'Best of TBH Politoons'
But Untrue
Strangely Believable
Supreme Court Justices Sandra Day O'Connor and Anthony Kennedy are world-ranked tango partners on the international senior circuit.
~Jeff Crook
Jeff Crook is the Ceci Connolly of the Left. ~ J. Howard Tuft
Strangely Believable but Untrue is now available online at the Untrue Fact of the Day web calendar. Help spread disinformation and misunderstanding by sharing this with your friends and enemies.
Reader Comment
Re: Hubble
hi marty,
Sorry you have such a bad cold! Don't want to get gross here, but since my doctor recommended clearing my sinuses in the shower every day (and I DO mean clearing!), I haven't had a single cold (knock on wood).
However, as sad as your cold is, my comment is about Hubble....
"The White House has eliminated funding for a mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope from its 2006 budget request and directed NASA to focus solely on de-orbiting the popular spacecraft at the end of its life, according to government and industry sources."
This is such a sad event and so very typical of this idiot administration. Not only has Hubble been able to look into the past so far that it's almost unimaginable, but has shown us some of the amazing wonders of the universe. Seeing the images from Hubble even made me consider there might be a god.
What I don't understand is WHY! Are bush and co. SO afraid of science that they don't want to pursue the questions raised by Hubble? Or are they afraid of the answers? Why is it ok to spend money trying to get to Mars (what, do they think that's the next "earth"?) but not on one of the most amazing scientific achievements in our history??????
Bush is such an embarrassment to the human race. I feel so sad for our country and the world.
Get better soon!
ducks
Thanks, ducks!
Guess we're going into a phase of 'faith-based astronomy' which will be followed by 'faith-based medicine'.
Who needs immunizations or antibiotics if you have Jebus in your heart.
A Fresh Rant
Avery Ant
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Matt Miller: MY CREDIT CARD RECEIPT AND BUSH'S PINCHED VISION (Tribune Media Services)
The credit card receipt at the restaurant in New York was the last straw. I was innocently paying for lunch with a credit card the other day, just going about my business, when I noticed that just below the line where you fill in your tip there appeared a line entitled "Tsunami Relief."
No room for progressives on cable news inauguration coverage (Media Matters for America)
Media Matters for America inventoried all guests who appeared on FOX News, CNN, and MSNBC during the channels' January 20 inauguration coverage. Between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET, Republican and conservative guests and commentators outnumbered Democrats and progressives 17 to 6 on FOX, 10 to 1 on CNN (not including a Republican-skewed panel featuring Ohio voters), and 13 to 2 on MSNBC. Moreover, the rare Democrat or progressive guest usually appeared opposite conservatives, whereas most Republican and conservative guests and commentators appeared solo or alongside fellow conservatives.
Norwegians confused by Bush salute
OSLO, Norway (AP) - President George W. Bush's "Hook 'em, 'Horns" salute got lost in translation in Norway, where shocked people interpreted his family's hand gesture during his inauguration as a salute to Satan.
New film pokes fun at 'Bushisms'
A [recent] political film is taking a light-hearted poke at the lexicon of unique words and phrases invented by United States President George W Bush. The one-hour film, Bushisms, gently lampoons 50 of the President's most memorable verbal gaffes.
Roger Ebert: Quentin Tarantino, a `Pulp' Hero (October 9, 1994)
So thank God for tape recorders, because in the old pen-and-paper days, this would be the act of a desperate man, trying to keep up with Quentin Tarantino, who talks like he's being paid by the word and starts every sentence in the middle of the previous one.
Lesbian and Bisexual Women in Entertainment and the Media
Writing Center Handouts
Bush Inauguration Protest Photos
Fair and Balanced Inauguration
Nope, no weapons over here
Purple Gene Reviews
'Sacrifice'
Purple Genes' review of the movie "Sacrifice" (2000) Directed by Mark L. Lester:
It's Friday night ! I'm lazy and looking for love on all the wrong stations !! Tonight…it's Showtime West…and the title that catches my eye is "Sacrifice" So I look at the Comcast synopsis and it says Michael Madsen and Bokeem Woodbine in a Action/Horror/Thriller/Mystery !!!!!!! OK….I'm DOWN !
