Ariel Levy: Don't Laugh (nymag.com)
During the Bush years, satire was one of the Democrats' most potent weapons. But Al Franken's earnest-sometimes tearful-campaign for senator raises the question: Can politics and comedy co-exist?
Tom Danehy: The Bush administration is losing every semblance of sanity (tucsonweekly.com)
I have always held to the theory (a theory of my own design, to be sure) that nations sometimes act and react like individuals. Geopolitical maneuverings are often nothing more than playground behavior, writ large. This is part of the reason I was so distressed when, after people from Saudi Arabia (who were working out of Afghanistan and Pakistan) attacked our country, George W. Bush decided to invade Iraq.
Jim Hightower: REGULATORS TRAVELING ON INDUSTRY'S TAB (jimhightower.com)
Washington doesn't need a new ethics law - it needs a good kindergarten teacher! Even kindergarteners know what "don't cheat" means, so why are top government officials so slow to grasp the most basic concepts of integrity? The latest miscreants to embarrass the public trust come out of the consumer product safety commission.
Richard Roeper: All eyes on you? You must be a Peterson (suntimes.com)
Having grown up in the same neighborhood as a Charlie Brown and an Archie Andrews (for real), I've always sympathized with "regular" people who have the same names as a cartoon character, a movie star or an infamous figure.
SUSAN ESTRICH: Great Expectations (creators.com)
It was in the low 50s, if that, yesterday morning as I stood in the return line at Costco, which stretched outside. I'm not dressed for this weather, I thought to myself, standing there in pants, a long-sleeved blouse, quilted vest, socks and shoes. Last week, when I was in Boston and it was barely in the 50s, I was dressed in almost the same clothes - PLUS a coat and hat. I even found a scarf at a secondhand store. But in Los Angeles, where I live, it almost never occurs to anyone to put on a coat - and hats are decorative items, not head warmers.
A: Alan Alda
B: Penn Gillette
C: Wayne Rogers
D: Will Rogers
E. Sinbad
Chipshot was first, and mostly right, writing:
It's 6:44 a.m. here in E. Texas, so I know I'm nowhere near the first, but since I lived less than 8 miles from the Oklahoma border for several years before moving here, I know it was that funny Oklahoma philosopher Will Rogers, as opposed to Roger Williams, in whose hospital in RI I was born oh so long ago.
Joe ("We the People are the rightful master of both congress and the courts - not to overthrow the Constitution, but to overthrow the men who pervert the constitution."
- Abraham Lincoln -) was second, and also correct with:
...and the answer is, D: Will Rogers!
Alan J was third with a succinct:
Will Rogers
And, Sally P was fourth:
PS I would have been online yesterday, but one of our little ones fell asleep right in front of the computer! We all voted unanimously, to leave him there!
(It was the rowdy one...)
CBS begins the night with a RERUN'CSI: The 2nd One', followed by a RERUN'CSI: The 3rd One', then '48 Hours'.
NBC fills the night with the movie 'The Incredibles' (yes, they ran it Thursday night, too), followed by a RERUN'30 Rock'.
Of course, 'SNL' is a RERUN - a compilation show - 'Thanksgiving Leftovers'.
ABC fills the night with LIVE'College Football', then pads the left coast with local crap and an old 'Oprah'.
The CW here has '21 Jump Street', followed by 'Wonder Woman'.
Faux has the tradtional 'Cops', another 'Cops', and 'America's Most Wanted'.
MY has 'NFL Total Access', followed by 'IFL Battleground'.
A&E has the movie 'The Godfather', followed by the movie 'The Godfather, Part II'.
AMC offers the movie 'The Hunt For Red October', followed by the movie 'The Searchers', then the movie 'Rio Bravo'.
BBC -
[12:00 PM] You Are What You Eat - Episode 1;
[12:30 PM] You Are What You Eat - Episode 2;
[1:00 PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares - Ep. 3 Walnut Tree;
[2:00 PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares - Ep. 4 Moore Place;
[3:00 PM] Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares - Ep 5 Sandgate;
[4:00 PM] Top Gear;
[5:00 PM] Top Gear - Episode 1;
[6:00 PM] Doctor Who - Ep 11 Fear Her;
[7:00 PM] Doctor Who - Ep 12 Army of Ghosts;
[8:00 PM] Torchwood - Ep 11 Combat;
[9:00 PM] Torchwood - Ep 12 Captain Jack Harkness;
[10:00 PM] The Graham Norton Show - Ep 6 Alison Moyet;
[11:00 PM] Torchwood - Ep 11 Combat;
[12:00 AM] Torchwood - Ep 12 Captain Jack Harkness;
[1:00 AM] The Graham Norton Show - Ep 6 Alison Moyet;
[2:00 AM] Doctor Who - Ep 12 Army of Ghosts;
[3:00 AM] Changing Rooms - Ep. 10 Tolworth;
[3:30 AM] Changing Rooms - Ep. 11 Torquay;
[4:00 AM] Bargain Hunt - Ep. 4 Shepton 21;
[4:30 AM] Bargain Hunt - Ep. 5 Westpoint 12;
[5:00 AM] Cash in the Attic - Ep. 7 Banham;
[5:30 AM] Cash in the Attic - Ep. 8 Tredwen;
[6:00 AM] BBC World News. (ALL TIMES EDT)
Bravo has 'Project Runway', followed by the movie 'Cold Mountain', then the movie 'Cold Mountain', again.
