'Best of TBH Politoons'
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Lisa Wangsness and Andrea Estes: Personal stories changed minds (boston.com; Posted on andrewtobias.com)
Representative Richard J. Ross, a Republican from Wrentham, had a revelation Wednesday afternoon after meeting with a gay Republican who presented him with this challenge: As director of his family's funeral home, Ross had surely treated every family the same, no matter what their race, religion, or sexual orientation. So why would he do anything else in his other job, as a lawmaker?
Jim Hightower: BUSHITES ETHICAL CLUELESSNESS (.jimhightower.com)
What is it about Bush & Company that makes both George and his corporate cronies so hamhanded about ethics?
Byron Williams: Tasting Hunger Up Close and Personal (huffingtonpost.com)
As the public in general, and Republicans in particular, laud the presidency of Ronald Reagan as someone who made them feel good to be an American, few recall the Gipper's insensitivity to poverty.
Wendee Holtcamp: My 30 Days of Consumer Celibacy (OnEarth Magazine; Posted on AlterNet.org)
For a whole month, one writer practiced a kind of abstinence so she could better understand her own complicity in our throwaway culture.
Richard Roeper: No one should feel sorry for a Hollywood brat (suntimes.com)
Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears, "Girls Gone Wild" guru Joe Francis -- it's as if they've all been invited to join Willy Wonka in the Chocolate Factory, and one by one they've met their comeuppance.
Piaf, the woman behind the icon (entertainment.timesonline.co.uk)
Piaf's life certainly makes for extraordinary drama: born in Paris in 1915, she was abandoned by her mother as a toddler and left by her father, a circus acrobat, in the care of his mother, who ran a brothel in Normandy. At three years old she suffered from an extreme form of conjunctivitis that left her blind. She regained her sight years later, when some of the prostitutes pooled their cash to pay for treatment, an episode featured in the film.
The Long Game (guardian.co.uk)
Thirty years after winning her Wimbledon title, Virginia Wade tells Stephen Moss about the day that defined her career, why young British players are struggling at the highest level - and why today she might not even choose to be a tennis player.
MADCAT Comments
KACEY JONES
I'VE HAD THE PLEASURE OF SEEING KACEY JONES...
AND AS CARLENE CARTER SAID: SHE PUTS THE CUNT BACK INTO COUNTRY. ONE CRAZY KICK ASS HONKY TONK WOMAN!!! DON'T MISS HER!!! THANKS
BARON DAVE FOR SHOWCASING A REALLY TALENTED BABE!
JD
New Interview
RE: Margaret Cho
Hey There
You were so kind as to post my Margaret Cho cover story for
Frontiers, well there is another cover story I did on her up
Stray Bullets.
Hubert's Poetry Corner
SEE SPOT FUN
SPOTTING TRUTH?
Purple Gene Reviews
'The Closer'
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Still sunny and pleasant.
Samuel Johnson Prize
Rajiv Chandrasekaran
An American reporter's account of the surreal world inside Baghdad's top security Green Zone was named on Monday as winner of the Samuel Johnson Prize, billed as the world's richest award for non-fiction.
The 30,000 pound prize was given to the Washington Post's former Baghdad bureau chief Rajiv Chandrasekaran for his "Imperial Life in the Emerald City", which took readers into a bubble of startling Americana.
"Imperial Life in the Emerald City is up there with the greatest reportage of the last 50 years - as fine as (John) Hershey on Hiroshima and (Truman) Capote's In Cold Blood," said Helena Kennedy, chairwoman of the judges.
"The writing is cool, exact and never overstated and in many places very humorous as the jaw-dropping idiocy of the American action is revealed," she added in praising the book that was drawn from hundreds of interviews and internal documents.
Rajiv Chandrasekaran
Plans Downloads Of Catalog
Ringo Starr
Ringo Starr has signed a deal to release his Capitol/EMI catalog online.
Downloads of his hit 1970 album, "Beacoups of Blues," and 1973's "Ringo" will be available Aug. 28, along with a compilation album, "Photograph: The Very Best of Ringo Starr," his publicist said.
The best-of collection, with tracks such as "It Don't Come Easy" and "Sentimental Journey," will also be released on CD and as a collector's edition CD/DVD package featuring a film and video clips.
Six Ringo Starr ring tones will also be offered.
Ringo Starr
Pirates At Work
`Sicko'
YouTube viewers hoping to get a free look at Michael Moore's newest film, "Sicko," were out of luck Monday after the site pulled links to pirated versions of the health care documentary that surfaced on the video-sharing Web site over the weekend.
A 124-minute version of the film had been posted on YouTube by at least two users. It could be watched in 14 video clips. Each segment had received 500 to 600 views before it was removed.
