'Best of TBH Politoons'
But Untrue
Strangely Believable
President Bush has announced his intention to forgo the coming week-long, $40 million inauguration extravaganza and "just get down to business." He has promised to donate his inaugural fund to the tsunami relief efforts.
~Jeff Crook
Jeff Crook is the Ceci Connolly of the Left - J. Howard Tuft
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Reader Review
'Battlestar Galactica'
Friday night began the new Battlestar Galactica series on Sci Fi.
After watching I have some high hopes for the show. The episode was driven by a
plot gimmick in which the Cylons attacked every 33 minutes. First and
foremost....thank god it wasn't centons or whatever was used on the original
series.
These attacks had been going on for a number of days. The cast handled
showing the strain extremly well. Overall the scripting is tight and
credible.
I'm not sure if I like the plot device of trying to show what happened after
the humans left Caprica. That subplot doesn't seem to have the legs for long
term interest. I think if they drop that and concentrated on the fleet they
would improve the show.
One definite improvement, in my opinion, would be to drop the Baltar
segments entirely. Its very annoying to get interested in the plot only to
have it interupeted by a philosophical sex scene every 5 minutes.
The only other beef I have is with the time it's on. From here on out its on
at 10:00. That's a little too late for a wide viewing audience. If it was on
at 9:00 it might draw larger numbers.
At this point Battlestar Galactica has a few problems to work out but is
overall watchable. I give kudos to the producers for not trying to be camp
and for lining up good special effects works. By the way I love the way most
of the space battles are in almost silence, since no one can you scream in
space.
~ Mr. Hawk
Thanks, Mr. Hawk!
New Ant Rant
Avery Ant
AVERY'S SPERM BANK
PUT YOUR SPERM IN OUR HANDS
Avery Ant's Sperm Bank
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Bury the Chains: An Interview with Adam Hochschild (Interviewed By Dave Gilson)
In the late 18th century, a small group of Englishmen went out on a limb and put forward the radical notion that slavery was wrong. At first, their proposal that Enlightenment ideals of equality and liberty should be extended to the millions of African slaves held in Britain's colonies looked like a non-starter. "The idea of ending slavery seemed totally utopian, crackpot, wildly too idealistic," says journalist and writer Adam Hochschild. Yet, as Hochschild recounts in his new book, Bury The Chains: Prophets and Rebels in the Fight to Free an Empire's Slaves, these abolitionists proved themselves right in far less time than anyone might have imagined. Slightly more than 50 years after its humble birth in a London print shop in 1787, the British antislavery movement overturned the atrocity that had formed the economic backbone of the world's most powerful empire.
Harold Meyerson: President of Fabricated Crises
Some presidents make the history books by managing crises. Lincoln had Fort Sumter, Roosevelt had the Depression and Pearl Harbor, and Kennedy had the missiles in Cuba. George W. Bush, of course, had Sept. 11, and for a while thereafter -- through the overthrow of the Taliban -- he earned his page in history, too.
Matt Miller: INAUGURAL CHALLENGE: GET OUR COMMISSIONS RIGHT!
As a new study confirmed this week, U.S. health spending topped 15 percent of GDP for the time in 2003. Other advanced nations spend 7 percent to 10 percent of GDP while covering everyone, and we don't have better public health outcomes for all the extra bucks. Something is seriously wrong with this picture.
Froma Harrop on Social Security
The conservative pitchmen are getting their facials, whitening their teeth and activating whatever bubble machine makes them so confident. This would be the sale of a lifetime -- persuading American workers to trade guaranteed retirement benefits for a wager on Wall Street. To the conservative ideologue, there could be no more magnificent sight than the head of Social Security mounted over the fireplace.
Patrick Moser: Women had to ridicule inmates
Interrogators at Abu Ghraib routinely told female soldiers to ridicule naked detainees and asked MPs to rough up a prisoner, a witness said on Thursday at a court martial examining abuses at the US-run Iraqi prison. "They wanted me to be in the shower, point to the detainees' genitals and laugh," said Megan Ambuhl, a former soldier who was dismissed from the US Army last year after pleading guilty in the prisoner abuse scandal.
