'Best of TBH Politoons'
Thanks, again, Tim!
'60 Minutes' - Tonight!
Ben Barnes
Correspondent Dan Rather talks exclusively to former Texas House Speaker and Lt. Gov. Ben Barnes, a Democrat, about the role Barnes says he played in getting resident George W. Bush into the Texas Air National Guard -- and why he now regrets it.
Rather's exclusive interview will be broadcast Wednesday, Sept. 8, at 8 p.m. ET/PT.
Ben Barnes
Reader Suggested Reading
George W. Bullsh*t
Please Humor Me
2 Clicks
Please tell ten friends to tell ten today! The Breast Cancer site is having trouble getting enough people to click on it daily to meet their quota of donating at least one free mammogram a day to an underprivileged woman.
It takes less than a minute to go to - go to
and click on
- it's free. This doesn't cost you a thing. Their corporate sponsors/advertisers use the number of daily visits to donate mammogram in exchange for advertising!
Please humor me & click on either of the graphics above.
2 weeks ago I lost another pal to breast cancer. Shari was a smart, brave woman who had been in remission from a previous bout of breast cancer. A few months ago Shari lost her daughter, also to breast cancer.
Please click for Shari, her daughter & her granddaughters. Or for your mom, or sister, or wife, or grandmother, or aunt, or cousin, or friend, or co-worker, or even Rod Roddy.
And a big thanks to JD for sending the link.
from Mark
Another Bumpersticker
The Wall Street Poet
A Post-Convention Wish
© 2004
**********
For more political verse:
http://www.beltwaybard.com
Reader Suggested Reading
Satire
Fox News Interrupts Second Coming for "Important" Bush Documentary
The widely anticipated Second Coming of Jesus Christ was announced on television, radio and internet news outlets all over the world during a press conference held by Vatican officials, who described in great detail the several year process they have gone through to ensure the accuracy of claims made by a 32 year old Akron, Ohio man named Stephen Anderson, who came to the Vatican in 1997 to introduce himself as the Savior. Having provided irrefutable proof that Mr. Anderson is indeed the resurrected son of God, Vatican officials turned the microphone over to Christ (Anderson) himself, and allowed him to deliver his message of peace and love.
Approximately four minutes into his speech, Fox News, which had been carrying the press conference on a 10 second tape delay, cut Christ off in mid speech when He directly endorsed Kerry for President and lambasted the Bush administration as lacking any sort of moral compass. In what could only be called a tirade, a clearly pissed off Lord first assailed Bush for his role in the theft of the 2000 election, and then went off on a variety of topics from women's rights, gay rights, the environment, health care, and the economy. But none of this was heard by viewers of the Fox News Channel, who were instead shown a feel good documentary about the current President, which claimed to show indisputable proof of how Bush and his administration had "saved" America in spite of itself.
For the rest, Fox News Interrupts Second Coming
Thanks, Tiera!
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Still hot, but at least there was a breeze.
Winkie, the shaved-ass cat, is almost back to what passes for normal.
Singer Sir Elton John, right, presents Ozzy Osbourne with the Editor's Special Award during the 7th annual GQ Men Of The Year Awards at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, central London Tuesday Sept. 7, 2004.
Photo by Ian West
Coached Carter Before Debates
Robert Redford
Actor and filmmaker Robert Redford played videotapes of the 1960 Kennedy-Nixon debate "over and over" to coach former President Jimmy Carter before his debates with former President Gerald Ford.
"I was probably president because of Bob Redford," said Carter, who confided that before the debate leading to his 1976 election he "didn't know what in the world I was going to do."
Redford told him what not to do. He arrived at Carter's house with a projector and films of the historic debate that made Richard Nixon look dour and John F. Kennedy charismatic.
Redford "played the tape over and over and gave me advice," Carter said Saturday as part of an author's series.
Robert Redford
Goes to War with Online Tracks
Roger Waters
Former Pink Floyd mainman Roger Waters released two new songs, both inspired by the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, via online download outlets Tuesday.
"To Kill The Child" and "Leaving Beirut" have been available for streaming on Waters' official Web site, since Friday. They are now on sale at through iTunes, SonyConnect, Napster, Walmart.com and other digital stores.
Waters said he began work on the tunes "immediately after the invasion of Iraq." In "To Kill the Child," he targets a litany of corporations, while "Leaving Beirut" takes aim at both resident Bush and U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair.
