Watching the devastation
of the California fires is a different kind of horrifying from the
devastation of Hurricane Katrina. Mediawise, Katrina was presented as poor black
people who lost their modest homes, victims of the weather, bureaucratic
incompetence, and their own personal gamble in deciding to live in that area.
The stadium they were herded into looked like hell on earth. But the
California fires were presented as rich white people who lost their incredible
mansions, victims of the weather, bureaucratic incompetence, and their own personal gamble in deciding to live in that
area. The stadium they were herded
into looked pretty well stocked.
When
the poor lose everything, they don't lose as much as the rich when they lose
everything, but that doesn't make their hardship any less
vital.
There are lots of agencies out
there helping the fire victims, offering the exact same help any homeless person
might need, yet their screening process weeds out all the homeless who didn't
happen to own a home that recently burnt down. If you're homeless and living on
the street because your home burnt down a month ago, you're shit out of luck as
far as the agencies are concerned.
There were thousands of homeless before the California fires. Now there
are several thousand more. You gotta ask yourself why the newly homeless get
preferential treatment. Isn't it possible the previously homeless had
catastrophes in their lives just as valid as fire? Shouldn't they be at the
front of the line?
The lesson
we've learned is that if you're going to lose everything, fire is better than
water and rich is better than poor.
More than a million people were
displaced by the California fires, the largest peacetime migration since the
Civil War if you believe your television, a terrible spectacle of monumental
proportions.
And yet its
only a quarter of the four million Iraqis who've been displaced by our war,
so keep those fire images in mind and multiply by four just to keep things
in perspective.
Further proof that humans can wreak MUCH more havoc than
tired old mother nature.
Whenever editors of newspapers are arrested in the
middle of the night for exposing corrupt sheriffs, other editors of newspapers
can continue to play it safe or further expose the corrupt sheriff. Guess
which road we chose? No Dick Cheney he, we found it easy as pie to
googlemap Joe Arpaio's home. What did he do? Read America's Most Cowardly
Sheriff by Tony Ortega of the Village Voice.
If you were going to go out and hire someone to write a
comprehensive history of the use of the N-word in stand-up comedy, you couldn't
pick a more knowledgeable writer than Paul Krassner. Luckily, we didn't
even have to ask. After reading A Brief History of the N-Word,
you'll totally understand why it was funny when Lenny Bruce said it but not
funny at all when Michael Richards said it.
Now that we know Dumbledore's
gay, you might be wonder what deep dark secrets are held by other fictional
characters. If not, you certainly won't bother reading Top Ten Secrets of
Fictional Characters, which you'll find right around Jeff Crook's
piece, Dumbledore's Army.
We hereby acknowledge the existence of
Pontifica, a new state owned by F.G. Fitzer, who says I Claim 200
Square Miles of Antarctica.
If like the rest of us, you've been waiting for a chance
to smack Rupert Murdoch in the face, you will certainly want to play
Whack-a-Murdoch.
Billy Graham was no Mother Teresa, as Michael
O'McCarthy knows since he read and reviewed Cecil Bothwell's
The Prince of War - Billy Graham's Crusade for a Wholly Christian
Empire.
In case you've forgotten, Jim Carrey
reminds you there's still a War on Buddha and the Miami Herald
and AlterNet remind you there's still a War on
Plants.
Last week, Bishop Desmond Tutu was
forbidden to speak at the University of St. Thomas just because he nominated
MordechaiVananu , the Israeli Daniel
Ellsberg, for the Nobel Peace Prize. Check out The Censoring of Bishops
and Whistle Blowers.
Jim Watson apologized for saying
something horrible. Pete Stark apologized for saying something
absolutely true. One's a putz for saying something but a mensch for apologizing,
one's a mensch for having spoken truth to power but a putz for apologizing. They
add up to the Apologies of the Week., not
the Scumbags of the Week, which is an entirely different
feature.
When you get A Press Release from the Grim
Reaper, you better print it if you don't want pitchfork scars on your
buttocks.
Shhh, Don't Tell Anyone, is top secret
to everyone who doesn't read it.
