'Best of TBH Politoons'
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Beth Quinn: So girls, did you notice you were raped last week? (recordonline.com)
Here's the part that's got smoke coming out of my ears. The part that makes me so mad I could spit nails. The part that's got me purple with apoplexy.
The five boy justices on the Supreme Court who voted to take away our reproductive freedom last week were treating us like silly girls who can't be trusted to make our own decisions.
Joe Piasecki: Bongloads of Justice (pasadenaweekly.com)
"They were kicking doors down when the people who were there were saying, 'You don't need to kick that door down, let me give you the key.' They were kicking the doors down just because they could, and they had their guns drawn," recalled Wilson, who prevented agents from seizing medical records because they carried a warrant only for the dispensary, not the separate medical office.
Amanda Schaffer: No More Virginal (slate.com)
Spend $1 billion on abstinence education. Get nothing.
The Irascible Professor: Sometimes a Picture Really is Worth a Thousand Words (irascibleprofessor.com)
The Irascible Professor is still amazed that otherwise intelligent people still question the reality of global warming or deny the potential consequences of rapid climate change.
Roger Sandall: Sexualizing everyday life from Mann and Nabokov to Sheik al-Hilaly (culturecult.com:80)
Where are the sheiks of yesteryear, riding romantically over the dunes? Not in Australia. Here a burly Egyptian with an ugly turn of phrase recently set new records for ungallantry. Scantily clad Australian women, complained Sheik Taj el-Din al Hilaly, go around like "exposed meat" inviting rape.
Don Hazen: Controversial Michael Moore Flick "Sicko" Will Compare U.S. Health Care with Cuba's (AlterNet.org)
Moore's new film, debuting in Cannes this May, tackles the failures of the U.S. health care system, and includes a segment where 9/11 recscue workers visit Cuba for treatment they couldn't get in America.
Once upon a time in America ... (guardian.co.uk)
You may have heard of Jonathan Safran Foer, but what about Gabe Hudson and ZZ Packer? The ex-marine and the former high-school teacher are among the most exciting names in US literature, according to Granta's prestigious new list. Ed Pilkington reports.
James Donaghy: Turn off my TV? Not on your life (guardian.co.uk)
The TV-Turn-Off Network pressure group is US-based but stages events all over the world, notably in the UK, where their British fellow travellers White Dot have produced an anti-TV guidebook charmingly entitled "Get a Life."
'When do we get to see ageing men celebrating their urinary chaos?' (guardian.co.uk)
Germaine Greer: In the western world, middle-aged women are the chief supporters of the arts. Not that these women will see much on stage, screen or concert hall that relates to their reality.
Reader Comment
Purple Heart
Decorated Texas Vet To Present G-Dub With A Purple Heart
Read the comments!
Yep!
It's True!
kevkev
in Apache Junction, Arizona
Thanks, Kevkev!
Take a gander at the date on the story in The Cove Herald - Thursday, 18 April, and the 'gifting' happened on Monday - that'd be the 16th.
The day the media was too busy 'covering' Virginia Tech to notice anything else.
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny but still cool.
Nearly forgot this is jury duty week. Ack.
Rappin' Rove Miffed
Karl 'Turdblossom' Rove
Karl 'Turdblossom' Rove, political strategist to resident George W. Bush, just wanted to have fun at a weekend black-tie dinner, rather than debate global warming with singer Sheryl Crow, the White House said on Monday.
Rove, Crow and Laurie David, producer of former Vice President Al Gore's environmental film "An Inconvenient Truth," had a heated exchange at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner Saturday night that involved global warming and perceived insults.
"I think Karl Rove just wanted to have some fun on Saturday night. And I think he wasn't the only one," said spun White House spokeswoman liar Dana Perino, in an apparent reference to lyrics of Crow's signature hit, "All I Wanna Do (is have some fun)."
Did Rove leave the dinner early in a huff over the confrontation? "Rove left to get in the motorcade to go home. That's what we all have to do if we're in the motorcade," she said rationalized.
Karl 'Turdblossom' Rove
To Visit Regis' Show
David Letterman
David Letterman will be Regis Philbin's first guest when he returns Thursday to "Live With Regis and Kelly" after having triple heart bypass surgery six weeks ago.
Philbin was a guest host on CBS' "Late Show" after Letterman underwent heart bypass surgery in 2000. He also stepped in when Letterman was recovering from an eye infection in 2003.
"Very appropriate," said "Live" co-host Kelly Ripa, who made the announcement Monday on the syndicated talk show.