"It seems apposite to throw them out there on the Net, before the (U.S. presidential) election," Waters said. "Historically, there have always been people within the artistic community who have spoken out about things they believe in and they should continue to do so. I shall certainly continue to do so, whether it has any effect or not, because I feel I have a responsibility to myself to do that."
Roger Waters
Illusionists Roy Horn,(L) and Siegfried Fischbacher pose in this recent publicity photograph taken in Las Vegas to promote the NBC television special 'Siegfried & Roy The Miracle' about the German-born duo which is set to be telecast September 15, 2004. The audience will see Horn for the first time, since his near-fatal tiger bite and debilitating stroke that left him in wheelchair, battling to regain his motor skills.
Photo by Wayne Seale
`The Scweam' Donated to Munch Museum
Chuck Jones
Linda Jones and Craig Kausen, daughter and grandson of fabled animation director and artist, Chuck Jones, have donated the Chuck Jones lithograph, "The Scweam," to the Munch Museum in Oslo, Norway in response to the recent theft of Edvard Munch's "The Scream" this past week.
In a letter to the museum's curators, Craig Kausen wrote, "When we heard of the tragic theft of 'The Scream,' we were heartbroken to think that your patrons, visitors, and Munch admirers would be unable to enjoy this masterpiece while the despots and fiends are tracked down and this work of genius is returned."
Chuck Jones' career at Warner Bros. Animation spanned the entire history of the studio and most of the history of animation itself. His work has been celebrated by the movie industry, exhibited in galleries and museums, and inducted in the National Film Registry. He is a self-described "midwife" in the development of Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, and has pulled the Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote, Pepe Le Pew, and Michigan J. Frog directly from the hothouse of his imagination. In a career that has helped shape the humor of four generations, Chuck Jones made over 300 films. Of these, three have won Academy awards. He has been awarded with practically everything but the Purple Heart for his animation comedy, including a 1996 Honorary Oscar(R) from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences and Honorary Lifetime membership from the Directors Guild of America.
Chuck Jones
Goes Techno with Kraftwerk Cover
U2
U2 has covered German techno band Kraftwerk's "Neon Lights," and will release the track Nov. 8 on one of two CD singles for its new song "Vertigo."
The band's as-yet-untitled Interscope album, from which "Vertigo" is drawn, arrives Nov. 22 internationally and a day later in North America.
U2
Hugh Hefner & Stan Lee
'Superbunnies'
A silk pajama-clad superhero fights crime with the aid of a superbuxom team of specially trained Playboy bunnies.
If that sounds like it must be a cross between the oeuvres of Stan Lee and Hugh Hefner, that's because it is.
MTV has ordered an animated pilot for "Hef's Superbunnies," a collaboration between cartoon veteran Lee's newly launched Pow! Entertainment and Playboy's Alta Loma Entertainment division. Hefner's name and likeness will be featured in the pilot, and he also might provide the voice of his cartoon alter ego.
'Superbunnies'
Protester Randall Davis wears a resident George Bush rubber mask as he hands out 9-11 bills with Bush's likeness on them, outside the Oregon Convention Center prior to National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice's speech before the World Affairs Council in Portland, Ore., Tuesday, Sept. 7, 2004.
Photo by Don Ryan
Wedding News
Brahimi - bin Hussein
Prince Ali bin Hussein of Jordan, half-brother of King Abdullah II, married former CNN journalist Rym Brahimi in a private ceremony, the royal palace announced.
Both the king and Queen Rania attended the service along with the bride's father Lakhdar Brahimi, a veteran Algerian foreign minister who went on to serve as UN envoy in Iraq, the palace statement said.
The couple's decision to forego a formal reception prompted the king to announce in late August that he would distribute the money to 1,000 poor families instead.
Brahimi - bin Hussein
Items on Auction
Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash's guitars, his black leather boots and a tin cup from Folsom Prison are among the memorabilia from the late country music star displayed on Tuesday ahead of an auction at Sotheby's.
The collection, including everything from lavish personal items to Grammy awards and black jackets from Cash's stage performances, will be sold at a three-day auction starting next Tuesday. The items represent about one-third of the Cash estate and are expected to bring more than $1.5 million, Sotheby's estimated. Proceeds will go to the Cash estate.
Though Cash was revered as a working class hero, his wife, June Carter Cash, collected antiques and jewelry and was once described by her husband as having a "black belt in shopping."
