'TBH Politoons'
Thanks, again, Tim!
Interesting Readings
2 from Tiera
As U.S. officials intensify their arm-twisting offensive to gather support for a war on Iraq, the Institute for Policy Studies is releasing a new study today that examines the specific levers of U.S. military, economic, and political power. Major findings:
Although the Bush Administration claims that the anonymous "Coalition of the Willing" is the basis of genuine multilateralism, the report shows that most were recruited through coercion, bullying, and bribery.
The pursuit of access to U.S. export markets is a powerful lever for influence over many countries, including Chile and Costa Rica, both of which are close to concluding free trade deals with the United States; African nations that
want to maintain U.S. trade preferences; and Mexico, which depends on the U.S. market for about 80 percent of its export sales.
The populations of the countries in the so-called "Coalition of the Willing" make up only about 10 percent of the world's population. Opponents of the U.S. position currently include the leading economies of four continents (Germany, Brazil, China, and South Africa).
For details, go to: Institute for Policy Studies
AND:
ATTENTION PEACE-LOVING CITIZENS OF THE WORLD!
Join us in challenging dangerous nations
that produce and conceal weapons of mass destruction.
Rooting Out Evil is sending a weapons inspection team to the
United States to inspect the chemical, biological, and nuclear
weapons produced and concealed by the Bush regime.
And we want you to join us.
Become an Honorary Weapons Inspector
And Support Our Mission Into The USA!
For details, go to: www.rootingoutevil.org/
~~ Tiera H
Thanks, Tiera! Great job!
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Beautiful sunny day.
Took an older neighbor's cat in for neutering - she's in the kitchen. Mocha is still in the pantry, and not doing so well. Be surprised if he survives the weekend.
Have found 2 dead crows in the last 3 days. The phone number for reporting them no longer works, and after pissing away the better part of 3 hours, ended up with a guy who said triple bag them & put in the garbage. Nothing here, citizen. Move along.
Had invited some of the pals over for a 'Bills Party' Friday. Bill Moyers on PBS, and Bill Maher on HBO. Imagine my dismay discovering my PBS station has NO Bill Moyers this week. And his show is all over
the time grid for the following weeks. Was so annoyed I sent KCET an e-mail. Wonder if they'll even bother with a template e-mail in response. Sorta-kinda in the same vein, some pals sent e-missives to MSNBC lamenting the firing of Donahue, and bemoaning the hiring of that hatemonger, Savage
Weiner, only to receive template e-mails telling them to watch Donahue on MSNBC.
And, today, I have a conference with the kid's teacher. Even washed my good pair of jeans. ; )
Tonight, Thursday, CBS opens the evening with a FRESH 'Survivor: The Amazon', followed by a RERUN 'CSI: Crime Scene Investigation', and
then a RERUN 'Without A Trace'.
On a RERUN Dave are Dr. Phil McGraw and Beck.
On a RERUN Craiggers are Patricia Heaton, tennis star Andy Roddick, and the Wallflowers.
NBC, well, my TV guidance system is wrong, but, the promo earlier said that there would be 3 RERUN episodes of 'Friends', some RERUN 'Will & Grace',
and - well, I don't know. There were frames of 'Scrubs' in the mix, but other than 3 RERUNs of 'Friends' & some RERUN 'Will & Grace' there were no specifics. Boo. Hiss.
Scheduled on a FRESH Jay are Salma Hayek and Evanescence.
Scheduled on a FRESH Conan are Queen Latifah, Jason Schwartzman, and Dennis M. Hope.
Scheduled on a FRESH Carson Daly are David Allen Grier, Jack and Kelly Osbourne, and Lou Reed.
ABC offers a FRESH 'Profiles From The Front' - watch for Chris (and remember these are REAL people, with parents at home who worry), and then it's the vile, but FRESH
'Are You Hot? The Search For America's Sexiest People', followed by 'PrimeTime Thursday'.
Scheduled on a FRESH Jimmy Kimmel is guest host Sarah Silverman.
