| FRIDAY • FEBRUARY 26, 2010 |
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 OBAMA: HEALTH DEAL MAY NOT WORK: Was it all for naught? President Obama concluded Thursday’s health-care summit with Republicans by saying that he did not think a bipartisan deal with Republicans was likely and suggested Democrats would use reconciliation to pass it over a Republican filibuster. “We cannot have another yearlong debate about this,” Obama said. Particular sticking points were covering the uninsured and outlawing insurers from rejecting customers with preexisting conditions. “I don’t know frankly whether we can close that gap,” Obama said. Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid were expected to count votes in their caucuses after the summit.
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DESPITE PRESSURE, CHINA STILL RESISTS IRAN SANCTIONS: Despite intense public and private pressure by the Obama administration, China has not yet shown any sign that it will support tougher sanctions against Iran, leaving a stubborn barrier before President Obama’s efforts to constrain Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Diplomats from two major European allies said this week that China had refused even to “engage substantively” on the issue of sanctions, preferring to continue diplomatic efforts with Tehran. And one senior diplomat said he believed that the most likely outcome might be a decision by China to abstain from voting on a resolution in the United Nations Security Council.
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 TWO BLASTS ROCK KABUL: Just one day after lifting an Afghan flag over Marja, the Taliban have claimed responsibility for a car bombing and suicide bombing in central Kabul that left at least 18 people dead and 32 wounded The New York Times reports. The car bomb hit a guesthouse popular with Indians, while suicide bombers descended on another guesthouse popular with Britons and Americans.
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BE AN LBN CORRESPONDENT: Send your celebrity sighting to us and we will tell the world. E-mail: LBNElert@TimeWire.net.
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OVER AND OUT: Embattled New York Gov. David Paterson will not seek full term in office, Democratic Party source say.
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LBN READERS WIN AGAIN!: The House Ethics Committee found Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel violated House rules when he accepted trips to the Caribbean. Rangel’s jaunts are considered hidden financing by corporations, and were accepted in knowing violation of House rules. Yesterday afternoon, all 317,000 LBN E-Lert readers got the news. BEFORE Fox News, CNN, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times.
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COMMON GROUND: President Obama and Congressional Republicans sparred over health care during an all-day televised forum, with Republicans repeatedly urging the president to scrap his bill and start over.
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LBN-BUSINESS INSIDER: ***The Federal Reserve is examining the stratagems devised by Goldman Sachs and other big banks to help Greece mask its burgeoning debt over the last decade.
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 Kim Yu-Na Wins Gold: South Korea’s Kim Yu-Na triumphed Thursday, winning the Olympic gold with a record total score of 228.56 points after skating a 150.06 in the long-program and flawlessly executing a series of jumps, including the triple-flip. “I’ve been dreaming about this moment,” she said during a press conference. “I can’t believe this is not a dream any more.” Although Japan’s Mao Asada successfully performed two triple axels in the long program, she only managed the silver after slipping twice, errors that she said made her “full of regrets.”
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 KILLER WHALE TO BE SPARED: SeaWorld will keep Tilikum, the killer whale who killed a trainer in front of an audience on Wednesday, instead of destroying him or setting him free, MSNBC reports. The chief of animal training at SeaWorld said that the beast has been captive too long to return to the wild, and that he would not be killed because he is part of the amusement park’s breeding program and a companion to its seven other whales. SeaWorld has suspended all orca shows until it completes a review of how the trainers interact with the animals. One thing will definitely change: VIP visitors who were occasionally allowed to pet the whales will no longer do so.
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WAGE LEVER: One in four Americans work for companies with federal contracts, and administration officials see an opportunity to lift more families into the middle class.
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SIRIUS XM POSTS PROFIT, ITS FIRST SINCE MERGER: The satellite radio company Sirius XM Radio posted its first quarterly profit since its merger and said it expected to add 500,000 new subscribers in 2010 as the recovery in the car market increased demand. The results on Thursday suggest that the company, run by the media industry veteran Mel Karmazin, has solidified. Just a year ago, it flirted with bankruptcy.
