'TBH Politoons'
Thanks, again, Tim!
Why the Recall is Wrong
10 Reasons
A single congressman brought us the recall with $1.7 million of his own money -- while simultaneously putting himself forward as the man to replace the governor.
The recall threatens to give California a governor elected by a tiny percentage of the electorate -- and gives wealthy individuals an unprecedented opportunity to attempt to buy the governorship.
It threatens to invalidate a fair election just months after it took place.
It sets a dangerous precedent -- if it succeeds why wouldn't opponents attempt to recall every future governor?
It's expensive: The recall election itself will cost over $60 million.
It prevents our elected leaders from working to solve the state budget crisis and other important issues by forcing them to campaign to defend the results of a fair election.
The cost to the economy is too great: a successful recall would cause enormous economic instability and loss of confidence.
This won't stop in California: 18 states have recall provisions. Unless the California recall is decisively rejected, sore losers in others states will continue to use this tactic.
The recall threatens California's environment. Governor Davis has made important improvements to environmental law. Polluters see the recall as a chance for roll-back.
Gray Davis has made important gains in education, health care, the environment and public safety. The recall is an attempt to reverse those advances.
10 Reasons - moveon.org
Thanks, Barb!
from Mark
Another Bumpersticker
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Terrific weather!
All is well with the freshly-molted Shelob.
Simon & Garfunkel sounded great on Dave - they even had a new verse to 'The Boxer'.
Have a birthday coming up - sure would like tickets to see Paul & Art when they come to town...
Tonight, Saturday, CBS opens the night with '48 Hours', followed by a RERUN 'Hack', then a
RERUN 'The District'.
NBC begins the evening with a RERUN 'The Most Outrageous Game Show Moments 3', followed by the Series Finale of
'Race To The Altar'.
Of course, 'SNL' is a RERUN.
ABC has College Football is scheduled into prime time, so the left coast can look forward to the movie 'Boyz N The Hood'.
The WB has the movie 'Rocky'.
Faux has the Season Premiere of 'Cops', followed by another FRESH 'Cops', then the Season Premiere of
'America's Most Wanted'.
UPN has baseball with the Sandy Egg-O Padres visiting Rupert's Doggers.
A&E has 'American Justice', 'Cold Case Files', and 'Crossing Jordan'.
AMC offers the movie 'The Usual Suspects', followed by the movie 'Alien Resurrection', then the movie 'Highlander'.
BBC -
[6pm] 'Keeping Up Appearances' - Episode 1;
[6:40pm] 'My Hero' - Episode 3;
[7:20pm] 'Keeping Up Appearances' - Episode 2;
[8pm] 'Rebus' - Mortal Causes;
[10pm] 'Jonathan Creek' - The Problem at Gallows Gate-Part 1;
[11pm] 'So Graham Norton' - Pamela Anderson;
[11:30pm] 'So Graham Norton' - Dustin Hoffman;
[12am] 'Jonathan Creek' - The Problem at Gallows Gate-Part 1;
[1am] 'Rebus' - Mortal Causes;
[3am] 'The Tenth Man';
[5:15am] 'Parkinson' - Rowan Atkinson/Pierce Brosnan; and
[6am] 'BBC World News'. (ALL TIMES EDT)
Bravo has 'Queer eye'< followed by the movie 'The Postman Always Rings Twice', then the movie 'The Postman Always Rings Twice', again.
History has 'History Undercover', 'Come Home Alive', and 'Dead Reckoning'.
SciFi has the movie 'Pythons 2', then the movie 'Boa'.
TCM celebrates Charles Bronson tonight.
[6am] 'The Scapegoat' (1959);
[8am] 'They Made Me A Criminal' (1939);
[10am] 'Strangers On A Train' (1951);
[12pm] 'Fort Apache' (1948);
[2:30pm] 'Giant' (1956);
[6pm] 'The Postman Always Rings Twice' (1946);
[8pm] 'The Magnificent Seven' (1960);
[10:15pm] 'The Great Escape' (1963);
[1:15am] 'The Dirty Dozen' (1967); and
[4am] 'From Noon Till Three' (1976). (ALL TIMES EDT)
Protesters holds signs Friday, Sept. 12, 2003, in Raleigh, N.C., as they wait for Vice President Dick Cheney (news - web sites) to arrive for a fundraiser.
