Tabloid Edition

Willie Horton?

Willie Horton is in the news again? What, did someone let him out again or something? Nope, Willie Horton is still in jail, in Maryland though.

On April 18, 1996, Horton was transferred to the Maryland House of Correction Annex, a maximum security prison in Jessup, Maryland, where he remains today

There's two parts to the Willie Horton story. Which one you prefer will probably turn on your basic politics.

In one scenario, it's all about the way that Willie Horton was used in the campaign adds for the election of Bush I.

Republicans would pick up the Horton issue after Dukakis clinched the nomination. In June of 1988, Republican candidate George H.W. Bush seized on the Horton case, bringing it up repeatedly in campaign speeches. Bush's campaign manager, Lee Atwater, predicted that "by the time this election is over, Willie Horton will be a household name."[1] According to one political writer, Horton never went by the name "Willie"; Atwater called him that "hoping to get more racial mileage".[2] Media consultant Roger Ailes was reported to remark "the only question is whether we depict Willie Horton with a knife in his hand or without it."

There have been accusations of negative campaigning, racism and generally sleazy politics (all of which are pobably true) over the way in which the issue was made into a political football. Here's the actual Willie Horton ad:

The second way of looking at the whole willie Horton thing is how incompetent government (no, not specific politicians, thos whole edifice) can be. Horton was in jail for life no chance of parole. Life really was meant to mean life. But they let him out for the weekend.

Hunh? You let somebody out of jail for the weekend, thinking he'll come back, when he knows that he's in that jail until the day he dies? Of course Horton legged it: any other rational being would have done the same.

Now why is all of this back in the news again? Ah, boring stuff.

Pundits and opponents may be drawing parallels, but the case of a killer released by a Mitt Romney judicial appointee won�t likely hurt the GOP candidate the way Willie Horton haunted Michael Dukakis.

Rudy Giuliani�s camp seized on the controversy almost immediately. Giuliani last week said Romney was accountable for convicted murderer Daniel Tavares Jr.'s release from prison last July.

Tavares was set free by Massachusetts Superior Court Judge Kathe Tuttman, a Romney appointee, despite protests from prison officials who said Tavares has assaulted other inmates and might still be dangerous.

Tavares has since been charged in the Nov. 17 murders of Brian and Beverly Mauck of Graham, Wash.

�The governor is going to have to explain his appointment,� Giuliani said. �And the judge is going to have to explain her decision.�

But campaign watchers say efforts to equate the case with the infamous Willie Horton incident fall far short.

Horton had been sentenced to life imprisonment and was incarcerated at the Concord Correctional Facility in Massachusetts when he was released in June 1986 as part of a weekend furlough program.

While on furlough in April 1987, Horton twice raped a woman in Oxon Hill, Md. He stabbed and pistol-whipped her fianc�.

At the time, Michael Dukakis was the Democratic governor of Massachusetts. While Dukakis had not initiated the furlough program, he supported it as a measure to help with criminal rehabilitation.

After the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled that this right extended to first-degree murderers, the Massachusetts legislature passed a bill prohibiting furloughs for such inmates. However, in 1976, Dukakis vetoed this bill.

Thus, the program remained in effect, and Dukakis continued to support it.

In 1988, allies of Republican George H.W. Bush broadcast a demonic photo of inmate Horton in ads against his opponent Dukakis. The spots accused Dukakis of being soft on crime.

Not that I thought Bush I or Dukakis were amazing politicians but compared to hte mental pygmies running this time around they were at least interesting.

John Travolta Gay?

Is John Travolta gay? Rumours have swirled for years of course that John Travolta is in fact gay but there's been no specific proof that he's in the closet any more than I am.

Whispers about John Travolta's sexuality that have blown through Hollywood for years are getting louder now that the actor was caught kissing another man here in Canada.

In photographs published in the newest issue of the National Enquirer, Travolta is seen planting a kiss on the lips of an unidentified man on the steps of his private plane at an airport in Hamilton, Ontario.

