'Best of TBH Politoons'
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Andrew Tobias: More Bad News for Republicans (andrewtobias.com; Oct. 19)
But the real bombshell this week, I thought, was the David Kuo book and attendant publicity. Here was an evangelical Bush appointee noting that of the billions to faith-based programs the President had promised to help the poor, less than 1% was delivered in his first two years in office. And noting that, behind their backs, White House staffers would roll their eyes at evangelicals, calling them "nuts." Karl Rove wasn't respecting these folks, he was using them - and to get very unchristian things, like huge tax breaks for the mega-rich and favorable treatment for Big Oil.
Alexander Zaitchik: Racists on the Ballot: Hard-Right Radicals Run in 2006 (Intelligence Report; Posted on Alternet.org)
Rights and Liberties: Across America, right-wing radicals are running for everything from national political office to a county mosquito control board.
Today's tour around the mind of the Bush follower
Newt Gingrich's "traditional American conservative social values": In 1981, Newt dumped his first wife, Jackie Battley, for Marianne, wife number 2, while Jackie was in the hospital undergoing cancer treatment. Marianne and Newt divorced in December, 1999 after Marianne found out about Newt's long-running affair with Callista Bisek, his one-time congressional aide. Gingrich asked Marianne for the divorce by phoning her on Mother's Day, 1999.
Joel Stein: Why I'm in Favor of Torture (latimes.com)
If "waterboarding" really isn't effective, yielding only lies told to please captors, then maybe that's a good reason to end it. But if shooting people to get them to embrace pro-Western democracy also doesn't pan out, we might want to lighten up on that. too.
Joel Stein: An Atheist Tries Jesus (latimes.com)
Going through all the motions of an actual believer at a worship service in Texas.
About a boy (guardian.co.uk)
Madonna's adoption of 18-month-old David Banda has created a furore. Did she use her celebrity to flout Malawi's adoption laws? Was the boy's father exploited? Has a child from the developing world been turned into a commodity? Xan Rice asks the child's family what really went on.
K. TIGHE: Crispin Glover's film What Is It? begs a genius question (sfbg.com)
CULT ICON Over a decade ago a pair of first-time filmmakers approached Crispin Glover to ask if he would act in their movie.
Glover signed on - but to direct, with the condition that most of the roles be filled by actors with Down syndrome. Best known for eccentric fringe roles in films such as River's Edge, Bartleby, Back to the Future, and Rubin and Ed, Glover had written other screenplays involving people with the condition and had kept it in his mind's eye for some time. "Looking into the face of someone who has Down syndrome," he says during a recent SF interview, "I see the history of someone who has lived outside of the culture.
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny and warmer than seasonal.
Play Enjoys NY Success
'My Name is Rachel Corrie'
A play about an American human rights campaigner who was killed by an Israeli bulldozer in the Gaza strip has opened in New York to warm reviews six months after the production was postponed amid charges of censorship.
The one-woman show, "My Name is Rachel Corrie," which opened this week, is based on diaries and e-mails written by the 23-year-old, who was killed on March 16, 2003, while trying to prevent a demolition of a Palestinian building.
Producers of the off-Broadway play, directed by Alan Rickman, announced on Thursday night it had been extended until the end of the year at The Minetta Lane Theater.
'My Name is Rachel Corrie'
Launch Delayed Again
James Doohan
Ashes of the Vancouver-born actor James Doohan - famous for playing chief engineer Montgomery Scott on the original "Star Trek" TV series - had been scheduled to be launched into space Saturday but a malfunction during a recent test flight has caused a delay.
The flight, from a New Mexico launch site, is now expected to take place sometime before the end of the year, Susan Schonfeld, spokesperson for Space Services Inc., said Friday. The date will be posted when known to the website www.spaceservicesinc.com.
Ashes of former NASA astronaut Gordon Cooper and 177 others are also to be on the flight, said Schonfeld.
