'Best of TBH Politoons'
Thanks, again, Tim!
Weekly Review
HARPER'S WEEKLY REVIEW
December 9, 2003
Resident George W. Bush signed a $400 billion Medicare bill
that will provide a prescription-drug benefit to elderly
Americans; the bill permits private insurance companies to
compete with Medicare, which many think will destroy the
program, but bans policies that would cover gaps in the drug
benefit on the theory that people with good prescription
coverage take too many pills and drive up medical costs.
Thomas Scully, the federal official who runs Medicare, was
preparing to take a job in the private sector, probably with
a company that will directly benefit from the new bill,
which he helped draft.
Resident Bush was thinking
about sending a man to the moon, and conservatives were
beginning to complain about his spending habits.
The
National Rifle Association was looking to buy a TV or radio
station so that it can say what it likes about political
candidates without having to abide by campaign-finance laws.
Continued at www.harpers.org
--Roger D. Hodge
The Wall Street Poet
Bush Environmentalism (The Poem)
Once upon a time, Washington really seemed to care about environmental protection. Now, these issues are finessed rather than addressed. How very foolish...
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
A spectacularly clear, sunny, electric-blue-skied day.
How peculiar that certain NBC stations wouldn't air the Al Sharpton 'SNL', but had no problem with Ahnold on Leno weekly...
Made the run to the Valley to see Uncle Jimmy. Tried to convince him to make a dr. appointment, but I failed, again.
Talked to dear old Dad tonight. He & the Babe will be making a swing west over Christmas.
And then there's the command visit this coming weekend behind the Orange Curtain.
Tonight, Wednesday, CBS opens the night with '60 Minutes II', followed by a RERUN 'King Of Queens', then a RERUN
'Becker', followed by '48 Hours'.
Scheduled on a FRESH Dave are Amanda Peet and Barry Sonnenfeld.
Scheduled on a FRESH Craiggers are Colin Firth, Christina Milian, and Gloria Estefan.
NBC begins the evening with a FRESH 'Ed', followed by a RERUN 'Law & Order', then another RERUN
'Law & Order'.
Scheduled on a FRESH Jay are Diane Keaton, Jesse James, and Tom Jones.
Scheduled on a FRESH Conan are Jude Law, Tara Reid, and Michelle Branch.
Scheduled on a FRESH Carson Daly are Jessica Alba, Andy Dick, and the Stills.
ABC starts the night with a FRESH
Scheduled on a FRESH Jimmy Kimmel are Jennie Garth with this week's guest co-host Method Man.
The WB offers a RERUN 'Smallville', followed by a RERUN 'Angel'.
Faux has '2003 Billboard Music Awards'.
UPN has a RERUN 'Enterprise', followed by a FRESH 'Jake 2.0'.
A&E has 'American Justice', 'Biography (another countdown), 'American Justice', and still another 'American Justice'.
AMC offers the movie 'Hombre', followed by the movie 'Bend Of The River', then the movie 'High Plains Drifter'.
BBC -
[6pm] 'BBC World News';
[6:30pm] 'Cash in the Attic' - Farrier;
[7pm] 'House Invaders' - Nuneaton;
[7:30pm] 'Changing Rooms' - Plymouth;
[8pm] 'Life Laundry' - Oxford;
[8:30pm] 'Escape to the Country' - Tulse Hill to Sussex;
[9pm] 'My Hero' - Car;
[9:40pm] 'Keeping Up Appearances' - Episode 3;
[10:20pm] 'Keeping Up Appearances' - Episode 4;
[11pm] 'The Life Laundry' - Oxford;
[11:30pm] 'Escape to the Country' - Tulse Hill to Sussex;
[12am] 'My Hero' - Car;
[12:40am] 'Keeping Up Appearances' - Episode 3;
[1:20am] 'Keeping Up Appearances' - Episode 4;
[2:30am] 'Escape to the Country' - Tulse Hill to Sussex;
[3am] 'My Hero' - Car;
[3:40am] 'Keeping Up Appearances' - Episode 3;
[4:20am] 'Keeping Up Appearances' - Episode 4;
[5:30am] 'Escape to the Country' - Tulse Hill to Sussex; and
[6am] 'BBC World News'. (ALL TIMES EST)
Bravo has 'West Wing', the movie 'Manhunter' (and see the original Hannibal Lector), 'Queer Eye', and 'West Wing'.
Scheduled on a FRESH Jon Stewart is Sen. Zell Miller (closet republican).
History has 'Modern Marvels', another 'Modern Marvels', followed by still another 'Modern Marvels', then yet another 'Modern Marvels', followed by, yes,
you guessed it, another 'Modern Marvels'.
SciFi has 'Battlestar Galactica' (part 2 of 2), the movie 'Night Flier', then the movie 'Children Of The Corn' (hey, I worked on that movie{!] - still have the green corduroy production jacket).
