'Best of TBH Politoons'
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS: 34,452 Iraqi Civilians Killed in 2006, U.N. Says
The United Nations said Tuesday that more than 34,000 Iraqi civilians were killed in sectarian violence last year, nearly three times the number reported dead by the Iraqi government.
Kavan Peterson: Governors lose in power struggle over National Guard (stateline.org)
A little-noticed change in federal law packs an important change in who is in charge the next time a state is devastated by a disaster such as Hurricane Katrina.
Will Durst: The World of Wrongevity
When Omar Bradley talked about fighting the wrong war, at the wrong place, at the wrong time, and with the wrong enemy, he was predicting Bush.
British band breakthrough another online victory
WITHAM (Reuters) - A little known band reaching no. 31 in the British charts is not normally the stuff of headlines. But Koopa's breakthrough into the prestigious top 40 this week is another landmark in an Internet revolution sweeping the music industry.
Yardena Arar: File Your Taxes Electronically for Free (PC World)
The Internal Revenue Service today kicked off its 2007 Free File program, through which mid- and lower-income taxpayers can file their return free of charge using private-sector Web-based services.
Why Baftas not make benefit glorious UK film? (guardian.co.uk)
Sacha Baron Cohen has been feted at the Globes in the US - and ignored here. Mark Lawson explains why.
Richard Poeper: Scientific explanations take none of horror out of gruesome deaths (suntimes.com)
With the possible exception of going quietly in your sleep at the age of 115 while your family, friends and manservant keep vigil, there's no "good" way to die.
Tim Harford: What potty training reveals about excessive executive salaries (slate.com)
This column deals graphically with two distasteful subjects: excessive executive pay, and poop. You have been warned.
Is tomato and broccoli a good combination? (guardian.co.uk)
Feargus O'Sullivan: Tales of the miraculous cancer-busting properties of lycopene, the red pigment found in tomatoes and peppers, have been around for years. Recent research from the University of Illinois, however, has found that pairing it with the glucosinolates in broccoli makes it even more effective in controlling tumour growth in lab rats.
JD Comments
TERRARIUM O'DEATH
NOW I WANT ONE OF THOSE!!!
I CAN FEED THE VENUS FLYTRAP WITH TINY REPUGS. HEE HAW.
JD
Thanks, JD!
The kid has about a dozen different specimens, and he's very particular about their diet.
Says he doubts if republicans would be very nutritous.
Way too much fecal matter.
Reader Correction
Re: Treeline
You DO know that yahoo screwed it up, the treeline didn't move North (i.e.
in latitude) it moves *up* in altitude.
Sheesh.
William
Thanks, William!
You're absolutely correct.
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Some rain, some sun, and another clear, cold night.
Have to attend a breakfast at the school - not much of an early morning person.
West LA, Malibu Surprise
Snow
Snow fell on the palm trees of West Los Angeles and Malibu Wednesday afternoon as Jack Frost visited the Southland again.
NBC4 forecaster Fritz Coleman said the mixture of precipitation in West Los Angeles at about 3 p.m. included a dusting of snow. Residents in West Los Angeles said the snow accumulated in parking lots, on cars and around palm trees near Wilshire and Santa Monica boulevards and other areas.
Most of the snow fell south of Sunset Boulevard and just east of the 405 Freeway. Residents told NBC4 that several inches of snow fell in their yards.
Snow fell earlier Wednesday in Malibu and caused traffic problems on the area's winding and narrow roads. Sleet made driving treacherous on Kanan Dume Road, a steep route through the Santa Monica Mountains where it's more typical to see beach-bound cars loaded with surfboards than a snowplow.
Snow
Upset With Co-Star
Katherine Heigl
"Grey's Anatomy" star Katherine Heigl was not pleased with fellow castmate Isaiah Washington's comments following Monday's Golden Globe Awards.
During an interview in the press room after the show's best-drama win, Washington denied his involvement in a heated on-set incident in October during which he allegedly used a homophobic slur.
"No, I did not call (co-star) T.R. (Knight) a faggot," Washington said. "Never happened, never happened."
"I'm going to be really honest right now, he needs to just not speak in public. Period," Heigl told "Access Hollywood" at a Golden Globe after-party. "I'm sorry, that did not need to be said. I'm not OK with it."
"I don't think (Washington) means it the way he comes off," Heigl said. "But T.R. is my best friend. ... I will use every ounce of energy I have to take you down if you hurt his feelings."
Katherine Heigl
$2.6 Million For 30-Second Spot
Super Bowl
Advertisers have spent more than $1.7 billion to push beer, cars and other products during Super Bowl broadcasts over the last two decades -- a period when the cost of a 30-second television spot quadrupled, according to a report released on Wednesday.
