'TBH Politoons'
Correction
Baron Dave Romm
Every Day Is Earth Day
Earth Day 2006 was April 21. We cannot consign the fate of the planet to one 24 hour period. Every day is Earth Day. Here are a few thoughts and actions you can take.
First rule of camping: Don't shit where you sleep. Dogs know this; Republicans aren't that smart.
To be a Republican these days, one must believe in lies and not believe in the truth. Various of my Republican friends criticize me for such a sweeping statement, and I'm perfectly willing to admit it's a generalization but I have yet to find a counter-example. As usual, conservatives blame the messenger and don't see the flaws in themselves. I'm still collecting the truths that Republicans reject in The Heartland Project, the subject of a column here a few weeks ago. For this column, I want to focus on one truth that the radical right will deny to your last breath: how humans are ruining the environment.
For the rest: Every Day Is Earth Day - BartCopE! - Monday, 24 April, 2006
Recommended Reading - Yesterday
from Bruce
(Turns out Bruce didn't take the day off - AOL's e-mail service delivered it a day late.)
Karel: Look, Ma! I'm blending in (advocate.com)
Of course gay and lesbian moms and dads should have been a part of the White House Easter Egg roll-haven't they always been? If we want to be treated like everyone else, why make a big deal out of it?
Alexandra Mendenhall: Remembering Audre Lorde (afterellen.com)
Audre Lorde was a lesbian poet, but she never would have stood for such a simple and over-generalized description of herself. Lorde, who once described herself as a "black feminist lesbian mother poet," never felt comfortable being categorized solely as a black woman, a lesbian, or a poet.
Shauna Swartz: Mariel Hemingway: Setting a New Personal Best (afterellen.com)
"I don't do a lot of press, so I really had no idea. But when I was at Dinah Shore Weekend, that was pretty serious recognition," says Mariel Hemingway about attending the annual lesbian extravaganza last month to promote the new film In Her Line of Fire, in which she plays a lesbian secret service agent. "It was nice attention, but it was definitely very intense attention. People were not subtle."
Michael Ricci: Forbidden Gay Frontier: Where Star Trek Hasn't Boldly Gone (afterelton.com)
In 1991, Star Trek creator, Gene Roddenberry, spoke with The Humanist magazine about his evolving view of the gay community, "My attitude toward homosexuality has changed. ... I would, sometimes, say something anti-homosexual off the top of my head because it was thought, in those days, to be funny. I never really deeply believed those comments, but I gave the impression of being thoughtless in these areas. I have, over many years, changed my attitude about gay men and women."
Lawrence Ferber: 5 QUESTIONS FOR LILY TOMLIN (frontierspublishing.com/)
With the release of 9 to 5: The Sexist, Egotistical, Lying, Hypocritical Bigot Edition-which features cast commentary, deleted scenes, a documentary, and a gag reel-we just had to corner its star Lily Tomlin by the water cooler.
Roger Ebert: The Long Goodbye (1973; A Great Movie)
Robert Altman's "The Long Goodbye" (1973) attacks film noir with three of his most cherished tools: Whimsy, spontaneity and narrative perversity. He is always the most youthful of directors, and here he gives us the youngest of Philip Marlowes, the private eye as a Hardy boy.
Roger Ebert: The Big Sleep (1946; A Great Movie)
Two of the names mentioned most often in Howard Hawks' "The Big Sleep" (1946) are Owen Taylor and Sean Regan. One is the chauffeur for the wealthy Sternwood family. The other is an Irishman hired by old Gen. Sternwood "to do his drinking for him." Neither is ever seen alive; Regan has disappeared mysteriously before the movie begins, and Taylor's body is hauled from the Pacific after his Packard runs off a pier. Were they murdered? And does it even matter, since there are five other murders in the film?
Max Lucado: Coloring Jesus With the Gifts God Gave You
Don't waste years embellishing your own image. No disrespect, but who needs to see your face? Who doesn't need to see God's?
Still Free
Reader Suggestion
GasBuddy
Marty -
I've found this link useful.
Today's Recommended Reading
from Bruce
David Podvin: THE RAPE OF THE WORKING CLASS (makethemaccountable.com)
Illegal immigration is a means by which corporations savage America's working class.
Five Minutes With: Arianna Huffington (campusprogress.org)
Q: What are the odds that you might switch back again to being conservative? What would it take?
A: A lobotomy.
Amy Sullivan: Not as Lame as You Think (washingtonmonthly.com)
Democrats learn the art of opposition.
Stuff the kids (guardian.co.uk)
It bombards them with adverts, seduces them with merchandise - and then fills them with additives. In an exclusive extract from his explosive new book, Eric Schlosser reveals how the fast-food industry exploits its key audience - the very young.
