'Best of TBH Politoons'
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Jim Hightower: OUTSOURCING TO INDIA (jimhightower.com)
The political front for this campaign is an outfit called The National Association of Software and Service Companies, and it is working straight from the playbook of corporate lobbying: throw money around, hire connected influence peddlers, recruit sympathetic faces to front for your agenda, create a fake image of grassroots supportŠ and tell the biggest lie you can dream up.
Erika Schickel: This mom needs a ditch day (latimes.com)
American youth is a prison of drills, homework, early mornings and high expectations. I spent most of my childhood waiting to be done with it. I resented that the best years of my life were being consumed by academic obligation. By my sophomore year in college, I was completely phoning it in, cutting classes and skimming books. On graduation day, I tossed my mortarboard skyward, giddy that I was finally done with school forever.
Poor Elijah (Peter Berger): A Clean Slate (irascibleprofessor.com)
I think of September as a clean slate. Unfortunately, that instantly brands me a relic of the stone-age twentieth century when teachers wrote on blackboards with dusty, low-tech pieces of chalk. Cutting-edge educators prefer whiteboards that you write on with colored markers that give off toxic fumes and can never really be erased.
CONNIE TUTTLE: The signs are everywhere: Fall is just around the corner (tucsonweekly.com)
Each year, it's the same story: September arrives, and we foolishly expect summer to gracefully make its exit. All the signs are there: The ocotillo, last month a blinding green, now fades to a faint shade of chartreuse; the tarantula, each spring revealing its sheltered home in a hole under the steps, now shores up the opening in preparation for the coming months; the roadside flora glows with the yellow hues of autumn.
Kembrew McLeod: Uri Geller's YouTube takedown (latimes.com)
The 1970s 'psychic' may be abusing copyright law to make embarrassing clips vanish.
Laurence Olivier: the most revolutionary actor of his age (telegraph.co.uk)
As the National Theatre celebrates the centenary of its first artistic director, Richard Eyre recalls the thrill of seeing him in action.
Angelina Jolie: Sitting pretty (arts.independent.co.uk)
Hollywood's favourite rebel has grown up - UN ambassador, domestic bliss with Brad Pitt, and now a powerful new film about the murdered American journalist Daniel Pearl. Angelina Jolie talks to James Mottram.
Philip Freeman: The album: Obsolete to whom? (latimes.com)
Despite declining sales, they're not going anywhere -- as an object or an idea.
Neil McCormick: "Annie Lennox: Diva singing through the darkness" (telegraph.co.uk)
Annie Lennox - owner of one of the most thrilling, seductive voices in pop - reveals why her new album is filled with so many songs of loss and longing.
Alison Lurie: Pottery (nybooks.com)
On "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling and the film "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix."
Formerly 'Bush Eats Dick'
Freshly Updated!
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Started out sunny, but a storm blew in from the west and brought some rain - first time since April 22nd.
The 'ghost cats' had never seen rain before, and they weren't shy in letting us know they did not like it.
Slams War
John Grisham
Best-selling author John Grisham, taking his first major public step in presidential politics by planning to host an event Sunday near his home in Charlottesville, Va., for New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, said the current administration is built around "bad people with evil intent" and contends resident Bush played politics as thousands died in Iraq.
"The war is an immoral abomination that we'll pay for for decades to come," Grisham said near the end of a 40-minute telephone interview with The Des Moines Register.
"We're paying for it now at the rate of 100 kids a month while Bush plays politics with it."
"I always thought you could at least depend on the Republican Party to maintain some semblance of fiscal responsibility.
"But they run up record deficits - taking care of billionaires that they want to take care of. Don't get me started on politics. I could go for a long time."
John Grisham
Government Influencing Newsrooms
Dan Rather
Dan Rather said Thursday that the undue influence of the government and large corporations over newsrooms spurred his decision to file a $70 million lawsuit against CBS and its former parent company.
"Somebody, sometime has got to take a stand and say democracy cannot survive, much less thrive with the level of big corporate and big government interference and intimidation in news," he said on CNN's "Larry King Live."
In the suit, filed a day earlier in state Supreme Court in Manhattan, Rather claimed CBS and Viacom Inc. used him as a "scapegoat" and intentionally botched the aftermath of a discredited story about resident Bush's military service to curry favor with the White House. He was removed from his "CBS Evening News" post in March 2005.
"They sacrificed support for independent journalism for corporate financial gain, and in so doing, I think they undermined a lot at CBS News," he told King.
