'Best of TBH Politoons'
Thanks, again, Tim!
Weekly Review
HARPER'S WEEKLY REVIEW
November 18, 2003
The Bush Administration, worried about the political cost of
the Iraq war and increasingly plagued by comparisons with
Vietnam, decided to speed up its "Iraqification" plan by
transferring sovereignty to a provisional native government
by June 30.
"They are, we believe, ready for it," said
Condoleezza Rice. "And they have very strong ideas about how
it might be done."
The
American-appointed mayor of Sadr City, a suburb of Baghdad,
was killed after he drove into a forbidden area and got into
a "wrestling match" with an American soldier, whose gun went
off.
It was noticed that more U.S. soldiers have
died so far in Iraq than in the first three years of the
Vietnam War.
Continued at www.harpers.org/weekly-review
--Roger D. Hodge
He's Been Busy!
The Worried Shrimp
from Mark
Gee Dubya's New and Improved Afghanistan
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny, clear & warmer.
The kid's school schedules meetings with parents a couple of weeks before report cards come out, and today was our turn.
The kid had been quite apprehensive about it, but it seems he just likes to worry (heh - wonder where he gets that?).
2 of the girl kittens were fixed today, and another 1 goes in the morning. They are still available for adoption.
Had a Michael Jackson story, but pulled it. Earlier today, local news reported that when the search warrant was served, the cops brought along their own porta-potty.
Several local TV stations reported on their 11pm 'newscasts' an arrest warrant has been issued, but no one was going to talk until a scheduled press conference in the
morning.
Michael Jackson's newest album came out yesterday - a greatest hits package, with 1 new song - and that song was written by R. Kelly.
Wonder what rerun CBS will now program in place of the hastily arranged Michael Jackson special scheduled for next Sunday?
Tonight, Wednesday, CBS opens the night with '60 Minutes II', followed by a FRESH 'King Of Queesn', then a
FRESH 'Becker', followed by a FRESH 'special' - 'Victoria's Secret Fashion Show'.
Scheduled on a FRESH Dave are Greg Kinnear and Cyndi Lauper.
Scheduled on a FRESH Craiggers are Maria Menounos and Ryan Bellville.
NBC begins the night with a FRESH 'Ed', followed by a FRESH 'West Wing', then a
FRESH 'Law & Order'.
Scheduled on a FRESH Jay are Ron Howard, Spencer Breslin, and Outkast.
Scheduled on a FRESH Conan are Eliza Dushku and Elvis Costello.
Scheduled on a FRESH Carson Daly are Brendan Fraser, Kathy Griffin, and P.O.D.
ABC starts the night with a FRESH 'My Wife & Kids', followed by a FRESH 'It's All Relative', then the
2-hour Season Finale of 'The Bachelor'.
Scheduled on a FRESH Jimmy Kimmel are Ron Livingston and Big Tymers, with this week's guest co-host Jon Favreau.
The WB offers a FRESH 'Smallville', followed by a FRESH 'Angel'.
Faux has a FRESH 'That 70s Show', followed by a FRESH 'Stan Hooper', then a FRESH 'The O.C.'.
UPN has a FRESH 'Enterprise', followed by a FRESH 'Jake 2.0'.
A&E has 'American Justice', 'Biography' (Ron Howard), 'American Justice', and another 'American Justice'.
AMC offers the movie 'Atlantic City', followed by the movie 'Hombre', then the movie 'Shenandoah'.