The report from TNS Media Intelligence also found that Super Bowl spots have accounted for more than 11 hours of advertising over the last 20 years, with the 2006 broadcast on ABC containing more commercial time than ever before.
So far, marketers have paid up to $2.6 million for a 30-second spot, CBS said, slightly more than they paid to advertise during last year's game on ABC. That compares to the $600,000 it cost to purchase a spot in 1987.
Super Bowl
Home Burns
Question Mark
Community support has poured in since a fire destroyed the home of rocker Question Mark, who with his band, the Mysterians, had a No. 1 hit in 1966 with "96 Tears."
The singer lost 40 years worth of memorabilia, including a gold record award and an organ believed to have belonged to Pink Floyd.
Four Yorkshire terriers and a cockatoo also died in last week's blaze at the Flint-area home in which Question Mark had lived for nearly four decades. He didn't have insurance.
Question Mark
Hollywood System Gets Makeover
Movie Ratings
The secretive movie ratings system -- the bane of Hollywood filmmakers, who often complain that its judgments are inconsistent -- is about to get an overhaul.
For the first time in its 38-year history, the group that operates the system plans to make its ratings rules and regulations public. It will also describe the standards for each rating, and detail the appeal process.
In addition, it plans to publish demographic information about the parents who serve on the ratings board and reveal the identities of its senior raters.
To date, the identities of the people who hand out the various ratings -- such as the family-friendly "G" and the much-feared "NC-17" -- have been a closely guarded secret. However, filmmaker Kirby Dick attempted to expose the members in his 2006 documentary "This Film Is Not Yet Rated."
Movie Ratings
Alcohol Diversion Hearing
Gus Van Sant
Gus Van Sant, director of "Good Will Hunting," pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges of drunken driving and reckless driving. He was ordered to a Feb. 9 alcohol diversion hearing.
Van Sant, 54, was arrested the night of Dec. 21 near the city center. Police said he registered a blood-alcohol level of 0.19 percent, more than double Oregon's limit of 0.08 percent.
An officer saw that Van Sant's headlights weren't on, Portland Police Bureau spokesman Sgt. Brian Schmautz said. Van Sant had bloodshot eyes and slurred speech, smelled of alcohol and failed sobriety tests, Schmautz said.
Gus Van Sant
Enters Rehab
Lindsay Lohan
Lindsay Lohan has checked into rehab. "I have made a proactive decision to take care of my personal health. I appreciate your well wishes and ask that you please respect my privacy at this time," said the 20-year-old actress in a statement issued Wednesday through her publicist, Leslie Sloane Zelnick.
Us Weekly reports that Lohan entered the posh Wonderland Center in Los Angeles at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, arriving in a sports utility vehicle and clutching a Jamba Juice.
"I haven't had a drink in seven days. Or anything," she said to People. "I'm not even legal to, so why would I? I don't drink when I go to clubs. I drink with my friends at home, but there's no need to. I feel better not drinking. It's more fun. I have Red Bull."
Lindsay Lohan
10 Fired
Morning Rave
A radio station fired three morning disc jockeys and seven other employees Tuesday after a woman died from drinking nearly two gallons of water in a contest.
The hosts of KDND-FM's "Morning Rave" were fired a day after the station announced it was suspending the show and investigating the death of 28-year-old Jennifer Lea Strange.
John Geary, vice president and general manager of KDND's parent company, Entercom/Sacramento, announced that 10 employees were fired.
The county sheriff's office said it was not investigating.
Morning Rave
Super Bowl Ad
Kevin Federline
Britney Spears no longer wants him as her husband and audiences have been cool to his attempt at a rap music career, but Kevin Federline has Nationwide on his side.
Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co., known for its "On Your Side" slogan, plans to run a national ad during the Super Bowl, and K-Fed has been tapped to star, the Columbus-based company announced Wednesday.
The 30-second spot, to air during the third quarter of the Feb. 4 game, will be the latest installment in Nationwide's "Life Comes at You Fast" ad campaign. Previous celebrity ads in the series have featured Fabio and M.C. Hammer.
Kevin Federline
Legally Armed
Paul Sorvino
"Goodfellas" actor Paul Sorvino, who pulled a gun on his daughter Amanda's ex-boyfriend in a confrontation, was allowed to carry it and never pointed it at the man, police Chief Ken Kaplan said Wednesday.
Amanda Sorvino, 36, told a Monroe County judge in Stroudsburg, Pa., on Tuesday, that she had locked herself in a bathroom and called both police and her father after the man pounded on her Stowe Motel room door and made threats on Jan. 3.
"He got in my father's face and said, `Go ahead, Paul, shoot, I ain't done nothing wrong,'" Amanda Sorvino testified. The judge granted her request for a protection-from-abuse order against Daniel Snee, 21, of Effort, Pa.