Tyler Pierce (Michael Madsen - "Reservoir Dogs" - "Free Willy" - "Thelma & Louise" - "Mullholland Falls") did some bad things….he left his wife…he abandoned his daughter …and he committed a robbery and got caught….and he's doing time….he gets a phone call in the Big House - from his ex-wife's husband…. His daughter has been savagely sliced by a serial killer -the Sweetwater Killer - and Tylers' daughter Lisa is # 4. While Tyler is being transferred by FBI Agent Godfried (Bokeem Woodbine "Crooklyn" - "Freeway" - "Black Male" - "Ray") . he manages to escape…pissing off Agent Godfried who will pathetically pursue him for the rest of this flick…
Tyler Pierce is on a mission to find the Sweetwater Killer. So he goes back to…guess where? …Sweetwater! He contacts his ex wife and then goes underground and hooks up with a nosy prostitute named Naomi (Jamie Lunar "Melrose Place" - "Profiler" - "Friends & Lovers") who knows some names…and has a nice ass and needs some of the money that Tyler dug up from his bank robbery. After scotch on the rocks and some generic sex, Naomi and Tyler are 2 misfit partners ….who are going to find this knife wielding, throat slashing, psycho killer who cuts off the victims breasts in a bizaar ritualistic way. We go through crazy drug dealers, cops on the take, Agent Godfried tripping over himself and crashing cars (Bokeem Woodbines' WORST role - I loved him in "Freeway" with Reese Witherspoon) and car chases down dusty dirt roads and that Darn Sweetwater Killer does it again….and Naomi puts 2 and 2 together thinking that whoever is doing these murders finds the names of the victims at…The Women Health Clinic…where abortions are performed …. And you guessed it..all the victims had once had abortions!
But wait a minute!!!! Unbeknownst to Naomi, one of the nurses at the clinic - Karen (Diane Farr "Divorced White Male" - "The David Cassidy Story" - "The Job") who is going to give her some inside info…is actually THE KILLER….So Karen manages to get Naomi to come down alone and unarmed and the next thing you know she's strapped into an Abortion Surgery table…Karen spreads her legs inserts the Duck Clamp and grabs the scalpel…….and is going to OPERATE…..But Tyler has also found out that Karen is Crazy and he's racing down to the clinic …in the RAIN…and Agent Godfried finds the ID on Tylers truck and he's heading down to the clinic too…… Well, Tyler gets there in the NICK of time and the scalpel gets turned on him but he manages to pump six bullets in the crazy bitch and gets justice for his daughter…but that darn agent just won't let up….Tyler (Michael Madsen is good even in this piece of shit) gets the jump on the Godfried and tells him the story and how he got the Sweetwater Killer and Tyler handcuffs Godfried to the car, kisses Naomi goodbye and like a true anti hero diseappears into the pouring southern rain……..
Purple Gene gives "Sacrifice" 5 made for TV movie stars out of 10 for being so utterly awful and yet engaging.
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Still sunny & mild.
The Razzie Awards™ will be announced at noon (pst) Monday, and the Oscars™ will be announced very early Tuesday.
Gets Star on Walk of Fame
Journey
Journey, the power ballad rock group that dominated the charts in the 1980s, stopped traffic on a stretch of Hollywood when hundreds of fans turned out to see the band unveil its own Hollywood Walk of Fame star.
Present at the sidewalk ceremony were guitarist Neal Schon and bassist Ross Valory, who were in the group's original 1973 lineup, as well as keyboardist Jonathan Cain, drummer Deen Castronovo and lead singer Steve Augeri, who replaced Steve Perry in the mid-1990s.
Perry, who was not scheduled to appear, showed up on his own, organizers said.
