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From 'TBH Politoons'
Great Site!
Thanks, again, Tim!
Weekly Review
HARPER'S WEEKLY REVIEW
July 16, 2002
Scientists succeeded in constructing a live polio virus from scratch
using ingredients that are publicly available. It was pointed out that
making a virus such as smallpox from scratch would be much more
difficult.
Ted Williams, a famous baseball player who died last week,
was hung upside down and frozen in a titanium-steel cryonics cylinder
at the Alcor Life Extension Foundation along with about three other
bodies and as many as five heads. Some members of Williams's family
were upset and charged that his son, John Henry Williams, plans to
sell his father's DNA.
President George W. Bush made a speech about
corporate crime and called for a number of minor reforms. He declared
that "there's no capitalism without conscience. There is no wealth
without character."
The President defended his suspiciously well-timed
1990 sale of stock in the Harken Energy Corporation and tried to blame
Harken's lawyers for his failure, as a company insider, to report the
sale in a timely manner as required by law. "I still haven't figured
it out completely," he said. When challenged about some of Harken's
shady accounting practices, the President said: "In the corporate
world, sometimes things aren't exactly black and white when it comes
to accounting procedures."
The stock market continued to drop,
reaching 1997 levels; Nasdaq was down about 75 percent.
Winnie Mandela went on trial in South Africa for fraud and theft.
Guatemala's government proposed a new tax to fund benefits for former members of
paramilitary death squads.
Attorney General John Ashcroft warned
Congress that Al Qaeda has a "hidden but active presence in the United
States" and that restrictions on law-enforcement agencies must
consequently be loosened even further.
Argentina charged its former
military dictator and several other former officers in the kidnapping,
torture, and murder of 20 leftists.
Archaeologists found 25 Incan
mummies near Lima; they also found evidence of human sacrifice.
Continued at www.harpers.org/weekly-review
--Roger D. Hodge
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In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Stayed cool & overcast til nearly noon, and that's a good thing this time of year.
I tend to watch a bit of late night tv. Usually, after the news I watch Dave, and 'save' Jay for the rerun the following week (KNBC reruns the previous weeks show after Carson Daly). So last night (Monday), I saw the 8 July episode of Jay after Carson Daly. One of the guests was geraldo rivera. OMG!
He's such a pro he could have taught Sally Stanford a thing or 2 about whoredom. When Jay asked him about racial profiling, geraldo made a comment along the lines of ''every group goes through it. It's just their turn.'' He then followed it with something along the lines of ''I'm a Latino, and I have a moustache.
During the drug wars I got stopped all the time. I couldn't get through Heathrow.'' When did they sign that 'war on drugs peace treaty'? Damn. Missed it.
Haven't had to mix up a batch of freeze-dried cat milk in 3 days! Guess my dream of riding herd on a pride of dairy cats is best put aside for now.
Planning on attending BartFest in Vegas in September. (Yeah, like I'd miss that - damn near in my backyard!) An interesting side trip is Hoover dam. My parents were visiting with the 'back-home-concrete-king' a few years back, and we accompanied him on his homage to the dam thing. It was a WPA project, where beauty was to
be incorporated with practicality. Across the top of the dam there are public restrooms. They were built in a classic 'art deco' motif. Really bitchin' as we say in these parts. What can I say - beauty is where you find it.
Tonight, Wednesday, CBS starts the evening with '60 Minutes II', a fresh 'Big Brother 3', and then '48 Hours'.
Scheduled on a fresh Dave are Sarah Jessica Parker and Etta James.
Scheduled on a fresh Craiggers is Busta Rhymes.
NBC has the evening's 'Trifecta' of reruns with 'The Most Outrageous Game Show Moments', 'The West Wing', and 'Law & Order'.
Scheduled on a fresh Jay are Melanie Griffith and George Stephanopoulos.
Scheduled on a fresh Conan are Harrison Ford, Jennifer Esposito, and Wilco.
Scheduled on a fresh Carson Daly are Kristin Davis, Greg Giraldo, and Apex Theory.
ABC starts with 2 reruns of 'My Wife & Kids', then 2 reruns of 'Drew Carey', then a fresh 'State v.'.
The WB has the movie 'Dumb and Dumber'.
Faux debuts '30 Seconds To Fame' and 'Meet The Marks'. Then, a rerun 'Bernie Mac', followed by a fresh 'American Idol: Search For A Superstar'.
UPN has reruns of 'Enterprise' and 'Buffy'.
Anyone have any opinions?
Or reviews?
