'Best of TBH Politoons'
Thanks, again, Tim!
He's Been Busy!
The Worried Shrimp
The Wall Street Poet
Pity The Poor Health Insurer
Pity those who health care insure,
Their profits have gone through the floor,
Covering people they'd rather ignore,
Pity those who health care insure.
Woe for this beacon of free enterprise,
Who year after year for big earnings must strive,
If only the sick ones did not stay alive,
Things would be easy, insurers would thrive.
Pity the poor health insurer.
Their coverage list, they'd sure like to weed it,
To drop all the hurt and the sick folks who bleed it,
Those greedy health needs, they must constantly feed it,
Just because some bureaucrats went and decreed it,
Pity the poor health insurer.
© 2004
**********
For more political verse
from Mark
A Link
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
from Mark
Another Link
Wow! Subtle, multifaceted foreign policy issues reduced to a simple chart!
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
The rain cleared out before morning, leaving the air smelling a lot better and the grass a bit greener.
Took a quick trip out to the Valley to visit Uncle Jimmy. His birthday is coming up & wanted to see if he'd drop any hints.
The kid has a book report due on Friday - he read 'Frankenstein.'
I'll bet the teacher thinks he read a kid's abridged version, but he wouldn't hear of it. Probably another conference in my future...
Tonight, Thursday, CBS starts the night with a RERUN 'CSI: Crime Scene Investigation', followed by another RERUN
'CSI: Crime Scene Investigation', then a FRESH 'Without A Trace'.
On a RERUN Dave are Jennifer Aniston and Ryan Adams.
Scheduled on a FRESH Craiggers are Julie Bowen and David Crosby.
NBC opens the night with a RERUN 'Friends', followed by a RERUN 'Will & Grace', then 'The Trump Atrocity' (starts one minute before the top of the hour), followed by a
RERUN 'ER' (starts 1 minute before the top of the hour).
Scheduled on a FRESH Jay are Bernie Mac, Jeff Gordon, and Keith Urban.
On a RERUN Conan (from 11/21/03), are Lauren Graham, Steve Harvey, and Dashboard Confessional.
Scheduled on a FRESH Carson Daly are Bill Maher and Howie Day.
ABC begins the night with a FRESH 'Threat Matrix', followed by a RERUN 'Extreme Makeover', then 'Primetime Thursday'.
Scheduled on a FRESH Jimmy Kimmel are John Stossel, Coheed & Cambria, with this week's guest co-host Fred Willard.
The WB offers a FRESH 'Steve Harvey's Big Time', followed by a FRESH 'All About The Andersons', then a RERUN 'Surreal Life'.
Faux has a RERUN 'Tru Calling', followed by 'Survival Test: Dangerous Animal Encounters'.
UPN fills the night with 'WWE Smackdown!'.
A&E has 'American Justice', 'Biography' (TV series 'Cheers'), then the movie 'Rocky V'.
AMC offers the movie 'Dr. No', followed by the movie 'Nevada Smith', then the movie 'Will Penny'.
BBC -
[6pm] 'BBC World News';
[6:30pm] 'Cash in the Attic' - Johnson;
[7pm] 'House Invaders' - Erdington;
[7:30pm] 'Changing Rooms' - Northamptonshire;
[8pm] 'House Invaders' - Colchester;
[8:30pm] 'House Invaders' - Birstall, Yorkshire;
[9pm] 'Faking It' - Insurance Man to Stuntman;
[10pm] 'The Office' - Episode 1;
[10:40pm] 'The Telly' - Quarter 1 2004;
[11pm] 'House Invaders' - Colchester;
[11:30pm] 'House Invaders' - Birstall, Yorkshire;
[12am] 'Faking It' - Insurance Man to Stuntman;
[1am] 'The Office' - Episode 1;
[1:40am] 'The Telly' - Quarter 1 2004;
[2am] 'House Invaders' - Erdington;
[2:30am] 'Changing Rooms' - Northamptonshire;
[3am] 'Faking It' - Insurance Man to Stuntman;
[4am] 'The Office' - Episode 1;
[4:40am] 'The Telly' - Quarter 1 2004;
[5am] 'House Invaders' - Colchester;
[5:30am] 'House Invaders' - Birstall, Yorkshire; and
[6am] 'BBC World News'. (ALL TIMES EST)
Bravo has 'West Wing', followed by the movie 'The Last Detail', 'Queer Eye', and 'West Wing'.