BBC -
[6pm] 'BBC World News';
[6:30pm] 'Cash in the Attic' - Banham;
[7pm] 'Ground Force' - Prestwich;
[7:30pm] 'Changing Rooms' - Devon & New Zealand;
[8pm] 'Homefront in the Garden' - Upper Norwood;
[8:30pm] 'Homefront in the Garden' - Codsall Wood;
[9pm] 'My Hero' - Christmas;
[9:40pm] 'Keeping Up Appearances' - Episode 4;
[10:20pm] 'Keeping Up Appearances' - Episode 5;
[11pm] 'So Graham Norton' - Sheryl Crow;
[11:30pm] 'So Graham Norton' - Jackie Collins;
[12am] 'My Hero' - Christmas;
[12:40am] 'Keeping Up Appearances' - Episode 4;
[1:20am] 'Keeping Up Appearances' - Episode 5;
[2am] 'Homefront in the Garden' - Upper Norwood;
[2:30am] 'Homefront in the Garden' - Codsall Wood;
[3am] 'So Graham Norton' - Sheryl Crow;
[3:30am] So Graham Norton' - Jackie Collins;
[4am] 'My Hero' - Christmas;
[4:40am] 'Keeping Up Appearances' - Episode 4;
[5:20am] 'Keeping Up Appearances' - Episode 5; and
[6am] 'BBC World News'. (ALL TIMES EST)
Bravo has 'West Wing', followed by the movie 'Good Will Hunting', then another 'West Wing'.
Scheduled on a FRESH Jon Stewart are Halle Berry and Kelly Preston.
History has 'Modern Marvels', 'The Men Who Killed Kennedy', another 'The Men Who Killed Kennedy', and still another 'The Men Who Killed Kennedy'.
SciFi has a 4-hour version of the movie 'The Beast'.
TCM -
[6am] 'Battleground' (1949);
[8:30am] 'Cry Danger' (1951);
[10am] 'Limelight' (1952);
[12:15pm] 'Beneath The 12-Mile Reef' (1953);
[2pm] 'Touch Of Evil' (1958);
[4pm] 'Baby Doll' (1956);
[6pm] 'Gigi' (1958);
[8pm] 'Guess Who's Coming to Dinner' (1967);
[10pm] 'Kramer vs. Kramer' (1979);
[12am] 'The Wind And The Lion' (1975);
[2:15am] 'The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight' (1971); and
[4am] 'Wait Until Dark' (1967). (ALL TIMES EST)
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton waves as he meets with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi at the premier's official residence in Tokyo November 18, 2003. Government officials said Koizumi and Clinton were expected to discuss Iraq's reconstruction and North Korea's nuclear weapons program as well as Japan-U.S. relations, reports said.
Photo by Eriko Sugita
The Information One-Stop
Moose & Squirrel
Presented Disability Award At United Nations
Christopher Reeve
Christopher Reeve helped present Italy with the Franklin Delano Roosevelt international disability award at the United Nations.
The 51-year-old Superman actor, paralyzed from the neck down in a horseback riding accident in 1995, said Monday his own nation had much to learn from "small countries with big hearts."
Italy's minister for social welfare and labour, Roberto Maroni, accepted the seventh annual award on behalf of President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi.
The award includes 1,000 wheelchairs for needy Italians and a $50,000 check in recognition of Italy's 30-year commitment to make equal opportunity for people with disabilities a top priority.
Christopher Reeve
Travel Network Dealing Hand to NBC
Poker
NBC is teaming up with the Travel Channel for poker, one of the hottest new genres on television, in hopes of drawing viewers looking for an alternative to the pre-Super Bowl hoopla before the start of the Feb. 1 game, the networks said.
NBC will air "The Travel Channel World Poker Tour Battle of Champions" from 4-6 p.m. EST as the network believes that with viewing levels 15%-20% higher on Super Sunday, it can catch people who are casually surfing channels. Similarly, Fox Sports Net said it will air "Showdown at the Sands," a poker tournament from Atlantic City, N.J., from 12:30-6:30 p.m. Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 27.
Poker
MuchMusic Special
Bono
Bono will talk about why he's doing what he's doing in an interview with MuchMusic airing Wednesday at 6 and 9 p.m. EST.
In the interview Bono, wearing blue-tinted sunglasses, talked about his difficulty hobnobbing with politicians.
"As I grew up, in my teenage years, I just despised them. A lot of them were corrupt in Dublin and Ireland and a lot of the beauty of the city I grew up in, Dublin, had the eyes gouged out of it by corrupt politicians and builders. So, I didn't have a very high opinion of politicians growing up," he says.
