Cheat Sheet
The Best In Brief
Please register to manage your email preferences and comment on the site.
Just as South Korea was bracing for another missile test from its neighbor, the U.N. Security Council has approved a set of strict of rules on North Korea's nuclear program. The new provisions include: cutting all financial support for the North Korean military; a complete arms export ban and comprehensive import ban; and a condemnation of all past (and future) nuclear tests. It will also now be fair game to inspect planes and cargo vessels for nuclear weapons. And though North Korea has been resistant to sanctions in the past, the Security Council hopes that the harsh new rules will send a sobering message to other nations like Iran. But the goal is clear: "The measures in this resolution are targeted very precisely at the nuclear and missile and weapons of mass destruction programs of North Korea," Ambassador Philip Parham said.
This doesn’t bode well for sectarian violence in Iraq: “The moderate leader of the largest Sunni bloc in parliament was assassinated Friday after delivering a sermon at a Baghdad mosque,” according to the Associated Press. Harith al-Obeidi, 47, was known for his outspoken defense of prisoners’ right. The shooting took place in broad daylight in a heavily guarded area of the city. The gunman was killed as he tried to flee.
Sarah Palin’s week-long back-and-forth with David Letterman has given the right a highly visible and easily attacked target. After making a reference about Palin’s “slutty flight attendant look” and the now oft-repeated joke about Palin’s daughter and Alex Rodriguez, Letterman has met the wrath of RNC Chairman Michael Steele, who released a statement saying, “when Letterman starts making tasteless jokes about kinds, it’s time to turn the channel.” Not all conservatives agree with an attack: “If the right goes after Letterman they make him look big and themselves small," says Mark McKinnon, a Daily Beast contributor and campaign advisor to George W. Bush and Sen. John McCain. "It's win-win for Letterman." The late-night talker has a history of tiffs with conservatives—when John McCain abruptly cancelled on appearance on his show last September, Letterman blasted the politician for weeks before McCain apologized on air.
It was Florida 2000 all over, in Iran. Initially, both Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Mir Hossein Mousavi claimed to have won Iran’s presidential election with an estimated 70 percent of the electorate having turned out to vote. Now, though, it appears Ahmadinejad is the winner. With 24.1 million votes counted, the incumbent has claimed over 60 percent of the vote. “The result as it stands seems incredible,” said a professor for Iranian Studies at St. Andrews University in Scotland. “It’s difficult to see Karrubi and Rezaei getting such a small vote.” According to The Times of London, “It is widely believed that the 2005 election was marred by fraud and experts estimate that up to four million votes could be rigged this year. However, with the turnout so high, even that may not be enough.”
Nancy Pelosi isn't the only person in Washington that has a bone to pick with Rep. Jane Harman. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano is now in a "spy spat" with the California congresswoman. Harman apparently wants Napolitano to shut down the "National Applications Office"—a Bush-era program that brings military intelligence to local law enforcement. The issue hits close to home for Harman, who came under fire after her negotiations with two pro-Israel lobbyists were wiretapped. And it doesn't look like Napolitano's going to budge anytime soon: she has said she's looking into the necessity of the program, but doesn't have much momentum. Says Harman: "I'm not sure she's moving ahead. She's not handling it; she's kicking the can down the road."
A gigantic glass-and-steel tower proposed for a former army barracks site in London has been abandoned after Prince Charles loudly expressed his disdain for the project. Architect Lord Roger was set to design Britain’s most expensive housing development, but after the Prince of Wales called the development “unsympathetic” and “unsubtle” site owner Qatari Diar withdrew the application. More than 450 complaints from the public about the size and scale of the project, which would have included 548 flats, a hotel, two restaurants, and a sports center, evidently swayed them to consider a more traditional building. Lord Rogers called the U-turn “extremely disappointing” after “two-and-a-half years of extensive consultation.”