Comedy Central has 'MAD TV', 'Crank Yankers', 'Insomniac', 'South Park', 'The Man Show', and another 'The Man Show'.
Scheduled on a FRESH Jon Stewart is Kelsey Grammer.
History has 'Modern Marvels', 'Engineering Disasters', and 'Disaster Tech'.
SciFi has the movie 'Revelation', followed by the movie 'Dragon Storm'.
TCM pays a 24-hour tribute to the remarkable career of director
William A. Wellman.
[6am] 'The Boob' (1926) SILENT ;
[7:15am] 'Night Nurse' (1931) [ *Pre-Hayes Code*];
[8:30am] 'Other Men's Women' (1931) [ *Pre-Hayes Code*];
[9:45am] 'Safe In Hell' (1931) [ *Pre-Hayes Code*];
[11am] 'College Coach' (1933) [ *Pre-Hayes Code*];
[12:30pm] 'Lilly Turner' (1933) [ *Pre-Hayes Code*];
[1:45pm] 'The Robin Hood Of El Dorado' (1936);
[3:15pm] 'Lady Of Burlesque' (1943);
[4:45pm] 'The Next Voice You Hear' (1950) [ WARNING: stars Nancy Davis (Reagan)];
[6:15pm] 'My Man And I' (1952);
[8pm] 'Battleground' (1949);
[10pm] 'The Story of G.I. Joe' (1945);
[12am] 'Wild Boys of the Road' (1933) [ *Pre-Hayes Code*];
[1:15am] 'Nothing Sacred' (1937);
[2:30am] 'The Public Enemy' (1931) [ *Pre-Hayes Code*];
[4am] 'Heroes For Sale' (1933) [ *Pre-Hayes Code*];
[5:30am] 'Festival of Shorts #28' (2000). (ALL TIMES EST)
Esther Williams, left, and Rosemarie Stack, widow of Robert Stack, arrive at the funeral service for dancer/actress Ann Miller at St. Mel Catholic Church in Los Angeles' Woodland Hills area Wednesday, Jan. 28, 200S4. Miller died Jan. 22 at the age of 80.
Photo by Reed Saxon
The Information One-Stop
Moose & Squirrel
Defends Scrubbing Anti-Bush Super Bowl Ad
CBS
CBS on Wednesday defended its decision not to air an ad attacking resident Bush during Sunday's Super Bowl telecast despite objections from some U.S. congressmen who called the move an affront to free speech.
Rep. Bernie Sanders, an Independent from Vermont, sent a letter co-signed by 26 other congressmen to CBS President Leslie Moonves on Wednesday criticizing the network for refusing to run the commercial from activist group MoveOn.org, that criticizes Bush over the rising U.S. deficit.
The network rejected the MoveOn.org ad based on its policy against "advocacy advertising," which it said was designed to prevent those who could afford to advertise from having undue influence on "controversial issues of public importance."
Sanders wrote that the CBS decision was "an affront to free speech and an obstruction of the public's right to hear a diversity of voices over the public airwaves."
CBS
To Fight Marijuana Charge
Art Garfunkel
Rock folk legend Art Garfunkel will fight a marijuana possession charge he faces in upstate New York.
Garfunkel, part of the folk music duo Simon and Garfunkel, sent attorney Michael Federoff to appear in court on his behalf on Wednesday. The case was adjourned until Feb. 11, the Daily Freeman of Kingston reported.
Garfunkel, 62, of Manhattan, was charged with marijuana possession on Jan. 17 after state police stopped his limousine for speeding in Hurley, 55 miles southwest of Albany.
