Issue #27
Disinfotainment Today
By Michael Dare
UNDO THE COUP
'TBH Politoons'
Thanks, again, Tim!
Special Republican Hoax Bulletin
Disinfotainment Today
By Michael Dare
President Bush and a Republican House of Representatives are all that stand in the way of gay marriage becoming legal in America, the legal lowering of the age of sexual consent, and the final elimination of "sodomy" laws in all fifty states.If you don't get out and vote DEMOCRATIC, we as gay Americans will lose our influence to push through gay marriage in the Senate and the right for even gay teens to have sex whenever and with whomever they want. If you vote, Democrats could gain control of the House! Imagine Barney Frank as Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. It would be a far cry from the days of Henry Hyde. They'll be no stopping us!Right now, Jim Jeffords (Thank goodness for Vermont!), Tom Daschle, and our Democratic friends in the Senate are all that is stopping President Bush from getting his judicial nominees on the bench. Bush-appointed judges are the last thing sexually diverse people want.Whether you are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered, or just sympathetic towards our rights, please get out and vote Democratic this November 5th!Whether the Democratic Senate candidate is gay-friendly or not, you need to vote for that Democrat. When push comes to shove, new Senate and House members follow the leadership, and the Democratic leadership are ALWAYS in our corner!Wouldn't it be wonderful if openly gay married couples lived on every block and in every apartment building in America!Wouldn't it be wonderful if your child had an openly gay teacher!Wouldn't be wonderful if every word that attacks our rights was a crime!It'll never happen unless you get out and vote Democratic November 5th!
Bush Country was just forwarded the following email from one of our site visitors. The email is from a website called Gay America to their subscribers and shows just how entrenched Democrats are with the Gay movement. The title of the email was "Gay Rights or the Republicans, You Decide"!Bush Country thought it quite appropriate that we ask our site visitors the same thing and ask you read this email to see why voting this November 5th is so important to America's future! Please read and then vote! Email Sent From GayAmerica.com to their subscribers:
Dear Mr. Dare,
GayAmerica.COM did not send, nor does it condone the wording being attributed to GayAmerica.COM.
Apparently, evil is at work to discredit GayAmerica.Com which serves as an informational Web site for Gays, Lesbians, Bisexuals and Transgenders.
GayAmerica.COM does not even have a subscriber list.
The bogus e-mail is attributed to Jordan@gayamerica.com. GayAmerica.COM does not offer e-mail services to anyone.
Sincerely,
Rip Naquin-Delain
Webmaster
Reader Suggestion
from Tim H
Everyone should clip and save these important phone numbers. Take them
to the polls --- specially if you live in Florida, Missouri, Arkansas or
South Dakota!
If you have ANY trouble voting or suspect problems with the ballot or
how it is being handled, call the DNC:
Reader Alert
'COUNTING ON DEMOCRACY'
from tim h
In the face of the controversial decision by the PBS network to refuse to
transmit the investigative report, the nation's top PBS stations will independently
broadcast COUNTING ON DEMOCRACY.
Directed by Emmy-award winner Danny Schechter, the 57-minute
documentary follows BBC television reporter Greg Palast as he discovers how Katherine
Harris removed up to 57,000 legal voters from registries - mostly black - five months before
the 2000 election. While the public broadcast network chiefs refused to schedule
this important report, dozens of local stations are insisting on showing the expose
before the mid-term elections.
TONIGHT!!! ~~~>11/5 (10 pm) KCET --- Los Angeles, CA <~~~ TONIGHT!!!
11/6 (8 pm) WHUT --- Washington, DC
11/24 (1 am) KPBS --- San Diego, CA
For more information - www.globalvision.org/program/fla/fla.html
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
A very pretty day. Sun was out by 9am, and no (more) fog-induced pileups on the local freeway. Whew.
Today, the kid's teacher told the class that he didn't like Gray Davis because Gray Davis 'went to a church to tell the people
how to vote instead of praying, because Gray needs the prayers.'
