'Best of TBH Politoons'
Updated!
Riverbend
"Let's pretend the 600,000+ number is all wrong and that the minimum is the correct number: nearly 400,000. Is that better? Prior to the war, the Bush administration kept claiming that Saddam killed 300,000 Iraqis over 24 years. After this latest report published in The Lancet, 300,000 is looking quite modest and tame. Congratulations Bush et al."
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Yuri Loudon: Howard Zinn on Our 'Addiction to Massive Violence' (The Internationalist; Posted on Alternet.org)
The man who changed the way we look at history explains where Iraq war resistance fits into the history of peace activism.
RACHEL ZOLL: 'Common good' unifies Dems for election (news.yahoo.com)
Ned Lamont uses it in his Connecticut Senate race. President Clinton is scheduled to speak on the idea in Washington this week. Bob Casey Jr., Pennsylvania candidate for Senate, put it in the title of his talk at The Catholic University of America - then repeated the phrase 29 times. The term is "common good," and it's catching on as a way to describe liberal values and reach religious voters who rejected Democrats in the 2004 election.
Comedy to the rescue (guardian.co.uk)
Want to know what's going on in politics? Forget the news. Armando Iannucci on how comedians are filling the gap where serious debate used to be.
Witold Rybczynski: The San Francisco Paradox (slate.com)
When good cities have bad architecture.
Annalee Newitz: GooTube is Dead (AlterNet.org)
So what will you lose when Google turns YouTube into one of its searchable data troves?
Jan Swafford: High Score (slate.com)
Who's the greatest film composer of all time?
owen holmes: Silly Putty Doesn't Work Anymore (www.altweeklies.com/)
When the Silly Putty empire asked its followers in 2001 to write in with their "silliest uses" of America's favorite viscoelastic liquid, Putty enthusiasts responded with more than 3,000 functions of the stretchable, bounceable, breakable substance. Pam Straub of North Hampton, N.H., uses it to attach unwanted vegetables to the underside of her family's dinner table. Judith Daly of Norwich, Conn., molds Silly Putty to resemble a swollen gland and fakes sick. Ron Franko of Library, Pa., even helped authorities catch a local vandal by using Silly Putty to lift fingerprints off his burglarized truck.
How One Man Can Build Stonehenge (Video)
Wally Wallington, a retired carpenter from Michigan, demonstrates that he can lift a Stonehenge-sized pillar weighing 22,000 lbs. all by himself and without much effort.
A Song About Having Two Fathers (Video)
Cartoons: I Drew This (idrewthis.org)
The Wall St. Poet
A Public Service Clan
Congress is getting a lot of flack these days because of corruption (Abramoff) and inproper behavior (Foley). But let's not forget nepotism (Weldon). It's no coincidence that so many relatives of Congressmen like Weldon have sweet deals linked to these officials' ability to deliver political favors.
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny, with warm Santa Ana winds.
Marks First Anniversary
'Colbert Report'
"The Colbert Report" celebrated its one-year anniversary Tuesday by offering the show's devoted audience - the "Colbert Nation" - a piece of its leader.
Colbert announced that he will auction the portrait that hangs above the fireplace on the set of his Comedy Central show. The painting depicts a debonair Colbert standing in front of the very same portrait of himself.
The portrait will be auctioned on eBay until Oct. 30, with proceeds to benefit Save the Children.
`Colbert Report'
Boycotts 2007 Oscars Over Bush
Aki Kaurismaeki
Finnish filmmaker Aki Kaurismaeki, who made the award-winning "The Man Without a Past", has decided to boycott the 2007 Oscars over US resident George Bush's foreign policy, a colleague of his said.
Kaurismaeki's latest movie, "Lights in the Dusk", was to have been selected by the Finnish film institute as the country's contribution to the Oscars in the category for best foreign film. But the filmmaker refused to give the green light and Finland will therefore not submit a film.
"When 'The Man without a Past' was nominated (in 2002), Aki decided he would not go to the ceremony or send a representative because of what was happening then in the world and because of the governemnt in charge in the United States," Ilkka Mertsola, a line producer for Kaurismaeki, told AFP Wednesday.
"Most of the problems are unchanged, so he is unable to participate this time also," he added.
Aki Kaurismaeki
Hollywood Walk O'Fame Star
Tim McGraw
Tim McGraw, the country entertainer whose many hats include recording star, concert performer and movie actor, was enshrined in concrete Tuesday with a star along the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
"I really still don't know how it happens, maybe they made a mistake or something," said the incredulous entertainer, surrounded by wife Faith Hill, actor Billy Bob Thornton and a screaming throng of fans.
McGraw's sidewalk star was unveiled in front of the Virgin Records store on Hollywood Boulevard. He wore his signature black cowboy hat to shade him from a sunny autumn day in Southern California.
Tim McGraw
Honored In Memphis
Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Civil Rights Museum, then segued from his acceptance speech into a medley of his songs that included "My Cherie Amour" and "I Wish."
