The Weekly Poll
Results
The 'Wars and Rumors of Wars' Edition'...
President Obama, aka 'The Man', certainly has his hands full in the foreign affairs arena at the moment with the belligerent behavior shown by our fellow passengers on Spaceship Earth. Naughty, naughty, I'm sayin'... It's like, don't they realize he's trying to solve a world-wide financial crisis? Or what? Jeesh! That said, which one of these provocations is the most worrisome?
A. Russia's (the Putin Oligarch Soviet Republic) probing Canadian airspace in the Arctic with a long-range bomber coinciding with BHO's first official 'foreign' visit outside the US to Ottawa?
B. China's (Shylock and Landlord) playing 'tag, you're it' with an unarmed US Navy ship in the international waters of the South China Sea?
C. The 'Hive Collective' known as North Korea threatening a 'counter-strike' if their erstwhile 'satellite' long-range ballistic missile launch is interfered with. Yeah, like we want to limit their TV channels from two to their present one...
D. Iran's (R-Theocracy) hell-bent-for-leather pursuit of atomic weapons. Quit lying! Everyone knows you suffer from Israeli penis-envy...
E. Israel's (R-Rethug) trying to bully the US into letting them remake Iran into a glass covered nuclear iridescent parking lot?
This bullshit is getting tiresome, don't ya think?
Charlie up first with...
I think it's B. China's (Shylock and Landlord) playing 'tag, you're it' with an unarmed US Navy ship in the international waters of the South China Sea.
That, I think, is related to the financial crises.
Although Russia could destroy the world with nukes, I think that is unlikely, unless they want to destroy themselves as well. China could destroy us financially, and they might be doing it. Of course, they have nukes of their own. Although we have thousands more, it really only takes a dozen or so to wipe out the county. We've managed to avoid this kind of holocaust for over 60 years now, but one wonders if it may be more likely than ever. I would hope that Obama would be more likely than Bush to avoid this, but that isn't certain yet. The financial holocaust could get pretty ugly.
This bullshit is getting tiresome, don't ya think?
You bet.
joe with the little j says...
I feel that we can work with Russia and China to control the smaller threats Russia and Iran, China and N. Korea. We work with them to help us control these threats and we can concentrate on Israel which is basically all hard right. In Israel, Alex Bennett who is a jew said this on Sirius radio.
So I say we work with Israel and with Barack in control we can ease down the carnage hopefully.
DanD gets on a roll...
Russia's Putin is doing no more than what the war-criminals of Zionland have been doing to Lebanese (and other ME nation's) air space for several decades, but certainly not near as flagrantly.
And China? This little maritime drama you refer to has little to do with American ships playing border chicken and more to do with whether Beijing is planning to dump the international dollar standard.
In the meantime, the northern slope of the Korean peninsula is only establishing the same quality of national sovereignty as the United States has claimed from England for more than a couple of centuries. "Fuck with us like a bully and get a bully's bloody nose." America's military is already stretched toilet-paper thin. We really can't take on Pyong's -Yang too.
And as far as my racial brethren are concerned? So, against the NNPT and all international (and a significant volume of U.S.) law, Israel can strap on a U.S. produced, irradiated extension for its Kazarian-Caucasian cock, but Iran can't even use a severely monitored uranium clit toy for energy production? Oh, and that penis-envy ain't 'cause Israel is so well endowed, instead, its only because America keeps squirting it's empirically irradiated nuclear staff in the rest of the world's butt-hole whenever that global population doesn't genuflect fast enough to the Red-Shield war crooks of Zionland.
Corporate Empire is the latest rage among our global insane asylum's idiot inmates.
And regarding Zionland's fratricidal conspiracy to get America to destroy itself so the murderers of Palestine can inherit "The Last Superpower" designation? Oh yeah, let's give them-thar Khazarian-descended crooks tens-of-billions of America's progressively worthless cash so those Ashkenazi assholes can even more completely buy our own government out from under us.
SallyP(al) opines...
Hummmmm, as a child of the 1950s, who lived with the threat of the "Atom Bomb" being dropped on us by the Godless Russians - I now am convinced that, "E" or Israel poses the biggest threat to themselves and the world. Throughout the years, we have become used to the saber-rattling not only from Russia, but from China, N Korea, and even Iran - while being fed the line of, "Poor Israel, they have suffered..." Then, one day I woke up and said to myself, "Whoa, Israel has made no attempt to integrate into the Mideast, consistently overreacts to even minor acts they label provocation, and have indeed, become bullies!"