Obama wrangled a victory on the Senate floor yesterday—through the speaker on Rahm Emanuel’s cell phone. After Obama assured senators that he would block the release of controversial photos of Gitmo detainees, they passed a $105.9 billion wartime spending bill on Thursday with surprisingly little debate. After John McCain took to the floor on Thursday to demand that Obama “stand up to the left wing in his party” and not release the pictures, Senate Majority leader Harry Reid reassured everyone, saying that “The pictures are not going to be released” – no matter what was in the war spending bill.
Has a new nude painting of Mona Lisa been found? Discovery reports that a newly discovered painting, found within the wall of a private library, “shows a portrait of a half-naked woman with clear links to the famous (and clothed) Mona Lisa.” The pose, positioning of the hands, and the landscape all clearly resemble the Mona Lisa’s. 1845 records note that its owner—a member of Napoleon’s family—bought "the portrait of the Mona Lisa, mistress of Francis I, by Leonardo da Vinci.” It will now undergo scientific and artistic investigation to determine its origins.
If any publicity is good publicity, then Sarah Palin has certainly had a successful week. Now, Sam Stein at The Huffington Post reports that, in her interview on Friday night with Wolf Blitzer, Palin declines to commit to running for reelection for Alaska governor in 2010—a clear sign that she is thinking about running for president two years later. In the interview, Palin also apparently continues her assault on David Letterman.
The porn industry may not be as clean as it claims: “There have been 16 unpublicized cases of HIV among porn actors since a 2004 outbreak made headlines,” according to Reuters. The news comes on the heels of the revelation by the Los Angeles Times that an unidentified actress tested positive for the virus last week. That brings the total of performers to test positive up to 22 since 2004, when a male star infected three actresses and the industry started requiring regular testing by its actors. HIV is more common in the industry now than syphilis, of which there have been 15 cases since 2004. There have been 1,357 cases of gonorrhea.
Amanda Knox, the American college student accused of murdering her roommate in Italy, took the stand today, and claimed that the Italian police hit her when they interrogated her and that they called her a “stupid liar.” The 21-year-old offered these tales as justification for why she signed a self-implicating statement that she now says was false. "They got tough with me, called me a liar and said I was trying to protect someone," she said on the stand. "They continued to call me a stupid liar. … They were putting my phone in my face... from that point on, I was very scared because they were treating me so badly and I didn't understand why." Knox’s most emotional moment on the stand was when she recalled the day the murder was discovered.
Malawi has shown mercy on Madonna. Or at least, they're preparing to give her Mercy--the 4-year-old Malawian orphan she's been fighting to adopt since April. Though the Supreme Court initially blocked the adoption because she didn't spend enough time in the country, Madonna has now won an appeal to officially adopt the child. Chief Justice Lovemore Munlo cited the star's commitment to her charity, Raising Malawi, which helps disadvantaged children there. The Daily Mail reports: "Now Mercy will be flown on a private jet to be with Madonna and her children Lourdes, 12, Rocco, 8, and David, 3, in New York where she is expected to attend nursery school with David."
Psuedo-celebrity Heidi Montag may have said that her “goal is to be a disciple of Jesus. A Mother Theresa” last week on NBC’s I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here!, but that didn’t stop her for posing for the September issue of Playboy magazine. Montag, along with husband Spencer Pratt, was recently in the news for stalking off the set of the reality show in Costa Rica no fewer than three times before being hospitalized. People magazine confirmed Montag’s Playboy photo shoot. Says a source, “There is nudity. It’s tasteful—she had a lot of fun with it.”
After 15 years, the infamous murder trial of O.J. Simpson has boiled down to one thing: his suit. The beige suit, collared shirt, and tie Simpson wore when he was acquitted of double murder now belong to Mike Gilbert, Simpson's friend and the writer of How I Helped O.J. Get Away With Murder. Gilbert said he wanted to make up helping the man he now believes to be a murderer by awarding the family of Ronald Goldman the suit, which is apparently valued at $50,000. Except he recently changed his tune, preferring to give the suit to a museum or casino in much the same way he made money off of Simpson memorabilia while the trial was ongoing. Now, the Goldman family has filed a lawsuit demanding that Gilbert hand over the clothing.