Over a 30-year period, Journey released 18 albums, selling 50 million copies on the strength of radio hits such as "Don't Stop Believin'," "Who's Crying Now," and "Open Arms," which were fueled by Perry's operatic, high-flying vocal style.
Journey
Austria Official Chides Herr Dual-Citizenship
Ahnold
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger should be stripped of citizenship in his native Austria for approving the execution of a convicted killer, a leading Austrian politician said Saturday.
The demand, by a top official from the environmentalist Green Party, had little chance for success, but it underscores how Schwarzenegger has lost popularity in his homeland over his support for the death penalty. Most Austrians - and many other Europeans - abhor capital punishment as cruel and inhumane.
"Schwarzenegger is possibly the most prominent Austrian abroad, and he shapes the picture of Austria," Peter Pilz said. "I don't want that picture shaped by someone who commits state murder. That does not correspond to the political culture of this country."
Schwarzenegger was born in 1947 in the village of Thal just outside Graz, where he began his bodybuilding career. He emigrated to the United States in 1968 and became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1984, but has retained his Austrian citizenship.
Ahnold
Producer Responds To Wingnuts
Nile Rodgers
The producer of a music video for children, featuring scores of their TV heroes ranging from the Muppets to SpongeBob SquarePants, said Friday he is astounded the project has been assailed by some conservatives as a cunning attempt to advocate homosexuality.
"The only response is, 'Wow,"' said Nile Rodgers, a veteran musician and producer whose We Are Family Foundation plans to give away 60,000 copies of the video after it is aired next month on several television networks.
The video involves a rendition of the 1979 hit song We Are Family, that Rodgers co-wrote, and contains no reference to homosexual rights or sexual orientation.
The matter gained attention Thursday, after the New York Times newspaper reported prominent conservative James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, alluded to SpongeBob SquarePants' role in a "pro-homosexual video" during remarks to a pre-inauguration dinner in Washington.
Nile Rodgers
Role As GOP Senator
Alan Alda
Alan Alda says he's constantly approached by people surprised at his portrayal of a conservative Republican senator on the TV show "The West Wing."
"I was never asked that when I played a murderer," Alda said Friday.
The NBC drama is setting up a long-running story line in which Alda will run for president against a Democrat portrayed by Jimmy Smits. The winner will be inaugurated on "The West Wing" a year from now.
Sheen said he expects to be back for next season in a limited role as his character leaves office.
Alan Alda
More Gap Ads
Sarah Jessica Parker
Actress Sarah Jessica Parker is falling into more Gap advertisements. The former "Sex and the City" star has signed on to represent the clothing chain in its spring 2005 marketing campaign - the third straight she's been involved. Her spots premier sometime in March.
The campaign will encompass more television and print ads, direct mail and online and in-store marketing elements.
In a previous Gap ad, a cast of digitally added Parker clones tromped around rock star Lenny Kravitz. In another, Parker partied with actor Josh Duhamel and R&B singer Mary J. Blige.
Sarah Jessica Parker
National Book Critics Circle Prize Finalist
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan, the unofficial poet laureate of the rock 'n' roll generation, has now been officially placed alongside such literary greats as Philip Roth and Adrienne Rich, not to mention biographies of Shakespeare and Willem de Kooning. All were among nominees announced Saturday for the National Book Critics Circle prizes.
Dylan, whose memoir "Chronicles, Vol. 1" was a favorite with both reviewers and readers, is among the finalists for biography/autobiography, his competition including two acclaimed best sellers: Ron Chernow's biography of Alexander Hamilton and Stephen Greenblatt's biography of Shakespeare, "Will in the World." Also nominated were John Guy's Queen of Scots: The True Life of Mary Stuart" and "De Kooning: An American Master," by Mark Stevens and Annalyn Swan.