Fiore presents: The office of truth enhancement
News 24
Current Opinion Pieces by Creators Syndicate Columnists
Purple Gene Reviews
'Black Mama - White Mama'
Purple Gene's review of the movie "Black Mama - White Mama" (1972) Directed by Eddie Romero:
Imagine my Pam Grier ("Coffy" - "Foxy Brown" - "Sheba, Baby" - "Jackie Brown") with her beautiful black breasts bared…and she is CHAINED to Margaret Markov ("The Arena" - "Pretty Maids All in a Row") with her wonderful white breasts bared….
And they are in prison in the Phillipines and they escape - still chained together, and there're shower scenes with scores of naked female inmates - and we have a large breasted dominatrix running the prison - and libidinous lesbian love - faux fucking and even sweaty hairy chested men who get kicked in the balls and…………….a screenplay by Jonathan Demme!!!! ("Caged Heat" - "Silence of the Lambs" - "Philadelphia" - "The Manchurian Candidate")….
We have the 1972 "Chick" in chains "Buddy" movie……very much like "The Defiant Ones" (1958) with Sidney Poitier chained to Tony Curtis!!!!!
Lee (Pam Grier) is a black hooker and Karen (Margaret Markov) is a white revolutionary.
They find themselves imprisoned together on a small island. Well, they don't get along at all….. But all the other female inmates certainly do. The movie begins with a 5 + minute totally naked shower sex party …with a lesbian wardens assistant masturbating as she watches the action through a peep hole in the pee house!!!!! Wow….this was free late night cable…..historical "B" Movie action…..Well the Big Lesbian Warden likes to break In the new nubile nude inmates !!!!! Lee and Karen ain't buyin' this bullshit and act out (Lee actually says "Jive Ass")…so they are chained together and stuck in the "hot" house …Naked!!! Karen knows some revolutionary guys on the island and her and Lee "BUST" out!!!!!! Ha Ha Ha
They are being chased by an evil cowboy bounty hunter named Ruben (Sid Haig). Lots of blood and guts and gunfights later we have the big finale. To show his marksmanship, Ruben lines up 2 naked male rebels and threatens to shoot the "smallest penis" off!.
Well the Rebels save the day….Lee gets away ……
They do this all again in 1974 in a movie called "The Arena" billed as the female "Spartacus" …we have a black Nubian slave named Mamawi (Pam Grier) and a white Viking slave named Bodicia (Markov) battling it out in the days of the Gladiators!
Pam Griers' next movie was "Foxy Brown" and the rest is history….
Purple Gene gives "Black Mama - White Mama" 5 chain links out of 10 for being short on story but long salaciousness.
Purple Gene
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny, clear, warmer & dry.
Tonight is the Golden Globe Awards, my favorite of all the awards shows.
Last night Cal came home with some swag - a Joan Rivers mask & a ball cap with 'Joan & Melissa LIVE at the Golden Globes' across the front.
The cats are scared of the mask.
And, as always, if you're in Seattle, don't forget to listen to Erin Hart tonight.
Dumped In Vermont
Pigboy
A southern Vermont-based radio station will trade in the rhetoric of Rush Limbaugh and other conservative talk show hosts for the liberal commentary of Air America next week.
WKVT-AM 1490 in Brattleboro will replace four of its weekday syndicated conservative talk shows on Jan. 17 with programs from the fledgling liberal radio network Air America, which launched in March.
The station will be the second in Vermont to broadcast Air America programs, which include shows hosted by comedian Al Franken and actress Jeanne Garofalo.
The Air America programs will replace daily radio shows hosted by Limbaugh, O'Reilly, Howie Carr and Joy Brown, Case said.
Pigboy
Christens Environmental Ship
Ted Danson
Actor Ted Danson served drinks on the TV show "Cheers." He used a bottle of bubbly to christen a catamaran that will spend five months searching the seas for pollution and threatened marine life.
Danson, a board member of the conservation group Oceana, christened the 71-foot vessel "Ranger" at Marina del Rey on Friday.
Oceana plans to sail the vessel to areas of Central America, the Caribbean, Africa and Europe that are threatened by pollution and overfishing.
Ted Danson
Gets Statue at L.A. Cemetery
Johnny Ramone
A bronze statue honoring late punk guitarist Johnny Ramone was unveiled before hundreds of celebrities and cheering fans at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery.
Ramone, co-founder and guitarist of The Ramones, was 55 when he died of prostate cancer in September at his Los Angeles home. The $100,000 statue sits near the grave of bandmate Dee Dee Ramone, who died of a drug overdose in 2002.
