Here the animated animal population of Busy Town -- you remember them from your childhood, right?! -- rap, altogether convincingly I might add, to the Beastie Boys' 'Sure Shot.'
And without further ado:

From Yahoo News:
A former adviser to Barack Obama who resigned Friday after calling rival Hillary Rodham Clinton "a monster" said Obama may not be able to withdraw all U.S. combat troops from Iraq within a year as he has promised on the campaign trail.

Samantha Power, a Pulitzer Prize-winner author and unpaid adviser, made the comments in two separate interviews with foreign media while promoting her latest book. In a tight Democratic presidential campaign where attacks are becoming increasingly bitter, Power's comments ignited a flurry of accusations between the two candidates.

More here.

From the National Secular Society:

After an acrimonious debate in which the bogeyman of secularism was repeatedly invoked, the House of Lords (in England) on Wednesday accepted the amendment to the Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill that abolishes the common law of blasphemy and blasphemous libel.

The amendment had originally been introduced by Lib Dem MP Dr Evan Harris in the House of Commons, but the Government had persuaded him to withdraw it after promising to introduce its own amendment later in the Lords. This it has now done, although — if Baroness Andrews’ speech was anything to go by — with something less than enthusiasm.

More here.

From Star News Online:

More than a year after a law enforcement officer’s mistake left a teen dead and a family in grief, Peyton Strickland’s parents finally have found closure.

That closure came on Tuesday evening with a settlement of $2.45 million and a public apology from New Hanover County Sheriff Sid Causey. Additionally, Causey agreed to an independent review of the heavily armed team responsible for Strickland’s death.

From MetaFilter.com:

Would you like a latte while I print that up for you? The Espresso Book Machine that was in the New York Public Library has just moved to the Northshire Bookstore in Vermont. The beta versions of this portable book-making machine are pumping out paperbacks around a book a minute at the Open Content Alliance, The Library of Alexandria, The New Orleans Public Library, and the University of Alberta. The mass produced commercial version of the machine is scheduled to roll off the assembly line within the year and will be priced between $50,000 and $20,000. Combined with one of these, publishing as we know it may never be the same.

From The Earth Times:

An armed student at Jerusalem's Mercaz Haray seminary played a crucial role in stopping a gun-wielding terrorist Thursday, but the American press is downplaying his heroism because it proves that armed students can stop campus gunmen, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms said today.

Yitzhak Dadon, 40, was described as "a private citizen who had a gun license and was able to shoot the gunman with his pistol" by reporter Etgar Lefkovitz with the Jerusalem Post. However, many news agencies in the United States are downplaying Dadon's decisive role in the incident.

More here.

A leader is seen as someone with a can-do attitude, the person always with an optimistic attitude. Hurdles in the road are not obstacles that prevent him from achieving his goal. Rather, they are challenges to be faced, to be overcome, and to be learned from. A leader believes that failures present the opportunity for self-improvement, and that performance on the next go-round will only be enhanced through the lessons previously learned.

A leader does not point to a location, tell his followers to go there, then tell them how to accomplish a goal. Rather, the leader is at the front of the pack, forging ahead of the rest and blazing a trail. The leader demonstrates to everyone else how things should be done, and works harder at accomplishing his goals than anyone else.

Whether you are striving to be a leader in your career, or simply want to be a leader in your own private life, there are many lessons and characteristics that will serve you well in either of these endeavors.

From The San Fransisco Chronicle:

A California appeals court ruling clamping down on homeschooling by parents without teaching credentials sent shock waves across the state this week, leaving an estimated 166,000 children as possible truants and their parents at risk of prosecution.

The homeschooling movement never saw the case coming.

More here.