'Best of TBH Politoons'
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
F.S. Wolfe: Your Degree Is Obsolete (Boston Phoenix)
In a mercurial job market, your college diploma may be useless before
commencement's over. How can colleges prepare students for careers
that haven't been invented?
Joel Stein: Grand Old Party animal (latimes.com)
Getting $6 a head -- and a cookie -- to persuade newly sworn citizens
to register Republican.
Andrew Tobias: Putting the Con in Economics (andrewtobias.com)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCCAIN: I think you could argue that Americans overall are better off
because we have had a pretty good, prosperous time, with low
unemployment, low inflation. A lot of good things have happened, a
lot of jobs have been created. I think we are better off overall.
Jim Hightower: "BEWARE: DHS IS AT IT AGAIN" (jimhightower.com)
The Department of Homeland Security ... funded an academic study to
determine which U.S. cities are most vulnerable to terrorist attacks.
Of the 132 urban areas analyzed, which one do you think is numero uno
in terms of danger? Washington, DC? No. New York City? Uh-uh. LA? Not
even close. Get ready for a bombshell: It's Boise, Idaho.
Barbara Ehrenreich: With the Truckers in DC (ehrenreich.blogs.com)
Truckers live in an alternative dimension, at least so I conclude
when trying to figure out how to meet up with the convoy of trucks
coming into to DC to protest high diesel fuel prices on Monday.
Ted Rall: ARREST BUSH
Bush Confesses to Waterboarding. Call D.C. Cops!
Froma Harrop: The Change That Can't Be Changed (creators.com)
... McCain's "market-based" concept lacks the wisdom to acknowledge
what can't be changed - that private insurers will always avoid
people with costly medical conditions. McCain's idea of a
government-run pool to cover the sick ones turns his plan into
another bonanza for the insurance industry. It lets insurers make a
pile selling their policies to healthy people, while the taxpayers
are stuck with the expensive patients.
Tom Danehy: When it comes to oil, Tom can see clearly now (tucsonweekly.com)
It cost me more than $30 to fill up my car the other day. I
appreciate your sympathy. As I stood there at Costco, watching the
numbers spin by like the year marker on The Time Machine (the
original, with Rod Taylor), I had a brief moment of pristine clarity.
Jim Hightower: GAPS IN THE FENCE (jimhightower.com)
If good fences make good neighbors, what about bad fences?
David Sedaris: LETTING GO (newyorker.com)
Smoking and non-smoking.
Ted Drozdowski: Dolly Parton Rolls Out the Big Guns (Boston Phoenix)
What's truly amazing about Backwoods Barbie is that it manages to
pander to every element of Dolly Parton's fan base without sounding
insincere or compromised.
Roger Moore: Jon Favreau's preparation pays off in 'Iron Man' (The Orlando Sentinel)
Jon Favreau heard the whispers, the murmurs of "What the hey?" when
he was selected by Marvel Studios to turn the comic-book empire's
Iron Man into a movie. He heard them again when he talked the studio
into casting Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man, the
metal-suited hero of the piece.
Reader Comment
ORU
Marty,
About the 3 May story about Oral Roberts U students transferring because
of Robert's family scandal:
NOW they think their diplomas will be worthless? Now?!? So before all
this the students thought they were getting a quality education at a
prestigious university ?
This is exactly why the Chinese are beating us.
Enjoying the site,
Adam In NoHo
Thanks, Adam!
OTOH, they've still got Bob Jones & (Falwell's) Liberty & (Marion Robertson's) Messiah & Regent - and more. Sigh.
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny and pleasant.
First Inductees
N.J. Hall of Fame
Pop quiz: What comes to mind when you think about Yogi Berra, Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein and Toni Morrison? Brilliant minds, inspiring souls, trailblazers - all are likely responses.
And ... New Jersey?
Yep. They all have strong ties to the oft-maligned Garden State, and they're among the first 15 people to be inducted Sunday into New Jersey's new Hall of Fame.
In addition to Edison, Einstein and Morrison, the inaugural class includes Frank Sinatra, Bruce Springsteen, Meryl Streep, astronaut Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf and Vince Lombardi.
N.J. Hall of Fame
French Honors
Kylie Minogue
Kylie Minogue has never hidden her love for France. Now the country is repaying the feeling, awarding the Pop Princess one of their top honours at a ceremony on Monday.
Australian-born Kylie, who has spent several years in France, will be made a Knight In The Order Of Arts And Letters. The top honour, to be given in Paris, is in recognition of her "contribution to the enrichment of French culture".
"I am deeply honoured to be recognised in this way," said the delighted disco queen. "French culture has influenced me greatly and I have always had colossal respect for the arts and people of France."
Kylie Minogue
A Saudi First
Mozart
It's probably as revolutionary and groundbreaking as Mozart gets these days. A German-based quartet staged Saudi Arabia's first-ever performance of European classical music in a public venue before a mixed gender audience.
The concert, held at a government-run cultural center, broke many taboos in a country where public music is banned and the sexes are segregated even in lines at fast food outlets.
Public concerts are practically unheard of in the kingdom. Foreign embassies and consulates regularly bring musical groups, but they perform on embassy grounds or in expatriates' residential compounds, and the shows are not open to the public.
In the past couple of months, however, there has been a quiet, yet marked increase in cultural activities in Saudi Arabia. Lectures and a couple of segregated folk music performances were held on the sidelines of Riyadh's book fair. And Jiddah's annual Economic Forum opened with a surprise this February - a performance of Arab and Western music.
Mozart
Microsoft Abandons Bid
Yahoo
Microsoft says it's dropping its three-month-old bid to buy Yahoo because the two sides can't agree on an acceptable sale price.
Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer says in a letter sent to Yahoo on Saturday that the software maker was willing to pay $47.5 billion for Yahoo. That's $33 per share.
