'TBH Politoons'
Thanks, again, Tim!
Weekly Review
HARPER'S WEEKLY REVIEW
December 2, 2003
Congress approved a major Medicare bill that permits the
elderly to buy prescription drug coverage; few citizens were
able to understand the plan, though the health-care industry
appeared to be well pleased by it.
The legislation was
endorsed by AARP, which nowadays makes a great deal of money
selling health-care products to its members, and consumer
advocates denounced it as "a classic election-year
giveaway."
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of
California proposed cutbacks in therapy for the mentally
disabled and in AIDS and poverty programs.
It was revealed that the Queen of England often
eats cornflakes for breakfast out of a Tupperware container
and that Prince Andrew loves to play jokes on the servants,
especially by hiding a puppet called Monkey in a different
place every day.
Continued at www.harpers.org/weekly-review
--Roger D. Hodge
from Mark
Exporting Democracy?
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Still mostly sunny, but cool.
The kid came home from school & threw up - hope it's not too late of a night.
Tonight, Wednesday, CBS opens the evening with '60 Minutes II', followed by a FRESH 'King Of Queens', then a FRESH
'Becker', followed by '48 Hours'.
On a RERUN Dave are Keanu Reeves and Sue Johanson.
On a RERUN Craiggers are Kiefer Sutherland, Eve, and Leann Rimes.
NBC begins the night with a 'special' - 'Christmas In Rockefeller Center', followed by a FRESH 'West Wing', then a FRESH
'Law & Order'.
Schedueled on a FRESH Jay are Elijah Wood and Counting Crows.
Schedueled on a FRESH Conan are Jon Lovitz, Wilmer Valderrama, and Jet.
Schedueled on a FRESH Carson Daly are Val Kilmer, Roselyn Sanchez, and Kill Hanna.
ABC starts the night with a RERUN 'My Wife & Kids', followed by a RERUN 'It's All Relative', then the FRESH
'Trista & Ryan's Wedding' (part 2 of 3), followed by a FRESH 'Extreme Makeover: Home Edition'.
Schedueled on a FRESH Jimmy Kimmel are Mekhi Phifer, with this week's guest co-host Lenny Clarke.
The WB offers a RERUN 'Smallville', followed by a RERUN 'Angel'.
Faux has a FRESH 'That 70s Show', followed by a FRESH 'Simple Life', then a FRESH 'The O.C.'.
UPN has a RERUN 'Enterprise', followed by a RERUN 'Jake 2.0'.
A&E has 'American Justice', then the FRESH made-for-cable-movie 'Horatio Hornblower: Duty', followed by 'Horatio Hornblower: Duty', again.
AMC offers the movie 'Colors', followed by the movie 'The Longest Day', then the movie 'Stalag 17'.
BBC -
[6pm] 'BBC World News';
[6:30pm] 'Cash in the Attic' - May;
[7pm] 'House Invaders' - Garston;
[7:30pm] 'Changing Rooms' - Birmingham;
[8pm] 'Life Laundry' - Battersea;
[8:30pm] 'Escape to the Country' - Congleton to Carmarthenshire;
[9pm] 'My Hero' - Girlfriend;
[9:40pm] 'Keeping Up Appearances' - Episode 1;
[10:20pm] 'Keeping Up Appearances' - Episode 2;
[11pm] 'Life Laundry' - Battersea;
[11:30pm] 'Escape to the Country' - Congleton to Carmarthenshire;
[12am] 'My Hero' - Ep. 3 Girlfriend;
[12:40am] 'Keeping Up Appearances' - Episode 1;
[1:20am] 'Keeping Up Appearances' - Episode 2;
[2am] 'Life Laundry' - Battersea;
[2:30am] 'Escape to the Country' - Congleton to Carmarthenshire;
[3am] 'My Hero' - Girlfriend;
[3:40am] 'Keeping Up Appearances' - Episode 1;
[4:20am] 'Keeping Up Appearances' - Episode 2;
[5am] 'Life Laundry' - Battersea;
[5:30am] 'Escape to the Country' - Congleton to Carmarthenshire; and
[6am] 'BBC World News'. (ALL TIMES EST)
Bravo has 'West Wing', followed by the movie 'Internal Affairs', 'West Wing', and another 'West Wing'.