Tonight, Tuesday, CBS offers a fresh 'JAG', and a fresh 'Judging Amy', then a Dan Rather 'special' 'Campaign 2002: Election Night'.
Scheduled on a fresh Dave are Halle Berry, "Survivor" reject Shii Ann Huang, and the Wallflowers.
Scheduled on a fresh Craiggers are Peri Gilpin, Joey Fatone, and Melissa Etheridge.
NBC has a 90-minute episode of a fresh 'Fear Factor', then a fresh 'Frasier' and capped with 'Dateline'.
Scheduled on a fresh Jay are Bob Newhart, Serena Williams, and Melissa Etheridge.
Scheduled on a fresh Conan are Sean Hayes, Lauren Graham, and the Trachtenburg Family Slide Show Players.
Scheduled on a fresh Carson Daly are Julie Bowen and Ben Kweller.
ABC will be starting their programs 5 minutes later than usual, to allow for local stations to update election results. Scheduled are a fresh '8 Simple Rules', a fresh 'Jim', a fresh 'Bonnie', a fresh 'Less Than Perfect', and wraps it with '2002 The Vote'.
The WB has a fresh 'Gilmore Girls' and a fresh 'Smallville'.
Faux has a 'special' - 'Fox's Funniest Outtakes', followed by a fresh '24'.
UPN starts with a fresh 'Buffy' and follows with a fresh 'Haunted'.
Anyone have any opinions?
Or reviews?
(See below for addresses)
Big Dog Watch Continues
Bill Clinton In New Bedford
Former President Bill Clinton, left, reaches into a crowd of supporters following a campaign rally for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Shannon O'Brien, right, in New Bedford, Masss., Monday Nov. 4, 2002.
Photo by Charles Krupa
#32
Woman With An Opinion
Sharon Osbourne
If she had to do it over again, Sharon Osbourne says she wouldn't have invited MTV's cameras into her home.
The cancer-stricken matriarch of television's favorite dysfunctional family told ABC's Barbara Walters that she's calling it quits after an upcoming, 10-episode season is through.
MTV's second season of "The Osbournes" begins Nov. 26. The first set of episodes drew record ratings for the network this spring and made aging heavy-metal star
Ozzy Osbourne and his family household names.
Sharon said Ozzy has begun drinking again in response to her cancer.
"We agreed to do the show and so the cameras are here all the time," she said. "So it's a little bit invasive right now and we have no privacy. You know when you're sick,
you want to be on your own? I can't throw up on my own and Ozzy can't get drunk on his own."
Sharon Osbourne
Get Tough on Viewing
HBO & 'The Sopranos'
Bars and restaurants that try to entice customers by showing Paulie Walnuts, Ralphie Cifaretto and the rest of "The Sopranos" gang on Sunday nights are hearing from another type of enforcer.
HBO lawyers are sending out letters telling them to turn the sets off, since it's illegal to show the network's signal in public places.
As a pay cable service, HBO is only supposed to be shown in private homes and hotels, said Jeff Cusson, a spokesman for the network.
While there's no actual law against showing HBO's signal publicly, Cusson said people who get HBO through their cable or satellite provider agree to follow those rules.
HBO would be in violation of its own agreements with movie companies if the network knew its signal was being seen in public and wasn't doing anything about it, he said.
Establishments that persist showing HBO programs despite the cease-and-desist letter could be liable for civil penalties. It's never gone that far, Cusson said. He wouldn't say how
many letters have gone out. HBO rarely goes out to find violators; lawyers usually send them once the network finds out about the promotions, usually through the newspaper.
HBO & 'The Sopranos'
Virgin Atlantic
Richard Branson
British entrepreneur Richard Branson poses with models wearing Branson face masks during a promotional event for the Virgin mobile phone service in
Sydney November 4, 2002. Branson said his Virgin Atlantic carrier was cashed up and well prepared to withstand a sustained transatlantic travel
downturn in the event of a U.S.-led attacks in Iraq.
