'Best of TBH Politoons'
Reader Recommended Reading
Arianna Huffington
An Excerpt:
"Alongside our famous individualism," [Barack Obama] said, "there's another ingredient in the American saga: a belief that we are connected as one people. If there's a child on the South Side of Chicago who can't read, that matters to me, even if it's not my child. If there's a senior citizen somewhere who can't pay for her prescription and has to choose between medicine and the rent, that makes my life poorer, even if it's not my grandmother. . . . It's that fundamental belief - I am my brother's keeper, I am my sister's keeper - that makes this country work. It's what allows us to pursue our individual dreams, yet still come together as a single American family. 'E pluribus unum.' Out of many, one."
Reader Suggeston
Maps
Reader Suggestion
Roger Ebert
An Excerpt:
"The Polar Express" has the quality of a lot of lasting children's entertainment: It's a little creepy. Not creepy in an unpleasant way, but in that sneaky, teasing way that lets you know eerie things could happen. There's a deeper, shivery tone, instead of the mindless jolliness of the usual Christmas movie. This one creates a world of its own, like "The Wizard of Oz" or "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory," in which the wise child does not feel too complacent.
Reader Contribution
More things you really shouldn't say...
More things you really shouldn't say during Passion Of Christ:
I can see your house from up here.
We are the Judean People's Front crack suicide squad! Suicide squad, attack!
Always look on the bright side of life.
That reminds me of this hangnail that's been bothering me all day long.
Have you got any nail clippers?
It was OK but the book was much better.
********
Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.
Thanks, Kip!
Recommended Reading
Two Columns By Matt Miller
Excerpt:
Democrats simply aren't playing the game at same level. It wasn't money this time - the money people came through. It was strategy.
Democrats also have not begun to frame their agenda in terms of values that resonate with "Red America." When the "values" discussion is played out on the turf of gay marriage and not on, say, the abuses of crony capitalism (which offends the values of Americans across the spectrum), then Democrats aren't properly defining the debate. When Democrats fail to use the language of religion to support progressive goals in areas like health care and education, they continue to miss opportunities to broaden their appeal.
Reader Comment
Re: Bush
Dear Marty,
I am struggling. I can't accept the fact that anyone who knew my brother would have voted for the asshole...especially 'Brunhilda'. More than ever I feel that I must speak for him now. He never had the chance to vote and now, Bush who was too chicken to serve, sends people to die in Iraq.
'Prunella' always claims to have been close to my brother...something I have no recollection of...and, yet, she voted for Bush. What a way to dishonor his memory.
I do not know how to talk to these people. When I want to discuss it with 'Brunhilda' she ignores me. I am so angry, I can't see straight.
Willow
Thanks, Willow!
Willow's brother Bobby (AKA: 'Rio'), an enlistee, was the first kid from our backwater killed in Viet Nam.
I don't understand the 'chickens for Colonel Sanders' mentality either.
OTOH, under no circumstances can I envision Rio as a republican. Wasn't Mr. Quigg a republican?
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Overcast & cool.
CostCo was crowded today.
Has anybody noticed 'Hotmail' upped storage to 250MB? Yowee!
Receives Monte Cristo Award
Karl Malden
Actor Karl Malden, who won an Oscar for his performance in the 1951 film "A Streetcar Named Desire," on Thursday received the Monte Cristo Award for his lifetime of stage work.
"The fact that they thought of me is a great pleasure to me," Malden, 92, said in a phone interview following the ceremony at the Beverly Hills Hotel.
The award, given by the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center in Connecticut, is named after the Nobel Prize-winning playwright's boyhood home - the Monte Cristo cottage, the setting for "Long Day's Journey Into Night" and "Ah, Wilderness!"
Malden was handed the award by actor Michael Douglas, his co-star in the 1970s television crime show, "The Streets of San Francisco."
Karl Malden
Set to Shoot 'Fahrenheit' Sequel
Michael Moore
Michael Moore plans a follow-up to "Fahrenheit 9/11," his hit documentary that assails resident Bush over the handling of the Sept. 11 attacks and the war on terrorism, according to a Hollywood trade paper.
Moore told Daily Variety that he and Harvey Weinstein, the Miramax boss who produced the film, hope to have "Fahrenheit 9/11 1/2" ready in two to three years.
The issues for the follow-up film will remain the same, Iraq and terrorism, Moore said.
"The official mourning period is over today and there is a silver lining: George W. Bush is prohibited by law from running again," Moore said.
Michael Moore
U.N. Plans Concert
Darfur Refugees
Musicians including Chrissie Hynde, Mick Hucknall and Scottish band Franz Ferdinand will perform at a concert next month for the people of Sudan's war-torn Darfur province, the United Nations refugee agency said Thursday.
