Muhammad Ali once said "There are more pleasant things to do than beat up people," and the statement is infinitely more meaningful since it didn't come from a weakling but from someone who used to beat up people for a living. In the same way, The God Who Wasn't There is more meaningful since it was directed by an ex-true believer, former Christian fundamentalist Brian Flemming, a man driven to skepticism by the startling inconsistencies of his faith, and who, after exhaustive research, actually ended up changing his mind about the nature of his religion. He's created a film that's as well-researched, informative, and outrageous as it is entertaining and enlightening. Many people didn't buy into Fahrenheit 911 because Michael Moore was delivering a message he believed in from the start, but Fleming has to convince himself before he convinces his audience, and he does a spectacular job, It's impossible to watch The God Who Wasn't There without thinking to yourself "How could anyone believe this nonsense."
Far from being a slapdash production, this is as professional and well put together as anything out there, full of helpful charts, diagrams, and entertaining film snippets, including interviews with Jesus Seminar fellow Robert M. Price, author Sam Harris, and historian Richard Carrier, plus numerous idiotic quotes from people attending a Billy Graham "crusade" at the Rose Bowl, and hysterical sequences from a 1905 French silent film, Jesus Christ, the first full-length feature ever made. Flemming finishes his pilgrimage with an emotional final statement that clearly took a lot of guts to admit. He not only has Moore's passion and outrageous sense of humor, but his cinematic chops as well.
In researching the foundations of Christianity, Flemming comes to the inevitable conclusion that the Jesus Christ we've all grown to worship and abide is a fictional character in an entirely manufactured religion. His step-by-step investigation is so thorough it's hard to imagine any rational argument against it.
Though the film itself is little more than an hour long, there are over 200 minutes of special features to help you explore the "Christ myth" theory and the dangers of modern Christian fundamentalism. There are links to fascinating websites, and I ended up watching the whole thing twice just for the extra commentary track by Oxford professor Richard Dawkins, who is one of the most intelligent and erudite people you'll ever see on your screen.
There doesn't seem to be any question as to whether Muhammad actually existed. After all, he actually WROTE the Koran (or at least narrated it). Whether the old testament God actually exists can't be proven one way or another, which is why people will never stop arguing about it.
We may question many things about the various factions of the Christian faith, and many deserve to be questioned, but to ask whether Jesus ever existed in the first place is so outlandish that it seems absurd to even ask it - that is until you try to find any incontrovertible documentation. Hard evidence is not just hard to come by, it's non-existent, and like most conspiracy theories, the actual lack of evidence, combined with clear appropriations from prior religions, make the entire Jesus story look like a myth, a completely manufactured faith to sucker in the masses. After all, it's got everything: a fulfillment of prophesies, a virgin birth (appropriated from Asclepius, the Greek god of medicine, with a God father and human mother), a star in the sky, wise men bearing gifts, healing the sick, walking on water, raising a man from the dead (Asclepius again), a painful martyr's death, and a resurrection (appropriated from Romulus).
All the gospels ignore his childhood, so apparently there were no prepubescent miracles, and the whole nativity scene isn't in Mark, the first gospel. Kind of a biggy to overlook. Did later gospels make it up? Could be since they made up so much of the rest.
The myth has been in constant change. In the third century, Jesus was considered a "sun god," riding a chariot across the sky, as you can see in this mosaic from St. Peters.
To quote an anonymous posting, "It should be remembered that the usual three god pantheon of most religions comes from a very obvious source which was far more material than spiritual. On the physical plane things come into existence, go through a period of change, then come to an end. Everything physical does this. Hence, we have creator gods, preserver gods, and destroyer gods. The Persians have their Ahura Mazda, Mithras, and Auhriman while the Hindus have Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. Krishna is reckoned as the 100th embodiment of Vishnu. Of course it is the middle god who gets most of the adulation as he's the guy who keeps the game going. The Christians of course have their 'God,' Jesus, and Satan, following the lineup of all primitive religions. It's all fairy tale stuff, but it sells, and in many cases religion serves as a needed check on the unruly populace. Primitive minds need primitive religions. An ethical populace needs no governing.
"Now as for the actual prototype for most of the Jesus Christ mythology you have to look at Apollonius of Tyana. While the early church fathers did their utmost to destroy any record of anyone who might have competed with their Jesus character, there is still a great biography of Apollonius surviving from the 4th century, thanks to the historian Philostratus, as commissioned by the wife of one of the Roman emperors of the time. There is far more still existing about the real Apollonius than about the mythical Jesus."
What's NOT in dispute, and I'm looking at it right now in my handy-dandy new testament, is that the gospels were written decades after the death of Jesus. Ignoring the gospel of Paul, like all good Christians do, the epistle of James was written at least 20 years after the crucifixion, and the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John much later than that, at least 40, possibly as much as 85 years later. Whenever the gospels were written, they were completely unknown until 120AD and weren't even officially recognized as gospels until 172AD. That's a lot of time for the story to gestate. I don't know about you, but if I had to write about something I heard someone say on a mount more than 20 years ago, what I wrote couldn't possibly be considered anything more than a paraphrase. Maybe Monty Python was right and Jesus DID say "blessed are the cheesemakers."
The God Who Wasn't There closely examines this enormous gap in time between the "life of Jesus" and the writings about Jesus, finding that most Christian dogma turns out to be rehashes of older dogma from forgotten religions of ancient origin. The real Jesus was nothing like current mythology paints him. At the time, he was just the latest in a long line of imaginary historic virgin-born, crucified saviors, and giant chunks of the Jesus myth fall apart if you just think about them or study a little actual history other than the bible.
Among other things (thanks to http://www.jesusneverexisted.com/), following a star would lead you in circles, Nazareth did not exist in the 1st century AD, there never was only one Christianity, just dozens of competing and conflicting Jesus/Sun-god/Mystery cults, the first believers in Jesus maintained he was an ethereal spirit, much like other sky/sun-gods, only later did he acquire a human death, a human life and finally a human birth, that "Jesus Christ" is a composite character - god, man, king, carpenter, conqueror, peace-maker, dispenser of justice, advocate of love - deliberately assembled to try and unify a fragmented and fractious messianic religious movement, the 12 disciples are as fictitious as their master, invented to legitimize the claims of the early churches, and the original Mary was not a virgin, just an idea borrowed from pagan goddesses. Claiming to be a Christian without any knowledge of Justin, Tertullian, Eusebius, or the pagan origins of Christian doctrine in Attis, Mithras, Osiris, or Dionysis, is sort of like being a psychiatrist while knowing nothing of Sigmund Freud and Karl Jung.
