'Best of TBH Politoons'
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
George Lakoff: 12 Traps That Keep Progressives From Winning (AlterNet.org)
Progressives need to start talking about values and avoid the common pitfalls that cause us to lose voters' hearts and minds.
Grace Hood: The futile American dream (boulderweekly.com)
Barbara Ehrenreich discusses her new book, Bait and Switch, and why corporate America sucks
JILL KRAMER: New book by Sausalito author answers the age-old question-what the heck is she thinking? (pacificsun.com)
Yes, she writes, men's and women's brains are different. Different, however, doesn't mean that either one is superior, she cautions. And in the next breath she'll acknowledge that women are basically better suited for world leadership since they're more inclined to negotiation and less inclined to warmongering. In fact, much of her book is raising more hackles among men than women. It's most threatening to the testosterone set because it's science-based.
Earth within whisker of hottest climate in million years: NASA (news.yahoo.com)
The Earth's rapid warming has pushed temperatures to their hottest level in nearly 12,000 years and within a hairbreadth of a million years, a study by the US space agency showed.
Molly Ivins: New news is bad news
Bush gang making mess of education to rival mess in Iraq.
Kat Lewis and Rob Anderson: Infighting: Gay Marriage (campusprogress.org)
Two progressives debate marriage's importance for the LGBT community.
Lawrence Booth: What's the easiest way to get fit? (guardian.co.uk)
A study by the University of Alberta has concluded that a six-month exercise programme of so-called moderate intensity is a better way of achieving what one researcher called 'marked health benefits'.
RICHARD ROEPER: Playmate tussles with cabbie, but did fangs really come out? (suntimes.com)
Admit it: After a mojito or two, you've Googled the keywords "Playboy" and "Playmate" and "lesbian" and "vampire." OK maybe not. But if you did, you'd get a Gawker headline: Taxi Driver Beset by Gun-Toting Vampire Lesbian Model Author But wait, there's more! That's why I'm in love with this story, and why I'm going to cite it the next time I'm giving a talk and someone asks, "Do you ever run out of things to write about it?" In this world? No.
Is this a pint I see before me? (guardian.co.uk)
Can it be true that Shakespeare often wrote with a hangover? Some experts think so. It would certainly explain why he penned some of the clumsiest lines in English literature, says John Sutherland.
DJ Taylor: Won't somebody publish Abi Titmuss? (guardian.co.uk)
The celebrity who writes a book or, occasionally, gets it written for him or her, has a long and not wholly dishonourable history.
Film noir is coming out of the shadows (telegraph.co.uk)
A cinematic genre that emerged in 1940s America is enjoying a resurgence - but what exactly is film noir? Will Lawrence lists the key ingredients.
David Bruce: Wise Up: Husbands and Wives (athensnews.com)
Flemish painter Peter Bruegel married a woman who lied a lot. Before he married her, they agreed that every time she lied Mr. Bruegel would notch a stick, and they agreed that when the stick was notched from top to bottom, then the marriage would be over. Mr. Bruegel used a very long stick, but the marriage was soon over.
Correction From Colby
Re: Lake Wales
Re:The Rainbow Picture in Tuesday's Edition
If you haven't been informed it is spelled Lake Wales. No h.
Colby
in Frostproof
Thanks, Colby!
The archived page has been corrected.
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny and dry.
Talked to dear old Dad tonight. Been cold enough at night that he's already fired up the furnace.
May Have Ended
'The Boondocks'
Are people surprised that "The Boondocks" strip may now be on permanent leave?
"I can't say I'm surprised," replied "Non Sequitur" cartoonist Wiley Miller of Universal Press Syndicate, which announced Monday that Aaron McGruder's 1999-launched comic will not return to newspapers for the "foreseeable future."
Alan Shearer wasn't surprised, either. "All the signals were there," said the editorial director/general manager of the Washington Post Writers Group (WPWG).
