During a debate in the Democratic
presidential primaries campaign, MSNBC moderator Tim Russert, the claymation
journalist, asked the candidates who opposed decriminalization of marijuana to
raise their hands. Barack Obama hesitantly raised his hand halfway before
quickly lowering it again. However, in January 2004, when
Obama was running for the Senate, he told Illinois college students that he
supported eliminating criminal penalties for marijuana use or
possession. "I think the war on drugs has been a failure,
and I think we need to rethink and decriminalize our marijuana laws," he said
during a debate at Northwestern University. "But I'm not somebody who believes
in legalization of marijuana." Was Obama now having a
time-travel debate with himself? When the
Washington Times confronted Obama with that statement on a video of the
2004 debate, his campaign offered two explanations in less than 24
hours. First, a spokesperson said that Obama had "always"
supported decriminalizing marijuana, that he misunderstood the question when he
raised his hand, and reiterated Obama's opposition to full legalization, adding
that an Obama administration would "review drug sentences to see where we can be
smarter on crime and reduce the blind and counterproductive sentencing to
non-violent offenders." But, after the Times posted
the video on its website, the Obama campaign made a fast U-turn and declared
that he does not support eliminating criminal penalties for marijuana
possession and use--thereby rejecting both decriminalization and
legalization. What exactly is the difference? The definitions, according to
Pot Culture: The A-Z Guide to Stoner Language & Life by Shirley
Halperin and Steve Bloom, with a foreword by Tommy Chong:
"Decriminalization: When laws governing marijuana are changed to reduce
the penalties for possession of small quantities (usually below an ounce) to
non-criminal status. The first state to decriminalize was Oregon in 1973,
followed by California, New York, Ohio, Nebraska, Minnesota, Colorado,
Mississippi, Alaska, North Carolina and Maine."
"Legalization: The complete repeal of marijuana prohibition and removal
of all criminal penalties for its use, sale, transport and cultivation. The
Netherlands is the only country in the world with such a
policy." Ron Fisher at NORML told me, "Decriminalization
is the elimination of criminal penalties for the possession of marijuana,
usually by replacing them with a fine (similar to a speeding ticket). Full
legalization is a more complex issue that involves U.S. treaties, as well as the
law. Legalization would be characterized by taxation and regulation of
marijuana. This is NORML's ultimate goal, but we work for decrim in the meantime
for the sake of the 830,000 Americans arrested on cannabis charges each
year." And, according to medical marijuana activist Lanny
Swerdlow, "Whether Senator Obama has changed his position or not, if he obtains
the Democratic nomination for president, then marijuana decriminalization will
certainly become an issue in the campaign--maybe a major issue. I'm sure the
Republicans will use Obama's videotaped statement supporting decriminalization
and will try to paint him as soft on crime, sending the wrong message to
children and all the baggage that goes with it. In this day and age, I think
that could very well backfire as I really believe that most Americans are not
aware, let alone support, ensnaring 830,000 citizens in the criminal justice
system for marijuana-prohibition violations at a cost to taxpayers of between 10
and 20 billion dollars a year." Indeed, a CNN/Time-Warner
poll shows that 76% of Americans agree with Obama's original position, not to
mention the 48 million who smoked pot in 2007. The
Progressive Review quotes an old classmate of Obama explaining the
meaning of chooming: "That's what we
called smoking marijuana. To 'choom' meant to get high, to
smoke pot. I never heard the word used anywhere else, but
Punahou kids had access to the very best pot available." He and Obama were
in the group of students who smoked marijuana, and members of
the choom group did so both on and off campus. The irony is that, had Obama
been arrested then, he might never have risen to his current
status. Review publisher Sam Smith tells a story
that underscores the hypocrisy of political pandering that continues to allow
unjust laws to turn tokers into criminals: "Early in the
Clinton administration your editor had dinner with, among others, a high White
House official--a lawyer. The conversation turned to marijuana. The lawyer said
that numerous staffers had asked how they should respond to FBI queries on the
matter. The official's reply was that they should remember that they would only
be in the White House for a short while but the FBI files would be there
forever. And what if friends or relatives actually saw them using pot? The White
House lawyer's response: 'If you can't look an FBI agent straight in the eye and
tell him they were wrong, you don't belong here.'"
