'Best of TBH Politoons'
Reader Comment
Makes Me Made
This makes me mad... really, really mad.
Marine held up as suspected terrorist
A Minnesota reservist who spent the past eight months in Iraq was told he couldn't board a plane to Minneapolis because his name appeared on a "no-fly" list as a possible terrorist.
Marine Staff Sgt. Daniel Brown, who was in uniform and returning from the war with 26 other Marine military police reservists, was delayed briefly in Los Angeles until the issue was cleared up.
"A guy goes over and serves his country fighting for eight or nine months, and then we come home and put up with this crap?" Brown told the St. Paul Pioneer Press upon arrival.
Brown, 32, of Coon Rapids, was returning from service in the Al-Anbar province of Iraq, known as the dangerous Sunni Triangle. He ran into problems at the Los Angeles airport on Tuesday morning.
Mick
Thanks, Mick!
Bet they breed a lot of terrorists in Coon Rapids...
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Bill McKibben: The Hope of the Web (nybooks.com)
When, less than a decade ago, the Internet emerged as a force in most of our lives, one of the questions people often asked was: Would it prove, like TV, to be a medium mainly for distraction and disengagement? Or would its two-way nature allow it to be a potent instrument for rebuilding connections among people and organizations, possibly even renewing a sense of community? The answer is still not clear- more people use the Web to look at unclothed young women and lose money at poker than for any other purposes. But if you were going to make a case for the Web having an invigorating political effect, you could do worse than point your browser to dailykos.com, which was launched in 2002 by Markos Moulitsas Zúniga.
Margo Pierce: Hackett's Happy: The popular former candidate is angry, but doesn't want to be defined that way (freetimes.com)
Paul Hackett has the iron-grip handshake someone might expect of a Marine. But in jeans and an open-collared shirt, eating a lunch of Cheetos and Coke at his desk in an office filled with family photos and children's drawings, he seems like any working stiff in downtown Cincinnati.
ALAN WOLFE: How Bush's Bad Ideas May Lead to Good Ones (chronicle.com)
If, like me, you are in the business of ideas, the presidency of George W. Bush is a dream come true. That is not because the president is fond of the product I produce; on the contrary, he may be the most anti-intellectual president of modern times, a determined opponent of science, a man who values loyalty above debate among his associates. But governance is impossible without ideas, and by basing his foreign and domestic policies on so many bad ones, President Bush may have cleared the ground for the emergence of a few good ones.
Michael Georgy: Shooting of Reuters soundman unlawful: report (Reuters)
U.S. soldiers who shot dead a Reuters television soundman in Iraq last year breached their rules of engagement and the killing was "unlawful," an independent investigation commissioned by Reuters has found.
Cindy Sheehan: A Markerless Grave in Vacaville (michaelmoore.com)
I am so tired of the Rovian, heartless, and ignorant smear machine attacking me and my family at every turn of my back.
Molly Ivins: Special Favors for Special Interests
In another example of Congress' corporate shilling, the House just repealed more than 200 food safety protections -- with nary a public hearing.
Susan J. Douglas: Lou Dobbs, Now More Than Ever (inthesetimes.com)
Into this gap between the lassitude of the nightly news and the edginess of Jon Stewart has stepped an unlikely figure: Lou Dobbs. I used to watch Dobbs for what are called surveillance purposes; how do right-leaning, pro-business types report and spin the news? Now, I try not to miss Dobbs, in part because he seems to be deliberately crafting a new kind of anchor persona-that of the outraged everyday American, the one who is indeed "mad as hell and not gonna take it anymore."
What's My Name, Fool?: Sports and Resistance in the United States (democracynow.org)
Sports writer Dave Zirin chronicles a history of athletes who have stood up to war and racism in the United States, from Muhammad Ali to Pat Tillman. His new book is "What's My Name, Fool?: Sports and Resistance in the United States."
Mark Morford: My Baby Has Rainbow Hair (sfgate.com)
Gay parents, solo moms, sperm-swappin' friends. It's alternative-family bliss! Or is it?
The Wall St. Poet
How Not To Play The Gold Market
In the late 1990s many central banks began selling large chunks of their nations' gold reserves - reserves that had often been accumulating for hundreds of years. They used the proceeds of these sales to purchase what were then termed "better paying assets" - usually U.S. government paper paying two percent per annum or less. This poem examines this policy and its consequences.....
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny and breezy.
A few weeks back we sent away for some fresh ants for the kid's ant farm, so the first thing he asks about after school is the mail.
Now, with the Dish® out of order, he's also anxiously waiting for the UPS man to visit with the replacement box.
Wonder which will get here first?
No new flags.
Talks About His TV Exodus
Dave Chappelle
Dave Chappelle says in a new interview that he had several reasons for walking away from his cult-fave "Chappelle's Show" - and a deal worth more than $50 million.
His decision to leave the Comedy Central series last May led fans and industry executives to question his motives, and his sanity.
But in a 10-page spread in the Esquire magazine arriving Saturday, he says he closed "Chappelle" for reasons cultural, professional and personal.
