'Best of TBH Politoons'
PURPLE GENE'S WEIRD WORD OF THE WEEK
ATRABILIOUS
ON LINE DEFINITION: Gloomy or morose; bad tempered or irritable.
ON THE STREET: Often considered melancholia but sometimes considered one of the 4 humours......black bile!
IN A SENTENCE: Billy is a silly gus..... supercilious and rather ATRABILIOUS!
(Read BartCop Entertainment and learn a useless new word each Tuesday)
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Paul Krugman: From Hype to Fear (nytimes.com)
The opponents of change, those who want to keep the Bush legacy intact, are very good at the fear thing.
Paul Krugman: Charts for 1/7 column (nytimes.com)
Backup material for the column. All data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
CLIVE THOMPSON: Can You Count on Voting Machines? (nytimes.com)
Jane Platten gestured, bleary-eyed, into the secure room filled with voting machines. It was 3 a.m. on Nov. 7, and she had been working for 22 hours straight. "I guess we've seen how technology can affect an election," she said. The electronic voting machines in Cleveland were causing trouble again.
MARTHA BIONDI: Dropping Out of Electoral College (inthesetimes.com)
Maryland is the first state to pass the National Popular Vote (NPV) into law, and several others are right behind.
Jim Hightower: PAYING THE PRICE FOR NAFTA (jimhightower.com)
New Year's Day is normally considered a harbringer of hope, but this New Year dawned as a day of dread for hundreds of thousands of small farmers just to the south of our border with Mexico.
Consuming passion (guardian.co.uk)
In the first of two extracts from his new book, Michael Pollan says we should junk the science - and rediscover the joy of eating.
Everybody loves Chris (guardian.co.uk)
But for a trick of fate, Chris Rock might have been a truck driver. Instead the Brooklyn boy is the 'funniest man alive', a taboo-busting comic who sends audiences into hysterics - by insulting them. Ed Pilkington meets him on the eve of his first British tour.
'We've killed a lot of animals' (guardian.co.uk)
Joel and Ethan Coen have never shied away from death, and their latest film is one of their bloodiest - and best. They tell John Patterson about Texas, torture and a 'fantastic' haircut.
Roger Ebert: THE RAPE OF EUROPA (NOT RATED; 3 stars)
We know the Nazis looted art from the nations they overran. Maybe we've seen "The Train" (1964) and know how one shipment was thwarted. But how many important paintings, sculptures and other artworks would you say the Nazis made off with? Hundreds? Thousands? "The Rape of Europa," a startling documentary, puts the number rather higher: One-fifth of all the known significant works of art in Europe -- millions.
Roger Ebert: Without You I'm Nothing (from 1990; 3 stars)
... this audience is really very special. No, really! Sandra Bernhard's "Without You I'm Nothing" seems to be set in lounge act hell. She plays a series of cabaret artists doomed to appear night after night before a completely indifferent audience. In this version of hell, time runs together, and so do the acts - so that at times she's doing Nina Simone, or borscht belt, or Burt Bacharach, or a set designed for a gay bar.
replied:
Reader Comment
Disney's Fancy Restaurant
Hey marty,
.
Just offering an opinion on the "banning" of children under 10 years old --- I like it.
If EYE were spending a minimum of $125 for a several course meal in a fancy place, I would NOT want it to be with little children at the next table. Sorry, but they are just not suited to such an occasion.
In fact, the fact that young children are now banned might even be an additional good reason to go there for dinner. (well, except I still can't afford it)
I know I'm speaking to a mom, so don't take this personally. I'm sure The Kid has behaved in excellent fashion at all ages, but not all kids are as well-behaved around other adults as I'm sure yours is. Especially when he was around two or three years old. ;-)
There are a lot of reasons to dislike the Disney corporate mindset, but on this one, I think they did the right thing.
As always, your devoted fan
ducks
Thanks, ducks!
I feel the same way, but probably see it a bit differently.
To me, it's typical of Disney.
A German pal hated Disneyland mostly because he couldn't get a beer.
After a lecture on the evils of capitalism, economics, and the teaming masses, I sure wasn't going to tell him about
Club 33.
Disney always offers another, nicer option if you're willing to lay out cash (or have connections).
Always.