Paul Krugman: Hate Springs Eternal (nytimes.com)
Most of the venom is coming from supporters of Barack Obama, who want their hero or nobody. His campaign seems dangerously close to becoming a cult of personality.
Janet Jackson Exclusive Interview (curvemag.com)
She's one of the most successful female pop artist and the most searched woman on the Web. But she didn't get there by slacking off. Janet Jackson's latest release shows how much Discipline she has.
Fill in the blank:
Once upon a time there was an engineer
Choo Choo Charlie was his name, we hear.
He had an engine and he sure had fun
He used ______________ candy to make his train run.
Charlie says "Love my ______________!"
Charlie says "Really rings my bell!"
Charlie says "Love my ______________!"
Don't know any other candy that I love so well!
A: Martin Balsam
B: Lorne Greene
C: Norman Lear
D: Fred Willard
E: Andy Williams
Source
mj was first, and right, with:
That would be the original Captain Adama, who also happens to be dead and Canadian (anyone tell me two people brought to our attention by the quiz show that gave us that category?)
Marian the Teacher simply said:
B. Lorne Greene
Sally answered:
Now you know: Pa Cartwright was a Jew. To pronounce his given name correctly - according to the precious grandson (who has studied Hebrew for 2 years now) you must, "pretend that you have a wad of phlegm in your throat."
Chaim knew that the goyim (Yiddish - literally meaning, the non-Jewish "peoples") could not do that, so he decided to change his name to, "Lorne." Personally, I think he really wanted the name, L'oreal but was misunderstood. (Unfortunately, I can't tell you the French translation of this name as it is unprintable...)
But Pa pulled it off, and later even became, Commander Adama (Battlestar Galactica circa 1978).
And, can anyone forget that in the era of the, "Fab Four" when Loren had a number one single entitled, "Ringo" which definitely did NOT have that, "Liverpool" sound!
Oh, the correct answer is "B" BTW.
PS I really loved Lorne Greene and do not mean to disrespect him in any way.
Gotta see a man about a horse, so the Wednesday page may be up a bit later than usual.
Tonight, Tuesday:
CBS begins the night with a RERUN'NCIS', followed by a FRESH'Big Brother 9', then a FRESH'Jericho'.
Scheduled on a FRESHDave are Evangeline Lilly, 2008 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Cover Girl, and Brad Paisley.
Scheduled on a FRESHCraig are Susan Sarandon and Bonnie Somerville.
NBC starts the night with a FRESH'Biggest Loser', followed by a RERUN'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'.
Leno is FRESH, but writerless, and the corporate masters don't want you to know who the guests are.
Conan is FRESH, but writerless, and the corporate masters don't want you to know who the guests are.
Carson 'The Scab' Daly is FRESH, but writerless, and the corporate masters don't want you to know who the guests are.
ABC opens the night with a FRESH'Just For Laughs', followed by a RERUN'Just For Laughs', then a RERUN'Jim', followed by a FRESH'Carpoolers', then a FRESH'Boston Legal'.
Jimmy Kimmel is FRESH, but writerless, and the corporate masters don't want you to know who the guests are.
The CW offers a RERUN'Reaper', followed by a FRESH'One Tree Hill'.
Faux has a FRESH 2-hour 'American Idol'.
MY has a recycled 'Street Patrol', followed by another recycled 'Street Patrol', then a recycled 'Jail', followed by a recycled 'Jail'.
A&E has 'CSI: The 2nd One', 'The First 48', another 'The First 48', 'Parking Wars', and another 'Parking Wars'.
AMC offers the movie 'Species', followed by the movie 'The Matrix', then the movie 'The Day The Earth Stood Still'.
