'Best of TBH Politoons'
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
It's All About Who You Sleep With ... a Cautionary Note from Michael Moore
Friends, Let the resounding defeat of Senator Joe Lieberman send a cold shiver down the spine of every Democrat who supported the invasion of Iraq and who continues to support, in any way, this senseless, immoral, unwinnable war. Make no mistake about it: We, the majority of Americans, want this war ended -- and we will actively work to defeat each and every one of you who does not support an immediate end to this war.
Declan McCullagh: Did bloggers cost Joe Lieberman an election? (news.com.com)
Bloggers may have claimed their first victory in a high-profile election campaign.
Jennifer Copestake: Gays flee Iraq as Shia death squads find a new target (observer.guardian.co.uk)
Evidence shows increase in number of executions as homosexuals plead for asylum in Britain
An act of love (guardian.co.uk)
When Michael Graham's wife Elizabeth was diagnosed with motor neurone disease, she made up her mind to die before she became completely immobile. Michael knew he would have to help her - even though it could land him in jail. What he wasn't prepared for was how long it would take and how far he would have to go.
Geek nation (guardian.co.uk)
Who would have thought an encyclopaedia could be so addictive? For the fans who write and update Wikipedia, the free online research tool, it takes only hours to get hooked. Now they just need to work out how to beat the vandals. Gary Younge reports.
Lionel Shriver: Skinflints and spendthrifts (guardian.co.uk)
As a kid, I got an allowance of 25 cents a week - that's about 14p. Even in 1960s money, that was the childhood version of being on welfare. And there were strings attached: I had to give 10 cents to the church and put another dime in my piggy bank, leaving one big fat nickel to spend.
JOHN UPDIKE: LATE WORKS (newyorker.com)
Writers and artists confronting the end.
Jessica Clark: Comedy, Like Reality, Has a Liberal Bias (In These Times. Posted on Alternet.org)
As Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert have shown, Americans are now turning to comedy to find the real story.
Reader Tip
Penguins!
From the Texas brief in today's "Across the USA" roundup:
"Marshall -- Motorists dodged penguins bound for Galveston Zoo after a truck carrying the birds overturned, injuring the driver and a passenger, the Department of Public Safety said. The rig was hauling penguins, exotic fish and birds from the Indianapolis Zoo, which is being renovated. Four penguins and some fish died, authorities said."
The Houston Chronicle and Marshall News Messenger have more on the story. While many of the penguins reportedly had cuts and bruises, authorities say they're all in good shape. "A lot of the folks who were at the scene of the wreck were actually surprised that anyone walked away, both animals and humans," one zoo manager tells the Chronicle. The paper says the "Galveston Zoo" mentioned is the city's Moody Gardens attraction.
According to the News Messenger, the penguins' truck was one of two making the Indy to Galveston run. The other truck carried alligators and snakes. "We got the good truck," one trooper says.
For more, see KHOU video of the penguins' post-wreck zoo arrival. Also, the Chronicle story and the News Messenger homepage have a picture from the wreck scene.Posted by Patrick Cooper at 11:01 AM/ET,
Purple Gene Reviews
'Gene Simmons: Family Jewels'
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny, with humidity to spare.
No new flags.
$1 Million To Clinton Charity
Barbra Streisand
With a gift of $1 million, Barbra Streisand has selected former president Bill Clinton's Climate Change Initiative as the first recipient to benefit from the millions she has pledged to charitable causes generated by her upcoming national concert tour.
The gift helped make Streisand the leading contributor to Clinton's effort to bring together a consortium of major cities around the world to drive down greenhouse gas emissions.
Streisand recently announced that she would undertake a concert tour in October and November to help raise money for organizations dealing with environmental, women's health and educational issues.
Barbra Streisand
Disabled Veterans Memorial
Phyllis Diller
Military personnel have always been close to the heart of Phyllis Diller, who toured overseas on Bob Hope's USO tours.
So it's no surprise the 89-year-old comedian agreed to the role of a national spokeswoman for the American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial. A $65 million building campaign is under way for the privately funded effort.
The memorial, authorized in 2000 by then- President Clinton, will be the nation's first permanent tribute to the 3 million disabled American veterans living today, including more than 7,000 from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as the many thousands from previous wars who have since died.
The memorial will be located on a more than 2-acre site across from the U.S. Botanic Garden in Washington. No public funds will be used.