Ballmer says Yahoo insisted that Microsoft pay at least $53 billion. That's $37 per share.
Microsoft's original offer was $44.6 billion, or $31 per share.
Yahoo
Children Drop Wrongful Death Lawsuit
Darrell "Wayne" Perry
The children of a hit country music songwriter have dropped a wrongful death lawsuit accusing their evangelist aunt of promising to use her healing powers to cure the cancer that killed their father and then stealing an inheritance that could be worth millions.
The heirs of Darrell "Wayne" Perry, whose songs include Tim McGraw's "Not a Moment Too Soon," had alleged that their aunt said she had been healed of breast cancer through prayer and faith, and that she would heal their father the same way.
Darlene Bishop, who preaches nationwide, denied that she ever tried to stop her brother from receiving medical treatment.
Perry's son, Justin Jones, of Middletown, said his aunt has agreed to put him in charge of administering the lucrative family trust.
Darrell "Wayne" Perry
Federal Judge Sets Formula
Internet Music Royalties
A federal court on Wednesday established a formula for determining the Internet royalties owed to thousands of music composers, writers and publishers by three major online services - Yahoo Inc., AOL and RealNetworks Inc.
The trade group, known as ASCAP, had contended that its 320,000 members weren't being properly compensated for musical works that helped drive traffic and increase revenue for Yahoo, Time Warner Inc.'s AOL and RealNetworks.
U.S. District Judge William Conner's 153-page decision didn't specify the total amount owed to the ASCAP members, but he provided an example on how the formula would apply to the music royalties owed by AOL and Yahoo for 2006. Under the formula endorsed by Conner, AOL owed 2006 fees of $5.95 million and Yahoo owed $6.76 million.
That's far more than AOL and Yahoo envisioned. New York-based AOL had proposed paying just $632,879 in 2006 royalties while Sunnyvale-based Yahoo had proposed paying $889,402 in 2006 licensing fees, according to court documents.
Internet Music Royalties
Headache For Oregon High School
Eyebrows
A Portland high school is raising eyebrows with its brow grooming policy: shave 'em or go home.
Some students at Centennial High School have shaved vertical lines into their eyebrows in a trend recently made popular by hip-hop star Soulja Boy. School officials say the mark looks like a gang symbol.
Centennial administrators are telling students with the lines that they can't return to school until they shave their eyebrows off. Assistant Principal Mark Porterfield said the students are not suspended, but they are not allowed in school until they cooperate.
Police say gangs have co-opted the trend for their own use, with one gang's members marking themselves by shaving one line into an eyebrow and three lines in the other to symbolize 13.
Eyebrows
Illustration Lawsuit
Norman Rockwell
The owner of Norman Rockwell's "Bottom of the 6th" - showing three umpires looking skyward as first raindrops fall - is steaming over the use of the classic illustration in the television series "The Bronx is Burning."
Curtis Publishing Co. Inc. has filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Manhattan seeking to stop ESPN Inc. from rebroadcasting the series about the 1977 New York Yankees until it withdraws use of the painting.
According to the court papers, Curtis was notified in mid July that "Bottom of the 6th" was shown full screen in the second episode of the series, titled "Team in Turmoil." Since then, the series has been sold in DVD and VHS format, it said.
Norman Rockwell
Delay In Ruling Criticized
Right Whales
An attempt to protect the endangered right whale from being killed by commercial ships has languished for more than a year in part because Vice President Dick "Go Guck Yourself" Cheney's office and White House economists questioned the conclusions of marine scientists, according to internal documents.
The documents were released Wednesday by Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., who questioned why White House officials had raised "baseless objections" to findings by government scientists who for years had been studying the dangers posed to the whale by commercial shipping.
Only about 300 to 350 of the whales, which are protected under the Endangered Species Act, remain in Atlantic waters off the eastern seaboard. At least 19 of the whales have been confirmed killed since 1986 and marine conservationists believe other fatal collisions likely were never reported.
The revelations surrounding the right whale regulation come amid criticism from members of Congress and conservation groups of alleged blatant White House interference in the work of government scientists involved in a wide range of areas from regulating toxic chemicals to climate change and protecting endangered species.
Right Whales
Fights For Asylum
Alima Traore
Alima Traore doesn't remember when part of her genitals was removed as a young child in her native Mali. But even at 29, she still lives with the consequences.
Traore, whose student visa expired, now faces deportation and the unsavory prospect of submitting to an arranged marriage with her first cousin if she returns home to Mali in West Africa.
She claims the procedure she underwent, often referred to as female genital mutilation or female circumcision, is proof that she will suffer in Mali. She says the common practice is an example of a society where men dominate women.
But her petitions for asylum have so far been rejected by immigration courts and the Justice Department, which on April 14 denied her request for reconsideration. Traore has also filed an appeal with the federal Fourth Circuit of Appeals, a case that remains open.
Alima Traore
The Androgynous Pharaoh
Akhenaten
Akhenaten wasn't the most manly pharaoh, even though he fathered at least a half-dozen children. In fact, his form was quite feminine, which has puzzled experts for years. And he was a bit of an egghead.
Dr. Irwin Braverman, a Yale University physician who analyzed images of Akhenaten, has a new theory on why. He'll be presenting his findings at an annual conference Friday at the University of Maryland School of Medicine on the ailments and deaths of historic figures.
The female form was due to a genetic mutation that caused the pharaoh's body to convert more male hormones to female hormones than needed, Braverman believes. And Akhenaten's head was misshapen because of a condition in which skull bones fuse at an early age.
The pharaoh had "an androgynous appearance. He had a female physique with wide hips and breasts, but he was male and he was fertile and he had six daughters," Braverman said. "But nevertheless, he looked like he had a female physique."
Akhenaten
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