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NPR 4 THE DEF: Giving Public Radio Edge Since 2006
FRESH AIR The Associated Press has threatened to sue the artist who created the iconic “Hope” poster of Barack Obama for copyright infringement, but Shepard Fairey says his work is protected under the principle of “Fair Use,” which exempts artists and others from some copyright restrictions, under certain circumstances. Fairey based his poster on an April 2006 photo of Obama taken by AP photographer Mannie Garcia. Last month, the AP contacted Fairey threatening him with a lawsuit for using the image without permission, seeking payment for using it, and asking to share in the profits from it. Pre-empting the suit, […]
THE KIND: NJ Senate Passes Medical Marijuana Bill; California Considering Legalization & Taxation
LOS ANGELES TIMES: Could Cannabis sativa be a salvation for California’s fiscal misfortunes? Can the state get a better budget grip by taxing what some folks toke? An assemblyman from San Francisco announced legislation Monday to do just that: make California the first state in the nation to tax and regulate recreational marijuana in the same manner as alcohol. Buoyed by the widely held belief that cannabis is California’s biggest cash crop, Assemblyman Tom Ammiano contends it is time to reap some state revenue from that harvest while putting a damper on drug use by teens, cutting police costs and […]
THAT’S KLANTASTIC: O.C. Mayor Sends Out White House Watermelon Patch Pic, Thinks It’s Funny
CBS NEWS: The mayor of Los Alamitos is coming under fire for an e-mail he sent out that depicts the White House lawn planted with watermelons, under the title “No Easter egg hunt this year.” Local businesswoman and city volunteer Keyanus Price, who is black, said Tuesday she received the e-mail from Mayor Dean Grose’s personal account on Sunday and wants a public apology. “I have had plenty of my share of chicken and watermelon and all those kinds of jokes,” Price told The Associated Press. “I honestly don’t even understand where he was coming from, sending this to me. […]
NPR 4 THE DEF: Giving Public Radio Edge Since 2006
FRESH AIR New York Times foreign correspondent Dexter Filkins reports that the Taliban are waging an increasingly aggressive campaign in Afghanistan — a fact evidenced by a 40 percent increase in Afghan civilian deaths in 2008. Filkins joined The New York Times in 2000. He covered the war in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2002 and reported on the Iraq war from 2003 to 2006. He recently returned to the Middle East to cover Afghanistan again. Filkins details his experiences in Afghanistan and Iraq in his book The Forever War. RADIO TIMES Hour 1 Analysis of last night’s address by President […]
RUMORED: Arlen Specter To Become A Democrat?
FIVETHIRTYEIGHT: Republican chairman Michael Steele took Neal Cavuto’s bait and suggested that he might be amendable to punishing the three Republican senators — Susan Collins, Olympia Snowe, and Arlen Specter — who voted for the stimulus package by supporting primary challenges and/or cutting off funding. There’s just one problem with this. In Pennsylvania and especially in Maine, having a (R) by your name is a liability, not an asset. With leaners included, Democrats have roughly a 19-point partisan ID advantage in Maine and 16 points in the Keystone State. Collins, Snowe and Specter get re-elected in spite of being Republican, […]
WORDS WORTH: What The President Said
[via POLITICAL JUNKIE] If Bobby Jindal saying ‘Look, I’m not white either!’ and then re-writing the history of Katrina with warmed-over Reaganism is the best the GOP can do in this our darkest hour, well, all I can say is ‘Heckuva a job Bobby.’ In related news, THIS is hilarious: The Daily Show With Jon StewartM – Th 11p / 10c Clusterf#@k to the Poor House – GOP Govs at Odds Daily Show Full Episodes Important Things With Demetri Martin Funny Political News Joke of the Day (Complete White House transcript of the President’s remarks after the jump.)
PAY TO PLAY: Councilman Kelly Aide Convicted
PHILADELPHIA BUSINESS JOURNAL: A former aide to a Philadelphia councilman was among three men convicted in a corruption case Tuesday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Philadelphia said. Christopher Wright [pictured left, making O-Face], a former aide to Councilman Jack Kelly, developer Ravinder Chawla of Huntingdon Valley, Pa., and Chawla’s attorney Andrew Teitelman of Newtown, Pa., were convicted of conspiracy to commit honest services mail and wire fraud, honest services mail fraud, and mail fraud, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. Wright, 45, of Philadelphia was accused of trading on his position as Kelly’s aide from June 2005 to January 2008 to […]
EXPLAINER: Why Lawyers Make The Big Bucks
Because they can say shit like this out loud in a court of law with a completely straight face: “The Philadelphia Inquirer has been published in Philadelphia since 1828. It’s over 180 years old and it is an institution and a treasure to its community,” said McMichael. He said no one — including the local investor group that bought the newspapers for $515 million in 2006 — foresaw how the economy and other factors would rout the newspaper industry. “These people put $150 million cash into this thing,” McMichael said of the investor group brought together by Tierney, who is […]
MUGSHOT: What’s Wrong With This Picture?
BEAVER COUNTY TIMES: NEW CASTLE, PA — Jordan Anthony Brown doesn’t mesh with his new surroundings. He’s swimming in his jail-issued shirt, and his pant legs are cuffed six times to keep them off the floor. He cries and is scared. He misses his dad. He wants to go back to school. He wants to go home. Jail isn’t a place for an 11-year-old, his attorney said. “It’s surreal, just surreal,” said New Castle attorney Dennis Elisco, who is representing the boy. “Bizarre, really.” Jordan Brown is accused of shooting and killing 26-year-old Kenzie Houk and her unborn son Friday […]
STRANGER THAN FICTION: ‘The Land Of Twins’
NEW YORK TIMES: CÂNDIDO GODÓI, Brazil — A sign at the entrance to Cândido Godói says, “Garden City and Land of Twins.” More than 80 percent of its 6,700 residents are of German descent. They began arriving around World War I, lured by the prospect of cheap land, an agreeable farming climate and incentives from the Brazilian government to colonize the area.The twins phenomenon is centered in the 300-person settlement of São Pedro, the part of Cândido Godói where the Grimms live. “It can’t all be explained by genetics,” said Mr. Grimm, himself a twin. Geneticists would like to disagree […]
THE INQUISITION: Doctors Examining British Gitmo Detainee Cite Signs Of Multiple Severe Beatings
THE GUARDIAN: Former British resident Binyam Mohamed arrives back in Britain tomorrow after his release from Guantanamo Bay. British and US lawyers claim that sustained beatings — which have only recently stopped — have left him with severe psychological and physical problems. Binyam Mohamed will return to Britain suffering from a huge range of injuries after being beaten by US guards right up to the point of his departure from Guantánamo Bay, according to the first detailed accounts of his treatment inside the camp. During medical examinations last week, doctors discovered injuries and ailments resulting from apparently brutal treatment in […]
POLLS: Legalizing Marijuana More Popular Than GOP
YGLESIAS: Inspired by this Chris Bowers post, here’s a chart I made comparing public support for legalizing marijuana to the approval ratings for Rush Limbaugh and various Republican Party leaders that I found on PollingReport. MORE FIVETHIRTYEIGHT.COM: The first poll, conducted last week by Rasmussen Reports, has 40 percent of Americans in support of legalizing the drug and 46 percent opposed. The second, conducted in January by CBS News, has 41 percent in favor of legalization and 52 percent against. And a third poll, conducted by Zogby on behalf of the marijuana-rights advocacy group NORML, has 44 percent of Americans […]