'Best of TBH Politoons'
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Recommended Reading
from Bruce
ROBERT STEINBACK: Fear destroys what bin Laden could not (miami.com)
One wonders if Osama bin Laden didn't win after all. He ruined the America that existed on 9/11. But he had help. If, back in 2001, anyone had told me that four years after bin Laden's attack our president would admit that he broke U.S. law against domestic spying and ignored the Constitution -- and then expect the American people to congratulate him for it -- I would have presumed the girders of our very Republic had crumbled.
Paul Krassner: Fear and Laughing in Las Vegas (huffingtonpost.com)
The spirit of Lenny Bruce hovered over the festival. Robert Klein said that he was "good, funny, socially important--the best and highest a comedian could do." Perhaps Bruce's most audacious onstage moment was in 1962 when he became the voice of Holocaust orchestrator Adolf Eichmann: "My defense--I was a soldier. I saw the end of a conscientious day's effort. I watched through the portholes. I saw every Jew burned and turned into soap. Do you people think yourselves better because you burned your enemies at long distance with missiles without ever seeing what you had done to them? Hiroshima auf Wiedersehen..."
Larry David: Why I Support John Bolton (huffingtonpost.com)
I know this may not sound politically correct, but as someone who has abused and tormented employees and underlings for years, I am dismayed by all of this yammering directed at John Bolton. Let's face it, the people who are screaming the loudest at Bolton have never been a boss and have no idea what it's like to deal with nitwits as dumb as themselves all day long.
Ben Adler: Five Minutes With: Paul Begala (campusprogress.org)
Q: What do you think about the nomination of Samuel Alito for the U.S. Supreme Court?
A: Most Americans like things like a minimum wage, family and medical leave, and they really don't like the idea of some cop strip-searching their ten-year-old girl. And yet these are things that have happened in Judge Alito's America.
Ellen Goodman: Whatever it takes
"Whatever it takes" does not mean "whatever the president says it takes." It does not mean becoming our own worst enemies. It does not mean approving torture or domestic spying. And it most certainly does not mean watching silently as a commander in chief takes on the uniform of a generalissimo.
ROGER EBERT: The Ringer (3 stars)
"The Ringer" is a comedy about a man who poses as mentally disabled in order to fraudulently enter the Special Olympics. ... So the movie is in horrible taste and Politically Incorrect and an affront to all that is decent, right? After all, it stars Johnny Knoxville, whose "Jackass" TV show is probably the Farrelly's idea of "Masterpiece Theatre." But not so fast, Ex-Lax. The movie surprised me. It treats its disabled characters with affection and respect, it has a plot that uses the Special Olympics instead of misusing them, and it's actually kind of sweet, apart from a few Farrellian touches like the ex-janitor who gets his fingers chopped off in the lawn mower.
David Ansen: 2005's Top 10 Movies (msnbc.msn.com)
1. HEAD-ON: A rough German masterpiece about two lost Turks transformed by love.
2. GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK: Clooney's stunning, stirring tribute to a brave journalist.
3. KINGS AND QUEEN: Exhilaratingly unpredictable French gem about the havoc wreaked by a bourgeois femme fatale.
4. BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN: Ang Lee's devastating gay love story of the New West. A watershed.
5. THE BEST OF YOUTH: This Italian epic follows two brothers from '66 to now. It's six hours. You don't want it to end.
6. CAPOTE: Smart, unblinking portrait of a charming, ruthless genius.
7. CACHÉ: This chillingly ambiguous thriller shows a French couple under siege. Is the enemy without or within?
8. MUNICH: Spielberg's tense, disturbing study of terrorism and reprisal.
9. THE SQUID AND THE WHALE: Painfully funny comedy of a bookish family's self-destructing.
10. A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE: Small-town hero or savage gangster? Cronenberg's tight, provocative teaser.
Cartoons of the Year
Hubert's Poetry Corner
HOCUS POCUS LOCUS: BLUE MAN STOOPS
CANNOT BID ADIEU
TO THE MASTER OF VERBAL SCREW!
NO HUMAN HEART,
BUT DEVIOUSLY SMART!
HIS UNETHICAL BEHAVIOR IS EVIL ART!
PUSHED HALLIBURTON PROFITS OFF THE CHART!
WHEN REAL QUESTIONS START,
FOR HIS UNDISCLOSED LOCATION HE DOES QUICKLY DEPART!
BART STILL LIKENS HIM TO THE ULTIMATE OLD FART!
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Mostly cloudy & cool.
Added 2 new flags - Republic of Moldova and Paraguay
White House Helps Widow
Anna Nicole Smith
Playboy playmate Anna Nicole Smith has an unusual bedfellow in the Supreme Court fight over her late husband's fortune: the Bush administration.
The administration's top Supreme Court lawyer filed arguments on Smith's behalf and wants to take part when the case is argued before the justices.
The issue before the high court is one only lawyers would love: when may federal courts hear claims that involve state probate proceedings. Smith lost in Texas state courts, which found that E. Pierce Marshall was the sole heir to his father's estate.
Anna Nicole Smith
Don't Remain The Same
Songs
Nostalgia sure isn't what it used to be. Imagine watching "Married ... With Children" without Frank Sinatra crooning the recognizable theme song. Ponder a pivotal moment in "Quantum Leap" forever altered because its requisite Ray Charles tune has been replaced. Consider revisiting an episode of "The Muppet Show," only to find that one's favorite musical number has been excised.