The WB has a RERUN 'Sabrina', followed by a FRESH 'Family Affair', then 2 RERUN 'Jamie Kennedy's'.
Faux has the RERUN 'Fox's Funniest Outtakes', then 'The Pulse'.
UPN wastes the night with 'WWE Smackdown: Battle Of The Receding Hairlines'.
Looks like TCM is celebrating favorite catholic fantasies - The Bells of St. Mary's, (1945),
Lilies of the Field (1963),
Newtie's favorite,
Boys Town (1938), and
then the seldom seen, but very romantic,
Joan of Paris (1942).
Anyone have any opinions?
Or reviews?
(See below for addresses)
Australian students protest March 5, 2003, in Sydney against a possible war in Iraq. Thousands of screaming, whistling and chanting students hit the streets of Sydney in a 'Books not Bombs' protest
aimed at Australian Prime Minister John Howard. The students, armed with permission slips from their parents to be out of school, forced lunchtime traffic to a standstill.
Photo by James Morgan
Induction Sparks Interest
Clash
One Sunday morning last December Joe Strummer faxed a message to Paul Simonon, his old friend from the Clash. Simonon was the holdout.
Strummer, Mick Jones and "Topper" Headon wanted to perform at the Clash's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, and the singer urged Simonon to stop being churlish and dig out his bass guitar.
Simonon never had the chance to answer. Strummer died of a heart attack that very day, instantly rendering the question moot.
It will be left to others to salute the Clash at the March 12 Hall of Fame ceremony at New York's Waldorf Astoria. Their fellow inductees include AC/DC, Elvis Costello and the Attractions, the Police and the Righteous Brothers.
The Clash combined leftist politics, a fiery punk spirit and a musical restlessness that fused reggae, rap and funk to muscular rock. Rivals of the Sex Pistols in the London punk scene of 1977, the Clash moved past the initial fury
to record "London Calling," in 1979, now regarded as one of rock's best albums ever.
For a lot more, Clash
The Information One-Stop
Moose & Squirrel
Pioneer Talk Show Host Hospitalized
Jack Paar
Late-night television pioneer Jack Paar has been admitted to a Connecticut hospital for an undisclosed illness.
"I can confirm he is a patient and he is in fair condition," said George Pawlush, director of public relations at Greenwich Hospital.
USA Today reported Wednesday that Paar had suffered a stroke over the weekend.
Pawlush said Wednesday that Paar had been in the hospital for about 10 days, but could not disclose any other information.
Paar, 84, became host of NBC's "The Tonight Show" in 1957. He announced that he was leaving the show in February 1960, but a month later, the network managed to lure him back.
Paar left in 1962. Johnny Carson subsequently took over.
Jack Paar
An original movie poster for the film 'The Outlaw,' featuring Hollywood star Jane Russell, sold for more than $82,200 at a Christie's auction in on March 4, 2003. The poster was used to promote the Howard Hughes 1943 western.
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Cover Girl
Frances McDormand
Move over, Woody Harrelson. Frances McDormand might usurp your crown as the most prominent pro-pot celebrity. The "Fargo" actress graces the cover of High Times magazine holding
a joint and wearing a marijuana leaf T-shirt. She told the mag she's a "recreational pot smoker," and gladly accepted a gift pack that included a joint, grinder, rolling papers
and top-quality bud. "This will last me about four months," she said.
Frances McDormand
BookExpo America
Madeleine Albright
The publishing industry will be talking politics at BookExpo America, the book world's annual national convention.
Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams will be among the scheduled speakers. Several political commentators also will be featured, including Tucker Carlson,
Al Franken, Molly Ivins, Michael Moore and Bill O'Reilly.
Expect some sass from the dais. Albright, secretary of state during President Clinton's second term, will appear on the same breakfast panel as Moore, a frequent critic of Clinton. Carlson, Franken,
Ivins and O'Reilly, none of them shy about their opinions, are the guests at a "Media Talk" luncheon.
