Photo Op

You can't be a successful lawyer and not work for banks, Hillary Clinton once said in defense of her shenanigans as a Little Rock lawyer on behalf of the Madison Savings and Loan. Or a senator from New York, or a president of the United States, her husband might have added.

Republican vice presidential candidate Paul D. Ryan is stirring up controversy with a photo-op at a Youngstown, Ohio, soup kitchen. Ryan, who spoke at a campaign event at nearby Youngstown State University on Saturday, stopped by a local soup kitchen without permission, according to the charity's president, and “did nothing” during his 15-minute stay. “They showed up there and they did not have permission,” Brian J. Antal, president of the Mahoning County St. Vincent De Paul Society, told CBS News . “They got one of the volunteers to open up the doors.” “The photo-op they did wasn't even accurate.

Jimmy Kimmel has never hosted the Emmys , but he's pretty sure his upcoming gig will be more enjoyable than the four times he emceed the American Music Awards. “There, the audience are all just fans who want to see the musical acts,” Kimmel says. “You're more a nuisance than anything to them.” But the American Music Awards did provide Kimmel one invaluable opportunity: the chance to work with the late Dick Clark, who created and produced the show. Kimmel says he learned a couple things from the show-biz veteran.

The croissants and churros were piled high. After a conservation project that took roughly 24 years and cost about $10 million to complete, David Alfaro Siqueiros' 1932 Olvera Street mural "America Tropical" was unveiled Tuesday morning with much fanfare at an official reception. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, City Councilman Jose Huizar, El Pueblo manager Chris Espinoza, and, from the Getty, President James Cuno and conservation chief Timothy Whalen took turns speaking about the historic moment in the courtyard of an El Pueblo building nearby.

If you asked Tom Petty to select the musician who has influenced him the most--and then gave him the chance to pose with his hero--whom do you think he'd pick? And what would happen if you asked Randy Travis and Public Enemy to do the same thing? That was the idea behind a photo spread titled "Sweet Inspiration" in the Sept. 19 issue of Rolling Stone magazine, due on newsstands Sept. 5.

Republican vice presidential candidate Paul D. Ryan is stirring up controversy with a photo-op at a Youngstown, Ohio, soup kitchen. Ryan, who spoke at a campaign event at nearby Youngstown State University on Saturday, stopped by a local soup kitchen without permission, according to the charity's president, and “did nothing” during his 15-minute stay. “They showed up there and they did not have permission,” Brian J. Antal, president of the Mahoning County St. Vincent De Paul Society, told CBS News . “They got one of the volunteers to open up the doors.” “The photo-op they did wasn't even accurate.

The croissants and churros were piled high. After a conservation project that took roughly 24 years and cost about $10 million to complete, David Alfaro Siqueiros' 1932 Olvera Street mural "America Tropical" was unveiled Tuesday morning with much fanfare at an official reception. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, City Councilman Jose Huizar, El Pueblo manager Chris Espinoza, and, from the Getty, President James Cuno and conservation chief Timothy Whalen took turns speaking about the historic moment in the courtyard of an El Pueblo building nearby.

No way around it: That photo of Ann and Mitt Romney sitting tandem on a Sea-Doo in New Hampshire's Lake Winnipesaukee is pretty darn cute, and not really what you'd expect from sexagenarian parents of five and the grandparents of a “bevy” of Romneys, as the Republican presidential candidate put it Wednesday during a Fourth of July parade in Wolfeboro, N.H. The Romney campaign is so controlled it's hard to imagine that the couple did...

One of the president's official planes and a supersonic fighter jet buzzed over Lower Manhattan just as the workday was beginning Monday. Within minutes, startled financial workers streamed out of their offices, fearing a nightmarish replay of Sept. 11. For half an hour, the Boeing 747 and F-16 jet circled the Statue of Liberty and the Lower Manhattan skyline near the World Trade Center site. Offices evacuated. Dispatchers were inundated with calls.

Re President Bush's Thanksgiving trip to Baghdad, Nov. 28: I got teary-eyed more than once watching the president addressing the troops. Obviously it was a great morale booster for everyone, including Americans here, but I wonder how much this trip will raise Arab ire toward us and whether this will raise the danger level. Also, I wonder if this trip was motivated more for the photo op, reminiscent of Bush's landing on the U.S. aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln on May 1. Joshua Simon Woodland Hills In another burst of superpatriotism, Bush sneaked into Baghdad and served up some turkey PR. He spoke of terrorism.

