Issue #199
Disinfotainment Today
By Michael Dare
Were we not faced with the activities of the US administration in this part of the world and the negative ramifications of those activities on the daily lives of our peoples, coupled with the many wars and calamities caused by the US administration as well as the tragic consequences of US interference in other countries;Were the American people not God-fearing, truth-loving, and justice-seeking, while the US administration actively conceals the truth and impedes any objective portrayal of current realities;And if we did not share a common responsibility to promote and protect freedom and human dignity and integrity;Then, there would have been little urgency to have a dialogue with you...Let's take a look at Iraq. Since the commencement of the US military presence in Iraq, hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have been killed, maimed or displaced. Terrorism in Iraq has grown exponentially. With the presence of the US military in Iraq, nothing has been done to rebuild the ruins, to restore the infrastructure or to alleviate poverty. The US Government used the pretext of the existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, but later it became clear that that was just a lie and a deception.Although Saddam was overthrown and people are happy about his departure, the pain and suffering of the Iraqi people has persisted and has even been aggravated.In Iraq, about one hundred and fifty thousand American soldiers, separated from their families and loved ones, are operating under the command of the current US administration. A substantial number of them have been killed or wounded and their presence in Iraq has tarnished the image of the American people and government.Their mothers and relatives have, on numerous occasions, displayed their discontent with the presence of their sons and daughters in a land thousands of miles away from US shores. American soldiers often wonder why they have been sent to Iraq.I consider it extremely unlikely that you, the American people, consent to the billions of dollars of annual expenditure from your treasury for this military misadventure.Noble Americans,You have heard that the US administration is kidnapping its presumed opponents from across the globe and arbitrarily holding them without trial or any international supervision in horrendous prisons that it has established in various parts of the world. God knows who these detainees actually are, and what terrible fate awaits them.You have certainly heard the sad stories of the Guantanamo and Abu-Ghraib prisons. The US administration attempts to justify them through its proclaimed war on terror. But every one knows that such behavior, in fact, offends global public opinion, exacerbates resentment and thereby spreads terrorism, and tarnishes the US image and its credibility among nations...It is possible to lead the world towards the aspired perfection by adhering to unity, monotheism, morality and spirituality and drawing upon the teachings of the Divine Prophets. Then, the American people, who are God-fearing and followers of Divine religions, will overcome every difficulty...
The global position of the United States is in all probability weakened because the administration has continued to resort to force, to conceal the truth, and to mislead the American people about its policies and practices...It is possible to govern based on an approach that is distinctly different from one of coercion, force and injustice. It is possible to sincerely serve and promote common human values, and honesty and compassion. It is possible to provide welfare and prosperity without tension, threats, imposition, or war...The legitimacy, power and influence of a government do not emanate from its arsenals of tanks, fighter aircrafts, missiles or nuclear weapons. Legitimacy and influence reside in sound logic, quest for justice and compassion and empathy for all humanity.
"Porky's Ain't Kosher"This week, on a VERY SPECIAL "Christ With A C-H," a teenage Jesus and his posse go to a local Bethlehem brothel where Jesus loses his virginity to a neophyte red-headed prostitute, Mary Magdalene. A young Judas Iscariot is the "Meat" of the posse, being, ahem, well-hung. Only Jesus smiles smugly at the prophetic pun. Mary Magdalene spreads her legs, revealing a curly red bush and invites Jesus to "do a Moses and part the Red Sea." Peter, thinking she meant she's on her period, has already chickened out three times. While Jesus is giving her the ol' rugged cross, she's screaming out, "Oh you, oh you, oh my YOUUUUUU."As Jesus is leaving, He tells the madam, "Oh, by the way, in about six hundred years, some Me wannabe named Mohammad is gonna come along and circumcise your kind right out of business."- Jimmy McConnellJESUS ATTENDS A WEDDING AND TURNS WATER INTO WINE. THE ATF BUSTS HIM FOR MOONSHINING BUT HE ESCAPES WITH THE HELP OF THE DUKES OF HAZZARD WHO LOAN HIM "GENERAL JACKSON" FOR HIS GET AWAY. THE ATF FINALLY CATCHES JESUS AND HE IS CRUCIFIED ON GOLGOTHA. JESUS ARISES ON THE THIRD DAY AND ASCENDS INTO HEAVEN BUT HE LEAVES US THE RECIPE FOR WINE. PRAISE THE LORD!!!