Disinfotainment Today
By Michael Dare
thanks you for trying to end the war in Iraq.
I guess there's nothing anyone can do about it.
'Best of TBH Politoons'
Reader Review
'Winter Soldier'
Review of "Winter Soldier" DVD
On Jan. 31st, 1971, 125 Vietnam veterans got together at a HOJO in Detroit
and spent three days recounting the atrocities they witnessed and
participated in during their tours.
It's one horror story after the other, delivered in sometimes halting,
sometimes eerily calm candor. They all, to a man, focus on the all
important body count...competitions between squads, companies and even
battalions. "Beers for ears"...three day passes as rewards for high counts.
If it's dead, it's a VC.
It's chilling to watch these young men (most 23 or younger and some having
served 2 tours) talk about the indoctrination that occurred in boot camp
and how it translated on the ground in Vietnam.
It's powerful stuff, I was especially touched by the testimony of a forward
scout named Camil, I had a hard time connecting the killer to the eloquent,
soft spoken man on the screen.
"Winter Soldier"
gets 5 purple hearts out of 5 for portraying the horror of an
unjust war, and it's release coincides with and might help us understand
what happened in Haditha.
"Winter Soldier"
is available at amazon...in a bundle deal with another
documentary called "In the Year of the Pig", which covers our involvement in
Vietnam from 1945 to just before the Tet offensive.
~ Th' Rev.
Depthmarker
Thanks, Rev!
A recent release, Sir! No Sir! (2005) would fit the bill, too.
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Greg Mitchell:"Wash Post" Obtains Shocking Memo from US Embassy in Baghdad, Details Increasing Danger and Hardship (Editor & Publisher)
The Washington Post has obtained a cable, marked "sensitive," that it says show that just before President Bush left on a surprise trip last Monday to the Green Zone in Baghdad for an upbeat assessment of the situation there, "the U.S. Embassy in Iraq painted a starkly different portrait of increasing danger and hardship faced by its Iraqi employees."
Mark Crispin Miller: 'Some might call it treason' (smirkingchimp.com)
Two weeks ago, Rolling Stone came out with "Did Bush Steal the 2004 Election?" -- a masterful investigative piece by Robert Kennedy, Jr., arguing that Bush & Co. stole their "re-election" in Ohio, and pointing out exactly how they did it. Primarily because of Kennedy's good reputation, and the mainstream credibility of Rolling Stone, the article has finally opened many eyes that had been tightly shut to the grave state of American democracy.
PAUL KRUGMAN: Class War Politics (The New York Times)
In case you haven't noticed, modern American politics is marked by vicious partisanship, with the great bulk of the viciousness coming from the right. It's clear that the Republican plan for the 2006 election is, once again, to question Democrats' patriotism.
Geov Parrish: Foiled Again! (Satire; seattleweekly.com)
In an e-mail intercept, Osama bin Laden says that after seeing the Department of Homeland Security grants list, he's decided not to attack Kansas City.
Sandra Steingraber: My Children, The Food Experiment (Center for Ecoliteracy. Posted on Alternet.org)
My kids have never seen food industry ads -- their food preferences have been entirely shaped by direct experience.
Julian Baggini: What's so bad about extinction? (guardian.co.uk)
Our attitudes to extinction are probably shaped too much by the fate of the dodo. Because it has become a symbol both of humanity's thoughtless destruction, and of extinction itself, the two ideas have become too closely associated. In fact, nature has always managed to kill off species efficiently without our aid, and will almost certainly get around to us one day too.
Richard Roeper: Stupidity on tap: Too many drinking games (suntimes.com)
According to film legend, Dustin Hoffman showed up on the set of "Marathon Man" one day looking like utter hell. Hoffman explained to Sir Laurence Olivier that as preparation for a scene in which Olivier's character tortures him, Hoffman had gone two days and nights without sleep."My dear boy," Olivier supposedly said, "why don't you just try acting? It's so much easier."
David Bruce: Wise Up! Fathers (athensnews.com)
Movie director Steven Spielberg's daughter Mikaela saw her father on television for the very first time in 1996 when he appeared on the Academy Awards show. Mikaela's mother held her in front of the TV and told her, "Look, honey, there's your daddy." She burped.
Ethical living: Is it OK ... to use air conditioning? (guardian.co.uk)
Leo Hickman's guide to a good life
Jackson Pollock: Create Your Own Masterpiece
Tip From Kip
'as long as those gays can't get married'
Here's a great column that was in a local giveaway paper. It was written a
local guy that is almost always worth reading.
