'Best of TBH Politoons'
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Companies Try to Rip Off Andrew Tobias (andrewtobias.com)
In other words, for all practical purposes, it is impossible to cancel the charge with less than an hour's work . . . which I have not yet completed . . . and, well, you almost get the feeling they purposely make it difficult.
Jim Hightower: STAND UP, CONGRESS
... when your hear lawmakers today whine that they can't stop the BushCheney war regime, don't buy it. The founders clearly gave them the power to do the job - not as a political option, but as a Constitutional obligation. Having the power, they have the responsibility.
Dean Baker: "Amazon's Success: Welfare as We Should Know It" ( TruthOut.org. Posted on AlterNet.org)
Tax avoidance, rather than savvy entrepreneurial spirit, is the key to the retailer's achievement.
Len Righi: For Go! Team rapper Ninja, the proof is in her words (popmatters.com)
"I made (my lyrics) political," she explains. "I was watching TV and was inspired by how the government makes you think you have a choice in things. You have a choice to go to school or work, but they're the only options they have given you. ... I am a conspiracy theory addict, and this is my little conspiracy song."
Richard Chang: '21 Jump Street' star Dustin Nguyen is back in action (popmatters.com)
Flash back to 1987. "21 Jump Street" was one of the hottest new shows on television, showcasing the talents of young heartthrobs Johnny Depp and Dustin Nguyen.
Malcolm in the middle (guardian.co.uk)
Malcolm McDowell talks to John Patterson about pitting legendary directors Stanley Kubrick and Lindsay Anderson against each other - and how he moved to Hollywood by accident.
Tom Danehy: Tom's gearing up for trick-or-treating at George Will's house (tucsonweekly.com)
When I was in high school, a bunch of us got together and decided to dress up for Halloween the next day. When this one guy left, we changed the plan, so the next day, we all showed up dressed as normal, and he showed up dressed as a pirate. He wasn't pleased. What makes it great is that the next year, the same group of guys made the same pledge. Not wanting to be fooled twice, he showed up dressed normally, and we all wore costumes. There's nothing like squeezing two gotchas out of the same gag.
VIDEO: Trinity vs. Millsaps 10/27/07 (nevadathunder.com; Scroll Down)
A crazy ending to a football game.
Reader Comment
Re: Bratwurst
Yum, 600 year old bratwurst! You will share the recipe at some point, right? (This is my unsubtle way of asking you to follow up on the story and share the recipe when it's published because you are the greatest.)
Linda >^..^<
Thanks, Linda!
I'll keep my eyes open for the recipe, but I'm not much of a brat fan.
Guess it comes from too many years of watching sausage get made - the end result (so to speak) of deer season.
It wasn't so much what went in to making the sausage, but more of what they were encased in.
And where those casings came from, and what they previously held.
Reader Comment
Halloween
Hi Marty,
I caught your comment: "Trick-Or-Treating was lighter than last year - had about 75 kids tonight."
I would say, I had more than last year, most probably because our weather was glorious!
That being said, I have been pondering this all day, today. Every Halloween we have a tradition that dates back before my own childhood - yet even now, it can still bring such joy to the children. It doesn't need any knowledge of electronics, great social skills, or even a high IQ - just the ringing of a neighbor's door bell, the chance to say, "Trick of Treat," with the small reward of a candy or two - can bring about such happiness. Sometimes, the world makes me feel as if it is crumbling down around me, but our kids remind us that life can be good... Pretty neat, huh?
Peace out,
Sally P
Thanks, Sally!
Here we are seeing the killing of Halloween, except as a holiday for adults.
When the kid was in kindergarten, the school encouraged the students to wear their costumes. They even had a little parade around the sports field and a small carnival, sponsored by the PTA.
It was wonderful. The kids were so excited, and so were most of their parents.
We live in 'rainbow' neighborhood - pretty much every ethnic or religious group found in America is represented.
The foreign-born parents were all involved, as were our Moslem, Hindi, and Buddhist neighbors. More than one expressed their belief that it was the most American of holidays.
The next year, the kids were allowed to take their costumes to school, and after classes, they could put on the costumes, and take part in the little parade and small carnival.
The year after that, all costumes were forbidden, and there was no parade and no carnival.
What killed the celebration?
Fundamentalist Christians foisting their beliefs into everybody else's reality while complaining they were being discriminated against, and proving once again that tolerance is kryptonite to fundies.
They made it acceptable to turn off the porch lights and kill a traditional American holiday that most of us remember fondly.
It's been 8 years since the wonderful kindergarten Halloween, and each successive year has seen more neighbors turning off their porch lights, and ignoring kids at the door.