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 SENATE HIJACKED—AGAIN: A rogue retiring GOP senator is single-handedly blocking a bill that would extend expiring unemployment benefits and health care payments to jobless Americans. Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY), largely considered a pariah within his own party after he was essentially forced by GOP leaders to retire this year rather than run for re-election, is demanding that the benefits be paid for with unused stimulus funds rather than add to the deficit.
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GADDAFI CALLS FOR JIHAD AGAINST SWITZERLAND: Libya’s dispute with Switzerland was intensified Thursday after Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi called for ‘jihad’ against the European nation “with all means” due to its referendum to ban minarets. “Any Muslim in any part of the world who works with Switzerland is an apostate, is against (the Prophet) Mohammad, God and the Koran,” Gaddafi said. “The masses of Muslims must go to all airports in the Islamic world and prevent any Swiss plane landing, to all harbors and prevent any Swiss ships docking, inspect all shops and markets to stop any Swiss goods being sold.”
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NYC CANCELS SCHOOL: A whole bunch of kids must have done their snow dances: New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg canceled school for the city’s 1.1 million public school students on Friday after a massive snowstorm dumped 10 inches of fluff on the city, with more slated to come.
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 REPORT: CRIST TO BOLT GOP: Sinking in the polls against his Republican primary opponent, Marco Rubio, and branded as unacceptably moderate by conservative activists throughout the country, Governor (and LBN reader) Charlie Crist’s time with the GOP may have finally come to an end. According to a report by Jack Funari of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, sources say Crist is laying the groundwork for an independent bid in order to bypass his contest with Rubio. His recent behavior certainly indicates as much: After being hammered in his primary over his early praise for President Obama and his backing of the stimulus bill, Crist forcefully doubled down on his decisions earlier this month despite their extreme unpopularity among Republicans.
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LBN-NOTICED: ***Nadya “Octomom” Suleman let loose Wednesday after her appearance on “The View”. The mother of 14 showed up at Greenhouse in NYC with a fur vest-wearing, Birkin handbag- toting male companion and a photographer pal about 11 p.m., drank water, and left by 12:30 a.m. The trio returned at 3 a.m. and drank shots at the bar. ***Mike Myers wearing a Canadian jersey as he watched his Canadian hockey team beat the Russians at the Blue Seats Sports Bar on Ludlow Street in NYC. ***Astor trial juror Judi DeMarco –who says she voted to convict Anthony Marshall after being threatened by another juror — enjoying drinks with friends at Pete McManus’ bar on 17th and 19th in NYC. ***Renee Zellweger tying a blond labrador to a tree outside Le Pain Quotidien on Madison in NYC, telling a fan it’s her boyfriend’s dog. (Bradley Cooper has a German shorthaired pointer and a chow-retriever mix). ***Rant columnist Ericka T. Bass singing “God Bless America” at the Hamburger Hamlet on the Sunset Strip last night around 11p.m. She had not been drinking. ***Before returning to London Jude Law was spotted sunning at “Do Brazil” on Shell Beach , St Barth’s along with a group of male and lovely female friends.. ***Sarah Jessica Parker at the Nations Capitol for the 2009 National Arts and Humanities Medal Ceremony last night. *** Nicole Kidman was spotted mingling with fellow guests at the Beverly Hilton Hotel for the 12th Annual Costume Designers Guild Awards. ***Jimmy Fallon arrives in Vancouver to tape his show, “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon” during the Winter Olympics. ***Anne Hathaway turned up for the world premiere of Alice in Wonderland at London’s Odeon Leicester Square on Thursday. ***BE AN LBN CORRESPONDENT- Send your celebrity sightings to: LBNElert@TimeWire.net.