-
Kip
Unchained Maladies
By Ricky Thomason
I put ten dollars worth of Bush-water in my lawnmower -- and that didn't
even fill the tank. It was almost enough to make me scrape the "Bush-Cheney"
and "Dubya - The President" stickers off the back of it. But, really, who
cares if gas goes to five bucks per gallon -- as long as those gays can't
get married.
I cried the other day when I read that the death toll of American soldiers
in Iraq is approaching 2500 and that our troops are caught in the middle of
a religious civil war with no way out. Then I thought, what the hell am I
blubbering about? At least those gays can't get married, and my millionaire
pals get $69 billion dollars in tax cuts. I strongly suspicioned this may be
the most corrupt administration and party in the history of America - then I
decided that was unimportant. At least those gays can't get married, oil
company profits are setting records, and my millionaire pals got tax cuts.
I almost got angry and decided I'd been lied to when, according to a May 21,
2006 article by The New York Times' David Cay Johnson, "The $69 billion tax
cut bill that President Bush signed this week tripled tax rates for
teenagers with college savings funds, despite Mr. Bush's 1999 pledge to veto
any tax increase. The increases, which are retroactive to the first day of
the year, are expected to generate nearly $2.2 billion over 10 years,
according to the Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation, which issues the
official estimates."
Then I thought, since the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has
estimated the cost of prosecuting the war against Iraq at up to $9 billion
per month, why our kids' savings would keep that deal over there running for
almost two weeks. Why shouldn't any patriot be willing to give their kids
college money for that? Oh, and at least those gays can't get married, the
oil company profits are at record levels, my millionaire friends got $69
billion in tax cuts -- which sounds huge, but would only keep the Iraq war
running for less than eight months.
For the rest
Thanks, Kip!
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny & mid-70°s - quite pleasant.
Universal Studios new commercial offers a free kid ticket (with an adult ticket), plus a bonus ticket to a Dodger game.
Oh, and they've pushed up the age of a 'kid'.
Disneyland set the local standard years ago, deciding kids are under 10. 10 years & older pay the adult entrance fee.
Universal is now advertising your kid is a kid til they're 15.
Economy must be booming.
No new flags.
Academy of Television Arts & Sciences
Hall of Fame
The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences has chosen former "NBC Nightly News" anchor Tom Brokaw, producer-director James Burrows, producer Leonard Goldberg, talk-show host Regis Philbin and actor William Shatner for induction into its Hall of Fame, which honors individuals who have made "extraordinary contributions to television" in front of or behind the camera.
Hall of Fame candidates are submitted by ATAS' membership and the industry at large, with the final selection being voted upon by a committee, which was co-chaired by Sam Haskell, president of Magnolia Hill Entertainment, and Conrad Bachmann, actor and former ATAS governor.
Hall of Fame
MSGOP's Surprise Hit Video
Connie Chung
Alongside viral videos of alcohol-drinking monkeys and balletic race cars, the newest Web sensation is a crooning Connie Chung.
On the Saturday finale of MSNBC's Weekends with Maury & Connie, Chung sang a version of Bob Hope's old theme song Thanks for the Memory to her husband and co-host, Maury Povich. A clip of the performance - complete with mood-setting candles and an accompanying grand piano - is the most popular clip of the week on the video Web site YouTube.
As of Tuesday afternoon, more than 413,000 people had viewed the video of Chung - a rating that might have saved Weekends with Maury & Connie, from being cancelled. The half-hour talk show, which featured the two discussing news events, averaged about 232,000 viewers since debuting Jan. 7.
Decked out in a pink gown, Chung sings: "We came to do a show, for very little dough/ By little, I mean I could make more working on skid row/ That's cable."
Connie Chung
FBI Shadowed Playwright
Arthur Miller
In the summer of 1956, playwright Arthur Miller married screen idol Marilyn Monroe in a Jewish ceremony, an event of high-level gossip for much of the world and of high-level curiosity for the U.S. government.
"An anonymous telephone call" has been placed to the New York Daily News, an FBI report notes at the time. The caller stated that the "religious" wedding - Miller was Jewish and Monroe had converted - was an obvious "cover up" for Miller, who "had been and still was a member of the CP (Communist Party) and was their cultural front man." Monroe also "had drifted into the Communist Party orbit."