James Doohan
Purges 30,000 Copyright Files
YouTube
The popular video-sharing site YouTube deleted nearly 30,000 files after a Japanese entertainment group complained of copyright infringement.
The Japan Society for Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers, found 29,549 video clips such as television shows, music videos and movies posted on YouTube's site without permission, an official from the group, Fumiyuki Asakura, said Friday.
The San Mateo, Calif.-based company quickly complied with the request to remove the copyright materials, made on behalf of 23 Japanese TV stations and entertainment companies, Asakura said.
YouTube
Baby News
Miller Steven & Johnnie Rose Etheridge
Melissa and Tammy Etheridge are welcoming two new babies to their family. According to Melissa's official website, "Melissa and Tammy Etheridge are delighted to announce the arrival of their son Miller Steven and their daughter Johnnie Rose on Tuesday October 17, 2006. Tammy and the babies are in excellent health. "
In celebration of California's new Domestic Partnership ruling, the couple tied the knot in September of 2003.
Miller Steven & Johnnie Rose Etheridge
Sets Viewer Record
'Project Runway'
Talk about looking sharp. Wednesday's third-season finale of "Project Runway" set a viewership record for Bravo by a huge margin.
The hourlong episode that saw Los Angeles resident Jeffrey Sebelia emerge as the winner of the clothing design competition drew 5.4 million viewers in the 10 p.m. hour. That was well above Bravo's previous record high of 2.4 million viewers set in July with the season opener of "Runway." It also was strong enough to make "Runway" the top-rated program on cable for the night.
In adults 18-49, a demographic coveted by advertisers, the "Runway" finale brought in a healthy 3.4 million viewers. The show also has been a boon to Bravo on digital and mobile platforms. On the BravoTV.com Web site, "Runway" hit a new show high with the heaviest traffic in network history, up 267% over the traffic on the "Runway" section last season. Additionally, page views were up 36% with 73 million and streaming video was up 38% with 5.1 million users, according to Bravo.
'Project Runway'
Divorcing
Stephen Hawking
Renowned astrophysicist and best-selling author Stephen Hawking is getting a divorce, according to media reports Friday.
Hawking has been married to his wife, Elaine, 55, for 11 years. Hawking divorced in 1991 from his first wife, Jane, with whom he has three children.
The 64-year-old scientist, author of the best seller "A Brief History of Time," is almost completely paralyzed by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease. He communicates with the help of a voice synthesizer, which was designed by his wife's previous husband.
Stephen Hawking
More Republican Family Values
Evans - Schelske
The husband of country singer Sara Evans says she filed for divorce the day after he discovered she was having an affair. Craig Schelske did not identify the other man in court documents filed Friday in Williamson County Chancery Court.
In his answer to Evans' petition for divorce filed last week, Schelske denies Evans' allegations that he committed adultery, was verbally and emotionally abusive, drank excessively and frequently watched pornography in their home.
He also denies her claims that he posed for nude photographs of himself - except a few taken by his wife on their 10th wedding anniversary - as well as the existence of any sexual photographs of himself with other women, or that he had an affair with their former nanny. The nanny also has denied the allegation.
Evans - Schelske
In Namibia
Wesley Snipes
Actor Wesley Snipes, indicted by U.S. authorities for tax fraud this week, is filming a movie in the African country of Namibia which has no extradition treaty with Washington, officials said on Friday.
"It is confirmed. He is definitely here," Edwin Kanguatjivi, chief executive officer of the Namibia Film Commission, said by telephone. "He has been in Namibia since the end of August."
Snipes, the star of the "Blade" movie series, is the lead actor in a new movie entitled "Gallowwalker" filming in the Namibian desert near the town of Swakopmund -- the same coastal resort where Hollywood superstars Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt had their first child in May.
Wesley Snipes
Enters Rehab
Keith Urban
Keith Urban has checked himself into a rehabilitation treatment center for alcohol abuse, less than four months after his marriage to actress Nicole Kidman.
