Behind the curtain of the Great and Powerful Grover

(Michael D'Antuono/www.artandresponse.com)WASHINGTON -- If aliens landed in Washington, D.C. right now, they might assume in their search for a terrestrial leader that a bespectacled man called "Grover Norquist" controlled the planet's most powerful nation. They might also conclude that this person had magical powers.The misunderstanding wouldn't necessarily be their fault.Grover Fever has swept the...

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China's party paper falls for Onion joke about Kim

BEIJING (AP) — The online version of China's Communist Party newspaper has hailed a report by The Onion naming North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un as the "Sexiest Man Alive" — not realizing it is satire.The People's Daily on Tuesday ran a 55-page photo spread on its website in a tribute to the round-faced leader, under the headline "North Korea's top leader named The Onion's Sexiest Man Alive for 2012."Quoting...

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'Two and a Half Men' actor not expected on set

NEW YORK (AP) — The teenage actor who stars in "Two and a Half Men" and called the CBS comedy "filth" may have some time before he faces the show's producers.Angus T. Jones wasn't expected at rehearsal Tuesday because he is not going to be in the episode they are filming, according to a person close to the show who spoke on condition of anonymity because producers were not commenting publicly.Jones,...

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CDC: HIV spread high in young gay males

NEW YORK (AP) — Health officials say 1 in 5 new HIV infections occur in a tiny segment of the population — young men who are gay or bisexual.The government on Tuesday released new numbers that spotlight how the spread of the AIDS virus is heavily concentrated in young males who have sex with other males. Only about a quarter of new infections in the 13-to-24 age group are from injecting drugs or heterosexual...

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W.H. blasts GOP 'obsession' with Rice

Arizona Sen. John McCain, the ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee—flanked by fellow committee …The White House sharply escalated its attacks Tuesday on Republicans trying to stop Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice from succeeding Hillary Rodham Clinton as secretary of state. Press secretary Jay Carney described GOP lawmakers as being gripped by a politically fueled...

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Pakistani TV anchor survives attempted bombing

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Police on Monday found and defused a bomb planted under the car of a prominent Pakistani TV anchor threatened by the Taliban for his coverage of a schoolgirl shot by the militants, police said.The bomb was made up of half a kilogram (one pound) of explosives stuffed in a tin can, said Bani Amin, the police chief in Pakistan's capital, Islamabad, where the incident occurred. It was...

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Actor: CBS comedy 'Two and a Half Men' is 'filth'

NEW YORK (AP) — The teenage actor who plays the half in the hit CBS comedy "Two and a Half Men" says it's "filth" and through a video posted by a Christian church has urged viewers not to watch it.Nineteen-year-old Angus T. Jones has been on the show since he was 10 but says he doesn't want to be on it. He says, "Please stop watching it. Please stop filling your head with filth."The video was posted...

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Bounce houses a party hit but kids' injuries soar

CHICAGO (AP) — They may be a big hit at kids' birthday parties, but inflatable bounce houses can be dangerous, with the number of injuries soaring in recent years, a nationwide study found.Kids often crowd into bounce houses, and jumping up and down can send other children flying into the air, too.The numbers suggest 30 U.S. children a day are treated in emergency rooms for broken bones, sprains,...

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Bin Laden movie based on controversial first-hand accounts

It was the greatest manhunt of all time, the stealthy nighttime raid by the elite SEAL Team Six on Osama bin Laden's compound in Pakistan, which led to the death of the world's most wanted terrorist leader.It is the subject of "Zero Dark Thirty," a riveting new film by director Kathryn Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal, both of Oscar-winning "The Hurt Locker" fame. But when they began making a film...

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112 killed in fire at Bangladesh garment factory

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Fire raced through a garment factory that supplies major retailers in the West, killing at least 112 people, many of whom were trapped by the flames because the eight-story building lacked emergency exits, an official said Sunday.The blaze broke out late Saturday at a factory operated just outside Bangladesh's capital of Dhaka by Tazreen Fashions Ltd., a subsidiary of the...

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