Art Garfunkel
Store owner Armando Valles shows a carnival mask of a bearded Saddam Hussein in Rio de Janeiro as people get ready for the city's annual event.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dali & Disney
'Destino'
Combine rare Salvador Dali paintings with a healthy dose of Walt Disney movie magic and you've got one of the most interesting offerings in the 2003 animated short film Oscar race.
Executive produced by Roy E. Disney, the former vice chairman of the board of the Walt Disney Co., and directed by Dominique Monfrey, who had been based at Disney's now-shuttered Paris studio, the short film "Destino" began with the unlikeliest of partnerships, one which dates back to 1945.
That's when Walt Disney, the studio's founder, first proposed a collaboration with Salvador Dali, the celebrated Spanish surrealist.
For the rest, 'Destino'
May Replace Siegfried & Roy in Vegas
'Yellow Submarine'
The "Yellow Submarine" soon may sail into the Mirage casino in Las Vegas, replacing the closed "Siegfried & Roy" show with a Beatles-scored Cirque du Soleil spectacle, people familiar with the discussions said on Wednesday.
The move at MGM Mirage's signature resort would mark the next wave of a new British invasion of the desert entertainment capital.
Caesars Entertainment Inc's Paris Hotel & Casino is expected to announce next month that it will open by the end of the year a $13 million edition of the Queen-scored musical "We Will Rock You" as its resident show, other people familiar with those plans said.
Elton John begins a three-year, 75-show contract on Feb. 13 to fill in for Celine Dion at Caesars Palace, another Caesars property, and London-based "Mamma Mia" has been a hit for Mandalay Resort Group's Mandalay Bay resort since opening about a year ago.
'Yellow Submarine'
12th Annual Trumpet Awards
Isaac Hayes
Singer and composer Isaac Hayes was among those honored at the 12th Annual Trumpet Awards, which recognize achievement by blacks in politics, business, law and the arts.
Others included: actress Angela Bassett; singer-actress Della Reese; music-fashion mogul Russell Simmons; producer-director Norman Lear; musical prodigy Jordan Adams; casino owner Don Barden; philanthropist Dr. Anthony Pollard; record executive Sylvia Rhone; political rights activist Dr. C. Delores Tucker; and U.S. District Court Judge Horace T. Ward.
Comedian D.L. Hughley served as host.
A taped broadcast of the awards ceremony is scheduled air on TBS at 7 p.m. Feb. 21.
Isaac Hayes
In The Kitchen With BartCop & Friends
Screened Film
Laura 'Pickles' Bush
First Lady Laura Bush and the wife of Afghanistan's ambassador to Washington watched the prize-winning Afghan film "Osama" in a special White House screening, Bush's spokesman said.
Bush and Cathy Jawad, spouse of Said Tayeb Jawad, viewed the Golden Globe winner for best foreign film in the White House family theater before having tea together, Gordon Johndroe told AFP.
The film is the first Afghan feature to be made since the fall of the Islamic fundamentalist Taliban regime in 2001 and has garnered rave reviews worldwide after a good reception at Cannes last year.
Laura 'Pickles' Bush
Art restorers Paola Bracco (L) and Anna Hilling work on a Botticelli Madonna and child painting at the Opificio restoration laboratory in central Florence, January 27, 2004. From the institute's beginnings as a workshop founded in 1588 by Italy's most famous art custodians the Medici family, the Opificio has become a high-tech clinic for damaged art and restorers say the waiting list is endless. Here patience is a virtue as caretakers in white coats prize away dirt particles with tweezers and swabs. Picture taken January 27.
Photo by Max Rossi
Accident on 'Catwoman' Set
Halle Berry
Halle Berry was taken to a hospital after colliding with a piece of set equipment while filming a running scene for "Catwoman" but is now back at work, production spokesman Joe Everett said.
The accident was quite minor, Everett said Tuesday, denying reports that the Oscar-winning actress was hit in the head with a microphone boon and spent six hours in a hospital waiting room.