The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said the "Refugee Voices for Darfur" concert at London's Royal Albert Hall would feature singers, accompanied by the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, performing the songs of Cole Porter.
U.S. soprano Barbara Hendricks, disco diva Jocelyn Brown, singer Andrew Coleman and British R&B newcomer Lemar also will perform at the Dec. 8 event. Franz Ferdinand, currently one of Britain's biggest bands, will play by video link from Mexico City.
Darfur Refugees
Wins Hall of Fame Gong
Bono
Bono, lead singer of Irish rock band U2, was handed an award inducting him into the UK Music Hall of Fame. Minutes later the reluctant recipient joked that he was tempted to hand it back.
"Only respect for the people who were running the show has me here. I hate the idea of being in the UK Hall of Fame to be honest with you ... We don't want to be in any Hall of Fame until we're retired or dead."
British singer Cliff Richard and The Shadows won the award for the 1950s, the Rolling Stones the 1960s, Queen the 1970s, Michael Jackson the 1980s and Robbie Williams the 1990s.
Bono
Sued by Ex-Girlfriend
Bill Maher
An ex-girlfriend of comedian Bill Maher sued him for $9 million on Thursday, saying he enticed her to give up a successful career as a flight attendant with false promises to marry her and buy her a home in Beverly Hills.
A spokesman for Maher, host of HBO's "Real Time" political satire show, had no immediate comment on the breach of contract suit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court by ex-model and airline stewardess Coco Johnsen, whose real name is Nancy Johnson.
In the suit, Johnsen said she and Maher met in 2003 and that their relationship lasted about 17 months, during which time she moved in with him and he promised to marry her and buy her a Beverly Hills house that was formerly lived in by Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez.
The suit said that Maher convinced her to give up her 12-year job with Delta airlines so that she could devote herself full-time to him and his career. But the suit added that after Johnsen quit working, Maher became abusive and made "insulting, humiliating and degrading racial comments" about her, as a black woman, and physically threatened and abused her.
Bill Maher
Bill Maher Hit With Palimony Suit - November 11, 2004 - The Smoking Gun
Coco Johnsen free pictures, pics, images, photos, gallery, videos, dvds, mpegs * MAJOR ADULT WARNING! *
Stations Deserted 'Ryan'
ABC
ABC television, backed by Republican Sen. John McCain and other leading conservatives, sought on Thursday to keep nervous affiliate stations from deserting a Veterans Day broadcast of the acclaimed World War II film "Saving Private Ryan."
Several ABC affiliates, including eight stations owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group and four owned by the Belo Corp., said they would show other programming, citing concerns about profanity and graphic violence in the film.
Sinclair said the recent crackdown on indecent material by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission was a major factor in its decision to shun the R-rated film, which ABC is obligated to air without editing or bleeps under a license agreement with DreamWorks SKG, the studio that produced it.
While the FCC declined to comment in advance of Thursday's telecast -- "that would be censorship," a spokeswoman told the Hollywood Reporter -- the agency defended the 2002 airing of film in a letter to the American Family Association, ruling that the film was neither profane nor indecent.
Sinclair, Belo and other station groups balking at the film said they had asked ABC to permit them to show it later in the evening, when fewer children were watching and FCC guidelines allow for more mature content, but ABC rejected their request.
ABC
Broke Into 'CSI: The 3rd One'
CBS Apologizes
CBS apologized Thursday for breaking into its prime-time drama "CSI: NY" for a special report on Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's death, blaming an "overly aggressive" producer.
The 10:55 p.m. EST report on Wednesday cut off the ending of the popular forensics drama, prompting a cascade of viewer complaints.
The network said the "CSI: NY" episode would be repeated in its entirety 10 p.m. EST Friday.
CBS Apologizes
The New Teyve in 'Fiddler'
Harvey Fierstein
Harvey Fierstein will play Tevye in the Broadway revival of "Fiddler on the Roof," replacing Alfred Molina in the musical-theater classic early next year.
Fierstein, last seen on Broadway as the full-figured Edna Turnblad in "Hairspray," joins the "Fiddler" production sometime in January, Wayne Wolfe, a spokesman for the show, said Thursday.
"I grew up as a kid in Brooklyn and `Fiddler on the Roof' meant everything to us," said Fierstein, adding that he saw both the original star, Zero Mostel, as well as one of Mostel's replacements, Herschel Bernardi, in the show. "It was sung at every bar mitzvah, every wedding. My father sang `Sunrise, Sunset' at my graduation. This show means something to our heritage. Being Jewish is not just a religion. It's a people."
