Disinformation Today - #223
The New L.A. Free Press
Issue #2.04
By Michael Dare
'Best of TBH Politoons'
M Is FOR MASHUP - October 17th 2007
Halloween Mashup Treats-No Trick!
By DJ Useo
PURPLE GENE'S BONUS WEIRD WORD OF THE WEEK
INDEFATIGABLE
"INDEFATIGABLE"
ON LINE DEFINITION: A person who is untiring, persistent, industrious and inexhaustible.
ON THE STREET: Someone who, because of their own stubborn and endless energy will tirelessly do what ever is needed to get things done....a real go-getter.
IN A SENTENCE: Marty is the epitome an indefatigable individual....she's assiduous, pertinaceous, operose, unflagging and humbly zealous. (Also: see 'anal retentive')
(Read BartCop Entertainment and learn a useless new word (or three) each Tuesday)
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Michael Abernethy: "Queer, Isn't It?: PFLAG: A Piece of Our Hearts"
"The day after (our daughter) came out to us, I told her that it did not matter to me who she loved, for anyone who had a piece of her heart would always have a piece of mine." -Posted by "Lioneljay" on the Soulcast bulletin boards
PAUL KRUGMAN: Gore Derangement Syndrome (The New York Times)
On the day after Al Gore shared the Nobel Peace Prize, The Wall Street Journal's editors couldn't even bring themselves to mention Mr. Gore's name. Instead, they devoted their editorial to a long list of people they thought deserved the prize more.
Jim Hightower: STAND WITH OBEY (jimhightower.com)
Thank you, David Obey! This member of congress has dared to stand up to George W and shout, "Enough is enough!" As Obey put it, "we have had it with being maneuvered and jerked around" on Bush's misbegotten, woeful war and lies in Iraq.
Jim Hightower: BETRAYAL ON TRADE BY DEMOCRATIC LEADERS (jimhightower.com)
What is it about "NO" that the Democratic congressional leaders don't get?
Christian John Wikane: "Get Ready for Her Sexy Battle: An Interview with Deborah Harry" (popmatters.com)
The doyenne of New York's downtown scene gets "dirty and deep" with her fifth solo album. Harry talks to PopMatters and we offer a guide to her solo years.
Beth Quinn: More curious incidents that occurred in the nighttime (recordonline.com)
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about waking up one recent morning to discover I was wearing an Isotoner glove on my left hand. I had, apparently, sleep-walked to my dresser during the night, rummaged around in the odds and ends drawer, found the glove, put it on and returned to bed. ... But it turns out I'm not alone. I invited readers to tell me about their own weird activities in the nighttime. The following is a sampling of my mail.
Interview by Laura Barnett: Portrait of the artist: Susannah York, actor (guardian.co.uk)
'I can't relax until I understand a character's motivations - I'm like a dog with a bone'
Ted Gioia: The Nobel Prize in Literature from an Alternative Universe (greatbooksguide.com)
"I had a hunch a woman writer living in England would win the Nobel Prize in Literature this year. But I still wasn't prepared for the thrill I experienced when I learned that J.K. Rowling had won the coveted prize.
Nick Claussen: Prof's book offers advice on how to chuckle in the face of rejection (athensnews.com)
Mel Helitzer knows about rejection. He knows so much about it, in fact, that you could say he wrote the book on it... literally.
David Bruce: Wise Up! Activism (athensnews.com)
Many people read and enjoy J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" and the good guys' fight against the evil of Mordor. Some of those who read it in college are activists. One campus cut down a pleasant grove of trees to make room for an ugly "Cultural Center" made of concrete blocks. Students detested the cutting-down of trees, and on the ugly building someone wrote, "Another bit of Mordor."
Great Books Guide
Reader Suggestion
Kids Are Americans Too
Hey There:
Check out this release -- Bill O'Reilly's new
children's book "Kids Are Americans Too"
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Mostly overcast and cool.
The plumber visited us today - the kitchen sink started draining into the tub, and then the tub just plain stopped draining.
Heh - makes the bill for the car's new alternator look trivial. Sigh.
Wows CUPE Delegates
Buffy Sainte-Marie
Legendary folk singer and poet Buffy Sainte-Marie brought 2,000 Canadian Union of Public Employees delegates to their feet Tuesday with an anti-war message punctuated by poetry and a trademark anti-capitalist protest song that showcased the power and depths of her artistry.
At 66, Sainte-Marie exuded strength and serenity as she urged her rapt audience to remember that no single group of people, no nation, has a lock on wisdom or culture.
Sainte-Marie was especially scathing in her assessment of the conflicts raging in Iraq and Afghanistan.
She said those wars are nothing more than "money laundering" that loots local economies - the kind of outspoken position that saw her blacklisted in the U.S. during the Vietnam War era.
"It's got nothing to do with any of the ideals for which young people will enlist to protect their country, to preserve their traditions," she said. "It's a big fat lie."