Halle Berry
Captain Kangaroo's Grandson
Britton Keeshan
Britton Keeshan is using inspiration from Captain Kangaroo in his bid to become the youngest person to climb the tallest mountain on each continent.
Keeshan is the grandson of Bob Keeshan, who died Friday at 76 after a career in which he entertained millions of children as the walrus-mustachioed television captain.
Britton Keeshan, a 22-year-old college student, is on a quest to climb the "Seven Summits," the tallest peaks on each continent. He's reached the top of six so far, starting at age 15, and will leave in March to attempt Mount Everest by May.
Britton Keeshan
New Album in Works
Agnetha Faltskog
Warner Music Scandinavia has signed a deal with Agnetha Faltskog of one-time Swedish pop sensation ABBA for her first album in 17 years, the company said Wednesday.
Warner, the music division of Time Warner Inc said in a statement it would release the 53-year-old blonde's "My Coloring Book" under a worldwide recording agreement this spring.
Faltskog shot to global fame in the 1970s with other members of the ABBA quartet -- Bjorn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Annifrid Lyngstad. The group broke up in 1982 after recording such hits as "Dancing Queen" and "Waterloo."
Agnetha Faltskog
Formerly 'The Vidiot'
Domestic Abuse Charges
James Brown
James Brown, 70, was charged with criminal domestic violence and was to remain jailed until a bond hearing Thursday morning, Aiken County sheriff's spokesman Lt. Michael Frank said.
Investigators say Brown shoved his wife during an argument in a bedroom at the couple's home in Beech Island, 70 miles southwest of Columbia.
Tomi Rae Brown, 33, had scratches and bruises to her right arm and hip and was taken to a hospital, Frank said.
James Brown
Jane Withers, right, passes around snapshots of Ann Miller to Renee Taylor, left, and Betty (Mrs. David) Rose, second from left in dark glasses, as they arrive at Miller's funeral service at St. Mel Catholic Church in Los Angeles' Woodland Hills area Wednesday, Jan. 28, 200S4. Miller died Jan. 22 at the age of 80.
Photo by Reed Saxon
Must Avoid Michael Jackson
R. Kelly
R. Kelly won't be mingling with Michael Jackson during next month's Grammy festivities: A judge has ordered the R&B star, who is awaiting trial on child pornography charges, to stay away from the King of Pop, himself facing child molestation charges, when Kelly attends the awards.
The Chicago-based Kelly has produced two songs for Jackson: the 1995 hit "You Are Not Alone" and last fall's "One More Chance." Kelly is nominated for two Grammys at the Feb. 8 ceremony and had to get a judge's permission to attend the Los Angeles event; Jackson is not up for any awards and there are no indications that he even plans to attend the ceremony.
R. Kelly
'Fahrenheit 9-11'
Michael Moore
Michael Moore isn't the apologetic type.
Any regrets over proclaiming to millions around the world during last year's Academy Awards ceremony that George W. Bush was a "fictitious president ... sending us to war for fictitious reasons"? No way.
But the crusading author and filmmaker does have a small confession: That rip-roaring acceptance speech after his "Bowling for Columbine" won the Oscar for best documentary almost went undelivered.
"Every bone in my body wanted to just thank them, blow them a kiss and walk off the stage," Moore confides, stirring whipped cream into a steaming cup of hot chocolate during an interview at a local bookstore. "This was my night! How many times in your life do you win an Oscar?
"And yet that good Catholic schoolboy inside me is saying, `You know, this life is not about being honored with golden statues.' ... In the end, I have to do what is right as a human being and a citizen. But I was fighting it. I'm a normal person, you know."
For a whole lot more, Michael Moore
www.michaelmoore.com
Denies Releasing Sex Tape
Turquoise Erving
A tape showing NBA Hall of Famer Julius Erving having sex with a woman in a hotel room "didn't come out of our camp," Andrea Black, lawyer for Erving's wife, Turquoise, said Wednesday.
The tape was delivered to the New York Post while Erving divorces Turquoise, his wife of 31 years. It shows Erving having sex with a young woman in a hotel room while a radio plays, the newspaper said.