If I forgot to mention the cartoon by Justin
Bilicki, High Coup by zEN mAN, Outside
the Box, Get Involved, the Real Estate Deal of the Week,
Lynette Sheffield's Bad Food, David
Schoen's Don't Go, You'll Ruin It, the Google Smackdown of
the Week, you'll just have to take our word for it that we'll get
to it next time.
We realize this issue of the Los Angeles Free Press is
way too big to be presented in just one long column. There's a learning curve
here as we learn InDesign to format everything in a more rational manner, which
we assure you is coming up.
Meanwhile, all these treasures and more can be
found in Issue 2.05 of the all new Los Angeles Free Press.
Jack Brennan on the habits of successful investors (personal.vanguard.com)
"You have to forgo a little bit of consumption in order to establish the good habit of saving and investing Š It's no different than deciding you're going to start an exercise program. You have to say, 'I am going to do this.'"
Jim Hightower: PAULSON THE GENIUS (jimhightower.com)
In a bitter twist for those who've already lost their homes, Paulson now complains that they could have been helped if only bankers and government had acted sooner. HelloŠ HenryŠ weren't you the one telling everyone to keep their hands off the problem, to let the market work its magic?
Editorial: Another $200 Billion (The New York Times)
President Bush waited until he had vetoed a relatively inexpensive children's health insurance bill before asking for tens of billions of dollars more for his misadventure in Iraq. The cynicism of that maneuver is only slightly less shameful than the president's distorted priorities. Despite a pretense of fiscal prudence, Mr. Bush keeps throwing money at his war, regardless of the cost in blood, treasure or children's health care.
Reviewed by James Christopher: "Silent Comedy" by Paul Merton (entertainment.timesonline.co.uk)
I had no idea that my favourite comedian suffered delusions of academic grandeur. I know that Paul Merton is a genius. He can twitter for England on 'Just a Minute,' and is a principled bruiser on 'Have I Got News For You.' But his obsession with silent black-and-white comedy is a total surprise.
Alan Franks: The last laugh for The Fast Show (entertainment.timesonline.co.uk)
Paul Whitehouse has been making films, almost. "One of my daughters got very angry," he says, "because she told her friends her dad was going to be in a Harry Potter film, but then my part was cut and they didn't believe her. My youngest said, 'How dare they do that? Daddy's a very good actress.'"
A: The police are notified
B: There are at least 3 witnesses
C: It's not raining
D: Both parties are registered blood donors
DanD was first, but not correct:
Okay, let's do this as an exercise of logic.
A: Why notify the cops? they'll only try to stop it (either that or tax
it) and then everybody will get shot.
B: This sounds like the appropriate answer. And if one of the three
witnesses decides to rat out a cheater, then he can always be challenged.
C: Hey, what if you're holding the duel indoors? Also, they do it
during the rain with football and other sports, so why not dueling?
D: Now, if you'da listed whether both parties were ORGAN DONORS, then I
mightn'uv considered it. After all, with the "one-shot" standard of
dueling, there'd always be a few good organs left salvagable. Not so
much when you're using full automatic weapons or hand grenades.
So, it seem that "B" is the answer.
Second, but with the right answer, was Alan J:
D. Both parties are registered blood donors.
CBS begins the night with a FRESH'NCIS', followed by a FRESH'The Unit', then a FRESH'Cane'.
Scheduled on a FRESHDave are Jennifer Connelly, Slash, and Nicole Atkins.
Scheduled on a FRESHCraig are Steve Carell and Good Charlotte.
NBC starts the night with a FRESH'Singing Bee', followed by a FRESH'Biggest Loser', then a FRESH'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'.
Scheduled on a FRESHLeno (R-Enabler) are Tom Cruise, Rep. Ron Paul, and the Sex Pistols.
Scheduled on a FRESHConan are Ethan Hawke, Susie Essman, and Zappa Plays Zappa.
Scheduled on a FRESHCarson Daly is Criss Angel.