The 59 ingredients in a fast-food strawberry milkshake (guardian.co.uk)
To make one at home, you need four fresh ingredients. The processed version isn't so simple ...
In praise of boredom (guardian.co.uk)
This week an academic claimed that boredom was good for kids. That may be true, says Zoe Williams but it takes an adult to really appreciate it
Help the Democrats
Print Some Democrat Party Door Hangers
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Mostly sunny and a bit cooler.
No new flags.
CBS & XM Satellite Radio Strike Deal
Opie & Anthony
CBS and XM Satellite Radio struck an unprecedented deal on Monday to bring ribald radio hosts "Opie & Anthony" back to commercial drive-time radio in seven cities, replacing rocker David Lee Roth in his ill-fated bid to succeed shock jock Howard Stern.
The agreement calls for CBS Radio stations in New York; Philadelphia; Pittsburgh; Boston; Cleveland; Dallas; and West Palm Beach, Florida, to start carrying "Opie & Anthony" on Wednesday, some four years after CBS pulled the radio duo off the air over a sexually explicit comedy bit that got them in trouble with federal regulators.
A three-hour morning show will be simulcast on CBS and on XM Satellite. The CBS feed will be subject to the same broadcast standards as other shows, and the XM feed will go out without any bleeps or cuts.
Opie & Anthony
Honored in Home State
Jim Nabors
Jim Nabors, best known as television's Gomer Pyle, has been inducted into the Alabama Stage & Screen Hall of Fame.
At the Saturday ceremony, an episode was shown from the '60s comedy "Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C." in which Nabors sang the stirring "The Impossible Dream." Nabors, an Alabama native, told the gala audience of about 400 people that it was the first time he'd seen that recording of the song.
The 75-year-old actor-singer entertained the audience with true-life stories, spun in a Gomer "can you believe this?" fashion, but choked up when talking about Carol Burnett, who helped him through his health problems. He had a brush with death in the early '90s before a liver transplant saved his life.
Jim Nabors
Stay Of Execution?
'7th Heaven'
"7th Heaven" is entering the final stretch of its 10-year run on the WB, with two episodes left before its May 8 series finale. Or maybe not?
For the past month, there has been on-and-off speculation that the acclaimed family drama might continue on the new CW network, which will replace both the WB and UPN this fall.
About a month ago, members of "Heaven's" core cast, including Stephen Collins, Catherine Hicks, Beverley Mitchell and George Stults, were approached about the possibility of returning for another year on the show, sources said. Although no formal offers were made and there haven't been recent inquiries to the cast or their representatives, sources indicate CW executives are keeping the option to bring back "Heaven" on the table, and no final decision will be made until the future network's four drama pilots are evaluated.
'7th Heaven'
Hits Ratings Milestone
Timmy Russert
NBC's "Meet the Press" and host Tim Russert marked a milestone this week: 260 consecutive weeks - five years - as the most popular Sunday morning public-affairs program.
It has generally been the most popular Sunday show since 1998. But the last day it was beaten (by ABC's "This Week" pre-George Stephanopoulos) was July 30, 2000. To give a fair comparison, NBC did not count weeks where one or more of the network Sunday shows were pre-empted in much of the country for other programming.
"Meet the Press" was seen by just over 4 million people this week, according to Nielsen Media Research. CBS' "Face the Nation" was second with 2.9 million, and ABC's "This Week" had 2.8 million. "Fox News Sunday" had 1.3 million, Nielsen said.
Timmy Russert
Outdoor Life Network Renamed
'Versus'
The Outdoor Life Network, a cable channel owned by Comcast Corp., is changing its name to Versus.
OLN, which began soliciting suggestions for a new name about a year ago, said Versus was chosen "not only for its bold nature, but because it universally evokes competition."
The new name will take effect in September, in time for the NHL season, OLN announced Monday.
'Versus'
Wedding News
Stuart - Dillon
Kevin Dillon, star of the HBO comedy series "Entourage," has married fiancee Jane Stuart in Las Vegas.
The couple were married Saturday in a downtown wedding chapel in a brief service that included several songs performed by an Elvis Presley impersonator, Us Weekly reported Sunday on its Web site.
The service was witnessed by Dillon's "Entourage" co-star Kevin Connolly, the magazine said.
Stuart - Dillon
Another Philandering Republican?
Bianca Nardi
A producer for TV talk-show host Maury Povich filed a $100 million sex harassment lawsuit against him and other members of his staff Monday, claiming they barraged her with sexual remarks and made her watch porno movies and expose her body.