Wonder, 56, received the honor Tuesday night. The museum also awarded civil rights pioneer Dr. Joseph Lowery the National Freedom Award and Doctors Without Borders co-founder Bernard Kouchner the International Freedom Award.
Playing an electronic keyboard, Wonder told an audience of about 5,000 that music is a gift he can share, challenging Memphis and the world to "use the gifts God has given us to help those less fortunate."
Stevie Wonder
Pythons Reunite For London Premiere
'Spamalot'
Four members of the British cult comedy team Monty Python reunited briefly on Tuesday to attend the London premiere of "Spamalot," a musical version of the 1974 classic comedy film "Monty Python and the Holy Grail."
Author and lyricist Eric Idle, flanked by three of his fellow Pythons on the opening night, hopes to match "Spamalot's" record-breaking run on Broadway where it took more than one million dollars a week and landed three Tony awards.
"I am a little nervous," Idle admitted, as he was joined by fellow Pythons Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones and Michael Palin. John Cleese was away on location in Australia.
'Spamalot'
Big Oil Vs. Hollywood
Proposition 87
The advertising battle over Proposition 87 has drawn a record amount of cash for a ballot question -- more than double that spent on the higher-profile governor's race. Californians vote November 7 on whether to adopt a tax similar to those levied by other oil-producing states.
"It's a staggering amount of money," said John Matsusaka, University of Southern California business and law professor and president of the USC-based and nonpartisan Initiative and Referendum Institute. "We're talking $107 million on a single measure in one state and we're not even done."
Stephen L. Bing, a movie producer and real estate scion, has pitched in more than $40 million in support of the proposal to tax oil output, which has been bolstered by the likes of Julia Roberts, Bill Clinton, and Al Gore.
Proposition 87
Opposes Eminent Domain Measure
Robert Redford
Robert Redford has added a celebrity touch to those urging California voters to reject a sweeping eminent domain initiative.
In an e-mail sent this week to more than 172,000 members of the Natural Resources Defense Council and made public Tuesday, Redford described the eminent domain proposition as "the single most dangerous threat that has ever been leveled at our state's environment."
Put on the November ballot by property rights activists, Proposition 90 would amend the state Constitution to make it harder and more costly for governments to condemn property or pass regulations that affect land values.
Robert Redford
H2OAfrica
Matt Damon
Matt Damon went to the Sahara Desert to scout locations for a movie about long-distance runners. But when he got there, he took on another project: helping bring clean water to Africa.
Damon and the production team behind the upcoming documentary "Running the Sahara" created a charity to accompany their filmmaking expedition in Africa, which gets under way this month.
H2OAfrica aims to raise awareness about Africa's water needs and support clean-water programs.
Matt Damon
Sets Record For VH1
Flavor Flav
Rapper Flavor Flav's search for love helped VH1 break ratings records Sunday, when "Flavor of Love 2" wooed 7.5 million total viewers to its season finale, marking the network's highest-rated telecast ever.
The 90-minute Season 2 finale, which aired at 10 p.m. Sunday, also was the No. 1 cable telecast for the night and the top nonsports telecast in all of basic cable for the entire year, according to Nielsen Media Research data.
In the key demo of adults 18-49, the episode averaged a 4.6 rating, topping all other cable programs for the night. Among black adults 18-49, the show earned an 18 rating/34 share.
Flavor Flav
Chris's Mom Vs. Cracker Barrel
Rose Rock
Rose Rock, the mother of comedian Chris Rock, claims she was racially discriminated against when she was seated but ignored for more than a half hour at a Cracker Barrel restaurant along the South Carolina coast.
Rock, who is from Georgetown, said she and her 21-year-old daughter were the only blacks at the chain's Murrells Inlet restaurant in April. She said when she asked the manager about the delay she was told they could have a free meal.
"He never called over the waitresses and asked, `Why did these people sit here for an hour without service?'" she said. "The only thing he said was we could have a free meal and neither of us wanted to eat."
Rose Rock
Charlatan Seeks 'Heir'
Uri Geller
After four decades of bending spoons, halting clocks, reading minds, and penning metaphysical thrillers, Uri Geller is seeking a paranormal protege.
A reality television show being produced in Israel, where Geller grew up, will feature 10 contestants vying for the title of "heir" to the world-famous celebrity psychic.
Geller, 59, declined to elaborate on what supernatural skills the contestants claim to have, and whether clairvoyants -- who might be assumed to have an edge in predicting judges' votes -- are taking part. He described the prize, simply, as "huge."
Uri Geller
Removing Gastric Band
Sharon Osbourne
Sharon Osbourne says she plans to remove a gastric band that helped her lose 125 pounds and instead rely on psychotherapy to cope with her weight issues.