ABC opens the night rolling out the chestnut 'It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown - 40th Anniversary', followed by a FRESH'Dancing With The Stars', then a FRESH'Boston Legal' (starts 2 minutes after the top of the hour).
Scheduled on a FRESHJimmy Kimmel are Rebecca Romijn, the sixth eliminated celebrity from "Dancing with the Stars", and James Lipton.
The CW offers a FRESH'Beauty & The Geek', followed by a FRESH'Reaper'.
Faux has a FRESH'Bones', followed by a FRESH'House'.
MY has 'Braking The Magician's Code: Magic's Biggest Secrets Finally Revealed 2', followed by the FRESH'The Iron Mask'.
A&E has 6 'Dog The Bounty Hunter''s, 'Criss Angel', and another 'Criss Angel'.
AMC offers the movie 'Friday The 13th Part 3', followed by the movie 'Wes Craven Presents: Dracula 2000', then the movie 'Alien Resurrection'.
BBC -
[12:00 PM] Cash in the Attic - Ep 4 Guyonvarch;
[1:00 PM] Cash in the Attic - Ep 3 Miles;
[2:00 PM] Bargain Hunt - Ep. 24 Ardingly 66;
[2:30 PM] Bargain Hunt - Ep. 25 Shepton Mallet;
[3:00 PM] How Clean Is Your House? - Episode 6;
[3:30 PM] How Clean Is Your House? - Episode 7;
[4:00 PM] You Are What You Eat - Episode 13;
[4:30 PM] You Are What You Eat - Episode 14;
[5:00 PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares - Ep 3 Rococo;
[6:00 PM] My Family - Ep 6 Deliverance;
[6:30 PM] My Family - Ep 7 Blind Justice;
[7:00 PM] BBC World News America;
[8:00 PM] Torchwood - Ep 8 They Keep Killing Suzie;
[9:00 PM] Doctor Who - Ep 8 The Impossible Planet;
[10:00 PM] BBC World News America;
[11:00 PM] Torchwood - Ep 8 They Keep Killing Suzie;
[12:00 AM] Doctor Who - Ep 8 The Impossible Planet;
[1:00 AM] Absolutely Fabulous - Ep. 5 Poor;
[1:40 AM] The Catherine Tate Show - Episode 6;
[2:00 AM] The Weakest Link - Episode 12;
[3:00 AM] Hollyoaks - Episode 42;
[3:30 AM] Changing Rooms - Ep. 19 North Cheam;
[4:00 AM] Bargain Hunt - Ep. 22 Wetherby 54;
[4:30 AM] Bargain Hunt - Ep. 23 Newark 63;
[5:00 AM] Cash in the Attic - Ep. 11 Inglis;
[5:30 AM] Cash in the Attic - Ep. 12 Kitching;
[6:00 AM] BBC World News. (ALL TIMES EDT)
Bravo has the movie 'Addams Family Valures', 'Better Half', 'Queer Eye', and another 'Queer Eye'.
Comedy Central has 'Scrubs', another 'Scrubs', last night's 'Jon Stewart', last night's 'Colbert Report', 'Chappelle's Show', 'South Park', and 'Ralphie May: Girth Of A Nation'.
Scheduled on a FRESHJon Stewart is Valerie Plame Wilson.
Scheduled on a FRESHColbert Report is Craig Venter.
FX has the movie 'Elektra', followed by the movie 'Fever Pitch', then the SEASON PREMIERE'Nip/Tuck'.
History has 'Modern Marvels', 'The Lost Book Of Nostradamus', and 'Mega Disasters'.
IFC -
[07:05 AM] Beyond the Sea;
[09:10 AM] The Legend of 1900;
[11:25 AM] Darshan: The Embrace;
[01:05 PM] Amélie;
[03:15 PM] The Legend of 1900;
[05:25 PM] Darshan: The Embrace;
[07:05 PM] The Winter Guest;
[09:00 PM] The Deep End;
[12:30 AM] Action Indies: Extraordinary Location Scouts;
[03:20 AM] Media Lab Results;
[03:30 AM] The Deep End;
[05:15 AM] Darshan: The Embrace. (ALL TIMES EDT)
SciFi has the movie 'Route 666', followed by the movie 'Resident Evil: Apocalypse', and 'ECW'.
