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13 Jul 2009 14:42

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U.S.: Alec Baldwin expresses his desire to run for public office…in Playboy

  • I’d love to run against Joe Lieberman. I have no use for him.
  • Actor and Democrat Alec Baldwin • On who his dream opponent would be if he ever entered the political arena. In a new interview with Playboy, the 30 Rock star teased for the kajillionth time that he might run for public office – but this time he was more specific, saying he might end up somewhere in New York…if he ends up anywhere, that is.  • source
Posted by Nathalie Heiberg • 0 Comments • Permalink

13 Jul 2009 12:29

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U.S.: ‘Till death (or at least the end of this recession) do us part

  • The kids are OK with it. They just know that mommy lives upstairs and daddy lives in the basement.
  • Freelance writer and stay-at-home mom Rhonda Brewster • On her not-so-typical living arrangements thanks to the recession. Divorcee-wanabees across the country are finding it increasingly hard to sell their houses, split their stuff, pay their lawyers and untie the knot. Some, like Brewster, have had to get a little creative.  • source
Posted by Nathalie Heiberg • 0 Comments • Permalink

13 Jul 2009 11:09

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Politics, U.S.: Oh great. They’re comparing the Bush-era CIA to Jason Bourne

  • A lot of people thought they were Jason Bourne and came up with ideas. There were programs that were kind of wild that were considered in 2001, but to my knowledge, within six months . . . people kind of gave up on those ideas.
  • A former senior CIA officer • Describing the secret program that Dick Cheney told the CIA to hide from Congress. It was there but never became fully operational, according to the anonymous source. OK, we like the movies. Matt Damon’s never been better (if you forget that he was in “The Departed”). But it’s still not what we should be comparing our covert operations to. There’s a reason why those movies are such good entertainment. They’re not real. (And co-star Julia Stiles is kinda cute.) • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

13 Jul 2009 10:28

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U.S., World: John Demjanjuk, the suspected Nazi guard, got charged today

  • He was deported from the U.S. to Germany in May. Demjanjuk was charged with being an accessory to 27,900 murders during the Holocaust by the German government. After spending years with a is-he-or-isn’t-he rep, he was suspected of being “Ivan the Terrible” and convicted in Israel in 1986, only to have that charge overturned. But the claims against the Russian-born Demjanjuk – who has been stripped of U.S. citizenship twice over the allegations – continued to follow him, and the 89-year-old will face trial for his suspected crimes. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

13 Jul 2009 01:00

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Biz, U.S.: The fight over Shepard Fairey’s Obama “Hope” illo gets messy

  • Plaintiffs have profited from the sales of Mr. Garcia’s copyrighted photograph image and Defendant AP seeks to reap some of the profit by claiming that it – and not Mr. Garcia – is the rightful owner of the copyright in the photograph.
  • A legal memorandum in support of photographer Manuel Garcia • Regarding Fairey v. Associated Press, i.e. the legal battle over the iconic Obama “Hope” poster. For those not in the loop, Shepard Fairey did an immaculate illustration based on a photo Garcia shot and AP ran on the wire. After it blew up, AP sued Fairey, who claimed fair use. Now, Garcia’s claiming neither of them have the right to claim that photo as theirs. We agree that Garcia has a claim over this, but point out that if you look on Getty Images, Obama has literally hundreds of photos taken of him each week (and in April of 2006 alone, he showed up on Getty 41 times) – a fact which we think dilutes both his and AP’s claims. He’s a famous person who gets photographed a lot. Fairey just grabbed a random photo. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

12 Jul 2009 20:12

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U.S.: Countdown to space shuttle launch in 3, 2, 1…psych!

  • NASA called off the Endeavour’s launch from Cape Canaveral today. That’s the shuttle’s fourth delay. source
  • Endeavour was scheduled to lift off at 7:13 p.m., but thunderstorms got in the way. source
Posted by Nathalie Heiberg • 0 Comments • Permalink

12 Jul 2009 18:48

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U.S., World: The easiest way to cut back on expenses: cut back on babies

  • 0.4% predicted drop in the U.S. birth rate this year source
Posted by Nathalie Heiberg • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

12 Jul 2009 16:50

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U.S., World: Obama-mania, plus a dash of disappointment, hits Ghana

  • I came purposely to catch a glimpse of Obama but it is unfortunate that the American security had to prevent us from doing so.
  • Ghanaian student Ms. Parker • On the ever-elusive president during his visit to the country in West Africa. Thousands of people made the trip to the Cape Coast to try and catch a glimpse of Obama but few succeeded – security was tight and, unlike Bill Clinton in 1998, he didn’t speak at an outdoor event.  • source
Posted by Nathalie Heiberg • 0 Comments • Permalink

12 Jul 2009 15:10

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Offbeat, U.S.: Missing Californian found by beer-bottle-chasing boy. No, really.

  • How’s this for a weird story? Man goes missing. Wife forms search team. Whole town joins search team. Man still missing after ten days. Almost all hope is gone. Then, boy finds beer bottle in a parking lot. Throws it into bushes, just for kicks. Other boy runs after it, finds lost man instead. source
Posted by Nathalie Heiberg • 6 Comments • Permalink

12 Jul 2009 12:03

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U.S., World: Iraq’s got it: The U.S. isn’t being asked for help in urban fighting

  • There are established protocols for how (Iraqi forces) might ask for that, but we have not been asked for combat forces.
  • Lieutenant-General Charles Jacoby Jr. • The man in charge of day-to-day operations in Iraq. Jacoby notes that while they’ve given plenty of pre-combat and post-combat support, Iraq has not asked for any help when it comes to the recent increase in insurgency in cities over the last few weeks. The numbers are still far down from their 2006-2007 peak. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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