'Best of TBH Politoons'
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Kurt Vonnegut: Blues for America (sundayherald.com)
Foreigners love us for our jazz. And they don't hate us for our purported liberty and justice for all. They hate us now for our arrogance.
Five Minutes With: Eugene Jarecki (campusprogress.org)
Basically, thirty million people marched in advance of the Iraq War before a single shot was fired. That's around the world. If you take the analogous year before the Vietnam War, 1963, about twelve Quakers marched down 5th Avenue in New York City. So I do think there has been a tremendous development in awareness. Just like the protests helped inspire my film, things will start to feed on themselves, and in that darkness, we will find some greater light.
Arianna Huffington; The Democratic response we should have heard
The problem isn't that the Democrats lack a spokesman with a different vision able to articulate it. The problem is that the Democrats keep shooting themselves in the foot - sending out Tim Kaine, who ... told reporters "I'm not an expert on foreign policy or the war," instead of putting Jack Murtha (who is) front, center and in prime time.
Byron Williams : State of the economy: alarming
Furthering the economic concern is the recent EPI report that demonstrates in state after state, regardless if they voted blue or red, the trend is practically the same: the highest income families are realizing an increase in wages, while poor and middle income families are staring at stagnating or declining wages.
Edward Jay Epstein: The End of Originality Or, why Michael Bay's The Island failed at the box office (slate.com)
Of course, there are many original movies that overcome the awareness handicap-and, in rare cases, such as Universal's Cinderella Man, a box-office flop will be rereleased at a later date-but the lesson for studios from such fiascos is that original movies are a far more perilous enterprise than retreads of past successes.
Troy Patterson: The Secret to Jason Lee (slate.com)
In the pilot of My Name Is Earl, Earl (Jason Lee) introduces himself as "that guy you see going into the convenience store when you stop off in that little town on the way to Grandma's house-sorta shifty-looking fellow who buys a pack of smokes, a couple lotto scratchers, and a tallboy at 10 in the morning."
David Bruce: Good Deeds (athensnews.com)
In 1919, Anna Pavlova danced in Liege, Belgium. To get publicity for her performances, she advertised in the newspapers; however, after the performances, when her staff went to the newspapers to pay her advertising bills, they declined to accept any money, saying, "Pavlova has done so much for the national appreciation of art that we simply cannot bring ourselves to accept money from her."
Video: A Day in the Life of Meg Cabot, author of "The Princess Diaries"
Cartoon: The Search for Conventional Wisdom
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny and dry.
There's a fire behind the Orange Curtain and the smoke has blown this way. The afternoon light was oddly orange-ish.
Added a new flag - Saint Kitts And Nevis.
Offers Guitar As Reward for Dog
B.B. King
B.B. King's dog, Lucille, has disappeared, and the legendary bluesman is offering an autographed copy of one of his signature "Lucille" guitars in an effort to get her back.
The 2-year-old white female Maltese, named after King's signature guitar, went missing about 10 days ago in West Hollywood while she was under the care of his co-manager, Matthew Lieberman.
Canvassing nearby animal shelters and putting up some 500 signs failed to turn up any trace of Lucille so the 80-year-old musician decided to offer a signed guitar as a reward.
B.B. King
Eavesdropping Illegal
Jimmy Carter
Former President Jimmy Carter criticized the Bush administration's domestic eavesdropping program Monday and said he believes the president has broken the law.
"Under the Bush administration, there's been a disgraceful and illegal decision - we're not going to the let the judges or the Congress or anyone else know that we're spying on the American people," Carter told reporters. "And no one knows how many innocent Americans have had their privacy violated under this secret act."
The former president also rebuked Attorney General Alberto Gonzales for telling Congress that the spying program is authorized under Article 2 of the Constitution and does not violate the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act passed during Carter's administration. Gonzales made the assertions in testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, which began investigating the eavesdropping program Monday.
"It's a ridiculous argument, not only bad, it's ridiculous. Obviously, the attorney general who said it's all right to torture prisoners and so forth is going to support the person who put him in office. But he's a very partisan attorney general and there's no doubt that he would say that," Carter said. "I hope that eventually the case will go to the Supreme Court. I have no doubt that when it's over, the Supreme Court will rule that Bush has violated the law."
Jimmy Carter
Belated Canadian Debut
Howard Stern
Shock jock Howard Stern's Sirius satellite radio show made its belated Canadian debut Monday, with a lengthy discussion about the Super Bowl followed by the usual raunchy fare and his assertion that the Canadian government is no fan of his brand of entertainment.
"That whole Canadian Sirius thing is weird," he said. "Like on the one hand they want us because they know that we sell radios, but on the other hand they kinda want to keep us low key because the Canadian government hates us."
The talk show had no shortage of profanity and political incorrectness. There were also commercials despite Sirius being a subscription-based service.
