The Monday Or Thursday Poll
Results & A New Question
Results:
The previous question was:
Rate your interest in watching the Olympics...
1) Extremely interested... 0
2) Very interested... 2
sjmcros said 'I am a basketball and track and field fan and will watch those events without fail...'
Sally P said,' My "official" reply is: (2) Very interested ... I am a/an all 4 Artistic Gymnastics fan (with the darling g/daughter) AWA the Baseball (precious g/son) and some swimming
3) Moderately interested... 1
ducks said, ' I like Track and Field, some Gymnastics and the occasional "what sport is that?" event.
4) Little interest... 3
Joe said, 'And then only some of the track and field events.'
Adam in NoHo said, 'Interest level 4-5. Is it that time of the Decade again?'
Alan J said, 'There is a slight chance I might accidentally watch some of the Olympics, but I won't do it on purpose.'
5) Zero interest... 2
John said, 'Your number 5 is my response, specially since it is in China this year.'
Barbfarm said, 'o interest'
No ratings, just comments... 3
Sherpa said, '... How about remembering that old adage (now so out of fashion): "It doesn't matter whether you win or lose, it's how you play the game."
Doug said, 'I wanna see the pagent of the opening/closing. Care not at all for the athletic competition.'
Jim said, 'I don't really care but Des Moines' Shawn Johnson (gymnastics) and Lolo Jones (track) are participating. I live in Des Moines so now I am interested.'
The new question is:
Famed Soviet dissident and Noble Prize winner Alexander Solzhenitsyn died this week in Moscow. Have you ever read any of his many books?
Send your response, and a (short) explanation, to BadtotheBoneBob ( BCEpoll 'at' aol.com )
BadtotheboneBob
TODAY!
Erin Hart
Please join Erin Hart as she fills in
for Jay Marvin on AM760 Progressive Talk in Denver
this week (4 - 8 August), from 5am to 9am (pdt) | 6am to 10am (mdt) | 7am to 11am (cdt) | 8am to noon (edt).
Continue the Countdown to the Convention!
Talk about the Race for the White House; Record Oil Profits; the Search for Viable Green Energy; How to Protect Our Votes; the Rove Effect and who is going to testify?
For more information check out Erin Hart Show
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Seth Grahame-Smith: Hilt-Owned -- Paris Responds to McCain's Ad (huffingtonpost.com)
Paris Hilton just made John McCain her bitch. In less than two minutes, she accomplished not one -- but five things McCain himself has been unable to do in two years of campaigning. 1) Come off as intelligent and self-effacing.
Sidney Blumenthal: The Strange Death of Republican America (huffingtonpost.com)
The underlying story of this presidential campaign remains the Bush presidency and how it brought about the end of the long era of Republican political dominance that began in 1968.
The sins of their fathers (guardian.co.uk)
A relative of Hitler is now Jewish and living in Israel. So is the son of a Waffen-SS man. Tanya Gold talks to the descendants of Nazis who have embraced Judaism.
Brian Logan: "Edinburgh festival: 'After the show, they go home and do what I told them to'" (guardian.co.uk)
Austria's leading sexologist reveals why he loves British audiences.
Joan Brooker-Marks: Larry Flynt: The Right to Be Left Alone (huffingtonpost.com)
I interviewed Larry Flynt fifteen times over the course of 9 months, in two hours sessions. What I got from him was a little biography, a bit of outrageousness, and lots of politics.
JOHN TIERNEY: 10 Things to Scratch From Your Worry List (nytimes.com)
For most of the year, it is the duty of the press to scour the known universe looking for ways to ruin your day. The more fear, guilt or angst a news story induces, the better. But with August upon us, perhaps you're in the mood for a break, so I've rounded up a list of 10 things not to worry about on your vacation.
Constance Casey: Wall-E's Plant Apocalypse (slate.com)
AS SEEN FROM A BOTANIST'S POINT OF VIEW.
David Cox: Why the new X-Files film is a misunderstood but compelling tract for our times (guardian.co.uk)
Mulder and Scully aren't just trying in vain to revive a dated franchise. This time, they're in search of a remedy for the spiritual malaise of the West.