BBC -
[12:00 PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares - Ep. 4 Moore Place;
[1:00 PM] Cash in the Attic - Episode 8;
[2:00 PM] Bargain Hunt - Ep. 6 Malvern;
[2:30 PM] Bargain Hunt - Ep. 7 Detling;
[3:00 PM] How Clean Is Your House? - Episode 7;
[3:30 PM] How Clean Is Your House? - Episode 8;
[4:00 PM] You Are What You Eat - Episode 13;
[4:30 PM] You Are What You Eat - Episode 14;
[5:00 PM] My Family - Ep. 3 Droit De Seigneur Ben;
[5:30 PM] Coupling - Ep 4 Remember This;
[6:00 PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares - Ep 6 Clubway 41;
[7:00 PM] BBC World News America;
[8:00 PM] Last Restaurant Standing - Eps 1 & 2;
[9:00 PM] Last Restaurant Standing - Episode 2;
[10:00 PM] BBC World News America;
[11:00 PM] Last Restaurant Standing - Eps 1 & 2;
[12:00 AM] Last Restaurant Standing - Episode 2;
[1:00 AM] Last Restaurant Standing - Eps 1 & 2;
[2:00 AM] Last Restaurant Standing - Episode 2;
[3:00 AM] Changing Rooms - Episode 7;
[3:30 AM] Changing Rooms - Episode 8;
[4:00 AM] Bargain Hunt - Ep. 6 Malvern;
[4:30 AM] Bargain Hunt - Ep. 7 Detling;
[5:00 AM] Cash in the Attic - Episode 12;
[5:30 AM] Cash in the Attic - Episode 13;
[6:00 AM] BBC World News. (ALL TIMES EDT)
Comedy Central has 'Scrubs', another 'Scrubs', last night's 'Jon Stewart', last night's 'Colbert Report', 'Futurama', 'South Park', and 'Rodney Carrington'.
Jon Stewart is FRESH, but writerless, and the corporate masters don't want you to know who the guests are.
Colbert Report is FRESH, but writerless, and the corporate masters don't want you to know who the guests are.
FX has the movie 'The Punisher', followed by the movie 'X-Men', then a FRESH'Nip/Tuck'.
History has 'Modern Marvels', 'The Universe', another 'The Universe', and 'Mega Disasters'.
IFC -
[06:50 AM] Picture Bride;
[08:30 AM] Stolen Summer;
[10:10 AM] Color of a Brisk and Leaping Day;
[11:45 AM] Picture Bride;
[01:30 PM] Stolen Summer;
[03:05 PM] Color of a Brisk and Leaping Day;
[04:35 PM] Picture Bride;
[06:15 PM] Girl With a Pearl Earring;
[08:00 PM] Minor Accomplishments #207: Straight Up Your Heart;
[08:30 PM] The Business #207: Field Trip to Hollywood pt. 1;
[09:00 PM] IFC News: 2008, Uncut;
[09:05 PM] A Love Song For Bobby Long;
[11:15 PM] Mansfield Park;
[01:15 AM] Lost and Delirious;
[03:00 AM] A Love Song For Bobby Long;
[05:10 AM] Mansfield Park. (ALL TIMES EST)
SciFi has 'Scary But True', another 'Scary But True', 'Scariest Places On Earth', another 'Scariest Places On Earth', and 'ECW'.
Sundance -
[05:00 AM] Language Does Not Lie;
[06:30 AM] The Best of Secter & the Rest of Secter;
[07:30 AM] Southern Belles;
[09:00 AM] Episode 2;
[09:30 AM] Build;
[10:00 AM] Yves St. Laurent: 5 Avenue Marceau 75116 Paris;
[11:30 AM] The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello;
[12:00 PM] Marvelous;
[01:30 PM] Tout Va Bien;
[03:30 PM] Southern Belles;
[05:00 PM] In the Sun: Michael Stipe and Special Guests (Long Version);
[06:00 PM] Kasabian, Josh Groban & The Good The Bad and The Queen;
[07:00 PM] Mercy;
[07:30 PM] Marvelous;
[09:00 PM] Episode 2;
[09:35 PM] Our Daily Bread;
[11:15 PM] Build;
[12:00 AM] The Basketball Diaries;
[02:00 AM] Adam & Paul;
[03:30 AM] West Bank Story;
[04:00 AM] Episode 3;
[05:00 AM] Songbirds. (ALL TIMES EST)
Filmmaker Spike Lee, right, receives the Wexner Prize from Abigail Wexner Monday, Feb. 11, 2008 in New Albany, Ohio. The $50,000 prize is awarded annually to a major contemporary artist.
