'Best of TBH Politoons'
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
The Worst President in History? (rollingstone.com)
George W. Bush's presidency appears headed for colossal historical disgrace. Barring a cataclysmic event on the order of the terrorist attacks of September 11th, after which the public might rally around the White House once again, there seems to be little the administration can do to avoid being ranked on the lowest tier of U.S. presidents. And that may be the best-case scenario. Many historians are now wondering whether Bush, in fact, will be remembered as the very worst president in all of American history.
JAMES WOLCOTT: Dwight Macdonald at 100 (nytimes.com)
It doesn't take brute force to stop a rampaging writer in mid-monologue. Sometimes an innocent question does the trick. Late in his life Dwight Macdonald was holding court at a party when a young woman inquired from the peanut gallery, "Mr. Macdonald, what do you do?" According to Michael Wreszin's biography of Macdonald, "A Rebel in Defense of Tradition," the normally voluble billy goat was thrown for a loss. "Well, I, I, I was a writer, an editor of Partisan Review and Politics, wro . . . wrote for The New Yorker." The incident was more than ego-deflating - it was demoralizing.
Roger Ebert: American Dreamz (PG-13; 3 stars)
"American Dreamz" is a comedy, not a satire. We have that on the authority of its writer-director, Paul Weitz, who told Variety: "Satire is what closes on Saturday night. So it's a comedy." Actually, it's a satire. Its comedy is only fairly funny, but its satire is mean, tending toward vicious. The movie is more slapdash than smooth, more impulsive than calculating, and it takes cheap shots. I responded to its savage, sloppy zeal.
Roger Ebert: The Notorious Bettie Page (3 and 1/2 stars)
In the 1950s a pretty girl from Nashville named Bettie Page became the most famous model of her time -- in certain circles. Marilyn Monroe followed a nude calendar photo into Hollywood stardom, but Bettie Page's fame was within the specialist market of pin-ups and bondage photography. She was tied, trussed, handcuffed, chained and restrained while wearing high heels, nylons, garter belts, corsets and pointy brassieres, or nothing much at all, and yet her posing was so unaffected and her attitude so cheerful that she was like sunshine in the dark world of porn.
Mark Morford: Do You Need A $500 Vibrator?
Short answer: Of course you do. Longer answer: Wait, a what? Are you serious? Where?
Personal Finance: The Rules
You cannot save $5000 until you save $1000. You cannot save $1000 until you save $500. You cannot save $500 until you save $10.
BBC Games
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Still sunny, but cooler.
No new flags.
Gets Famous Frost Poem
JFK Library
The John F. Kennedy Library and Museum has obtained the original version of the poem that Robert Frost prepared for the inauguration of John F. Kennedy, but never read in its entirety because of the glare of the sun.
At Kennedy's 1961 inauguration, Frost, who was 86 at the time, stood at the podium reading the beginning of "Dedication," a poem he wrote by hand, then typed for easier reading at the inauguration. But after trying to use a hat borrowed from Vice President Lyndon Johnson to shield the page from bright sun glancing off the snow, Frost recited his poem, "The Gift Outright," from memory.
Frost had intended to deliver a full reading of "Dedication" before reciting "The Gift Outright."
The museum received the original handwritten poem this week from the estate of Frederick Holborn, one of President Kennedy's special assistants, who died last June.
JFK Library
Actor Denied Entry To US
Lewis Alsamari
An Iraqi actor who plays a hijacker in a new film about the September 11 attacks on the United States complained on Friday he had been denied entry into the country for the movie's premiere.
But the U.S. embassy in London said Lewis Alsamari, who has lived in Britain since 1995, had not given sufficient notice about his planned trip.
A spokeswoman said officials at the embassy would try their best to get Alsamari to New York on time but could give no guarantees.
Alsamari stars in "United 93," a film about the hijacked plane that crashed in Pennsylvania which has sparked intense debate about whether Americans are ready to see an on-screen portrayal of the events.
Lewis Alsamari
Taboo-breaking Show In Beirut
'Coco' Monologues
The audience gasped in awe then broke into applause as the unashamed actress declared that her genital organ, "coco," was angry, in the first Arab adaptation of the US hit play "The Vagina Monologues."