Photo by Bob Jordan
The Information One-Stop
Moose & Squirrel
2004 Rock Hall of Fame
Nominees
Former Beatle George Harrison, Prince, John Mellencamp and Jackson Browne are among the nominees on the 2004 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ballot.
Previous nominees back for another try include the Sex Pistols, Black Sabbath, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Gram Parsons and Patti Smith. Other nominees include The Dells, The "5" Royales, Bob Seger, the Stooges, Traffic and ZZ Top.
Artists are eligible to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame after at least 25 years have passed since their first record was released. The inductees likely will be announced in December.
Nominees
www.rockhall.com
To Become a Father at 56
David Letterman
While taping the "Late Show" episode that's scheduled to air Friday night, David Letterman told the audience Thursday that his girlfriend, Regina Lasko, is about six months' pregnant.
"I have an announcement to make and I'll be honest with you, I'm a little bit nervous. I have some trepidations about this. I feel a little silly because it's one of those things where I thought never in my life this would happen," the talk show host said.
"And here I am, 56, and by all rights it shouldn't be happening. But, there's nothing we can do about it now. And I'm terribly excited about this. I'm scared silly about this. I'm going to be a father."
Letterman said he and Lasko are still discussing whether to get married.
"I realize we kind of got the cart before the horse here. But, I'm just seeing how much I can get away with," he said. "But, I can't do this forever, and it'd be nice to have the kid take over the family business."
David Letterman
www.cbs.com/latenight/lateshow
Competitors dive into the sea in front of the Promenade des Anglais beachfront avenue at the start of the Women's Triathlon World Cup event in Nice, southeastern France, Friday, Sept.12, 2003.
Photo by Lionel Cironneau
Raises $700,000
Kelly Ripa
Kelly Ripa says she's wary of celebrities who get involved with politics — but that didn't stop her from being the top draw at an $850-a-plate fund-raiser for the Camden County Democratic Party.
Ripa, co-host of "Live With Regis & Kelly," said her political activity is different. Her father, Joe Ripa, a former transit union president, is running for a seat on the board of freeholders, the county's governing body.
Party officials said the event made more than $700,000 — about the same as last year's seafood dinner featuring actor Alec Baldwin.
Kelly Ripa
Sues Apple Computer
Apple Corps Ltd
The Beatles' record company Apple Corps Ltd. said Friday it has filed a lawsuit against Apple Computer Inc., seeking damages for the alleged breach of an agreement regarding the use of the name "apple" and the companies' well-known logos.
A one-paragraph statement by the Apple record label said the suit was filed on July 4 in the High Court in London. The company is owned by Sir Paul McCartney; Ringo Starr; John Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono; and the estate of George Harrison.
Specifically, the complaint was made over the use by Apple Computer of the word "apple" and apple logos in conjunction with its new application for downloading prerecorded music from the Internet, the Beatles' company said.
Apple Corps Ltd
In The Kitchen With BartCop & Friends
Slipped Disk
Shirley MacLaine
Oscar- winning film star Shirley MacLaine is in "terrible pain" after suffering a slipped disk, her publicist said.
The 69-year-old actress was forced to cancel a scheduled appearance at a Los Angeles entertainment museum after being confined to bed, but was expected to make a full recovery within a few days, Dale Olson said.
The star of such movies as 1960's "The Apartment" with Jack Lemmon, 1983's "Terms of Endearment" and "Postcards from the Edge" (1990), lives in New Mexico but was in Hollywood to attend an unveiling of costumes and memorabilia from her movies.
Shirley MacLaine
Tourists watch a Ladakhi monk wearing traditional headgear dance during the Ladakh festival at a monastery in Leh, India, Friday, Sept. 12, 2003. During the festival Ladakhis bedecked with gold and silver ornaments and turquoise headgears throng the streets. Monks in their ritual regalia, and colorful masks dance to the music of cymbals, flutes and trumpets. The Yak, Lion and Tashishpa dances depict the many legends and fables of Ladakh.