The memo is one of many included in Miller's FBI files, obtained by The Associated Press through the Freedom of Information Act. Miller, who died last year at age 89, was a longtime liberal who opposed the Vietnam War, supported civil rights and, in one play, "The Crucible," linked the Cold War pursuit of communists to the Salem witch trials of the 17th century.
The FBI not only kept records of Miller's political statements, from his opposition to nuclear weapons to his attacks against the anti-communist blacklist, but of his affiliation with such organizations as the American Labor Party ("a communist front") and the "communist infiltrated" American Civil Liberties Union.
Arthur Miller
Tinker Bell's Voice
Brittany Murphy
Actress Brittany Murphy will be the Walt Disney Co.'s first-ever voice for Tinker Bell, giving the gift of speech to the precocious winged creature who until now communicated via facial expressions and jingling.
The iconic green sprite is returning to the screen in a direct-to-video film slated for release next year as part of Disney's new "Fairies" line of products, which the company touted on Tuesday at the Licensing 2006 International Show in New York.
Disney expects the Fairies line, aimed at girls aged 4 to 11, to generate at least $1 billion in annual sales within 4 years, Disney spokesman Gary Foster said.
Brittany Murphy
BBC Cancels
'Top of the Pops'
The British Broadcasting Corp. announced Tuesday that it is canceling "Top of the Pops," its flagship music chart show, after more than four decades on the air.
BBC director of television Jana Bennett said the show, which first appeared in 1964, would air for the last time on July 30.
The show has suffered flagging ratings in recent years as it faced competition from cable and satellite music channels and the Internet. Last year it was moved from the main BBC1 channel to BBC2, which attracts a smaller audience.
'Top of the Pops'
Postpones Broadway Opening
Martin Short
Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me, the comedy entertainment starring the hyperkinetic comedian, has pushed back its Broadway opening by one week.
The show will now open Aug. 17 at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre instead of Aug. 10. Preview performances begin July 29.
Fame Becomes Me, a sendup of show-biz autobiography, has received mixed to negative reviews during its lengthy tryout tour that began last month in California. The San Francisco Chronicle called the production "an enjoyable, safe evening that could be so much more," while a Toronto newspaper, where the show is running through July 2, urged its creators to "start working like fiends on salvaging the mess that bears their names."
Martin Short
Baby News
Agnes Charles Guggenheim
Academy Award-nominated actress Elisabeth Shue and her husband, director Davis Guggenheim ('An Inconvenient Truth'), are parents of their third child, a girl, People magazine reported.
Agnes Charles Guggenheim was born Sunday, according to Shue's publicist, Stephen Huvane.
Shue and Guggenheim, who are both 42, have a son, Miles, 8, and a daughter, Stella, 5.
Agnes Charles Guggenheim
Another Visit To Divorce Court
Robert Evans
Robert Evans is headed to divorce court - again. His seventh wife, Victoria White O'Gara, filed for divorce June 16 in Superior Court, citing irreconcilable differences, according to People magazine.
Michael Levine, spokesman for the 75-year-old former Paramount production chief, declined comment Tuesday.
The pair were married last August in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. It was the third marriage for White O'Gara, 43, who has three children.
Robert Evans
Overvalued Penthouse
Elton John
Elton John has filed a lawsuit against the Fulton County tax assessors office, saying the county overvalued his penthouse condominium.
The tax assessors office placed a value of $4.6 million on John's 12,000-square-foot condo on Peachtree Street in Atlanta's trendy Buckhead neighborhood.
But that value is $900,000 too much, the 59-year-old singer's experts say.
If he prevails, John would save $16,000 a year in taxes. If he loses, he can expect to pay $77,250 a year.
Elton John
Leaves CBS
Dan Rather
Veteran broadcast journalist Dan Rather has left CBS News in a bitter departure clouded by a reporting scandal over resident George W. Bush's military record, ending 44 years as reporter, anchor and face of the network.
Rather said his departure on Tuesday came after "a protracted struggle" with CBS executives who, he said, had "not lived up to their obligation to allow me to do substantive work" since he stepped down as anchor and managing editor of the "CBS Evening News" in March 2005.
Dan Rather
Celebrity Chef Wins Libel Damages
Gordon Ramsay
Gordon Ramsay has won a libel action against a newspaper that accused the celebrity chef of faking scenes on his reality TV show. The Evening Standard claimed in November that parts of "Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares" - in which Ramsay helps save failing restaurants - had been exaggerated to make an average restaurant look like a health hazard.