...

The allegations have not been limited to tabloids. In a 1991 cover story in Time entitled "Scientology: A Thriving Cult of Greed and Power," the magazine reported that, according to former Scientology security head Richard Aznaran, Church leader David Miscavige repeatedly joked about Travolta's alleged "promiscuous homosexual behavior."

In 1998, Travolta was named in a lawsuit from a gay man who claimed the Church of Scientology promised to "cure" him of his homosexuality and cited Travolta as a success story.

Michael Pattinson alleged he "reasonably relied upon" Travolta's marriage to Preston as proof that "Scientology processing and courses would 'handle' my own homosexuality."

Responding to the lawsuit, Travolta's lawyer Jay Lavely told the New York Daily News: "Travolta is a happily married man, which proves he isn't gay."

Only five years ago, a business executive alleged in Globe that Travolta made a pass at him in the sauna of Spectrum Club, a fitness gym in Valencia, California. (Travolta made several visits to the club while filming Swordfish nearby, it was independent confirmed.) Mark claimed he rebuffed the actor's alleged advances because he was chubby and "really hairy on his back, upper arms and chest."

For a better view of the pictures, try here.

Following new claims he's gay after being spotted kissing another man while boarding a plane in Canada, an angry John Travolta has denied the latest round of rumors reports NW Magazine.

Pals close to the actor say he's had enough of the ongoing speculation about his sexuality and will fight these latest stories until they go away.

"John is furious about these new gay claims," says a friend. "It's ridiculous — he's answered this over and over and he denies being gay."

For the latest though you might want to go to LA Rag Mag. They met up with him in a Korean bath house:

This was the wrong thing to do, and we realize that now. We should have flirted with him until he laid his hands on us and we could’ve said, “Dude, I liked you in Hairspray and all, but I’m not like that!”

That would’ve been more hilarious than him in a fat suit.

John, look, no one goes to a Korean Spa unless they WANT to get caught. Stories about you cruising in the steam room have surfaced before so it’s not a surprise.If you come out as gay, then that just makes you that much better of an actor. You fooled the American public for years, and usually you have to be the president to do that.

Now people do indeed go to bath houses for a steam and a clean, but it does make one wonder.

But the funniest comment on the whole is John Travolta gay thing comes I think from here:

Gays Cringe Over John Travolta's Scientology Ties

Or, as I prefer to read it, you can do whatevr you want with your gonads John but please, why do you have to be such a kook?

Cari Champion

Cari Champion appears to have been fired for forgetting that most basic of all broadcasting rules. There's no such thing as a dead micropohne: well, at least, you act as if there isn't if you want to keep your job. Cari Champion apparently forgot this and dropped an f-bopmb live on air. Tsk. I mean really, Tsk.

No big loss as far as I'm concerned, but CBS46 weekend anchor Cari Champion has been fired from WGCL after dropping the MOTHER of all eff bombs live on-air.  Rumor has it that she wasn't the funnest person to work with...

That might be part of it: you can get away with a lot of things if you are fin to work with, or if you're very good indeed at your job.

Channel 46 weekend news anchor Cari Champion says she was fired last week following an off-color comment that made it on the air.
...

Champion has appealed her dismissal to the station’s corporate headquarters, saying she didn’t drop the “MF” bomb. Instead, she says, she used the word “Mothasucka.” Kind of like saying “heck” instead of “hell.”

It had to have been an absolutely fascinating conversation between Champion and her bosses the next day. Imagine them dancing around the distinctions between “Mothasucka” and “Motha-…” well, you know.

I’m reminded of what George Carlin once said about middle-class housewives who shriek out the word “Shoot!” when they drop the casserole dish: “You can’t fool me. Shoot is shit with two O’s.”

Ross McCall

Ross McCall is the Scottish actor who has just got engaged to Jennifer Love Hewitt...ruining the ambitions of a large number of young men in the process. Thanks Ross.