Photo by Rafiq Maqbool
Ex-Owner Sues Over Sale
Lennon Album
The former owner of the album John Lennon signed for Mark David Chapman is suing for his money from its sale.
Philip Michael claims the auction house Moments In Time sold the signed copy of "Double Fantasy" but has not paid him his 95 percent share from the sale.
Lennon had signed the album for Chapman just hours before his death in 1980. Chapman had hidden it in a planter, where Michael found it.
The fingerprints on the album helped convict Chapman of Lennon's murder, and the album was returned to Michael, who kept it for 17 years.
Michael says he contracted with Moments In Time to sell the album. The amount for which the album sold is in dispute, ranging from $150,000 to $464,000. Michael says he hasn't gotten a penny.
Lennon Album
Tested in War Against Snails & Slugs
Garlic
Dracula is not the only creature repelled by garlic -- snails and slugs are also put off by the pungent herb.
And now British scientists have produced a special garlic extract that may just be the answer to gardeners' prayers.
Garlic is not the only food or beverage known to kill them. Beer is also lethal.
For more, Garlic
Formerly 'The Vidiot'
Selling London House Contents
Elton John
Elton John is doing a bit of house-clearing by putting paintings, chandeliers and leopardskin-print sofas up for sale later this month, auction house Sotheby's said Friday.
Sotheby's said more than 400 items from John's west London house were likely to raise more than $1.3 million when they're sold Sept. 30.
Items up for sale include a double bed with matching wardrobes designed by David Linley, nephew of Queen Elizabeth II; a bronze sculpture of Alexander the Great; a gilt-bronze and marble chandelier; and two busts of Napoleon.
Elton John
Retired Japanese tourist Kagochima, 69, his wife and grandchildren visit Bangkok's Wat Pra Keo temple on September 12, 2003. Increasing numbers of Japanese are retiring in Southeast Asia, because the region is warmer and has a lower cost of living than Japan. Several developers are trying to profit from the trend by building apartments and whole villages with special health and leisure facilities aimed exclusively at Japanese retirees.
Photo by Sukree Sukplang
Bolt Scavenging?
NOAA-N Prime Weather Satellite
A nearly completed, $239 million weather satellite toppled to the floor as it was being moved at a Lockheed Martin plant and was seriously damaged, officials said Tuesday.
THE NOAA-N Prime was being moved from a vertical to a horizontal position when it fell 3 feet (1 meter) Saturday at the Sunnyvale facility.
The satellite was intended to go into polar orbit in 2008 and monitor the climate for up to four years. In addition to weather, vegetation and drought studies, it was to be used for receiving distress signals from mariners and hikers.
According to a source close to the program, bolts that were supposed to secure the satellite to the "turn over cart" had been removed a day earlier by a crew working on another satellite project. The crew working on NOAA-N Prime did not notice the bolts were missing when they tried to flip the satellite, the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
No one had had access to the spacecraft since the mishap. Crews must wait for its batteries to drain and propellant tanks to depressurize before approaching the 14-foot (4.3-meter) satellite.
For the rest, NOAA-N Prime Weather Satellite
Earth Science Missions Anomaly Report
Art Exhibit Stirs Outrage
'Mexico Illuminated'
The whole idea of "Mexico Illuminated" was to bring together artists of Mexican descent to tout the Hispanic heritage of Reading, Pa., and show how the United States is perceived by its neighbor to the south.
Artist Marcos Ramirez says people should have known better than to expect simple paintings of deserts, cactuses and smiling field hands sporting sombreros.
Ramirez caused a stir when he chose to express his views on America with a billboard-sized piece depicting a green road sign with the distances from Reading to foreign cities the United States military has bombed, including Hiroshima, Japan, in 1945, Baghdad, Iraq, in 2003 and Kabul, Afghanistan, in 2001.
Christopher Youngs, organizer of the $500,000 show and head of the Freedman Gallery, said he felt that was the best way to balance the community's concerns without compromising the integrity of the artists. After all, he said, the purpose was to show how the United States is perceived by Mexican artists and show off their artwork in Reading, a former industrial city where the number of Hispanics has grown rapidly in recent decades and now makes up more than 30 percent of the population.
