'Best of TBH Politoons'
Freshly Updated!
Dick Eats Bush
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
ANDREW TAYLOR: Senate Votes to Raise Debt Limit (Associated Press)
Congress agreed to let the government borrow another $781 billion Thursday, allowing lawmakers and President Bush to pay for the war in Iraq and combat terrorism without raising taxes or cutting popular domestic programs.
Daniel Gross: Gross-Up? Gross Out (slate.com)
The latest abomination in CEO pay.
Jan Frel: Not Your Average Joe (AlterNet.org)
Author Norah Vincent dressed up as a man to find out how men really behave in all-male environments. Surprise, surprise: They're nice guys.
Steve Olson: Why We're All Jesus' Children (slate.com)
Go back a few millenniums, and we've all got the same ancestors.
Suzette Martinez Standring: The Final Days of Art Buchwald: A Visit
MILTON, Mass. Renowned columnist Art Buchwald has refused dialysis, and it's only a matter of time, maybe a short time, before he dies. For a man awaiting The Reaper, he's in unusually fine fettle.
Meg Cabot: MONDAYS (megcabot.com)
I am going to admit something totally embarrassing now: I love Mondays.
ROGER EBERT: V for Vendetta
It is the year 2020. A virus runs wild in the world, most Americans are dead, and Britain is ruled by a fascist dictator who promises security but not freedom. One man stands against him, the man named V, who moves through London like a wraith despite the desperate efforts of the police.
The Wall St. Poet
Lacking The Knack In Iraq
Three years into our Iraq adventure and we still can't seem to get it right...
Lacking The Knack In Iraq
Iraq's a splintered, factured land
Of raging hostile locals,
Of feuding faiths and timeless hates,
Of frothing angry yokels.
So how is it, America
The world's lone superpower,
Is mired here and must endure
Such convoluted glower?
Our strength lies in the big boy's perk
To call shots by fiat,
Supporting roles in yahoo strife
For us ain't where it at.
The Brits once played their own "great game"
In places like Iraq;
They played it cheap in lives and gold:
Alas, we lack the knack.
©2006
For more satirical verse:
www.wallstreetpoet.com
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Started raining before lunch.
My computer had one of those 'let's visit the blue screen o'death' moments. Ack.
Hate when that happens.
No new flags.
Leading Protest In Hollywood
Paul Haggis
Paul Haggis, the Canadian director of "Crash", this year's Oscar winner for best picture, will lead a protest in Hollywood this weekend against the war in Iraq, now three years old, organizers said.
Haggis will be joined by other celebrities and politicians in the vanguard of the demonstration Saturday, which will assemble at noon at the legendary intersection of Hollywood and Vine and march through the heart of Tinseltown, the organizers said.
The Canadian director, whose gritty racial drama won three Oscars in the March 5 Academy Awards ceremony, will be flanked by US actors Martin Sheen and Maria Bello and singer and social activist Harry Belafonte.
Other notables expected to march are Vietnam War veteran Ron Kovic, the author of the book "Born on the Fourth of July," which later became an academy-award winning film; Gloria Romero, a state Democratic senator; and Dolores Huerta, the co-founder of the United Farm Workers of America.
Paul Haggis
Scientology Battle Rages On
'South Park'
"South Park" has declared war on Scientology. Matt Stone and Trey Parker, creators of the animated satire, are digging in against the celebrity-endorsed religion after a controversial episode mocking outspoken Scientologist Tom Cruise was yanked abruptly from the schedule Wednesday - with an Internet report saying it was covert warfare by Cruise that led to its departure.
"So, Scientology, you may have won THIS battle, but the million-year war for earth has just begun!" the "South Park" creators said in a statement Friday in Daily Variety. "Temporarily anozinizing our episode will NOT stop us from keeping Thetans forever trapped in your pitiful man-bodies... You have obstructed us for now, but your feeble bid to save humanity will fail!"
The Internet blogger hollywoodinterrupted.com said Thursday that Cruise threatened to not promote "Mission: Impossible 3," a surefire summer blockbuster, if the offending episode ran. Comedy Central is owned by Viacom, as is Paramount, which is putting out the film.