Comedy Central has the movie 'Blue Collar TV Rides Again', 'Kevin Jame', and 'Dave Chappelle'.
FX has the movie '13 Going On 30', followed by the movie 'Spider-Man 2'.
History has 'Modern Marvels', 'Kennedys: The Curse Of Poser', and 'The Kennedy Assassination: Beyond Conspiracy'.
IFC -
[06:05 AM] IFC News Special;
[06:20 AM] Stolen Summer;
[08:00 AM] Blind Swordsman #1: The Tale of Zatoichi;
[09:40 AM] Kingdom Come;
[11:15 AM] Seven And a Match;
[01:00 PM] Stolen Summer;
[02:35 PM] Kingdom Come;
[04:10 PM] Seven And a Match;
[05:55 PM] Stolen Summer;
[07:30 PM] Marci X;
[09:00 PM] Employee of the Month;
[10:45 PM] The Anniversary Party;
[12:45 AM] Hedwig and The Angry Inch;
[02:20 AM] Media Lab Results;
[02:30 AM] Employee of the Month;
[04:15 AM] The Anniversary Party. (ALL TIMES EST)
SciFi has 'The Stand' (part 4 of 4), followed by a FRESH'Battlestar Galactica'.
Sundance -
[05:15 AM] Sophie Scholl - In Defiance of All Powers;
[06:15 AM] Help!;
[07:50 AM] Travellers & Magicians;
[09:35 AM] Return to the Border;
[10:25 AM] Emile;
[12:00 PM] Assisted Living;
[01:30 PM] Lurch;
[02:00 PM] Wynton Marsalis + John Besh;
[02:45 PM] Philip and His Seven Wives;
[04:00 PM] Still Breathing;
[06:00 PM] Episode 3;
[07:00 PM] Episode 7;
[08:15 PM] Tout Va Bien;
[10:00 PM] Girls Town;
[11:30 PM] Lower City;
[01:15 AM] Henry & June;
[03:45 AM] Fired!;
[05:00 AM] Mickybo and Me. (ALL TIMES EST)
A worker restores the stonework under Diego Rivera's "The struggle of the classes" mural in Mexico City's National Palace November 23, 2007. Mexico is marking the 50th anniversary of Rivera's death with a series of exhibitions.
Photo by Andrew Winning
Harry Belafonte began the first of a daylong round of interviews Thursday with a cane at his side and a cast on his fractured right foot, a result of accidentally hitting a piece of furniture while "romping" with his grandchildren two months ago.
When asked how it happened, he joked with his trademark wide smile and soft, raspy voice, "I had a heated discussion with Condoleezza Rice and I lost my shoe."
Belafonte has harshly criticized the U.S. administration under resident George W. Bush, whom he called the "greatest tyrant" and "terrorist in the world" during a meeting with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez last year. Belafonte has also had some choice words for former U.S. secretary of state Colin Powell and current Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in recent years.
He'll never regret his statements about Bush, he said.
"Absolutely not," said Belafonte. "As a matter of fact, I marvel at how tempered I was. The comment did not in any way match my state of anger and rage at those people, but I choose to behave as civilly as I can and set a civil example for those who might be influenced by what I say."
A steel-made two-ton bandoneon monument, 3.5 meters high (11.48 feet ) is seen after have being inaugurated in homage to the city's distinctive tango music in Buenos Aires, November 22, 2007. The bandoneon, a kind of accordion, is the most prominent sound in many tango songs.
Photo by Enrique Marcarian
J.K. Rowling's magical, Midas touch has landed her on the cover of Entertainment Weekly as the magazine's entertainer of the year.
Rowling was in a class by herself on the magazine's list of the year's top entertainers, which was separated by editors into five other categories that evoke school cliques: prodigies, class clowns, most popular, most buzzed-about and valedictorians.
The magazine named George Clooney - actor, director, activist - a valedictorian because he has "deftly balanced box-office viability with personal responsibility." Will Smith, Angelina Jolie and the cast of "The Sopranos" also made the grade, among others.
Matt Damon made the list of most popular, as did Carrie Underwood, Katherine Heigl, Johnny Depp and Kanye West.
Tina Fey, creator and co-star of "30 Rock," was recognized as a class clown for her hilariously cringe-inducing portrayal of comedy-show producer Liz Lemon on the NBC sitcom.
Howard Stern finds himself listening to something different these days: "The Howard Stern Show," on satellite radio.
"I know the show is funnier," Stern says over lunch. "I tune in and it's funny. It's a good show. I'm proud of it."