Osbourne, who has written a memoir, "Sharon Osbourne Extreme," had surgery in 1999 to have the gastric band put inside her, but intends to shed it in December (when she returns to the U.S. from Britain). Though the band is designed to limit food intake by squeezing down the stomach's capacity, she packed on 15 pounds this year, she says, "from overeating."
What happens when she eats too much? "You throw up...then you eat more," she says.
Sharon Osbourne
Gets Probation
Vadim Perelman
A movie director charged with groping two women in a city bar has been granted probation on criminal charges.
Vadim Perelman, 43, of Venice, Calif., was placed on accelerated rehabilitation Monday during an appearance in Superior Court.
Perelman, who directed the 2003 film "House of Sand and Fog," will have the charges dropped and his record cleansed if he stays out of trouble for two years. Accelerated rehabilitation is a form of probation that requires no guilty plea and is designed for first-time offenders facing minor charges.
Prosecutors said that one of the women's boyfriends confronted Perelman, who threw a punch that missed the boyfriend and struck his date. Police found Perelman walking a short distance away after the club's manager flagged down a patrol officer.
Vadim Perelman
Promises, Promises
McCain
Arizona Sen. John McCain, a likely Republican presidential contender in 2008, joked on Wednesday he would "commit suicide" if Democrats win the Senate in November.
McCain, on a visit to Iowa to campaign for Republican congressional candidates, was asked his reaction to a potential Democratic takeover of the Senate in the November 7 elections.
"I think I'd just commit suicide," McCain told reporters, to accompanying laughter from Republicans standing with him. "I don't want to face that eventuality because I don't think it's going to happen."
McCain
Michelle's Dad To Face Hearing
Larry Williams
Michelle Williams' father, a prominent stock market trader, was ordered Wednesday to face an extradition hearing over tax evasion charges in the United States.
Australian police, responding to a request from U.S. authorities, arrested 64-year-old Larry Williams in May after he flew into Sydney to begin a monthlong speaking tour in Australia and New Zealand. He was released on $753,000 bail.
The U.S. Internal Revenue Service wants to question Williams - a resident of the Virgin Islands - about a possible $1.5 million in unpaid taxes from book royalties and earnings from international seminars he conducted between 1990 and 2001.
Larry Williams
Human Vultures Cop Plea
Alistair Cooke
Seven funeral home directors linked to a scheme to plunder corpses and sell the body parts for transplants pleaded guilty to undisclosed charges and have agreed to cooperate with investigators, prosecutors announced Wednesday.
The unidentified directors secretly pleaded guilty in the probe of what investigators say was a plot to harvest bone and tissue and sell it to biomedical supply companies, Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes said.
The seven entered their pleas in closed courtrooms and their names were withheld, but defense attorneys said that among those cooperating was the director of a funeral home that took parts from the body of "Masterpiece Theatre" host Alistair Cooke, who died in 2004.
Alistair Cooke
What Corruption?
Shirlington Limousine
A limousine company caught up in a congressional bribery scandal is having its Homeland Security contract extended, several months after angry Capitol Hill hearings into why the contract was awarded in the first place.
The Homeland Security Department notified Shirlington Limousine in recent weeks that it intended to exercise an option to extend its contract for transporting department employees around the Washington area, department spokesman Russ Knocke said.
Shirlington, of Arlington, Va., is part of a federal investigation into whether a defense contractor provided disgraced former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham of California with prostitutes and limos. Cunningham is serving jail time for taking bribes from defense contractors. Shirlington's president, Christopher Baker, has appeared before a grand jury in San Diego as part of the ongoing investigation.
The hearing revealed some odd circumstances in how Shirlington got its first Homeland Security contract, including a letter of support sent by Cunningham several months before it was awarded.
Shirlington Limousine
Can Keep Name
Turkey Testicle Festival
Organizers of fourth annual Turkey Testicle Festival can keep their name, despite concerns about the propriety of the word and the island's virtue.
The Fort Myers Beach Council voted 4-1 Monday to allow the Surf Club bar to use the Turkey Testicle Festival name after a laugh-out-loud discussion, according to the News-Press.
The festival has raised about $3,000 for the Harry Chapin Food Bank in each of its past three years. A change in policy that requires the town council to approve special events brought the issue of the name to the table two weeks ago.
Turkey Testicle Festival
Fading Fast
TV Theme Songs
Don't remember much about high school biology or physics. Couldn't tell ya how to compute a calculus problem. But, for the love of Will Smith, the theme song to "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" remains fresh in the mind.
Smith's catchy rap opened each episode of his hit `90s sitcom, in which he starred as a street-smart teen from Philly who moves in with wealthy relatives. A whole generation knows it by heart - that, and the "Saved by the Bell" song.
TV themes, from "The Beverly Hillbillies" to "The Brady Bunch" to "Cheers" to "Friends," conjure up memories of cozy nights, childhood bliss and a universal nostalgia for bygone days. But, today, show themes are doing a fast fade as the networks crunch their programming budgets.
TV Theme Songs
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