This year, we were the only house on our block with the lights on.
There aren't that many opportunities to see the sheer joy in the eyes of little kids all dressed up and thrilled at the prospect of free candy.
Yes, it can be annoying, and there's always a shit or 2 in the mix, but, it's only once a year, and a great source for good memories.
Besides, if you have wonderful memories of Halloween, there is a responsibility to pay it forward.
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny and cool, but the Santa Ana's are starting up again.
Concert Postponed
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin have postponed a one-off comeback concert in London because guitarist Jimmy Page has broken his finger, the promoters said on Thursday.
The concert will now take place on December 10 and all tickets for the original concert on November 26 will be valid, a statement said.
The injury happened last weekend and Page will not be able to play guitar for three weeks, a statement quoted a specialist as saying.
The show will be a tribute to the late founder of Atlantic Records, Ahmet Ertegun, who signed the group in 1968.
Led Zeppelin
'The Tales of Beedle the Bard'
J.K. Rowling
J.K. Rowling has completed her first book after her wildly popular series on teen wizard Harry Potter - an illustrated collection of magical fairy stories titled "The Tales of Beedle the Bard."
Only seven copies of the handwritten book have been made, Rowling said Thursday. One will be auctioned next month to raise money for a children's charity, while the others have been given away as gifts.
Rowling drew the illustrations herself and provided the handwriting for the five stories that make up the collection of fairy tales.
"The Tales of Beedle the Bard" is mentioned in the final Potter book, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," as a gift left by headmaster Albus Dumbledore to Harry's friend Hermione, and provides clues that help destroy evil Lord Voldemort.
J.K. Rowling
Bid Squashed By SC Dems
Stephen Colbert
South Carolina Democrats squashed Stephen Colbert's fanciful White House bid on Thursday.
Colbert, who poses as a conservative talk-show host on the Comedy Central cable network, filed to get on the ballot as a Democratic candidate in his native South Carolina. His campaign paid a $2,500 filing fee just before the noon deadline, said state Democratic Party Chairwoman Carol Fowler.
However, after about 40 minutes of discussion by top party officials, the executive council voted 13-3 to keep the host of "The Colbert Report" off the ballot.
When Colbert announced his candidacy on his show last month, he said he would run only in this key primary state. He said then he planned to run as a Democrat and a Republican - so he could lose twice.
Stephen Colbert
The Truth Is Out There - Part 2
"X-Files"
Fans of "The X-Files" no longer have to rely on Internet rumors to seek the truth about a sequel to the 1998 movie based on the popular TV series
On Wednesday, Fox announced production will start December 10 on the sequel, which reunites the show's stars, David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson. The studio also picked July 25 as the U.S. release date.
Series creator Chris Carter will direct the still-untitled film. Carter also co-wrote the screenplay with "X-Files" veteran Frank Spotnitz. The duo also are producing. Shooting will take place in Vancouver.
The studio is staying little about the film's story line. All that is being revealed is that it is a "supernatural thriller" and that the movie will take the complicated relationship between FBI agents Fox Mulder (Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Anderson) in unexpected directions as Mulder continues on his quest for the truth and Scully remains inextricably tied to her partner's pursuits.
"X-Files"
Wedding Joke
Lance Bass
Lance Bass was joking when he said that he once married a girlfriend in Las Vegas. Ken Sunshine, a publicist for Bass, told The Associated Press on Thursday that the singer's words were misconstrued.
"By saying he was married in Vegas, it was a way to get free drinks," Sunshine said. "He never really got married. That's why there's no record of it."
Sunshine's acknowledgment that Bass' comments were meant to be facetious came after a clerk at the Clark County marriage license bureau said no license under Bass' name could be found in a search of records from 1974 to 2007. (Clark County encompasses Las Vegas.)
In a story posted Wednesday on the E! Online Web site, Bass, who's gay, was quoted as saying that he got hitched about seven years ago - and the bride was "just a friend."
Lance Bass
Leaving Time-Out Corner
Don Imus
Shock jock Don Imus will return to the airwaves Dec. 3 after eight months of a well-paid hiatus created by a racist and sexist remark that once seemed certain to permanently silence his broadcasting career.
Citadel Broadcasting Corp. made the announcement Thursday, confirming long-rumored reports that Imus was coming back to morning drive time on New York-based WABC-AM.
Imus will return with his longtime newsman, Charles McCord, and other members of his morning team, Citadel said in announcing the move. It did not specifically mention Bernard McGuirk, the producer who instigated Imus on the Rutgers comment and was fired as well.