(See below for addresses)
Post-Show
Robin Williams
Robin Williams had plenty of pals at his Broadway Theater show Sunday night. His Juilliard School roommate, Christopher Reeve, was there. So were Ralph Fiennes, Lorraine
Bracco, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Rhea Perlman, Robert Altman, Kevin Meaney, Caroline Rhea, and Jann Wenner. Most of them headed to Ruby Foo's afterward. (Yoko Ono and Sean
Lennon traveled the two blocks in a limo.)
Williams won another standing ovation when he walked into the restaurant. After 90 minutes of nonstop shtick, another man might have plopped himself on a banquette. The
never-flagging funnyman made his way around the room, chatting up everybody, as if it was his first break at the Improv. Within 15 minutes, he was dripping with sweat — much
of it originating in the three dozen or so water bottles that accompanied him onstage.
Robin Williams
Montreux Jazz Festival
Herbie Hancock
US jazzman Herbie Hancock performs during the "Jazz Summit night" at the Stravinski hall stage of the Montreux Jazz Festival, in Montreux, Switzerland, on late
Monday, July 15, 2002. The festival will last until July 20.
Photo by Fabrice Coffrini
Interesting Link
The Exploratorium
Online Exhibits @ the Exploratorium
A Toast To Incontinent Geese?
Bill Gates
Incontinent geese are overrunning Bill Gates' high-tech mansion on the shores of Lake Washington.
The grounds of the Microsoft chief's luxury lakeside pad are overrun with the geese which can excrete up to three pounds of waste a day.
According to a report in The Times, lakeside residents have reported the problem to the city's parks department, which is now considering taking extreme action against the pests.
However, the Seattle Times claims that roundups of Canada geese in Seattle parks have been completed for the summer and added that officials have reported less bird waste on beaches.
It's not often that the IT industry can hold up a glass and toast a gaggle of geese for doing what IT managers, system administrators and supreme court judges have wanted to do for years.
Bill Gates
2-Disc DVD Set
''A Hard Day's Night''
Miramax Films will release the Beatles' "A Hard Day's Night" on Sept. 24 in a two-disc DVD set that includes six hours of bonus features.
"Give Me Everything! A Companion Anthology to the Beatles' First Film" was produced by Beatles historian Martin Lewis, who was chosen by the film's producer, the late Walter Shenson, to
supervise the release and compile the new material.
Lewis conducted most of the 30 interviews, which include ones with director Richard Lester, musical director George Martin, members of the cast and crew and friends of the Beatles. It
will have a retail price of $29.99.
''A Hard Day's Night''
Gridlock In The Hamptons?
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton
Three of the most formidable women in politics could cause gridlock in the Hamptons this Saturday. Laura Bush and Libby Pataki are being billed as the star guests
at the Orchid Ball at Water Mill's Villa Maria to aid the Child Development Center of the Hamptons, and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is expected at the Star Foundation gala at
Ann Randolph Hearst's Southampton home the same night. Hillary's also invited to the Orchid Ball, and it would be fun to see these three circling each other.
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton
Newest Star On Hollywood Walk of Fame
Robert Wagner
Actor Robert Wagner gets a kiss from his daughter Courtney as he poses with his wife, actress Jill St. John, left, and his oldest daughter Katie, far right, in the Hollywood section of
Los Angeles, Tuesday, July 16, 2002. Wagner received the 2,199th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Tuesday.
Photo by Chris Pizzello)
Crash Pilot Used Cocaine
Aaliyah
The pilot of the small plane that crashed in the Bahamas last year — killing 22-year-old singer and actress Aaliyah, himself and seven others — had traces of cocaine and alcohol in his
body, aviation officials said Tuesday.
An autopsy performed on Luis Antonio Morales Blanes' body revealed cocaine in his urine and traces of alcohol in his stomach, the Bahamas Department of Civil Aviation said in a statement.
Authorities are investigating how the substances might have affected the pilot at the time of the August crash. Morales, 30, was sentenced to three years probation on charges of crack
cocaine possession 12 days before the crash.
The aviation department also said Tuesday the aircraft may not have undergone fuel-pump wiring modifications required in August 1988. Unidentified particles and corrosion found in the
fuel filters were "indications that routine maintenance was not being performed," the statement said.
The twin-engine plane was also at least 700 pounds overweight, investigators have said. Although nine people were on board, the plane is certified to carry up to eight including the pilot.
Aaliyah
Leaving California for Branson
Roy Rogers-Dale Evans Museum
The Roy Rogers-Dale Evans Museum is bidding farewell to California, hoping it will be happier trails in this Midwestern city known for its dozens of music theaters.
The museum, featuring cowboy and Western heritage exhibits, will open next spring in Branson, in the heart of the Ozarks, city officials announced Monday.
