PETA pulls ads featuring Michelle Obama

McLEAN, Va. - The animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals said Tuesday it is pulling an ad campaign that used the likeness of first lady Michelle Obama without her permission.

At the same time, PETA is urging the White House to take a stand against another unauthorized use — the debut last week of the Ringling Bros. circus' newest performing elephant, "Baby Barack."



PETA said it used photos of Michelle Obama in an anti-fur campaign because the first lady does not wear fur. But they never received authorization to use her image.

Michael McGraw, a PETA spokesman, said the decision to pull the Michelle Obama ad campaign, which also featured Oprah Winfrey, Carrie Underwood and Tyra Banks, was "to show good faith."




In PETA's view, the use of the Obama name by the circus is far more disturbing. In a letter Tuesday to the president, PETA President Ingrid Newkirk urges the White House to demand a name change for Baby Barack.



"'Baby Barack' is not even a year old, but his curious and energetic childhood has been cut tragically short while Ringling attempts to profit from your popularity by putting him on the road to perform in the circus," Newkirk wrote.



Norfolk-based PETA says the circus elephants are abused and the babies are taken from their mothers prematurely.



Vienna, Va.-based Feld Entertainment, which owns the circus, says its elephants are well cared for and add that using the name Barack is intended as an honor.



Feld spokeswoman Amy McWethy said Barack was born 11:57 p.m. on Jan. 19, 2009, just minutes before the date of Obama's inauguration. He was the first elephant born by means of artificial insemination at Ringling Bros.' elephant conservation center in Polk County, Florida in the central portion of the state.




"We thought it was only fitting to call him Barack," she said. "He is an amazing elephant. We're very proud of him."



Baby Barack made his debut last week in Tampa to great fanfare, appearing with his mother, stepping up on an elephant tub and raising his trunk to the applause of the crowd.



The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment Tuesday. Generally, in the past, it has said it does not condone the use of the first family's name or images for commercial purposes. Last week, the Weatherproof outerwear company agreed to pull an ad campaign built around a photo of Obama at the Great Wall of China in which he appeared to be wearing a jacket made by the company.

Source:today.msnbc.msn.com/

First lady Michelle Obama takes wrap off new hairdo - an above-the-shoulder bob

She unveiled a shorter, above-the-shoulder bob on Tuesday, when she accompanied U.S. President Barack Obama to Wilmington, Del., to attend the funeral of Vice-President Joe Biden's 92-year-old mother, Jean.

At least five centimetres of Mrs. Obama's dark locks have been sheared off.



Mrs. Obama tried to minimize the buzz her new do would set off by telling reporters Wednesday that it was just "a little cut," unworthy of being newsworthy. But as with other first ladies before her, any clothing or hairstyle change is noticed and talked about.



Remember Hillary Rodham Clinton's ever-changing hairdos during her husband Bill Clinton's White House years?



When Mrs. Obama attended a country music event at the White House last July with her hair pinned up, it sparked a flurry of commentary and speculation on the Internet and elsewhere about whether she'd surprised everyone and had it cut.



The first lady had allowed her hair to grow longer last year. Since November, she wore it mostly in an updo, tucked under or pulled into a tight bun, as she did when she returned to the White House on Jan. 4 after the family's holiday vacation in Hawaii.



The haircut was sometime between her return and Tuesday.



Mrs. Obama's office had no comment Wednesday on why she shortened her hair. But at least two special occasions are approaching. Mrs. Obama turns 46 on Sunday, and next Wednesday marks the couple's first year as president and first lady.

Source:AFP

DC: Michelle Obama New Hairdo (Photos) Rush Limbaugh & Haiti Comments

DC Buzz! Michelle Obama (pictured) has a new hairdo and she looks great. While the cut was the buzz in Washington, DC for the fashionistas, Rush Limbaugh, a conservative radio talk show host, has the politicos in town fired up and he has taken a lot of fire for comments that he made on Haiti after the tragic earthquake that has left so many hurting. Follow both items below.