Chappelle tells the magazine that putting on "Chappelle's Show" was the best television experience he ever had. He plans to continue telling jokes and entertaining audiences, he says, so long as he can retain a degree of personal and creative freedom.
Dave Chappelle
Gets Hollywood Star
Winnie the Pooh
Winnie the Pooh sure does love his honey, but the beloved bear now has something just as sweet: a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
The children's character, created in the 1920s by British author A.A. Milne, was joined Tuesday at the star's unveiling by his Hundred Acre Wood pals Tigger, Eeyore and Rabbit.
Winnie the Pooh
Fans Finding Terrestrial Alternatives
Howard Stern
Howard Stern's departure from terrestrial radio has proved to be a boon to those he left behind -- including far from risqué National Public Radio.
A Jacobs Media poll of more than 25,000 listeners of 79 rock stations across the country indicates that 7 out of 10 former Stern listeners continue to listen to terrestrial morning radio shows.
Other industry experts also noted that National Public Radio has attracted Stern listeners because it appeals more to his ribald talk show's fan base than say, conservative talk shows. Other listeners are finding new alternatives.
Howard Stern
Takes Feud To MySpace
Limp Bizkit
Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst and the band's former guitarist, Wes Borland, have taken their feud to MySpace, with Durst bashing his old bandmate in a minute-long song.
Durst targets Borland in the song "Unacceptableinterlude," which can be heard at his MySpace blog. It features such lyrics as "Stop making plans to manipulate fans and finally stick to something you believe / 'Cause you had us all fooled and, I'll admit, even me / Manipulating like a crook who's arrestable / It's unacceptable, f---ing unacceptable."
Borland responded on Black Light Burns' MySpace page, admitting, "After years and years of dealing with each other, it seems that Fred and I still have not figured out how to keep it positive. I'm to blame, he's to blame. It sucks. We never talk. So, it's hard to ever know what's really going on." He added, "I still have zero plans to work with (Limp Bizkit) in the future, but anything is possible."
Limp Bizkit
Descendants Launch Film School
Akira Kurosawa
The son and an associate of Japanese director Akira Kurosawa unveiled a film school named after the late legend aimed at passing down his know-how to younger generations.
Kurosawa Akira Juku, a two-year film school, started accepting applications for 80 students to study production and 30 acting students for classes opening in September.
The school will showcase instructors who worked with Kurosawa along with visits and lectures by global figures such as Iranian cinema's doyen Abbas Kiarostami and Taiwan's Hou Hsiao-Hsien.
Akira Kurosawa
90-Minute Version For Vegas
'The Producers'
A 90-minute version of "The Producers," the smash Mel Brooks musical, will open in Las Vegas in late summer.
The show will play the Paris Las Vegas, Marilyn Winn, president of the resort-casino, said Wednesday. Casting, opening date and details about show times and ticket prices will be announced later.
The intermissionless Las Vegas version of the musical, which has a book by Brooks and Thomas Meehan and a score by Brooks, will be directed and choreographed by Susan Stroman, who also supervised the original stage production. "The Producers," which won 12 Tony Awards, begins its sixth year on Broadway next week.
'The Producers'
Child Welfare Agents Clear
Britney Spears
Pop star Britney Spears and her husband were cleared of any wrongdoing by child welfare agents who visited their home in response to a hospital report of an injury to their infant son, her lawyer said on Wednesday.
According to published accounts by the Los Angeles Times and People magazine, the Saturday visit to Spears' home in the beachfront enclave of Malibu came after her 6-month-old son, Sean Preston, fell from a high chair and hit his head.
A doctor examined the child that day, April 1, at the family's home, and he seemed fine, the magazine said. But Spears and husband Kevin Federline became concerned and took the child to a hospital emergency room six days later to have him checked again, though no serious problems were found, it said.
Britney Spears
Find Ancient Worm Feces
Geologists
Swedish geologists have found fossilized feces from a worm that lived some 500 million years ago, media reports said Wednesday.
The tiny piles of feces were found embedded in rock-face near Malmo in southern Sweden by geologists Mats Eriksson and Fredrik Terfelt, newspaper Sydsvenskan reported.
Eriksson told the newspaper they examined the level of phosphorus of the samples and that "we realized pretty soon that it could not be anything other than coprolites, in other words fossilized dung."
Geologists
Feds To Back Off
Librarians
Federal prosecutors said Wednesday they will no longer seek to enforce a gag order on Connecticut librarians who received an FBI demand for records about library patrons under the Patriot Act.
The American Civil Liberties Union, which filed suit on behalf of the librarians, said it will identify them once court proceedings are completed in the next few weeks.
"Here is yet another example of how the Bush administration uses the guise of national security to play partisan politics," said ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero. "The American public should keep this in mind the next time a government official invokes national security in defense of secrecy."
Librarians
Cable Networks
Ratings
Rankings for the top 15 programs on cable networks as compiled by Nielsen Media Research for the week of April 3-9. Day and start time (EDT) are in parentheses.
1. "The Sopranos" (Sunday, 9:03 p.m.), HBO, 5.64 million homes, 8.58 million viewers.