Showtime RERUNs 'The Reagans'.
TCM:
[6am] 'Huddle' (1932);
[8am] 'They Call It Sin' (1932);
[9:15am] 'Beauty For Sale' (1933);
[11am] 'Broadway To Hollywood' (1933);
[12:30pm] 'Day Of Reckoning' (1933);
[2pm] 'The Women in His Life' (1933);
[3:15pm] 'The Cat's Paw' (1934);
[5pm] 'Have A Heart' (1934);
[6:30pm] 'Personal Property' (1937);
[8pm] 'Inherit The Wind' (1960);
[10:15pm] '2001: A Space Odyssey' (1968);
[1am] 'The Time Machine' (1960);
[3am] 'He Who Gets Slapped' (1924) SILENT
[4:30am] 'Village Of The Damned' (1960). (ALL TIMES EST)
Thursday - 12/11
TCM features convicts, incarceration & cops all day & well-written comedies all night.
[6am] 'Straight Is The Way' (1934);
[7am] 'You Only Live Once' (1937);
[8:30am] 'Condemned Women' (1938);
[10am] 'We Who Are About to Die' (1936);
[11:30am] 'Night Waitress' (1936);
[12:30pm] 'Within the Law' (1939);
[1:45pm] 'Dick Tracy' (1945) ;
[3pm] 'The Threat' (1949);
[4:15pm] 'San Quentin' (1946);
[5:30pm] 'Step By Step' (1946);
[6:45pm] 'Bodyguard' (1948)
[8pm] 'The Man Who Came To Dinner' (1941);
[10pm] 'You Can't Take It With You' (1938);
[12:15am] 'Dinner At Eight' (1933);
[2:15am] 'George Washington Slept Here' (1942);
[4am] 'It All Came True' (1940). (ALL TIMES EST)
Anyone have any opinions?
Or reviews?
(See below for addresses)
Former President Bill Clinton, left, gestures beside San Francisco mayoral candidate Gavin Newsom on the eve of election day Monday, Dec. 8, 2003, at Newsom headquarters in San Francisco. Clinton visited Newsom to offer his support for him in his runoff election against rival Green Party candidate Matt Gonzalez.
Photo by Ben Margot
The Information One-Stop
Moose & Squirrel
Giving Nobel Prize Money To Rights Charities
Shirin Ebadi
Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi said in an interview she would donate her 1.4 million dollars (1.1 million euros) in prize money to human rights groups in her native Iran, in particular those concerned with children and prisoners of conscience.
"I plan to invest the money in humanitarian organisations that I lead in Iran...," the human rights lawyer told the French newspaper Le Figaro in an interview to be published Wednesday.
She said these include organisations defending the rights of children, prisoners of conscience, journalists and arrested students.
Shirin Ebadi
Show Back on Track
LA Film Critics
The Los Angeles Film Critics Association has revived its annual movie awards because of a court decision allowing studios to resume sending special video copies of films to voters.
The Los Angeles critics probably will announce their picks for best picture, actor, actress and other honors within 10 days to two weeks, Jean Oppenheimer, the group's president, said Tuesday.
LA Film Critics
Violinist Ikuko Kawai plays what is claimed to be the world's first glass-made violin at a news conference held in Tokyo Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2003 by its manufacturer, Harima Co.
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For Holiday Gifts
Hollywood Bits
Starting on Thursday, the No. 1 "Black Beauty," the crime fighting sedan of the 1966 TV series "The Green Hornet," will be up for sale by Hollywood memorabilia auctioneer Profiles in History. There is only one, and it can be had for somewhere between $200,000 and $300,000.
Along with "Black Beauty," which was driven in the series by martial arts star Bruce Lee, Profiles in History on Thursday is selling Darth Vader's black helmet, mask and shoulder armor from 1980's "Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back."
For the man whose wardrobe needs a suit that is too good to refuse, up for sale is the Armani tuxedo Robert De Niro wore in 1987 film "The Untouchables" playing gangster Al Capone. It is estimated to bring $2,000 to $3,000. Or, there is Al Pacino's jacket from "The Godfather: Part II" for $7,000 to $9,000.
A poster from 1956's "The Creature Walks Among Us" will run $100 to $200, and the shotgun Arnold Schwarzenegger used in "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" can be had for $8,000 to $10,000.
More information can be found online at www.ebayliveauctions.com
or www.profilesinhistory.com.
Hollywood Bits
Gets ABC Pickup
'Jimmy Kimmel Live'
ABC has picked up its late-night show "Jimmy Kimmel Live" through the 2004-05 season.
"This is great news, as I am saving up to buy a new truck," Kimmel deadpanned about the third-season pickup of his show.