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Some sun, but it was warmer in backwoods PA than lovely Long Beach.
Scrapped For "Press Conference"
Golden Globes
With most nominees and presenters expected to boycott the Globes on January 13 rather than cross writers' picket lines, organizers said they were scrapping the usual gala ceremony in favor of an hour-long "press conference" to be carried live as a news event on NBC.
The WGA previously refused to grant a special waiver allowing producers of the Globes to hire union writers for that show, as the union did for Monday night's lower-profile Critics Choice Awards airing on cable channel VH1.
Cancellation of the annual three-hour-plus Golden Globes show sponsored by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association marks the latest casualty of the nine-week-old strike by the Writers Guild of America against the major film and TV studios.
Golden Globes
Reaches Deal With Striking Writers
United Artists Films
Striking Hollywood writers have reached a deal with Tom Cruise's production outfit United Artists Films to resume working while the strike continues against other studios.
The deal announced Monday was the first reached with big-screen producers by the Writers Guild of America, which has been on strike since Nov. 5. Terms were not disclosed.
The deal does not include MGM, the main parent company of United Artists.
United Artists Films
WW1 "Blog"
Harry Lamin
Thousands of people have been following the fate of a British soldier fighting in the trenches of World War One on a Web site publishing his letters home exactly 90 years after they were written.
Like William Henry Bonser ("Harry") Lamin's real family almost a century ago, the modern reader visiting www.wwar1.blogspot.com does not know when the next letter is coming, or whether the one they are reading is in fact his last.
"There are a lot of people saying how keen they are to follow him and are rooting for Harry," said Bill Lamin, the 59-year-old IT teacher who found his grandfather's letters when he was a boy and decided to turn them into a blog.
Lamin refused to give any clues as to Harry's fate, listing only his birth date as 1887.
Harry Lamin
CBS Turning To Showtime Series
`Dexter'
As the writers strike drags on, CBS announced plans Monday to air the first full season of "Dexter," Showtime's drama about a forensics expert who doubles as a serial killer.
The first episode will air 10 p.m. EST on Feb. 17 and will be shown for 12 Sundays in a row. CBS said the show will be edited to accommodate more sensitive network tastes.
Michael C. Hall is the lead character of the well-reviewed drama. It's believed to be the first time a premium-cable series will make the transition to network television.
`Dexter'
Blues Trail Marker
Elvis Presley
A Mississippi Blues Trail marker will be placed at the birthplace of Elvis Presley on Tuesday.
He was born in Tupelo on Jan. 8, 1935. Presley died at his Graceland mansion in Memphis, Tenn., on Aug. 16, 1977. He first encountered the blues in Tupelo, and it remained central to his music throughout his career.
The event is sponsored by the Mississippi Development Authority's Tourism Heritage Trails Program, the Mississippi Blues Commission, the Tupelo Convention & Visitors Bureau and the Elvis Presley Birthplace Museum.
Elvis Presley
Web Deal
New York Times & CNBC
New York Times Co and business news channel CNBC will share video and stories from each other's Web sites in an alliance that could bolster them against an expected assault by News Corp.
Under the deal, New York Times articles will be posted on CNBC's Web site, while the Times will use CNBC video for its site. Neither company will pay the other for its news.
The deal also gives the Times and CNBC access to each other's breaking business news as Rupert Murdoch's News Corp prepares to fight them both with the nascent Fox Business Network cable channel and the recently acquired Wall Street Journal.
New York Times & CNBC
Sued Over "Vegetable Plagiarism"
Seinfelds
Comedian Jerry Seinfeld and his wife were sued on Monday over her top-selling cookbook for kids by a rival author who complained of plagiarism and accused the star of defaming her on TV host David Letterman's show.
The suit, filed by cookbook author Missy Chase Lapine, claims Jessica Seinfeld copied her own book that explores how to sneak healthy foods into kids' diets. It also accuses the top comedian of embarking on a "slanderous attack" against Lapine on U.S. national television shows.
Jessica's Seinfeld's book, "Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Getting Your Kids Eating Good Food," was published by Harper Collins in 2007 six months after Lapine's book "The Sneaky Chef: Simple Strategies for Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids' Favorite Meals," the suit said.
