TODAY!
Erin Hart
Please join Erin Hart as she fills in on the afternoon drive on AM760 Progressive Talk in Denver today, tomorrow and Friday, from 3pm to 6pm (pdt) | 4pm to 7pm (mdt) | 5pm to 8pm (cdt) | 6pm to 9pm (edt).
Senator John McCain, visits Colorado and the Dalai Lama in Aspen. He dared Obama to go abroad and now complains. . . .
Senator Barack Obama looks more and more like a Commander in Chief as he rocks the houses of Europe; and does very well in Afghanistan, Iraq, Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian Territories.
Did Obama's trip increase his stature? It must have, because attacks coming out of the McShame camp sound truly pathetic.
Is McCain REALLY gaining in the polls in CO and other battleground states, and what does that mean at this stage?
For more information check out Erin Hart Show
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Paul Krugman: Another Temporary Fix (nytimes.com)
The housing bill that passed in Congress last week is another attempt to fix the financial system without resolving its underlying flaws.
The smartest advice I ever got (money.cnn.com)
From Bill Miller to Derek Jeter: 40 great minds share the best money lessons they ever learned.
Susan Estrich: Are Newspapers Dying? (creators.com)
The Sunday opinion section is gone. So is the book review section. So are literally hundreds of the reporters I have come to respect over years of reading my local paper.
Froma Harrop: Memories of the McCain That Was (creators.com)
Too bad there's no time-traveling on Election Day. The more moderate John McCain of eight years ago would make a very attractive candidate, and Barack Obama eight years from now could offer an impressive track record.
DAVID SIROTA: "Centrists" Running the Asylum (creators.com)
In the asylum that is American politics, beware a candidate like Barack Obama when he is lauded for moving to "the center" - because usually that means he is drifting away from it.
Zadie Smith: F. Kafka, Everyman (nybooks.com)
How to describe Kafka, the man?
Geoffrey Wheatcroft: Bondage (nybooks.com)
On For Your Eyes Only: Ian Fleming and James Bond by Ben Macintyre, and four other books.
Malinda Lo: Brief Interview with Joss Whedon (afterellen.com)
AfterEllen.com: I have to ask you about the Buffy/Satsu thing. Why did you decide to have Buffy have a relationship with this woman? She's never done that before.
A Quickie With Brooke Smith (afterellen.com)
Dr. Hahn of "Grey's Anatomy" chats about her character's new story line.
Brandon Voss: Montana Margot (advocate.com)
Margot Kidder's stars in the latest Donald Strachey mystery, On the Other Hand, Death, premiering on here! TV. But first she has a few things to say about Obama, her not so quiet life in Montana, her brief lesbian past, and why she will take any part that's offered to her.
Christopher Ciccone: Big Sister Knows Best (advocate.com)
In this excerpt from his new book, Life With My Sister Madonna, Christopher Ciccone discusses the interview Madonna gave with The Advocate in 1991 in which she outed him to the entire world.
David Bruce: Wise Up! Beauty (athensnews.com)
American poet Natalie Barney was not known for her housekeeping. Someone once pointed out that her house and furniture were dusty, but she merely replied, "The dust is pretty; it's furniture's face powder!"
Held Over
The Monday Poll Poll
The current question:
Last Sunday in an interview with CBS, Senator Obama said that an increase in troops, "...two Brigades, perhaps three..." is necessary in Afghanistan. Are you in favor of that escalation? (three brigades is approximately 15,000 soldiers)
Due to little response (4) gonna hold over the poll for a day or two. Maybe some people watched the Sunday talk shows and saw Obama speak on the issue of the question, formed a solid opinion either way and will respond to make this interesting. We need more than 4 answers!
Fresh poll questions appear on Monday and Thursday, with Monday's results on Thursday, and Thursday's results on Monday. Might even have some charts and graphs.
Send your response, and a (short) reason why, to BadToTheBoneBob ( BCEpoll 'at' aol.com )
Whose pet was 'Baby Puss'?
DanD was first, and correct, with:
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Hazy sunny day with a bit of humidity.
Still Around
George Carlin
Although there will be no more new routines, George Carlin is still around, thanks to his daughter, Kelly Carlin McCall, and brother, Patrick, who spent a weekend earlier this month scattering his ashes at his favorite haunts around the country. They stopped in front of the nightclubs he played in New York City's Greenwich Village and at a summer camp in New Hampshire where, as a child, he received a necklace for winning the drama competition. He was wearing it the day he died.
Accompanied by old friends from the neighborhood, they also stopped at a park on the edge of Harlem where Carlin grew up.
"The wind blew him around a little bit when Kelly threw his ashes," Patrick Carlin recalled.