Howard Stern
Sells ABC Radio Stations, Network
Disney
The Walt Disney Co. said it will sell its 22 ABC Radio stations and network to Citadel Broadcasting Corp. in a cash and stock deal valued at $2.7 billion.
The transaction gives Disney shareholders about a 52 percent stake in a new company, called Citadel Communications, which combines Citadel's stations with Disney's ABC assets.
The deal does not includes Disney's ESPN and Radio Disney network.
The transaction gives Citadel 177 FM stations and 66 AM stations in the country's top markets, making it the nation's third largest radio group. The complex deal is structured to be tax free to Disney shareholders.
Disney
Hollywood Detective Indicted For Wiretaps
Anthony Pellicano
Celebrity sleuth Anthony Pellicano, once hired by some of the biggest names in Hollywood, was charged with illegally wiretapping and obtaining confidential records of performers, journalists and powerful executives in an indictment unsealed on Monday.
Among those whose privacy Pellicano is accused of breaching through wiretaps or illicit database searches were entertainers Sylvester Stallone, Garry Shandling, Kevin Nealon and Keith Carradine, as well as former New York Times reporter Bernard Weinraub and two partners of the leading talent firm Creative Artists Agency -- Kevin Huvane and Brian Lourd.
He was charged with six other individuals in a 110-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury on Wednesday, two days before Pellicano completed a 30-month prison sentence for federal firearms violations.
Pellicano has been quoted as vowing never to betray his high-profile former clients, though the case has been closely watched in Hollywood for signs that more powerful people might be caught up in the investigation.
Anthony Pellicano
Boca Raton Authorities May Charge
Joe Pesci
Police have confirmed that Oscar-winning actor Joe Pesci is being investigated after a fan said the star punched him in the mouth because he snapped a photo of him in a shopping center parking lot.
The "Goodfellas" star gave his account of the Jan. 22 incident last week at a Boca Raton home where he was staying, police spokesman Sgt. Jeff Kelly said. Garry Serino, who was with Pesci at the time, also gave police a statement.
Police were preparing to send the investigation results to the Palm Beach County prosecutors to determine whether Pesci should be charged with misdemeanor battery for allegedly punching Juan Carlos Montenegro, 24.
Joe Pesci
May Be Questioned As Witness
Busta Rhymes
Detectives want to question Busta Rhymes about the fatal shooting of the rapper's bodyguard outside a Brooklyn warehouse where a star-studded video was being taped, officials said Monday.
Rhymes was among several potential witnesses who left the scene of the slaying early Sunday before police arrived, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly told reporters at police headquarters.
Rhymes, Missy Elliot and G-Unit members, including Lloyd Banks and Tony Yayo, were set to start filming on a ninth-floor soundstage when the violence erupted around 1:30 a.m. outside the industrial building, police said. About 500 had gathered for the video project that was to accompany a remix of Rhymes' latest hit single, "Touch It."
Busta Rhymes
German Fans Taunt Rivals
Borussia Dortmund
Hundreds of fans of German club Borussia Dortmund waved huge inflatable penises at local rivals Schalke 04 on Saturday above an abusive message for their hosts.
The pink blow-ups and a huge banner in Dortmund's yellow and black suggesting Schalke fans should procreate with themselves added a splash of colour to the dour 0-0 draw between the two Bundesliga sides.
Schalke's stadium in the Ruhr Valley city of Gelsenkirchen will host four group matches and a quarter-final at the World Cup in Germany in June and July.
Borussia Dortmund
In Memory
Myron Waldman
Animator Myron Waldman, who originated Betty Boop's dog, helped create two Oscar-nominated cartoons and put Superman and Raggedy Ann on the screen, died Saturday. He was 97.
Waldman died of congestive heart failure at New Island Hospital in Bethpage, said Rosalie Waldman, his wife of 57 years.
He was instrumental in the animation of Betty Boop, Popeye, Casper, Raggedy Ann and Andy, and the original Superman cartoon series, said Jerry Gladstone, president of American Royal Arts of Boca Raton, Fla., which represented Waldman's work.
Waldman was the last surviving head animator of the Max Fleischer Studios, a leader in the fledgling cartoon field of the 1920s which then became rivals to Walt Disney in the 1930s with its Betty Boop and Popeye the Sailor series.
Hired at Fleischer in 1930, Waldman worked on a popular series in which audiences were invited to "follow the bouncing ball" and sing along with lyrics on the screen. While at Fleischer, Waldman also originated the design for Pudgy, Betty Boop's little dog.
Two of his Fleischer cartoons, "Educated Fish," 1937, and "Hunky and Spunky," 1938, earned Academy Award nominations.
Waldman also assumed a major role in the animation of Superman and Popeye, and became the principal animator of "Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy," based on the Johnny Gruelle children's stories.
After World War II, Waldman joined Paramount's Famous Cartoon Studios, where he was instrumental in the character design of Casper, redesigning Seymour Reit's original drawing to the image known today.
Myron Waldman
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