Lucy Mangan: Cable girl (guardian.co.uk)
Two minutes into the X Files pilot, re-screened at the weekend to coincide with the release of the second movie derived from the franchise, and we've already had bright lights in the forest, a mysteriously marked corpse and a backwoods policeman raising fearful eyes from the body to ask, "It's happening again, isn't it?" music and a 100% retention rate of viewers for the next 201 episodes.
Rebecca Chang: "The Princess Bride: 20th Anniversary Edition" (popmatters.com)
Remember when Rob Reiner was fun? MGM sure does. Perhaps that's why they've released his near-perfect fantasy romp The Princess Bride not once, not twice, but five times in the last eight years. The film was listed by Time magazine as "one of the best of '87", and by Total Film magazine as "the 38th greatest comedy of all time."
WILL LAYMAN: "Singer-(Song)Writer: An Interview with Juilana Hatfield" (popmatters.com)
The talented, iconic rock star is laying it all on the line: both in terms of her personal life (in the form a bristling, tell-all memoir) and in terms of her career (with a self-financed new album). In a candid, biting, new interview, Hatfield talks about what drove her to such a do-or-die proposition.
Len Righi: '60s icon Melanie brings serious multifacted voice to her music (The Morning Call)
From the outset of her career in the 1960s, the public perception of Melanie has never quite jibed with her own self-image.
Reader Query
Willow's Question
Yesterday Willow asked:
Today someone told me that I should not vote for Obama because he is
the anti-christ. I am confused.
Does that mean, if he loses the
election, he won't be the anti-christ anymore? Or, would he just lose
some of his powers?
If Senator McCain wins, will he then have more
power than the anti-christ? Will the anti-christ, whoever he might
be, only run for office in the USA?
Please, if any of you can
enlighten me, I would really appreciate it.
Willow
DanD responds:
On a consequent note regarding extra-biblical theology and Obama as an anti-Christ:
I can authoritatively tell you with no significant margin of error Willow, YES, OBAMA IS THE ANTI-CHRIST! I must also inform you now, IF you are a in fact a WNBACWBIA (wingnutbornagainchristianwhobelievesinarmageddon), so that your Apocalyptic brand of Yeshua can get permission from the big Daddy-O to return to Earth as (not) prophecied in the "Bible,"* according to T. LeHay and that whole crowd of Bibliotic masterbators, YOU MUST VOTE FOR OBAMA THIS ELECTION! For any Left-Behinder to NOT vote for Obama means that you actually oppose having the New Jerusalem come wafting down out of the heavens after the Tribulation so that YHWH can eventually set up for his Smackdown (tm) battle with Satan during the final "End-of-Days" battle extravaganza.
You see, according to the Rapture crowd, if an anti-Christ doesn't first come to power by first conquering the American Presidency, then all other Rapture-related prophecies cannot be fulfilled for their Savior's return, and Jebus must stay in heaven this millennial cycle and nobody will be afforded the nut-job privilige of sitting next to Him and basking in that Savior's warm glow and sunny predisposition.
On the other hand now, if you don't use messiah-oil to lube your insanity-wick every Sunday, Monday, and Wednesday evenings, well then, YOU just may decide to vote for Obama because he's about the only viable "anti-Bush" choice left for those who'd like to -- JUST MAYBE -- have America STOP committing war crimes in their name and with their (and their childrens' children children's) tax dollars. Now, this is what I would call the best short-term, "Win-Win" situation currently available.
And while I'm particularly no Obama fan (I truly believe that Ron Paul would be the best of all choices), one thing's absolutely for certain as far as righteous Christian living is concerned, the philanderer, John McCain, surely ain't no Elijah.
*Throughout the whole Old (Torah) and New Testaments (before Scofield started the demonic practice of including his own, perverted theological meanderings in the margins), absolutely no word or phrase ever occurs that can even remotely be identified with "Rapture" theology. Go ahead, Google it up, "History of the Rapture (the word "Rapture" doesn't even occur in the Bible without the help of handjob, counterfeiters)." Then tell all those Christianite, fake-Bible-believing, apostate Zionist handjobs trashing up true Christianity to go Cheney themselves.
