'Best of TBH Politoons'
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
PAUL KRUGMAN: Health Policy Malpractice (The New York Times)
The long-term relationship with patients also lets the V.A. save money by investing heavily in preventive medicine, an area in which the private sector - which makes money by treating the sick, not by keeping people healthy - has shown little interest.
John S. Adams: Meet the bloggers (missoulanews.com)
Montana's online activists are changing the balance of power in Democratic politics. Would you let these men drive your campaign?
Tim Dowling: Leave it to the stoners to fight for free speech (guardian.co.uk)
Ever wonder what Kenneth Starr is up to these days? How has the scourge of Bill Clinton been coping since he stepped down from the Office of the Independent Counsel, having completed his $40m investigation into the president's sex life? Has he been keeping himself busy?
'It's like a part of Australia has died' (guardian.co.uk)
Steve Irwin wrestled with crocodiles, stared out snakes and lived the life of the archetypal outback male.
Germaine Greer: 'That sort of self-delusion is what it takes to be a real Aussie larrikin' (guardian.co.uk)
The world mourns. World-famous wildlife warrior Steve Irwin has died a hero, doing the thing he loved, filming a sequence for a new TV series.
Jono Coleman: 'Steve was a complete one-off. What you saw on TV was what you got in real life' (guardian.co.uk)
I've heard him called a one-off Aussie hero, a national embarrassment, a national treasure, a legend, the real Crocodile Dundee and just a loud self-promoter. Now he's gone. In some ways we all knew that Steve's end might come at the hands of one of those huge killer crocodiles or some deadly shark - but a normally docile stingray?
Mindy Farabee: Linda Hirshman's Manifesto For Women (LA CityBeat; Posted on AlterNet.org)
The political philosopher discusses why men don't stay home and why having Ph.D.s wiping butts is immoral.
Greg Palast: 'Today's pig is tomorrow's bacon (a Labor Day recipe)' (smirkingchimp.com)
This week, Dupont, the chemical giant, slashed employee pension benefits by two-thirds. Furthermore, new Dupont workers won't get a guaranteed pension at all -- and no health care after retirement. It's part of Dupont's new "Die Young" program, I hear. Dupont is not in financial straits. Rather, the slash attack on its workers' pensions was aimed at adding a crucial three cents a share to company earnings, from $3.11 per share to $3.14.
Jim Hightower: 'Professor Bush's economic nostrum' (Austin Chronicle; Posted on smirkingchimp.com)
In fact, Bush is the first president since Herbert Hoover to produce a net loss of jobs during his term. Second, and most important, the issue is not jobs. Think about it: Even slaves had jobs. The issue is income ... wages ... middle-class opportunities. Ask a waitress at any cafe or bar if she's aware that Bush has been creating new jobs, and she'll say: "Yeah, I know. I have three of them."
Robert Kuttner: See Dick Run (the Country) (The American Prospect; Posted on AlterNet.org)
Cheney's the real president. It'd be nice if the press noticed.
The Wall St. Poet
A Passionate Congressman
On those relatively rare occasions when a sitting Congressman runs into real opposition, the gloves come off and promises proliferate.
Poet's Note: This poem is taken from the Wall Street Poet's newest book, Beltway Madness in Rhyme (Venomous verses for a disgusted electorate).
And to enjoy more satirical verse online:
www.wallstreetpoet.com
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
The summer heat is back - just in time for the start of school.
Yet another new principal at the kid's school. Guess it's hard to get one when the school's on 'the list.'
'The list' means that in spite of teaching to a test, not enough kids passed, and we don't want to leave them behind.
Instead, all the students and teachers get a new year with a cut budget & threats of worse to come.
And another new principal.
Wasn't Katie Couric perky?
Haven't seen a head-tilted like that since Nipper was doing print ads for RCA.
And, WTF with CBS giving Pigboy a legitimizing platform. Yeah, we all need more cheerleading from Mr. Hillbilly Heroin.
Of course, he won't be his usual prevaricating self, but the model of rationality, to further strain not only credulity, but reality.
From Edward R. Murrow to Walter Cronkite to the pill-popping Pigboy. That's infotainment in a deregulated world.
Way to establish a new low, Tiffany network!
No new flags.
American Film Institute
25 Greatest Movie Musicals
"Singin' in the Rain" topped the American Film Institute's list of the "25 Greatest Movie Musicals," the movie preservation group said Sunday.
A jury of more than 500 film artists, composers, musicians, critics and historians selected the list, whose top 10 are, in descending order, "West Side Story," "The Wizard of Oz," "The Sound of Music," "Cabaret," "Mary Poppins," the 1954 "A Star Is Born," "My Fair Lady," "An American in Paris" and "Meet Me in St. Louis."
The remaining 15 films are "The King & I," "Chicago," "42nd Street," "All that Jazz," "Top Hat," "Funny Girl," "The Band Wagon," "Yankee Doodle Dandy," "On the Town," "Grease," "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers," Walt Disney's 1991 "Beauty and the Beast," "Guys and Dolls," 1936's "Showboat" and "Moulin Rouge!"
25 Greatest Movie Musicals
Reunites For Induction
R.E.M.
R.E.M. will perform three songs with original drummer Bill Berry to celebrate its induction into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame, to be held September 16 in Atlanta.
Berry has played only three times with his longtime colleagues since exiting the band in 1997, most prominently at the October 2005 wedding of R.E.M. guitar tech Dewitt Burton.