First, a little background on Ross McCall:

Ross McCall (b. 13 January 1976, Scotland, UK) is a Scottish actor most notable for his role as Cpl. Joseph Leibgott in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers. Along with this role, he has appeared as Freddie Mercury in the promotional video for the Queen song The Miracle, co-starred in Green Street and featured in the BBC children's TV series The Borrowers. He is currently engaged to actress Jennifer Love Hewitt, whom he co-starred with in an episode of Ghost Whisperer.

And how the engagement news has been reported:

US actress Jennifer Love Hewitt is reportedly engaged.

The 28-year-old star of Party Of Five agreed to marry her boyfriend, Scottish actor Ross McCall last week, US Weekly reported on its website.

"They got engaged last week," the actress's publicist, Sarah Fuller, is quoted as saying.

The couple are currently on holiday in Hawaii.

Jen's antique engagement ring has apparently been in Ross' family for more than 100 years.

And the actual US Weekly story:

Jennifer Love Hewitt's rep confirms exclusively to Usmagazine.com that Hewitt, 28, and boyfriend, Scottish actor Ross McCall, 32, are engaged to be married.

"They got engaged last week," her rep tells Us. The couple is currently vacationing in Hawaii.

Us has learned that the antique engagement ring has been in Ross' family for over 100 years.

McCall's certainly playing up the Scottish heritage then....using a second hand engagement ring. Hope it doesn't get him into any trouble with De Beers.

Henry Hyde

Henry Hyde, the veteran Congressman who steered the impeachment proceedings of Bill Clinton, has died. His leading the charge at that time was enlivened by the revelation that he himself had had an affair when in his 40s: although, to be fair, no one claimed that he had lied on oath about it.

Former Rep. Henry Hyde, the Illinois Republican who steered the impeachment proceedings against President Clinton and championed government restrictions on the funding of abortions, died Thursday. He was 83.

The death of the Illinois Republican was announced by House Minority Leader John Boehner's office on Capitol Hill.

Mary Ann Schultz, a spokeswoman for Rush University Medical Center, said Hyde died Thursday at 3 a.m. CST at that hospital. There was no immediate word on the cause of his death, although Hyde underwent open-heart surgery in July.

Hyde retired from Congress at the end of the last session. Earlier this month, President Bush presented him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The White House praised Hyde, a leading foe of abortion, as a "powerful defender of life" and an advocate for a strong national defense.

"He was a gallant champion of the weak and forgotten, and a fearless defender of life in all its seasons," Bush said of Hyde that day.

The Guardian doesn't offer all that much information: but then they wouldn't about an American Conservative:

Henry Hyde, whose 32 years in Congress was highlighted by his unbending opposition to abortion and his key role in impeachment proceedings against President Clinton, has died, the office of the House Republican leader said Thursday.

The Illinois Republican, whose long tenure in the House included stints as chairman of the Judiciary and International Relations committees, was 83.

The remembrance from the avowedly conservative Red State is as brief, but more heartfelt:

Henry Hyde has passed away. Hyde served for 32 years as a Congressman from Illinois, and retired last year.

The Corner correctly notes that the Hyde Amendment, which prohibited the public funding of abortions through Medicaid, is the most important and longest-lasting piece of pro-life legislation to ever pass through Congress. Hyde was also a key proponent of the FMLA, the House manager of the Clinton impeachment, and legislation providing redress for citizens who are the victim of unjust prosecution. Hyde was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom earlier this month, but his health prevented him from attending the ceremony.

Moving Equipment

As someone who has done a lot of moving in my life (three continents so far, five countries) I'd have to say that I'm something of a connoisseur of the various equipment that you need to move. As I've also spent the last 15 years working in international trade I'd say that my opinions were in fact fairly well informed.

So please take my word for it when I tell you that Ratchet Straps are in fact highly useful^: so much so that once you start using them you'll wonder how you ever did without them. In fact, if you click through that link now you'll be able to snag some at 13% off the regular price: which has to be a reason to at least go have a look, doesn't it?

