'Best of TBH Politoons'
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Don Hazen: Stephen Colbert: New American Hero (AlterNet.org)
When Colbert turned up the heat on Washington's elite, he revealed the big split between those basking in power and those fighting for change.
Terry J. Allen: Reach Out and Track Someone (inthesetimes.com)
If you are one of the more than 200 million Americans with a cell phone nestled in your pocket, authorities may be able to find you any time day or night-even if you never make or receive a call.
Andrew Hacker: The Rich and Everyone Else (nybooks.com)
In their own ways, three of the books under review-Class Matters, Inequality Matters, and The Chosen-warn that social barriers in the US are higher and economic inequality is more pronounced than at any time in recent memory.
David Sirota: Careless Industry (inthesetimes.com)
How corporate America perpetuates the health care crisis.
Meg Cabot: Quitters DO Win (megcabot.com)
The scientists conclude that "there is surprisingly little hard evidence that anyone could attain any kind of exceptional performance without spending a lot of time perfecting it. The trait we commonly call talent is highly overrated. Or, put another way, expert performers - whether in memory or surgery, ballet or computer programming - are nearly always made, not born. And yes, practice does make perfect."
Tess Gerritsen: "I'm Just A Hack" (tessgerritsen.com)
Last week, I had the privilege of speaking at the first-ever Newburyport (MA) Literary Festival, a smashingly successful event that brought writers and readers together for a lovely weekend in one of New England's prettiest towns. Between speaking events, I chatted with one of the festival volunteers, and asked him if he was a writer. He answered: "Yes." Then he added, with a wry note of self-deprecation: "But I'm just a hack."
David Bruce: Wise Up: Children (athensnews.com)
Gymnast Mary Lou Retton has very muscular legs. Of course, that is due to heredity and training, but her family joked that Mary Lou got the muscles in her legs from constantly being sent on errands by her older siblings and parents when she was young. Because she was the youngest of five children, she was constantly hearing, "Run upstairs and do that" or "Go and get me this."
Thankyoustephencolbert.org
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sun broke through around lunchtime making Jo, the (lucky) lizard, very happy.
No new flags.
Won't Back Down Against Scalpers
Tom Petty
Tom Petty and his fans are fighting back against scalpers who used the artist's fan club to score tickets to an upcoming run of shows with Pearl Jam in St. Paul, Minn.
Fans complained last week that many tickets for June 26-27 shows at the Excel Energy Center intended for fan club members later showed up on secondary market sites at prices several times face value.
With the help of Ticketmaster, promoter Jam and site administrator Signatures Network, Petty's management identified and canceled some 600 tickets purchased at the tompetty.com (http://www.tompetty.com) pre-sale that were to be resold. The voided Petty/Pearl Jam tickets (no issues were reported regarding Pearl Jam's pre-sale) will be offered once again to fan club members under more strict guidelines. Those who buy the tickets will have to show a photo ID to pick up the tickets on the night of the concert.
More than 800 tickets for Petty's June 20 at New York's Madison Square Garden are also being voided for the same reasons, according to a spokesperson for the artist.
Tom Petty
Trumpets Satellite Over Terrestrial
Howard Stern
No censorship, no fines, no Federal Communications Commission. It's no wonder Howard Stern announced that there's no way he would abandon satellite radio for a return to traditional broadcasting.
"I'm very flattered terrestrial radio can't let go of me," Stern said Wednesday on his morning radio show. "But I would throw up if I had to go back. I'm never going back."
The self-proclaimed "King of All Media" said three companies had made overtures through his agent for a terrestrial deal, but there was no interest from his end. He did not name the companies, although radio industry expert Tom Taylor said it was no surprise that Stern would draw such attention.
Stern said that Opie and Anthony's return to traditional radio signified their "failure" on satellite, and he reiterated his intent to continue his program exclusively on satellite.
Howard Stern
Back to Prime Time on NBC
Regis Philbin
Former "Millionaire"-man Regis Philbin is headed back to prime-time TV as host of a new NBC summertime talent competition.