In April, Berry joined vocalist Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck and bassist Mike Mills to perform R.E.M.'s "Country Feedback" at an Athens, Ga., show by Buck's side band, the Minus 5.
R.E.M.
Sumner Redstone Fires CEO
Tom Freston
Viacom Inc. Chairman Sumner Redstone on Tuesday ousted Chief Executive Tom Freston, in a surprise move to exert more control over the company amid a lagging stock price and a perception it has fallen behind on the Internet.
The move comes two weeks after Redstone abruptly cut ties to Tom Cruise in what was considered a move by the chairman to establish a more prominent role and send a bold message to Hollywood that studios were fed up with overpaid celebrities. Redstone said Freston's departure "had nothing to do with Tom Cruise."
Freston, one of the founding executives of MTV, had been praised for his creative prowess but criticized by Wall Street for Viacom's lackluster stock performance since it split from broadcast division CBS Corp. in January.
Freston, who has been with Viacom for more than 26 years, said in a statement he would help insure a smooth transition. He was not immediately available for additional comment.
Tom Freston
Prefers Porsche
Bob Seger
Bob Seger, the Detroit rocker who once did his bit for America's ailing auto industry by contributing a song to a memorable ad campaign for Chevrolet pickup trucks, actually favors rival car brands.
He told Reuters on Tuesday that he prefers to tool around town in a Porsche Boxster, or maybe a Nissan pickup truck. He also owns a Ford Mustang convertible, and a rarely driven $150,000 Ford GT high-performance sports car that his wife bought him for Christmas.
As for Chevrolet, the brand he also eulogized in his 1976 top-10 smash "Night Moves?"
"I don't have any of them anymore," he said. "Not one, no." (A spokeswoman clarified that Seger does own an 11-year-old Chevy work van, which he uses for business purposes.)
Bob Seger
New Search Engine
ChaCha
In a Google-dominated world, starting a new search engine would seem a bad bet. But Scott Jones, an Indiana entrepreneur credited with perfecting voicemail, is undaunted. He believes would-be Google rivals like Microsoft have missed the mark by trying to outdo it with more powerful machines and algorithms.
His new search play, ChaCha, is instead putting its faith in an army of 3,000 expert searchers to personally help users find what they're seeking. Visitors can choose to search with a guide--live via an instant-messaging program--who returns only a handful of sites and sticks with the user until the hunt is complete.
"Google sends 2 million results in a split second, then [users] have to sift through it. But the problem is, people don't sift through it," said Jones, who is financing ChaCha with president Brad Bostic and angel investors.
ChaCha is relying on word of mouth to grow. If its high-touch search catches fire, however, ChaCha will need to grow its guide population exponentially. Jones sees college students as a Web-savvy pool of 10 million eager to earn $5 to $10 per hour as search experts in hundreds of areas. ChaCha's peer review will ensure quality control, Jones added.
ChaCha
Ex-Village People Singer Sentenced
Victor Willis
A California judge on Tuesday sentenced singer Victor Willis, who dressed as the policeman in the hit 1970s disco band The Village People, to three years probation on drug and gun possession charges.
Willis, who co-wrote some of the band's biggest hits such as "YMCA" and "In the Navy," pleaded no contest and got a suspended three-year, eight-month prison sentence on condition that he complete a 30-day drug treatment program at the Betty Ford Center in Southern California, followed by at least six months in a treatment program in Long Beach, California.
Willis, 55, was arrested in March near San Francisco on drug and gun charges, the latest in a series of run-ins with the law after he left the band in 1980. He has been undergoing drug abuse treatment in San Mateo County since his arrest.
Mark Geragos, Willis' attorney, told Judge Mark Forcum Willis was making progress in treatment and was serious about making a recovery.
Victor Willis
Another 'Lost' Actor Arrested
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje
Police arrested actor Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje of the ABC television series "Lost" in Waikiki for a traffic violation.
Police arrested the actor, who plays Mr. Eko on "Lost," at 2:25 a.m. Saturday for disobeying a police officer and driving without a license.
The 39-year-old paid $500 bail and was released after spending a little more than six hours in jail.
He is the third "Lost" cast member to be arrested for traffic violations in Hawaii, where the series is filmed.
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje
What Was Said
Zinedine Zidane
Italian defender Marco Materazzi has finally revealed what provoked Zinedine Zidane's headbutt in the World Cup final. The French captain was sent off for the attack and later claimed Materazzi had insulted his mother. But the tall defender has now told Gazzetta dello Sport he actually made mention of Zidane's sister.
He said: "I was tugging his shirt, he said to me 'if you want my shirt so much I'll give it to you afterwards,' I answered that I'd prefer his sister."
He added: "It's not a particularly nice thing to say, I recognise that. But loads of players say worse things.
"I didn't even know he had a sister before all this happened."
Zinedine Zidane
Statue May Move
Rocky Balboa
A statue of fictional boxer Rocky Balboa may move to the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum, where the character played by Sylvester Stallone famously ran while training for a fight.
The city's Art Commission was set to vote on Wednesday whether the 8-foot, 6-inch bronze statue of Rocky, his arms raised over his head in victory, should be brought out of storage and placed at the museum steps.
Where to put the statue has been debated in Philadelphia since Stallone donated it in 1982 after the filming of "Rocky III."
Under the proposal by the city's Department of Public Property, the statue would be placed at the bottom of the steps, although in the trademark run symbolic of his struggle in the first "Rocky," in 1976, the fighter reached up his arms at the top of the broad steps. Visitors to the museum often run up the same 72 steps, copying the famed scene.
Rocky Balboa
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