'Best of TBH Politoons'
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
PAUL KRUGMAN: Things Fall Apart (The New York Times; Posted on nevadathunder.com)
Right after the 2004 election, it seemed as if Thomas Frank had been completely vindicated. In his book "What's the Matter With Kansas? How Conservatives Won the Heart of America," Mr. Frank argued that America's right wing had developed a permanent winning strategy based on the use of "values" issues to mobilize white working-class voters against a largely mythical cultural elite, while actually pursuing policies designed to benefit a small economic elite.
Andrew Tobias: Pirates Attack Rome, And Why We Should Care (andrewtobias.com)
Commenting on Friday's column, where I credited "liberals" with ending slavery, Mike Wallin writes: "If I recall, it was a REPUBLICAN who ended slavery." Which of course it was. But ending slavery was the liberal position in Lincoln's day. If we had Lincoln back today, he would be horrified by the leadership of his party, just as today's liberals - and at least seven prominent conservatives -- are.
Matthew B. Crawford: Shop Class as Soulcraft (thenewatlantis.com)
Sure, go to college. But learn a manual trade in the summers. You'll be less damaged, and maybe better paid, as an independent tradesman than as a cubicle-dwelling Dilbert...
Courtney E. Martin: Is the American Dream a Delusion? (AlterNet.org)
I want to tell my working-class students that the American Dream isn't all it's cracked up to be. But maybe I shouldn't question their belief that hard work will bring success.
Teach English in China! (teachforfriendship.com)
Teach for Friendship Foundation (TFF) was created in 2002 in response to requests from many Chinese educational institutions for native English speakers to help strengthen their programs and to help build bridges of friendship between China and the United States.
Laura Barton and Alex Petridis: 'Emily Dickinson? She's hardcore' (guardian.co.uk)
Pete Doherty tells Laura Barton about the poets who inspired him - and got him through prison. Alexis Petridis assesses the musician's own lyrics.
Wilfred Owen (1893 - 1918): Dulce Et Decorum Est
Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Twas the night before Baghdad
We liberated them!
Our Baby Bush chimes
That is why they attack us
Time after time
Social, Political and Anti-War Poems
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny and cooler.
We had 'Back To School Night' - always a fun event.
Partisan Politics As Usual
PBS' 'NewsHour'
PBS' "NewsHour" tilts too heavily toward Republican white men in its sources and needs to do a better job promoting diverse points of view, a watchdog group said in a report issued on Tuesday.
Two-thirds of the partisan sources appearing on Jim Lehrer's nightly newscasts between October 2005 and March 2006 were Republican, and 82 percent were men, said the liberal advocacy organization Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting.
In stories about the Iraq war, people who advocate a U.S. withdrawal were outnumbered by more than five-to-one, the liberal group said. Its researchers said they couldn't find a single peace activist had appeared on "NewsHour" during the six months studied.
PBS' 'NewsHour'
On Thin Ice?
Keith Olbermann
Like so many others who hunger for some journalistic independence on TV news, I often marvel at Keith Olbermann's dogged reporting and unique commentary. In a cable news environment of conformity and conservatism, the MSNBC host takes on the Bush administration for "demonizing dissent," for abusing our Constitutional traditions, for "taking cynical advantage of the unanimity and love [following 9/11], and transmuting it into fraudulent war and needless death."
Only Olbermann talks about Team Bush "monstrously transforming [9/11 unity] into fear and suspicion, and turning that fear into the campaign slogan of three elections." He was virtually alone on TV news in seriously reporting on 2004 election irregularities in Ohio, and in exploring the pre-Iraq war Downing Street Memos indicating White House deception. In recent months, his prime targets seem to have evolved from softer ones like Bill O'Reilly to bigger game: Bush and his minions.
It's obvious his bosses at MSNBC/NBC/GE never envisioned the increasingly bold Olbermann of recent months. It's likely that Olbermann himself could not have foreseen his current role as the lone voice of those who feel assaulted by a cable news business dominated by the O'Reillys and Hannitys.
So why do I fear for Olbermann? Because I know his bosses. In the runup to the Iraq war, I too worked for MSNBC - as an on-air pundit and a senior producer on the primetime Donahue show.