The bible fails to mention that the 325 CE Council of Nicea, called by Constantine, combined Jesus with Krishna to invent Jesus Christ. This was because the Persian Mithras and the Indian Krishna were becoming very powerful movements within the Roman Empire, a decided threat to Roman hegemony. Starting with some 1,800 clerics, Constantine slimmed the numbers down to around 300 in order to obtain "unanimous agreement" for his new God: JC.
Here's a good question. Why would the Romans have allowed a convicted felon to be almost immediately removed from his cross and put in a tomb? The entire point of crucifixion was to make a public point that the most cruel and humiliating form of punishment awaited those who opposed Rome's will. Wouldn't they have left him there to decompose in front of everybody? After all, Quintilian (AD 35-95) wrote that "Whenever we crucify the guilty, the most crowded roads are chosen, where most people can see and be moved by this fear. For penalties relate not so much to retribution as to their exemplary effect."
The final message of The God Who Wasn't There is to think for yourself and do your own research. After all, those who believe Christ was into peace and mercy are conveniently ignoring Luke 19:27, where Jesus says "Those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them - bring them here and kill them in front of me." No wonder Dubya relates to him.
MD
"The whole history of these books [the Gospels] is so defective and doubtful that it seems vain to attempt minute inquiry into it: and such tricks have been played with their text, and with the texts of other books relating to them, that we have a right, from that cause, to entertain much doubt what parts of them are genuine. In the New Testament there is internal evidence that parts of it have proceeded from an extraordinary man; and that other parts are of the fabric of very inferior minds. It is as easy to separate those parts, as to pick out diamonds from dunghills."
- Thomas Jefferson, letter to John Adams, January 24, 1814 -
"It is so much easier to believe than to think; it is astounding how much more believing is done than thinking."
- James Kemper -
"It is worth remembering that his existence was first declared a truth by the same institution that insisted the sun revolves around the earth."
- The God Who Wasn't There -
Paternity Suit of the Week
"I did not have sex with that stack of tires," declared
Barb Bituwitz, mother of the bloated child.
"Yes, she did," said the Michelin man seeking custody,
"and I didn't wear a rubber."
Lost in Translation
While cruising through the CIA site I came across their Iraqi Rewards Program, which is in Arabic, so I got it translated here, and came up with this...
If was information possesses Iraq hangs in and which which believes that she place of interest for the government was formed The American, so the hope the communication is coffee by means of dictation of request on the guardian wrote. We we with regard to our protects All information which supplies us in her carefully complete and from from within her aired you self.
From our helpful period on the work quickly and [aaltthbbt] from the information, be necessary on you that presents brands you Complete and your nationality your nationality and your position your position and information of information about the despotic communication dumb and from from within her the telephone numbered. And This of which the American government entitles to grants [mkaafaat] for the informations the value. We we will keep on The complete secrecy.
The imminent attacks: If was any information possesses imminent attack surprising before the insurgent hangs in
Or the terrorists, requests from you the communication in one of members forces of the alliance or the Iraqi police immediately.
Weapons of mass destruction: That presence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq exposure of health and safety of safety all The Iraqi for the danger. That the American government grants [mkaafaat] for Iraqi who accurate information presents in the possibility her evidence for assistance Iraqi on purification their cities and the removal the removal from this weapons and the lethal substances the substances grave. That [aalmkaafaat] will be available accurate according to the information and which which in the possibility the realization from her:
Sites storer of the weapons and the supply the chemical supply or bacterial (biological) and the rockets the rockets and the vehicles the vehicles Air [aalGyr] supplied in sailors which interview industrialized or her parts of assembly.
Sites of the factories and the chemical laboratories the laboratories and biological biological, and centers centers of the development and the production the production, and sites of sites The complete test related in weapons of the ruin, or the sites where the removal from this substances in secret method was complete.
The plans for arranged the weapons and the matters the military matters or any documents hangs in the chemical weapons and Biological and the rockets the rockets or the air vehicles [aalGyr] supplied in sailors.
The Iraqi who in their possibility and for they for they desire for supplying of detailed information about programs weapons of the ruin Complete in Iraq and the efforts the efforts to concealing of this weapons.
The Baathist commanders: That [mkaafaat] the government is American available to next giving the information about commanders of regime The previous resurrection, and from from within her ten million dollar American for information arrest of performs toHead council of the revolutionary leadership previous Izzat Ibrahim Al-Duri:
The current sites and activities activities of these separation.
Their their blessing the persons who meets with them and what what she their plans in the future?
The rebellion and the terrorism the terrorism: That the rebellious elements supporting for the previous agreement and the terrorists the terrorists try demolition Future of Iraq. There [mkaafaat] available for each from accurate information accepting presents [lltthbbt] and cooperates helps onDetention or ritual consecrations these from the refuge and the supporting the supporting. This information she about:
Al-Qaeda, advocates of the Islam, Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi and their followers their followers in Iraq.
The separation or the groups who the bombs possess and weapons of weapons last for use her against forces of the alliance and The Iraqi police and members members of legion the propellant Iraqi civilian and the schools the schools and the operation the commercial works or against The civilians.
The separation or the groups who saves [mlaajy'] and practice of practice for rebellious and the terrorists and supports these Also in any purpose what.
The separation or the implicated groups with, or for they knock smuggling of the terrorists to Iraq knew about.
The separation or the groups who enlists and simplifies the activities simplify and gathering accumulated the moneys, or any work is last For support of the terrorism in Iraq.
The separation who the facilitations and the documents present the documents which the terrorists for the trip to Iraq help.
Travel agencies, the agencies or the organizations [aalGyr] governmental, or companies of front involved in facilitation Matters of the terrorists for the trip to Iraq.
Lost members forces of the alliance: That [aalmkaafaat] available for each from information about the soldiers presents The lost who forces of the alliance serve in and from from within them officer in war the gulf, the pilot The American marine “Michael [sbykr].”
Science News
Bush declared last week's HAARP earthquake experiment a "complete success"
except for this two-year-old Pakistani boy removed from rubble after four days.
Under-Reported Story of the Week
"A leading national physician organization has called for a moratorium on all government mandated vaccines, going so far as to pass a resolution asking for an end to mandatory vaccination programs at their annual meeting.
"In October, at their 57th Annual Meeting in St. Louis, Missouri, members of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons voted on a resolution calling for 'a moratorium on vaccine mandates and for physicians to insist upon truly informed consent for the use of vaccines.' The resolution passed without a single dissenting vote."