What were some of those signals? Miller noted that McGruder -- who spent a lot of time dealing with the attention "The Boondocks" elicited -- began using art and writing assistants on the strip. And McGruder devoted much of his creative energies to "The Boondocks" TV show that has been picked up for a second season.
'The Boondocks'
Not A Candidate
George Clooney
Oscar winner George Clooney shrugged off suggestions Monday that he might run for political office - but he sure sounded like a politician doing it.
The actor-director skillfully deflected a barrage of questions from reporters about a potential Clooney candidacy, after appearing at an event where Gov. Arnold $chwarzenegger signed legislation aimed at helping stop genocidal violence in the Darfur region of Sudan.
Clooney, a liberal Democrat, is well known for his activism. Lately, he has been urging Congress and the United Nations to help end atrocities in the Darfur region of Sudan.
George Clooney
Hosting American Music Awards
Jimmy Kimmel
Jimmy Kimmel, host and producer of ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live," will bring his hosting talents to the American Music Awards for a third time, it was announced Tuesday.
"I am very happy to have been asked to return as host," Kimmel, 38, said in a statement. "And (I) graciously accept ABC's apology for snubbing me last year."
Cedric the Entertainer hosted last year's show.
The "2006 American Music Awards," to be presented Nov. 21 at the Shrine Auditorium, will be broadcast live as a three-hour special on ABC. Scheduled performers include Beyonce, Josh Groban, Mary J. Blige and Carrie Underwood.
Jimmy Kimmel
Celebrity Roster Announced
'Jeopardy'
Martin Short, Susan Lucci, Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling and CNN host Nancy Grace are among the boldfaced names slated to compete on "Celebrity Jeopardy!" this fall.
The two-week competition, with winnings going to charity, will be taped at Radio City Music Hall on Oct. 5, 7 and 8, and will be broadcast beginning Nov. 8, it was announced Tuesday.
Also on the roster: Regis Philbin, Rachael Ray, James Denton, Doug Savant, Christopher Meloni, Drew Lachey, Carson Kressley, Neil Patrick Harris, Jane Kaczmarek, Joely Fischer, Dana Delany, Mario Cantone, Steve Schirripa, Bebe Neuwirth, Paul Shaffer, Sam Waterston, Soledad O'Brien of CNN and fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi.
'Jeopardy'
27th Annual Ceremony
News And Documentary Emmys
CBS and PBS each took five awards at the annual news and documentary Emmys, where PBS' Bill Moyers was presented with a lifetime achievement award.
The History Channel won four Emmys, while ABC and the National Geographic Channel each won three. The prizes were awarded Monday night by the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences at the 27th annual ceremony.
The ceremony will be telecast on C-SPAN at a date to be announced.
News And Documentary Emmys
Russia Celebrates Centenary
Dmitri Shostakovich
Russia paid tribute to one of its celebrated sons, the classical composer Dmitri Shostakovich, born 100 years ago and to many a symbol of an age of repression of the arts under Stalinism.
The cellist and orchestral conductor Mstislav Rostropovich was set late Monday to conduct a special concert at the Moscow Conservatory in honour of his friend who died in 1975 at the age of 69.
Meanwhile another leading Russian musician, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, was simultaenously scheduled to conduct a performance of the Shostakovich opera "Lady Macbeth of Mzensk" at Moscow's Bolshoi Opera.
Dmitri Shostakovich
Has Hepatitis C
Steven Tyler
Steven Tyler says he was diagnosed with hepatitis C three years ago after having the illness for a long time without any symptoms.
In an interview that was to air Tuesday on "Access Hollywood," the 58-year-old Aerosmith frontman said the infection was now "nonexistent" in his bloodstream after 11 months of treatment, including the drug interferon.
"I've been pretty quiet about this," Tyler was quoted as saying. "I've had hepatitis C for a long time, asymptomatic. And I talked to my doctor ... and he said now is the time and it's 11 months of chemotherapy. So I went on that and it about killed me."