'South Park'
New Team to Probe Killing
Notorious B.I.G.
A new team of police detectives has been assigned to the unsolved 1997 murder of rapper Notorious B.I.G., authorities said.
The 24-year-old rapper, born Christopher Wallace, was shot and killed March 9, 1997, after a party at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles.
His mother, sister and widow sued the city, alleging that the Police Department covered up the involvement of rogue officers in the killing. They alleged that shooting was orchestrated on behalf of Death Row Records chief Marion "Suge" Knight. Knight has denied involvement.
In January, a federal judge declared a mistrial and fined the city $1.1 million, ruling that a police detective intentionally hid statements by a jailhouse informant linking the killing to two officers.
Notorious B.I.G.
Iconic Tower May Be Sold
Capitol Records
Rumors that the Capitol Records tower, which looks like a stack of records and is one of the world's most recognizable buildings, could be sold to a developer who might convert it into condos has sparked concern among city leaders and preservationists.
They say the building where Capitol Records helped produce and distribute music for Frank Sinatra, the Beatles and many other musicians, is too much of an icon to be turned into housing.
Besides its architectural significance, the tower is a symbol of enterprise and talent, said Diana Rubio, a spokeswoman for Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
"There isn't any other building like it," Rubio said. "It's a lot like the Hollywood sign, and there's only one Capitol Records building."
Capitol Records
Caracas Installation
Spencer Tunick
American artist Spencer Tunick has photographed and filmed masses of people in the nude in dozens of public places from Finland to Australia, and now he is looking for at least 2,000 volunteers in Venezuela.
Organizers said Tunick had chosen a street in Caracas for his human art installation, and was asking volunteers to show up and strip on Sunday morning.
"I chose a location to me that was beauty and chaos combined - organized chaos," Tunick said Thursday. "I'd probably be arrested for doing this and charged with a crime in half of the United States, so I'm honored to be here in Caracas and not be arrested."
Spencer Tunick
Selling Stake In Nirvana Catalog
Courtney Love
Courtney Love said she plans to sell part of her stake in Nirvana's catalog, according to NME.com. Love, in London last week for meetings about a new record deal, a TV documentary and a role in a stage production, said she's not sure exactly how she will proceed, explaining, "I have decided that I need some co-management and a strategic partner (to help me) as it's such a huge responsibility. This is the right thing to do for my family...whoever I do this deal with, I really have to like."
Love was quoted in this past weekend's (March 12) edition of the Sunday Mirror as saying she was possibly going to sell "25 percent of the catalog for quite a lot of money."
Courtney Love
Seeks Attention
Ben Stein
Ben Stein (R - Self-Serving) says the people who truly were snubbed on Oscar night weren't those who didn't win, but were the American military personnel serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Speaking Thursday at a Kent County Republican Party fundraising dinner, the conservative humorist, writer and political pundit said movie stars and film industry professionals failed to highlight the sacrifices of soldiers during the Academy Awards on March 5.
He said the real stars aren't his Beverly Hills neighbors but the soldiers "wearing body armor in 130-degree heat, pulling 24-hour shifts" in the so-called Sunni triangle, the dangerous area of armed insurgents in Iraq.
Ben Stein
'Dukes of Hazzard' Actor Charged
Tom Wopat
Tom Wopat, who played Luke Duke on the TV series "The Dukes of Hazzard," faces a drunken driving charge in northern New Jersey, authorities said Friday.
He was pulled from a Ford Bronco Wednesday night after hitting orange traffic cones and nearly striking a Ringwood police car sent to an accident, Maer said.
Wopat, 54, of West Milford, was released into the custody of his girlfriend, Maer said.
Tom Wopat
Closes House on Neverland Ranch
Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson has closed the house on his Neverland Ranch and laid off some of the employees there but has not completely shuttered the sprawling estate, the pop star's spokesman said.
The action came a day after state labor officials announced that Jackson had agreed to pay his Neverland Ranch employees hundreds of thousands of dollars in back wages, avoiding a lawsuit by the California Department of Industrial Relations.
