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Hope you weren’t planning on talking about it over Thanksgiving dinner: The White House said on Thursday that its decision on a new comprehensive strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan won't be announced until after Thanksgiving. Foreign Policy writes that “staffs of key principals have already begun crafting the rollout and testimony speeches, leaving holes in the text to fill in whatever the President’s specific troop and resource decisions might turn out to be.”
What will daytime television do without its queen? The president of Harpo Inc., Oprah Winfrey's production company, has announced that the woman with the gift of gab will share with viewers on Friday the decision to discontinue what has been a daytime staple for 25 seasons, The Oprah Winfrey Show. The program turned Oprah into a household name, and stands as the most successful syndicated talk program, reaching 7 million viewers daily The last episode is scheduled to air September 9, 2011. "Oprah’s personal comments about this on tomorrow’s live show will mark an historic television moment that we will all be talking about for years to come," Harpo's president wrote. Oprah will concentrate on her cable network, OWN, which she is starting with Discovery Communications and will debut in January 2011. Oprah will appear on-air and have a behind-the-scenes role at her new home. The network hasn't commented, but Oprah is expected to have a daily show, though one that's different from the one she has now.
The sorry state of the economy has some lawmakers fuming, so much so that they erupted into a shouting match with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner at a Joint Economic Committee hearing on Thursday. House Republicans have been vociferous about their disapproval for some time, but more liberal Democrats are joining in now, too. One congressman said to Geithner, "the public has lost all confidence in your ability to do the job." The Treasury secretary shot back: "What I can't take responsibility for is the legacy of crises you've bequeathed this country." Representative Peter DeFazio (D-OR) called on Geithner to resign this week. Earlier in the week, a government report charged the Fed, where Geithner served as president before joining the administration, with giving cushy deals to big banks when it bailed them out.
In a sign of the times for India's rising working class, dissatisfied workers are resorting to violence, and sometimes murder, to protest their managers and company executives. India has averaged more than 8 percent growth over the past half decade, leading to a burgeoning middle class, as well as a large class of workers who haven't reaped the benefits of prosperity. While the economy has grown, it has also contracted, causing manufacturers to make cutbacks. This year strikes are up 48 percent from 2008, and some dissent has turned violent. Across the country, there have been incidences of a chief executive beaten to death, a human-resources boss bludgeoned to death, and female factory workers dousing themselves in kerosene.
Majority Leader Harry Reid said the first key vote on the Senate health-care bill will be held Saturday. Reid wouldn't say whether he has the 60 votes he needs, and with all 40 Republicans expected to vote against it, he needs to hold on to three wavering moderate Democrats. Reid also noted he would not pass the bill using the reconciliation process—which would require only 51 votes. The $847 billion package, presented by Reid Wednesday, would extend health-care coverage to 31 million Americans by dramatically expanding Medicaid and including a public option with the ability for states to opt out. The package will be funded, in part, by an increase in taxes, especially for high earners. Republicans are already decrying the cost of the plan, saying the increased Medicaid coverage would put a heavy burden on financially strapped states. All 40 Senate Republicans are expected to block the legislation from moving forward, and Reid has declined to comment on whether he has the 58 Democrats and two independents he needs to get the bill through. On the issue of abortion, which proved a tricky in the House, Reid proposed a "firewall" that would separate private premiums from federal funding if abortion were to be included in the public-insurance plan.
Information on Major Nidal Hasan continues to trickle out, and sources are now saying that prior to killing 13 people at Fort Hood, Hasan seemed anxious about the results of an HIV test he had taken just one week before. Hasan was known for making the rounds at local strip clubs, and medication was found in his apartment that could have been used to treat HIV-related symptoms. Details have also emerged linking the former Army psychiatrist to a number of Islamic charities abroad, to which he donated around $20,000 to $30,000 every year. Former colleagues reportedly saw him as incompetent medically, and a former commanding officer nearly failed him as an intern, but let him pass because he was "going into psychiatry and would not be doing any real patient care."