BookExpo takes place May 29-June 1 in Los Angeles.
Madeleine Albright
BookExpo America
Saddam Translator Had Fake Accent
CBS Tweaks News
A man employed by CBS News to speak the words of Saddam Hussein during his interview with Dan Rather last week reportedly adopted a fake Arabic accent.
CBS News hired Steve Winfield, a Screen Actors Guild member with no such accent in real life. Winfield is advertised on the Web as a specialist in foreign accents, the Los Angeles Times reported on Wednesday.
Winfield spoke Hussein's words after they had been translated by three independent Arabic translators, CBS said.
He recorded the audio "in a voice compatible with the piece," CBS spokeswoman Sandra Genelius said on Thursday.
The translation was fully accurate and "in complete compliance with CBS News standards," she said.
CBS Tweaks News
In The Kitchen With BartCop & Friends
Reads Like A Bad SNL Skit
Christina Aguilera
Christina Aguilera, pop's raunchiest princess, is set to be as ubiquitous on the fashion pages as she in on MTV as the new face of Italian label Versace.
"It's just so great. I've got this ad campaign coming up with Donatella and Versace. So I'm very excited and this is a whole new world for me, so that's very exciting," Aguilera told Reuters on Tuesday just before taking her
seat in the front row of Versace's autumn/winter 2003/4 fashion show.
Aguilera has come a long way since she started her career as a pig-tailed poppet on the Mickey Mouse club, crawling through a mud-wrestling ring stripped to knickers and bra in her latest video "Dirrty."
Italian designer Donatella Versace said details of the advertising campaign had to be ironed out but her new outfits were inspired by Aguilera's all-singing, all-dancing success.
"I watch the videos of Christina and I always die," Versace said, lounging back on a red-leather seat next to the singing sensation and mountains of roses. "She is a great dancer, a great singer, her voice is amazing.
I always hoped I could do something with her but I wanted to be friends first, that is the most important thing for me."
"Oh," sighed Aguilera, touching her heart. "There are so many things I love about Donatella and I would wear everything she's got and I am here in Versace tonight. So it's exciting."
Christina Aguilera
Indian ring-necked parrots play together in a New Delhi park, March 4, 2003. Over 2,000 species of birds can be found on the Indian sub-continent.
Photo by Kamal Kishore
New (Last?) Season Starts In June
Sharon Osbourne
Aimee Osbourne has yet to appear on "The Osbournes" - and won't be on the show any time soon, says family matriarch Sharon Osbourne.
"Everybody had a decision to make, and [Aimee's] decision was that she keep her life private and she didn't want to be in the spotlight at this time," Sharon Osbourne said on Monday's "Larry King Live."
"She is pursuing a singing career . . . but at this time she didn't want to be part of our show. So I can only respect her for that."
Yes, host Larry King said, but what happens when Aimee - the oldest child of Ozzy and Sharon - comes over to the family's Beverly Hills mansion?
"The cameras don't shoot," Sharon said. "It is awkward, but you know, it's our daughter so that's it."
Sharon also said she's not sure the show will continue beyond its third season, which kicks off in June on MTV.
Sharon Osbourne
Norah Jones, Ray Charles, Mark Knopfler & More
Montreal Jazz Fest
Norah Jones, Ray Charles, Mark Knopfler and Ben Harper will headline the 24th edition of the Montreal Jazz Festival, one of the world's largest musical gatherings, organizers said on Wednesday.
The festival, which overtakes Montreal's downtown core, runs June 26 to July 6.
Singer Bobby McFerrin is set to perform on June 28, and guitar whiz Knopfler, former leader of Dire Straits, will unveil tunes from his new album "The Ragpicker's Dream" on July 4.
Other performers booked this year include saxophonist Wayne Shorter, who will be accompanied by Danilo Perez, Brian Blades and John Patitucci. Bassist Dave Holland's big band is on tap, as well as trumpeter Roy
Hargrove and his RH Factor band, and Joe Zawinul, keyboardist and former leader of Weather Report, the 1970s fusion supergroup that also featured Shorter.