Johnny Cash
South African Ruling
Disney
Disney Enterprises Inc. lost a bid Tuesday to prevent its trademarks in South Africa from being sold off to pay for damages if it loses a court battle with a poor family that says it lost millions in royalties from the hit song The Lion Sleeps Tonight.
Lawyers acting for the family of the late musician Solomon Linda, who penned the original song "Mbube" in 1939, obtained a court order in July attaching more than 240 trademarks registered in Cape Town to their US$1.6-million suit in order to establish local jurisdiction.
The trademarks, which include well-known images such as Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, could be sold locally to pay Linda's heirs if they win their lawsuit, according to Tuesday's ruling by the Pretoria High Court.
Linda died penniless in 1962, having sold the rights to his original song to the South African company Abilene Music Publishing.
Linda's three surviving daughters and 10 grandchildren, living in poverty in the Johannesburg township of Soweto, have received only a one-time payment of US$15,000 according to their lawyers.
Disney
Producer Richard D. Zanuck, left, and actor Morgan Freeman pose during a photocall at the 30th American Film Festival of Deauville, Normandy, Tuesday, Sept. 7, 2004. The festival will pay a tribute to Zanuck Tuesday evening.
Photo by Franck Prevel
Atari Blasts From Past
Centipede
Atari wants to take you back in time, and to get there, you can ride a Centipede or an Asteroid, or bounce back and forth between the pixilated paddles of Pong.
The video game company told The Associated Press on Tuesday it plans to reissue scores of its classic titles from yesteryear on a single disc that can be played on the game consoles Xbox and PlayStation 2.
"Atari Anthology" will feature 85 games and is scheduled to go on sale this November in the United States at a cost of about $20 US.
Centipede
France's Legion of Honor
Jack Valenti
Jack Valenti, former president of the Motion Picture Association of America, has been named a commander in France's prestigious Legion of Honor.
Culture Minister Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres presented Valenti with the award Monday in a gilded room decorated with a crystal chandelier and French and American flags. The "commander" honor is the third of five ranks and is highly coveted.
Jack Valenti
Fire eaters take part in an attempt to break the world record for synchronized fire eating at Stonehenge stone circle in Wiltshire, southern England, September 6, 2004. The event, during which 70 fire eaters successfully broke the previous record of 50 for synchronized fire eating, was one of 50 records being set or broken for an ITV television program to be screened on September 11 to mark the 50th birthday of the Guinness World Records. Picture taken September 6, 2004.
Photo by Toby Melville
Discovered Under Naples
Ancient Ships
One of three Roman-era ships from the 1st and 2nd century B.C. discovered on a construction site near the port of Naples was transferred to a restoration center, the Italian media reported.
Two of the ships, including the one moved, are in good condition. They measure 12 and 13.5 meters (40 and 44 feet) in length, and each weigh more than 20 tons.
The second of the two well-preserved ships will be removed from the worksite on Wednesday and eventually housed, along with the first, in a "subway museum," said Antonio Bassolino, the president of Naples province.
Ancient Ships
In Memory
Beyers Naude
Beyers Naude, one of the leading white Afrikaner voices against South Africa's apartheid policies, died on Tuesday at the age of 89, a friend said.
Naude was a rare public symbol of white dissent during the apartheid years, and a close friend of liberation icon and former president Nelson Mandela, who was elected the country's first black president a decade ago.
Family friend Carl Niehaus told Reuters Naude died in a retirement home in the early hours of Tuesday. "Only his wife and children were present," he added.
Mandela, who once described Naude as "one of the most important pioneers of modern South Africa," on Tuesday hailed his friend as a "true humanitarian" and "son of Africa."
The son of one of the founders of the white supremacist group Broederbond, he took up church ministry at the age of 25 and rose to prominence after he rejected the Dutch Reformed Church's argument that apartheid was sanctioned by the Bible.
He was turned against apartheid by violence -- especially the 1960 Sharpeville massacre, when police shot and killed scores of unarmed black protesters.
Naude was forced out of the church because of his activism and the apartheid government banned him from making public speeches critical of its policies.
Beyers Naude
People walk past a big luggage-like advertisement of Louis Vuitton at the boutique under the direct management of Louis Vuitton Tuesday Sept. 7, 2004 in Shanghai, China. Piracy of well-known foreign brands are rampant in China, despite vows by Beijing to crack down. International trade groups estimate that theft of copyrights and patents costs Western companies $16 billion a year in sales.
Photo by Eugene Hoshiko