- JDIn the third episode Christ with a CH Jesus meets the most popular person in school, Mary Magdalene. And Jesus is smitten. Jesus, show his infatuation by manifesting lotus flowers for her everyday before school, (trick he learned from his best friends Buddha and Judas). But, Mary cant decide on whom she should date, Jesus of Barbosa- Frank B. MichelEpisode title: "I Married Jesus"Background: The demographically-desirable twenty-something Karma Mammon (think a Britney Spears/Lindsay Lohan type, but with dark hair) is the daughter of a wealthy banking family who marries an itinerant carpenter's son from the wrong side of the tracks named Jesus, but he is not Hispanic. (Think a Heath Ledger/Jude Law type, but with dark hair.) Jesus claims he's the 'Son o' God' and runs a clinic in the ghetto where he heals the poor and unemployed. Zany fun ensues as Karma and her family's conservative values clash with Jesus' wacky 'New Age' ideas. In this episode Jesus and Karma, after a brief one-month marriage, agree to a divorce, citing 'irreconcilable differences. ' Sample dialogue:"Jesus, why didn't you stick up for me when that man accosted me?""One must turn the other cheek when attacked, Karma.""Oh, Jesus, Jesus!"Karma's father Hugh B. Mammon: "So Karma tells me that you don't have a job and don't plan to try to get one.""Consider the lilies of the field, neither do they sow nor do they reap...""Just don't think I'm going to be paying for your free ride, bucko."Karma: "You know, I just, like, want to be a normal kid and hang out at the bazaar and drink wine, while you want to be a wandering Jew or something..." Jesus: "The 'Wandering Jew' is a plant, Karma."Karma: "Whatever. I'm just totally freaked by all this 'prophet' stuff, so I think it would be best if we just call it quits. Mommy and Daddy agree."Jesus: "You shouldn't listen to your father and mother if they tell you ..."Just then, Hugh B. enters the room and interrupts Jesus: "Did I hear my name mentioned?" [Laugh track] "Karma's right, kid: Profits over propheting, if you get my drift."Jesus: "I guess this just goes to show that you really can't serve both God and Mammon."Hugh B.: "What's the difference, kid?"Episode ends with general laughter. Fade out on Vonda Shepard singing upbeat version of "My Heart Belongs to Daddy" while cutting back and forth between the smiling faces of Karma and Jesus.- RS Janes
'Best of TBH Politoons'
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Bruce is going on vacation--last Recommended Reading for about a week.
PAUL KRUGMAN: Outsourcer in Chief (The New York Times )
It's now clear that there's a fundamental error in the antigovernment ideology embraced by today's conservative movement. Conservatives look at the virtues of market competition and leap to the conclusion that private ownership, in itself, is some kind of magic elixir. But there's no reason to assume that a private company hired to perform a public service will do better than people employed directly by the government. In fact, the private company will almost surely do a worse job if its political connections insulate it from accountability - which has, of course, consistently been the case under Mr. Bush.
Gene Cohen: Median Home Prices Are Bogus (azcentral.com)
Another way to state it is this: As the ratio of expensive homes to lower-priced houses sold increases, median prices over the entirety of the housing stock will rise even if prices on all individual houses are falling.
Virginia Postrel: In Praise of Chain Stores: They aren't destroying local flavor-they're providing variety and comfort (theatlantic.com)
The planning consultant Robert Gibbs works with cities that want to revive their downtowns, and he also helps developers find space for retailers. To his frustration, he finds that many cities actually turn away national chains, preferring a moribund downtown that seems authentically local. But, he says, the same local activists who oppose chains "want specialty retail that sells exactly what the chains sell-the same price, the same fit, the same qualities, the same sizes, the same brands, even." You can show people pictures of a Pottery Barn with nothing but the name changed, he says, and they'll love the store.
Janet I. Tu and Lornet Turnbull: Christmas trees are going back up at Sea-Tac airport (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
A nationwide furor erupted over the weekend as news of the trees' removal spread, with a flood of calls to Port officials and harshly worded e-mails to Jewish organizations. Today, Rabbi Elazar Bogomilsky said he would not file a lawsuit and the Port, in response, said it would put the trees back up.
Benjamin Radford: Predator Panic: A Closer Look (csicop.org)
"Protect the children." Over the years that mantra has been applied to countless real and perceived threats. America has scrambled to protect its children from a wide variety of dangers including school shooters, cyberbullying, violent video games, snipers, Satanic Ritual Abuse, pornography, the Internet, and drugs.
