'TBH Politoons'
But Untrue
Strangely Believable
Chief Justice William Rehnquist has announced his intention to retire following the president’s inauguration. Court watchers expect he will return to his family home in
~Jeff Crook
Jeff Crook is the Ceci Connolly of the Left. ~ J. Howard Tuft
Strangely Believable but Untrue is now available online at the Untrue Fact of the Day web calendar. Help spread disinformation and misunderstanding by sharing this with your friends and enemies.
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Paul Krugman: That Magic Moment (New York Times) (Click on "Columns," then on "That Magic Monent.)
A charming man courts a woman, telling her that he's a wealthy independent businessman. Just after the wedding, however, she learns that he has been cooking the books, several employees have accused him of sexual harassment and his company is about to file for bankruptcy. She accuses him of deception. "The accountability moment is behind us," he replies. Last week President Bush declared that the election was the "accountability moment" for the war in Iraq - the voters saw it his way, and that's that. But Mr. Bush didn't level with the voters during the campaign and doesn't deserve anyone's future trust.
Editorial: Social Security/Blacks get more, not less, from it (Minneapolis Star Tribune)
Of all the lies -- let's call them by their right name -- that the Bush administration is spreading about Social Security, none is as vile as the canard Bush repeated last Tuesday, when he said, "African-American males die sooner than other males do, which means the [Social Security] system is inherently unfair to a certain group of people. And that needs to be fixed." That is an entirely phony assertion; it has been debunked by the Social Security Administration, by the Government Accountability Office and by other experts. Bush and those around him know that. For them to repeat what they know to be a blatant lie is despicable fear-mongering.
Russ Baker: Election 2004: Stolen Or Lost (Tom Paine)
A handful of Democrats in Congress objected Thursday to certifying the 2004 election. They were unsuccessful, and Congress ultimately ratified Bush's electoral victory. Many involved in the challenge, however, made it clear they weren't alleging fraud, but trying to shine a light on massive electoral problems. As time passes and allegations of fraud are investigated, it seems clearer that the story of the 2004 election is more about incompetence and dysfunction than intentional misconduct. Russ Baker explains.
Paul von Hippel: Civil Rights, Brought To You By... Republicans? (Gadflyer, Alternet)
The new taxpayer-funded Republican Freedom Calender highlights "a half century of civil rights achievements by the party of Lincoln." Here's what the calender left out.
NAACP: More Than Half Of The 108th Congress Get Failing Grade On NAACP Report Card (From Jan. 30, 2004)
Majority of House and Senate vote against NAACP civil rights agenda
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) reported Š 52% of the members of both the U. S. Senate and House of Representatives were graded "F" on votes taken during the first session of the 108th Congress in its 2003 Federal Legislative Report Card. The legislative report cited 228 or 52%, of House members with an "F" grade. The remaining 207 or 47% of the congressmen, received a "C" or higher. Fifty-tw o senators received an "F" grade and 48 received a "C" or better. Votes from both Senate and house were cast on education, healthcare, judicial nominations, employment, aid to states, election reform and travel to Cuba.
ROGER EBERT: The Assassination of Richard Nixon
Baltimore, 1974. Sam Bicke explains and explains and explains. He has it all worked out, why he is right and the world is wrong, and he has a fierce obsession with injustice. "My name is Sam Bicke," he says at the beginning of one of the tapes he mails to Leonard Bernstein, "and I consider myself a grain of sand." He sells office supplies, very badly. His marriage is at an end. The bank is not acting on his loan application. Nixon is still in the White House. The Black Panthers are being persecuted. It is all part of the same rage coiling within him.
Reader Recommendation
'Deadwood'
'Deadwood' - It's a western, of which I'm usually not a fan, but it's realistic and gritty.
I'm sure that "Deadwood" is much more true to life than the santized
John Waynecrap we've been forcefed for what seems like forever (and unlike Wayne, the
people on this show can ACT).
One of the main characters, Ian McShane, just won a Golden Globe the other night
for his role as Al Swearingen, the owner of a saloon/brothel.
Ian McShane is one of my all-time favorite actors and I love just about
everything he's ever done (in 1979 on Masterpiece Theater, he played British PM
Benjamin Disraeli
in a 12-part mini-series), but he's terrific in "Deadwood."
Larger than life.
