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Overnight Briefing & General Reality Check - Aug 25, 2011
August 25, 2011
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Equal time:
We're getting a few glimpses of former VP DICK CHENEY's anticipated book, "In My Time: A Personal and Political Memoir," due out next week. The New York Times got its hands on an advanced copy and dished about a few of the highlights:
--He made the case for PRESIDENT BUSH to bomb a suspected Syrian nuclear reactor in 2007. The president refused, and Israel bombed the site shortly after.
--Cheney criticizes former Secretary of State CONDOLEEZZA RICE as being naive for trying to cut a nuclear weapons deal with North Korea.
--He again stands by so-called "enhanced" interrogation techniques for certain terror suspects.
--And he had prepared a signed letter of resignation as early as 2001 if he had ever become totally incapacitated by a heart attack or stroke. (Pacelli)What's the Buzz:
Forbes released its list of 100 most powerful women yesterday and surprise --tops on the list was ANGELA MERKEL, Chancellor of Germany.
Merkel edged out Secretary of State HILLARY CLINTON and Brazilian President DILMA ROUSSEFF, who were ranked second and third respectively by the magazine. Merkel came in fourth in last year's rankings, Clinton fifth and Rouseff 95th.
Pepsi CEO INDRA NOOYI and Facebook COO SHERYL SANDBERG rounded out this year's top five.
House Minority Leader NANCY PELOSI, who ranked 11th last year when she was the Speaker of the House, dropped to 52, some 30 spots below GOP presidential candidate MICHELE BACHMANN, who wasn't on last year's list.
The women came from six categories: Billionaires, business, celebrity/lifestyle, media, nonprofits and politics. Despite her ongoing flirtations with a White House run, SARAH PALIN (#34) was given the celebrity/lifestyle tag, although her profession was listed as "political commentator."
At age 25, LADY GAGA was the youngest women on the list (#11) and QUEEN ELIZABETH II, 85, was the oldest (#49).
Some notables from the media world include OPRAH WINFREY (14), ARIANNA HUFFINGTON (31), and ABC's CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR (44) and DIANE SAWYER (47 --Maiman).
Editor's note: Funny, to hear my wife talk, you'd think she was on the list.Trash talk and satellite dish:
If you've got $13 million lying around, you could buy DICK EBERSOL and SUSAN ST JAMES' house in Telluride, Colorado. The couple shelled out $10.4 million for it in 2004, and it's big enough so you can invite a bunch of friends for a ski weekend: seven bedrooms, seven full baths and a home theatre as well.
On the other hand, if you're willing to spend that kind of money, maybe you want JERRY SEINFELD's home around the corner --his 11-bedroom, multi-building compound has 26 acres and was listed for $18.25 million last month.Grace notes:
If LADY GAGA's new single, "You And I" is a little too rock or country sounding for you, there's a new dance remix. It was done by WILD BEASTS and strips away everything from the original track except for Gaga's vocals and a little of her piano. The rest is all for the dancefloor, though it also works as a trance track. Gaga must approve it since the remix is posted on her official YouTube account. (Marino)
Brain dead:
A guy in Sweden served his neighbors a 70-year-old piece of beef.
The Local says senior citizen ESKIL CARLSSON had been storing the meat in a glass jar since World War Two. Carlsson said, "It didn't smell much, it didn't smell bad anyway. It was as if it had been meat from this week." He says the choice cut of beef was placed in the jar during wartime rationing, when there was a shortage of food. And, after the war, his family wanted to save it just in case times got tight again.
Just to be safe, Carlsson fed a piece to his cat first. When the cat survived, he and his neighbors dug in. (Still) -
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