Harvey Fierstein
Baby News
Claudia Schiffer
Supermodel Claudia Schiffer gave birth to a baby girl in London Thursday.
The baby weighed 7 pounds 2 ounces (3.24 kilograms) and mother and daughter were reported to be doing well. The couple did not announce her name.
Claudia Schiffer
Broadway Show
Earth, Wind & Fire
What do you do with a catalog of hot music? If you're Earth, Wind & Fire founder Maurice White, you team with Tony Award-nominated actor/choreographer Maurice Hines (brother of the late Gregory Hines) for a Broadway musical.
Taking a cue from Twyla Tharp's use of Billy Joel songs in "Movin' Out," "Hott Feett" will feature EW&F hits as well as White solo material. Hip-hop novelist Heru Ptah is penning the four-act musical.
Earth, Wind & Fire
Waits on National Guard Story
CBS Report
CBS News is still awaiting the conclusion of the independent investigation into its discredited "60 Minutes Wednesday" report on resident Bush's National Guard service, a network spokeswoman said Thursday.
The network asked former Attorney General Dick Thornburgh and Louis Boccardi, who retired last year as president and chief executive officer of The Associated Press, to examine how the network aired a story it later said it could not vouch for.
The report is expected to go to CBS chief executive Leslie Moonves, and its findings could affect the futures of news division President Andrew Heyward and anchorman Dan Rather, who reported the story.
CBS Report
Arrested Again
Mordechai Vanunu
Israeli police put nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu under house arrest on Thursday on suspicion of spilling more state secrets, seven months after he completed an 18-year prison term for treason.
Vanunu was bundled into an unmarked car at the Jerusalem church where he has lived since he left jail in April, witnesses said. Barred from going abroad or meeting foreign media for a probationary period, he had been under constant surveillance.
He was later released and put under house arrest for a week in a hostel attached to the church, police said, adding that they had confiscated documents and three laptop computers from his room in the church and would examine them for classified information.
Mordechai Vanunu
Message Sent By Marconi Auctioned
Titanic
A wireless message relayed to a ship rescuing survivors from the Titanic - and sent by Guglielmo Marconi, the creator of wireless radio - was sold for $4,563 Thursday at a British auction house.
The Marconigram, asking for news of the 1912 disaster, was relayed from New York to the S.S. Carpathia as members of her crew plucked survivors from the Atlantic Ocean.
The message Marconi sent to the Carpathia asked for news of the rescue operation, "or if this impossible ask Capt. to give reason why no news allowed to be transmitted."
Titanic
Boost Profile
Big-Bottomed Mannequins
J.Lo and Beyonce can take another bow. The booty-shaking stars have shaped the newest generation of mannequins, with hundreds of well-rounded plastic backsides appearing in shop windows across New York.
Bootylicious figures clad in tight low-rise jeans have spilled from the city's street fashion stores into more established labels.
The recent pop culture fixation on large bottoms has been around since at least 1992, when rapper Sir Mix-a-Lot scored a hit with "Baby Got Back."
Big-Bottomed Mannequins
Union Members Vote on New Contract
Disney
Each day, Helen Montgomery makes sure Cinderella's baby-blue dress is ironed, that there aren't any unwanted stripes on the back of Tigger's costume and that Mickey Mouse's white gloves are spotless.
The Walt Disney World employee is proud of her job, but she's not happy with the way she is being treated. She voted Thursday to reject the latest contract proposal from the Walt Disney Co. to six unions that cover 40 percent of the theme park's 52,000-person work force.
She said the wage increase and bonus proposed by the company won't cover the expected jump in the cost of health care insurance, which could increase by as much as $40 a week for her. She's willing to strike, if necessary.
"When my insurance goes up, my bonus will be gone," said Montgomery, a 25-year employee who earns $11.50 an hour - the top of her pay scale. "Keep the bonus. Give me a decent wage."
Disney
43-Years In Chile
Secret German Cult
A religious cult of German immigrants has broken decades of isolation from a world shocked by sex-abuse scandals in the group, the flight of its secretive leader and reports it once helped Chile's military government torture political prisoners.
In exclusive interviews, members of the 280-person sect ended decades of public silence to tell Reuters they had emerged from a long nightmare to the painful realization their God-like guru -- a fugitive facing child-sex charges -- had broken apart their families and fostered physical abuse.
The sect came here in the 1960s following Paul Schaefer, a charismatic World War II German army nurse, who cult members thought was God on earth and who preached an unnamed religion that said harsh discipline would draw them closer to the supreme being.