'Jimmy Kimmel Live'
On Ventilator
Ozzy Osbourne
British rocker Ozzy Osbourne will be on a ventilator for at least one more day after fracturing eight ribs and a vertebra in a quad bike crash, doctors said on Tuesday.
His wife Sharon made a 5,000 mile dash across the Atlantic on Tuesday to be at his hospital bedside.
"I heard about the accident from my husband's security guard. Apparently he was on his quad bike when he hit something and fell and the bike landed on top of him."
Ozzy Osbourne
In The Kitchen With BartCop & Friends
Animated Film
Jerry Seinfeld
The latest buzz around DreamWorks Pictures is that Jerry Seinfeld will write, produce and star in an animated film set in the world of bees.
The studio announced Tuesday that Seinfeld will begin work on a film titled "Bee Movie."
DreamWorks co-founder Jeffrey 'Sparky' Katzenberg said he was thrilled with Seinfeld's proposal.
"I have been willing to put myself in any number of potentially humiliating situations in order to demonstrate my unflagging appreciation of his talent," Katzenberg said.
Jerry Seinfeld
www.dreamworks.com
Recalls Days At McDonald's
Pink
Like a lot of teens, Pink worked at her share of fast-food restaurants. She wasn't exactly a candidate for employee of the month at any of them, though. In a recent interview with The Associated Press, the singer recalled her days at a McDonald's outside Philadelphia.
"I was horrible," said Pink, when asked what kind of worker she was.
"I would open (the restaurant), because I'd be tripping on acid ... and I would say, 'Could I have bathroom duty?' And I would sit in bathroom and watch the tiles."
But despite smoking cigarettes at the drive-thru window and doling out free fries to her friends, she says she worked there a year.
Pink
A giant gingerbread man cookie sits on display in the lobby of a Vancouver, British Columbia hotel, hoping to earn chef Othmar Steinhart immortality as a Guinness world record, December 9, 2003. Steinhart, a chef at the Hyatt Regency, baked the 4.2-meter (13 foot), 9-inch) cookie using 100kg (220lbs) of flour, 20 kg (44lb) of sugar and 20 liters (5.3 gallons) of molasses and butter.
Photo by Andy Clark
Loving Television Role
Liza Minnelli
After 40 years in show business, Liza Minnelli is trying something new. She's making her sitcom debut in "Arrested Development" on Fox. Minnelli's appearing in about a half-dozen episodes as a widowed socialite with a crush on Buster, George and Lucille's youngest son.
Minnelli, 57, stopped her car by the side of a road in Los Angeles and called AP Radio on her cell phone to talk about her sitcom experience and her new makeup line.
AP Radio: What do you think of sitcom work so far?
Minnelli: It's wacky. It's the maddest thing I've ever seen. I'm having such fun doing it because I'm finally allowed to use my comic ability.
For some fun, Liza Minnelli
Divorce News
Coppola & Jonze
Filmmakers Sofia Coppola and Spike Jonze are splitting after four years of marriage.
Coppola, daughter of Oscar-winning director Francis Ford Coppola, filed divorce papers Friday in Los Angeles County Superior Court. She cited "irreconcilable differences" and said the couple separated in May. They have no children.
Jonze, 34, whose real name is Adam Spiegel, is the director of the 1999 cult classic "Being John Malkovich," and last year's "Adaptation."
Coppola & Jonze
Says Bobby Struck Her
Whitney Houston
Police considered Tuesday whether to pursue charges against singer Bobby Brown, after officers responded to a domestic abuse call by his wife Whitney Houston at their home in Alpharetta, an Atlanta suburb.
Officers arrived at the couple's home Sunday evening and found Houston with a cut upper lip and a bruised cheek, Fulton County Police spokesman Kurtis Young said.
Houston told officers that Brown hit her in the face during an argument.
Young said that by the time officers arrived at the home, Brown had left for the airport to catch a flight to California.
Whitney Houston
Formerly 'The Vidiot'
Wrongly Searched
George Clinton
An attorney for funk music pioneer George Clinton said Tuesday the musician was illegally searched before he was charged last weekend with drug possession.
Attorney Matt Willard said he would file an innocent plea Wednesday morning at the Leon County Courthouse.
Clinton, 62, was arrested early Saturday outside a convenience store, near his recording studio. Police said he had a bag of crack cocaine and a glass crack pipe. He was released on $2,650 bail.
George Clinton
Republican Values - Not Responsible, Pleads Innocent
Glen Campbell
Glen Campbell pleaded innocent Tuesday to a felony aggravated assault charge stemming from an incident with a police officer after an alleged hit-and-run collision near his Phoenix home.
Campbell, 67, was accused of kneeing an officer after he was arrested Nov. 24 for allegedly striking another car and leaving the scene. Nobody was hurt.