Phyllis Diller
14 Seconds, 38 Words
Ellen Burstyn
The television academy is facing uncomfortable questions about its procedures after Ellen Burstyn was nominated for a best supporting actress Emmy for a 14-second performance.
Burstyn appeared briefly in the HBO movie "Mrs. Harris," playing a former lover in a flashback scene reminiscing about Scarsdale diet doctor Herman Tarnower.
She spoke two lines, totaling 38 words, according to The Hollywood Reporter, which measured her on-screen time.
There's no rule setting a minimum participation requirement for award consideration, but the TV academy is willing to consider one for next year, she said.
Ellen Burstyn
Admits To Voice Coaching
Mick Jagger
For 35 years Rolling Stone frontman Mick Jagger has famously strutted his stuff and belted out the hits without ever once having a singing lesson -- until now.
"Better late than never," the 63-year-old rock star revealed on Virgin Radio ahead of the band's London gigs on August 20 and 22, part of their "A Bigger Bang" world tour.
"I did a bit of voice coaching a couple of years ago, after 35 years with no voice coaching," he said.
"I mean, you sing a lot. Every night you are singing for hours and hours and your voice gets tired, like anything -- like running every night. That's why you have to warm up properly. I just learnt that so that's probably helped me."
Mick Jagger
Rehab News
Robin Williams
Robin Williams is seeking treatment for alcoholism, publicist Mara Buxbaum said Wednesday.
The 55-year-old comedian had been sober for 20 years, Buxbaum said.
Williams "found himself drinking again and has decided to take proactive measures to deal with this for his own well-being and the well-being of his family," she said in a statement. "He looks forward to returning to work this fall to support his upcoming film releases."
Malaysia Fines Organizers
Pussycat Dolls
Malaysian authorities fined organizers of a concert by the chart-topping Pussycat Dolls for allowing the singers to wear skimpy costumes and for their "sexually suggestive routines," a news report said Wednesday.
The Subang Jaya Municipal Council, which administers the suburb where the concert was held in late July, fined organizers Absolute Entertainment 10,000 ringgit ($2,714) for flouting decency regulations, the Malay Mail tabloid reported.
The government in this Southeast Asian nation had previously warned Western artistes not to be too "raunchy" so as not to offend local sensitivities when performing in Malaysia.
Pussycat Dolls
Sues Former Friend
Bruce Willis
Bruce Willis has sued a childhood friend, claiming he tried to extort at least $100,000 from him by threatening to release private photos of the action star.
The lawsuit claims that Bruce DiMattia was "overcome by greed" and was "jealous of his former friend's success," so he threatened to disclose personal information about the actor unless Willis bought him a car and paid him at least $100,000.
DiMattia worked for Willis - and lived rent-free in a house owned by the actor - from 2002 until 2006, the lawsuit said.
DiMattia's employment ended this year, but he has refused to move out of the house and still has Willis' private photos and other property, according to the suit.
Bruce Willis
Photographer Pays Heavy Price
John McCusker
John McCusker, a photographer for the Times-Picayune of New Orleans who has undergone severe personal trauma since Hurricana Katrina hit was arrested Tuesday after trying to get police to shoot him to death. Police said he claimed he was depressed after he found out he didn't have enough insurance money to rebuild his Katrina-damaged home.
They said he was seeking "suicide-by-cop," but police who found him tasered him instead.
He had been one of the paper's key photographers in the immediate aftermath of Katrina. "Katrina didn't flood New Orleans - government failure did," he told visiting students from Brown University recently.
The current issue of American Journalism Reviews includes a New Orleans feature that mentions McCusker in several paragraphs. It said he went back to work on June 20 after taking a leave and attending therapy sessions three times a week. He explained that he had essentially become nonfunctional, "a joker who had become humorless, a man who had given up cigarettes 20 years ago who was smoking two packs a day."
John McCusker
Fundraising Letter Pulled
Mel Gibson
Tom McClintock, Republican candidate for CA lieutenant governor said he no longer will use a fundraising letter sent on his behalf by Mel Gibson, who admitted to an anti-Semitic tirade after he was pulled over for speeding.
"Tom saw the news and the situation as it was unfolding with Mel Gibson and made a conscious decision to direct people not to use the letter any further. He was disillusioned by the situation with Mr. Gibson," spokesman Stan Devereaux said.