The House Financial Services Committee voted Thursday to approve a measure by Rep. Ron Paul that would allow Congress to scrutinize the Fed's lending programs and decisions about interest rates. If the bill makes it through, it would mean unprecedented exposure to the government and political pressure for the Fed. Paul, a libertarian Texas Republican, has tried to introduce a similar bill since the 1980s, without success. The Fed has long been insulated from congressional audits, and Fed officials argue that the move would weaken the institution's ability to make monetary-policy decisions independent of political influence. Representative Barney Frank (D-MA) spoke out against the measure, arguing that the Fed's credibility with foreign investors could be damaged.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced Thursday that former Army Secretary Togo West and former Chief of Naval Operations Vernon Clark will head up the Pentagon's review of the Fort Hood shootings and the factors and conditions that led to 13 deaths. The announcement followed assertions at public Congressional hearings Thursday that the shootings were the work of an extremist who slipped through military and legal cracks. The Pentagon probe will also look into the military's procedures for identifying and responding to possibly dangerous personnel, as well as bases' ability to respond to similar incidents.
He never challenged Hillary Clinton directly, but Rudy Giuliani may be planning to make a play for her seat: The New York Daily News is reporting that Giuliani has decided to not run for governor of New York so that he can run for Senate instead in 2010. He will challenge Kirsten Gillibrand, who was appointed to finish Clinton’s term, though his camp firmly denies the report. A source tells the Daily News that "America's Mayor" could use the Senate seat as a stepping stone to running for president again in 2012.
The University of California system returned to its position as a hotbed of student activism this week as students rallied to protest a 32 percent tuition increase approved Thursday. The student protests—which aimed to block increasing tuition fees above $10,000 for the first time—shut down the Regents' UCLA meeting three times on Wednesday, while similar protests occurred at UC Berkeley and UC Santa Cruz. But the rallies were ultimately unsuccessful, and the average undergraduate cost will rise by about $2,500 to around $10,300 next year. The system has already laid off some 2,000 employees and imposed furloughs to help close a $535 million budget gap. President Mark Yudof recommended the fee increase to restore some of the cuts, and said Wednesday that unless the state was able to grant an additional $913 million to the schools next year, tuition could rise again.
Politicians are perennially going after the youth vote, and a new poll indicates the key to success may lie with the McCains. The ScoopDaily/Zogby poll shows that unlike their older counterparts, 18- to 24-year-old Americans look up to Meghan McCain more than President Obama’s wunderkind speechwriter Jon Favreau. Their most frequently cited idol? Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook. Favreau is known for penning the president’s famously inspirational rhetoric, and waning interest in his work may be attributed to “rising millennial disillusionment.” McCain, a moderate Republican columnist (and Daily Beast contributor) is also an outspoken advocate of bringing change to the Republican Party—she vocally supports gay marriage. “The Obama administration understands that my generation spends most of its day on a laptop or a BlackBerry… until the Republican Party joins the 21st century and learns how to use the Internet, its members will keep getting older and the youth of America will just keep logging on to the other side,” said McCain.
An exclusive riding academy in Vilnius Lithuania housed one of the CIA's secret detention centers, ABC News reports. Evidently, a CIA front company bought the property, located near a posh suburb, in 2004. Lithuania had agreed to allow the prison in 2002 after President Bush visited the country and vowed to support Lithuania's bid to join NATO. The CIA constructed the prison inside the riding area of the stable, building a thick concrete wall inside the building, and flying in prefabricated parts to build pods for prisoners. Locals saw large amounts of dirt coming out of the super-secret building, but were turned away by English-speaking guards who were replaced every 90 days. Former CIA agents involved in the program report that as many as eight prisoners were held for more than a year in that facility, which was closed in Nov. 2005 after public disclosures about the program. Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite and the CIA declined to be interviewed, although a CIA spokesman called ABC News "irresponsible" for reporting the prison's existence, adding, "This agency does not discuss publicly where detention facilities may or may not have been.”
The European Union has elected its first president, and rather than choose a high-profile international figure (Tony Blair proved an unpopular candidate and dropped out), the group of leaders chose low-key Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy, an economist. The E.U. also elected a trade commissioner, Catherine Ashton, who was backed by Gordon Brown after he withdrew support from Blair. Ashton is known to have limited political experience, and the job descriptions of both new positions are still unclear—a departure from the original ideas in the Lisbon Treaty. The two candidates received support from centrist politicians including Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy, and a columnist for French newspaper Liberation lamented that in such an environment “all strong personalities will be eliminated by a crossfire of votes.”