Bianca Nardi, 28, of Fort Lee, N.J., says in court papers that the sexually charged atmosphere among the show's production staff was fostered by the "intimate and sexual relationship between defendants Maurice Richard Povich and Donna Benner Ingber."
Court papers also say Nardi had an unfairly heavy workload because she did tasks that were supposed to be done by Ingber, who often refused to do her own work - without penalty - because of her relationship with Povich.
Povich is married to the veteran television news anchor Connie Chung.
Bianca Nardi
Replaying Games
NFL Network
NFL games will be replayed in a 90-minute format on NFL Network during the upcoming season.
In the past, the league didn't allow full rebroadcasts. But beginning Tuesday, Sept. 12, "NFL Game Re-Airs" will feature four of the best matchups from the previous weekend. Eliminated will be halftime and, according to a league announcement, "other elements not critical to the outcome."
It will be the first time in league history that games from the NFL regular-season or playoffs will be shown outside their live window. The network expects to show 75 replays altogether.
NFL Network
Connecticut To Honor
Katharine Hepburn
Katharine Hepburn never sought a memorial while alive, but now, nearly three years after her death, the actress' name will adorn a new arts centre in her beloved hometown on Long Island Sound.
The town is refurbishing the more than 90-year-old Town Hall into the Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center. Fund raisers hope to net more than $1 million US for stage lighting, seats, sound, projection and other equipment.
Cynthia McFadden, a friend of Hepburn's and executor of her will, is serving as an honorary member of the fundraising campaign. Others who have joined the project include actress Lauren Bacall, CBS newsman Morley Safer and writer Dominick Dunne.
Katharine Hepburn
Supermodel Refused U.S. Entry
May Andersen
Supermodel May Andersen, arrested after allegedly hitting a flight attendant on a plane from Amsterdam to Miami, was refused entry into the United States on Monday and will be returned to the Netherlands, officials said.
The model, who has appeared in Sports Illustrated's swimsuit edition and posed for Victoria's Secret, was charged with assault after allegedly becoming unruly and violent on the flight last Thursday. She was held in the Miami-Dade County jail and then moved to federal immigration custody.
May Andersen
Reprimanded for Comments
Keith Hernandez
Mets broadcaster Keith Hernandez was reprimanded by the team's television network for "inappropriate" remarks during a broadcast about a female member of San Diego's training staff.
The former MVP first baseman said women "don't belong in the dugout" when he spotted 33-year-old Kelly Calabrese, the Padres' full-time massage therapist, high-fiving Mike Piazza in the dugout after he hit a home run during New York's 8-1 victory Saturday in San Diego.
After Hernandez found out later in the broadcast that Calabrese was with the Padres training staff, he repeated that she shouldn't have been there. "I won't say that women belong in the kitchen, but they don't belong in the dugout," he said.
Hernandez said Sunday that he was sorry if he offended anyone. He also said that baseball's rulebook allowed only the head trainer and assistant trainer in the dugout.
But a Major League Baseball memo previously sent to all clubs said that in addition to the two trainers, one member of the conditioning staff was permitted in the dugout during games. After Hernandez's remarks, MLB called the Padres and verified that, indeed, Calabrese was allowed.
Keith Hernandez
Bad Karma
'Election 2'
A newspaper says the cast and director of a pair of violent gangster movies released 400 fish at sea in a Buddhist ceremony to improve their karma, after filming some bloody scenes.
Apple Daily newspaper ran a photo of director Johnnie To, actors Simon Yam, Louis Koo, Lam Ka-tung and Lam Suet lined up at the back of a boat, hands clasped in prayer position. Other pictures showed Koo clutching a basket of fish, preparing to dump them into the sea, and Yam removing a fish from a fish tank with a net.
Apple Daily quoted director To as saying the cast also set birds free when the sequel to Election, due out in Hong Kong Thursday, started filming.
Election 2, which is screening out of competition at Cannes this year, is reportedly even bloodier, with cannibalism involved.
'Election 2'
In Memory
Phil Walden
Phil Walden, the Capricorn Records founder who launched the careers of Otis Redding and the Allman Brothers Band, has died after a long battle with cancer, a family friend said Monday. He was 66.
Walden's two most famous artists, Redding and guitarist Duane Allman, both died tragically, Redding in a plane crash in 1967 at 26 and Allman in a motorcycle accident in 1971 at age 24.
During the 1970s, Walden was an early backer of then-Georgia Gov. Jimmy Carter. He helped Carter's upstart bid for the presidency financially, as did the Allmans and other Capricorn groups, who played benefit shows.
Redding and Walden's close friendship made them outcasts in the segregated South, Redding's widow, Zelma Redding, recalled in 1997. She said Walden's passion for black music made him "the little white boy who everybody was wanting to beat up on."
Phil Walden
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