It is rather embarrassing, as well as sad, that the leader of the free world can’t even pronounce the name of the most famous human rights activist on the planet. Or that he is so quick to appease Burma’s authoritarian regime by calling it “Myanmar”. Barack Obama’s gaffes demonstrate not only a marked lack of attention to detail and a high degree of amateurishness on the part of the White House, but also a disturbing willingness to curry favour with unsavoury regimes. Hardly a good omen for Obama’s second term.

1. QB Johnny Manziel, Texas A&M, Fr.

Last week: 14-of-20 passing for 267 yards, three touchdowns and one interception; 16 rushes for 100 yards and two touchdowns in a 47-28 win over Sam Houston State.

Season (11 games): 241-of-356 passing for 3,047 yards, 21 touchdowns and seven interceptions; 172 rushes for 1,114 yards and 17 touchdowns.

Watchman’s take: It’s looking more and more like Johnny Football could make history in New York. Manziel put on a show against Sam Houston State, accounting for five touchdowns and becoming the first freshman and fifth player overall to throw for 3,000 yards and rush for 1,000 yards in one season. Coach Kevin Sumlin even trotted Manziel out to attempt an extra point in the third quarter with A&M holding a 40-0 lead. (Manziel missed.) With only a home date against Missouri left on the docket, A&M’s star could have the résumé he needs to overcome the freshman stigma.

(Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc on Monday became the biggest corporation yet to move its planned dividend into late December from early January to help shareholders avoid a looming jump in the tax rate on payouts due to the so-called fiscal cliff.

The move by the world’s largest retailer will give shareholders, including the family of founder Sam Walton, roughly $1.34 billion in total dividend payments taxed at the current rate.

Fiscal years for retailers typically end in late January, so their dividend payments often are timed differently from those of other types of companies. Exxon Mobil Corp, for instance, already planned for payouts in December.

“There are complex fiscal and federal tax rate issues that may not be resolved in the next few weeks, despite the ongoing good faith negotiations between the administration and Congress to resolve details related to the fiscal cliff,” Wal-Mart said in a statement.

“In light of this uncertainty, the board determined that moving our dividend payment up by a few days to 2012 was in the best interests of our shareholders.”

RENO, Nev. — Lance Gilman is a thriving businessman with dozens of employees. That those workers include a good many prostitutes did not faze the people of a rural Nevada county who recently elected him as a Storey County commissioner by a wide margin.

The Mustang Ranch brothel owner is the first such owner to win election to public office in Nevada since prostitution was legalized here in 1971, Nevada historian Guy Rocha said. And he’s believed to be the first to do so in the state’s 148-year history

[...]

Gilman, 68, a self-described “dye-in-the-wool Republican who loves American values,” said he encountered few objections to his Mustang Ranch ownership during his campaign in the county of 4,000. He won with 62 percent of the vote on Nov. 6.

His claims that his bordello, located along Interstate 80 some 10 miles east of Reno, has contributed more than $5 million to the county’s budget over the past decade. It has 44 full-time employees, and 30 to 80 working girls, depending on the season.

“To 99 percent of the voters, they view it as just a business,” Gilman told The Associated Press. “It’s a prosperous business that’s helped the county.”