'Best of TBH Politoons'
M Is FOR MASHUP - August 8 2007
August Compilation Round-up
By DJ Useo
You lovers of eclectic bootlegs are in for a big treat
this week. There are some very, very nice comps out
that go their own way in musical styles you might not
hear as often. What would you say to collections of
Mo-town, Folk, and Oldies, all done by the bootleg
artists that you know and love? Home producers like
Zamali, Simon Iddol, and Krazyben. Well, quite
naturally you would say "Where's the link?" (links at
the end of article)
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Jim Hightower: BUSH'S IRAQ OIL LAW (jimhightower.com)
It's embarrassing that George W keeps trying to deceive the American public about developments in Iraq, but it's shameful that the media establishment blithely goes along, parroting Bush's deceit.
Bill Press: The Foxification Of America (billpress.com)
Today, the Journal is the second-best-selling newspaper in the country. Will Murdoch be able to resist the temptation to push his political views off its editorial page and into the news stories? No way. Look at his track record. He created Fox News and the Weekly Standard, both propaganda arms of the Bush White House. He took the New York Post, once the Big Apple's most liberal paper, and turned it into a far-right megaphone. He turned the mighty London Times into another British tabloid.
Andrew Tobias: A Galbraith Quote You May Not Find in the Wall Street Journal (andrewtobias.com)
"The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy: that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness."-- John Kenneth Galbraith
Bill Gallagher: Tillman Death, WMD in Iraq Just For Starters in Bush's Mendacity (niagarafallsreporter.com)
The lies are like leeches sucking the blood out of our republic and national purpose. The pale American people are catching on, even as the enabling parasites in the mainstream media keep repeating the lies, assuring the populace that the sucking sound is good for our political health.
Mark Morford: Cheney Sickens Planet (sfgate.com)
Earth recoils as VP assumes role for two "unholy" hours. Also: no WMD in Bush's colon
My life on film (guardian.co.uk)
US film-maker Jennifer Fox has made a documentary series in which she flies all over the world asking questions about what it means to be a woman. Zoe Williams meets a recent convert to feminism.
TUNKU VARADARAJAN: Generation Hex (online.wsj.com)
A first-time reader of the 'Potter' books searches for meaning in the final volume
David Bruce: Wise Up! Children (athensnews.com)
Children love to be read to. When the grandson of author Judy Blume learned how to read (on his own!), he tried to keep it secret because he was afraid that no one would read to him anymore. Of course, Judy and others reassured him and kept on reading to him, including every night before he went to sleep.
Reader Comment
One Step Closer
Hey, Marty!
First, welcome back from your trip...we didn't know what to do with ourselves with BartcopE! gone, even for a week! I'm with 'Baron Dave' - you should show how many "issues" you've uploaded ~ simply showing how many in a row doesn't show your deep level of commitment to the site! For one thing, newcomer wouldn't have any idea why you're in dire need of a new computer system! ;)
The main reason I'm writing is because of a new low this country reached this past weekend! Congress passed a bill making it legal to wiretap a citizen's phone or read your emails, etc. without a warrant, for any reason they deem "necessary". To get the bill passed, congress was told it was needed to stop an imminent threat to America resulting in "mass casualties"...the same scare-tactic B.S. they used to get us into Iraq in the first place.
Ironically, the Democratic party called me last night wanting money! The last time I donated, it was because I felt we needed more Dems in congress to represent the interests of folks like me, then the spineless wimps turn around and vote with the Repugs on a bill like this! Of course, I had to tell the caller exactly why I was not going to give them any money.
For good measure, I pointed out that the likes of Hillary and Barack are charging more per-plate at their fund-raising dinners then I'm given per year on Soc. Sec. Disability (less than $8,000, to be exact). Simply telling them I can't afford to donate just does not work...they actually argue with me!
Well, back to the issue at hand...how long do you think it'll be before we're fined and/or imprisoned for simply voicing our opinions? That doesn't seem to be too far down the road. Here's an article on the new law.