Reader Recommendation
Link
'Some Guy' says check this out!
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny and humid.
No Cue Cards
Paris Hilton
Paris Hilton didn't need cue cards for her presidential campaign ad.
The 27-year-old heiress memorized her entire monologue, which included Hilton outlining her energy plan, in an online video spoof posted on Funny or Die, the comedy Web site's content director said.
Co-founder Adam McKay came up with the concept for a mock ad starring Hilton, which has received over 3 million views since it was posted Tuesday.
Funny or Die content director Amy Rhodes said the video was directed by Jake Szymanski and produced by Chris Henchy of Gary Sanchez Productions. She said the video took a few hours to shoot at the house where Hilton was staying at in the Hamptons. Rhodes also said Hilton was not compensated for appearing in the video "because she decided she just wanted to do it for fun."
Paris Hilton
Sci-Fi Stars In Hamlet
Royal Shakespeare Company
The Royal Shakespeare Company usually draws genteel, theater-loving crowds to the serene town of Stratford, the playwright's birthplace. It has never seen anything like the fan frenzy surrounding a new production of "Hamlet" that stars not one but two science fiction icons: David Tennant, hero of the British Broadcasting Corp.'s beloved "Doctor Who," and Patrick Stewart of "Star Trek: The Next Generation."
Tickets for the sold-out run are trading on the Internet for hundreds of dollars, screaming fans have thronged the stage door after each preview and management has banned autograph-hunters from bringing TV-themed merchandise to the theater.
The two actors have brought a show biz flair to Stratford, a town nestled on the River Avon 100 miles northwest of London. They've also upstaged its one long-running star: William Shakespeare. The playwright was born in the town, lies buried in the local church and draws hundreds of thousands of tourists to Stratford each year.
Royal Shakespeare Company
The Theatre in Shoreditch
William Shakespeare
The remains of a London theatre where William Shakespeare's early plays including "Romeo And Juliet" were first performed have been discovered by archaeologists, a museum said Wednesday.
Shakespeare appeared at The Theatre in Shoreditch, east London, as an actor with a troupe called The Lord Chamberlain's Men, which also performed his efforts as a playwright there.
"Richard III", "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and "The Merchant Of Venice" are among the other plays likely to have premiered at the theatre, according to the Museum of London, whose team made the discovery.
After a tenancy dispute in 1599, the owners of The Theatre dismantled it during the night and its timbers were used to construct the Globe Theatre by the River Thames which became the home of Shakespeare's plays.
William Shakespeare
So-Called Presidential Debates
Moderators Named
The Commission on Presidential Debates has named Jim Lehrer and Gwen Ifill of PBS, Tom Brokaw of NBC News and Bob Schieffer of CBS News as moderators of the three presidential debates and one vice presidential face-off.
Lehrer, anchor of "The NewsHour," will moderate the first presidential debate in Oxford, Miss., on Sept. 26. Ifill, a correspondent on the same program and moderator of "Washington Week," will handle the vice presidential debate Oct. 2 in St. Louis.
Brokaw, moderator of "Meet the Press," will handle the second presidential debate in Nashville, Tenn., followed by Schieffer, host of "Face the Nation," who will handle the third and final presidential debate in Hempstead, N.Y.
Each 90-minute debate will have a single moderator.
Moderators Named
Finds Brazilian 'Kid'
Frank Sinatra Jr
The son of legendary singer Frank Sinatra has found a Brazilian sponsored by his father in the 1980s after a public search headed by a Rio newspaper.
The O Dia daily said Wednesday its photo of Carlos Henrique dos Santos taken 28 years ago, when he was a boy and met Sinatra during the late crooner's concert tour in Rio de Janeiro in 1980, proved successful in locating him.
The outcome was a happy one for Dos Santos, now 40 and a security guard. His wife died of cancer three months ago, leaving him to raise their two children alone, and his mother died last year.
He said he had kept a collection of Sinatra albums the elder singer had given him when they met. "I still have them, but I can't listen to them because I don't have a record player," he said.
Frank Sinatra Jr
Hollywood To Bollywood
Snoop Dogg
Rapper Snoop Dogg has switched his attention from Hollywood to Bollywood.