Tommy Ramone, the only surviving member of the original band, said the memorial symbolized the spirit of The Ramones' music.
Johnny Ramone
Uninvited To Bush Bash
Kid Rock
Kid Rock has reportedly been uninvited to perform as part of the festivities surrounding the second inauguration of George W. Bush. A spokesperson for the Presidential Inauguration Committee told WorldNetDaily.com, "He's not performing," when asked whether Rock would appear at a youth concert organized by first daughters Jenna and Barbara Bush.
Although an official list of performers had not been announced for the January 18 event, Rock was touted along with JoJo and Hilary Duff as one of the artists scheduled to play.
However, conservative and "pro-family" groups were outraged that Rock, known for his raunchy and "obscene" lyrics, was reportedly going to perform. That led event organizers to distance themselves from the rocker, who has publicly come out in support of Bush.
Kid Rock
Gets No Love From Old High School
Michael Moore
Oscar on the shelf or not, Michael Moore is not getting much respect at his old high school. Despite his fame and many honors, the filmmaker has been rejected all four times that he has been nominated for Davison High School's Hall of Fame.
"Would you want him as a role model? Would you want your son or daughter to be like him?" asked Don Hammond, a member of the Hall of Fame selection committee. "I haven't talked to anybody yet who's for him. The word to describe Michael Moore is embarrassing. He embarrasses everybody."
Michael Moore
Yeah, who wants their kid to employed, skilled, wealthy & useful...
Editing Out Nude Scene
PBS
In yet another example of network skittishness in the wake of Janet Jackson's Super Bowl flashing, PBS says it will alter a movie scene to avoid showing the front of a nude woman being scrubbed down after a fictional chemical attack.
Extra footage in the movie "Dirty War" will be used that depicts the woman from a more discreet angle, PBS senior programming executive Jacoba Atlas said on Saturday.
At a time when the Federal Communications Commission is aggressively pursuing indecency complaints, a nonessential nude scene in a fictional movie isn't worth the risk, Atlas said.
PBS
New Face Of Duprey Cosmetics
Traci Lords
Traci Lords is putting her best face forward as the star of Duprey Cosmetics' 2005 advertising campaign.
"Traci has incredible sex appeal," said Duprey co-founder Brian Duprey. "Her look can be ethereal, flirty or downright dangerous. She's the ultimate temptress."
Traci Lords
Honored in Louisiana
Patricia Clarkson
Patricia Clarkson, back in her native Louisiana to play a governor's adviser in a remake of the film "All the King's Men," was celebrated like royalty when the mayor designated a day in her honor.
Mayor Ray Nagin, a former high school classmate of Clarkson, declared Jan. 13 Patricia Clarkson Day and held a written proclamation that referred to the actress as "the Queen of Hollywood South."
"It is truly a dream," Clarkson, 45, said Thursday. "I'm shooting an incredibly beautiful film in my beautiful hometown and it's quite overwhelming. Who would have thought, many, many, many years ago, as I was performing on the O. Perry Walker (High School) stage ... that I would be here today - with a day?"
Patricia Clarkson
Regains Custody of Daughter
Courtney Love
Singer Courtney Love has regained full custody of her 11-year-old daughter, her attorney said. Love, 40, lost custody of Frances Bean Cobain, her daughter with late Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain, in 2003 after she overdosed on painkillers in front of the girl.
Her daughter had been staying with Love's stepfather and sister, but Love had daily contact with the girl.
Love regained custody Monday through a judge's ruling, said Love's attorney, Howard Weitzman.
Courtney Love
Sues Texas Police Officer
Jason Patric
Actor Jason Patric has sued an Austin police officer for allegedly violating his civil rights by using excessive force and falsely imprisoning him in March.
Patric claims in the lawsuit that he "was doing nothing illegal, was sober and was clearly not a danger to himself or to others."
The suit, filed Friday in U.S. District Court, seeks unspecified damages.
Jason Patric
Pleads Not Guilty
Young Buck
The rapper Young Buck pleaded not guilty Friday to an assault charge for allegedly stabbing a man during a melee last year at the Vibe Awards.
