4 • Thursday, October 27, 2011
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Politics
Dodge ball
White House challenges McClatchy news story
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to put an emphasis on variety when it comes to costumes. “We’re all gonna wear different things,” Tutor said. “It should be a decent amount of teams that show up, so it should be fun.” Tutor said this tournament would make for a great opportunity for students to meet new people and to help them get involved on campus. Cheyenne Medlock, programming co-chair, said that it would make for a great opportunity to raise awareness for the Honors Council. “For those who aren’t going out for Halloween, it’s a good thing for them to get involved in and dress up for,” Medlock said. Students interested in participating can pay at the Honors Hall before 6 p.m. tonight for two dollars per person or at the door for three dollars per person.
Executive branch offers no facts to counter allegations McClatchy Newspapers The White House on Wednesday said a McClatchy Newspapers news story was false when it reported that President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden were not deeply involved in talks with Iraqi officials over whether to leave a residual force of U.S. troops in the country before deciding to withdraw all U.S. troops by the end of this year. The White House refused, however, to release details of Obama’s and Biden’s involvement that would counter the details in the story. McClatchy Newspapers on Tuesday reported that “President Barack Obama and his point man on Iraq, Vice President Joe Biden, remained largely aloof from the process” of negotiating whether U.S. troops could or would remain in Iraq past the end of this year. The story quoted logs provided by the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad showing that no talks between the president and vice president and Iraqi officials occurred from March through October. The logs recorded the White House statements, or “readouts,” of calls made by the president or vice president. The story also quoted a spokesman for the government of Iraq. And it noted that, in addition to the embassy’s log records, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s office had put out a statement on Sept. 22 saying that al-Maliki and Biden had discussed that day a possible residual U.S. force. “That report is just categorically false to suggest that the president and the vice president hadn’t been in communication with Iraqi leaders,” said White House Press Secretary Jay Carney Wednesday afternoon when asked by reporters about the story. “The vice president had many, many conversations with Iraqi leaders over the time period mentioned in that story. The president spoke with Prime Minister Maliki this summer,” Carney said aboard Air Force One as the president flew home to Washington from a West Coast trip. Asked if he would release the dates or details of those talks, Carney said, “I don’t know.” He also said that “there actually was” a White House comment of one of the calls to Iraq that was missed. “But the fact of the matter is ... we don’t read out every call we have, the president has or the vice president has with foreign leaders.” “We stand by our reporting,” said James Asher, Washington Bureau chief for McClatchy Newspapers. “We have repeatedly asked White House officials for details on Mr. Obama’s and Mr. Biden’s communications with the Iraqi government. So far, they have declined to provide them. We await a response.”
active minds meeting TODAY @ 4 p.m. UC Poplar Room (308) Please join us as we work to change the conversation about mental health on the University of Memphis campus! Active Minds is an RSO that works to raise awareness about the prevalence of mental health issues among college students, eliminate the stigma associated with those issues and to promote help seeking behavior. For more information, contact us at activemindsuofm@gmail.com or visit: www.activemindsuofm.org
DOES SEX HURT? Are you between 18 and 52 years of age and have continuous pain with intercourse?
The University of Tennessee is conducting a research study to determine the effectiveness of Savella in reducing intercourse pain. Participants will receive Savella, study-related care at no cost, and $50 per visit, or a total of $300 if all six visits are completed. Contact Jane Castellaw at (901) 682-9222, Ext. 136 or email: jcastel3@uthsc.edu The University of Tennessee Health Science Center - UTHSC