'Best of TBH Politoons'
Reader Comment
Re: John Cleese
Marty:
That joke was originally published on
John Cleese's new web site
(well, new several months ago now).
Humor ensues!
Jeff
Thanks, Jeff!
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Barbara Ehrenreich: God Owes Us an Apology (The Progressive)
The tsunami of sea water was followed instantly by a tsunami of spittle as the religious sputtered to rationalize God's latest felony.
Susan Jacoby: A BUZZFLASH INTERVIEW
...liberals tend to be looking for common ground, but I don't believe the right wing in this country wants common ground. To liberals and people who believe in secular government - I say forget about the fundamentalists. Appeal to the 60 or 70 percent of the American people who aren't fundamentalists - who may have lots of religious beliefs, but who also believe in secular government. Don't waste time trying to persuade people who believe that the earth was created in seven days. You're not going to persuade those people of anything.
Jim Hightower: Our New Shopping Wonderworld (AlterNet)
Sadistic, high-tech fiends have now joined with a giant European retail chain to further depersonalize the shopping experience and make going to the mall as joyous as getting a root canal.
Photo exhibit celebrates positive LGBT family experiences (The Athens NEWS)
Family Diversity Projects said the traveling Love Makes a Family exhibit "challenges stereotypes about LGBT people and helps dismantle homophobia."
Phil Martin: Confessions of SpongeBob's Lover (Columbus Alive)
A major news story caught my eye a couple weeks ago: James Dobson, that radical and rabid regurgitator for the right-wing Focus on the Family, decided to "out" SpongeBob SquarePants.
Annalee Newitz: Pig-Based Technologies (AlterNet)
As I lay there trying to sit up and escape the hospital (and not barf in the process), I couldn't help but think about pornography.
In The Mail
'4 More Years'
Hi,
We're pretty sure you'll laugh hysterically at this FLASH animation
'spoof' entitled, '4 More Years'.
Dean
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Another rainy day.
Seattle & Boston Airing Uncensored Version
'Frontline'
At least two TV stations will show an uncensored documentary about soldiers in Iraq despite a warning from PBS that it can't insure stations against FCC fines stemming from bad language.
The documentary, "A Company of Soldiers," contains 13 expletives spoken by soldiers.
KCTS general manager Randy Brinson told The Seattle Times on Thursday the station will show the unedited version Tuesday in the show's usual time slot, 10 p.m. PST.
"Frontline" is produced by Boston's WGBH, which also will air the raw version.
'Frontline'
Big Night at the Oscars
Beyonce
Beyonce may not be nominated for any Academy Awards, but she will be the main musical attraction at this year's Oscars ceremony. The singer will perform three of the five tunes nominated for best original song.
Josh Groban and Beyonce will perform "Believe" at the 77th annual ceremony, set for Feb. 27 at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles.
Beyonce will step in for Minnie Driver to sing "Learn to Be Lonely," the Andrew Lloyd Webber/Charles Hart tune from "The Phantom of the Opera." Driver performed the song on the film's soundtrack. Accompanied by the American Boyschoir, Beyonce will also sing "Look to Your Path (Vois Sur Ton Chemin)" from "The Chorus (Les Choristes)."
Counting Crows will do their song "Accidentally in Love" from "Shrek 2." Rounding out the nominations lineup, Carlos Santana and Enrique Iglesias will perform "Al Otro Lado del Rio" from "The Motorcycle Diaries."
Beyonce
Broadway to Mark Birthday
Stephen Sondheim
Broadway will celebrate composer Stephen Sondheim's 75th birthday with a gala benefit concert featuring a parade of theater stars.
Among the performers expected to appear at the New Amsterdam Theatre on March 21, the day before Sondheim's 75th birthday, are Bernadette Peters, Nathan Lane, Matthew Broderick, Patti LuPone, Barbara Cook, Mandy Patinkin, Chita Rivera, Harvey Fierstein, Whoopi Goldberg, Audra McDonald, David Hyde Pierce, Dame Edna Everage and more.