Seinfelds
Violating Consumer Fraud Law
Sears
Retailer Sears, Roebuck & Co has been hit with a lawsuit seeking class-action status that alleges a company Web site compromises customers' private information.
The suit, filed last Friday in Circuit Court in Cook County, Illinois, states that the retailer's managemyhome.com site allows users to view purchase histories of Sears customers by entering public information such as a name or street address, in violation of a state Consumer Fraud Act that forbids "unfair or deceptive" practices.
The complaint, which seeks class-action status and millions in damages, said the data available at the Manage My Home site could be used to commit fraud and obtain even more sensitive customer data such as social security numbers.
Sears
Plan To Exhume
Padre Pio
A plan to exhume the remains of Italy's favorite saint to commemorate the 40th anniversary of his death has sparked a protest by followers who threaten to go to court to make sure he rests in peace.
The exhumation would give millions of Italians another chance to pay tribute to Padre Pio, a 20th century mystic monk said to have suffered from stigmata -- bleeding wounds in the hands and feet similar to those of Christ.
Padre Pio's popularity is hard to overestimate. A Catholic magazine once found far more Italian Catholics pray to him than any other icon of the faith, including the Virgin Mary or Jesus.
Born Francesco Forgione, the Capuchin friar was said to have wrestled with the devil in his monastery cell and also to have predicted future events. Padre Pio, who died in 1968 at the age of 81, was even said to have had the power to appear in two places at once.
Padre Pio
Sets Sail On Last World Cruise
QE2
One of the world's most famous cruise ships -- the Queen Elizabeth 2 -- set sail Sunday on its final global voyage before being turned into a floating hotel, British media reported.
Her sister ship, the recently-named Queen Victoria, set off on her first world cruise at the same time. Both ships will travel in tandem across the north Atlantic Ocean to New York.
US cruise operator Carnival sold the QE2 for about 50 million pounds (67 million euros, 99 million dollars) in November last year to Istithmar, the investment arm of state-owned tourism company Dubai World.
On return from her final world cruise in April, she will be refurbished and turned into a five-star hotel at a specially-constructed pier on the world's largest man-made island, The Palm Jumeirah.
QE2
Tom Cruise's Lawyer
Bert Fields
A lawyer for Tom Cruise on Monday attacked an unauthorized biography of the high-profile Scientologist, calling it "outrageous, sick stuff," even as U.S. publisher St Martin's Press defended the book.
"Tom Cruise, An Unauthorized Biography," by British author Andrew Morton, best known for his top-selling 1992 book on Princess Diana, is due on U.S. bookshelves this month.
"His book is a rehash of tired old lies about Tom and his religion, some new grotesque lies, like the sick comparison of his child to 'Rosemary's Baby' and the nutty assertion that he's the No. 2 head of the Church of Scientology," Cruise's longtime lawyer, Bert Fields, told Reuters.
Bert Fields
UV Test Helps Fingerprint
Diamonds
The famed Hope Diamond glows a mysterious red when exposed to ultraviolet light, a finding that scientists say can help them "fingerprint" blue diamonds and tell the real ones from the artificial.
The phosphorescence comes from boron in the gem, the same element that makes it appear blue in normal light, explained Jeffrey Port, curator of the National Gem Collection at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History.
But while all blue diamonds glow in ultraviolet light, most glow blue. The Hope glows red, indicating a different mix of boron and nitrogen, Post explained in a telephone interview.
He said researchers, by measuring the different glows, have been able to tell real blue diamonds from artificial ones as well as real ones that have been "enhanced" in laboratories.
Diamonds
Democrat Leaves GOP Race
Ronald Jean Moltere
A GOP candidate for West Virginia's 16th District Senate race is withdrawing from the election because he mistakenly registered as a Democrat.
Ronald Jean Moltere, 64, of Harpers Ferry recently discovered the mistake he made 10 years ago. He said he never knew he had checked Democrat instead of Republican because he voted only in general elections, not the primaries.
"It was devastating," Moltere said. "I felt like I was shot through the heart."
Moltere submitted his pre-candidacy registration as a Republican in the race to replace state Sen. John Yoder. He cannot run for office if he switches parties within 60 days before the official filing period, which begins Monday and ends Jan. 26.
Ronald Jean Moltere
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