In the last months of Donahue, management gave us strict orders: if we booked a guest who was antiwar, we needed two who were pro-war. If we booked two guests on the left, we needed three on the right. When a producer proposed booking Michael Moore, she was told she'd need three rightwingers for ideological balance.
Keith Olbermann
Serving Republican Interest, Convenience & Necessity
Media Ownership
The Federal Communications Commission kicks off the first of six planned public hearings Tuesday to discuss a number of broadcast ownership rules, including whether a single company should be able to own both a newspaper and a television station in the same market.
The last time the agency revisited the ownership rules was in 2003, when it voted 3-2 to raise the national audience cap for television station owners, lessen restrictions on how many radio and television stations a company may own in the same market and allow for cross-ownership of newspapers and broadcast stations in some instances.
The ownership rules exist because the broadcast airwaves are owned by the public and the law requires that the public interest be considered in how they are regulated. Too much control over the broadcast media in a market is deemed not in the public interest, though limits have been loosened over the years.
Media Ownership
Stop Bottom Trawling
Sigourney Weaver
Sigourney Weaver urged UN members on Tuesday to impose a moratorium on a destructive fishing practice called high-seas bottom trawling, warning that the world's oceans are at risk.
Weaver, appearing with several environmental activists and UN ambassadors, said that new technology has brought remote and fragile ecosystems within the reach of bottom-trawlers, which rake giant nets equipped with wheels, chains and metal doors across the sea floor to scoop up fish.
"The high seas belong to no single country and they most certainly do not belong to the owners of these large industrial fishing corporations," Weaver said. "They belong to all of us and it is time for us to take them back."
Sigourney Weaver
"New" Album To Be Released
Beatles
A "new" album of Beatles music mixed by their legendary producer George Martin and described as a new "way of reliving the whole Beatles musical lifespan," will be released in November.
EMI Music and Apple Corps Ltd. said on Tuesday that Martin and his son Giles began work on the album, called "Love," after getting permission from Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and Yoko Ono Lennon and Olivia Harrison representing John Lennon and George Harrison.
The music has already been used as the soundtrack to the theatrical Cirque du Soleil show called "Love."
The Martins worked from the original master tapes from the Abbey Road studios to produce a medley of Beatles music by remixing favorite songs, such as Harrison's "Within You Without You" being played to the drum-track of "Tomorrow Never Knows."
Beatles
Honored By Hometown College
James Taylor
James Taylor, who penned "Carolina in My Mind" while homesick for North Carolina, has been honored by his hometown university.
Taylor, 58, performed the song with the North Carolina Symphony on Sunday when both were given 2006 Carolina Performing Arts Lifetime Achievement Awards by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
The singer-songwriter was born in Boston but raised in North Carolina after moving to Chapel Hill with his family at age 3. His father, Dr. Isaac Taylor, began working for the university's medical school in 1952.
James Taylor
AMC Renews
"Hustle"
AMC's "Hustle," a co-production of the cable network and the BBC, is going into production on its fourth season.
The cast and crew are in production in London and will cross the pond in November and December to shoot two episodes in Las Vegas and Los Angeles. Season 4, which consists of six episodes, is set to premiere in March.
The hourlong series follows the exploits of a crew of London-based con artists who pull off daringly intricate stings to swindle money from greedy, morally corrupt "marks." For the upcoming season, Ashley Walters joins the cast, which includes Robert Vaughn, Adrian Lester, Jaime Murray, Marc Warren and Robert Glenister.
"Hustle"
S.D. Casino Battle
Kevin Costner
Kevin Costner has gone to the South Dakota Supreme Court in a legal shootout over a Deadwood casino he owns. The actor-director is asking the court to send the case back to a judge.
The actor wants to sever his relationship with his two partners and become the sole owner of the Midnight Star, an eating and gambling establishment where costumes Costner wore in various movies line the walls.
Costner owns 93.5 percent of the casino. He hired Francis and Carla Caneva to manage the operation and gave them ownership of 6.5 percent. He fired them in July 2004, asking them to part ways as partners, too. When they declined, he chose to dissolve the partnership.
In order for that to happen, the casino's fair market value had to be determined. Costner hired an accountant who put the value of the Midnight Star at $3.1 million. The Canevas got another Deadwood casino owner to testify that he would pay twice that - $6.2 million.