Israel, as a country (and by no means all Israeli people) are fast becoming as bad as those who oppressed them throughout history. The world gave them support both before Statehood - which grew rapidly after they were voted Statehood - and afterwards - at the expense of the Palestinians. They refuse to acknowledge the Palestinians, and use every excuse in the book to not give the West Bank land back to them. They keep waving a red cape at Iran to take eyes off their own transgressions. Keep that up, and some nut may react - in a damn big way! Of course, Israel feels free to bait Iran because they believe the US will back them no matter what. The US needs to cut off the funds and weapon sales to Israel and rein them back into line before it's too late for the world. Of course we won't because Israel, like Puerto Rico, has become a US possession - but we just don't admit it. YP - SP :) PS: I love the Jews, I just can't stand their government :)
kitchenrat not too happy with 'The Man' writes...
The answer is F; none of the above. Obama was in his fourth day of office when he authorized an air strike in Pakistan, resulting in the deaths of innocents, including several children. So we had four days of relative peace before the new guy found the keys to the great American death machine, fired it up, shoved it into gear and got the killing restarted.
As for myself, I believe Israel has a very itchy trigger finger concerning the Iran Bomb issue and that situation is the gravest threat that the world faces at the moment. I feel that they would have already struck if we didn't control the airspace over Iraq that they would need to transit to make a raid. I do not think that BHO would give them his permission at this time to attack, but that could change if the Iranians get froggy and announce that they have, in fact, a usable atomic weapon. All bets are off then. The Israelis could possibly utilize cruise missiles from their 3 very capable submarines (ironically, German made) in a strike, but that isn't likely as they are not the 'bunker buster' type of weapon that would be needed to penetrate the underground facilities that the Iranians have constructed for their program. All in all, it is a damn'd sight scary situation...
BadToTheBoneBob
New Question
The 'Shared Sacrifice' Edition
The New York Times, in an article Sunday, Administration Is Open to Taxing Health Benefits - NYTimes.com , reports that the Obama Administration is open to the idea of taxing certain employer provided health benefits as a way to help finance health care for the uninsured. Would you support such an approach?
Send your response, and a (short) reason why, to
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Dr. Mark H. Shapiro: Where are all Those Kids Marching to Lunch and Recess With Their Arms Folded Across Their Chests? (irascibleprofessor.com)
Recently, the IP came across an article written by Herbert Kohl entitled "The Educational Panopticon."
Paul Krugman: A Continent Adrift (nytimes.com)
Europe is facing at least as severe a slump as the United States, yet has failed to respond effectively to the downturn.
MATT RICHTEL and JENNA WORTHAM: Weary of Looking for Work, Some Create Their Own (nytimes.com)
Alex Andon, 24, a graduate of Duke University in biology, was laid off from a biotech company last May. For months he sought new work. Then, frustrated with the hunt, he turned to jellyfish.
Celia Walden: Meet The New Faux Poor (telegraph.co.uk)
With wealth out of fashion, the super-rich are trying hard to flaunt their poverty-stricken credentials.
Daniel J. Wakin, "Schuyler Chapin, Champion of Arts in New York, Dies at 86 (nytimes.com)
Mr. Chapin studied composition with Nadia Boulanger at the Longy School of Music in Cambridge, Mass. Her judgment on his talent was harsh. "She turned to look at me after looking at some compositions, sketches really, and said: 'It's very simple. You have no talent,' " he said in the 1973 interview. She suggested that his talents lay in becoming an impresario, as he later did.
"Underground" Author James Purdy Dies (advocate.com)
Author James Purdy, whose obscure but highly regarded works include Cabot Wright Begins and the gay-themed Eustace Chisholm and the Works, died Friday morning at a hospital in New Jersey. Though his exact age is unknown, he was in his mid 80s.
"Every Man Dies Alone" by Hans Fallada: A review by Gerry Donaghy (powells.com)
Twentieth-century German author Hans Fallada is not a name that rings many bells amongst the American literati. Heck, I was a German major, and he doesn't ring any bells. However, a short while ago, a review copy of a book landed on my desk. On the cover wasn't a title, but rather a single quote: "The greatest book ever written about German resistance to the Nazis." The quote is from Primo Levi.