"Yo, what up. This Big Snoop Dogg. Represent the Punjabi. Aye ya, Hit 'em with this," he says while introducing the title song to "Singh is Kinng," a Bollywood film.
Clad in a maroon slim-fitted Indian kurta and beige trousers and a diamond-studded turban, Snoop Dogg lounges on an oversized armchair draped with blue and pink silk alongside Akshay Kumar, the film's lead star, in a video posted on the internet by the producers, Cashmere Asia.
"I'm just a king sitting on my throne all alone, " Snoop Dogg raps, surrounded by energetic dancers in colourful headgear in a song peppered with rhythmic drum beats. "Singh is King. Singh is King. Snoop Dogg is also the King."
Snoop Dogg
Feds Drop Drug Probe
Heath Ledger
Federal prosecutors have decided not to pursue a criminal case into how Heath Ledger obtained the powerful painkillers that contributed to his overdose death this year, a law enforcement official said Wednesday.
Prosecutors in the U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan had been overseeing a Drug Enforcement Administration probe into whether the painkillers found in Ledger's system were obtained illegally. But the prosecutors have bowed out "because they don't believe there's a viable target," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because no charges have been filed.
The decision comes after recent reports that actress Mary-Kate Olsen was demanding immunity before answering questions about the startling death of her close friend and his drug use. Authorities say she was the first person called by a masseuse who found the 28-year-old "Dark Knight" actor's lifeless body in his Manhattan apartment.
The DEA had obtained a subpoena that could have forced Olsen if she continued to hold out. But the subpoena, issued in April, is no longer valid because it was contingent upon prosecutors pursuing the case, the official said Wednesday. The official added that the case could still be revived if evidence of a crime emerges.
Heath Ledger
Jury Seated
Victoria Osteen
A jury was seated Wednesday in a lawsuit alleging the wife of nationally known pastor Joel Osteen assaulted a flight attendant.
Opening arguments were set for Thursday in a case Victoria Osteen's lawyer called "silly." But Reginald McKamie, attorney for Continental Airlines flight attendant Sharon Brown, said he hopes the trial will show "that celebrity status doesn't take precedence."
Brown accuses Victoria Osteen of assaulting her before the start of a 2005 flight from Houston to Vail, Colo. Brown alleges Victoria Osteen threw her against a bathroom door and elbowed her in the left breast during an angry outburst over a stain on her first-class seat. The Federal Aviation Administration fined Victoria Osteen $3,000 for interfering with a crew member.
Joel Osteen preaches at Lakewood Church, a Houston megachurch where about 42,000 people flock each week and where Victoria Osteen is co-pastor. His weekly television address is broadcast nationally and internationally.
Victoria Osteen
Dubai Buys Stake
Cirque du Soleil
Two government-owned investment firms in Dubai have acquired a 20 percent stake in the colorful Canadian acrobatic troupe Cirque du Soleil, furthering the desert city's plans to expand its tourism appeal and lengthening its list of foreign investments.
Istithmar World, the investment arm of Dubai World, and real estate developer Nakheel said on Wednesday they bought the stake in the Montreal-based circus for an undisclosed sum.
Under the deal, the rest of the business will remain under the ownership of Guy Laliberte, the founder of Cirque du Soleil, which is known for mixing traditional circus acts with dance, music, mime and theater.
Cirque du Soleil plans to open a show production office, ticketing company, and technical equipment and set design rental company in Dubai.
Cirque du Soleil
Christian Values In Action
Rev. Howard Douglas Porter
Friends of an elderly millionaire who was killed by a local pastor sensed something was wrong long before his death.
The agricultural museum that the Rev. Howard Douglas Porter had promised to establish using the old man's life savings wasn't being built, so one day Les Orr drove 85-year-old Frank Craig to the site. There, behind Hickman Community Church, where Porter was the pastor, stood nothing but an empty grass lot.
"As soon as he saw there was no foundation, that nothing had been done at all, he started vomiting," Orr said, recalling the feelings of betrayal that overwhelmed Craig, his friend of 60 years. "Then he said, `Take me home.'"