Sundance -
[05:20 AM] Derailroaded: Inside the Mind of Larry "Wild Man" Fischer;
[06:45 AM] Open City;
[08:30 AM] Southern Belles;
[10:00 AM] Site Specific: Olivo Barbieri;
[11:00 AM] A Summer in the Cage;
[12:30 PM] Monsterthursday;
[02:15 PM] Resist. With the Living Theatre;
[03:45 PM] A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries;
[06:00 PM] Craig David, James Morrison & Dave Matthews;
[07:15 PM] Help!;
[09:00 PM] Create;
[09:35 PM] Rivers & Tides;
[11:15 PM] Create;
[11:45 PM] Mysterious Skin;
[01:35 AM] Clara et Moi;
[03:00 AM] Episode 3;
[04:00 AM] High Art;
[05:45 AM] A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries. (ALL TIMES EDT)
Wayne Shorter, left, Herbie Hancock, center and Thelonious Monk Jr., pose for photographers before an all-star tribute concert for jazz icon Herbie Hancock, Sunday, Oct. 28, 2007, in Los Angeles. The concert is part of the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition.
Photo by Rene Macura
The Bush administration appears to have annexed a major Canadian landmark as part of a slick new campaign to promote U.S. tourism and welcome foreign visitors to America.
A Disney-produced promotional video released last week by the departments of State and Homeland Security highlights majestic American landscapes, from New England's colorful fall foliage and the Grand Canyon to the Rocky Mountains and Hawaii's pounding surf.
Backed by a soaring orchestral soundtrack, shots of those attractions are interspersed with the smiling images of people of all creeds and colors. The video, "Welcome: Portraits of America," is to be played at select airports in the United States - starting at Dulles International Airport outside Washington, D.C., and George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston - and at U.S. embassies abroad.
About four minutes into the seven-minute production, viewers are treated to the impressive sight and sound of water roaring over Niagara Falls before the screen shifts to the Lincoln Memorial.
In showing the natural wonder, Disney's filmmakers, however, chose the Horseshoe Falls, the only one of Niagara's three waterfalls to lie almost entirely on the Canadian side of the border separating western New York state from southern Ontario province.
Karen Hughes, the undersecretary of state for public diplomacy, said she commissioned the work, which Disney shot and produced at no charge and donated, to overcome the pervasive post-Sept. 11 perception abroad that America is hostile to foreigners. She said the video is to be given maximum exposure.
Former South African president Nelson Mandela (C) chats with some of the musicians who will take part in the upcoming 46664 AIDS concert at the Ellispark stadium, October 29, 2007. Local and international musicians will perform at a concert in Johannesburg to raise money for his 46664 AIDS charity. The concert, which will coincide with World AIDS Day on December 1, is an offshoot of similar shows that have been held in South Africa, Spain and Norway.
Photo by Siphiwe Sibeko
Stephen Colbert brought his fanciful presidential campaign to the campus of the University of South Carolina on Sunday, telling several hundred sign-waving fans that he'll take care of the rival state to the south.
"I promise, if elected, I will crush the state of Georgia," the 43-year-old actor-comedian said to the cheering crowd.
Columbia Mayor Bob Coble presented Colbert with a key to the city, declaring him South Carolina's "favorite son." He said the day was to be known as "Stephen Colbert" day.
Colbert, who is from South Carolina, said the state's children should dress up like him for the day. The Comedy Central talk-show host - who made "truthiness" a commonly heard word - also proclaimed the dominance of South Carolina's produce.
Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberte unveiled Monday a new foundation that will help the world's poorest countries gain access to precious clean water.
"No one can remain indifferent when we know that at least every eight seconds, a child dies from a disease caused by drinking contaminated water," Laliberte said as he announced the One Drop foundation.
Laliberte said he would contribute 100 million Canadian dollars (104 million US) over the next 25 years to the foundation, which will fund projects to rebuild water wells and provide drinking water in poor countries.