"But, right now, I have more faith in them than I ever could have imagined simply because they're not. A lot of the smart ones could be making a fortune if they had gone into the commercial world. Politicians are like cops and priests, they become a politician for the worst or best reasons."
Bono
Protesters gather in the Turbine Hall of the Tate Modern art gallery's exhibition of Olaf Eliasson - The Weather Project in central London, Tuesday Nov. 18, 2003, to spell out the message 'Bush Go Home Now!'. Resident Bush was scheduled to arrive Tuesday in London for a three-day state visit.
Photo by Johnny Green
Press Club Award
Tom Brokaw
Tom Brokaw says he's not going to spend his last year as NBC's top anchor collecting awards, but he's honored to make an exception for the National Press Club.
The Washington institution will give Brokaw its Fourth Estate Award for Lifetime Achievement at a dinner Wednesday in Washington.
Brokaw, 63, will be replaced on NBC's "Nightly News" in November by Brian Williams. He said he's still trying to figure out what to do next.
Tom Brokaw
To Air On History Channel
'Band of Brothers'
HBO's World War II miniseries "Band of Brothers" will air on the History Channel, in the second quarter of 2004 as part of a larger programing blitz centered on the 60th anniversary of D-Day.
The History Channel also licensed the rights to another war-related HBO documentary, "We Stand Alone Together."
History Channel is available in 85 million homes -- nearly three times as many as HBO.
History has not decided how it will schedule "Band," which will be run multiple times on the channel, potentially in varying permutations. The miniseries will also run with limited commercial interruptions.
'Band of Brothers'
To Receive DeMille Award
Michael Douglas
Michael Douglas will receive the Cecil B. DeMille Award for career achievement at this year's Golden Globes, more than three decades after his father, Kirk Douglas, won the honor in 1968.
Douglas is the first second-generation actor to receive the DeMille award, named for the Hollywood producer and director of "The Ten Commandments" and "The Greatest Show on Earth." The decision was announced Monday by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which hosts the annual ceremony.
He will receive the award during NBC's live telecast of the 61st annual Golden Globe banquet on Jan. 25. The event will take place at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association also announced that Kevin Costner's 17-year-old daughter, Lily Costner, will escort winners off-stage at this year's ceremony as Miss Golden Globe.
Michael Douglas
In The Kitchen With BartCop & Friends
Handwritten Lyrics Sell for $455,000
John Lennon
John Lennon's handwritten lyrics to the song "Nowhere Man" were sold for $455,000 -- more than four times the expected price -- at an entertainment memorabilia sale at Christie's on Tuesday.
The lyrics to the Beatles song were expected to fetch between $80,000 and $100,000 at the New York auction, according to Christie's spokeswoman Margaret Barrett.
The sale's other premier item, the Oscar for best director won by Michael Curtiz for "Casablanca," sold to famed magician David Copperfield for $231,500. It had been projected to sell for between $200,000 and $300,000.
John Lennon
People walk in a snow-covered Red Square, Moscow, after it was hit by a storm Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2003. St. Bazil's Cathedral is in the background.
Photo by Misha Japaridze
Coroner's Inquest Opens Into Crash
Aaliyah
Singer and actress Aaliyah died of severe burns and a blow to the head after her plane crashed in the Bahamas in 2001, a pathologist testified Monday at the opening of a coroner's inquest.
Dr. Giovander Raju, who performed autopsies on Aaliyah and some of the eight others killed in the Aug. 25, 2001, plane crash, also said the 22-year-old singer "suffered generally from a weak heart."
The twin-engine Cessna 402B carrying Aaliyah and the others crashed shortly after takeoff from Marsh Harbor in the Bahamas en route to Florida.
Investigators have said they believe the plane was 700 pounds overloaded.
Aaliyah
Collapsed on London Stage
Meat Loaf
Grammy-winning singer Meat Loaf, who collapsed on stage during a concert, is being treated for exhaustion brought on by a virus, hospital officials said Tuesday.