"America's Got Talent" will air twice a week this summer - a competition and a result show. The show echoes "American Idol" for a good reason, since it is produced by Simon Cowell and FremantleMedia, the company that also produces the Fox hit.
The NBC show will include dancers, comedians and other talents instead of just singers.
Regis Philbin
Manga Legend 's Early Works Found
Osamu Tezuka
Several of Japanese manga legend Osamu Tezuka's early works have been found at a US university, including a previously lost 16-page comic, a researcher said.
Tezuka was considered the pioneer of Japanese manga, which has since won a global following. He is best known for his "Astro Boy" series, which debuted in 1951 featuring a robot boy who flies through the future.
The early works were discovered at the University of Maryland's Prange Collection, which stores Japanese print media from 1945-49, when US occupation authorities reviewed all publications for censorship.
Researchers found a 16-page comic called "Hans and Gold Hair," which shows elements of his later work. Tezuka, who died in 1989, drew bulging eyes on his characters, which became distinctive of Japanese manga.
Osamu Tezuka
New Role At La Scala
Daniel Barenboim
Conductor Daniel Barenboim will take on a prominent role at La Scala, more than a year after Riccardo Muti resigned as music director at the Milan opera house, the theatre said Wednesday.
Barenboim will have a "a long and continuous working relationship" but will not step into Muti's place as music director, said Carlo Maria Cella, a La Scala spokesman.
The conductor's work in Milan will take place within a wide-ranging collaboration between La Scala and Berlin's Staatsoper, of which Barenboim is general music director, Cella said.
Daniel Barenboim
MC5 Bassist Injured
Michael Davis
The bassist of late '60s rock band MC5 was hospitalized with a fractured spine and other injuries from a motorcycle accident, his wife said Wednesday.
Michael Davis, 62, was riding his Harley-Davidson on a freeway in Pasadena on Monday when he hit a muffler in the roadway, Angela Davis said.
The bassist gained prominence in the revolutionary Detroit band MC5 and currently plays in a version of the group called DKT with former MC5 members Wayne Kramer and Dennis Thompson.
Two DKT performances, including a May 19 show at the Joey Ramone Birthday Bash in New York, have been canceled due to the accident. A decision was pending on a Florida show over Memorial Day weekend.
Michael Davis
Concert Won by Students Canceled
Ne-Yo
A Catholic girls high school has canceled a concert by Ne-Yo because of sexually explicit lyrics on the R&B singer's first recording.
Students at Mercy High School in suburban Detroit won the concert, which had been scheduled Wednesday afternoon, in a seat-belt use contest.
The contest was sponsored by WKQI-FM and Japanese seat belt and auto parts maker Takata Corp. For two weeks, students at Mercy High signed petitions promising to always use seat belts.
Takata executive Bob Kittle said arrangements were being made to reschedule the Ne-Yo concert with the contest's runner-up school, which he did not identify.
Ne-Yo
Back to London to Face Police
Snoop Dogg
Snoop Dogg flew into London Wednesday for a meeting with police after getting involved in a brawl at Heathrow Airport last month.
Snoop was to meet officers at Heathrow police station to see whether any action would be brought against him. Police said seven officers were injured in the brawl.
Snoop Dogg
HUD Secretary Of Lying
Alphonso Jackson
Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson apologized Wednesday for telling a Dallas business group that he had rejected a HUD contract because the contractor had criticized resident Bush.
Jackson, seeking to avoid a political firestorm, said he made up the story.
At the April 28 event, Jackson told about a minority contractor who finally had landed an advertising contract with HUD after trying for 10 years, according to an article in the Dallas Business Journal.
Jackson said that when the man approached him to thank him for the contract, the contractor said he didn't like Bush.
"He didn't get the contract," Jackson told the group, according to the newspaper. "Why should I reward someone who doesn't like the president, so they can use funds to try to campaign against the president? Logic says they don't get the contract. That's the way I believe."