Almost two years since his much-heralded leap from CBS Radio's WXRK-FM and terrestrial syndication to Sirius Satellite Radio, Stern is blissful.
He's reveling in the huge increase in satellite radio subscriptions, not to mention the woes of old foes like his ex-employer or longtime nemesis Don Imus.
He's only two years into his five-year, $500 million deal with Sirius and he's already considering a possible extension. Stern is on board with the proposed satellite merger with once-rival XM. And he's proud of his role in expanding the number of Sirius subscribers from 600,000 when he signed his deal to nearly 8 million today.
An undated handout photo shows a rare Beijing enamel glass brushpot decorated with a quartet of European 'mother and child' pictures from the Qianlong period. A cache of Asian art, Chinese jade and porcelain goes under the hammer in Hong Kong next week at what global auction house Christie's expects will be another record-breaking sale in an apparently insatiable market. The brushpot is expected to fetch $3.8 million at the auction which will run November 25-29, 2007.
Nobel laureate Günter Grass has filed a lawsuit against the publisher of his biography for claiming that he voluntarily joined the Nazis' murderous Waffen-SS unit during World War II, his lawyer said Friday.
Attorney Paul Hertin said he filed a request for an injunction against Random House - which owns the biography's publisher Goldmann Verlag - earlier this week at a regional court in Berlin. It contained an affidavit by the 80-year-old writer in which he contends he was drafted to the SS and did not join the service voluntarily, Hertin said.
In Michael Jürgs' biography "Günter Grass," which was published in an updated version in October, the author writes that "Günter Grass admitted ... that as a 17-year-old he volunteered to join the Waffen-SS," Spiegel Online reported on Friday.
In his affidavit Grass writes that "as a 15-year-old I volunteered in Gotenhafen to join the Wehrmacht. In fact I wanted to serve on a submarine or alternatively a tank unit," Spiegel Online reported. "This has nothing to do, directly or indirectly, with volunteering for the Waffen-SS. I was enlisted with the Waffen-SS without my active cooperation only when I received the notification of the draft in autumn 1944."
The millionaire producer of the "Girls Gone Wild" video series has accused guards of abusing him during his brief stay at an Oklahoma jail, a newspaper reported Friday.
Guards at the Grady County Law Enforcement Center denied Joe Francis food and blankets and threatened to strap him naked to a chair for 48 hours, Francis' attorneys alleged last month in court papers seeking his release on bail in a Florida case, The Oklahoman reported.
Francis, 34, was held at the jail from May 17 to June 4 while being moved from a Florida jail to a federal facility in Reno, Nev., where he is awaiting trial next year on a tax evasion charge.
Grady County officials denied the accusations, telling the newspaper that guards never threatened to strap Francis to a chair, that Francis had an extra blanket he shouldn't have had confiscated and that his transfer was delayed because his family had somehow found out when he was to have been moved, creating a potential security risk.
The husband of troubled soul-singer Amy Winehouse was remanded in custody after appearing in a London court on Friday charged with beating up a bartender, media reports said.
Blake Fielder-Civil, 25, and another man, Michael Brown, were due to stand trial this month, accused of inflicting grievous bodily harm on a pub landlord, James King, in Hoxton, east London, in June last year.
Their trial has been delayed after police arrested Fielder-Civil and charged him with conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.
At a hearing at Snaresbrook Crown Court, east London, Fielder-Civil was denied bail and remanded in custody until January 18.
Chinese acrobats of the National Acrobatics Troupe perform during the press rehearsal of their new show 'Spectacular Acrobatics' at TIM Show Center in Istanbul, Turkey, Friday, Nov. 23, 2007.
Photo by Murad Sezer
A butterfly species discovered in a Florida museum has a new name after an anonymous bidder paid $40,800 for naming rights in order to honor a woman who died in 1972.
The butterfly's common name will be the Minerva owl butterfly. It's being named after the late Margery Minerva Blythe Kitzmiller of Malvern, Ohio.
The butterfly's scientific name will be Opsiphanes blythekitzmillerae.
The 4-inch butterfly is brown, white and black and lives in Sonora, a Mexican state bordering Arizona. Proceeds from the auction will go toward further research of Mexican butterflies.
A performer from the U.S. known as "The Enigma" pulls a condom out from his mouth that he put up his nose during the inauguration of the International Tattoo Convention in Lima November 23, 2007.
Photo by Pilar Olivares
A soldier whose injuries in Iraq forced him to leave the military early "inadvertently" received a letter from the Army asking him to repay a portion of his sign-up bonus, the military said.
Former Pfc. Jordan Fox "inadvertently" got a letter asking him to repay $2,800 of his $7,500 enlistment bonus, and officials were checking to see if other injured soldiers were sent similar notices, the Army said in a statement Wednesday.
In late October, Fox got a letter from the Army seeking repayment of part of his enlistment bonus because he had only completed about a year of his three-year service.
Another letter arrived a week later warning he could be charged interest if he didn't make a payment within 30 days.
"I was just completely shocked," Fox said. "I couldn't believe I'd gotten a bill in the mail from the Army."
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