Disclosure Policy.

Dilley Sextuplets

The Dilley sextuplets are America's first surviving set of sextuplets. They've also just turned fourteen:

Thirty thousand bottles and 20,000 diapers have passed since the country's first surviving sextuplets entered the world. Now, 14 years later, the Dilleys children are high school freshmen in Indianapolis and tackling many of the issues familiar to teenagers.

From birth, "Good Morning America's" Diane Sawyer has followed the lives of Adrian, Claire, Quinn, Ian, Brenna and Julian.

 

Parents Keith and Becki Dilley, who had tried for years to get pregnant before achieving success with aid of fertility drugs, have watched as their six children have transformed into distinct individuals.

 

Now the parents who once dealt with a dozen arms and 60 tiny little fingers that got into everything are today helping their children learn to shave and put on makeup.

 

Becki said she has no regrets about having six kids at one time. The trouble now is they are all growing up at once.

Given that some of the Dilley sextuplets are male and some female they are obviously not identical, rather, they're from different eggs.

Keith and Becki Dilley had tried for six years to get pregnant. With the aid of fertility drugs, Becki became pregnant and found out she was having five children. Becki gained up to 100 pounds and couldn't fit in her shower.

As the babies were born, they found out that Adrian, the sixth baby, was hiding behind Becki's spleen.

It is calculated that while the children were babies, the family filled and fed 30,000 bottles and gave 13,000 baths. It washed 7,000 loads of laundry and changed 20,000 diapers.

For the children's first year, Keith and Becki took care of their babies without the aid of a nurse or day care.

Phillumenist

Phillumenist: a phillumenist is one who collects matchbooks or matchboxes.

This is one of the TMTE's occasional aids to those doing the New York Times Crossword.

Tal Wilkenfeld

Tal Wilkenfeld is the stunningly good young Australian bass player who is currently with the Jeff Beck band. There's a lot of jazz influence to Wilkenfeld's playing: in some ways it's very like Jack Bruce, from the Cream of old.

It is dinner time in Soho, but Ronnie's seems set for a fusion version of the Mad Hatter's Tea Party. Stage right, lips pursed over his keyboards, is the Dormouse-like Jason Rebello. Drummer Vinnie Colaiuta, sticks a-blur, is the high-speed March Hare. Bassist Tal Wilkenfeld, solemn and wide-eyed, is Alice. And our host - eloquently dominating every conversation - is guitarist Jeff Beck. The band is good, but it is Beck, on the first of a five-night, six-show residency, that we have come to hear, for every Beck-ish variation on the blues, rock, jazz, metal and Indo-jazz idioms he commands so effortlessly.

Beck appears to be thinking about the timbre of his guitar all the time, whether playing the fluid, appealing melody to Nadia, the hard-rocking riffs of Led Boots, or one of his endlessly inventive solos. Wilkenfeld is a suitably self-effacing foil, keeping it low and dirty for Brush With the Blues, and high and McCartney-ish for Day in the Life. When she solos in Cause We've Ended As Lovers, Beck beams in a grandfatherly way.

Tal Wilkenfeld really is very McCartneyish on Day in the Life, as you can see in this video.

In fact, I think she'd rather give McCartney a run for his money on that one. As you can also see, while Tal is extraordinarily talented, she also looks quite stunningly young:

These are no reheated moves; this is the real thing. Backed by a cracking three-piece band (including an almost prepubescent looking bass player, Tal Wilkenfeld) Beck is a commanding and still charismatic presence.

And for the jazz influence, here's a Tal Wilkenfeld bass solo.

Stripper Dodgeball

Stripper Dodgeball. Yes, it really exists, we really do have strippers paying dodgeball.

Rather beats beach volleyball, doesn't it? You'll have to watch through a mountain biking bit and an explaoding watermelon before you get to the stripper dodgeball but what a great game, eh?