A 26,000-square-foot facility housing it is to be built on four acres behind comedian Yakov Smirnoff's theater. Estimated cost of the museum, which will also include a theater, is $3 million.
The couple opened the museum near their home in Apple Valley, Calif., moving it to nearby Victorville in 1976 to take advantage of heavily traveled Interstate 15,
which connects Los Angeles to Las Vegas.
The family will move to Branson later this summer to oversee construction, Rogers said, but will keep the Victorville site open until shortly before the move.
Roy Rogers-Dale Evans Museum
To Be A Regular On ''Ed''
Daryl "Chill" Mitchell
The actor, who was paralyzed from the waist down last November in a motorcycle accident, is returning full-time to the acting fold, having landing a series regular
gig on NBC's "Ed" -- his first on-camera experience as a paraplegic.
Mitchell, who can be seen later this month in Disney's "The Country Bears," which he wrapped prior to the accident, will play Eli, a new employee at Ed's bowling alley.
The gig marks a return to NBC for Mitchell, who previously held steady jobs on comedies "Veronica's Closet" and "The John Larroquette Show."
Daryl "Chill" Mitchell
Cool Link
Write Like an Egyptian
Write Like an Egyptian
Returning For More Concerts
Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney, whose first U.S. tour in nine years was the top-grossing road show in the first half, will return in September for 22 shows, his publicist said on Tuesday.
The former Beatle, who turned 60 last month, will kick off his "Back in the USA" tour of indoor arenas in Milwaukee on Sept. 21. The tour will end Oct. 29 in Phoenix.
He will mostly play markets he did not play the first time around, although he will return to Chicago, Cleveland, Boston, Las Vegas and the California cities of Los Angeles, San Jose and Anaheim.
Paul McCartney
Launching A Video Label
The Sundance Channel
The Sundance Channel will launch a video label this fall, with Billy Morrissette's "Scotland, PA" marking its first release.
Sundance Channel Home Entertainment will release up to 12 titles per year in a range of genres on VHS and DVD through pay cable network Showtime's video distribution arm. Showtime is a one-third owner
of Sundance Channel, as are Sundance Institute founder Robert Redford and Vivendi Universal.
"Scotland, PA," which unspooled in competition at the Sundance Film Festival, comes out Oct. 19. The "Macbeth" update stars Maura Tierney, James LeGros and Christopher Walken. The
second title will be romantic comedy "Amy's O."
Most films will premiere on video before showing on the cable network. Sundance already adds extras such as filmmaker interviews to its TV showings of films and will expand the extras for DVD, said Paola
Freccero, senior VP of film programming for Sundance Channel.
The Sundance Channel
In The Kitchen With BartCop & Friends
Featured College Class
Motown Music
The music of Motown is being featured in a class at Indiana University.
The class, offered each summer, is among the most popular on the IU roster. In the department of folklore and ethnomusicology, IU has formed one of the closest connections of any
university with the leaders and luminaries of the Motown music movement.
Professor Charles Sykes, who teaches the class, said the music is especially important because it transcended racial lines.
The university has an extensive archive of Motown material that includes papers and interviews of many important figures in the music movement. Motown founder Berry Gordy donated copies
of his biography to IU to be used in Sykes' class next summer.
Motown Music
New Wheels
Shaquille O'Neal
Shaquille O'Neal is really in the driver's seat now -- with a brand-new, custom-made set of wheels. The L.A. Laker star shelled out more than $100,000 for the gigantic 2002
Cadillac Escalade, complete with a Superman symbol on the front to match his tattoo. Escalades are known for having extra room for large passengers -- and at 7-foot-1, 335 pounds,
Shaq needs all the extra space he can get. The spiffy new Shaqmobile was mede to order by West Coast Creations of Inglewood, Calif.
Shaquille O'Neal
Infrared Reveals Old Master
Raphael
Using the latest infrared technology, art experts have discovered the hand of Renaissance master Raphael beneath an oil painting of the Madonna.
The picture in Rome's Borghese Gallery is attributed to one of Raphael's most talented pupils, Giulio Romano, but experts have suspected for some time that the master
himself was the moving force behind the work.
A new infrared viewing technique has proved them right, revealing the outlines of a picture virtually identical to a Raphael sketch held by the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford.
The sketch shows Madonna in profile, kissing the baby Jesus, who has his arm raised, holding a veil. The painting is more conventional, portraying the Madonna and baby face on.
The infrared imaging reveals a scene much closer to the sketch that was later covered over by the oils.
Raphael
''Arthur'' For HBO
Steven Spielberg
Oscar-winning filmmaker Steven Spielberg plans to bring the legend of Camelot back to cable television.
