Tag: Politics (1-10 of 116)

Feb 2 2012 09:54 AM ET

'Gasland' director arrested on Capitol Hill

by
Filed under: Crime, Movies and tagged: , ,

Gasland director Josh Fox, whose 2010 documentary investigated the potential hazards of natural gas drilling, was arrested by Capitol police after he attempted to film a hearing of the House Science Committee on Wednesday. (Watch here.) Though the hearing was broadcast on the committee’s website, Rep. Andy Harris (MD-R) objected to Fox and his camera crew being there and had them handcuffed and removed — they were later charged with unlawful entry. “This is a public hearing!” Mr. Fox shouted as he was led away, according to several news reports. “I’m being denied my First Amendment rights.”

Fox, who is filming a sequel to Gasland, was later released with a misdemeanor citation and a Feb. 15 court date. In a statement posted on IndieWire, Fox said, “I was arrested today for exercising my First Amendment rights to freedom of the press on Capitol Hill. I was not expecting to be arrested for practicing journalism. … It is my understanding that public speech is allowed to be filmed. Congress should be no exception. No one on Capitol Hill should regard themselves exempt from the Constitution…”

Jan 4 2012 07:17 AM ET

California tax proponents say Kim Kardashian can pay more

by
Filed under: News, TV and tagged:

Kim Kardashian, can’t you pay more? Proponents of a proposed tax increase on millionaires in California are asking that question of the outsize personality, who has parlayed her reality-TV celebrity status into fame and personal fortune.

An online video from the Courage Campaign targets the star of Keeping Up With the Kardashians and Kourtney and Kim Take New York as part of its campaign for a proposed November ballot initiative to raise taxes on the wealthiest Californians. READ FULL STORY »

Dec 22 2011 12:56 PM ET

Alec Baldwin cools plans for mayoral run

by
Filed under: News, TV and tagged:

Alec Baldwin seems to backing away from plans to possibly run for mayor of New York City, telling director Stephen Daldry in his “Here’s the Thing” podcast that he’s lost his enthusiasm for the process. “I’ve lost my appetite,” he said to Daldry, who teased the 30 Rock actor that the new podcast was simply a vehicle to launch Baldwin’s political career. “Plus the people that are running for mayor — I know this is terrible — I look at them and I don’t see myself in that crowd. They’re like a guy on a date that you can tell he just can’t wait to get his hand up your blouse before even the lights go out in the theatre. They’re all just so horny for it. Horny for their own ascension.”

Baldwin said to enter politics would mean he’d basically be giving up “this wonderful life I have now in exchange for the chance to ‘really change things?’ Yeah, I’m not quite sure you can anymore.”

Read more:
Alec Baldwin won’t run for NYC mayor in 2013, but will enroll in a master’s program in politics in 2012
Alec Baldwin talks mayoral run on ‘Letterman’

Dec 18 2011 02:31 PM ET

Vaclav Havel, playwright and anti-communist revolutionary, has died at 75

by
Filed under: Books, News and tagged: , ,

Vaclav Havel wove theater into revolution, leading the charge to peacefully bring down communism in a regime he ridiculed as “Absurdistan” and proving the power of the people to overcome totalitarian rule. Shy and bookish, with a wispy mustache and unkempt hair, the dissident playwright was an unlikely hero of Czechoslovakia’s 1989 “Velvet Revolution” after four decades of suffocating repression — and of the epic struggle that ended the wider Cold War. He was his country’s first democratically elected president, leading it through the early challenges of democracy and its peaceful 1993 breakup into the Czech Republic and Slovakia, though his image suffered as his people discovered the difficulties of transforming their society.

A former chain-smoker who had a history of chronic respiratory problems dating back to his years in communist jails, Havel died Sunday morning at his weekend home in the northern Czech Republic, his assistant Sabina Tancevova said. His wife Dagmar and a nun who had been caring for him the last few months of his life were by his side, she said. He was 75.  READ FULL STORY »

Dec 16 2011 06:53 AM ET

Christian Bale blocked from visiting Chinese activist

by
Filed under: News and tagged:

Batman star Christian Bale, in the midst of promoting a film he made in China that some critics have called propaganda, was physically stopped by government-backed guards from visiting a blind activist living under house arrest — with a CNN crew in tow to record the scuffle. CNN posted footage of the confrontation on its website Friday.