Montreal Jazz Fest
Buying Part of Craftsman Truck Team
Nelly
It's getting hot in NASCAR.
Grammy award-winning rapper Nelly will buy into a Craftsman Truck team starting at Darlington Raceway on March 14.
The deal to buy part of Billy Ballew Motorsports will last the rest of the season, Nelly's representative, Michael Warmack, told The Associated Press by phone Tuesday. The truck will
sport a new paint scheme and feature Nelly's Vokal clothing label. It will be introduced in time for the Darlington 200 truck event.
Nelly, born Cornell Haynes, released his disc "Nellyville" with the infectious single "Hot in Herre" last year.
The hit earned him a Grammy for best male rap solo performance. He also won for best rap/sung collaboration for "Dilemma," featuring Kelly Rowland of Destiny's Child.
Nelly
Formerly 'The Vidiot'
Sued Over Alleged Rape
Michael Flatley
"Riverdance" star Michael Flatley is being sued for $35 million by a woman who claims he raped her in a Las Vegas hotel.
The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in Lake County on behalf of a Chicago-area real estate agent who says she flew to Las Vegas for a visit with Flatley in October 2002.
The lawsuit says the woman, whose name was not revealed, was in her private bedroom area of Flatley's suite at the Venetian Resort Hotel-Casino when he raped her.
Flatley's lawyer, Bert Fields, called the allegations "absolutely false."
Lt. Jeff Carlson of the Las Vegas Police Department on Wednesday said the woman reported the alleged incident to police but declined to press charges.
Michael Flatley
Thanks, Tim H!
Children crawl through a 40-foot long model of a colon in Washington, March 5, 2003, part of an exhibit on Colorectal Cancer. Wednesday marked the start of a nationwide tour to promote
a better understanding of Colorectal Cancer, during National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month.
Photo by John Harrington
Maybe Ozzy Should Visit Again
Termites Attack the Alamo
There's a new battle for the Alamo, but it doesn't involve soldiers.
Termites have taken a liking to the shrine of Texas independence.
The Daughters of the Republic of Texas are trying to stop the wood-eating insects from finishing the job that Mexican Gen. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna started 167 years ago.
Most of the landmark in downtown San Antonio is stone, but termites have damaged wood beams and wood that surround windows and doors.
Last summer was particularly bad for the shrine, said Kathleen Carter, Alamo Committee chairwoman for the Daughters of the Republic of Texas.
"We had a swarm," Carter told the San Antonio Express-News in Wednesday's editions. "Termites have been a problem. What we had been doing was not effective."
So Alamo caretakers installed a Sentricon Termite Colony Elimination System, which is also in use at the Statue of Liberty, the White House and the state Capitol, outside the perimeter of the buildings on the mission grounds.
Termites Attack the Alamo
Braves Wild Ball Game
Prince Charles
Britain's Prince Charles kicked off one of the world's oldest and roughest sporting fixtures on Wednesday to continue an eccentric English tradition dating back hundreds of years.
Hoisted high on the shoulders of three burly subjects, the prince grimaced as he opened the annual Royal Shrovetide game -- an eight-hour rolling scrum which mixes soccer, rugby and wrestling.
"Long may this fine Derbyshire tradition continue in this great country," Charles told the cheering crowds waving Union Jack flags in the small market town of Ashbourne in Derbyshire, central England.
Hundreds braved the heavy rain to see the British heir-to-the-throne toss the hand-stitched leather ball, decorated with heraldic images, into the throng.
The origins of the game are shrouded in mystery, but some locals say it dates back to the 11th century Norman Conquest when heads were tossed into the crowd after public executions.
With no referees and only a handful of rules, broken bones and black eyes are common. Wednesday's game was due to continue late into the night.
Prince Charles
Michigan's Adopt-A-Highway
Holy Smokes!
