China and the US agreed to open a formal dialogue on human rights, reports the Washington Post . But it should be based on “mutual respect and the principle of noninterference in each other’s internal affairs,” said President Hu Jintao. He did acknowledge, however, that “a lot still needs to be…
Continue reading …Has Apple gotten over its porn hang-up? Hugh Heffner set off a wave of speculation by suggesting as much on Twitter today. “Big news! Playboy—both old & new—will be available on iPad beginning in March,” he tweeted, according to Apple Insider . Playboy already has a censored app, but…
Continue reading …A Philadelphia doctor who gave abortions to minorities, immigrants, and poor women in a “house of horrors” clinic was charged with eight counts of murder in the deaths of a patient and seven babies who were born alive and then killed with scissors, prosecutors said. Dr. Kermit Gosnell, 69, made…
Continue reading …Funny thing happens when you become House speaker: Everyone starts parsing your every move for hidden meaning. Such is the case with John Boehner’s rejection of President Obama’s invite to the state dinner tonight with Hu Jintao. For the record, that’s the third official presidential invitation he’s declined, including receptions…
Continue reading …Gabrielle Giffords will be released from the hospital on Friday, heading instead to the Institute for Rehabilitation and Research at Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston, Politico reports. The center specializes in brain injury recovery. Giffords’ mother sent out an excited email today, telling friends that Giffords was recovering so well…
Continue reading …Silvio Berlusconi attempted to make light of the prostitution scandal swirling around him at a recent meeting of his People of Freedom Party, telling his allies that the charges couldn’t possibly be true. Not because he’s a paradigm of morality, but because “I’d be better than Superman if I’d had…
Continue reading …Joe Lieberman today confirmed what everybody knew: He’s not running for Senate re-election in 2012. Some quotes from the Connecticut independent’s news conference, as collected by the Washington Post : “Along the way, I have not always fit comfortably into conventional political boxes—maybe you’ve noticed that—Democrat or Republican, liberal…
Continue reading …Christine O’Donnell has taken her Sarah Palin mini-me act to its next logical level, filing paperwork to form a political action committee called ChristinePAC. The group will allow America’s favorite non-witch to remain involved in politics, much as SarahPAC does for Palin, the New York Times observes. It’s unclear so…
Continue reading …After all the talk, the House will finally vote later today on whether to repeal health care. It’s no great mystery how things will shake out, of course: It’s going to pass in the House, fail in the Senate, “then die the death of the symbolic bill that it is,…
Continue reading …The City of Brotherly Love is no place to try to eat another man’s cake. Police in Philadelphia say two friends were sitting in a parked car in the wee hours of Monday morning when the passenger began eating some cake that belonged to the driver. The sweets swipe sparked…
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