Also appearing will be original cast members of several Sondheim shows including "Company," "Follies" and "Merrily We Roll Along," as well as a 35-piece orchestra, a 100-voice choir and the Young People's Chorus of New York.
Stephen Sondheim
More Sore Losers
Hollywood 'Vandals'
(P)reviously reported the conservative group, Citizens United, planned to erect two pro-Bush billboards in Hollywood "thanking" Hollywood for Bush's reelection. As planned, the signs were created, coinciding with the buildup to Oscar night. However, one of those tongue-in-cheek billboards was seriously vandalized Wednesday night, when a Swastika was painted on resident Bush's forehead.
Few Angeleans saw the disfigured sign though, since Citizens United anticipated the vandalism, and had previously arranged with the sign company that their billboards would be immediately repaired if, in fact, they were damaged.
Hollywood Vandals
Spin, Spin, And More Spin
Gannon/Guckert
Former Talon News reporter James Guckert obtained his first White House press credentials as a representative of the pro-Republican Web site, GOPUSA, not as a Talon News reporter, as previously believed, Press Secretary Scott McClellan told E&P today.
McClellan said White House Press Office staffers considered the openly partisan site to be a legitimate news organization when they gave Guckert, a.k.a. Jeff Gannon, the first of numerous day passes in February 2003.
Talon News, for whom Guckert later obtained daily credentials, did not launch until April 2003. Speculation has arisen in recent days that Guckert had somehow obtained access to White House briefings before Talon News officially launched, after videos and transcripts of his presence at briefings as early as February 2003 were revealed.
White House credential rules state that reporters may only obtain credentials if they represent a news organization that "regularly publishes" -- which would have eliminated Talon News in February 2003, as it did not exist then.
Gannon/Guckert
Duet With Jessica Simpson
Willie Nelson
As two of the stars of the upcoming movie the Dukes Of Hazzard, Willie Nelson and Jessica Simpson will be recording a duet for the film's soundtrack. There is no word yet on what song the two will sing, according to Rolling Stone. Simpson tells the magazine, "We're still deciding. We have a couple (of songs) we like."
Nelson has already recorded the famous Dukes Of Hazzard theme song, originally sung by Waylon Jennings.
Simpson plays Daisy Duke, while Nelson plays Uncle Jesse in the movie, which hits theaters on June 25.
Willie Nelson
Trials For Combat Stress
Ecstasy
American soldiers traumatised by fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan are to be offered the drug ecstasy to help free them of flashbacks and recurring nightmares.
The US food and drug administration has given the go-ahead for the soldiers to be included in an experiment to see if MDMA, the active ingredient in ecstasy, can treat post-traumatic stress disorder.
Scientists behind the trial in South Carolina think the feelings of emotional closeness reported by those taking the drug could help the soldiers talk about their experiences to therapists. Several victims of rape and sexual abuse with post-traumatic stress disorder, for whom existing treatments are ineffective, have been given MDMA since the research began last year.
Dr Mithoefer said the MDMA helped people discuss traumatic situations without triggering anxiety.
Ecstasy
Wants Pot Certified Organic
Mendocino County
Medical-marijuana growers in Mendocino County - a Northern California outpost that is home to vegans, vintners, libertarians and aging hippies - want to have their pot certified as organic.
The notion of pesticide-free pot is making some people smile. But county officials say the issue is serious, and they are asking the state whether they can regulate pot-growing and pronounce some crops organic.
Marijuana plants can be threatened by mites, mildew and cornmeal worms. But with no products officially developed for marijuana cultivation, some growers have been using chemicals intended for ornamental plants, which could make users sick.
Mendocino County
Uncovers Ancient City in India
Tsunami
Archaeologists have begun underwater excavations of what is believed to be an ancient city and parts of a temple uncovered by the tsunami off the coast of a centuries-old pilgrimage town.