Michigan's Adopt-A-Highway program has a new partner: the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.
Signs went up last month on the median of Gratiot at 12 Mile and 14 Mile roads announcing that the pro-pot organization's Macomb County chapter will work for free to pick up litter on that two-mile stretch of road.
Donna Paridee, a New Baltimore homemaker and mother of three, said her chapter's cleanup campaign is, in part, an effort to counter the stereotype that NORML is made up solely of pot-smoking burnouts who live to get
high. "We are your neighbors. We have jobs and families like everyone else."
The Michigan Department of Transportation, which runs Adopt-A-Highway, does not make judgments on what a participating group stands for, spokeswoman Brenda Peek said. "We don't get involved in that. The main thing
is that they're working to help beautify Michigan."
The signs on Gratiot give little clue to the group's identity. They read "NORML of Macomb Co."
"When the city was making up the signs in January, a lady from the public works department called and asked me, 'Who is this Norm L?' " Paridee recalled.
Holy Smokes!
Celebrated In Ohio
Tupperware Exhibit
The Tupperware party, introduced in 1948 and raised to a marketing art by a poor Detroit housewife in the 1950s, put the fun into food storage.
It promoted the usefulness of polyethlylene — less breakable, tight sealing, odor-free. At the same time, the party helped push the "look" of Tupperware — the simple lines and later, the bright colors — until it became an art form almost in itself.
"Uncluttered" and "marvelously free of that vulgarity which characterizes so much household equipment," editors of a 1959 book on modern design wrote of Tupperware. Some of the containers were featured in a design exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1956.
A 2002 Brooklyn Museum of Art exhibit, "Vital Forms: American Art and Design in the Atomic Age," included Tupperware containers.
A current traveling exhibit, "From Turbines to Tupperware: Two Centuries of Industrial Drawings From the Smithsonian," features a Tupperware bowl design.
Now, a new exhibit, "Tupperware Party: Past, Present, Future," showcases the products and the party-holders over the past seven decades. The show runs through March 21 at the Columbus College of Art and Design.
For example, a square container available to Korean consumers for making kimchee, the fermented cabbage considered the country's national dish. When the top of the container pops up, the fermentation is done.
The Orlando, Fla.-based company was founded by inventor Earl Tupper, a New Hampshire tree surgeon and farmer who struggled to earn a living for his family during the Depression. He invented Tupperware around
1942 using a refined version of the compound polyethlylene, which he referred to as "Poly-T: Material of the Future," according to British design professor Alison Clarke in her book, "Tupperware: the Promise of Plastic in 1950s America."
Tupperware sales took off in the 1950s when Brownie Wise, a poor Detroit single mother started holding Tupperware parties instead of selling door-to-door. "By the mid-1950s, the Tupperware party ... had become
a cultural hallmark of postwar America," Clarke wrote.
Tupperware Exhibit
Tupperware
Columbus College of Art and Design
The Glories of 'Windows'
Enraged Computer Owner
George Doughty hung his latest hunting trophy on the wall of his Sportsman's Bar and Restaurant. Then he went to jail.
The problem was the trophy was Doughty's laptop computer.
He shot it four times, as customers watched, after it crashed once too often.
"It's sort of funny, because everybody always threatens their computers," said police Lt. Rick Bashor, seconds before his own police computer froze at police headquarters.
Doughty was released Monday evening after spending a night in jail and is due in court Wednesday.
In police reports, Doughty said that he realized afterward that he shouldn't have shot his computer but at the time it seemed like the right thing to do.
Enraged Computer Owner
Keeper Hans-Joachim Nuernberg holds the 3-month-old polar bear Vilma at the zoo in Rostock, northern Germany, on Wednesday, March 5, 2003. Rostock zoo is known for successfully breeding polar bears.
Photo by Thomas Haentzschel
'The Osbournes'
Another Fresh Update! 'The Osbournes' ~ Page 4
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 3
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 2
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 1
