'Best of TBH Politoons'
Fresh Video
Bush Satire
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Congressman John Conyers: Taking the President to Court (truthout.org)
As some of you may be aware, according to the President and Congressional Republicans, a bill does not have to pass both the Senate and the House to become a law. Forget your sixth grade civics lesson, forget the book they give you when you visit Congress - "How Our Laws Are Made," and forget Schoolhouse Rock. These are checks and balances, Republican-style.
Onnesha Roychoudhuri: 'Nothing Prepared Me for Bush' (AlterNet.org)
Robert Scheer has reported on every administration since Richard Nixon. But as he says in this interview, he never expected the lies and cynicism of Bush II.
Phil Singer: 10 Reasons Republicans Are To Blame For High Gas Prices (dscc.org)
When George Bush took office in January 2001, the average price of a gallon of gas was $1.46. Today, the price is $2.91, a 100 percent increase over the course of the Bush presidency. [AAA Fuel Gauge Report, 4/25/06]
Can The Democrats Retake The House? - Maybe
As usual, the Dems are doing nothing, except for enjoying the GOP slide. Don't forget one of the great political maxims: "Never interrupt your opponent when they are in the process of imploding." And the Republicans have done a brilliant job of that thus far...
Tina Blue: Just Tell Me I'm Wonderful and Give Me the A! (irascibleprofessor.com)
How can we teach these kids if they believe, first of all, that we have no right to criticize them, and second of all, that they really deserve all those As they have been getting despite their decidedly substandard work?
Mark Morford: Let Us Now Spit Upon The Earth (sfgate.com)
If nature could talk, she would tell Bush he will be worm food very soon, and by the way, the worms are furious. She would then go back to watching the baby giraffes play in Africa.
Hubert's Poetry Corner
OHHH RUSH
Acts of Charity for Under $30
From Bruce
Acts of Charity for Under $30
1. Go to amazon.com or similar online book seller.
2. Choose between $25 and $30 of their bargain books (so you get free
shipping).
3. Have the online bookseller send the books as your gift to a school
or public library. (Addresses are easy to find to find online.)
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sun never broke through - bit of 'June Gloom' a little early.
Gas was $3.25 at the Exxon station, $3.29 at Chevron (unleaded regular, self-serve).
No new flags.
5 Members Of Congress Arrested
Democrats
Five members of the U.S. Congress were arrested at the Sudanese Embassy on Friday to protest violence in that country's Darfur region.
The lawmakers, all Democrats, were Reps. Tom Lantos of California, James McGovern and John Olver of Massachusetts, James Moran of Virginia, and Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas.
Those arrested were taken to a police station and released about two hours later after paying $50 fines.
The lawmakers intended their arrests to draw attention to the Darfur conflict that the United States calls a genocide, McGovern said.
Democrats
Reporter Questions White House Policy
Jim VandeHei
It wasn't the price of gasoline, Darfur or the rebuilding effort in New Orleans that preoccupied the White House press corps Thursday aboard a flight on Air Force One.
It was what channel they could watch on the White House televisions, Fox or CNN.
During a briefing led by White House spokesman Scott McClellan as resident Bush was traveling to New Orleans, Louisiana, the Washington Post's Jim VandeHei asked why the White House televisions always seemed to be tuned to Fox News and if it was possible to have them tuned instead to CNN.
"It's come to my attention that there's been requests -- this is a serious question -- to turn these TVs onto a station other than Fox, and that those have been denied," VandeHei told McClellan, who is soon to be replaced by former Fox anchor and self-described conservative Tony Snow.
"My question would be, is there a White House policy that all government TVs have to be tuned to Fox?" VandeHei asked.
Jim VandeHei
New Legislation
Mexico
Possessing marijuana, cocaine and even heroin will no longer be a crime in Mexico if the drugs are carried in small amounts for personal use, under legislation passed by Congress.
The measure given final passage by senators in a late night session on Thursday allows police to focus on their battle against major drug dealers, the government says, and President Vicente Fox is expected to sign it into law.