An exhibition of a unique collection of artworks by Bob Dylan, including variations of previously published drawings and sketches, has opened at a museum in this eastern German city.
Visitors flocked to the Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz museum Sunday to see the 170 colored versions of pictorial motifs by Dylan called, "The Drawn Blank Series."
The exhibit consists of drawings that Dylan produced between 1989 and 1992 and published in a book. Curator Ingrid Moessinger had 332 of the works specially reprinted and painted, and Dylan then selected 170 works for display.
The pictures show scenes from daily life: portraits of women and men, still lifes, cityscapes and other places that Dylan, 66, observed during his travels. The exhibit runs through Feb. 3.
In this photo provided by the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), actor Michael Douglas and his wife actress Catherine Zeta-Jones attend the opening night of the Savannah Film Festival Saturday, Oct. 27, 2007 where Douglas received the Lifetime Achievement Award for his outstanding contribution and dedication to the art of film making.
Photo by Dave Allocca
"Jimmy Kimmel Live" has landed a second home on basic cable.
TV Guide Network struck a deal with ABC this month to begin airing episodes a day after their initial late-night airdate. On Monday, the network quietly began stripping "Kimmel" at 7 p.m. weeknights.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed. TV Guide Network and ABC declined comment.
Donovan, famous for '60s pop hits such as "Hurdy Gurdy Man" and "Mellow Yellow," has announced plans to open the Invincible Donovan University, where students will adhere to the principles of transcendental meditation.
"I know it sounds like an airy-fairy hippie dream to go on about '60s peace and love," said the 61-year-old singer, who was born Donovan Leitch in the Maryhill area of Glasgow. "But the world is ready for this now, it is clear this is the time."
He said the university will be located in either Glasgow or Edinburgh.
TV viewers hooked on cliffhanger episodes of hit shows such as "Heroes" and "Grey's Anatomy" could be left dangling if writers walk off the job.
With Hollywood writers poised to log off their laptops as soon as Thursday, TV networks were bracing for the need to fill the airwaves with reality shows, game shows and even reruns if a threatened strike devours their script inventory.
Viewers could start seeing an onslaught of "unscripted" entertainment by early next year, when popular series such as "Desperate Housewives" and "Heroes" run out of new episodes.
Members of the Writers Guild of America and the group representing film and TV producers were set to meet Tuesday with a federal mediator after scant progress in contentious talks that have dragged on since July.
The Supreme Court on Monday refused to consider a dispute involving Elizabeth Taylor over ownership of a Vincent van Gogh painting. The painting is claimed by descendants of a Jewish woman who fled Nazi Germany.
The painting, worth millions, may be among the estimated 600,000 works of art that belonged to Jews and wound up in Nazi hands between 1933 and 1945.
Margarete Mauthner, a one-time owner of the van Gogh, left Germany in March 1939, having lost her livelihood and most of her property due to Nazi policies of economic coercion. Relatives of Mauthner, a noted translator and advocate of the arts, say the painting was among the property she lost to the Nazis.
Mauthner's heirs went to court to recover the artwork, but the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco has ruled that the federal Holocaust Victims Redress Act does not create a private right to sue. Mauthner's relatives also are trying to recover the painting under California state law, but the appeals court ruled they waited too long to act.
Robert Culp's lawsuit alleging that the Los Angeles Zoo mistreats elephants can go forward.
Judge Reginald A. Dunn has rejected arguments by the city that the complaint filed by the 77-year-old actor and real estate agent Aaron Leider lacks a legal basis.
Culp and Leider want to stop the zoo from building a $40 million elephant exhibit. They accuse zoo authorities of withholding medical care from elephants and keeping them cramped in small places, and don't want the zoo to keep any elephants.
Lawyers for the city argued Monday that the pair's complaint was political, not legal, but the judge rejected that argument and refused to dismiss the lawsuit.
Louis Gossett, Jr., left, and Nichelle Nichols, right, pose for photographers before an all-star tribute concert for jazz icon Herbie Hancock, Sunday, Oct. 28, 2007, in Los Angeles. The concert is part of the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition.