'Mexico Illuminated'
Mexico Illuminated
Recommended Reading
9/11 Widows Speak
Two years after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, thousands of families are still wondering what could have been done to save their loved ones. In "Unanswered Questions," NOW profiles four New Jersey widows demanding answers to questions about what our government knew before and after the terrorist attacks — and what's being done to protect us today.
Mindy Kleinberg, Kristen Breitweiser, Patty Casazza and Lori Van Auken were widowed by the September 11 terrorist attacks. The four came together as they sought answers and explanations for the tragedy. In their perseverance they helped push for the establishment of an independent commission to investigate 9/11, a request Congress fulfilled last fall.
All four women are mothers and all four lost their husbands in the World Trade Center attacks. Lorie Van Auken and Mindy Kleinberg's husbands were both as securities traders. Mindy's and Patty Casazza's husbands worked for the Cantor Fitzgerald group, which lost 658 employees. Kristen Breitweiser's husband was a vice president at Fiduciary Trust. The women all reside in New Jersey. They and others in that area touched by September 11 are featured in author Gail Sheehy's new book MIDDLETOWN, AMERICA: ONE TOWN'S PASSAGE FROM TRAUMA TO HOPE.
Read the rest - NOW: Politics & Economy - 9/11 Widows Speak | PBS
Hundreds Mourn
Leni Riefenstahl
Hundreds of mainly elderly people attended a memorial service on Friday for Leni Riefenstahl, Hitler's official film-maker and last of Germany's famous Nazi-era figures, who died on Monday aged 101.
Riefenstahl was admired and condemned for her documentaries that pioneered film techniques but glorified Nazism.
Her coffin, placed in a grand hall at a Munich cemetery ahead of a cremation on Monday, was surrounded by candles and two dozen wreaths.
A painting of her stood by the coffin and music from the opera "Tannhaeuser" by Richard Wagner, Hitler's favorite composer, echoed around the hall where some 500 people gathered.
Leni Riefenstahl
In Memory
Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash, a towering musical figure whose rough, unsteady voice championed the downtrodden and reached across generations with songs like "Ring of Fire," "I Walk the Line" and "Folsom Prison Blues," died Friday. He was 71.
Cash, known as "The Man in Black," died at 3 a.m. EDT in Baptist Hospital of complications from diabetes that resulted in respiratory failure, said his manager, Lou Robin.
In his songs, Cash crafted a persona as a dignified, resilient voice for the common man — but there was always a dark edge.
His deeply lined face fit well with his voice, which was limited in range but used to great effect to sing about prisoners, heartaches and tales of everyday life.
"His influence spread over many generations," said Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones. "I loved him as singer and a writer. I remember years ago a big part of our repertoire was two of my favorite Johnny Cash songs, 'I Walk The Line' and 'Ballad Of A Teenage Queen.'"
Cash had been released from the hospital Wednesday after a two-week stay for treatment of an unspecified stomach ailment. The illness caused him to miss last month's MTV awards, where his "Hurt" — a cover of the Nine Inch Nails song — won for cinematography.
Cash wrote much of his own material and was among the first to record the songs of Bob Dylan and Kris Kristofferson.
Cash said in his self-titled 1997 autobiography that he tried to speak for "voices that were ignored or even suppressed in the entertainment media, not to mention the political and educational establishments."
Cash was a peer of Elvis Presley when he began recording in Memphis in the 1950s, and he scored hits like "Cry! Cry! Cry!" during that era. He had a longtime friendship and recorded with Dylan, who has cited Cash as a major influence.
Cash won 11 Grammy Awards — most recently in 2003, when "Give My Love To Rose" earned him honors as best male country vocal performance — and numerous Country Music Association awards. He was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1980 and inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.
The late 1960s and '70s were Cash's peak commercial years, and he was host of his own ABC variety show from 1969-71. In later years, he was part of the Highwayman supergroup with Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson and Kristofferson.