Buffy Sainte-Marie
U.S. `Open Book Tour'
J.K. Rowling
J.K. Rowling made a rare U.S. appearance, reading at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood in front of scores of wand-clutching would-be wizards and witches.
Seated on a gold throne with plush red cushions, Rowling read Monday from the seventh and final of her novels on Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows."
To accommodate a crushing demand for tickets, Rowling's American publisher sent a "sorting hat" like those used to divide students into houses in the novels to 40 randomly selected Los Angeles schools. Forty students from each school were then selected from the hat.
Rowling said the gimmick was meant to avoid the sort of madness she faced in a previous U.S. appearance.
J.K. Rowling
Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame
Earl Scruggs
Earl Scruggs and the late Lester Flatt are now members of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Flatt & Scruggs teamed as a bluegrass act in the 1940s. They recorded the theme song to "The Beverly Hillbillies" TV show in 1962, and their instrumental "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" was used in the 1967 film "Bonnie and Clyde."
Hank Williams Jr., gospel singer Dottie Rambo, and country tunesmiths Bob DiPiero and Mac McAnally were also inducted.
Earl Scruggs
Welcomes Thomas the Tank Engine
Jimmy Carter
Former President Carter joined a group of young children Tuesday in welcoming Thomas the Tank Engine - the smiling, chubby-cheeked storybook locomotive - to south Georgia.
Carter said 10 trains a day passed his rural boyhood home and he often stood along the tracks and waved at the engineers "who were my heroes."
The Thomas replica pulled a nine-car train from a station at the Georgia Veterans State Park west of Cordele. It crossed nearby Lake Blackshear before returning to the park.
After the 25-minute ride, Carter read a train story to about 50 children, ages 4 to 6, from area schools. Later, few of the children could remember Carter's name, although they knew he was a former president. One child said the most memorable event for him was using the train's restroom.
Jimmy Carter
Mutts And Moms Mess
Ellen DeGeneres
Ellen DeGeneres' doggy drama intensified Tuesday when the agency that took the talk show host's adopted dog back said they were keeping it.
The dog adopted by DeGeneres and later given to her hairstylist's family in violation of an animal rescue agency's rules will not be going back to the family, a spokesman said, amid threats of violence against the agency.
The dog was removed from the hairstylist's home Sunday. The owners of Mutts and Moms claimed that DeGeneres violated the adoption agreement by not informing them that she was giving the dog away.
Mutts and Moms owners Marina Batkis and Vanessa Chekroun were in possession of the dog and will not be giving it back, attorney Keith A. Fink told The Associated Press.
"She doesn't think this is the type of family that should have the dog. She is adamant that she is not going to be bullied around by the Ellen DeGenereses of the world.
Ellen DeGeneres
Joins Broadway's `Spamalot'
Clay Aiken
Clay Aiken is going from "American Idol" to Eric Idle's "Spamalot."
Aiken will join the Broadway cast of "Monty Python's Spamalot" on Jan. 18, playing one of the leads, Sir Robin, in the Tony Award-winning musical directed by Mike Nichols.
Aiken will appear in the show, which is based on the film "Monty Python and the Holy Grail," through May 4, 2008. The musical's book is by Idle, an original member of the Python gang, and its score is by Idle and John DuPrez.
Clay Aiken
LAPD Booking
Britney Spears
Britney Spears reported to a Los Angeles police station Monday night to face charges of hit and run and driving without a valid license, police said.
Officer Mike Lopez said Spears turned herself in around 9 p.m. and left about 45 minutes later. Spears was fingerprinted and photographed, he said.
Spears, 25, was wearing large designer sunglasses and a black turtleneck dress and jacket. As she left the station, she told KCAL-TV that all went smoothly.
"They were nice," she said of police. She told the station she was wearing the sunglasses because she had pinkeye.
Britney Spears
Pleads Not Guilty
Foxy Brown
Foxy Brown was singing a different tune Tuesday when she showed up in court four days after refusing to appear to face assault charges.
The 28-year-old rapper, who is serving a year at Rikers Island prison for violating probation, arrived at Brooklyn state Supreme Court wearing casual street clothing.
She pleaded not guilty to charges that she threw a cell phone at a neighbor who complained about the volume of her car radio. The plea was entered by her attorney, John Sampson, the district attorney's office said.
Last Friday, Brown twice refused to appear in court for her arraignment. Prosecutors rescheduled her appearance for Tuesday, warning that if she refused to show up, the court would issue an order allowing correction officers to put her in handcuffs and force her onto a bus.
Foxy Brown
Air Force Honors
Barry Williams
If Barry Williams had not become Greg Brady, he might have joined the military like his father.
Instead, the 53-year-old gained fame as the oldest of three brothers on the TV series "The Brady Bunch."
Now he's now got a new role: honorary member of the Air Force's 4th Fighter Wing's 335th Fighter Squadron.