Sorvino, a deputy sheriff in Pennsylvania, is entitled to carry a weapon from state to state, Kaplan said.
Paul Sorvino
Autopsy Plained
The Big Bopper
The son of "The Big Bopper" has hired a forensic anthropologist to try to answer questions about how his father died in the 1959 plane crash that also took the lives of famous early rock `n' rollers Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens.
Jay Richardson, who performs tribute shows as "The Big Bopper Jr.," hopes an examination of his father's remains will settle rumors a gun might have been fired on board the plane, and tell whether the Big Bopper might have survived the crash impact and died trying to go for help.
J.P "The Big Bopper" Richardson is buried in Beaumont, Texas. After his remains are studied they will be reburied and a life-sized statue put up aside the grave.
The Big Bopper
Endorses Research
Pink
US pop star Pink has sheepishly backed away from a campaign to boycott Australian wool stemming from allegations that farmers Down Under are cruel to sheep.
The singer, who is due to tour Australia in April, admitted Wednesday that she had not done enough research before joining the campaign by the US-based People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).
"I probably could have been a lot more researched, on my own. That's the lesson I'm taking from this," she said.
Pink
Vienna Opera Ball
Paris Hilton
Hotel heiress Paris Hilton will attend the traditional Vienna Opera Ball on February 15 as the guest of Viennese socialite Richard Lugner, the real estate entrepreneur has announced.
The 74-year-old Lugner traditionally invites a celebrity as his date to the ball. He has in the past been accompanied by stars like Faye Dunaway, Sophia Loren and last year, "Baywatch"-star Carmen Electra.
The Opera Ball, the highlight of Vienna's social calender, is an old-fashioned and exclusive affair with single tickets costing 215 euros and loges going for as much as 16,000 euros.
Paris Hilton
Disbandeding
ReganBooks
Bye-bye, ReganBooks.
The sensational HarperCollins imprint of Judith Regan, the publisher who nearly brought us O.J. Simpson's imaginary "confession" to murder, has been temporarily renamed "HC" and in the fall will be dispersed throughout the company.
"We feel our authors will be best served by being integrated into HarperCollins," Michael Morrison, president and group publisher of Harper/Morrow said Wednesday in a statement. "Our talented, dedicated staff will work hard to ensure a seamless transition."
ReganBooks
Stranded Off New York
Dolphins
Rescuers guided eight distressed dolphins back into open water on Tuesday, a week after several of the animals became stranded in a shallow cove off Long Island, New York.
About 20 common dolphins wandered into the cove-like Northwest Creek near East Hampton, New York, last week, said Chuck Bowman, president of the Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation, who has been involved in the rescue efforts.
The dolphins were thought to have followed fish through a narrow opening that allowed boats in and out of the cove.
Dolphins
Springer Bodyguard Gets Own Talk Show
Steve Wilkos
The burly security guard on "The Jerry Springer Show" will bring some tough love to his own daytime talk show in the fall.
Steve Wilkos, a former Marine and cop, will offer advice and "dole out his own version of justice" on the as-yet-untitled show, distributor NBC Universal Domestic Television Distribution said Tuesday,
The show, to be taped in the same Chicago studio where "Springer" is shot, has been sold to such stations as Tribune-owned WPIX New York, KTLA Los Angeles and WGN Chicago.
Steve Wilkos
2 Year Pick Up
Rachael Ray
Freshman talk show "Rachael Ray" has been renewed for two more seasons, meaning the perky celebrity chef's daytime series will be on the air through 2009-10.
CBS Television Distribution said Tuesday the show has been renewed in stations covering one-third of the country, including the CBS-owned outlets in such markets as Los Angeles, Chicago and San Francisco.
Rachael Ray
Another Immaculate Conception?
Surprise
In a mysterious bit of monkey business, a female at a chimpanzee sanctuary has given birth, despite the fact that the facility's entire male chimp population has had vasectomies.
Now managers at Chimp Haven are planning a paternity test for the seven males who lived in a group with Teresa, a wild-born chimpanzee in her late 40s who had the baby girl last week.
Workers have started collecting hair samples from the chimps for testing. Once they identify the father, it's back to the operating room for him.
The baby chimpanzee was named Tracy and she and her mother are doing fine, Brent said.
Surprise
Basic Cable
Ratings
Rankings for the top 15 programs on cable networks as compiled by Nielsen Media Research for the week of Jan. 8-14. Day and start time (EST) are in parentheses.
1. "Jump In!" (Friday, 8 p.m.), Disney, 5.07 million homes, 8.17 million viewers.
2. "Cory in the House" (Friday, 9:30 p.m.), Disney, 4.83 million homes, 7.59 million viewers.