"Official data have shown that the large-scale vaccinations undertaken in the US have failed to obtain any significant improvement of the diseases against which they were supposed to provide protection."
"If humanity is to pass safely through its present crisis on earth, it will be because a majority of individuals are now doing their own thinking."
- Buckminster Fuller -
Stupid Answers of the Week
Last week's incredibly stupid questions...
I have in front of me a bottle of 100 325mg aspirin tablets that cost about a dollar. I also have a bottle of 100 81mg aspirin tablets that cost about three dollars. Why does the one with less aspirin per tablet cost more money? Even stupider question: Did the earthquake in Pakistan kill bin Laden?
Pertaining to aspirin:
Well, Michael Dare, when I get a question such as this I usually tell my whale story.... No! Wait! I told my whale story last week. The real answer to the question, "Why does the one with less aspirin per tablet cost more money?" is..........is..........is....... because Americans will buy anything!
Americans buy frozen peanut butter pot pies, marketed as crustless peanut butter sandwiches. Americans buy disposable razors with 5 blades embedded in the head. Americans pay several dollars for a cup of take-out coffee. Americans buy monster trucks, called SUV's, to drive their kids to school. Americans buy multi-purpose cell phones so they can drive down congested city streets in mini-tanks, spewing obscene quantities of pollutants into the atmosphere thereby destroying the environment, while talking on their cell phones, and reading their e-mails, and taking digital photos, while drinking double-lattes and eating fresh baked frozen peanut butter sandwiches.
That's why the one with less aspirin costs more.
Did the earthquake in Pakistan kill bin Laden?
No.
By the way, I almost missed the question of the week because the optical illusion of the week was just below. And what's up with that anyway? Is it supposed to be some kind of joke? I must have stared at the photo for 15, 20 minutes. I never saw any waterfall.
Peace
- Joe
Did the earthquake in Pakistan kill bin Laden?
No. Like the Ghost who walks, Osama can never die. He will always be referred to by those who need an enemy to hate so as to justify their crimes, or stupidity, or both. Whenever injustice prevails, whenever Zarqawi or his followers are mentioned, Osama bin Laden will be there for the criminals to quote his name so as to strike fear into the hearts of the easily led and terminally paranoid
- Wal
1.) The second bottle of aspirin came from a nursing home - a cheap nursing home at that, since they usually sell a dollar bottle of aspirin at nursing homes for around ten bucks these days. That's better than the Tylenol, though - that costs a dollar a cap.
2.) Osama bin Laden, with a shave and wearing a jaunty Tyrolean hat instead of a turban, is in Monte Carlo, drinking champagne cocktails with his pinkie out, losing at baccarat and pretending to be a long lost member of the Romanov family. Everybody knows this.
- RSJ
To Michael Dare,
The lower wattage aspirin is for YOUR HEART and preventing a HEART ATTACK (have I scared you into paying attention, yet?). It was also probably endorsed by The American Heart Assn. and they need their kickback. That's why it costs more. In real terms, aspirin is very much cheaper than that to manufacture and the profit margin is probably in the quadruple digits.
If bin Laden is dead, we can only hope he took his ATM pin number to the grave with him.
- Adam D. Sperry
Dear Dis,
To the first question, the answer may be found in the writings of the Bauhaus: Less is More.
To the second, earthquakes are complete failures at killing people who never existed in the first place!
- Jed Closson
BIN BEEN KILT..
AS FAR AS ASPIRINS, ONE IS NAME BRAND, OTHER IS NOT?
- Debra Badolati
MD,
Nobody wants to die. That's why the 81 mg aspirin costs more. 81 mg is the recommended dose for an aspirin regime for people with heart problems, but more importantly, for people who think they might have a heart problem but are afraid to actually find out so they take aspirin just in case and hope for the best, and it is also the recommended dose for people with perfectly healthy hearts who can be convinced that you just never know and it's better to be safe than sorry.
The 325 mg dose of aspirin is just for headaches - 81 mg might save your life, maaaannnnnn!
This message brought to by American Rebranders. Is your product outdated, or worse, dangerous for small children? Fear not. We will provide the science and the repackaging to start your product flying off the shelves again.
2nd question - Of course Osama bin Laden survived the earthquake. He received a warning to clear out 24 hours before the president signed the executive order for HAARP to cause the earthquake.
Many years ago I was a buyer of aspirin for a grocery chain. We had a private label, 100 cnt aspirin from a private label house in Algernon, Mich. One day, a salesman from Norwich Pharmaceuticals presented a 100 cnt, 5 grain aspirin for consideration. His aspirin cost 15 cents a unit more than my Algernon aspirin. I asked why I should consider his higher cost product.
He thereupon demonstrated why. He took one of our Algernon aspirin and dropped it into a glass of water. The tablet quickly sank to the bottom of the glass and sat there. He then dropped a tablet of his aspirin into the glass and it began to dissolve on the way down. Within seconds it was powder. Meanwhile the other aspirin sat there as a solid.
I bought the higher priced aspirin that day. When I have a headache, I want relief quickly. The cheaper aspirin couldn't do that.
Don't know if that's the reason for the price differential with your aspirin (sounds to be too great a difference) but sometimes there are values that aren't always apparent.
As for bin Laden. He is alive and well and living in Deltona with all the other criminals. Living in Deltona is the safest place for him. No one will ever find him there. The flip side is that he will never be able to find his way out of that maze. Some people have been trying for years to escape. Deltona is the nearest thing we have to hell on earth.
- William C. Hall
#1 stupid question: It's harder to calculate the amount of medication going into the 81 mg tablets so they cost more?
#2 stupid question: Well if you mean did the earthquake unearth bin Laden's dead body from the grave where's it's been since 12/01? Perhaps.
- Rita
For the same reason that a bottle of drinking water at my local garage is twice the cost per ml of the equivalent amount of petrol.
- Nick Kent
Aspirin: It isn't a stupid question. It has to do with both economy of scale, as well as marketing. 325mg tablets are for general use, and therefore sell in far greater quantities. The 81mg tablets are a specialty item sold in far lesser quantities. Originally for children, they almost disappeared with the association of Reye's Syndrome. They experienced resurgence when discovered to be beneficial in lessening prevalence/severity of heart attack.
bin Laden: Hasn't he been ensconced at Camp David?
- Herr Bookmonger
aspirin: Most of the tablet is filler. The price of aspirin must be less than the price of filler. You know how with a penny, it would cost more than 1 cent's worth of copper to make a penny, so instead they use a cheaper metal? Well, with aspirin, it's the opposite.