However, "Sicko" was still easily available elsewhere on the Internet Monday. The popular file-sharing Web site The Pirate Bay indicated at least 2,000 available copies of the movie, with another 2,000 downloads in progress. Another file-sharing Web site, Torrentspy.com, indicated another 1,400 available copies of "Sicko."
`Sicko'
Baby News
Henry Daniel Moder
Julia Roberts has welcomed her third child, a boy named Henry Daniel Moder.
Henry was born Monday in Los Angeles. He weighed 8 1/2 pounds, said Roberts' publicist, Marcy Engelman.
Roberts, 39, and her husband, 38-year-old cinematographer Danny Moder, have 2-year-old twins, Hazel and Phinnaeus.
Henry Daniel Moder
Wedding News
Joyner - Cryer
Jon Cryer married entertainment reporter Lisa Joyner in Mexico this weekend. Cryer and Joyner, host of TV Guide Channel's "InFANity," were wed Saturday in Cabo San Lucas, Cryer's spokeswoman, Karen Samfilippo, said Monday.
He co-stars with Charlie Sheen in the hit CBS sitcom "Two and a Half Men." Cryer also starred as the nerdy outcast Duckie in the 1986 teen movie classic "Pretty in Pink."
Joyner - Cryer
Hospital News
Ornette Coleman
Ornette Coleman was treated for heat-related dehydration after he collapsed during his performance at the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival this weekend.
The 77-year-old saxophonist, who is considered a pioneer of "free jazz," was taken to a local hospital Sunday and released later that night, said publicist Ken Weinstein.
Coleman won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for music for his 2006 album, "Sound Grammar," his first live recording in 20 years. The album features six new compositions and remakes of classics "Song X" and "Turnaround."
Ornette Coleman
New Standards For Museums
Smithsonian
The Smithsonian Institution's governing board clamped down Monday on how the museum complex conducts its business. The changes followed Smithsonian Secretary Lawrence M. Small's resignation in March amid criticism about his compensation and spending.
Under the changes, high-ranking executives at the museum complex will be barred from serving on corporate boards. The Board of Regents also called for the creation of a new chairman position, one that will interact with Smithsonian leaders on a weekly basis.
In all, the board adopted 25 recommendations following a nearly three-month review by its governance committee, which called for increased oversight and transparency to conform with the best practices of nonprofit organizations.
Smithsonian
Help Sought
Soldiers' Families
Families of injured soldiers poured out tales of frustration Monday, telling a presidential panel they were forced to become full-time caregivers because of an overwhelmed health system.
In its final weeks before issuing a final report, the nine-member commission heard testimony on the support available to loved ones of those hurt in battle in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Sarah Wade, wife of Army Sgt. Ted Wade, detailed an endless cycle of paperwork lost by the military after her husband's Humvee was hit by an explosive in Iraq that caused him traumatic brain injury and severed his right arm.
Often waiting hours on end on a telephone helpline that yielded little information, Wade said it took her two years to get the necessary paperwork and fix other errors that resulted in lapsed government disability checks.
Soldiers' Families
Settles $48M Lawsuit
Michael Jackson
Lawyers for Michael Jackson settled a lawsuit Monday brought by a New Jersey financial company that was seeking $48 million.
The lawsuit by Prescient Acquisition of Hackensack, N.J., was settled just as jury selection was set to begin in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.
Terms of the settlement weren't released.
Michael Jackson
Unflattering Clear Channel Billboards
Britney Spears
Lawyers for Britney Spears have told a Florida radio station to take down billboards showing the pop star's shaven head as part of an advertisement for its morning talk show.
The billboards featured three identical pictures of Spears, apparently snarling, next to radio station WFLZ's logo and a picture of talk show host Todd Schnitt.
A spokeswoman for Clear Channel Communications, which owns WFLZ, said on Monday it had received a letter from law firm Lavely & Singer dated June 14. The letter demands that the billboards be removed and says images of Spears can be used only with consent.
Britney Spears
Justice Expands Investigation
Ted Stevens
Federal prosecutors in Washington are scrutinizing Sen. Ted Stevens' home remodeling project as part of a spinoff of an Alaska corruption investigation that has led to charges against lawmakers and contractors.
Until recently, the Alaska Republican appeared to be a peripheral figure in a broad Justice Department investigation into bribery, extortion and other corruption.
But Stevens, the longest-serving Republican in Senate history, recently hired lawyers and said the FBI told him to preserve documents. Prosecutors have questioned his friends and associates, including in some cases before a Washington grand jury, according to someone familiar with the case who spoke on condition of anonymity because grand jury matters are secret by law.
Investigators have focused on a 2000 remodeling project that more than doubled the size of the senator's home in the ski resort town of Girdwood, about 40 miles south of Anchorage.