David Letterman
Drops Suit Against Viacom
Electronic Frontier Foundation
Activist groups dropped a federal lawsuit against Viacom Inc. on Monday after the parent of Comedy Central acknowledged it made a mistake by asking YouTube to yank a parody of the cable network's "The Colbert Report."
Although the video in question contained clips taken from the television show, the groups argued that their use was protected under "fair use" provisions of copyright law, and thus Viacom shouldn't have asked YouTube to remove the item.
Viacom initially denied requesting the removal but later acknowledged it and said it was in error.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation declared victory in announcing that Viacom agreed to add information on its Web site about its stance on such parodies and to set up an e-mail address to receive complaints about possible errors in the future.
Electronic Frontier Foundation
Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song
Paul Simon
Paul Simon will receive the inaugural Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, an award that aims to recognize "the profound and positive effect of popular music on the world's culture."
The honor will be presented May 23 during an event at the Warner Theatre in Washington, D.C. It will be taped for a June 27 broadcast on PBS.
Among the artists confirmed to participate in the festivities are Art Garfunkel, James Taylor, Stephen Marley, Marc Anthony, Lyle Lovett, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Yolanda Adams, the Dixie Hummingbirds, Lyle Lovett, Philip Glass, Alison Krauss and Buckwheat Zydeco. TV personalities Bob Costas and Lorne Michaels will present.
Paul Simon
Donating Copies Of Art Collection
Cheech Marin
Cheech Marin is donating copies of works from his Mexican-American art collection to some of the nation's best-known museums and universities.
Recipients include the Smithsonian, UCLA, the San Antonio Museum of Art, where the collection debuted in 2001, and Marin's alma mater, California State University, Northridge.
The 60-year-old actor-comedian says he'll donate 50 sets of high-quality digital prints of "Chicano Visions: American Painters on the Verge," which has been on tour for about five years.
Cheech Marin
Hall of Great Western Performers
Steve McQueen
Sam Elliott and the late Steve McQueen have been inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers.
They were honored at the 46th annual Western Heritage Awards on Saturday. A sellout crowd of more than 1,200 attended the event at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum.
Veteran stuntman Dean Smith received the Board of Directors' Lifetime Achievement Award. He has been a stunt-double for Roy Rogers, Dale Robertson, Ben Johnson, Robert Redford, Robert Duvall and Steve Martin, among others.
Elliott, 62, served as master of ceremonies.
Steve McQueen
Instructional DVD
Jimi Hendrix
Guitarists have been copying Jimi Hendrix for decades. Now they can learn some of the legendary rocker's work note for note.
Guitar World magazine will release a special 16-page Hendrix tribute and an instructional DVD that shows how to play each memorable note and string-bending lick on his classic 1967 album, "Axis: Bold As Love." The DVD-magazine package hits newsstands Tuesday.
The magazine tribute includes a complete biography of the guitarist and replicas of concert posters. The DVD includes original photographs and studio footage of Hendrix at work, as well as three hours of instruction covering the 13 songs on "Axis," described as "the disc that captures a perfect moment in the life and career of James Marshal Hendrix."
Jimi Hendrix
VA Allows On Headstones
Wiccan Symbols
The Wiccan pentacle has been added to the list of emblems allowed in national cemeteries and on goverment-issued headstones of fallen soldiers, according to a settlement announced Monday.
A settlement between the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and Wiccans adds the five-pointed star to the list of "emblems of belief" allowed on VA grave markers.
Eleven families nationwide are waiting for grave markers with the pentacle, said Selena Fox, a Wiccan high priestess with Circle Sanctuary in Barneveld, Wis., a plaintiff in the lawsuit.
Wiccan Symbols
Gets Jail Time
Joe Francis
Blowing his nose and wiping away tears, the multimillionaire founder of the "Girls Gone Wild" video empire pleaded guilty to contempt of court Monday and was sentenced to 35 days in jail.
Joe Francis, who was sued by seven women who were minors when filmed, apologized to the judge for yelling at the plaintiffs during settlement talks.
"I am sorry for my behavior. It was wrong. I had heard about appeals and things and I was confused. I am sorry, I really am," said Francis, 34.
Francis drew the contempt charge during negotiations to settle the federal lawsuit brought after his production company filmed the women at Panama City Beach in 2003.
Joe Francis
3 Sentenced In Theft
Edvard Munch
Three men who worked together to steal Edvard Munch's masterpieces "The Scream" and "Madonna" were sentenced Monday to prison for their roles in the brazen daylight heist carried out by masked gunmen. Both paintings were recovered, but were damaged.
Petter Tharaldsen, 35, was sentenced to 9 1/2 years in prison for driving the getaway car that spirited off the paintings and robbers. His term also included a sentence for an unrelated robbery.