So take 2 tablets, or 2.5 tablets, depending on your choice, and call a mathematician in the morning.
Bin Laden: All members of the Bin Laden family, including Osama, were flown away from the earthquake zone immediately afterwards.
What was the big deal with keeping the Manhattan Project such a big secret? So what if everybody knew. I mean imagine if the Japanese had found out we were developing a really big bomb. Well duh. Of course we were, are, and always will be developing larger weapons, especially during war. What could anyone have done about it that would have prevented Hiroshima? It's not like D-Day where the time and place of the invasion obviously had to be kept secret. Why keep the Manhattan Project under wraps?
Most advice you get over the internet is bullshit.
Don't Take My Word for It
"[Here's] the stupidest, most removed-from-reality bit of nonsense we have heard yet from the credibility-challenged Ms. Rice, to wit:
"'But the fact of the matter is that when we were attacked on September 11, we had a choice to make. We could decide that the proximate cause was Al Qaeda and the people who flew those planes into buildings and, therefore, we would go after Al Qaeda and perhaps after the Taliban and then our work would be done and we would try to defend ourselves. Or we could take a bolder approach, which was to say that we had to go after the root causes of the kind of terrorism that was produced there, and that meant a different kind of Middle East.'
"You could 'decide that the proximate cause was al-Qaeda'? The attackers WERE Al Qaeda. NOT Saddam. NOT Tariq Aziz. NOT Doctor Evil. The people who attacked the US on September 11, 2001 were followers of a guy named Osama bin Laden, the Daddy Jihad-bucks behind Al Qaeda. If you recall, Samuel Berger a far more intelligent and dedicated public servant than you could ever dream of being warned you about Osama before your boss took the oath of office. Why you chose to forget or ignore Sandy Berger's briefings is beyond me. The fact that you are still a public servant is just more evidence of not only your incompetence but that of your boss. And your dimwitted yammering about 'proximate' causes only reinforced that impression.
"And as for your assertion that the United States could 'go after the root causes of this kind of terrorism,' you and your imbecile Boss have done nothing to eliminate these root causes, even though he said he'd go after Al Qaeda. Where's Osama, huh? Where's Ayman al-Zawahiri? Where's Abu Musab al-Zarqawi? Your boss went after the wrong guy, Saddam Hussein, and the occupation of Iraq by the United States is seen among Muslim extremists as yet another 'root cause' to attack our nation, our citizens, and our interests.
"You, Condolleeza Rice, must think the viewers are credulous fools. Either that or you are an idiot yourself. The more I think about it, the more I am inclined to believe both are likely true."
"Jing Soliman left his family in the Philippines for what sounded like a sure thing--a job as a warehouse worker at Camp Anaconda in Iraq. His new employer, Prime Projects International (PPI) of Dubai, is a major, but low-profile, subcontractor to Halliburton's multi-billion-dollar deal with the Pentagon to provide support services to U.S. forces.
"But Soliman wouldn't be making anything near the salaries-- starting $80,000 a year and often topping $100,000-- that Halliburton's engineering and construction unit, Kellogg, Brown & Root (KBR) pays to the truck drivers, construction workers, office workers, and other laborers it recruits from the United States. Instead, the 35-year-old father of two anticipated $615 a month including overtime. For a 40-hour work week, that would be just over $3 an hour. But for the 12-hour day, seven-day week that Soliman says was standard for him and many contractor employees in Iraq, he actually earned $1.56 an hour."
"We must confront the privileged elite who have destroyed a large part of the world."
- Hugo Chavez -
"Hoover had earlier told the 105,000 people in the area to evacuate. Few had. But Hoover and the Red Cross had prepared. Thousands of trucks rolled into the area just ahead of the first wave of water. Four trains carrying boats, motors, and now-experienced rescuers headed in from different directions, and the rescue fleet entered just behind the first wave of water. All 105,000 people, along with most of their cattle, horses, and mules, were evacuated with crisp efficiency and few deaths."
- John M. Barry: Rising Tide, the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How it Changed America -
"By some false analogy to 'the survival of the fittest' many have conceived the whole business world to be a sort of economic 'dog eat dog.' ...Industry and commerce are not based upon taking advantage of other persons. Their foundations lie in the division of labor and the exchange of products... [A] great area of indirect economic wrong and unethical practices spring up under the pressure of competition and habit."
- Herbert Hoover -
"Bush may as well appoint his chauffeur head of NASA as put Miers on the Supreme Court... However nice, helpful, prompt and tidy she is, Harriet Miers isn't qualified to play a Supreme Court justice on 'The West Wing,' let alone to be a real one."
"If I ever agree with Ann Coulter, please shoot me."
- every liberal on earth -
"The extra dollar per gallon that Americans are paying at the pump is the direct result of the war in Iraq. Think of it as the Bush Gas Tax for unnecessary wars.
"In 2001, Iraq was exporting 2.7 million barrels of oil a day through the Oil for Food program which kept the price per barrel in the $25 range. In 2005 the amount has been chopped to 1.8 million barrels. That extra million barrels per day may not seem like a lot of oil, but with no excess-capacity in the system, it has pushed the price up into the stratosphere, at times tipping the $70 per barrel mark. These prices were unimaginable before the war and are largely the result of the failed occupation strategy. Most experts don't believe that Iraq will be able to substantially increase its exports for at least the next 2 years. This is a dramatic contrast from the neocons predictions that Iraq would be pumping 3 million barrels per day by now. That would have kept the world awash in petroleum and America shielded from the impending recession.
"For the most part, the western media has kept the details of Iraq's oil industry out of the headlines. In two years of conflict I cannot recall one time when a mainstream newspaper produced an in depth story about pipeline sabotage or the inability of the administration to meet their goals for oil production. Even the photos of black smoke rising from the desert floor have been erased from Americas newspapers. The media continues to limit itself to stories about the random acts of violence that now plague the capital on a daily basis. These stories create the justification for the ongoing occupation and the continuing violence against the Iraqi people. As always, the role of the corporate media is to shape public opinion not to provide the facts...
"The attacks on the oil installations are the predictable outcome of the invasion. The administration had every opportunity to continue buying oil through the free market system, which they praise at every opportunity. Instead, they chose to extract that same oil at gunpoint after killing more than 100,000 Iraqis. Should we feel indignant that the Iraqis are fighting back? After all, whose oil is it? Whose Oil, Indeed?"