Dan Rather
Richard's Dog Rescue Legacy
Jennifer Lee Pryor
Jennifer Lee Pryor isn't a mail carrier, but like the postman who works through rain, sleet and the worst heat waves, her constant presence outside Rusty's Pet Store (11672 Ventura Boulevard, Studio City) on Sunday afternoons is just as inspiring.
Pryor is there as part of her company's dog rescue program Pryor's Planet.
The widow of legendary comedian and actor Richard Pryor, Jennifer says their shared love of animals (and most especially dogs) is what led the one-time divorced couple to reconcile and find their way back to each other.
Says Jennifer, "Richard always had a connection to animals, this passion. Even when he was ill and could no longer perform he could still find great purpose and great meaning with his work with animals."
Jennifer Lee Pryor
Cocky Bunnypants
Vicente Fox
George W. Bush "is the cockiest guy I have ever met," former Mexican President Vicente Fox says in an autobiography that pokes fun at the U.S. resident's bad Spanish and false cowboy bravado.
The two leaders referred to each other publicly as "amigos" but their alliance soured after the September 11 attacks turned Washington's attention toward Iraq and Afghanistan and away from Latin America.
"My first impression of George W. Bush was one of total self-confidence. He is quite simply the cockiest guy I have ever met in my life," Fox wrote, according to an advance copy of the book.
Except, perhaps, when it came to language skills. Fox said Bush was "a bit sheepish as he tried out his grade-school-level Spanish" at that meeting in Austin, Texas.
Vicente Fox
Raise $260K For Charity
Jessica Alba & Dane Cook
A charity found its good-luck charms in Jessica Alba and Dane Cook, who attended a screening of their new comedy, "Good Luck Chuck," at a Knoxville theater.
Fans paid $75 to see the actors and attend the screening, which raised $260,000 for Variety of Eastern Tennessee, a charity benefiting children with disabilities.
Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam proclaimed "Jessica Alba and Dane Cook Day" on Tuesday, and Regal Entertainment Group CEO Mike Campbell unveiled commemorative tiles to be placed at the Walk of Fame at Regal's Pinnacle 18 theater.
Jessica Alba & Dane Cook
Screen Actors Guild Chief Wins Second Term
Alan Rosenberg
Alan Rosenberg narrowly won a second two-year term as president of the Screen Actors Guild Thursday, following a campaign that focused more on personality than policy.
Rosenberg, the husband of "CSI" star Marg Helgenberger, fetched 11,631 votes to fellow character actor Seymour Cassel's 10,921. Rosenberg garnered 47% support from among a total 24,834 ballots cast.
Both belong to the MembershipFirst faction, which has traditionally favored a hardline attitude towards the studios.
Alan Rosenberg
Baby News
Valentina Paloma Pinault
Salma Hayek has given birth to a baby girl, Valentina Paloma Pinault, her publicist announced Friday.
"Mother and child are doing well," publicist Cari Ross said in a statement. No other details were released.
The Mexico-born actress, 41, is engaged to businessman Francois-Henri Pinault.
Valentina Paloma Pinault
Hospital News
George Clooney
George Clooney suffered a broken rib in New Jersey on Friday when a car collided with the motorcycle he was riding, the actor's spokesman said. The 46-year-old actor was treated at Palisades Medical Center in Palisades, N.J. and released, spokesman Stan Rosenfield said in a statement.
Clooney's passenger, Sarah Larson, suffered a broken foot.
No other information was immediately available.
George Clooney
Former Ramones Member Sues
Richard Reinhardt
A former drummer from the 1980s punk band, The Ramones, sued Apple Inc, Wal-Mart Stores Inc, RealNetworks Inc and others for copyright infringement, claiming the companies lacked permission to sell downloads of six songs he authored.
In the suit filed in U.S. federal court in Manhattan on Friday, Richard Reinhardt alleges his music publisher never had the right to authorize distribution or duplication of six songs he wrote between 1983 and 1987.
The suit, which also names the estate of the band's one- time guitarist, Johnny Ramone, Ramones Productions Inc and their music publisher as defendants, alleges the music publisher improperly authorized third parties, such as Apple's iTunes service, Wal-Mart.com's music download service and RealNetwork's Real Store and Rhapsody services to use the songs.
Reinhardt claims no music publishing agreement was ever made with his music publisher and that the songs -- Smash You, Somebody Put Something in My Drink', 'Human Kind', 'I'm Not Jesus, I Know Better Now and (You) Can't Say Anything Nice -- are solely owned by Reinhardt, according to the lawsuit.
