Apparently the White House Press Office has refused to give the Boston Herald full access to President Obama’s Boston fund-raiser today in e-mails objecting to the newspaper’s front page placement of a Mitt Romney op-ed, saying pool reporters are chosen based on whether they cover the news “fairly.”

“I tend to consider the degree to which papers have demonstrated to covering the White House regularly and fairly in determining local pool reporters. My point about the op-ed was not that you ran it but that it was the full front page, which excluded any coverage of the visit of a sitting US President to Boston. I think that raises a fair question about whether the paper is unbiased in its coverage of the President’s visits.” White House spokesman Matt Lehrich wrote in response to a Herald request for full access to the presidential visit.

Awww...does somebody need a nappy poo?

------------------------------------------------------------------


"If you watch an Obama news conference, and watched a Bush news conference previous to that, where correspondents sit in their seats with their hands folded on their laps, [it's] as if they are in the room with a monarch and they have to wait to be recognized by the president," says Sid Davis, the former NBC Washington bureau chief who covered nine presidents. "It looks like they are watching a funeral service at [Washington funeral firm] Joseph Gawler's and it shouldn't be that way."

Adds Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post reporter Haynes Johnson, "It's all very stale, very structured, very pale."

And longtime NBC and ABC reporter Sander Vanocur: "You want to know what's wrong with the press? The press is what's wrong with the press."

Maybe we need less whimpy reporters? If they all avoided being "structured" and "pale" and actually did their job, what is the WH going to do? Keep firing/banning reporters until nobody is left to cover a press conference? They dig their own grave.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Air Force One Executes Missed Approach in Connecticut with President Obama On Board
I'm not at all sure how this is "news" as it happens everyday across the country on likely 1000's of flights, but apparently it is. I only highlight this to point out what I found to be a hillarious comment:

"The President will interrupt regular national television programming tonight to make an announcement stating "Earlier today, I made the decision to order the Captain of Air Force One to conduct a go around at Bradley Airport in Connecticut." The White House press office has already reported that the decision by President Obama to order the "go around" was not based on any information acquired from the utilization of EIT's or Enhanced Interrogation Tactics, nor is it, in any way, attributable to Bush administration policies. According to Jay Carney, White House Press Secretary, the President told the Captain of the aircraft to "Busta move" when he heard the first officer mention that low visibility may be a problem. For more details on yet another heroic action by our beloved President, tune into the official Obama news network, MSNBC." says Taxpayer550.

Well played sir!

------------------------------------------------------------------


NEWT!!!! Who goes through a day without thinking fondly of NEWT? And by fondly, I mean head-shaking-embarrassed-nervous-laughter fondly. I guess Newt felt a little full of himself lately, and now turns to his sporting heritage to rectify:

“Newt will get up to bat again, and he’ll hit a home run,” Tyler (Rick, Newt's press secretary) said. “This is just one event. I don’t think it’s a defining event. I do think it’s serious, and we’ve taken it seriously.”

Maybe Newt should give Posada a call, as they both could use a HR about now. And I actually heard some pundit the other day claim, with a straight face, something along the lines of "you know, it just occurred to me....18-22 year olds don't know Newt, so in their eyes he's a fresh face!" Well shit! I think Dole might have something to say about that.....
At least Newt is embracing diversity:

"Feel the rainbow, Newt,” Espinosa said as he poured the box of glitter over Gingrich’s head. “Stop the hate. Stop anti-gay politics. It’s dividing our country and it’s not fixing our economy."

No comment from Newt, but Espinosa says "I think glitter’s fun. I think it was a nice makeover for his campaign. And in fact if he needs anymore glitter, I have some left over.”

------------------------------------------------------------------

When I hear the familiar wringing of the local ice cream truck, I never imagine that I would have to worry about this:

"We received information from a passing motorist of an ice cream truck that was all over the roadway on southbound Route 1 from Oxford Valley Road," Middletown Township Lt. John Michniewicz said. The Jack & Jill Truck was pulled over minutes later and investigators say the ice cream man, 46-year-old Yassir Hassan, was visibly drunk. Even more disturbing was the discovery of at least three water bottles filled with urine and one of them was found inside the freezer unit used to store the ice cream. It was also determined the truck had "obviously no hand washing facilities in the vehicle."

Somehow there's a joke about the desert and ice cream here, but I'd rather not inflame soft minds.

------------------------------------------------------------------

BERNARDS TOWNSHIP, N.J. (CBSNewYork/AP) – A Basking Ridge homeowner would really like to know why there’s a crater in her front yard.

“To me it looked like something blew out of the ground because the grass was folded back, the rocks and dirt were all spewn out into the cul-de-sac and across the driveway,” Sue, who asked not to be identified out of concern that the hole may draw unwanted onlookers and crowds, said.

“It’s just really, really weird,” said Jerry Vinski, director of nearby Raritan Valley Community College’s planetarium, who conducted tests on the site. “We dug around and couldn’t find anything. We used metal detectors because all meteors have metal in them, and we couldn’t find anything, large or small.”

“The weather was clear, there were no reports of lightning strikes; nobody reported seeing anything,” Byrnes (police captain) said. “I’ve never seen anything like this in 23 years.”

Why am I reminded of the ISS, a toilet and the TV show "Dead Like Me"? Or worse.....plane refuse.....

------------------------------------------------------------------

Stars come out to say goodbye to Oprah Winfrey
"You get a billion, and you get a billion, and you get a billion...."

------------------------------------------------------------------

I knew I wanted to visit Germany for more than just the beer:

One in three university students in the German capital would consider sex work as a means to finance their education, a study from the Berlin Studies Center said Wednesday.

The study found some 4 percent of the 3,200 Berlin students surveyed said they had already done some form of sex work, which includes prostitution, erotic dancing and Internet shows.

"It's possible that because educational reforms have increased student workloads, they have less time to earn money," she said. "Coupled with higher student fees, in this instance, leads students into prostitution."

Higher education.....one trick at a time.