Political animals (guardian.co.uk)
Fox News anchor Neil Cavuto thinks Happy Feet, this season's blockbuster animation, contains 'far-left' propaganda. 'I half-expected an animated Al Gore to pop up,' he said. Zoe Williams decodes the political subtext of the new film - and 10 other cartoons
'How they hate me. How deeply satisfying' (guardian.co.uk)
Appalling jokes, Christopher Biggins, and a howling audience - what's not to like about panto? Simon Callow recalls his happiest hour: playing the baddie in Aladdin.
Bill Simmons: Memories of Red (sports.espn.go.com)
After his death ..., Red Auerbach was remembered as the greatest basketball coach/executive who ever lived. He built 16 championship teams and coached nine of them. He was the first to start five black players at the same time. He invented the victory cigar. He was competitive enough that he announced his coaching retirement before the '65-66 season so every team would have one last crack at him. He drafted Bird, Cowens and Havlicek, traded for Russell, traded for McHale and Parish, lucked into Cousy. He's arguably the most important non-player in NBA history -- really, it's either him or David Stern -- the one person who transcended a franchise and became a one-man Mount Rushmore.
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Mostly sunny with a cold wind.
Darfur Campaign
Clooney & Cheadle
George Clooney arrived in Egypt on Tuesday, campaigning to raise awareness about killings in Sudan's Darfur region. The Oscar-winning actor was joined by fellow actor Don Cheadle and two former Olympians. He came to Egypt from China, where he has been since Friday, his publicist Stan Rosenfield said.
Clooney organized the trip to make a personal plea to Chinese and Egyptian officials to use their ties with the Sudanese government to help stop the violence, Rosenfield said.
Egypt has been a key mediator with neighboring Sudan, trying to convince the Khartoum government to allow a larger peacekeeping force into the war-torn region, where 200,000 people have been killed and more than 2.5 million have been driven from their homes in more than three years of warfare.
Clooney, a liberal Democrat, is well known for his activism and has been urging Congress and the United Nations to help end atrocities in Darfur.
Clooney & Cheadle
Latin America in Solidarity Action
Shakira & Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Shakira joined with fellow Colombian and Nobel Prize laureate Gabriel Garcia Marquez on Tuesday to launch a star-studded foundation to fight child poverty in Latin America.
Backed by the two Colombians and other luminaries of entertainment and finance, the Latin America in Solidarity Action - whose Spanish acronym is ALAS, or "wings" - took flight with a promise to tackle poverty that kills 350,000 children each year in the region.
Spanish singer Miguel Bose will serve as executive director of the foundation, conceived about a year ago by Shakira, who also heads the Colombia-based nonprofit foundation Pies Descalzos, or Barefoot, which helps the child victims of violence in that South American country.
Other musicians supporting the effort include Ruben Blades, Juanes, Ricky Martin, the rock group Mana, Aleks Syntek, David Bisbal and Alejandro Sanz.
Shakira & Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Sons Plan Concert
Princess Di
Princes William and Harry said Tuesday that they are planning a pop concert and memorial service next year to mark the 46th birthday of their mother, Princess Diana, and the 10th anniversary of her death.
The band Duran Duran will perform along with Elton John, who sang "Candle in the Wind" at Diana's funeral. The concert will also include a performance by the English National Ballet and songs by Andrew Lloyd Webber in honor of the princess' love of dancing and theater.
The concert is planned for July 1, Diana's 46th birthday, at Wembley Stadium in London. Money raised from the concert will go to charities the princess supported.
Princess Di
Tournament of Roses Grand Marshal
George Lucas
Not long from now, in our very own galaxy, the "Star Wars Spectacular" will bring an intergalactic spirit - and 200 storm troopers - to the 118th annual Tournament of Roses parade.
Grand Marshal George Lucas will be accompanied by two "Star Wars"-themed floats and an army of costumed storm troopers. Lucas, 62, invited the evil soldiers (costumed superfans from all over the world) to march with him during the New Year's Day parade in Pasadena.
Other "Star Wars" characters will ride floats in the parade. Four Ewoks will be aboard the Forest Moon of Endor float, from the "Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi" era. The Naboo: The Garden Planet float, from the recent "Star Wars" trilogy, will carry three Queens of Naboo and two Jedi protectors.
George Lucas
2007 Mardi Gras Bacchus
James Gandolfini
James Gandolfini, aka Tony Soprano, will reign as celebrity monarch Bacchus during the 2007 Carnival season.
New Orleans' signature celebration will have 31 parades over 10 days, compared with 28 parades in eight days in 2006, just months after Hurricane Katrina devastated the city. The Bacchus parade will be the evening of Feb. 18, two days before Mardi Gras.
