Grace Hood: Failed states (boulderweekly.com)
Every week the Republicans shoot themselves in the foot with something-either a scandal, the war in Iraq, Hurricane Katrina or wiretapping. In fact, their popularity is going down, but the Democrats aren't making any gain. The only gain they're making is that the Bush administration and Republicans are less popular. But a genuine opposition party would be making enormous gains by putting forth alternatives. They don't. What is the Democratic alternative to health care? I don't know. They don't present anything; they never did.
PAUL KRUGMAN: Secretary, Protect Yourself (The New York Times)
To: Henry Paulson, Treasury secretary-designate. So you decided to take the job, after all. It's no surprise that they wanted you. As the joke that's making the rounds puts it, they're so desperate they're scraping the top of the barrel. But most of us are surprised that you accepted.
Maureen Dowd: Don't Become Them (The New York Times)
At his news conference with a tired-looking Tony Blair, Mr. Bush seemed chastened by Iraq, at least. But he continued to have the same hallucination about how to get out: turning things over to the Iraqi security forces after achieving total victory over insurgents and terrorists. Stories in The Times this week show that Iraqi security forces are so infiltrated by Shiite militias, Sunni militias, death squads and officers with ties to insurgents that the idea of entrusting anything to them is ludicrous.
Paul Greenberg: In praise of failure (jewishworldreview.com)
Success is much overrated in our go-getter society. For when it comes to teaching us something, success can't hold a candle to failure. Who ever learned much from his successes? Who has not learned from failure?
Kate Clinton Bio (glbtq.com)
In addition to publishing her column, "CommuniKate" online, she maintains an interesting website (http://www.KateClinton.com that features her recently founded group The Permanent Standing Committee to Impeach George W. Bush, Inc., which aspires to be a venue for scrutinizing the President.
CBS starts the night with '60 Minutes', followed by a RERUN'Cold Case', then the movie 'Ocean's Eleven'.
NBC opens the night with a 2-hour 'Dateline', followed by a (R) 'Law & Order: Criminal Intent', then a RERUN'Crossing Jordan'.
ABC begins the night with a RERUN'America's So-Called Funniest Home Videos', followed by a RERUN'Exteme Makeover: Home Edition', then a RERUN'Desperate Housewives', followed by a RERUN'Grey's Anatomy'.
The WB offers a RERUN'reba', followed by another RERUN'reba', then a RERUN'Charmed', followed by another RERUN'Charmed'.
Faux has a RERUN'Malcolm', followed by a RERUN'King Of The Hill', then a RERUN'Simpsons', followed by a RERUN'War At Home', then a RERUN'Family Guy', followed by a RERUN'American Dad'.
UPN has an old 'Alias', followed by an old 'Fear Factor'.
A&E has has 'Sell This House!', another 'Sell This House!', 'Flip This House', 'Meth: A County In Crisis', and 'Intervention'.
AMC offers offers the movie 'First Blood', followed by the movie 'Jurassic Park', then the movie 'Tremors 3: Back To Perfection'.
BBC -
[2:00 pm] 'Footballers Wives' - Episode 5;
[3:00 pm] 'Footballers Wives' - Episode 6;
[4:00 pm] 'Footballers Wives' - Episode 7;
[5:00 pm] 'Footballers Wives' - Episode 8;
[6:00 pm] 'Footballers Wives' - Episode 9;
[7:00 pm] 'Cash in the Attic' - Episode 6;
[8:00 pm] 'Cash in the Attic' - Episode 7;
[9:00 pm] 'Cash in the Attic' - Episode 2;
[10:00 pm] 'Footballers Wives' - Episode 1;
[11:30 pm] 'Cash in the Attic' - Page;
[12:00 am] 'Cash in the Attic' - Episode 2;
[1:00 am] 'Footballers Wives' - Episode 1;
[2:30 am] 'Cash in the Attic' - Page;
[3:00 am] 'Blackadder' - Plan A-Captain Cook;
[3:40 am] 'Blackadder' - Plan B-Corporal Punishment;
[4:20 am] 'Blackadder' - Plan C-Major Star;
[5:00 am] 'Black Books' - Episode 5;
[5:30 am] 'Black Books' - Episode 6;
[6:00 am] 'BBC World News'. (ALL TIMES EDT)
Bravo has has 'Law & Order: Criminal Intent', another 'Law & Order: Criminal Intent', 'Inside The Actors Studio' (Michael J. Fox), and yet another 'Law & Order: Criminal Intent'.
Comedy Central has has the movie 'Blue Collar Comedy Tour Rides Again', followed by the movie 'Blue Collar Comedy Tour: One For The Road', then the movie 'Blue Collar Comedy Tour: One For The Road', again.