Schedueled on a FRESH Jon Stewart are Sean Hannity and Alan Colmes.
History has 'Modern Marvels', 'History Undercover', 'Modern Marvels', and another 'Modern Marvels'.
SciFi has 'Beyond Belief', 'Battlestar Galactica', the movie 'Supernova', then the movie 'Escape From Mars'.
TCM celebrates films of the 50s all day, the incomparable
Karl Malden most of the night, and a birdman.
[6am] 'Hunt The Man Down' (1950);
[7:15am] 'The Tattooed Stranger' (1950);
[8:30am] 'A Dangerous Profession' (1950);
[10am] 'Black Hand' (1950);
[11:45am] 'Destination Murder' (1950);
[1pm] 'Hot Summer Night' (1957);
[2:30pm] 'Another Man's Poison' (1951);
[4:15pm] 'Roadblock' (1951);
[5:30pm] 'Bedevilled' (1955);
[7pm] 'Hidden Values: The Movies of the '50s' (2001);
[8pm] 'Nevada Smith' (1966);
[10:30pm] 'Baby Doll' (1956);
[12:30am] 'A Streetcar Named Desire' (1951);
[3am] 'Birdman Of Alcatraz' (1962); and
[5:30am] 'MGM Parade Show #15' (1955). (ALL TIMES EST)
Rocker Alice Cooper touches his star that was installed on the Hollywood Walk of Fame Tuesday, Dec 2, 2003, in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles. Cooper was honored with the 2,243rd star.
Photo by Nick Ut
The Information One-Stop
Moose & Squirrel
To Be Honored By The King Center
Bono
U2 lead singer Bono will be recognized for his humanitarian work at an awards dinner hosted by the family of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
The Irish rock band's lead singer will be honored at the 2004 King Center "Salute to Greatness" awards dinner Jan. 17 in Atlanta.
"We are fortunate this year to honor Bono for exemplifying many of the qualities that my husband, Martin, indicated were imperative to moving our society into the beloved community of which he so often spoke," said Coretta Scott King, King's widow and the founder of the King Center.
Bono
Attended Concert
Barbara Bush
(Resident) Bush's daughter Barbara was spotted recently having a gay old time at a concert by all-gay punk band Pansy Division. Barbara and friends cozied up in the back room drinking, while out front the band screamed their queer hearts out.
The band reportedly dedicated their rabid anti-Bush song, Political Asshole, to the first daughter during the show. Daddy's just got to love that.
Barbara Bush
Pansy Division
Continues Criticism of Rap
Spike Lee
Continuing his criticism of rap, Spike Lee told an audience at Brown University that popular music portrays blacks in a negative light.
Speaking to an audience of more than 400 students Monday night, the director of films including "Do the Right Thing" and "Malcolm X" repeated the complaints he's made at colleges and universities over the past year.
"I've always felt you can feel the progress of African Americans by listening to their music," Lee said. "Some of this 'gangsta rap' stuff, it's not doing anybody any good. This stuff is really dangerous."
For the rest, Spike Lee
British humanitarian and musician Sir Bob Geldof stands in front of a projected illumination depicting sunflowers, on the Wellington Arch in central London, December 2, 2003. It was the first of nine sites throughout London which will be illuminated over the Christmas period. Geldof kicked-off the 'Brightening Up London' project on Tuesday night with his sunflowers and 'Band Aid' charity pop single cover designs, which form his message of 'Peace and Hope'.
Photo by Toby Melville
Most Powerful Woman in Hollywood
Amy Pascal
Amy Pascal, co-chairman of Sony Pictures, was named Hollywood's most powerful woman on Tuesday -- thanks in part to the popularity of a male superhero and other box office superhits.
Heads of various movie and television studios comprised the rest of the top 10 spots on the list. Pascal rose from No. 3 last year, when Sherry Lansing, chairman of the Motion Picture Group at Viacom Inc.'s Paramount Pictures, claimed the top spot.
Lansing fell to No. 4 this year, while Vivendi Universal's Universal Pictures chairman Stacey Snider ranked No. 2.