Alphonso Jackson
Aberdeen Film Premiere
Tom Cruise
About 2,000 cheering fans who turned out Tuesday night to greet movie star Tom Cruise were delighted by a bonus - he brought fiancee Katie Holmes.
Cruise was to attend the private screening at the mall cinema with lucky contest winner Kevin McCoy and 150 of his friends. McCoy won an e-mail contest sponsored by "M:I3" studio Paramount Pictures and Yahoo.
Two Aberdeen radio stations called off couch-jumping contests scheduled for Tuesday after Paramount intervened.
"They felt it reflected poorly on Tom's image," said Tom Schlaht of Selmer's Home Furnishings, which had provided a sofa for the contest.
Tom Cruise
Campbell's Soup Can Painting Sold
Andy Warhol
An early iconoclastic work by Andy Warhol of a Campbell's soup can has sold for $11.7 million US at auction.
The Christie's sale of postwar and contemporary art also saw spirited bidding for three other early Warhol works. Small Torn Campbell's Soup Can (Pepper Pot), a hand-painted work from 1962 showing a large soup can with a torn label, was purchased by Manhattan dealer Larry Gagosian, Christie's said, reportedly for Los Angeles collector and financier Eli Broad.
Warhol's S&H Green Stamps (64 S&H Green Stamps), another work done in 1962, was sold to an unidentified telephone bidder for $5.1 million, after five people tried to buy it. It had been estimated to sell for $1.5 million.
Andy Warhol
Half Quit Within 5 Years
New Teachers
According to a new study from teachers' union the National Education Association, half of new U.S. teachers are likely to quit within the first five years because of poor working conditions and low salaries.
The study, which the association released last week ahead of its annual salute to teachers on Tuesday, also found today's average teacher is a married, 43-year-old white woman who is religious.
Only 6 percent of teachers are African-American and 5 percent are Hispanic, Asian or come from other ethnic groups. Men represent barely a quarter of teachers, which the association says is the lowest level in four decades.
New Teachers
South African Meteorite
Morokweng Rock
A remarkable meteorite the size of a beachball, found in heat-forged crystals in one of the world's largest impact craters, may push back the boundaries of knowledge about space rocks, a study due to be published on Thursday says.
The 25-centimetre (10-inch) fragment has been found in the Morokweng impact crater in northwest South Africa, where a massive object slammed into Earth around 145 million years ago.
The Morokweng rock falls into the category of a "stony" meteorite. But it is chemically quite unlike other meteorites of this type, which are of a far more recent vintage. The South African rock is rich in iron silicates and iron-nickel sulphides yet poor in metal.
Morokweng Rock
In Memory
Soraya
Colombian-American singer Soraya died Wednesday after a battle with breast cancer. She was 37.
In 2005 she was nominated for a Latin Grammy for female pop vocal album named "El Otro Lado De Mi. She won a Latin Grammy for best female album and a Billboard Latin Music Spirit of Hope award in 2004.
Soraya's mother, grandmother and an aunt died of breast cancer, which encouraged her to become vocal about informing Hispanic women about the disease.
She joined the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation in honor of her family and traveled all over Latin America to inform women about early breast cancer detection.
Soraya
In Memory
George Lee Lutz
George Lee Lutz, whose brief stay in an Amityville, N.Y., home spawned one of the most famous haunted house stories ever, has died of natural causes. He was 59.
Lutz, a former land surveyor, became famous after moving his new bride and three children into a three-storey Dutch colonial on Long Island in 1975. About a year earlier, six members of the DeFeo family had been shot and killed in the home. Ronald DeFeo Jr., the eldest son, was convicted of the murders.
The Lutzes lived in the home for 28 days before being driven out - by the spirits of the DeFeos, according to Lutz's account.
The family's eerie tales became the source for Jay Anson's 1977 book The Amityville Horror, along with a 1979 film of the same title and a 2005 movie remake. The franchise made a cult figure of Lutz, who some claimed bore a creepy resemblance to Ronald DeFeo.
George Lee Lutz
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