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 THE REAL STORY: The untold shocking story behind why Patrick Kennedy has forsaken Congress - to help his mother Joan, the late Sen. Ted Kennedy’s ex, battle her booze-driven demons. That’s the heartbreaking family secret behind Congressman Patrick Kennedy’s decision to quit politics - he’s leaving public life to care for his troubled mother Joan.
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LBN-MEDIA INSIDER: ***Rupert Murdoch will turn 79 next month. As he approaches his final years at the helm of News Corp., his empire is said to be facing a growing internal factionalism. That conflict is likely to be the focus of a New York magazine story on the company, due out next week. ***Jay Leno returns to “The Tonight Show” on Monday night. But the network still must address the issue of who will one day replace him as host of the important late-night franchise. NBC “would be wise to start test-piloting guest hosts” to fill in for Leno, who turns 60 in April. ***Howard Stern “definitely” won’t be joining “American Idol” as the judge replacing Simon Cowell, according to sources close to the hit Fox show. 19 Entertainment, the London-based creator of the franchise, is expended to spend $38 million on Cowell’s replacement. ***LARadio founder Don Barrett is today’s guest speaker at prominent Hollywood P.R. firm LCO’s monthly P.R. training program for staff and interns.
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 DEAD BEAT DAD LEVI MUST PAY: A judge has ordered baby dada Levi Johnston to fork over big bucks in his child support war with ex Bristol Palin. Based on Levi’s earnings from various promotions and media outlets,the judge ordered the father of teen prego queen Bristol’s child to pay over $18,000 in back child support.
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LBN-INVESTIGATES: The highest medal count for the United States in the Olympic Winter Games is 34, which the U.S. team attained in 2002 in Salt Lake City.
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LBN-HEALTH WATCH: Approximately 1.7 million healthcare-associated infections are diagnosed every year. In a recent study–the first to investigate the costs associated with this problem–researchers concluded that pneumonia and blood-borne infections caught in hospitals killed 48,000 patients in the US and cost $8.1 billion in 2006. Patients who developed sepsis, a bacterial infection in the bloodstream, after surgery had to stay in the hospital an average of 11 days extra, at a cost of $32,900 per patient, while pneumonia patients stayed an extra 14 days after surgery, at a cost of $46,400.
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LBN-SPORTS INSIDER: ***Kim Yu-na was nearly flawless, and became South Korea’s first Olympic champion in figure skating. Mao Asada of Japan took silver and Joannie Rochette of Canada the bronze. ***Shannon Szabados stopped all 28 American shots and Marie-Philip Poulin scored twice in a 2-0 victory over the United States. ***A great divide exists between countries like Germany and Argentina in sliding sports — in the standings as well as in financing, coaching and gaining access to the world’s 16 courses.
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 DAVID GEFFEN IS “YOU’RE SO VAIN”: CARLY SIMON REVEALS SONG INSPIRATION?: According to an interpretation of a clip of a remastered version of “You’re So Vain,” Carly Simon named David Geffen as the target of the song. When the song is played backwards, at least as heard in the clip, a voice whispers “David.” Geffen was the head of Simon’s record label at the time, and was supposedly paying more attention to Joni Mitchell. That would mean it is not about exes Cat Stevens, James Taylor, Warren Beatty, Mick Jagger or Kris Kristofferson.
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 LBN-RECOMMENDS By TERRY MORAN (Co-anchor of ABC News’ Nightline): Bomb Power. Great title. And for Garry Wills, one of our most insightful and provocative public intellectuals, it’s the key to the story of how the president became “an American monarch.” The answer, Wills says in this impassioned historical argument, can be found in the awesome power of The Bomb. Because the president had it, and could use it at a moment’s notice, “a huge secret empire” was constructed over the years—an empire of laws and constitutional innovations and a worldwide network of intelligence and military assets. It all amounted to a loaded weapon embedded in Article II. And every president since Hiroshima—especially George W. Bush, but including Barack Obama so far—has wielded it. Though Wills’ book sometimes seems to be an idée fixe (there are other factors at work in the triumph of executive power), it is essentially a call to constitutional conscience. Don’t miss it.