Among others in the top 10 were Oprah Winfrey (6); Susan Lyne, president of Walt Disney Co.'s ABC Entertainment (8); Nancy Tellem, president of Viacom's CBS Entertainment (3); and Judy McGrath, president of Viacom's MTV Networks' Music Group (10).
Seventeen-year-old media twin tycoons Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen made it for the third year running, rising to No. 84 from No. 98 last year.
For the rest, Amy Pascal
Beyonce On Faux
'Jingle Ball Rock'
Beyonce Knowles, Hilary Duff and Jessica Simpson are the first artists confirmed to appear on a Fox holiday television special slated to air Dec. 15.
The hour-long show has the working title of "Jingle Ball Rock." A full lineup is expected soon.
'Jingle Ball Rock'
Knighthood on Dec. 12
Mick Jagger
Mick Jagger said Tuesday that he will go to Buckingham Palace on Dec. 12 to accept his knighthood.
After difficulties caused by his touring schedule, Jagger was initially slated to be knighted on Dec. 10, the same date as rugby star Jonny Wilkinson will be made a Member of the Order of the British Empire, or MBE. But Jagger did not want to distract attention away from the man who led England to the rugby World Cup title last month.
The singer's 90-year-old father Joe will be joining him for the big day.
Mick Jagger
In The Kitchen With BartCop & Friends
Launches High-Definition Adult Channel
Playboy
Adult entertainment company Playboy Enterprises Inc on Tuesday unveiled a digital high-definition television channel that expands its products for cable TV operators seeking new services to boost their revenues.
Chicago-based Playboy will launch the Spice HD channel starting on Dec. 4, becoming the first adult TV content provider to offer programs in the high-definition format that offers viewers sharper pictures.
Spice HD will offer over 1,200 hours of "high-def" programs featuring live daily shows such "Spice Clips" and a TV reality series called "Unzipped."
Playboy
Jennifer Rich, 7, of Stamford, Conn., takes a look at a sword that was held by one of the human statuettes on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles, Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2003. The statuettes were placed by the Trio Network to promote a pair of documentaries airing in December that look into the public's obsession with award shows.
Photo by Nick Ut
Expecting Twins
Geena Davis
Oscar- winning actress Geena Davis, 47, is preparing a new off-screen role as the mother of twins, her publicist announced.
Davis, who took home an Academy Award as best supporting actress in "The Accidental Tourist" (1989) and was nominated as best actress for "Thelma and Louise" (1992), is expecting the babies in the spring of 2004, publicist Paul Bloch said.
The actress is expecting with fourth husband Reza Jarrahy, a 33-year-old surgeon. The couple already has an 18-month-old daughter Alizeh Keshvar.
Geena Davis
Says Seven Stitches No Big Deal
Fred Durst
Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit is finally talking about the recent incident when was hit in the face with an unidentified object on November 21 while performing at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City. Durst was hit so hard it took seven stitches to close the gash.
However, at the band's official website, Durst posted a message downplaying the event, saying: "Oh my gosh! Stop the press! Headlines are coming! Fred Durst has a weeeeee cut on his chin! Must have been some fan/band violence eh? Come on now. I went into the pit in NY and climbed onto a railing and was in the line of fire when an unknown object hit me in the chin. As I kept singing I felt a hot gush of something running down my neck and onto my hand. I looked down and sure enough I was bleeding like mad."
He added that the onsite paramedics suggested he should get stitches, but since the band still had five more songs to do he soldiered on. He claims the paramedics cleaned the wound and a doctor gave him seven micro stitches following the show. He also noted, "When the show was over there was no trip to the hospital as I've heard... The next evening I had a tetanus shot in my arm that hurt like a motherf--ker! My arm was sore for two days!" The stitches were removed on November 28.
Fred Durst
Recovering From Surgery
Ray Charles
Ray Charles is recovering in his Beverly Hills home after undergoing a hip replacement last week.
Acute discomfort in his left hip forced the 73-year-old singer in August to cancel his remaining 2003 tour dates. It was the first time Charles had canceled a tour in 53 years.
While hospitalized in November, Charles donated $1 million to Dillard University in New Orleans for the creation of a program about black culture. He's also been working on a duets album at his private studio.
Ray Charles
www.raycharles.com
On Display for First Time
Elvis Pictures
Candid photographs of 1950s rock pioneers Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly and Bobby Darin, snapped by a high-school photographer and kept in storage for 40 years, went on display for the first time Tuesday.