"A number of news reports and commentary on Hurricanes Katrina and Rita have linked the disasters to global warming. Almost nobody noticed a crucial scientific finding, two weeks earlier, that foreshadows disasters on a far greater scale in the decades to come.
"According to August 11 articles in the magazine New Scientist and the British newspaper the Guardian, a pair of scientists, one Russian and one British, report that global warming is melting the permafrost in the West Siberian tundra. The news made a little blip in the international media and the blogosphere, and then it disappeared.
"Why should anyone care? Because melting of the Siberian permafrost will, over the next few decades, release hundreds of millions of tons of methane from formerly frozen peat bogs into the atmosphere. Methane from those bogs is at least twenty times more potent as a greenhouse gas than the carbon dioxide that currently drives global warming. Dumping such a huge quantity of methane on top of already soaring CO2 levels will drive global temperatures to the upper range of increases forecast for the remainder of this century."
"Everything is as it is. It has no name other than the name we give it. It is we who call it something; we give it a value. We say this thing is good or it's bad, but in itself, the thing is only as it is. It's not absolute; it's just as it is. People are just as they are."
- Ajahn Sumedho: The Mind and the Way -
"Most of the big changes in bankruptcy rules, which backers say are designed to prevent abuse of the financial system and ensure that affordable credit is available for all, take effect on Monday. People with above-average income, as determined by a standard 'means test,' will be barred from filing for Chapter 7 protection, where debts may be wiped out entirely. Instead, they will have to file under Chapter 13, which require a five-year repayment plan. Filers also will be required to get professional credit counseling with 180 days of filing.
"That's led to a surge in filings in recent weeks. They averaged more than 20,000 per day nationwide last week and are up almost 20 percent year to date, according to Lundquist Consulting, which tracks bankruptcy filings."
"Ninety-eight percent of the adults in this country are decent, hard-working, honest Americans. It's the other lousy two percent that get all the publicity. But then - we elected them."
- Lily Tomlin -
"Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most people are even incapable of forming such opinions."
- Albert Einstein -
"The principle of spending money to be paid by posterity, under the name of funding, is but swindling futurity on a large scale."
-Thomas Jefferson -
"The President's historic refusal to veto any legislation is further evidence of the low priority he places on fiscal discipline and constitutional limits on government. One has to go back 37 presidents and 180 years to find the last chief executive - John Quincy Adams, 1825 to 1829 - who served a full term without a single veto. Even George H.W. Bush - a moderate - vetoed 29 bills during his single term in office.
"Of course, the White House's excuse is that it's difficult to veto one's own party's bills. But this just doesn't wash. Franklin D. Roosevelt vetoed 372 bills from Democrat-controlled Congresses; John F. Kennedy, 12 bills; Lyndon Johnson, 16 bills; and Jimmy Carter, 13 bills. The sad and maddening truth is that party loyalty, political 'considerations' and quid pro quos are far more pressing priorities than is constitutional government in Washington today...
"President Bush has not vetoed a single bill during his five years in office."
"Mr. Bush's attempt at spending discipline has been especially limp. Back in 1987, when Mr. Reagan applied his veto to what was generally known at the time as the highway and mass-transit bill, he was offended by the 152 earmarks for pet projects favored by members of Congress. But...Mr. Bush signed a transportation bill containing no fewer than 6,371 earmarks. Each one of these, as Mr. Reagan understood but Mr. Bush apparently doesn't, amounts to a conscious decision to waste taxpayers' dollars. One point of an earmark is to direct money to a project that would not receive money as a result of rational judgments based on cost-benefit analyses."
- Washington Post editorial -
"The energy and transportation bills signed by the president are budget busters, and the just-announced spending to 'rebuild New Orleans' is likely to make 2006 another record-breaker. If government is too big, as Republicans love to chant, why is it growing larger and at a record pace with a Republican president and Republicans in control of both houses of Congress? Why did it grow at a slower rate when Bill Clinton was in the White House?"
- Joseph Bast of the Heartland Institute -
"North Dakota's Public Service Commission is exploring whether individuals must obtain auctioneer licenses before they can legally use eBay to sell merchandise for others. A North Dakota auctioneer license involves a $35 license fee, $5,000 bond and training at a state-approved auction school where the curriculum includes speaking fast and reading bidders' hand signals. Apparently the ND PSC feels these are important skills for eBay. The closest auctioneering schools are in Montana and Minnesota, and they cost between $795 and $1,625 for up to ten days of training."
"An Army veteran who fled to Canada to avoid prosecution for growing marijuana to treat his chronic pain was taken from a hospital, driven to the border with a catheter still attached, and turned over to U.S. officials, his lawyer said.
"Steven W. Tuck then went five days with no medical treatment and only ibuprofen for the pain, the attorney said.
"Tuck, 38, was still fitted with the urinary catheter when he shuffled into federal court Wednesday for a detention hearing Wednesday.
"'This is totally inhumane. He's been tortured for days for no reason,' Hiatt said."
"In a completely sane world, madness is the only freedom!"
- James Graham Ballard -
"When a man tells you that he got rich through hard work, ask him: 'Whose?'"
- Don Marquis -
"Nothing is more fearful than imagination without taste."
- Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe -
"Selina Jarvis is the chair of the social studies department at Currituck County High School in North Carolina, and she is not used to having the Secret Service question her or one of her students. But that's what happened on September 20.
"Jarvis had assigned her senior civics and economics class to take photographs to illustrate their rights in the Bill of Rights, she says. One student had taken a photo of George Bush out of a magazine and tacked the picture to a wall with a red thumb tack through his head. Then he made a thumbs down sign with his own hand next to the Presidents picture, and he had a photo taken of that, and he pasted it on a poster.
"According to Jarvis, the student, who remains anonymous, was just doing his assignment, illustrating the right to dissent.
"But over at the Kitty Hawk Wal-Mart, where the student took his film to be developed, this right is evidently suspect.
"An employee in that Wal-Mart photo department called the Kitty Hawk police on the student. And the Kitty Hawk police turned the matter over to the Secret Service."
"In general, higher rates of belief in and worship of a creator correlate with higher rates of homicide, juvenile and early adult mortality, STD infection rates, teen pregnancy and abortion in the prosperous democracies."
"Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding."
- Albert Einstein -
"The darkest hour in any man's life is when he sits down to plan how to get money without earning it."
- Horace Greeley -
"A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government."
- Edward Abbey -
"He's turned his life around. He used to be depressed and miserable. Now he's miserable and depressed."
- David Frost -
"Worry more about your character than your reputation. Character is what you are, reputation merely what others think you are."