2. "WWE Raw" (Monday, 10 p.m.), USA, 3.9 million homes, 5.32 million viewers.
3. "WWE Raw" (Monday, 9 p.m.), USA, 3.54 million homes, 4.83 million viewers.
4. Movie: "The Parent Trap" (Friday, 8 p.m.), Disney, 3.42 million homes, 4.76 million viewers.
5. "Fairly Odd Parents" (Saturday, 10 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 3.14 million homes, 3.95 million viewers.
6. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Saturday, 9:30 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 3.13 million homes, 4 million viewers.
7. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Sunday, 9:30 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 3 million homes, 3.91 million viewers.
8. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Saturday, 9 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.97 million homes, 3.71 million viewers.
9. "Law & Order" (Monday, 10 p.m.), TNT, 2.96 million homes, 3.58 million viewers.
10. "Big Love" (Sunday, 10:02 p.m.), HBO, 2.93 million homes, 4.19 million viewers.
11. "Fairly Odd Parents" (Saturday, 10:30 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.92 million homes, 3.56 million viewers.
12. "Fairly Odd Parents" (Sunday, 10 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.86 million homes, 3.69 million viewers.
13. Movie: "The Parent Trap" (Saturday, 1 p.m.), Disney, 2.78 million homes, 3.91 million viewers.
14. NCAA Women's Basketball Championship: Maryland vs. Duke (Tuesday, 8:30 p.m.), ESPN, 2.76 million homes, 3.58 million viewers.
15. "Fairly Odd Parents" (Sunday, 10:30 a.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.67 million homes, 3.39 million viewers.
Ratings
In Memory
Helen Cohn
Helen Cohn, who along with her husband helped clothe Elvis Presley, Roy Rogers and a host of stars with rhinestone creations during the height of cowboy chic, died Friday at a hospital near her home in Valencia, her granddaughter, Jamie Nudie Mendoza, said Wednesday. She was 92.
In the 1940s through the 1990s, the now-closed Nudie's store in North Hollywood was the place where singing cowboys, country singers such as Hank Williams and other celebrities went for their sparkly duds. A gold lame suit for Presley and an outfit embroidered with pills and marijuana leaves for singer Gram Parsons were not even the gaudiest of Cohn's creations.
Cohn and her husband, Nudie Cohn, were an inseparable business team from the day he fell in love with her over dinner at her mother's boardinghouse until his death in 1984. She ran the business for another decade before retiring.
Helen Cohn
In Memory
William Sloane Coffin
The Rev. William Sloane Coffin, a former Yale University chaplain known for his peace activism during the Vietnam War and his continuing work for social justice, died Wednesday at his home in rural Strafford. He was 81.
William Sloane Coffin was immortalized in the "Doonesbury" comic strip when its creator, fellow Yale graduate Garry Trudeau, blended his character with that of a Trudeau roommate, who became a priest, dubbing the fictitious character "Rev. Sloan."
Coffin gained prominence in the 1960s as an outspoken advocate for civil rights and against the Vietnam War. He joined a group of civil rights activists known as the freedom riders and was arrested several times at demonstrations against segregation. He became a leader of the group Clergy and Laity Concerned About Vietnam, which engaged in civil disobedience including offering sanctuary in churches and synagogues to draft resisters.
Born to a wealthy New York family in 1924, Coffin served in World War II, then resumed study at Yale as a political science student in the late 1940s, but developed an interest in theology and philosophy and enrolled in the Union Theological Seminary.
The outbreak of the Korean War rekindled his interest in fighting communism, and he served three years in the CIA.
He then enrolled in Yale's Divinity School, receiving his bachelor's degree and being ordained a Presbyterian minister in 1956. He spent a year each as chaplain at Phillips Andover Academy and Williams College. At Williams, he became controversial through his activism against fraternities that discriminated against blacks and Jews.
William Sloane Coffin
In Memory
Shin Sang-Ok
South Korean film director Shin Sang-Ok, who made movies for North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Il, has died here aged 80, hospital officials said.
Shin said in his memoirs that he was abducted by North Korean agents in Hong Kong in 1978, six months after his actress wife, Choi Un-Hee, was taken to the Stalinist country on the orders of Kim.
Shin said that he and his wife maintained good relations with the younger Kim, an avid film lover with a vast collecton of Hollywood movies.
Shin and Choi escaped from North Korea in 1986 during a trip to Vienna and sought political asylum in the United States where they remained until their returned to Seoul in 2000.
Shin Sang-Ok
In Memory
June Pointer
June Pointer, the youngest of the singing Pointer Sisters known for the 1970s and 1980s hits "I'm So Excited," "Fire," and "Slow Hand," has died, her family said Wednesday. She was 52.
Pointer died of cancer Tuesday at Santa Monica University of California, Los Angeles, Medical Center, the family said in a statement. She had been hospitalized since late February and the type of cancer wasn't disclosed.
The Pointer Sisters began as a quartet in the early 1970s with sisters Ruth, Anita, Bonnie and June. The group became a trio when Bonnie embarked on a solo career.
June Pointer
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