Steven Tyler
Rare Book To Be Auctioned
Soeren Kierkegaard
A rare copy of Danish philosopher Soeren Kierkegaard's famed book, "Either/Or," will be sold at auction later this year, a Copenhagen auction house said Tuesday.
The book, a second edition from 1849 dedicated to Danish fairy tale writer Hans Christian Andersen, was offered to the Copenhagen-based Bruun Rasmussen Auctioneers of Fine Art by an unidentified Danish family earlier this year.
The brief dedication is signed by Victor Eremita, a pseudonym used by Kierkegaard for the first two editions of "Either/Or."
Soeren Kierkegaard
Charged With DUI
Paris Hilton
Paris Hilton was charged Tuesday with driving under the influence.
Hilton was scheduled to be arraigned Sept. 28 in Superior Court on charges of driving under the influence and driving with a blood-alcohol level of 0.08 percent, said Nick Velasquez, a spokesman for city prosecutors.
Hilton, who once told the Los Angeles Times that the taste of booze "grosses me out," claimed she had a single margarita at a charity event the evening before her arrest.
Paris Hilton
Dad Fights Extradition From Australia
Michelle Williams
The father of Oscar-nominated Hollywood actress Michelle Williams has launched a fierce fight against plans to extradite him to the United States where he is wanted for alleged tax evasion.
Stock market high-flyer Larry Williams, 64, whose daughter was nominated for a best supporting actress Oscar this year for her role in "Brokeback Mountain," was arrested in Australia in May on behalf of US authorities.
The US Internal Revenue Service alleges that the Virgin Islands' resident -- grandfather of Australian star Heath Ledger's daughter with Michelle Williams -- evaded more than 1.5 million dollars in tax between 1999 and 2001.
Michelle Williams
Cops Plea
Joe Francis
The founder of the company that produces the "Girls Gone Wild" videos of women appearing in sexual situations pleaded guilty Monday to charges of failing to document the ages of young women engaging in sexual acts in the videos.
As part of the plea deal, Joe Francis, 33, agreed to pay a $500,000 fine.
Outside court, Francis told reporters he thought the chances are "pretty slim" that the judge would reject the deal.
Francis' attorney, Aaron Dyer, said underage girls who had appeared in the videos had lied about their age to the company.
Joe Francis
Paintings Eclipse Estimates
Adolf Hitler
A painting attributed to Adolf Hitler fetched 10,500 pounds ($20,000) at auction in Britain on Tuesday, despite art experts' doubts that the watercolors on sale were the work of the Nazi leader.
The amount was the highest among 21 watercolors and sketches said to be by him that went under the hammer in the small town of Lostwithiel in southwest England.
Overall the sale fetched 118,000 pounds, more than double the pre-sale estimate of 40-50,000 pounds, the spokesman said.
Adolf Hitler
Berlin Opera Pulled
'Idomeneo'
A leading opera house called off a production of Mozart's "Idomeneo" that features the severed head of the Prophet Muhammad, setting off a furious debate Tuesday over Islam, freedom of speech and the role of art.
Kirsten Harms, director of Berlin's Deutsche Oper, announced "with great regret" that she had decided to cancel the 3-year-old production after state security officials warned it could provoke dangerous reactions in the current politically charged climate.
Harms defended her decision, which she described as "weighing artistic freedom and freedom of a theater ... against the question of security for people's lives."
'Idomeneo'
Arkansas Crater of Diamonds State Park
6.35-Carat Diamond
A Texas couple found a 6.35-carat diamond Saturday at the Arkansas Crater of Diamonds State Park. The diamond was the eighth largest found at the site since it became a state park in 1972. It also was the largest diamond find in eight years, according to a news release from the park.
Donald and Brenda Roden of Point, Texas, named their gem the Roden Diamond; they weren't certain Saturday if they would eventually sell it.