- John Wooden -
"A friend is a person with whom I may be sincere. Before him, I may think aloud."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson -
"Too many have dispensed with generosity in order to practice charity."
- Albert Camus -
"So long as men worship the Caesars and Napoleons, the Caesars and Napoleons will arise to make them miserable."
- Aldous Huxley -
"The same prudence which in private life would forbid our paying our own money for unexplained projects, forbids it in the dispensation of the public moneys."
- Thomas Jefferson -
"None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license."
- John Milton -
"While the people have property, arms in their hands, and only a spark of noble spirit, the most corrupt Congress must be mad to form any project of tyranny."
- Nicholas Collin -
"It is seldom that liberty of any kind is lost all at once."
- David Hume -
"A legislative act contrary to the Constitution is not law."
- Justice John Marshall -
"The more laws, the less justice."
- Marcus Tullius Cicero -
"When law and morality contradict each other, the citizen has the cruel alternative of either losing his moral sense or losing his respect for the law."
- Frederic Bastiat -
"W. loves being surrounded by tough women who steadfastly devote their entire lives to doting on him, like the vestal virgins guarding the sacred fire, serving as custodians for his values and watchdogs for his reputation."
- Maureen Dowd -
"[T]here is another theory that would fit the facts. It may be that Bush is less concerned about constitutional issues than he is about criminal and political disputes that might reach the court if the troubles surging around his administration get worse.
"What if, for instance, a senior Bush aide is facing prosecution in connection with an untested law prohibiting unmasking covert CIA officers? It might be handy for Bush to have a trusted friend on the court of last resort to rule on some technical legal questions that could torpedo the whole case.
"Or what if it turns out that Bush himself participated in the criminal act? Wouldn't it be advantageous if the lawyer who helped him out of previous legal scrapes was sitting among the judges who would make a ruling on this one? (And there really is no reason to think that a Bush appointee would step aside because of some fretting over conflicts of interest.)"
"Do not call for black power or green power. Call for brain power."
- Barbara Jordan -
"Most of us have seen truckers sleeping in their cabs at night with the engine running to power heat or air conditioning. But did you realize that this idling wastes over 100 million gallons of diesel fuel a year? By requiring these sleeper cabs to use a cleaner source of power, we could prevent 700,000 tons of global warming emissions and thousands of tons of toxic and smog-forming air pollution from being emitted every year."
"Whatever you receive, wherever it comes from, cherish the desire to give it back in full measure."
- Gurumayi Chidvilasananda -
"Let your writing reflect only the wisdom of pain or of delight which life has most deeply revealed to you. Nothing else is worth your time or the time of any reader."
- William Alexander Percy -
Everything Else
He says things in his infomercials we all agree with, like the FDA is corrupt, pharmaceutical companies are only interested in profits from alleviating symptoms while ignoring actual cures, but before you shell out $29.95 for Kevin Trudeau's best seller Natural Cures 'They' Don't Want You to Know About, be sure to check out Salon's What Kevin Trudeau doesn't want you to know about by Christopher Dreher (free registration required). Apparently the book doesn't actually have any cures and just directs you to the website where he charges for access.
Looking for work or just need some supplementary income? Check out cronyjobs.
dIsInFoTaInMeNt ToDaY is free and may be reproduced in any form, preferably parchment. It consists of information from dozens of sources, cut up, thrown in the air, and recycled randomly. It is sent all over the place, so I apologize if you're seeing the same thing twice. If you see a joke, graphic, or news item that came from or through you, thanks, send more, and please accept the fact that much of dIsInFoTaInMeNt ToDaY is unacknowledgeable, and if I sought permission from everyone whose bastardized material showed up here, I'd never get anything else done. Please note that I don't even put my own name on it. If you're still pissed off, hey, it's either satire or fair use.
Jonathan Weisman: House GOP Leaders Set to Cut Spending (washingtonpost.com)
House Republican leaders have moved from balking at big cuts in Medicaid and other programs to embracing them, driven by pent-up anger from fiscal conservatives concerned about runaway spending and the leadership's own weakening hold on power.
William Rivers Pitt: The Heart of the Matter (truthout.org)
In a New York Times article published on Sunday, columnist Frank Rich buried the dart right in the center-black. "What matters most in this case," wrote Rich, "is not whether Mr. Rove and Lewis Libby engaged in a petty conspiracy to seek revenge on a whistle-blower, Joseph Wilson, by unmasking his wife, Valerie, a covert C.I.A. officer. What makes Patrick Fitzgerald's investigation compelling, whatever its outcome, is its illumination of a conspiracy that was not at all petty: the one that took us on false premises into a reckless and wasteful war in Iraq. That conspiracy was instigated by Mr. Rove's boss, George W. Bush, and Mr. Libby's boss, Dick Cheney."
David Podvin: Agony
A central tenet of liberalism involves helping people who have been marooned by society, so liberals are obligated to confront the avoidable misery that exists in American hospitals. Terminally ill citizens are experiencing indescribable torment because their afflictions are so severe that even massive applications of analgesics cannot relieve the pain. In cases where the patient is begging for a fatal dose that will mercifully bring the nightmare to an end, only the most sociopathic and religious of people can turn a deaf ear. Chief Justice John Roberts is such a person, and for all practical purposes so are the Senate Democrats who supported him.
David Bruce: Wise Up: Baseball (athensnews.com)
"Shoeless Joe" Jackson claimed to have hit the world's longest home run. According to Mr. Jackson, he hit a home run out of a baseball park in his native South Carolina. The baseball landed in a Southern Railroad rail car that was traveling past the ballpark. Later, the baseball was found in the rail car in Washington D.C. -- 500 miles away from where Mr. Jackson had hit it.
More rain, although Jo, the (lucky) lizard got about 3 hours of hazy sun.
Last night I was kicked offline at 2:27am, and attempts at re-connecting resulted in a busy signal. Local news is reporting there was a hard drive failure at Verizon in Long Beach, but only long distance & 911 calls were affected in an area from Manhattan Beach south to Seal Beach.
Guess the access numbers for my ISP aren't that local. Anyway, was finally able to get back online around 1pm this afternoon.
Tonight, Wednesday:
CBS starts the night with a FRESH'Still Standing', followed by a FRESH'Yes, Dear', then a FRESH'Criminal Minds', followed by a FRESH'CSI: The 3rd One'.
Scheduled on a FRESHDave are Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Kit Armstrong.
Scheduled on a FRESHCraig are Rhona Mitra and Ray J.