The Grammy-winning country singer released a statement Friday that said he entered rehab Thursday night with his wife by his side. His publicist would not give the location of the rehab center.
Urban will also likely cancel a scheduled appearance on the Country Music Association awards next month, the publicist said.
Keith Urban
Crash Suspect Pleads No Contest
Ferrari
A Swedish businessman who authorities say crashed a rare Ferrari sports car worth $1.5 million on Pacific Coast Highway pleaded no contest Thursday to drunken driving.
Bo Stefan Eriksson, 44, is a former executive of the now-bankrupt video game company Gizmondo Europe. Prosecutors contend he was drunk on Feb. 21 when he plowed a red Enzo Ferrari into a utility pole on Pacific Coast Highway at 162 mph.
Authorities originally accused him of stealing the rare vehicle from a British bank, but they dropped those charges this week. He still is charged with stealing two other cars, a black Enzo and a Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren.
Ferrari
Keeping 'Sane And Happy"
George Michael
Pop star George Michael said smoking cannabis kept him "sane and happy" and appeared to light up a joint during an interview on Britain's ITV channel, ITV said on Friday.
The comments have landed the former Wham! frontman in hot water with mental health groups and drug charities concerned about the message Michael's comments will send to young people.
ITV, which will screen the interview on October 31, said Michael "sparked up" backstage at a gig in Madrid while talking to the channel's South Bank Show.
George Michael
Painting Fetches $165,000
Goodwill
A painting dropped off at Goodwill by an anonymous donor sold for $165,002 Thursday during an auction on the organization's Web site.
Bidding on the painting, a 1923 watercolor by the American impressionist Frank Weston Benson, started at $10 on Oct. 12. The bidding soared after the painting was authenticated by the owner of a Portland gallery.
Dale Emanuel, spokeswoman for Goodwill Industries of the Columbia-Willamette, said that the nonprofit gets a lot of valuable donations, but that it's unknown whether the person who dropped off the painting knew its worth.
Goodwill
Austrian Removes
'Opera Toilet'
An Austrian businessman announced Thursday that he would get rid of urinals shaped like a woman's mouth from a public toilet near Vienna's national opera, after facing pressure from politicians who demanded their removal.
The urinals, which are located in the "Opera Toilet," a lavishly decorated public restroom, feature thick, lipsticked lips, a set of teeth and a bright red tongue.
Neuhold Gerhard, owner of the toilet's operator Neuhold Gerhard Limited, said in an interview Thursday with Austrian public radio that he would remove the urinals.
Gerhard added that he thought it odd that public interest has only now been focused on the urinals, as they have been around for three years.
'Opera Toilet'
Seeks New Life
'Grit'
Grit, a 124-year-old U.S. newspaper whose sentimental stories and unconventional distribution won it a huge readership in small-town America, been reborn as a glossy, color magazine as its owners try to arrest a long, steep decline in its circulation.
Ogden Publications Inc., Grit's publisher, hopes the redesigned bimonthly focused on modern country living will connect with readers in the booming U.S. exurbs - those sprawling communities beyond the suburbs of many U.S. cities.
The change comes after years of losses at Grit and a decades-long exodus out of the rural areas where the newspaper was once devoured by news-starved readers.
Grit
Destroys German Cottage
Meteor
A fire that destroyed a cottage near Bonn and injured a 77-year-old man was probably caused by a meteor and witnesses saw an arc of blazing light in the sky, Burkhard Rick, a spokesman for the police in Siegburg east of Bonn said on Friday.
"We sought assistance from Bochum observatory and they noted that at that particular moment the earth was near a field of meteoroid splinter and it could be assumed that particles had entered the atmosphere," he said.
"The particles usually don't reach the surface because they disintegrate in the atmosphere," he added. "But some can make it to the ground. We believe this was a bolide (meteoric fireball) with a size of no more than 10 mm."
Meteor
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