Three rocky structures with elaborate carvings of animals have emerged near the coastal town of Mahabalipuram, which was battered by the Dec. 26 tsunami.
As the waves receded, the force of the water removed sand deposits that had covered the structures, which appear to belong to a port city built in the seventh century, said T. Satyamurthy, a senior archaeologist with the Archaeological Survey of India.
Tsunami
The Germans Have A Word For It
Flaming SUV
A man barely escaped serious injury Thursday after a lit cigarette he tried to toss out the window while driving across the Bay Bridge blew back in and ignited the vehicle, according to the California Highway Patrol.
The unidentified man was driving westbound at about 10:40 a.m. when he tossed the cigarette out the window of his Ford Expedition, said CHP Officer Shawn Chase.
Carried by the wind, the cigarette landed in his back seat and almost immediately burst into flames. The man quickly pulled to the side of the road, and leapt from the flame-filled SUV, which continued rolling into a guard rail, Chase said.
"He thought he had thrown it in park, but he didn't and it just kept going," the officer said. "It was in flames by the time he got out. He had some of his hair singed on the back of his head. It burnt down to the frame. There was nothing left."
He said the man will likely face a misdemeanor charge for littering.
Flaming SUV
In Memory
Mattiebelle Woods
Mattiebelle Woods, regarded as the first lady of the city's black press, died at a hospital Thursday. She was 102.
Woods joined the Milwaukee Courier, which targets the black community, in 1964 as a reporter. She had long written about social events in the black community, calling her column "Partyline."
Woods was believed to be the oldest working reporter in the country and the oldest poll worker in Milwaukee; she last worked Tuesday during a primary election for a state superintendent of public instruction.
Woods was active in Democratic Party politics.
Mattiebelle Woods
In Memory
Dan O'Herlihy
Irish actor Dan O'Herlihy, nominated for an Oscar in 1954 for his performance in Luis Bunuel's "The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe," has died at age 85 at his home in Malibu, California, a family spokesman said on Friday.
An architecture student who turned to acting to earn money for college, O'Herlihy wound up working with Hollywood notables including Orson Welles, Gregory Peck and John Huston after being discovered by British director Carol Reed and cast opposite James Mason in the 1947 thriller "Odd Man Out."
He appeared in more than 70 plays on the Dublin stage and played the lead in the original production of Sean O'Casey's "Red Roses for Me."
He made his U.S. film debut in Orson Welles' "Macbeth" in 1948, playing the role of Macduff.
His Academy Award Best Actor nomination for "Robinson Crusoe" was a career highlight, but one of his opponents that year was Marlon Brando, who won for his performance in "On the Waterfront."
O'Herlihy had a long and varied career that included a lead role in John Huston's film version of the James Joyce story "The Dead" in 1987 and playing Kennedy family patriarch Joe Kennedy in a TV film "The Rat Pack" in 1998.
He was the CEO of Omni Consumer Products in "RoboCop" in 1987 and its 1990 sequel, and a friendly alien lizard in 1984's "The Last Starfighter."
He also played U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt in "MacArthur," starring Gregory Peck, and appeared in several episodes of David Lynch's TV series "Twin Peaks."
He is survived by his wife, five children, 10 grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
Dan O'Herlihy
In Memory
Samuel W. Alderson
Samuel W. Alderson, the inventor of crash test dummies that are used to help make cars, parachutes and other devices safer, died Feb. 11. He was 90.
Alderson grew up tinkering in his father's custom sheet-metal shop, worked on various military technology and by 1952, had formed Alderson Research Labs.
The company made anthropomorphic dummies for use by the military and NASA in testing ejection seats and parachutes. The dummies were built to approximate the weight and density of humans and hold data-gathering instruments.
Before creating dummies, he worked on missile guidance systems and helped develop a coating to enhance vision on submarine periscopes during World War II.
He left his original company in 1973 to form a competing crash test dummy maker, and the two companies were dominant in the market until eventually merging in 1990 to form First Technology Safety Systems.
Samuel W. Alderson