Bacchus introduced spectacular floats much larger than those in traditional Carnival parades, and it was the first to choose a national celebrity to lead its parade.
Danny Kaye was the first Bacchus, in 1969. Other celebrities include William Shatner, Billy Crystal, Bob Hope, Michael Keaton, Nicolas Cage, John Lovitz, Jim Belushi, Kurt Douglas, Charlton Heston, Ron Howard, Jackie Gleason and Raymond Burr.
James Gandolfini
Nobel Laureate Launches Video
Muhammad Yunus
Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus helped launch a pop music record and video on Tuesday that will raise money to build eye hospitals in Bangladesh.
Yunus said he hoped the music would help spread his message about fighting poverty to young people around the globe. He won the 2006 peace prize with the Grameen Bank he founded to lend money to the poor of Bangladesh.
All the proceeds from the CD record and DVD "Hear Me Now" by the young British-Norwegian group The Green Children will go to Yunus's Grameen Healthcare Trust, the band's Norwegian vocalist Milla Sunde and British pianist Tom Bevan said.
Muhammad Yunus
Baby News
Bailey Linda Olwyn Willis
Fashion designer Stella McCartney has given birth to her second child, a girl, McCartney's spokesman said Tuesday.
Stephane Jaspar said Bailey Linda Olwyn Willis was born Dec. 8 in London, weighing seven pounds, 14 ounces. McCartney, 35, and her husband Alasdhair Willis, 36, have a 22-month-old son, Miller.
Bailey Linda Olwyn Willis
Donates $1 Million
Jada Pinkett Smith
Jada Pinkett Smith has donated $1 million to her high school alma mater, the Baltimore School for the Arts, asking that its new theater be dedicated to classmate Tupac Shakur, who was shot and killed in 1996.
"It means a lot when you're a teacher and your most famous alumnus comes back to give a donation," said Donald Hicken, head of the school's theater department since its founding in 1980 and Pinkett Smith's former theater teacher. "It really says a lot to the community that the school matters in people's lives."
The donation from the Will and Jada Smith Family Foundation, which is based in Baltimore, will be used for renovation and expansion. The school, which announced the donation Monday, said it will name its new theater for Pinkett Smith.
Jada Pinkett Smith
Sues Kanye West Over Video
Evel Knievel
Evel Knievel has sued Kanye West, taking issue with a music video in which the rapper takes on the persona of "Evel Kanyevel" and tries to jump a rocket-powered motorcycle over a canyon.
"That video that Kanye West put out is the most worthless piece of crap I've ever seen in my life, and he uses my image to catapult himself on the public," the 68-year-old daredevil said Tuesday.
In the video for "Touch the Sky," released earlier this year, West dons the familiar Knievel star-studded jumpsuit and jumps a canyon in a vehicle "visually indistinguishable" from the one used by Knievel in his failed attempt to jump the Snake River Canyon in Idaho in 1974, the lawsuit said.
The video, which features Pamela Anderson as West's girlfriend, contains "vulgar and offensive sexual images, language and conduct involving `Evel Kanyevel' and women apparently trying to gain his sexual interest," according to the lawsuit.
Evel Knievel
'The Horny Manatee'
Conan O'Brien
"Late Night" host Conan O'Brien has presented a recurring character dubbed "the Horny Manatee," who accidentally stumbled into web stardom last week.
On the NBC program, the Horny Manatee mostly stretches out on the stage, arousing a member of the band - or on one show, "Inside the Actors Studio" host James Lipton. Lipton last week read "Ode to a Manatee" before dancing with, as he said, "that sultry seductress."
On the Dec. 4 show, the manatee appeared in a skit about college mascots as the "FSU Webcam Manatee." As it ended, O'Brien ad libbed a reference to "HornyManatee.com" - and thus a website was born.
The next evening, O'Brien informed his audience that after the previous night's show, he was contacted by NBC Standards and told the network would have to buy the rights to the then-fictional site. NBC purchased rights to the domain for $159 for 10 years.
Conan O'Brien
Vatican Does Some Digging
St. Paul
A white marble sarcophagus believed to be the final resting place of St. Paul has been unearthed from beneath the altar of Rome's second-largest basilica after centuries hidden from view, but those curious about its contents will have to wait still longer.
Vatican experts, announcing Monday that the coffin had been unearthed, said they hoped to be able to examine it more closely and maybe even look inside.
But Giorgio Filippi, a Vatican archaeologist, said researchers' first concern was to free it from centuries of plaster and debris in the hope of finding other clues on the sarcophagus itself.