Photo by Kiichiro Sato
Siegfried Fischbacher and Roy Horn plan to make a one-night-only comeback next February, performing their signature show at a fundraiser more than five years after a tiger attack ended their long-running production on the Las Vegas Strip.
Fischbacher, 68, and Horn, 63, will perform at the Lou Ruvo Brain Institute's "Keep Memory Alive" fundraiser at a location yet to be confirmed. This year, tickets to the charity dinner cost $1,500; the event raised more than $12 million.
Publicist Dave Kirvin said Monday the German-born duo are working out plans for the act, adding that he would be "very surprised if animals were not part of the performance."
The Lou Ruvo Brain Institute, designed by architect Frank Gehry, is set to open in downtown Las Vegas next year.
French actress Catherine Deneuve addresses the audience during the "Cinema for Peace 2008" charity gala supporting UNICEF in Berlin February 11, 2008. The gala was held during the annual Berlinale film festival, which ends on February 17.
Photo by Fabrizio Bensch
Fox "News" Channel has fired the host of its weekly "Fox News Watch" show that discusses the performance of the news media.
Eric Burns, the show's host, said Monday he was told in a phone call last week that his contract would not be renewed. He said he was not given a reason.
The show airs Saturday evenings and, along with CNN's "Reliable Sources," is one of two cable news programs that focus on the media. "Fox News Watch" has included conservative commentators such as Cal Thomas and Jim Pinkerton, as well as liberals like Jeff Cohen and Neal Gabler.
Dana Klinghoffer, Fox News Channel spokeswoman, would not comment on the firing. She told The New York Times "the show will now focus more on the evolving new media, and we didn't feel the current talent would be capable of handling the new direction."
A back problem has forced Dolly Parton to postpone a concert tour she planned in support of her new CD. Parton was scheduled to kick off a 13-show tour Feb. 28 in Minneapolis, two days after the release of "Backwoods Barbie," publicist Marcee Rondan said Monday.
Doctors advised Parton to take up to eight weeks off to recover from the unspecified problem.
"I know I have been breaking my neck and bending over backwards trying to get my new `Backwoods Barbie' CD and world tour together, but I didn't mean to hurt myself doing it," Parton, 62, said in a statement.
She said doctors told her she will be "good as new in a few weeks, and I can't wait to get back out there."
From left, Lisa Arrindell Anderson, Cicely Tyson, Stephen C. Byrd, Debbie Allen, and Terry McMillan, arrive to the Evidence Dance Company's annual winter gala in New York, Monday, Feb., 11, 2008.
Photo by Stuart Ramson
Rock star Lenny Kravitz was admitted to a Miami hospital on Monday suffering from severe bronchitis, a spokeswoman for the singer said.
The 43-year-old musician had been suffering from a series of severe respiratory tract infections in tandem with the flu since mid-January, and the illness has evolved into bronchitis.
"Due to extreme dehydration and fatigue, doctors were unable to control it with outpatient treatment and advised the singer to check into the hospital. He was taken this morning to the emergency room at Mount Sinai Hospital in Miami for immediate treatment," the spokeswoman said in a statement.
The estate of "Lord of the Rings" creator J.R.R. Tolkien is suing the film studio that released the trilogy based on his books, claiming the company failed to pay a cut of gross profits for the blockbuster films.
The writer's estate, a British charity dubbed The Tolkien Trust, and original "Lord of the Rings" publisher HarperCollins filed the lawsuit against New Line Cinema on Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court.
The lawsuit claims New Line was required to pay 7.5 percent of gross receipts from the films to Tolkien's estate and the other plaintiffs. A call to a spokesman for New Line, a unit of Time Warner Inc., was not immediately returned.
The plaintiffs seek more than $150 million in compensatory damages, unspecified punitive damages and a court order giving the Tolkien estate the right to terminate any rights New Line may have to make films based on other works by the author, including "The Hobbit."