Capt. Don Haley said Williams has been an avid supporter of the armed forces and longtime USO entertainer. The squadron surprised Williams on Friday with the recognition, which included a ride in one of the 333rd's F-15E Strike Eagles.
Barry Williams
Quitting `CSI'
Jorja Fox
Jorja Fox is waving goodbye to "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation."
Fox, 39, tells EW.com she has quit the Las Vegas-based forensics drama, saying she wants to explore other opportunities.
Fox has wrapped up filming on the hit CBS series, and will make her last appearance as Sara Sidle in an episode to air next month, according to the Web site.
Jorja Fox
Studios Drop Contentious Proposal
Writers Talks
Seeking to remove a big stumbling block in stalled contract talks with Hollywood screenwriters, studio executives on Tuesday dropped a proposal to overhaul a key, decades-old source of writers' income.
The two camps have been sharply divided over the formula, first established in the 1950s, by which TV and film writers earn "residual" fees when their work goes beyond an initial broadcast or theatrical release into secondary markets such as reruns and DVDs.
The studios had been pushing to overhaul that system with a new plan that would withhold residual payments until after production, development, distribution and marketing costs are recouped.
The writers have vigorously opposed such a change, arguing they could not trust a Hollywood accounting system notorious for deliberately playing down or denying the commercial success of films when it comes to making good on profit participation.
Writers Talks
Republican Knows Stupid
Drew Carey
Coinciding with his first day of hosting "The Price Is Right," Drew Carey and the libertarian think tank Reason Foundation on Monday launched a video journalism Web site that will delve into such issues as immigration and medical marijuana.
Reason.tv kicked off with an examination of traffic congestion in Los Angeles and ways the private sector -- rather than taxpayers -- can solve the problem. Carey escorting a gridlock-plagued worker to his office via helicopter.
"We need Reason to help fight the stupid drug laws, the stupid immigration laws and stupid big government in general," said Carey, a financial backer of fellow Clevelander U.S. Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio), according to Federal Election Commission records.
Drew Carey
Puts Hitler's Globe Up For Sale
John Barsamian
Days after the end of World War II, an American soldier entering the wreckage of Adolf Hitler's mountain stronghold found that fierce Allied bombing had left the "Eagle's Nest" in ruins.
Hitler was dead, and other soldiers had already looted the inside of his private residence, even stripping the leather from furniture. Nearly everything of value was gone - except for the Fuhrer's globe.
Now John Barsamian is putting the artifact up for auction, along with all the military paperwork that allowed him to bring it back to the United States, including a certificate that reads "1 Global Map, German, Hitler's Eagle Nest."
Other globes presumed to have been owned by Hitler have been extensively researched for authenticity. But there is no uncertainty about the origins of Barsamian's wartime trophy.
John Barsamian
Cheney's Distant Cousin
Barack Obama
There's no sign of a family reunion planned, but U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney and Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama are distant cousins.
So says the vice president's wife, Lynne Cheney, who said she discovered that her husband of 43 years is eighth cousins with the senator from Illinois.
The two men could hardly be more different. Cheney is an advocate chickenhawk pursuing the war in Iraq to try to stabilize bleed the country, while Obama wants to get U.S. troops out of Iraq.
The common ancestor was Mareen Devall, who the Chicago Sun-Times said was a 17th century immigrant from France.
Barack Obama
Prime-Time Nielsens
Ratings
Prime-Time viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen Media Research for Oct. 8-14. 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) "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," CBS, 19.79 million viewers.
2. (2) "Dancing with the Stars" (Monday), ABC, 19.62 million viewers.
3. (3) "Grey's Anatomy," ABC, 19.04 million viewers.
4. (4) "Desperate Housewives," ABC, 18.89 million viewers.
5. (5) "House," Fox, 18.03 million viewers.
6. (17) "60 Minutes," CBS, 17.23 million viewers.
7. (7) "Dancing with the Stars" (Tuesday), ABC, 16.36 million viewers.
8. (7) "NCIS," CBS, 16.36 million viewers.
9. (12) "Criminal Minds," CBS, 14.55 million viewers.
10. (9) "CSI: Miami," CBS, 14.45 million viewers.
11. (11) "Survivor: China," CBS, 14.22 million viewers.
12. (14) "Cold Case," CBS, 13.88 million viewers.
13. (9) "Without a Trace," CBS, 13.62 million viewers.
14. (17) "CSI: NY," CBS, 13.43 million viewers.
15. (14) "Two And a Half Men," CBS, 13.02 million viewers.
16. (31) "Deal Or No Deal" (Wednesday), NBC, 12.58 million viewers.
17. (20) "Brothers & Sisters," ABC, 12.51 million viewers.
18. (14) "Private Practice," ABC, 12.42 million viewers.
19. (21) "Law And Order: Special Victims Unit," NBC, 12.30 million viewers.
20. (19) "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," ABC, 12.23 million viewers.
Ratings
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