Under the legislation, police will not penalize people for possessing up to 5 grams of marijuana, 5 grams of opium, 25 milligrams of heroin or 500 milligrams of cocaine.
Mexico
There are 28.35 grams in an ounce.
Honorary Degree
Pete Fountain
Pete Fountain will be awarded an honorary doctor of music Saturday at Loyola University of New Orleans' graduation ceremonies.
He was hospitalized last month for quadruple bypass heart surgery. Fountain had been ill since before Mardi Gras. His Half Fast Marching Club made their annual trek down historic St. Charles Avenue without him on Fat Tuesday for the first time in 46 years.
Fountain, a New Orleans native, lost his $1.5 million house in Bay St. Louis, Miss., as well as his gold records, memorabilia and 10 musical instruments to Hurricane Katrina. His New Orleans home also was damaged but has been repaired.
Pete Fountain
Retiring
Keith Jackson
ABC Sports play-by-play announcer Keith Jackson is calling it quits after 40 years.
Jackson, 77, announced that he would no longer be calling games. He started working for ABC Sports in 1966 with college football games and has also done NBA, NFL and Olympic games. His last, appropriately enough, was this year's Rose Bowl game between USC and Texas.
ABC Sports tried to get him to reverse his decision, like he did in 1998 after first announcing his retirement, but he wouldn't budge.
Keith Jackson
3 More Renewals
NBC
Three NBC dramas, "Medium," "Crossing Jordan" and "Las Vegas," will be back next season, the network said Friday.
Two of the shows are crime dramas. "Crossing Jordan," now in its fifth season, stars Jill Hennessy as a Boston medical examiner. Sophomore series "Medium" stars Emmy-winner Patricia Arquette as a woman who uses her psychic abilities to help solve crimes.
"Las Vegas" revolves around the men and women who work at a casino and stars James Caan and Josh Duhamel. It's now in its third season.
NBC
Now A Virgin Fan
Snoop Dogg
U.S. rapper Snoop Dogg flew out of Britain Friday following his arrest over a fracas at London's Heathrow Airport which left seven British police officers nursing injuries.
Police said Snoop Dogg - real name Calvin Broadus, 34 -- and the other men, all U.S. citizens in their 30s, had not been charged with any offenses and released Thursday, but must return to London in mid-May for further questioning.
British Airways said they have since banned the rapper from future travel on the airline, a company spokesman said.
Broadus boarded a Virgin Atlantic flight bound for Johannesburg, South Africa, late Friday and is due to perform in Durban on Saturday.
Snoop Dogg
Cheap Trick, Allman Brothers Sue
Sony
Rock bands Cheap Trick and The Allman Brothers Band are suing Sony Music, claiming they are being shortchanged on royalties for songs downloaded legally over the Internet.
The suit, filed at a federal court in Manhattan, claims Sony has failed to live up to a contract requiring that it pay its musicians half of the net revenue it receives from licensing songs to download services like iTunes and Napster.
According to the suit, the record company is treating digital downloads like traditional record sales, rather than licensed music, triggering a different royalty deal.
Sony
Jury Awards $500G
Janet Orlando
A jury awarded $500,000 Friday to a woman who was spanked in front of her colleagues in what her employer called a camaraderie-building exercise.
The jury of six men and six women found that Janet Orlando was subjected to sexual harassment and sexual battery when she was paddled two years ago at Alarm One Inc., a home security company in Fresno.
The jury, however, said that Orlando did not suffer from sexual assault as she had alleged.
Janet Orlando
Tax Problems
Bjorn Ulvaeus
ABBA star Bjorn Ulvaeus faces a demand for unpaid tax on royalties from the band's hit songs and musicals he wrote with Benny Andersson after the band broke up in 1983, tax authorities and his lawyer said on Friday.
Tax authorities said that by signing over his royalties to companies based abroad and banking them offshore he had avoided paying taxes to the tune of 87 million crowns ($11.58 million) between 1999-2003. His lawyer said Ulvaeus was appealing against the tax office's decision.