The singer also faces misdemeanor counts of extreme drunken driving, drunken driving and leaving the scene of an accident. Those charges are being handled by Phoenix Municipal Court.
Campbell has blamed his arrest on the accidental mixing of alcohol and a prescription anti-anxiety drug.
Glen Campbell
Traditional Russian Matryoshka dolls depicting Russian President Vladimir Putin are seen on display at a street vendor's stall in central St. Petersburg, December 8, 2003. Putin on Monday hailed an election that stacked parliament with his allies as a step forward for democracy but Western observers criticized the poll as 'overwhelmingly distorted.' The fourth such election since the Soviet Union's collapse crushed Putin's Communist and liberal opponents -- prompting warnings of a return to authoritarian rule -- and effectively guaranteed him a second term in next spring's presidential poll.
Photo by Alexander Demianchuk
Says Time To Move On
Ahnold
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has dropped a plan to conduct his own investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct against him, a spokesman said.
"Upon consulting with legal counsel and advisers, the governor has concluded that given the political nature of the allegations, an investigation would only be ridiculed by his political opponents and provide little opportunity to put this issue to rest," Rob Stutzman said Monday.
The governor "remains sincerely sorry to anyone he may have offended, but there comes a time to move on and focus on the critical issues facing the state," Stutzman said.
Ahnold
'Interviewing' Bush
Diane Sawyer
Resident Bush will grant an interview at the White House next week to ABC News' Diane Sawyer, the network said Tuesday.
The interview will air on "Primetime Thursday" Dec. 18. Parts will also be shown on "Good Morning America," which Sawyer co-anchors.
Bush is expected to be asked about a broad range of policy issues, including the economy and the war in Iraq, and his expected bid for re-election. First lady Laura 'lump in the bed' Bush will also join her husband for part of the interview, ABC said.
Diane Sawyer
Why the Sky Was Red
Munch's 'The Scream'
For those who have ever wondered why the sky was a lurid red in "The Scream" -- Edvard Munch's painting of modern angst -- astronomers have an answer. They blame it on a volcanic eruption half a world away.
In the first detailed analysis of what inspired the painting, an article published on Tuesday in Sky and Telescope pinpointed the location in Norway where Munch and his friends were walking when the artist saw the blood-red sky depicted in the 1893 painting, and offered an explanation for why the sky seemed to be aflame.
Donald Olson, a physics and astronomy professor at Texas State University, and his colleagues determined that debris thrown into the atmosphere by the great eruption at the island of Krakatoa, in modern Indonesia, created vivid red twilights in Europe from November 1883 through February 1884.
Munch's 'The Scream'
WB Comedy Series
MC Hammer
Former rapper MC Hammer has teamed with the WB Network to develop a comedy loosely based on his life as a minister and family man after his departure from the music scene in 1997.
MC Hammer, born Stanley Kirk Burrell, is best known both for his hit 1990 song "U Can't Touch This" and for his genie pants.
MC Hammer
Retiring Quarterly Catalog
Abercrombie & Fitch
Youth-oriented retailer Abercrombie & Fitch on Tuesday said it would retire its quarterly catalog, which draws regular protests because of its racy photos of scantily clad or naked young men and women.
Abercrombie & Fitch said its "2003 Christmas Field Guide" issue, already recalled from stores, would be the final publication of the magazine. Family-values groups have been quick to claim credit for getting the magazine off store shelves due to their protests.
Abercrombie & Fitch
'Twas the Night Before Christmas Collection
Carnegie Mellon
Santa Claus riding a hot pink sleigh, sharing a pipe with an Indian chief or wearing Levi jeans and a 10-gallon Stetson.
These are a few interpretations of old Saint Nick that can be found in a large collection of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas and other Christmas books on display at Carnegie Mellon University's fine arts library. While larger collections of the poem can be found, Carnegie Mellon acquired nearly 400 books from Anne Haight, a bibliophile who wrote a reference work on banned books. University officials say Haight was inspired to start the collection in the 1930s because of her children.
Because Haight started collecting early, she was able to preserve a wide range of editions from different eras, making the collection hard to match today, said Nancy Marshall, author of The Night Before Christmas: A Descriptive Bibliography of Clement Clarke Moore's Immortal Poem.
Marshall has one of the largest private collections of the poem at 1,300, but it is lacking some of the earliest editions found in Carnegie Mellon's Hunt Library.
For a lot more, Carnegie Mellon
An eight-week-old Siberian Tiger shows his teeth during a media presentation at Nuremberg Zoo, southern Germany, Tuesday Dec. 9, 2003. Three tigers of the rare species were born Oct. 7, 2003 at the zoo, though one of them died soon afterwards. But male cubs Jenki and Gawan grow up well and were shown to the public for the first time Tuesday.
Photo by Frank Boxler
'The Osbournes'
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