Porter, 57, was convicted Monday of first-degree murder, embezzlement, elder abuse and attempted murder. By the time the verdict was read, the once-lively town debate of whether Porter was to blame for Craig's death had become one-sided, and most people, residents said, seemed resigned to a guilty verdict.
Rev. Howard Douglas Porter
Kangaroo Court In Session
Gitmo
A jury of six military officers at Guantanamo Bay reached a split verdict Wednesday in the war crimes trial of a former driver for Osama bin Laden, clearing him of some charges but convicting him of others that could send him to prison for life.
The Pentagon-selected jury deliberated for about eight hours over three days before convicting Salim Hamdan of supporting terrorism. He was cleared of the conspiracy charge.
Hamdan, who faces a maximum life sentence, held his head in his hands and wept at the defense table after a Navy captain presiding over the jury read the sentence in a hilltop courtroom on this U.S. Navy base.
Defense lawyers had feared a guilty verdict was inevitable, saying the tribunal system's rules seemed designed to achieve convictions, said Navy Lt. Cmdr. Brian Mizer, Salim Hamdan's Pentagon-appointed attorney.
Gitmo
Many Failures Clear
Crandall Canyon Mine
The collapse of the Crandall Canyon mine one year ago was so extensive, federal officials found no other mining disaster in the last 50 years to compare to it.
Hundreds of coal pillars, overloaded by aggressive mining that carved out too many voids, collapsed within seconds on Aug. 6, 2007, entombing six miners nearly half a mile underground. Satellite radar images show that a 69-acre section of the mine caved in - the equivalent of 63 football fields without the end zones.
The Mine Safety and Health Administration said the mine was "destined to fail" because the mining company made critical miscalculations and didn't report early warning signs. But MSHA itself also was faulted by its parent agency, both for lax oversight before the collapse and for its handling of a haphazard rescue effort that left three more people dead.
The DOL report heavily criticized Bob Murray's volatile behavior during the crisis, especially at daily briefings for family members, where he "frequently became very irate and would start yelling," even making young children cry, it said. He told family members that "the media is telling you lies" and "the union is your enemy."
Crandall Canyon Mine
Cable Nielsens
Ratings
Rankings for the top 15 programs on cable networks as compiled by Nielsen Media Research for the week of July 28-Aug. 3. Day and start time (EDT) are in parentheses:
1. "The Closer" (Monday, 9 p.m.), TNT, 5.45 million homes, 7.35 million viewers.
2. Auto Racing: NASCAR Sprint Cup, Poconos (Sunday, 2 p.m.), ESPN, 4.33 million homes, 6.19 million viewers.
3. "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" (Sunday, 9 p.m.), USA, 3.66 million homes, 4.92 million viewers.
4. "Burn Notice" (Thursday, 10 p.m.), USA, 3.64 million homes, 4.86 million viewers.
5. "Saving Grace" (Monday, 10 p.m.), TNT, 3.61 million homes, 4.77 million viewers.
6. "WWE Raw" (Monday, 10 p.m.), USA, 3.59 million homes, 5.52 million viewers.
7. "Army Wives" (Sunday, 10 p.m.), Lifetime, 3.41 million homes, 4.18 million viewers.
8. "Monk" (Friday, 9 p.m.), USA, 3.26 million homes, 4.6 million viewers.
9. "Hannah Montana" (Sunday, 8:30 p.m.), Disney, 3.24 million homes, 4.62 million viewers.
10. "WWE Raw" (Monday, 9 p.m.), USA, 3.23 million homes, 4.98 million viewers.
11. "In Plain Sight" (Sunday, 10 p.m.), USA, 3.19 million homes, 4.22 million viewers.
12. "Psych" (Friday, 10 p.m.), USA, 3.03 million homes, 4.29 million viewers.
13. Movie: "Princess Diaries 2" (Sunday, 9 p.m.), Disney, 2.92 million homes, 3.87 million viewers.
14. Movie: "The Incredibles" (Monday, 12 p.m.), Disney, 2.87 million homes, 4.13 million viewers.
15. "SpongeBob SquarePants" (Saturday, 12 p.m.), Nickelodeon, 2.81 million homes, 3.61 million viewers.
Ratings
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