The only problem is that his character has a filthier mouth than the entire cast
of "The Sopranos" (another of my favorite shows) combined. Let's say Al has a
very colorful vocabulary and a twisted philosophy on life.
Keith Carradine
had been playing Wild Bill Hickok since the beginning of the
show, but he got killed off last night (shot in the back during a poker game,
like the real James Butler Hickock was).
Great show, if you don't mind the very strong language and some other "adult"
content.
Terry C
NJ
Thanks, Terry!
The always fabulous Ricky Jay is one of the writers, as well as semi-regular on
'Deadwood', too!
Here's a picture leftover from the Golden Globes -
Letters, We Get Letters...
Nice site! NOT!
Jim's new banner sucks and so does your website you
frickin' sore loser! I hope Bush makes amendments and
laws just to piss you off even more! LOL Dude you just
can't hack it can you? Your site is just stupid and
full of ridicule that makes no difference in society
if maybe to crack up a few late night browswers who
senslessly search for meaning in life...well, they
wont get that from your site, that's for sure! Do you
even get the concept of godliness? You're still in the
world and have no spiritual sense at all, you know
that?
Is it possible for you to create a meaningful site
that can help others' in some way instead of insulting
them? dude, what's with all the Bush jokes? Are you
mad cause he won? If the election is what you put your
hope in I feel sorry for you cause you're in bondage
still. You think any MAN is going to be the perfect
candidate? I just don't see why you waste your time
with this stuff marty. You used to be a half decent
guy, what's wrong with you?? Create something more
meaningful and stop wasting your time with this junk
for once! Please Marty I know you can find a more
creative solution to the intensity that lingers in
your flesh and hatefulness that whispers in your ears.
Don't give in anymore k!
And I'll be watching your progress..don't think you
can keep hiding from me! You already tried that!
Naasson Graham
I used to be a half decent guy?
Thanks for the laugh, Naasson...
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny and warm, but the wind is changing, so we're laying in a stock of kleenex for the impending allergies. Ack.
Talked to dear old Dad tonight. It was -5°(F), and he was a bit cranky, not that I could blame him.
His 80th birthday is next week.
Writes Jokes for Letterman
Johnny Carson
CBS "Late Show" host David Letterman has a secret joke writer -- and it's none other than the retired king of all late-night television, Johnny Carson.
CBS senior vice president Peter Lassally, a onetime producer for both men, said on Tuesday that the 79-year-old former host of NBC's "The Tonight Show" occasionally sends Letterman new jokes he has written and that Letterman sometimes incorporates them into his nightly "Late Show" monologue.
Lassally, appearing at CBS's annual winter showcase for television critics, said that while Carson has remained out of the public eye since retiring, he keeps up with late-night TV, as well as with political news and other current events that were once fodder for his own "Tonight Show" monologue.
Carson retired in 1992 after nearly 30 years as host of "The Tonight Show" on NBC and was replaced by Jay Leno. But Carson has always felt privately that Letterman, not Leno, was his rightful successor, Lassally said.
Johnny Carson
Next Leader of Texas?
Kinky Friedman
Kinky Friedman, the best-selling author, country singer and friend of the stray dog, next week will officially toss his ten-gallon hat into the ring for the 2006 Texas governor's race, his campaign said on Tuesday.
Friedman will announce his bid to run as an independent on Feb. 3 near the Alamo from a hotel where former U.S. President Teddy Roosevelt founded the Rough Riders.
Friedman, frontman for the group "The Texas Jewboys," is known for songs such as "Get Your Biscuits in the Oven and Your Buns in the Bed" and writing books including "Kill Two Birds and Get Stoned."
The humorist however, is deadly serious about his campaign to unseat current Gov. Rick 'Good Hair' Perry, a Republican who succeeded resident Bush.
Kinky Friedman
Announcing This Year's Oscar Nominations
Adrien Brody
US actor Adrien Brody, who won the best actor Oscar for his role in "The Pianist," will unveil the nominations for the 2005 Academy Awards next week, organisers said.
Brody, who became the youngest person ever to win the best actor award for his performance in Roman Polanski's 2002 holocaust drama, will join Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Frank Pierson in unveiling this year's nominees before dawn on January 25.
The pair will announce the nods in 10 of the 24 categories at a 5:30 am (1330 GMT) on Tuesday, marking the official start of the 2005 race for cinema's highest honours.