Spielberg will executive produce a big-budget miniseries about King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table being developed by DreamWorks Television for HBO, officials for
the studio and pay-cable network said on Tuesday.
The eight-part miniseries will combine the fable of Camelot, the seat of King Arthur's court, with documented accounts of historical figures on whom the mythic British monarch
and his knights are believed to have been based.
Spielberg is developing the project, titled "Arthur," with Tony To, who served as a co-executive producer for the successful World War II miniseries the director created
with Tom Hanks, "Band of Brothers," a DreamWorks spokesman said.
Writer-director David Leland, who directed an episode of "Band of Brothers," is in talks to serve as writer and director on the King Arthur project.
Steven Spielberg
Fun Link
Get a Chinese Name
Get a Chinese Name
Keeping Promises to Dave
Les Moonves
CBS says it's delivering on the promises it made to keep David Letterman with the network, heavily promoting his "Late Show" and scheduling what it hopes will be stronger lead-ins to the program.
"We had a very easy negotiation with David Letterman," CBS President Leslie Moonves said wryly of this spring's contentious talks with the entertainer, who considered jumping to ABC.
Letterman's representatives made specific programming demands, including scheduling the new "CSI: Miami," a spin-off of the hit drama "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," at 10 p.m., Moonves told
members of the Television Critics Association on Monday.
And the network clearly is trying, Moonves said, recounting a joke comedian Jon Stewart made about how often Letterman was mentioned during the network's recent broadcast of the NCAA basketball championships.
"There was so much promotion I thought Letterman was playing Duke in the semifinals," Stewart cracked.
Les Moonves
Not Bitter After Broadway Firing
Henry Goodman
After one of the most high-profile firings in Broadway history, veteran British actor Henry Goodman insists he is not bitter and will not sue.
After having just started in the hit New York show "The Producers," Goodman was fired in April and within hours, posters of him in Time Square were taken down.
Goodman, who replaced Nathan Lane in the show, told Tuesday's London Times: "The bookings were fine. The fact is 60,000 people saw me and no one asked for their money back.
"But they wanted a clone of Nathan and I wasn't prepared to give them that."
"I don't feel angry, I don't feel bitter. But I'm not letting the bastards off the hook either. What I feel is dogged and totally determined. I'm even going back to Broadway
to do a Moliere play later this year."
Henry Goodman
BartCop TV!
Animation Debuts in ''Over the Hedge''
Jim Carrey & Garry Shandling
Jim Carrey and Garry Shandling will make their feature animation debuts in "Over the Hedge," a DreamWorks project targeted for 2005.
"Over the Hedge" is based on a popular comic strip of the same name by Michael Fry and T Lewis. The screenplay is being adapted by veteran screenwriter Len
Blum ("Stripes," "Meatballs") in his first animation effort. The film will be directed by Tim Johnson, co-director of DreamWorks' "Antz."
Jim Carrey & Garry Shandling
The Olsen Twins
Mary-Kate & Ashley
Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen are moving for total domination at Wal-Mart.
Having already taken on Kmart's diva of discount dishware, Martha Stewart, the Olsen twins are expanding into categories Stewart wouldn't dare dance into.
The newest offering from the mega-twins is sportswear for teenagers and young women, expanding a brand already expected to generate $1 billion in sales this year.
The twins, who turned 16 last month, already have been named the most powerful young women in Hollywood by the Hollywood Reporter and were named the most
powerful kid stars in the world by Forbes magazine.
The products range in price from $14.98 to $19.98 and feature items personally selected by Mary-Kate and Ashley, the spokesman said.
Mary-Kate & Ashley
Agree to End Standoff
Nigeria Women
An oil company has agreed to build schools and electrical and water systems to satisfy a group of women who had taken 700 workers hostage in a southeast Nigeria oil terminal.
Monday's deal signaled an end to the weeklong takeover, which featured a typical tactic with a new twist: Young men frequently resort to kidnapping in the oil-rich Niger Delta, but
the peaceful, all-women protest was unprecedented.
The unarmed women, some with babies bound to their backs, sang and danced on the docks at the ChevronTexaco facility when they learned the company had offered to hire at least
25 villagers and to build schools and other amenities. But they said they would wait until the verbal agreement was put in writing and signed before leaving the Escravos facility.
The takeover began last week and trapped hundreds of American, Canadian, British and Nigerian oil workers inside the facility. About 200 were allowed to leave on Sunday. It also
shut down the terminal, which exports half a million barrels of oil daily and accounts for the bulk of the company's Nigeria production.