The 23-year-old rapper, whose given name is David Darnell Brown, is accused of stabbing Jimmy James Johnson in retaliation after Johnson allegedly punched Brown's mentor, Dr. Dre, during the Nov. 15 taping of the show.
The attack set off a chair-throwing brawl that spread through the crowd.
Young Buck
Sought Gay Sex Weapon
Air Force
The Pentagon briefly looked into making a weapon that would render enemy troops sexually attracted to one another, according to an official document uncovered by a watchdog group that monitors research into biological and chemical weapons.
The proposed aphrodisiac was part of a weapons development plan circulated in 1994 at the U.S. Air Force Wright Laboratory in Dayton, Ohio. An outline of the plan was discovered by the Sunshine Project and posted on its Web site.
The six-year plan included development of several "non-lethal" chemical weapons, including one that would inflict "severe and lasting halitosis" in enemy combatants and a "sting me/attack me" chemical that would cause bees to become more aggressive.
The aphrodisiac chemical would be designed to make enemy soldiers sexually irresistible to each other. The resulting widespread homosexual behavior, the proposal suggests, would cause a "distasteful but completely non-lethal blow" to morale.
Air Force
Arrested for DUI
Listerine Drinker
A woman who admitted drinking three glasses of Listerine mouthwash had a blood-alcohol content more than three times the legal limit when she was arrested for drunken driving, police said Friday.
The woman, identified by police Sgt. Mike Shadbolt as 50-year-old Carol A. Ries, was arrested Sunday night and released on personal bond the next day. She was to be arraigned late next week on a misdemeanor charge of operating under the influence of liquor, Shadbolt said.
Ries showed signs of intoxication after her car rear-ended another vehicle Sunday and, under further questioning, admitted to drinking three glasses of Listerine earlier in the day, Shadbolt said.
According to Listerine manufacturer Pfizer Inc.'s Web site, original formula Listerine contains 26.9 percent alcohol, more than four times that of many malt liquors. Other varieties contain 21.6 percent alcohol.
Listerine Drinker
100-Pound Woman Downs Six-Pound Burger
Kate Stelnick
CLEARFIELD, Pa. - A 100-pound female college student is the first to meet the Denny's Beer Barrel Pub challenge: down the restaurant's six-pound hamburger - and five pounds of fixins' - within three hours.
Kate Stelnick, 19, of Princeton, N.J., made the five-hour drive with two friends from The College of New Jersey on Wednesday, after they saw pictures of the monster burger, dubbed the Ye Old 96er, on the Internet and on TV's Food Network.
Stelnick didn't eat for two days to prepare for the challenge. "I felt very full, but I was too excited that I actually ate it to notice," Stelnick said.
Kate Stelnick
Damaged
Babylon
U.S.-led troops using the ancient Iraqi city of Babylon as a base have damaged and contaminated artifacts dating back thousands of years in one of the world's most important archaeological sites, the British Museum said Saturday.
For example, military vehicles crushed a 2,600-year-old brick pavement, and archaeological fragments, including broken bricks stamped by King Nebuchadnezzar II around the same time, were scattered across the site, a museum report said.
The dragons at the Ishtar Gate were marred by cracks and gaps where someone tried to remove their decorative bricks, the paper said.
John Curtis, keeper of the British Museum's Near East department, who was invited by the Iraqis to study the site, also found that large quantities of sand mixed with archaeological fragments have been taken from the site to fill military sandbags.
Babylon
In Memory
Rocky Roberts
American soul singer Rocky Roberts, a former boxer who became a one-hit sensation in Italy in the 1960s, has died at age 66, his agent said Friday.
Roberts introduced soul music to Italians, and his hit song "Stasera Mi Butto" ("I Will Try Tonight"), which he sang in Italian, marked an era here. The sunglasses-wearing, skillful dancer also set fashion trends for scores of Italian youths.
Born Charlie Roberts in Miami, he worked for a decade as a boxer in the United States before an injury ended his career, Scotti said. Roberts was serving in the military in the early 1960s when he came to Europe and was scouted in Naples.
In 1967 "Stasera Mi Butto" shot him to stardom in Italy. The song was so successful that a movie by the same title was produced, with Roberts starring in it. He also appeared in popular prime-time variety shows on Italian TV.
Roberts kept up performing in Italy and elsewhere, but his image remained forever linked to the 1960s. His last performance was in September, said Scotti.
Rocky Roberts