Chess grandmaster and opposition leader Garry Kasparov (R) and his wife Dasha Kasparova arrive for the "Cinema for Peace 2008" charity gala supporting UNICEF in Berlin February 11, 2008. The gala was held during the annual Berlinale film festival, which ends on February 17.
Photo by Fabrizio Bensch
It's game over for The Game. The rapper was sentenced Monday to 60 days in jail after pleading no contest to felony possession of a firearm in a school zone. Two other counts were dismissed under a plea agreement, the district attorney's office said.
The 28-year-old entertainer, whose real name is Jayceon Terrell Taylor, was accused of pulling a gun on a player from an opposing team during a pickup game at a South Los Angeles school nearly a year ago.
Superior Court Judge Fred Wapner credited the rapper with two days already served toward the jail time and imposed 150 hours of community service and a three-year probationary term.
A lawyer for John Ritter's family told a jury Monday that he would show doctors caused the actor's death by an improper diagnosis and substandard treatment. "What you'll hear, ladies and gentleman, is that ... they did everything wrong," attorney Moses Lebovits said in his opening statement at the trial in Los Angeles County Superior Court.
Ritter died of a tear in the aorta, known as an aortic dissection, on Sept. 11, 2003, at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank.
Ritter's relatives say he was instead mistakenly treated for a heart attack, and they are suing two doctors for $67 million. The lawsuit follows settlements with the hospital and eight other medical personnel for about $14 million.
A police handout shows the painting A police handout shows the painting 'Blossoming Chestnut Branches' by Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890). Paintings by Cezanne, Degas, van Gogh and Monet worth $164 million were stolen in broad daylight on Sunday from the private Buehrle Collection in Zurich, police said in a statement.
With Hollywood about to rev up again following a three-month writers strike, ABC announced Monday that it had ordered a season's worth of episodes for nine series next fall, including four freshman series.
The prime-time soap "Dirty Sexy Money," fantasy forensics series "Pushing Daisies," the "Grey's Anatomy" spinoff "Private Practice" and Christina Applegate comedy "Samantha Who?" will all be back for a second season.
The other pick-ups aren't a surprise: "Desperate Housewives," "Lost," "Grey's Anatomy," "Brothers & Sisters" and "Ugly Betty."
The Kremlin rocked to the sound of Deep Purple on Monday in a gig with a difference.
The fans wore furs, suits or war medals rather than jeans and T-shirts; they arrived in black chauffeured limousines not buses; and the front row of the audience included Russia's likely next president Dmitry Medvedev and a top former KGB spy.
The occasion was the 15th birthday party of Russia's giant firm Gazprom, which flew over the veteran British hard rock band to top a gala evening of entertainment -- and to keep the boss happy.
Gazprom chairman Medvedev, who is also the Kremlin's candidate in Russia's presidential election next month, has told interviewers Deep Purple is his favourite band. Officials at the world's biggest gas company are eager to please him.
As they belted out some of their 1960s and 1970s classics, including their signature hit "Smoke on the Water", the audience of mostly middle-aged men sat impassively in suits and ties, with only the odd shake of the head to indicate they were listening.
Freddie Bell, a forerunner in the 1950s rock 'n' roll era whose toe-tapping versions of "Giddy Up A Ding Dong" and "Hound Dog" inspired Elvis Presley to cover the songs, has died. He was 76.
Bell died late Sunday in a Las Vegas hospital of complications from cancer, said his publicist Norm Johnson.
Bell was performing at the Sands casino-hotel on the Las Vegas Strip in the mid-1950s when Presley was just an opening act across the street at the New Frontier. Bell's upbeat covers, and perhaps his knee-wiggling dance moves, inspired Presley, Johnson said.
Bell went to Las Vegas in 1953 from his hometown of Philadelphia and was considered one of the great lounge acts of the time, alongside the trio of Sam Butera, Louis Prima and Keely Smith, Johnson said.
Bell also appeared in a number of films, including 1956's "Rock Around the Clock," starring Bill Haley.
You have reached the Home page of BartCop Entertainment.
Make yourself home, take your shoes off...
Go ahead, scratch it if it itches.
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amused or entertained?
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How about a favorite TV show, movie, book, play, cartoon, or legal amusement?
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