Park Superintendent Tom Stolarz said the diamond was about the same size and color as a large coffee bean. It has a somewhat distorted octahedral shape and a metallic-looking shine that is characteristic of diamonds from the crater.
6.35-Carat Diamond
Doll Sets World Auction Record
Barbie
Barbie in Midnight Red, dating from 1965, sold for a world record 9,000 pounds ($17,000) on Tuesday as collectors from around the world gathered to bid for a piece of a unique private collection of 4,000 Barbie family dolls.
The doll, which had been priced at up to 600 pounds, became the most expensive Barbie ever to be sold at auction, according to Christie's who ran the sale. The previous auction record was 2,800 pounds also set at Christie's in 1999.
The tone was set from the start by 1959 brunette Barbie No. 1 -- clad in a zebra-stripe swimsuit with sunglasses and hooped earrings -- which itself broke the record when it sold for 2,880 pounds against expectations of up to 1,200 pounds.
Barbie
Death Footage Will Never Air
Steve Irwin
Footage of "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin's death will never be shown on television, his wife said in her first interview since the exuberant naturalist was killed by the serrated barb of a stingray's tail.
Asked in an interview with the ABC News program "20/20" whether the footage of Irwin's September 4 death would ever be aired on television, Terri Irwin was blunt and emphatic.
"It won't be. No. No. What purpose would that serve,' she said, adding that she had not looked at the footage of her husband's death.
Steve Irwin
Prime-Time Nielsens
Ratings
Prime-time viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen Media Research for the week of Sept. 18-23. 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. (1) "Grey's Anatomy," ABC, 25.41 million viewers.
2. (2) "Desperate Housewives," ABC, 24.09 million viewers.
3. (3) "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," CBS, 22.58 million viewers.
4. (4) "Dancing with the Stars," ABC, 18.17 million viewers.
5. (5) "CSI: Miami," CBS, 17.62 million viewers.
6. (6) "Without a Trace," CBS, 17.56 million viewers.
7. (7) "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," ABC, 17.49 million viewers.
8. (8) "Survivor: Cook Islands," CBS, 17.43 million viewers.
9. (9) "Cold Case," CBS, 16.27 million viewers.
10. (10) "CSI: NY," CBS, 16.11 million viewers.
11. (11) "Deal or No Deal" (Monday), NBC, 15.73 million viewers.
12. (12) "Brothers & Sisters," ABC, 15.69 million viewers.
13. (13) "Criminal Minds," CBS, 15.65 million viewers.
14. (14) "NBC Sunday Night Football: Denver at New England," NBC, 15.63 million viewers.
15. (15) "ER," NBC, 15.59 million viewers.
16. (16) "Two and a Half Men," CBS, 15.09 million viewers.
17. (17) "Dancing with Stars: Results," ABC, 15.03 million viewers.
18. (18) "Shark," CBS, 14.74 million viewers.
19. (19) "Law and Order: SVU," NBC, 14.55 million viewers.
20. (X) "Grey's Anatomy Special," (Thursday, 8 p.m.), ABC, 13.70 million viewers.
Ratings
In Memory
Paul Vance
Songwriter Paul Vance, who earned pop culture immortality with the 1960 smash about a bashful bather, "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini," has died. He was 68.
The New Milford-raised Vance, whose real name was Paul Van Valkenburgh, died Sept. 6 at his home in Ormond Beach, Fla., said his wife of 32 years, Rose Leroux. He had been battling lung cancer for two years.
Vance and songwriting partner Lee Pockriss also co-wrote "Catch a Falling Star," a No. 1 hit for Perry Como in 1958.
Recorded by 16-year-old teen idol Brian Hyland and a group of girlish backup singers, "Itsy Bitsy ...' surged to No. 1 on the Billboard charts in August 1960.
In addition to his musical compositions, Leroux said, her husband was a Navy veteran in the Korean War and later in life spent time as a painting contractor.
Paul Vance
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