George Carlin
Streaming On The Web
'Sunday Night Football'
NBC and the NFL will stream online the complete "Sunday Night Football" season, the first time a complete NFL game has ever been available on the Web in the United States.
"Sunday Night Football Extra," as it's being called, will offer the Al Michaels/John Madden audio stream as well as additional camera angles, the ability to watch multiple video streams and in-game highlights. It will begin with the Thursday night opening night, which will be televised on NBC.
The companies are keeping close to the vest on the financial aspects of the deal, which is a revenue share. But both the NFL and NBC hopes that the addition of Web viewers will be incremental and not slice off a segment of the TV viewership. It's a one-year deal.
'Sunday Night Football'
Misses Concerts
Chuck Berry
Rock and roll pioneer Chuck Berry pulled out of two sold-out weekend concerts in Spain at the last minute without any explanation, organisers said Monday, sparking concerns over his health.
The American guitarist and singer, who turns 82 in October, was scheduled to perform in Estepona on Spain's Mediterranean coast on Saturday and in the northern city of Leon a day later.
While they said no explanation was given for his no-show, British newspaper Daily Mail quoted an unnamed source close to the entertainer in Paris as saying ill health may have been the cause.
Chuck Berry
Former Googleers Unveil New Search Engine
Cuil
A start-up led by former star Google engineers on Sunday unveiled a new Web search service that aims to outdo the Internet search leader in size, but faces an uphill battle changing Web surfing habits.
Cuil Inc (pronounced "cool") is offering a new search service that the company claims can index, faster and more cheaply, a far larger portion of the Web than Google, which boasts the largest online index.
Cuil clusters the results of each Web search performed on the service into groups of related Web pages. It sorts these by categories and offers various organizing features to help identify topics and allow the user to quickly refine searches.
User privacy is another appeal of its approach, Cuil says. Because the service focuses on the content of the pages rather than click history, the company has no need to store users' personal information or their search histories, it says.
Cuil
'Beautiful Inside My Head Forever'
Damien Hirst
A September auction of new works by artist Damien Hirst is expected to fetch over 65 million pounds, Sotheby's said on Monday.
Estimates for the sale, to be held over two days on September 15 and 16, range from 15-20,000 pounds to eight to 12 million pounds for "The Golden Calf", a bull in a tank of formaldehyde with its head crowned by a solid gold disc and its hooves and horns cast in 18-carat gold.
The sale, called "Beautiful Inside My Head Forever", will also include paintings, cabinets and preparatory drawings, and four of the 223 lots, with a combined worth of around two million pounds, will be sold for charity.
It coincides with the 20th anniversary of the Freeze exhibition in London which launched the careers of Hirst and some of his fellow "Young British Artists".
Damien Hirst
'Extra' Host
Mario Lopez
Mario Lopez is taking over as sole host of the Hollywood gossip show "Extra," replacing Dayna Devon and Mark McGrath.
Lopez, a veteran of "Saving by the Bell" and "Dancing with the Stars," had served as a correspondent and co-host of "Extra's" weekend edition. He will begin his new duties in September when the syndicated show launches its 15th season.
"Extra" veteran Devon will stay on as a special correspondent and backup host.
Mario Lopez
Hospital News
Novakula
Conservative political commentator and unindicted traitor Robert Novak announced Monday he has been diagnosed with a brain tumor, less than a week after he struck a pedestrian with his Corvette and drove away.
Novak, 77, fell ill on Cape Cod this weekend while visiting his daughter and was rushed to Brigham and Women's Hospital, where he said he was diagnosed Sunday with the tumor.
Novakula
French Anti-Insurgency Methods
US Forces
The US military has adopted tactics first used by French soldiers more than 50 years ago in Algeria, as it seeks to subdue Al-Qaeda remnants in one of Iraq's most violent cities.
By dividing communities into small sectors and putting informants in charge, American forces are using anti-insurgency methods invented by France during Algeria's war of independence.
Captain Kevin Ryan, the US officer in charge of the pacification of Baquba, a former Al-Qaeda stronghold, confirmed the French influence.
This urban sweep strategy is clearly seen in Gillo Pontecorvo's 1966 classic war film "The Battle of Algiers," which is also shown to American soldiers for training and which Captain Ryan routinely cites.
US Forces
Home In Foreclosure
'Extreme Makeover'
More than 1,800 people showed up to help ABC's "Extreme Makeover" team demolish a family's decrepit home and replace it with a sparkling, four-bedroom mini-mansion in 2005.
Three years later, the reality TV show's most ambitious project at the time has become the latest victim of the foreclosure crisis.