Photo by Mark Baker
Bound for Radio Simulcast
David Letterman
CBS late-night television host David Letterman is bringing his Top 10 list and Stupid Pet Tricks to radio.
Starting Nov. 11, the "Late Show with David Letterman" will be simulcast each weeknight on 15 major-market radio stations owned by the Infinity Broadcasting network, a corporate
sibling of CBS, marking a new avenue of cross-promotion for Letterman. Both CBS and Infinity are owned by Viacom Inc.
More stations are expected to follow suit in the near future, Infinity said.
David Letterman
Criticizes Cuba Embargo
Steven Spielberg
American director Steven Spielberg criticized the U.S. trade embargo against this communist-run island after arriving here to meet with young Cuban cinematographers and attend a festival showing eight of his films.
"I personally feel this embargo should be lifted," Spielberg told a news conference at a Havana hotel. "I don't see any reason for its existence beyond grudges carrying into the 21st century."
The Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Arts and Industry invited Spielberg to Cuba, where he will meet with Cuban filmmakers and visit the International School of Film and
Television, which trains students from around the world in the moviemaking arts.
Accompanying Spielberg on the trip are his wife, actress Kate Capshaw; cinematographer Janusz Kaminski; and television director Jake Paltrow.
Steven Spielberg
To Buy Bravo Network
NBC
NBC has agreed to buy the Bravo cable entertainment network from Cablevision Systems Corp. in a $1.25 billion cash and stock deal expected to expand the network's cable presence and shore up Cablevision's finances.
The deal, announced Monday, helps reduce debt at Cablevision, which has been under increasing pressure to improve its balance sheet.
In return for its position in Bravo, Cablevision will receive about $1 billion in stock — between $400 million and $500 million from NBC's parent General Electric Co. and 53.2 million
shares of Cablevision Class A common stock, presently held by NBC. NBC had a significant stake in Cablevision's Rainbow Media Group subsidiary, which owned Bravo. When the transaction
is complete, NBC will no longer have any holdings in Cablevision or any of its subsidiaries.
Cablevision has an 80 percent stake in Bravo; the remaining 20 percent is owned by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. NBC will pay $250 million cash for MGM's Bravo stake.
By structuring the deal to involve stock transfers, Cablevision can limit its tax liability while still improving its balance sheet. The Cablevision shares owned by NBC accounted
for approximately 16 percent of Cablevision's common stock.
The acquisition of Bravo gives NBC a third national cable property. It already owns MSNBC and CNBC, in addition to minority stakes in ValueVision (ShopNBC), the A&E Network and the
History Channel. Bravo reaches more than 68 million households nationwide.
NBC
In The Kitchen With BartCop & Friends
Memorabilia to Go Under the Hammer
John Lennon
Rare items of memorabilia of Beatles legend John Lennon are to go on sale at auction house Cooper Owen in London later this month.
Centerpieces of the November 19 sale are two rare recordings of Lennon talking to his stepdaughter Kyoko -- his wife Yoko's Ono's daughter from her earlier marriage to American artist
Tony Cox -- at a farm in Denmark where Cox was living at the time.
A private collector Chris Lopez, a friend of Cox, is the seller of the recordings, with each tape estimated to sell for between 60,000 ($93,340) and 80,000 pounds.
"Lopez bought the tapes when Cox was clearly hurting for cash and sold them out of the back of his battered VW," said a spokesman for the auction house on Monday.
The spokesman added that one of the bidders at the sale is expected to be Ono, who is also featured on the previously unheard recording. Last May, two other similar Lennon tape recordings
fetched 134,000 pounds at a Christie's auction.
Lennon's "Magic Eye" swimming pool mosaic from when he lived at Kenwood in Surrey will also to go under the hammer and is expected to sell for between 150,000 and 250,000 pounds. Designed by
Lennon, the two-ton mosaic comprises 17,000 tiles and was the biggest artistic project the musician was involved with during his career.