Devereaux said the campaign sent Gibson's letter to would-be donors four times, twice this year and twice last year.
Mel Gibson
Board of Education To Tackle Evolution
Kansas
Moderates who will control the state Board of Education next year say it's only a matter of time before they unravel the work of conservatives who had pushed anti-evolution standards back into Kansas schools.
"I imagine everybody is anxious to get the science standards changed back to the mainstream," Democratic member Bill Wagnon said Tuesday.
Evolution skeptics lost their 6-4 majority earlier this month with the outcome of primary races.
Kansas
Stripped For Medicinal Bark
Slippery Elm
The 20-foot tree stands half naked, much of the bark stripped from its trunk. It has only months to live. "It doesn't know it's dead," says U.S. Forest Service botanist David Taylor, pointing to the healthy leaves overhead.
This slippery elm has fallen victim to thieves who tore off its bark for profit in the lucrative and burgeoning herbal-remedy market.
Slippery elms are native to North America and can be found from Canada to Texas. Authorities say the prime season for stealing is mid-June and early July, when the bark is sticky and easy to peel.
Slippery Elm
In Memory
James Van Allen
Physicist James A. Van Allen, a leader in space exploration who discovered the radiation belts surrounding the Earth that now bear his name, died Wednesday. He was 91.
Van Allen gained global attention in the late 1950s when instruments he designed and placed aboard the first U.S. satellite, Explorer I, discovered the bands of intense radiation that surround the earth, now known as the Van Allen Belts.
Though he was an early advocate of a concerted national space program, Van Allen was a strong critic of most manned space projects, once dismissing the U.S. proposal for a manned space station "speculative and ... poorly founded."
Van Allen was born Sept. 7, 1914, in Mount Pleasant, Iowa. As an undergraduate at Iowa Wesleyan College, he helped prepare research instruments for the Byrd Antarctic Expedition. He got his master's and Ph.D. from the University of Iowa.
After serving in the Naval Reserve during World War II, he was a researcher at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md., supervising tests of captured German V-2 rockets and developing similar rockets to probe the upper atmosphere.
James Van Allen
In Memory
Bob Thaves
Bob Thaves, whose syndicated comic strip Frank & Ernest amused newspaper readers for decades with its quirky observations on life, has died of respiratory failure.
He was 81. Thaves died Tuesday at Little Company of Mary Hospital in Torrance, Calif., said his daughter, Sara Thaves. His long-running strip stars the happy-go-lucky punsters Frank and Ernest, who travel the universe and through time - and sometimes change shape - as they comment on everything from science to world politics.
Thaves' son, Tom, has collaborated with his father on Frank & Ernest since 1997 and will continue to produce it, said a statement from United Media, whose Newspaper Enterprise Association syndicates the strip.
Thaves, who held both bachelor's and master's degrees in psychology from the University of Minnesota, began cartooning as a child and was published in a college humour magazine at the University of Minnesota.
He went on to produce cartoons for various magazines and created Frank & Ernest while working as an industrial psychology consultant in Los Angeles. The strip wasn't syndicated until Thaves was 48 and he didn't quit his consulting job for several years. "He knew the chances of being syndicated - you might as well try to be a professional athlete," his daughter said.
Thaves was a three-time winner of the National Cartoonists Society's prestigious Reuben Award for best syndicated panel and won the Free Press Association's Mencken Award for best cartoon.
Besides his daughter and son, Thaves is survived by his wife of 52 years, Katie, and a son-in-law, Michael van Eckhardt.
Bob Thaves
In Memory
Robert McCullough
Robert McCullough, who led a group of black students in a landmark civil rights protest 45 years ago, choosing to serve jail time on a chain gang for the crime of sitting at a whites-only lunch counter, died Monday. He was 64.
McCullough, along with eight other black students from Friendship Junior College, gained widespread attention when they used the "jail, no bail" technique after they were arrested in February 1961.
The group, which became known as the Friendship Nine, had demanded service at the McCrory's lunch counter at Rock Hill, and were charged with trespassing and breach of peace. The protest came around the first anniversary of a sit-in at a segregated lunch counter in Greensboro, N.C., that helped galvanize the civil rights movement.
Given the option of paying a $100 fine or serving 30 days in jail, the Rock Hill students broke with earlier sit-in protesters and chose to serve the time, even though it meant a frightening ordeal on a chain gang.
Robert McCullough
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