The women used a traditional and powerful shaming gesture to maintain control over the facility and the hostages — they threatened to remove their own clothing. Most Nigerian
tribes consider the unwanted display of nudity by women as an extremely damning protest measure that can inspire a collective source of shame for those at whom the action is directed.
About 600 women took part in the protest, ranging in age from 30 to 90 — with the core group being married women aged 40 or older.
For even more details, Nigeria Women
Phone Company Customer Data
FCC OKs ''Sharing''
Telephone companies will be allowed to share, without consent, private customer data with affiliates that offer communications-related services, under rules adopted by the Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday.
Consumers will have to opt out of having their information used for marketing purposes, including where, when and to whom they place calls, as well as the types of services subscribers use and how frequently they use them.
The FCC left the door open for companies to use an opt-in approach if they so choose, but the agency refused to mandate that method.
However, the agency said consumers must approve when a telephone company wants to share their private information with unrelated third parties or affiliated companies that do not provide communications-related services.
The decision drew a sharp rebuke from the lone Democrat on the panel, who argued that companies would be allowed to sell information without customer consent to the highest bidder who has just
the faintest association with providing telecommunications services.
"Everyone should understand that this decision is neither narrow nor pro-privacy," said Commissioner Michael Copps. "When the stakes for misuse are so high, the commission should be extraordinarily vigilant."
FCC OKs ''Sharing''
Interesting Link
HotBraille
HotBraille
Hits Another Snag
Diana Memorial
Plans to build a $1.45 million memorial fountain to Princess Diana have been delayed again after the committee overseeing the construction disagreed on the design.
The panel, chaired by the princess's friend Rosa Monckton, failed to reach a decision after more than two hours of discussions Monday night, officials said. Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell has now
been asked to find "an appropriate way forward."
It is nearly five years since Diana's death, but plans for a fountain, to be built in London's Hyde Park, have been mired in controversy.
The original 100 artists who submitted ideas were whittled down to a shortlist of three, but the fountain memorial committee of eight is evenly split over designs by Bombay-born British artist Anish
Kapoor and American landscape architect Kathryn Gustafson. Neither side would give way at Monday's meeting.
Diana Memorial
Prime-Time
Ratings
Prime-time ratings compiled by Nielsen Media Research for July 8-14. Top 20 listings include the week's ranking, with rating for the week and season-to-date rankings in parentheses.
An "X" in parentheses denotes a one-time-only presentation. The rating is the percentage of the nation's estimated 105.5 million TV homes. Each ratings point represents 1,055,000 households.
1. (X) "Fox MLB All-Star Game: American vs. National," Fox, 9.5, 10.0 million homes.
2. (2) "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," CBS, 8.8, 9.3 million homes.
3. (5) "Everybody Loves Raymond," CBS, 8.1, 8.6 million homes.
4. (X) "Fox MLB All-Star Preview," Fox, 8.0, 8.5 million homes.
5. (7) "Law & Order," NBC, 7.9, 8.3 million homes.
6. (17) "60 Minutes," CBS, 7.4, 7.8 million homes.
7. (13) "Becker," CBS, 7.2, 7.6 million homes.
8. (34) "48 Hours-Monday," CBS, 7.1, 7.5 million homes.
8. (79) "ABC Monday Night Movie: The Horse Whisperer," ABC, 7.1, 7.4 million homes.
10. (30) "CBS Sunday Movie: Holy Joe," CBS, 6.2, 6.5 million homes.
10. (29) "Dateline NBC-Tuesday," NBC, 6.2, 6.5 million homes.
10. (7) "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," NBC, 6.2, 6.5 million homes.
13. (64) "Dog Eat Dog," NBC, 6.1, 6.5 million homes.
14. (40) "60 Minutes II," CBS, 6.0, 6.4 million homes.
14. (67) "Big Brother 3-Wednesday," CBS, 6.0, 6.4 million homes.
16. (36) "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," NBC, 5.8, 6.2 million homes.
16. (142) "NBC Saturday Night Movies: Men in Black," NBC, 5.8, 6.1 million homes.
16. (44) "Primetime Thursday," ABC, 5.8, 6.1 million homes.
19. (64) "Crime and Punishment," NBC, 5.7, 6.0 million homes.
19. (5) "Friends," NBC, 5.7, 6.0 million homes.
Prime Time Ratings
Cutty Sark Tall Ship's Race
Tall Ships
A fleet of magnificent tall ships parade off Brest, France, before the start of the annual Cutty Sark Tall Ship's race, Tuesday July, 16, 2002. The French national flag is
seen in the foreground.
Photo by Franck Prevel
'The Osbournes'
Fairly freshly updated - 'The Osbournes' ~ Page 2 !
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 1