After the Harper family used the two-story home as collateral for a $450,000 loan, it's set to go to auction on the steps of the Clayton County Courthouse Aug. 5. The couple did not return phone calls Monday, but told WSB-TV they received the loan for a construction business that failed.
The house was built in January 2005, after Atlanta-based Beazer Homes USA and ABC's "Extreme Makeover" demolished their old home and its faulty septic system. Within six days, construction crews and hoards of volunteers had completed work on the largest home that the television program had yet built.
'Extreme Makeover'
Party U
Gators
The University of Florida can raise a glass to another national title - best party school in the country. The Gators, known for wild celebrations following national championships in football and basketball, wrested the party title away from West Virginia University and beat out the University of Mississippi and Penn State University, in the Princeton Review survey of 120,000 students released Monday.
The university has made the top 20 party school list for the past 15 years, but has never been No. 1.
The annual rankings also list the nation's "Stone-Cold Sober Schools." Topping that list was Utah's Brigham Young University for the 11th consecutive year.
The Princeton Review's annual guide, "The Best 368 Colleges," also ranks schools on scores from 60 to 99 based on admissions, financial aid, and a new category called the Green rating, which surveys colleges in part on their environmentally friendly practices.
Gators
Shocking! Liars Lied!
Justice Dept.
Top aides to former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales (R-Torture Is Cool) broke the law by injecting politics into what should have been the non-partisan hiring of career lawyers and immigration judges, according to a Justice Department report released on Monday.
The department's inspector general and its office of professional responsibility concluded that Monica Goodling (R-Politically Intolerant), the White House liaison, and Kyle Sampson (R-Religously Intolerant), Gonzales' chief of staff, also committed misconduct.
In another finding, the report said Goodling and two other department employees gave inaccurate information lied in response to inquiries about department hiring practices.
The report found that Goodling, her predecessor Jan Williams (R-Intolerantly Intolerant) and Sampson, who also had been a top aide to Attorney General John Ashcroft (R-Anointed With Crisco), inappropriately considered political or ideological affiliations in selecting immigration judges.
Justice Dept.
Let The Stonewalling Begin
EPA
The Environmental Protection Agency is telling its pollution enforcement officials not to talk with congressional investigators, reporters and even the agency's own inspector general, according to an internal e-mail provided to The Associated Press.
The June 16 message instructs 11 managers in the EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, the branch of the agency charged with making sure environmental laws are followed, to remind their staff members to keep quiet.
"If you are contacted directly by the IG's office or GAO requesting information of any kind ... please do not respond to questions or make any statements," reads the e-mail sent by Robbi Farrell, the division's chief of staff. Instead, staff members should forward inquiries to a designated EPA representative, the memo says.
EPA
Liberals To Blame
Jim David Adkisson
Police found right-wing political books, brass knuckles, empty shotgun shell boxes and a handgun in the Powell home of a man who said he attacked a church in order to kill liberals "who are ruining the country," court records show.
Knoxville Police Department Officer Steve Still requested the search warrant after interviewing Jim David Adkisson. who was subdued by several church members after firing three rounds from a 12-gauge shotgun into the congregation.
Adkisson targeted the church, Still wrote in the document obtained by WBIR-TV, Channel 10, "because of its liberal teachings and his belief that all liberals should be killed because they were ruining the country, and that he felt that the Democrats had tied his country's hands in the war on terror and they had ruined every institution in America with the aid of media outlets."
Adkisson told Still that "he could not get to the leaders of the liberal movement that he would then target those that had voted them in to office."
Inside the house, officers found "Liberalism is a Mental Health Disorder" by radio talk show host Michael Savage, "Let Freedom Ring" by talk show host Sean Hannity, and "The O'Reilly Factor," by television talk show host Bill O'Reilly.
Jim David Adkisson - Knoxville News Sentinel
'Runs' For Mayor of Fairhope, AK
Wille Bean Roscoe P. Coltrane
One of the candidates in the race to become Fairhope's next mayor is considerably more hairy than the rest. He also has twice as many legs and a constantly wagging tail. Wille Bean Roscoe P. Coltrane is a 7-year-old yellow Labrador retriever whose owner has taken a satirical poke at politics by launching the pooch into the race.
Some of his supporters say all the politicking, name-dropping and sign-maneuvering in the seven-man Fairhope mayoral race is wearing on them weeks ahead of the Aug. 26 election.
"I think he polishes up the field," said Vince Kilborn, 66, of Fairhope. "We need new blood."
Kilborn, former Gov. Don Siegelman's chief attorney in his ongoing criminal corruption case, added about the dog: "He doesn't have any skeletons in his closet. He's eaten them all."
Wille Bean Roscoe P. Coltrane
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