History has has 'Digging For The Truth', 'Mysteries Of The Freemasons: The Beginning', 'Mysteries Of The Freemasons: America', and 'The Revolution'.
IFC -
[6:00 AM] Confessions of a Dangerous Mind;
[8:00 AM] Lulu On The Bridge;
[9:45 AM] East Is East;
[11:30 AM] Joe The King;
[1:15 PM] June Media Lab Results;
[1:45 PM] Lulu On The Bridge;
[3:30 PM] East Is East;
[5:15 PM] Joe The King;
[7:00 PM] At The IFC Center #14;
[7:30 PM] Malcolm X;
[11:00 PM] Things To Do In Denver When You're Dead;
[1:00 AM] Wide Sargasso Sea;
[2:45 AM] IFC In Theaters;
[3:00 AM] Things To Do In Denver When You're Dead;
[5:00 AM] June Media Lab Results;
[5:30 AM] At The IFC Center #14. (ALL TIMES EDT)
SciFi has has the movie 'The Crow: Wicked Prayer', followed by the movie 'Voodoo Moon'.
Sundance -
[06:05 AM] Bollywood/Hollywood;
[08:00 AM] Time Bandits;
[10:00 AM] Bush's Brain;
[11:30 AM] Wallace & Gromit: A Grand Day Out;
[12:00 PM] Kicked in the Head;
[01:30 PM] Sign 'o' the Times;
[03:00 PM] Kath & Kim: Sex;
[03:30 PM] In Short: In Short: Jan Svankmajer;
[04:30 PM] Celestial Clockwork;
[06:00 PM] Wallace & Gromit: A Grand Day Out;
[06:25 PM] Trees Lounge;
[08:00 PM] Slings and Arrows: Episode 4: Fair is Foul and Foul is Fair;
[09:00 PM] Wasp Andrea Arnold;
[09:30 PM] Kath & Kim: Sex;
[10:00 PM] The Heart of Me;
[11:45 PM] Victoria Para Chino;
[12:00 AM] Dark Water;
[01:45 AM] X2000;
[02:00 AM] Slings and Arrows: Episode 4: Fair is Foul and Foul is Fair;
[02:50 AM] The Final Curtain;
[04:15 AM] Stan the Flasher;
[05:30 AM] Kicked in the Head. (ALL TIMES EDT)
Canadian-born actor Eugene Levy (L) poses with a Royal Canadian Mounted Police Officer as he arrives to be honoured at the Canada's Walk of fame in Toronto, June 3, 2006.
Photo by J.P. Moczulski
The rain pelted down, but the stars still managed to shine Saturday as a bevy of homegrown celebs - including actress Pam Anderson, Letterman sidekick Paul Shaffer and funnyman Eugene Levy - became the latest inductees to Canada's Walk of Fame.
"It feels pretty damn good, actually," said Levy, who was born in Hamilton, Ont., and walked the red carpet with his son, Dan.
The first honouree to arrive, Ottawa-raised actor Brendan Fraser, saluted two Mounties and mugged for the cameras with them on his way down the carpet.
Game show host Alex Trebek - who was also inducted - offered a diplomatic "no comment" when asked who's funnier, Canadians or Americans.
Shaffer, keyboardist and leader of late-night talk show host David Letterman's house band said he was thrilled to be performing at the evening Walk of Fame show with Dan Aykroyd, who walked the red carpet sporting sunglasses - a la his Blues Brothers alter ego - despite the downpour.
Former Sen. George McGovern of South Dakota gestures while addressing the Massachusetts Democratic Convention in Worcester, Mass., Friday, June 2, 2006.
Photo by Charles Krupa
Veteran game show host Wink Martindale saw his name enshrined in concrete Friday as he received the 2,313th star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame.
The 71-year-old entertainer has hosted more than a dozen TV game shows, including "What's This Song," "Tic-Tac-Dough," "Trivial Pursuit," "Can You Top This," "Gambit" and "High Rollers." He also produced the real-time, interactive game shows "Boggle and "Jumble" for the Family Channel.
He has also been a popular disc jockey at several radio stations since arriving in Los Angeles in the late 1950s, and he hosts the syndicated radio program "Music of Your Life."
Martindale, who recently published his autobiography, "Winking at Life," also had a hit record in the 1950s with the spoken-word country song "Deck of Cards."
Signaling from a director's chair, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez inaugurated a film studio complex on Saturday on the outskirts of Caracas to counter the cultural "dictatorship" of Hollywood movie giants.
"For Venezuela, action," Chavez called out as the cameras rolled and a harp and guitar band strummed traditional folk music on the set of a film in production.
Allied with Cuba and flush with oil cash, Chavez has clashed with Washington as he pushes a socialist revolution to rival U.S. influence. Top U.S. officials call him an oil-rich autocrat threatening regional stability.
