Politics: Obama moves to regain initiative on Guantanamo closure

By Julian E. Barnes and Josh Meyer via LA Times

Reporting from Washington - President Obama signaled his intention Wednesday to press forward on his plan to close the Guantanamo Bay prison, despite a growing challenge from both political parties and a limited set of options to make his detainee policy work.

In a sign of how much momentum he has lost, the Senate on Wednesday voted 90 to 6 to block funding for the shutdown, a vote taken in a politically charged environment that followed criticism that the administration was backtracking on Americans' security.

But Obama, in an effort to retake the initiative, plans an address Thursday to forcefully defend his proposal for closing Guantanamo by year's end. In the morning speech, at the National Archives in Washington, Obama also will address prospects for a controversial proposal to hold detainees indefinitely without trial, if necessary, and will reassert his argument that closing the prison would advance U.S. security.

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Entertainment: ‘Idol’ Machine Cranks Out a New Star

America chose sweetness over sizzle, small-town reticence over Vegas swagger, or as Ryan Seacrest put it, the guy next door over “the guyliner.”

It’s possible that “American Idol” viewers’ selection of Kris Allen over Adam Lambert says something about the mood and mores of the country, that viewers are too conformist to anoint a sassy, androgynous individualist. Then again, maybe not: Mr. Allen’s victory may merely reflect the voters’ conventional taste in pop music. 

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Crime: Dad bans Anthonys from Haleigh hunt

Orlando, Fla., (UPI) - The father of a missing Florida girl says he does not want any help from the parents of alleged child-killer Casey Anthony as he continues his search.

Ronald Cummings this week issued a public appeal for a renewed push to locate his 5-year-old daughter, Haleigh, but the law firm representing Cummings later amended the statement to ask George and Cindy Anthony to stay out of it, the Orlando (Fla.) Sentinel said Wednesday.

Cummings and the Anthonys reside in the Orlando area and have found themselves in the spotlight of separate high-profile missing-child cases.

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Hollywood: Redmond O'Neal Transferred to New Jail to Begin Drug Treatment

By Ken Lee Via People

After spending nearly a month in a downtown Los Angeles jail, Redmond O'Neal was transferred Wednesday to a correctional facility in Castaic, Calif., where he is due to begin intensive drug treatment lasting a year.

Redmond, 24, the son of ailing Farrah Fawcett and Oscar-nominated actor Ryan O'Neal, has a lengthy rap sheet for drug crimes and was most recently arrested for bringing heroin into a jail parking lot. He was allowed to visit his mother for three hours on April 25.

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Cars: What We Need vs. What We Want

By Froma Harrop

The new fuel-efficiency and emission standards may lead to smaller cars with lighter engines. This is not what consumers prefer, auto analysts tell us.

They may be right that Americans want big, cheap cars. They also want free gasoline, clean air and complementary cocktails in coach.
Meanwhile, they don't want to send their money to petro-financed terrorists.
And they don't want to bail out U.S. carmakers going bankrupt in part because, when oil prices soared, Americans stopped buying big vehicles, as much as they might have preferred them.

The moral here is we can't always have what we want. Life is a series of trade-offs.

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Family: Nothing but the best for Kate + 8

By Inside Track via Boston Herald

“Jon & Kate Plus 8” mom Kate Gosselin is such a diva!

Apparently her hubby, Jon, isn’t the only one who suffers at the expense of the needy TV mom. Word is, the short-fused ex-nurse has reportedly fired 40 nurses and nurses’ aides in a short three-month period.  Baby nurse Angela Krall, who watched the sextuplets for more than a year, told US Magazine that Kate is a huge hassle.

Krall said that Kate would post “demeaning” signs in every room detailing rules. She even fired one woman on the spot for washing her hands in the kitchen instead of the bathroom. “Kate flipped,” Krall told the mag. “She thought it was cross-contamination.”

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Odd: Phoenix man killed in gun-safety demo

Tucson, Arizona – A 26-year-old Phoenix man accidentally killed himself early Sunday while explaining gun safety to two Sierra Vista residents.

Benally was flown to University Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, Mitchell said.

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