Adrien Brody
Opens Film Studio in Morocco
Dino De Laurentiis
With sand dunes, oases and snow-capped peaks so beloved of epic filmmakers, not to mention an army willing to provide thousands of extras, Morocco can now boast one of the world's largest film studios. Veteran Italian producer Dino De Laurentiis and Rome's famed Cinecitta Studios have teamed up to create CLA Studios, which stretches over 371 acres with two shooting stages of 19,380 square feet each.
Bigger than any studio in Hollywood or Europe, the site will be able to accommodate two major movies a year, said Ismail Farih, spokesman for Morocco's private Sanaman Holding, the third partner in the $8.3 million project.
The studios in Ouarzazate are at the heart of a desert area in southern Morocco which has provided backdrops to classic films including "Lawrence of Arabia," "Cleopatra" and more recently "Gladiator," Oliver Stone's "Alexander the Great" and Ridley Scott's latest film, "Kingdom of Heaven."
Dino De Laurentiis
Honorary President of Vienna Film Museum
Martin Scorsese
American film director Martin Scorsese announced he will accept the honorary presidency of the Vienna Film Museum, considered one of the most important in Europe.
Established in 1964 by the Austrian director Peter Kubekla, the Vienna Film Museum has an archive of 20,000 films, mostly art films or independently produced movies.
Director of 40 films since 1963 including "Taxi Driver" and "Raging Bull", Scorsese, along with seven other famous American film directors, in 1990 created a foundation dedicated to the conservation of cinemographic documents.
Martin Scorsese
Wedding News
Anderson - Ozanne
Former "X-Files" star Gillian Anderson has married longtime boyfriend Julian Ozanne.
The couple exchanged vows Dec. 29 at a friend's beach house on Lamu's Shella island, off Kenya's Indian Ocean coast, People magazine said Tuesday. The ceremony, which included hymns sung by a Kenyan choir in Swahili, was attended by immediate family and a handful of close friends.
Anderson - Ozanne
Has Appendectomy
Ty Pennington
Ty Pennington, the hyperactive team leader from the hit ABC show "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," is recovering from a weekend appendectomy.
Pennington was in his hometown of Atlanta for a taping of an upcoming episode when he was taken to the hospital for the surgery. He was expected to be released Tuesday.
Pennington did not let the predicament slow him down. He participated in guiding the design team from his hospital bed and taping went ahead as planned.
Ty Pennington
Gets Kidney Transplant
Steven Cojocaru
Red-carpet fashion maven Steven Cojocaru has undergone a successful kidney transplant.
Cojocaru, who has polycystic kidney disease, said Monday that he was thankful for the transplant of a friend's organ on Friday.
Cojocaru, who lives in Los Angeles, said he plans to return to work after "a short recovery period" at home.
Steven Cojocaru
Buchenwald Memorial Foundation
Beethoven's Fidelio
Officials at the former Buchenwald concentration camp memorial said Tuesday they have agreed to allow a joint German-Israeli performance of Beethoven's Fidelio at the camp.
The project, proposed by Giancarlo del Monaco, a director at the Erfurt Theatre, is not yet final, pending securing of funding, said Ursula Haertl, a spokeswoman for the Buchenwald Memorial Foundation.
Fidelio, Beethoven's only opera, is set in a prison and follows the rescue of an unjustly imprisoned nobleman, Don Florestan, by his loyal wife.
Beethoven's Fidelio
What Will We Tell The Children
Brett Scallions
You might say the Janet Jackson moment of resident Bush's inaugural festivities came Tuesday at a youth concert with hundreds of preteen Hilary Duff fans in the audience.
Borrowing a word from Motley Crue's Neil, the lead singer of Fuel proclaimed, "Welcome to the greatest ----ing country in the world." Brett Scallions followed with a quick apology of "excuse my language."
The outburst was one of the more interesting moments of Tuesday's concert, hosted by Bush twins Jenna and Barbara, who were in the audience but did not come on stage.
Duff was the headliner at the half-full, D.C. Armory concert, which paid tribute to youth volunteerism and community service. Duff, who performed in a black sequin top, rolled-up jeans and sneakers, warmed up the crowd.
Other performers included 2003 "American Idol" winner Ruben Studdard, pop singer JoJo and the band, 3 Doors Down. Also appearing were former football player Jason Sehorn, actor Stephen Baldwin, who rode a skateboard onto the stage, and "Access Hollywood's" Nancy O'Dell, who co-hosts the entertainment show with Billy Bush, whose father, Jonathan, is the brother of former President George H.W. Bush.