Perhaps she was partying with Alex Kerry? Charlene Lugar, the wife of Senator Dick Lugar (R-IN), was arrested Wednesday night for drunk driving after a traffic accident in McLean, Virginia. Apparently, she hit an unattended car and then drove off. After she was arrested around 6:30 p.m., she was charged with a DUI and one count of hit-and-run. Senator Lugar issued a statement saying, “We are deeply sorry and embarrassed that this accident had occurred.”
At least it didn't happen this time next week: The FAA has fixed the computer disruption that occurred around 5:15 a.m., forcing carriers to enter flight plans manually via email or fax. But the delays may continue throughout the day. Afflicted carriers include Delta, which said it had "significant" delays and cancellations; AirTran, which reported 38 cancellations and "dozens more" delays; US Airways; and American Airlines, which said it had a maximum 68-minute delay but no cancellations. The computer error was similar to another in June 2007, which required manual processing of flights in Atlanta and Salt Lake City.
Jeanne-Claude, one half of the duo that created “The Gates” in Central Park in 2005, died on Wednesday from complications of a brain aneurysm. “The Gates” decorated 23 miles of Central Park’s footpaths with thousands of saffron drapes. Mayor Bloomberg spoke to her husband Christo on Thursday morning and offered condolences on behalf of New Yorkers. In a statement, Christo said he was “committed to honor the promise they made to each other many years ago: that the art of Christo and Jeanne-Claude would continue.”
Most kids only have to have one awkward conversation with their parents about sex—but Pamela Anderson’s children had to have two. In a new interview with British television, the Baywatch pinup reveals how she broke the news to her kids that she’d made a sex tape with ex-husband Tommy Lee. The confession came after she appeared in the film Borat three years ago, reports the New York Daily News. “I knew kids were going to watch the film and there was a reference to the tape in the movie and they’re that age and, you know, people are going to start saying things,” she said of her sons, Brandon, 12, and Dylan, 11. “I just said, 'Look, Mummy and Daddy were massively in love, we videotaped everything, everything was videotaped, and you're probably going hear about something at school.” Yikes.
Before President Obama even boarded the plane home from his weeklong Asian junket, his spin doctors were already selling the trip as a diplomatic success to reporters, despite some perceptions that the trip failed to produce substantive results. A White House statement said that compared to George W. Bush, Obama had put alliances "on firmer footing" and "reasserted our leadership in the region" since "overall, American leadership was absent from this region for several years." Top Obama adviser David Axelrod said the president's town hall in China, which was not broadcast widely, still made a "strong statement to a Chinese audience" on issues "central to our values." Finally, analysts in South Korea, where Obama ended his Asian tour, felt that that Obama and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak made "well-couched" comments about the looming nuclear threat of North Korea.
Is everybody happy? The $849 billion health-care bill that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid unveiled on Wednesday night includes a public option, which states will be able to opt out of, and compromises on abortion coverage—federal funds will be prohibited from being spent on abortions, but one plan in the exchange would be required to offer abortion services and another would not. In order to push the bill through, Reid is turning to the big guns: Vice President Joe Biden, Tom Daschle, and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar are plotting strategy with Reid.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai was sworn in for his second term on Thursday. He promised that the Afghan Army would control the country within five years, saying: “We will decrease the role of international forces.” Karzai was proclaimed the winner after his main challenger, Abdullah Abdullah, withdrew from a runoff election. Hillary Clinton, meawhile, was in Afghanistan on Wednesday and warned Karzai that future civilian aid to his government would depend on his effectiveness in curbing corruption.
After telling WWD that one of her mottos is "nothing tastes as good as skinny feels," Kate Moss may have to eat her words. Anti-eating disorder activists are criticizing the model for propagating what they see as a "dangerous" and "very unhelpful" saying that's been widely reproduced by pro-anorexia Web sites. "She probably doesn't realize how dangerous such comments can be," said a spokeswoman for Beat, an eating disorder charity. "It's difficult enough for young people who are struggling to beat eating disorders, without comments like this, which are very unhelpful." Moss's agency, Storm, said that her comments had been "taken out of context" and that Moss "does not support this as a lifestyle choice."