NBC opens the night with a FRESH'E-Ring', followed by a FRESH'Apprentice: Martha', then a FRESH'Law & Order'.
Scheduled on a FRESHLeno are Dakota Fanning, Charles Barkley, Christina Aguilera, and Herbie Hancock.
Scheduled on a FRESHConan are James Woods, Joy Bryant, and Shawn King.
On a RERUNCarson Daly (from 9/27/05) are Erika Christensen, Scott Caan, and Stellastarr*.
ABC begins the night with a FRESH'George Lopez', followed by a FRESH'Freddie', then a FRESH'Lost', followed by a FRESH'Invasion'.
Scheduled on a FRESHJimmy Kimmel are Bonnie Hunt, Tony Hawk, and Institute.
The WB offers a FRESH'One Tree Hill', followed by a FRESH'Related'.
Faux has a RERUN'That 70s Show', another RERUN'That 70s Show', then a RERUN'Kitchen Confidential', followed by another RERUN'Kitchen Confidential'.
UPN has a FRESH'America's Next Top Model', followed by a FRESH'Veronica Mars'.
A&E has 'American Justice', an hourlong 'Dog The Bounty Hunter', followed by a FRESH'Inked', another 'Inked', then a FRESH'Criss Angel: Mind Freak', and another 'Criss Angel: Mind Freak'.
AMC offers the movie 'National Lampoon's Animal House', followed by the movie 'Planes, Trains And Automobiles', then the movie 'Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult'.
BBC -
[1pm] 'The Benny Hill Show' - Episode 37;
[2:40pm] 'The Young Ones' - Demolition;
[3:20pm] 'The Young Ones' - Oil;
[4pm] 'Jonathan Creek' - Time Waits for Norman;
[6pm] 'BBC World News';
[6:30pm] 'House Invaders' - Colchester;
[7pm] 'The Benny Hill Show' - Episode 38;
[9pm] 'Changing Rooms - Episode 14;
[10pm] 'Teen Angels - Episode 3;
[11:40pm] 'Goodness Gracious Me' - Episode 1;
[12:20am] 'Goodness Gracious Me' - Episode 2;
[1am] 'Changing Rooms' - Episode 14;
[2am] 'Teen Angels' - Episode 3;
[6am] 'BBC World News'. (ALL TIMES EDT)
Bravo has 'West Wing', 'Siegfried & Roy: The Miracle', and the movie 'Elizabeth'.
Comedy Central has 'Comedy Central Presents', 'Reno 911!', last night's 'Jon Stewart', last night's 'Colbert Report', 'Mind Of Mencia', 'South Park', another 'South Park', and the SEASON PREMIERE'Drawn Together'.
Scheduled on a FRESHJon Stewart is Louis Freeh.
Scheduled on a FRESHColbert Report is Fareed Zakaria.
Scheduled on a FRESHAdam Carolla is Danny Bonaduce.
IFC -
[6AM] The Quiet Room (1996);
[7:45AM] IFC in Theaters (2005);
[8AM] Secret Ballot (2001);
[10AM] Trust (1990);
[12PM] IFC in Theaters (2005);
[12:15PM] Wild Man Blues (1997);
[2:15PM] Secret Ballot (2001);
[4PM] Dream of the Dead: The Making of George A. Romero's Land of the Dead (2005);
[4:30PM] The Festival #3 (2005);
[5PM] A World Apart (1998);
[7:05PM] Wild Man Blues (1997);
[9PM] Bend It Like Beckham (2002);
[11PM] Persuasion (1995);
[1AM] Bend It Like Beckham (2002);
[3AM] Persuasion (1995);
[5AM] IFC October Short Film Showcase (2005). (ALL TIMES EDT)
SciFi has 'Ghost Hunters', another 'Ghost Hunters', then a FRESH'Ghost Hunters', followed by a FRESH'Tripping The Rift', and another 'Tripping The Rift'.
Sundance -
[7AM] The Al Franken Show: (10/18/05);
[8AM] Bejart into the Light;
[9:35AM] Cheech & Chong: Get Out of My Room;
[10:30AM] Salaryman 6;
[11AM] The Al Franken Show: (10/18/05);
[12PM] The Girl On The Bridge;
[1:35PM] Butterfly;
[3PM] Amazon Women On The Moon;
[4:30PM] Step Into Liquid;
[6PM] Slings & Arrows: Episode 5 - A Mirror Up to Nature;
[7PM] The Girl On The Bridge;
[8:35PM] Salaryman 6;
[9PM] Assassination Tango;
[11PM] I Am NOT an ANIMAL: Money;
[11:30PM] The Al Franken Show: (10/19/05);
[12:30AM] El Cielito;
[2:05AM] Bamboleho;
[2:30AM] The Al Franken Show: (10/19/05);
[3:30AM] The Gift;
[4:35AM] Cheech & Chong: Get Out of My Room;
[5:30AM] Amazon Women On The Moon. (ALL TIMES EDT)
Actor Antonio Banderas kisses his newly-dedicated star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame during dedication ceremonies in Los Angeles Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2005. Banderas, born in Malaga, Spain, is internationally known in movies, television and theater. His most recent role was as the voice of Puss In Boots in the animated fairy tale 'Shrek 2,' and will soon return to the role that made him famous in 'The Legend of Zorro,' opening Oct. 28.
Photo by Reed Saxon
Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright temporarily traded in her diplomatic duties for a guest appearance on the WB series "Gilmore Girls."
Albright, secretary of state under President Clinton, filmed her scene Sept. 30 with actress Alexis Bledel, who plays Rory Gilmore. The episode revolves around the ongoing estrangement between Rory and her mother, Lorelai Gilmore (Lauren Graham).
She's not the show's first unusual guest star. Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Norman Mailer and singer-songwriter Carole King appeared in episodes last season.
Tim Curry from the Broadway production of 'Spamalot' arrives at Conde Nast Traveler's 18th Annual Readers' Choice Awards in New York Monday, Oct. 17, 2005. Curry, along with 'Spamalot' stars Alan Tudyk and Sara Ramirez, hosted the event.
Photo by John Smock
What follows is an update of the status of the 31 new primetime series.
ABC
-Commander in Chief: shoo-in for a full-season renewal.
-Freddie: strong start after one week.
-Hot Properties: on the fence.
-Invasion: on the fence.
-Night Stalker: waiting for the axe to swing.
CBS
-Close To Home: one the fence.
-Criminal Minds: full season renewal.
-Ghost Whisperer: full season renewal.
-How I Met Your Mother: full season renewal.
-Out Of Practice: three additional scripts ordered.