St. Paul
Starts Production Company
Craig Ferguson
"The Late Late Show" host Craig Ferguson has launched a production company with hopes of tapping young talent for TV comedies.
Ferguson said the production foray was a natural extension of his job as a host of a late-night talk show.
Fergson's company, Green Mountain West Inc., has entered a one-year deal with CBS Paramount Network TV. It includes a first-look component for sister network CBS, which carries Ferguson's late-night show.
Craig Ferguson
Another Day, Another Suit
'Borat'
A man claims he was "accosted" by the star of the spoof documentary "Borat" while using a restroom at an upscale restaurant last year, according to a lawsuit.
The scene with the man, who was not identified in the lawsuit, doesn't appear in the hit movie but has been shown on Comedy Central and various video-sharing websites, said Columbia lawyer Jonathan Milling. "He has been contacted by numerous people who have recognized him," Milling said.
The plaintiff, a South Carolina resident, says British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen posed as a bathroom attendant at Ristorante Divino in October 2005, invading his privacy and staring as he used a urinal, according to the lawsuit.
'Borat'
Teacher/Artist
Stephen Murmer
To hear the students tell it, Stephen Murmer is a fun, popular art teacher who is always quick to crack a joke. But there is another side to Murmer. A side that has agitated school officials and resulted in his suspension. A side that focuses, almost entirely, on the crack in his backside.
Outside of class and under an alter ego, the self-proclaimed "butt-printing artist" creates floral and abstract art by plastering his posterior and genitals with paint and pressing them against canvas. His cheeky creations sell for hundreds of dollars.
This has not gone over well with Chesterfield County school officials, who placed Murmer on administrative leave from his job at Monacan High School.
Murmer went to great lengths to keep his work life separate from his activities as an artist, said ACLU executive director Kent Willis. As a butt-printing artist, he goes by the name "Stan Murmur," and appears in disguise in photographs and videos promoting his art.
Stephen Murmer
Prime Time Nielsen
Ratings
Prime-time viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen Media Research for Dec. 4-10. 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. (3) "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," CBS, 23.25 million viewers.
2. (7) "NBC Sunday Night Football," NBC, 19.90 million viewers.
3. (11) "Deal or No Deal" (Monday), NBC, 17.38 million viewers.
4. (13) "60 Minutes," CBS, 15.83 million viewers.
5. (17) "Survivor: Cook Islands," CBS, 15.72 million viewers.
6. (24) "Heroes," NBC, 14.95 million viewers.
7. (25) "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," ABC, 14.21 million viewers.
8. (17) "Cold Case," CBS, 14.05 million viewers.
9. (20) "Shark," CBS, 13.98 million viewers.
10. (11) "Without a Trace," CBS, 13.89 million viewers.
11. (8) "Criminal Minds," CBS, 13.85 million viewers.
12. (X) "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer," CBS, 12.95 million viewers.
13. (31) "Sunday Night NFL Pre-Kick," NBC, 12.81 million viewers.
14. (35) "Amazing Race 10," CBS, 12.73 million viewers.
15. (X) "Frosty the Snowman," CBS, 12.70 million viewers.
16. (10) "CSI: NY," CBS, 12.66 million viewers.
17. (22) "ER," NBC, 12.02 million viewers.
18. (16) "House," Fox, 11.77 million viewers.
19. (6) "CSI: Miami," CBS, 11.58 million viewers.
20. (13) "Two and a Half Men," CBS, 11.55 million viewers.
Ratings
In Memory
Martin Nodell
Martin Nodell, the creator of Green Lantern, the comic book superhero who uses his magical ring to help him fight crime, has died. He was 91.
Nodell was looking for a new idea for a comic book in 1940 when he was waiting for a New York subway and saw a train operator waving a lantern displaying a green light, said Maggie Thompson, senior editor of Comics Buyer's Guide.
He brought his drawings and story lines to All-American Publications, which later became a part of National Periodical Publications, the company that was to become DC Comics, Thompson said.
The first Green Lantern appearance came in July 1940, an eight-page story in a comic book also featuring other characters. The character then got his own series, and Nodell drew it until 1947 under the name Mart Dellon.
After its cancellation in 1949, the series was reborn in 1959 with a revised story line, and it has been revived several times.
Nodell was born in Philadelphia and studied at art schools in Chicago and New York. Besides his son, Spencer Nodell, survivors include another son, six grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
Martin Nodell
| CURRENT MOON lunar phases |