Bowing to congressional pressure, the White House is ditching plans to resettle Guantánamo Bay detainees in the U.S. While the decision to keep detainees who had been cleared for release out of America is politically acceptable at home, it could make efforts to convince other countries to take them on more difficult. In recent days, Bermuda has agreed to take four Uighurs ordered released by a federal judge, and the administration is in talks with other nations to take on the remaining 13. As for the non-Uighur detainees, the Obama administration is even less likely to press the issue, although an official said a "few" might be settled in the U.S. in the long term.
After a nine-month hiatus from swimming and two losses last month at the Charlotte Grand Prix, Michael Phelps is back in the game and gearing up for his latest challenge. The Olympian spent the last three weeks at high altitude and is in the process of perfecting a new freestyle stroke technique for the Santa Clara Invitational Grand Prix this weekend. There, he’ll face off with rival Ryan Lochte in the 100 free and 100 back—the two events Phelps lost at Charlotte. That meet was the first since Phelps’s gold medal sweep at the Summer Olympics in Bejing, where he set seven world records. Afterwards, photo emerged of him smoking marijuana and USA Swimming suspended Phelps from competition for three months, making his recent time away from the sport the longest in his career.
North Korea may be preparing for its third nuclear test in a month, despite a proposed United Nations resolution that could heavily regulate the North’s weapons exports and financial dealings as well as allow inspections of suspicious cargo in ports and on the high seas, reports the Associated Press. The tip came from an anonymous government official; the White House National Security Council declined to comment on the possibility of a third nuclear test. North Korea has rejected the Obama administration’s attempts at engagement and threatens to retaliate if the U.N. changes its sanctions. According to Stephen Bosworth, President Obama’s special envoy on North Korea, the Obama administration is considering freezing North Korea’s foreign bank accounts, similar to a move by the Bush administration that cut the North off from the international financial system and disrupted nuclear talks. North Korea, Bosworth said, will “suffer consequences if it does not reverse course.”
Who knew selling home security systems was just like spreading the word of God? Some former Mormon missionaries have become door-to-door salesmen for Pinnacle Security of Orem, Utah, a company that's profiting off their experience spreading religion. The religious-minded Pinnacle employees are used to cold-calling strangers from their years on missions abroad, which also have helped some learn handy new languages. Faith follows these missionary-salesmen, of course, wherever they go: one salesman now carries "pass-along cards" with information about the Mormon Church under his Pinnacle brochures. Said one converted salesman: "It's missionary work turned into a business."
In the shadow of this week's tragedy at the Holocaust Museum in D.C., another memorial is getting set to recognize a milestone. The Anne Frank House, the museum where Holocaust victim grew up, puts all of her original diaries on permanent display in honor of her 80th birthday on Friday. The famous Anne Frank Diaries have been sealed in archives at the Netherlands Institute for War Documentation, but will now return to the very spot on which they were written. This week, scientists also unveiled an "age-progressed" picture of what Anne Frank would have looked like today had she survived.
Combat was simpler the way Gen. Stanley McChrystal learned it as a Green Beret--find the enemy and take them out. But in his first interview since being named top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, McChrystal says that the war there will require troops to "convince people, not kill them" in order to turn things around. "Since 9/11, I have watched as America tried to first put out this fire with a hammer, and it doesn't work," McChrystal told The Wall Street Journal. "Decapitation strategies don't work." McChrystal said that he was hoping to pursue a "classic counterinsurgency campaign" similar to Iraq, a challenge he was concerned may be undermined by lack of troops. Obama has committed 68,000 troops to Afghanistan, an increase from his predecessor, versus 170,000 troops in Iraq during the surge.
