World War II Hero in New Battle
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine:
On the Frontlines
A 90-year old war hero is in a new kind of battle with his neighbors over a flagpole in his front yard.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Retired Colonel Van Barfoot is one of this country's last living Medal of Honor recipients from World War II. He raises and lowers the flag daily. But his Sussex Square Homeowners Association in Richmond, Virginia says the 21-foot flagpole violates the neighborhood's aesthetic guidelines. It ordered him to remove the pole by 5 p.m. Friday or face legal action. Thursday, they pushed back the deadline one week.
Barfoot tells the Richmond Times-Dispatch "Old Glory" is a cause worth fighting for: "There's never been a day in my life or a place I've lived... that you couldn't fly the American flag."
Scene Stealer
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}White House aides in charge of President Obama's trip to Alaska last month ruffled some feathers when they insisted on a backdrop change for his rally with troops there.
The unit at Elmendorf Air Force Base had positioned a new F-22 fighter plane in the hanger where President Obama spoke. But his aides made them switch to an older F-15 instead. The reason: The president has fought to end the controversial F-22 program.
ForeignPolicy.com reports some of the service members in the audience took offense to the change. The White House says there would have been equal criticism had the president stood in front of the F-22.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}On Second Thought
Two Hollywood conservatives are calling on the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to take back the 2007 Oscar given to Al Gore for his environmental movie "An Inconvenient Truth."
The Los Angeles Times reports academy members Roger Simon and Lionel Chetwynd were motivated by news and Internet coverage of the leaked e-mails suggesting scientists distorted and destroyed climate data.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Simon admits he knows of no precedent for the academy actually withdrawing a previously-awarded Oscar but, "I think they should rescind this one."
Hot and Bothered
The mayor of Copenhagen is catching some flak from the city's prostitutes ahead of next week's global warming summit. The mayor and city council sent postcards to area hotels urging guests and delegates to "be sustainable — don't buy sex."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}But prostitution is legal in Denmark.
A Danish Web site reports the working girls are so worked up that they are offering to give away their "services" to anyone who can produce one of the postcards and a conference credential.
— Fox News Channel's Lanna Britt contributed to this report.