First Lady Michelle Obama has a new hairdo. (Image: WENN)



One - First Lady Michelle Obama took measures for a bit of a style change with her hair with a two-inch snip and a slightly different look of a new hairdo and everyone noticed. She "tried to minimize the buzz her new do would set off by telling reporters earlier in the week that it was just "a little cut," unworthy of being newsworthy." Before and after pictures of Michelle's new do are here.





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Two - What about those comments from Rush Limbaugh about Haiti? Did the talk show host ask people not to donate? Limbaugh is still trying to re-explain what he meant when he said "We've already donated to Haiti - it's called the U.S. income tax," when a caller asked him about it on his show.



Rush says his words were twisted. Tim Morgan has the Limbaugh explanation here and despite the quote, on his website Limbaugh claims, "Rush Did Not Say "Don't Make Donations to Haiti."

Source:nationalledger.com/

PETA used Michelle Obama image without consent: White House

WASHINGTON — Animal rights group PETA used the image of First Lady Michelle Obama in a campaign against fur clothing without her permission, the White House said Wednesday.

"We did not consent to it," said Semonti Stephens, spokeswoman for the wife of US President Barack Obama.

PETA, an animal welfare group known for high-profile stunts to promote its cause, had featured Michelle Obama in a photo-montage advertisement on its website.

The montage also included other US personalities including model Tyra Banks, television icon Oprah Winfrey and singer Carrie Underwood.

In the ad PETA declared the celebrities "Fur-Free and Fabulous!"

The White House has contacted the group about the issue, an official told AFP, without providing further details.

Source:AFP

Michelle Obama 'struggles to maintain domestic bliss'

Seeing is not always believing!

Yes, the US First Couple may be the poster pair for the perfect marriage but Michelle Obama has for the first time revealed that she and her husband Barack also struggle to maintain domestic bliss.

However, the 45-year-old First Lady has admitted that the secret to their success is to keep their troubles behind closed doors.

"The truth is that everybody struggles with it - we just don't talk about it," the Daily Express quoted her as saying.

Aside from family life in the White House, Michelle has said that she's learned how to tell when the stress of being President is getting to her husband.

"When he's really sort of brooding about something, it's late at night and there's a lot of little note-writing going on... that's when I know," she said.


Source:hindustantimes.com/

A.M. entertainment links: PETA puts Michelle Obama in anti-fur ad, without permission

An anti-fur campaign by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is featuring the image of First Lady Michelle Obama, without her permission, based on the White House's confirmation that she doesn't wear fur.
» The Associated Press: PETA features Michelle Obama in new anti-fur ad

A plot around a greedy corporation that wants to take over the natural resources on the planet Pandora, along with religious, anti-war and pro-environment themes, have put James Cameron's film "Avatar" in the crosshairs of conservative bloggers.

"It looks like a big-budget animated film with a garish color palette right off a hippie's tie dye shirt," wrote conservative movie critic John Nolte.
» Los Angeles Times: 'Avatar': Red-state politics + blue aliens = box-office green

Sam Mendes is reportedly in talks to direct the new James Bond film, and some are criticizing the choice of a such a cerebral filmmaker to make an action film, "almost by definition hack work."
» Los Angeles Times: 007 bondage would be a bad move for Sam Mendes
» Heckler Spray: Sam Mendes To Make Bond 23 Even More Drearily Self-Important

Casey Johnson, the 30-year-old heiress to the Johnson & Johnson fortune who was purportedly engaged to reality star Tila Tequila, was recently found dead.
» New York Daily News: Woody Johnson 'devastated' over death of daughter, Casey Johnson
» Gawker: A tale of two trainwrecks: The definitive timeline of Casey's and Tila's romance


Source:syracuse.com/

From Oregon, a new nephew for the first couple as Michelle Obama's brother and wife have a boy

CORVALLIS, Ore. (AP) — Oregon State University says President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama have a new nephew.

University spokesman Steve Fenk says Austin — son of the first lady's older brother, Craig Robinson, and his wife, Kelly — was born Monday, weighing 7-pounds, 5-ounces.

Robinson is the head coach of the Oregon State men's basketball team, the Beavers. He has two children from a previous marriage.

Fenk said Tuesday he had no information about how the news of the birth had been communicated with the first family.


Source:latimes.com/