Job Losses
Brenna Marie Reilly, 29, pleaded guilty to impersonating an FBI agent
and duping two neighbors in Arlington, Va., to work as her assistants.
After she told the neighbors she was the FBI’s director of forensics,
she assigned them to write condolence letters to family members of slain
agents. The assistants were never paid because the jobs weren’t real.
Prosecutors said they still don’t know why Reilly conducted the hoax.
(Associated Press)
Volkswagen Commercials Come to Life
An Iowa man was telling a 911 dispatcher that a stranger punched him
for no reason at a pedestrian mall in Iowa City when he interrupted
himself to tell the dispatcher that a different man had just walked up
and punched him. Police said the second man was a friend of the original
assailant. (Cedar Rapids’ KCRG-TV News)
Peacock Seeking Pigeons
NBC launched a campaign to enlist social-media users to promote its
shows. “A recommendation from a friend is infinitely more powerful than
any message we can put out through conventional marketing channels,”
said Adam Stotsky, president of NBC Entertainment Marketing.
Participants in the network’s “Fan It” initiative sign up on NBC’s web
site and then log in to their Facebook, Twitter, MySpace or MyNBC
accounts to earn points for chatting about series and directing friends
to NBC-related links. They can redeem points for sneak previews of NBC
shows, NBC merchandise and a chance to win attendance to the finale of The Biggest Loser or a prop from The Office. (Associated Press)
How Democracy Works
Ieshuh Griffin announced that she’s running for the Wisconsin
Assembly as an independent candidate with the slogan “NOT the whiteman’s
bitch” under her name on the ballot. The state allows candidates who
aren’t Republicans or Democrats to add a five-word statement of purpose
on the ballot to explain their candidacy. The state Government
Accountability Board, which administers state election laws, rejected
Griffin’s slogan, however, ruling that it was derogatory. Griffin vowed
to sue the board, whose six members of the board are former judges and
white, for infringing on her freedom of speech. “I’m not making a
derogatory statement toward an ethnic group,” Griffin told the board.
“I’m stating what I’m not.” Shane Falk, a staff attorney for the board,
said Griffin, who describes herself as a “30ish” community activist, is
free to use the phrase “NOT the whiteman’s bitch” in her campaign
literature and ads. (Milwaukee’s Journal-Sentinel)
Debate in the Taiwanese legislature on how to review the Economic
Cooperation Framework Agreement signed by Taiwan and China opened with
ruling and opposition lawmakers pushing and shoving each other,
exchanging blows and throwing objects at each other, including garbage
cans, tea cups and a timer. Two legislators wound up in the hospital,
one with a broken rib. (The Taipei Times)
News and Blues is compiled from the nation’s press. To contribute,
submit original clippings, citing date and source, to Roland Sweet in
care of The New Times.