A spokesman for Mercury, the singer's record company, said a second concert planned for Tuesday night at London's Wembley Arena had been postponed.
Meat Loaf, 52, collapsed Monday on the first sellout date at the venue. A spokesman for North West London Hospitals said the pop star was in Northwick Park Hospital recovering "from exhaustion due to a prolonged viral infection."
Meat Loaf
Sues Husband, Alleges Theft
Liza Minnelli
Liza Minnelli has sued estranged husband David Gest for at least $2 million, claiming that he stole from her.
Minnelli's lawsuit, filed in Manhattan court, says she and her representatives question Gest's expense deductions from money she earned in performances that he produced, or in which he acted as her agent.
The filing, posted on Court TV's The Smoking Gun Web site, describes Minnelli's lawsuit as a counterclaim because Gest sued her in October for $10 million for allegedly beating him severely.
Liza Minnelli
Gets Star on Walk of Fame
Britney Spears
Part of Hollywood Boulevard is now "In the Zone" of Britney Spears. The pop star received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame Monday before nearly 2,000 screaming fans.
The event took place one day after her corset-jiggling appearance on the American Music Awards and a day before her latest album, "In the Zone," was set to arrive in stores.
Spears made funny faces at friends and giggled as Johnny Grant, the Walk of Fame master of ceremonies and chairman of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, introduced her by reading the names of her singles and albums.
Britney Spears
Formerly 'The Vidiot'
Sued for Assault
Naomi Campbell
A former administrative assistant to supermodel Naomi Campbell claims in a lawsuit that the Victoria's Secret catalog star struck her and threw a telephone at her during a tantrum in a Beverly Hills hotel two years ago.
Simone Craig, 29, of Morristown, asserts in a lawsuit filed Sept. 15 in state Superior Court in Morris County that Campbell grabbed her by the arms and threw her down on a couch during a tantrum at L'Hermitage Hotel.
The lawsuit, reported in Tuesday's editions of The Star-Ledger of Newark, also asserts that Campbell held Craig prisoner in the room and yelled at her, "You're going to stay here and do your job."
Naomi Campbell
A city water tower stands over the eastern Kansas town of Gas, Kan., Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2003. Gas is located east of Iola, Kan., along U.S. 54. The town mixed humor with pride when painting the tower.
Photo by Orlin Wagner
Dutch Museum Finds Hidden Painting
Vincent van Gogh
A Dutch museum said on Tuesday it has unearthed a painting by Vincent van Gogh that lay unrecognized for years in a private collection after being given by the artist's mother to her landlord over a century ago.
The museum in the southern Dutch town of Breda said the oil painting -- dubbed "Houses in The Hague" -- had been uncovered while researching an exhibition on Van Gogh and how much of his early work had been scattered throughout the area.
"We are convinced this piece is genuine. A lot of Vincent's early studies were left in Breda by his mother. The painting was among a vast collection belonging to a trustworthy and fanatical collector," Breda Museum researcher Ron Dirven said.
Vincent van Gogh
PETA Delays Ad
Clay Aiken
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has delayed a new ad campaign with the slogan "Get Neutered, It Didn't Hurt Clay Aiken," while it waits to see if Aiken will apologize for negative comments he made about cats, PETA officials said Tuesday.
"If Clay Aiken intends on staying famous, he has to learn to take a joke," said Dan Mathews, vice president of the Norfolk, Va.-based animal rights group.
The ad features the crass puppet Triumph the Insult Comic dog from "Late Night" with Conan O'Brien urging pet owners to spay or neuter their animals. The barb came from Triumph, but PETA allowed the ad because of an interview Aiken gave to Rolling Stone Magazine in June where he said he didn't like cats.
"There's nothing worse to me than a house cat. When I was about sixteen, I had a kitten and ran over it. Seeing that cat die, I actually think that its spirit has haunted me. I wasn't afraid of cats before. But now they scare me to death," Aiken told Rolling Stone.