Do not imagine that a much-chastised Arnold Schwarzenegger is shuffling through his days head down, avoiding the public eye. On a book tour for his just-published "Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story," the former governor of California is surrounded by adorers of the Terminator, the Governator, the Austrian immigrant with the rags-to-riches story - jumping up and down to forgive him his sins. So eager was Rhett Crosby, 37, to see his hero at a Los Angeles book-signing that he drove from Phoenix on Thursday night and arrived at the Barnes & Noble at the Grove a full 21 hours early.

LAS VEGAS - China, a world leader on the cusp of global domination, fancies itself as a nation of basketball lovers, and it's hosting a little get-together there this week. The invite-list has a few accolades. Just a few. Nine players who have been official All-Stars. Five who have had Olympic gold draped around their neck. Three who have been named Most Valuable Player in the NBA Finals. The list goes on, but in toto, some of Uncle Sam's top-shelf hoopsters are heading to the People's Republic for a pair of preseason games between the Clippers and Miami Heat.

No way around it: That photo of Ann and Mitt Romney sitting tandem on a Sea-Doo in New Hampshire's Lake Winnipesaukee is pretty darn cute, and not really what you'd expect from sexagenarian parents of five and the grandparents of a “bevy” of Romneys, as the Republican presidential candidate put it Wednesday during a Fourth of July parade in Wolfeboro, N.H. The Romney campaign is so controlled it's hard to imagine that the couple did...

Jimmy Kimmel has never hosted the Emmys , but he's pretty sure his upcoming gig will be more enjoyable than the four times he emceed the American Music Awards. “There, the audience are all just fans who want to see the musical acts,” Kimmel says. “You're more a nuisance than anything to them.” But the American Music Awards did provide Kimmel one invaluable opportunity: the chance to work with the late Dick Clark, who created and produced the show. Kimmel says he learned a couple things from the show-biz veteran.

- The skies were overcast here Saturday when they ran the 144th Belmont Stakes. So was the mood. Certainly, there were bright spots. Even at its lowest ebb, horse racing sprinkles those in. There are always winning bets to cash, celebrants gathering for group photos, hopes for the next race. There is always another race, which is pretty much what this year's Belmont was. Another race. Union Rags was Saturday's main bright spot. He won the grueling mile-and-a-half race for a true American hero.

What could be more American than hot dogs and apple pie? Perhaps it's no wonder that politicians spend much of their time on the campaign trail hamming it up with voters at diners, burger shacks and other eating establishments that aren't exactly paragons of healthful fare. But a group of doctors and activists will be calling on President Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and other members of the executive branch to refrain from turning calorie-laden pit stops into photo ops this election year.

The Russian campaign train chugs out past the dingy cement housing blocks that blight the Moscow suburbs, toward the rich farmland of Tambov, where silvery birch trees line the train tracks, and no soot stains the snow. Inside his steamy compartment, the candidate sits on his bunk eating tangerines, bread and cheese and sipping sugary tea. He keeps a dreamy silence while his friends chat around him.

I didn't take my daughter to work on Thursday. Kids know fairness. They count the items in their Christmas stockings to make certain Santa is an equal opportunity donor. They know whose turn it is to sit in the front seat of the car, to push the grocery cart, to get the mail. How could we single our daughter out for a fun trip and force our son to face the grind of another day at school? It just wouldn't fly. The Ms.

This is how all new beginnings should be. All energy and smiles and positive vibes. Stan Kasten is on the move and taking it all in. He's greeting season-ticket holders as they enter the stadium. He's meeting with ushers, security personnel and ticket takers. He's walking the loge, the reserved and the field levels. He's talking to fans and ushers and complete strangers, and welcoming them all to Dodger Stadium. An attractive woman walks up and hugs the new team president.

Armando Iannucci's droll, fleet "Veep," which premieres Sunday on HBO and stars Julia Louis-Dreyfusas Selina Meyer, vice president of the United States, has nothing to do with Sarah Palin, who once came close to occupying that post and bears a minor resemblance to the star. It is, rather, an Americanization of Iannucci's fitfully ongoing 2005 BBC series "The Thick of It" and its spun-off 2009 film "In the Loop," whose protagonists are minor ministers in the U.K. government, and which make comedy from the place where power and powerlessness, ambition and limitation overlap.