Erving's spokesman, Dan Klores, said Monday the tape was made 15 years ago, while Erving and his wife were separated.
Turquoise Erving
Always Room For Another Right-Wing Radio Clown
Rick Lazio
Rick Lazio, the former Republican legislator who lost to Hillary Rodham Clinton in the 2000 U.S. Senate race in New York now hopes to build a career on the talk show circuit.
Lazio has signed with consultant Ian Rae to develop projects and land guest spots across all media, much of it on behalf of the Financial Services Forum, a lobby group he leads that represents banking, brokerage and insurance companies.
The forum pushes heavily for free trade and other issues involving regulation of the financial industries. Lazio was a member of the House Banking and House Commerce committees in Congress.
Rick Lazio
Snow falls as locals dressed as Vikings begin the annual Up Helly Aa celebrations in Lerwick, Shetland, on Tuesday. The festival, introduced by men returning from the Napoleonic Wars of the early 19th century, takes place annually on the last Tuesday of January. The climax of the day comes with the participants, wearing costumes and bearing flaming torches, dragging a Viking galley through the streets of Lerwick to a designated point where it will be ceremonially burnt.
Photo by Robert Paterson
Porn Tape Haunts Pitcher
Kazuhito Tadano
Indians minor leaguer Kazuhito Tadano is asking for forgiveness for what he called a one-time mistake — his appearance in a gay porn video in which he engaged in a homosexual act.
Tadano took part in the video three years ago when he was a college student. Sitting in the Cleveland clubhouse Tuesday, the pitcher said he hoped to put his actions in the past.
Shunned by Japanese baseball teams, the 23-year-old Tadano signed with the Indians last March. They think he can make their club this spring.
The Indians set up the press session after getting many requests from reporters to speak with Tadano. The team wanted to address the issue before spring training starts next month.
For a lot more, Kazuhito Tadano
Lucky Charm for Patriots
Poppy Bush
Former U.S. president George Bush will be the New England Patriots's lucky charm when they meet the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl XXXVIII.
In an interview with the NFL Network television station Wednesday, Bush said the Patriots had won every game he had attended and that he would be among the 72,000-plus spectators at Reliant Stadium Sunday.
While Bush, an avid football fan, will be at Sunday's game, his son, resident Bush, will not attend the Super Bowl, which has been declared a national security event.
Poppy Bush
Arrested on Drug Charges
Faith Evans
R&B singer Faith Evans and her husband Todd Russaw, a record executive, were charged with possession of cocaine and marijuana and booked at the Fulton County Jail. Evans was released on $12,000 while Russaw was released on $11,000. A judge scheduled a preliminary hearing for Feb. 11.
The couple's vehicle was pulled over around 7:50 p.m. Tuesday in Hapeville for an improperly displayed temporary license plate. During the traffic stop, officers found a "minimal amount" of marijuana on both of them as well as cocaine residue on Evans, said Hapeville police spokesman Capt. William Lyons.
Evans is the widow of the late rapper Christopher Wallace, known as The Notorious B.I.G. Wallace was killed in a drive-by shooting in March 1997. Evans is the mother of Wallace's young son.
Faith Evans
New Form of Matter
Fermionic Condensate
Scientists said on Wednesday they had created a new form of matter and predicted it could help lead to the next generation of superconductors for use in electricity generation, more efficient trains and countless other applications.
The new matter form is called a fermionic condensate and it is the sixth known form of matter -- after gases, solids, liquids, plasma and a Bose-Einstein condensate, created only in 1995.
"What we've done is create this new exotic form of matter," Deborah Jin, a physicist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology's joint lab with the University of Colorado, who led the study, told a news conference.
For more, Fermionic Condensate
Biscuit, a seven-month-old snow leopard, romps in the snow at the Bronx Zoo Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2004 in New York. A Tuesday night snow storm added 5 to 10 inches of snow to the New York area.
Photo by Julie Maher
'The Osbournes'
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 5
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 4
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 3
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 2
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 1