Tiera
Thanks, Tiera!
Read somewhere that we're a nation of mice who keep electing cats.
I'm so tired of the continual fear mongering that passes for 'news' in the corporate-owned media.
FDR had it right - there's nothing to fear but fear itself (although 5-Deferment Dick, with a loaded shotgun is pretty scary, too).
Guess you could say I've got a belly-full of fear fatigue.
OTOH, since (Halliburton subsidiary) KBR got the no-bid contract to build 'relocation' camps, it would seem someone is looking out for our future.
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
The lovely morning marine layer is still helping keep it cooler than seasonal.
Not A Bush Photo Op Prop
Jeremy Hernandez
Among the dozens of wrenching accounts to come out of the collapse of the Interstate 35W bridge in Minneapolis, the actions of 20-year-old Jeremy Hernandez were a bright spot: Trapped in a tipping school bus with 50 children, he kicked open the back door and began helping them one by one to safety.
Within a day, news outlets across the country were repeating the story of the school bus, along with a sad footnote - that Mr. Hernandez had recently been forced to drop out of an automotive repair program because he could not afford the $15,000 tuition.
That has changed. On Saturday, Mr. Hernandez learned that Dunwoody College of Technology had offered him a full scholarship toward a degree in applied science. He has also received offers of help from dozens of strangers across the country, said Molly Schwartz, communications director for Pillsbury United Communities, which employed him as a gym coordinator for one of its summer programs.
Mr. Hernandez was not available to comment on the offer; Ms. Schwartz said he left town for northern Minnesota late on Friday, overwhelmed by the attention and concerned that his co-workers were being overlooked. He spent the weekend fishing. When President Bush's staff contacted him to request a photo opportunity, "He was just, like, 'Nope,' " she said.
Jeremy Hernandez
Popular Place For TV Shows
Pittsburgh
Maybe it's this former steel town's blue-collar traditions. Or its down-to-earth reputation. Or its many connections to the entertainment industry.
Whatever the reason, Pittsburgh has become a popular setting for TV shows.
Spike TV's bank heist miniseries "The Kill Point" is set here, and was shot here, too. The TNT medical drama, "Heartland," and Fox's planned fall TV news sitcom, "Back to You," starring Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton, also take place in Pittsburgh (though filmed elsewhere).
The Pittsburgh Film Office, which tries to lure movie productions to the region, would prefer that all movies and TV shows with Pittsburgh as their backdrop be filmed in the city. But film office director Dawn Keezer feels that anything that showcases the city helps it shed an outdated gritty, smoke-filled steeltown image many still have of it.
Pittsburgh
Lifetime Achievement Award
Burt Reynolds
Burt Reynolds is getting a lifetime achievement award from Best Buddies Canada.
The Oscar-nominated actor will receive the honour at a benefit gala with musical guest Chantal Kreviazuk in Toronto on Sept. 10, organizers announced Tuesday.
Best Buddies Canada is a national charitable organization dedicated to fostering friendships between students and individuals with intellectual disabilities.
Reynolds is receiving its annual award for his decades-long "commitment to aiding and inspiring youth by supporting drama education and humanitarian causes," said the group.
Burt Reynolds
Ending Paid Web Service
New York Times
The New York Times Co. plans to stop charging Internet users for access to its columnists and Op-Ed pieces on a section of its Web site known as TimesSelect, The New York Post reported on Tuesday.
The Post, citing a source briefed on the matter, said a decision had been made by top Times executives. The timing of when the service would become free depends on technical issues, including revamping the software surrounding that section of the NYTimes.com site, according to the Post report.
The premium service charges Web-only readers nearly $8 per month to read some of the Times' most well-known columnists such as Maureen Down and Thomas Friedman.
New York Times
Hollywood Walk O'Fame Star
Michelle Pfeiffer
She may be playing a villain in two summer movies, but Michelle Pfeiffer was all smiles and grace when she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame Monday.