Bjoern Hoen, 39, convicted of masterminding the theft, was sentenced to nine years for grand theft. Tharaldsen and Hoen were also convicted of being part of an organized crime group. Stian Skjold, 31, was sentenced to 5 1/2 years as one of the two gunmen who raided the Munch Museum.
The three defendants were also ordered to pay a total of $262 million in compensation to the city of Oslo, which owns the paintings.
Edvard Munch
NY Exhibit
Claude Monet
A New York gallery is offering a new look at the Impressionist master Claude Monet, exhibiting works never before seen by the general public in the most comprehensive retrospective in New York for 30 years.
The non-commercial exhibit at Wildenstein & Company from April 27 to June 15 features 62 works from Monet's long career including three never seen by the public and two which have never before been reproduced in color.
Among the masterpieces going from a private collector's wall to a public showing for the first time is 1867's "Adolphe Monet in the Garden of Le Cocteau," showing Monet's father reading in the shade of a sun-splashed, kaleidoscopic garden.
Claude Monet
One Fewer
Amur Leopards
Hunters in Russia's Far East have shot and killed one of the last seven surviving female Amur leopards living in the wild, WWF said on Monday, driving the species even closer to extinction.
Last week environmentalists said there were only between 25 and 34 Amur leopards -- described as one of the most graceful cats in the world -- still living in the wild.
At least 100 are needed to guarantee the species' survival which depends upon female leopards breeding. There are more male leopards in the wild than female because cats tend to breed males when under stress, WWF said.
A hunter shot the leopard through the tail bone. It tumbled over and was then beaten over the head with a heavy object, WWF said. Amur leopards have not been know to attack humans.
Amur Leopards
Rain Makers
Chernobyl
Russian military pilots have described how they created rain clouds to protect Moscow from radioactive fallout after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986. Major Aleksei Grushin repeatedly took to the skies above Chernobyl and Belarus and used artillery shells filled with silver iodide to make rain clouds that would "wash out" radioactive particles drifting towards densely populated cities. More than 4,000 square miles of Belarus were sacrificed to save the Russian capital from the toxic radioactive material.
In the wake of the catastrophic meltdown of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor, people in Belarus reported heavy, black-coloured rain around the city of Gomel. Shortly beforehand, aircraft had been spotted circling in the sky ejecting coloured material behind them.
Moscow has always denied that cloud seeding took place after the accident, but last year on the 20th anniversary of the disaster, Major Grushin was among those honoured for bravery. He claims he received the award for flying cloud seeding missions during the Chernobyl clean-up.
A second Soviet pilot, who asked not to be named, also confirmed that cloud seeding operations took place as early as two days after the explosion.
Chernobyl
In Memory
Doris Richards
Doris Richards, 91-year-old mother of Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards has died in Britain, a spokeswoman for the band said on Monday.
Her son had kept a vigil at her bedside, forcing him to skip a memorial for the late record mogul Ahmet Ertegun last week.
Richards is the only child of Doris and Bert Richards, who split up in 1962. She bought her son his first guitar for his 15th birthday. He learned some chords from her father, Gus Dupree, a musician who instilled him with an early passion for music.
In her later years, she raised her granddaughter Angela. She is also survived by three other grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.
Doris Richards
In Memory
David Halberstam
David Halberstam, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author who chronicled the Washington press corps, the Vietnam War generation and baseball, was killed in a car crash early Monday, a coroner said. He was 73.
Halberstam, of New York, was a passenger in a car that was broadsided by another vehicle in Menlo Park, south of San Francisco, San Mateo County Coroner Robert Foucrault said.
He was born April 10, 1934, in New York City to a surgeon father and teacher mother. His father was in the military, and Halberstam moved around the country during his childhood, spending time in Texas, Minnesota and Connecticut.
After graduating Harvard University in 1955, he launched his career at the Daily Times Leader, a small daily in West Point, Miss. He went on to the Tennessean, in Nashville, where he covered the civil rights struggle, and then the New York Times, which sent him to Vietnam in 1962 to cover the growing crisis there.
He later said he initially supported the U.S. action there but became disillusioned. That disillusionment was apparent in Halberstam's 1972 best-seller, "The Best and the Brightest," a critical account of U.S. involvement in the region.
He quit daily journalism in 1967 and wrote 21 books covering such topics as Vietnam, Civil Rights, the auto industry and a baseball pennant race. His 2002 best-seller, War in a Time of Peace, was a runner-up for the Pulitzer Prize in nonfiction.
David Halberstam
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