Seventeen senators voted against today’s seismic bill empowering the FDA to further regulate the tobacco industry, and several of them were Big Tobacco’s biggest beneficiaries, reports McClatchy, to the tune of multiple millions over several campaign cycles. The worst offender? Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. Over the course of nearly 25 years in the senate, the senator from Kentucky—a tobacco-rich state&mdashreceived $419,025 from the tobacco industry, more than any other member of Congress. North Carolina Republican Richard Burr led the bill’s opposition. Burr is Congress’ second most tobacco-dependent, with $359,100 in tobacco industry-related donations, including $196,850 from R.J. Reynold’s, America’s second largest tobacco manufacturer. Meanwhile, Georgia Republican Saxby Chambliss, the Senate Agriculture Committee’s ranking Republican, netted $228,700 in tobacco money. Not every tobacco-supported senators voted for the bill, however. Virginia Senators Mark Warner and Jim Webb (both Democrats) voted in favor of the bill despite significant tobacco donations.
Rihanna may have been personally subpoenaed to testify in the court hearing of Chris Brown, but that didn't stop her from cozying up to him at Thursday’s Game four of the NBA Finals in Orlando. “They requested to sit together,” said a source before the Los Angeles Lakers vs. Orlando Magic game. On Feb. 8, Brown allegedly—and famously—attacked his then-girlfriend Rihanna the night before the Grammy Awards. He has pleaded innocent to two felony charges. Rihanna’s testimony “can make or break the case,” according to one defense attorney.
Kobe Bryant was Kobe Bryant in the Lakers' game 4 win in Orlando, putting up 32 points, 8 assists, and 7 rebounds, but it was the team's role players that ended up putting them over the edge. Veteran point guard Derek Fisher drained a clutch three pointer with 4.6 seconds remaining in regulation to tie the game at 87 and force overtime, where he came up big once again with another three pointer with 31.3 seconds remaining. The Lakers also got a boost from the young Trevor Ariza, a former Magic player, who exploded for 13 points in the 3rd quarter. Orlando now faces the daunting prospect of coming back from a 3-1 deficit to win the finals, a feat no team has accomplished in league history.
Sarah Palin isn't over her feud with David Letterman yet. According to her, she's not even the one he should be apologizing to for his comments about her daughters. In an interview with Matt Lauer on Today Friday morning, Palin insisted that instead of apologizing to the family, Letterman apologize to young women everywhere for joking about statutory rape. "It's not cool, it's not funny," she said. The governor said that her 14-year-old daughter, Willow, "would no doubt want to stay away from David Letterman." She called Letterman's jokes a "degrading comment about a young woman. And I hope that people would start really rising up and not accepting this." Palin continued, "It's no wonder girls have such low self-esteem in America when a comedian can make a remark like this."
White supremacy isn’t the only form of terrorism for a Caucasian person to turn to these days: The Stimulist reports on Al Qaeda’s recent efforts to recruit whites to its ranks. Apparently, the British government believes the terrorist organization has recruited up to 1,500 white Britons, most of whom converted to Islam while in prison. Al Qaeda has also been training Westerners, likely including Americans, in Pakistan, and Al Qaeda spokesman and Osama Bin Laden speechwriter Adam Gadahn was born in Oregon. Lawrence Wright, writer for The New Yorker, tells The Stimulist that “If Al Qaeda can transcend its stereotype,” he told us, “than they will become a lot more difficult to police.”
How the fake mighty have fallen: Christian Carl Gerhartsreiter, the German man who for years passed himself off as “Clark Rockefeller,” a member of the famous family, has been found guilty of kidnapping his daughter last summer, as well as assault and battery with a deadly weapon. Gerhartsreiter passed himself off as a Rockefeller for years, including fooling his wife of 12 years. He now faces up to 15 years in prison.
Partner Sites: Expedia| Hotels| Hotwire| Urbanspoon| Vimeo