Virtually all literary efforts by rock stars, from the Kinks' Ray Davies to Smashing Pumpkins' Billy Corgan, are laughed off by critics, but Dylan has been praised for an unusually rich and engaging book, writing passionately about such influences as Woody Guthrnately about such influences as Woody Guthrie and Robert Johnson and recalling his years as a young singer-songwriter in Greenwich Village.
Bob Dylan
Apologise for Iraq War
Icelanders
A group of nationals from tiny Iceland have slammed their government's support of the U.S.-led war in Iraq, apologising to Iraqis in a full-page advertisement in The New York Times.
The advertisement, paid for with donations from more than 4,000 citizens which constitutes about 1.4 percent of the population, demanded "that Iceland be immediately removed from the list of invaders in the 'coalition of the willing'.
"We apologise to the Iraqi people for the Icelandic ministers' support for the invasion of Iraq," said the ad, published on Friday.
Four out of five Icelanders want their country off the list, according to a Gallup opinion poll published earlier this month.
Icelanders
'Golf in the Year 2000 or What Are We Coming To'
Jack McCullogh
An 1892 book that predicted bullet trains, driverless golf carts, televisions and digital watches sold for 1,200 pounds at auction on Saturday.
Its author, Scottish professional golfer Jack McCullogh, also predicted women would start dressing like men and do all the work while the menfolk took to the golf courses full-time.
His little-known book, "Golf in the Year 2000 or What Are We Coming To" by McCullogh under the pseudonym J.A.C.K., was bought by James Espinola, an American collector of golf memorabilia.
"This book is a cross between Nostradamus and the tale of Rip van Winkle because the main character goes to sleep on March 24, 1892, and wakes up on March 25, 2000, to find all these amazing changes," spokesman Philip Gregory of auction house Lyon & Turnbull in Edinburgh said before the sale.
Jack McCullogh
Kindness Rewarded
Lima High School
Eight high school students who gave their senior class trip money to a teacher with cancer will be able to travel after all, thanks to donations from people who were touched by the students' generosity.
The eight graduating seniors at Lima High School in southwest Montana gave $5,000 in December to Karla McGraw, a teacher and volleyball coach diagnosed with advanced breast cancer to help her with medical expenses.
When Lima resident Ben Yarbrough heard about the students' donation, he set up a fund that has since grown to more than $8,300, thanks to donations from as far away as Florida and New York City.
The students - many of whom have never seen the ocean - wanted to visit a coastal Oregon town.
Lima High School
Huge Radiation Storm
Sunspot Cluster
The Sun spewed forth a massive amount of radiation this week, causing brilliant auroras and a radio blackout.
Since 14 January alone, it has unleashed at least 17 medium and five large solar flares from a single sunspot cluster. Forecasters at the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) expect medium to high solar activity to continue until 23 January.
Two major US airlines rerouted planes away from the polar areas to avoid additional radiation, said Bill Murtagh, a space weather forecaster for NOAA. Instruments on two of NOAA's satellites, SOHO and the Advanced Composition Explorer, were blinded by radiation contamination for several hours, and there are unconfirmed reports of problems on other satellites.
The eruptions also required evasive action aboard the International Space Station. The two-man crew, Leroy Chiao and Salizhan Sharipov, ducked for cover inside the bulkier Russian side of the station when their orbit took them through the worst of the storm. High doses of radiation can cause health problems: astronauts are more prone to cataracts later in life, for example.
Sunspot Cluster
White House Scraps List
'Coalition of the Willing'
The White House has scrapped its list of Iraq allies known as the 45-member "coalition of the willing," which Washington used to back its argument that the 2003 invasion was a multilateral action, an official said on Friday.
The senior administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the White House replaced the coalition list with a smaller roster of 28 countries with troops in Iraq sometime after the June transfer of power to an interim Iraqi government.
The official could not say when or why the administration did away with the list of the coalition of the willing.
The coalition, unveiled on the eve of the invasion, consisted of 30 countries that publicly offered support for the United States and another 15 that did not want to be named as part of the group.
'Coalition of the Willing'