As far-fetched as these scenarios might sound, they are becoming a reality for vintage TV shows reissued on DVD. Licensing music for older programs is as pricey as obtaining tunes for new series, and the issue is forcing studios to make radical changes in order to feed the growing demand for TV product in the home-entertainment arena.
In the past year alone, the TV-on-DVD business has accounted for more than $2 billion in sales, and a report released by Merrill Lynch in 2004 suggested that that figure could reach $3.9 billion by 2008. With a number of recent releases flying off store shelves -- the first seasons of "Chappelle's Show," "Family Guy" and "The Simpsons" have sold more than 1 million units each -- studios have been reaching into their vaults to resurrect shows including "All in the Family," "The Golden Girls" and "Magnum, P.I." to feed that seemingly-insatiable consumer appetite.
More often, though, skyrocketing music-clearance fees are becoming major stumbling blocks for DVD reissues, often delaying or even completely derailing releases. Take "WKRP in Cincinnati," for example: The 1970s sitcom used so much classic rock that it would cost 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment a mint to clear the tracks. Fox has suggested that it still is considering releasing "WKRP," but others are not optimistic that the comedy and similar shows of its kind will ever make it into the market.
For more, Songs
Gets New Home
Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame
The Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame is about to bring a new sound to a part of downtown Tulsa once known for the wail of passing trains.
Renovation work is expected to begin after the first of the year to turn the old Union Depot into the jazz hall's new home, said Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame chief executive officer Chuck Cissel.
The Jazz Hall of Fame, which currently shares space in the Greenwood Cultural Center, received $4 million for the project from the taxpayer-funded economic initiative, Vision 2025. About $2.2 million went to purchase the historic building from the Williams Cos., leaving the rest for renovations.
Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame
Stopped by Police
Longoria & Parker
San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker was cited for impeding traffic and failing to produce a valid Texas driver's license during a traffic stop in which "Desperate Housewives" actress Eva Longoria was his passenger, police said.
The incident happened about 12:45 a.m. Saturday. After seeing a car stopped, a bicycle officer said it was impeding traffic. When the car didn't move, the officer rapped the hood with the palm of his hand, according to a police report.
Parker, who was behind the wheel, questioned why the officer touched the car, and the couple "began screaming in a verbally abusive and demeaning manner," police said. Longoria called the police report "highly inaccurate."
Police say Parker then began to drive away, almost hitting a man standing nearby. After being told to stop and get out, Parker showed a French driver's license, police said.
Longoria & Parker
Vietnam To Drop Some Charges
Gary Glitter
Vietnamese police will formally charge British glam rocker Gary Glitter with child molestation and drop an additional charge of child rape, his Vietnamese lawyer said on Monday.
Police have said medical tests on girls who alleged they had had sex with the 1970s rock icon, who was arrested last month, led them to look into the more serious charge of raping children which can carry the death penalty.
"The investigation has ended and the charge will still be the initial one, while additional issues were not raised by investigators, probably because of a lack of evidence," Glitter's lawyer Le Thanh Kinh said.
Gary Glitter
Stops Text Vote For Arab Talent Show
Mobily
Saudi mobile operator Mobily has stopped users from text message voting for an Arab "Star Academy" competition because of an Islamic decree branding the reality show immoral, the company said on Monday.
Saudi religious scholars last May condemned the hugely popular talent show aired by Lebanese channel LBC as a crime against Islam when a young Saudi returned to a hero's welcome after winning in the Lebanese capital Beirut.
"The decision was taken last night because of a fatwa (religious decree) issued last year, since the program is culturally inappropriate," spokesman Humoud Alghodaini said.
Mobily
Graz Removes Name From Stadium
Arnold $chwarzenegger
Californian Gov. Arnold $chwarzenegger's Austrian home town of Graz removed his name from the city's stadium over Christmas, amid anger over his decision to deny clemency to a death row inmate.
Austrian news agency APA showed the stadium's entrance displaying only its historical name, "Graz-Liebenau," and quoted an anonymous city official as saying $chwarzenegger's name had been removed overnight to avoid a public furor.
Left-wing politicians launched a petition drive in Graz to have the town rename the stadium because the Austrian-born governor allowed the execution of death-row inmate Stanley Tookie Williams this month.
While conservative mayor Siegfried Nagl opposed renaming the stadium, a city council majority of social democrats, communists and greens supported it. That prospect prompted $chwarzenegger to turn the tables and withdraw his name himself.
Arnold $chwarzenegger
In Memory
Vincent Schiavelli
Vincent Schiavelli, the droopy-eyed character actor who appeared in scores of movies, including "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and "Ghost," died Monday of lung cancer at his home in Sicily. He was 57.
The New York-born Schiavelli, whose gloomy look made him perfect to play creepy or eccentric characters, made appearances in some 150 film and television productions.In "Fast Times at Ridgemont High," he played the science teacher Mr. Vargas, who was married to the character portrayed by Lana Clarkson.
Schiavelli also appeared as Salieri's valet in "Amadeus," as "Cuckoo's Nest" patient Frederickson, the subway ghost in "Ghost," the organ grinder in "Batman Returns" and as Chester in "The People vs. Larry Flynt." He was selected in 1997 by Vanity Fair as one of the United States' best character actors.
He also wrote three cookbooks and many food articles for magazines and newspapers, possibly inheriting his love for cooking from his grandfather, who had been a cook for an Italian baron before moving to the United States.
A funeral service will be held Tuesday in Polizzi Generosa. Survivors include a son, an ex-wife and a girlfriend.
Vincent Schiavelli
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