The Academy Award nominated star of "The Fabulous Baker Boys" and "Dangerous Liaisons" thanked her mother and father for supporting her decision to become an actress.
Actors Paul Rudd, her co-star in the upcoming romantic comedy "I Could Never Be Your Woman" and Baker Boy Jeff Bridges both attended Monday's ceremony.
Michelle Pfeiffer
Fires Intern Over Fake MySpace
Roseanne Barr
Roseanne Barr has fired an intern who posted a drunken-sounding ramble purporting to be from the veteran comedian on her MySpace homepage.
Barr, 54, the star of long-running US television sitcom "Roseanne," said in a statement on her website, Roseanneworld, that the intern responsible for the bogus post had been sacked.
"I would rather just smell like pee, like old ladies are meant to do. Aloha," one of the bogus entries on Barr's MySpace page on Monday said. The postings were swiftly removed.
Barr apologized for the incident. "One of the interns who was administering my MySpace page has been fired," she wrote. "I apologize for the offensive blogging that went on there last night."
Roseanne Barr
Queen of All Media
Perez Hilton
Known in the blogosphere as Perez Hilton and to himself as "Queen of All Media", Mario Armando Lavandeira puts Hollywood stars on daily notice in an admittedly amateurish blog that is his own claim to fame.
"You can call me fat, call me ugly, call me not funny, but don't call me a liar," he told AFP.
A Cuban-American born in Miami, Lavandeira has joined a long, if not revered, list of Hollywood gossip-mongers, stretching from Walter Winchell's radio days to the website of Matt Drudge.
Lavandeira, 29, is creating gossip in the age of the blogger.
Perez Hilton
Loses Again
O.J. Simpson
Relatives of murder victim Ron Goldman won a court order on Tuesday seizing any money O.J. Simpson earns for lending his name and likeness to a football video game with a fictional team called the Assassins and a knife-wielding mascot.
The legal victory was part of an effort by Goldman's estate to satisfy a $33.5 million judgment won against Simpson in a wrongful death suit brought against him in the 1994 stabbing deaths of Goldman and Simpson's ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson.
In their latest bid to collect on the civil judgment, the Goldmans went after any licensing fees, royalties or other compensation Simpson was paid or will be paid for his name and likeness in the new video game, "All-Pro Football 2K8."
The game is published by Take-Two Interactive Software, the company behind such controversial video game titles as "Grand Theft Auto" and "Manhunt 2," which was banned in Britain and given the equivalent of an adults-only rating in the United States.
O.J. Simpson
First Day Of Trial
Tony Rosato
A one-time fixture of Canadian television who believes his loved ones have been replaced by imposters entered an Ontario courtroom in shackles and handcuffs Tuesday to face a charge of criminal harassment.
Tony Rosato, 53, best known for brief comedic turns on "SCTV" and "Saturday Night Live," complained about the two years he has already spent behind bars as he was ushered into a courtroom in Kingston, Ont. "I'm very concerned about the time I spent here without bail," Rosato said, a folder adorned with the Star of David tucked under one arm.
Daniel Brodsky, Rosato's lawyer, said his client was arrested after repeatedly complaining to police that his wife and daughter had vanished and been replaced by substitutes.
The bizarre delusion is a central symptom of a mental condition known as Capgras's syndrome, with which Brodsky says Rosato has been diagnosed.
Tony Rosato
Changing The Rules
Chocolate
Like many battles, this one's being fought block by block. Victory, for whoever prevails, will be sweet. Or bitter - or even bittersweet. It all depends on how you like your chocolate.
At stake is the very definition of chocolate, and whether cheaper vegetable oils can be substituted for what many consider the very quintessence of every block, bar and square of chocolate: cocoa butter.
In Europe, the cocoa butter vs. vegetable oil fight took 30 years to resolve. In the United States, it's been less than a year since the first volley. Hundreds of chocoholics have joined the fray, the outcome of which could in turn affect the livelihoods of millions of cocoa farmers in Africa and South America.