Schaefer came to Chile fleeing sex-abuse charges in Germany, and in 1961 founded Colonia Dignidad -- later renamed Villa Baviera.
For a lot more Secret German Cult
Basic Cable Networks
Ratings
Rankings for the top 15 programs on basic cable networks as compiled by Nielsen Media Research for the week of Nov. 1-7. Each ratings point represents 1,096,000 households. Day and start time (EST) are in parentheses.
1. NFL Football: Cleveland vs. Baltimore (Sunday, 8:28 p.m.), ESPN, 5.4, 5.93 million homes.
2. Election night coverage (Tuesday, 10 p.m.), Fox News Channel, 4.8, 5.31 million homes.
3. Election night coverage (Tuesday, 9 p.m.), Fox News Channel, 4.8, 5.26 million homes.
4. Election night coverage (Tuesday, 11 p.m.), Fox News Channel, 4.5, 4.96 million homes.
5. Election night coverage (Tuesday, 8 p.m.), Fox News Channel, 4.5, 4.94 million homes.
6. Election night coverage (Tuesday, 11 p.m.), CNN, 4.4, 4.81 million homes.
7. Election night coverage (Wednesday, 12 a.m.), Fox News Channel, 4.2, 4.58 million homes.
8. Election night coverage (Tuesday, 10 p.m.), CNN, 4.0, 4.41 million homes.
9. "Resident Bush Acceptance Speech" (Wednesday, 3:02 p.m.), Fox News Channel, 4.0, 4.4 million homes.
10. Election night coverage (Tuesday, 9 p.m.), CNN, 3.9, 4.23 million homes.
11. "The O'Reilly Factor" (Wednesday, 8 p.m.), Fox News Channel, 3.5, 3.88 million homes.
12. Election night coverage (Wednesday, 12 a.m.), CNN, 3.5, 3.83 million homes.
13. Election night coverage (Tuesday, 8 p.m.), CNN, 3.5, 3.82 million homes.
14. Election night coverage (Wednesday, 1 a.m.), Fox News Channel, 3.5, 3.81 million homes.
15. Election night coverage (Tuesday, 7 p.m.), Fox News Channel, 3.4, 3.73 million homes.
Ratings
In Memory
Erna Rosenstein
Erna Rosenstein, a surrealist painter and poet whose works evoked her experience as a Jew in Nazi-occupied Poland, has died, her son said Thursday. She was 91.
Rosenstein was born into a Jewish family on May 17, 1913 in Lviv, a formerly Polish city now in Ukraine. Before and after World War II, she belonged to an avant-garde group of artists that became known as the "Krakow Group."
She survived the war in Poland by using fake documents and an assumed Christian name, her son said.
Rosenstein, who was married to Polish writer Artur Sandauer, also published a book of memoirs and several volumes of poetry.
Rosenstein is survived by her son Adam Sandauer. Her funeral will take place next week.
Erna Rosenstein
In Memory
Iris Chang
Iris Chang, a best-selling author who chronicled the Japanese occupation of China and the history of Chinese immigrants in the United States, was found dead in her car of a self-inflicted gunshot, authorities said Wednesday. She was 36.
Chang, who won critical acclaim for her books "The Rape of Nanking" and "The Chinese in America," was found along Highway 17 just south of Los Gatos, Santa Clara County authorities said. On Tuesday morning, a motorist noticed her car parked on a side road, checked the vehicle and called police.
Born in Princeton, N.J., in 1968 and raised in Champaign-Urbana, Ill., Chang earned a bachelor's degree in journalism at the University of Illinois and a master's in science writing at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.
Chang worked briefly as a reporter for The Associated Press and the Chicago Tribune before leaving daily journalism to pursue her own writing. At age 25, she published her first book, "Threat of the Silkworm," which tells the story of Tien Hsue-shen, the Chinese-born physicist who pioneered China's missile program after being driven from the United States during the Cold War.
In 1997, Chang published the international bestseller "The Rape of Nanking," which described the rape, torture and killing of hundreds of thousands of Chinese civilians by Japanese soldiers in the former Chinese capital during the 1930s. "The Chinese in America," published last year, is a history of Chinese immigrants and their descendants in the United States.
Chang suffered a breakdown and was hospitalized during a recent trip researching her fourth book about U.S. soldiers who fought the Japanese in the Philippines during World War II, according to her former editor and agent Susan Rabiner.
Chang continued to suffer from depression after she was released from the hospital. In a note to her family, she asked to be remembered as the person she was before she became ill - "engaged with life, committed to her causes, her writing and her family," Rabiner said.
Iris Chang
Iris Chang's Web site