Another eye-catching lot is the world's first-ever Phantom Vox organ guitar -- an instrument that looks like a guitar but makes an organ sound -- which was given to Lennon and Paul McCartney
in 1964. Owned by Beatles roadie Mal Evans and now in the possession of the roadie's widow Lil, the instrument is likely to fetch between 130,000 and 140,000 pounds.
Other lots include Lennon's drugs box, drawings by the musician, a Christmas card drawn by his son Sean and sent days before he was killed by Mark Chapman in 1980, as well as rare Beatles autographs.
John Lennon
Butterfly
JAR
An undated hand out photograph of a butterfly brooch in sapphires, fire opals, rubies, amethysts, green garnets, and black diamonds; silver and gold, which forms part of the Jewels of Jar exhibition celebrating 25 years of the work of American born jeweller Joel Arthur Rosenthal more widely known as JAR. The Christie's sponsored exhibition contains 400 hundred pieces and opens to the public on November 2 at the Gilbert Collection, Somerset House in London.
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American Music Awards
'The Osbournes'
The censors may have to stay on their toes when Ozzy Osbourne and his family host the 30th annual American Music Awards.
The three-hour special is scheduled to air live on ABC, starting at 8 p.m. EST Jan. 13.
"I can't wait to see what Ozzy and the rest of the family have in store for us, and I know the ABC-TV censor is already having dreams, or should I say nightmares, about
their live ad-libs," executive producer Dick Clark said Monday.
The American Music Awards are given based on votes from the public in 21 categories, including favorite male and female artist, favorite soundtrack and Internet artist of the year.
'The Osbournes'
Kuwait Says Closure Final
Al-Jazeera
Kuwait said on Monday its decision to shut down the local office of the Qatar-based Arabic satellite television channel al-Jazeera was final, but the move would have no impact on ties with Doha.
"There is no going back on this decision" to close Jazeera, said influential Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah. "The decision is not against our brothers in Qatar, Jazeera represents itself.
Jazeera is one of the most popular TV channels in the Arab world, but many Kuwaitis say its reports are biased toward Iraq, which invaded Kuwait in 1990 and occupied it for seven months.
For the Kuwaiti authorities, the last straw appears to have been the way Jazeera reported Kuwait's closure of about one-third of the country for U.S.-led military exercises near the border with Iraq.
"Sometimes Jazeera is more insulting to Arabs and Muslims than Fox TV," said a Gulf official whose neighboring country supports a Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) recommendation to sever ties with Jazeera.
Al-Jazeera
Would've Defended Martha
Rosie O'Donnell
Rosie O'Donnell says that if she still had her talk show, she would use it as a forum to defend Martha Stewart.
"I'd be singing Martha Stewart a love song every day. I want every housewife in America to band together and refuse to let them tear down one of the most successful
female entrepreneurs in our country's history," she says.
O'Donnell's next endeavor is producing the musical "Taboo" on Broadway. The show is about the life of Boy George.
Rosie O'Donnell
BartCop TV!
Donny Hathaway Fan
Justin Timberlake
Justin Says He's No Jackson Copycat
Justin Timberlake says Michael Jackson has been a big influence on his sound, but not the only one.
Timberlake, the 'N Sync star whose debut solo album, "Justified," is due Tuesday, has been tagged with imitating Jackson because of a few wardrobe choices and big appearances with the King of Pop.
"I've used a lot of different sounds than just Michael," Timberlake told Newsday. "I think there's some Eagles in the harmonies and a lot more Stevie Wonder.
"I'm also a big fan of Donny Hathaway," he added, referring to the 1970s musician. "I think it's shocking to people that I even know who Donny Hathaway is."
Justin Timberlake
Sydney, Australia
Tamarama Beach
A girl sunbathes next to a statue of a naked man made from sand that is part of the annual Sculptures by the Sea exhibition at Sydney's Tamarama Beach October 30, 2002.
The exhibition, now in it's sixth year, is situated along the coastal walk between Bondi and Tamarama beaches and features over 100 works by Australian and international artists.