The collection includes pictures of Elvis taken in Cleveland in 1956 when local newspapers were on strike and teen-age photographer Lew Allen showed up with a camera. Allen, then 17, was the only photographer at the concerts.
They are now being displayed at the "Fingerprints of Elvis" exhibition at Liverpool's Albert Dock and will move to London next year.
Elvis Pictures
To Present Britain's Bad Sex Award
Sting
No embarrassment will be spared on Wednesday when rock star Sting presents one of Britain's least-desired literary awards -- the Bad Sex in Fiction Award.
Now in its 11th year, the dubious honor is awarded by the Literary Review magazine for the most inept description of sexual intercourse in a novel.
Nominated authors for this year's prize include John Updike, Paul Theroux, Paulo Coelho and Alan Parker.
Sting
Formerly 'The Vidiot'
Delays Vatican Screening
Mel Gibson
Bishops and cardinals waiting for a special Vatican screening of a controversial Mel Gibson film about Jesus Christ are going to have to wait a little longer, the Hollywood star has told them.
But Gibson's Icon Production company told organizers in an email on Monday night that the actor-director was still working on the final version and asked them to wait because "the film is only weeks away from being finished."
Mel Gibson
U.S. resident George W. BusH makes remarks alongside the best drivers of the 2003 Nascar season and their cars, on the South Lawn of the White House, December 2, 2003. Bush honored the best drivers of the 2003 season, including Matt Kenseth, who won the 2003 Winston Cup series.
Photo by Jason Reed
Menu Sells for $49,500
Titanic
A dinner menu from the ill-fated Titanic fetched $49,500 at auction Tuesday.
The menu, the size of a postcard, was thought to have been given by the ship's second officer to his wife before he left Southampton on the vessel's doomed maiden voyage in 1912.
It shows the passengers ate salmon, sweetbreads, roast chicken, spring lamb, golden plover on toast and peaches just days before the supposedly unsinkable Titanic hit an iceberg in the Atlantic and slipped beneath the waves.
The menu, along with other items of memorabilia from the ship, were bought by a private museum in Belfast, where the Titanic was built. It had been expected to fetch between $13,700-$20,600.
Titanic
Lawyers Fight Charges
R. Kelly
Attorneys defending R&B star R. Kelly against child pornography charges have filed a host of motions, including one contending the alleged victim could have been old enough to legally consent to sex.
Also included in the 11 motions Kelly's attorneys filed Monday in Cook County Circuit Court is the argument that the case should be dismissed because prosecutors failed to specify the date of the alleged crime in their indictment against Kelly, 36.
R. Kelly
Letters Fetch $503,000
Winston Churchill
Thirty-seven letters written by Britain's World War II prime minister Winston Churchill to his lover Pamela Plowden were sold at auction for 291,000 pounds (503,000 dollars, 416,400 euros), Christie's auction house announced.
The letters span 63 years and begin with passionate love letters from the future prime minister, then mature into an affectionate correspondence between friends before, during and after the war.
Churchill met Plowden, a renowned society beauty in Hyderabad, India, when he was in his early twenties, and it is thought that they were informally engaged. But she went on to marry Victor, Earl of Lytton, the son of a viceroy of India.
Winston Churchill
Republican Values In Action
Glen Campbell
Glen Campbell was formally charged with aggravated assault, drunken driving, extreme drunken driving and leaving the scene of an accident, the Maricopa County Attorney's office said Tuesday.
Extreme drunken driving applies to a blood-alcohol level of 0.15 percent or higher. Breath tests on Campbell showed he had a 0.20 blood-alcohol level, according to court documents. The legal limit for Arizona drivers is 0.08 percent.
While in custody, police said Campbell became angry and kneed an officer, who was not injured. He was freed on $2,000 bail.
The 67-year-old singer apologized last week and blamed the arrest on the accidental mixing of alcohol and a prescription anti-anxiety drug.
Glen Campbell
Dropped by Comedy Central
'I'm With Busey'
Comedy Central has decided not to renew "I'm With Busey," the half-hour reality show starring Gary Busey and former "The Man Show" scribe Adam De La Pena as the pair toured the film thesp's unpredictable world.