Kevin Costner
Record Ozone Loss
Antarctica
Antarctica in 2006 suffered its highest recorded single-year loss in ozone, the atmospheric molecule that protects against dangerous ultraviolet light, the European Space Agency (ESA) said.
Ozone measurements made by the agency's Envisat satellite showed a loss of 40 million tonnes in October, exceeding the previous record of 39 million tonnes set in 2000, it said in a press release.
This year's ozone hole measures 28 million square kilometers (10.81 million square miles), which is nearly as large as in 2000, and the depth of the ozone hole is 100 Dobson units, a measurement of the thickness of the layer, which rivals a record set in 1990, ESA said.
Antarctica
Memorabilia On Auction Block
James Dean
The white, cotton T-shirt with the $15,000 price tag has a Hollywood pedigree, having once hugged the torso of actor James Dean during the filming of "Rebel Without a Cause."
The shirt is one of more than 1,800 items up for sale in the latest pop culture offering from Heritage Auction Galleries. The Dallas-based auction house specializes in the trivial - from Fred Astaire's top hat to Dean's undershirt.
Dean is the star attraction at this auction. An Indiana museum featuring all things Dean closed earlier this year, and Heritage secured the rights to unload the memorabilia.
Also on sale: guitars used by Elvis Presley, Eric Clapton and Kurt Cobain; a cane used by Charlie Chaplin; a night stand used by Marilyn Monroe.
Another featured item is a script of "The Godfather" used by Marlon Brando. His signature is on the inside cover, and his handwritten notations can be seen throughout. Its estimated value is $35,000.
James Dean
Takes A Holiday
'Til Death'
Fox's underperforming new sitcom "'Til Death" will stay off the air for an extra week because star Brad Garrett was unhappy with the show's most recent script, sources said.
The comedy was already taking a one-week production hiatus. It has faced an uphill battle in the Thursday 8 p.m. slot, which is dominated by CBS' "Survivor" and ABC's rookie hit "Ugly Betty."
Til Death
Russian Makeovers
Old Sitcoms
Russia is out to find its own Brooke Shields to star in a new, local-language version of the sitcom "Suddenly Susan."
The Russian reincarnation of NBC's 1996-2000 series, which starred Shields in the title role as a San Francisco columnist, is part of a big move by the show's producer, Warner Bros., to develop foreign versions of old U.S. sitcoms, such as "Perfect Strangers," "Step by Step" and "Full House."
"Susan" is being produced in conjunction with a Russian broadcaster, CTC, which will shoot 40 episodes of the series. CTC has also committed to 40 episodes of "Step by Step" and 20 episodes of "Full House."
Old Sitcoms
In Memory
Prentiss Barnes
Prentiss Barnes, who sang with the Moonglows and is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, died Saturday in a weekend traffic accident in southwest Mississippi. He was 81.
Barnes, a bass singer for the Moonglows, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in March 2000. He's also a member of the Vocal Group Hall of Fame and a Rhythm and Blues Foundation Pioneer.
The Moonglows' R&B and doo-wop recordings include "Blue Velvet," "Most of All," "We Go Together" and "Ten Commandments of Love." The McGuire Sisters recorded a pop version of their '50s hit "Sincerely."
The Moonglows disbanded in the mid-1960s. Barnes struck out on a solo career and headed for California in 1969. On the westward trip, Barnes was injured when a train struck his car in Texas. After the wreck, doctors amputated Barnes' left arm. A shattered hip caused his right leg to shorten. It took two years and 10 operations before Barnes was well enough to return to Mississippi.
Prentiss Barnes
In Memory
Peter Norman
Peter Norman, the Australian sprinter who shared the medals podium with Tommie Smith and John Carlos while they gave their black power salutes at the 1968 Olympics, died Tuesday of a heart attack. He was 64.
Norman won the silver medal in the 200 meters at the Mexico City Games. Smith set a world record in winning the gold medal and Carlos took the bronze, and their civil rights protest became a flash point of the Olympics.
Smith and Carlos stood shoeless, each wearing a black glove on his raised, clenched fist. They bowed their heads while the national anthem played.
Norman, a physical education teacher, stood on the front podium during the ceremony. He wore a human rights badge on his shirt in support of the two Americans and their statement against racial discrimination in the United States.
Last year, he was reunited with Smith and Carlos at San Jose State for the unveiling of a statue commemorating the 1968 protest.
Peter Norman
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