Clay Aiken
Leaving State Dept for Campaign
Elizabeth Cheney
Elizabeth Cheney, one of the daughters of Vice President Dick Cheney, is leaving the State Department to take part in the Bush-Cheney re-election campaign, U.S. officials said on Tuesday.
Cheney, a deputy assistant secretary of state for Near East Affairs where she has helped encourage economic reform in the region, will leave the department in about two weeks, said one official, who asked not to be named.
The Washington Post quoted Cheney on Tuesday as saying she expected to join a Washington think tank and continue to work on Middle East issues in the private sector while devoting most of her time to politics.
In the State Department since early 2002, Cheney has been in charge of U.S. attempts to promote economic reform in the Middle East and the Middle East Partnership Initiative, which finances civil society programs in the region.
Elizabeth Cheney
Ex-Boyfriend Convicted
Anna Nicole Smith
An ex-boyfriend of Anna Nicole Smith has been convicted of making criminal threats against her.
Mark Hatten, 35, was found guilty of the felony Monday after two days of deliberation by a Van Nuys Superior Court jury. Jurors acquitted Hatten of two other counts that alleged he stalked Smith and made criminal threats against her neighbour, Rene Navarro.
The jury also convicted Hatten of two other felony counts, assault by means likely to produce great bodily injury and battery. Those counts involved an altercation with Navarro.
During Hatten's trial, Smith testified that she had a brief sexual relationship with him in 2000 that ended when he approached her with a knife in her home.
Anna Nicole Smith
Appears as PayPal Message
New Virus
If you get an e-mail message warning you that your PayPal account is about to expire, don't open it. If you open it, don't double-click the attachment. If you double-click the attachment, don't complete the form asking for your credit card information. And if you do fill in the form, call your credit card company immediately.
And don't blame PayPal. The problem is an e-mail virus, Mimail.I, first spotted on November 13. Most viruses are sick jokes; this one's out to steal your money.
Mimail (pronounced "my mail") arrives in an e-mail that appears to be from PayPal. In very convincing language, it states that your account will expire soon unless you resubmit your credit card information. "We apologize for any inconvenience that this may cause," the text politely reads.
For more, New Virus
Code Name 1st Used by Nazis
'Iron Hammer'
The U.S. military's code name for a crackdown on resistance in Iraq was also used by the Nazis for an aborted operation to damage the Soviet power grid during World War II.
A Pentagon official said the name was chosen because of the "Old Ironsides" nickname of the 1st Armored Division. He was unaware of any connection to any Nazi operation.
"Eisenhammer," the German for "iron hammer," was a Luftwaffe code name for a plan to destroy Soviet generating plants in the Moscow and Gorky areas in 1943, according to Universal Lexikon on the www.infobitte.de Web site.
'Iron Hammer'
Decaying Statues Await Facelift
Easter Island
The steep side of dormant Rano Raraku volcano is the most photographed spot on mysterious Easter Island.
Tourists crowd each other to shoot photos of the statues called Moai in the native language. The enormous long faces of these best-preserved examples look down on their eroded brothers at outposts along the coast of Rapa Nui, as the island is known in the native language.
The statues that were never moved from the quarry were protected from destructive rain, fire, animals, and souvenir grabbers that have destroyed other Moai and threaten to ruin the island's unique archeological treasure and tourism attraction.
For a lot more, Easter Island
Dan Bustos, left, an artist with the Minnesota-based design and sculpting studio TivoliToo, admires his handiwork on an Elton John-designed Mickey Mouse statue as fellow artist Giam Nguyen, kneeling, paints one of the '75 InspEARations,' an exhibit of 75 Mickey Mouse statues. The pair is among a team of artists behind-the-scenes at Walt Disney World Resort Monday Nov. 17, 2003 in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. putting final touches on the six-foot-tall, 700-pound statues in preparation for tomorrow's festivities at the theme park to honor Mickey Mouse's 75th anniversary.
Photo by Kent Phillips
'The Osbournes'
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 5
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 4
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 3
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 2
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 1