After winning a tough battle with censors, the taboo-breaking "Hakeh Neswan," or "Women's Talk," has taken Lebanese theatre by storm with sold-out performances and rave reviews.
In a Middle East ruled by strict social and religious traditions, calling genital organs by their name -- let alone their nicknames -- is an act of courage.
"I found 'The Vagina Monologues' liberating. I wanted to explore how it could be done in Arabic," said director and playwright Lina Khoury, 30, who holds a master of fine arts in theater-directing from the University of Arkansas.
'Coco' Monologues
Daughter of Kazakhstan's Leader Defends
Ali G
British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, who angered many Kazakhs with his satirical portrayal of their nation has found an unexpected ally in the Central Asian state -- the president's daughter.
Dariga, one of the three daughters of President Nursultan Nazarbayev, said Kazakhstan's furious reaction to Cohen's alter-ego Borat character hurt the nation's image a lot more than the jokes themselves.
"This Web site damaged our image much less than its closure which was covered by all global news agencies," Dariga said in an interview published on Friday in Kazakh newspaper Karavan.
"We should not be afraid of humor and we shouldn't try to control everything, I think," added Dariga, an influential politician who once headed the country's main TV channel Khabar.
Ali G
2008 Revival
'Star Trek'
More than three years after the last "Star Trek" movie crashed at the box office, the venerable sci-fi franchise is being revived by the director of the upcoming "Mission: Impossible" sequel, Daily Variety reported in its Friday edition.
The as-yet-untitled "Star Trek" feature, the 11th since 1979, is aiming for a fall 2008 release through Paramount Pictures, the Viacom Inc. unit looking to restore its box-office luster under new management, the trade paper said.
The project will be directed by J.J. Abrams, whose Tom Cruise vehicle "Mission: Impossible III" will be released by Paramount on May 5. Abrams, famed for producing the TV shows "Alias" and "Lost," will also help write and produce.
'Star Trek'
Helps Fund New Research
Diana Krall
Diana Krall and some of her high-profile friends will be singing for her late mom and the quest for a made-in-B.C. cure for blood cancer this weekend.
Krall has already raised more than $1 million for patient care and research into blood diseases at Vancouver General Hospital.
She throws amazingly lavish parties for patrons. This year, Krall has invited her friends Elton John and former U.S. president Bill Clinton to help her inspire people to donate to the cause.
Diana Krall
Barbershop Society To Honour
Gordon Lightfoot
Before he became a legendary folk singer, Gordon Lightfoot would belt it out in a barbershop quartet.
He formed his first group, The Collegiate Four, in 1952 as he was entering high school.
Lightfoot, of Orillia, Ont., will return to his roots this weekend when he's honoured by Barbershop Harmony Society, the world's largest all-male singing organization.
Gordon Lightfoot
Wildlife Trafficking Envoy
Bo Derek
Actress Bo Derek, who keeps Iberian horses and German shepherds at her home in California, is the government's newest advocate for wilder sorts of animals.
At an Earth Day ceremony at the State Department on Friday, Derek was named a special envoy on wildlife trafficking. The department's new Coalition Against Wildlife Trafficking is enlisting help from other countries to fight an estimated $10 billion annual black market in wildlife and wildlife parts, second only to trafficking arms and drugs.
In 2002, she published her autobiography, "Riding Lessons: Everything That Matters in Life I Learned from Horses." She also speaks for the National Horse Protection Coalition, fighting slaughterhouses that kill horses for human consumption.
Bo Derek
L.A. Times Pulls Columnist's Blog
Michael Hiltzik
The Los Angeles Times has suspended the blog of a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist who posed as an Internet reader to defend his own column and attack his conservative foes.
The Times apparently learned of Michael Hiltzik's multiple identities from another blogger, Patrick Frey, who was slammed by the columnist under a pseudonym. Frey, author of a blog called Patterico's Pontifications, traced the writer back to Hiltzik's computer.
Hiltzik, a business page columnist who has sparred with Frey and other conservative bloggers, told Reuters he could not comment. A Times spokesman was not immediately available.
Michael Hiltzik
Bounced From Airwaves
David Lee Roth
Well, that didn't take long. Rocker-turned-radio host David Lee Roth, who accepted the no-win task of replacing ratings king Howard Stern in January, was bounced from the airwaves Friday after barely three months on the air in New York, Philadelphia, Boston and four other markets.