The run-in and publicity is likely to cause discomfort in China’s government-backed film industry, which hopes Bale’s movie The Flowers of War will be a creative success at home and abroad. The star’s actions are sure to focus attention on the plight of Chen Guangcheng, guarded around the clock by thugs who have blocked dozens of reporters and fellow activists trying to see him in the past. Bale was to leave China on Friday and his representatives could not immediately be reached for comment. READ FULL STORY »

Nov 23 2011 12:19 PM ET

George Clooney named on Berlusconi witness list

by
Filed under: Crime, Movies and tagged: ,

George Clooney and his ex-girlfriend Elisabetta Canalis are among more than 200 witnesses accepted Wednesday by a Milan court in the trial of former Premier Silvio Berlusconi for allegedly paying for sex with an underage prostitute. Clooney has said he was approached by Berlusconi’s team to testify about “bunga bunga” parties at Berlusconi’s villas, but says he only visited the premier’s residence once to seek aid for Darfur and declined an invitation to stay. READ FULL STORY »

Nov 14 2011 10:22 AM ET

'Glee' star Lauren Potter appointed to Obama committee

by
Filed under: TV and tagged: ,
Lauren-Potter

Image Credit: Chris Pizzello/AP Images

Actress Lauren Potter is known to Glee fans as Sue Sylvester’s right hand woman Becky Jackson, but the 21-year-old has been given an even more high-profile new role.

According to CNN.com, Potter has been appointed by President Barack Obama as a member of the President’s Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities, which “provides advice about intellectual disabilities to the president and the secretary of Health and Human Services. This can include education, homeownership and workplace integration issues. This committee consists of 21 citizen members appointed by the president and 13 federal government members who meet periodically over a year and report findings to the president.” READ FULL STORY »

Oct 25 2011 09:06 AM ET

Obama taps Hollywood at multiple fundraisers

by
Filed under: News and tagged:

Actor Will Smith and basketball legend Earvin “Magic” Johnson for dinner and Melanie Griffith and Antonio Banderas for post-meal canapes. President Barack Obama waded into the domain of the stars Monday as he hit the California fundraising circuit in one of his busiest donor outreach trips of the season.

Smith, in an elegant three-piece suit, and Johnson, the standout former point guard for the Los Angeles Lakers, were guests at the home of producer James Lassiter and his wife, Mai. About 40 contributors, including actress Hilary Duff, contributed $35,800 each for a cozy dinner and a chance to chat with the president. Obama, eager to reinvigorate his supporters, ticked off his administration’s accomplishments. “Sometimes I think people forget how much has gotten done,” the president said as he urged his backers to rally once again, at the same time joking, as he often does, that he is older and grayer now. “This election won’t be as sexy as the first one.” READ FULL STORY »

Sep 20 2011 11:14 AM ET

Ari Fleischer, former Bush spokesman, joins CNN

by
Filed under: TV and tagged: ,

Ari Fleischer, former press secretary for George W. Bush, has joined CNN as a political contributor. “Having worked on a successful presidential campaign and having spent 21 years in Washington, I’m looking forward to joining CNN as a regular contributor,” said Fleischer, in a statement. “It’s shaping up as a red hot political year and I’m eager to lend my perspective to it.”

Fleischer was Bush’s press secretary during and after the 9/11 attacks. He wrote a best-selling memoir in 2005 titled, Taking Heat.

Aug 30 2011 07:34 PM ET

'Survivor' standout Rupert may run for governor in Indiana

by
Filed under: News, TV and tagged: , ,
Rupert-Boneham

Image Credit: Monty Brinton/CBS

Can the man who won the million-dollar fan vote during Survivor: All-Stars now win the vote of the citizens of Indiana? We may soon find out. Tie-dye proponent Rupert Boneham announced today that he is considering running for governor of the Hoosier State. On his website www.rupertforgovernor.com, the 47-year-old three-time Survivor contestant noted that he has formed an exploratory committee and will make a decision on whether to enter the race in the coming weeks.

“I have spent my entire adult life serving my community and I see an opportunity to make a difference for Indiana,” wrote Boneham, referencing his youth charity, Rupert’s Kids. READ FULL STORY »

Advertisement

TV Recaps

Powered by WordPress.com VIP