It all began in October, when a dozen industry groups filed a petition with the Food and Drug Administration seeking to amend the standards that guide how nearly 300 foods can be produced, from canned cherries to evaporated milk.
Chocolate
New Inductees
Country Music Hall
Country music star Vince Gill, singer-songwriter Mel Tillis and TV personality Ralph Emery will be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in October, an industry group said on Tuesday.
The three were introduced at a Country Music Association ceremony by stars Brenda Lee, Barbara Mandrell and others, who celebrated Tillis' upcoming 75th birthday with a giant cake.
The trio will be inducted during the annual CMA Awards Show in October.
Country Music Hall
Magic Mushrooms Face Ban
Netherlands
The famously liberal Netherlands has been swinging toward the right, cracking down on immigration, religious freedoms and the freewheeling red light district. The next possible target? Magic mushrooms.
The death of a 17-year-old French girl, who jumped from a building after eating psychedelic mushrooms while on a school visit, has ignited a campaign to ban the fungi - sold legally at so-called "smartshops" as long as they're fresh.
Regulation of mushrooms is even less stringent than Holland's famously loose laws on marijuana, which is illegal but tolerated in "coffee shops" that are a major tourist attraction.
Netherlands
Birthplace Fights For Manuscript
Pearl S. Buck
Book lovers marveled in June when a Philadelphia auction house stumbled upon the long-lost manuscript of the 1931 Pearl S. Buck classic "The Good Earth."
The daughter of Buck's longtime secretary said she had found the 400 typed papers in a suitcase in her cluttered basement. The auction house called the FBI.
But in the weeks since, joy over the discovery has been tempered by rival claims for the Pulitzer Prize-winning copy. No fewer than three parties - Bucks' heirs and two foundations with links to her - have asserted rights to it, making a court fight likely.
Buck's children announced Tuesday that they have forged an agreement with one of the foundations. The heirs will lend the manuscript to a foundation that operates out of their mother's Pennsylvania farm, while retaining ownership. An exhibit is planned later this year.
Pearl S. Buck
Prime-Time Nielsens
Ratings
Prime-Time viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen Media Research for July 30-Aug. 5. Listings include the week's ranking, with viewership for the week and season-to-date rankings in parentheses. An "X" in parentheses denotes a one-time-only presentation.
1. (37) "America's Got Talent," NBC, 10.76 million viewers.
2. (37) "Singing Bee," NBC, 9.8 million viewers.
3. (46) "So You Think You Can Dance" (Thursday), Fox, 9.56 million viewers.
4. (19) "Two and a Half Men," CBS, 9.23 million viewers.
5. (22) "Without a Trace," CBS, 9.12 million viewers.
6. (7) "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," CBS, 9.05 million viewers.
7. (28) "60 Minutes," CBS, 8.88 million viewers.
8. (12) "CSI: Miami," CBS, 8.82 million viewers.
9. (65) "Hell's Kitchen," Fox, 8.59 million viewers.
10. (54) "So You Think You Can Dance" (Wednesday), Fox, 8.35 million viewers.
11. (22) "CSI: NY," CBS, 8.27 million viewers.
12. (19) "NCIS," CBS, 7.83 million viewers.
13. (82) "Don't Forget the Lyrics" (Wednesday), Fox, 7.81 million viewers.
14. (65) "Don't Forget the Lyrics" (Thursday), Fox, 7.73 million viewers.
15. (117) "Big Brother 8" (Sunday), CBS, 7.52 million viewers.
16. (77) "Just for Laughs," ABC, 7.36 million viewers.
17. (33) "Law and Order: SVU," NBC, 7.35 million viewers.
18. (100) "Dateline NBC" (Wednesday), NBC, 7.23 million viewers.
19. (100) "Big Brother 8" (Tuesday), CBS, 7.12 million viewers.
20. (100) "Big Brother 8" (Thursday), CBS, 7.09 million viewers.
Ratings
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