-Threshold: three additional scripts orders.
NBC:
-The Apprentice: Martha Stewart: on the fence.
-E-Ring: on the fence.
-Inconceivable: canceled.
-My Name Is Earl: full season renewal.
-Surface: full season renewal.
-Three Wishes: on the fence.
Fox:
-Bones: full season renewal.
-Head Cases: canceled.
-Killer Instinct: waiting for the axe to swing.
-Kitchen Confidential: waiting for the axe to swing.
-Prison Break: full season renewal.
-Reunion: on the fence.
-The War at Home: full season renewal.
UPN:
-Everybody Hates Chris: full season renewal.
-Love, Inc.: on the fence.
-Sex, Love & Secrets: canceled.
WB:
-Just Legal: canceled.
-Related: on the fence.
-Supernatural: full season renewal.
-Twins: on the fence.
The Jamaican government has bestowed one of its highest civic honors on a saxophonist who played on the first song recorded by reggae icon Bob Marley.
Saxophonist Headley Bennett, 74, was awarded the Order of Distinction on Monday along with 157 other people during the annual National Honors and Awards ceremony.
Also receiving the Order of Distinction, Jamaica's sixth highest civic honor, were keyboardist Michael "Ibo" Cooper and guitarist Stephen "Cat" Coore, co-founders of reggae band Third World.
Longtime CNN anchor Lou Dobbs has been tapped to receive a lifetime achievement Emmy.
The Television Academy said Dobbs is being honored for his journalism about the outsourcing of jobs from the U.S., global trade and space exploration. Dobbs has a degree in economics from Harvard University.
He will be honored December 1 at the third annual Emmy Awards for Business and Financial Reporting at the Bloomberg Corporate Headquarters in New York.
Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson went to court in a failed attempt to settle a dispute about who wrote the script to one of their musicals.
Ulvaeus and Andersson, former members of pop group ABBA, appeared at Stockholm District Court on Monday to try to solve a decade-long feud about the script to "Kristina From Duvemala," which has been seen by more than 1 million people in Sweden and is expected to move to Broadway in the coming years.
Writer Carl-Johan Seth told the court that he should be considered the main writer, a claim disputed by Ulvaeus and Andersson. While Seth was originally hired to write the script, they said, his work was later completely revised by director Lars Rudolfsson and dramatist Jan Mark.
Musician Midge Ure, at centre, stands with his family, from the left, Molly, Ruby, Flossie, Kitty and his wife Sheridan, outside Buckingham Palace in London, Tuesday Oct. 18, 2005, after Ure was presented with the Order of the British Empire (OBE) from the Queen. Ure received the honour for his music and his humanitarian charity work including being co-founder of the 1984 Band Aid project and Live-8 concerts earlier this year.
Photo by Stefan Rousseau
A judge has reinstated Tom Sizemore's probation, praising him for making "remarkable" progress in his battle with drugs, but warning that if he slips again he could face 16 months in prison.
Sizemore has been living at a Pasadena drug treatment facility since early July. He'll continue outpatient treatment there three days a week, said Michael Rovell, one of his attorneys.
Sizemore, whose credits include "Saving Private Ryan" and "Black Hawk Down," was scheduled to appear in court again Nov. 4.
Virgin Group Chairman Richard Branson, impersonating Guns N Roses lead singer Axl Rose, gestures at the opening of the Virgin megastore in Hollywood October 17, 2005. The event was the 250th opening of a Virgin megastore worldwide.
Photo by Mario Anzuoni
"SpongeBob SquarePants" is set to splash down in 120 million Chinese households by year's end.
The animation favorite will follow in the path of other shows on Viacom's Nickelodeon network, such as "CatDog" and "The Wild Thornberrys," and air on the dedicated children's channel of state-run broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV), sources said.
"SpongeBob" is expected to launch in China on or around December 28, the one-year anniversary of the CCTV Children's Channel.
A bottle of Cold River vodka is seen Thursday, Oct. 13, 2005, in Freeport, Maine. The Cold River Distillery uses Maine potatoes to make its vodka.
Photo by Robert F. Bukaty
Prime-time viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen Media Research for Oct. 10-16. 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, 28.3 million viewers.
2. (2) "Desperate Housewives," ABC, 25.8 million viewers.
3. (4) "Lost," ABC, 21.7 million viewers.
4. (3) "Without a Trace," CBS, 20.6 million viewers.
5. (5) "CSI: Miami," CBS, 18.5 million viewers.
6. (6) "Grey's Anatomy," ABC, 18.3 million viewers.
7. (9) "Survivor: Guatemala," CBS, 17.8 million viewers.
8. (11) "NCIS," CBS, 16.8 million viewers.
9. (7) "Commander in Chief," ABC, 16.2 million viewers.
10. (16) "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," ABC, 16.1 million viewers.
11. (9) "NFL Monday Night Football: Pittsburgh at San Diego," ABC, 15.7 million viewers.
12. (19) "60 Minutes," CBS, 15.5 million viewers.
13. (13) "Two and a Half Men," CBS, 15.2 million viewers.
14. (14) "CSI: NY," CBS, 15.2 million viewers.
15. (8) "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," NBC, 14.9 million viewers.
16. (12) "Cold Case," CBS, 14.2 million viewers.
17. (28) "Criminal Minds," CBS, 13.8 million viewers.
18. (X) "MLB AL Game 5: N.Y. Yankees at L.A. Angels," Fox, 13.7 million viewers.
19. (15) "ER," NBC, 13.6 million viewers.
20. (22) "Las Vegas," NBC, 13.6 million viewers.
Tom Gill, who drew "The Lone Ranger" comic books, died on Monday of heart failure at his home in Croton-on-Hudson, New York, his wife said on Tuesday. He was 92.
Between 1950 and 1970, Gill drew the masked rider of the Old West, the Lone Ranger, and his Indian sidekick Tonto for "The Lone Ranger" comic books. He also drew the "Hi-Yo Silver" and "Bonanza" comic books.
He taught cartooning and children's book illustration in New York area colleges, including the School of Visual Arts, where he served as department chair in 1948 and alumni director in 1969.
Gill grew up in Brooklyn and went to work for the New York Daily News, where he was credited with drawing the first map of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Later he worked for the New York Herald Tribune and the New York Times.
He is survived by his wife, Patricia, daughter Nancy Zaglaluer, son Tom, four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
Bolts of lightning strike over Los Angeles early Monday morning, Oct. 17, 2005, in this view looking northeast from above the Hollywood Bowl.
Photo by Mike Meadows
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