NBC's position to stick with its pre-strike development slate is shared by its main supplier of content, Universal Media Studios.
NBC
Subsidizes Hormones
Stallone
Sylvester Stallone says he used human growth hormone to get buff for the new "Rambo" movie, and defends its use.
"HGH (human growth hormone) is nothing," the 61-year-old actor tells Time magazine in its Feb. 4 issue. "Anyone who calls it a steroid is grossly misinformed."
Because it is nearly indetectable, HGH has become a substance of great concern in major league baseball and other sports battling allegations of rampant doping.
"Testosterone to me is so important for a sense of well-being when you get older," he says. "Everyone over 40 years old would be wise to investigate it because it increases the quality of your life. Mark my words. In 10 years it will be over the counter."
Stallone
Saudi Collector Wanted Art
Stolen Picasso & Portinari Paintings
A suspect in last month's brazen theft of two paintings by Pablo Picasso and Candido Portinari told detectives the paintings were to be delivered to a Saudi collector, authorities said Friday.
Picasso's "Portrait of Suzanne Bloch" and "O Lavrador de Cafe" by Portinari, an influential Brazilian artist, were stolen Dec. 20 from the Sao Paulo Museum of Art by three men who used a crowbar and car jack to force open one of the museum's steel doors.
The suspect, Moises Manoel de Lima Sobrinho, who briefly hosted a cooking show on a local TV channel, provided the information after he turned himself in Thursday, but a public safety department spokeswoman said she did not know whether Lima Sobrinho named the Saudi collector. She declined to be identified in keeping with department policy.
Stolen Picasso & Portinari Paintings
Changes Blood Group
Demi-Lee Brennan
An Australian teenage girl has become the world's first known transplant patient to change blood groups and take on the immune system of her organ donor, doctors said on Friday, calling her a "one-in-six-billion miracle."
Demi-Lee Brennan, now 15, received a donor liver when she was 9 years old and her own liver failed.
Brennan's body changed blood group from O negative to O positive when she became ill while on drugs to avoid rejection of the organ by her body's immune system.
Her new liver's blood stem cells then invaded her body's bone marrow to take over her entire immune system, meaning the teen no longer needs anti-rejection drugs.
Demi-Lee Brennan
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