Ted Stevens
Returning To Florida
Lou Pearlman
The man who created the Backstreet Boys and 'N Sync agreed to be returned to Florida from Guam to face a federal bankruptcy charge, officials said Monday.
It wasn't immediately clear when Lou Pearlman would leave the U.S. territory of Guam. Deputy U.S. Marshal Jimmy Disbrow said Pearlman would be transported from Guam within 10 days - probably to Hawaii or California. From there, Disbrow said, it could take two or three weeks before Pearlman arrives in Florida.
Pearlman was arrested in Indonesia last week on one count of bank fraud. He was expelled from the resort island of Bali after the FBI contacted authorities there, transferred to U.S. custody and flown to Guam for a hearing.
Lou Pearlman
Purchased By Dubai
Queen Elizabeth 2
The booming Gulf emirate of Dubai announced on Monday it had bought the Queen Elizabeth 2, one of the world's most majestic cruise liners, and planned to turn it into a luxury floating hotel.
Dubai said it has paid Cunard Line 100 million dollars for the liner, the latest move in its ambition to become a global tourism desert hotspot ranking alongside Las Vegas.
The QE2 will sail no more once it is berthed at a huge multi-million dollar palm-shaped artificial island and turned into a luxury hotel from 2009, according to the plans unveiled by Istithmar, the investment arm of state-owned Dubai World development company.
Queen Elizabeth 2
Pond Work
Carlsbad Caverns
State Game and Fish officials will help staff members at Carlsbad Caverns National Park remove exotic fish and amphibians from the pond at Rattlesnake Springs.
The effort is aimed at restoring native species, including the roundnose minnow and greenthroat darter. Non-native species that will be removed include the green sunfish, the largemouth bass and the bullfrog.
Park officials will pump water from the pond for one week. When half to two-thirds of the water has been removed, biologists will separate live fish in holding tanks - one for native fish, the other for non-natives.
Carlsbad Caverns
Painting Fetches 18 Million Pounds
Claude Monet
A view of the River Thames painted by Claude Monet sold for almost 18 million pounds (US$36 million) at auction Monday, kicking off a week of big-budget sales on the London art market.
"Waterloo Bridge, Temps Couvert" ("Waterloo Bridge, Overcast Weather") was bought by an anonymous telephone bidder for 17,940,000 pounds (US$35.6 million) including buyer's premium during a sale at Christie's auction house.
The price - more than double the work's pre-sale estimate - is the second-highest ever for a Monet at auction. The record of almost 20 million pounds was set at Sotheby's in 1998.
Another Monet, the water-lily painting "Les Arceaux de Roses, Givenchy," sold for 8,980,000 pounds (US$17.8 million) Monday, just below its pre-sale estimate.
Claude Monet
Drying Up?
Jack Daniels
Jack Daniels water supply is running low and putting the century-plus whiskey business in jeopardy.
The water here has become a precious commodity. The water source for the whiskey is a spring flowing through the Jack Daniels property. For more than 140 years this spring, known as Cave Spring, has been the water supply for Jack Daniels. It is one of the most essential parts of the whiskey's recipie.
But this year there is a problem - that water supply is starting to flow less and less. Hamilton said the drought Tennessee is in is taking a toll on Cave Spring.
To the people who make Jack Daniels, all water is not created equal. It takes a special kind to make this whiskey and they say it's only here in this cave. For that reason they have started conserving as much as they can. Using the water only for the whiskey and nothing else and even finding ways to cut back on the amount used in the process.
Jack Daniels
In Memory
Thommie Walsh
Thommie Walsh, a Tony-winning choreographer who was in the original Broadway cast of "A Chorus Line," has died after a long battle with lymphoma. He was 57.
Walsh was best known for creating the role of Bobby in "A Chorus Line," Michael Bennett's backstage look at dancers' auditions for a big Broadway musical. The show based on dancers' real-life stories opened at the Public Theater off-Broadway in April 1975 before moving to Broadway's Shubert Theatre for a 6,137-performance run.
Using the name Thomas J. Walsh, he made his Broadway debut in "Seesaw," in 1973, dancing in the chorus of the Cy Coleman-Dorothy Fields musical directed and choreographed by Bennett. The show featured performer Tommy Tune, who later teamed with Walsh on several musicals.
The two co-choreographed "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" (1978) and then "A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine" (1980), for which they received a Tony Award for best choreography. Tune and Walsh also co-directed and co-choreographed "My One and Only" (1983), a new musical using old Gershwin songs and which starred Tune and Twiggy. It also won the duo a choreography Tony.
Walsh also created the choreography for "Nine" (1982), which Tune directed. Among the other shows for which Walsh did the musical staging were "The 1940s Radio Hour" (1979), "Do Patent Leather Shoes Reflect Up?" (1982) and "My Favorite Year" (1992).
Thommie Walsh
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