Imus will replace the morning team of Curtis Sliwa and Ron Kuby on the Citadel Broadcasting-owned station. The pair had hosted the WABC drive-time show for nearly eight years, and Kuby said he was told Thursday afternoon not to show up for work on Friday.
Don Imus
Divorce News
Carlos Santana
Guitarist Carlos Santana and his wife of 34 years are divorcing, according to documents filed in Marin County Superior Court.
Deborah Santana, who in her 2005 memoir, "Space Between the Stars," described her husband as being unfaithful, moved to dissolve their marriage on Oct. 19, citing irreconcilable differences.
The musician has said he knew he made mistakes in his marriage.
"I sincerely apologized to her and to my kids when I wasn't in my right mind and did something hurtful. It has helped me become more humble and to try harder to be the man she wants me to be," Carlos Santana said after the memoir was published.
Carlos Santana
Appeals Pot Possession Fine
Amy Winehouse
Amy Winehouse will appeal a fine for marijuana possession, claiming Norwegian police made mistakes in the case. Winehouse and her husband, Blake Fielder-Civil, were arrested in the western city of Bergen on Oct. 18 and held overnight on charges of illegal drug possession.
They were released the next morning after paying fines of $715 each on charges of possessing seven grams (about 1/4-ounce) of marijuana, and they continued a European tour.
Winehouse's Norwegian attorney, Ole Kvelstad, said the 24-year-old British singer-songwriter was appealing to the Gulating district court because she hadn't understood that, under Norwegian law, accepting a fine is the same as pleading guilty.
He said she was interrogated without legal representation or an interpreter and had not fully understood the Norwegian-language charges she was signing. Kvelstad said pleading guilty in a drug case could have serious consequences when Winehouse seeks to enter the United States.
Amy Winehouse
Oprah Cut Her Hair
Hilary Swank
Hilary Swank must really trust Oprah Winfrey. The Oscar-winning actress let the talk-show host chop off a little more than 9 inches of her hair during a segment that was to air Friday on "The Oprah Winfrey Show."
The TV shearing was done in the name of charity: Swank, 33, donated her locks to Pantene Beautiful Lengths, which works with the American Cancer Society to provide wigs at no charge to women suffering from hair loss caused by their cancer treatments.
Hilary Swank
Proud To Be A Villain
Darth Cheney
The joke's on Vice President Dick Cheney. Apparently, around the White House, they're OK with that. As he launched into a health-care speech Wednesday, resident Bush warmed up his audience with a nod to Halloween, at Cheney's expense.
"This morning I was with the vice president," Bush told a gathering of grocery manufacturers. "I was asking him what costume he was planning. He said, 'Well, I'm already wearing it.' Then he mumbled something about the dark side of the force."
Ah yes, that old Darth Vader line. Used to be that only Cheney's critics called him that, not his boss. Or his wife. Or Cheney himself.
"Most of you knew me long before anyone called me Darth Vader," Cheney said in a speech at The Washington Institute last week. "I've been asked if that nickname bothers me, and the answer is, no. After all, Darth Vader is one of the nicer things I've been called recently."
Darth Cheney
Museum Is Dying
Elvis Is Alive
If Elvis was here today, he might say, "Thank you, thank you very much" for the 17 years an odd Missouri outpost has been making the case that the King never died.
Bill Beeny, the 81-year-old proprietor of The Elvis is Alive Museum, said he has placed his Elvis Presley memorabilia on eBay in hopes that someone else will take up the cause. His collection includes photographs, books, FBI files, replicas of the Cadillac the King drove and of the casket and gravestone from his 1977 funeral, even a painted Elvis head.
Beeny, a self-described "western Kentucky hillbilly" Baptist minister who wound up in Missouri 50 years ago, is selling the contents of his roadside attraction, a transformed coin-operated laundry 55 miles west of St. Louis that he opened in 1990, to satisfy something else that drives him.
He hopes someone will buy the collection and open a new museum dedicated to the theory that Elvis lives - although the look and feel of Beeny's place could be hard to duplicate.
Elvis Is Alive
Prank Leaves 75 Without Homes
Lawn Gnomes
A number of gnomes have taken sanctuary at the Springfield (Oregon) police station. Somebody apparently collected 75 lawn ornaments from around town and then, on the night of Oct. 17, placed them meticulously on and around the lawn of one house.
Among the plastic and porcelain geese, deer and frogs are gnomes, such as a weather gnome outfitted with a rain gauge.
Police want to find the rightful owners.
"We need to get them out of here," Capt. Richard Harrison said. "Every time I leave my office they're sitting in my chair, working on my computer. I can't seem to get rid of the darn things."
Lawn Gnomes
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