Brett Scallions
Pleading Guilty to Tax Evasion
Richard Hatch
Richard Hatch, who became a millionaire when he won the first-ever "Survivor" reality show, has agreed to plead guilty to two counts of tax evasion for failing to report income, including the $1.01 million he won on the show.
Federal prosecutors charged that Hatch, 43, filed false 2000 and 2001 tax returns, omitting his income from the CBS show, as well as another $321,000 he was paid by a Boston radio station.
The penalty could be up to five years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine for each charge. However, as part of the plea agreement filed Tuesday in federal court, the U.S. Attorney's office said it would recommend a lesser sentence.
Richard Hatch
Palm Springs International Film Festival
'The Sea Inside'
Alejandro Amenabar's "The Sea Inside," Spain's entry for the foreign-language Academy Award, received the audience award for best narrative feature at the 16th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival, which concluded Monday.
The audience award for documentary feature went to Yaron Zilberman's "Watermarks," which relates the story of the Jewish Sports Club, formed in 1909 and destroyed by the Nazis in 1938, as told by seven women, all former champion swimmers.
Danielle Arbid, director of "In the Battlefields," a coming-of-age story set in war-torn Beruit, received the New Voices/New Visions Award.
'The Sea Inside'
Implicated In Dr. Dre Award-Show Assault
Suge Knight
Jimmy James Johnson, the man who allegedly attacked Dr. Dre at the Vibe Awards last November, has fingered Dr. Dre's former partner, Suge Knight. Allhiphop.com reports that Johnson told the Santa Monica, California police department that Knight paid him $5,000 to assault Dr. Dre before he accepted his Lifetime Achievement Award at the event.
According to Johnson, Knight wanted to embarrass Dr. Dre, and in addition to the cash, he offered to forgive a debt Johnson's brother owed him. At the Vibe Awards, Johnson pretended to ask Dr. Dre for an autograph before punching him in the face. A melee erupted and Johnson was later allegedly stabbed by G-Unit member Young Buck. During the entire incident, Knight remained seated at a nearby table.
Johnson is currently being held without bail and is facing a life sentence if convicted of assault because he has two prior felony convictions. Young Buck is currently free on $500,000 bail. If he is found guilty of assault with a deadly weapon, he could face up to eight years in jail.
Suge Knight
U.S. Returns Stolen Artifacts
Mesopotamia
Three 4,000-year-old marble and alabaster seals looted from the Iraq National Museum and seized by U.S. Customs from an American scholar were returned on Tuesday to Iraq's U.N. ambassador.
The Iraq Museum, housing more than a quarter of a million pieces, lost 15,000 artifacts to looting following the U.S.-led overthrow of the regime of former President Saddam Hussein in 2003.
The items returned on Tuesday were Mesopotamian cylindrical seals used to authenticate tablets before the use of paper. Each is about 1 inch tall and estimated to date back to between 2340 and 2180 B.C.
Mesopotamia
Bayreuth
Flags
A yearlong search to find who is responsible for sticking small American flags into piles of dog droppings in public parks in Germany has so far been fruitless.
"This has been going on for about a year now, and there must be 2,000 to 3,000 piles of excrement that have been thusly adorned during that time," said Josef Oettl, parks administrator in Bayreuth, southern Germany.
The sporadic series of incidents was originally thought to be a protest against the US-led invasion of Iraq. When it continued it was thought to be a protest against resident George W Bush's campaign for re-election.
Flags
In Memory
Elizabeth Janeway
Elizabeth Janeway, a writer, critic and early supporter of the women's movement, died Saturday. She was 91.
Janeway, widow of presidential adviser Eliot Janeway, died at the Osborn Retirement Community in Rye, her son, Michael Janeway, said Tuesday.
Elizabeth Janeway wrote seven novels between the 1940s and the 1960s, including "The Walsh Girls" and "Daisy Kenyon," which was made into a movie starring Joan Crawford.
As a reviewer for The New York Times, she championed Vladimir Nabokov's controversial "Lolita" against charges of indecency.
In the 1970's, she became a noted supporter of feminism, befriending Betty Friedan, Gloria Steinem and Kate Millett and writing "Man's World, Woman's Place," "Between Myth and Morning: Women Awakening" and "Improper Behavior."
Elizabeth Janeway