Brandon Voss: "A-List: Nathan Lane" (advocate.com)
Ten years after coming out in The Advocate, Nathan Lane wants you to know he is no gay oracle.
Robert K. Elder: Craig Robinson builds claim to fame with movies (Chicago Tribune)
Craig Robinson is best known as Darryl Philbin, warehouse supervisor, on "The Office," but he also has been in a string of recent comedic films ("Pineapple Express," "Zack and Miri Make a Porno" and "Knocked Up"). In his latest movie, "Miss March" (opening Friday), Robinson plays an egocentric rapper with an unprintable name.
Dana Stevens: Sunshine Cleaning (slate.com)
Even though you've seen this movie already, you should see it again.
Family Literacacy Night
wrote:
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny spring day.
Still having trouble with e-mail.
Hotmail is down, completely - the page doesn't open all the way. Have tried it, to no avail, with 2 other computers, so it's not just this one.
Yahoo kinda works. Most of the time the 'next' or 'previous' arrows make it angry, and it sends me back to the entry page.
Wish I had more time to whine.
Visiting Leno
Obama
President Barack Obama will take his economic strategy to Jay Leno's comic couch on Thursday in the first appearance by a sitting U.S. president on a late-night TV talk show.
NBC said in a statement that Obama would sit down before a live audience on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" on March 19 to talk about his economic plan and "other topics."
NBC said it would be Obama's first sit-down talk show appearance in studio with a live audience since his election last year, and the first ever appearance by a U.S. president while in office on a late-night chat show.
Obama
Acknowledges Elephant In Living Room
Media Matters
Some critics are seizing on comedian Jon Stewart's attacks of CNBC to launch an online petition drive urging the network to be tougher on Wall Street leaders.
The liberal media watchdog Media Matters for America and some economists are behind the effort, launched Monday. They're asking CNBC to hire economic voices with a track record of being right about the current crisis and do more to hold business leaders accountable.
CNBC had no immediate comment. CNBC spokesman Brian Steel said last week that the network was proud of its record of offering diverse opinions on the economy.
Media Matters
Mural At UN
Yoko Ono
Yoko Ono will unveil an original mural titled "Promise" at UN headquarters next month in honor of World Autism Awareness Day, an advocacy group said Monday.
The mural by the 76-year-old widow of slain former Beatle John Lennon, who also is an avant-garde artist, is to be auctioned off in support of the advocacy group Autism Speaks.
WAAD was created by a UN General Assembly resolution in December 2007 to increase public awareness about autism and to stress the importance of early diagnosis and intervention.
The mural unveiling will be sponsored by Chile's UN mission, said Autism Speaks, which also is backing the event.
Yoko Ono
Alabama National Guard
Sacha Baron Cohen
The actor best known as "Borat" tricked the Alabama National Guard into allowing him onto a post, giving him a military uniform and briefly letting him train - all, supposedly, for a German TV documentary.
The ruse, which included comedian Sacha Baron Cohen exposing his thong underwear while changing clothes, was going well until a young cadet recognized Cohen and notified older officers who weren't familiar with the actor.
A film crew pulled the stunt Feb. 13 at the Alabama Military Academy, which trains officer candidates from across the nation. The school is located at the Army's old Fort McClellan in Anniston, about 105 kilometres east of Birmingham.
Footage from the visit could be included in Cohen's upcoming movie featuring his character Bruno, a gay Austrian fashion writer. The reported title is "Bruno: Delicious Journeys Through America For The Purpose Of Making Heterosexual Males Visibly Uncomfortable In The Presence Of A Gay Foreigner In A Mesh T-Shirt."
Sacha Baron Cohen
Changing Name, Logo
Sci Fi Channel
After 16 years, Sci Fi Channel is changing its name ... unless you say it aloud.
NBC Universal-owned cable network will become SyFy starting in June.
The phonics-friendly moniker is part of a network-wide rebranding campaign that has been in the works for more than a year. It's an evolution that also includes a new logo and tagline -- "Imagine Greater" -- and will be announced Monday at the network's "upfront" presentation to advertisers for the new programing season.
The changes attempt to address longtime marketing goals at the network, as well as practical challenges that have stemmed from using a generic term as a brand name.