Sweden's income taxes, with a top marginal rate of 58 percent, are among the highest in the world.
Bjorn Ulvaeus
Christmas Plans
David Hasselhoff
Baywatch star David Hasselhoff will swap his red trunks for tights and makeup when he steps on to a UK pantomime stage this Christmas.
The TV legend has agreed to play Captain Hook in a production of the children's classic Peter Pan.
Hasselhoff, known to millions for his roles in the California beach drama and Knight Rider, will be making his panto debut, appearing alongside comedian Bobby Davro (Smee) and BBC children's TV presenter Sarah-Jane Honeywell (Pan) at New Wimbledon Theatre, south west London.
David Hasselhoff
Found Off African Coast
400 Dead Dolphins
Hundreds of dead dolphins washed up Friday along the shore of a popular tourist destination on Zanzibar's northern coast, and scientists ruled out poisoning.
It was not immediately clear what killed the 400 dolphins, whose carcasses were strewn along a 2 1/2-mile stretch of Nungwi, said Narriman Jidawi, a marine biologist at the Institute of Marine Science in Zanzibar.
In the United States, experts were investigating the possibility that sonar from U.S. submarines could have been responsible for a similar incident in Marathon, Fla., where 68 deep-water dolphins stranded themselves in March 2005.
400 Dead Dolphins
Sonar May Be Linked To Stranding
Whales
The Navy's use of sonar during maritime exercises may have contributed to the mass stranding of more than 150 whales in Hawaii's Hanalei Bay two years ago, government scientists said.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said the finding - along with information from other studies - has led it to ask the Navy to reduce its sonar's power during exercises planned this summer in Hawaiian waters. It also asked the Navy to turn off its active sonar when the whales come within a set distance.
The Navy says it will comply with the agency's requests, but said the report released Thursday did not conclusively show sonar triggered the stranding.
Whales
Drug Addict Beats Rap
Pigboy
Rush Limbaugh and prosecutors in the long-running prescription fraud case against him have reached a deal calling for the only charge against the conservative commentator to be dropped without a guilty plea if he continues treatment, his attorney said Friday.
Limbaugh turned himself in to authorities on a warrant filed Friday charging him with fraud to conceal information to obtain prescriptions, said Teri Barbera, a spokeswoman for the Palm Beach County Jail. He and his attorney Roy Black left about an hour later, after Limbaugh was photographed and fingerprinted and he posted $3,000 bail, Barbera said.
"Drug use, some might say, is destroying this country. And we have laws against selling drugs, pushing drugs, using drugs, importing drugs. ... And so if people are violating the law by doing drugs, they ought to be accused and they ought to be convicted and they ought to be sent up," Limbaugh said on his short-lived television show on Oct. 5, 1995.
Pigboy
Won't Face Felony Charges
Daniel Baldwin
Actor Daniel Baldwin will not face felony charges after his arrest for investigation of cocaine possession, authorities said Friday.
Baldwin, 45, and another man were arrested on April 22 at a motel in Santa Monica. A small amount of cocaine and drug paraphernalia were found in the room, Santa Monica police Lt. Frank Fabrega said in a prepared statement.
After reviewing the case, the Los Angeles County district attorney's office declined to file felony charges and referred the matter to the city attorney's office in Santa Monica for consideration of misdemeanor charges.
Daniel Baldwin
Testifies in Son's Murder Trial
Chaka Khan
Singer Chaka Khan said her son is a kind, gentle man who she believes accidentally killed his friend nearly two years ago in her home.
Khan, whose real name is Yvette Stevens, testified Thursday in the murder trial of her son, 27-year-old Damien Patrick Holland.
Holland is charged with killing Christopher Bailey, 17, an aspiring rapper who was staying at the home Holland shares with his mother, girlfriend and five-year-old daughter.
Holland testified earlier this week that he never intended to kill Bailey when he poked at him with an M-16 assault rifle. The two were discussing an affair the younger man claimed to have had with Holland's girlfriend when Holland pointed the gun at his friend.
Chaka Khan
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