3. "WWE Raw" (Monday, 10 p.m.), USA, 3.43 million homes, 5.01 million viewers.
4. "The Suite Life of Zack & Cody" (Friday, 7:30 p.m.), Disney, 3.41 million homes, 4.58 million viewers.
5. "Jump In!" (Sunday, 8 p.m.), Disney, 3.36 million homes, 4.74 million viewers.
6. "WWE Raw" (Monday, 9 p.m.), USA, 3.35 million homes, 4.90 million viewers.
7. "Jump In!" (Saturday, 8 p.m.), Disney, 3.33 million homes, 4.83 million viewers.
8. Presidential Address - Iraq (Wednesday, 9 p.m.), Fox News Channel, 3.32 million homes, 4.45 million viewers.
9. "The Sopranos" (Wednesday, 9 p.m.), A&E, 3.26 million homes, 4.27 million viewers.
10. "The Suite Life of Zack & Cody" (Friday, 7 p.m.), Disney, 2.973 million homes, 3.89 million viewers.
11. "The Suite Life of Zack & Cody" (Friday, 10:05 p.m.), Disney, 2.968 million homes, 4.20 million viewers.
12. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Saturday, 9:30 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.904 million homes, 3.58 million viewers.
13. "I Love New York" (Monday, 9 p.m.), VH1, 2.889 million homes, 4.426 million viewers.
14. "Fairly Odd Parents" (Saturday, 10 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.88 million homes, 3.47 million viewers.
15. Analysis of Presidential Address - Iraq (Wednesday, 9:22 p.m.), Fox News Channel, 2.85 million homes, 3.79 million viewers.
Ratings
Nielsens Top-20
Ratings
Prime-time viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen Media Research for January 8-14. Listings include the week's ranking, with viewership for the week and season-to-date rankings in parentheses. An "X" in parentheses denotes a one-time-only presentation.
1. (X) BCS National Championship - Ohio State vs. Florida, Fox, 28.80 million viewers.
2. (X) NFC Playoff - Philadelphia at New Orleans, Fox, 27.44 million viewers.
3. (X) AFC Playoffs Post-game - New England at San Diego, CBS, 24.64 million viewers.
4. (5) "Grey's Anatomy" (Thursday, 9 p.m.), ABC, 23.03 million viewers.
5. (17) "House," Fox, 17.78 million viewers.
6. (13) "60 Minutes," CBS, 17.47 million viewers.
7. (2) "Desperate Housewives," ABC, 16.76 million viewers.
8. (6) "CSI: Miami," CBS, 16.01 million viewers.
9. (X) "24" (Sunday, 8 p.m.), Fox, 15.79 million viewers.
10. (13) "Two and a Half Men," CBS, 14.78 million viewers.
11. (15) "Cold Case," CBS, 14.53 million viewers.
12. (20) "Law & Order: SVU," NBC, 14.41 million viewers.
13. (10) "Deal or No Deal" (Monday), NBC, 14.06 million viewers.
14. (26) "Ugly Betty," ABC, 13.49 million viewers.
15. (12) "Without a Trace," CBS, 13.39 million viewers.
16. (17) "NCIS," CBS, 12.84 million viewers.
17. (22) "Brothers & Sisters," ABC, 12.32 million viewers.
18. (25) "ER," NBC, 12.19 million viewers.
19. (27) "Old Christine," CBS, 12.08 million viewers.
20. (4) "CSI," CBS, 12.03 million viewers.
Ratings
In Memory
Pookie Hudson
Pookie Hudson, lead singer and songwriter for the doo wop group The Spaniels, who lent his romantic tenor to hits like "Goodnight, Sweetheart, Goodnight" and influenced generations of later artists, has died. He was 72.
The Spaniels' signature song was a Top 5 R&B hit in 1954. The McGuire Sisters rushed out a version of "Goodnight, Sweetheart, Goodnight" that sold even more copies. At the time, only black radio stations played Hudson's version.
Hudson was born Thornton James Hudson on June 11, 1934, in Des Moines, Iowa. The Spaniels first came together at Roosevelt High School in Gary, Ind., where Hudson was raised and began singing in church choirs.
He was homeless for a time after he went solo and hit a slump in the 1960s, but he got back to work in the 1980s. He and fellow former Spaniels took part in some oldies tours, holding down ordinary jobs on the side. He told The Washington Post in 1983 that he continued to write new songs, but audiences "won't let us sing new stuff. That's not what they pay for. But it beats doing nothing."
He began receiving regular royalties for "Goodnight, Sweetheart, Goodnight" in the 1990s.
He is survived by his wife, Delores, nine children and 16 grandchildren.
Pookie Hudson
| CURRENT MOON lunar phases |