In the 1990s, Cash found a new artistic life recording with rock-rap producer Rick Rubin on the label American Recordings. He was back on the charts in 2002 with the album "American IV: The Man Comes Around."
John R. Cash was born Feb. 26, 1932, in Kingsland, Ark., one of seven children. When he was 12, his 14-year-old brother and hero, Jack, died after an accident while sawing oak trees into fence posts. The tragedy had a lasting impact on Cash, and he later pointed to it as a possible reason his music was frequently melancholy.
He worked as a custodian and enlisted in the Air Force, learning guitar while stationed in Germany, before launching his music career after his 1954 discharge.
Cash launched his career in Memphis, performing on radio station KWEM. He auditioned with Sun Records, ultimately recording the single "Hey Porter," which became a hit.
Because of Cash's frequent performances in prisons and his rowdy lifestyle early in his career, many people wrongly thought he had served prison time. He never did, though he battled addiction to pills on and off and received a suspended jail sentence in 1965 on a misdemeanor narcotics charge in Texas.
He credited June Carter Cash, whom he married in 1968, with helping him stay off drugs, though he had several relapses over the years and was treated at the Betty Ford Center in California in 1984. Together, June Carter and Cash had one child, John Carter Cash. He is a musician and producer.
Singer Rosanne Cash is Johnny Cash's daughter from his first marriage, to Vivian Liberto. Their other three children were Kathleen, Cindy and Tara. They divorced in 1966.
In March 1998, Cash made headlines when his California-based record company, American Recordings, took out an advertisement in the music trade magazine Billboard, celebrating Cash's 1998 Grammy for best country album for "Unchained."
The ad showed a young, enraged-looking Cash making an obscene gesture to sarcastically illustrate his thanks to country radio stations and "the country music establishment in Nashville," which he felt had unfairly cast him aside.
Johnny Cash
In Memory
John Ritter
John Ritter, a master of sitcom silliness who ruled TV comedy with "Three's Company" and then found success again 25 years later with "8 Simple Rules ... For Dating My Teenage Daughter," has died of an undetected heart problem. He was 54.
Ritter became ill Thursday while working on his ABC series and underwent surgery at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank for a tear in his aorta, a rare medical condition that can hit without warning.
He died shortly after 10 p.m. Thursday, publicist Lisa Kasteler said. He was accompanied by producers, co-workers, his wife and his 23-year-old son, Jason, said Susan Wilcox, his assistant of 22 years.
Ritter's youngest child, Stella, turned 5 on Thursday. His 55th birthday was next Wednesday.
Ritter, a Southern California native who lived in Beverly Hills, had appeared in more than 25 television movies and a number of films.
The son of Tex Ritter and actress Dorothy Fay, he graduated from Hollywood High School and earned a degree in drama from the University of Southern California.
Ritter's first steady job was his role as the minister in "The Waltons." He worried about falling into a typecasting trap after "Three's Company" ended.
Ritter later starred in the TV series "Hooperman" and the early 1990s political comedy "Hearts Afire." He received multiple Emmy nominations for his PBS role as the voice of "Clifford the Big Red Dog" on the animated series.
His TV movie appearances included "Unnatural Causes," Stephen King's "It" and "Chance of a Lifetime."
Ritter won popularity among independent film directors in recent years and, besides "Sling Blade," appeared in "Tadpole" in 2002 and the new feature "Manhood." He appears alongside Thornton in Miramax's scheduled November release of "Bad Santa."
Ritter was married from 1977 to 1996 to Nancy Morgan, the mother of his three oldest children. He married Yasbeck in 1999. In addition to son Jason and daughter Stella, he is survived by two other children: Carly and Tyler.
John Ritter
A flamingo chick is fed by its mother in the Zoo in Budapest, on Friday, Sept. 12, 2003, after more than six birds hatched due to a breeding program of the zoo in the past few weeks. Flamingos have long lived in the Budapest zoo but they were reluctant to breed because there are only a few of them unlike in the wild where they live in big flocks. Their caretakers set up mirrors to create the illusion of bigger flocks of birds that helped raise their interest in increasing their population.
Photo by Imre Foeldi
'The Osbournes'
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