News Tidbits

USA: Obama: "Kanye West Is A Jackass"

Oh, the rapper done got the "cool and calm" president cussin' now LOL. It happened during an off-the-record moment while conducting an interview today with CNBC, which ABC News anchor Terry Moran overheard and reported on Twitter to a million of his followers. As you know, Mr. West dramatically interrupted teen country-pop singer Taylor Swift's acceptance speech during the MTV Video Music Awards to praise a Beyonce video that did not win. ABC issued an apology to both CNBC and the White House (and removed the Tweet, but not before folks got screen-grab images of it) and promised to ensure no repetition.

Coming Soon: Single Media Law For East Africa

The move follows a pledge by the East African Community Secretariat to create a forum where information ministers from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi will discuss ways of harmonizing media laws. The EAC is expected to usher in the Common Market in January 2010 after the five heads of state sign the Protocol in November. The Common Market, the second stage in the EAC integration process, focuses on trade in services and will, among other things, enable free movement of labor/persons as well as allow East African citizens to live in any member state. The Customs Union, the first stage in the integration process, was launched in January 2005 and is expected to be fully-fledged by January 2010.

Democrats To Condemn U.S. Lawmaker Who Heckled Obama

Democratic leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives plan to condemn the conservative Republican who yelled "You lie!" at President Barack Obama during a speech to Congress on health care reform last week. The Democrats agreed to introduce a formal resolution of disapproval of the heckler, Representative Joe Wilson (D-S.C.) tomorrow. They initially said they planned to take no action against Rep. Wilson, but made an about-face after he emerged as an overnight hero among some conservatives.

USA: Senate Votes To Deny Funds To ACORN

The U.S. Senate voted 83-7 today to block the Housing and Urban Development Department from giving housing and community grant funding to ACORN, a community organization under fire in several voter-registration fraud cases. The action came as the group is suffering from bad publicity after a duo of conservative activists posing as a prostitute and her pimp released hidden-camera videos in which ACORN employees in Baltimore gave advice on house-buying and how to account on tax forms for the woman's income. Two other videos depict similar situations - including underage prostitution - in ACORN offices in Brooklyn and Washington, D.C. Just last week, the Census Bureau severed its ties with ACORN.