Photo by Rene Macura
The late supermarket tycoon Simon Sainsbury left 18 paintings worth as much as $200 million to the Tate Britain and the National Gallery in a bequest that the two galleries described as the most significant in memory.
The paintings, including works by Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, Thomas Gainsborough and Francis Bacon, came from Sainsbury's private collection. The descendant of the grocery chain's founder died last year at age 76.
The Tate will receive 13 works, including paintings by Bacon, Gainsborough and Lucien Freud. The National Gallery will receive five of paintings - two works by Monet and paintings by Degas, Paul Gauguin and Henri Rousseau.
US archaeologist Nathan Mountjoy, unseen, points out a stone etched with ancient petroglyphs and graves that reveal unusual burial methods in Ponce, Puerto Rico, Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2007. The archaeological find, one of the best-preserved pre-Columbian sites found in the Caribbean, form a large plaza measuring some 130 feet by 160 feet (40 meters by 50 meters) that could have been used for ball games or ceremonial rites, officials said.
Photo by Andres Leighton
Animal Planet has begun production on a weekly primetime series based on pet-adoption Web site Petfinder.com, which the network acquired last year.
Similar to the site, "Petfinder" will aim to match families with pets -- ranging from pythons to pigs to puppies -- from local animal shelters.
The 13-part hourlong series, set to debut in first-quarter 2008, will be co-hosted by wildlife expert Jarod Miller, who has appeared on such talk shows as "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" and "Rachael Ray," and dog trainer Dina Zaphiris, who has schooled the dogs of Al Pacino, Bruce Willis and Nicolas Cage.
"Petfinder" is shooting in and around Los Angeles.
Porter Wagoner was known for a string of country hits in the '60s, perennial appearances at the Grand Ole Opry in his trademark rhinestone suits, and for launching the career of Dolly Parton.
Like many older performers, his star had faded in recent years. But his death from lung cancer Sunday, at 80, came only after a remarkable late-career revival that won him a new generation of fans.
The Missouri-born Wagoner signed with RCA Records in 1955 and joined the Opry in 1957, "the greatest place in the world to have a career in country music," he said in 1997. His showmanship, suits and pompadoured hair made him famous.
He had his own syndicated TV show, "The Porter Wagoner Show," for 21 years, beginning in 1960. It was one of the first syndicated shows to come out of Nashville and set a pattern for many others.
In May, after years without a recording contract, he signed with ANTI- records, an eclectic Los Angeles label best known for alt-rock acts like Tom Waits, Nick Cave and Neko Case.
Wagoner's final album, "Wagonmaster," was released in June and earned him some of the best reviews of his career. Over the summer, he was the opening act for the influential rock duo White Stripes at a sold-out show at New York's Madison Square Garden.
"The young people I met backstage, some of them were 20 years old. They wanted to get my autograph and tell me they really liked me," Porter said with tears in his eyes the day after the New York show. "If only they knew how that made me feel - like a new breath of fresh air."
Wagoner was born in West Plains, Mo., and became known as "The Thin Man From West Plains" because of his lanky frame. He recalled that he spent hours as a child pretending to be an Opry performer, using a tree stump as a stage.
He started in radio, then became a regular on the "Ozark Jubilee," one of the first televised national country music shows. On the Opry since 1957, he joined Roy Acuff and other onetime idols.
Four-day old male tapir Gesztenye (Chestnut) stands in his enclosure in the Xantus Janos Zoo of Gyoer, Hungary, as the baby is first shown to the public in Gyoer, 124 kms west of Budapest, Hungary, Monday, Oct. 29, 2007.
Photo by Karoly Gyoeri
You have reached the Home page of BartCop Entertainment.
Make yourself home, take your shoes off...
Go ahead, scratch it if it itches.
The idea is to have fun.
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Anything that increased your blood pressure, or, even better,
amused or entertained?
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How about a favorite TV show, movie, book, play, cartoon, or legal amusement?
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Just plain vile, filthy rumors?
This is your place.