Sci Fi Channel
Baby News
Jackson James Daly
Talk show host Carson Daly has a new full-time guest.
Daly's publicist Heather Lylis said the 35-year-old TV personality and girlfriend Siri Pinter are the proud parents of a baby boy. Jackson James Daly was born Sunday, weighing 7 pounds, 8 ounces. It's the first child for both the "Last Call with Carson Daly" host and Pinter, who has worked at Daly's show and "Last Comic Standing" as an associate producer.
Jackson James Daly
Hospital News
Don Imus
Don Imus said he has prostate cancer, but the radio personality expressed confidence in a full recovery.
Imus, 68, made the announcement Monday on his morning show from New York, which airs on ABC Radio Networks and cable's RFD-TV. He said he wrestled with the idea of making it public, but figured he should because he might have to miss some work due to treatment.
A one-time shock jock who now does a show heavy on the media and politics, Imus was fired by CBS Radio and MSNBC in spring 2007 for a racial slur of the Rutgers women's basketball team. He later apologized. He's built his radio network back to the level it was before the incident, although his influence has waned.
He noted that doctors seemed reluctant to talk about one of his big worries: What prostate cancer treatment will mean for his sex life.
Don Imus
Wins 'When You Wish' Suit
"Family Guy"
Creators of the U.S. television show "Family Guy" did not infringe copyright when they transformed the song "When You Wish Upon a Star" for comical use in an episode, a U.S. judge ruled on Monday.
The lawsuit said the song "I Need a Jew," featured in one of the animated show's episodes, was a thinly veiled copy of the music from 'When You Wish Upon a Star' coupled with "new anti-Semitic lyrics" and had done damage to the original.
But U.S. District Judge Deborah Batts ruled that the lyrics and tone of the song used in "Family Guy" were "strikingly different."
The judge also said it was fair for it to be imitated for humorous effect since the music publisher had benefited from the song's association with other more "wholesome" shows like "Pinocchio."
"It is precisely that beneficial association that opens the song up for ridicule by parodists seeking to take the wind out of such lofty, magical, or pure associations," she said.
"Family Guy"
Adds 2nd Free Show
Leno
Jay Leno has added a second free show for the Detroit area's unemployed.
Heavy demand for the April 7 show at The Palace of Auburn Hills prompted organizers to add a second performance on April 8, said Jeff Corey, spokesman for the venue.
Hundreds of people lined up outside the venue Monday to collect up to four tickets a person. They only had to say they're unemployed to get tickets.
Some members of the Detroit City Council have been critical of Leno's decision to perform in a Detroit suburb rather than inside the city limits. Motown star turned councilwoman Martha Reeves said last week Leno had indicated to her that he would consider a benefit in Detroit later in the year.
Leno
Arrest Warrant Cancelled
Lindsay Lohan
A judge on Monday withdrew an arrest warrant for US actress Lindsay Lohan for driving under the influence in 2007, saying the starlet had been complying with the terms of her probation.
Beverly Hills judge Marsha Revel had Saturday ordered the arrest of the 22-year-old star saying she had not been meeting the conditions set, which included a term in a rehabilitation program.
But early Monday the judge said after meeting with Lohan's lawyer that she "has been complying with certain aspects of the program that the program was unaware of."
Lawyer Shawn Chapman Holley said the whole affair "was really much ado about nothing" and may stem from the fact that the young actress had recently left the rehab center she had been attending to go to another.
Lindsay Lohan
Bad PR Campaign
Dora the Explorer
When toy maker Mattel, working with Nickelodeon, announced earlier this month that a "tween" version of Nick's beloved "Dora the Explorer" cartoon character would be unveiled in the fall, the response was overwhelming ... overwhelmingly negative.
Dora the streetwalker. A sexed-up version of a children's icon. A poor example for kids.
Those were just some of the terms tossed around the blogosphere after Mattel released a silhouette of the "new" Dora, whose image was drastically changed from the endearing tomboy look Dora fans grew to love, with her bowl-cut hairdo, T-shirt and red shorts. This new Dora appeared to have long flowing hair, and was wearing what seemed a scanty skirt, emphasizing her long, shapely legs.