Roth said he was only told about the syndicated show's demise while riding in a car to the WFNY-FM studios in Manhattan.
His replacements, in a hiring fraught with bizarre subplots, will be shock jocks Greg "Opie" Hughes and Anthony Cumia - currently available only to the 6.5 million listeners on XM satellite radio.
Opie and Anthony's syndicated show was yanked from terrestrial radio in August 2002 after airing a live account of listeners having sex in St. Patrick's Cathedral. The company that silenced the duo was the same one that just hired them back, CBS Radio.
David Lee Roth
CBS, XM Sharing Jocks
Opie & Anthony
Discussions are for a two-year deal that would have Opie & Anthony doing a show five mornings a week at CBS studios in New York, and then heading a few blocks down the road to XM's studio to do another show.
Under the arrangement, the two-hour XM show would be exclusive for its 6.5 million subscribers, while the three-hour CBS show also would be simulcast on XM.
From XM's perspective, it would be offering five hours of Opie & Anthony daily, compared with the four hours it offers now, while CBS would benefit by replacing the underperforming Roth with Opie & Anthony, who have a big following at XM and boasted high ratings during their Infinity stint.
The deal being negotiated has the Opie & Anthony simulcast at CBS stations in New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Dallas and West Palm Beach, Fla.
Opie & Anthony
Could Top $1 Billion
Political Ads
With midterm elections for the House and Senate looming in an uncertain political landscape, a new forecast finds that political ad spending in 2006 might beat the record set in 2004.
Political ad spending could top $1 billion, according to a Campaign Media Analysis Group forecast released Thursday at the Television Bureau of Advertising's annual marketing conference in New York.
The record for political spending came in 2004, when the hotly fought presidential campaign between resident Bush and Democratic nominee Sen. John Kerry and other races saw $1.7 billion spent on TV ads. Much of that went to local stations in the campaign battleground states such as Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Political Ads
Tasteless TV Seance Seeks Higher Revenues
John Lennon
A controversial television seance airing on Monday will claim it has reached the spirit of John Lennon, but viewers will have to pay $9.95 to find out what the peace-loving Beatle has to say.
The special, being carried on pay-TV service In Demand, was organized by the producers of a 2003 attempt to channel the late Princess Diana. That show failed to find Diana and received reviews that could have sunk the Titanic but it is estimated to have grossed close to $8 million.
The program features what is described as an Electronic Voice Phenomenon, or EVP, that a psychic on the show claims is the disembodied voice of Lennon speaking at a seance in one of his favorite New York restaurants, La Fortuna.
John Lennon
Post Office Issues
Disney Stamps
The Postal Service released a set of four new 39-cent stamps Friday featuring sets of cartoon romantics - Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse, Lady and the Tramp, Belle and the Beast and Cinderella and Prince Charming.
Formal ceremonies marking release of the stamps were at Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival in Florida, and the stamps will go on sale nationwide Saturday.
Disney Stamps
Nutrients Decline
Fruits & Vegetables
In spite of what Mother taught you about the benefits of eating broccoli, data collected by the U.S. government show that the nutritional content of America's vegetables and fruits has declined during the past 50 years -- in some cases dramatically.
Donald Davis, a biochemist at the University of Texas, said that of 13 major nutrients in fruits and vegetables tracked by the Agriculture Department from 1950 to 1999, six showed noticeable declines -- protein, calcium, phosphorus, iron, riboflavin and vitamin C. The declines ranged from 6 percent for protein, 15 percent for iron, 20 percent for vitamin C, and 38 percent for riboflavin.
Davis, who discussed his findings at a recent meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in St. Louis, suspects the trend in agriculture toward encouraging crops that grow the fastest and biggest is a reason for the decline. The past five decades have been marked by the "Green Revolution," which has seen a marked increase in U.S. production and yields as farmers have turned to the fastest-growing and greatest-producing plants.
The tradeoff is that the faster-growing plants aren't able to acquire the nutrients that their slower-growing cousins can, either by synthesis or from the soil. He said there also are differences in the amounts of nutrients lost in differing varieties of wheat and broccoli.
Fruits & Vegetables
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