Richard Reinhardt
Conservative Calls Wahhhhmbulance
Lee Greenwood
Lee Greenwood, who refused to take the stage for a Denver concert in a dispute over his payment, says he hopes his fans don't blame him.
Greenwood, best known for "God Bless the USA," was to be the headliner last Saturday at a concert honoring veterans, police and firefighters.
His manager, Jerry Bentley, said the fee was $20,000 but the concert organizer came up with only about $14,000. Bentley said $2,000 of that was a personal check, but the contract specified cash or a cashier's check.
Concert organizer Frank Young disputes that, saying he had $18,000 in cash and a $2,000 check from the Knights of Columbus, a service organization. He said it was "disgraceful" that Greenwood didn't perform.
Lee Greenwood
Charged In LA Hit And Run
Britney Spears
Britney Spears was charged Friday with misdemeanor counts of hit and run and driving without a valid license after she allegedly smashed her car into another in a parking lot on August 6th, prosecutors said. If convicted, the singer could face up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine for each count, said Nick Velasquez, spokesman for the city attorney's office.
Spears, 25, was filmed by paparazzi that day steering her car into another vehicle as she tried to turn into a spot in a Studio City parking lot. After assessing the damage to her own car only, she was shown on paparazzi video walking away.
Three days after the accident, the owner of the other vehicle filed a police report, and investigators later determined that Spears does not have a license, officials said.
Britney Spears
Add Two More London Gigs
Sex Pistols
British punk rock icons the Sex Pistols added two more comeback concerts to their schedule on Friday after a planned one-off show sold out within 10 minutes and the price of tickets was more than doubled.
The band said this week it would reunite for a single gig at south London's 4,900-capacity Brixton Academy on November 8 to mark the 30th anniversary of the seminal album "Never Mind the Bollocks."
But due to overwhelming demand for the tickets, the venue on Friday said the Pistols would also now play the November 9 and 10. Tickets for the concerts are now on sale for 85 pounds ($170) after originally going on sale for 37 pounds.
Sex Pistols
Red Lights Dim
Amsterdam
About a third of Amsterdam's red-lit windows for prostitutes will disappear from the city center as one of the main brothel owners is set to sell his empire to a real estate company.
A housing company is to buy 18 premises, currently featuring 51 windows, for about 25 million euros ($35 million), Amsterdam city council said.
Tourist authorities acknowledge the 700-year-old red-light district -- a maze of narrow alleys and canals lined with sex shops, prostitutes behind windows and marijuana-selling "coffee shops" -- is as much of a draw as other attractions such as the Van Gogh museum or the Anne Frank House.
Mayor Job Cohen said he had no plans to rid Amsterdam of prostitution but the concentration of sex in the city center was too high.
Amsterdam
Celebrities Mark World Peace Day
United Nations
Conductor Daniel Barenboim, Brazilian author Paulo Coelho, Japanese-American violinist Midori Goto and Olympic equestrian Princess Haya of Jordan were named U.N. messengers of peace on Friday.
They join actor Michael Douglas, conservationist Jane Goodall, cellist Yo-Yo Ma and author Elie Wiesel as special messengers of peace for U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
Ban, in making the announcement, also dropped several celebrities from the contingent appointed by his predecessor, Kofi Annan, without offering a reason.
They include American boxing champion Muhammad Ali and jazz musician Wynton Marsalis, Indian tennis ace Vijay Amritraj, Algerian-born French singer Enrico Macias and Italian author and humanitarian Anna Cataldi, who was just appointed a goodwill ambassador for the World Health Organization.
United Nations
Monks Put Myanmar Junta In Spotlight
Burma
Armed only with upturned begging bowls, chanting Buddhist monks in Myanmar have caught the country's military rulers off guard with their peaceful protests.
They have emboldened the public to take to the streets by the thousands to support the most dramatic anti-government protests the isolated Southeast Asian nation has seen in a decade.
Braving monsoon rains, monks in traditional maroon robes demonstrated for a fourth straight day Friday in the country's largest city, Yangon. Followed by clapping onlookers, about 1,500 monks marched after praying at the Shwedagon Pagoda, the nation's holiest shrine and a gathering place for anti-government demonstrations including the failed 1988 democratic uprising.
What makes this week's protests different than the student-led uprising of 1988 are the monks' non-confrontational tactics - their orderly marches and religious chanting has yet to provoke the military.
Burma
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