Employees who received their back pay Thursday were told they were being laid off because the state had shut down the ranch, the syndicated television news magazine "Entertainment Tonight" reported on its Web site Thursday night.
Michael Jackson
Sued Over Haircut
'Into the West'
A Mescalero Apache family in southern New Mexico has sued the producers of Steven Spielberg's television miniseries, "Into the West," claiming a set stylist cut an 8-year-old girl's hair without regard for tribal customs.
"It's part of our culture not to cut a girl's hair until her Coming of Age ceremony," the girl's father, Danny Ponce, said Friday in a telephone interview. "The only ones allowed to do that are the parents. Nobody asked for permission."
Ponce filed suit in U.S. District Court in Albuquerque on March 6, naming Turner Films Inc. and the unknown stylist as defendants. The lawsuit seeks $250,000 for emotional distress and $75,000 in damages.
The stylist cut the girl's hair, the lawsuit claims, "to make her look more 'Indian' and like a male Indian child because the movie casting call failed to produce sufficient young male extras of Indian heritage."
'Into the West'
'Stalker' Convicted
Monica Crowley
A homeless man who confessed in e-mails that he was obsessed with cable TV news personality Monica Crowley was convicted Friday of stalking her.
Ronald Martin, 41, said he was "saddened" by the Manhattan Criminal Court jury's verdict that found him guilty of two counts of second-degree aggravated harassment and two counts of fourth-degree stalking - all misdemeanors.
Martin was accused of terrorizing Crowley, 37. He repeatedly followed her and sent her hundreds of gushing e-mails.
In trial testimony, Crowley, who has worked for President Richard Nixon, Faux News and MSGOP Television, said she had been "scared to death" of Martin, who followed her with roses and tried to speak with her.
Monica Crowley
Selling DreamWorks Library
Paramount
Viacom Inc.'s Paramount Pictures on Friday said it had agreed to sell its DreamWorks film library to financier George Soros' investment fund and Dune Capital Management for $900 million.
Paramount, which acquired the film library in its recent $1.6 billion purchase of DreamWorks SKG, aimed to defray the cost of the deal by selling the DreamWorks library of 59 titles, including "Gladiator" and "American Beauty."
Under the terms of the sale, Paramount has an exclusive five-year agreement to distribute DreamWorks library films and retains a minority stake in the library as well as an option to buy it back in five years.
Paramount also kept music publishing, sequel and merchandising rights associated with the DreamWorks library.
Paramount
In Memory
Narvin Kimball
Narvin Kimball, the last founding member of the New Orleans Preservation Hall Jazz Band who was known for his vocal stylings and banjo playing, died Friday. He was 97.
Kimball died at his daughters' home, where he and his wife Lillian had been staying since shortly after Hurricane Katrina, according to the band's publicist and the local coroner.
Kimball was the son of bassist Henry Kimball, and he made his first banjo with a cigar box, stick and string. He began playing professionally in the 1920s on Mississippi riverboats with the Fate Marable Band. He made his first Columbia Records recording in 1928.
Kimball formed his own band, Narvin Kimball's Gentlemen of Jazz, and played around New Orleans for 40 years. He also worked for 37 years with the U.S. Postal Service. It was on his mail rounds that he broached the idea of his band playing at the hall.
Kimball last played with the band in 1999 in a PBS performance. Not long afterward he suffered a series of strokes that ended his banjo playing.
Kimball is survived by his wife, two daughters, four grandchildren and seven great grandchildren.
Narvin Kimball
In Memory
Oleg Cassini
Oleg Cassini, the designer who created the dresses that helped make Jacqueline Kennedy the most glamorous first lady in history, died Friday. He was 92.
Kennedy, only 31 years old when her husband was elected president, was the pinnacle of style in the White House years from 1961 to 1963. Her simple, geometric dresses in sumptuous fabrics, her pillbox hats and her elegant coiffure were copied by women from ages 18 to 80.
Cassini said that shortly after John F. Kennedy was elected, he persuaded Jacqueline Kennedy to use him as the creator of her total look, rather than as one of many designers.
The one-time Hollywood costume designer turned couturier had been friendly with the Kennedy family for years.
Oleg Cassini
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