Chavez brands resident George W. Bush a terrorist, attacks U.S. free-market policies and derides American consumer culture. He has even urged Venezuela children to ignore U.S. heroes like Superman and forget Halloween celebrations.
Canadian musician Paul Shaffer poses with his wife Cathy and children, Victoria and William, as his star is unveiled at Canada's Walk of Fame in Toronto June 3, 2006.
Photo by J.P. Moczulski
Kimberly Dozier, the CBS reporter wounded by a car bomb in Iraq, now has a Purple Heart at her bedside in a U.S. military hospital in Germany after a young American soldier gave her his medal, the network said.
Dozier, who was flown Tuesday to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, remained in critical but stable condition Friday, CBS said. Her breathing respirator has been removed, and she has been able to talk with family and visiting CBS colleagues, the network said in a statement.
"A young American soldier came up to Kimberly's brother Michael and told him that he had met Kimberly in Iraq two years ago after he had been wounded with shrapnel in his arm," CBS said without identifying the soldier. "The soldier had his Purple Heart with him, and he told Michael that he'd like Kimberly to have it because, he said, she's suffered as much as any soldier. That Purple Heart is now beside Kimberly's bed."
A woman is suing Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt and his wife, Elizabeth, alleging their dog "viciously attacked" her as she jogged in front of the couple's Hollywood Hills home.
In court documents filed Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court, Cynthia Tribull claimed she suffered injuries and "severe shock fright, humiliation and emotional distress" after being bitten by the Schnauzer.
The lawsuit accuses the Flynts of failing to restrain their dog or post a warning sign to pedestrians. It claims liability and negligence and seeks an unspecified amount of money for medical bills and other damages.
Seven of India's 29 states have banned "The Da Vinci Code," with officials in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh saying Friday the movie was insulting to Christians.
Christians comprise just 1 percent of Andhra Pradesh's nearly 80 million people - and only about 2 percent of India's billion people, most of whom are Hindu.
The other six states - among them, two with large Christian minorities, Goa and Kerala - banned the film in recent weeks, also citing the concerns of many Christians who say it maligns their faith.
Cast members of 'Battlestar Galatica' (L-R) Edward James Olmos, Mary McDonnell and Jamie Bamber attend a screening and panel discussion at the Museum of Television and Radio in New York June 2, 2006.
Photo by Giovanni Rufino
Pakistan on Saturday banned cinemas from showing "The Da Vinci Code" because it contained what officials called blasphemous material about Jesus.
Although the film has not been screened in any theater in mostly-Muslim Pakistan, authorities decided to ban it out of respect for the feelings of the country's minority Christians.
A young Romanian carries a rainbow flag during the Gay Pride parade in Bucharest Saturday June 3, 2006. The Romanian Orthodox Church and conservative groups including the far-right Noua Drepta, issued a call for a counter-demonstration against the planned gay pride march which they consider immoral and 'abnormal'.
In Anchorage's downtown ivory shops, alongside whale baleen baskets and walrus tusk statuettes, are souvenirs made from the fossils of shaggy Ice Age beasts that died on the tundra thousands of years ago.
The bones, teeth and giant curving tusks of woolly mammoths can be found in abundance in Alaska, and the fossils of the elephant-like beasts are routinely - if not always legally - turned into jewelry and other curios.
Woolly mammoth ivory can legally be taken from private land with the owner's consent, then sold and carved.
While elephant ivory is stark white, mammoth ivory tends to be brownish or bluish from centuries of absorbing minerals in the ground.
Vince Welnick, who took over as the Grateful Dead's keyboard player in 1990 after a succession of predecessors met untimely deaths, has died at the age of 55, according to an announcement on his Web site.
Welnick had previously spoken of a deep depression after Jerry Garcia, founding guitarist of the iconic psychedelic rock band, died in 1995 and the group disbanded.
Welnick is the fourth keyboard player for the band to have died, and his Web site referred to the position as a "particularly doomed spot."
Originally a member of the 1970s rock band "The Tubes," Welnick joined the Grateful Dead after longest-serving keyboard player Brent Mydland died in 1990 of a drug overdose.
Previously, pianist Keith Godchaux died in a car accident in 1980, a year after he left the band, and founding vocalist and keyboard player Ron "Pigpen" McKernan died in 1973 of a gastrointestinal hemorrhage.
In an extension of the band's "curse of the keyboard player," Scott Larned, cofounder and keyboard player for the nationally-touring Grateful Dead tribute band Dark Star Orchestra, died last year of a heart attack.
A pair of rare white lionesses rest at the Global White Lion Protection Trust game reserve in Timbavati, South Africa, in this picture taken May 31, 2006. The lions were recently released into the wild as part of a re-introduction programme since their arrival from a Johannesburg zoo two years ago.
Photo by Antony Kaminju
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