Cabler ordered 13 episodes of "Busey," which aired Tuesdays at 10 p.m., but decided against a second season due to disappointing ratings.
'I'm With Busey'
To Be Charged With Murder
Bertrand Cantat
French singer Bertrand Cantat will be charged with murdering his girlfriend, French actress Marie Trintignant, after a violent dispute in her Vilnius hotel room four months ago, Lithuanian officials said today.
State prosecutor Antanas Klimavicius said Cantat, the 39-year-old lead singer of the group Noir Desir, would be charged with homicide, which carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison, at an unspecified future date.
Bertrand Cantat
Bethlehem Baby Draws Crowds
Ala
Palestinians in the West Bank town revered by Christians as Jesus's birthplace have been thronging to the adjacent Aida refugee camp for a glimpse of the 11-day-old infant many are calling a "miracle baby".
The boy has gained attention for being born with a large birthmark across his cheek that roughly forms in Arabic letters the name of his uncle, Ala, a Hamas militant killed by Israeli troops after he was alleged to have planned a suicide bombing.
Adding to a tale spread mostly by word of mouth and published on Monday in the Jerusalem Post, the baby -- named in honour of his dead uncle -- was born on the 27th day of the holy month of Ramadan, revered as the night the Koran was revealed to the prophet Mohammad.
Ala
Bad Word In Louisiana
'Gay'
Second-grader Marcus McLaurin was waiting for recess Nov. 11 at Ernest Gaullet Elementary School when a classmate asked about Marcus' mother and father, the ACLU said in a complaint.
Marcus responded he had two mothers because his mother is gay. When the other child asked for explanation, Marcus told him: "Gay is when a girl likes another girl," according to the complaint.
A teacher who heard the remark scolded Marcus, telling him "gay" was a "bad word" and sending him to the principal's office. The following week, Marcus had to come to school early and repeatedly write: "I will never use the word `gay' in school again."
"I was concerned when the assistant principal called and told me my son had said a word so bad that he didn't want to repeat it over the phone," his mother, Sharon Huff said. "But that was nothing compared to the shock I felt when my little boy came home and told me that his teacher had told him his family is a dirty word."
'Gay'
In Memory
Earl Bellamy
Earl Bellamy, who directed scores of popular TV shows in a prolific career that began with the birth of commercial television and continued well into the 1980s, has died of a heart attack at age 86.
Bellamy died Sunday at a hospital in Albuquerque. He had lived in Rio Rancho, N.M., since 1991.
The director, who was particularly adept at Westerns, had credits on almost every popular show of that genre, including "The Lone Ranger," "Rawhide," "Laredo," "Wagon Train," "Daniel Boone," "Sergeant Preston of the Yukon," "The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin," "The Monroes" and "The Virginian."
He was equally skilled at handling situation comedies and dramas, however, and his credits in those areas included "M A S H," "I Spy," "Leave it to Beaver," "The Donna Reed Show," "Bachelor Father," "CHipS," "Starsky and Hutch," "Lassie," "Perry Mason," "The Andy Griffith Show," "The Munsters," "Fantasy Island," "Eight Is Enough," "The Mod Squad" "My Three Sons" and "The Love Boat."
Bellamy also directed nearly two dozen feature films, beginning with the George Raft Western "Seminole Uprising" in 1955.
But television, he acknowledged, was his first love.
Other credits in that field included "Hart to Hart," "Trapper John, M.D.," "The Doris Day Show" and "Get Smart."
The son of a railroad engineer, Bellamy moved to Hollywood with his family from Minneapolis in 1920.
He went to work as a messenger for Columbia Studios after graduating from Hollywood High School in 1935, working his way up to assistant director on such films as "A Star is Born," "The Talk of the Town," starring Cary Grant and Jean Arthur, and "Kiss and Tell" with Shirley Temple. He retired in 1986.
Earl Bellamy
Kooshi, a seven-year-old mixed breed shorthair cat, hisses from his perch on the window ledge, inside his home in Rishon Letzion, Israel, Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2003. The Israeli cat was banned by a local officials from circulating freely outside, apparently because its jet black color was frightening the residents.
Photo by Barak Pachter
'The Osbournes'
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