San Francisco Giants ace Tim Lincecum won his second straight National League Cy Young Award on Thursday, becoming the first repeat winner since Randy Johnson won the award four consecutive times from 1999 to 2002. Lincecum won just 15 games—low for a Cy Young winner—but posted a 2.48 ERA and led the league with 261 strikeouts. It was one of the closest contests in history: Lincecum had 100 points; St. Louis Cardinals ace Chris Carpenter had 94 points; and Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright had 90 points. Wainwright actually had the most first-place votes, with 12.
At least this way, she won’t be available to attack him on Fox News: President Obama has nominated Dana Perino, the last press secretary of George W. Bush, to a board that oversees government-sponsored international broadcasting. "I'm honored by the president's announcement and I'm looking forward to serving on the bipartisan board, if I'm confirmed," Perino said. In recent weeks, Perino has attacked the Obama administration for calling out Fox News and for its handling of the swine-flu epidemic.
A friendly face was waiting for President Obama in China, that of his half-brother, Mark Okoth Obama Ndesandjo, who moved to the Shenzhen province seven years ago. Ndesandjo is younger than Obama, shares a father with him, and first met Obama during the presidential inauguration last January. This time around, the meeting overwhelmed Ndesandjo. He said that Obama "just gave me a big hug. And it was so intense. I'm still over the moon on it. I am over the moon. And my wife...I think she is still recovering." Ndesandjo is educated and civic-minded like his brother. Born in America but raised in Kenya, Ndesandjo graduated from Brown University with two undergraduate degrees and holds a masters' in physics from Stanford. He also performs charitable work teaching piano to Chinese orphans, and recently released a novel, Nairobi To Shenzhen, that draws on his painful childhood.
As AOL looks forward to its Dec. 9 spin-off from Time Warner Inc., the company wants to eliminate 2,500 jobs, around one-third of its 6,900-person workforce. AOL employees have until Dec. 11 to volunteer for layoffs, at which point the company will resort to mandatory dismissals. AOL CEO Tim Armstrong will forgo his 2009 bonus—expected to be between $1.5 million and $4 million—as he and the company work toward cutting operating costs by $300 million.
John Kerry's daughter Alexandra, a film producer and director, was pulled over in Hollywood and arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol early Thursday morning. According to police sources, Alexandra was pulled over on a traffic violation, and after failing a field sobriety test was taken to the station and found to have a blood alcohol content of .06. Though the legal limit in California is .08, drivers whose BAC is lower can still be prosecuted for unsafe driving; according to TMZ, Kerry is unlikely to be prosecuted, since her driving was not that "crazy."
Is Fox News going to start holding its anchors accountable? The Swamp reports that heads could roll after the network was caught misrepresenting footage for the second time in a week. Shortly after Jon Stewart nailed Sean Hannity for a similar crime, Fox News host Greg Jarrett was caught claiming that footage from a McCain-Palin rally was, in fact, from Palin’s book tour. "This was a production error in which the copy editor changed a script and didn't alert the control room to update the video,'' Michael Clemente, senior vice president of news at Fox, said. "There will be an on-air explanation during Happening Now on Thursday." The Swamp says “serious disciplinary action” is planned.
It's been a tough week for Nicolas Cage. First, the bank foreclosed on two of his houses in New Orleans, and now his former business manager, whom Cage sued for fraud in October, has filed a countersuit. Ex-manager Samuel J. Levin claims that Cage's tough financial situation—he currently owes the IRS $6.6 million—is the result of the actor's own profligacy. Levin apparently gave Cage common-sense advice, like not to buy castles in both England and Bavaria, the suit claims, but Cage ignored him. Levin also says that he told Cage that he needed to earn $30 million per year to maintain his lifestyle. According to the lawsuit, Cage's spending spiraled out of control in 2007, when he spent $33 million on three houses, bought 22 cars, including 9 Rolls-Royces, and acquired 47 works of art. By 2008, the actor owned 15 houses, four yachts, a Gulfstream jet, and an island in the Bahamas.