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LBN-FILM REVIEW By MANOHLA DARGIS: “A Prophet” is one of those rare films in which the moral stakes are as insistent and thought through as the aesthetic choices.
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LBN-COMMENTARY By DAVID BROOKS: The health care summit may not have bridged the partisan rift, but there were moments of hope for the next set of reformers.
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LBN-FILM REVIEW By A. O. SCOTT: From time to time, “Cop Out” offers glimpses of the giddy, goofy delight it might have been.
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LBN-COMMENTARY By PAUL KRUGMAN: Since Republicans didn’t bother making much of a case at Thursday’s White House meeting, Democrats may have the last laugh by finishing the job and enacting health reform.
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 LBN-COMMENTARY By JANE FONDA (Activist, advocate and actress): Women accounted for just 7% of directors on the 250 top-grossing movies of 2009. That’s the same number as in 1987.
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LBN-FILM REVIEW By MANOHLA DARGIS: “The Art of the Steal” is a hard-hitting documentary about a high-cultural brawl.
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 LBN-HISTORICAL COMMENTARY By HARRY HOUDINI: But it must not be thought that I say this out of personal experience: for in the many years that I have been before the public my secret methods have been steadily shielded by the strict integrity of my assistants, most of whom have been with me for years.
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 LBN-A DIFFERENT VIEW:
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LBN-OVERHEARD: ***As we reported yesterday afternoon, the body of Andrew Koenig was discovered Thursday by Vancouver police, in Stanley Park. Koenig played sidekick to Kirk Cameron’s character on the hit 1980s TV show Growing Pains, and had been missing since Valentine’s Day. At a press conference, Koenig’s father said that the actor had taken his own life. Koenig had been on antidepressants, but stopped taking them last year. ***Tiger Woods wasn’t amused by billboards that People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals planned to put up bearing his face and the slogan, “Too much sex can be a bad thing.” Lawyers for the golfer threatened to sue the activists if they used his once-valuable image in their campaign urging owners to neuter their pets. So now PETA says it will feature another famous philanderer, South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, with the possible tagline: “Your dog doesn’t have to go to South America to get laid.” ***Grace Jones will perform at this year’s Elton John AIDS Foundation’s annual Oscar viewing party on March 7 at the Pacific Design Center in LA. Details are still under wraps, but as with recent shows at Hammerstein Ballroom and the Hollywood Bowl, the 61-year-old singer’s act will include a lengthy wait to take the stage and multiple, dramatic costume changes. In past years, Elton booked such artists as Mary J. Blige, Raphael Saadiq and the Scissor Sisters. ***It’s official. Simon Cowell is getting married! Beautiful Mezhgan Hussainy told RadarOnline.com exclusively that she and Simon are officially engaged. ***Jon Cryer, co-star of “Two and a Half Men,” was the target of a hit engineered by his ex-wife this according to the woman’s ex-boyfriend. According to documents filed in the custody battle between Cryer and ex-wife Sarah Trigger, Trigger’s lawyer claims on December 21, 2009, Trigger told her that her ex-boyfriend, Eddie Sanchez, had said he was going to kill Cryer and Trigger’s estranged husband, David Dickey.
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LBN-DID YOU KNOW: ***Coca-Cola was originally green. ***People spend at least 3 years of their lives on the toilet. ***Seven million cell phones are dropped in the toilet per year. ***Brushing your teeth with the water on wastes 5 gallons of water. ***Blueberry juice boosts memory
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LBN-QUOTE: “A damn fool with a plan beats a wandering genius a 100 times out of a 100.”-Michael Levine.
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LBN-HISTORY: On Feb. 26, 1993, a bomb exploded in the garage of New York’s World Trade Center, killing six people and injuring more than 1,000 others.
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