Mattel and Nickelodeon both say there are two major misconceptions about the new Dora, which is not replacing the "Dora the Explorer" cartoon, but will be a new interactive doll aimed at 5- to 8-year-olds.
Dora the Explorer
Tupac's Mother Files Cross-Suit
Afeni Shakur
Tupac Shakur's mother is firing back at independent production company Morgan Creek over the right to make a biopic about the late rapper.
In a $10 million cross-complaint set to be filed Monday morning, Afeni Shakur's Amaru Entertainment claims that Morgan Creek, CEO James Robinson and others tried to strong-arm a deal for Tupac movie rights, then sabotaged the project when Amaru attempted to set it up elsewhere.
Morgan Creek first filed a lawsuit last month in Los Angeles Superior Court claiming that Amaru, which controls the Tupac estate, backed out of a completed deal to sell life rights for a biopic about the slain rapper-actor.
Now Amaru is seeking a court declaration that there never was a deal. Morgan Creek allegedly was one of several suitors for the project, among them Paramount, Fox Searchlight, Kennedy/Marshall and Brett Ratner's Rat Entertainment. The cross-complaint says key details of a deal, including an executive producer credit for Afeni Shakur, were not worked out with Morgan Creek and that she hadn't even seen the proposed contract. Instead, Amaru's counteroffer was to be the basis for further negotiation, according to the filing.
Afeni Shakur
Investment Losses Force Budget Cuts
Getty Museums
Investment losses are forcing the world's richest arts institution to cut its operating budget by 25 percent for the coming fiscal year.
The J. Paul Getty Trust relies on investment earnings to pay for its two Los Angeles art museums, as well as global research, grant-making and art-conservation operations. Its investment portfolio dropped 25 percent during the last six months of 2008, from $6 billion to $4.5 billion.
Getty president James Wood says cuts should focus on areas which can easily expand if losses are recouped.
The Getty's biggest expense is salaries and benefits, which totaled $124.6 million in 2006-07.
Getty Museums
Memorabilia Offered In Online Auction
Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley memorabilia including a performance jumpsuit and a grand piano he played at Graceland went on auction on Monday in a demonstration of his commercial appeal 31 years since the King left the building.
The online auction house Gotta Have It! Collectibles will have the items on sale through March 25.
Highlights include a blue jumpsuit and cape with gold lining that Presley wore at a Madison Square Garden performance in 1972. Siegel expected these two items to fetch at least $150,000.
Also on the block is Presley's white Knabe Grand Piano, which he played at his mansion, Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee from 1957 to 1969. It is expected to fetch at least $750,000.
Elvis Presley
In Memory
Ron Silver
Actor Ron Silver, who won a Tony Award as a take-no-prisoners Hollywood producer in David Mamet's "Speed-the-Plow" and did a political about-face from loyal Democrat to Republican activist after the Sept. 11 attacks, died Sunday at the age of 62.
Silver, an Emmy nominee for a recurring role as a slick strategist for liberal President Jed Bartlet on "The West Wing," had a long history of balancing acting with left-leaning social and political causes.
His switch to a more conservative image threatened to overshadow an esteemed career on stage, television and film, along with his long history of activism, which included co-founding the nonpartisan Creative Coalition, an advocacy group for entertainers.
His big-screen credits included "Ali," "Reversal of Fortune," "Enemies: A Love Story," "Silkwood" and "Semi-Tough."
Besides "The West Wing," Silver was a regular or had recurring roles on such TV shows as "Veronica's Closet," "Chicago Hope" and "Wiseguy." He directed and costarred in the 1993 TV movie "Lifepod," a science-fiction update of Alfred Hitchcock's "Lifeboat."
Silver's Tony for "Speed-the-Plow" came in 1988, a year after he earned his first Emmy nomination, for the murder thriller "Billionaire Boys Club."
Born July 2, 1946, in New York City, he was the son of Irving and May Silver. His father worked in New York's garment industry and his mother was a teacher.
Earning a bachelor's degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo and a master's degree in Chinese history from St. John's University, Silver studied drama at the Herbert Berghof Studio and the Actors Studio.
In the 1970s, he gradually moved from theater work in New York City into television and film. His early credits included "The Mac Davis Show," "Rhoda" and "The Stockard Channing Show."
Silver and ex-wife Lynne Miller had a son, Adam, and daughter, Alexandra.
Ron Silver
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