Perhaps there’s an open slot on the next edition of The Celebrity Apprentice? The New York Post reports that former Miss California USA Carrie Prejean recently called pageant owner Donald Trump for advice on what to do since her sex tape surfaced. Apparently, Trump said Prejean has no credibility or reputation left. "Maybe," Mr. Trump said only half-jokingly, "she should become a major porn star, make millions of dollars, and give it to worthy causes."
The results are in from one of publishing's biggest nights, the National Book Awards. Colum McCann's novel, Let the Great World Spin, a tome about mortality in 1970s New York, won the fiction prize on Wednesday night, while T.J. Stiles' biography of Cornelius Vanderbilt, The First Tycoon, won for nonfiction. To commemorate the awards' 60th year, the public voted on a special prize naming the best fiction winner in the awards' history. Flannery O'Connor's The Complete Stories won despite stiff competition from Eudora Welty, John Cheever, and Ralph Ellison.
Texas may have become the largest singles meet in the nation—without anyone realizing it. Barbara Ann Radnofsky, a Democratic candidate for attorney general, says that a clause in the 2005 constitutional amendment banning gay marriage may have, in fact, banned all marriage. Subsection of B of the amendment reads, "this state or political subdivision of this state may not create or recognize any legal status identical or similar to marriage," the wording of which, Radnofsky argues, "eliminates marriage in Texas." Current Attorney General Greg Abbott's spokesman said that the amendment is "entirely constitutional," and Radnofsky admits that it's unlikely that marriages will be disassembled based on the clause. But she still believes the wording is a "huge mistake." "Whoever vetted the language in B must have been asleep at the wheel," she said.
A few weeks ago, the company that made Crazy Heart thought it so unpromising that it was refusing to put it in theaters; now, buzz is that its lead actor, Jeff Bridges, could win an Oscar. The film stars Bridges as a washed-up country star. The film was originally made by Viacom, but the company’s Paramount Pictures division did not want to distribute it. The movie’s writer and director, Scott Cooper, got permission to sell it to Fox Searchlight, which pushed up its release until December and now finds the film generating Oscar Buzz. Bridges has been nominated for an Oscar four times but has never won.
Mammography has turned into a controversial topic. This week an influential panel, the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force, made up of independent experts recommended mammograms every two years for women in their 50s, as opposed to the previous recommendations of annual mammograms for women over 40. Although the task force decided to address the issue and completed its research long before the presidential election or health-care debate, the report prompted widespread worries about the possible rationing of health care, prompting Heath and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to release a statement stressing that "an outside independent panel of doctors and scientists who...do not set federal policy and... don't determine what services are covered by the federal government" had issued the recommendations.
Don’t say there weren’t warning signs: NPR has obtained a memo from 2007 written by the supervisor of alleged Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan at Walter Reed. "The faculty has serious concerns about CPT Hasan's professionalism and work ethic,” writes the chief of psychiatric residents at Walter Reed, Scott Moran. “He demonstrates a pattern of poor judgment and a lack of professionalism." It goes on to say that Hasan is "somebody who could potentially put patients in danger." Sources tell NPR that Walter Reed sent the damning evaluation to Fort Hood before Hasan went there.
New York Republicans' hopes were dashed today as sources told The New York Times that former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani—considered by many to be the GOP's best shot at the governor's mansion next year—would not run for the office. The onetime candidate for the Republican presidential nomination had been considering the race for months, and the reasons for his departure were not made immediately clear. Giuliani has been encouraged by some supporters to run against freshman Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, who was not elected and may be vulnerable. One thing that may have prompted his choice was one of his possible opponents: popular Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo, who may be looking to beat out incumbent David Paterson for the Democratic nomination. Currently, the only declared Republican candidate is former Long Island congressman Rick Lazio.
After a short-lived bid, Tony Blair is now out of the running to become the European Council’s first president, having received tepid at best support from other European Union members as well as his successor as prime minister, Gordon Brown. Brown withdrew support of Blair after E.U. leaders including Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy pushed for a leader from their center-right political group. The current shoo-in for the position is Herman Van Rompuy, the prime minister of Belgium. Prior to withdrawing, Blair made a series of unsuccessful phone calls to E.U. leaders and said that he was not surprised by the political “direction of travel” that led to his stepping down.