It also claimed the program had put an incompetent chef into place at Bonaparte's, a struggling bistro in northern England that was featured in one episode.
The newspaper's publisher, Associated Newspapers Ltd., agreed to print an apology and pay $138,000 in damages to Ramsay and the makers of his program.
Gordon Ramsay
Rediscovered Masterpiece Goes For $21.7M
Egon Schiele
A rediscovered masterpiece by Austrian expressionist Egon Schiele sold for $21.7 million at auction on Tuesday, a highlight of a bumper week in the buoyant London art market.
"Wilted Sunflowers," a painting long thought to have been destroyed during World War II, went to an anonymous buyer on Tuesday for nearly twice the upper end of the pre-sale estimate of $11 million.
Egon Schiele
Don't Ask, Do Tell
Pentagon
A Pentagon document classifies homosexuality as a mental disorder, decades after mental health experts abandoned that position.
The document outlines retirement or other discharge policies for service members with physical disabilities, and in a section on defects lists homosexuality alongside mental retardation and personality disorders.
The Pentagon has a "don't ask, don't tell" policy that prohibits the military from inquiring about the sex lives of service members but requires discharges of those who openly acknowledge being gay.
Pentagon
Adopted In West Hollywood
Pot Resolution
City leaders adopted a resolution Monday night calling on sheriff's deputies not to target certain adult marijuana users. City Council backed the nonbinding resolution 4-0, said city spokeswoman Tamara White.
The resolution directs the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department, which contracts with this left-leaning city, not to "target adult marijuana users who consume this drug in private and pose no danger to the community."
Minors and drug dealers would still be subject to arrest, and smoking in public would still be prohibited, the resolution says.
Pot Resolution
Corporate Art Collection
Kmart
Attention Kmart shoppers: today's specials are on garden hoses, children's T-shirts, and don't miss the Ming dynasty art and a Picasso.
Kmart, better known for discounts on items such as casual clothes and housewares, is selling off high-end art from its former corporate headquarters, including a rare Picasso tapestry and a 15th-century Chinese Ming dynasty watercolour.
They are among works being sold from the corporate art collection at the former headquarters in Troy. The gallery includes more than 1,000 oils, photos, posters, tapestries and sculptures.
Kmart
In Memory
Vincent Sherman
Vincent Sherman, who directed - and romanced - Bette Davis, Rita Hayworth and Joan Crawford during his heyday as a leading Hollywood filmmaker in the 1940s and '50s, has died. He would have been 100 on July 16.
Sherman, whose film career was seriously damaged by Hollywood's communist "red scare," later became a successful director of such television series as "The Waltons," "Medical Center," "Baretta," "Trapper John, M.D." and "77 Sunset Strip."
Because of his ability to evoke powerful performances from strong-willed female stars - he also directed Ida Lupino, Ann Sheridan and Patricia Neal - Sherman became known as a woman's director, a title he hated. He was quick to point out that he also directed Errol Flynn in "The Adventures of Don Juan," Paul Newman in "The Young Philadelphians," Bogart in "All Through the Night," Richard Burton in "Ice Palace" and Ronald Reagan in "The Hasty Heart."
Though both were married at the time, he and Bette Davis had an affair that began during the filming of 1943's "Old Acquaintance" and continued through "Mr. Skeffington," which was released the following year. His dalliance with Crawford lasted through three movies, and another with Hayworth happened during "Affair in Trinidad," after she had divorced Aly Khan.
Sherman's wife, Hedda, tolerated his extramarital adventures, and their marriage lasted 53 years. She died in 1984.
During the early 1950s, his thriving career foundered as he was dropped without explanation by Warner Bros. A federal agent had told the studio Sherman was suspected of communist ties.
"I wasn't a communist," he remarked in 1997, "but I knew people like John Garfield who'd been blacklisted, and I stood beside them."
Born Abram Orovitz to one of the only two Jewish families in Vienna, Ga., in 1906, Sherman learned at an early age to defend himself against the taunts of his schoolmates.
After graduating from Oglethorpe University, he sought an acting career in New York, joining the left-wing Group Theater. Since ethnic names for actors were unfashionable, he changed his to Vincent Sherman.
In the late 1940s Warner Bros. hired Sherman under an acting-writing-directing contract, and he was assigned to the studio's B-picture unit, adapting old movies into remakes.
Sherman is survived by his son Eric, a daughter, four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
Vincent Sherman
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