Photo by David Gray
Kelsey Grammer's Production Company
Grammnet
"Frasier" star Kelsey Grammer's production company, doing well with the UPN comedy "Girlfriends," is developing a "Three's Company"-style sitcom for Fox.
Dubbed "Ex-Factor," the show is about a twentysomething man who moves in with two of his ex-girlfriends. Feature scribes Adam Epstein and Andrew Jacobson ("Not Another Teen Movie")Epstein
and Jacobson will write the pilot and serve as producers on the project, along with Grammer via his Paramount-based Grammnet Prods.
The project is targeted for fall 2003.
Grammnet
New NBC 'Reality' Show
'Significant Others'
NBC is looking to the comedy of couples therapy for its next alternative project.
The network is developing "Significant Others" -- an unscripted comedy that features improv actors posing as couples in therapy -- with an eye toward a summer 2003 debut.
"Every year I like to use my 'alternative' title to do something really, well, alternative," Jeff Gaspin, NBC's executive VP of alternative series, specials, longform
and program strategy, told Daily Variety. "Last year we did the 'Rerun Show,' and this year we're doing 'Significant Others."'
'Significant Others'
In Memory
Lonnie Donegan
"King of Skiffle" Lonnie Donegan, once a big influence on The Beatles, has died at the age of 71 after collapsing on tour, his publicist said on Monday.
Donegan changed the face of British popular music, launching the skiffle boom of the 1950s with hits that ranged from "Rock Island Line" through "Cumberland Gap" to "My Old Man's a Dustman."
The singer, who had suffered several heart attacks and was complaining of back trouble, died on Sunday with his third wife Sharon and son Peter at his side in the central English town of Peterborough.
He was halfway through a British tour and had already been forced to cancel two shows because of ill health.
Donegan was hailed as the voice of skiffle, a gritty blend of folk, jazz, gospel and blues, which the Beatles acknowledged as a major influence.
Eric Clapton had invited Donegan to perform at a tribute concert later this month for former Beatle George Harrison. John Lennon was playing in a skiffle band, the Quarrymen, when he first met Paul McCartney.
Donegan, whose fans ranged from Mark Knopfler to Van Morrison, shot to fame on both sides of the Atlantic with the release in 1956 of the Leadbelly song "Rock Island Line."
It was very rare for British singers to break into the U.S charts back then. He went on a 40-city tour and appeared on the Perry Como TV show, co-starring with Ronald Reagan.
For six years, every single he released was a hit -- from "Pick a Bale of Cotton" to "Does Your Chewing Gum Lose its Flavor?"
His success spawned a musical craze -- by 1956, London alone had almost 1,000 skiffle groups.
Donegan, who played both banjo and guitar, was the first artist to win a gold record with a debut release. He is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as one of the biggest hit-makers of all time.
As skiffle's popularity waned, Donegan took to the cabaret circuit, starring in Las Vegas, Hollywood and New York.
His career was given a belated boost by a new generation of admirers with the release in 1978 of a tribute album -- "Putting on the Style" -- with Elton John, Brian May and Ringo Starr as his superstar backing band.
In 1997, he was given a lifetime achievement award at the prestigious Ivor Novello Awards.
A spokesman for the singer, reflecting on his legacy, said: "Lonnie Donegan was a legend -- he changed the face of British popular music. In a career that covered over 50 years, he inspired nearly every major musician alive today."
Lonnie Donegan
In Memory
Jonathan Harris
Actor Jonathan Harris, left, who portrayed Dr. Zachary Smith and co-star Bill Mumy, who portrayed Will Robinson, are shown in this Oct. 5, 1966, handout photo, in a scene from the 1960s sci-fi show, 'Lost in Space.' Harris died Sunday, Nov. 3, 2002, from a blood clot in his heart while receiving therapy at a hospital in the Encino area of Los Angeles, for a chronic back problem, family spokesman Kevin J. Burns said Monday. He was 87.
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'The Osbournes'
Freshly updated - 'The Osbournes' ~ Page 3
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 2
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 1
#31
'Lies, Lies, Lies'
